Oral Histories

Steven Kest

   November 23, 2022

   

Head Organizer, Arkansas, Connecticut, New Jersey; Campaign Director and Executive Director, National

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Part 1 — November 23, 2022
Interviewed by Lindsay Zafir

1. Track 1 AOHP KEST STEVE BROOKLYN 20221123 LZAFIR AUDIO1
2. Track 2 AOHP KEST STEVE BROOKLYN 20221123 LZAFIR AUDIO2
3. Track 3 AOHP KEST STEVE BROOKLYN 20221123 LZAFIR AUDIO3

Part 2 — April 19, 0024
Interviewed by Lindsay Zafir

1. Track 1 AOHP KEST STEVE NYC 20240418 LZAFIR AUDIO1
2. Track 2 AOHP KEST STEVE NYC 20240418 LZAFIR AUDIO2
3. Track 3 AOHP KEST STEVE NYC 20240418 LZAFIR AUDIO3

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Part 1 — 11/23/2022

This is Part 1 of Steve Kest’s oral history interview. Steve Kest worked for ACORN from 1973 to 2009, eventually serving as the organization’s national executive director. He is the co-director of the ACORN Oral History Project, of which this is the inaugural interview. The interview touches on Steve’s political work as an undergraduate at Harvard, including his work doing tenant organizing in Cambridge with NAM (New American Movement), as well as his early years as an ACORN researcher and organizer in Arkansas and Gainesville, Florida. Topics covered include ACORN’s expansion to a national organization in the 1970s and 1980s, the role of ideology in the organization, the work of building a multi-racial membership organization (including some of the tensions and conflict that could engender), and ACORN’s 20/80 plan and 1980 People’s Convention. The interview may be of interest to those who want to learn about the political work of former New Left activists, the early years of ACORN and its formation as a national organization, multi-racial community organizing in the 1970s and 1980s, and the role of ideology in organizing work.

Part 2 — 4/19/24

This is Part 2 of Steve Kest’s oral history interview.