Community Organizing Meeting.

So, the other Thursday I went to a post-election "where do we go from here?" meeting put on by that local community organizing group that I had gotten invited to, which was in a church basement and included free dinner (cheese ravioli and salad)...

Like 50 people where there, and it was already pretty packed, but I managed to find a seat next to 2 later middle-aged (black) women.

One was the present of the tenants association for her building ("Aquila").

"Oh," I was like, "Like in Acts?", and at that she smiled, and was like, "And Corinthians!"

(The other's name was Pam.)

We had a good conversation before the meeting started about the upcoming alderman election for our district, and Aquila was saying that she feared some of the candidates, because everyone is concerned about crime, but sometimes that gets "twisted for other purposes", and when I asked her what she meant, exactly, she said that it was turned against all low-income housing by new condo owners.

"I've lived in this neighborhood for 27 years," Pam was like, "And I've tried to raise my sons good, when it's tough on black young men from two sides - if they go on the straight and narrow the gangs have it out for them, and then the police have it out for them no matter what. But they don't understand that."

I then told them about how the condo owners next to me were a piece of work, and had a consumers mentality, and the 1st time that the one (white) woman ever talked to me she said not to lock up my bike on a sign outside in front of her building since it was an eyesore.

"An eyesore?", Aquila was like.

"Yep," I was like, "And you know, her building has tulips outfront, and I had noticed that, and I hate tulips, they're a dumb flower; they look ugly when they're flowering, and then uglier when they die and there's just spikes and leaves left, and I wanted to tell her, 'Know what, change those plants in front of your house, I have to look at them whenver I go in and out of my front door,' but I didn't."

"Ha," Aquila was like, and just shook her head and was like, "Tulips," and then smiled and laughed some more and looked at Pam and was like, "Tulips!".

...

Overall, the meeting went well, the community organizing group had focused on turning out the vote in the low-turnout precincts, and improved it 5-8% over 4 years ago (turnout then had been in the low 50s in the low-turnout precincts; this time it was in the high 50s). Now they're going to shop that fact around to alderpeople and other politicians so they'll listen to the group's agenda.

Also, they're sponsoring/organizing a debate for the new alderman's race, and getting busloads of people to the limited-seating mayorial debate in Dec., which I signed up for!

I think Aquila and Pam are going too.