This is...
my story as an Obama organizer on the East Side of Cleveland. Please recommend this diary. I need help - read to the end to see what I mean.
And with the mountains in my rear view mirror, I headed north – en route to Ohio. My stomach turned upside down with both fear and anxiety as I realized it was not but a week ago that I was standing on stage, emotionally saluting and bidding farewell to the same friends I had known since that first awkward day of Kindergarten.
I knew where I was headed. What would a seventeen year old, middle class, white kid have to offer to the East Side of Cleveland? I did not understand "big city", "desperate poverty", or "urban politics". Up until my experiences in Ohio, my life could be described as sheltered, comfortable, and – dare I say – dream-like.
At this point in the story, a significant amount of perspective is necessary. My assigned "turf" as a Field Organizer for the Campaign for Change was Cleveland Ward 2 and Cleveland Ward 12. Ward 2 had one of the largest populations of any other ward in Cleveland. It was nearly 97% African American, infested with drug problems, and represented by a councilman who had regularly greeted me with profanities. In my other area, Ward 12, I would face the worst hit area by the foreclosure crisis in the nation. Ward 12 was also known as Slavic Village. Decades ago, this part of Cleveland was rich in Polish and Czech culture. Now, it has become increasingly composed of section eight housing and appalling race relations. I was expected to turn out more than 15,000 votes when all was said and done. And, in 2004, my two wards had the lowest turnout numbers in the entire state Ohio.
As a community organizer, you become a part of the community. You build relationships, you build trust, and you set a common goal for everyone to reach. You ignore the setbacks and keep moving forward. On the East Side of Cleveland you also have other responsibilities. You had to drag people out of their homes to vote. You had to convince people why registering to vote was necessary. You had to remember not to drive down Harvard Avenue and Miles Road after 6pm for safety reasons. You had to remind your volunteers that they must not lose sight of each other while canvassing and to always have each other’s cell phone number. Food on the Run. Stale Coffee. Cold Offices. Endless ‘To-Do Lists’. There were nights where I missed my mom, my sister, my bed. There were nights where I hysterically cried out of disappointment. I would question why I hadn’t taken the "comfortable" track and just gone to college.
But, at these moments, I would remember Dietra, who was a single mother taking care of her six children. She was depending on Medicare and Welfare. She had a full time day care and a part time job. When she had to work at her minimum wage part time job, her sixteen year old daughter would come home early from school and manage the daycare. She admitted that she was scared of the future. She could not continue taking care of her children with the current trend of the economy. And, then, she cried. She asked me to work hard and to ensure that Barack Obama was elected. She needed me to do this for her children.
I would remember Chestine, who as a woman nearing eighty years old would knock on doors every day. She did this because she had grown up in Alabama where she would witness the Ku Klux Klan ravage her friends and neighbors, and now she had a chance to elect the first African American President. She did this because she had lived in Cleveland for more than forty years. In that time she had seen all opportunity leave, the crime rate skyrocket, and her neighbors move only to be replaced by pimps and drug lords. She was inspired by Barack Obama, her young Field Organizer, and the promise of change.
This time the mountains were in front view. We had succeeded in the task of a lifetime. I will never forget what those Cleveland potholes seemed to knock in to my head – we can all be change agents. I shared this anecdote to say this: my purpose in life is clearer than ever. People across the country and the world are slipping further and further in to the shadows of poverty with looming financial depressions, droughts, corruption within governments, and wars. Now, as the future looks uncertain, it is my responsibility to work as an organizer and empower others to lift up their communities.
I'm young. Eighteen years old. I'm also headed to Peru for the remainder of my gap year until I enter college in the Fall. I'll be working for the small German NGO, INTIWAWA. I'll be working in rural Peru in a village ravaged by malnutrition, illiteracy, and alcoholism. What excites me the most is that I will be able to build upon my experiences in Cleveland and perfect my organizing skills. We will be changing lives - not through charity - but through respect, inclusion, and empowerment.
We have a new President, now Americans have an unprecedented opportunity to change our image around the world.
I'll be gone for 4.5 months. My funds are tight. I have come to the Kossack community once more for sponsorship. It was this community who funded a six week internship in Cleveland, resulting in my being hired as a full-time organizer.
I see Daily Kos as a huge circle of friends ready to offer consolation and support wherever and whenever it's necessary. I love this community.
Please help me once more be able to fully work hard in Peru. I have created an easy PayPal link. I have calculated that all I need is $1,600 and then I will be set.
Please help and, in return, I promise to work hard, keep an online blog of my experiences, and to change one more community in the name of Daily Kos.
Thank you.
GOAL: $1600
CURRENT: $645
"The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice... But, here's the thing, it does not bend on its own. It bends because each of us, in our own ways, put our hand on that arc and we bend it in the direction of justice, because we organize, we mobilize, we march, we vote, we parent, we're active in our community, we're active in our schools. So on this day of all days let us each do our part to bend that arc, let's bend it towards justice, let's bend that arc towards opportunity, let's bend that arc towards prosperity for all. And if we can do that and march together as one nation and one people, then we won't just be keeping faith with Dr. King's dream, all that he lived and died for. We'll be making real the words of Amos that he invoked so often and said, "Let justice roll down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream." - Barack Obama