Public Employee Press


Part 2, Feb. 15-28, 2011
30th anniversary of Black History Month at DC 37
Union honors Black History Makers

By DIANE S. WILLIAMS
with Alfredo Alvarado, Gregory N. Heires and Jane LaTour

Wise historian Dr. Carter G. Woodson encouraged America to recognize the contributions of African Americans, and in February DC 37 celebrated 30 years of honoring leaders in the struggle for equality at its annual Black History Month events.

"America has a difficult history that needs discussion," Executive Director Lillian Roberts told a packed house of members and retirees Feb. 28 at the month's final event. "I am so pleased to be part of a union that had the foresight and creativity to organize these programs." Special guests that evening were Stanley Hill, who headed DC 37 when the Black History Committee was born, and former Local 1757 President Zach Ramsey, now executive assistant to AFSCME Secretary-Treasurer Lee Saunders.

"Forming the Black History Committee opened the door for all the other committees that celebrate our diversity," said Hill.

"Our identity has been denied for so long that we must tell our story," said Local 420 staffer Beryl Major, a committee founder whose son Miles shared his PowerPoint presentation on 30 years of Black History Month at DC 37.

Many locals marked the month with entertaining programs rooted in African American history, theater and musical traditions. Local 957 celebrated with "Nothing Like Show Biz," a takeoff on the Jay Leno Show featuring musicians, salsa dancers and DC 37's own Gladys Knight (Local 1549's Alma Roper) singing a spirited "Midnight Train to Georgia."

Local 1655 celebrated African American film by screening Tyler Perry's "For Colored Girls," based on Ntozake Shange's 1975 Obie Award-winning play.

"I am not a slave"

In a program focused on the 1963 March on Washington, Local 768 President Fitz Reid reminded members that Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis supporting striking AFSCME sanitation workers. "The eloquence of Dr. King was just incredible," said DC 37 Associate Director Oliver Gray. State University Labor Studies Center Dean Dr. Michael Merrill noted that the Memphis sanitation workers' "I am a man," placards echoed Dred Scott's famous "I am not a slave," utterance.

Local 2627 heard from City Comptroller John Liu and the Soul Legends Band, whose lead singer, Cody Childs, a local board member, performed a retrospective on legendary singer Sam Cooke.

The Rev. Dr. J.G. McCann Sr., Local 372's keynote speaker, encouraged members to look to inspiring leaders like Nelson Mandela. "We all get somewhere with the help of others," he said. The local also presented dramatic vignettes of the young Martin Luther King Jr.'s arrival in Montgomery, Ala., and his election to head the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

Local 371's program, dedicated to its late President Charles Ensley, featured Comptroller Liu and activist writer Herb Boyd, who connected the civil rights and labor movements and condemned the right-wing attack on unions as an attempt to divide the working class.

"Over the years, DC 37 has helped thousands who depend on us to be their voice and protection," former DC 37 and Local 372 President Veronica Montgomery-Costa told Local 299 members. "We are our brother's and sister's keeper."