Tell Sarah Palin that I Am a Community Organizer

Last week during her speech to the Republican National Convention, Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) sought to play up her experience as mayor of a small town in Alaska by mocking community organizing:

PALIN: I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a “community organizer,” except that you have actual responsibilities.

I was upset at Sarah Palin for her comments about community organizers. I sat around a kitchen table with four others in 1998 when decision was made to rejuvenate a defunct organization in Cincinnati. We presented ourselves to the community in January 1999. Our group grew from those 5 people to over 200 members by the next year. We were recognized as 'chapter of the year' for our work in 2000 and again in 2001. We trained over 200 high school students with volunteers on weekends and after school in the past decade. These students competed in regional and national computer competitions each year. Over 50 of these students earned scholarships to help them attend colleges. Community organizers made a difference for BDPA Cincinnati chapter.

And Sarah Palin pissed all over our efforts with her comments.

I took over a struggling non-profit small business incubator in 2003. The incubator had 17 small business owners as clients when I came on board. Over the course of the next five years we grew the incubator to upwards of 50 clients. One of our clients is challenging to become the top Black-owned business in Cincinnati. The clients at our incubator provided over 300 jobs per year. We were named the 'non-profit of the year' in 2006 by the local chamber of commerce. Community organizers made a difference for the Cincinnati Business Incubator.

And Sarah Palin pissed all over our efforts with her comments.

Sarah Palin pissed all over the Montgomery Improvement Association - the community organization run by MLK that launched and supported the Montgomery bus boycott. Sarah clowns, 'No responsibility there'.

Sarah Palin pissed all over the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the network of community organizations and churches that MLK co-founded, that proved so crucial to the civil rights movement. Apparently no responsibility there, either.

Sarah Palin pissed all over the March on Washington for Jobs & Freedom that the Republicans like to wrap themselves up in, the shared work of countless community organizers and activists. Sarah doesn't see responsibility here, huh?

Sarah Palin wanted to mock Senator Obama. Instead she mocked many of us here in America ... including former President George H.W. Bush.

"I have spoken of a thousand points of light, of all the community organizations that are spread like stars throughout the Nation, doing good."
- George H. W. Bush, 1989

Many of the nation’s leading organization’s responded to Palin’s attack. Over the past few days I have heard from many bloggers and online activists that proudly proclaim, "I Am a Community Organizer". Perhaps one day Sarah Palin will find this list and apologize for her obnoxious comments on community organizers:

1. 411Mania.com
2. African American Opinion
3. African American Political Pundit
4. African Path
5. Afro-Netizen
6. Allegory in a Chokehold
7. Anali's First Amendment
8. Ancestral Energies
9. Appetite for Equal Rights
10. A Slant Truth
11. BarackObama.com
12. Black Looks
13. BlackPerspectives.net
14. Black Political Thought
15. Brave New Films
16. California Now
17. Citizen Jane
18. Community Organizers Against Sarah Palin
19. Corey Booker via Huffington Post
20. CripChick's Weblog
21. Dallas Progress
22. Dallas South Blog
23. Dre Politic: Words by Adrien Salazar
24. Dwight A. Moody
25. Eddie G. Griffin (BASG)
26. Elaine Vigneault
27. Electronic Village
28. Elle, PhD
29. eVIPlist
30. Feministing Community
31. Fort Wayne African-American Independant Woman
32. Francis L. Holland Blog
33. From My Brown Eyed View
34. greenUPGRADER
35. Hey Shae!
36. I'll Offer You Eternal Bliss
37. Illvox: Anarchist of Color
38. InkogNegro 1.75
39. Jack & Jill Politics
40. Jump Off The Bridge
41. Karen Waters via Augusta Free Press
42. Keith's Space
43. Labor Is Not a Commodity
44. Living Life Abundantly
45. MicroBrother
46. MOMocrats
47. Monroe Anderson
48. NYCweboy
49. Pacifica Election Central
50. Pirate Satellite
51. PlanetSave
52. Production Not Reproduction
53. Professor Kim's News Notes
54. RaceWire
55. Radical Russ via Pam's House Blend
56. Regina's Family Seasons
57. SerenityLife
58. Something Within
59. Springer's Journal
60. Sojourner's Place
61. The 'D' Spot
62. The 'D' Spot Redeux
63. The Hillary 100
64. The Jesus Blog
65. The Jose Vilson Blog
66. The Safer Blog
67. The SuperSpade
68. This is Not My Country
69. UltraVioletUnderground
70. USA Today
71. Vanessa Unplugged
72. We Are All Community Organizers
73. What If
74. What was I THINKING?
75. Where the Revolution's Gonna Begin
76. Wichita NAACP Blog
77. WoC.PhD
78. Write Black
79. Young Black Professional Guide

I am very interested in feedback from all villagers that read this post. What is your honest take on Sarah Palin's comments about community organizers? What say u?