101 Changemakers

Michele Bollinger lives in Washington, DC where she teaches high school social studies.Dao X. Tran is an editor based in the Bronx, New York. Dao is currently working on the Domestic Worker Oral History Project. When not reading for work and pleasure, she enjoys time with her daughter Quyen, a changemaker of a different sort.

Though this populous gallery of radicals includes the usual suspects like Susan B. Anthony, César Chávez, and Malcolm X, it focuses far more on lesser-known figures active in the abolition of slavery; the labor union and environmental movements; and the struggles to equalize civil rights for African Americans, women, immigrants, and the LGBT community. Each of the chronologically arranged entries includes a large picture, a brief account of experiences or achievements, a biographical time line, study questions, and enhancement activities that range from suggested readings to write your own jailhouse letter.” Dubbing Frederick Douglass a freedom fighter and Albert Parsons a martyr” of the Haymarket riot, the language betrays a leftist slant as do some of the questions: Can you think of other times in history when the government has used patriotism to drum up support for war?” Still, these introductions to Studs Terkel ( the world’s greatest listener”), Fred Korematsu, Tecumseh, Francis Perkins, Bob Dylan, transgender activist Sylvia Rae Rivera, and others will give even well-read students a new angle on our country’s history.Booklist

• 101 Real Change Makers1.Tecumseh2.Oscoela3.Red Cloud4.Crazy Horse5.Nathan Bacon6.Daniel Shays7.Grimke Sisters8.Susan B. Anthony/Elizabeth Cady Stanton/Lucretia Mott9.David Walker (early Black abolitionist)10.Denmark Vesey (planned a slave rebellion)11.Nat Turner12.Henry Highland Garnet (Black abolitionist, organized black troops)13.Frederick Douglass14.Harriet Tubman15.John Brown16.WEB DuBois17.Queen Liliuokalani18.Mark Twain19.August Spies20.Albert and Lucy Parsons21.Mary Elizabeth Lease, populist22.Ida B. Wells23.Margaret Sanger24.Upton Sinclair25.Clarence Darrow26.Elizabeth Gurley Flynn27.Helen Keller28.Eugene Debs29.Big Bill Haywood30.Joe Hill31.Mary Harris “Mother” Jones32.Hulet Wells (Seattle 1919)33.Hubert Harrison34.Paul Robeson35.Harry Bridges 36.The Dunne Bros.37.Genora Dollinger38.Angelo Herndon39.Emma Goldman40.A. Philip Randolph41.John L. Lewis42.Langston Hughes43.Richard Wright44.Harry Hay45.Del Martin/Phyllis Lyon/Barbara Gittings (Daughters of Bilitis)46.Jeanette Rankin (1st woman in Congress, founding member of Women’s Int’l League for Peace and Freedom)47.Fred Korematsu (Japanese American who refused to report to internment camp; Korematsu vs. United States)48.Henry A. Wallace49.Cesar Chavez50.Dorothy Height, National Council of Negro Women51.Claudette Colvin52.Rosa Parks53.Bayard Rustin54.Melba Beals and the Little Rock 955.Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.56.Malcolm X57.Ella Baker58.Fannie Lou Hamer59.Stokely Carmichael60.Diane Nash61.John Lewis62.Angela Davis63.Huey Newton64.Shirley Chisolm65.Muhammad Ali66.Leonard Peltier67.Dennis Banks/AIM68.Philip and Daniel Berrigan69.Billie Jean King70.Ralph Nader71.Rachel Carson72.Howard Zinn73.Dolores Huerta74.Edward Said75.June Jordan76.Harvey Milk77.Winona LaDuke78.Jesse Jackson79.Cleve Jones80.Laila Al-Arian81.Noam Chomsky82.Ryan White83.Constance McMillen84.COLAGE members (or affiliated with) who testified on behalf of their gay parents’ right to marry85.Elvira Arellano and son Saul ArellanoOther possibilities – more writers, academics, artists1.Bessie Smith2.Gertrude Stein3.Audre Lorde4.John Reed5.Jacob Lawrence6.Ben Shahn7.Clifford Odets8.August Wilson9.Lorraine Hansberry10.Orson Wells11.Marlon Brando12.Bob Dylan13.Betty Friedan 14.Gloria Steinem15.Susan Brownmiller16.Martina Navratilova17.Gloria Anzaldua18.Barbara Smith19.James Baldwin20.Tony Kushner21.Larry Kramer (ACT UP)22.Eqbal Ahmad23.Daniel Ellsberg24.Ralph Johns – Son of Syrian immigrants, Greensboro NC store owner during the sit-ins, supportive of black students25.Frances Perkins