Happy Birthday, Stetson Kennedy

Stetson Kennedy was born on October 5, 1916 in Florida. He was, in addition to being a writer and researcher of folklore, a human rights activist. The latter actually began as a means of research, in order to write about the Ku Klux Klan, which he infiltrated after World War ll, in a successful effort to gain information. From this research and information, he authored the titles, Southern Exposure, and The Klan Unmasked. He also gave information about the Klan to comic book writers, who used it in creating villians to be defeated by Superman. Anonymous hackers would have been proud.

This method of infiltrating, researching, then finally exposing is what shedding light is all about. Stetson Kennedy infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan in Georgia at a time when that hate group controlled Southern politics, and heavily influenced Northern politics. When he felt that he had enough information to address the public about who the Klan actually is and what they do, he went ahead and exposed them, nothing withheld. He wasn't worried about keeping anyone's secrets, hiding anyone's incompetence, or covering up anyone's criminal predilections. This not only what makes his writing great, but what makes the First Amendment great. Stetson dared to tell the world what he saw firsthand, and our Constitution allowed him to do so, even when it meant blowing the whistle on some very powerful terrorists.

Kennedy died in 2011, after a lifetime of publishing books and articles about folklore, activism, and human rights. He was richly rewarded by following his passion, and not many people believed the social strata of the United States, before the Civil Rights Movement, would ever change. He was never terribly clear on whether or not he thought he would see change at the time he wrote about the Klan, but the efforts of political activists and counter culture revolutionaries paid off. We need more writers like Stetson Kennedy.