Classes with Paul Wellstone, 1970s, by Eric Fure-Slocum

From MemoryArchive

Who: Eric Fure-Slocum
What: Classes with Paul Wellstone
When: 1970s
Where: Minnesota

I was a student at St. Olaf and I took courses from him there. He helped us out over there, figuring out how to divest from companies that were doing business in South Africa. It was in the late 1970s, and we knew we wanted to do work on this issue. He helped guide us through it. He was always there as a consultant in the nuts and bolts of organizing--helping us to realize why we were doing it and why it was important.

He was a great orator. People talk about a voice for the voiceless--I mean, he really was someone who spoke for them and spoke so well, for people who didn't have the power or position to have their voices always heard. In his early days of speaking, we would go to various farm foreclosure rallies or other kinds of meetings with family farmers. This was in the midst of the 1980s during the farm crisis. And he would sit in the back of the car with this yellow notepad, and he would say, "I don't have anything to say. I can't think of anything to say." And he'd go on like that forever--he was an incessant worrier about that. He'd scribble down a few notes but it didn't look like he had a lot there.

Then he'd get up on the podium, or he'd get up on the podium to speak. And he always had a wonderful and strong, strong speech. One that really hit people. What was wonderful was that sort of insecurity, and that humility, too--even though he was one of the best speakers in the state.