The Invisible Institute

In interviews occasioned by the publication of his book Will The Circle Be Unbroken?: Reflections on Death, Rebirth, and Hunger for a Faith, Ruth’s dear friend Studs Terkel described himself as “an agnostic.” In other words, he said, “a cowardly atheist.” I have a hunch that characterization may apply to a number of us here. But not to Ruth. In her gentle, quiet way, she was an uncompromising atheist. An atheist for all seasons.

"I first came to Stateway Gardens in the early 1990’s, following a set of moral intuitions where they led. As a citizen, I was moved to explore what it might mean to conduct oneself as a neighbor under conditions of urban apartheid. As a writer, I felt the need to earn the right to use certain words. I was, in short, deeply but actively confused."

The keynote speech given by Jamie Kalven at the Eight Square Blocks conference held in April, 2007.

Professor Craig Futterman and Jamie Kalven's statement titled "The Need for Independent Civilian Review of the Chicago Police Department."

On January 1, 2007, the Chicago Sun-Times published an op-ed by Jamie Kalven.

I was recently contacted by several University of Chicago students active in the campaign to persuade the university to divest from companies doing business in the Sudan. They sought me out because of my last name.

I will leave you with a question to which I don’t claim to know the answer, or answers, but which demands to be asked: if we don’t love freedom in this way, will we know when we lose it?