I am a Community Organizer

Today bloggers across the country are speaking out against Sarah Palin's disparaging comments about community organizers. During her address at the RNC last week, she scoffed at Barack Obama dismissing his years of organizing experience and referring to her tenure as mayor as giving her more executive experience to prepare her for the presidency. Uh, what?? Ms. Palin, do you even know what organizers do? or our country's rich history creating change through the efforts of community organizers?

Let's see - um Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was an organizer, Mother Teresa was an organizer. Mahatma Ghandi was an organizer. Cesar Chavez was an organizer. Elizabeth Cady Stanton was a community organizer.

Community organizers are the folks who work day in day out for very little pay or nothing at all, (sounds like a momma, right?) to help people create the change they want to see in the world. I have had the priviledge to work closely with organizing groups and have been trained by organizers. I am totally biased and a community organizer, of sorts.

This is organizing in a nutshell – organizing is a means of achieving social change through collective action by changing the balance of power. Rather than power being from the folks on the top – organizing turns the power pyramid upside down and promotes the idea the ideas of the many is what is true power. Grassroots leaders learn to develop public policy campaigns to shape the issues impacting their lives – sounds like an “informed and engaged electorate”, right?

Organizers look at a community as rich with resources – people, places and things. Essentially, they look at neighborhoods with a perspective of “the glass half full”. They include the grandma who welcomes kids afterschool with snacks, the teens who could do neighborhood clean ups, the acting ensemble that performs plays about gang violence and individuals who can translate flyers into another language. Organizers go into a community and help people leverage relationships and resources to create an environment where everyone succeeds. Organizers don't enter a community with an agenda, but help a community to identify their issues and develop their own strategies. Often organizers are from the communities they work in and success is defined by not by one person’s gain, but rather the entire community reaching its goal from getting as stop light installed to increasing police presence to getting afterschool programs started.

Let me tell you about an organizing group I have first hand experience with -PACT (People Acting in Community Together), which is part of the PICO – National Network. Founded in 1985, PACT is an inter-faith, grassroots organization that empowers everyday people to create a more just community. This amazing groups tackles: failing public schools, housing too expensive for working families, lack of affordable health care and unsafe neighborhoods. This group has rallied for “homework centers” and the creation of the “Children’s Health Initiative”, which provide access to high-quality health insurance to ALL low income children in our county. They accomplished this through a lot of blood, sweat and tears. They strategized and engaged anyone who would listen. They are an inspriration and improved the lives of countless families.

Organizers are regular folks. They go to church, have day jobs, believe that things can be better than they are today. They believe that the world we live in should be just. They go the extra mile to help their neighbors. Change happens around kitchen tables, church halls, city hall and on play grounds.

What is wrong and trivial about any of that Ms. Palin? Seems to me, if we had more organizers this world would be a much better place. They are they true mavericks Ms. Palin – the true change agents. You picked the wrong group to mock.

Check out the great posts written as part of this action here.

Comments

[cynematic]

I heart community organizers, the people they organize, librarians, and let's see, who else has the GOP insulted, dismissed or mocked? The entire middle class?

[Lynne]

Palin is out of touch! How can you be waaaaay up there in Alaska and be up to date and knowledgeable of the small and often missed things that go into making the rest of the country work successfully? Community organizing works! I admit that we actually see evidence of that in Senator Obama's grassroot efforts and how successful that has been. So if they want to laugh at that level of community organizing where the Republicans couldn't quite get it together, then let them be ignorant and laugh at themselves for not knowing any better.

We have a watch group in my community where all of the neighbors come together and ensure the safety of our neighborhood. I know that may sound small, but it is one aspect of the many aspect of community organizing. It is about working together to meet a common goal.

[The Usual Suspect]

Jesus was a community organizer, Pontius Pilate was a governor.

[LizP]

My husband is a community organizer. He's president of our HOA and a member of our neighborhood association. If it weren't for the neighborhood associations our mayor would have a lot harder time knowing what was going on in the community. He was a Cub Scout troop leader. With the exception of the $39 per year we save on HOA dues they're all unpaid positions. If it weren't for the volunteers in our community we would have no community at all.

Sarah Palin needs to learn that slamming a quality in Barack Obama means she is slamming a good portion of the country. Wake up Sarah! If you can't say something nice then don't say anything at all!

[Stephenie]

Community organizers make our country and our world a better place by empowering people to make a positive change. How can Palin see that as a negative? I hope she keeps saying stuff like this because it will continue to show how much she really doesn't get what our country is all about. Must not be too many community organizers up in Alaska.

[Gunfighter]

Hi Sheila!

It's funny that you guys are doing something on this today, because this is what I blogged about at my place.

Anychance I can use that cool logo?
GF

http://gunfighter1.typepad.com/warrior/2008/09/community-organizers.html

[Daisy]

I missed the special date for this topic, but I can join in later. I am a teacher. I organize support staff, student service club, a student-run bookstore, and more. I write for grant money to help stretch our incredibly tight budgets. I've joined three PTAs some years: my own, and one for each of my children. I may not have a fancy title, but I organize and give back to the community every day I go to work.