Monthly Installment: January 2009: Obama, community organizing, People's Summit, globalization

This past week I participated in a workshop with college students and other people interested in discussing how to organize their communities during the Obama administration (http://www.whitehouse.gov/). Their concerns can be summarized in the following questions:

How can we sustain the momentum gained by different communities during the election process? Will Obama continue to sustain his approval ratings, despite the economic crisis? Are we going to witness a profound change in the state's treatment of minority populations? What about the call for immigration reform? What must be done when we support his policies and when we don't? How can we build cohesive progressive response across personal and ideological differences in our communities?

Different perspectives emerged through our conversation. However, we all seemed to agree on the incredible symbolic value of having a family of color in the White House. We can only wonder how it will change the way future generations imagine their realm of possibilities. We noticed a refreshing rhetorical change from fear to hope, from one-word policy explanations to nuanced understandings of the world, from confrontation to respect. Consensus and dialogue have become keywords of the new administration.

However, we also realized the potential of wavering in our daily and active commitments to social justice. Suddenly, our demands seem to be represented by the state. We concluded that we need to continue organizing, pushing for the kind of change we want, and developing an atmosphere open to progressive claims as our national and foreign policies are re-articulated.

This is the opportunity offered by the 4th People's Summit taking place in Trinidad and Tobago in April. As President Obama attends OAS-sponsored Summit of the America, activists as a demonstration of international solidarity. (http://sctheodore.wordpress.com/) The policies of the "Washington Consensus" must be interrogated, the Patriot Act and Homeland Security polcies that support political repression in the U.S. and abroad must be eliminated. Our fates as peoples of the Americas are tied together. We must act together to embrace rhetorical AND structural changes. http://www.youtube.com/IVPeoplesSummitTnT