Community organizer

[crescent&pearls]

We keep hearing this term "community organizer" in the presidential campaign.
I've never heard that term before. What does it mean? If you are a community organizer, who do you work for? (I mean, do you volunteer or get a paycheck from someone, and if so, who?)

Have you ever been a community organizer or had any experience with one?

Don't go all ballistic on your political views on either candidate, I'm just looking for a definition. Thanks!

[BetteDavisEyes]

Here's an article I found on it. It *might* help.

[texas*princess]

This might help too

[Kevin]

My father (an attorney) once had a "community organizer" (who was not an attorney) attempt to represent his girlfriend in a legal matter. The judge, of course, had none of that and the gentleman barely avoided jail time for attempting to practice law without a license. This man was apparently a complete doofus.

That indirect experience is the height of my interaction with community organizers.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by crescent&pearls

We keep hearing this term "community organizer" in the presidential campaign.
I've never heard that term before. What does it mean? If you are a community organizer, who do you work for? (I mean, do you volunteer or get a paycheck from someone, and if so, who?)

In my experience, those community organizers (definitely a very loose term) who are not volunteers work for non-profit organizations. Sometimes these non-profits are connected to religious institutions, sometimes to political or ideological ones, etc. For example, one of the organizations that B. Obama worked for was the Developing Communities Project, which was formed and supported by a number of Catholic parishes in Chicago to address needs in the neighborhoods those parishes served. He also worked for the Gamaliel Foundation; their website (particularly the sections under "Mission") might give you more information.

I hope I'm not going ballistic on political views here , but I found it quite unbelieveable that Giuliani, the former mayor of NYC, would be so dismissive of community organizers. Sure, I bet some of them made his job harder at times, but I also bet he couldn't have done a lot of what he did without them.

[PeppyGPhiB]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

In my experience, those community organizers (definitely a very loose term) who are not volunteers work for non-profit organizations. Sometimes these non-profits are connected to religious institutions, sometimes to political or ideological ones, etc. For example, one of the organizations that B. Obama worked for was the Developing Communities Project, which was formed and supported by a number of Catholic parishes in Chicago to address needs in the neighborhoods those parishes served. He also worked for the Gamaliel Foundation; their website (particularly the sections under "Mission") might give you more information.

I hope I'm not going ballistic on political views here , but I found it quite unbelieveable that Giuliani, the former mayor of NYC, would be so dismissive of community organizers. Sure, I bet some of them made his job harder at times, but I also bet he couldn't have done a lot of what he did without them.

Agree. I don't get why anyone would think of community organizers, or similar titles, as a bad thing. In most cases, those individuals are unpaid or very low-paid, and they do it because they just give a damn about the community they're assisting. You frequently find them in large cities with many neighborhoods, cultures, income levels and religions.

I find it far more relevant work than serving on the PTA.

[crescent&pearls]

Thanks folks. After I posted this morning I heard a discussion about this on the radio while I was driving to work. Must be the topic of the day

Be careful there with the PTA, PeppyGPhiB. By the current definition being tossed around, Alice Birney and Phoebe Apperson Hearst would both be "community organizers." And a heck of a lot of PTA members that followed them too.

[a.e.B.O.T.]

Jane Addams, César Chávez, Samuel Gompers, Martin Luther King, Jr., John L. Lewis, and Paul Wellstone were ALL community Organizers according to wikipedia. Its loosely defined, but it is about awareness and getting community and civil rights in to action. The best example is MLK, his whole work as we know it through our generic education on Civil Rights is essentially "community organizing." Of course, community organizers can fall on altering sides of standard morals and ethics.

I think the disrespect to the position as a generality presented at the RNC was ridiculous and unfair. Their work can be greatly compared to politicians and definitely associate themselves with local and national politics.

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by a.e.B.O.T.

Jane Addams, César Chávez, Samuel Gompers, Martin Luther King, Jr., John L. Lewis, and Paul Wellstone were ALL community Organizers according to wikipedia. Its loosely defined, but it is about awareness and getting community and civil rights in to action. The best example is MLK, his whole work as we know it through our generic education on Civil Rights is essentially "community organizing." Of course, community organizers can fall on altering sides of standard morals and ethics.

I think the disrespect to the position as a generality presented at the RNC was ridiculous and unfair. Their work can be greatly compared to politicians and definitely associate themselves with local and national politics.

Do conservatives ever describe themselves as "community organizers," even if the label fits the job they do? I suspect that the RNC is disrespecting the terminology more than the actual work.

And maybe it's helpful to remember that the context, at least for Palin, was responding to people who wanted to minimize the work involved in being a small town mayor. And from that perspective her barb wasn't far off.

All the folks you name in your post were leaders who worked on behalf of a cause(s), but they were leaders who got to shape and define any responsibilities they took on, as opposed the the well defined responsibilities and accountability of being a mayor.

[KSig RC]

Originally Posted by BetteDavisEyes

Here's an article I found on it. It *might* help.

Written by a Chicago radio host and noted Obama supporter? Seriously?

Originally Posted by PeppyGPhiB

Agree. I don't get why anyone would think of community organizers, or similar titles, as a bad thing. In most cases, those individuals are unpaid or very low-paid, and they do it because they just give a damn about the community they're assisting. You frequently find them in large cities with many neighborhoods, cultures, income levels and religions.

I find it far more relevant work than serving on the PTA.

It's definitely not a "bad thing" - but it's very similar to a lobbyist position, but for a non-profit. Also, they're not paid well, but if you look, Obama wasn't too far below the median national income for an individual at $15,000 in 1985.

Of course, it's considerably more relevant than PTA experience, but we all know that no one has ever run on PTA experience alone, no?

[DaemonSeid]

o gawd...anyone watching the Daily SHOW???????

[PeppyGPhiB]

Originally Posted by KSig RC

Of course, it's considerably more relevant than PTA experience, but we all know that no one has ever run on PTA experience alone, no?

Obama's not running on his "community organizer" experience alone. V. convenient that his state Senate experience never is mentioned - from the coverage you'd think he went from community organizer to U.S. Senate. I merely brought up the PTA because Sarah Palin has said in both of her televised speeches now that that was what launched her "involvement."

[KSig RC]

Originally Posted by PeppyGPhiB

Obama's not running on his "community organizer" experience alone. V. convenient that his state Senate experience never is mentioned - from the coverage you'd think he went from community organizer to U.S. Senate. I merely brought up the PTA because Sarah Palin has said in both of her televised speeches now that that was what launched her "involvement."

Exactly - both have used a non-traditional beginning to their political careers to help shape their public image. Both have moved pretty far from that beginning, as well.

As far as the lack of mention of his state Senate experience, that's an issue to take up with media coverage - I don't think it's been outright dismissed, but rather that most people's experience with state government leads them to recognize that most states have a ton of congressmen that really don't do a whole lot. Fairly or not, I think it gets discounted compared with larger positions for that reason - the number of people in those positions is high, and the utility is low.

[ZTAMich]

When I hear the term I think of the Rev. Al Sharpton. Who always seems to be involved in community affairs here.

[GeekyPenguin]

Originally Posted by UGAalum94

Do conservatives ever describe themselves as "community organizers," even if the label fits the job they do? I suspect that the RNC is disrespecting the terminology more than the actual work.

And maybe it's helpful to remember that the context, at least for Palin, was responding to people who wanted to minimize the work involved in being a small town mayor. And from that perspective her barb wasn't far off.

All the folks you name in your post were leaders who worked on behalf of a cause(s), but they were leaders who got to shape and define any responsibilities they took on, as opposed the the well defined responsibilities and accountability of being a mayor.

Yes, conservatives do use the term. One of the anti-choice organizations in the area is quite fond of it...or at least they were until the GOP declared war against it.