Saturday, I traveled with a group of Homewood residents to Youngstown, Ohio, for a training seminar for community organizers. I had never thought of myself as a community organizer before, nor have I ever aspired to be one. But I suppose that my role as block rep for the Save Race Street Committee makes me one.
The meeting was held a church in Youngstown. The presenter, Greg Galuzzo, is executive director of the Gamaliel Foundation, an organization whose current claim to fame is that they trained Barack Obama. So, by attending Saturday's event, one could say that I have begun to follow in Mr. Obama's footsteps. Not interested in following all the way to the White House, thank you.
The day was divided into three parts. First Mr. Galuzzo spoke for - a couple of hours, I think - then we divided into two groups, one led by Mr. Galuzzo and the other by Evans Moore, the new assistant director of Operation Better Block, Inc. (I was in his group), then we reconvened for a final hour or so led by Mr. Galuzzo.
Between the two of them Mr. Galuzzo and Mr. Moore tossed out a lot of nuggets worth chewing on. Among them:
Power is the ability to act.
"The first thing we have to understand is that we have to be powerful...to the degree that we are weak, we will take whatever we get." (GG)
"The real reason we are confused about power, laides and gentlemen, is because we are lazy and cowards." (GG)
"Power people are ready to work with anybody." (GG)
"If you don't know what you want out of the deal, I am condemned to using you." (GG)
"It is a sin for us to live next door to people for 20 years and not know anything about them." (EM)
"Our communities are falling apart because we don't have a network of relationships." (EM)
"It is dangerous to have a life without spending time in the public arena." (EM)
"To become powerful, you must recognize that there's some crap inside of you." (GG)
As you might imagine, it was a challenging and thought-provoking day. I'm still processing what I heard there and working out my responses.
What are your thoughts about the above declarations?
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Posted
Aug 19 2009, 10:01 AM
by
Elwin Green