Would You Believe Amy Goodman, Noam Chomsky and Bruce Springsteen? 10 20th-Century Progressives the Nation Left Off Its List

Including the key progressives from the second half of the 20th century.

By Don Hazen

You can't blame the Nation too much for publishing a list of the 50 most influential progressive figures of the 20th century that includes a fair share of truly historical figures, some of whom are barely remember-able. After all, the magazine is more than 140 years old. They have a lot of perspective. And it is rather noble of them to be so evenhanded, or perhaps a little shortsighted, when it comes to the late 20th century, where there are flesh-and-blood heroes still making a fuss, who very well should be on that list.

I tip my hat to Peter Dreier, a professor at Occidental College, whose project it was to pick the 50. Along with the great pillars and heroes of the past 100 years, the household names, he also aimed a spotlight on figures from the first half of the century that people under 60 years old may have a hard time remembering -- historical players like Lincoln Stefffens, Florence Kelly, A.J. Muste, Henry Hay, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and Roger Baldwin (not James). Or you might scratch your head about a few who just don't belong on the list at all, like Bayard Rustin, who not only supported the Vietnam war, but was an apologist for some of the worst minority community bashing by the odious Albert Shanker, longtime head of the New York City Teachers Union.

But before old lefties get too hot and bothered, I know all of these choices have their rationale. All in all, a good deal of the 50 are very obvious, like Cesar Chavez, the list's only Latino, and Paul Robeson and Martin Luther King Jr., two of the 10 African Americans, if my count is accurate. There are two second-wave feminist heroes in Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedan, union heavies like John L. Lewis and Walter Reuther, and on and on -- check it out and be forewarned. (The Nation loves its beautiful slide show of each of its heroes, so much that I was unable to find an actual list. Maybe it exists and someone can tell me how to find it.)

Of course, by the very nature of attempting such a task, Dreier was asking for trouble or perhaps controversy, which is all in good spirit. Imagine picking 50 progressives over 100 years. That's one every two years.That's leaving a lot of people out. And the frustration I feel is that since I lived only for the second half of the century, many of those left out are people we have known and admired, who have been important to our lives.

As the list is constructed, almost everyone on the list is dead or quite old -- only about 10 of the 50 are still alive. So my biggest complaint is that baby boomers -- those who were born roughly 1946-1964 -- get short shrift. Michael Moore, at 56, is the only boomer and by far the youngest person picked. One gets the impression that the boomer are represented by some of the heroes of boomers -- but notice that this collection of boomer icons are from the "silent," generation and very much pre-boomer: Harvey Milk ('30), Barbara Ehrenreich ('41), Gloria Steinem ('34), Billie Jean King ('43), Jesse Jackson ('41), Ralph Nader ('34), Bill Moyers, ('34).

To read the complete article HERE.