Post on 10-May-2023
4
124C
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citand
thefiscal
crisisforced
major
cutbacks.B
y1982,
the
budgetw
asless
thana
quarter
ofthe
maxim
umfunding—
thoughit
hadbegun
toincrease
slightly,once
again;program
s
with
theschools,
with
computers,
with
minority
youth,w
ith
transportationservices,
andin
otherareas
hadbeen
dropped.’°
The
Center
forIndependent
Living,
however,
remains
are
markable
model,
onethat
hasinspired
hundredsof sim
ilarcen
tersin
theU
nitedS
tatesand
inother
nations(tw
enty-seven
othersin
California
alone). Moreover,
itsim
pactat
thesim
plest
levelcannot
bem
easuredby
numbers,
yetit
remains
pro
foundlysubversive
ofstereotypes
inA
merica.
“CIL
hastold
disabledpeople
thatthey
arenot
crazy,”Judy
Heum
annco
n
cludes.“O
urperceptions
ofhoww
eare
beingtreated
arem
ore
likelythan
notcorrect.
Given
thatprem
ise,you’ve
gota
right
tofight.”
Indeed,the
newself-respect
andself-assertiveness
incubated
inplaces
likeC
ochranG
ardensand
theC
enterfor
Indep
en
dentL
ivingturn
ourvery
notionsof
“charity”and
“normalcy”
upsidedow
n-T
heyforce
aquestioning
ofour
basicand
inher
itednotions
ofw
hom“the
comm
unity”includes,
andalso
such
coreA
merican
valuesas
individualsuccess
andachievem
ent
withoutregard
tocom
munal im
plications.In
sum,
thesestories
prompt
anew
attentivenessto
thevalues
of livingcom
munities
asthe
veryground
offreedom
andhum
andignity.
They
chal
lengeus
totake
seriouslyprinciples
thatare
oftengiven
onlylip
service.If
thissort
ofchallenge
isever
toim
pactin
asignificant
way
onthe
centralizedstructures
andlarge
bureaucraciesof
the
modern
world,
itm
ustacquire,
simply,
power.
The
organiza
tionthat
haspioneered
newm
ethodsfor
harnessingthe
values
ofdem
ocraticcom
munity
tothe
exerciseof
power
inthe
broadersociety
overyears,
ona
continuingbasis,
isto
befound
inSan
Antonio,
Texas.
There,
throughthe
effortsof
Com
muni
tiesO
rganizedfor
Public
Service—a
comm
unityorganization
basedlargely
inthe
barriosof
thesouth
andw
estsides
oftow
n
—M
exicanA
mericans
who
oncew
ereafraid
toenter
City
Hall
orthe
agenciesof
government
nowclaim
themas
theirow
n.
With
therain
inSan
Antonio
usedto
come
thefear.“W
ew
ould
sleepin
shiftsat
night,”rem
embered
Helen
Ayala,
achild
of
Edgew
ood,the
Mexican-A
merican
comm
unityon
thesp
rawl
irigW
estSide
ofthe
city.M
rs.A
yala,now
middle-aged,
still
shiversa
bitw
henshe
describesthe
scene.W
henthe
rains
continuedthrough
thenight,
itw
ouldm
eana
hik
e,,ithout
shoesthrough
them
uddystream
flowing
down
herstreet.
The
Mayberry
drainageditch
behindthe
housesw
ouldturn
intoa
lake,spilling
overits
banks,lapping
thew
hiteadobe
walls
where
onecan
stillseefaintm
udlines
frompastfloods.‘am
ilies
down
onInez
Avenue
would
packw
hatthey
couldand
leave
theirhom
es,som
etimes
inR
edC
rossrescue
boats.m
ajor
downpour,
continuingfor
aday
orm
ore,w
ouldturn
Apache
Creek
intoa
torrent,pouring
southand
eastward
intothe
Mexi
canneighborhoods
aroundthe
stockyards.M
ajorrains
usually
claimed
thelife
ofa
child,som
etimes
more
thanone..
The
cityhad
developeda
planto
improve
thedrainage
sys
temon
theW
estSidein
1945.It
was
anurgent
need—flooding
regularlyaffected
more
than100,000
families—
yetbythe
early
1970s,no
money
hadbeen
spent.O
necould
travelfor
miles
throughthe
winding,
muddy
roadsof
theW
estSide
andnever
seea
stormdrain.
Those
ditcheslike
Mayberry
thatexisted
were
overgrown,
clutteredw
ithgarbage
anddebris.
“This
isthe
twentieth
century,but
itseem
edto
me
likean
otherw
orld,”says
Andres
Sarabia.O
necan
seeSarabia’s
anger
when
herem
embers
what
itw
aslike
togrow
upas
aM
exican
Am
ericanin
the1950s
inSan
Antonio.D
rainageproblem
sw
ere
.4’I
Em
powerm
ent
:5
126C
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part
ofa
pattern
.“T
hingsseem
edto
me
wrong.
Igraduated
twenty-fifth
out of my
classoffour
hundred.B
ut ourschoolw
as
basicallyvocational.
When
Iw
antedto
goto
college,they
said
Ididn’t have
enoughcredits.”
He
became
activein
hisparish
atH
olyF
amily
andbegan
toget
involvedin
othercom
munity
efforts,such
asthe
Model
Cities
Program
,in
anattem
ptto
do
something
aboutthe
comm
unity’sproblem
s.“B
utnothing
would
happen.W
e’djust
talk.”
Sarabiaalso
tellsabout
theday
when
Mexican
Am
ericans
beganto
dom
orethan
talk.T
hecity
manager,
SamG
ranata,
hadrefused
todiscuss
thedrainage
problemw
ithW
estSide
residents.A
tlast
requestedto
mdet
byan
embarrassed
city
council,C
ranatacam
eto
theW
estSide
justafter
anenorm
ous
rainfallin
1973.O
nebridge
overthe
Mayberry
ditchhad
col
lapsed.A
nold
wom
anw
itha
feverof
105’had
beenforced
out
intothe
mud.
The
crowd
thatgreeted
him,
broughtto
the
meeting
bya
neworganization
calledC
omm
unitiesO
rganized
forPublic
Service,w
aslarge
andangry.
Confronting
Granata
with
researchabout
thehistory
of brokenprom
isesand
unim
plemented
legislation,they
askedhim
why.
“Ifyou
wantsom
e
thing, youhave
toask”
was
hisw
eakresponse. Sarabia
chuckles.
“We’ve
beenasking
eversince!”
These
days, nofeature
storyon
SanA
ntonioappears
without
some
discussionof
Com
munities
Organized
forPublic
Service
(CO
PS).Pablo
Eisenberg,
am
ajorarchitect
ofthe
federalW
ar
onP
overtyin
the1960s
who
nowdirects
theC
enterfor
Com
munity
Change
inW
ashington,described
CO
PSto
me
as“the
SugarR
ayR
obinsonof
thecom
munity-organizing
world”
4d
“them
osteffective
comm
unitygroup
inthe
country.’I
• remem
beredthe
specialon
SanA
ntonioI
hadseen
thespring
beforeon
theN
BC
“Today”
show.T
here, insertedam
ongseg
merits
onM
exican-stylecountry
music,
food,and
thepolitical
futureof
Henry
Cisneros—
”thefirst
Mexican-A
merican
mayor
ofam
ajorA
merican
town,”
asthe
media
likesto
describehim
—w
asanother
sortof
story.“W
henyou
havetrouble
with
City
Hallin
SanA
ntonio, youcall
theC
OPS,”
ranthe
tagline.
Sonia
Hernandez,
CO
PSpresident,
appearednext
to3ane
Pauley,
describingthe
organizationand
itsaccom
plishments
andpur
Em
pow
erinen
t127
poses.She
causedsom
econsternation,
Ilater
discovered,by
sayingthat
thecity
hadbeen
runten
yearsbefore
bya
group
of wealthy
white
Nortli
Siders,m
embers
of theexclusive
Texas
Cavaliers
Club.
But
thefederal
studyof
Am
ericancom
munities
comm
is
sionedby
theN
ationalC
omm
issionon
theN
eighborhoods
made
much
thesam
epoint.
It detailedthe
hundredsofm
illions
ofdollars’
worth
ofim
provements
instreets,
drainage,-public
facilities,and
cleanupthat
CO
PShad
won
forpoorer
neighbor
hoodsin
SanA
ntonio.It
describedthe
five,six, or
seventh
ou
sanddelegates
who
come
eachyear
tothe
CO
PSann
alco
n
vention.A
ndit
concluded:“T
herehas
beena
major.shift
in
power
fromw
ealthy‘blue
blooded’A
ngldsto
theporn
and
working
Mexican-A
merican
families
ofSan
Ahtonio.
CO
PShas
beenat
thecenter
ofthisshift.”
Iw
aseager
tosee
for.yse
lf.2
Arriving
inSan
Antonio,
onefinds
signsof
CO
PS’spresence
easily.The
cabdrivertold
me
at some
lengthabout
theb
rga’ii
zationon
thew
ayin
fromthe
airport.O
nthe
eveni
news
were
scenesfrom
aC
OPS
IndependenceD
ayrally, celebrating
theorganization’s
tenthanniversary.
Mayor
CisnerQ
called
CO
PS“the
most
powerful
comm
unitygroup
inthe
country’
and“the
voicefor
150,000fam
ilies.”W
iththe
practicedand
polishedoratory
thathas
become
histradem
ark,he
exclaimed
that“C
OPS
hasm
adea
declarationof
independencefor
the
poorpeople
,.
. forall
thepeople
inSan
Antonio!”
-
Itw
asthe
sortof
recognitiona
comm
unitygroup
might
dreamabout.
But
thescene
was
made
allthe
more
remarkable
bythe
calm,
skepticalreply
tothe
mayor
byM
s.H
ernandez,
who
remained
clearlyin
controlof the
program.She
welcom
ed
Cisneros
butw
asentirely
unimpressed
with
oneof
hisnew
ideasfor
citywide
“goal-setting,”w
hichshe
thought was m
ainly
apublic-relations
gimm
ick:“W
ereject
expansionbased
on
boosterism,”
asshe
putit.
And
shedefined
therelationship
in
adifferent
way:
“We
rathercall
uponour
publicofficials
to
challengeus
asw
echallenge
them—
tobe
reciprocal, collabora
tiveand
consultativeas
we
cooperativelyforge
anew
visionand
newconsensus
forSan
Antonio.”3
I.
128C
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YIS
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Em
powerm
ent129
Behind
thiskind
ofexchange,
Ilater
learned,w
asa
specific
organizationalphilosophy:
“Politicians’w
orkis
todo
your
work)”
Hem
andez
explained.“W
henyou’ve
gotsom
ebody
working
foryou,
youdon’t
bowand
scrape.It’s
notm
eantto
showdisrespect.
When
politiciansdeliver,
we
applaudthem
.
Not
untilthen.”
The
pointof
CO
PS,she
continued,w
asnot
“politicsas
usual.C
OPS
isabout
people,m
ainlypoor
people
who
havedecided
todo
something
abouttheir
lives.There
isn’t
anyonearound, nota
Mayor
Cisneros
ora
Governor
White. w
ho
isgoing
tocom
ein
anddo
anythingfor
them.
People
aredoing
itfor
themselves.
Ifw
eever
lostthat
touch,w
ew
ouldcease
to
beC
OPS.”
I hadhad
anintroduction
toC
OPS’s
publicreputation.
What
theorganization
was,
andhow
itcam
eto
be,proved
alonger
story.
Like
Andres
Sarabia,E
rnestoC
ortesgrew
upin
SanA
ntonio
inthe
fortiesand
fifties.H
erem
embers
decayin
theM
exican
comm
unity’sspirit.
“The
strugglew
asto
become
Am
erican,”
Cortes
explains.“If
someone
calledyou
aM
exican,you
were
supposedto
beatthemup.”
(Helen
Ayala,
too,recallsthe
deteri
oration,not
onlyin
thehouses
butin
thecom
munity
fabricon
theW
estand
Southw
estsides
oftow
nw
herem
ostM
exicans
live.“O
urchildren
were
leavingfor
theN
orthSide,T
herew
ere
notjobsor
goodhousing.
Itw
asvery
sad.”)In
thesixties,
Cortes
went
tothe
University
ofT
exasat
Austin
andearned
adegree
with
adissertation
exploringdifferent
approachesto
“dealing
with
poverty.”W
ar-on-povertystrategies.
Educational
strate
gies.F
iscalstrategies.
None
ofit
seemed
veryconvincing.
But
thestatistics
were
clearenough
asC
ortesprofiled
theM
exican
comm
unityin
hishom
etown.
Median
family
income
hovered
justabove
thepoverty
line.M
orethan
three-quartersof
the
teen-agepopulation
droppedout
ofhigh
schoolbefore
grad
ua
tion.“It
broughthom
eto
me
onan
aggregatelevel
what
Ihad
known
personally,”says
Cortes.
Italso
ledhim
tobegin
thin
k
ingabout
organizing.In
Austin,
Cortes
didsom
ew
orkin
electoralpolitics
andlater
helpedw
iththe
United
Farm
Workers,
them
igrantunion
or-
ganizingprojectheaded
byC
esarC
havez.C
oming
backto
San
Antonio
inthe
late1960s,he
developedan
economic
dev
elop
ment
strategyfor
theM
exicanA
merican
Unity
Council.
But
noneof
itspokedirectly
tohis
perceptionth
atthepro
blm
with
theM
exican-Am
ericancom
munity
inSan
Antonio
wa’its
lack
ofpow
er.N
om
atterhow
many
plansw
eredeveloped
orhow
many
politiciansprom
iseda
better
day, therew
asnot
theclout
toget
much
done.H
edecided
tospend
some
time
with
the
IndustrialA
reasF
oundationin
Chicago,
thetraining
siiool
for
comm
unityorganizers
startedin
1969by
thelegendary
crafts
man
anddean
ofthe
traditionof
organizing,Saul
Alinsky.
Saul Minsky
hadgrow
nup
inC
hicago. Raised
bypoor
Jewish
parentsw
hoem
igratedfrom
Russia,M
insky’schildhood
stories
conveyedhis
favoriteactivity—
thumbing
hisnose
atauthority.
“1w
asthe
kindof
kidw
ho’dnever
dreamof
walking
onthe
grassuntil
Isaw
asign
thatsaid,
‘Keep
Off.’
Then
I’dstom
pall
overit.”
For
more
thanthirty
yearshe
practicedhis
attitudeby
helpingpoor
comm
unitiesaround
thecountry
“organizeth
em
selvesfor
power.”
Over
thistim
e,m
oreover,his
repuàtio
nin
localpow
ercenters
frequentlycaused
panic.“M
inskyis
hated
andfeared
inhigh
placesfrom
coastto
coastfor
beinga
major
forcein
therevolution
ofpow
erlesspeople,”
theN
ewY
ork
Tim
esput
it.O
nhearing
thathe
hadbeen
askedto
visitO
ak
land’sblack
ghetto,the
citycouncil
oncepassed
anordinance
barringhim
fromthe
tow
n.
4Saul
Alinsky’s
approachw
asstraightforw
ard.H
ecam
eto
comm
unitiesw
herehe
was
invited—norm
allyby
a“sponsoring
comm
ittee”of
localinstitutions
suchas
churches,sm
allbusi
nesses,and
civicassociations—
andhe
learnedthe
comm
unity’s
agenda.“T
hefirst
thingyou’ve
gotto
doin
acom
munity
is
listen,not
talk, andlearn
toeat, sleep, b
reathe.
.. the
problems
andaspirations
ofthe
comm
unity.”H
ehad
considerabledis
dainfor
thosehe
called“do-gooders,”
outto
helpthe
poor. The
goalin
hisview
shouldbe
toassist
thepoor
inhelp
inth
em
selves,through
buildingw
hat hecalled
“mass
power
organiza
tions”that
would
applyleverage
andw
ina
newvoice.
Only
throughsuch
groups,he
believed,could
peoplew
how
ereac
customed
tohum
iliationand
defeatall
theirlives
expie
nce
a
130C
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YIS
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newself-respect
andgain
hope.O
nthe
SouthSide
ofC
hicago,
forexam
ple, inthe
largeblack
ghettocalled
Woodlaw
n, Minsky
helpedcreate
anorganization
thatw
on.num
erousvictories
fromC
ityH
all,and
blockedan
urban-renewal
planthat
threat
enedthe
area.B
ut heargued
that“our
most
important
accom
plish
men
tw
asintangible
..
.w
egave
the
peoplea
senseof
iden
tityand
pride.A
fterliving
insqualor
anddespair
forgen
er
ations,they
suddenlydiscovered
theunity
andresolve
toscore
victoriesover
their
enemies,
totake
their
livesback
intotheir
own
hands”A
linskycounseled
poorpeople’s
“power
organizations”to
operateon
a“pow
erbasis”
insteadof
appealingto
valuesor
ideals.T
heyhad
toknow
theiropponents,
usethe
establish
ment’s
rulesagainst them
, ridicule, embarrass, and
dow
hatever
elsew
asnecessary—
with
nonviolentand
reasonablylegal
lim
its,and
theexperience
ofthe
grouptaking
action—to
win.
His
tacticsbecam
efam
ous.C
hicagom
ayorR
ichardD
aleyonce
agreedto
meet
with
adelegation
fromW
oodlawn
afterthey
threatenedto
occupyall
thebathroom
sin
Chicago’s
O’H
are
InternationalA
irport. Inresponse
tothe
Oakland
City
Council,
hesent
thegroup
abox
ofdiapers
tosho.’
hisopinion
oftheir
“levelof
matnrity”
andinvited
thenew
sm
ediato
accompany
himacross
theO
aklandB
ridge,birth
certificatein
hand.
By
the
endof
the
1960s,M
inskyhad
become
convincedthat
more
was
need
edthan
help
ing
comm
unitiesorganize,
oneby
one,to
get
“apiece
ofthe
action”in
their
areas.“T
here’sa
secondrevolution
seethingbeneath
thesurface
ofmiddle-class
Am
erica,”he
maintained
ina
Playboy
magazine
interviewin
1972.High
inflation,declining
services,rising
crime,
distrust of
publicofficials,
anda
generaldeterioration
inpeople’s
lives
bredfear
that made
Am
ericansripe
fordem
ogogicappeal
from
theR
ight.“T
heR
ightw
ouldgive
themscapegoats
fortheir
misery—
blacks,hippies,
Com
munists.
And
ifit
wins,
thisco
un
tryw
illbecom
ethe
firsttotalitarian
statew
itha
nationalan
them
celebratingthe
landof
thefree
andthe
home
ofthe
brav
e”B
uthe
alsobelieved
that
them
iddleclasses—
thosehe
called“th
ehave-a-little,
wa
tm
ores”—could
come
tounder
standthe
actualsources
otheir
problems,
which
heidentified
Em
powerm
eni131
especiallyas
unresponsiveand
out-of-conholcorporatiens.
Be
forehis
death
in1972,
heex
perim
ented
with
anew
model
of
organization,the
Citizen
Action
Program
inC
hicago,bringing
peopletogether
acrossolder
antagonisi-ns---.poorand
middle-
income,
white
ethnic,professional,
black—around
Om
mon
problems
likeutility
ratesand
pollutionfrom
the
steehnills.
Cortes
came
toC
hicagoin
the
summ
erof
1971in
aperiod
ofconsiderableferm
ent andchange
inthe
world
of comm
unity
organizing.V
eteranslike
Ed
Cham
bers,T
omG
audette,D
ick
Harm
on,F
atherJohn
Egan,
andP
eterM
artinez,w
hohad
worked
with
Minsky
foryears,
were
tryingout
newform
sof
organizing.A
youngergeneration
ofactivits
fromthe
Sixties
movem
ents,such
asH
eatherand
PaulB
oothand-R
obert
Cream
er—w
how
ouldeventually
playim
portantpart
inthe
creationof the
Citizen
Action
network
of comm
unityorganiza
tions—w
aslearn
ing
skillsof
practicalorganizing
andw
aysof
translatingm
oralfervor
intolasting
organization.
InC
ortes’sopinion, perhaps
them
ostimportant education
he
gainedw
iththe
IndustrialA
reasF
oundation(IA
F),was
insight
intohis
own
personality.“I
hada
tendencyto
jump
down
peo
pie’sthroats,
which
couldintim
idatepeople,”
hereflects.
In
deed,C
ortesis
oftengruff,
challengingand
exhortingthose
aroundhim
,dem
andingpeople’s
bestefforts.
InC
hicago,he
believes,“I
learnednot
toallow
my
angerto
getso
vociferous,
togetm
orefocused.”
Draw
ingon
thefundam
entalsofA
linsky’s
approach,C
onesalso
nolonger
feltcom
pelledto
d9minate
discussions:“I
learnedthe
valueof
listening,”as
heputs
it.
Cortes
alsoradiates
what
might
bestbe
calleda
“opulist”
sensibility.It
isevident
sometim
esin
small
ways.
Wthen
we
passedthrough
arestaurant
inSan
Antonio,
hegreeted
old
friendsw
ithgreat w
armth,stopping
tospeak
fora
fewm
inutes
with
aM
exicanveteran
disabledin
theV
ietnamW
ar(‘H
ew
on
aM
edalof
Honor
fromR
eagan,and
thenlost
hisdik
biity
,”
Cortes
tellsm
eas
hecom
esover).
But
itis
most
strikingw
hen
hereflects,as
heoften
didin
ourdiscussions,on
theim
ortan
ce
offorcingorganizers
themselves
intosituations
where
theycan
“rekindleenergy
andpassion”
fromthe
inspirationofordinary
132C
OM
MU
NIT
YIS
PO
SS
IBL
E
Enpow
erment
133
people.“If
you’rea
leadorganizer
forC
OPS
orany
powerful
organization,you’re
intoheady
arenas,”he
remarks.
The
thai
lengeis
toconstantly
goback
to“see
newpossibilities
inthe
people.
..
tosee
themin
adifferent
way.”
But
forC
ortes,draw
inginspiration
fromordinary
people
doesnot
mean
superficialrelations.
Cortes
isan
indefatigable
readerw
hocom
municates
anintense
intellectuality.H
ereg
u
larlycarries
arounda
briefcaseoverflow
ingw
iththe
bookshe
iscurrently
studying, andconversations
with
himrange
widely,
fromtheology
toancient
historyor
politicalphilosophy.
What
hem
eansby
drawing
inspirationis
tocreate
neww
aysfor
peopleto
learnto
expressthem
selvesin
thew
holeof
their
personalities—their
values, traditions, aspirationsfor
thefuture.
Cortes
brought notonly
thetough
andskillful m
indof an
org
an
izerto
theTA
P; hechallenged
traditional notionsofw
hat org
an
izingis
allabout,
atjust
them
oment
others,like
Cham
bers,
were
alsobeginning
toask
suchquestions.
“There
isa
war
beingw
agedon
televisionand
intaverns,
in
localstores
andm
assiveshopping
centers,in
corporationsand
congregations,over
who
will
sha?ethe
valuesof
oursociety,”
beginsthe
basictraining
rnanuai
1of
theIndustrial
Areas
Foun
dation,O
rganizingfo
rF
amily
andC
ongregation.“It
isabout
thisfundam
entalquestion:
Who
will
parentour
children?W
ho
will
teachthem
,train
them,
nurturethem
?”Such
questions
nowfram
ethe
leadership-educationprogram
ofthe
IAF,
taughtto
leadersand
organizersfrom
allthe
affiliatedcom
mu
nitygroups
with
which
itw
orksaround
thecountry.
But
they
adda
strikinglydifferent dim
ensionto
thediscipline
of com
mu
nityorganization
fromthat
ofthe
past.“F
rom1940
to1970,
where
was
thepolitical education
incom
munity
organization?”
isthe
way
JAF’s
currentdirector, C
hambers, puts
thepro
blem
.8
SaulM
inskyat
hism
ostreflective
andvisionary
mom
ents
couldeloquently
identifyhim
selfw
iththe
Am
ericandem
o
cratictradition,
thetradition
ofthose
who
“forcedthe
addition
ofthe
Bill
ofR
ightsto
ourC
onstitution,”w
holabored
“inthe
shadows.of
theU
ndergroundR
ailroad,”w
hostood
“inthe
van-
guardof
theP
opulistP
arty,”or
who
organizedam
ong“the
thousandsof
packinghouse
workers”
duringthe
daysof
the
Great
Depression.
But
hisnorm
alorganizing
stylepushed
any
explicitdiscussionofvalues
or ideologyto
thesidelines.1istead,
hisrhetoric
tendedtow
ardthe
wry
andcynical:
“Inthe
world-
as-it-isw
hatyou
callm
oralityis
toa
significantdegreea-ration
alizationof
theposition
which
youare
occupyingin
thepower
patternat
aparticular
time,”
hew
rote.“M
anm
ovesprim
arily
becauseof
self-interest.T
heright
thingsare
doneonly
forthe
wrong
reasonsand
viceversa.”
When
longtime
associatessuch
asF
atherE
gansuggested
more
discussionofreligious
values,he
dismissed
theidea.”
‘You
takecare
ofthe
religion,Jack,’
he
would
say,”E
ganrem
embers.
“‘We’ll
dothe
organizing.’“i
Inm
anyw
ays,Minsky
simply
mirrored
thew
orldin
which
he
operated.Like
trade-unionleaders
inA
merican
history,hew
as
drivenby
thedesire
tosee
poorand
marginal
peopleget
more
fromthe
systemin
theterm
sthe
systemunderstood.M
oreover,
whatever
hesaid,
hesought
outplaces
toorganize
“where
therew
erepockets
ofvalues,and
peoplew
how
ouldta
erisks
fortheir
values,”according
toC
hambers,
Father
Egan
p.ointed
outthat
theB
ackof
theY
ardscom
munity
inC
hicagow
here
Minsky
firstexperim
entedw
ithhis
methods
was
“aneighbor
hoodw
iththe
richestkind
ofroots;
where
therew
asin
every
home
alove
ofthe
family,
of peoples’traditions,
theiriüstom
s,
theirreligion;
where
ageand
wisdom
were
respected;w
here
theneighbor
was
anim
portantperson;
where
youw
erenot
anonymous.”
But
whatever
Alinsky’s
own
instincts,ixuich
ofX
theorganizing
thatclaim
edhis
legacygained
areputalion
for
thenarrow
estof
concernsand
vision.“O
rganizingfor
power”
was
oftendescribed
asthe
endin
itself—w
ithlittle
orno
re
flectionabout
howpow
erw
asto
bew
ielded,or
forw
hatpur
poses.E
rnieC
orteshad
onceconsidered
becoming
am
inisterand
hada
stronginterestin
theology.He
broughtsucha
perspective
tothe
IAF.
“Ithought
alot
abouta
conversationI’d
hadonce
with
Cesar
Chavez,”
herem
embers,
“thatevery
organization
needsan
ideologyifitis
tocontinue.T
heU
nitedF
armW
orkers’
was
Christianity.”
For
theM
exicancom
munity
inSan
Antonio,
too,it
was
hardto
imagine
effectiveorganizing
thatdid
not
drawexplicitly
onthe
religiouslanguage
andstories
ofthe
134C
OM
MU
NIT
YIS
PO
SS
iBL
E
people,and
buildon
theC
atholicchurch
asan
institution.H
e
saw“the
church[as]
thecenter
of strengthin
thecom
munity.”
Moreover,
hefound
thatpriests,
while
stronglyinterested
in
thefinancial
healthand
physicalsurvival
oftheir
parishes,had
oftena
deepengagem
entin
questionsof
valuesand
broader
purpose.“T
heyquestioned
them
inistry,their
faith;they
ehal
lengedyou
andthem
selves.T
hat’sw
hatgave
themenergy,
made
theminterested
andinteresting.
Ifyoutook
Alinsky
liter
ally,you’d
neverprobe
belowthe
surface.”
Thus
Cortes
helpedthe
lAP
tobroaden
itsunderstanding
of
•people’sm
otivations.It
continuedto
stressthe
importance
of
“self-interest,”that
organizingpoor
andw
orkingpeople
re
quiredw
orkingon
questionsof im
mediate,
visible, andpressing
concern.But it began
todistinguish
between
“self-interest”and
“seffishness,”arguing
thatpeople’s
basicconcerns
arenot
only
/financial
but, perhapsm
orefundam
entally,intangibles
intheir
Vlives—
thehap
thess
oftheir
families,
thew
ell-beingof
their
neighborsand
friends,the
vitalityof
theirfaith,
theirow
nfeel
ingsof
dignityand
worth.
As
theIA
Ftraining
school developedthrough
the‘seventies,
it came
toregularize
itsrelations
with
thecom
munity
org
aniza
tionsw
ithw
hichit
worked.
Local
areasw
ouldask
foraid
in
helpingto
organize;lA
Porganizers
would
inretu
rnask
forthe
formation
ofa
sponsoringcom
mittee
thatw
ouldraise
initial
fundsand
guaranteelegitim
acyfor
theorganizing
effort;and
asthe
comm
unityorganizations
grew,
leadersw
ouldcontinue
tobe
trained,not
onlyin
theirareas
butalso
inregular
ten-day
sessionsheld
indifferent
partsof
thecountry,
where
they
would
meetleaders
fromother
comm
unitiesengaged
insim
ilar
efforts,often
aroundsim
ilarproblem
s.
In1973,
Father
Edm
undoR
odriguezinvited
Ernie
Cortes
andthe
IndustrialA
reasF
oundationto
helpthe
Mexican
com
munity
inSan
Antonio
tryto
get itself together.C
ortesbrought
backw
ithhim
theorganizing
skillshe
hadlearned,
anda
great
zealto
seehis
own
peoplegain
power
andnew
dignity.
There
were
traditionsof
collectivestruggle
andcom
munal
lifethat
couldbe
drawn
upon:a
strikeby
Mexican
pecanw
ork
ersduring
theG
reatD
epression;the
electionof
Congressm
an
IE
mpow
erment
135
Henry
Gonzales, friend
oftheC
ortesfam
ily,whose
£Ierceinteg
rityhad
longproven
am
odeland
inspirationto
many;the
sense
ofsolidarity
thatthe
circuitof
Mexican
festivalsand
celebra
tionsgenerated
acrossneightborhood
lines.H
eknew
these
were
there.B
utC
ortes’sbasic
approachw
asto
listen.“I
began
tointerview
pastorsand
fromthem
gotthenam
esof lay
leaders
inthe
parishes,”he
remem
bers.“I
keptrecords
andtapes
of
eachconversation.”
Through
thecourse
ofperhaps
athousand
interviews
during
thefirst
year,C
ortesgained
adetailed
senseof
what
mattered
mostto
peoplein
theneighborhoods. Itturned
out nottobe
the
more
visibleissues
thatpoliticians
orC
hicanom
ilitantsusually
talkedabout—
thingslike
policebrutality
orracial
discrimina
tion.R
ather,it
was
the
problems
closestto
families
and’iieigh
borhoods,such
ashousing,
utilityrates,
anddrain
age.T
ather
Rodriguez,
who
hadw
orkedfor
many
yearsw
ithonly
modest
successto
tryto
getM
exicanA
mericans
involvedin
‘ôliUcal
issues,later
saidit
was
“likeone
ofthose
lightbulbs
thatsu
d
denlyappears
incartoons.”
Prior
effortshad
failedbecause
of
theirapproach.
Itw
asn’tthatpeople
were
unco
ncem
ed$t
was
thatthey
themselves
hadrarely
beenasked
what
theyw
ere
most
concernedab
out.
8T
husthe
issuesthat
CO
PSinitially
addressedbroke
thm
old.
So,too,
didthose
who
became
theleadership.
“One—
ofthe
remarkable
thingsabout
CO
PS,”observes
SisterC
hristineS
te
phens, thew
armand
intelligentw
oman
who
isnow
staff direc
torof
theorganization,
“isthat
itbuilds
aroundthe
moderates,
notthe
activistson
theL
eftor
theconservatives
onthe
Right.
Itdidn’tbegin
with
peoplew
how
erethe
politicosor
who
were
inpublic
life,thepeople
who
wheeled
anddealed.It grew
from
thepeople
who
runthe
festivals,w
holead
theP
TA
srwhose
liveshave
beenw
rappedup
intheir
parishesand
theirjabsand
with
theirchildren.
What
CO
PShas
beenable
todo
isgive
thema
publiclife,
thetools
whereby
theycan
participate.”H
er
observations,tenyears
afterthe
beginningsof the
organization,
broughtto
mind
peoplesuch
asSarabia,
acivil
servantat
Kelly
Air
Force
Base,
activein
hisparish
andcom
munity.
And
Janie
Gonzalez,
oncea
shy,quiethousewife
andm
other,who
became
136C
OM
MU
NIT
YIS
PO
SS
IBL
E
Em
powerm
ent137
executivevice-president
of theorganization
andone
of itsm
ost
powerful
leaders.
JanieG
onzalezis
thesort of person
known
asthe
“backbone’
of hercom
munity. W
ell dressed, middle-aged, she
seems
som
e
oneto
turnto
foradvice
orconsolation
intim
eof
trouble.She
remem
bersthe
beginningsof
CO
PSw
ell.“W
henE
rnieC
ortes
was
inthe
processof
interviewing
peoplein
1973,he
always
keptcom
ingback
tom
e.I
always
said,‘W
hy?’”G
onzalez
speakssoftly, w
itha
marked
Spanishaccent,
andI
haveto
listen
closely.“E
rnieused
tosay
youhave
tospeak
loud,from
your
stomach.
I’dsay,
‘I’msorry,
I’mnot
thatw
ay.Y
outake
me
the
way
Iam
!’”C
ortessaidhe
was
lookingfor
comm
unityleaders.
Mrs.
Gonzalez
protestedthat
shew
asnot
aleader.
Itshow
sthe
problems
with
thenorm
aldefinitions.
For
many
yearsshe
hadbeen
activein
herparish
andin
the
school’sPT
A.
Even
when
herchildren
hadgone
onto
second
aryschool,
shecontinued
tow
orkon
theschool’s
problems
becauseshe
remem
beredthe
migrant
Mexican
childrenw
hen
shew
asa
younggirl
andhow
badtheir
educationhad
beei.
In
herow
nneighborhood,
too,the
schoolsw
erein
terribleshape.
“They
puttrash
canson
thetables
when
itrained
tocatch
the
leaks. The
teachersw
ouldget
tinglingsensations
fromtouching
therefrigerator.
The
urinalsw
ereleaking.
The
bencheson
the
playgroundw
erebroken
with
pipessticking
out.”A
san
officer
inthe
PTA
, sheregularly
askedschool officials
todo
something.
Finally,she
askedfor
acopy
ofthe
requisitionfor
repairs.T
he
principalof
theschool
couldnot
produceone.
Soeven
though
shedoubted
shew
asthe
sort of “leader”that
Cortes
was
looking
forin
thenew
organization, herfrustrations
with
school officials
ledto
involvement.
“When
Iw
entto
them
eetings,it
was
what
Iw
anted,”G
onzalezexplains
“Ifelt
thisw
asa
way
ofputting
my
faithinto
action.”
The
fusionof
work
onspecific
issuesw
ithdiscussion
offaith
andother
valuesgave
adistinctive, pow
erful cast toC
OPS
from
thebeginning.
“We’d
talkabout
what
valuescom
efrom
our
families
andour
faith,”G
onzalezdescribes.
“Love,
caring.
Then
we’d
talkabout
thepressures
onthe
families
nowadays.
• Drugs.
The
media.
Peer
pressure.A
lcoholism.
And
we’d
talk
abouthow
thechurch
shouldrespond.”
Igot
am
oredetailed
sense.ofthe
sortof
discussionshe
had
experiencedfrom
atraining
workshop
thatC
ortescom
iucted
forleaders
ofcom
munity
organizationsaround
thedduntry.
Cortes
drewa
diagramon
theblackboard.
Inthe
middle
was
a
circlerepresenting
people’s“prim
aryrelations”—
frieti’dsand,
aboveall,
family—
throughw
hichm
ostpeople
learnthe
basic
lesspnsabout
relationships,,reciprocity,
nurturance,identity,
habits,w
ork,personal
roots.H
ecalled
thesethe
“foundation
experiences,”w
hichpeople
sharebeyond
differencesIn. race,
ethnicity, sex,andso
forth. Then
hem
adetw
oadditionaL
joints.
Inthe
firstplace,accordingto
Cortes, the
fanily
cannot’beseen
as“everything.”
People’sprivate
livescannot
existonly
for
theirow
nsakes.
“Ithink
thereis
onlyone
sin,”he
comm
ented.
“The
sinof idolatry.
What
the‘M
oralM
ajority’does
ism
akean
idolout
ofthe
conceptof
family.”
Second,
people’sactivities
inthe
broaderw
orldhave
tobe
anchoredin
aprivate
life.E
dC
hambers
explainedto
ruelater
that inhis
viewthe
personallivesof organizers
themselves
have
oftenbeen
slightedor
ignoredin
thecom
munity-organizing
tradition,w
ithinjury
bothto
themselves
andto
theconim
unity
groupas
aresult.
Cortes
maintained
thatif
thepublic
world
/
“doesnot
existfor
theprivate”
asw
ell,totalitarianism
isthe
outcome.
“There
must
bea
constanttension
invalues
between
publicand
private.”
Surrounding
thecircle
offam
ily,he
drewother
circlesto
representw
hathe
called“m
ediatinginstitutions,”
aconcept
drawn
fromthe
work
ofsocial
theoristslike
Peter
Berger
and
JohnN
ewhaus.
Mediating
institutionsare
voluntarygroups,
neighborhoodorganizations,
and,in
theM
exicancom
munity,
especiallythe
church.If
properlyunderstood,
theynourish,
support, andem
power
people’sprim
aryrelations, linking
them
tothe
broaderw
orld.
Big
government
hasoften
beenseen
asthe
enemy
ofsuch
“mediating
institutions.”C
ortes,too,
sawan
intrusivegpvern
ment
andunresponsive
bureaucraciesas
undermining
iedia
t
ingstructures.
But
heinvited
thegroup
tolist
otherpressures
Em
powerm
ent139
138C
OM
MU
NIT
YIS
PO
SS
IBL
E
onprim
aryrelations
andm
ediatinginstitutions
andw
rote
down
am
uchlonger
listas
well:
economic
forceslike
inflation
andunem
ployment;
culturalinfluences
likeT
V;
drugs;lack
of
daycare;
comm
unityproblem
ssuch
ascrim
e,.redlining
by
lendinginstitutions, and
urbanrenew
aLD
ifferingfrom
theem
phasisof
conservativesocial
theorists,C
ortestraced
suchp
res
suresprim
arilyto
thefunctioning
oflarge
corporatein
stitu
tions.H
em
aintainedthat
corporationsdom
inateour
society,
controllingvast
sums
ofm
oney,com
munications
systems,
and
hugepolitical
resources.In
the1970s,
most
people’sresponse
• tothe
pressureson
families
andm
ediatinginstitutions
was
with-.
dra
wa1
intoprivate
life.H
esuggested
that
sucha
strategyw
as
\“idiocy”
inthe
classicG
reekm
eaningof
thew
ord—the
inab
il
1JtYto
functionin
apublic
life.
Finally,
Cortes
dividedthe
blackboardinto
two
columns.
On
eachside
were
tobe
clustersof values, or
what he
called“guides
toaction.”
On
thefiist
side,he
askedthe
audienceto
listthe
,i,,“w
aysof
thew
orld”—tbe
valuesm
ostprized
inthe
corporate
Vsystem
andlarge
bureaucracy.“D
oyour
own
thing,”“L
ookout
fornum
berone,”
“Never
givea
suckeran
evenbreak,”
“Ifit
feelsgood,
doit,”
andso
forthform
edthe
list.T
hosevalues, he
argued,w
erew
hatthe
corporatesystem
makes
operational—
most
effectivein
achieving,results.
On
theother
sidew
ere
valuesthat
groupslike
CO
PSbelieve
arethe
foundationof
citizenorganization,
valuesC
ortestraced
toJudeo.C
hristian
andA
merican
democratic
traditions:cooperation;
particip
a
tion; integrityof
thew
holeperson;
freeexpression;
concernfor
others;reciprocity;
respectfor
thepast;
love;concern
forthe
weak; justice.
What
citizenorganizing
accomplishes
if itis
suc
cessful inem
powering
comm
unitiesaccording
totheir
bestv
al
ues,he
concluded,is
tom
akeoperational
thoseas
thealtern
a
tive.A
tthe
end,people
crowded
around,talking
excitedly:
blackw
elfarem
othersfrom
New
York,
white
hardhats
from
Houston,
priestsfrom
Los
Angeles—
forthem
all,it
was
plain,
thediscussion
touchea. adeep
chord.
InSan
Antonio,
theconnection
ofbasic
issuesof
imm
ediate
concernto
people,M
exicanand
Am
ericantraditions,
andthe
extensivegrounding
invalues
producedsom
eam
using. mo
ments
earlyin
CO
PShistory.
“Once
we
were
accusedofe
thg
Com
munist,”
Sarabia
remem
bers.“T
hisfellow
talked.about
Alinsky
andcom
munism
.I
toldhim
thatI’d
neverm
etM
insky.‘W
hydon’t
youw
orryaboutJefferson
andthose
guys?T
hey’rethe
onesw
how
rotethe
basicsfor
thisstuff.’
“Th
ecom
binationalso
calledforth
tremendous
responsefrom
thousandsofo
ple
who
hadnever
beforeexperienced
success.G
eorgeO
zuna,now
twenty-six
andan
arealeader
ofC
OPS,
was
seventeenw
henhis
grandmother
tookhim
toonef
theorganization’s
first‘actions,”
alarge-scale
protestin
classicA
linskystyle
heldat
thelargest
department
storedow
ntown,
Joske’s.While
severalhundred
Mexican
Am
ericansslow
lytried
onclothes,
carefullytook
themoff,
andput
themback
onthe
slelves,store
officialsrushed
aroundin
consternation.A
dele
gationw
entup
totry
tom
eet with
thehead
ofthe
store, whose
helpthey
plannedto
seekin
settingup
am
eetingw
iththe
businesscom
munity,
thoseC
OPS
consideredto
bethe-.”real
leaders”of
SanA
ntonio.(“W
ew
erenaïve
inthose
days,”S
arabialaughs.
“We
thoughtthey
would
meet
with
usbecause
Mexicans
hadrun
upso
much
creditat
thestore!”)
From
theperspective
ofa
high-schoolstudent,
theevent
seemed
mainly
bewildering.
“When
we
gotdow
ntown,
Isaw
some
kindof
demonstration,”
Ozuna
recalls.“So
Itold
my
grandmother
thatw
e’dhave
tow
alkaround.
Shesaid,‘O
h, no.’It
turnedout
shew
aspart
ofthe
whole
thing.”G
eorgecontinues,
recountingthe
eventwith
pleasure.“P
eopie
startedputting
onclothes.
SoI
said,‘T
hisis
agood
price.L
et’sbuy
it.’She
said,‘N
o, we’re
notgoingto
buyanything.
We
want
tosee
theireyes.’
Their
reactions,”G
eorgeexplains,
“shew
antedto
seetheir
reactions.”H
estops
andhis
voicelàw
ers.“Y
ouknow
, I’venever
toldthis
storybefore
aboutmy
grandma.
‘When
we
came
backfrom
thataction,
Iasked
my
grh
dm
asom
equestions.
Shew
asgetting
some
oppositionin
theie
igh
borhoodbecause
ofC
OPS,
andI
said,‘Is
itw
orthit?
Why
areyou
doingthis?’”
Ozuna
shakeshis
head.“She
toldm
e,‘I’m
doingthis
becausew
e’rew
inning.Y
ourgrandfather
andIa
me
fromM
exicoto
tryto
buildsom
ething.B
utw
ew
ere1psers.
140C
OM
MU
NIT
Yis
PO
SS
IBL
E
There
were
thingsthat
always
worked
tokeep
usdow
n.In
Mexico,
itw
asthe
government
takingaw
ayour
animals
and
chickens.In
was
povertyagain.
Grandfather
working
atF
ine
Silverw
ithno
union.A
ll my
lifeI’ve
worked
veryhard
tow
in,
tofind
something
where
you’rereally
winning.
We’ve
always
lost.N
owI’m
winning.
We’re
winning.
And
we
havea
say-soin
what’s
goingon.
And
we’re
goingto
havem
oreof
asay-so.’”
During
my
stayin
SanA
ntonio,I
heardm
anystories
suchas
George
Ozuna’s. T
enyears
before,it w
asas
ifa
quietpeople
on
them
arginssuddenly
walked
offthe
pagesof tourist brochures
where
theyhad
been“background
color,”and
outof the
cham
ber-of-comm
erceprom
otionalsw
herethey
were
describedas
a
“cheaplabor
force.”T
hecity
didnot
quiteknow
what
was
happening.
“Do
Cooders
Becom
eD
o-era,”ran
theheadline
fora
column
bya
localreporter,
underthe
byline“D
onP
olitico.”C
OPS’s
firstannual
conventionw
asheld
inthe
auditoriumof Jefferson
High
Schoolon
Novem
ber23,
1974.O
ver1,000
delegates
jamm
edthe
auditorium,
adoptinga
constitution,a
planfor
seeking$100
million
incity
improvem
entsin
sidewalks, streets,
libraries,parks,
andother
items,
andstrategies
forfighting
problems
suchas
airpollution.
“CO
PS
didnot
simply
grow;
it
explodedon
thescene
lastJuly
aftera
floodw
hichdevastated
West Side
homes
forthe
umpteenth
time,”
wrote
Don
Politico.
Tracing
thevictories
thatthe
organizationhad
beenable
to
achievein
itsbrief
history—a
$46-million
drainagebond,
an-
other$8
million
inneighborhood
improvem
ents—P
olitico
went
onto
saythat
“CO
PSdidn’t
disappearw
iththe
receding
of thefloodw
aters,”despite
many
peoples’predictions.
“It isan
organizationof
organizations,”he
said,w
hichgave
ita
certain
solidity:“parish
clubs,church
societies,parents’
groups,youth
clubs,senior
citizengroups,
neighborhoodassociations
and
blockclubs—
andany
othersinterested
inseeing
‘nonviolent
changefor
thebetterm
ent
oftheir
neglectedneighborhoods,’”
hequoted
onem
ember
assaying.
He
notedthe
apparenteffec
tivenessof
CO
PStactics—
the“controlled
anger”of
the
“slightlyunruly
groups”that had
become
comm
onat city
coun
Em
powerm
ent141
ciimeetings—
andhe
speculatedthat
thegroup
“won’t go
away
soon.”
9
“We
gota
reputationfor
confrontationin
thebeginning,”
explainedA
ndresSarabia,
electedthe
firstpresident
ofC
OPS.
“But
thatw
asn’tm
e.I
would
havedone
thingsw
ithsugar.
We
learned.”H
eillustrated
thepointw
itha
storyofan
eailym
eet
ingw
iththe
citycouncil,
when
CO
PSdelegates
plannedto
make
apresentation
suggestingthat
utilities’excess
charges,
ruleda
“windfall”
bytbe
Utility
Com
mission,
shouldbe
re
turnedto
theconsum
ers. “Iw
entup
tothe
podium. T
hem
ayor
said,‘W
hatdoyou
want?’
Isaid
Iw
antedto
speakto
them
otion
onthe
floor,w
hichw
ouldput
thew
indfall intothe
citybudget,
notretu
rnit.
He
said,‘W
aitjusta
minute.’
Then
heproceeded
totake
am
otionand
vote,H
eturned
andsaid
tom
e,‘W
hatdid
youw
antto
say?’ We
were
stunned.”S
arabiastill com
municates
amazem
ent.“F
romthat
pointon,
whenever
we
gotto
that
podium,
we
startedtalking.
They
couldsay
we
were
outof
orderor
whatever
thehell
theyw
anted.T
heytaught
us,”
To
anoutside
observer,such
meetings
may
have.seemed
spontaneousand
“slightlyunruly,”
atthe
least.B
utbehind
the
eventsw
erew
eeksof
planning,discussion,
research,an
drole
playingthat
taughtpeople
toexpress
themselves
ina
neww
ay,
simultaneously
articulatingand
controllingtheir
buriedanger.
For
peoplelike
JanieG
onzalez, expressinganger
was
extrao
r
dinarilydifficult.
“We’d
beentrained
tobe
polite,to
syplease
andthank
you,”as
sheput
it.O
ras
Sarabiaexplained,
“The
ethosw
asw
orkw
ithinthe
system.
The
schoolsand
ven
the
churchto
some
extenttold
usthat.
They
would
sayyou
were
supposedto
fightinjustice,
butnever
how.”
Workshops
addressedthe
issueof
anger,draw
ingon
biblical
examples
toshow
howsuch
afeeling
couldbe
expressedin
a
positiveand
“controlled”w
ay.Sonia
Hernandez
illustratedthe
sortof
questionsshe
asksin
trainingnew
groups.“W
henw
as
Christ
reallyangry?
When
hefound
theden
ofth
ieèsin
the
temple, he
didn’t askthem
politelyto
leave.He
threwthem
out
becausethe
peoplew
hocam
ehad
verylittle
means.
They
were
forcedto
thinkthey
hadto
payto
usethe
temple.
We
talkabout
142C
OM
MU
NIT
YIS
PO
SS
IBL
EE
mpow
erment..
143
howC
hrist was
notm
eekand
mild,
buta
man
with
realem
o
tions,a
man
who
would
challenge.If
angeris
repressed,it
can
bedangerous
anddestructive’
JanieG
onzalezsoon
hadan
opportunityto
testthe
sortof
assertivenessdiscussed
inthe
workshops.
With
othersin
her
parishand
PTA
,she
organizeda
meeting
with
thesu
perin
ten
dentof schools
inher
districtto
talkabout
theneed
forrepairs.
When
them
angot there,be
founda
largegroup
of parents,and
alsothe
media,
takingpictures.
“The
ladyw
how
assupposed
to
speakfor
usfroze,”
Gonzales
recounted,“She
was
afraidbe
causeher
childrenw
erein
school andthe
principalhad
threat
enedthem
. SoI
tookover.”
It brought results.“T
hisw
asF
riday,
Labor
Day
weekend.
The
nextT
uesday,the
repairmen
were
outtherel”
Values
andem
otionsw
ereim
portantthem
esin
theinitial
workshops. Im
portant,too, w
aseducation
aboutthe
simple
nuts
andbolts
oforganizing.
Sucheducation,
likethe
otherdiscus
siontopics, w
asextraordinarily
rarein
thetraditional com
muni
ty-organizingapproach.
Inrhetoric,
therole
ofthe
“comm
unityorganizer”
hasbeen
classicallyposed
as“organizing
oneselfout
ofone’s
position.”
The
notionheld
thatthe
organizeris
catalystand
facilitatorfor
comm
unitiesgetting
themselves
together;after
trainingco
m
munity
leadersto
takeon
more
andm
oreresponsibility,
the
organizerfinally
leavesthe
scene. The
realityis
oftendifferent.
For m
any, perhapsm
ost, comm
unitygroups, the
paidorganizer
isthe
centralactor.
He—
or,rarely,
she—does
thefundraising,
knows
thew
holecom
munity,
hashad
experienceand
training
inhow
toanalyze
issues,chair
meetings,
dealw
iththe
press,
thinkthrough
strategiesthat
arethe
lifebloodof practical p
rob
lem-solving.
Often
suchskills
arecom
plemented
incitizen
or
ganizingby
differencesin
classbackground
andeducation:
Col
lege-educatedyoung
people,com
ingin
fromthe
outsideto
“organizethe
people,”m
ayw
ell displacelocal leadership, w
ith
outbeing
consciousof
theprocess.
Moreover,
theinform
alideology
ofcom
munity
organizing
traditionallytended
toreinforce
them
ythof
theorganizer’s
differencefrom
thepeople
hew
orkedw
ith.A
sC
hambers
put
it,the
traditionalorganizer
hada
“have-gun-wiil-traveL
style,”im
agerysuggesting
aL
oneR
angercharacter
withoutpersonal
needsor
concerns,coming
into
rescuethe
poorand
downtrod
den. Training
proceduresalso
reinforcedsuch
myths. “T
hem
istake
of thepast w
asthatw
etrained
theorganizers
butwe
nevertook
time
totrain
theleaders,”
hecontinued.
But
inth
T7O
s,IA
F-conneoted
organizationssuch
asC
OPS
beganto
takethe
time. “O
uriron
ruleof organizing
nowis
thatyou
neverdo
anythingfor
peoplethat
theycan
dofor
them
selves,”said
Cham
bers. InSan
Antonio
suchan
approachm
eant
thatCortes
conducteddozens
oftrainingw
orkshopson
subjectslike
doingresearch,
chairingm
eetings,keeping
leadershipac
countable, dealingw
iththe
press,breakingdow
nproblem
sinto
manageable
parts,and
soforth.
Iarrived
inSan
Antonio
when
CO
PSw
ashosting
am
eeting
toplan
astatew
idecam
paignon
education.T
heorganization
theprevious
yearhad
drawn
upa
Texas-w
ideplan
withiplanks
suchas
increasedaid
forschool
districtsw
ithlow
student
achievement
scores,state
money
tohelp
schoolscope
with
imm
igrantstudents,
andincreased
fundsfor
bilingualeducation.
Anum
berof
organizingefforts
around,the
state,m
odeledon
CO
PS,had
alsobacked
theplan,
andthe
Dem
ocraticguber
natorialcandidate
hadpledged
hissupport,
following
upw
ith
arenew
edpledge
afterthe
election.B
utbefore
theeducation
effortw
asever
formulated, extensive
discussionshad
ojcurred
ineach
parishof the
organization. People
hadreflected
enw
hat
schoolsw
erelike
inbiblical
times.
They
hadlooked-at
howschools
hadchanged;and
theneeds
ofpoor
peoplefor
educa
tiontoday.
Through
suchdiscussions,
peoplehad
gainedde
tailedknow
ledgeof
theeducational
systemand
itsproblem
s—
andthe
organizationhad
developeda
richrepertoire
of stories
that would
laterbe
of usein
takingthe
caseto
thepubli
“One
gentlemen
inone
ofour
discussionssaid
thatthe
greattrial
of
hislife
isthat
behas
threechildren
who
graduatedfrom
high
school,”Sonia
Hernandez
described,“but
nonecould
fillout
a
jobapplication
therightw
ay.He
passedaw
ay, butwe
oftenuse
hisstory
forreflection.”
Behind
suchdiscussions,
moreover,
isa
particularapproach
144C
OM
MU
NIT
YIS
PO
SS
IBL
E
Em
powerm
ent145
tothe
organization’sm
embership
thatoffers
anotherclue
toits
great
strength
.“W
enev
ertalk
aboutpeople
interm
sof
‘masses,’
“Hern
andez
explained.“W
edon’t
thinicin
terms
sim
plyofgetting
out numbers
ofpeople.E
achis
anindividual,
and
youaddress
peopleas
individuals.Y
oum
akesure
eachperson
hasan
understandingof w
hatw
eare
goingto
doand
why,
and
what
theirrole
is.”
Treating
eachm
ember
asan
individual,capable
ofm
akinga
contribution,soon
generatedthe
reputationthat
theorganiza
tionw
asam
azinglyw
ellprepared.
As
reporterP
aulB
urkeput
itinthe
Texa.sM
onthly,it soon
became
apparentthat
theC
OPS
rankand
fileknew
more
aboutthe
issuesthan
didsupposedly
expertpublic
officials:“T
heauthorities
weren’t
sosm
artafter
all.”E
venregular
adversariesofC
OPS, like
bankerT
omF
rost,
asym
bolof
thecity’s
power
structure,developed
admiration
forthe
group.“T
hey’regood
forthe
city,”as
heput
it.D
evel
operJim
Dernent
accusedC
OPS
of“fostering
hatrecL”
But
he
alsow
elcomed
itspresence.
“There’s
more
hopeand
conversa
tionin
thistow
nthan
ina
hundredyears..
. This
isa
town
where
youcan
havenothing
andbe
somebody.
Now
don’ttell
me
CO
PSis
bad,”M
eanwhile,
fromthe
insideof
theorganiza
tion,C
OPS
seemed
aneducationalprocess
allitsow
n.“It’s
like
auniversity
where
peoplego
toschool
tolearn
aboutpublic
policy,to
learnabout
publicdiscourse,
tolearn
aboutpublic
life,”described
Cortes.’°
Successeson
issuessuch
asthe
drainageditches
andneig
hbor
hoodim
provements
were
important.
But
acentral
problem
remained;
howto
changethe
broaderpatterns
of development
inthe
citythat
were
more
andm
oretransferring
resources,
schools,services,and
jobsto
theN
orthSide
suburbs,aw
ayfrom
inner-cityand
poorercom
munities.
The
organizationdev
el
opeda
“counterbudget”plan
forthe
city’sdevelopm
ent,op
posedto
citygovernm
ent’splans,
which
favoredthe
suburban
areas.B
utthey
remained
thwarted
bya
business-orientedcity
councilm
ajority,and
thecorporate
comm
unityin
SanA
ntonio
formed
anorganization,
theB
usinessand
IndustrialP
olitical
Action
Com
mittee,
in1976
toensure
theircontinued
clout.
The
stagew
asset
forC
OPS’s
interventionin
thepolitical
processitself,
indirect
challengeto
thecity’s
most
powerful
interests.
“CO
PSL
eaderL
ashesN
ewP
oliticalG
roup,”read
thehead
linein
theS
anA
ntonioL
ight.“S
ome
5,000m
embers
ofC
om
munities
Organized
forP
ublicS
erviceelected
anew
president
Sunday.She
imm
ediatelyattacked
anew
lyform
edbusiness
politicalaction
group.”T
hearticle
continued,conveying
a
senseof
apolarizing
comm
unity:“R
etiringpresident
Andres
Sarabia
alsolashed
outat
thebusiness
gro
up:.
. ‘Who
isgoing
toelect
thenext
citycouncil?
Willit be
thepow
erofm
oneyor
thepow
erof
people?’he
askedthe
thirdconvention.”
From
theeditorial
pagesof
theother
daily,’theSan
Antonio
New
s,cam
esim
ilarlyalarm
isttones.N
otingthat
theora
niz
a
tionhad
won
anum
berof
recentvictories—
defeatof
a.’super
shoppingm
all”over
thecity’s
water
supply,a
projectthat
CO
PSand
environmentalists
hadjoined
inopposing;
and
changesin
cityzoning
toencourage
inner-citydevelopm
ent—
theeditorial
lauded“participatory
democracy”
butprotested
that“C
OPS’s
disruptivem
eetingtactics
havebecom
epred
icta
ble,tiresom
eand
increasinglyunnecessa
ry..,.”
Itaccused
CO
PSof
“creatingdevils
tobe
attackedfor
thebenefit
ofthe
The
relationbetw
eencom
munity
organizationsand
elections
haslong
beenfraught
with
controversy.C
omm
unitygroups
in
them
ainhave
shiedaw
ayfrom
electioncam
paignsfor
anuni
berof
reasons.O
nthe
onehand,
thenature
ofthe
election
process—putting
aprem
iumon
politicians’personalities
and
public-relations“packaging”—
seems
afar
cryfrom
theco
n
cernsw
ithorganization-building
andem
powerm
entat
the
heartof
comm
unityefforts.
On
theother
hand,com
munity
groups,focused
onbuilding
theinner
resourcesand
unityof
theirareas,have
beenfearfulthat
involvementin
normal
“poli
tics”w
ouldsplinter
theirm
embership
andengage
themin
issuesnot
imm
ediatelyrelevant
totheir
goals.C
OPS
began
with
sucha
premise.
“Pressure
isour
weapon
andw
eh’ave
to
havethe
abilityto
applypressure
equallyto
everyone,”ex
146C
OM
MU
NIT
YIS
PO
SS
iBL
E
plainedone
leaderat
thefirst
convention.“If
oneof our
mem
bersis
thlnldngof running
foroffice, he
will be
askedto
resign..
We
will never
divideor dilute
our numbers
byendorsing
partic
ularcandidates, butw
ew
ill holdallelected
officialsresponsible
fortheir
actions.W
ew
illbe
theconscience
ofpublic
serv
ants.”’-C
OPS
made
asingle, pivotal
departurefrom
sucha
policyin
thespring
of 1977. Having
won
districteldctionsfor
citycouncil
—a
changefrom
theat-large
electionsthat
inthe
pasthad
meant
anoverw
helmingly
white
andbusiness-oriented
city
- councilm
ajority—it
decidedto
work
fora
councilm
ajority
pledgedto
supportthe
organization’scounterbudget.
Itin
ter
viewed
allthe
candidatesfor
citycouncil
andendorsed
those
who
made
firmcom
mitm
ents,W
ithits
enormous
base,the
or
ganizationw
asable
toregister
more
than18,000
newvoters.
It
mobilized
andeducated
tensof
thousandsm
ore.In
theelec
tion,every
CO
PS
-backedcandidate
won,
andseveral
politi
ciansw
hohad
stronglycham
pionedthe
organization,such
as
Henry
Cisneros,
gainedconsiderable
visibility.
Yet
theorganization
drewback
fromsuch
activityin
the
future.“W
ebecam
econcerned
not totie
ourselvesto
anypoliti
cian’scareer,”
Father
Albert B
enavidesexplained.F
utureelec
toralw
orkw
ouldbe
more
indirect:education
among
voters
aboutwhat politicians’
positionsw
ereon
crucialissuesand
how
theym
ight reactto
forthcoming
controversies.T
hecontinuing
expansionof the
organization’spoliticalpow
ergave
formal
tes
tinionyto
thecontinuing
effectivenessof
CO
PS’sapproach.
Governor-elect
Mark
White,
forinstance,
afterpledging
his
supportfor
theC
OPS
educationplan
inthe
1982election, paid
hisfirst
postelectionvisit
tothe
organization’sconvention,
pledgingagain
hissupport.
Behind
organizationalfearsof directelectoralactivity
andits
continuingcapacity
forhaving
political impact,
CO
PShad
been
evolvinga
positiveunderstanding
of itselfas
a“political”
alter
nativeto
“politicsas
usual”in
Am
erica,com
biningseveralp
rin
ciplesin
adistinctive
blendof
grass-rootsdem
ocracy.ona
con
tinuingbasis.
V
Independence.A
tthe
firstconvention,
parishesand
comm
u
Em
powerm
ent147
nitygroups
affiliatingw
ithC
OPS
paiddues
amounting
to$11,000,
supplemented
with
fundsfrom
agrant
bythe
Cam
paignfor
Hum
anD
evelopment,
thecom
munity
justiceäIm
ofthe
Catholic
Bishops.
By
1977,dues
broughtin
$46,009.T
helarger
parishespaid
$2,000a
year,w
hilesm
alllocal
neighborhood
organizationspaid
from$250
to$500
tojoin.T
herin
ain
derof
the$109,000
annualbudget
was
raisedthrough
salesfor
V anad
book.E
vensom
eof
theorganization’s
most
intransigent
opponentson
localissues
paidfor
ads,and
revenuesam
inte
dto
$63,0
00.
Behind
suchinternally
generatedfunding
was
asp
ecifiprin
ciple:C
omm
unitygroups
thatlookm
ainlyto
outsidesourcesfor
theirfunds
suffera
lossof
independence.E
quallydam
aging,the
mem
bershiploses
itssense
of“ow
nership”in
theorganiza..
tionover
time.
Cham
bersdiscussed
theIA
Fphilosophy
aboutthe
financialbaseof“value
organizations”:“Socialchange
isnotsom
ekind
ofabstraction
thathappens
outthere.
Ithapp,ns
topeople.
And
thefirstingredient
ofanorganization
ism
oney.If
theydon’t
paydues,
theydon’t
own
it.W
hatis
valuableand
important
toyou,
youpay
for.”Such
anapproach
meant
forC
OPS
certainspecific
pohib
itions:
The
organizationdid
notseek
fundsfrom
anygovern
ment
orfoundation
orcorporate
agency,forexam
ple.Itm
eantalso
anappealto
theself-interestofcom
munity
institutionslike
V
thechurch.A
sSarabia
explained,churchesneeded
anorganiza
tionlike
CO
PSfor
them
ostobviou5
ofreasons:“iftheneighbor-
Vhood
dies,the
churchdies.
Then
there’snobody
toput
money
inthe
collectionplate
onSunday.”
From
thebeginning,
theorganizing
efforthad
enjoyedthe
supportof
theleadership
ofthe
archdiocese,such
asB
ishopFlores—
akey
ingredientin
itssuccess.
Acom
binationVof
appealto
directseW
-interest
andbroader
purposessigned
up
many
parishesas
well.T
husF
atherD
anH
ennessey,an
earlyC
OPS
vice-president,argue&
tohis
fellowpriests
that
itdid
not
make
sense
to
pay
thousands
of
dollars
ayear
for
insurance
on
theirbuildings
andnot
p,y
$2,-000
duesto
anorganization
thatw
ouldbe
more
effectivein
creatingstability.B
y1977,thirty-five
parisheshad
join
ed2
alongw
ithcom
munity
andother
gro
ups.
14
I
148C
OM
MU
NIT
YIS
PO
SS
IBL
E
Particip
atory
Dem
ocracy.E
venthe
bestand
most
vitalof
comm
unitygroups, in
theopinion
of CO
PSleaders
andorganiz
erslike
SisterC
hristineS
tephens,can
become
stagnant,paro
chial,and
inbredover
time.
Thus
theorganization
hasalso
stressedfrom
thebeginning
thedevelopm
entof
newlead
er
ship.E
verylocal
isfree
totake
onlocal
neighborhoodissues
it
chooses.O
nlarger
issues,it
canask
foraid
fromthe
whole
organization.A
tevery
level,leadership
iselected,
with
acen
tralexecutive
comm
itteem
eetingtw
icea
month—
oncefor
specificbusiness
andonce
for,more
reflective,strategic
discus
sionsor
training.E
achyear
beforethe
annualconvention,
the
fourareas
holdregional
conventionsat
which
delegatesfrom
participatinggroups
choosetheir
own
priorities,select
their
own
areavice-presidents,
andm
akeplans
forpresentations
to
theconvention
asa
whole.
Finally,the
organizationhas
strictly
adheredto
itsprinciples
thattop
leadersand
staffdirectors
alikem
ust regularlychange.
Cortes
left in1977
forLos
Angeles;
henow
works
inthe
Rio
Crande
Valley.
Hernandez
isthe
fifth
CO
PSpresident.
When
SisterC
hristinedescribed
oneparish
where
shehad
helpedorganize
aninfusion
of newleadership,
Cortes
usedthe
storyto
pointout
theneed
forconstant
change.“i
couldnever
havedone
that,”he
argued.“I
would
havebeen
tooattracted
tothe
oldleadership
whom
Iknow
, who
hadbuilt
theorganiza
tionin
thebeginning.
Inone
sense,all
organizingis
reorg
aniz
ing.T
herehas
tobe
thatability
togo
inand
shakethings
up.”
inan
organizationw
iththe
sizeand
power
ofC
OPS,
itis
remarkable
howm
anysurprises
“shakethings
up.”Sonia
Her
nandez,for
instance,the
newpresident,
brokea
previouspat
ternthat presidents
ofC
OPS
came
fromth
ranksof executive
vice-presidents.She
hadbeen
secretaryof
theorganization,
chairingthe
organizationalcom
mittee
thatopposed
theS
outh
Texas
Nuclear
Pow
erP
roject,a
campaign
thathad
proved
oftendram
atic.O
new
eekw
henseveral
otherleaders
hadbeen
outof
town,
shehad
hadto
stepinto
theirroles
onother
issues
when
publiccontroversy
brokeout.
“At
thatpoint
Istarted
thinkingabout running
forpresident,”
shesaid.
“At the
conven
tion,w
egot
ina
whole
newslate
ofleaders.
Ifyou’re
pred
icta
Em
pow
erm
ent
149
ble,there’s
something
wrong.”
From
Hernandez’s
pin
tof
view,
theorganization
hasboth
continuityand
differenc’èsw
ith
thepast.
“To
outward
appearances,this
isthe
same
organiza
tion: We’re
still talkingabout culture
andvalues, and
theim
por
tanceof
comm
unitylife.
But
ifyou
lookw
ithin,you’ll
alsosee
aw
holenew
setof
leadership,learning
fromthose
who
went
beforebut also
making
historyin
anew
way. It’s
as ifth
.grg
ani
zatic)nshed
anold
skin,and
sureenough,
thereis
abeautiful
newskin
there.”C
omm
unityR
enewal,
Inclassic
comm
unityorganizing,even
•the
most
effectiveand
large-scalegroups
tendedto
atrophy
afterfive
yearsor
so. In1977
and1978,00P
Sleaders
alsobegan
tow
onderhow
theorganization
would
stayvibrant and
respon
sive.“F
rankly,”adm
itsC
ortes,“w
eknew
we
couldn’tkeep
parishesinvolved
onlyon
publicissues.”
New
leadersw
ereim
portant,as
was
therich
valuediscussion
inthe
organization.B
ut theexperiences
ofsome
parishesin
San
Antonio,
andC
ortes’sw
orkin
Los
Angeles
ina
newgroup,
United
Neighborhood
Organizations, suggested
otherelem
ents
asw
ell.In
SaintT
imothy’s
church,for
instance, newcatechisrns
con
nectedbiblicaland
Mexican
historical andcultural
themes
with
thecurrent
issuesC
OPS
was
working
on.T
heresults
had
•proved
verypositive:
People’sinterest
inthe
church
-educa
tionalprogram
markedly
increased.T
henthe
church.added
music
asw
ell,F
atherB
enavides,the
pastor,said,
“Iw
as”toldat
thebeginning
thatthere
were
nom
usicians...[but]
Ifeltevery
•com
munity
hasits
artistsjust like
everycom
munity
hasits
lead
ers.T
hetrick
isto
findthem
.”W
henthe
parishissueçI
acall
fora
choir,forty
peoplevolunteered,
toeveryone’s
s’U’rprise.
“The
resultsw
ereincredible.
People
respondedto
thtc•music
•in
atotal,
exuberantw
ay,and
ourliturgies
were
imuaensely
improved.
People
appreciatedhearing
andsinging
songs
•that
carriedgood
messages
andsounded
goodas
well.”
Other
elements
were
included.E
achm
onthcouples
celebrating
theiranniversaries
stoodand
receivedrecognition.
“Never
•before
badall
ofthis
beenbrought
together,”B
enavides
observed.“It
was
asif
what
we
reflectedon
andcelebrated
IV
hi
Em
powerm
ent—151
150C
OM
MU
NIT
YIS
PO
SS
IBL
E
reachedinto
thesoul
ofthe
peopleand
touchedth
em
.”5
V
From
suchexperiences, the
organizationdeveloped
anongo
ingprocess
ofcom
munity
andparish
renewal.
Organization
leaders—no
longerm
ainlystaff—
would
beginw
itha
program
ofvalue
discussionand
trainingfor
theleadership
ofa
parish,
forinstance.
They
would
trainthe
parishleaders
ininterview
ingtechniques—
howto
listen,how
toelicit
people’strue
con
cerns.T
henthe
localleaders
would
interviewresidents
inthe
• surroundingarea,
whether
activem
embers
ofthe
churchor
not.The
whole
processw
ouldculm
inatein
aparish
convention.
The
totallife
ofthe
areaw
ouldbe
recognizedand
celebrated
• —the
differentchurch
societies, elderlygroups,
girls’and
.boys’
organizations,and
soforth—
andthe
meeting
would
develop
prioritiesfor
thecom
ingyear,
oftenin
afestive
spirit.
Hern
andez
describ
edone
process,in
anew
parishthat
had
recentlyjoined
CO
PS.P
eoplebegan
with
valuereflection
and
theologicaldiscussion,
beforeany
action.“F
orseniors,
forin
stance,the
concernw
asw
ithbeing
leftalone.”
The
seniors
tracedsuch
aproblem
tobroader
ones.“T
heysee
theM
exican
culturebeing
watered
down.
Kids
don’tspeak
Spanishan
y
more.
There
ism
oneypressure,
television,pressures
onper
sonalrelations.”
When
Hernandez
challengedp
eo
ple
.about
whatthey
coulddo, how
ever,they
were
initiallyhopeless.
“We
can’tdo
anything.It’s
Madison
Avenue
doingit
tous.”
One
wom
an,how
ever,w
hohad
beena
leaderin
afam
ouspecan
workers
strikein
the193
Os, broughtnewspaper
clippingsof the
marches
anda
photoof
herselfcarrying
asign.
“Shesaid,
‘We
usedto
dothis.
We
were
fightersa
longtim
eago.
We
cando
something
now.’
That
createda
spark.P
eoplesaid,
‘You
know,
you’reright.’
They
would
remem
berthe
neighborhoodhistory,
theirold
Germ
anneighbors,
howdifferent
pastorsand
nuns
behaved.A
ndthey
said,‘it’s
abouttim
ethe
churchbecam
e
responsiveagain.’”
V
Iasked
Hernandez
howpeople
respondedto
sucha
process.
“They
loveit,”
shereplied.
Pleasure
takestangible
forms.
Young
peoplew
hoonce
would
havem
ovedto
northernsu
burbsbegan
tostay. Parish
attendancepicked
up. There
was, in
short,a
changingof
mood,
thesort
oftransform
ationone
sees
inC
ochranG
ardens, interweaving
CO
PSw
iththe
fabricofthe
comm
unityitself. A
tourof the
housingprojects
makes
it-vivid.
Insteadof
graffiti,stunning
wall
murals
depictthe
CO
PSem
blem,
ared-w
hite-and-bluecircle
with
aneagle,
suggesting
boththe
Am
ericansym
bol andthe
ancient Mexican
oneas
well.
“CO
PSD
eclaresS.A
. ‘Wage
War,’
“readthe
bannernew
spa
perheadline
afterthe
fallconvention
in1977. A
sC
OPS’s
base
inthe
Mexican
comm
unitiesof San
Antonio
deepened, thefight
with
thecity’s
businessestablishm
entcam
eto
ahead.
During
thew
interof
1977—18, the
anxioustone
inlocal press
accounts
acquireda
noteof
near-hysteria.In
alead
editorial,the
San
Antonio
Lig
ht.w
arneddarldy
of
thecom
ing“M
obocracy”:“In
everycity
Alinsky
organizers
haveentered,
theyhave
lefta
legacyof
hatred,division
and
polarization. SanA
ntonio,itisbecom
ingincreasingly
apparent,
isto
beno
different.”W
hatcreatedthe
panicin
thew
hiteestablishm
ent was
anew
campaign
byC
OPS
toencourage
businessescom
inginto
the
V
comm
unityto
paya
“decentw
age,”m
entioningthe
figireof
$15,000as
am
inimal
salaryfor
afam
ilyto
supportitself,
Bea
triceC
ortez,Van
organizationleader,
describedthe
ratIbnale.
“We
realizedthat
youcould
onlydo
som
uchw
ithneih
bor
hoodim
provements.
We
didresearch
thatfound
outSSn
An
toniopaid
thepoorest w
agesof any
major
city.”Indeed,accord
ingto
theC
omm
ercialle
porter,San
Antonio
wages.w
ere
between
20and
40percent
lower
thanthose
inoth
er
aje
as
of
thecountry.
“We
compared
wages
tow
hatit
takesto
clothea
family
andfeed
them.”
At
theconvention,
CO
PSm
êknbers
performed
askit
onthe
cheap-laborthem
e.F
ourevitdukes
ruleda
kingdomw
hereeveryone
worked
forpeanuts.
The
dukesrepresented
easilyrecognizable
characters—a
banker,a
general,etc. “Andthere
was
Pedro,w
honever
getscut in,”
said
Ms.
Cortez.
Finally,Super
CO
PScam
eto
therescue.
J. saved
thekingdom
andslew
thecheap-labor
dragon.“W
egot blasted
inthe
pressafter
that,”she
laughs.C
olumnist
Don
Politicoreported
thatthe
business-de\’elop
ment
groupm
ainlyresponsible
forbringing
newbusinesses
to
152C
OM
MU
NIT
YIS
PO
SS
IBL
E
town,
theE
conomic
Developm
entF
oundation,“has
already
respondedw
ithvigorous
andindignant
denialsof
theorganiza
tion’scharges
thatestablished
businessmen
inSan
Antonio
want
tosee
wages
keptlow
.”E
veryday,
chargesand
counter
chargesflew
backand
forth,and
nationalpublications
likethe
Wall
Street Jo
urn
aland
Forbes
beganto
coverthe
hattie.B
ut
thecity
establishment’s
protestationsof
innocenceturned
sour
when
CO
PSreleased
acopy
ofthe
secretstudy
it hadsom
ehow
obtainedcalled
the“F
antusR
eport.”C
omm
issionedby
the
Econom
icD
evelopment
Foundation
(ED
F),the
“Fantus
Re
port”lauded
thecity’s
“relativelyunderorganized”
laborforce
andconcluded
that“developm
entpersonnel
must
becareful
notto
attractindustries
thatw
ouldupset
theexisting
wage
ladder..
. This
would
tendto
dissipatethe
comparative
and
competitive
advantagesenjoyed
byexisting
manufacturers.”
CO
PSbegandem
andinga
meeting
with
theE
DF
tochange
theslogan
from“cheap
labor”to
am
orepositive
theme
and
changethe
approachfor
attractingbusiness
tothe
city.O
ther
elements
ofthe
comm
unity,including
theonce
hostilepress,
joinedthe
appeal.B
ylate
February,
agreement
hadbeen
reachedon
akind
ofcease-fire.
Itsterm
scould
onlybe
consid
ereda
significantvictory
forC
OPS.
The
development
group
droppedits
cheap-laborapproach,
andlater
backeda
CO
PS
planfor
inner-cityeconom
icarid
residentialdevelopm
ent,
Vista
Verde.
Although
CO
PSrefused
anum
berof business
and
city-government invitations
tojoin
inform
al“consultations”
of
different sorts, ithadachieved
regularaccess, at the
least,toany
development
planningthe
cityw
ouldhenceforth
engagein.
When
Henry
Cisneros
became
mayor,
heand
Beatrice
Cortez
flewto
Mexico
City
tom
eetw
ithM
exicanofficials
aboutdev
el
opment;
andjust before
I arrivedin
SanA
ntonio,hehad
agreed
toback
theorganization’s
ideasfor
major
economic
develop
ment
inthe
poorestcom
munity,
Edgew
ood.
Meanw
hile, thespecter
of “mobocracy”
disappearedw
ithout
atrace.
The
organizationhad
notonly
withstood
thesharpest
ofattacks,
buthad
emerged
strengthened.O
utsideobservers
suchas
Tom
Gaudette,
oneof
theold-tim
ersin
thefield
of
comm
unityorganizing, m
arveled.“The
keyto
CO
PS’svictories
Em
powerm
ent153
hasbeen
itsdepth,”
hesaid.
“It involvedthe
whole
fabricof the
com
munity
.”6
To
tourthe
west
andsouthw
estareas
ofSan
Antonio
with
CO
PSleaders
isto
witness
visibleand
tangiblem
onuments
to
organizationalclout:
housingprojects
goingup, new
businesses,
libraries—five
builtin
theM
exicancom
munities
overthe
past
tenyears—
parks,roads,
enormous
drainagesystem
s.B
utagain
andagain, people
return
toself-respect.H
elenA
yala,whd
takes
me
arom
d, points
tothe
murals
onpublic-housing
wa1ls.fC
an’t
yousee
thepride?”
sheasks.
“Our
childrenare
notgoiñ
tobe
complacent.
Ihope
tobe
ableto
sitback
aridwatch.
They
will
beleaders
becausesom
ebodyis
standingup
now,
andthere
is
avehicle.”
Ina
similar
vein, JanieG
onzalezsays
simpl
“Our
childrenhave
newheroes,
peoplein
thecom
munity
nqw,
that
theycan
lookup
to.”
Children
inM
exicancom
munities
nowalso
learndistifiètions.
For
CO
PS,there
isa
crucialseparation
between
“privatelife”
andthe
“publicw
orld.”
Inone’s
privatelife—
sharedw
ithfam
ily,close
friends,and
neighbors—belongs
much
ofw
hatthe
AR
CC
omm
unityrefers
toas
the“organic
roots”of
things:love,
intimacy,
play,,infor
mality.
There
areno
agendas.B
ehavioris
notprim
arilyaim
ed/
atachieving
things.O
neseeks
reciprocity,sharing,
tiesflo
ur
ishedand
sustainedover
time
throughdaily
experien
ceinthe
publicsphere,
incontrast,
thereis
respect,acco
untab
iit,goal-
orientedbehavior.
Meetings
properlystart
ontim
e.S
trategies
aredeveloped.
Leaders
arethose
who
getresults,
who
deliver
andw
hoarticulate
thecom
munity’s
interestshonestly
andef
fectively.In
thepublic,
thereis
aconstant
processof
testing,
refinement,
andim
provement
intechniques,
skills,and
abili
ties:O
nedoes
“reflection”and
“critique,’evaluating
perfo
rm
ancein
asupportive
butalso
toughand
vigorousw
ay,asking
whether
peopleperform
asthey
promised,
howthey
might
do
better
thenext
time.
InC
OPS’s
philosophy,one
neverfinds
thepublic
orprivate
inpure
form.
“There’s
always
atension,”
asjanieG
onzalezputs
it.M
arriagesand
families
have“public
aspects,”w
here.m
em
154C
OM
MU
NIT
YIS
PO
SS
IBL
E
berschoose
goalsand
tryto
put
asidethe
most
personalof
reactions.P
ublicm
eetingshave
playful,w
arm,
comm
unald
im
ensions.E
nriqueV
elasco,one
youngm
anI
interviewed,
made
adistinction
between
“two
publics”and
“two
privates”—
“There
isa
publicw
hereI’m
objectiveand
apublic
where
Isocialize;
andthere’s
aprivate
where
Ihave
many
friends,and
thena
privateofm
yfam
ily.”B
utthere
isalso
aconstant sorting
outof
what
isappropriate
toeach
realm.
Itproduces
remark
ablechanges
inbehavior.
Rudy
Enriguez
isa
heavyset man
with
curlyhair
who
speaksin
soft,deliberate
tones.E
nriguezw
orkedfor
apackinghouse
form
orethan
twenty-five
years.H
esaw
many
peoplehurt
onthe
joband
more
laidoff
inrecen
tyears,
andhe
feeLsdeep
angerthat
thedistant
owners
donot
knowor
careabout
them
enw
ithw
homhe
hasspent
thoseyears
inthe
plant.“It
seems
torue
thatsom
etimes
peoplecan
getso
greedythey
justdon’t
careanym
ore,”he
saysw
ithbitterness.
“Inthe
world
out there,
it’sdog
eatdog,
gofor
it,get
thegold
enchilada,”E
nriguez’svoice
dropsalm
ostto
aw
hisper.“It
seems
tom
ethat
some
peopleenjoy
seeingother
peopledow
n.If
Iw
asn’ta
Christian,
Ithink
Icould
make
alist
andI
would
blowsom
ebrains
out,
notfor
myself
butfor
peopleI’ve
known
who
cannotdefend
themselves.”
But M
r.Enriguez
hasbeen
involvedfor
some
yearsin
CO
PS,ever
sincehe
hearda
wom
andescribe
howit
enabledher
tocontrol h
eranger
ina
positivew
ay.it
haschanged
hissense
ofw
hatis
possible.“It’s
avery
goodthing
thereare
organizationslike
this;otherw
isew
e’dhave
anotherS
outhA
merica
here,”he
says.“Y
oucan
takeonly
som
uchlying
down.”
Inhis
opinion,
CO
PShas
givenpeople
avehicle
notonly
forcontrolling
anger
butfor
learninga
differentset
ofvalues
fromthose
in“the
world
outthere.”
As
hedescribes
it,“O
verthe
years,I’ve
seenpeople
who
join‘m
ellow.’
Inthe
earlyyears,
it was
‘hey,I
want
my
streetfixed
firsti’N
owpeople
wait
forcom
munities
thatneed
itm
ore.”Indeed,
Enriguez
believesthat
thenorm
sin
CO
PShave
become
sostrong
thatpeople
rarelyhave
tobe
broughtinto
linein
anyovert
way.
“When
somebody
getsgreedy,
nobodysays
nothingto
them.
They
justrealize
and
Em
powerm
ent155
dropit.It’s
likea
silentlanguage,likesom
ethingtells
youin
theair
you’reout
ofline.”
Others
voicedthe
thoughtthat
CO
PSgenerates
anew
cul
ture,or
alternativevalues,
fromdifferent
vantagepoints.
For
youngleaders
likeG
eorgeO
zunaand
Enrique
Velasco,
theorganization
hadthe
effect of drawing
themback
intothe
corn
munity
afterthey
had,in
varyingw
ays,thought
theyhad
leftit
behind.V
elascodescribed
himself
aspreviously
“something
of afree
spirit,”spending
hisrespectable
income
asa
carpenterin
partyingand
otherrecreation.
“CO
PS
came
justat
theright
time
form
e,”recounts
Velasco.
“Itgave
me
asense
ofdoing
something
good,som
ethingim
portant,som
ethingth
atts
re.spect
fromother
people.”O
zuna,an
areavice-presiden,
hadonce
planneda
careerin
radio-televisionand
laterin
Rtic
al
science,attendinggraduate
schoolattheU
niversityof T
exas.“I
came
backfinally
becauseof
what
my
grandma
toldm
e,”he
says.“Y
oucan
goto
collegeto
getaw
ayfrom
yourcom
munity,
oryou
canlearn
some
thingsto
come
backand
make
aco
ntrib
ution.”
George
Ozuna
seeshis
educationas
useful,andhe
con
tinues
tolove
politicaldiscussion
andreflection
onthe
broaderim
plicationsof
CO
PS.In
otherareas,
hefeels
hegains’
greatinsight from
leaderssuch
asR
udyE
nriguez,who
nev
erw
entto
college.A
strikingfeature
ofC
OPS
isthe
strongleadership
rolesw
omen
havetaken
on—a
rarityin
bothcom
munity
organizingand
alsoin
Mexican-A
merican
organizations.T
helast
four•
presidents,for
instance,have
beenw
omen.
1asked
Beatrice
Cartez
ifshe
feltthat
thestress. on
“publiclife”
inC
OPS,
andits
accompanying
emphasis
onrew
ardingleadership
forresults,
•not
forcharism
aor
othersuperfluous
reasons,m
adea
differ
ence.She
thoughtit didindeed.“W
omen
havecom
munity
ties,W
eknew
thatto
make
thingshappen
inthe
comm
unity,you
haveto
talkto
people.Itwas
am
atterof tapping
ournetw
orks.”Finally,
theorganization
hasclearly
impacted
onthe
churchitself,
traininga
newgeneration
ofassertiveleadership
inm
anyparishes, generating
aclarification
ofthepastor’s
rolean
da
new
V
self-consciousnessabout
mission
among
thelaity.
Indee1,such
aredefined
senseof
mission
isreflected
inthe
archdiocese’s
156C
OM
MU
NIT
YIS
PO
SS
IBL
E
Em
powerm
ent’157
“New
Pentecost”
vision,the
officialstatem
entof
thechurch
issuedby
Archbishop
Patricio
Flores.P
arallelingC
OPS’s
stress
onlay
leaders,the
document
entrusts“the
laityabove
all”w
ith
thetask
of changing“the
institutionsof
oursociety
andsociety
itself..
. toreflect
thevalues
ofthe
Lord
ofL
ife.”It
declares
thechurch’s
purpose“in
allitdoes
andin
all itsays
[to]extend
itsaim
sand
reachout
tothose
who
areoppressed,
afflicted,
lonely,poor
And
itoutlines
aprocess
ofparish
dev
elop
ment
drawn
directlyfrom
CO
PS,that
“callspeople’to
areflec
tionof
what
itm
eansto
beC
hurch,builds
relationshipsw
ithin
the
parishand
between
parishesas
well as
otherfaith
com
muni
ties,and
causesaction
for justice.”B
eatriceC
ortez,now
oneof
thestaff in
chargeof developm
ent forthe
archdiocese, believes
thissort of renew
inginvolvem
ent with
thew
orldw
ill revitalize
thefaith.
“Isay
ifthe
churchcontinues
todo
what
itis
with
CO
PS,it
hasnothing
tow
orryabout.
You’re
goingto
havethe
nextcrop
ofpriests.
And
laityis
goingto
takeon
leadership
roles,so
youdon’t
needa
prie
st.”7
CO
PSsees
itselfas
anew
kindof public
space, notw
alledoff
fromprivate
lifebut
avehicle
foradvancing
thevalues
of fam
ily,faith,
andcom
munity.
Moreover,
italso
seeksto
refashion
howpublic
lfeis
definedby
thebroader
world.
“We
talkabout
thew
orldas
it isand
thew
orldas
it shouldbe,”
explainedSister
Christine.
“What
we
tryto
createin
actionsis
aw
orldin
which
leadersare
incontrol
ofthe
agendafor
thespace
ofthe
meet
ing.It
isthe
peopletalking
andthe
politicianslistening.
Alot
oftim
eis
spentm
akingsure
theleaders
areprepared,
making
it clearitis
theleaders’
meeting,
notthe
politicians’.”Joe
Sekul,
apolitical
scientistat
theU
niversityof
SanA
ntoniow
hohas
studiedthe
organizationfor
anum
berof years,
toldm
ethat
in
hisobservations
“politicianshave
them
ostdifficult
time
with
theC
OPS
notionof
public.N
oneof
theirnorm
altechniques
work.
They
haveto
changetheir
behavior,just
likepeople
in
CO
PSchange
theirs.”
Stories
make
thepoint.
For
instance,Sonia
Hernandez
grew
upw
iththe
mayor,
Henry
Cisneros,
andattends
thesam
epar
ish.Y
etshe
insistson
clarityabout
properroles
inany
public
settings.W
henthe
mayor
came
intoa
CO
PSgathering
soon
afterhis
electionand
said,“H
ello,Sonia,”
shereplied,
“That’s
Ms.
Hernandez
toyou, M
r.M
ayor.”B
eatriceC
ortezreo
unted
anothertale
toillustrate
howchildren
quicklyget
thëp
oin
t.
While
shew
aspresident
of CO
PS,from
1981to
19S2C
ortez
hada
specialC
OPS
phoneput
inher
home.
One
dayC
isneros
calledon
thatline,
Ina
playfulm
ood,he
greetedher
young
daughter,V
ictoria,w
armly
andsaid
hew
ouldlike
tospeak
to
herm
other.“W
hoshould
Isay
iscallingP”
askedthe
yqi,nggirl.
“Tell
herit’s
aspecial friend,”
Cisneros
replied.V
ictoriaat
this
pointrecognized
thevoice.
“Oh,
you’renot
aspecial
friend.
You’re
them
ayor—I
knoww
hoyou
are.”S
hasked
her’mother
ifshe
haddone
right.“Y
ou’vegot
thatright,
honey,”Cortez
answered.
“Iansw
eredthe
phone,”she
continued.“C
isneros
said,‘B
oy,you’re
trainingthem
early!’”
“Happy
Birthday
CO
PS!”ran
thefeature
storyin
Novem
ber
1981, inthe
SanA
ntoriioL
ight.T
hefollow
ingyear,
ina
similar
vein,the
papereditorialized
forthe
organization’sninth-anni
versaryconvention
underthe
headline“C
OPS
Continues
Its
Accom
plishments.”
“What
isperhaps
oneof
them
ostm
isun
derstoodorganizations
inthis
partof
thecountry—
yet,one
of
them
osteffective—
will
holdits
ninthconvention
atthe
Con
ventionC
enterSunday.
Com
munities
Organized
forP
ublic
Service
hasbeen
apositive
forcein
thiscity
inbringing
about
neededcapital
improvem
entsand
inm
akingthe
qualityof life
betterfor
many
SanA
ntonians..
.. W
esalute
CO
PSin
jtsninth
yearof
servic,eand
inviteall
comm
unityleaders
tow
urkw
ith
CO
PSm
embers
fora
better
SanA
ntonio.”In
thespring
of
1983,as
alarge
affiancem
odeledon
CO
PSform
edin
theR
io
Grande
Valley, the
papersim
ilarlyvoiced
itssupport:
org
a
nizationsuch
asV
alleyInterfaith
certainlycan
beth&
catalyst
toget
thingsm
ovingto
solution.”iB
Iinterview
edJoe
Rust,
editorat
theL
ight,about
thorgani
zation.H
ew
as.embarrassed
atpoints. For
instance,he
believed
•that
Hernandez’s
comm
entabout
theT
exasC
avaliershurt
the
city’sim
ageon
the“T
oday”show
,and
healso
seemed
atpains
158C
OM
MU
NIT
YIS
PO
SS
IBL
E
toexplain
hisow
nm
embership
inthe
all-white
male
club.Y
etR
ust was
alsocandid
aboutthe
way
heand
othershad
changedtheir
opinionsof
CO
PS.“C
OP
Sw
asoriginally
seenin
negativeterm
s,”he
com
mented.
“ButI
supposeits
tacticsm
adesense.
Te
way
youget
am
ule’sattention
isto
hithim
overthe
head.”In
Rust’s
view,
CO
PSis
anorganization
groundedin
churchesand
comm
unities,
“representingthe
mainstream
,notthe
fringe.I
havegreat
respectfor
CO
PS,even
thoughthey
stilldon’t
obeyrules
ofetiquette.”
He
believesthe
organizationhas
givenM
exicanpeople
avoice
inthe
city,draw
ingon
Mexican
culturalvalues
asw
ellasreligion.A
ndit also
representsa
trendhe
seesall over.
“CO
PS
ispopulist,”
heexplains.
“Isee
populismgaining
allacross
thecountry.”
Rust
pauses.“Y
ouknow
,I
havea
lotof
populismin
my
own
background.M
ygrandfather
foughtfor
roadsin
hisp
artof thestate,
centralTexas.H
ew
asa
farmer
anda
countycom
missioner.
They
usedto
callthem
‘roadcom
mis
sioners’in
thosedays.”
Thus
theim
pactof
CO
PSon
thebroader
comm
unitycannot
bem
easuredonly
indollars
andcents.
Itproduces
akind
ofpopulist
contagion,representing
theparadoxical
butpow
erfully
magnetic
blendof
radicalismand
conservatism—
thed
ignity
andexam
pleof
ordinarypeople
who
takevalues
thatare
widely
andfacilely
espousedw
iththe
utmostseriousness, giving
themdiscipline,
depth,and
clout.F
orpeople
involvedin
CO
PS,there
isa
lifechange
thatcan
neverbe
reversed.T
helma
Cosper,
thesecretary
inthe
officew
hohas
been
theresince
thebeginning,
putit
simply:
“People
havelearned
howto
godow
nto
City
Hall and
getthings
done.”T
oE
rnieC
ortes,such
aprocess
amounts
tow
hathe
(likeC
larence
Jordanin
afar
differentsetting)
calls“rnetanoia.”
“Itm
eansm
ovingfrom
theselfish
tothe
self-interested,from
theset-apart
tothe
relational.It
means
tobe
reciprocal,to
beco
llaborative,
todevelop
anew
kindof
culturalconsciousness.
That’s
always
beenthe
visionof
CO
PS,the
hope.”B
uthe
seesthe
processas
stilljust beginning,pavingthe
way
fora
powerful
“neopopulism”
thatw
ifitake
upsuch
questionsas
thedignity
Em
pow
ern
enr
159
oflabor
andthe
needfor
working
peopleto
gainthe
fruitsof
theirw
ork.M
eanwhile,
itis
certainlya
visionand
hopethat
spreads,as
many
realize.G
eorgeO
zunasaid
that“the
CO
PSidea
works
forany
comm
unity.It
couldbe
aM
exicancom
munity,
ora
black.Som
em
ightconsider
itblasphem
ous,but
Ithink
itcan
work
forunions
orgays
inSan
Francisco.”
Itold
himI
knewan
organizationcalled
theSan
Francisco
Organizing
Project.
-