September 24, 2008
Vol: 15 No: 40

Community & Editorial

Organizers hold key to community, democracy

by: Jim Diers , Guest Writer

Being jeered at by the moneyed elite? Congrats, you’re onto something.

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I recently returned from a speaking tour of Australian cities where my message regarding the importance of community organizing was well received. While there, I learned that community organizing was also a focus of the Republican National Convention, where it was subjected to ridicule. I was incredulous — after all, community organizing is as American as kangaroos are Australian.

When Alexis de Toqueville, a French count, toured the United States in 1831, it was the abundance of community associations that he identified as uniquely American. He was impressed by the way in which neighbors came together to accomplish what they could not do on their own whether that was raising a barn, operating a volunteer fire department, or participating in a town meeting.

Today, our sense of community is threatened by increasing mobility, suburban sprawl, electronic screens, economic stratification, and institutional growth. Robert D. Putnam’s 2000 book Bowling Alone documents the decline of community and its associations. Yet strong communities are more important than ever.

It is as a community that we identify with and support one another. Our relationships are the key to crime prevention and our capacity to respond to emergencies.

Our very welfare and happiness are tied to our sense of community.

Not only do community members care for one another, but they care for the place they share. The future of our planet depends on our ability to be more concerned with the common good than with individual gain. It is in community that we are accountable for our individual actions and know that our collective efforts will have an impact on climate change.

And, it is as a community that we have the power to demand social justice. Saul Alinsky, the father of modern community organizing, observed that there are two kinds of power in our society – money and people. If you don’t have a lot of money, you better have a lot of people.

Those with money are well organized. Their organizations are known as corporations. Not only do corporate interests have a disproportionate voice in the electoral process, they continue to exercise their power after the elections.

Why should the community do anything less? Yet most of us simply vote who to cede our power to, if we vote at all. That’s not a recipe for change.

Community organizers build the sense of community that is so important to our planet, to our neighborhoods, and to ourselves. They help communities create the organizations upon which our democracy depends. These organizations are not tied to an ideology or political party but to a community. They are the vehicle through which neighbors come together to identify and act on their common interest.

Community organizers harness the local capacity for self-help. They empower citizens to hold their elected officials accountable. What could be more American?

Tips for Community Organizing:

  * The key to involving people is to make community life fun again. As my friend Jeff Bercuwitz says, “Why have a meeting when you can have a party?”

  * Start where people are at. The closer the action is to where people live, the more likely they are to get engaged.

  * Don’t use jargon or acronyms. You don’t want those whom you’re trying to reach to think they lack the expertise required for participation.

  * Start with the networks to which people already belong. There are literally dozens of networks in every neighborhood. When these networks are aligned, the community can exercise tremendous power.

  * People will get involved to the extent that we can tap into their passion. The key is to start not with an answer or with a program, but with a question: “What is your dream” or “What keeps you up at night?”

  * Strive for results. People need to see some if they are going to stay involved.

  * Behind every label — at-risk youth, illegal alien, disabled, homeless — are abundant assets. Everyone has gifts of the head (knowledge), heart (passion), and hands (skills). Figuring out how to use them is a great way to get people engaged.

  * Celebrate success. Getting results is important, but much of the potential value is lost if you stop there. Neighbors need to know that people like themselves were responsible.

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Jim Diers was an organizer with the South End Seattle Community Organization and the first director of Seattle’s Department of Neighborhoods and now teaches at the University of Washington, where he is launching a Community Development Certificate Program through UW Extension. The year-long program features leading practitioners and UW faculty teaching evening courses on community organizing, neighborhood planning, poverty alleviation, revitalization, affordable housing, and organizational development. For more information or to register online, visit: http://www.extension.washington.edu.

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