The Concert and other happenings

The organizing workshop that KFTC hosted on campus was great. Dave Newton The Central Kentucky organizer led the workshop, and I feel that I learned a great deal about the mechanics of organizing. Dave began the workshop by asking what people to list problems and there roots causes. The responses varied from mountain top removal to pot holes in the streets. The root causes tended to center around greed, corruption, and poor leadership.  

Dave than went on to list the different kinds that deal with these problems. Service organizations like the Salvation Army or different church groups tend to focus on the problem, but not the root cause. They will feed the poor, but not lobbying legislators to help the poor. Advocacy groups were the next group that Dave mentioned. They include groups like the Sierra Club. These groups work on both problems and their root causes, but are very top down in their decision making. This can make their membership feel alienated from the process. Dave than explained what organizations like KFTC do. Like advocacy groups they work on both the problem and the root cause, but unlike advocacy groups they are membership driven. This means they focus on the grassroots and people power. The workshop was a great deal of fun and I learned a lot.

Concert for the Commonwealth is coming up tomorrow. This is KFTC’s biggest event on campus this year. Lots of different bands will be playing including: the Dialectics, the Sepia Tones, Fitch Lane, Hambone, Charlie Denison and Friends, Richard Becker, and Eyes and Arms of Smoke. We are planning on having the event in Memorial Hall amphitheater, but will move the event inside if it rains. The event is happening from 6pm to 11pm. So come out and learn about KFTC and other great organizations. Or just enjoy the free music and food.

Analysis of We Make Change by Kristin and Joe Szakos

            We Make Change by Kristen and Joe Szakos is essential reading for anyone who is interested in community organizing. Both have experience in the field. Joe Szakos was the founding coordinator of Kentuckians for the Commonwealth (KFTC) and Kristen Szakos is a former editor of The Appalachian Quarterly a journal about community organizing. The authors set out to define what community organizers do, how they do it, and why they do it. As Harry C. Boyte writes in the introduction, “We Make Change profiles a diverse group of organizers, their perspectives, their experiences, their hopes and their fears. What comes through vividly are the gritty up and down experiences of organizing as well as its relational and political qualities.” By interviewing organizers in a broad spectrum of fields including labor, environmental, and faith based the authors manage to give the reader a greater understanding of what organizers do, how they are effective, and why their job.
           

            The book is set up where one chapter will ask a question about organizing followed by the responses from a number of organizers. The book also includes in depth profiles of specific organizers. The tile of the first chapter is What is Community Organizing? The authors separate the responses of the organizers under different categories. The responses included: getting people to work together, democracy, developing leaders, and many others. A response I liked in particular d came from Makiva Harper when she declared, “I think the community organizer is meant to mobilize people and help them build the power that they once believed they didn’t have to win on the issues of justice in the community.” It is quickly made apparent that there are a number of ways to define community organizing and it largely depends on the person who is being asked the question.

            Another point that the Szakos’ make is that organizers come from a variety of backgrounds and are motivated by a number of things. Organizers come from rural and urban areas, liberal and conservative backgrounds, poverty and wealth. Many were motivated by a desire to make the world around them a better place. Aaron Browning responded, “I honestly do not believe that we can bring about lasting change without grassroots organizing.” Organizing is not easy by any means, and this made clear in We Make Change. Rhonda Anderson, who the authors gave in depth profile to, wrote about struggling to balance her work and her family. Her oldest son was killed, her other son is in prison, her eldest daughter is single and with child at age twenty, and her youngest daughter is only twelve. But even with all these pressures she continues to organize because the work is worth it. She writes, “Like I said, it’s labor-intense and stressful and hard. But I enjoy myself too.”

 How to be an effective organizer was a major focus of the book. A variety of traits were suggested passion, anger, focus, the ability to work with others, patient, optimistic, and many others. The Szakos are correct when they write, “There are lots of traits that make a good organizer, but different combination work best in different people.” This highlights a central point that the authors make throughout the book: that the field of organizing is very broad and that there are lots of ways to go about it.

 

We Make Change is an interesting and insightful book on the challenges of community organizing. By letting the reader see the organizers direct responses the reader is given a good sense of what it means to be a community organizer and how to be effective at it.

The Concert and Voter Registration

KFTC is staying active on campus. We had a strong presence at the Latino festival, the Robinson forest forum, and we are planning on hosting a number of events on campus. Talking to people at the Latino Festival ,in Lexington, was lots of fun. We registered people to vote, raised awareness on restoration of voting rights, and managed to sign up a few new members in three short days.

Next Sunday KFTC is hosting an Organizing workshop on campus. The event starts at 3:30 and will end around 6:30. Dave Newton, the central Kentucky KFTC organizer, is going to lead the workshop. He will go over many things that relate to organizing including:  issue awareness, fundraising, mobilization, lobbying, and many other issues. If anyone is interested please feel free to stop by. Were having the event in room 231 of the Student Center.

With the voter registration deadline quickly approaching KFTC has been busy registering people across campus. Last week we tabled Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Each day we managed to get at least thirty new voters registered some days we got as many as hundred to two hundred. On Monday we’ll be tabling again. So if anyone needs to register stop by the Journalism building at UK. As I say to people all days it’s quick, easy, and fun.

Plans for the concert are moving forward. Student Government agreed to cosponsor the event. They even accepted our grant proposal and allotted us a thousand dollars to get our plans off the ground. The money will pay for our sound equipment, t-shirts, promotional material, and other things that will make Concert for the Commonwealth the best event all year. So please come check it out October 23 at Memorial Hall.