There is a story from many years ago about Amilcar Cabral, the leader of the liberation struggle in Guinea-Bissau that is still very relevant. Cabral held a meeting with American militants while visiting the UN sometime in the early 70’s. After listening for some time to the militants argue amongst themselves about the correct ‘line of march’ for liberation in the US, Cabral said "We must never forget that what people are fighting for is a better life for themselves and their families."
We ‘progressives’ should remember that counsel.
The Obama campaign has built a mass movement that involves a very diverse group of people who have never been directly involved in ‘progressive’ politics. This movement – albeit currently focused only on the election – involves hundreds of thousands of people not just in rallies but in the hard work of day to day organizing, door knocking, phone calling, organizing neighborhood meetings. The relationships and the phone lists and infrastructure to support that organization can last beyond the election as a real force for change.
In contrast, while ‘progressives’ have done much good, but mostly local, work over the past decade, there is no independent mass movement against the most unpopular war in our history, no mass movement for universal healthcare, and a labor movement with very little success in combating the increasing polarization of wealth in this country and around the world.
So, beyond parsing Senator Obama’s statements for conformity with our own positions and offering advice, progressives should be asking what we can learn from Obama’s campaign. There are many lessons to be learned – here is a start for discussion.
- This should be obvious: there is a vast majority of Americans who, if spoken to with respect and listened to, support a progressive agenda, who want to do good as well as do well, and who want to feel good about their country and our role in the world. To have that dialog, we need to be open to new ideas and probably some old ones and not just impose predefined positions. And we need to keep the dialog going, agreeing to disagree on some subjects, while uniting around common interests and focusing on results not just process or tactics.
- It is not about identity: whatever our personal oppression or interests, a movement needs to be about finding common ground and improving the lives of the vast majority, including those who don’t now agree with us. ‘Witnessing’ is not organizing. Self-righteousness is egotistical, not righteous.
- Real change comes from the bottom up and requires hard work organizing. Despite his charisma, Senator Obama could easily have been another Kucinich without the hard work begun a year before the Iowa caucuses developing organization, organizers and infrastructure.