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Community Organizers 'Appalled' by Their Portrayal

Submitted by Desiree, Sep 6, 2008 12:51

I am a community organizer in New York City, and have been one for 2 years now. After reading the many assanine comments left by readers, I am more than just appalled. It's very clear to me that no one knows how to do their research. To base the work of community organizers by examining the work of only one is just plain dumb. The fact is community organizations work on different issues in different communities. We work with poor, low-income communities, usually comprised of people of color. These are the people who are taken advantaged of by local and national government; the people whose opinions are never asked, whose needs are never met, and who are not given access to basic services like health care, food, education, and jobs. Community organizers are people who come form these communities and work with the people directly to find solutions to these problems. Some tactics include lobbying for legislation, some tactics include direct action like protests and rallies. And to make it clear, an advocacy group and a community organization are two different things. Advocacy groups speak on behalf of the people, the way a lawyer pleads your case in court. A community organization is comprised of the people facing these issues, and they speak for themselves. And community organizations do not take money from tax payers. Receiving government funds qualifies you as a government service agency, ran by officials. Community organizations are funded by our people through grassroots fundraising endeavors and from foundations. For Gov. Palin (and many readers) to assume that community organizers have no real responsibility tells me you have no clue and are not concerned with getting one. One comment said community organizers need to work on marketing. We don't advertise in papers, magazines, etc. We outreach. We go to where our constituency is and speak to them. You probably don't know about us because you are not our constituency. Community organizers have a lot of responsibility, which is why it is difficult for Theo Moore to explain it to his mother. This is not a 9-5 job. It includes running meetings, talking to targets, training members, creating strategies, examining power dynamics, outreaching to potential members and doing follow-up calls with them, being an ear for folks to talk to,etc. Some victories are very tangible, such as winning space or services. Some victories come in the form of informing others, letting people outside of these communities know what is going on. And some battles are still being fought. I am a community organizer because I know things in this country are not fair for everyone. You cannot tell someone to lift themselves at the bootstraps when they are still working hard to just get socks. If you are poor, if you are low-income, if you are of color, if you are a woman, if you are LGBTQ, you are the bottom of the barrel. Members of community organizations fight for a more just society than what we have currently. I am proud to be part of that movement.

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Other reader comments on this article

Comment	By	Date
About 20 years ago in the windy city of Casper, Wyoming, I was privileged to serve among a group of... [MORE]	denie	Sep 14, 2008 21:17
I think Obama is all confused. He talks as if he is sitting in a court room, in front of... [MORE]	kay	Sep 11, 2008 14:40
I am a committed Democrat, what Obama said last night shows that he has schooling but no education. Nobody can... [MORE]	Kumar	Sep 10, 2008 11:06
Community organizer is self serving cause. He or she wants to look good and brag about it. There is no... [MORE]	Nari	Sep 7, 2008 07:02
I am a community organizer in New York City, and have been one for 2 years now. After reading the...	Desiree	Sep 6, 2008 12:51
What a truly sorry state of affairs. What next, will she criticize civic volunteers unless they have church affiliation?! [MORE]	glinda	Sep 6, 2008 10:06
Some people describe community organizers as "teaching people to get more free stuff from the government." That's too charitable. Research... [MORE]	Sam Jackson	Sep 5, 2008 23:16
"There are thousands of professional community organizers in New York City...". Hum, no wonder taxes are so high. Maybe if... [MORE]	fredlave	Sep 5, 2008 22:39
In my experience, when people have trouble explaining what they do, it's either because they're not doing much of anything... [MORE]	SukieTawdry	Sep 5, 2008 15:28
If it wasn't for community organizing and community development, poor people in this country would have no opportunities to move... [MORE]	R. Thibault	Sep 5, 2008 14:14
Don't confuse "community service" with "community organizer." [MORE]	Dan Schwartz	Sep 5, 2008 13:19
13,500 "community and social service specialists" works out to at least half a billion dollars a year that is being... [MORE]	Lifeofthemind	Sep 5, 2008 11:50
So, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), issues a statement saying it was "extremely disappointed" and that... [MORE]	James	Sep 5, 2008 11:34
Are you kidding? These people are constantly being caught trying to perpetrate voter fraud. And for all of Obama's organizing... [MORE]	ruby	Sep 5, 2008 11:00
Community Organizers must be folks who search for or create problems to work on. Maybe paid by government grants. Also,... [MORE]	glenn	Sep 5, 2008 10:36
The folks should be appalled at how inept Mr. Obama was as an Organizer. I mean, just how organized is... [MORE]	patrick Gigliotti	Sep 5, 2008 10:32
The Obama Campaign attacked Sarah Palin as a "small town mayor," and implied that she was unqualified to be Vice... [MORE]	Mike Sorensen	Sep 5, 2008 10:30
There are 13,500 community and social service specialists in New York, according to a report by the U.S. Department of... [MORE]	Sharmaine	Sep 5, 2008 10:23
Being a community organizer is no criteria for becoming President of the United States of America! It might be a... [MORE]	TexGEOas	Sep 5, 2008 10:13
How come nobody ever mentions the tax-payer funding this added layer of quasi government receives? Let's be clear: These groups... [MORE]	OCULUS	Sep 5, 2008 10:05
Governor Palin nailed it! "Community organizer"? As if. What they are are a bunch of bitter, self-absorbed agitators; and like... [MORE]	Thomas	Sep 5, 2008 09:50
Would one of the thousands of of New Yorkers who purport to be Community Organizers please send me a blank... [MORE]	Marty	Sep 5, 2008 09:23
Oh let us not forget Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Sonny Carson et al, I forgot these guys are down home... [MORE]	mike don	Sep 5, 2008 08:48
In other words, they are agitators who convince people that they should pressure institutions to provide them benefits which they... [MORE]	Arthur E. Lemay	Sep 5, 2008 05:34
Great article. I too was appalled by the comments of our previous Mayor Giuliani and Palin. While you open the... [MORE]	nigel ryan	Sep 5, 2008 00:36

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