Jesus Christ was a community organizer! Who else can YOU name.

[ddeclue]

Jesus Christ - a former carpenter who got a core group of 12 to serve on his "steering committee", a second tier with about 72 and after that thousands of followers. Went around healing the sick and feeding the poor for about 3 years in Galilee.

Martin Luther - put together a band of followers around his protest against the Holy See in Germany. Published a translation of the Bible into German to empower local peasants who couldn't read Latin.

Sam Adams - created the Sons of Liberty in Boston Massachutsetts in response to acts of British Parliament. Without it we would still be singing God Save the Queen.

Benjamin Franklin - created first public library system, first volunteer fire department in America in Philadelphia. Organized Continental Congress, founded the nation.

George Washington - put together a little group called the "Continental Army" to fight the British. Originally a volunteer organization known as the "Minutemen" in April of 1775..defeated world's most powerful military by October of 1781 in Yorktown.

William Lloyd Garrison - founded the American Anti-Slavery Society that fought for abolition of slavery in the United States.

Lord Baden Powell - After campaigns in Africa during the Boer War, put together a little organization known as the "Boy Scouts", now a world wide youth organization for boys and young men.

Juliette Gordon Low - founded the Girl Scouts of America to provide opportunities for girls and young women.

Clara Barton - A nurse during the Civil War, created the American Red Cross - still today a volunteer organization that does phoenomenal work helping victims of natural disasters and home fires.

William Booth - Founded the Salvation Army which takes care of the needy and provides shelter to the homeless.

Martin Luther King Jr., Andrew Young, Jesse Jackson, Ralph David Abernathy, John Lewis, et. al. - Founded the SCLC and fought for equal rights for all Americans regardless of race during the Civil Rights movement of the 1960's.

Susan B. Anthony - led the women's suffrage movement culminating in women being granted the vote in 1919.

Sir George Williams - Founded the Young Men's Christian Association or YMCA which provides opportunities to learn and grow to many young people.

Mahatma Gandhi - organized a community known as "India" to rebel against British rule through non-violent protest. Freed India from colonial rule in 1947.

Who else can YOU name?

[Warpy]

1. Community organizers are our heroes

and politicians and corporate bosses are generally villains.

Once again, the GOP has stepped in it.

[Contrary1]

2. Mother Teresa n/t

[chicagoexpat]

3. Martin Luther King, Jr. & Rep. John Lewis, whom McCain has touted

[chicagoexpat]

23. Sarah Palin's own PTA is a well-respected community organization

[TahitiNut]

4. Ralph Nader

:hide:

[tomg]

18. A good man who got terribly lost.

Look at the good the Public Interest Research Groups did and do. I remember him speaking to some local activists who successfully organized a community to stop a large corporation from coming in and destroying what today is a state park.

[TomClash]

5. All of the Apostles

Particularly Peter and Paul.

Cesar Chavez.

Sojourner Truth.

[cynatnite]

6. Cindy McCain...

In 1988, inspired by a vacation visit four years earlier to substandard medical facilities on Truk Lagoon,<18><14> Cindy McCain founded the American Voluntary Medical Team (AVMT).<2> It was a non-profit organization that organized trips for doctors, nurses, and other medical personnel to provide MASH-like emergency medical care to disaster-struck or war-torn third-world areas such as Micronesia, Vietnam (before relations were normalized between them and the U.S.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cindy_Hensley_McCain#American_Voluntary_Medical_Team

Seems to me that Palin was belittling Cindy McCain's efforts as well.

[YOY]

7. Candance Gigngrich...Newt's likable sister.

n.t.

[Goblinmonger]

8. Since we are including fictional people--Atticus Finch n/t

[ddeclue]

10. No fictional people...

Jesus Christ the historical figure apparently DID exist. There is enough historical documentation for that much.

We can debate whether he was "the Son of God" or not if you like but that's not the point of my thread.

Doug D.
Orlando, FL

[asdjrocky]

9. How 'bout the founding fathers?

[knitter4democracy]

20. My husband said that last night.

Sons of Liberty and Daughters of Liberty were definitely community organizers.

[asdjrocky]

22. Of course they were.

Every kind a change for good we have comes from the people.

[notadmblnd]

11. Harriet Tubman

[izquierdista]

12. Cesar Chavez

And every union leader you can think of.

Also Ezra Cornell, Leland Stanford, and the unnamed others who organized educational communities -- universities.

[hogwyld]

13. Paul Revere

warning the community that the British were coming...

[Hell Hath No Fury]

14. Check your IM box...

K&R

[ddeclue]

21. Thanks! Got it! n/t

[bullwinkle428]

15. Rudy Giuliani? Oh wait...he was a "Community Fornicator"!

[tuckessee]

16. Hitler.

Took the NSDAP from a bunch beer hall rowdies into, well, you know the story.

[norepubsin08]

17. I can name:

Archbishop Oscar Romero, Archbishop Raymond Hunthausen, Dorothy Day, Rachel Corrie, Fr. Philip Berrigan, Rev. Mel White (Soul Force) Randi Reitan (Soul Force) Rev. William Sloane Coffin, Lt. Erin Watada

Having been a community organizer and in some component s of my work, still am...I take great outrage at the cynical and selfish attitudes of these people.

[slackmaster]

19. Margaret Sanger

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planned_Parenthood

[radfringe]

24. make some noise... make them apologize

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3938685

[Odin2005]

25. Socrates.

Worked towards turn asshole-ish teen aristocrats in Athens into intelligent and virtuous young men that were loyal to the Athenian Democracy. Unfortunately one of his proteges, Critias, became the leader of a Sparta-backed aristocratic coup, leading Socrates to get into big trouble after democracy was restored...

[Fumesucker]

26. Carrie Nation...

Every list of examples needs at least one bad one, eh?

[Postman]

27. Mother Jones - tireless labor organizer

[ColbertWatcher]

28. Um, the guy who started the soup kitchen ...

... not sure of his name, but he would go downtown and serve homeless people food all night and then run around collecting donations and food from restaurants all day and when he wasn't doing that he'd try to round up volunteers to help him (and the hungry homeless people).

And then there was the lady whose husband died and left her a whole bunch of money and she decided to use it to feed people who couldn't leave their houses. First it was just her, but then she got a couple other people to help, next thing you know there's a whole bunch of people driving around (even today with gas prices the way they are) making sure other people don't starve.

Oh, and Jimmy Carter.

[DailyGrind51]

29. Patrick Henry

[demmiblue]

30. Lillian Wald

Lillian D. Wald (1867–1940) was a nurse, social worker, public health official, teacher, author, editor, publisher, women's rights activist, and the founder of American community nursing. Her unselfish devotion to humanity is recognized around the world and her visionary programs have been widely copied everywhere.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lillian_Wald