ABSTRACT

C. Wright Mills, an activist sociologist of the late 1950s, reminds us that individuals’ “private troubles” need to be situated in broader “public issues” (Mills 1959). Actually, it was less of a gentle reminder and more of a stern call to arms during a time when sociology was becoming increasingly detached from the world around it. Sociology, he said, needed to be concerned with the intersection of biography and history, particularly with those large-scale social processes that cause misery for the many and luxury for a few. Heeding this call, just as relevant in the early decades of the twenty-fi rst century as it was in Mills’ day, requires we situate this group of activists within both a local and national historical context. This is necessary because, to paraphrase another activist intellectual who was writing in the nineteenth century, Karl Marx (1972), these activists craft strategy, articulate goals, respond to adversaries, form coalitions, etc., and therefore make history but not under conditions of their own choosing.1