Prof. Charles (Chuck) McDew (b. 1938) is a lifelong activist and was the first chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). Chuck McDew is a deeply observant and engaging raconteur who has been involved in community-building work for more than six decades. He was a key advisor to the TNT production Freedom Song, which was partly based on his experiences as an organizer in Mississippi in the early 1960s. A consummate and committed educator/activist, McDew teaches history at Metropolitan State College in Minneapolis, Minnesota.