Georgia Community Organizing Alive

-

Stacey Abrams.
They say democracy is for the people by the people. That is why it baffled me when opponents mocked Barack Obama when he ran for president, dismissing him as nothing but a community organizer. Americans voted for the Democratic Party and Obama became the 44th U.S. President in 2008.

 I don’t know how you describe community, but for me, it is a collection of human beings in a place somewhere, trying to come up with ideas of solving their problems here and now. Before the White House, Obama won the Illinois Senate seat from 1997-2004, based on community organizing, driving around the state, talking to people.

Opponents ridiculed him because he immersed himself in various communities, some of them totally against each other politically. His opponents were on higher ground, they were campaigning. What is the difference?

Community. His opponents ‘campaigned’ while having a pint in restricted men’s clubs, playing golf, sailing, relaxing in Martha’s Vineyard, skiing in Switzerland, rodeos in Texas, fetching ‘au pairs’ for their kids from airports, donating money and resources to Ivy League colleges and attending Royal Ballet concerts.

This is community organizing, traditional community organizing validated by newspaper editors, that were part of the ‘community’. Well and good. Obama also organized in communities outside the fence looking in.

So is Stacey Abrams, Nse Ufot and the New Georgia Project and many grassroots organizations outside the Democratic banner, that regard their communities as human beings, born and raised in America and have the right to determine how America treats them.

Until America recognizes community organizers as human beings, representing human beings, who don’t ‘cut deals’ about human lives in  smoke-filled clubs, bake sales and shares in the stock market, American politics will always remain blue and red.

This is another ‘written podcast’ by Nonqaba waka Msimang.    

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Elections And Political Bullies

-
Image
Forget democracy.   It should be called political bullying. We are watching it in the prelude to the Canadian election on the 19 th of October, 2015.   Americans have also started their political bullying for the looming presidential election next year. So many trees wasted on books about democracy.   Some countries have big budgets for invading other countries ‘ to defend democracy’ but it is seldom practised in campaigning for elections.   Calling opponents names and printing flyers attacking each other is behaviour that will not be tolerated in kindergarten, but it is all legal, in campaigning.   It is irritating and such a let-down to the whole notion of democracy.   Grown-up men and women behaving like Grade One kids. It is also misleading because many voters believe it is real hatred.   Don’t let that fool you.   These politicians play golf together, attend the same dinner parties, eat and drink at the same social events, share jokes and cut deals in parliament.   They
Read more

Comfort Food As Regret Food

-
Image
Chicken curry. Comfort food is good for the soul, which usually bleeds in winter from icy roads, bad drivers that want to annihilate pedestrians, frozen fingers and toes that take a sabbatical.   What happened to my toes?   I thought I was wearing special socks for boots? We therefore have a right to comfort food which throws doctors’ orders out of the window and has no loyalty to calories.   No calculator on the table, thanks very much.   Piece of bread 5 calories, half a banana 10 calories, sugar-free cheesecake 2,000 calories.   Ah! Ah!  We only live once. Naw!   Comfort food is old school food with its compulsory second helping.   It involves licking fingers and giving a big sigh, about the good life, which is shelter, food, love and debt.   The problem is the zip.   The jeans remind you that comfort food can also be called you will regret food .   Home sweet home is even sweeter in winter after surviving blowing snow and bumper to bumper traffic. What is more welcoming th
Read more

No Air Miles

-
Image
I don’t have Air Miles.   I’m considering putting that on a T-Shirt because I cannot go to the drugstore (chemist) or coffee shop without the cashier asking me if I have air miles. We waited for about two minutes the other day, while this guy looked for his Air Miles card in his overweight wallet.   For what?   For a few points. I don’t have air miles because Mathematics is a foreign language.   I was never good in numbers. That is why I squashed the idea of being an investment banker very early in life.   I understand you can invest in cornfields before the soil is turned up or pork bellies even before a baby pig is born. That is how I view air miles, investing in tomorrow or the unknown.   I’m the dumb one.   Some people understand this air miles’ thing so well, I overheard one customer saying: I can even convert my points into cash. Points and air miles are the same thing in Canada and the U.S.   Drugstores or clothing stores even give you a card to collect point
Read more