Public Employee Press

Part 2, events of Feb. 10-26
Remembering the past, building the future

By DIANE S. WILLIAMS

DC 37 sizzled with spirit Feb. 10 through 26 as 10 more Black History Month events evoked the soul of the civil rights and labor movements.

“Being unafraid to stand against injustice and fight the Jim Crow laws wasn’t easy,” said DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts. “Ordinary people made extraordinary sacrifices for our rights, and we should never forget that.”

With gospel singers, a marching band, dancers, activists, speakers and a memorial honoring ancestors in the African American Burial Ground near City Hall, the union highlighted the achievements of a people who overcame near insurmountable challenges to benefit all Americans. From Feb. 10-26, eight locals — 1549, 1407, 957, 375, 420, 372, 1070 and 1320 — the Political Action Committee and the DC 37 Black History Committee offered diverse programs (see photos).

“Any celebration of Black history should include the history of black workers,” said State Sen. Ada L. Smith, the PAC’s guest speaker. “It is a history of degradation, discrimination and oppression,” that A. Philip Randolph overcame, she noted, by unlocking union doors to blacks and “taking labor issues beyond contracts and compensation to civil rights.”

Ms. Roberts addressed many of the audiences. She reminded members that union sisters and brothers in Missouri and Indiana had recently lost collective bargaining rights. “Times are very bad under Bush and tough years are ahead. We need our union and we need each other.”

The tradition of Harriet Tubman
Like Harriet Tubman, who with gun and guts led others to freedom, unionists today need to build a strong movement against oppression, and many of the month’s events emphasized this can be done by harnessing economic and political power and a commitment to become more involved as union members.

The BHC, which is chaired by Sherwyn Britton and Cynthia Chin-Marshall, paid tribute to those who died in 2004 such as Ossie Davis, Shirley Chisholm, DC 37 Retirees Association past President Alma Osborne and the Education Fund’s Debra Billingsley.

Finale Night ended a month of celebration on a high note Feb. 25 with a salute to Motown. “Motown is the soundtrack of America’s Civil Rights and Black Power movements,” said committee member Madonna Knight.

The traditional procession, led by Simply Skins — Daughters of the Drum, included Ms. Roberts, DC 37 President Veronica Montgomery-Costa, Treasurer Maf Misbah Uddin, Secretary Cliff Koppelman, former local president Jacob Azeke and U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel.

“We can come here with the pride in our ancestors that every other immigrant group has,” Mr. Rangel said. “We, the descendents of kings and queens, stand on the shoulders of Adam Clayton Powell and Ossie Davis, Dr. King and Malcolm X and many others who stood up to oppressors and did not let them get away with it.”