Ivory Perry; Activist or Agitator? (another Cindy thread)

Ivory Perry was a fixture in the history of urban and African American civil rights in St. Louis, MO from the 1960s-1980s. I had never heard of him until last fall when I read historian George Lipsitz's book on him titled "A Life in the Struggle: Ivory Perry and the Culture of Opposition" (1988, Temple University Press).

Perry was the son of a poor Arkansas sharecropper. He was born in the segregated south. Perry always found himself in trouble with the law or with his superiors in the Army. He was a veteran of the Korean War and was wounded in a battle near Sinaju. He was part of a segregated Army and witnessed first hand the bigotry of white soldiers and officers. Upon his return to the states he saw the irony of having just fought for his country and being denied work and housing because of the color of his skin.

But no matter where he wound up, he always wanted to make life better not just for himself, but for ALL who were in his same situation. He saw the "bigger picture" of his existence. Author George Lipsitz applied Antonio Gramsci's term "organic intellectual" to Perry's example. Organic intellectuals, "direct the ideas and aspirations of their class even though they hold no formal status or employment as 'intellectuals'. Social action constitutes the indispensable core of their activity. Organic intellectuals not only analyze and interpret the world, they originate and circulate their ideas through social contestation." (Lipsitz, pg 9). Perry had no formal education, held no advanced degree, but he saw the overall geopolitical and the socioeconomic applications to his particular personal situation and the situations of those around him in inner city St. Louis.

Ivory Perry stopped traffic in downtown St. Louis by throwing himself in front of oncoming cars, organized neighborhood rent strikes, staged sit-ins at the mayor's office, chained himself to factory fences in support of striking workers, shouted and screamed in city council meetings for funding to test children in urban areas for lead poisoning--he was a major pain in the ass. But because of his actions, his organic intellectualism, he saved the lives of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of children the decayed urban areas of the 1970s.

Now, what the hell does Ivory Perry have to do with Cindy Sheehan? You tell me. Ivory Perry had the audacity to block traffic, had the temerity to question city council members, doctors and hospital administrators. He had the nerve to expect the government to protect inner city children from lead poisoning. He was crazy enough to demand decent, safe housing for the women and children of St. Louis.

Audacity. Temerity. Nerve. Craziness.

Had he not had those assets, how many more children would have died from lead poisoning and sub standard housing in St. Louis? The city council survived his demands. The City of St. Louis survived his antics. Why is it so hard for some to expect the Democrats in the US Congress to survive the temerity, nerve and audacity of one US serviceman's grieving mother?

Discuss.

He acted on his own outside of his protest group, the Congress Of Racial Equality (CORE).

audicity to expect equality. Makes me smile-big.

He was a fascinating man, full of energy and passion. He had his detractors and was very flawed but aren't we all? They criticized Perry much the same way Cindy's criticized. It's an old argument.

so I will.