Rising Star

by David J. Garrow

  CHAPTER FOUR: TRANSFORMATION AND IDENTITY

  1. Barack Obama to Genevieve Cook, 14 August 1985, Cook Papers; Obama in Erin Meyer, “Discovering Hyde Park,” HPH, 14 February 2007; DJG interviews with Genevieve Cook, Beenu Mahmood, Bill Stenzel, Jerry Kellman, Mike Kruglik, Adrienne Jackson, Asif Agha, Joe Bennett, Tom Kaminski, and John Calicott; Edward T. Chambers with Michael A. Cowan, Roots for Radicals: Organizing for Power, Action, and Justice (Continuum, 2005), Chapter 2; Jim Capraro in “Mr. Obama’s Neighborhood,” Hudson Institute, 1 October 2008, p. 5; Kellman in Richard Wolffe, Renegade (Crown, 2009), p. 63, in Jonathan Kaufman, “For Obama, Chicago Days Honed Tactics,” WSJ, 21 April 2008, p. A1, Kellman, “Training Obama,” Organizing, 11 September 2009, Kellman interview with Jim Gilmore, in Shira Schoenberg, “Obama Keeps Making the Rounds,” Concord Monitor, 20 December 2007, on CNN’s “American Morning,” 4 February 2008, in Tim Harper, “The Making of a President,” Toronto Star, 16 August 2008, p. A1, in Sarah Kliff, “Service Changes People’s Character,” Newsweek.com, 5 September 2008, in “Obama as We Knew Him,” Observer, 26 October 2008, pp. 4–7, and in Kelly E. Carter, “Leadership Lessons from the Top,” Black Enterprise, March 2009, p. 105; Obama, DFMF, pp. 146–49; Obama, remarks to the Alliance for American Manufacturing, Pittsburgh, PA, 14 April 2008; Roger Simon, “Obama: ‘I Have the Potential of Bringing People Together,” Politico, 8 February 2007; Ryan Lizza, “The Agitator: Barack Obama’s Unlikely Political Education,” TNR, 19 March 2007, pp. 22ff.; Byron York, “The Organizer: What Did Barack Obama Really Do in Chicago?,” National Review, 30 June 2008; Schopp in Edwina Jones, “From Steel Town to ‘Ghost Town,’” M.A. thesis, Loyola University of Chicago, May 1998, p. 45, and also in Angela Bradbery, “Mill Area Knew Good Times, Now It Knows Bad,” CT, 31 January 1992; Jerry Sullivan, “Paradise Doomed,” Chicago Magazine, August 1985, pp. 142–45, 160–61; Bill Granger, “Requiem for the Southeast Side,” CT, 12 April 1992, Ying-Kuang Hsu et al., “Locating and Quantifying PCB Sources in Chicago: Receptor Modeling and Field Sampling,” Environmental Science & Technology 37 (2003): 681–90; Seung-Muk Yi et al., “Emissions of Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) from Sludge Drying Beds to the Atmosphere in Chicago,” Chemosphere 71 (2008): 1028–34; Robert Bergsvik, “SCA Pleads Not Guilty to PCB Exposure Charges,” DC, 6 June 1985, p. A1; Bergsvik, “Third PCB Monitor Ordered,” DC, 16 July 1985, p. A1; Bergsvik, “CID Sewage Allowance Vote Due,” DC, 17 July 1985, p. A1; Bergsvik, “Higher South Deering Cancer Rate Found,” DC, 18 July 1985, p. A3; Pat Wingert, “Specialist Called in Dump Fire,” CT, 19 August 1985, p. M3; Ernest G. Barefield to Mike Holewinski, “Landfill at 122nd Street,” 20 August 1985, HWP COF Box 9 Fld. 34; Robert Bergsvik, “Toxic Waste Fire Finally Capped,” and C. D. Matthews, “Waste Fire Concerns Residents,” DC, 21 August 1985, pp. A1 and A2; Don B. Gallay to Jesse D. Madison, “122nd & Cottage Grove,” 23 August 1985, HWP COF Box 9 Fld. 34; “UNO Schedules Conference,” DC, 24 August 1985, p. A5; Casey Bukro, “Stubborn Fire Puts Heat on Dump Owner,” CT, 26 August 1985, p. A1; Bukro, “Fire Fuels Toxic Clean-Up Fight,” CT, 28 August 1985, p. A3; Robert Bergsvik, “Toxic Waste Cleanup Urged,” and “EPA Monitoring Landfill Fire,” DC, 28 August 1985, p. A1; Jim Quinlan, “U.S. Aid on Dump Fire Asked,” CST, 28 August 1985, p. 22; Henry Locke, “Increase Efforts to Extinguish Underground Fire,” CD, 29 August 1985, p. 8; Debbie Nelson, “S.E. Side Dump Cited for Hazards Since ’71,” CST, 4 September 1985, p. 25; Jesse M. Madison to Ernest Barefield, “Status Report—122nd & Cottage Grove Hazardous Waste Site,” 11 September 1985, HWP COF Box 9 Fld. 34; Citizens for a Better Environment, United Neighborhood Organization of Southeast Chicago & Mary Ellen Montes v. William K. Reilly, 1991 WL 95040 (N. D. Ill.), 24 May 1991 (filed 16 September 1985); “UNO to Meet with Simon,” DC, 19 September 1985, p. A2; Casey Bukro and Lisa Frazier, “Wastes Buried at Dump May Be Blown Up,” CT, 11 October 1985, p. 7; “SE Sides Demand EPA Control Toxics,” TNW, November 1985, p. 11; Harold Henderson, “Don’t Dump on Us,” CR, 23 May 1986, pp. 1, 20–29.

  2. “Ice Cream Vendor Slain in Front of Son,” CT, 7 July 1985, p. A2; William Recktenwald, “Police Hunt Killers of Ice Cream Vendor,” CT, 8 July 1985, p. 15; Clem Richardson, “Children Mourn Slain Ice Cream Vendor,” CST, 8 July 1985, pp. 1, 6; William Recktenwald, “Shooting Creates Fear in Vendors,” CT, 9 July 1985, p. A3; “Obituaries,” CT, 12 July 1985, p. A7; Wes Smith, “Mortician Promotes His Lively Undertaking,” CT, 14 July 1985, p. B3; “Suspect Charged in Vendor’s Slaying,” CT, 31 August 1985, p. 5; Linnet Myers, “Son’s Testimony Avenges Ice Cream Man’s Killing,” CT, 13 November 1987, p. 10; Rosalind Rossi, “Man Guilty of Killing Ice Cream Driver,” CST, 13 November 1987, p. 24; Rossi, “Killer of ‘Model Citizen’ Gets Life Term,” CST, 12 March 1988, p. 4; People v. L. C. Riley & Willie Dixon, 596 N. E. 2d 122 (Ill. App. Ct. 1st Dst.), 22 June 1992; People v. Riley, 606 N. E. 2d 1233 (Ill. S.Ct.), 2 December 1992; People v. Riley, 622 N. E. 2d 1222 (Ill. S.Ct.), 6 October 1993; U.S. ex rel. Willie Dixon v. Godinez, 1994 WL 411374 (N. D. Ill.), 3 August 1994.

  Madeline Talbott 1985 and 1986 appointment books, Illinois ACORN Papers (IAP) Box 2 Flds. 25 and 26; Illinois ACORN, “Notes from the Board Meeting,” 24 September 1985, IAP Box 1 Fld. 10; Madeline Talbott, “Chicago ACORN Year End/Year Begin Report and Plan,” 4 January 1986, IAP Box 2 Fld. 62; Chicago ACORN Board List, January 1986, IAP Box 3 Fld. 54; DJG interviews with Madeline Talbott and Ted Aranda; Juanita Bratcher, “Ald. Hutchinson Boasts of ‘Go-Getting’ Ways in 9th,” CD, 22 June 1985; Perry H. Hutchinson to Maurice Parrish, 12 August 1985, both in HWP FAS Box 13 Fld. 23; Henry Locke, “Official Charges: Prostitution Allowed to Run Rampantly on Michigan Ave. in Roseland,” CD, 5 September 1985, p. 8; “Hutchinson Clarifies Resolution,” CD, 26 September 1985, p. 4.

  3. DJG interviews with Jerry Kellman, Bob Klonowski, Loretta Augustine-Herron, Yvonne Lloyd, Dan Lee, Cathy Askew, Marlene Dillard, Tom Kaminski, and Eva Sturgies; Augustine-Herron in Nicole Duran, “The New Kid on the Block,” Campaigns & Elections, June 2007, pp. 52ff., in Mike Littwin, “Obama’s ‘Change’ Could Be More Than a Coined Phrase,” Rocky Mountain News, 29 August 2007, in Markus Ziener, “Barack Obama in Chicago,” Handelsblatt, 25 June 2008, in “They Met Obama When,” CT, 16 November 2008, p. 19, in Becoming Barack: Evolution of a Leader, Little Dizzy Home Video, 2009, and in Dahleen Glanton and Katherine Skiba, “Community Organizers Who Taught Obama Get an Invitation to the Inauguration,” CT, 20 January 2013; Lloyd in Michael Cass, “Obama’s Rise Is No Surprise to Nashville Woman Who Worked with Him,” Tennessean, 5 October 2012; Obama to Genevieve Cook, 14 August 1985, Cook Papers.

  4. Auma Obama, And Then Life Happens (St. Martin’s Press, 2012), pp. 153–71; Auma Obama in Becoming Barack: Evolution of a Leader, Little Dizzy Home Video, 2009, in “Obama as We Knew Him,” Observer, 26 October 2008, pp. 4–7, on Today, NBC, 30 April 2012, on Piers Morgan Tonight, CNN, 2 May 2012, and on Starting Point, CNN, 3 May 2012; DJG interview with Asif Agha; Obama, DFMF, pp. 207–10, 211–22, 227; Obama on All Things Considered, NPR, 27 July 2004, on Fresh Air, 12 August 2004, on The Oprah Winfrey Show, 19 January 2005, in Hill Harper, Letters to a Young Brother (Gotham Books, 2006), pp. 156–57, in Todd Purdum, “Raising Obama,” Vanity Fair, March 2008, in Jon Meacham, “Obama on His Parents’ Influence” and “What Barack Obama Learned from His Father,” Newsweek, 22 August 2008, and on 20/20, ABC, 26 September 2008. Referring to his father’s 1971 appearance in Honolulu, Obama told Davies that “Later in life . . . I would realize how much that brief visit and interaction with him altered me in all sorts of ways.”

  5. Jim Duffy, “Strike: City Teachers Walk Out Again,” Southtown Economist [SE], 3 September 1985, pp. 1, 2; Linda Lenz and Tim Padgett, “Teachers Strike,” CST, 3 September 1985, pp. 1, 4; Lenz and Donald M. Schwartz, “Teachers Still Out,” CST, 4 September 1985, p. 3; “Unconsionable Strike,” CST, 4 September 1985, p. 33; Dave Roeder, “Politicians Quickly Bicker Over Strike,” SE, 4 September 1985, pp. 1, 2; Casey Banas and Philip Len
z, “Governor Enters School Fray,” CT, 4 September 1985, pp. 1, 2; Banas and Jean Davidson, “City Schools Back in Business,” CT, 5 September 1985, pp. 1, 2; Linda Lenz and Clem Richardson, “Pupils Head Back,” CST, 5 September 1985, p. 6.

  Illinois House of Representatives, 9 April 1985, p. 39 (Giglio’s introduction of House Bills 1167 and 1168); Bob Kostanczuk, “4 Giglio Bills Clear First Hurdle,” DC, 30 April 1985, p. 2; “Support Urged for Jobs Bank,” DC, 2 July 1985, p. A3; “Computer Job Bank Bill Due,” DC, 12 July 1985, p. A1; Illinois Senate, 3 July 1985, pp. 37–38; Illinois Public Act 84-0050, signed 19 July 1985; Peggy Shaw, “Gov. Thompson Approves Area Job Program Funds,” The Star [TS] (Chicago Heights), 1 August 1985, p. 1; “Plugging the Gaps,” TS, 4 August 1985, p. A16; Juanita Bratcher, “Deny Jobs Plan a Political Plum,” CD, 6 August 1985, p. 3; “Job Bank Office to Open Oct.1 at GSU,” TS, 19 September 1985, p. 1; “New Regional Office to Help Jobless Find Work Will be Based at Governors State,” TS, 19 September 1985, Adrienne Bitoy Jackson Papers (ABJP); “State, Religious Leaders to Help Launch Network,” TS, 26 September 1985, p. A3; “Leaders to Dedicate Job Bank Sept. 30,” Chicago Catholic [CC], 27 September 1985, p. 5; “Employment ‘Network’ Starts Tomorrow,” TS, 29 September 1985, p. A1; Leo T. Mahon, “From the Pastor’s Desk,” St. Victor Parish Sunday Bulletin [SVPSB] 29 September and 6 October 1985, p. 2; C. D. Matthews, “Mood Upbeat at Jobs Rally,” DC, 1 October 1985, p. A1; Ken Brucks and Sharon Jacobson to All CHD Funded Groups, “Memorandum,” 1 October 1985, IAP Box 3 Fld. 55; Thom Gibbons, “Leaders Launch Employment Service,” TS, 3 October 1985, pp. A1, A4; “Jobless Effort Gets Top Church Support, Praise,” CC, 4 October 1985, p. 6; “Funds to be Available,” DC, 5 October 1985, p. A7; Sharon Jacobson to Voice of the People et al., “The Bridge to a Better Future Program,” 7 October 1985, IAP Box 3 Fld. 55; “Area Gets New Job-Assessment Program,” Kankakee Sunday Journal, 13 October 1985, p. 23; “GSU Prof to Direct Job Finding Network,” TS, 17 October 1985, p. A5; “Employment Network Update,” SVPSB, 20 and 27 October 1985, p. 4; David A. Gorak, “New Jobs Network to Target Hard-Hit Southern Suburbs,” CCB, 21 October 1985; “GSU Prof Heads New Jobs Network,” DC, 23 October 1985, p. A11; “6 Self-Help Groups Get Grants,” CT, 28 October 1985, p. 7 (Obama); “Skills Bank Receives Grant,” DC, 29 October 1985, p. A1; George H. Ryan, “Build Illinois: Abundant Opportunities for Local Governments,” Illinois Municipal Review, November 1985, pp. 11–12; Timothy Auer, “Local Self-Help Groups Get $185,000 from CHD,” CC, 1 November 1985, pp. 1, 28; Bob Kostanczuk, “Unemployed May Find Hope Through Network,” DC, 4 November 1985, p. A1; “Research Associates Join GSU Staff,” DC, 7 November 1985, p. B3; “Data Bank,” SVPSB, 10 November 1985, p. 5; Juanita Bratcher, “Rice Raps Libby on Plan to Close S. Side Plant,” CD, 18 November 1985, p. 13; “New Job Program Draws 86 Hopefuls,” Hammond Times, 18 November 1985; Bob Kostanczuk, “Assessment Program Successful,” DC, 22 November 1985, p. A3; “HACO Receives Grant from Thornton Township,” Standard Newspaper, 23 November–7 December 1985, ABJP; “Church Leads in Bringing New Hope to Steel Depressed Calumet Area,” Illlinois Lutheran, November–December 1985, p. 4; Violet T. Czachorski, “Background on CCRC,” Hegewisch News, 12 December 1985, p. 1; Tom Joyce, “1985 Social Development Grants Completed,” n.d., p. 67, TJP; “The Spotlight Is On . . . Gloria Boyda!” SVPSB, 16 February 1986, p. 6; Obama, DFMF, pp. 151–55; Thomas C. Knutson, “In Memoriam: Joseph Cardinal Bernardin,” Let’s Talk 2 #2, Easter 1997; Trevor Jensen, “Rev. Paul E. Erickson, Ex-Lutheran Bishop,” CT, 5 April 2007; Mike Kruglik on All Things Considered, NPR, 6 September 2008; Julie Ratey, “Interview with Senator Barack Obama,” Catholic Digest, October 2008; Obama, Notre Dame Commencement Address, 17 May 2009, Public Papers of the Presidents 2009 Vol. I, p. 661 (recalling Bernardin “speaking at one of the first organizing meetings I attended”); Patricia Zapor, “Obama Cites Influence of Cardinal Bernardin,” Catholic News Service, 2 July 2009; DJG interviews with Fred Simari, Jerry Kellman, Mary Bernstein, Mike Kruglik, Tom Knutson, Loretta Augustine-Herron, Bob Klonowski, Jan Poledziewski, Len Dubi, Maury Richards, John Calicott, Dan Lee, Tommy West, Paul Burak, Tom Joyce, Ken Brucks, Mary Yu, and Sharon Jacobson. See also “6 Community Groups Get Self-Help Grants,” CT, 23 May 1985, p. B12; Mary Yu, “The Center Stage,” Upturn, June–July 1985, pp. 13–14; “CHD, $88 Million Later, to Mark 15th Anniversary,” CC, 26 July–2 August 1985, p. 13; Suzanne Carter, “CHD-Backed Project Shows Upbeat Side of City Housing,” and Peter Kelly, “One Effective Self-Help Effort Very Often Leads to Another,” CC, 9–16 August 1985, pp. 20, 21; and Robert L. Johnston, “CHD Arrives!” CC, 23–30 August 1985, pp. 3, 28. Within two years of Bernardin’s remarks at the rally, two of the most progressive priests of the Chicago archdiocese would publicly express their disappointment with him. Leo’s friend Jack Egan remarked that “I’ve never met a more calculating man” and Andrew Greeley would decry Bernardin’s “timorous and equivocal leadership style.” Egan in Roy Larson, “The Pope’s Man in the Middle,” and Greeley, “The Fall of an Archdiocese,” Chicago Magazine, September 1987, pp. 122–27, at 124, and 128–31, 190–92 at 192.

  6. Frank Lumpkin et al., “A Plan to ‘Nationalize’ Steel,” CT, 11 August 1985, p. P14; Larry Galica, “Peurala Chides Parton ‘Giveaways,’” DC, 20 August 1985, p. A3; Mary Schmich, “A Union Leader Who Wasn’t Made of Steel,” CT, 25 August 1985; Frank Lumpkin in U. S. House of Representatives, Committee on Education and Labor, Subcommittee on Employment Opportunities, Hearing: The Income and Jobs Action Act of 1985, 99th Cong., 1st sess., Serial 99-26, 4 September 1985, pp. 94–96; “Atty. Gen. Files Suit Against USS for No Rail Mill,” DC, 21 September 1985, p. A3; Larry Galica, “Local 1033 President No Supporter of 1984 Steel Co. Merger,” DC, 27 September 1985, p. A1; Maury Richards, “We Gave LTV Every Chance,” 1033 News & Views, October 1985, p. 3; Maria Cerda to Alton Miller, “Monthly Press Activity Reports,” 1 October 1985, HWP DS Box 5 Fld. 16; Larry Galica, “Ex-Wisconsin Employees Picket at Downtown Sites,” DC, 5 October 1985, p. 1, FLP Box 5 Fld. 1; Juanita Bratcher, “Coalition to Fight Foreclosures,” CD, 29 October 1985, p. 3 (including Frank Lumpkin and Alice Peurala); “Dedication Scheduled,” DC, 14 November 1985, p. A1; Larry Galica, “LTV Pension Probe Requested,” DC, 25 November 1985, p. B5; 1033 News & Views, December 1985, p. 1; Robert Mier et al., “Strategic Planning and the Pursuit of Reform, Economic Development, and Equity,” Journal of the American Planning Association 52 (Summer 1986): 299–309. Identical copies of Lumpkin’s CT letter previously had appeared as “Nationalized Steel Would Help Nation and the Community,” CST, 15 July 1985, p. 22, and “Nationalize Steel Mills,” DC, 24 July 1985, p. A4.

  7. Barack Obama to Genevieve Cook, 3 September [sic] 1985 (“9/3” but postmarked 3 October 1985), Cook Papers; John Rockwell, “Bonnie Raitt Sings at the Ritz,” NYT, 18 August 1985, p. 61; Bill Stenzel, “Rights and Reality,” Upturn, February–March 1987, p. 7; Bill Stenzel, “Dean’s Role—Pro-Active,” Upturn, December 1987–January 1988, pp. 10, 14; Bonnie Nitsche in Holy Rosary Parish 1992–2008, pp. 41–42; Loretta Augustine-Herron in Serge Kovaleski, “In Organizing, Obama Led While Finding His Place,” NYT, 7 July 2008; Bill Stenzel in Patrick Whelan, The Catholic Case for Obama (Catholic Democrats, October 2008), pp. 9–11; Stenzel and Jerry Kellman in Eli Saslow, “Obama’s Path to Faith Was Eclectic,” WP, 18 January 2009, p. A18; DJG interviews with Genevieve Cook, Fred Simari, Jerry Kellman, Mike Kruglik, Mary Bernstein, Bill Stenzel, Bonnie and Wally Nitsche, Betty and Selmo “Lucky” Garrett Jr., Jan Poledziewski, Bob Klonowski, Loretta Augustine-Herron, Nadyne Griffin, and Tom Kaminski; Bob Rakow, “Retired Priest Made All Feel at Ease,” CST, 20 February 2011; Patrick Whelen and William Stenzel, “Chicago Priest, Hired Barack Obama as Organizer, Dies at 70,” NCR, 28 February 2011; Byron York, “The Organizer,” National Review, 30 June 2008.

  8. “‘Council Wars’ at Mann Park,” Hegewisch News, 17 October 1985, p. 1; “UNO Banquet Set,” DC, 29 October 1985, p. A1; Larry Galica, “Reveren
d Subject of Protest Rally” and “UNO Issues Awards,” DC, 2 November 1985, p. A3; Robert Bergsvik, “Vet to Oppose Panayotovich in 35th District,” DC, 12 November 1985, p. A1; Judy Keane, “Alinsky Leftovers,” DC, 14 November 1985, p. A4; Larry Galica, “Radical Tactics Chided,” DC, 21 November 1985, p. A1; Galica, “UNO Criticized at Public Forum,” DC, 23 November 1985, p. A3; Judy Keane, “The Truth Finally,” DC, 4 December 1985, p. A4; Don Terry and Andrew Bagnato, “Thompson to Release Cash for Schools,” CT, 27 November 1985; “Public Officials Join Dump Fight” and Violet Czachorski, “Mayor Is Silent,” Hegewisch News, 22 August 1985, p. 1; Czachorski, “Groups Unite Against Plan,” HN, 26 September 1985, p. 1; Robert Bergsvik, “Protest Fails to Obtain Commitment Against More New Landfill Locations” and “Sanitary Landfill Permits Approved,” DC, 5 October 1985, pp. A1, A3; “Residents on the Stump Against More Dumps,” HN, 10 October 1985, p. 1; James E. Landing, “Landing Tallies Objections,” HN, 14 November 1985, pp. 1, 5; Mary Ellen Montes, “Hazardous Dumps,” Save Our Jobs News [#2], December 1985, p. 3, FLP Box 4 Fld. 2; Robert Bergsvik, “Ban on Landfills May Be Extended,” DC, 4 December 1985, p. A3; Gertrude T. Smith to Harold Washington, 7 December 1985, HWP COF Box 22 Fld. 62; Casey Bukro, “Agency Cools Its Efforts on Overly Warm Landfill,” CT, 13 December 1985, p. A3; “Simon Plans Meeting with EPA,” DC, 21 December 1985, p. A3; John B. W. Corey to Benjamin Reyes, “Estimate of Cost for a Water Main to Serve Homes on 134th Place,” 3 October 1984, HWP DS Box 16 Fld. 31; Lester S. Dickinson to Kari Moe et al., “Meeting Concerning Environmental Health and Safety Problems,” 17 September 1985, HWP COF Box 9 Fld. 34; Jean Davidson, “Families So Close Yet So Far from Solution to Tainted Water,” CT, 1 December 1985, p. C1; Juanita Bratcher, “Residents Fight Water Blues,” CD, 3 December 1985, pp. 1, 18; Mayor’s Press Office News Release, 24 December 1986, HWP Box 53.