American - Activist | January 30, 1909 - June 12, 1972
If the real radical finds that having long hair sets up psychological barriers to communication and organization, he cuts his hair. If I were organizing in an orthodox Jewish community, I would not walk in there eating a ham sandwich unless I wanted to be rejected so I could have an excuse to cop out.
Saul Alinsky
CommunicationCommunityWalkHair
A racially integrated community is a chronological term timed from the entrance of the first black family to the exit of the last white family.
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Always remember the first rule of power tactics; power is not only what you have but what the enemy thinks you have.
PowerRememberYouEnemyFirstRule
As an organizer, I start from where the world is, as it is, not as I would like it to be. That we accept the world as it is does not in any sense weaken our desire to change it into what we believe it should be - it is necessary to begin where the world is if we are going to change it to what we think it should be. That means working in the system.
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The job of the organizer is to maneuver and bait the establishment so that it will publicly attack him as a 'dangerous enemy.'
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Last guys don't finish nice.
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Ridicule is man's most potent weapon.
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To the organizer, compromise is a key and beautiful word. It is always present in the pragmatics of operation... If you start with nothing, demand 100 percent, then compromise for 30 percent, you're 30 percent ahead.
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It does not matter what you know about anything if you cannot communicate to your people. In that event, you are not even a failure. You're just not there.
FailurePeopleYouKnowMatterJust
If the ends don't justify the means, what does?
JustifyMeansEndsDoes
All change means disorganization of the old and organization of the new.
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The greatest enemy of individual freedom is the individual himself.
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