[COMM-ORG] morning in the United States

Tue Nov 11 10:09:02 CST 2008

[ed:  Betty adds to her original post.]

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

I actually should have emphasized analyses in my original post (stories 
are important, too, because they tap into people imaginations and help 
propel our organizing forward) but I was really thinking about analysis 
of strategy/tactics, for example, how the Obama campaign used organizing 
principles and processes along with issues and/or values to bring people 
into the campaign.  I think it is important for us all to understand 
this as a way of moving forward with our organizing -- be it around 
neighborhood issues, housing foreclosures, immigrant rights, the right 
to organize, universal health care, quality education, pro-peace 
efforts, the effects of environmental change, or the urgency of finding 
solutions to the economic crisis.  Yes, definitely, Peter Dreier's 
articles were extremely valuable in understanding what was unfolding and 
I am sure there will be other more in-depth pieces that get published in 
the coming months.

Here are two things I have come across recently:

http://www.nonprofitquarterly.org/content/view/717/1/   CEO of Public 
Allies, Paul Schmidt, identifies 5 elements of Obama's successful 
campaign that might hold lessons for non-profits

http://progressivesforobama.net/2008/10/11/eight-points-for-2009-winning-the-victory-for-popular-democracy/ 
Bill Fletcher, a long time organizer working within the unions, African 
American communities and progressive circles offers an agenda for the 
first 100 days as well as thoughts for organizing longer term.

Betty Robinson

Discussion list for COMM-ORG wrote:
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> This is a COMM-ORG 'colist' message.
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>  
> [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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