The Democratic Promise: Saul Alinsky and His Legacy (review)

Organizers of any stripe alive today owe much of their craft to the life of Saul Alinsky. But who is Saul Alinsky, what made him tick, and what was the source of his brilliance? One of the better ways to answer these questions is to view The Democratic Promise. At a little more than 56 minutes, it is an informative and inspiring examination of the life and actions of the man Time magazine called "a prophet of power to the people." One idea that resonates throughout the film is the importance of power and how Alinsky deconstructs it for the people he champions.

The film's greatest strength is that both the text and the images emphasize the power relationship between dominant and subordinate groups. Of course Alinsky is interested in helping the subordinate groups, and the story nicely chronicles his lifetime efforts beginning in the 1930s with juvenile gang behavior and concluding in the 1960s with an assortment of underserved community groups tackling city hall or corporate America. Alinsky's historic agitating in Chicago's "Back of the Yards," the formation of "The Woodlawn Organization," and the breakthrough struggle against the Rochester, New York-based KODAK company are well developed and presented as critical moments in the development of a particular model of community organizing.

The Democratic Promise is composed of two films. The first utilizes vivid black-and-white photos and dramatic narrative (provided by Alec Baldwin) to present the history of Alinsky's participation in community struggles and the formation of the Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF). The second film focuses on the many derivations of the IAF since Alinsky's death in 1972 and describes the Foundation's "ten-day training" method. In this sense the film is more than a moving portrait of a man's legacy; it also functions as a kind of training-tool teaser for contemporary groups that need to organize communities. The second half of the film treats viewers to instrumental and inspiring accounts of people organizing for social justice in East Brooklyn, New York, and Dallas, Texas.

From alleviating juvenile delinquency to building low-income homes in Brooklyn, Alinsky's educational, political, and moral compasses are featured as principle forces behind the film's essential question, "How do ordinary people acquire the skills to become players in the public arena?" The Alinsky method of organizing was a response to crises in American democracy in the 1930s, 40s, and 50s. His method proved good enough then for the likes of mineworkers' union-chief, John L. Lewis, and multi-denominational church leaders of poor congregations. In the 1960s Alinsky's "rules for radicals" was the blueprint that rallied civil-rights and anti-poverty movements. As the twenty-first century unfolds and organized labor confronts its present challenges, the Democratic Promise is a good union-education or labor-studies primer for rejuvenating another struggle for the promise of democracy.

The Democratic Promise: Saul Alinsky and His Legacy, produced by Media Process Educational Films and Chicago Video Project, may be ordered from the Chicago Video Project for $15 plus $3 postage. Send a check to Chicago Video Project, 800 W. Huron, Ste. 3 South, Chicago, IL 60622. For more information, phone 312-666-0195.