I had posted a comment about Organizing for America’s National Health Care Day of Service, and how such service ideas like food and blood drives and victory gardens could help to bring about health care reform in America…. I had my doubts.
I wrote here that I have chosen to participate in a march and rally in North Miami for single payer health care instead of the kind of community service activities suggested by Organizing for America.
I attended not one- but two health care meetings to plan for National Health Care Day of Service- one in North Miami and then another that I had signed up for in Hollywood previously but was held a week later. Since I had already attended one I thought until the last minute that I would skip the Hollywood meeting. Then I and others who had attended the North Miami meeting decided to promote the single payer march and rally to the Hollywood group, ’cause if you’re gonna have a rally, it’s best to have a good turnout!
The Hollywood group thought that some of us could go to the evening rally in North Miami, but we’d have a food drive during the day in Hollywood beforehand. That group has since pretty much fallen apart, however, because the purpose of National Health Care Day of Service was unclear to me and apparently to those who showed up to the meeting.
The host of the Hollywood meeting had emailed her decision that our group would also do a blood drive the week before- and a separate rally in Hollywood- and then a food drive- and then continuing meetings as a “Hollywood Chapter” of OFA- and on and on and on. Those complications led me to make some assumptions about Organizing for America and what it can accomplish.
I then attended a special OFA meeting with just a few other people, however, and was able to meet Craig Borkon and other DNC/OFA staffers one on one. I was very impressed at how personable they all were and willing to listen. They talked about something mentioned at the Listening Tour meeting: reaching across party lines. I realized that reaching those who hold other or even opposing political views as well as those who may be politically apathetic is just as important as it was during the last presidential campaign, and rallying for specific legislation may not always accomplish that.
I decided to give OFA another shot and volunteered at a phone bank yesterday with just a couple of other participants. One of the volunteers also had doubts about how food and blood drives and such were going to make any difference to health care reform, and that volunteer was really frustrated. I had also gotten emails from people agreeing with my doubts, so I could see that I was not alone in my opinion.
But we started calling people, and I could see that just like during the campaign, it’s so important to reach out to people who are more often than not political novices and just remind them that the issue is out there, and that they can pay attention just by getting involved through the website or participating in a local event on the 27th.
Many people do not need to be inundated with the specifics of health care legislation as much as they just need to be made aware that there are still people coming together in their community and welcoming everyone to the cause of bettering things.
So, perhaps if people who are just out shopping or even willingly participating in an event can see community actions such as food and blood drives and other health-related outreaches on the 27th, it might just let them know that the spirit of the Obama for President campaign is still present in their community. Perhaps that will let them know that there are issues out there that we can continuously come together over.
I feel more open-minded about what Organizing for America intends now, and I suspect that they may be open-minded about what participants like me want to see happen.
I recommend that we all remember that effecting change doesn’t just mean sticking to our core values and organizing with the like-minded, but also reaching out carefully and considerately to any and all Americans who just might respond and find a way to participate in effecting change in America.
That’s a slower and more delicate process, but perhaps it has its place.
Perhaps… I don’t know. It’s just a thought.
What do you think?
I agree completely that reaching out to the other side to help them understand what it is that we’re trying to accomplish is very important, but that reaching out must always be coupled with accurate, easily verifiable information and a reasonably simplified perspective so that they can wrap their minds around that information. That’s how we won the election. That, and our high visibility in our communities which created curiosity (a movement like this had never been seen before) and eventually converts and more participants.
The vast majority of our opposition is opposed because of knee-jerk reactions to propoganda, misinformation and misdirection fed to them by their leaders and the corporate owners of those leaders. I had my best success turning red to blue during the campaign with putting things into a perspective somewhat personalized for the individual so that they could see enough glimmers of logic that it caused them to investigate further on their own, through legitimate sources.
I’m guessing our side is having quite a bit of success if this week’s poll numbers are to be believed (81% of the population is in favor of a public option, even if they’re not completely clear on what a public option is exactly). Currently the biggest problem is getting our elected officials to quit screwing around trying to please their contributors & PACs and do what the voters need.
Why single payer is not being discussed by anyone except the people and Bernie Sanders is a mystery. A suspicious mystery. Personally, I want the kind of healthcare all the grown-up countries have! I don’t give a damn about the solution being “uniquely American”.
I am the person that Mr. Markoff is referring to in his blog. There are a few things I would like to clear up first… We voted on the events that we held and we did want to hold a rally but here in Hollywood as I did explain to our group was just not cost effective. More importantly, our group the Hollywood, FL Chapter of ORGANIZING FOR AMERICA is alive and kicking butt!
Yes, we had a food drive on National Health Care Day of Service as we were asked to do by our parent organization. We only were required to do one community effort but we wanted to do as many as possible so we were lucky enough to do a blood drive the week before too.
The cool thing about those two events was… first we were brand new… and met just the week before the blood drive! Secondly, we did cross party lines… we didn’t need to find out if the donors and donators were Republicans or Democrats or the recipients either… and we were at least able to show our logo if not be able to chat a bit about health care reform at the blood drive (the food drive we were not allowed to discuss or hand out political info).
Not everyone is into politics… but everyone is into food, hungry children, need for blood, and community issues, especially now! Our being involved in the community will give us the opportunity to open the public’s eyes and minds about political issues and get them to vote, call their Senator’s and Representatives’. Rallies are great I am an old hippie at heart that is one way to get their attention… but sowing a few seeds in the community garden is another just a different method.
President Obama knows this and that is what his early career is all about… community! Who’s to argue with him?
The individuals who signed up for health care reform meetings all over the country on June 6th, 2009 had gathered to discuss health care in America and a ‘National Health Care Day of Service’ planned for June 27th.
I’ve hosted many such meetings for various organizations. Being a “host” means offering your home or place of business or another location where people can meet as well as printing out the materials and agenda written by the organization’s paid staff.
Anyone can read those written materials to the group, but usually that would be the host unless someone else is asked to do so. Some hosts don’t want to speak or read to a group, and they don’t have to. Offering a meeting place is enough.
Ms. Zeller hosted a health care meeting, and anyone who signed up to attend certainly could have assumed that the host was just that- a host, not the continuing head of a local chapter, and the meeting was only for the purpose of discussing health care in America and planning a service event for the 27th, not one of limitless meetings with unforeseeable agendas.
The assumption that the host would suddenly become the self-appointed “Administrator” of the “Chapter” of OFA for the entire City of Hollywood with its own logo, and that those in attendance would be considered continuing “members” of said “Chapter” was made by only the host, Ms. Zeller.
I believe that most of us were confused about how and why our one meeting had morphed into a series of planned as well as canceled events as well as additional agendas to be supplied by Ms. Zeller at continuing meetings.
The one event voted on by those in attendance was a food drive. Any and all other events, including a rally in Hollywood, were decided upon by only one person after the meeting was over and everyone had gone home: Dianne Zeller, who had written an email saying that she wished to “have our own rally” rather than attend the single payer rally already planned by another group in North Miami.
When I wrote in my BlueBroward post that the group had “pretty much fallen apart,” I meant that I hadn’t gone to that Hollywood meeting alone, and all of us who went together chose not participate any further after Ms. Zeller sent a follow-up email with an entirely different take on what had been the intent of our group.
Any organization that hopes to inspire individuals to participate in a national event will expect that carefully laid plans by paid staff, such as those at OFA working for the DNC, will generate cooperation amongst volunteers all over the country. If one volunteer is determined to dominate all others at just one meeting, however, the organization’s image and intent can suffer.
That is why a “host” is just that: a gracious person who offers the space to meet and prints out the needed materials. Any further leadership under the organization’s umbrella has to always be under the specific direction of staff, not at the whim of one volunteer somewhere in the country.
I hope and expect that OFA will set clear parameters so that anyone who signs up to host a special meeting will understand their role without any doubt or misunderstandings.
Ms. Zeller is an excellent organizer, and her take on my post as expressed in her comment posted here jibes with my premise. I have been asked several times to be a leader of a group or local chapter, but I do not share Ms. Zeller’s chutzpah and I prefer to be a part of a group, not shouldering the burden of leadership.
I very much respect the ability and confidence of someone who takes charge as a leader… when that has been asked of and agreed to by the organization and training has been provided.
Ms. Zeller’s remembrance of what had been discussed as a group at her home is just so very different than mine and of those that had attended with me. It will be a test of OFA’s continuing ability to organize volunteers effectively if the DNC staff working on behalf of OFA sets clear and unmistakable parameters.
My writings on my OFA experiences here on BlueBroward have been intended to help generate a discussion about just what such parameters should be. There are an awful lot of other causes and organizations that many of us have taken an interest in, and I expect that we all want to be effective. Whether or not OFA will prove to be effective doesn’t just depend on its volunteers- it depends on the agenda determined by its umbrella organization: the DNC.
Andrew… I was appointed the Administrator of S. Florida by OFA long before you were invited into this group because I have worked diligently with them since the election. The paperwork that I handed out at our first meeting was generated by Organizing For America. Further, if you were really into supporting the President you would realize that he would need the ‘grassroots effort’ throughout his Presidency and we would need to continue our hard work no matter the topic! If you have any doubt of these credentials I suggest you go to Facebook where ORGANIZING FOR AMERICA has an extensive page both for Florida and National… look up my credentials.
You sir are using whatever venue you can to slander me for whatever personal reasons you have that are unbeknownst to me. But please note that this will be my first and my last warning if you try to spread anymore lies, fabrications or as you put it assumptions you will be talking to my attorneys; as my reputation in this community is impeccable and it will not be besmirched by some self important lying loud mouth like you.
Our first meeting had 22 people there and if you and a few other people were displeased with the plans and or the events that have been voted upon by other members of our group then so be it… however, in our world the majority wins. You were too busy tending to your two dogs that I had asked you NOT to bring as they were not permitted to be on the premises of my apartment building, your one friend left early and I am pretty sure your other friend felt that the blood bank was fine. However, all of you showed your lack of interest in the group’s efforts and OFA’s wishes for NATIONAL HEALTH CARE SERVICE DAY by not participating at all! I got the message loud and clear!
As far as the logo is concerned there is a page on Facebook again a sponsor of OFA that you can put your face on their logo… I didn’t think that putting the words, Hollywood, Fl Chapter of Organizing For America was so offensive; and seeing as I use it on the web-site and no one has complained… I think it is okay, don’t you?
Organizing For America is all volunteers Andrew… we are grassroots… your last comment shows your lack of knowledge of who we are and what we are about. I suggest that you go back to the election and its history… we were the election! “OFA will prove to be effective doesn’t just depend on its volunteers- it depends on the agenda determined by its umbrella organization: the DNC.” That is the most ignorant statement you have ever made… sure there are lawyers and bean counters… but the legs, the meat and the potatoes of the organization are people like me, Terry, Kevin, Judy, Pam, Paula, Ann, thousands of others we are the ones who are the movers and shakers of this country. We are about change… we don’t give lip service and blogs we talk the talk and walk the walk. No need to look into some persons world and slander them… because we are too busy working hard for the greater good… not our self importance. We roll up our sleeves and serve and work where our President needs us not where we think he needs us but where he wants us to be most effective! Get the idea Andrew???