Passionate Belonging

In order to be a good community organizer, I believe the community must feel a sense of belonging and be passionate about change. I think some people feel as if they don’t want to direct their passion for certain social justice issues because they feel as if it is hopeless and don’t identity strongly with their community. I recently attended a Giants game in San Francisco. Now that is a place with some passion. However I couldn’t help but think about why the people were there. Why they would pay a large amount of money, possibly take time off work, and drive hundreds of miles (in some cases), to watch grown men play a game with a ball and bat? It even became annoying for me that these people would go to all this effort to support a game, when there are so many bigger issues that could use support and don’t get it.
I then game to the conclusion that people, who are truly passionate about baseball, or any sport for that matter, are loyal followers who have possibly had some experience playing or watching the game themselves and who have a positive connotation to the game. I have also noticed that people feel a since of belonging to certain teams and strongly identify with them. For instance, several times I heard fans referring to themselves as a team member, making statements such as, “Well, every since we picked up this guy, we have been winning.” Not only did it seem that they identified with the team members, but the larger community of fans as well. I witnessed Dodger fans slapping the hands of other Dodger fans in the stands, simply because they shared the commonality of cheering for the same team. It didn’t matter what they looked like, what they did, or where they were from; they were united based on the color they were wearing and when they were clapping.
In the United States, it seems as if moving from place to place is very common. However, this migration makes it difficult for people to identify a community that they are passionate about. Therefore, they identify with communities that they always have access to, such as sports teams. Watching the Gaints game gave me ideas for community organizing that involved community sports games. Thus, instead of sitting in front of a television watching sports, people can get out and interact with one another and build close relationships that will be beneficial when the time comes for a change. It also might help people get some exercise and raise money. I feel like the key is to get community members to identify with their community, so they have a sense of loyalty and belongingness. If this could happen in physical communities, then maybe there would be a higher level of passion and support for community change.