Saul Alinsky

Saul Alinsky was a major figure in Rochester in the aftermath of the 1964 race riots. He disliked superficial flavors of liberalism and encouraged conflict — "There can be no compromise without confrontation" — but later turned to activism at corporate shareholder meetings to encourage change.

As an aside, Hillary Clinton was a major admirer, writing her undergraduate thesis on his work and ideas.

See his Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saul_Alinsky