Wait, wasn't Dorothy Day a communist?

In defense of one of my heroes

As a scrappy young college student, I looked for Catholics that looked like rebels. Catholics that didn’t hide in ivory towers clutching breviaries, but Catholics that were in the streets, getting dirt under their fingernails. Catholics that were gritty, Catholics that swore, Catholics that gave a shit about the poor and destitute (of course, the Catholic Church is the number one charitable organization in the world, but I was 20 years old and Knew It All and gave five bucks to the homeless guy outside the journalism school building, so, there you have it).

I don't remember who introduced me to Dorothy Day. It was probably in passing—a book suggestion, a mention of the Catholic Worker. I don’t remember the first time I snagged The Long Loneliness from the library. I certainly don’t remember the first time I asked for her intercession.

But what I do know is this: when I found out homegirl was jailed for being at a women’s suffrage protest, I was in.