Organizing for America | Posts with the tag movement

Posts with the tag movement

Page 1 of 6 | Next | Last

By Ms. Mary - Aug 6th, 2009 at 10:58 pm EDT

Also listed in: 9 groups

With Congress back in their local community, it is time for OFA to step the battle to win healthcare reform. August 8th will leave Congress a ghost town with many members being on vacation. But we must still continue the fight and when Cogress comebacks, we will be waiting. Continue to make phone calls, continue to write, and continue to canvass but do not stop. Health Care Reform will pass this year. We got him elected President, certainly we can win Congress:) We're ( The Grassroot Movement) just to much. Sincerely, Ms. Mary, OFA-Charlotte.

Mail to a Friend | Link | Comments (0) | Report Objectionable Content

OFA Canvass in West Chester, PA

By Bill of Downingtown - Jul 25th, 2009 at 11:16 am EDT

This Sunday, July 26, OFA will canvass for the President's three health care reform principles from 12:30 to 3:30 in West Chester, PA.Volunteers should sign up at

http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/healthcarecanvass/gpfh3v

How many times have you asked yourself, “What can I, as one person, do to influence the national health care debate?” This is the answer. The personal meetings of a canvass in a town or neighborhood really do make a difference. We will gather declarations of support for the President’s principles of health care reform and send the declarations to the members of Congress for each signer.

And here’s the best part:

Mail to a Friend | Link | Comments (0) | Report Objectionable Content

Help President Obama Agenda all the way!

By Nyagatare - Jun 22nd, 2009 at 11:01 am EDT

Also listed in: 9 groups

I noticed that the more we go deep in President Obama agenda, the more we do encounter a stronger resistance, not only from pure Republican machine, but also from some Democrats who still not understand the message of change. We should fight and achieve our objectives in Healthcare, Education, Energy, and keep the economy going. The more we demonstrate our focus, all our opponents will finally believe in our commitment, and it will be difficult to continue their resistance movement.

Nyagatare

Mail to a Friend | Link | Comments (0) | Report Objectionable Content

Obama's Movement: Three Questions

By Wade Hudson - Jan 18th, 2009 at 6:29 am EST

Also listed in: 8 groups

As we await a full report on what Barack and his team will do with the campaign organization post-election, my primary concerns can be summarized in three questions:

Empowered Teams -- Will they emphasize, encourage, and support the development of relatively small teams that stay together over time, foster supportive friendships, and decide together on what actions to take as a unit, or will they unfortunately continue the past pattern of calling for gatherings from time to time?
Authoritative Input -- Will they create a structure that enables these teams to select representatives to next-higher level groups who can deliberate together to develop recommendations for the national office, resulting in a relatively small national group of representatives that can offer authoritative input to the national office, or will theyunfortunately continue the past pattern of asking for input from tens of thousands of loosely, haphazardly connected individuals and organizations?
United National Action -- Will the national office recommend regularly (perhaps monthly) that all members of the new organization communicate the same message at roughly the same time to all members of Congress, or will they, as has been speculated in the press,unfortunately focus from time to time on only certain members of Congress?

The recommendations implied by these questions apply to both the Democratic Party and a new post-campaign organization, if it emerges. I see no good reason not to implement these methods. It seems to me that this approach is needed to build a strong, united, grassroots activist force that can sustain itself for the long haul independent of Barack's leadership, which is essential at the moment. If the more fragmented, unfortunate options included in these questions are adopted, I will continue to support efforts to implement the goals of the Obama campaign. But I will likely do so with less enthusiasm and look for other ways to devote my energy that hold more potential for the future.

Mail to a Friend | Link | Comments (0) | Report Objectionable Content

Reflections on the Obama Movement

By Wade Hudson - Jan 18th, 2009 at 6:21 am EST

Also listed in: 5 groups

December 31, 2008

by Wade Hudson

In "The Prophet," Ari Berman reports that a former Democratic National Committee (DNC) official close to the Obama campaign says, "Most of Obama's grassroots infrastructure is going to go to the DNC. That's the prevailing gossip of the past few weeks, and it's been pretty consistent."

Primarily merging with the Democratic Party makes sense on a number of levels. But for the Party to help "transform the nation," as Obama affirmed during the campaign, it would have to become much more than a vehicle for elections. It would have to become an activist organization dedicated to fighting for its platform year-round, as discussed in Transforming the Democratic Party.

To transform itself, the Party would need to undertake serious, year-round precinct organizing. As TiVo and other technologies enable viewers to avoid television commercials, old-fashioned, door-to-door, face-to-face outreach will become more valuable. Precinct organizers could work within their neighborhood throughout the year -- meeting, contacting, and mobilizing neighbors to strengthen and expand social connections and engage in political action (including voting) and community service. This organizing would involve establishing personal relationships with as many neighbors as possible, while listening closely to their concerns. Methods would include welcoming new arrivals to the neighborhood and encouraging eligible voters to become registered Democrats, vote in elections, and participate in joint political action, hopefully including national actions coordinated by the DNC. These goals would be accomplished by knocking on doors, making phone calls, leaving personal notes, and convening neighborhood gatherings including block parties, house meetings, discussion groups, and other activities. Organizers would recruit neighbors to become part of their team and share the work. On Election Day, teams would monitor the polls to determine who has voted and, before the polls close, contact those who have not. Pertinent information would be fed into the national database.

Whether through MyBO and/or the Democratic Party, Barack Obama needs to transition his campaign resources into a strong, independent, grassroots organization that can undertake coordinated, united action nationwide. Countless Obama supporters gave their heart and soul to the campaign because they expected as much, based on statements made by Barack and his staff during the campaign.

One such statement was "Obama: The Organizer and the Moment," a post to the official Obama section of a social networking website in early 2008. At the top, this post placed a quote by Barack from his first political campaign, "What if a politician were to see his job as that of an organizer?" The post opened with the following:

As many of you know, Barack Obama started his political journey far away from the confines of the Beltway. As a community organizer on the streets of Chicago's South Side,... That's what Barack Obama has done throughout his life, and that's what this whole campaign has been about. Barack has always been an organizer, and he still is an organizer -- that's how he's inspired millions of people, from myriad social positions, to come together and fight for change… We are training people in all of these states not only to make a difference in this election, but to make a difference in their communities, in a sustained way. Regardless of what happens today and in the days ahead, one thing is clear: Barack Obama hasn't just run a presidential campaign, he's built a genuine grassroots movement. In a single year, Barack Obama -- who started his journey organizing on the South Side -- has organized a broad swath of America.... They are empowered, active participants in the struggle for change and they are not tired. The organizing has just begun.

According to Dictionary.com, the verb "organize" means "to form...into a whole consisting of interdependent or coordinated parts, esp. for united action (emphasis added)" -- for example, "to enlist into a labor union: to organize workers."

Organizers help to build an organization, "a group of persons organized for some end or work" with "a formal...structure, esp. to coordinate...widespread activities." As Marshall Ganz has put it, the Obama movement needs "a collective entity capable of exercising agency" -- that is, exerting influence or power through action taken in the name of the organization.

In his forthcoming (Summer, 2009) book, A Community Organizer's Tale: People and Power in San Francisco, veteran organizer Mike Miller states:

We now have a new national climate with the election of Barack Obama as President. Obama, with the strategic assistance of Marshall Ganz—an old SNCC and farmworkers’ union organizer—developed very sophisticated mobilizing approaches to build a new kind of electoral machine. It was central to his election. But as he has noted many times, “change comes from below.” Obama will be responsive to the kind of agenda that was expressed in [San Francisco]. It is the responsibility of people on the ground to put that agenda front-and-center before the new administration and before countless municipalities, counties, special districts, school boards, state governments, congress, corporations and major nonprofit organizations. That will require something different from the electoral mobilization organization that played such a large role in electing Obama. And Obama understands this. Asked during the primary whether Martin Luther King would support him or Clinton, he responded, “He wouldn’t support either of us. He’d be out in the streets building an independent social justice movement.” ...Obama’s agenda is a presidential one. Community organizing’s agenda should be to push the president. There will be plenty of people pushing him from Wall Street, the auto industry and others in elite circles. If there is not a countervailing push, organized independently of Obama, hopefully with his blessing, we will be disappointed in him as a President—and will have ourselves to blame (emphasis added).

Most likely, if the bulk of the campaign's resources are merged with the Democratic Party, MyBO will remain active. The national office will continue to provide some guidance, like suggesting house meetings, and will hire paid organizers to help train local activists. This avenue would provide passionate Obama supporters who want nothing to do with the Democratic Party a way to stay engaged.

The network of local MyBO-based teams may remain largely on their own, however, without a structure that would enable elected representatives to deliberate thoughtfully and speak in a unified, authoritative voice for all the members. This loose, informal network of groups and house meetings affiliated with MyBO may be, or could become, a "movement" -- that is, "a diffusely organized or heterogeneous group of people or organizations tending toward or favoring a generalized common goal: the antislavery movement; the realistic movement in art."

But this network is not an organization. As Micah Sifry has noted, "The more open the process for participating in and seeing how...conflicts [in the national office] are resolved, the greater the likelihood that the base will stay engaged." To sustain and build the Obama movement will require an open, participatory organization to lead that movement.

On Election Night, when Barack called on all Americans to join in the work of remaking this nation "block by block," that phrase suggested an efficient, well-organized effort that would minimize duplication. If Barack wants a grassroots support mechanism that is powerful enough to counter the special interests that will try to block meaningful change, and I assume he does, he needs to tell his people to organize a real organization.

Mail to a Friend | Link | Comments (2) | Report Objectionable Content

The Obama Movement: Will It Unify?

By Wade Hudson - Jan 18th, 2009 at 6:11 am EST

Also listed in: 7 groups

December 12, 2008

by Wade Hudson

As encouraging reports concerning plans for the post-campaign organization trickle out of Chicago, one central question remains unanswered. Will the Obama movement solidify its momentum by enabling a body of representatives duly elected by the membership to speak with a strong collective voice?

Various options are available for structuring a mechanism that would facilitate the grassroots expressing itself with authority. In my Dec. 5 “Memo to the Chicago Summit,” I presented one option that could be implemented quickly and over time modified. I argued:

The national office should establish a mechanism to enable those (local) teams who wish to do so to select representatives to relatively small councils of fellow representatives who would communicate horizontally with one another in a deliberate, thoughtful manner to share reports on their work, ask questions, provide mutual support, and develop recommendations to send upward toward the national office through a layer of such councils (e.g., town/city, intra-state regions, state, regional, national) – so that the national office would pay more attention to recommendations from the national council than they ever could to tens of thousands of recommendations from individual members.

That specific mechanism is not essential. But the key principle on which that proposal is based – the need for a national group of elected representatives that is small enough to enable thoughtful deliberation – is critical.

The proper balance between central leadership and grassroots empowerment is a delicate matter, especially if one wants the central office to make decisions that are quick and timely but also deliberate and rooted in face-to-face discussion, which strengthens the decision-making process. Internet-based instant polls alone could never achieve the reliable quality of careful, old-fashioned, real-time weighing of options.

My concern about these issues led me to propose to Nations for Change that they create the National House Meetings Network, a new MyBO group. The purpose of this group is “to help implement the goals of the Obama campaign by sharing the information obtained from house meetings in a collaborative fashion, engaging in thoughtful discussion, asking questions, providing encouragement, and identifying any trends that we believe should become formal recommendations to the Obama administration and/or the national office of the post-campaign organization.” MyBO house meetings with eight or more members that meet at least monthly are invited to join this Network. This project could serve as a model for the kind of horizontal and vertical communication that is needed to build a powerful movement.

Without a stamp of approval from the national office, and with limited ability to connect with MyBO house meetings, participation in the National House Meetings Network may prove to be minimal. But if enough house meetings select representatives to participate, we may iron out wrinkles and refine the model. And at some point, the national office could take it over and staff it, or create some new structure that would render it irrelevant.

Micah Sifry, a highly regarded analyst of technology and grassroots politics, has argued that the governing board of the new organization should be elected. Eventually, that approach will be called for. But initially, as the organization stabilizes itself and the members get to know one another, it is not necessary. A self-perpetuating board that initially fills vacancies itself would be acceptable – if a mechanism were established for the members to provide authoritative input into the decision-making process.

The most specific report from the Chicago-based planning process that I’ve seen was an email from the national office that Sifry posted. Originally sent to the few hundred participants in the early December three-day planning session, this message reports that the new organization will promote “civic engagement” and “two-way communication between the Administration and grassroots.” This language does not clarify whether there will be a commitment to the articulation of a unified voice by the membership.

Neither did Jeremy Bird from the Obama campaign clarify this matter when he spoke at a Dec. 10 public conference at Harvard that featured a public dialogue with Marshall Ganz, who affirmed the need for a “a collective entity capable of exercising agency.”

The pressure of the looming elections necessitated a certain style of operation. The situation now, however, is much different. As Bird said at the Harvard conference, “Governance is different than both campaign mobilizing and community organizing. It’s key for us to know how to set up the organization.”

Their caution is well justified. The decisions they face are no easy matter. Let’s hope they get it right. With Barack’s guidance, chances are good that they will.

Mail to a Friend | Link | Comments (0) | Report Objectionable Content

Memo to the Chicago Summit

By Wade Hudson - Jan 18th, 2009 at 6:06 am EST

Also listed in: 6 groups

December 5, 2008

by Wade Hudson

In reference to tomorrow's Chicago Summit reported on by the LA Times, following are five key principles underlying the recommendations concerning the shape of the post-campaign organization that I’ve previously presented .

   1. We need an inspiring long-term vision. Drawing upon Barack’s language, I offer a possible mission statement. It reads:To transform the nation and help implement the goals of the Obama campaign by:
         1. Reclaiming the meaning of citizenship.
         2. Mobilizing millions of voices to call for meaningful change.
         3. And restoring our sense of common purpose, based on these core moral principles:
               1. Stewardship.
               2. Service to others.
               3. Personal responsibility.
               4. Shared sacrifice.
               5. And a fair shot for all.
   2. Though methods should be established to enable others to participate in other ways, the primary foundation of the organization should be small teams that meet in one another’s homes (which enable everyone to have a full voice).
   3. The national office should encourage members of those teams to consciously nurture supportive friendships (rather than merely treat each other as instruments).
   4. The national office should establish a mechanism to enable those teams who wish to do so to select representatives to relatively small councils of fellow representatives who would communicate horizontally with one another in a deliberate, thoughtful manner to share reports on their work, ask questions, provide mutual support, and develop recommendations to send upward toward the national office through a layer of such councils (e.g., town/city, intra-state regions, state, regional, national) – so that the national office would pay more attention to recommendations from the national council than they ever could to tens of thousands of recommendations from individual members.
   5. Given that: 1) most individuals have limited time for activism; 2) efforts to persuade Congress to take action on a particular issue often need to be undertaken in a timely manner, and; 3) to be effective such efforts need to involve massive numbers of individuals acting in unison at more or less the same time, the national office needs to issue occasional, perhaps monthly, appeals to all Americans to communicate the same message at the same time to their Congresspersons, Senators, and/or the President.
   6. The national office should try to establish a national coalition that would participate in these (monthly?) actions.

Mail to a Friend | Link | Comments (0) | Report Objectionable Content

ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

By WEBMASTER - Dec 13th, 2008 at 2:26 am EST

Also listed in: 9 groups

The Pickens Plan: For those who would like to become an active participant in a solution for our nations energy needs I urge you to join with T.Boone Pickens in his quest for a cleaner planet through alternative energy.

Also see Green Wave Energy: Green Wave was founded by Mark Holmes and was formulated for viable alternative energy solutions. Green Wave Energy is promoting state-of-the-art energy-saving products and services throughout the country.

Green Wave Energy understands alternative energy technology will become “main stream” when

individuals and organizations understand that alternative energy technology exists and
when people see the economic benefits of using alternative energy technologies

Call 949.645.1701 for information on how Green Wave Energy can help you save the planet.

Alternative Energy
Source: David Apperson

url: http://veterans.barackobama.com/page/community/tag/alternative-energy

Mail to a Friend | Link | Comments (1) | Report Objectionable Content

Whose Table Is It?

By Madama Ambi - Nov 18th, 2008 at 11:53 am EST

Also listed in: 10 groups

My organizing began when I gathered all of the neighborhood kids plus my cousins, who lived not too far away, to put on a play to raise money for cancer. I must have picked cancer because it was the only "cause" I knew about at age 10. My next organizing venture was as an adult, in SF, and happened because I was suddenly too much at the mercy of decisionmakers who had not thought about how their actions would affect my little life and my puny goals. I won't bore you with the whole story, but both my activism and my feminism got fused into a sunny, warmish place in my brain, encased in an SF/Berkeley-Oakland/Bay Bridge no-snow-globe. And so, though I haven't lived or worked in N. CA for a decade, I have felt a real sense of belonging to the San Francisco for Obama group on MyBO.

This group has at least three activist hubs setting up post-election shop. Wade Hudson & Roma Guy are working together on their network, Paul Currier is organizing, and Paul Warnow, too. Today, Wade Hudson posted a link to Stephen Rose's blog, where a discussion about the future of MyBO is underway. Here's what I wrote in reply to the concerns that it won't be the viable, 2-way mechanism we think it should be when Obama is POTUS.

Thanks for this discussion--I agree that in order to have participatory democracy, many, many 2-way mechanisms must be in place, and must work! I've been writing and networking on this for some weeks now and have a few points to add:

1. The people are the movement, and we are still the movement. Whether or not MyBO continues to function, we can and we will create these structures.

2. The structures to be redundantly networked (a good thing, imo) already exist--I'm on blogs, Facebook, Twitter, and more networking platforms. I'm creating post-election subversonance, networking like crazy with other activists, creating mechanisms for less active people to participate in political process...and I expect that other activists will, too...

3. I'd like to see all organizers/activists stay in touch. We need one another. We need to share knowledge, skills, and to collectively hold the Obama administration's feet to the fire on many issues. I agree completely that Obama wants us to "make him do" what he wants to do.

4. Facebook is frequently confusing to me, but it is a powerful organizing tool, maybe even more powerful than MyBO. In case you're not on it, you will discover this as soon as you join and invite your friends. You simply can't avoid finding out what your friends are doing, which instantly expands your awareness & connectivity. Now, how to translate all of that connectivity into action...that's the question.

5. In sum, here's what I'm saying. We, the people, build the table and take our seats. We invite Barack & Joe and anyone else relevant, to come to OUR table and LISTEN to us. We dialogue. We work it, work it, work it.

I will post links to the above groups separately. If you know of other groups that are also creating transparent, horizontal, voter-motivated activism, please feel free to write to me, madamaambi at g mail dot com.

Mail to a Friend | Link | Comments (1) | Report Objectionable Content

Obama and the Future of US Foreign Policy

By Chinni - Nov 7th, 2008 at 12:36 am EST

Also listed in: 7 groups

Obama and the Future of US Foreign Policy: A Discussion

Democracy Now! Nov 06 2008

John Pilger: ..Michael Moore had it right when he said the other day, let’s hope that Obama breaks all his election promises, as politicians generally do, because all his election promises, in terms of foreign policy, are a continuation of business as usual. And even if there is a return to what used to be called a multilateral world, I think there has to be critical analysis of the return to the pretensions of America as a peacemaker around the world. We had to endure this, and I mean endure it during the Clinton years, and I don’t think that we, in the rest of the world, ought to have to endure it now through the Obama years, so that we have a continuation, if you like, of liberalism as a divisive, almost war-making ideology, being used to destroy liberalism as a reality, because that has gone on under so-called liberal presidents, from Kennedy to Clinton, Democratic presidents. And President-elect Obama suggests to us, in his promises, that he is going to continue that, bombing Pakistan and Afghanistan..
Mahmood Mamdani: ..Will America recognize, as I believe South Africa has after the election of Mandela, that the election of Mandela was not change, but an opportunity to change? And whether that opportunity is realized and transformed into a program of social justice within the country and peace abroad will depend on the movement that pushes Obama and gives him the opportunity to respond to it..
Ali Abunimah: ..we should be setting the standard very high, not accepting slight hints that in a few years’ time an Obama administration might accept a Palestinian state or might talk about one. The days for that are over. The situation is urgent, and we really need to see radical change. It’s not going to come from Rahm Emanuel and Dennis Ross and Martin Indyk; it’s only going to come from a groundswell demanding that the promises of change be kept..
Tariq Ali: ..I mean, the British are already saying that sending in more troops isn’t going to help, because the war is lost. The United States intelligence agencies are already involved in panic discussions with the people they are fighting, the neo-Taliban, to try and persuade them to join the coalition, which they’re refusing to do as long as there are foreign troops there. So, escalating the war I don’t think is a serious option. And if he does it, it will be a very, very serious mistake, on the same level in scale as invading Iraq..
Mahmood Mamdani: ..there’s a remarkable difference between the youth movement of the ’60s, which mainly organized outside the system, and the youth movement which has brought Obama to power, because this movement has organized within the system to reform the system. Obama keeps on saying that this movement must not go away, that change hasn’t come, that this is the beginning of change. Now, will the candidate be able to tame the movement, or will the movement be able to stamp itself to some extent in the coming days?

Mail to a Friend | Link | Comments (2) | Report Objectionable Content

How does this live on?

By Samm319 - Nov 5th, 2008 at 6:11 pm EST

The power of involvement was such a big part of this campaign. I wonder how it continues on when Barack is President since the transformation has just started...

Mail to a Friend | Link | Comments (0) | Report Objectionable Content

Barack Obama:Stand By Me

By Nia "Hussein" J. - Oct 12th, 2008 at 2:30 am EDT

Also listed in: 10 groups

I came across this video and it was just the boost I needed, please share with other whom you think might need a boost to:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLV-G8nR7nk&feature=related

Mail to a Friend | Link | Comments (0) | Report Objectionable Content

New groups urging Kurdish-Americans to get out and vote!

By Kurds for Obama - Oct 6th, 2008 at 8:33 pm EDT

Also listed in: Kurds for Obama

A number of Kurdish-American organizations began campaigns in the last few months urging Kurdish-Americans to register before the deadlines so that they may participate in the 2008 Presidential Elections. The idea is to get a much larger voter turn-out among Kurdish-Americans in these elections where every vote counts. Read More »

Mail to a Friend | Link | Comments (0) | Report Objectionable Content

Kurds for Obama Official Facebook Group

By Kurds for Obama - Oct 6th, 2008 at 8:26 pm EDT

Also listed in: Kurds for Obama

Our official Facebook group page provides detailed information highlighting the importance of an election of Senators Barack Obama and Joe Biden in 2008 Presidential Elections. Please visit the group page at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=36788283248&ref=ts

Mail to a Friend | Link | Comments (0) | Report Objectionable Content

Three Cheers For The Obama Campaign!

By Robin Z - Sep 17th, 2008 at 1:14 am EDT

I would like to take a moment to say thanks on two fronts.

First, to Barack, Joe, and their top advisors. You are doing a BRILLIANT job on the campaign trail, both staying on message, and responding to the Republican party smear campaign. It's truly an amazing thing to hear the evening newscasters and pundits dish out their comments and advice, and then to see the campaign heed the information and move forward with it by the very next morning. That's just a fantastic level of smarts and organization.

Second, to my fellow campaigners all around the country. This is truly a grassroots movement. I never would have believed it possible that so much could get done by so many eager and willing people, from all walks of life, who donate whatever time they can to helping the campaign succeed. This is my first encounter with politics up close, and I am so proud to be part of it.

The Obama/Biden ticket is going to win this election not only because we have the most in-tune candidates in Barack and Joe, but because the level of organization is OUTSTANDING.

Congratulations to everyone for all your hard work, and let's step it up until we reach victory on November 4th!!

Mail to a Friend | Link | Comments (0) | Report Objectionable Content

Promise of a Dream

By Candida - Sep 11th, 2008 at 8:20 am EDT

Also listed in: 4 groups

The Democratic Convention was so incredibly wonderful, each day unfolding and blossoming. Michelle, Malia and Sasha; Hilary and Bill ; Joe and the clan; the military warriors and so many others; it was exciting, humbling and energizing moving us to tears of joy and validation in our belief that the Obama/Biden ticket is just what our country needs to move beyond the devastation of the last eight years that have taken us from the Clinton years to a place where most American citizens feel that our country is on the wrong track. It was a surreal sense of the promise of the dream... then we awoke to the Republican Convention.

It began with a presumptuous show from McCain pretending to be president, trying to take advantage of what could have been another Katrina-like catastrophe (Praise God that it was not!). He and his party members tried to politicize what could have been a truly nonpartisan call for support to all Americans for American. In a crisis we want to see the best in people, but the speeches of the Republican Gulf State Governors and the subsequent allusions to and assertion of how well McCain showed leadership in the crisis obliterated any illusion that Monday’s show was purely about the people instead of some kind of ploy to gain redemption for the Republican shame for the way Americans were treated during and after Katrina.

Then there was lots of politics as usual ( half-truths, spin and lies) and lots of twenty six year old history of another John McCain who is almost unrecognizable when juxtapose the new and not improved version that has embraced the failed policies of the Bush administration and moved even further to the right. Then, the long awaited (less than a week) Governor Sarah Palin took the stage and introduced herself to America. Although a staunch Obama supporter, I wanted to know who this woman is and how she would present herself ( I am sure many O supporters tuned in which is why the ratings were so high).

What I saw and heard was a bright woman, who was sassy and easy with sarcasms, innuendo and untruths. She was comfortable in making personal attacks on both Barack and Joe. She was also quite comfortable ridiculing the work of community organizers who have shaped this country and moved forward every movement for change that has ever existed in this county. It was community organizers who first met in small groups under the cover secrecy to ultimately build a revolution that founded this country. It was community organizers who ran the Underground Railroad and organized to become the Abolitionist Movement, ultimately leading to the ending of enslavement in this country. It was community organizers who brought about the Suffrage and Civil Rights movements. It has been community organizers who have been at the forefront of every major fight for Americans in communities even before the United States of America was united.

It is a community organizer who has implemented an historic campaign that has begun a movement of change. This campaign is historic not just the obvious reasons, but for the groundswell of people taking back their government, for people caring about the future of our country. We embrace the community organizer is also an attorney, professor, state legislator and senator and next president of the United States, Barack Obama. He will lead, with Joe Biden by his side, and take the movement into the 21st century.

Mail to a Friend | Link | Comments (1) | Report Objectionable Content

Excellent Article from The Nation Magazine

By Barbara - Aug 18th, 2008 at 1:20 pm EDT

Also listed in: 9 groups

Wow, really great article. http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080901/borosage_kvh

Progressives in the Obama Movement

How Do We Seize The Obama Moment?

Mail to a Friend | Link | Comments (0) | Report Objectionable Content

O for Obama - creating our sign - signal for change

By Jim Lynch - Aug 10th, 2008 at 1:20 pm EDT

Also listed in: CA CD12 for Obama | Obama San Mateo County | Redwood Shores for Obama

Every great movement in history has had a rallying cry or a signal. We need one for Obama 08.

I would propose that we create a hand signal that shows you are an Obama supporter and can acknowledge our friends that feel the same way. This idea came to me as I was driving down 101 and saw a person with an Obama 08 sticker on there car. I wanted to wave to them or give them the thumbs up, but they did not know me nor did they know I was an Obama supporter (until I passed them and they could see my Obama bumper sticker) and I did now want them to think I was some wierdo waving at them.

So I thought about a special wave or signal that we could use to connect with the other Obama supporters out there and I came up with this...

O for Obama. To make an O with your hand simply make a circle with your fingers (as if you were gripping a baseball bat handle) and then touch your thumb between your first and second fingers to make the connection. You now have an O that you can use to signal and wave to your friends.

So what does this mean... well obviously it means O for Obama, it also shows a circle which you could think of as the earth and the fact that most of us care about the environment, and finally when your thumb connects with your fingers to create the circle, it shows one (Obama) bringing together many to make the movement come to life.

So what do you think? O for Obama?

Let me know.

Jim.

Mail to a Friend | Link | Comments (1) | Report Objectionable Content

Today we are all Berliners !!!

By SanityPLZ - Jul 25th, 2008 at 1:33 am EDT

The republicans are in disarray bloodied by their own actions. Americans have watched as progess that took decades were flushed down the toilet, and we are angry and so're the people of the world. Berlin will be remebered as a place where the young and the hopeful, the old and the frustrated, stood shoulder to shoulder to proclaim this Bush/ Mccain era is over. Reclaiming America and our future is a moral imperative and thanks to Bush we can finally start making the profound changes our future yearns for.

This movement and its work have only began!

Obama '08

Mail to a Friend | Link | Comments (0) | Report Objectionable Content

Wow!!! The Exponential Expansion of a Grassroots Movement.

By Vicki "Hussein" in New Mexico - Jul 17th, 2008 at 11:14 pm EDT

Also listed in: 6 groups

I love all the Groups I joined at http://my.barackobama.com I just returned from our second meeting of my local East Mountains for Obama Group. We had 12 enthusiastic people from the surrounding neighborhoods in the rural mountain country east of Albuquerque, NM. We have voter registration events and platform events planned on topics like Building Small Businesses in rural America. Former Richardson, Clinton, Edwards, Obama, and Kucinich supporters coming together for the common good of our rural communities and our Nation.

Moms for Obama has been super active for the past year and now Michelle Obama is blogging on a women's Blog: http://www.blogher.com/lets-talk and we can talk about issues important to us women and Moms with the next First Lady!

All my Buddhist friends at Buddhists for Obama are excitedly chatting away about our potential next President being as close to having a Buddha Nature as any President we have known and Lama Surya Das was on the Colbert Show http://www.comedycentral.com/colbertreport/videos.jhtml?videoId=176174 talking about why Obama might want to consider becoming a Buddhist http://surya.org/wp/?p=87 and I know Thich Nhat Hahn is watching the US election with great Metta.

I am excited to see the San Diego for Obama Group having Phone Banks to call voters in New Mexico (yes, we do want to hear from you!)

And I see my Grassroots for Obama New Mexico, now New Mexico for Obama, will soon retire to let the full time OFA staff take over and set up offices throughout New Mexico!

Wow!!! Obama '08 is bringing us together via an amazing exponential expansion of a true grassroots movement. What a country!!!

Mail to a Friend | Link | Comments (0) | Report Objectionable Content

Page 1 of 6 | Next | Last

Posts

Content on blogs in My.BarackObama represents the opinions of community members and in no way should be interpreted as endorsed or approved by the campaign.