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==Community Organizer==

==Community Organizer==

In 1931, he went to work as a sociologist for the Illinois Division of Juvenile Research.<ref name="Answers">[http://www.answers.com/topic/saul-alinsky Answers.com Biography of Saul Alinsky]</ref>  It was through this work that he attributed much of America's criminal activity to poverty.<ref>Alinsky, Saul. ''Rules for Radicals: A Pragmatic Primer for Realistic Radicals.'' 1. 1971. </ref>  In 1936 he left the Division of Juvenile Research in order to form the Back-Of-The-Yards Neighborhood Council.  This was his first act of "community organizer," and cemented his position as a radical reformer.  He went on to found the Industrial Areas Foundation, which was largely responsible for most of the [[liberal]] community groups throughout the country.  During the 1940's, Alinsky learned of the community organizing activities of Fred Ross.  Ross and Alinsky met, and in 1947, Alinsky hired Ross to work at the Industrial Areas Foundation.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=NckWAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA252 The Practice of Macro Social Work]</ref>

In 1931, he went to work as a sociologist for the Illinois Division of Juvenile Research.<ref name="Answers">[http://www.answers.com/topic/saul-alinsky Answers.com Biography of Saul Alinsky]</ref>  It was through this work that he attributed much of America's criminal activity to poverty.<ref>Alinsky, Saul. ''Rules for Radicals: A Pragmatic Primer for Realistic Radicals.'' 1. 1971. </ref>  In 1936 he left the Division of Juvenile Research in order to form the Back-Of-The-Yards Neighborhood Council.  This was his first act of "community organizer," and cemented his position as a radical reformer.  He went on to found the Industrial Areas Foundation, which was largely responsible for most of the [[liberal]] community groups throughout the country.  During the 1940's, Alinsky learned of the community organizing activities of Fred Ross.  Ross and Alinsky met, and in 1947, Alinsky hired Ross to work at the Industrial Areas Foundation.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=NckWAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA252 The Practice of Macro Social Work]</ref>  Ross would go on to teach others the Alinsky ways, such as [[Cesar Chavez]] and Dolores Huerta.<ref>[http://action.ufw.org/page/s/fredross Ask President Obama to award Presidential Medal of Freedom to Cesar's mentor, Fred Ross Sr.]</ref>

Alinsky had a tendency to rub the sores of a community raw.  During the [[Great Society]] campaigns of [[Lyndon Johnson]], he pushed the Eastman Kodak Company to hire more black workers.  However, his hard-knock, do-anything techniques rubbed many leaders the wrong way, and in 1967 he found himself without a contract.  This led him to label [[Lyndon Johnson|Johnson]]'s "war on poverty" as a political pork barrel.

Alinsky had a tendency to rub the sores of a community raw.  During the [[Great Society]] campaigns of [[Lyndon Johnson]], he pushed the Eastman Kodak Company to hire more black workers.  However, his hard-knock, do-anything techniques rubbed many leaders the wrong way, and in 1967 he found himself without a contract.  This led him to label [[Lyndon Johnson|Johnson]]'s "war on poverty" as a political pork barrel.  Alinsky would influence many activists in organizing, such as [[Wade Rathke]], Michael Gecan, Edward T. Chambers, and Ernesto Cortes, many of whom went on to become leaders in Alinsky's Industrial Areas Foundation.

The [[Black Panther]] movement in the 1960s made it hard for Alinsky to organize the black populace; they had a difficult time dealing with white leadership.  He finally settled with organizing middle-class white Americans to protest against the deterioration of the suburban markets.

The [[Black Panther]] movement in the 1960s made it hard for Alinsky to organize the black populace; they had a difficult time dealing with white leadership.  He finally settled with organizing middle-class white Americans to protest against the deterioration of the suburban markets.