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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 13, 2010)
% 2 0 /O January 13, 2010 M artin L uther K ing J r . Page 45 s p e c ia l eoi!io n Community Organizers o f Distinction continued from page 43 can change history. Many candidates had focused solely on the existing electorate and how they could best market themselves to it. But not Obama, who worked to expand the elec torate by creating an army of grassroots volunteers who reg istered new voters, many of them young or minorities, in droves. Accomplishing this Herculean task used new media, which al lowed Obama to strengthen con nections with his supporters and create new ones. Shortly after he was elected, the Guardian's website posted a blog entry entitled "The first elec tion the Internet won." In 2 0 0 4 , V erm o’nt G ov. H ow ard D ean's presidential campaign used some of the same Internet tools to quickly pick up steam, before fizzling out. Obama enlisted Chris Hughes, the founder of the highly popular s o c ia l-n e tw o rk in g site Facebook, to c re a te m y.barackobam a.com . The website allowed users to create profiles, and helped con nect them to local events, get training in community organiz ing, and talk to each other. The platform allowed Obama to effi ciently reach his most fervent supporters, and create new ones, while raising gobs of money that helped him clobber GOP candi date John McCain in the general Civil Rights Era Leaders: continued election. The Pew Internet & Ameri can Life Project released a re port shortly after Obama took office that showed that most 55 p erce n t o f ad u lts used the Internet for political information, and that Obama used this new tool to communicate with voters and help supporters organize. During the campaign, Obama had to ward off constant smears concerning his religious back ground, his work as a state sena- tor in the Illinois General As sembly, and ties to controversial people. Instead of relying on tradi tional media to fact check such rickety claims, Obama was able to directly reach people through his website and the You Tube. O bam a ate C lin to n and McCain's lunches in both the primary and general elections, respectively. He won states that were thought to be out of reach for a Democratic presidential candidate, including Indiana, North Carolina, and Virginia- which once housed the capital of the confederacy. But he also changed the way political campaigns are run, and brought in legions of people who might not have ever been in volved in politics. B oth K ing and O b am a changed the course of nation with a grass roots approach to com m unity organizing. W ho know where it will lead next? Saluting Martin Luther King Jr. zAfid-f^Beauty$upply from page 36 Harvey Milk (1930-1978): politician, gay rights activist R ob erf'B ob ” Moses (1935-): leader, activist, and organizer Diane Nash (1938-): SNCC and SCLC activist and organizer James Orange (1942-2008): SCLC activist and organizer, trade unionist Rosa Parks (1913-2005): NAACP official, activist Alice Paul (1885-1977): women's suffrage/voting rights leader A. Philip Randolph (1889-1979): socialist, labor leader Amelia Boynton Robinson (1911-): voting rights activist Bayard Rustin (1912-1987): civil rights activist Bobby Seale (1936-): activist, Black Panther leader AI Sharpton (1954-): clergyman, activist Charles Sherrod (1937-): Civil rights activist, SNCC leader F red Shuttlesworth (1922-): clergyman, activist (ilbria Steinem (1934-): writer, activist, feminist TWO LOCATIONS C.T. Vivian (1924-): student leader, SNCC activist Wyatt Tee W alker (1960-1964): clergyman, activist; NAACP and CORE in Virginia, Executive Director, SCLC Ida B. Wells (1862-1931): journalist, women's suffrage/voting rights activist 3311 NE MLK Jr. Blvd Portland OR 97212 503-206-3911 W alter Francis W hite (1895-1955): NAACP executive secre tary Mon-Fri 9am-7pm • Sunday 1 lam-5pm Roy W ilkins (1901-1981): NAACP executive secretary/ex- ecutive director 5411 NE M L King Blvd Portland, OR 97211 503- 335-0271 Robert F. W illiams (1925-1996): civil rights organizer Malcolm X (1925-1965): author, activist Andrew (Andy) Young, Jr. (1932-): clergyman, SCLC activist and executive director. Whitney M. Young, Jr. (1921-1971): Executive Director of National Urban League: advisor to Presidents Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon Mon-Fri 9am-7pm • Sunday closed Over 5,000 Hair Care & Nail Care I teins