Jesus was a community organizer, Pilot was a governor

I found it ironic that we just started a community organizing ministry at our church and then see it get blasted at the RNC. I also find it ironic that while blasting community organizing, her office was canceling her attendence at a community organizing action by AFACT (Anchorage Faith in Action, Congregations Together) to discuss increased funding for Denali Kid Care which provides health insurance for uninsured and under-insured children in Alaska. I would like to remind Sarah that Jesus was a community organizer, Pilot was a governor.

I recieved the following letter from PICO www.piconetwork.org

Organizing. A gift that keeps on giving.

Americans have been organizing to build community and hold government accountable since our nation was formed, but last week there was more talk in the national media about modern community organizing than at any time in recent history.

When speakers at the Republican National Convention repeatedly mocked Senator Obama's work as a community organizer many of us witnessed not just another political attack, but mean-spirited disrespect for people who give of themselves to improve communities and expand opportunities for families.

As Bishop Roy Dixon, former president of the PICO board of directors, said, "As a life-long Republican, the comments I heard last night about community organizing crossed the line. It is one thing to question someone's experience, another to demean the work of millions of hard working Americans who take time to get involved in their communities. When people come together in my church hall to improve our community, they're building the Kingdom of God in San Diego. We see the fruits of community organizing in safer streets, new parks, and new affordable housing. It's the spirit of democracy for people to have a say and we need more of it."

Fr. John Baumann, who founded PICO 35 years ago, said in an Associated Press story that ran in papers across the country that "If people in office were doing their jobs, perhaps we wouldn't need community organizers."

Now, those of us who organize – both as volunteer leaders in our communities and as professional organizers – have been handed a gift – a unique opportunity to explain to a much broader audience the value that community organizing plays for us in making government work effectively and in building character and leadership among ordinary people.

Across this country, families are grappling with tremendous challenges – skyrocketing health care costs, rising cost of living, stagnating wages, ballooning mortgage payments, failing public schools, increasing violence in their neighborhoods, to name just a few.

While these issues have a direct impact on millions of Americans, you'd be hard pressed to find many ordinary people who feel like they have the power to have a meaningful impact on most of these issues. These problems feel overwhelming. Where do you even start to get some leverage on them?

For PICO, community organizing begins with the belief that, when people come together, get to know one another, share their common concerns – and their common dreams – and then decide to take action, something amazing happens. People discover that they can solve community issues that once seemed overwhelming. Organizing unlocks that inherent power of people to organize themselves, identify widely shared needs and petition the government.

PICO's community organizing is rooted in the Civil Rights Movement, American democratic principles and the values of family and faith. PICO National Network has grown to encompass 53 faith-based community organizations and more than 1,000 religious congregations working in 150 cities in towns in 17 states, and in Central America and Rwanda. In the process, PICO affiliates and state networks have created innovative solutions to some of the most challenging problems facing our nation. Some recent examples:

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  In Colorado this year, 55,000 uninsured low-income children now have health insurance because PICO's Denver affiliate, Metro Organizations for People's community organizing.
  In Oakland, California, nearly 15,000 children now attend 48 new small public schools that are out-performing traditional schools serving similar students, due to a ten-year organizing campaign by Oakland Community Organizations.
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  In Camden, New Jersey children can now walk to school more safely because of a long-term organizing campaign by Camden Churches Organized for People which has eliminated abandoned houses, brought $175 million in reinvestment into the city and worked with the State to root out corruption in Camden City Government.

No issue is too big or too small for community organizing. As Bob Rastorfer, a long-time leader in Communities Creating Opportunity in Kansas City, said in a YouTube video last week, "community organizing has changed the size of the water lines that go to our fire hydrants in Kansas City...it has changed the fees and interest charged by pay day lenders statewide."

While people should decide for themselves which candidate would make the best president, we disagree with the suggestion made by Rudy Guliani and Governor Palin last week that being a community organizer does not prepare someone to be an effective public servant and leader.

For PICO, every aspect about the work of community organizing – from taking the time to listen to people, to researching solutions to problems, to bringing people together across race, religion and party affiliation – is engineered to develop the skills and leadership of ordinary people. PICO teaches that devoting yourself to developing the leadership skills of others is what a true leader does.

In PICO we don't ask whether someone is a Republican or Democrat, but whether they are doing their job. We reject any suggestion on the right or the left that community organizing belongs to any one political party. All across the United States both Republican and Democratic elected officials have worked with PICO organizations and other organizing groups to reduce crime through community policing, build public will for schools reform, revitalize neighborhoods and create affordable housing.

There are always those in power who dismiss people who want to get involved. That arrogance is folly. Those who understand the history of the United States, those who hear the call to witness God's love in the world, realize that mayors and governors and presidents alone cannot solve the problems we face as a nation. Only when people get involved, only when people have the power to hold the powers that be accountable can we create a world that respects each of us in God's image.

Join us as we work to transform the political culture of the United States so that every person's voice can be heard and government serves the needs of all families.Organizing. Pass it on!