Summary

In Chapter 12, Obama described how he continued to learn more about the neighborhoods where he worked and the reality of being a community organizer. Obama's political capital as a community organizer improved because of the progress on the jobs center in the Roseland neighborhood. Although the staff was excited by Washington's appearance at the opening ceremony for the jobs center, Obama was unhappy afterward because the staff failed to get Washington to commit to showing up at a rally scheduled for later that year. It took a gentle rebuke from Will for Obama to realize that the staff perceived his displeasure as selfishness and impatience.

During this time, Marty Kaufman departed to start a new organization in Gary, Indiana, and Obama began working more intensively with the hopeful but struggling residents of Altgeld. Obama organized the residents to force the management and...