[COMM-ORG] Organizing post-election

[Discussion list for COMM-ORG]

From: Paul Terranova <paul at lcecmadison.org>

Organizing Post-Election

I have been thinking about what we as organizers should be doing with 
the amazing surge of interest in civic engagement and organizing that 
has come with the election of the country’s first community organizer 
president.

Here in Dane County (Madison-area), Wisconsin there is an amazing 
network that was built around Obama’s election and is meeting now to 
figure out how to proceed. More than 40 teams of people of all stripes 
(except staunch Republicans) are struggling with the question of what to 
do next.

 From my limited vantage point, this group looks quite diverse. There are
those who want to focus on the next election, those who want to work on 
local issues, those who want to be a part of national efforts hold Obama 
accountable for his election promises and those who stand ready for 
Obama’s call to mobilize for his agenda. There are some inspired by the 
call to find common ground across traditional ideological divides, and 
some who want to agitate to push Obama left. And there are probably many 
who overlap a few of these categories.

I am guessing that this may be the case in many communities around the 
country. Hopefully these local leaders will see the power of this 
diversity and not let the discussion turn into a fight over what the one 
best thing to do next. That would undoubtedly turn ugly and leave many 
(particularly the newly energized/reenergized) demoralized.

Of course those organizers among us who were not deeply involved in the 
electoral work should offer our assistance – insofar as it is wanted by 
those who did the hard work and provided the leadership over the past 
two years.

But as organizers, shouldn’t our response be more, well, organized?

What would it take to provide the folks energized by this election 
access to a diversity of organizing training programs, opportunities to 
slot into existing organizing efforts and support/mentoring to organize 
new projects?

Can we imagine pulling together some of the major funders of civic 
engagement and organizing with representatives of large and small 
organizing networks around the country to work out the details?

Can we imagine a few million dollars (five? ten?) to allow newly 
energized citizens to choose from a training opportunities from the 
Center for Third World Organizing, the Industrial Areas Foundation, the 
AFL-CIO Organizing Institute, Grassroots Leadership, Direct Action & 
Research Training Center, ACORN, the United States Student Association, 
Midwest Academy (and a bunch of others I’m forgetting or don’t know about)?

Can we imagine supporting folks as they come out of training by 
connecting them with local mentors, organizing apprenticeship programs, 
local organizing projects, etc.? I mean really, this is not rocket science.

I know that many of the major organizing networks have long standing 
rivalries. I know that there are tired old arguments still floating 
around about who is doing “real” organizing and which is the best model 
to create “real change.” But it seems to me that most of my peers have 
moved beyond that to a more “ecological” view of organizing… one that 
realizes that we need a “biodiversity” of organizing approaches, 
philosophies and cultures to create a healthy democracy.

So is really too much to imagine putting some real organized money and 
organized organizers behind an effort to support the thousands of folks 
who feel their lives have been changed by this election and are 
searching for what to do next?

If you all want to meet somewhere in the middle of the country and talk 
about it, Wisconsin is beautiful in the winter time.

Paul Terranova is the director of the Lussier Community Education Center 
in Madison, WI and can be reached at paul at lcecmadison.org.