For those of you who are politically and socially aware, I don't have to tell you what members of the Republican party said about community organizing and community organizers at their convention. In essence, these folks belittled Sen. Obama's work in organizing poor communities in the South Side of Chicago. These folks totally offended me and should have offended every self-respecting American in this country. I was raised with the understanding that I had an obligation to give back to my community in some shape or form. My first experience in performing community service was through my church's young people's department. My sister and I would spend occassional weekends feeding the homeless and singing to the elderly during Christmas. By the time I was a teenanger, my sister and I had the wherewithall to organize relief centers at our church. In 1992, immediately after the Los Angeles riots, I watched my 17 year old sister single-handedly spearhead a food distribution program at our church.
Today, my service to humankind takes different forms. I mentored a young lady who gradutated from Wayne State University and who is currently awaiting admission to a joint MBA/JD program. There are a hosts of other things I've done. But the point I want to make is that I knew that there was no way to uplift my community, the black community, unless I did something. What the Republicans essentially said last week was that not only are we intentionally failing poor and urban communities, but for those of you in a position to help these communities, you shouldn't be helping them either. I read on a blog recently that if you ever wondered whether the Republican's neglect of Americans during Hurrican Katrina was intentional or not, their mockery of Sen. Obama's service to his community at their convention last week should answer that question for you.
Folks, lets get it in gear and get organized. To repeat an African proverb that I learned in college and never forgot, "The essence of life is SERVICE to humanity." Thank God for all of those grandmothers who fed and still feed poor people in our communities. Thank you to my father who at 62 and retired spends his time tutoring young black children at public schools in our community. To paraphrase my aunts, mother and other women I know, "one monkey [or Republican] don't stop no show." We must continue to do what the true elite will never do and that is serve our communities. In the words of Molly Bell, a beautiful community organizer in the City of Los Angeles, "The Struggle Continues, But to God be the Glory!"
