Saul Alinsky
| Saul Alinsky | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
Saul David Alinsky January 30, 1909 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died | June 12, 1972 (aged 63) Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Heart attack |
| Nationality | American |
| Education |
University of Chicago, Ph.B. 1930 U. of Chicago Graduate School, criminology, 1930–1932 |
| Occupation | Community organizer, writer, political activist |
| Known for | Political activism, writing, community organization |
| Notable work | Rules for Radicals (1971) |
| Spouse(s) |
|
| Children | Katherine and David (by Helene) |
| Awards | Pacem in Terris Award, 1969 |
| Notes | |
Saul David Alinsky (January 30, 1909 – June 12, 1972) was an American community organizer and writer. He is generally considered to be the founder of modern community organizing. He is often noted for his 1971 book Rules for Radicals.
In the course of nearly four decades of political organizing, Alinsky received much criticism, but also gained praise from many public figures. His organizing skills were focused on improving the living conditions of poor communities across America. In the 1950s, he began turning his attention to improving conditions in the black ghettos, beginning with Chicago's and later traveling to other ghettos in California, Michigan, New York City, and a dozen other "trouble spots".
His ideas were adapted in the 1960s by some U.S. college students and other young counterculture-era organizers, who used them as part of their strategies for organizing on campus and beyond.Time magazine wrote in 1970 that "It is not too much to argue that American democracy is being altered by Alinsky's ideas." Conservative author William F. Buckley Jr. said in 1966 that Alinsky was "very close to being an organizational genius".
Saul David Alinsky was born in 1909 in Chicago, Illinois, to Russian Jewish immigrant parents, the only surviving son of Benjamin Alinsky's marriage to his second wife, Sarah Tannenbaum Alinsky. Alinsky stated during an interview that his parents never became involved in the "new socialist movement." He added that they were "strict Orthodox, their whole life revolved around work and synagogue ... I remember as a kid being told how important it was to study." He attended Marshall High School in Chicago until his parents divorced and then went to live with his father who moved to California, graduating from Hollywood High School in 1926.
Because of his strict Jewish upbringing, he was asked whether he ever encountered antisemitism while growing up in Chicago. He replied, "it was so pervasive you didn't really even think about it; you just accepted it as a fact of life." He considered himself to be a devout Jew until the age of 12, after which time he began to fear that his parents would force him to become a rabbi.
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