By LILLIAN ROBERTS
Executive Director
District Council 37, AFSCME

Over many years of Black History Month events at District Council 37, I have been fortunate to behold many wonderful performances and to find great meaning in them.

One I will never forget was presented last month by Accountants, Statisticians and Actuaries Local 1407. At their program, a 9-year-old boy recited the famous “I Have a Dream” speech that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave at the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. African Americans and the United States have come a long way in the 45 years since then, but that speech remains a defining moment in our history.

I was moved almost to tears by the young man’s delivery, which evoked the rhythmic cadences of Dr. King. I could feel the strength of his conviction, which showed that he understood the speech and believed deeply in its message.

As the boy finished his dramatic rendition of Dr. King’s words of hope for the day “when all of God’s children ... will be able to join hands and sing ... Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!” the audience rose to their feet in a standing ovation.

The boy’s name is Muhammad Drammeh. When he was asked about his own dreams, the Muslim youth replied that he hopes for “a world of peace, where black people and white people and Christians and Muslims and Jews come together and respect each other.” I take my hat off to his mother, Shireena Drammeh, an immigrant from Guyana, in South America, and his father, Sheikh Moussa Drammeh, from Gambia in West Africa, for they have clearly raised him with respect for all of humanity.

The programs of Black History Month at DC 37 represent a magnificent outpouring of creativity and hard work by many locals and by the Black History Committee, which is chaired by Local 1655 President Kevin Smith with Health and Security Plan Administrator Cynthia Chin-Marshall as co-chair.

Muhammad Drammeh’s performance last month was a tribute to the spirit of our members, who have grown to embrace each other’s cultures at a yearlong series of union events that begins with Black History Month and ends with the holidays of Eid ul-Fitr, Diwali, Hannukah and Christmas.

Throughout the year, we are offered wonderful opportunities to learn about each other’s history, music, dance, art, food and even humor as we all join in the ethnic celebrations organized by our DC 37 Asian, Caribbean, Irish, Italian, Jewish and Latino Heritage Committees.

As we come to appreciate more of each other’s lives and cultures, we have learned that all the groups that make up District Council 37 share histories of toiling at the toughest jobs, surviving despite terrible oppression and sticking together in struggle to win a fair share of the economic and political rights that make up the American Dream. From our diversity, we have gained the vital understanding that we share a collective heritage as working women and men. We have found strength in our diversity.

One mighty voice for change
The many voices of our members cry out for change — for full racial equality, for economic justice with fair pay, a fair tax system and affordable housing, for universal access to quality education and health care, for clean air, pure water and a world that isn’t overheating amidst its own pollution, and for peace.

Black and white, Latino and Asian, we know we must fight together for these goals, and we have our union and the labor movement to unite us in the beautiful strength of our diversity.

I want each member to know that while you may feel powerless as one person, you are not alone. You are a union member. By working with your sisters and brothers and supporting your union, you can help build a mighty force that — step by step — can improve our lives, strengthen our communities and help make this a better world. Working together, we can make progress toward the goals of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. — and the goals of young Muhammad Drammeh.