By Bill Fogarty

“What’s Going On” in Arlington? Well, a remarkable thing happened on Tuesday night, March 4, at the plaza outside the Ellen Bozman Government Center. A regular Joe (actually his name is Steve) put out a call for a vigil to be held during the president’s address to Congress. Steve was not part of any group or organization. He just felt a need to do something, to be with others during a tense moment in our civic lives. He had no history of mobilizing people for social action. In his words, “When I set this up, I thought I’d go, and a few of my friends would show up as well.”      

To his amazement, over 100 people showed up to be in community with him, and with  others. Steve spoke a few words of welcome, confessing that “I am way out of my comfort zone.” He then asked random members of the crowd to read aloud some inspirational words designed to give comfort and hope. 

The evening concluded with a woman reading an email from a friend in Ukraine, and a wonderful sing-along of a short selection from Leonard Cohen’s ”Anthem,” with the famous line that “there is a crack, a crack in everything.” 

What is going on in Arlington? That same day there was an organized protest held on South Glebe Road, in the location of the Tesla dealership, with over 70 people holding hand-made signs with a general theme of unhappiness with Elon Musk. These protests are being held on Tuesdays and Saturdays. One of the organizers has noted that there were people who said they had never been to a protest before.  

Having witnessed these two events on March 4, I started thinking about the meaning of the phrase, “a grassroots movement.”  Wikipedia will tell you that grassroots movements encourage community members to contribute by taking responsibility and action for their community. The history of the phrase is obscure, so, as I often do, I look to our local history. And I go back to 1946, when the Arlington school system was dysfunctional and unresponsive to parents. 

Oscar LeBeau, an Arlington resident who worked at the Department of Agriculture, put out a call through a notice in the local newspaper, announcing that he was arranging a meeting for people who were interested in the creation of kindergarten classes in Arlington. At that time there was no kindergarten, and the first and second grades were half-day classes, due to overcrowding. 

The meeting took place at a community center in Buckingham, and the response was overwhelming. This was the birth of an organization called the Citizens Committee for School Improvement (CCSI). The organization grew into a mighty advocacy group; its influence was dramatic. One of the fun facts I have learned about the CCSI is that they were extremely well-organized. They had over ten committees; they even had created an officer position of “historian.” And their communication skills were incredibly detailed. 

They used the old-fashioned concept of “phone trees” to get the word out quickly about events. Today we have computers in our phones; we get the word out by social media instead of phone calls. But the basic desire remains, to gather in community and contribute by taking responsibility and action for our community. 

I am grateful for the opportunity to write this column, inspired by the columns written by Richard Barton and Charlie Clark in the past 20 years. I aim to explore various themes, including the history of Arlington’s grassroots organizations. Some, like the CCSI, no longer exist, while others have merged or evolved into lasting community contributors. If anyone has any suggested groups to highlight, just let me know.