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Blog: Power through Organizing: Lessons from the Field (2)

Philippe Duhamel's picture
Posted June 21st, 2009 by Philippe Duhamel

bush beforeAl Giordano says the most threatening thing to the ruling elite is people working together across race, religion, and class. But the Left, he says, is one of the most segregated places in America. While segregation used to be enforced by law, it is now consumer culture, through market segmentation and advertising niches, that separates people. The key to the success of the Obama campaign, and how an underdog won the US presidency, can be summarized in two words: community organizing. It showed the tremendous power that comes from bridging the divides, from getting the latinos, blacks, whites and mulatos to work together.

Blog: Ballots, not Bullets

Philippe Duhamel's picture
Posted January 21st, 2009 by Philippe Duhamel

Ghana voter"It's not the votes that count. It's who counts the votes."  — Josef Stalin

As I watch intently with the rest of the world the inauguration speech of US president Barak Obama, I am reminded that an authentic electoral process can signify major political change. After years of inauspicious results in this part of the world, I had almost forgotten about the power of genuine elections.

I hear the words. I am moved. Where does the radical shift come from?

I have a hunch that change did not come as much from up there, as it did from down here. That's where I saw the winds sweep ferociously for years, before the leaves finally ruffled and dropped.