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.:Resource Guides:Interviews-Ben MacConnell.
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Interviews
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Ben MacConnell
Indiana University, 1995
Criminal Justice
Direct Action & Research Training (DART) Center
Project Organizer, DART Organizers Institute
Lawrence, Kansas
ben@thedartcenter.org |
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A Day in the Life
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What are three things you love and three things you find challenging or frustrating about your work? |
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| Love: |
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Working with amazing people |
| 2. |
Winning on issues of justice |
| 3. |
Developing new professional organizers |
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| Challenging or frustrating: |
| 1. |
Getting others to see beyond charity work |
| 2. |
People's discomfort with confrontation for justice |
| 3. |
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What is the most important task on your desk right now? |
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To network among college professors and student groups to identify potential organizers.
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What drives you to do this work? What makes you want to get out of bed every morning? |
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Anger over social and economic injustice. This is usually described repeatedly among the folks that we organize on a daily basis.
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How often do you "dress up" for work? Describe the culture of your organization. |
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I dress professionally at least four days a week. Our culture is one of professionalism and mutual accountability. We seek to be taken seriously and treat one another with the utmost respect. Unfortunately, many people do not
understand that community organizing is a professional career path with similarities to other fields (e.g., teaching, physicians, etc.). That is to say, there are good, professional organizers that know what they're doing and there are bad organizers —
similar to that of being a good/bad doctor, lawyer, or school teacher. Also, good organizers like any other profession tend to have been trained under the supervision of more veteran organizers.
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In a typical month, about what percentage of your time is spent on the following activities? |
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| Talking on the phone |
10% |
| Dealing with email |
1% |
| Meetings with individuals |
60% |
| Meetings with groups/committees |
13% |
| Traveling |
5% |
| Writing |
3% |
| Reading |
5% |
| Researching |
3% |
(Note: respondents could allow their answers to add up to be more than 100%)
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What do you do when you are feeling burned out at work? |
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One of three things: First, I try to hang out with the leaders we organize, since they tend to have a lot of ownership for the issues we are tackling. Second, I try to lean on the network of fellow organizers in the field, since we
tend to feel the same way about things. Finally, I hang out with my wife and catch a movie or do something that will pull my attention away from the field.
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next page | Career Path
1, 2, 3, 4 |
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Career Center Resource Guides
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