This week, we’ve heard a lot of mocking of community organizers. Former New York Gov. George Pataki even took time to ask, “What in God’s name is a community organizer?”

Well, governor, I’ll tell you.

Community organizers are the ones who fill in the cracks left behind by government and the private sector. They are the ones who helped regular people change their block, their neighborhood, their city, even their country. They are the ones who are there to stop absent landlords, rally for new parks or hold crooked politicians accountable. They are the ones who are needed most by those most in need.

Without community organizers, we wouldn’t have had the civil rights movement. Without community organizers, we wouldn’t have even the most basic labor protections. Without community organizers, parents wouldn’t have the power to make sure their kids’ school was up to snuff.

There are many kinds of experience we need in our political leaders. To dismiss the hard, vital work of community organizers is an insult to everyone who has ever carried a picket sign, spoken out for justice or rallied for a better, more just world.