Jack & Jill Politics

Update: you can follow the truly live blogging in this post.

You know, it really is kind of amazing that our next president was a community organizer, especially after the stylized mockings of people like Rudy Giuliani and Sarah Palin. Giuliani of course, already knew that community organizers can kick your ass, and Sarah Palin figured it out on November 4. But imagine how validated some of these folks felt watching Obama win, just in terms of the work they do.

They’re playing a video of Obama telling community organizers “during the transition, we’re going to bring you in to help shape the agenda,” and of course everyone is cheering. Sending Melody Barnes here is probably a good sign.

I should add, even though it’s a given, that many of the community leaders here are also church leaders. Now I’m sure that doesn’t seem weird to most of us, but for some reason during the election people got the idea that community organizer was a job for some kind of marxist subversive. This meeting started with a prayer.

Update 3

Executive Director Deepak Bhargava: “We have to go from protesting to governing…We are committed to working to propose, not just to oppose.”

This may seem obvious, but there’s a lot of really important folks from the community organizing world here today. Janet Murguia, President and CEO of the National Council of La Raza, Ralph McCloud of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, William McNary of USAction, and Gerry Hudson of the SEIU.

On some level, the significance of an event like this is enhanced by the fact that the population that community organizers serve has grown. It’s not so much that they have become “more powerful” as much as there are more people of color, more immigrants, more people without healthcare and more people struggling economically. It’s not just that folks are “more involved” it’s that there’s literally, more folks.

update 4 3:31 P.M.

Miguel Diaz from Casa de Maryland is relaying a pretty harrowing story right now of seeing his wife get picked up for deportation. “We cannot be Silent…There is injustice in this country, we have to fight because together we can make change happen”

Update: you can follow the truly live blogging in this post.