Dismas Becker

Born Paul Vincent Becker in 1936 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, after graduating from high school he entered the Order of Discalced Carmelites, where he received the religious name of Dismas, named for the Good Thief depicted in the New Testament at the Crucifixion of Jesus.

[1] He graduated from St. Francis Seminary, becoming ordained a priest in 1964, and later earned a Master's degree in Sociology from Marquette University.

He arrived late to find that, led by Groppi, nearly a thousand activists from Milwaukee had occupied the State Assembly chamber and much of the rest of the Capitol.

[2] Becker proceeded to lead a protest on the lawn of the capitol several days later, at which he was beaten by a police officer.

[3] In 1972, Becker helped to edit and publish a book giving voice to the poor women of the city: Welfare Mothers Speak Out: We Ain't Gonna Shuffle Anymore,[4] the same year that he left his religious Order and the priesthood.