Re-cultivating our Grass Roots

Written by: Healthcare Advisor's Blog on Jul 20, 2009 10:34 AM EDT

By Linda A

My favorite chuckle about the Obama campaign came a few days after the election. The Onion created a fake news report depicting thousands of campaign workers who had turned into the zombies. They walked aimlessly through graveyards chanting slogans from the campaign, destined to an eternity as the undead. The parody wasn't far from the truth. Many of us who had dedicated every waking hour to our candidate's success suddenly found ourselves looking for another mission that would infuse us with that same feeling: our work mattered, not just to ourselves but to our colleagues and friends, our country, and our world.

Therefore, it wasn't surprising when new groups sprang up around the country eager to do good, meaningful work. And of course the Obama administration looked to their supporters to join his volunteer army. Health care reform was at the top of the agenda. It was only natural to assume that we could jump back into campaign mode and succeed once again. But we quickly learned that those zombies weren't quite so eager to roll up their sleeves when asked to respond to the Administration’s requests: community organizers weren't showing up at the meetings, and phone banks that used to see thousands of calls an hour were trickling down to hundreds. Even though polling shows that a vast majority of Americans want health reform, the energy and enthusiasm for working on reform seemed to be dwindling. Why?

Grassroots movements, like the President Obama's campaign, work because the message and the actions are incredibly simple: something is clearly wrong, people recognize it, and they want to fix it. In my lifetime I can recall two clear examples. The civil rights movement was galvanized by individuals who recognized the depth of the injustice and decided to take clear, steady steps towards a solution, whether sitting at the front of the bus, marching to the Capitol, or calling for local rallies. We knew what was right and we knew it had to happen. Similarly, the Vietnam War protests relied on prominent, dedicated citizen action and an army of supporters who created a movement to stand up and defy their government. The message was clear, focused and unrelenting. But health care reform? Yes, the situation is equally dire. But where is the outrage, the passion, the commitment to real grass roots change? I believe it got lost when we exchanged our community organizer cards for political ones. We've become so concerned with the process that we've forgotten all about the message. Our campaign workers are consumed with political jobs in DC, canvassing, tabling, blogging, calling legislators, and educating their communities. All of it is important, honest, necessary work. But it's political work, not community organizing.

How come there aren't picketers in front of insurance companies? Where are the marches in Washington? The sit-ins in front of the offices of Blue Dog Democrats? What happened to Fired Up, Ready to Go? How did we become so quiet when we need to get even louder? Health care reform must happen now! The thing about community organizing is that it's never about the system, or politics, or being orderly. It's about knowing what's right, about unwavering belief, about demanding change instead of politely asking for it. Our President must work within the system, but the real strength of our movement is that we don't have to. The reason some of us feel like zombies now is because we've lost our way. Demanding health care reform immediately is the way to get back on track. So, to my fellow community organizers, I beg of you: Let's make some noise!

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