[COMM-ORG] morning in the United States

[Discussion list for COMM-ORG]

[ed:  thanks to those who sent personal notes responding to me, which I 
won't post here unless the senders request it. Please consider Betty's 
idea in this message, which would be a great project.]

From:
"Betty G. Robinson" <bgrobinson at verizon.net>


Hi Randy,
Just a thought:  Could Comm-Org collect all the stories about Obama 
campaign organizing in one place?  Even links to same?  I am thinking it 
would be a valuable resource for folks around the country -- I plan to 
do it for folks here but I am sure I don't have access to the universe 
of stories.  How about folks sending links to things they have read or 
felt showed the depth of the organizing?

Betty

Discussion list for COMM-ORG wrote:
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>  
> 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
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