It’s nearly standard operating procedure these days for a political candidate to mention an “average Joe” while speaking for his campaign an everyday person concerned with domestic issues that will affect her or his daily life. Perhaps they should look to the real people who are tackling the grittiest of these issues, in their own cities and neighborhoods, on their own blocks. What can we learn from their leadership style and how might these new perspectives inform the debates?

From prisons to welfare reform, housing, wages, and immigration, these everyday leaders have what it takes hands-on experience, leadership skills, determination and drive to remedy the issues affecting their communities. If we are to do more than perpetuate perplexing problems, it's time we turned our attention to people who make community improvement part of their day to day lives.

Prisons: Do punishments fit the crimes?

• With only 5% of the world population, the US holds 25% of the world’s prison population. More than 1.7 million people were either in prison or jail in 1998 - that’s one out of every 117 men.
  
• In California and Washington DC, groups have organized to combat rigid mandatory minimum sentences and advocate for women prisoners.

Immigrants and Migrant Workers: Can we learn to live together with fairness?

• Immigrants to the US arrive in greatest numbers in the Northwest, South and Plains states. Most lack formal education and speak limited English. Since state and federal collective bargaining laws apply to US citizens only, newcomers are vulnerable to substandard wages and work-site housing, pesticide exposure and dangerous workplace conditions.
  
• In 1985, one man founded a farmworkers union in Oregon - to date they have improved wages and the safety of working conditions, and helped improve housing conditions for about 40,000 workers, 98% of whom are immigrants.
  
• One woman in New York founded a coalition of immigrants to support literacy, citizenship and other services necessary for immigrants to be successful.

Welfare Reform: What do welfare recipients see as the way off welfare?

• 2 million people receive welfare in the US - many are low-income single mothers who are hit hardest by the “jobless recovery” and job losses in key areas that were previously sanctuaries of employment.
  
• In New York, former welfare recipients and anti-poverty organizers interviewed thousands, creating a way for people on welfare to speak for their own concerns in welfare reform.
  
• In Oakland, five single mothers formed an organization to empower low income parents pursuing higher education as a way to get their families off of welfare and out of poverty.

Housing and a Living Wage: Are these the foremost fears for personal security?

• A person working full time has to earn at least $15 dollars an hour to be able to afford a modest two bedroom rental three times the national minimum wage. There is no jurisdiction where a person working full time on minimum wage can afford a modest one-bedroom apartment.
• One group of women in Burlington, Vermont started a community land trust to provide long term affordable housing to low income buyers and create a sustainable community.

Media: In a time of media consolidation, are ethnic and independent media sources our best free press?

• Believing that information is power and that ethnic media perspectives are vital to our common interests, one woman organized a project to promote and support ethnic and independent publications committed to social justice and free press.

What are the most pressing social issues facing everyday Americans? With record deficits and no end in sight to spending in Iraq, who is tackling the hard problems at home? Are there policies that these community leaders think would make things better? Might money be better allocated? How can we bring communities together across differences to tackle these issues? What kind of leadership works the best? Do these community leaders’ experience match the media’s portrayal of their issues? What does the ethnic media see that the mainstream media misses? How can we get involved to support grassroots leaders in our own communities? Will the candidates listen to their stories?