We appreciate your vague comments but perhaps you should refine your community organizing abilities. If I recall correctly, you were a Community Activity Worker for the City of San José‘s now defunct Strong Neighborhoods Initiative program (SNI) in the King-Ocala, West Evergreen and Five/Wounds Brookwood Terrance area’s. The goals were to build strong neighborhoods by developing community leadership & working collaboratively with residents to achieve the delivery of City Services & Neighborhood Priorities. When SNI was phased out, why couldn’t you just step up as a true leader and start your own program in this area and take some risk. That’s what true community organizers really do. Instead, what seems to be happening is every 5 years or so these so called social change ideas never garner true leaders who are willing to take them to the next level. CommUniverCity is just another example of a jobs program for a lot more people and if we decide to dig into the data, CommUniverCity will change its name too. Finish your task at hand, stay put for at least 5 years, turn your current part-time E.D. gig into full-time, add at least 5 staff rather than the existing 2.5, expand the agency, manage some people, and do something worth writing about.

I agree that social change is not specific enough, however the stats at the end of the blog are impressive. 

They’re feeding hungry families, helping clear legal records (presumably so people can be cleared to work and be productive in society), they’re cleaning up neighborhoods, helping students succeed by tutoring (which will make them more productive in school and potentially as tax payers one day), they’re engaging college students to be connected to community directly.  It may not be the change we all prioritize but it is still pretty impressive.  (Plus I think the corporate connection with getting volunteers to “donate” hours to work in the community is a good thing too)

I despise vague and misleading euphemisms like “social change”.

There is a certain class of people—um, can we say “college students”—who nod their little lemming heads like bobblehead dolls when some “community organizer” proselytizes to them about social change, but have no idea what Mr. Organizer really means.  Naturally, the bobbleheads don’t want to ask.  That would suggest that there might be something they don’t know.

Besides, all the cute girls are nodding their heads when Mr. O talks about “social change”, so it must be something that is a defining trait of chick magnets.

If some REALLY, REALLY smart progressive can explain what “social change” really means, I will lend an ear, or maybe, half an ear.

I’m only interested in hearing from REALLY, REALLY SMART progressives, though.  No mediocrities, please.