Photo credit: Erin Bloodgood
Tammy Rivera, executive director of the Southside Organizing Center
When people think of a community organizer, they often envision someone on the front lines leading a crowd, but Tammy Rivera often works in the background mending the building blocks of local community organizations. Rivera came into the Southside Organizing Center (SOC) as a consultant to restructure the organization and fix the finances, but after being there for six months, she knew she had to stay. Soon, she became the executive director and focused on the nuts and bolts that held the organization together. With a diverse background in community organizing, education and administrative leadership, she understood that the organization could not achieve its goals without first diversifying its funding and rebuilding its programming. “Five percent of the movement is the romantic t-shirts, posters and rallies,” she says, “95% of it is work.”
Every SOC program and initiative now relates back to its mission, which is to work with residents to ensure safe, livable and economically vibrant communities. If the SOC provides the leadership training and support for its residents, then the people of Milwaukee’s South Side will have a stronger voice when contributing to decisions made about their community.
One of SOC’s main programs involves working directly with resident-led neighborhood associations with the intention of strengthening the groups and training leaders. Four leaders from each group can be sent to SOC’s leadership institute to learn leadership development. Rivera built the curriculum based on her extensive skillset which also teaches grassroots organizing and economic development. The idea, she explains, is for these people “to have a voice whether the SOC exists or not.” The SOC wants to put power into the hands of the people and give them the ability to dictate their future.
Outspoken, bold and unapologetic, Rivera will not hesitate to invite you into the doors of the SOC and get you involved. But, if you ask her what she thinks South Side residents need, she won’t tell you. Her response will be, “Hold on a second! Let me see what the people think. That’s what a community organizer does.” Rivera and the SOC team make a point not to put words into the mouths of the people they serve. Rather, they regularly ask people in the neighborhood what they want to change by bringing people together for public meetings or going door-to-door. One change Rivera has implemented is building a new board of people that accurately represents the community. That means people from different races, ethnicities, generations and amounts of time on the South Side. The organization does not simply serve the community, it’s a vital part of the neighborhood.
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The essence of the South Side is the power of pueblo. Born and raised in the shadow of the Walker’s Point clocktower, Rivera understands this strength. The residents of this neighborhood struggle together, but they build change together and support each other. Rivera, herself, has been through this struggle, but in her words uses her pain as her superpower: “The affirmation is the pueblo.”
Learn more about the Southside Organizing Center at socmilwaukee.org. For more of Erin Bloodgood’s work, visit bloodgoodfoto.com.
