YOUR TURN

In 1970, when the alderman of Chicago's Austin neighborhood refused to get rid of the rats, I got together with 100 of my neighbors and stormed down to his ward office. We nailed a rat to the door. The next day the city's rat patrol was on the job.

When I first got involved, community organizations still had the ability to solve most local problems at the local level. If there was a problem at the school, neighborhood activists met with the principal. If there was a problem at the hospital, we met with the administrator.

Today, unfortunately, more and more decisions with serious consequences for communities are being made far from the neighborhood — in other states, or even outside the country. The "local" hospital, for example, is likely to be part of a large health care delivery system. The "local" employer is likely to be owned by a multinational corporation. In fact, the term "local community organizing" has become a misnomer. Activists who want to strengthen their neighborhoods must now look beyond geographical boundaries if they are going to continue to win victories. Community activists need a new strategy for a new era.

National People's Action, a Chicago-based coalition of community groups, is exploring possibilities for such a strategy, as are other organizations across the country. We haven't arrived at a consensus yet. It is clear, though, that the debate is important for all of us. When power leaves communities behind, everybody loses.

I have a few suggestions for consideration. First, I believe community organizations need to recognize that much of the decision-making power that affects the qualifty of life in communities has shifted from government to the business sector. Solving many community problems today will involve more than paying a visit to the local alderman — or even his equivalent in Washington. In this new era, government has all but abdicated its responsibilities to regulate corporate power. And politicians' only loyalty seems to go to whoever hands them the fattest envelopes. So, organizers will need to shift some of their attention to the companies who own the businesses and plants down the block.

Activists also will need to re-examine the economic roots of many local problems. A jobs program should be central to our strategy. When corporations cut jobs in the name of short-run profits for their shareholders, most of the rest of us are left behind. Corporations are less bound to communities, and the resultant breakdown in our neighborhoods can be seen all over the country. The Chicago Tribune recently coined a phrase to describe this ongoing trend: the "disconnected economy."

The former NCR Co. in Dayton, Ohio, is a case study in corporate owners distancing themselves from communities. In the company's early days, locals affectionately called NCR "The Cash." NCR even manufactured flat-bottomed boats to help residents weather a flood in 1913. But, in 1991, that tradition of good corporate citizenship was lost in Dayton. New York City-based AT&T bought NCR and the new owner downsized the company by nearly a third four years later. When AT&T decided to cut workers in Dayton, the only thing that mattered was the bottom line.

Activists will need to do their homework. They'll need to figure out who owns what in order to target those who really have the power. Yet, while the owners of property and businesses in our neighborhoods may be farther away than ever before, there's more information about owners available, too.

Organizations will need to form broad-based coalitions — with unions and others. The Teamsters' corporate campaigns focus not only on the companies who sign their contracts, but on the customers and shareholders. In the process, unions are looking for allies, and community activists should welcome their strength.

And, surprisingly, community organizations will need to relearn confrontation. We shouldn't be afraid to start showing up where we're not wanted again. That's how all major victories were won in the past. That's how they'll be won in the future — no matter where the powers-that-be live. I guess we may have to start nailing rats to corporate executives' doors. *

Gale Cincotta is national chairperson of National People's Action. The group, which celebrates its 25th anniversary this year, will meet in Washington, D.C., April 27-29 to debate possible new organizing strategies.

36 * February 1996 Illinois Issues