Ron Garner
Ron Garner was hired by ACORN as a door-to-door canvasser in 1985 in Memphis Tennessee. Garner set a record in his first week by raising over $1000. In 1986, Garner became a field manager in the Chicago ACORN office and then became ACORN’s first black canvass director; over the next 5 years Ron directed canvasses in Atlanta, Sacramento, and New Orleans and even did a stint in Salinas, California raising money for CCTN, ACORN’s first community television station. Garner came from a family with deep experience in the black music and radio scene in Memphis. In the early 90s, Garner became the station manager in Little Rock, Arkansas, for ACORN’s radio station KABF. This interview will be of interest for those who want to learn about the role the canvass played in ACORN and the experiences of the first black canvass director at ACORN.