What is a Community Organizer, Anyhow?

... besides a Republican punchline. At the Republican National Convention, some of the speakers ridiculed Barack Obama's experience as a community organizer. Never mind the fact that the RNC was themed on "service" and Republicans of the past promoted social programs involving "a thousand points of light," I don't think these people have any idea what it means to be a community organizer. Or do they?

First of all, here in Virginia, we can lay claim to an authoritative source on the subject or community organizing. A book was recently published called "We Make Change: Community Organizers Talk About What They Do--and Why" by Joe Szakos and his wife Kristin of Charlottesville.* Pretty convenient, huh? That should answer a lot of questions, and it probably won't surprise you to know that We Make Change is the first book of its kind on the topic of community organizing (although there is a handbook/bible for practitioners). Joe Szakos is the Executive Director of the Virginia Organizing Project (VOP).** This statewide organization "empowers people in local communities to address issues that affect the quality of their lives." That's basically the core idea behind community organizing.

Does this work sound like something that should be ridiculed? The answer is YES, if you are an advocate of the filthy rich or an elected official who lives in fear of being held accountable. From that point of view, community organizing is threatening as it brings people into the political process and gives them a voice and a taste of power. The organized go from political subjects, to actors.

Another reason why Republicans are trying to laugh away Obama's background? He was damned good at his job! Barack Obama turned a congregation based group from a $70k annual budget to a $400k a year group that mobilized thousands through job training and defended against victimization by slum-lords. And now, he's coming for McCain's multi-house owning ass with an army of underprivileged Americans who are fed up. Um, yeah. That might inspire nervous laughter and defensiveness.

But seriously, Virginia may have VOP, but we aren't well known for community organizing otherwise. The standout national group, ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now), is renowned for turning recent college grads into high producing, iron fisted, straight talking, progressive political pitbulls. But they haven't found a foothold in Virginia. They pay a pittance for 80hrs per week of door knocking and rack up scads of political victories (like Living Wage ordinances) virtually everywhere they take root.

It's a pretty small percentage of ACORN organizers who actually stick with it and stay with the organization. Their system is about as demanding and cutthroat as Dean Witter in The Pursuit of Happiness. All of this pays off in an expanding grassroots power base that can rival corporate interests in the political process and leverage votes come election time. In other words, national politicians might talk smack about community organizers, but local politicians are usually a bit more careful, if they know what's good for them.

In Richmond, community organizing goes on sporadically beneath the surface of our everyday politics. And once in a while, there is a flare up and the art reveals itself. In 2006, RISC (Richmonders Involved to Strengthen Communities) pressured city council to commit to passing a Living Wage ordinance for the 500+ contracted city employees that are currently paid a wage below the federal poverty line (just ask the guys on the City garbage truck how much they make). RISC picked up the fight after the Richmond Coalition for a Living Wage (RCLW) all but gave up their fight to see this change through (which started in the year 2000 and over the years we had supposed champions in McQuinn, Trammel, Jewell, McCollum, Pantele, Jackson, Connor...).***

After years of misleadership by Richmond city council members, RISC put several local politicians' feet to the fire in dramatic fashion, before a backdrop of gospel singing and thunderous clapping. It would have been a conversion moment had our officials felt any sincere loyalty to the public welfare, much less their own word. As soon as RISC's gifted thirty-three year old community organizer, Michael de Beer, suffered an untimely heart attack, the council used his death as a way out of their commitment to uplift the poor who toil on the city payroll.

This local story of community organizing may not inspire hope, but then again, this is Richmond, Virginia. The community is rarely organized and the fight-back spirit is largely missing from the equation of our democratic process, unless you count Ukrops and the RTD's influence over city government. But, enough sour grapes outta me. Community organizing is only going to grow stronger as our leaders sneer and snicker. If you want to get involved in changing the disproportionate distribution of power, get that book, contact VOP, or look at some of the projects you're already involved in and realize that you might be already be a community organizer.

*This book is seriously awesome. If you want to borrow my copy, just say the word.
**I serve on the Statewide Governing Board of VOP.
***I was a founding member of RCLW.

Health Care for VIRGINIA Now. Event REPORT BACK

UPDATED REPORT FROM THE EVENT (see below).

If Virginia is going to be a battleground state, then WE need to decide the terms of that battle. What issues are important for Virginians? Don't sit around waiting for the two parties to frame the debate based on your fears, rather than your hopes. That kind of regressive politics has hasn't served anyone accept to further disempower voters. I would argue that healthcare needs to be an important part of both candidate's platform. Right now, there is a nationwide movement to make that the case, even right here in Virginia. You can get involved through a number of organizations, including the Virginia Organizing Project. The press release follows:

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Health Care For America Now

Media Advisory
Monday, July 7, 2008

CONTACT: Ben Greenberg, VOP Legislative Director (804) 467-8212

WHO: Leaders of the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy, Virginia Poverty Law Center, Virginia Organizing Project

WHAT: Launch of the $40 million Health Care for America Now campaign

WHEN: Tuesday, July 8, 2008 -- 11:00 a.m.

WHERE: House Briefing Room, First Floor, General Assembly Building, Richmond, Virginia

$40 Million Health Care Campaign to Launch in Virginia and Nationwide

Community Leaders Push for Quality, Affordable Health Care for Every American

Health Care for America Now, an unprecedented coalition of major organizations including labor unions, large community-based membership groups, women's groups, doctors, nurses, small businesses, and leading netroots activists, will launch a new $40 million campaign to push for quality, affordable health care for every American.

The coalition will hold a media conference on Tuesday, July 8 at 11:00 a.m. in the House Briefing Room, First Floor of the General Assembly Building in Richmond to outline the mission of the campaign and how it will affect people here in Virginia.

Along with the event in Richmond, the campaign will be hosting launch events in 52 cities (including 37 state capitals) across the country. Between now and election day, the group plans to spend $25 million in paid media and have 100 organizers in 45 states.

The campaign's national coalition includes ACORN, AFSCME, American Academy of Pediatricians, American Nurses Association, Americans United for Change, Campaign for America's Future, Center for American Progress Action Fund, Center for Community Change, MoveOn, National Alliance on Mental Illness, NEA, National Women's Law Center, Planned Parenthood, SEIU, UFCW, and USAction.

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Health Care for America Now
Media Contact: Ben Greenberg, Legislative Director, Virginia Organizing Project (804) 467-8212

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: JULY 8, 2008

$40 Million Health Care Campaign Launched in Virginia and Nationwide

Community Leaders in Virginia Join Together to Push for Quality, Affordable Health Care for Every American

Today, in Richmond and in 52 other cities across the country, including 37 state capitals, a new national campaign is bringing together millions of Americans to demand quality, affordable health care for all. Health Care for America Now (HCAN) is being launched by 95 national and local groups that represent labor, community organizations, doctors, nurses, women, small businesses, faith-based organizations, people of color, netroots activists, and think tanks. Health Care for America Now is organizing to assure that the first order of business of the next President and Congress is to pass legislation in 2009 that guarantees quality, affordable health care for all.

Health Care for America Now is an unprecedented coalition including ACORN, AFSCME, American Academy of Pediatricians, American Nurses Association, Americans United for Change, Campaign for America's Future, Center for American Progress Action Fund, Center for Community Change, MoveOn, National Alliance on Mental Illness, National Education Association, National Women's Law Center, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, SEIU, United Food and Commercial Workers, and USAction.

"In 2009, we will either have a guarantee of quality, affordable health care we all can count on or we will continue to be at the mercy of the private health insurance industry that is charging us more, giving us less and putting company profits before our health," said Ladelle McWhorter, secretary of the Virginia Organizing Project. "Here in Virginia and in communities all across the country, we're asking one question, 'Which side are you on?' Are you on the side of quality, affordable health care? Or are you on the side of being left alone to fend for yourself in a complicated, bureaucratic insurance market?"

Starting today, the campaign is spending an initial $1.5 million on national television, print, and online advertising and is sending out e-mails to more than 5 million people. Over the next five months, Health Care for America Now plans to spend $25 million in paid media and have 100 organizers in 45 states.

According to Jill Hanken, staff attorney at the Virginia Poverty Law Center, "This national problem is very apparent in Virginia, where there are one million uninsured people and an extremely restrictive Medicaid program that fails to cover thousands of very poor adults whose families live on less than $10,000 a year."

Hanken added, "People with health insurance are also affected by escalating premiums and larger co-pays that are now piling on top of higher food and gas prices. There are 25 million adults in the U.S. who can't afford their health care costs even though they have insurance. A national solution is critical."

"America has a proud tradition of individual responsibility and hard work, but we also have a proud tradition of coming together to overcome common challenges," said Ali Faruk, policy analyst with the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy. "Caring for the sick and needy is God's work and health care for all is just the kind of challenge that can and will bring out the best in Americans when we unite for it."

Health Care for America Now started with a financial commitment of at least $500,000 from each of the 13 steering committee members and a $10 million grant from NY-based Atlantic Philanthropies.

Health Care for America Now ("HCAN"), a section 501(c)(4) issue advocacy organization, is a broad coalition of nonprofit and political organizations that are working to promote quality, affordable health care for all Americans. HCAN and each of its members conduct and fund only activities appropriate to its tax and election law status.

WE MAKE CHANGE, Sun. 9/30 at 4pm

Need some inspiration to renew your hope and optimism about civic life? Does the political system shut you out of the process? This book and this group could help you change your relationship to power in Richmond and statewide. As a Board member of the Virginia Organizing Project (VOP), I am proud to announce this weekend's reading from our organization's book on community organizing (one of the first of it's kind). I hope you'll attend and/or spread the word. Below is the announcement being forwarded by VOP organizers.
-RVA Foodie

With two major presidential candidates - Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton - offering their experience with community organizing as evidence of their ability to lead the country, many Americans are beginning to wonder just what a community organizer is.

We Make Change: Community Organizers Talk About What They Do - and Why, a timely book by writer/editor KristinLayng Szakos and Virginia Organizing Project Executive Director Joe Szakos, helps to demystify this little-known profession and offer a glimpse into the daily lives of the people who make changing the world their life's work. The book has just been published by Vanderbilt University Press.

A FREE public event will be held:

September 30 at 4:00 p.m.
at the L. Douglas Wilder library,
Virginia Union University in Richmond.

Joe Szakos will be on hand to give a reading from the book and to autograph copies. We Make Change will be available for sale. All royalties from the book will go into a special fund for recruiting and training interns and apprentice organizers.


Background

We Make Change is a lively, readable collection of stories and observations by organizers across the United States. The reader will come away with an insight into this fascinating profession and the people who have chosen it.

Community organizers are the people who work, often behind the scenes, to help come together to effect meaningful change in their communities by building effective community organizations. They are there with the neighborhood group working to bring bank loans to low-income homeowners. They are there with immigrant women organizing to get medical insurance for their families, with small-town environmentalists keeping a toxic waste plant out of their community, with parents trying to get schools to respond to the needs of children with dyslexia, with gay and lesbian students striving to create a safe space in their schools, with groups working to reduce the ravages of racism in their towns and institutions. Wherever there is a well-organized group agitating for progressive social change, chances are there is a community organizer nearby.

We Make Change explores the world of community organizing through the voices of real people working in the field - organizers in small towns and big city neighborhoods, women and men, some in their 20s, others in their 60s, of different races and economic backgrounds. In addition to 14 individual profiles, all 81 interviewees are given voice in chapters like "What is Community Organizing?," How I Started Organizing," "Why Organize?," "Achievements and Victories," "Disappointments Are Inevitable," and "Advice to Aspiring Organizers."

Join us on Sunday, September 30 at 4:00 p.m. in the L. Douglas Wilder Library, located on the campus of Virginia Union University, 1500 North Lombardy Street, Richmond, VA 23220. Parking is located adjacent to the library.

For more information: Cathy Woodson, (804) 261-7497, cwoodson@virginia-orgainizing.org

Funeral for the Death of VA's Minimum Wage Increase: DOWNTOWN RVA, Wed, April 4th

Does the General Assembly make you feel ashamed? Do you ever feel like those legislators are personally out to get you, promoting ignorance and bigotry just to perpetuate the most oppressive aspects of our state's legacy? This time, don't let them get away with it. On Wednesday, April 4th, help the Virginia Organizing Project remind the GA that they cannot keep people down without being publicly shamed for thier campaign against progressive values.

Reasons and signifiance... Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. protested for civil rights and against war. But it wasn't until he waged a "poor people's campaign" that he was killed on April 4th, 1968 while supporting underpaid black janitors in the South. Sound familiar? At this symbolic public protest in downtown Richmond, we will mourn the fact that our government continues to kill the dream of economic justice.

Funeral Announcement for the Death of the Minimum Wage Increase in Virginia

Funeral services for the proposed Minimum Wage Increase in Virginia will be held Wednesday, April 4, 2007 in Richmond. Mourners will gather at the corner of Broad Street and 5th at 10:30 a.m. and join in a funeral procession beginning at 11:00 a.m. going to the Bell Tower in Capital Square with services at approximately 11:30 a.m. Pallbearers will be the working families and residents of the state who fought diligently for the bill's passage in this year's General Assembly.

The Minimum Wage Increase, which is a decade overdue, was killed on Tuesday, February 20, 2007, in the State Capitol by the Virginia House of Delegates on a 53-43 procedural vote. This came despite the efforts of thousands of hard-working Virginians to raise the minimum wage for the first time in a decade and despite the fact that 29 other states have already increased their minimum wage.

Please Join us for either the procession or the services to mourn the loss of the Minimum Wage Increase in Virginia.

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Help Virginia move toward fairness, justice, and equal opportunity for all.