When I was 8 years old, it was discovered that the asbestos that was used in the construction of schools in Philadelphia caused cancer. When nothing was done by the city to safeguard me and my classmates from this poison, a community organizer by the name of Michael Di Bernidinis and his group, Kensington Joint Action Council (KJAC) stepped in and organized a walk out. We shut the schools down until the city removed the hazardous material.
If it wasn’t for this selfless community organizer, I would most likely have mesothelioma. Heck, half the city my age would probably have it.
In 1963, a charismatic community organizer had a dream. And that dream gave a voice to the civil rights movement. Dr Martin Luther King Jr., a Baptist minister from Atlanta, gave his life for that dream.
Last night, people like this, and the communities they organized, were insulted, laughed at, and dismissed as unworthy.
Susan B. Anthony, community organizer, along with Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott led the long march for Women’s Suffrage. Last night, a woman who would be Vice-President, rejected the hard work these women put forth in the defense of equal rights for women in America.
In 1992, a young community organizer, Barack Obama, went to the South Side of Chicago and gave 150,000 people a voice in their city by registering them to vote. 150,000 voters registered in a matter of 6 months between April and October. Last night this accomplishment was trivialized by a political opponent that got not many more votes than that in her entire political career (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electoral_history_of_Sarah_Palin">186,163 votes total in the past 12 years).
Community organizing is one of the most patriotic of American endeavors. People who have undertaken such tasks are responsible for some of the most prescient moments in our history.
John Hancock and The Sons of Liberty were community organizers. They organized The Boston Tea Party.
What is a union? Is it not a community organization?
Community organizing led to the birth of our country, but I guess the Republican Party doesn’t care about that.
How about all of the community outreach groups that span our nation? Are they not led by community organizers? The Ministers at the soup kitchens? The lawyers at the Women’s Law Project? The volunteers at the local retirement home? The thousands of people sending the comforts of home to our brave soldiers on foreign battlefields? Is there work not worthy of there respect?
These are the community organizations that the GOP just ridiculed as worthless. And I am disgusted!
It’s time that we show them what a community organization can do! Donate to Barack Obama. Volunteer at your local “Obama for America” office. Let’s show them the power of a community organized!
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