Bruce Orenstein reflects on his career as a community organizer in Chicago during the 1980s, and discusses his relationship and collaborations with Barack Obama. Orenstein outlines the methods, practices, and strategies of the community organizing efforts with which he was closely involved, and discusses the prevailing conditions in the communities on Chicago's South Side in which he was working, i ncluding the lack of employment opportunities amid long-term deindustrialization, the inaccessibility of adequate housing and mortgage financing, and the closure of notable stores and businesses. Orenstein speaks widely about the organizing effort in the late-1980s surrounding the siting and health effects of the Waste Management landfill between the Altgeld Gardens and Southeast Chicago neighborhoods, and he provides details about the notable personalities, organizations, interests, and communities involved in the effort; the role of Obama and the Developing Communities Project; and the significance of Harold Washington's death in 1987. Orenstein also shares his impressions of the significance of community organizing methods to the Obama 2008 presidential campaign, and he remembers the optimism about the potential of the Organizing for America (OFA) grassroots apparatus following the 2008 election and the disappointment about the incorporation of OFA into the Democratic National Committee. Also discussed are Orenstein's memories of Obama during the 1980s and 1990s, Obama's observations about the limitations of Saul Alinsky-style community organizing, and the importance of developing local leaders to expand the power of communities
Presidents--United States; Community organization--History--20th century.--United States; Community organization--History--21st century.--United States; Community development, Urban--United States; Social movements--History.--United States; Unemployment--Illinois; Housing--Illinois; Deindustrialization--Illinois; Chicago (Ill.) Social conditions; South Side (Chicago, Ill.) Social conditions; Orenstein, Bruce; Obama, Barack; Washington, Harold, 1922-1987
Format
oral histories
Genre
Interviews
Date
2022
Physical Description
72 pages
Note (Biographical)
Bruce Orenstein is an American filmmaker and community organizer. In 1990, he founded the Chicago Video Project, which was one of the nation's first video production companies with a mission to produce what Orenstein called organizing-driven videos, o r videos to be used as an organizing tool to mobilize community residents and allies around housing, public education, and economic development issues facing their low-income communities. Orenstein also produced a number of documentary films, including "The Democratic Promise: Saul Alinsky and His Legacy," and "American Idealist: The Story of Sargent Shriver." At the time of the interview, Orenstein was producing a documentary series about Chicago's history of housing segregation titled "The Shame of Chicago." Prior to becoming a filmmaker, Orenstein worked as a community organizer in Chicago's Englewood neighborhood; directed a community organization in Seattle, Washington; and was lead organizer with United Neighborhood Organization, UNO, in the far south neighborhoods of Chicago during the mid- to late 1980s. At the time of the interview, Orenstein was an artist in residence at the Samuel DeBois Cook Center on Social Equity at Duke University
Note
Interviewed by Adam Green on June 27, 2022. This interview is part of the University of Chicago: Obama Presidency Oral History
Note (Provenance)
Bruce Orenstein, Gift, transferred from Columbia Center for Oral History Research 2023