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I am so tired. LOL seriously I'm exhausted. The last 20+ months have been exhilarating, worrisome, and an amazing experience. I didn't get to do as much for the Obama campaign as I wanted as our two young children take priority, but I did do all I could and my husband did a ton.
What an amazing experience. I am still sorting through all of my thoughts on it all and want to write about it but until I manage to do that I just want to say how proud I am of everyone who worked their butts off to make this happen. We did it. We. This was not a top down campaign. Things worked from the bottom up as much as from the top down. Chicago coordinated us but many of us, even in the context of working through our local offices, were self-directed. This was especially true in the primary and not as much in the general election.
We now live in a country with millions of new community organizers who are fired up and ready to go. What a beautiful day this is!
Showing posts with label community organizing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label community organizing. Show all posts
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Friday, October 17, 2008
Drip, Drip, Drip
I'm sitting with a pile of stamped postcards. They're written and ready to go to campaign HQ to be addressed and sent to undecided voters in swing states. There are lots of them and they represent hours of work by a number of people but when I sit and think of how few voters they'll actually reach it is discouraging. Still every vote matters. We have to fight to get every vote. Each little drip of water adds up and eventually makes a puddle, which can form a stream, which can fill a pond. It all adds up to something greater.
If a postcard I've written helps bring an undecided voter onboard then I've just doubled the impact of my vote. Thinking about it that way this pile suddenly seems larger.
This is how we change the world. This is how individuals can do it; with small steps towards small goals that can turn into larger steps towards larger goals and eventually others will help support us and we can go further and faster than we ever thought possible. This is the beauty of community organizing.
This is the wonder of community.
If a postcard I've written helps bring an undecided voter onboard then I've just doubled the impact of my vote. Thinking about it that way this pile suddenly seems larger.
This is how we change the world. This is how individuals can do it; with small steps towards small goals that can turn into larger steps towards larger goals and eventually others will help support us and we can go further and faster than we ever thought possible. This is the beauty of community organizing.
This is the wonder of community.
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Starting Young
Today I manned the voter registration table at a Community Fun Day event in a nearby city. We were in a park in a poor section and the event wasn't attended by as many people as any of us would have liked but it was a success on several levels (registering 11 new voters is something that I am proud of).
The biggest success was, I think, was the interest the kids had in participating. The park is surrounded by low-income housing and quite a few of the local kids came in and out of the park to see what was going on. A group of them stayed at the table I was working and several took it upon themselves, one girl in particular, to take over the raffle sales. They were enthusiastic and stayed for the entire event. Everytime someone bought a ticket they immediately handed me the money and then took it upon themselves to make sure the person filled things out right. They took pleasure in handing out bumper stickers and campaign buttons. I didn't understand what they were saying half the time as they easily switched between English and Spanish. The one thing that did come through clearly was their enthusiam.
One young boy proudly told me he didn't need to register because he had already voted for Obama. I smiled (probably in that irritating as hell way adults can) and said something to the effect of that's great but we don't vote until November and that you need to be a bit older but it's great that you're involved. He shook his head at me and pulled his Obama/Biden button and stretched his shirt out towards me (guessing, perhaps, that I just don't see well) and said, "No, I voted!"
I nodded and agreed with him and was distracted by a couple of adults who came over. The exchange stuck in my head though and in a quiet moment I watched the group of them (fluctuated between eight to fifteen). Every single child was sporting a button. When we found a bag of buttons with images of Senators Obama and Biden on them many of them they wanted to swap the ones they had for the newly discovered ones (of course I let them). Most of the kids also sported the campaign logo on their cheeks courtesy of a face-painting volunteer.
Maybe they decided to hang out with all of us for the snacks and music or perhaps because we were new and different in their park but no one asked them to help man the tables and no one asked them to help clean up afterwards and yet that is what several of them did.
They're too young to vote. They won't even be able to vote in 2012 but I think their participation today made an impression on a handful of them. Some were listening carefully to what I was telling the newly registered voters. They were listening carefully to people when they came up to the table and proudly announced that they'd registered first thing when they turned 18 or that they too have been involved in this campaign. They listened and observed everything.
It is my hope that when they went home tonight they asked their parents if they are registered to vote. It is my hope that they saw a group of strangers working together for a common cause and realized that they were a part of it, a part of something larger than themselves. I hope they carry this experience with them and that it helps them reach out to work with others throughout their lives.
The biggest success was, I think, was the interest the kids had in participating. The park is surrounded by low-income housing and quite a few of the local kids came in and out of the park to see what was going on. A group of them stayed at the table I was working and several took it upon themselves, one girl in particular, to take over the raffle sales. They were enthusiastic and stayed for the entire event. Everytime someone bought a ticket they immediately handed me the money and then took it upon themselves to make sure the person filled things out right. They took pleasure in handing out bumper stickers and campaign buttons. I didn't understand what they were saying half the time as they easily switched between English and Spanish. The one thing that did come through clearly was their enthusiam.
One young boy proudly told me he didn't need to register because he had already voted for Obama. I smiled (probably in that irritating as hell way adults can) and said something to the effect of that's great but we don't vote until November and that you need to be a bit older but it's great that you're involved. He shook his head at me and pulled his Obama/Biden button and stretched his shirt out towards me (guessing, perhaps, that I just don't see well) and said, "No, I voted!"
I nodded and agreed with him and was distracted by a couple of adults who came over. The exchange stuck in my head though and in a quiet moment I watched the group of them (fluctuated between eight to fifteen). Every single child was sporting a button. When we found a bag of buttons with images of Senators Obama and Biden on them many of them they wanted to swap the ones they had for the newly discovered ones (of course I let them). Most of the kids also sported the campaign logo on their cheeks courtesy of a face-painting volunteer.
Maybe they decided to hang out with all of us for the snacks and music or perhaps because we were new and different in their park but no one asked them to help man the tables and no one asked them to help clean up afterwards and yet that is what several of them did.
They're too young to vote. They won't even be able to vote in 2012 but I think their participation today made an impression on a handful of them. Some were listening carefully to what I was telling the newly registered voters. They were listening carefully to people when they came up to the table and proudly announced that they'd registered first thing when they turned 18 or that they too have been involved in this campaign. They listened and observed everything.
It is my hope that when they went home tonight they asked their parents if they are registered to vote. It is my hope that they saw a group of strangers working together for a common cause and realized that they were a part of it, a part of something larger than themselves. I hope they carry this experience with them and that it helps them reach out to work with others throughout their lives.
Friday, October 3, 2008
Every Voice Matters
I have never felt as passionate about a Presidential election as I do about this upcoming one. I have also never felt like the US was at such a crossroads in my lifetime. The choices we make over the next weeks matter a great deal. We can decide if we like the way things have been going or we can decide to try to rebuild our government into one that works better for more of us.
It's a terrible thing to feel totally at the mercy of others. The last eight years I've felt like I had no voice in my government beyond the state level. Sick of feeling that way and inspired by Senator Obama back in 2004 my husband and I signed up to voluteer with his Presidential quest when he announced he was running.
Win or lose, hopefully it's win, Obama has done something that is unique. He has offered an education free of charge to any who seek it in community organizing and grassroots politics. From the start we volunteers have had tremendous flexibility and freedom to be the voice of the campaign as well as the workhorses. The trust Obama and his team have shown to us volunteers is refreshing. We're treated like intelligent adults. We're offered opportunities to get educated and then take that education back into our communities.
Having never volunteered with a political campaign of any sort before I wasn't sure what to expect. I am grateful for the experience. I have been in contact with people all over the world, gotten to participate in the publication of a book, met some amazing people, and have discovered that I do have a voice in our government. My voice alone is very small but joined with all these others, we can make a difference. We can demand to be heard. We're organized now in a way many of us never have been.
There is a month left. Make sure you're registered to vote. When I went to a meeting at our local HQ last night, I was shocked to find out how many folks are not registered. Help your unregistered friends and family vote. It's easy and for many states this is the last week people can register. You forfeit your rights if you don't claim them. Registering to vote and then actually doing it is the most basic thing a citizen can do. Do it!
It's a terrible thing to feel totally at the mercy of others. The last eight years I've felt like I had no voice in my government beyond the state level. Sick of feeling that way and inspired by Senator Obama back in 2004 my husband and I signed up to voluteer with his Presidential quest when he announced he was running.
Win or lose, hopefully it's win, Obama has done something that is unique. He has offered an education free of charge to any who seek it in community organizing and grassroots politics. From the start we volunteers have had tremendous flexibility and freedom to be the voice of the campaign as well as the workhorses. The trust Obama and his team have shown to us volunteers is refreshing. We're treated like intelligent adults. We're offered opportunities to get educated and then take that education back into our communities.
Having never volunteered with a political campaign of any sort before I wasn't sure what to expect. I am grateful for the experience. I have been in contact with people all over the world, gotten to participate in the publication of a book, met some amazing people, and have discovered that I do have a voice in our government. My voice alone is very small but joined with all these others, we can make a difference. We can demand to be heard. We're organized now in a way many of us never have been.
There is a month left. Make sure you're registered to vote. When I went to a meeting at our local HQ last night, I was shocked to find out how many folks are not registered. Help your unregistered friends and family vote. It's easy and for many states this is the last week people can register. You forfeit your rights if you don't claim them. Registering to vote and then actually doing it is the most basic thing a citizen can do. Do it!
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