Rebranding the Urban: Tubman, Obama & the Welfare Queen

Politics is driven by power, including the power to communicate.
Effective communication moves people to act in ways intended by the
messenger. The election of Barack Obama was driven in large part by a
communications team that understands marketing in a post-television
era, including how to use branding, social marketing and the Internet
to shape culture. Obama constructs culture in part by using the power
of myth and epic narrative. This presents a dilemma and an
opportunity for grassroots community organizers whose politics may
differ from what Obama can deliver, but whose stories and aspirations
sound identical to his. Just as with Reagan's racist use of the word
"Welfare Queen," the branding of "urban" for partisan purposes
intersects with the work of grassroots organizers at many levels and
cannot be ignored. This workshop is a reflection on what we can learn
from Obama's communication strategies and tactics, and how we should
respond. We'll look into how cognitive psychology, social movement,
cultural construction, politics, power and technology intersect at the
level of grassroots urban organizing.