As bloggers have chosen today to blog about the remarks made against community organizers at the Republican National Convention, I wanted to share what I wrote for a blog I share with my co-workers-
In response to the scornful comments made about community organizers at the Republican National Convention last week, bloggers have chosen to blog today on the hard, thankless, never ending, oh so important work of community organizers. In honor of all the contributors at I Am Suing Patriarchy blog and countless others I am fortunate to call friends and commrades, I want to take a moment give thanks for community organizers.
Community organizers have been at the root of any social change. While it can take many forms such as protests, petitioning, advocating, celebrations, canvassing, educating, registering voters, vigils, fundraising, marching, church meetings, neighborhood watches, government funded organizations, non-profits who rely solely on donations and volunteers, letter writing campaigns, feeding those without food, speaking for those who are not heard, listening to someone share her/his story, and many other ways, it always is done by working with people in the community. Community organizers are the first to respond to injustices that unfairly target certain groups of people. They are often from the community they are advocating for, providing an authentic voice in an ever-increasing world of meaningless quips and political banter. While politicians talk about their "real responsibility", it is the community organizers who suffer with the community when policies fail and promises are broken.
It was community organizers who first questioned the rule of England in what would become the United States. It was community organizers that developed the Underground Railroad and demanded that all be free in this country. It was community organizers who insisted that people of color and women have the right to vote. It was community organizers who advocated against child labor and for adequate public education. It was community organizers who saw a need to support the disadvantaged in our country and created social services. It was community organizers who fought for civil rights throughout history for countless groups. It was community organizers who demanded that women have a choice about their bodies and when they have children. It was community organizers who spoke out about the violence perpetrated on targeted groups. It was community organizers who protested war after war, and it was community organizers that advocated for veterens who were forgotten by the country who asked them to sacrifice all. It was community organizers who believed that everyone has the right to practice the faith of their choice and called upon our government to create a separation of church and state. It was community organizers who protected and supported when all others turned a blind eye. It was community organizers that fought for every right you have.
It will be community organizers that make sure you have your needs met should you not be financially able to. It will be community organizers that help you raise your voice high so that you are not forgotten about in our society and government. It will be community organizers that work to protect you should you be violently targeted for your identity. It will be community organizers who demand that your vote count. It will be community organizers who fight for your right to equal and adequate resources. It will be community organizers who demand that you have healthcare regardless of whether you can pay or not. It will be community organizers that insist on your right to age with dignity and proper support. It will be community organizers who work to ensure that you always have a choice. It will be community organizers who protect you from government corruption. It will be community organizers who will demand access to healthy and non-toxic foods and products for you. It will be community organizers who will fight for you when you cannot. It will be community organizers who stand by you when others walk away.
It would be easy for me to launch into a diatribe against the Republicans and promote the agenda of the Democratic party, but that's not what I want to do today. I want to take a moment to reflect on the deep saddness I felt when hearing government leaders mock the hard work and history of so many in this country. I think of all those people, both past and present, who never had a convention in their honor or even heard so much as a thank you from these leaders for doing the work that should have already been done by the government tasked with protecting us all. It frightens me that current leaders are so out of touch with the people in this nation that they would revel in their privileged status on television while many that night went to bed worrying about when they will get a job, where tomorrow's meals will come from, what to do if they get sick, or how to go on another day in a society that systematically denys them protection and equal rights. The remarks that night prove to me that there is still so much work to be done. No matter who wins the election in November, we must all continue to fight for what is rightfully ours and hold our government to the standards of nothing but excellence. Although we were mocked and disparaged that night, I know I am a small part of a great history of people who cared enough to do something when injustice occured.
I am proud to be a community organizer.
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Thanks so much for writing this! It was very upsetting to see speakers at the RNC to completely ridicule the work of community organizers in a attempt to challenge Obama's experience. It was a slap in the face to all of those who work so hard to raise awareness and create social change in communities and more without the budget and recognition an individual could get elsewhere. I appreciate the work of community organizers! They are vital to progress and deserved a lot more from the RNC (they owe a lot to community organizers who work for their interests).
This
and
This
Are all I have to say about community organizers.
Go here for a quick youtube resopnse
Community Organizing is what Mother Theresa, Ghandi and Jesus Christ did.
As a social worker, I was deeply offended when the RNC took the time to slam community organizers and all that they do for our country.
I thought your post was articulate, well thought out and just plain fantastic. I would love to share it with others in our field.
Thank you for this post. I'm a Community Organizer and I was absolutely astounded by the insensitivity shown by the RNC.
I'm thrilled to see such a great post in response to it. Thank you so much; I teared up a little reading it.
What a beautiful post. My sweet husband was a community organizer at a state level for 7 years, and is now organizing for a for-profit (but good!) national organization. I have barely seen him at all during election season since 2001 due to all the voter registration drives he's done. He's such a hard worker and just such a sweetheart to everyone, it really hurt me personally when Palin said that. He's worked so hard on so many issues (women's housing initiatives, voter registration, polling-place accessibility/accountability, state sponsored drug price registries for those without insurance, etc... etc... etc...). She really has no idea what is going on!
I thought this was an interesting perspective on her: http://www.slate.com/id/2199118/ -- just to try to get a glimpse of why she is so ignorant.
Thank you for the post.
I had never heard the words community organizer be used in such a way that made me feel disregarded.
Usually when I say I'm a community organizer, people smile and say something positive.
But when I watched that, I wondered where the other half of the population was- the half that think my efforts are a joke.
Here's to the better half.
Silly Palin, you're just adding fuel to the fire of this movement. I can tell you for certain that all the community organizers down here in Texas have been working twice as hard since her speech. Thanks for the post, it reminds me of the HUGE, brave family that I have in this lonely country.
Thanks for this post. We linked to you in our far less articulate response to the stupid comments from the RNC. It really pisses us off to think about how many hard-working and dedicated people were totally blown off and laughed at because of these comments, but we're also hopeful that, like Meggy B said above us, this will only add fuel to the fire and inspire more people to be aware and involved.