It speaks for itself

Pretty much the coolest thing I've ever seen

I've commented repeatedly that I wish I lived happily inside the quirky arms of a rock opera and/or musical. You can clearly see why this video appeals to me on every level.

It takes a village

When I create lessons for Tabesha, specifically when I bring objects and photos for us to discuss and write about, I very intentionally avoid an ethoncentric bias. Meaning, for example, I don't assume we have the same context for even simple words like "store." She's been in the states for eight years now, so we don't loose too much in translation, but I still avoid assumptions.

We had an interesting discussion during our last lesson, a discussion that knocked my mind around a bit and kept my context in check. I brought in a series of pages ripped from magazines. She sifted through them to find a photo she liked and then we were going to write a story about that photo. She picked a spread from Town & Country: a wealthy white woman was walking out the front door of her massive brick-and-shutter house toward the mailbox. We've had writing exercises about homes before and I knew she would have a strong vocabulary base to write a new story about this photo.

I began asking her questions about the photo and writing vocabulary words on our little white board. She reached a point where she stopped and seemed to be thinking about something. I gave her a moment and then asked what she was thinking. She said slowly, "In Africa, we can make any house we want for free. I bet this house is a lot of money." I immediately felt like a jackass for even considering a Town & Country photo (the magazine was inexplicably found in the lobby of my office) and quickly encouraged her to tell me more about her house in Africa.

She said her family built the house they lived in. I asked if she helped build it, if her brothers helped, and she said: "Everyone." I proded, "Everyone in your family? Everyone helped?" "No," she said quickly, shaking her head and audibly chuckling at my ignorance. "Everyone in the village. Everyone in Ndulu. Everyone builds houses for the village. My village built my house and I built their house."

I think that's beautiful.

See for yourself...

...the transcendent power of community organizing. Do not underestimate the passion, power, and electricity of this moment, this campaign, this movement...

"Hands cover Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., hand, center, with black watch band, as he shakes hands at rally at the Amway Arena in Orlando, Fla., Monday, Oct. 20, 2008.
(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)"

Thanks to ACG for the picture. What a gorgeous rainbow of human diversity.

Sorry Sarah, but you're dead wrong.

(Record-shattering rally of 100,000 Obama supporters in St. Louis, Missouri. Saturday, 18 October 2008)

632,000 new donors in September alone, making 3.1 million donors total.

$150,000,000 donated in September alone, the largest month in any campaign in history.

The average contribution in the month of September was $100. The average donation to the campaign overall is only $86.

The constituent groups with the highest number of donations are retirees and students.

(source, as reported to the FEC, via David Plouffe video blog)

Within hours of Sarah Palin opining these oratorical gems at the Republican National Convention - "A small town mayor is sort of like a community organizer, except you have actual responsibilities..." and "This world of threats and dangers is not just a community, and it doesn't just need an organizer..." - bloggers went nuts, facebook profiles whirred to life as groups, events, status updates, and communities of total strangers were created in a response of solidarity, and my friends and I shot texts back and forth in complete amazement of her naivety.

"Naivety" is putting it politely and actually giving her too much credit. A more accurate description of her statements would be "ignorantly vindictive" and even "self-destructive." David Plouffe, Obama's campaign manager, offered Palin (and Giuliani, who seemed equally confused) the following tutorial: "Community organizing is how ordinary people respond to out-of-touch politicians and their failed policies." In Obama's own words, in an email sent out the morning following the RNC, "With the nation watching, the Republicans mocked, dismissed, and actually laughed out loud at Americans who engage in community service and organizing. [...] What the McCain attack squad doesn't understand is that people like you - who devote part of their busy lives to organizing and building their communities - have the power to change this country. With your help, that's exactly what we're going to do."

In a rally later that week Obama continued, "Worst of all - they insulted the very idea that ordinary people have a role to play in our political process." That's exactly right. Why do you think 100,000 people rallied for Barack in Misssouri, a Republican stronghold? Why do you think poor college students are donating their beer and pizza money to the campaign? Why do you think people feel a deeply personal, deeply individual sense of ownership of this campaign? Because, as Obama said in his Democratic National Convention acceptance speech, "What the naysayers have never understood is that this movement has never been about me. It's about you. It's always been about you." How has it always been about us? Because it was masterminded by a brilliant community organizer, that's how; a community organizer who empowers marginalized citizens, allows creative people to rise to the top, and surrounds himself with diversity and passion.

Take a moment to scroll through the banners below. I lifted each of them from Obama's website and each banner links to a specialized homepage dedicated entirely to organizing resources for that community. Obama understands social capital, the importance of building critical mass, and the tipping points associated with historical social change movements. Simply, what he understands is that Every. Single. Community. Matters. and every single community has a voice. So again, why do you think people feel a deeply personal, deeply individual sense of ownership of this campaign? Watch Obama explain why organizing in local community matters...then keep scrolling and answer the question for yourself...

As a community organizer, both informally and professionally, I audibly gasped at Palin's RNC remarks as my eyes bugged out and I reached for my laptop. But you know what? Let Palin and crew misunderstand us. Quite honestly, let them completely underestimate us. It will be a rude wake-up call for them on 05 November and we'll only have ourselves to congratulate.

This is it, folks. This is our time. It's been said before, but it bears repeating: We are the ones we've been waiting for. This. Is. It. Right. Now. I don't know how else to say it to you. Let's do this!