William Wimsatt (born 1972) is an American author and political activist. He is the founder of the

League of Young Voters There are two main organisations with the name of "The League of Young Voters", one in the U.S. and one in Europe. The League of Young Voters U.S. The American organization, also known as the League of Independent Voters and the League of Pissed ...

, co-founder of Generational Alliance, and the author of three books including ''Bomb the Suburbs'', ''No More Prisons'', and ''Please Don't Bomb The Suburbs''.

Early life and education

Wimsatt was born in Chicago and attended the

University of Chicago Laboratory Schools The University of Chicago Laboratory Schools (also known as Lab or Lab Schools and abbreviated as UCLS though the high school is nicknamed U-High) is a private, co-educational day Pre-K and K-12 school in Chicago, Illinois. It is affiliated with ...

and

Kenwood Academy Kenwood Academy (also known as Kenwood Academy High School and formerly known as Kenwood High School) is a comprehensive public high school and magnet middle school located in the Hyde Park– Kenwood neighborhood on the south side of Chicago, Il ...

. He attended Oberlin College, but left during his junior year. His father,

William C. Wimsatt William C. Wimsatt (born May 27, 1941) is professor emeritus in the Department of Philosophy, the Committee on Conceptual and Historical Studies of Science (previously Conceptual Foundations of Science), and the Committee on Evolutionary Biology at ...

, is a philosophy of science professor at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

Career

Political activist

Wimsatt directs two non-profit organizations, Gamechanger Labs, a new incubator of start-up projects, and Gamechanger Networks, which organizes networks of change-makers such as Vote Mob and Local Power Network. Wimsatt co-founded

Rebuild the Dream Rebuild the Dream is an American center-left political organization founded in June 2011 by former Obama Administration advisor Van Jones and the group MoveOn.org. It aims to counter the Tea Party movement The Tea Party movement was an Amer ...

(along with Natalie Foster and

Van Jones Anthony Kapel "Van" Jones (born September 20, 1968) is an American news and political commentator, author, and lawyer. He is the co-founder of several non-profit organizations, a three-time ''New York Times'' bestselling author, a CNN host and c ...

), and served as its Partnerships and Political Director. Wimsatt founded the League of Young Voters (2003), TheBallot.org (2004), and co-founded the Generational Alliance (2005) and the Coffee Party (2010). As a philanthropic consultant, he coined the phrase "Cool Rich Kids" (1999) referring to young progressive philanthropists associated with the organization Resource Generation. He has consulted for dozens of organizations including

Rock the Vote Rock the Vote is a non-profit progressive-aligned organization in the United States whose stated mission is "to engage and build the political power of young Americans." The organization was founded in 1990 by Virgin Records America Co-Chairman ...

MoveOn.org MoveOn (formerly known as MoveOn.org) is a progressive public policy advocacy group and political action committee. Formed in 1998 around one of the first massively viral email petitions, MoveOn has since grown into one of the largest grassroot ...

, and Green For All. He was a Fellow at the Movement Strategy Center and the New Organizing Institute, and ran the Ohio Youth Corps in 2008, a joint project of the Ohio Democratic Party and the Obama Campaign.

Writing and editing

Wimsatt's first book was '' Bomb the Suburbs'' (1994), a collection of essays celebrating urban life and critiquing the suburban mindset. The essay "We Use Words Like Mackadocious", appeared in ''The Source'' magazine (May 1993). Wimsatt released ''No More Prisons'' (1999), referencing

urbanism Urbanism is the study of how inhabitants of urban areas, such as towns and cities, interact with the built environment. It is a direct component of disciplines such as urban planning, which is the profession focusing on the physical design and ...

and the prison-industrial complex, in conjunction with an underground hip-hop album on Raptivism Records. He also edited the books ''Another World is Possible'' (2001) and ''Future 500: Youth Organizing and Activism in the United States'' (2003), Wimsatt co-edited ''How To Get Stupid White Men Out of Office'' (2004), a collection of stories from youth organizers around the world who won or swung elections. In 2010 he published the book ''Please Don't Bomb The Suburbs''.Akashic Books
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References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wimsatt, William 1972 births Writers from Chicago Living people American political writers American activists American male non-fiction writers University of Chicago Laboratory Schools alumni Oberlin College alumni