community organizer

"Community organizer" was Sarah Palin's favorite slur on the campaign trail, but grassroots organizers have been fighting for the rights of marginalized people, often without recognition, for longer than Palin has been around. Marleine Bastien has been an organizer in the Haitian-American community in Miami for 30 years, and is now running for Congress. She joins guest host Esther Armah via Skype to talk about shifting from organizing to campaigning, and what can be accomplished in elected office that can't be accomplished on the streets. "The fastest way to stop a bullet is to give someone a job, and what better job to give them than the one that transforms where they live?" That's the question for Buffalo, New York, as People United for Sustainable Housing (PUSH) leads the community's struggle for better, greener jobs for everyone--and to improve the food supply and surroundings for the community as well. Less than four months ago, Israeli commandoes boarded the boats in the Freedom Flotilla headed for Gaza and killed nine peace activists. Investigations are underway into just what happened the night of May 31st, but just a few months after the attacks, a new anthology collects eyewitness testimony, analyses, thought pieces, and responses from artists and poets into a "people's record" of what happened that night--and how it just might be a turning point for the conflict between Israel and Palestine. Moustafa Bayoumi is the editor of Midnight on the Mavi Marmara, available now from OR Books, and Huwaida Arraf was on the flotilla that night. They join us to discuss what happened, what role the book can play, and how it was able to come about so quickly.