PEP, March 2007: Black History Month: Reflections mirror progress. Black families, culture and politics

By DIANE S. WILLIAMS

Hundreds of DC 37 members joined Executive Director Lillian Roberts and the union’s Black History Committee for its opening ceremony and ribbon cutting Feb. 1. The opening kicked off DC 37’s celebration of Black History Month, which this year included some 20 events at union headquarters organized by the committee and 14 locals.

The opening ceremony was dedicated to the late Sherwyn Britton, former White Collar Division Director and one of the founding members of the committee.

“She lit a flame,” Roberts said of Britton. “She really started something here. We are going to miss her.”

“This is a fantastic program,” said committee Co-chair Cynthia Chin-Marshall, associate administrator of the DC 37 Health and Security Plan. She gave a special welcome to the Britton family and presented them with an African sculpture in Sherwyn’s memory.

Chin-Marshall described the 26th annual Black History Month program as “bittersweet” to the committee, who were saddened by Britton’s passing but pleased to dedicate this year’s celebration to her long-time contributions. She noted that the new chair, Local 1655 President Kevin Smith, has helped revitalize the celebration with a fresh perspective and new enthusiasm.

“I am ecstatic,” Smith told the large audience. He praised the work of the committee and said, “Sherwyn Britton was my friend and we are happy to salute her this evening.” Togba Porte, vice president of Local 420, who is from Liberia, offered a traditional African libation and LA & Simply Skins, Daughters of the Drum provided rhythmic accompaniment.

Veronica Montgomery-Costa, president of Local 372 and of DC37, said Britton was from the “‘old school’ of unionism who willingly rolled up her sleeves and worked long hours building the union.”

Britton, lifelong unionist
Britton started at DC 37 in 1967 and centered her life on union activity. “I am proud as a black women to have known Sherwyn Britton,” said Montgomery-Costa. “To the family, we thank you for sharing Sherwyn with us. She may be gone from the physical realm, but she will always be in my heart, in my spirit.”

The Hon. Sylvia Hinds-Radix, the first Barbadian inducted as a state Supreme Court justice and a former DC 37 legal services lawyer, recalled how Britton helped her win her elections to civil court and to state Supreme Court.

DC 37 Education Fund AdministratorBarbara Kairson and Associate Administrator Viviana Tillman coordinated the dedication ceremony with committee members Keith Clarke and Wendell Reid.

“Black History Month provides an opportunity to be proud that the largest municipal union in the city is headed by a black woman,” Roberts said.

“Reflections” was the theme of DC 37’s month-long celebration of the culture and achievements of African Americans. During the month, parts of the museum exhibit, “New York Divided: Slavery and the Civil War,” were on display at the union. The entire display can be viewed at the New York Historical Society, which has discounted admission for DC 37 members.

PAC: “Being a union member gave my mother rights she did not have picking cotton in the South,” said writer-activist Kevin Powell, pictured above with DC 37 members’ children. Powell was guest speaker at the DC37 Political Action Committee’s event Feb. 8 that featured dancer Phoebe Smith, at left. Powell recalled the history of Africans in America, from slaves traded as a commodity on Wall Street to their fight for freedom in the Civil War and the crucial role labor unions played in the civil rights struggle of the 1950s and ’60s.

“Everyday items from fitted sheets to the traffic light, and American music from spirituals to blues, jazz, rock and hip-hop were all the inventions of working-class black people,” Powell said. He challenged the audience to be truth tellers, to tell the history of all peoples who have contributed to this country, and to end self-hatred, divisions and bitterness. “We have survived slavery, colonization and segregation,” said Powell. “If we don’t love each other, who will?”

Local 371: For Dr. Joy DeGruy-Leary (at left), slavery remains a boil to be lanced. The U.S. Civil War resulted in the official abolition of slavery almost 150 years ago, but our country and people still suffer deeply from its legacy, said DeGruy-Leary, keynote speaker of the SSEU Local 371 Black History Celebration on Feb. 2. Dr. DeGruy-Leary, a professor at Portland State University, wrote “Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome: America’s Legacy of Enduring Injury and Healing.”

Her theory contends that slavery and systemic racism and oppression have damaged the psyches of generations, while they have taught tactics for survival. “What we are looking at is money and power,” said DeGruy-Leary, describing American chattel slavery. “But how do you get this money and power while going to church? You had to reconcile going to church in the morning with going to a lynching at lunch.” She linked contemporary racism to the rationale for slavery, the bogus scientific, philosophical and anthropological theories used to justify a practice that violated the standards of morality, religion, and human decency that our white-dominated society supposedly supports. The Local 371 Black History Committee, co-chaired by vice presidents Faye Moore and Beverly Mallory Brown, coordinated the event, which also featured the Songs of Solomon choir (pictured above).

Locals 420 and 1070: “Reflecting the Black Experience through Music,” was the theme presented on Feb. 9 by Locals 420 and 1070. From the urban sounds of hip-hop to contemporary African music from the Mandingo Ambassadors and drummer and educator Bobby Sanabria’s (left) musical narration of the drum’s journey from Africa throughout the Diaspora, the locals took members on a unique musical journey.

The evening’s keynote speaker, Bronx District Attorney Robert Johnson, below with Local 420 Pres. Carmen Charles and Local 1070 Pres. Cliff Koppelman, thanked DC 37 for its support in 1989 when he was elected the first African-American district attorney in the history of New York State.

Local 983: Motor Vehicle Operators Local 983 celebrated the life and music of the late Godfather of Soul, James Brown, shown at left. “As labor leaders we have to emulate James Brown, the hardest working man in show business. We have to be the hardest working leaders in the room whenever we meet with management,” said Local 983 President Mark Rosenthal.

At Feb. 6 celebration, below right, are recent retiree Randolph Maynard and his grandson, Joshou Warner, 5.

Local 768: At left, Saxophonist Jeff King and his band serenaded DC 37 members with jazz reflections at Feb. 7 BHM event.