Republicans and Democrats Had Their Say -- Now Hear From America's Families

Meet Joyce Cook and 15,000 of her fellow community organizers - Adopting a working family platform and raising their voices.

At this moment in Los Angeles, Birmingham and Chicago low-income families are attending the the 3rd Convention... the Equal Voice for America's Families Convention to call for the adoption of a national family platform that truly addresses the issues impacting families.

The convention and campaign is a project of the Marguerite Casey Foundation which just announced today the donation of $1,000,000 to hurricane relief.

I'm posting from the convention in Los Angeles and will be sharing the thoughts, stories and hopes of attendees with you throughout the day.

In the short videos below Joyce Cook introduces the convention and talks briefly about community organizing. If you want to learn more about Joyce and her community organizing around youth incarceration go to www.equalvoice.ning.com.

Tune in for more and feel free to ask me to ask questions via comments.

Comments

[tudorman]

Kathleen Baca, communications director for the Marguerite Casey Foundation and co-coordinator of the national campaign (for Equal Voice for America's Families):
"We talk a lot about equal opportunities," Baca said. "But what we really should look at is equal outcomes. We all should end up at the same place."
Hey! Isn't that a lot like...communism?
Anybody out there remember this one?:
"Ask not what your country can do for you, but ask what you can do for your country."
This is the kind of thing that drives hard-working middle Americans away from the Democratic Party. (Make no mistake, these people will vote Democratic.)

[jalyn]

I am surprised that Sarah Palin has not apologized yet to the community organizers; her convention speech left me aghast. Feel this woman is living in her own elitist world, has no idea who America is, and am still shocked that so many voters in the media are revering this woman. Any reasonable person sees Barach Obama for his contribution and hard work, his guelling 18 months of campaigning, meeting the "real" people. Sarah Palin just shows up from nowhere and thinks she can harvest the voters that were planted and seeded and cared for by the hard work of Obama and Hillary.

My family has experienced the wrath of job loss and it wasn't until then that I really appreciated and understood the forsaken, and those who struggle every day to put food on the table. Sarah Palin is out of touch with reality, I expect as soon as one of her nails breaks, she'll be looking for another job.

[Okieborn]

Any time the United States helps the( poor and middle class), which I might add under this administration they are one now POOR !!
The Democratic Party has always helped to assist the Poor and Middle Class !!!

[BARRISTER]

According to McCain, Palin and the Republicans, you folks do nothing!!

Show them just how much you do, and organize their failure at the Polls on Nov. 4th.

[DyslexicPalindrome]

God bless you!

[grata2ude]

So this is a convention of community organizers that the Republicans made fun of at their convention?

I surely hope all attending vote for Obama.

[08Barack08]

If you believe John McCain exercised poor judgment in choosing Sarah Palin (or if you believe Sarah Palin was simply a HORRIBLE choice all around), please join the movement.

www.imPALIN.com
It's worth a minute of your time!

[darker]

I hope somebody will CARE about what's happening to lower income families.

Republicans' America is the SELFISH NANNY STATE FOR THE RICH and their
corporate welfare queens--CEOs. Deregulation has CRASHED THE ECONOMY

Republicans did not lift a finger to help anyone who's not a zillionaire!

Never mind McCain. He's ONE OF THEM. Now posing as "somebody else".
We're not buying it.

I'm going with that "community organizer": OBAMA.

[northcan]

Palin; A community organizer does do more than the mayor's position you had!! You had all the administrative help to teach you how to be mayor, and you had a hockey rink to christin. Get off your high horse, you let your community starve while you led them along with phoney 'pitbull' stratagy. Fake, phoney, arrogant, pompous idiot.

At a MI foodbank a day or so ago, she said "You know"....."I've had a change of heart myself". "I want people to understand the plight of rural Alaska". "Under my leadership the Republican Party is going to start trying to care about poor people, minorities and maybe EVEN children".

That says it all..................................................................

[lbrillante]

I've never heard of this before. I don't trust the republicans to help families. I don't trust them period.

[GrainOSand]

If the problems of poor communities are ever to be addressed it will be through grass roots efforts where ordinary people step up and speak out and unite. I intend to look into this to see how I might contribute whatever I can. Regardless of the cold heart of Sarah Palin, I know that community organizing is an honorable, necessary, and worthy position of advocacy for real people.

Thanks for posting the two videos and making me aware of this movement and gathering of people. America will either unravel from within (the acts of terrorists notwithstanding) or change from within. It is my hope that we change. I want to be a part of that not for legacy sake but for the sake of ending real suffering. I think that is the difference between McCain/Palin and Obama/Biden, the former is pursuing legacy and ambition at great cost to average Americans, and the latter is pursuing meaningful change to curb, diminish, or otherwise eradicate real suffering and real pain. The differences could not be starker or more glaring. I am inspired by the latter two and appalled by the former two in their recklessness and disregard for real people. McCain and Palin could care less about others because their heart is eclipsed by self-interest, which motivates them to do and say anything for political reward. We have seen this before.