Organizing for America | Alyssa Martin's Blog: Life Experience

Life Experience

By Alyssa Martin - Sep 8th, 2008 at 7:04 pm EDT

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Recently, there have been some questions raised about what a community organizer does, and why that experience is relevant. Senator Obama has been candid about his time organizing in the South Side of Chicago after steel plant closings devastated those communities. He worked alongside Christian churches that were experienced in bringing about bottom-up change and true reform. In addition to improving the living conditions for these communities through job training programs, Barack empowered people to take ownership of the political process by organizing meetings with officials and orchestrating mass voter registration.

David Plouffe, Campaign Manager for the Obama campaign, made this statement on community organizing:

Community organizing is how ordinary people respond to out-of-touch politicians and their failed policies … Community organizing is the foundation of the civil rights movement, the women's suffrage movement, labor rights, and the 40-hour workweek. And it's happening today in church basements and community centers and living rooms across America.

Senator Obama often says that community organizing was “the best education I've ever had.” It's relevant in that it offers insight as to why Obama's in this race, and how he intends to govern from the bottom up, drawing upon the energy and ideas of the American people. But that's not the only education and experience he's had; to put things into perspective, Obama was a community organizer for three years after college.

After serving as a community organizer, Obama went on to pursue a diverse body of work, spanning law, education, and public service. He made history as the first African-American to serve as Editor of the Harvard Law Review, where he caught the eye of a professor at the University of Chicago. Eventually, Obama would teach constitutional law at the university, where he demonstrated a reverence for our founding document, and was well-respected by people of all political persuasions. As a civil rights lawyer, Obama litigated against employment and housing discrimination. These varied experiences motivated Obama to work for steady change in the state legislature. While in the Illinois State Senate, Obama helped reform a broken death penalty system, develop the Earned Income Tax Credit, and expand early childhood education. After serving for 8 years in this capacity, Obama broke new ground by becoming a United States Senator. While there, he fought for more government transparency, ethics reform, veterans care, the secure of deadly weapons, and energy independence. It doesn't take too long to notice that there's a broadness and depth in Senator Obama's background. While Obama is running to effect large-scale change, his life experience demonstrates that he is ultimately rooted in people and communities. As Harry, an Obama supporter, observed, “Obama is a fellow pilgrim with us.”

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