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Now on Campus Progress: Battling Protests in the Public Eye, and Community Organizing Does Good

By Kay Steiger - Sep 18th, 2008 at 5:30 pm

Over at Campus Progress, Tim Fernholz has a review of the film Battle in Seattle. The film comes out this weekend, but Tim wants to warn you before rushing to see it:

Being a demonstrator often does suck, as the film makes clear. But Battle also goes out of its way to show that being a cop also can suck, that being a politician isn’t great, and that it’s not always awesome being a humanitarian activist, either. The film makes an effort to humanize the various groups involved, but it can only go so far—the film never gets around to explaining why these people felt they had to protest the World Trade Organization, or why the WTO does what it does.

Read the whole thing here.

And yesterday Rob Anderson explained why recent attacks on community organizing are pretty insulting to America’s history:

Community organizing is a catchall term for a position that has changed over time and has many different iterations—sort of like how the word “doctor” meant something different to Americans in 1920 than it does it us now, and like how today the word is used to describe everything from a podiatrist to an oncologist. In general, a community organizer is someone who works within a specific region to help individuals make their lives better. The work can be related to something immediate and practical, like rent-controlled housing, or something more intangible, like connecting communities of faith across the globe. Almost by definition, community organizing is hard work—it offers low pay, long hours, and little recognition. Community organizing is part of a proud tradition in American history.

Read the rest of it over at Campus Progress.

Tags: activism, Battle in Seattle, Campus Progress, film