Central Harlem and grassroots leadership in the age of Obama

By: Lydgia Pass

Lydgia Pass works at Community Pride – Harlem Children’s Zone and recently completed a fellowship with ANHD’s Center for Neighborhood Leadership. The CNL Fellowship provides peer learning, enhanced training, and resources to experienced community organizers to enable them to remain and thrive in this field.

As I write this, I am reminded of the excitement, idealism and sheer anxiety of 2008. Our country was in a tizzy about the prospect of having an African-American president and most of us in Harlem wondered what that would mean to the lives of countless black folk. I recall the lengthy debates both public and private regarding Barack Obama’s lack of political experience. Questions to which I always replied in jest, “Well most candidates who run for president don’t have PRESIDENTIAL experience!” At that level of leadership, one puts together a team made up of the best and brightest to begin the tireless work of governance.

All leaders from every level, whether grassroots or national, must be altogether diplomatic and strong, compassionate yet firm.
A leader has timing and knows when to step up and take a stand or, instead, when to take a step back to allow others to step up. People in communities like Harlem spent years advocating, agitating, training and organizing long before the arrival of then Senator Barack Obama onto the national stage. Park bench and coffee shop debates about the “young man with the confident smile and intelligent approach to complex political issues” became common. Street corners became places to gain insight and share opinions freely.

Chet Whye is the Campaign Director of the Obama re-election effort underway, Harlem4Obama (H4O). He shared with me his insight into community accountability in the Age of Obama. “H4O expected the community to take the mantra from Obama that ‘we are the people we’ve been waiting for’ seriously and stay engaged by continuing to work issues locally. When we shut down the presidential campaign office after the election, Harlem4 was set up as a community apparatus for change.”

Asked what he thinks would get people more actively engaged in their communities, Whye said, “I believe the pain we all share now economically will compel people to say they’ve had enough and get out there to push for change. You see that happening with Occupy Wall Street. But, before there was an OWS, there was an Occupy Lunch Counter, Occupy Selma and Occupy Front of the Bus.”

President Obama inspired many individuals to get involved politically and civically and to take on positions of leadership within their neighborhoods; however, community-based organizations (CBOs) play a fundamental role in building and channeling this involvement. Some CBOs have the luxury of being able to provide ongoing leadership development initiatives that assist in supporting and sustaining the grassroots movement; while other CBOs, unfortunately, don’t have the funding or wherewithal to build leadership training into their programming.

I’ve found an additional challenge, however. When CBOs take on the role of developing leadership, they must understand and be intentional about this role. “Developing leadership” is not a one size fits all endeavor. For example, everyone isn’t a leader, some are agitators who could care less about skill growth, sharing power or community development. Others are content pretending they have competence in leadership, which involves an awful lot of diplomacy, patience and sound judgment.

As someone who serves and is also a stakeholder in Harlem, I believe that grassroots leadership in the age of Obama isn’t any different than when he was Senator Obama. There are many of the same faces going about their duty of service; people who take the lead in getting information to their communities, going head to head with politicians on re-zonings, hosting empowerment forums for youth, fighting to preserve safe and income-targeted housing and basically doing the work that needs to be done. They are dedicating themselves to improving conditions in buildings, on blocks and in neighborhoods – so that dream and hopes of social change aren’t solely linked to the re-election of Barack Obama in 2012.

Lydgia Pass is a 2011 Center for Neighborhood Leadership Fellow. She is pictured above, the sixth person from left.