Tyrone Schiff Political Science 300When we are young, we are told that we can change the world. As we grow older,we realize how formidable and daunting such a task truly is. Yet, if you notice, our worldchanges a little everyday, and over longer periods in time, it actually ends up changing alot. At the foundation of challenging the status-quo are two fundamental principles, power and leadership. These two ingredients are irrevocably connected to one another inthe context of addressing public problems. Community leaders and organizers wield andmobilize the powers available to them to accomplish collective goals. Illustrations of thisare well depicted by the work of Paul Farmer and his establishment of Partners in Health(PIH) and the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative (DSNI). Furthermore, currentPresidential candidate, Barack Obama, acts as a worthwhile example of the personification of power, leadership, and the complimentarity of service and politics. Theaforementioned cases were unusually effective and successful in realizing their aims.This is due to the fact that in order to fully unleash the benefits of leadership and power,organizational sustainability has to be built in to eliminate the impact of time and effortshave to grow organically from within

.Paul Farmer used his power as a leader to establish a sustainable organization thatis fueled by the community it assists. Farmer was deeply concerned with the healthsystem in Haiti and felt compelled to do something about it

. As a result, he established,along with other supporters, Partners In Health, in 1987 that would serve as a mechanismfor channeling money to Cange to make health improvements in the region

. Thesignificance of PIH is the capacity of Farmer as a leader to see a struggle, an issue, asolution that was far bigger than himself. Tracy Kidder, author of

Mountains Beyond

Kretzmann, John P. 1995. "Building communities from the inside out," Shelterforce (Sept./Oct.).

Kidder, Tracy. 2003. Mountains Beyond Mountains. p.82. New York: Random House.

Ibid., at p.99

Tyrone Schiff Political Science 300

Mountains

, articulates this claim when he writes, “[PIH] was a way [Farmer] couldinstitutionalize what he felt so passionately about, a vehicle through which his friendscould participate

.” In doing so, Farmer created a perpetual organization that couldaccomplish goals, solicit support, and fight for progress with or without him. With thisinfrastructure in place, the mission of taking on tuberculosis and other infectious diseases,while complex and time-consuming, had a solid foundation on which to grow. This ishow a leader truly utilizes power.Paul Farmer was also especially cognizant that in order to heal a sick community,he would have to start from the inside

. From very early on, Farmer made use of theassets readily available to him in Haiti. Kidder states, “[Farmer] enlisted five Haitians, allabout his age, all of whom had gone at least as far in as the first year of junior high, andthey went from hut to hut through Cange […]

” Farmer could have used his power as aleader poorly by bringing assistants from the outside, but he chose to use members of thecommunity he intended to help. There are two marked benefits to this. First, Farmer iseducating people in the community about an issue that is afflicting them. Second, bymaking the community members perform the work it makes the issue at hand real and personal. Due to Farmer’s ability to manage both leadership and power he was able tosucceed and accomplish his goals.In a similar vain, the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative (DSNI) is theactualization of a sustainable organization led and powered by the Roxbury/NorthDorchester residents. The Dudley area was one of the poorest areas in all of Boston andwas afflicted by vacant lots, divestment, arson, and dumping

.In order to revitalize the

Ibid.

Ibid. 1

Ibid. 2

Documentary film, "Holding Ground."

Tyrone Schiff Political Science 300area, a group of concerned citizens came together in 1984 to form the DSNI, in doing so,laying the foundation for future progress

. This organization helped in several ways. First,it worked to consolidate the efforts of many in a focused, strategic way. Second, itdeveloped a singular point of reference for those residents who were interested inresolving community issues. And finally, third, it developed an ongoing and recyclablestructure of participants by involving children and cultivating leaders from within.Looking over the history and accomplishments of the DSNI is inspiring, because eachyear of its existence has brought about a little bit more change than the year preceding it.There is absolutely no better example of harnessing the assets from within acommunity than John Barros, current executive director of the DSNI. Barros has beenactive in the DSNI since he was 17 years old when he sought greater involvement for youth participants in the DSNI

. Since then, Barros studied at Dartmouth College butreturned back to Roxbury/North Dorchester and has collaborated on several effortsrelating to neighborhood improvement. He has established himself as a leader in theDSNI. All of this progress may not have been realized without the essential foundationthat was laid all those years back in 1984. Even though Barros was not involved in theinitial founding of the DSNI, its existence gave him an outlet to contribute his efforts.Having this organization has institutionalized a nurturing culture of leadership in theRoxbury/Dorchester area, one that can sustain itself indefinitely.In so many ways does current Presidential candidate, Barack Obama, exemplifythe complemintarity of service and politics. Obama established his political career on the basis of community organizing with the Developing Communities Project (DCP), which

http://www.dsni.org

Ibid. 7