The scene:
We are sitting in the office that Jeff’s wife Mariel built into the garage. It’s the most formal environment selected by my interviewees thus far, but it’s fitting coming from a lawyer ;) Jeff is a spry 80 yrs old and is seemingly stoic and intimidating, but he warms right up when I start prodding him to tell me what the 60s Summer of Love was all about. Join us for a very colorful storytelling of Jeff’s and US history - a memoir of sorts.
Highlights:
+ Board member of the Water Protector Legal Collective
+ Active in the National Lawyers Guild for over 50 years
+ Practiced law in Chicago from 1969-2002
+ Grew up in Atlanta, Georgia
+ Parents are Jewish and supported the Civil Rights Movement
+ Grandfather was an attorney
+ Dad worked with John Lewis on the voter education project
+ Mom helped integrate hotels in Atlanta
+ Was the president of a fraternity
+ Volunteered for active duty to prevent getting drafted
+ Studied Law at the University of Chicago in the mid 60’s at the time of the riots and anti-war movements
+ First job was at Legal Aid helping the black community build affordable housing
+ Founded the People’s Law Collective
+ Spent 13 years in a civil suit to prove and prosecute the FBI and Chicago Police Dept for murdering Fred Hampton, the leader of the Black Panthers
+ Went back to school in his 60’s for an MFA in Creative Non-Fiction Writing in order to write his book like a memoir
+ Writing is an experience in self-revelation
+ Learning to write not just what happened but how you felt about it
+ Inspired by George Orwell’s memoirs
+ The value of group critiques for developing writing
+ Having a fundamental sense of justice
+ Having a mind for math, logic, and chess
+ Reacting to the time’s politics shaped the trajectory of his life
+ He’s a “reluctant revolutionary”
+ Not just a lawyer for the movement but also a part of the movement
+ There’s a difference between empathizing with or exploiting the prejudices of your crowd (manipulation)
+ When the long-reigning majority fears losing their power, totalitarian regimes tend to set in
+ Movie: Youth vs. the Government
+ The difference between empathy and sympathy, walking together vs. “saving”
+ It’s important to do things in life that make you uncomfortable
+ Using your privilege to benefit others without it
+ Are you part of the solution or are you part of the problem?
+ Office meetings on acid in the forest
+ Having a front-row seat on history
+ The camaraderie of working with a group
+ Climate change is a major issue
+ How do you show the governments’ complicity?
+ Top priority call to action: confronting the fossil fuel industry
Taste:
“If you recognize climate change, you recognize the collective need to deal with it - the governments and people acting together. Private enterprise/capitalism is not going to solve climate change. [...] Acknowledging climate change means you can’t make profit all the time.”
Saying:
“Evil doesn’t succeed because of the actions of evil people, it’s the non-actions of good people that allows evil to prevail.”
Thank you for listening!
Please subscribe to support this project.
Love, Sagewolf xoxo
The scene:
We are sitting in the office that Jeff’s wife Mariel built into the garage. It’s the most formal environment selected by my interviewees thus far, but it’s fitting coming from a lawyer ;) Jeff is a spry 80 yrs old and is seemingly stoic and intimidating, but he warms right up when I start prodding him to tell me what the 60s Summer of Love was all about. Join us for a very colorful storytelling of Jeff’s and US history - a memoir of sorts.
Highlights:
+ Board member of the Water Protector Legal Collective
+ Active in the National Lawyers Guild for over 50 years
+ Practiced law in Chicago from 1969-2002
+ Grew up in Atlanta, Georgia
+ Parents are Jewish and supported the Civil Rights Movement
+ Grandfather was an attorney
+ Dad worked with John Lewis on the voter education project
+ Mom helped integrate hotels in Atlanta
+ Was the president of a fraternity
+ Volunteered for active duty to prevent getting drafted
+ Studied Law at the University of Chicago in the mid 60’s at the time of the riots and anti-war movements
+ First job was at Legal Aid helping the black community build affordable housing
+ Founded the People’s Law Collective
+ Spent 13 years in a civil suit to prove and prosecute the FBI and Chicago Police Dept for murdering Fred Hampton, the leader of the Black Panthers
+ Went back to school in his 60’s for an MFA in Creative Non-Fiction Writing in order to write his book like a memoir
+ Writing is an experience in self-revelation
+ Learning to write not just what happened but how you felt about it
+ Inspired by George Orwell’s memoirs
+ The value of group critiques for developing writing
+ Having a fundamental sense of justice
+ Having a mind for math, logic, and chess
+ Reacting to the time’s politics shaped the trajectory of his life
+ He’s a “reluctant revolutionary”
+ Not just a lawyer for the movement but also a part of the movement
+ There’s a difference between empathizing with or exploiting the prejudices of your crowd (manipulation)
+ When the long-reigning majority fears losing their power, totalitarian regimes tend to set in
+ Movie: Youth vs. the Government
+ The difference between empathy and sympathy, walking together vs. “saving”
+ It’s important to do things in life that make you uncomfortable
+ Using your privilege to benefit others without it
+ Are you part of the solution or are you part of the problem?
+ Office meetings on acid in the forest
+ Having a front-row seat on history
+ The camaraderie of working with a group
+ Climate change is a major issue
+ How do you show the governments’ complicity?
+ Top priority call to action: confronting the fossil fuel industry
Taste:
“If you recognize climate change, you recognize the collective need to deal with it - the governments and people acting together. Private enterprise/capitalism is not going to solve climate change. [...] Acknowledging climate change means you can’t make profit all the time.”
Saying:
“Evil doesn’t succeed because of the actions of evil people, it’s the non-actions of good people that allows evil to prevail.”
Thank you for listening!
Please subscribe to support this project.
Love, Sagewolf xoxo