Edward Snowden (born June 21, 1983) is an American computer professional, former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) employee, and former contractor for the U.S. government who copied and leaked classified information from the National Security Agency (NSA) in 2013 without prior authorization. His disclosures revealed numerous global surveillance programs, many run by the NSA and the Five Eyes Intelligence Alliance with the cooperation of telecommunication companies and European governments. On June 21, 2013, the U.S. Department of Justice unsealed charges against Snowden of two counts of violating the Espionage Act of 1917 and theft of government property. Russian authorities granted him one-year asylum, which was later extended to three years.
Note: Edward Snowden’s principled whistleblowing has fueled important debates over mass surveillance and government secrecy. It’s been three years now. Snowden is still in Russia, but since September 2015 has been an essential voice on Twitter. Check out this Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) article: “3 Years Later, the Snowden Leaks Have Changed How the World Sees NSA Surveillance.”
Oskar Schindler (April 28, 1908 – October 9, 1974) was a German industrialist, spy, and member of the Nazi Party who is credited with saving the lives of 1,200 Jews during the Holocaust by employing them in his enamelware and ammunitions factories, which were located in occupied Poland and the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. He is the subject of the 1982 novel Schindler’s Ark, and the subsequent 1993 film Schindler’s List, which reflected his life as an opportunist initially motivated by profit who came to show extraordinary initiative, tenacity and dedication to save the lives of his Jewish employees. By 1945, Schindler had spent his entire fortune on bribes and black-market purchases of supplies for his Jewish workers. He moved to West Germany after the war, where he was supported by assistance payments from Jewish relief organizations.
Michael Render (born April 20, 1975), better known by his stage name Killer Mike, is an American hip-hop recording artist, activist and occasional actor from Atlanta, Georgia. Mike made his debut on “Snappin’ and Trappin’,” from Stankonia (2000) by Outkast. Mike has since released five full-length albums as a solo artist. In 2012, he released R.A.P. Music, produced entirely by American rapper-producer El-P. In 2013, the two subsequently formed a duo, branding themselves Run the Jewels, They have since released Run the Jewels (2013) and Run the Jewels 2 (2014), with Run the Jewels 3 forthcoming in 2016. Mike is also known as a social and political activist, focusing on subjects including social equality, police brutality and institutional racism. He has been featured in the films 20 Funerals, Idlewild and ATL.
Killer Mike has been a visible and vocal supporter of Senator Bernie Sanders during his 2016 U.S. presidential campaign. On November 23, 2015, Killer Mike sat down with Sanders in Atlanta to discuss topics ranging from gun control to democratic socialism. I enjoyed the entire hour-long conversation, but particularly part 3 of 6 about America’s rigged economy and Martin Luther King, Jr. Three months later, on February 16, 2016, Killer Mike gave a powerful eight-minute speech at the Bernie Sanders rally at Morehouse College in Atlanta. Mike and Sanders are good people genuinely trying to change our world for the better.
Garry Kasparov (born April 13, 1963) is a Russian chess grandmaster, former World Chess Champion, writer and political activist, considered by many to be the greatest chess player of all time. From 1986 until his retirement in 2005, Kasparov was ranked world No. 1 for 225 out of 228 months. His peak rating of 2851, achieved in 1999, was the highest recorded until being surpassed by Magnus Carlsen in 2013. Kasparov also holds records for consecutive professional tournament victories (15) and Chess Oscars (11). In 1997, he became the first world champion to lose a match to a computer under standard time controls, when he lost to the IBM supercomputer Deep Blue in a highly publicized match. Kasparov devoted his time to politics and writing following his retirement. He formed the United Civil Front movement, and joined as a member of The Other Russia, a coalition opposing the administration and policies of Vladimir Putin.
Frederick Douglass (c. February 1818 – February 20, 1895) was an African-American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer and statesman. After escaping from slavery in Maryland, he became a national leader of the abolitionist movement from Massachusetts and New York, gaining note for his dazzling oratory and incisive antislavery writings. Douglass wrote several autobiographies in which he described his experiences as a slave and promoted the cause of abolition. After the Civil War, Douglass remained an active campaigner against slavery. Douglass also actively supported women’s suffrage, and held several public offices. In 1872, without his approval, Douglass became the first African-American nominated for Vice President of the United States as the running mate of Victoria Woodhull, on the Equal Rights Party ticket. Douglass was a firm believer in the equality of all peoples, whether black, female, Native American or recent immigrant.
Eartha Kitt was an American actress, singer, cabaret star, dancer, stand-up comedian, activist and voice artist. She’s known for her highly distinctive singing style and her 1953 recordings of “C’est Si Bon” and the enduring Christmas novelty smash “Santa Baby.” In 1967, she starred as Catwoman in the third and final season of the television series Batman. Orson Welles once called her the “most exciting woman in the world.” Kitt began her career in 1943 and appeared in the 1945 original Broadway production of the musical Carib Song. In the early 1950s, she had six U.S. Top 30 hits, including “Uska Dara” and “I Want to be Evil.” In 1968, her career in America suffered after she made anti-war statements at an LBJ White House luncheon. Kitt was born on January 17, 1927 and died on December 25, 2008.
Michael Stipe is an American singer, songwriter, musician, film producer, music video director and visual artist. He was the lead singer of the alternative rock band R.E.M. from their formation in 1980 until their dissolution in 2011. The band was pivotal in the development of the alternative rock genre. R.E.M. released 15 studio albums, including Out of Time (1991) and Automatic for the People (1992), as well as numerous live albums and compilation albums. Stipe was in charge of R.E.M.’s visual image, often selecting album artwork and directing many of the band’s music videos. Outside the music industry, he runs his own film production companies, C-Hundred (C-00) and Single Cell Pictures. Stipe is also noted for his social and political activism. He was born on January 4, 1960.
Noam Chomsky is an American linguist, philosopher, political commentator, social justice activist and anarcho-syndicalist advocate. Sometimes described as the “father of modern linguistics,” Chomsky is also a major figure in analytic philosophy. He has spent most of his career at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and is the author of more than 100 books. In 1967, Chomsky entered public consciousness through his vocal opposition to U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War and came to be associated with the New Left. He was arrested multiple times for his anti-war activism. Following his retirement from active teaching, he has continued his vocal public activism, including opposition to the Iraq War and support for the Occupy movement. Chomsky remains a leading critic of U.S. foreign policy, neoliberal capitalism and mainstream news media. He was born December 7, 1928.
Sojourner Truth (born Isabella “Bell” Baumfree) was an African-American abolitionist and women’s rights activist. Truth was born into slavery in New York, but escaped with her infant daughter to freedom in 1826. After going to court to recover her son, in 1828 she became the first black woman to win such a case against a white man. She gave herself the name Sojourner Truth in 1843. Her best-known speech was delivered extemporaneously, in 1851, at the Ohio Women’s Rights Convention. The speech became widely known during the Civil War by the title “Ain’t I a Woman?” During the Civil War, Truth helped recruit black troops for the Union Army; after the war, she tried unsuccessfully to secure land grants from the federal government for former slaves. She died on November 26, 1883 at the age of 86.
Maya Lin is an American designer and artist who is known for her work in sculpture and landscape art. She first came to fame at the age of 21 as the designer of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial (1982) in Washington, D.C. Her minimalist design aroused controversy but has become very popular with the public over the years. Lin is one of just 13 “groundbreaking Americans” featured in Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters, a children’s book by United States President Barack Obama. She was born on October 5, 1959.
Note: After checking the list of people featured in Obama’s children’s book, I realized that Maya Lin is character #13 of 13, thus completing my Of Thee I Sing 8-bit series. Mission accomplished.
Banksy is a pseudonymous English graffiti artist, political activist, film director and painter. His satirical street art and subversive epigrams combine dark humor with graffiti executed in a distinctive stenciling technique. His works of political and social commentary have been featured on streets, walls and bridges of cities throughout the world. Banksy’s work grew out of the Bristol underground scene. Observers have noted that his style is similar to Blek le Rat, who began to work with stencils in 1981 in Paris. Banksy’s first film, Exit Through the Gift Shop, billed as “the world’s first street art disaster movie,” made its debut at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary. In August 2015, Banksy opened Dismaland, a theme park-styled art installation in the UK that is scheduled to run until September 27, 2015.
Jane Addams was a pioneering American social worker, public philosopher, sociologist, author, and leader in women’s suffrage and world peace. In an era when presidents such as Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson identified themselves as reformers and social activists, Addams was one of the most prominent reformers of the Progressive Era. She campaigned for better social conditions and led investigations into child welfare, local public health and education. She introduced the idea of the settlement house to the United States, co-founding Hull House in 1889. In 1920, she co-founded the ACLU. In 1931, she became the first American woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and is recognized as the founder of the social work profession in the U.S. Addams was born on September 6, 1860 and died on May 21, 1935.
Ida Bell Wells-Barnett, more commonly known as Ida B. Wells, was an African-American journalist, newspaper editor, suffragist, sociologist, Georgist and an early leader in the Civil Rights Movement. She documented lynching in the United States, showing that it was often used as a way to control or punish blacks who competed with whites, rather than being based on criminal acts by blacks, as was usually claimed by white mobs. She was active in women’s rights and the women’s suffrage movement, establishing several notable women’s organizations. Wells was a skilled and persuasive rhetorician and traveled internationally on lecture tours. She was born on July 16, 1862 and died on March 25, 1931.
Since Ida B. Wells is a hero of Canadian cartoonist Kate Beaton, there’s an excellent series of Hark! A Vagrant comics about Wells. Also, the Ida B. Wells Commemorative Art Committee is working to develop a monument in Chicago to honor the life and times of Ida B. Wells. Lastly, in unrelated news, with this week’s flyby of Pluto by NASA’s New Horizons space probe, all I can think of is “Bring Back Pluto.”
Allen Ginsberg was an American poet and one of the leading figures of both the Beat Generation of the 1950s and the counterculture that soon would follow. He vigorously opposed militarism, economic materialism and sexual repression. Ginsberg is best known for his epic poem “Howl,” in which he denounced what he saw as the destructive forces of capitalism and conformity in the United States. In 1957, “Howl” attracted widespread publicity when it became the subject of an obscenity trial for depicting heterosexual and homosexual sex. Ginsberg was a practicing Buddhist who studied Eastern religious disciplines extensively. He took part in decades of nonviolent political protest against everything from the Vietnam War to the War on Drugs. Ginsberg was born on June 3, 1926 and died on April 5, 1997.
Maya Angelou was an American author, poet, dancer, actress and singer. She published seven autobiographies, three books of essays and several books of poetry, and was credited in plays, movies and television shows spanning over 50 years. She received dozens of awards and more than 50 honorary degrees. Angelou is best known for her series of autobiographies, which focus on her childhood and early adult experiences. The first, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969), tells of her life up to the age of 17 and brought her international recognition and acclaim. Her books center on themes such as racism, identity, family and travel. Angelou was active in the Civil Rights Movement, and worked with Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X. She was born on April 4, 1928 and died on May 28, 2014.
Jane Goodall is an English primatologist, ethologist, anthropologist and UN Messenger of Peace. Considered to be the world’s foremost expert on chimpanzees, Goodall is best known for her 55-year study of social and family interactions of wild chimpanzees in Gombe Stream National Park, Tanzania. She is the founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and the Roots & Shoots program, and she has worked extensively on conservation and animal welfare issues. She has served on the board of the Nonhuman Rights Project since its founding in 1996. Goodall was born on April 3, 1934.
Elton John (born Reginald Dwight) is an English singer, songwriter, composer, pianist and record producer. He has worked with lyricist Bernie Taupin as his songwriter partner since 1967; they have collaborated on more than 30 albums to date. In his five-decade career Elton John has sold more than 300 million records, making him one of the bestselling music artists in the world. He released seven consecutive No. 1 U.S. albums and 58 Billboard Top 40 singles. For 31 consecutive years (1970-2000) John had at least one song in the Billboard Hot 100. He has been heavily involved in the fight against AIDS since the late 1980s. John champions LGBT social movements worldwide and same-sex marriage. John was born on March 25, 1947.
Yoko Ono is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer and peace activist. She is the widow and second wife of John Lennon and is also known for her work in avant-garde art, music and filmmaking. Ono grew up in Tokyo, and studied at Gakushuin University while her family moved to the U.S. to escape the war. They reunited in 1953, and she became involved in New York City’s downtown artists scene, including the Fluxus group. Ono first met Lennon in 1966 at her own art exhibition in London, and they became a couple in 1968. She achieved commercial and critical acclaim in 1980 with the chart-topping album Double Fantasy, released with Lennon three weeks before his death. Since 2003, 11 of her songs, mostly remixes of her older work, have hit No. 1 on the U.S. dance chart. Ono was born on February 18, 1933.
Charles Dickens was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world’s most well-known fictional characters and is generally regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era. Although he had little formal education, over his career he edited a weekly journal for 20 years, wrote 15 novels, five novellas and hundreds of short stories and nonfiction articles. He also lectured and performed extensively, and campaigned vigorously for children’s rights, education and other social reforms. Dickens sprang to fame with the 1836 serial publication of The Pickwick Papers. His 1843 novella, A Christmas Carol, remains popular and continues to inspire adaptations in every artistic genre. His 1859 novel, A Tale of Two Cities, set in London and Paris, is his best known work of historical fiction. Other notable works include Oliver Twist, David Copperfield and Great Expectations. Dickens was born on February 7, 1812 and died on June 9, 1870.
Henry John Deutschendorf, Jr., known professionally as John Denver, was an American singer-songwriter, activist and humanitarian. Throughout his life, Denver recorded and released approximately 300 songs, about 200 of which he composed, with total sales of over 33 million. His signature songs include “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” “Annie’s Song,” “Rocky Mountain High” and “Sunshine on My Shoulders.” Denver was one of the most popular acoustic artists of the 1970s and one of its best-selling artists. In the following decade, he continued to record, but also focused on calling attention to environmental issues, lent his vocal support to space exploration and testified in front of Congress to protest against censorship in music. Denver was an avid pilot, and died in a single-fatality crash of his personal aircraft on October 12, 1997 at the age of 53. He was born on December 31, 1943.
P.S. The best John Denver movie moment is this driving scene in an ’84 sheepdog van. Harry Dunne: “I expected the Rocky Mountains to be a little rockier than this.” Lloyd Christmas: “I was thinking the same thing. That John Denver’s full of shit, man.”
Killer Mike – No. 980
Michael Render (born April 20, 1975), better known by his stage name Killer Mike, is an American hip-hop recording artist, activist and occasional actor from Atlanta, Georgia. Mike made his debut on “Snappin’ and Trappin’,” from Stankonia (2000) by Outkast. Mike has since released five full-length albums as a solo artist. In 2012, he released R.A.P. Music, produced entirely by American rapper-producer El-P. In 2013, the two subsequently formed a duo, branding themselves Run the Jewels, They have since released Run the Jewels (2013) and Run the Jewels 2 (2014), with Run the Jewels 3 forthcoming in 2016. Mike is also known as a social and political activist, focusing on subjects including social equality, police brutality and institutional racism. He has been featured in the films 20 Funerals, Idlewild and ATL.
Killer Mike has been a visible and vocal supporter of Senator Bernie Sanders during his 2016 U.S. presidential campaign. On November 23, 2015, Killer Mike sat down with Sanders in Atlanta to discuss topics ranging from gun control to democratic socialism. I enjoyed the entire hour-long conversation, but particularly part 3 of 6 about America’s rigged economy and Martin Luther King, Jr. Three months later, on February 16, 2016, Killer Mike gave a powerful eight-minute speech at the Bernie Sanders rally at Morehouse College in Atlanta. Mike and Sanders are good people genuinely trying to change our world for the better.