community organizing and the GOP convention

[Discussion list for COMM-ORG]

From:     Peter Dreier <dreier at oxy.edu>

Friends and Colleagues:

 

Thanks to Sarah Palin (with an assist from Rudy Giuliani), the media are 
finally paying attention to community organizing.  As David Moberg and I 
write in our Huffington Post column today 
(http://www.huffingtonpost.com/peter-dreier/palin-attacks-on-communit_b_129568.html), 
in the past few weeks, many reporters, columnists and editorial writers 
have written about the community organizers in their midst, triggered by 
the Republicans' orchestrated attacks on Barack Obama's community 
organizing experience.  In addition, dozens of community organizers and 
their allies have written op-ed columns explaining what they do and why 
community organizing is important in our society and culture.  For the 
first time in memory, America is having a national conversation about 
grassroots activism, challenging some of the myths and stereotypes about 
organizing.  Our Huffington Post piece offers an analysis of the 
backlash, provides links to the many articles, editorials and columns 
published in recent weeks, examines why the media generally ignore 
community organizing, and briefly summarizes the history and current 
condition of community organizing, with links to many of the key groups 
and websites for those who want to learn more.

 

Peter Dreier

 

 

----------------------------------------

Peter Dreier

E.P. Clapp Distinguished Professor of Politics

Director, Urban & Environmental Policy Program

Occidental College

1600 Campus Road

Los Angeles, CA 90041

Phone: (323) 259-2913

Email: dreier at oxy.edu

Webpage: http://employees.oxy.edu/dreier

 

"The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who in times of great 
moral crises maintain their neutrality" -- Dante