Community Organizing: What The Mn Gop And North Minneapolis Can Learn From The Obama Campaign

On Thursday, February 19, 2009 I was invited to Macy’s first Black History Month Celebration, which took place on the second floor between the men’s suits and shoes. The highlight of this event was a panel discussion hosted by a north Minneapolis newspaper publisher. Panel members included the University of Minnesota’s Trent Tucker; IAMMOODY.com’s Richard Moody; Women Venture’s Tene Wells; (former) Judge Pamela Alexander; City Council Members Ralph Remington and Don Samuels and others.

I am discussing this event because panelists were asked to reflect not on Black history, but on the Obama inauguration, what it means to have a Black president and other "skewed" questions that in my opinion don’t reflect the struggle or ongoing uphill battle we still encounter in the United States as a people of color. Every day I hear Black people say: "Yes, we have a Black president, things are okay now." But that’s not the case.

President Obama did not descend from a cloud in the sky and wave his magic wand and chant: "All of your troubles now will disappear." But listening to people, you would think that Obama's election was the prelude to the Second Coming of Christ.

I am not against President Barack Obama; I think electing a Black man as President of the United States is the best thing that has happened for our nation. Having a Black man hold the highest position in office has provided our nation, as well as the world, the opportunity to see a positive image of a Black man who is educated, married to a Black woman and raising a family. This image is in direct contrast to the barrage of images that have come to reflect the Black male, family and culture.

Also, the election of President Obama sheds light on the practices of my party, the Republican Party, which tend to reinforce the old, white male practices. I hate to be the one to tell the GOP that old, white and male is dead. As a matter of fact, the Republican Party brand is antiquated. In order to compete with the progressive practices of the Obama campaign, the GOP must develop a more effective way to engage the communty; in other words, the GOP must become inclusive.

I encourage the GOP to adopt President Obama's election campaign strategies. If anyone has read some of the President's earlier writings, you will see a pattern of community engagement that focuses on organizing and mobilizing people. During his years as a community organizer, the President was savvy enough to realize that to accomplish a goal, he had to bring together all of the appropriate people who had the necessary skills to get the job done. There were no hand outs. Here in the Twin Cities, local Black "self-appointed" leaders have tossed the ball to President Obama saying, "Obama's going to give us some of that Stimulus money." Well, I hate to burst your bubble, but President Obama is not going to "give" you shit!

President Obama ran into some of the same problems as a community organizer in Chicago that we face here in Minneapolis. For example, when organizing Black people at the community level, you often find a few who position themselves in an attempt just to "get the money" and ultimatley exclude the true stakeholders in the community. Evidence of this "positioning" occurred in 2008 during community discussions with the University of Minnesota/Urban Research and Outreach Center (UROC) and other State funded projects. (I am very thankful that representatives from the U of M were able to see through the information they were presented and work in a more pro-active, open, transparent atmosphere).

Organizting Black people at the community level is one of the most difficult challenges for north Minneapolis. The people gathered in the room aren't a true representation of the community's make-up. The young Black woman who didn't graduate from high school and is unemployed with three children won't be in the room. Additionally, the young man recently released from prison and desperately seeking employment won't be in the room. Although these two types of individuals are members of our community, they won't have a place in the room because they will have been excluded and overlooked intentionally. As a result, community outreach efforts are sabotaged.

During the panel discussion, the newspaper publisher informed potential clients that his organization can deliver ("sell out") the Black community for a dollar amount. Those of us in professional media/marketing and public relations know for a fact that in Minneapolis/St. Paul a single newspaper cannot and will not reach the diverse Black and African populations that exist in the Twin Cities. Moreover, it's imperative that corporations (such as Macy’s) look beyond the rhetoric to realize that there are a number of minority-ethnic media outlets that are capable of meeting their advertising/marketing goal; not just one media outlet has this capability.

To be successful at community outreach/organizing, you must include every single one of our community members. Local outreach coordinators must show "unconditional understanding, compassion and caring" to assist the underserved percentage of the community by installing "Take Ownership 2.0."

Community outreach performed at the non-profit levels never takes off nor reaches the heights it should for one or both of the following reasons:

·No line item for advertising and marketing.

·The agency has become an institution unto itself, promoting outreach to staff for participation. (This happens on many occasions and continues in 2009 at north Minneapolis non-profit social service agencies).

President Obama and his election campaign recognized and implemented effective community organizing strategies, which successfully mobilized an entire nation. If you happened to peek into the "War Room" in Chicago during his election campaign, you saw nothing but White faces on phones and computers, getting his talking points "pinged" throughout the world. Moreover, the campaign was very selective about who was seen with Candidate Barack Obama in public, as well as who appeard in photo opportunities. But their outreach efforts included everyone! They engaged the student on the college campus as well as the elderly man at home; they included the single mom and her children; they included Hispanics, blacks, whites, and gay and straight people.

Obama's election campaign -- unlike the Republican Party or outreach efforts in north Minneapolis -- relied on the key element of mass inclusion and the philosophy of "Take Ownership 2.0," giving people from all walks of life the opportunity to act as representatives of Barak Obama’s presidential election campaign.