Community organizer

[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.

[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.

[crescent&pearls]

You meant a pro-life organization, right? As opposed to a pro abortion organization? People we've got to stop that kind of rhetoric and respect that we can disagree on important issues and still stand together as Americans, evaluating each candidate fairly, and knowing that we won't agree or disagree with either on on every position they take or decision they have made or will make.

Back to the topic, I've seen a few interesting programs on Obama's work as as a community organizer over the past few days and it's helping me, an undecided, registered independent form a better understanding of his experience and point of view.

So when did this term come into the current usage? From what I've seen Obama was working as a community activist or advocate, and a big part of what he was doing was registering people to vote and encouraging them to do so. So why call it "organizer" instead of activist or advocate?