In February 2008 I made a decision to enter into service with the AmeriCorps VISTA Program (the Corporation of National and Community Service). Long before this program however, I had been involved with grassroots activities growing up in Baltimore Maryland. Born in the HUD Project of Lafayette Projects my family and community worked very closely with Kweisi Mfume and Parren James Mitchell, African American activists and political figures in Baltimore black,, hardworking, yet, poor, community. Through that poverty our spirit remained steadfast because we were a community who looked out for one another. I continued this tradition as I become of age and joined the African American Episcopal Church, entered the United States Army, and eventually began working with at-risk youth in our communities. When the opportunity to work with AmeriCorps came about I was absolutely thrilled. In February I attended our Pre-service Orientation and was so proud of the men, women, black and white, and red, and brown, young and old stood up together (approximately 500 of us) and swore an oath as follows:
The AmeriCorps Pledge
I will get things done for America -to make our people safer,smarter, and healthier.I will bring Americans together to strengthen our communities.Faced with apathy, I will take action.Faced with conflict, I will seek common ground.Faced with adversity, I will persevere.I will carry this commitment with me this year and beyond.I am an AmeriCorps member, and I will get things done.
Service to America. What a wonderful concept.
Unfortunately, many of us have felt our own stings of apathy within the AmeriCorps organization firsthand. Imagine my disappointment and frustration when after I assisted a homeless family, who came into my office, in finding shelter. This same family was rejected by many of the homeless advocacies and shelters within my city’s homeless coalition (a project of the AmeriCorps Vista Program). The reasoning behind my termination? Other agencies may feel slighted if I referred people to one agency and not another, therefore, they (the coalition) would prefer for me NOT to speak to potential clients but refer them to an outdated website.This was not the first instance of inconsistencies within the NCS program. Many of the non profit agencies who request VISTA actually do so with ulterior motives as their guide.
VISTAs are faced with frustration in a system which is full of manipulation and self serving purposes.There are many horror stories from VISTA volunteers. One needs only to search the internet. Not only are benefits administered haphazardly, often there is little to no guidance when difficulties arise at sites who themselves do not know the rules and regulations of the AmeriCorps program.
Finally after service, you are left high and dry whether you completed it successfully or otherwise. Because the CNCS does not participate in the unemployment insurance program, there is no financial assistance to aide you until employed can be secured. In fact our local employment security often questions VISTA volunteers on why they left a paying job to do “volunteer” service and quite often we are penalized.
Would I do it again? In a heart beat -I would raise my hand again and again and I will continue to abide by the Pledge which I very much believe in, even at the expense of reprimand.
When President Obama presented us with his Blue Print for Change I felt confident that changes would be made in this system. A system where individual State Directors of the AmeriCorps program will not be free to make arbitrary FINAL decisions, without recourse. Where the Pledge will be respected and abided by in it fullest meaning.
I truly hope that CHANGE is a part of the Service to America System and I certainly look forward to the year 2009 and beyond.
Thank you President Obama.
Hi, I'm Lauren, a.k.a the Button Lady. I started selling Obama campaign buttons in mid-july, in Baltimore, Anne Arundel, Howard and PG Counties, because I couldn't find any at the campaign offices... and the ones on line are soooooooo cool! So, now I buy them on-line in bulk and sell them at events. If you want to see them, or have me come to an event, please just ask. I've even designed some myself. www.zazzle.com/qwlauren35aol
But actually, I want to talk about something more important. Grassroots campaigning. If you've never participated in a presidential campaign, then welcome. We were all new at some point. If you're an old hand, PLEASE share your knowledge. The thing is: all of us, as different as we are, are needed in order to reach enough voters to enable us to win the election. I think everyone knows that unless it's a 60-40 split, it will be manipulated out from under us. It cannot be close. And that's going to take work.
PLEASE. Be as visible in your support as you COMFORTABLY can. Buttons, shirts, car stickers, etc. Now, don't feel bad if "visibility" isn't you. Working behind the scenes is also important. Registering voters is important, and doesn't require that you proclaim your candidate from the rooftops. And making calls can be relatively anonymous.
In the end, though, whether we win or lose depends on how much ground each of us will break and how far out of our comfort zones we will go to get Obama elected. The biggest thing we need is for people to be able to talk about the aspects of Obama and his campaign that have the most meaning to them. When we have those one-on-one conversations, it's more powerful than any ad the McCain campaign can throw at us. If we do NOT have those conversations with people on the fence, as many as we can, then McCain will win, and no number of great speeches will make a difference.
I know why I'm supporting Obama. For me, it's 3 big things.
So, those are my reasons. And I can talk about them 24/7. Please have your reasons for supporting Obama handy at all times. It's not just because he is a great speaker, has a great smile, a nice family, an honest face, a fascinating personal history... hopefully it's not JUST because he's black (hint, Clarence Thomas is black...). There's got to be something about him, his message and his candidacy that's driving you. Please don't be afraid to let it show.
I've created a yahoo group where I can store a Maryland based flyer for canvassing. It's a double-sided tri-fold pamphlet with information about Obama, his stance on issues, how to get involved, and how to contact the local MD offices. The file is at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mforo/files/ (you have to register w/Yahoo, but it's otherwise pretty painless.) I hope anyone who would like to distribute the flyers will download it.
It's late (12am), it's time for me to tuck in for the night. Tomorrow, I'll be back at work, earning a salary so that I can donate part of it to the campaign!!!! And in my spare time, I'll be thinking of ways to help this visionary man win the Presidential Election.
Fired up; ready to go.
Lauren F. Brooklyn, MD - qwlauren35@aol.com
I recently became engaged to a wonderful soldier in the United States Army who is soon going to be deployed for his second tour of duty in Iraq. I am immensely proud of my fiance and his service to our country. Many of us have friends and loved ones serving overseas and I know it is easy to feel scared and isolated. However, I have found the best comfort and solace in knowing that not only military families are supporting my fiance's service to our country but so is the next president of the United States.
Whether it's Colorado Springs' brave men and women in uniform serving overseas or Americorps volunteers in Denver working in inner-city schools or Peacecorps volunteers from Grand Junction bringing much needed relief to a community abroad, he knows that working together we can strengthen our local communities, change the country and face common challenges we face here at home and around the world. I believe that Senator Obama is not only the leader who will bring my soldier home safely, but the one who has already brought people together from all over the country through all walks of life to make it clear that we have a hand a hand in our future and you should too. I believe that we can rely on him. I believe that we can respect him because he respects us and all those who serve us.
He wants us involved and all this ground up effort is the key to this...The people of America are hungry for something like this, so I know that there are going to be millions who take him up on his challenge... you want to be in the military, you want to serve your country, you want to be a teacher, you want to go to inner city schools. We will help you. What a fantastic two way street it is, in a time when Washington has been a one way street, a street away from us.
As I was writing my last post, a story on the US hitting the 4000-casualty mark in the Iraq war ran across my screen. There were 3 salient points that are worth sharing:
Contrary to the image of Obama as lacking specifics, there are numerous detailed position papers at BarackObama.com. Many are available at:
http://www.barackobama.com/issues/
Another good way to find Obama's positions on various specific topics is through a site-specific Google search ("site:barackobama.com") for PDF files ("filetype:pdf).
For example, I was interested (in part because of my step-daughter Marisol Dykstra's year-long work for City Year in Boston) in what Obama had to say about Americorps. So I did the following Google search:
americorps site:barackobama.com filetype:pdf
That took me to:
www.barackobama.com/pdf/NationalServicePlanFactSheet.pdf (HELPING ALL AMERICANS SERVE THEIR COUNTRY)
and of course to the "Blueprint for Change":
www.barackobama.com/pdf/ObamaBlueprintForChange.pdf (THE BLUEPRINT FOR CHANGE)
with the following small detail as part of a much larger plan:
"Expand AmeriCorps to 250,000 slots and double the size of the Peace Corps."
Similarly, I was looking for detailed statements on Katrina. John Edwards is right about that: it's not been emphasized anywhere enough in this campaign given its importance which is right up there with 9/11. Like, the one thing we most feared from the terrorists, the destruction of a major American city, and we did it to ourselves (or rather, the current status quo did it to poor & working America). There's this good one-page position paper on Katrina from Obama's site, including the theme of "Never Again": http://www.barackobama.com/pdf/katrina.pdf
Barack Obama did it. All y'all in the "AmeriCorps Alumni for Obama" group did it. Billy Palmisan in Maryland did it, and I did it, too. We served our country without killing anyone or bending anyone to our world view.
Obama delayed entering law school right out of undergrad and instead gained real world experience as a community organizer - - I can only imagine how much that improved his performance as a law school student. I can only imagine it because I did it the other way around - - I left law school to be a VISTA in an impoverished community, and I've never been able to make myself get back into the classroom and finish that JD. For me, hands-on work experience has been the best teacher.
Obama has some intriguing ideas about education, and he's obviously committed to pubic service - - what if those two qualities could be combined for a truly innovative approach to increasing the graduation rates in higher ed, creating access for folks who think they can't afford higher ed, and improving the overall quality of the higher ed experience?
It's kind of like the Israeli Army model - - prior to attending college, high school grads would complete one year of community service through AmeriCorps VISTA, NCCC, Youth Conservation Corps, or straight AmeriCorps before they could progress to higher ed. And here's the rationale:
* When you're 17 or 18 years old, you're still developing your gray matter - - your frontal lobe is not fully matured. Yet adolescents are sent off to college, with little supervision and not too much academic guidance, and asked to make decisions that will affect them throughout their lives. AmeriCorps service would provide some maturation time.
* Most college freshmen experience some culture shock; AmeriCorps service would expose the student to new places and people and ways of living.
* AmeriCorps service comes with a wonderful education award that will apply to tuition - - what a great way to start out college!
* Students with some work experience under their belts will be better able to transfer academic concepts to the real world.
* Students who are better prepared for college social and academic life will be less likely to drop out partway through their undergrad degree.
Of course, enforced volunteerism is the ultimate oxymoron - - but I can't help thinking how much time, money, and struggle we might save through this approach. Regardless, I love the idea of a president who has been a public servant in the truest sense of the word, and I have great hope for a president who hasn't forgotten what that term means.
Go, O!
The following is presented here with the express permission of the author, Danae Curtis. She was writing in response to being asked: Why should somebody in Minnesota vote for Barack Obama?
I just wanted to share a little bit about myself with you. I was born in the west bank neighborhood of Minneapolis and attended Hopkins schools K-12. I was raised by my AMAZING white mother and the loving farm family of Wisconsin that didn't disown her for marrying a black man from Texas a few years after they said it was legal.
My family has endured more attacks than time will permit me to comment on. This moment in time has made all of my struggles worth it.
I used to write in my journals as a young girl about how I had a dream. A dream that one day no one would ask me what I was, or accuse me of not being human. (The word mulatto was tokened in slavery days to signify that a child conceived by a black person and a white person would not be human. It would be less than human; less than a donkey; less than a mule; that animal is known as a mulatto. The Spaniards originally used the term upon arrival to the US.)
I was the first black girl to attend public schools in the Hopkins School District in 1981. My mother received hate mail threatening our lives on the playground. I received swastikas on my locker in high school. Because I was not only black (so said the uninformed,) but also poor in a land of affluence during the initial assimilation experiments of the 80s, I was a double threat.
Hopkins built their first brand new low income housing on Main Street in 1980 and we were the second family to move into these "projects in the suburbs."
Not only were we poor, but we were the first family of any color (beyond white) that moved to the city of Hopkins. Then came my close friends from Laos. My friends from Nigeria came next. Many of us who went through these experiences were scarred for life, despite our numerous successes.
The wounds are healing now, thanks to the efforts of Barack and Michelle Obama. The part of my life story that breaks my heart is that I have never been racist; it's not in genes to be able to do so. However, I have constantly been judged, by all sides, be it for my skin color, my hair, or my proper English that the mighty Hopkins School District 270 taught me with flying colors!
A few Sunday nights ago, my Dad and I were watching a program on channel 13 about Iwo Jima which, presumably as intended, sparked me to think about war. The aged military man in his button shirt and typical old man khakis recalled how he had, more than once, seen a dead Japanese soldier on the ground at Iwo Jima. Looking for a souvenir of sorts on this particular occasion, the younger version of this man approached the body and upon seeing the soldier's wallet falling out of his pocket, bent down and opened it. He immediately found a photo of this now dead man with his wife and two boys. The American soldier says he paused, prayed and then proceeded to close the wallet, putting it back deep inside the other's pocket.
I say again, war is so f stupid. And here's a few reasons why.
