I learned about community organizing from my parents. As a child, their stories were so instructive. For example, in the summer of 1963, my mother was a teacher in Washington DC. She used her summer months to volunteer with the Urban League. That summer, as the Urban League was preparing for the March on Washington, my mother joined with dozens of others to do the unglamorous work of preparing for hundreds of thousands of people to descend on the nation's capital. My mom's stories and experiences from this event and others amazed me as a child and now inspire me as an adult. After Yale Law School, I was proud to try to live up to my parents' example and began my career working for The Urban Justice Center in the streets of Newark, organizing residents to fight for better housing conditions.
As I review the great history of our nation, community organizers have been at the center of so many of our great social movements. The labor movement -- securing decent working conditions and abolishing child labor, the suffrage movement, the abolitionist movement, the product safety movement, the civil rights movement among so many others . . . so many community organizers helped raise consciousness, focus action and drive change.
And today, as mayor of New Jersey's largest city, I witness day after day, from church-based activists to grassroots environmental groups, that the progress in Newark is not top down from this mayor (with my "responsibilities") but instead is being generated by our community which is thoroughly saturated with committed Americans focused, organized and determined to fully manifest our national dream for all of our residents.
Yes, this presidential political season will undoubtedly be full of jabs, barbs and low blows from both sides of the partisan divide. But I am hopeful that, in seeking to achieve short term political gain, neither side will engage in degrading the long term American traditions that have sustained and so empowered our nation.
No matter who wins the election in November, if he truly wants to realize his professed aims at making change, then he will indeed need to heavily rely upon those actually in the community to help make that change possible.
To paraphrase Dr. King, "Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability. It must be carried in on the backs of those committed to making the necessary sacrifices that change mandates." The change we seek for our nation is not the choice of an individual but must be the calling of a country. We need a new president and we need the continued noble work and service of community leaders, servants and organizers throughout our beloved country for any president to be truly successful.
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Democratic Party Members and other U S Citizens, "Let’s make sure Obama and Biden make it to the White House!" ~
My Brothers and Sisters of all Nationalities what I am saying is, “Do not allow “RACE” to be the deciding factor in casting your Votes! ~
History has proven we are Great Inventors, Designers, Politicians, Scholars, etc. ~
Obama ~ a Black/White Man is fit to run our country. (The Clock) Benjamin Banneker
Obama ~ a Black/White Man is fit to lead this country to the true light. (ELECTRIC LIGHT) ~ Lewis Latimer
Obama ~ a Black/White Man is fit to lead meetings and live in The White House (Engineer/Designer) Phillip Reid (a slave)
Obama ~ a Black/White Man is fit to put programs in place where everyone can afford Health Care, College, etc… Preformed the First OPEN HEART SURGERY” and show the world how to get and preserve “PLASMA” (Dr. Charles Drew)
Obama ~ a Black/White Man is fit enough to create and design a plan to bring all this unnecessary and worthless fighting between countries.
Obama ~ a Black/White Man is fit and well qualify to fill the shoes of a Bad President ~ G W. Bush!.
Obama is ~ Smart ~ Creative ~ Bold and Good Enough ~ just like the great African American Men before him.
Didn't Palin hear what she was about to say when she was Prasticing the speech for 3 days ?
Did she have any undersanding of her words? history?
WERE THEY LAUGHING AT ALL THE WOMENS RIGHT SUSAN B. ANTHONY GOT PASSED WITH HER EFFORTS IN COMMUINY ORGANIZING ?
Ordinary Peoples can call for many other "Boycotts" ~ Remembering, Ms. Rosie Park and others…. ~~~~~~~~~~~
One must be very careful, the Community Organizers will rise and show you Republicans how Strong and Important we are. ~~~~~~~
“Yes, We Can and We Will!”
Drevelyn Minor ~ Dallas, TX
Mocking this service then mocks our greatest of leaders including:
Our founding fathers
Marin Luther King
And on the other side of the world - Ghandi
Not understanding one of our greatest American virtues demonstrates to me as Palin has done an ignorance and indifference to those who have scarificed and benefited from this very American grassroots method of effecting change. This goes for people with disabilities, civil rights, womens rights, and labor rights. Caligula's Horse needs to ride off into the sunset!
I have lived in other countries, and I think community assistance of this kind is uniquely American. I am proud of it, and proud that for a time I was able to be directly involved in it. This is only a small part of Obama's preparation for the office of president, but for me it is a very important one.
No doubt, you will get mail and comments will abound about your use of "he" when referring to future campaign victors. When referring to "he or she" and the sex is unknown, the correct grammar is to refer to an unknown individual as a "he". Sadly, ignorance will abound on this correct use of grammar.
I must say, Newark seems to be in very good hands.
I'm just wondering Mr Mayor, was this article written before the RNC? I'm afraid they have already engaged in degrading this American tradition. Shamelessly, the more vocal one from a big city mayor like yourself, Giuliani, who should know how valuable this service is in a city like New York.
No President, whether Democrat or Republican, will successfully execute his community service agenda without first acknowledging that we are one nation consisting of all races, religions and cultures. We are red states and blue states and small towns and urban centers. And we will not make progress as long as we view each other through the divisive lens of "us and them".
Who has a better record of making the kind of change true American patriots desire to see?
Perhaps that idea rubs the hard left the wrong way. They are besides themselves with frothing anger and condescending wit.
and mccain, who has voted with bush 90% of the time offers
no change that I can see.
having another republican conservative is not change
its exaustingly tedius and old.
very very old.
obama/biden '08
As far as I can tell it is the Republican candidates that speak out of oth sides of their mouths. Obama is the straight talk candidate.