[COMM-ORG] morning in the United States

[Discussion list for COMM-ORG]

Good morning COMM-ORG,

It is a rare opportunity to bear witness to the power of community 
organizing.  Seldom in this country's history have we seen the craft 
reach the heights of its potential--the Civil Rights Movement, the 
passage of the Community Reinvestment Act and, maybe arguably, one or 
two other times.  But last night I witnessed, as an adult when I can 
truly appreciate it, the power of the people united through community 
organizing.  I, perhaps like many of you, are still in a bit of a 
shock.  Regardless of the extent to which we may or may not agree with 
President-elect Obama politically (from either side of the political 
spectrum), we must appreciate the historic election of someone whose own 
lifetime began under the disenfranchisement of African Americans.  Less 
than half a century ago Barack Obama would have had difficulty even 
trying to vote in the southern United States.  I am also the parent of a 
16 year old multi-racial (including African American) daughter.  She 
could not bear the ambiguity of the early returns, and could not sleep 
once the result was decided.  I remain, this morning, overwhelmed by the 
momentousness of this election.

As we dissect what happened, I hope we appreciate how the lessons of 
community organizing, which include fundraising, and its leadership by a 
47 year old community organizer who perhaps finally figured out how to 
organize, brought about this historic result.  My congratulations and 
thanks go out to ACORN and all the other community organizers who put 
into play, in magnificent form, time-honored community organizing 
practices to register voters and organize against voter suppression.  It 
is a new morning in the United States and, for the moment, it belongs to 
community organizing.

Randy Stoecker
moderator/editor, COMM-ORG
rstoecker at wisc.edu