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December 6, 2012

Still the Fighter - Howard Fuller's allies have changed over the years, but not his commitment to the poor

Sunny Schubert:

Forty years ago, Howard Fuller was an angry young man working as a community organizer for an anti-poverty program in North Carolina. He had an Afro, wore a dashiki, toyed with Marxism, and spoke disparagingly of racial integration.

He went by the name Owusu Sadaukai, which means "one who leads his people" in Kiswahili. He visited Africa and briefly took up arms with Communist-backed "freedom fighters" trying to overthrow the Portuguese colonial government of Mozambique. Back in the states, he founded a blacks-only university, as well as African Liberation Day, which for several years in the 1970s drew thousands of marchers in a variety of U.S. cities.

Today, Fuller, 71, lives in Milwaukee and is a nationally known leader in the education reform movement. And while once he was a darling of the left, today he's a hero to conservatives for challenging the teachers unions and championing the school choice movement.

Dissertations and books have been written about Fuller's remarkable life, and he was featured in the emotionally charged documentary about failing inner-city schools, "Waiting for Superman." He's been showered with enough awards to paper a wall, including four honorary doctorates.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at December 6, 2012 3:40 AM
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