Why does Barack Obama say he become a community organizer in Dreams From My Father?

The community organizing element in President Obama's life
can be seen in a couple of ways as presented in the memoir.  To a certain extent, the
memoir presents the need to community organize as a way to bridge the gap between theory
and practice.  This aspect of "praxis" is one where Obama is able to fully understand
the implications of law and social policy in the form of community organizing.  In a
more psychological analysis, one can see his need to community organize in largely
African- American communities as a way to fully understand his own identity.  As a
person whose racial and ethnic identity becomes a major part of the narrative, the need
to struggle in understanding what personal identity is, there is something quite telling
in how the young Obama is able to work in these communities, recognizing a bit of his
own life in the narratives of those he meets and with whom he works.  In this light, his
days of community organizing not only afforded him a level of satisfaction from the
political point of view, but also from a psychological or personal one, as
well.