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William Upski Wimsatt

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William Upski Wimsatt
Born1972 (1972)
Chicago, Illinois
Occupation(s)Author, Political Activist

William Wimsatt, also known as Billy or Upski (born 1972) is a social entrepreneur, author, political activist, and former graffiti artist. Wimsatt is founder of the League of Young Voters, co-founder of Generational Alliance and the author or editor of six books.

Biography

Wimsatt was born in Chicago, received his High School diploma from the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools, and dropped out of Oberlin College. His father is a philosophy of science professor at the University of Chicago[1] (William C. Wimsatt). Wimsatt uses "Upski" as his middle name, but it is really the tag he used to write graffiti growing up in Chicago.[2][3]

Books

Wimsatt's first book was Bomb The Suburbs (1994), a collection of essays celebrating urban life and critiquing the suburban mindset. The essay "We Use Words Like Mackadocious", previously printed in The Source (May 1993), celebrated and critiqued the wigger subculture. Wimsatt released No More Prisons (1999), referencing urbanism and the prison-industrial complex, in conjunction with an underground hip-hop album on Raptivism Records. Along with editing the books Another World is Possible (2001) and Future 500: Youth Organizing and Activism in the United States (2003), Wimsatt co-edited How To Get Stupid White Men Out Of Office (2004), a collection of stories from youth organizers around the world who won or swung elections. His latest book is Please Don't Bomb The Suburbs (Akashic Books, 2010)[4][5]

Political Organizing

Wimsatt founded the League of Young Voters (2003) and co-founded the Generational Alliance (2005). As a philanthropic consultant, he coined the term "Cool Rich Kids" (1999) to refer to young progressive philanthropists associated with the organization Resource Generation. He has consulted for dozens of organizations including Rock The Vote, MoveOn.org, and Green For All. He is currently a Fellow at the Movement Strategy Center directing The Field 3.0 Project, a dialogue and documentation effort to envision and drive innovation in field organizing. He also runs Vote Again 2010, to mobilize young voters in swing states.[6][7][8][9]

References

  1. ^ http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E01E7D71139F935A35754C0A9669C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=2
  2. ^ The Author's Blog
  3. ^ February 2008 interview: In These Times
  4. ^ In These Times: 2004 Election Article
  5. ^ Akashic Books
  6. ^ The League of Young Voters
  7. ^ Generational Alliance
  8. ^ Resource Generation
  9. ^ Movement Strategy Center
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