Boyte

Boyte, however, had organized for Dr. King, had written the definitive book on contemporary community organizing, and was himself a socialist.

Radical-In-Chief Stanley Kurtz 2010

Partial and unidentified article reprint from February 1981 in Midwest Academy Records, Box 18, Folder: Boyte 1980.

Radical-In-Chief Stanley Kurtz 2010

On Labor Day 1969, a group that included past SDS national secretary Paul Booth, his activist wife, Heather Booth, onetime SDS field secretary Steve Max, and radical community organizer Harry Boyte published a pamphlet titled “Socialism and the Coming Decade.”

Radical-In-Chief Stanley Kurtz 2010

This is surely Boyte, and it seems very likely that Obama would have availed himself of an opportunity to see Boyte at the April 1985 Socialist Scholars Conference.

Radical-In-Chief Stanley Kurtz 2010

Boyte defended this approach, but also went further.

Radical-In-Chief Stanley Kurtz 2010

Portraying heartless corporations as enemies of traditional communities, thought Boyte, was the only way to build a quasi-socialist mass movement in the United States.

Radical-In-Chief Stanley Kurtz 2010

Socialists could quietly help direct such a movement, Boyte believed, but openly highlighting socialist ideology would only drive converts away.

Radical-In-Chief Stanley Kurtz 2010

In effect, Boyte was calling on DSA to drop its public professions of socialism and start referring to itself as “communitarian” instead.

Radical-In-Chief Stanley Kurtz 2010

Letter from Harry Boyte to Michael Harrington, January 10, 1974, begins, “We talked several years ago,” DSA Records, Harrington Correspondence, Box 5A, Folder 1973.

Radical-In-Chief Stanley Kurtz 2010

In the Midwest Academy Records, this pamphlet is without a cover and the “What To Do” heading is on the first page of text, along with a listing of six authors: Heather Booth, Paul Booth, Harry Boyte, Sara Boyte, Steve Max, and Roger Robinson.

Radical-In-Chief Stanley Kurtz 2010