Recent highly publicized remarks made by high-profile political candidates have been intended to cast doubt upon, and even smear, the role of community organizers. While these remarks were probably intended to belittle the accomplishments and credentials of opposing candidates, their wide distribution and potential for damage is of concern to us and many other social workers and social-work educators.

Community organizing is an honorable endeavor, one that requires commitment, courage and a high level of skills in many areas. In brief, community organizers work with people to build community, and collaborate with them to work collectively to improve their lives and their circumstances. Within social work, community organizers use social work macro methods to deal with every possible variation of population and issue. Community organizing has a long and honorable history within the profession of social work.

Jane Addams — often called the "Mother of Social Work" in the United States — was practicing community organizing at Hull House, the settlement house she established in Chicago in the late 1800s. Her vision was to bring staff and neighborhood residents together in a mutually beneficial community that would address social concerns in a holistic way, long before that term was fashionable. She operated from a strengths perspective, working toward empowering people through direct intervention, educational and recreational programs, an emphasis on intergenerational respect and communication, appreciation of the arts, and legislative advocacy in such crucial areas as child labor laws.

During the 20th century, other community organizers contributed importantly in the arenas of civil rights, environmental issues, voters' rights,and anti-poverty programs, among others. Saul Alinsky, Ella Baker, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Jane Jacobs, for example, are among those who left legacies of social change and movement toward social justice as a result of effective community organizing efforts.

Locally, residents of Hawai'i have benefited enormously from the community organizing skills of people who have tackled tough issues, working to build a base of support to develop collaborative approaches. Local community organizers have included Myron B. "Pinky" Thompson, George Helm, Ah Quon McElrath and Puanani Burgess.

The work of these and other community organizers has contributed to change in the lives of many people. Community organizers have challenged social injustice and advocated on behalf of the disempowered, fought against inappropriate commercial development schemes, planned and advocated for education and health services in underserved communities, organized workers to acquire rights and benefits, and made a case for reclaiming and regenerating devastated lands.

Contemporary issues for community organizers might include working to make neighborhoods safer, bringing recreational opportunities for youth into communities with few resources, protesting locating potentially toxic industrial or waste facility plants in residential areas, creating opportunities for elders to share their wisdom and knowledge with younger generations, and advocating for the protection of significant historical and cultural sites.

These causes and the many others that could be listed are far from frivolous and meaningless, as implied in recent speeches. Rather, they address urgent needs, embody important collective values, and can make a significant and positive difference both to those who are involved in them, and others who benefit directly.

Community organizers are dedicated, committed and highly skilled people, who can be effective both at the individual level and with large groups of people, who can gain trust and who use this trust to work for and with others to improve conditions for those who may be disadvantaged or oppressed.

Given all this, who would oppose or scorn the work of community organizers? Some answers are obvious: special interest groups and those politicians whose bankrolls and perspectives are linked with and favor the status quo and the privileged. For the rest of us — our hats are off to community organizers, and we are proud to say that we have done that work, which has provided some of our most gratifying professional experiences.

Let's not let flashy rhetoric and cheap shots obscure or diminish the value of what community organizers have done already and will in the future contribute to our society, our communities, our neighbors and ourselves.

Jon K. Matsuoka is dean of the University of Hawai'i-Manoa School of Social Work; Ann Rosegrant Alvarez and Peter Mataira are assistant professors there. They wrote this commentary for The Advertiser.