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TechnoratiCommunity Organizers Attend Washington Event
WASHINGTON - Their profession mocked by Republicans on the campaign trail, hundreds of community organizers - including more than a dozen from Ventura County - got a little payback this week by flexing their political muscle in Washington and meeting with members of the incoming Obama administration.
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Their forum, dubbed Realizing the Promise, attracted more than 2,000
grass-roots, religious and political leaders from around the country.
The meeting was partly a follow-up to the Heartland Forum a year ago, when Barack Obama promised to include community organizers in helping to shape his administration's agenda if elected.
During the Republican convention, vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, who was mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, before becoming that state's governor, poked fun at Obama's experience as a community organizer on the south side of Chicago.
"I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a community organizer, except that you have actual responsibilities," she said.
The meeting this week was billed as a forum to "demonstrate the power of community organizers," but according to news coverage of the event, it also had the feel of a celebratory football end-zone dance.
Local organizer Cesar Hernandez of the group Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy said there were some practical reasons for going to Washington, D.C. The nonprofit group focuses on advocacy and organizing around social, economic and environmental issues in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.
Along with helping to set a new agenda to focus on the environment, healthcare and economic recovery, the organizers were learning how to influence policymakers, said Hernandez, who went with more than a dozen other local organizers.
"We're going to be coming back here every week for the first 100 days" of Obama's administration, Hernandez said.
The organizers met with local congressional leaders to see how the levers of power and lobbying work. They had some specific issues related to immigration reform and environmental issues in poor communities on their minds.
Hernandez said they were pushing for reform of the Environmental Protection Agency's Superfund hazardous waste cleanup program.
Specifically, organizers in Oxnard want cleanup of hazardous materials at the former Halaco metal-recycling plant.
Since the south Oxnard site received Superfund designation status from the EPA more than a year ago, the materials remain in a large waste heap near the beach.
6 Comments so far
Show AllAmerica is waiking up to the fact that the rich and powerfull have got them in one giant economic debt slave camp
America is waiking up to the fact that the rich and powerfull have got them in one giant economic debt slave camp
from the above article:
During the Republican convention, vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, who was mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, before becoming that state's governor, poked fun at Obama's experience as a community organizer on the south side of Chicago.
"I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a community organizer, except that you have actual responsibilities," she said.
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Uh, Hell-o, fell'r progressives. The jab at "community organizers" by Palin was a retort for Obama's slam against Palin being the mayor of a small-town.
If progressives do intend to employ the upperhand we profess to own, we must attempt to cite quotes in context to the qualifiers, rather than use them out of context to reinforce our prejudices. I realize Hadley appears to be a journalist, but the reality is that Palin was mocking Obama's attempt to belittle her position as a mayor while he's tried to use his position as a professional pol -ie commnunity organizers like Obama were paid for their work--.
this is not hard to observe....
1. You WILL vote for the democrat they place in front of you. You won't defeat anyone.
2. They WILL conduct business as usual because they can, and there's nothing you can do to change that.
But, good luck anyway.
Yesterday I watched a nearly 21/2 hour webcast of the gathering of community organizers thanks to the efforts of Movement Vision Lab to telecast it. The energy was absolutely wonderful and helped to compensate for the likes of Juan Williams (the principle moderator) and other Washington insiders acting like they were so pleased to see everybody while they urged them to "keep pushing us in Washington on these issues".
The whole thing started to smell and feel like the kind of patronizing twaddle that Dubya would tell the fundamentalist Christofascist shock troops agitating about gays, abortion, flag burning, school prayer and other hot button issues. Then go and laugh behind their backs as they did nothing.
The most constructive thing I heard was of groups getting together to protest at various places and events around DC (including the three blind mice from Detroit as they came unashamedly begging for bucks by chanting "the bailout is a sell out").
Community organizers should learn from the elites who oppress them. When the elites come to town to ask for somehting no matter how outrageous they always include in their request an "or else" clause. Or else the answer could come in the form of a mushroom cloud, the economy will collapse, etc. The greatest "or else" ultimatums that community organizers have are:
1. We will work for your defeat at the next election
and
2. We will make sure that "business as usual cannot continue".
It still remains to be seen how long it will take these powerful people to truly understand and use their power now that their candidates have what they sought.
Poet
"America's Mayor" Rudy G. also mocked community organizers at the Republican National Convention of 2008. Community organizers will tell the new administration in "official" meetings, when they can get them, or keep on doing what they've been doing for decades: organizing in communities and sending people to visit their governors, members of state legislatures, members of Congress for the services, opportunities, etc. that governments are supposed to be providing for the people in the communities, cities, states and nation. Poor people are often "shorted" on services: from education,rent regulation,decent housing,jobs creation, wheelchair access, health services, ...(make your own list) to garbage pickup. I do want to see separation of church and state enforced. Bush Admin. started blurring the line.