This documentary is a good introduction to the work of legendary organizer, Saul Alinsky. Narrated by Alec Baldwin, and featuring interviews with many people Alinsky worked with, "The Democratic Promise" shows how people learned to get together and lobby their government and workplaces to promote their welfare. Starting in meat-packing plants, moving on to struggles for housing, and being picked up by Vietnam war protestors, Alinsky's guidance has helped countless people to pressure for their causes.
The story of a community group working for housing in East Brooklyn is one of many inspiring stories in the film. There's a wonderful scene when Mayor Rudolph Giulianni comes to their church and announces that he will support their cause and that they will receive the funding they need for their project.
Alinsky's
Rules for Radicals
continues to be widely read by organizers. Hillary Clinton's Wikipedia biography mentions that she did a paper on Alinsky, and Saul's ideas also influenced activists like Cesar Chavez and Stokely Carmichael. Alinsky also pioneered "shareholder activism"
The Emperor's Nightingale: Restoring the Integrity of the Corporation in the Age of Shareholder Activism
Making Waves and Riding the Currents: Activism and the Practice of Wisdom (BK Currents)
.
Alinsky's life was a testament to what Frederick Douglass said about how power concedes nothing without a struggle. This film is a much needed reminder of the need for that struggle, and the power that people do have when they organize.
See also
This Is What Democracy Looks Like
and
What Would Jefferson Do?: A Return to Democracy
by radio host Thom Hartmann.
And for an international perspective on organizing
Cocalero
.
