63 Magazine - Issue 4

Origins
“Communities had to be created, fought for, tended like gardens.
They expanded or contracted with the dreams of men.”
President Barack Obama began organizing
hoping to find a community he could fit
in—while organizing, he would discover
how to connect and empower individuals
to build the very community he longed
for. This community, the victories they
would fight for, and the challenges they
would consistently face, gave Obama
his education in creating change.
Obama, like many of you, learned the
meaning of leadership through organizing.
Organizing taught Obama that true
leadership—the ability to empower
others, to help others succeed, to
connect a variety of personal stories,
hopes, and dreams to winnable, specific
action—comes from listening first.
How remarkable that our current president,
the first African-American president, got
his education in leadership creating change
through years spent in Chicago organizing.
Just like you, he began organizing because
he wanted to make a difference in a
community. Just like you, he was more
than a little naïve when he started,
expecting opportunities for mobilization
to present themselves openly. Just like
you, he hosted horribly unsuccessful
events and mediocre events and events
that exceeded even his high expectations.
Just like you, he worked with all types of
people with all different motivations who
shared a simple belief—that they could
improve their lives and the lives of those
around them. Just like you, he began to
realize that people don’t act without being
invested, without feeling connected. Just
like you, he learned that sharing his stories,
no matter how different they felt to him,
would be what tied him to those he worked
with, what tied them all to organizing.
A few years after college, Obama moved
from New York City to Chicago to organize
for the Developing Communities Project.
With a simple goal to create grassroots
change, Obama arrived to Chicago’s South
Side as manufacturing jobs were leaving
the area rapidly, as politics in the city were
shifting (not as rapidly as many would have
liked), and many were wondering what
they could do to keep their neighborhood
from falling into apathy or chaos.