A holiday message reflecting on how far we've come from Brooklyn for Barack founder and OFA Supporter, Jordan Thomas:
When we got started with the Obama grassroots movement, I always told my fellow organizers that I would do what I could for Barack Obama's candidacy until February 5th, the date of New York’s primary, and then I'd get back to real life. But then the primary continued, which required more out-of-state trips and phone banks. And then who could sit out the general election? At a point, you do what you can to get a man elected president, and then you wish him well, sit back, and watch him do his thing. But that’s not what we worked so hard for.When President Obama took office he challenged Americans to help him bring meaningful change to Washington. It has been exciting to observe and experience the grassroots transition from the poetry of the campaign to the prose of governing—from Obama for America to Organizing for America. I know that many of us, somewhere in our minds, thought that the heavy lifting was over—but the story has been more complicated and perhaps more interesting.I hear there's a great deal of chatter on the cable shows and talk radio about the health insurance reform bills moving through the House and Senate. I haven't paid attention to too much of it. I've been far more interested in the chatter of Organizing for America volunteers making phone calls to fellow citizens—asking them to call their members ofCongress—asking them to participate in the legislative process. In addition to the old crowd, I have observed and worked with a whole new crop of organizers—people with their own stories and their own reasons for wanting to invest time and resources into pushing the country forward.The work will continue through the final passage of health insurance reform and then on to the next initiative. We will meet triumph and adversity, but one thing is certain. Each of us who choose to participate in OFA will be moving the country closer to the vision that we collectively imagined had in the 2008 election.Happy Holidays!Jordan Thomas, Brooklyn, NY
This holiday season, we at OFA New York want to make sure all of us give something back. As President Obama has said, "No force for change is more powerful than that of Americans who are making a difference in their communities." With so much focus on the debate in Washington recently, this past weekend we wanted to show how important it is to come together at home and give back to our local communities. And so, volunteers from across the state helped out with a variety of community service projects.
One dedicated OFA volunteer from Syracuse agreed to share his experience with the rest of us.
Happy Holidays,
Melissa
Melissa D. DeRosaNew York State DirectorOrganizing for America
Doing Our Part:
Back when President Obama took office (has it already been 11 months?), he said the change we seek in America can't simply come from Washington, it must start in every community, where neighbors help neighbors. Volunteering was at the heart of that message - something that doesn’t get talked about amid all the heated rhetoric about health insurance reform, climate change, Afghanistan or a host of other issues.
Let it be said, without a doubt, that Syracuse’s chapter of Organizing for America is heeding the President's call to service.
On this bone-chilling Friday morning, exactly a week before Christmas, a group of dedicated OFA volunteers went to the Samaritan House in downtown Syracuse to help serve breakfast to about 100 members in our community who, one way or another, are struggling in this economic downturn.
The people at Samaritan House were all in need, and it's our responsibility, as citizens, to give them our love and support, even if it's just one hot meal and a smile to start the day. Everyone working at the Samaritan House - staff and volunteers - is a hero in my book. I hope and pray that this is the first of many, many times OFA volunteers work with this remarkable group.
President Obama asked us all to improve our communities through the volunteer spirit, and we're proud to do so, one meal at a time...
-Phil Blackwell, Syracuse, OFA Volunteer
Last week, a group of OFA volunteers in Syracuse gathered to host a Seniors-Calling-Seniors phonebank. Every person that attended gave up their time to fight for health insurance reform for their own reason.
I wanted to share one of those participants motivation for continuing to hit the phones and fight to ensure that we pass real health insurance reform:
Two months ago I received the devastating news that my forty year old son had a category 4 malignant tumor in his throat. It had spread beyond its original site from his thyroids and had infected his jawbone. A team of doctors in Tempe, Arizona where my son resides, decided that the size of the tumor precluded surgery. The doctors opted to try to shrink the tumor with external beam radiation with the concurrent application of chemo therapy. About four month ago, the company that my son was working for as a financial advisor went out of business. Thus my son, who had been employed continuously for about twenty years lost his job and well, you know what is coming, his health insurance as well. It is easy to imagine the pain and suffering that my son undergoes as a result of being placed into the double jeopardy of failing health and financial disaster.While I as his father had no power to influence his health in any matter, but could only hope that the competence of his doctors would save his life, I opted to see if I could, in whatever small way, make my voice count in the passing of meaningful health insurance reform. Thus, I volunteered to serve with the Organizing for America. I called voters to see if they would call their Congressmen and Senators and urge them to help pass health insurance reform.. One can readily understand, given the condition of my son, that I do have an investment in such a reform. I know that mine is a small effort in the overall scheme in the passing of the health insurance reform bill, but I could not simply sit aside while the life of my son is in the balance. I also have learned that the case of my son is not an isolated one, but there are others who undergo a similar agony. That shall be an impetus for me to further efforts. We must pass meaningful health insurance reform.
-Franz M., 76, Syracuse NY
In celebration of today, the first day of Chanukah, one of NY-OFA's CO's would like to share the following message:
On Saturday, I’ll be hosting my 10th annual Chanukah party. It’s a family gathering of adults and children, Schwartz’s and Schapiros along with McGowans and Kailas’s. We light candles and tell the story of the miracle of the eternal light. It’s not really necessary to know details of the story or even to believe it, just to understand that it’s about community and hope. At our OFA phone bank this past Wednesday night, 18 proponents of health care reform got together in that same spirit. They arrived, grabbed their scripts and called strangers, listening to their stories and telling their own. They persuaded them to call their Senators. Some calls didn’t go so well, but they continued anyway. And when it was time to go home, they lingered to talk to each other. They came in hope and created community. A perfect Chanukah message. Happy Chanukah from our family to yours. -Anne S.
New York City
From Alan H., Manhattan Community Organizer
It was a few minutes after 8 pm on November 4, 2008 at Molly Brannigan’s Irish Pub in Scranton, PA. The place was packed and the tension almost unbearable as we watched the tv monitors. I was there with family, with friends I’d known for decades, with others I’d known only for a few months as we built our neighborhood teams in New York City, with still others I’d just met that day and with many people I didn’t know but who were not strangers. For the past two months increasing numbers of us had been traveling from NYC to Scranton and other regions of Pennsylvania as part of the campaign’s Border States strategy to reinforce efforts in battleground states. As someone who has been politically active since the 1960s, I was prepared for the worst. At ten minutes after 8pm one of the television stations projected Barack Obama the winner in Pennsylvania—a pivotal state—and we knew that this great country of ours had emerged from a disgraceful and terrible period of its history. And we knew that each of us had a role in making this happen. All of us have our own unique trajectories through this extraordinary campaign, but there is a common thread. We did this by working together, by creating a new and intensely focused political movement that did not allow itself to be distracted by the endless media barrage.
It was a few minutes after 8 pm on November 4, 2008 at Molly Brannigan’s Irish Pub in Scranton, PA. The place was packed and the tension almost unbearable as we watched the tv monitors. I was there with family, with friends I’d known for decades, with others I’d known only for a few months as we built our neighborhood teams in New York City, with still others I’d just met that day and with many people I didn’t know but who were not strangers. For the past two months increasing numbers of us had been traveling from NYC to Scranton and other regions of Pennsylvania as part of the campaign’s Border States strategy to reinforce efforts in battleground states. As someone who has been politically active since the 1960s, I was prepared for the worst.
At ten minutes after 8pm one of the television stations projected Barack Obama the winner in Pennsylvania—a pivotal state—and we knew that this great country of ours had emerged from a disgraceful and terrible period of its history. And we knew that each of us had a role in making this happen. All of us have our own unique trajectories through this extraordinary campaign, but there is a common thread. We did this by working together, by creating a new and intensely focused political movement that did not allow itself to be distracted by the endless media barrage.
Through the euphoria of that night a year ago, it was easy to miss or underestimate the centrality of one thing Barack Obama had to tell us. “What began twenty-one months ago in the depths of winter must not end on this autumn night,” he said from the stage at Grant Park. “This victory alone is not the change we seek—it is only the chance for us to make this change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were. It cannot happen without you.” Twelve months later we are on the verge of realizing a reform of our health care system that has eluded Presidents for half a century. We will do it because enough of us took to heart those words of a year go. We are not going back to the way things were.
Through the euphoria of that night a year ago, it was easy to miss or underestimate the centrality of one thing Barack Obama had to tell us. “What began twenty-one months ago in the depths of winter must not end on this autumn night,” he said from the stage at Grant Park. “This victory alone is not the change we seek—it is only the chance for us to make this change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were. It cannot happen without you.”
Twelve months later we are on the verge of realizing a reform of our health care system that has eluded Presidents for half a century. We will do it because enough of us took to heart those words of a year go. We are not going back to the way things were.
Here's a memory from Keith Kinch, our Deputy Field Director at OFA New York
On Nov. 4th 2008 I found myself in an unfamiliar environment. I woke up at 4am in the morning in a house with a family I met six weeks prior in Manayunk Pennsylvania preparing to travel to polling stations in Delaware County. Starting the morning this way is something I did not anticipate when I joined a group of organizers in New York to start an organization called Brooklyn for Barack in February 2007. From collecting signatures to help Barack Obama get on the ballot in New York to working as a staff member in Pennsylvania, all the hard work would finally payoff at 11pm. The moments leading up to that time are something I will never forget. I was driving in a car in downtown Philly looking side to side seeing hundreds of people on the sidewalks. They were listening to the radio and watching big screen TVs awaiting the results. Cars alongside us and behind us were honking and screaming Obama’s name while calling out which states we had won. Then the official announcement came and the celebration began. People were hugging total strangers, elderly women crying throwing their purses in the air, and young people dancing in the middle of the street. The entire city had become one giant party and you were invited whether you liked it or not. At that point driving another inch was not an option with hundreds of thousands of people in the streets, so we got out of the car and joined in. A year later as we come together to celebrate and remember moments like this in the past we also must look forward to the future. The election of President Obama was just the beginning. We must use the same energy and commitment that got him elected to ensure the change we want to see occurs. Now is the time to deliver through our actions and not just say “Yes We Can” or “Yes We Did” but “Yes We Will”. That is why I urge Obama supporters from far and wide to remember what is possible when we all work together, and join, yet again, to continue the fight.
From Diana C., a grassroots leader and original member of Buffalo for Obama:
I remember the feeling I felt during the elation of election night -- in the midst of the exhaustion and exhilaration of the crowd, not knowing whether to scream, laugh or cry, so we did all three at the same time....It can be summed up in that word we campaigned so hard on -- hope. A mixture of the pride of the accomplishment. The security of knowing that we had worked so hard for so long in a cause we felt so deeply and had won, and it was time to celebrate. But we have to keep on going. We are in the middle of the battle for health reform, this is one that I work on every day. Being embroiled in the middle of it, it is so easy to get caught up in each and every shift of the tide. To become discouraged when we lose a skirmish one day. But as I watched the president's speech in New York on October 20th I remembered how far we have come -- Congress is getting ready to debate a health reform bill on the floor of both houses -- AND they both contain a public option. That is AMAZING if you look at the long history of health reform. When you think of what we are up against and then look down at your own hands armed with only a clipboard and a cell phone it can be overwhelming. But we are winning with the sheer power of millions of voices.And that is the feeling of hope. That we are not at our destination, but we are at a rest stop on the road to it.So I am so glad to celebrate another milestone. One year from the night of elation after staying up a full 24 hours to make sure we crossed the goal line with the ball in our hands. And I am realizing in this moment that I am so proud to be on that road with millions of others who believe we can all have something better. That we can do something to make our country stronger.
I remember the feeling I felt during the elation of election night -- in the midst of the exhaustion and exhilaration of the crowd, not knowing whether to scream, laugh or cry, so we did all three at the same time....
It can be summed up in that word we campaigned so hard on -- hope. A mixture of the pride of the accomplishment. The security of knowing that we had worked so hard for so long in a cause we felt so deeply and had won, and it was time to celebrate.
But we have to keep on going. We are in the middle of the battle for health reform, this is one that I work on every day. Being embroiled in the middle of it, it is so easy to get caught up in each and every shift of the tide. To become discouraged when we lose a skirmish one day. But as I watched the president's speech in New York on October 20th I remembered how far we have come -- Congress is getting ready to debate a health reform bill on the floor of both houses -- AND they both contain a public option. That is AMAZING if you look at the long history of health reform. When you think of what we are up against and then look down at your own hands armed with only a clipboard and a cell phone it can be overwhelming. But we are winning with the sheer power of millions of voices.
And that is the feeling of hope. That we are not at our destination, but we are at a rest stop on the road to it.
So I am so glad to celebrate another milestone. One year from the night of elation after staying up a full 24 hours to make sure we crossed the goal line with the ball in our hands. And I am realizing in this moment that I am so proud to be on that road with millions of others who believe we can all have something better. That we can do something to make our country stronger.
Today marks one year since we elected President Obama to the White House. Across the country, supporters are sharing with us their memories of election night in 2008. Share your story.
My name is Melissa DeRosa and I am the New York State Director for Organizing for America. We in New York feel incredibly lucky to have President Barack Obama with us tonight to celebrate the end of our national day of action, and to thank all of our volunteers not only in New York, but nationwide, for the work that all of you have done to get us where we are today.
OFA supporters, volunteers, and activists here tonight are overcome with excitement The energy and enthusiasm in the room is palpable, with thousands working together to achieve the change we all fought together for almost one year ago.
OFA has worked in communities across New York and the country to highlight the stories that have been submitted online. Whether it is the story of the small business owner struggling to provide coverage for employees, the aspiring entrepreneur who worries about starting a business because he worries that he can’t afford insurance, or the employee who can’t send a child to a specialist because her insurance company says that doctor is “out of network.” We talk about these stories and the President’s plan at the doors, on the phones, and in the local papers every day. We are getting the message out there and building a lasting organization that will help us win on health reform, and the fights ahead. And today, we’re continuing that effort, that fight. Today, across the country thousands of volunteers have attended events to call friends and neighbors to encourage them to call their members of Congress in support of reform. Tonight’s event here is the culmination of the day’s work. Thousands of other OFA supporters will take a break from making phones calls and tune in online a little later to hear from Chairman Tim Kaine and President Obama. We've made over 200,000 calls to members of Congress at these events around the country and we couldn't have done it without you! That’s how people are empowered, that’s how change is made, and thanks to your support, that’s what OFA in now able to do. So thank you again for being your generous support. We truly could not have achieved our goals tonight without you!
