Making an Impact..Saul Alinsky

Saul Alinsky, born in 1909 and raised in the Jewish Ghetto of Chicago, made himself known for being a strong activist standing up for human rights. He is one man who made an impact on thousands of lives and is still remembered today. He fought for what he believed was right for all those around him and bettered his community. He graduated from the University of Chicago with a Graduate degree in Criminology. His most learned knowledge came from his experience in the community and neighborhoods.  This documentary captures his success stories and how he got to be so famous. His inspiration effect many people and made a true difference. This story explains how he began and where he ended up. His mentors and his strengths are something that made him what he is today.

His campaigns ranged from organizing with churches, creating a union, and a neighborhood council. These campaigns were focused on the low-class people. He believed that these were the people who needed the most help. The impact of his campaigns grew as they continued on. It began with a small group of people, and then expanded to hundreds of supporters. One of his biggest and most successful campaigns was the "Back of Yards" neighborhood council. The creation of this council gave opportunities to individuals who were struggling with human rights. The organization of this was to build up the strength of the people and allow them to win their battle with human rights. The campaigns that were lead by Alinsky became part of a revolution in American history. He showed us the way to organize a community. His theory on community work was that we shouldn't dwell on the morals of what people should hold, but to understand the morals which guide them.

Some quotes that really stood out to me through this documentary begin with...

"The hell with charity, the only thing you'll get is what your strong enough to get."
This stood out to me because I am a strong believer in the fact that if you work hard and then you shall receive. I feel that now-a-days many individuals take for granite the resources that are available and others who don't receive what they should are left in the dark.

"The key to reserving policy, is the participation in political process."
This is a strong statement due to the fact that if you want to make a change in a policy or a system, you must first understand the policies that are in place already. The political field is a hard field, to learn how to change it, you must first learn how it works. That goes along with anything you are learning to do. To make a difference, it is important to known where the problem is coming from and how it came about.

"The responsibility of individuals is to be responsible for other individuals..and you can't just walk away when something isn't right." -Sara Rice (mother of Saul Alinsky)
This is a great quote that describes one of the reasons why I chose to be part of the social work profession. It is our responsibility to take care of one another. And for those who aren't capable of doing so, they must then turn to those who are. Everything makes a difference when people work together to achieve something.

"The first rule of change is controversy. You can't go away from it. All issues are controversial, change means movement and movement means friction, and friction means heat, and heat means controversy."
This points out one of the most important factors of change. That change is like a snowball affect and like the circle of life. One thing can affect another which then affects the next thing and so on and so forth. Change can start very little, and then eventually grow. Controversy in the root of all causes and effects. When you take a controversy that is what you study and grow from to make the change occur.

In all this documentary as really opened my eyes to what macro practice is. As I'm learning more and more about macro I'm truly beginning to understand how much of an affect is has on my life and where I am today and what I'm allowed to do. The impact of macro practice is much larger than I thought. I never gave much thought about being involved in macro practice but have started to see that it could be something I could be more interested in being involved in. This documentary also reminded me that everything takes time. There is no need to rush, but to stay confident and strong in what I believe in and it will eventually make something happen.