Change from the bottom up

THE BUSH days are finally over--dramatically put to an end by the first African American president of a country built on slavery.

With Barack Obama's inauguration as president on January 20, there will be another wave of the kind of celebration that could be found in cities across the country on Election Night--not only marking the end of a hated regime, but of the history made by its successor.

Millions of people are counting on getting a hearing from the new White House. And that has the new White House...a little worried. Members of the new administration have admitted to the press that they fear hopes in Obama may be running too high--that the millions who celebrated his victory may expect too much, too soon.

In a recent interview, Obama senior adviser Valerie Jarrett said, "You don't need to have demonstrations in front of the White House to convince this president that there is a disparate impact in the African American community around issues such as health care and education. He's got that."

Jarrett's message appears to contradict the message that Obama carried throughout his campaign--that organizing from the bottom up was the key to progress. "We're the change we've been waiting for," Obama often said.

But according to Jarrett's logic, the incoming Obama administration itself will be the agent of change--and because of that, activists don't need to protest.

Yet a look at U.S. history shows the opposite. Fundamental social change has always come as a result of struggle from below.
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But according to Jarrett's logic, the incoming Obama administration itself will be the agent of change--and because of that, activists don't need to protest.