community organizing and the GOP convention

Fri Sep 5 17:05:08 CDT 2008

[ed: Here are more reactions. People are sending lots of full text 
things, some of which are copyrighted so I am sending just the links. 
The first post, from Tom, is actually about the Democratic convention, 
and provides an interesting contrast. Thanks also to Peter, Joe, Louise, 
and Lois asked me to repost the original link.]

From: tom at tomwolff.com

Fascinating letter to the editor from the Boston Globe Aug 31

Happy Birthday Saul Alinsky. We all owe you.

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/letters/articles/2008/08/31/son_sees_fathers_handiwork_in_convention

[ed: the letter is from Alinsky's son. Also, if you do a search on some 
of the text from this letter and "communist" and "Obama" you get some 
very interesting stuff].

********************************

From: "Peter Dreier" <dreier at oxy.edu>

Friends and Colleagues:

When Palin and a host of GOP luminaries, including Rudy Giuliani, mocked 
community organizers the other night, they denigrated a tradition of 
collective self-help that reaches back to the Boston Tea Party and that 
has made America a more democratic and humane society. In The Nation 
today, John Atlas and I examine why the Republicans thought it was smart 
politics to ridiculate grassroots activism, and why it will backfire. 
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080922/dreier_atlas

**************************************

From: jcc_jlw at comcast.net

I think this is actually an opportunity to discuss community organizing 
as a practice for revitalizing our democracy. It's obvious to "insiders" 
but not to the average American. This is an opportunity for those of us 
who are dedicated to the practice of community organizing to achieve 
social justice to explain it to folks who just don't get it.

Let's not retreat here. Let's find the words, the stories. Let's talk to 
people who are not in the choir.

joe catania

**************************************

From: "Simmons, Louise" <louise.simmons at uconn.edu>

Here is a response from NASW on Palin and Giuliani’s attacks on 
Community Organizers

Louise Simmons

Associate Professor of Social Work and

Director of the Urban Semester Program

University of Connecticut School of Social Work

1798 Asylum Avenue

West Hartford, CT 06117

Telephone: 860-570-9181

Fax: 860-570-9139

Louise.Simmons at uconn.edu

From: Hillary Russell [mailto:hillaryrussell at conversent.net]
Sent: Friday, September 05, 2008 9:36 AM
To: Louise Simmons
Subject: FW: Social Workers Respond to Gov. Sarah Palin's Attack on 
Community Organizers

From: NASW Advocacy [mailto:advocacy at naswdc.org]
Sent: Friday, September 05, 2008 9:16 AM
To: Hillary Russell
Subject: Social Workers Respond to Gov. Sarah Palin’s Attack on 
Community Organizers

Government Relations Update
September 05, 2008

Social Workers Respond to Gov. Sarah Palin’s Attack on Community Organizers

The National Association of Social Workers was outraged to hear Alaska 
Governor Sarah Palin, one of the nation’s vice-presidential candidates, 
malign in a live international broadcast the work of community organizers.

The social work profession takes great pride in its community organizing 
roots and lauds the contributions of its members, and other 
professionals, who commit their careers to helping residents of 
different communities organize their resources and take social action to 
improve life for themselves and their families. Small town reformers and 
urban community organizers have much in common.

The concepts of community organizing, community building and community 
development undergird the premise of American democracy. As a result of 
these efforts, institutions and officials often deliver more effective 
economic growth strategies, as well as mental health, health, and family 
services for people of all ages.

Community organizing is also the foundation of most successful political 
campaigns. Meeting fellow Americans in their communities and working 
with them to find solutions to problems that limit their potential is 
valuable and necessary work—with significant responsibilities.

The profession of social work was founded on the legacy of outstanding 
women leaders such as Nobel Laureate Jane Addams, who practiced 
community organizing in the Settlement Houses she created for the poor 
and working class immigrants of Chicago. The profession also counts 
Civil Rights icons such as Dr. Dorothy I. Height among its luminaries. 
It is fitting that both women are considered two of the most influential 
people in American history, and are inspirations for many of our 
country’s finest leaders.

During this election year, NASW encourages both parties to stay focused 
on issues of substance to the American people. We hope that instead of 
denigrating the lives and work of huge segments of the population, 
candidates will demonstrate how their plans for the country will protect 
and elevate the quality of life for all Americans.

***************************************************

From: "Lois K. Cantwell" <lcantwell at nhi.org>

Here's John Atlas' response -- He's the founder and president of the 
National Housing Institute. It's up on the rooflines.org blog. 
http://www.rooflines.org/1084/gop_credo_less_government_no_community_organizing/

Discussion list for COMM-ORG wrote:
> --------
> This is a COMM-ORG 'colist' message.
> All replies to this message come to COMM-ORG only.
> --------
>  
> [ed: Here are the initial responses.  The first one is being sent out by 
> Credo Mobile (Working Assets).  Following that are posts from 
> Nisha/Jennifer, Adrienne, and Hillary]
>
> Dear Friend,
>
> In her acceptance speech last night at the Republican National Convention,
> Vice Presidential nominee and Alaska Governor Sarah Palin said, "I guess a
> small-town mayor is sort of like a `community organizer,' except that you
> have actual responsibilities."
>
> Nominally, her words were an assault on Barack Obama's early career as a
> community organizer on Chicago's south side. But the impact reaches
> farther than that and is a direct affront to the thousands who have
> dedicated their lives to making America great.
>
> I just signed a petition to tell Governor Palin to apologize for her
> disparaging remarks about community organizers -- I hope you will too.
>
> Please have a look and take action.
>
> http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/community_organizers/?r_by=807-1423028-s3tlVCx&rc=mailto 
>
>
> Thanks!
>
> *****************************************
>
> From: "Nisha Agarwal" <nagarwal at NYLPI.ORG> [ed:  The Ruskin forward was 
> also sent by
> "Jennifer Flynn" <jflynn at healthgap.org>]
>
>
> It's perhaps worth it to add that community organizers operate just as 
> effectively on the right as on the left -- what do the Republicans think 
> they're talking about when they talk about their "base"?
>
> From: "Frances Liu" <fliu at thenyic.org>
> Date: Thu, 4 Sep 2008 16:31:01 -0400
> To: <IAFP2007 at googlegroups.com>
> Subject: FW: community organizers fight back!
>
> FYI
>
>
>
>
> ________________________________
>
> From: johnraskin at gmail.com [mailto:johnraskin at gmail.com] On Behalf Of 
> John Raskin
> Sent: Thursday, September 04, 2008 12:51 PM
> To: johnraskin at fastmail.fm
> Subject: community organizers fight back!
>
>
>
> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
> September 4, 2008         
>
> Contact: John Raskin, Community Organizer
> 646-369-8093 (cell)
>
> Community Organizers Fight Back Against GOP Attacks
>
> Organizers demand apology from Alaska governor, say "we're working to 
> clean up your mess!"
>
> New York, NY-Community organizers across America, taken aback by a 
> series of attacks from Republican leaders at the GOP convention in St. 
> Paul, came together today to defend their work organizing Americans who 
> have been left behind by unemployment, lack of health insurance and the 
> national housing crisis.  The organizers demanded an apology from Alaska 
> Governor Sarah Palin for her statement that community organizers have no 
> "actual responsibilities" and launched a web site, 
> http://organizersfightback.wordpress.com, to defend themselves against 
> Republican attacks.
>
> "Community organizers work in neighborhoods that have been hit hardest 
> by the failing economy," said John Raskin, founder of Community 
> Organizers of America and a community organizer on the West Side of 
> Manhattan.  "The last thing we need is for Republican officials to mock 
> us on television when we're trying to rebuild the neighborhoods they 
> have destroyed.  Maybe if everyone had more houses than they can count, 
> we wouldn't need community organizers.  But I work with people who are 
> getting evicted from their only home.  If John McCain and the 
> Republicans understood that, maybe they wouldn't be so quick to make fun 
> of community organizers like me."
>
> Though many people are unfamiliar with community organizing, the job is 
> both straightforward and vital: community organizers work with families 
> who are struggling-because of low wages, poor health coverage, 
> unaffordable housing, and other community problems-so that collectively, 
> they can fix those problems and make government respond to their 
> day-to-day concerns. Organizers knock on doors, attend community 
> meetings, visit churches and synagogues and mosques, and work with 
> unions and civic groups and block associations to help ordinary people 
> build power and counter the influence of self-interested insiders and 
> highly paid lobbyists at all levels of government.
>
> Scorn for community organizers has been a prominent feature of this 
> week's Republican convention.  On Wednesday, three Republican leaders 
> mocked community organizers:
>
> -Former Governor George Pataki said: "[Barack Obama] was a community 
> organizer. What in God's name is a community organizer? I don't even 
> know if that's a job."
>
> -Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani said: "On the other hand, you have a resume 
> from a gifted man with an Ivy League education. He worked as a community 
> organizer. What? [Laughter].I said, OK, OK, maybe this is the first 
> problem on the resume."
>
> -Governor Sarah Palin said: "I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like 
> a community organizer, except that you have actual responsibilities."
>
> Community organizers were quick to fire back.
>
> "I have 'actual responsibilities,'" said Jacqueline del Valle, a 
> community organizer in the Bronx.  "If Mayor Giuliani and President Bush 
> cared more about working people instead of just people who can hire 
> high-powered lobbyists, maybe I wouldn't have so much responsibility.  
> Maybe working people would have an easier time in America today.  But 
> that's not our reality, and they don't have to mock us while we're 
> trying to clean up their mess."
>
> The community organizers launched a new web site, 
> http://organizersfightback.wordpress.com, to defend themselves against 
> Republican attacks.  They emphasize that their work will be necessary as 
> long as lobbyists have undue influence over American government and the 
> economy continues to fail people who work hard and still struggle to 
> provide for themselves and their families.
>
> *******************************************************
>
> From: "Adrienne L. Falcon" <afalcon at carleton.edu>
>
>
> Hello again,
>
> Here is another link which has embedded in it a link to many links.  I 
> am pleased to see the New York Times deal with this so quickly.
>
> http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/04/south-bronx-organizers-react-to-gop-punchlines/
>
> Adrienne
>
> ***********************************************
>
> From:
> Hillary Aisenstein <hillarya at pobox.upenn.edu>
> Date:
> Thu, 04 Sep 2008 19:53:55 -0400
> To:
> colist at comm-org.wisc.edu
>
> I got this from a list I'm on...  In response to Randy's inquiry about 
> the responses of community organizers...
>
>
> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject:     We are community organizers
> Date:     Thu, 4 Sep 2008 19:17:55 -0400
> From:     Michael Morrill, Keystone Progress <mike at keystoneprogress.org>
> Reply-To:     info at keystoneprogress.org
> To:     Hillary Aisenstein <hillarya at pobox.upenn.edu>
>
>
>
> We were appalled last night as we listened to speaker after speaker at 
> the Republican Convention demean the fine work of community organizers.  
> It was insulting to the people, young and old, who work to better our 
> nation, starting in their own backyard.
>
> We are proud to be community organizers and we are proud that a 
> community organizer might be our next president.  We honor the work of 
> community organizers, and we urge you to join us in honoring them.
>
> If you appreciate the tireless and sometimes thankless work of these 
> agents of democracy, please do two things:
>
>     * 1) Go to: http://www.iamacommunityorganizer.org/ and demand that 
> McCain and Palin apologize to the dedicated present and former community 
> organizers around the nation;
>     * 2) Send this to everyone you know and ask them to sign on.
>
> Thank you in advance for your support.
>
> The Keystone Progress Team
> http://www.keystoneprogress.org/
>
> http://www.iamacommunityorganizer.org/
>
> Text of our message to McCain/Palin:
>
> We are community organizers.  We work to bring together neighbors in 
> communities across America to solve our common problems and to make life 
> better for our families. We work in small towns and the inner cities.  
> We work in every state of the Union, from Maine to California to Alaska.
>
> We are community organizers.  We build neighborhood organizations that 
> work for the common good.  We teach people to act as part of a 
> community, using their shared American values.  We help people recognize 
> the power of living in a democracy, where acting together can effect 
> real changes.
>
> Community organizers help to build strong neighborhood institutions, 
> fight against injustice, develop new leaders, create community-based 
> solutions and strengthen existing structures.
>
> It is a serious job that requires the trust of our community, because we 
> have real responsibilities that impact the daily lives of our neighbors.
>
> We are community organizers and their supporters. We are proud of the 
> work that community organizers do.  And we are offended by the insults 
> hurled at us by the McCain-Palin team.  We demand that John McCain and 
> Sarah Palin personally apologize for the demeaning attacks on the 
> important work that we do to strengthen our communities and our great 
> nation.
> http://www.iamacommunityorganizer.org/
>
> Discussion list for COMM-ORG wrote:
>   
>> --------
>> This is a COMM-ORG 'colist' message.
>> All replies to this message come to COMM-ORG only.
>> --------
>>  
>> Hi COMM-ORG,
>>
>> Many of you have no doubt heard about the statements made about 
>> community organizing by Rudolph Giuliani and Sarah Palin.  It will be 
>> interesting to see how organizers around the country respond.  
>> Giuliani's statement was particularly interesting since he was featured 
>> in "The Democratic Promise" film about Alinsky's legacy.
>>
>> Here is the first response that I am aware of. 
>>
>> http://www.rooflines.org/1084/gop_credo_less_government_no_community_organizing/
>>
>> I also just got a call from a network news broadcast researcher 
>> interested in the reactions of community organizers to these speeches (a 
>> bunch of you will hopefully now be getting calls).
>>
>> Now it is pretty obvious what organizers think of these statements so I 
>> don't think we need to waste space on the responsibility and accuracy of 
>> them.  What I am interested in is the analysis.  How will organizers 
>> respond and what will the impact of these statements be on those who do 
>> this work?
>>
>> Randy Stoecker
>> moderator/editor, COMM-ORG
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>>   
>>     
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