As part of a continuing series, we're following Obama Organizing Fellows as they share their stories and their experiences. They discuss the people they meet, the hardships of organizing, what the campaign means to them, and how this summer is changing their perspective.
Coretta is an Organizing Fellow in Georgia. Her stories appear each Thursday.
This past Saturday a team of ten - three organizing fellows and six volunteers- blanketed the area surrounding the Greenbriar Mall. We spent most of the day, from 10am to 5pm, striking up conversations and adding new names to the voter rolls in Georgia. We met up at the South West corner of Fulton County at The Village on the Green community, which is less than a quarter of a mile past Greenbriar Mall. They were gracious enough to let us use their club house as our temporary space for our local organizing.Jim, who helped arrange the use of the club house, was also on hand to help us set-up for the event. He donated supplies - six clipboards and a box of pens (which we never have enough of) - and allowed us to use his color copier. I decided this would be a great time to bring my son along. The indoor environment gave me time to attend to the needs of a precocious pre-schooler. I was not alone: one of our volunteers, Michael, who focused on entry points at Greenbriar Mall, brought his thirteen year-old son Kevin along. We were also joined by two teachers, Sharon and Ida who were able to bring in nineteen and fourteen voter registrations respectively (in less than two hours).At the end of each community outreach event, I feel honored to add my energies and do what I can to help Senator Obama help move Georgia into a lovely shade of blue. I can't believe I am writing this, but counting the voter registration forms gives me chills. We ended the day with just under 80 new applications.I know first hand how hours spent under a sweltering southern sun asking "Excuse me, are you registered to vote?" has the potential to move a nation forward. Volunteers and new registrants have such excitement in their eyes. This is a point that fellows and volunteers consistently report.When this program began, I was so eager to help build voter capacity and expand volunteer networks in Atlanta. Now, I understand how critical it is for everyone working on this campaign to "submerge the ego", as one Fellow put it. There really is no room for personal tantrums here. We have to remain open, because too much is at stake. As I continue my endless search for additional places to host non-partisan voter registration drives or an Obama branded event, the My.Barack Obama.com site has been invaluable. The planning tools make it effortless to create an event and share it with local and even global supporters.I am so glad that I applied for this fellowship. Here in Atlanta, teams of Organizing Fellows are learning how to delicately balance our organizing efforts while focusing on moving our campaign forward. We have to be nimble, stay on message, and address a myriad of situations as they unfold. With just two weeks left to the end of our fellowship, every Organizing Fellow can better appreciate what Senator Obama means when he speaks about "the fierce urgency of now."I believe that Senator Obama truly plans to lead the United States of America: he aims to unite and offer up ways to meet the needs of all segments of our nation. This simple truth is hard for many pundits to comprehend, perhaps because the heightened level of grassroots engagement is unlike a traditional campaign. This campaign is about the people. We the people.
Check back next week for more from Coretta in Georgia, and visit our Flickr page for more of her photos.
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