Part two of Stu Levitan’s conversation with one of the most interesting and politically important UW graduates from the late sixties, Helen Shiller. Her career encompassed almost 30 years of civic activism and community organizing with the Black Panther Party, the Students for a Democratic Society, the Intercommunal Survival Committee, and 24 years as a member of the Chicago City Council. Studs Terkel included some oral history from Helen as a chapter in his book Hope Dies Last, and now she’s written a full memoir of her time on the streets and in the suites. It’s called Daring to Struggle Daring to Win: Five Decades of Resistance in Chicago’s Uptown Community from the good people at Haymarket Books. It has been quite a life and career, and it is quite a memoir — enough for two episodes of Madison BookBeat. The first aired an Nov. 28; as we pick up part two, Helen is reflecting on why she did not join the Weatherman when the Students for a Democratic Society split in 1969.

Airdate - Dec. 12, 2022