NY Times on the Resurgence of Community Organizing
Saturday’s New York Times ran an in-depth look at the resurgence of community organizing in the wake of the 2008 election, an election that showed the power of grassroots organizing and civic engagement. One of the potential organizers profiled is Quinn Rallins, a 23 year old graduate from Morehouse College who’s passed up jobs with top financial and technology companies in hopes of becoming a community organizer in Brockton, Massachusetts — an industrial city hard hit from the loss of manufacturing jobs that currently holds the state’s highest foreclosure rate. “My mentor at Morehouse says that at the end of the day, it’s not about how much money you make," Rallins expained, "it’s about the lives you’ve impacted and the stories you have.”
A job that has not been all that alluring to college graduates is in resurgence, according to leading community organizers and educators. Once thought of as a destination for lefty radicals committed to living lives of low pay, frustration and bitter burnout, community organizing is now seen by many young people an exciting career.
With their jobs, students envision helping communities address urgent issues — economics or the environment, education or social justice — while developing leadership skills. And these jobs, students say, can actually lead to … well, you know.
“Community organizing has become cool,” said Marshall Ganz, who dropped out of Harvard in 1964 to join the civil rights movement in Mississippi and spent 16 years with Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers.
…Colleges are also seeing more interest in courses along those lines. Peter Dreier, a politics professor at Occidental College, says he usually has 20 to 25 students in his community organizing class. So far, 42 students have registered for next fall.
“I haven’t become any more popular as a professor,” said Mr. Dreier, who directs the Urban and Environmental Policy Program at Occidental. “So the increased enrollment must have something to do with the political climate, student interest in organizing and the impact of Obama.”
…Certainly, there is an Obama effect. Through his presidential campaign and in his memoir, “Dreams From My Father,” Mr. Obama managed to glamorize and, more important, explain community organizing. He wrote about meeting with people in their homes and churches, listening to their stories, the failures and small victories.
…Mr. Obama “said it was the best education he ever had,” Mr. Rallins said. “Young people, they’re looking for certain intangible skills. They see the experience Obama got from community organizing — his concern, the way he relates with everyday people.”
Saturday’s New York Times ran an in-depth look at the resurgence of community organizing in the wake of the 2008 election, an election that showed the power of grassroots organizing and civic engagement. One of the potential organizers profiled is Quinn Rallins, a 23 year old graduate from Morehouse College who’s passed up jobs with top financial and technology companies in hopes of becoming a community organizer in Brockton, Massachusetts — an industrial city hard hit from the loss of manufacturing jobs that currently holds the state’s highest foreclosure rate. “My mentor at Morehouse says that at the end of the day, it’s not about how much money you make," Rallins expained, "it’s about the lives you’ve impacted and the stories you have.”
A job that has not been all that alluring to college graduates is in resurgence, according to leading community organizers and educators. Once thought of as a destination for lefty radicals committed to living lives of low pay, frustration and bitter burnout, community organizing is now seen by many young people an exciting career.
With their jobs, students envision helping communities address urgent issues — economics or the environment, education or social justice — while developing leadership skills. And these jobs, students say, can actually lead to … well, you know.
“Community organizing has become cool,” said Marshall Ganz, who dropped out of Harvard in 1964 to join the civil rights movement in Mississippi and spent 16 years with Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers.
…Colleges are also seeing more interest in courses along those lines. Peter Dreier, a politics professor at Occidental College, says he usually has 20 to 25 students in his community organizing class. So far, 42 students have registered for next fall.
“I haven’t become any more popular as a professor,” said Mr. Dreier, who directs the Urban and Environmental Policy Program at Occidental. “So the increased enrollment must have something to do with the political climate, student interest in organizing and the impact of Obama.”
…Certainly, there is an Obama effect. Through his presidential campaign and in his memoir, “Dreams From My Father,” Mr. Obama managed to glamorize and, more important, explain community organizing. He wrote about meeting with people in their homes and churches, listening to their stories, the failures and small victories.
…Mr. Obama “said it was the best education he ever had,” Mr. Rallins said. “Young people, they’re looking for certain intangible skills. They see the experience Obama got from community organizing — his concern, the way he relates with everyday people.”