"Chimes of Freedom Flashing"

From the start of his career, Bob Dylan was labeled a “protest poet” and “voice of his generation” for capturing the zeitgeist of the early 1960s. Though he has long rebuffed these labels, they are the most persistent of all those associated with him despite his career expanding beyond this phase. It is, therefore, more appropriate to consider Dylan as a poet of the American democracy who, like Whitman, Guthrie, and Ginsberg, gives voice to liberal democratic values. In this episode, public policy advocate, Dylanologist, lifelong do-gooder, and my dear friend, Roberta Rakove, discusses her career as a lobbyist and how American history is deeply embedded in Dylan’s work to make us feel what we experience.

Roberta brings years of successful experience in advocacy, communications, and community affairs to her work at Rakove and Strassberger. In 1991 she joined the leadership team at Sinai Health System, one of the largest providers of health care for low-income people in Illinois. In her role as Senior Vice President for External Affairs she directed Sinai’s federal, state, and local advocacy and helped Sinai become a national voice on Medicaid, immigration justice, and gun violence. She has served on numerous national and state policy and advocacy councils. Following the election of Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Roberta was appointed to the Mayor’s Health Care
Transition Team. She was the Illinois recipient of the American Hospital Association Grass Roots Champion Award and the Chicago Avodah Partner in Social Justice Award. At Rakove and Strassberger, she is particularly proud of the work the firm has done to bring a diverse range of community voices to the strategy and actions of clients.

Roberta received her BA in political science from Pitzer College in Claremont, California and her MPH from the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health.

Links:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/roberta-rakove-3a11068?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app

https://www.rakoveandstrassberger.com/roberta-rakove

https://bsky.app/profile/rmrakove.bsky.social

https://www.lib.niu.edu/1984/ii840406.html

https://thedylanreview.org/2024/08/06/bob-dylan-and-our-plague-years/