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We Make Change: Community Organizers Talk About What They Do--and Why
Although you may be able to visit your local library and quickly locate many books on firefighters, lawyers, doctors or astronauts—your quest to find just as many books on community organizers will most likely prove to be a bit more challenging, if not impossible. But according to the National Organizers Alliance there are over 10,000 community organizers in the U.S. Joe and Kristin Szakos solve this problem by highlighting the careers of 81 community organizers in We Make Change , a new book on community organizing as a career. "We Make Change" provides key insight into the challenges, triumphs and key characteristics of community organizers across the nation, showing how organizing can be a fulfilling and enriching career, in which dedicated and passionate leaders earn salaries, pensions and, even healthcare plans. Here are some hightlights:
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"The organizer is the one who helps people move from complaining to action to resolve the problem and get it fixed."
June Rostan, (Lead Campaign Community Organizer --AFL-CIO's Voice@Work) -
"A community organizer is someone who works with members of the community to identify their concerns and problems and issues and hopes and dreams, and then brings those together in the form of an organization to act collectively."
LeeAnn Hall, (Executive Director --Northwest Federation of Community Organizations-- NWFCO) -
"I don't like to think of it as empowerment, because I think it's not about giving them power but about activating the power that's in people…. "
Sheila Kingsberry-Burt (Outreach Coordinator-- North Carolina Budget & Tax Center) -
Community organizing is about getting people to work together for a common good. What's so hard about that? Often times people can't agree on what the common good is.
Scott Douglas (Executive Director --Greater Birmingham Ministries) -
An organizer, basically, is a person who sits in the back of the room and just watches people grow. He doesn't take a leadership position; he just asks the right questions so that people can, on their own, realize that we already have all the answers. In the end people can walk away from it with a sense of "I did it myself. Nobody came in and did it for me. I did it myself and as a result of having done it myself I know that anything that impacts my community, anything that impacts my fundamental quality of life, I can now handle."
John McCown (Executive Director—John L. McCown Center for Rural Economics in Sparta, GA)
It Feels Good To Do Good:
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"There's no other feeling like seeing people actually create change. It's amazing when people realize that they already have what they need to get what they want done. They realize how to make someone else change their mind. That's really cool…"
Karen Waters (Executive Director—Quality Community Council in Charlottsville, VA) -
You know, it's about seeing that spark that happens in people's eyes when you realize that something is possible, when you see someone just move from a place of, 'That's just the way it is, what can we do about it?' to 'OK. Let's do something.' Not only that, but 'It's wrong, and we need to do something about it.' It's about seeing those small moments of transformation…"
Vivian Chang (Executive Director of the Asian Pacific Environmental Network in Oakland, CA) -
"I feel like I'm actually doing something to change the systems in our country that are unjust and unfair…"
Holly Hatcher (Director of Programs at the Charlottsville Area Community Foundation)
It's the Best Way To Effect Change:
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The problems of community development in inner cities, of school reform, of violence and public health problems, and many others present similar challenges. They are simply too complex and multifaceted to be solved unless we learn how to tap local community wisdom, community assets, and civic networks…
Harry C. Boyte (Co-Director, Center for Democracy & Citizenship) -
"I honestly do not believe that we can bring about lasting change without grassroots organizing…"
Aaron Browning (Director of Organizing & Campaigns for the Northern Plains Resource Council in Montana) -
"I'm able to stand on the outside and call for people to do the responsible thing."
Kimble Forrister (State Coordinator for Alabama Rise and Executive Director for Arise Citizens' Policy Project)
For A Variety of Reasons:
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"It's been a challenge every day and I like that. I've never, ever had a moment of being bored or disengaged. I like the people."
LeAnn Hall -
"I became a community organizer because…I would like to see life a little bit different for my grandchildren, great grandchildren, whomever is to follow after me, even my son. I do not think we have to live through the same issues that I grew up with. I think people do make a difference…"
Cathy Woodson (Organizer with the Virginia Organizing Project) -
"…To liberate the captives…set at liberty the poor. Really do something to help people. Value the life that is in all of us, the life that is in them..."
Sheila Kingsberry-Burt
Fire in the Belly or Passion
Robert Owens of Louisville Organized and United Together (CLOUT) says, "You have to be really driven by that passion to be persistent and not give up in spite of the many obstacles and challenges and frustrations and time demands. I think you need a core fire-in-the-belly passion for justice and social change. You need to have a vision for the world as it should be." According to Joe & Kristin Szakos, "fire in the belly is anger, but it's anger tempered with a purpose. It's passion, but passion directed at a goal, and a plan for achieving that goal."
Optimism
You have to be shamelessly optimistic despite the various setbacks and limitations encountered.
Love of people
You have to like people and believe in people. A good community organizer knows how to build relationships. Part of successful relationship building includes: being genuine and getting people to buy into established goals. Successful organizers also know how to deal with people from "all different walks of life" (i.e. different personalities, skill levels and past experiences)
Long Term Commitment
As Rhonda Anderson, an environmental justice organizer for the National Sierra Club attests, "You have to keep going back." After one issue is addressed, follow-up is usually required to ensure that the agreed upon actions are carried out as anticipated. (Also, other related or unrelated issues may arise.) "Part of being in organizing is that you lose a lot…" says Steve Bradberrry, head organizer for New Orleans ACORN in Louisiana. When losing occurs relatively often, tenacity and long term commitment become even more important. "You get knocked down, you get the wind knocked out of you, and you let that disappointment turn to anger. Then you figure out, 'Okay, that's the reaction. They're making us react. What are we going to do next?" says Paul Cromwell of the United Church of Christ.
Discipline
To be a community organizer, you have to be persistent and being persistent may mean disciplining yourself to follow-up, call again and not quit. Discipline, on some days may translate into longer work days to simply complete tasks you promised to complete. Dave Mann, a consultant with the Grassroots Policy Project says, "Good community organizers can be counted on to do what they say they are going to do."
Strategic Thinking
An organizer should be able to analyze a situation and understand how one activity or event affects another. Strategic thinking also entails planning for the future (i.e. identifying and cultivating new leaders). When an organizer does not identify and cultivate new leaders, stagnation may set in or future progress may be stymied.
Being a "Staminist"
A staminist is Oprah Winfrey's term for people who work hard/enjoy the fight. According to Teresa Erickson of the Northern Plains Resource Council in Montana, successful community organizing certainly requires stamina.
Good Organizational Skills
Because an organizer, organizes—he/she should be organized. "You have to be able to jump from one thing to another, juggle things a lot." says John Smillie, campaign director for the Western Organization of Resource Councils. Leah Ottersbach of the Center for Genetics and Society says, "Having your stuff together and knowing how to find it-- is a sign of good organization."
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"I think of being an effective organizer as similar to being an effective coach. A coach needs to know how to play the game, but doesn't play the game for the team. A coach makes sure the team knows how to play the game, makes sure each player improves his or her skills, makes sure the team has a game plan suited to their level of ability and the opposing team they are confronting. Telling people, "Yeah you really can do this!" or "No, you can't do that, you better practice first." is a key organizing skill. So you need to be able to be diplomatic but also direct with folks. Sometimes being an effective organizer just involves showing people the ropes and calling a time out once in a while to rest and regroup. Other times it's teaching the fundamentals of the game."
Ellen Ryan (Virginia Organizing Project) -
"It's labor intense and stressful and hard. But you enjoy yourself too."
Rhonda Anderson -
"Being a community organizer allows you to work with groups to make specific, tangible changes in a community while helping people learn important leadership skills,"
Joe Szakos -
You won't have much money but you will have lots of people.
Julie Jones (Program Officer at the Virigina Health Care Foundation) -
"…You can do this work your whole life and do something different every day, if you want. You get to do work that has meaning…"
Ray Higgins, Jr. (Teacher of Theology at Roanoke Catholic's Upper School)
Top Tips from Harry C. Boyte & Don Elmer
Be Careful & Prepare
Harry C. Boyte cautions that community organizers should be mindful of technocracy and find ways to ensure that their community members are not silenced simply because they lack certain credentials. In the information age, many citizens are disempowered not only by organized corporate or money power but also by organized "knowledge power". Many norms and practices, in today's society marginalize and silence people without credentials, degrees, and specialized language. Although knowledge power is more subtle and elusive than corporate power, it is no less pervasive. Community organizers must find ways to ensure that the "power of the people" is not short-circuited by technocracy.
Deep Listening Is Important
Deep listening skills, without interruption, are indispensable. It is not enough to simply listen and then take action. Deep listening requires a little more patience. As a community organizer, you will typically use your deep listening skills to become better acquainted with the speaker. It is during this time that organizers begin to find out which actions are in the speaker's best interest. Active sympathetic listening will help community organizers take actions that will make the dreams of the speaker come into fruition. Don Elmer, at the Center for Community Change says, "…Really the important thing is to help people connect with their dreams."
Know Thyself
Don Elmer goes on to say: "I think that one of the characteristics of effective community organizers is that they really have to know themselves as well as the person or group that they're working with. If there isn't that capacity for self-understanding, the organizer is a very limited, mechanistic kind of a guy or woman… It's crucial because otherwise you're just stirring things up without understanding what the hell life is about."
Understand What's Going On
"A good organizer should really understand the political mileu that people are a part of and understand the history and what's going on…" says Elmer.
Rest & Regroup
You will reach a point in your career, where you begin to assess your life. Taking inventory is a good thing. After going through a divorce, Don Elmer recalls: " One of the things I had to change was this drive where organizing was the only thing in my life and there were no boundaries…I'm 61 years old. I started organizing when I was 29. I went straight through with no breaks, no vacations or anything, until 1985."
Community organizing is an important career field, although not much literature exists to accurately capture the daily challenges and achievements of individuals actively engaged in this field. "We Make Change" gives a quick glimpse into the lives of several organizers whose stories will: cause some to re-assess their career choices, inspire others to re-commit and cause many others to re-arrange their approach towards community organizing. To find out more about community organizing, click here.