Related Community Organizer Posts
- Desperate Obama uses Palin comments on Community Organizers to beg for money; a citizen's guide to Comm. Organizers
- BHO's mentor in community organizing says "Obama was a natural, the undisputed master of agitation" ; achieved nothing, NADA
- Obama went to school on communist Saul Alinksy
- Marxist Michelle quotes lines from Marxist rabble-rouser Saul Alinski in her Denver speech
- 16 year ties to Socialist activist Group ACORN are deep
Al Capone, as a community leader in Chicago, was effectively one of the first community organizers although he operated in the days before Communist Saul Alinski invented the title Community Organizer. According to WikiCapone often tried to... be seen as a community leader. For example, he started a program, which was continued for decades after his death, to fight rickets by providing a daily milk ration to Chicago school children. Also during the Great Depression, Capone opened up many soup kitchens for the poor and homeless.
Additionally the Community Organizer guidebook notes:
Community organizing changes the balance of power and creates new power basesThis is exactly what Capone did...
After the 1923 election of reform mayor William Emmett Dever in Chicago, Chicago's city government began to put pressure on the gangster elements inside the city limits. To put its headquarters outside of city jurisdiction and create a safe zone for its operations, the Capone organization muscled its way into Cicero, Illinois. This led to one of Capone's greatest triumphs: the takeover of Cicero's town government in 1924.
The 1924 town council elections in Cicero became known as one of the most crooked elections in the Chicago area's long history, with voters threatened at polling stations by thugs. Capone's mayoral candidate won by a huge margin but only weeks later announced that he would run Capone out of town. Capone met with his puppet-mayor and personally knocked him down the town hall steps
The modern equivalent of a group organizing electoral fraud on a large scale is ACORN.
Michelle Malkin addresses the Obama ACORN connection in this piece:
So what did Obama actually do when he was community organizing? Train workers for vote-fraudsters ACORN
Meanwhile the Dems are trying to exploit the RNC's perceived hostility toward Community Organizers. Actually I don't think its hostility as much as ignorance which is why I'm offering this excellent guide from the MarinInstitute.org (presumably based in liberal Marin County in N. Califonia). The guide shows how the profession has changed since Capone's day. Capone hated Communists so probably would have been distressed to learn how community leadership had changed under Alinski's guidance.
You'll find the guide after this copy of the latest Obama begging letter which specifically mentions the RNC's comments about Community Organizers
Team Obama lost no time trying to turn their worst nightmare into hard cash. After taking a monster pummeling at the hands of Sarah Palin, they immediately resorted to the one thing that they do best...using lies to stir the masses into coughing yet more of their hard-earned cash. Interestingly having been exposed as having dropped the bar to only $10 bucks for its request to the Red Cross, they decide this time to only ask for $5 or more
.****************************************************************************oxy --
David Plouffe
I wasn't planning on sending you something tonight. But if you saw what I saw from the Republican convention, you know that it demands a response.
I saw John McCain's attack squad of negative, cynical politicians. They lied about Barack Obama and Joe Biden, and they attacked you for being a part of this campaign.
But worst of all -- and this deserves to be noted -- they insulted the very idea that ordinary people have a role to play in our political process.
You know that despite what John McCain and his attack squad say, everyday people have the power to build something extraordinary when we come together. Make a donation of $5 or more right now to remind them.
Both Rudy Giuliani and Sarah Palin specifically mocked Barack's experience as a community organizer on the South Side of Chicago more than two decades ago, where he worked with people who had lost jobs and been left behind when the local steel plants closed.
Let's clarify something for them right now.
Community organizing is how ordinary people respond to out-of-touch politicians and their failed policies.
And it's no surprise that, after eight years of George Bush, millions of people have found that by coming together in their local communities they can change the course of history. That promise is what our campaign has been about from the beginning.
Throughout our history, ordinary people have made good on America's promise by organizing for change from the bottom up. Community organizing is the foundation of the civil rights movement, the women's suffrage movement, labor rights, and the 40-hour workweek. And it's happening today in church basements and community centers and living rooms across America.
Meanwhile, we still haven't gotten a single idea during the entire Republican convention about the economy and how to lift a middle class so harmed by the Bush-McCain policies.
It's now clear that John McCain's campaign has decided that desperate lies and personal attacks -- on Barack Obama and on you -- are the only way they can earn a third term for the Bush policies that McCain has supported more than 90 percent of the time.
But you can send a crystal clear message.
Enough is enough. Make your voice heard loud and clear by making a $5 donation right now:
https://donate.barackobama.com/fightback
Thank you for joining more than 2 million ordinary Americans who refuse to be silenced.
David
David Plouffe
Campaign Manager
Obama for America
As to the basis for their claim that the RNC is lying about Obama/Biden, I've looked carefully through the speeches made by Palin and Guilliana and can find no such lies. Maybe the lies were contained in a speech by another speaker.
Nor could I find any direct attacks on the Obamatrons.
With regard to Guiliani's/Palin's comments about community organizers, I did some research at the MarinInstitute.org.
The champion of the modern-day Community Organizer concept was none other than Communist radical Saul AlinskyCommunity Organizing Action PackAre you ready to take action and get others involved? Then community organizing might be the right approach for you. To help decide, you'll need to understand what's involved in community organizing and how it differs from other problem solving approaches. You will also need to decide if you have the necessary resources and commitment on hand. Take a self-evaluation test to see if you are ready to be a community organizer.
Community organizing is a long-term approach where the people affected by an issue are supported in identifying problems and taking action to achieve solutions. The organizer challenges those he or she works with to change the way things are—it is a means of achieving social change through collective action by changing the balance of power. The tactics and strategies employed by the organizer are similar to the processes of leadership including timing the issue, deliberate planning, getting the attention of the populace, framing the issue in terms of the desired solution, and shaping the terms of the decision-making process."A single bracelet does not jingle"
- African proverbCommunity organizing helps to bring out many voices to add collective power and strength to an issue. Community organizing is a key part of an overall strategy to make changes in a community that are widely felt, and that reflect the wishes of the people who are directly affected by alcohol-related community problems. This requires the organizer to not only listen and be responsive to the community, but also to help community residents develop the skills necessary to address their own issues in an ongoing way.
At the heart of community organizing are inclusion, ownership, relationship building and leadership development.
Individual vs. Collective Action
Community organizing looks at collective solutions — large numbers of people who engage in solutions that impact even more people. These people usually live in the same neighborhood, town or block.
Many traditional agency responses look at individual solutions. Agencies tend to focus on the individual as a means to solve public health problems.
Changing the balance of power
Community organizing changes the balance of power and creates new power bases. Groups that organize do not have to be statewide or national in scope, nor do the decision-makers have to be elected officials. Here are some examples from history:
• Civil rights: The boycotts of businesses and busses in the South brought about desegregation and the Voting Rights Act.
• Labor unions: Strikes against conditions in factories throughout the early part of this century led to the 40-hour work week and better working conditions for all workers.
• The anti-war movement: Protests against the war pressured the government to end U.S. involvement in Viet Nam .Are you ready?
"The community organizer...must constantly examine life, including his own, to get some idea of what it is all about, and he must challenge and test his own findings. Irreverence, essential to questioning, is a requisite. Curiosity becomes compulsive. His most frequent word
is 'why'?"
- Saul Alinsky, Rules for Radicals, 1971Do you have what it takes to be a community organizer?
Every successful business or organization has a great leader — or several leaders for that matter. The skills of the community organizer are crucial to the organizing process. Take our self-evaluation test to see if you are ready to be a community organizer.
Community organizers think strategically about their work while always keeping the final goal in mind and continually making contributions to the goal. This is especially important in community organizing campaigns to enact or change policies. Qualities include:
• Imagination
• Sense of Humor
• Blurred vision of a better world
• An organized personality
• Strong ego/sense of oneself
• A free, open mind, and political relativity
• Ability to create the new out of the old ( Saul Alinsky, 1971 )Principles of Organizing
Experienced organizers know that the process of organizing is seldom "tidy" — it doesn't always happen in neat, predictable steps. It can be thought of as a process guided by principles that repeat in a cyclic, rather than linear, way:
Understanding this helps in planning effective organizing for community action.
Six stages of effective community organizing:
It's extremely important that you get to know the community you will be working in and the history of the issue you will address. Allow two to three months to become familiar with the community, its history, make-up, demographics, geography and political leadership. Continue to learn about the community by going " doorknocking " and conducting " one-on-ones ". This will help you learn about the concerns of the community and develop personal relationships.
One-on-ones are an important part of community organizing, as they lay the foundation for all the work that comes afterwards. The main goal of the one-on-one is to listen and gather information. The organizer must learn what community members concerns are, and find out what they identify as problems, not tell the community what the problem is. That is why an organizer meets first with people individually, rather than try to meet everyone in a group.
Review your one-on-ones and invite people to join your community action team (or committee, task force, group). Ideally, teams should have up to 10 to 20 active members so they are big enough to have representation from the community, but not so unwieldy that the team can't make decisions/progress. Try to build an action team of core leaders who have time, energy, passion for the issue, possess a "can-do" attitude and represent a diverse cross-section from many sectors of the community.
Work with your team to develop an Action Plan. What problems has your group identified? What policies would address that problem? What is the decision-making body you need to impact? What other steps will your team need to take to change policy? Break your work down into manageable steps and tasks. Hold a meeting to discuss your plan of action and include a timeline for when things will happen and identify who is responsible. It should be realistic, feasible, and flexible.
Issues for an action team might include:
- Alcohol billboards near school
- Easy for youth to get alcohol at a community festival
- Local store sells to youth
- Youth-targeted alcohol displays at local market
- Abandoned building in area is a hangout where youth drink
Building your base of support is a necessary part of your Action Plan . While your leadership group will guide your work, more people are needed to enact or change policy. Tasks you will need to consider:
• Identify potential supporters by going door-to-door
• Build a base of support in the community
• Determine constituents and likely allies
• Contact constituents and meet with key members
• Make presentations
• Identify elected officials who you think will be supportive
• Solicit advice of supportive politicians for more political contacts
• Ask people to get involved — give them specific tasksOnce your group has identified its policy goals (Link to public policy) your responsibility as the organizer is to keep the momentum of the group moving forward. To do this you should:
• Break large jobs into small tasks
• Get and keep your team members engaged, informed,
involved, and in the spotlight
• Be responsive and reliable — get people what they need to complete their tasks
• Keep group focused and on track
• Don't let opponents get your group off message or taskOnce you pass a policy (link to public policy) or achieve your goal, your group will need to decide how it maintains the change and ensures that the desired results are achieved. For example, policy changes cannot be successful at reducing youth access to alcohol if those policies don't include enforcement provisions. After a policy is passed, your group will want to be sure that it is enforced and accomplishes what you intended.
Likewise, your group will have to decide what its future will be once you attain your goal. Do you want to work on other policies? Has the group served its purpose? Your group will need to decide on its future, and begin the planning and base building phases all over again.
As you implement your plan of action, it's important to carefully review your progress during the campaign (Make this a link to info below "During the campaign") to ensure you stay on track, as well as to evaluate the campaign after (Make this a link to info below "After the action plan") it has ended to see what went right or wrong and learn lessons for the future.
During the campaign , make sure you are continuing to make progress toward your goals. Check up on the process, to make sure your group is
effectively working together. Examples of evaluation questions to ask leaders and other stakeholders in your campaign might include:
• Is the campaign making a difference? How?
• Are we making progress toward our goal?
• What factors are most important in achieving the goals of the campaign?
• What are the biggest challenges or obstacles for the campaign?After the action plan has been implemented and the campaign is "over," evaluate:
• What has been accomplished?
• What still needs to be done?
• What was done well?
• What could have been done better?
**************************************************************************************
Notice it says the processes followed by community organizers are "SIMILAR to leadership"...but not actually leadership. What's the difference? Back in Capone's time, it seems community organizers used the gun to achieve power. In these more enlightened times, here's what the guidebook say are the qualities of a good community organizer
• Imagination
• Sense of Humor
• Blurred vision of a better world
• An organized personality
• Strong ego/sense of oneself
• A free, open mind, and political relativity
• Ability to create the new out of the old ( Saul Alinsky, 1971 )
Nowhere does it mention the number one and two qualities that followers expect from leaders:
- TRUSTWORTHINESS....which is earned by honesty and integrity...in other words personal accountability.
- strong judgment
I believe to some degree Palin's meaning would have been clearer if she had suggested that Community Organizers lack accountability rather than saying they lack responsibility.
In any case, Sarah Palin's meaning, to me at least, was clear as a bell, but the Alinski-trained rabble rousers at Team Obama are seizing on this to promote more class-warfare.
Yet another reason we must day no deal to Obama and his team of hysterical socialist left wing revolutionaries.
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