Combative Minister Draws Real Fire

The Rev. Eugene Rivers' 83, a Boston activist who maintains a presence on Harvard's campus, is literally risking his life to fight gangs, racism and drugs.

Early Sunday morning, Rivers' home in Dorchester was riddled with bullets. Rivers, his wife and two small children were unhurt, however. No one knows who fired the shots yet, but police are investigating.

The Pentecostal minister, however, says he already has an idea who may have attacked him. The shooting, which made Rivers the lead story on local newscasts and a front page item in the Boston Globe, was retaliation for his anti-drug crusade, he says.

And the minister will get his revenge.

"I'm getting me some new sneakers," Rivers told the Globe this week, "because I'm gonna find that [expletive]."

Rivers' fighting spirit is still felt at the College. Since his graduation, he has been an adviser to student activists and something of a gadfly whenever he feels that Harvard is not moving fast enough to improve race relations.

"He's been very active at Harvard in getting the administration to recognize their responsibility," says Zaheer R. Ali. '94, former president of the Black Students Association.

Rivers has been particularly critical of Dean of Students Archie C. Epps III's handling of campus race relations, though the two men reportedly remain friends.

But much of the minister's work at Harvard has focused on getting the campus more in touch with problems in surrounding communities. Last year, Rivers organized a discussion of the responsibility of Black intellectuals at the Kennedy School.

"I think he's been trying to get Faculty and students more involved inproblems in the Boston area," Ali says.

Both inside and outside Harvard, Rivers is known for his ferocity in tackling difficult problems. And his sharp tongue has some wondering whether it was more than just gang members behind Sunday's shooting.

Rivers, for example, has been particularly critical of the Nation of Islam for its refusal to disavow violence. Rivers, who preaches in the streets around Four Corners in Dorchester, was among four area ministers who signeda letter in March suggesting Nation of Islam leaders were behind the murder of Malcolm X.

"I would characterize his perspective as a combative spirituality," Ali says. "He brings a kind of rigor to his religiosity that leads...to activism."

"He brings a very fresh perspective to theBlack church," Ali adds.

The Globe says Rivers, who was initiallydistrusted by the police, has slowly won therespect of law enforcement in Boston's tougherneighborhoods.

But he's also well-known and loved among manyof the people who distrust those police officers.Rivers constantly works the streets, and he goesto bat for young people--no matter who they are.

Rivers was roundly criticized four years agoafter he helped get Michael Finkley, who wouldlater plead guilty to murder, into Boston College

"He brings a very fresh perspective to theBlack church," Ali adds.

The Globe says Rivers, who was initiallydistrusted by the police, has slowly won therespect of law enforcement in Boston's tougherneighborhoods.

But he's also well-known and loved among manyof the people who distrust those police officers.Rivers constantly works the streets, and he goesto bat for young people--no matter who they are.

Rivers was roundly criticized four years agoafter he helped get Michael Finkley, who wouldlater plead guilty to murder, into Boston College