Organizing

After Nov. 4: Bringing It All Back Home

Interviewed on “The Takeaway” this morning, Emory University psychology professor Drew Westen, author of The Political Brain, had this to say about how President-elect Barack Obama can deliver on his […]

Interviewed on “The Takeaway” this morning, Emory University psychology professor Drew Westen, author of The Political Brain, had this to say about how President-elect Barack Obama can deliver on his promises to bring change we can believe in:

“…think like a professor and continue to talk like a preacher.”

Beyond his signal achievement of winning the U.S. presidency, Obama’s started something that looks and feels like a national movement. He’s connected people from disparate socioeconomic, ethnic, and racial enclaves around a vision of a truly united United States of America.

How do we carry that momentum forward? What should happen at the grass-roots level to sustain the exhilarating energy and action his presidential campaign inspired?

In the spirit of Yes We Can, I welcome Rooflines readers and bloggers to weigh in on how we can bring this movement back home.

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