CNN's Roland Martin Takes Offense at the Community Organizer Bashing

[Bleacher Creature]

Run time: 00:52 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGWthR7vdfI   Posted on YouTube: September 04, 2008 By YouTube Member: Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: September 04, 2008 By DU Member: Bleacher Creature Views on DU: 990

 
Good for him!

[PDJane]

1. From his mouth to the ears of America........

I was appalled.

[ComplimentarySwine]

2. Okay, that's it.

I'm tired of feeling uneducated with respect to this issue. WHAT is a community organizer? I thought it was something like being a member of a home-owners association or something, but this video makes it sound like something else?

[eagertolearn]

4. Read Obama's first book "Dreams of my Father". A good part of that book

is about what he did as a community organizer inbetween undergrad and law school. Mostly it's figuring out the cause of problems and then helping people to help themselves to make changes to get out of the problems.

[ComplimentarySwine]

6. Cool, thanks. n/t

[PatSeg]

8. Yeah, but it doesn't

involve any "responsibility", don't cha know!

[Critters2]

7. I used to work for an agency that did community organizing

around health care issues. I wasn't an organizer--I did one on one advocacy. A person would come and meet with me or one of my office's volunteers, and we'd work with that individual to solve that specific problem--can't get care for some reason, can't pay a bill, being harassed about payment, fighting with insurer over coverage, having to decide between paying for health care and other necessities, complaints about a provider, etc.

We kept track of the kinds of issues people were raising with us, and turned those notes over to the organizers at the end of each month. They'd go over our notes looking for common complaints, patterns, etc. If they saw an issue that was affecting a good number of community members, they'd contact those people. They'd get them together to deal with changing the situation for everyone in the community, rather than leave it at a one on one level.

The organizers I worked with dealt with one clinic's refusal to treat medicaid patients; another's abrupt ending of a program to help low-income seniors with a medicare supplement plan; both hospitals in the community using unfair and even illegal collection practices (finally resulting in one hospital losing its tax exempt status for lack of charitable care; and other issues. The organizers helped those in the community realize others were dealing with the same problems, got those people together to brainstorm strategies for change, and then helped with some of the legwork and facilitating while the community members really did the hard work of bringing about change they needed.

Community organizing is a remarkable process to watch. And it does create community change.

[will409]

3. Trashing Community Organizers

It's one thing to question Obama's readiness, it's another thing to trash the hard working people who devote they lives to working day in day out to help those in need. Palin/McSame OUT-OF-TOUCH with what goes on in small town America. Shame on you.

[PatSeg]

9. Welcome to DU

Nice first post!

[fortyfeetunder]

5. Bashing community organizers by the GOP was bullshit.

Palin, by being part of the local PTA, was a "community organizer". What does that say about her?

[Why Syzygy]

10. K/R . Hopefully

the pukes will be "corrected" on many of their lies, deceits and downright snottiness.

[skittlebrau78]

11. his "actual resposibilities"

from Wikipedia:

After four years in New York City, Obama moved to Chicago to work as a community organizer for three years from June 1985 to May 1988 as director of the Developing Communities Project (DCP), a church-based community organization originally comprising eight Catholic parishes in Greater Roseland (Roseland, West Pullman, and Riverdale) on Chicago's far South Side. During his three years as the DCP's director, its staff grew from 1 to 13 and its annual budget grew from $70,000 to $400,000, with accomplishments including helping set up a job training program, a college preparatory tutoring program, and a tenants' rights organization in Altgeld Gardens.

That's right, a CHURCH-BASED COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION that helped with job training, college prep, and tenants' rights.

They are going to have an absolute field day with this one.

[ExPatLeftist]

12. Why do you say they will have a "field day" with this??

Not getting your point...

[girl gone mad]

14. My interpretation is that the campaign will have a field day..

because it looks like the Republicans are attacking a faith-based charity.

[Indi Guy]

13. Gotta K & R this one!...

MLK was a "community organizer" and he has his own national holiday.

Obama beat Hillary because he was a community organizer.

I guess the GOP is happiest when communities don't organize.

Bye bye Palin -- you unwittingly stirred up a hornet's nest that your elite party handlers didn't mention in the speech they wrote for you.

Maybe if you had more experience, you'd have gotten it :shrug:

[mucifer]

15. I'd like to plug Roland Martin's radio show in Chicago online you can hear it.

It starts in an hour (6am CENTRAL time) www.wvon.com

It should be great today.