Daily Awesome Blog: Tell Sarah Palin that I Am a Community Organizer

Last week during her speech to the Republican National Convention, Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) sought to play up her experience as mayor of a small town in Alaska by mocking community organizing:

PALIN: I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a “community organizer,” except that you have actual responsibilities.

I was upset at Sarah Palin for her comments about community organizers. I sat around a kitchen table with four others in 1998 when decision was made to rejuvenate a defunct organi

zation in Cincinnati. We presented ourselves to the community in January 1999. Our group grew from those 5 people to over 200 members by the next year. We were recognized as 'chapter of the year' for our work in 2000 and again in 2001. We trained over 200 high school students with volunteers on weekends and after school in the past decade. These students competed in regional and national computer competitions each year. Over 50 of these students earned scholarships to help them attend colleges. Community organizers made a difference for BDPA Cincinnati chapter.

And Sarah Palin pissed all over our efforts with her comments.

I

took over a struggling non-profit small business incubator in 2003. The incubator had 17 small business owners as clients when I came on board. Over the course of the next five years we grew the incubator to upwards of 50 clients. One of our clients is challenging to become the top Black-owned business in Cincinnati. The clients at our incubator provided over 300 jobs per year. We were named the 'non-profit of the year' in 2006 by the local chamber of commerce. Community organizers made a difference for the Cincinnati Business Incubator.

And Sarah Palin pissed all over our efforts with her comments.

Sarah Palin pissed all over the Montgomery Improvement Association - the community organization run by MLK that launched and supported the Montgomery bus boycott. Sarah clowns, 'No responsibility there'.

Sarah Palin pissed all over the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the network of community organizations and churches that MLK co-founded, that proved so crucial to the civil rights movement. Apparently no responsibility there, either.

Sarah Palin pissed all over the March on Washington for Jobs & Freedom that the Republicans like to wrap themselves up in, the shared work of countless community organizers and activists. Sarah doesn't see responsibility here, huh?

Sarah Palin wanted to mock Senator Obama. Instead she mocked many of us he

re in America ... including former President George H.W. Bush.

"I have spoken of a thousand points of light, of all the community organizations that are spread like stars throughout the Nation, doing good."
- George H. W. Bush, 1989

Many of the nation’s leading organization’s responded to Palin’s attack. Over the past few days I have heard from many bloggers and online activists that proudly proclaim, "I Am a Community Organizer". Perhaps one day Sarah Palin will find this list and apologize for her obnoxious comments on community organizers:

I am very interested in feedback from all villagers that read this post. What is your honest take on Sarah Palin's comments about community organizers? What say u?

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Tell Sarah Palin that I Am a Community Organizer

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