PEP, March 2014: Black History Celebration

Black history is America's history, and in February, Americans honor the contributions and hard-fought struggles of African Americans that have enriched the country and all its people.

The DC 37 Black History Committee launched the union's 33rd annual celebration of Black History Month Feb. 5 with the traditional ribbon-cutting ceremony at union headquarters.

"Our theme is black history makers," said Local 1113 President and Committee Chair Deborah Pitts. "We honor the work and legacy of history makers like Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Nelson Mandela and President Barack Obama."

After an invocation by Local 957 member Harrison Campbell and anthems sung by Jamaal May, the committee presented the musical "Night Songs," which traced the history of the African American experience from slavery to the Great Migration north and the swing era in Harlem. The play, complete with a live band and choreography, was produced by Bishop Nathaniel Townsley Jr. and Bishop Dolores Smalls of St. Mark's Holy Church in Brooklyn.

"These young people did a fantastic job," said Pitts of the performance, which paid tribute to gospel legends Clara Ward and Mahalia Jackson.

In addition to the opening and closing nights organized by the committee, numerous DC 37 locals presented programs throughout the month. On Feb. 10, New York City Accountants, Statisticians and Actuaries Local 1407 celebrated Black History Month at the union with participation by members of the City Council, local members and families and retirees, and DC 37 Associate Director Oliver Gray as a guest speaker.

Courage and persistence

More than 300 members and their families attended Social Service Employees Union Local 371's celebration Feb. 7 with performances by the P.S. 54 Dance Troupe, the Tribal Legacy band and Lola Louis Creative and Performing Arts Inc.'s Conscious Ones, whose performance depicted the struggle for freedom and opportunities for people of color.

The local also honored its corps of Homemakers, who despite being up in age remain fierce activists. They fought for change, dignity and respect and played a vital role on the bitter-cold picket lines of the 28-day strike in January 1965 that helped win full collective bargaining rights for all city employees.

"It is a history that cannot be forgotten," said Local President Anthony Wells, "and we in this mighty union love you for it."

Special guest speaker State Senator Nina Turner of Cleveland, Ohio, took the crowd to church with a rousing speech that blasted "heartless Congress members who have turned their backs on their responsibility, wished us Merry Christmas and cut unemployment insurance and Food Stamps for 46 million jobless Americans during this recession."

"We are our brothers' and sisters' keepers," Turner said, "so when they tried to take away collective bargaining rights in Ohio, we fought back. We would not be the great nation we are without labor. And when they tried to criminalize people who are poor by fingerprinting them for benefits, I introduced legislation for random drug testing for members of the state Legislature."

Turner, the oldest of seven children, went to work at 14 to provide for her younger siblings. Her teenage parents' marriage ended and she grew up poor in a single-parent home. With education and opportunity, Turner realized poverty was a temporary condition that did not define her. She eventually earned her master's degree and received an honorary doctorate from Wilberforce University.

The first woman elected to represent Cleveland's First Ward, Turner's trajectory in public service advances in her current campaign to be elected Ohio Secretary of State. "We have a choice our ancestors did not have," she said. "I urge you to put a little extra on your ordinary. That's what Harriet Tubman did, Rosa Parks and Dr. King too, and we owe them a debt.

"Have the courage to speak truth to power, to love one another, fight the good fight and not each other," Turner added, "and do not ask others to do more than we are willing to do for ourselves."

— with additional reporting by Alfredo Alvarado