[COMM-ORG] Organizing post-election

[Discussion list for COMM-ORG]

[ed:  thanks to Jayne for replying to Paul's thoughts.]

From: Jayne Cravens <jc at coyotecommunications.com>

This is something I've been thinking about a lot myself. Glad you have 
brought it up. You might want to post this as well to CYBERVPM , which 
is a national community of volunteer managers all over the USA.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cybervpm/

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Discussion list for COMM-ORG wrote:
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> 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.
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