According to the East St. Louis Action Research Project of University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Barack Obama stated,
“Black church is a slumbering giant on political and economical landscape of a city, possessing tremendous financial resources, membership, and, most importantly values and biblical traditions that call for empowerment and liberation.”
This quote is within an article that describes community organizing,
“Alinsky is said to be the godfather of community organizing as well as the founder of the Political Activist Approach. The Alinsky model of community organizing is based on the continuation of tradition - a democratically run church based community. The major strategies are local leadership, confrontational tactics, personalizing the issue.”
This returns focus to Senator Obama’s involvement in Trinity Church and his connection with Reverend Wright. Senator Obama has never answered what his beliefs are in Black Liberation Theology. If he feels that the black church is a political institution, then he needs to answer what role the ‘black church’ and ‘black liberation theology’ will play in an Obama administration.
In case the University of Illinois link is removed, here are the screen shots of the article in question. Click for larger view…
Filed under: Obama | Tagged: black church, black liberation theoloy, political church, obama church, obama wright
ummm if he was a constitutional law student would he not know of this strange thing called separation of church and state? im not a law student of any kind and i know about it.
Thank you. Here is the full text - in an easier-to-read format, at least insofar as I’m concerned.
COMMMUNITY ORGANIZING
Conceptual overview
Community organizing is a working force of peoples’ democracy. According to its proponents, “community organizing is a process by which exploited people learn to employ the tools of a democratic society.” There have been three major theories of community organizing that have been applied in the twentieth century: Social work Approach, Political Activist Approach, and Neighborhood Maintenance Approach. One of the most important figures in community organizing is Mr. Saul Alinsky. Alinsky is said to be the godfather of community organizing as well as the founder of the Political Activist Approach. The Alinsky model of community organizing is based on the continuation of tradition - a democratically run church based community. The major strategies are local leadership, confrontational tactics, personalizing the issue. This organization scheme continues to remain the backbone of community organization even though urban environments have changed throughout the decades.
American cities are facing the collapse of urban culture in terms of the exodus of inner city financial resources, institutions, role models and jobs as well as the emergence of gangs, drugs and increasing crime rates. East St. Louis is one of the extreme examples of the rapid decline of a once affluent city. In this situation community organizations have become the initiators of reform and urban revitalization. Harold Washington, former mayor of Chicago, was the first to involve community organizations in decision making and building. This tradition continues today with introduction of President Clinton’s Local Initiatives Support Corporation. Local community organizers were initiators of this social change.
Citizen Action and Training Information Center, are the two Chicago organizations started by women activists. Heather Booth has built an organization of 1.75 million members that spans 24 states and routinely affects legislation and elects progressives to office. Gale Cincotta is a former housewife who is well known in bank boardrooms around the country. Through a shrewd combination of confrontation and strong–armed legislation, she has forced banks to lend $1.6 billion in neighborhoods that need reinvestment.
“Anger”, “just anger” was the initial motivation of Gale Cincotta. Banks and mortgage companies were “redlining” her neighborhood; the school board was sending its resources into wealthiest areas, and federal laws worked against local progress.
The two leaders have different strategies,
Chincotta storms bureaucrats’ offices, and later at the follow-up meetings methodically uses the legislative process to control America’s lifeblood: money. She helped write and pass the federal Community Reinvestment Act of 1976, which requires financial institutions that are being bought or sold to prove that they lend money in the communities they serve.
Booth and Citizen Action use phone banks, a national door-to door network, constituency research, and even ”opposition research”. By knocking on 20000 doors every weeknight and making a million phone calls a year, Citizen Action affiliates raise $20 million per year and rack up impressive victories.
Booth works methodically, quickly and on 20 projects at once. “If we won enough and got Utopia, maybe I could quit,”- says Booth.(by Patric Barry)
Community organizations in American cities are trying to help residence with issues
such as:
-Housing
-Government and Politics
-Poverty
-Health
-Welfare
-Police, Courts, Lawyers
-Consumer Action
-Education
-Business and Industry
-Unions and Jobs
-Environmental Safety
All communities, both urban and suburban, are benefiting from self-organizations, but the most benefited are White Ethnic, Poor Black and Hispanic. According to Alinsky, “change comes from power and power comes organization.”
American cities as New York, Chicago, Seattle have developed strong Community Organizations, militant and educated, able to fight for people’s rights.(Chicago Examples are: UNO – United neighborhood organization; SON/SOC- Save Our Neighborhoods/Save Our City coalition, NCO- North West Community Organization. )
Not only neighborhood organizations initialize the democratic activities, educational institutions such as Universities oftentimes become initiators of social change: University of Chicago and CAP- Chicago Area Project - focuses on youth and believes that juvenile delinquency is rooted not in the personality of a child, but rather in the environment. The organizers work a lot with the public school network, trying to prevent early involvement in crime. University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign works with the community of East St. Lois; University of Washington in Seattle works with Mexican migrant workers in East Washington. Church communities, Black, White, Hispanic are the other stronghold of local community organizations. According to Barack Obama:
Black church is a slumbering giant on political and economical landscape of a city, possessing tremendous financial resources, membership, and, most importantly values and biblical traditions that call for empowerment and liberation.
The key of success of the community organization is its management to cooperate with the local government and supercede the bureaucratic force. It is easier to do on a smaller scale, as we see from the experience of Chicago Southern Suburban organizations(Bill Camp).
East St. Louis is a challenging site for community organizing. Its decline went beyond the stage of disaster, since even the local government regards the situation as hopeless by completely neglecting it. The strong community organization that can challenge the government is the only hope in this situation. Church community still seems to be a vital entity in the neighborhood and could become the driving force of local community organizations.
“We want this powerful infrastructure to grow because the success of tomorrow’s city depends on it”, - said Harold Washington regarding the community organizations (Bedrock Democracy). When community organization becomes a reliable infrastructure, the root system of the community, then it can lead the community to progress.
We see our goal in helping to contribute in the process of community organization in East St. Louis.
(Back to Home)
Community Organization
Not quite sure what the issue is here. What’s wrong with any of this?
Bob V.
Aren’t you tired of being socially engineered by the Democrats? Or don’t you realize that you have been?
Judy, what I’m tired of is 8 years of GOP rule that has given us an 11 Trillion Dollar deficit and destroyed our economy that was prospering when Bill Clinton left office; a senseless war that has killed and maimed thousands of our best young men and women and only made Iran and its shiite allies in the Middle East stronger, endangering Israel and our sunni allies in the region, and wasted 700 billion of our tax dollars; and men like Bush and Cheney who have trashed our Bill of Rights, engaged in torture, and sullied the reputation of this great nation throughout the world. I want my country I love so much back, and I can’t wait for the landslide I expect to see on November 4th.
What about Sarah Palin’s association with the American Independence Party? The group’s stated goal is to secede from the United States — a treasonous offense. Todd Palin was a member of this party, and Sarah Palin attended at least two of their conventions and — whoops! — spoke to their convention as recently as this past Summer. The founder of the party, the late Joe Voegler, once condemned the American flag. Where are the questions about whether Palin loves the American flag?
What about Sarah Palin’s association with the witch doctor, Pastor Muthee, who blessed Palin at her church and prayed for her “finances”? Does Sarah Palin believe in witches? Does Sarah Palin support witch hunts? Does she know who Cotton Mather was?
What about Sarah Palin’s association with indicted Senator Ted “Tubes” Stevens, whose 527 organization was run by Sarah Palin?
Then there’s Senator McCain.
What about Senator McCain’s association with convicted Watergate burglar G. Gordon Liddy? This is the guy who, on the public airwaves, instructed his viewers about how to kill a federal agent. This is the guy who boasted that he fired a handgun at a cardboard standee of Senator Hillary Clinton. Yet Senator McCain has appeared on Liddy’s radio show numerous times since these statements — as recently as May, 2008.
What about Senator McCain’s relationship with pastor Rod Parsley, who wants to engage in religious warfare?
What about Senator McCain’s relationship with anti-Catholic, anti-Semitic pastor John Hagee?
Should I go on?
What about Senator McCain’s relationship with his chief campaign advisor Charlie Black who said a terrorist attack would help the campaign?
What about Senator McCain’s association with Shelley Shannon who is accused of shooting and wounding an abortion doctor?
What about Senator McCain’s association with Charles Keating? What about his association with Freddie Mac lobbyist Rick Davis — you know, John McCain’s campaign manager? What about his association with the U.S. Council for World Freedom, whose board also included a Nazi sympathizer?
Mr. Barack Obama, spending 20 years in Jeremiah Wright’s church, listening to anti-white hatred day after day does not qualify you to be president of the United States.
Barack Obama, someone who believes in murdering helpless unborn babies by abortion should not be president.
Barack Obama who believes in desecrating Holy Matrimony by allowing sodomites to blaspheme God by getting married should not be president.
SAY THIS PRAYER: Dear Jesus, I am a sinner and am headed to eternal hell because of my sins. I believe you died on the cross to take away my sins and to take me to heaven. Jesus, I ask you now to come into my heart and take away my sins and give me eternal life.
Rev Spitz: I sincerely hope that Jesus will come into your heart and take away the hatred and self-righteousness and judging of other people that He preached so often against. Really. He never said one word — not one — on homosexuality, but he preached often against judging others and not loving them. God bless you.
[...] Obama’s Statement on the Black Church [...]
Bob V- Try reading your New Testament (1 Cor. 6-10)- still, the fact remains, homosexuals are sinners just like the rest of us, and there isn’t any room for self-righteousness, especially that would allow a man to take the podium, and call the victims of the worst terrorist act in US history “little Eichmanns,” and imply that these innocent victims (and our nation) deserved this atrocity. The bible promises there will be many false prophets, and wolves in sheeps clothing. Wright is hardly disguised, I’m more worried about his smooth-talking friend and spiritual protege of 20 years.