Public Employee Press

Celebrating 25 years of Black history

District Council 37’s 25th celebration of Black History Month featured 16 events sponsored by locals and the Black History Committee to honor and build on the African American legacy.

Finale Night, Feb. 24, drew 450 union members, elected officials, local presidents andexecutives Lee Saunders and Vernon Watkins of DC 37’s national union, AFSCME.

A procession of drummers, local leaders and politicians followed DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts into the main hall where Local 420 2nd Vice President Togba Porte offered a libation in Dahl, a West African language spoken in his birthplace of Liberia. “Today we are all Africans,” Porte said as he called out for blessings.

“The future belongs to those who prepare for it today,” Roberts said. As New York labor chair of the United Negro College Fund, Roberts raised $110,000 for the educational charity. UNCF reps held a college fair at DC 37’s Black History Month Family Day, and will lead seminars starting in April for members and their children.

Before the Medgar Evers College Imani Singers performed traditional spirituals on Finale Night, the Black History Committee co-chairs, Cynthia Chin Marshall and Sherwyn Britton, invited Roberts to lead a candle lighting ceremony honoring the late Coretta Scott King and Rosa Parks.

Disparities and hope
“These women devoted their lives to the movement and were in the forefront of a revolution for civil rights,” Roberts said.

The committee’s use of the Sankofa symbol, a Ghanaian term meaning to reclaim the past to understand the present and create a better future, is appropriate, Roberts said, “because the struggles and achievements of African Americans matter. We have a history to tell.”

“When we don’t honor our history, we risk going backwards,” said Saunders, the evening’s keynote speaker. “The contributions, triumphs and defeats of African Americans are emblazoned upon this nation’s soul.”

Giving an eyewitness account of Hurricane Katrina’s destruction “made worse by leadership failures,” Saunders noted the irony of the New Orleans mayor seeking aid from foreign governments when the Bush Administration, busy rebuilding Iraq, failed to help. History will place the 9th Ward with Rosewood, Fla., and Black Wall Street in Tulsa, Okla., as communities ravaged for profit, Saunders said.

He noted that disparities between the races in America include retirement security, access to quality health care, and household net worth, which for the typical white family is $121,000 while the typical black family’s net worth is $19,000.

Changes will come as more people “use knowledge to confront those in authority, call attention to the unfairness, and gather information needed to take greater control of our destiny,” Saunders said. “If we can rise up from 300 years of slavery and nearly 100 years of Jim Crow, we can certainly rise up from the problems we’re facing now!”

—Diane S. Williams

BHC's Maynard Anderson, Wanda Williams with DC 37 Exec. Director Lillian Roberts, Norman Issacs, and co-chairs Sherwyn Britton and Cynthia Chin-Marshall, at 25th Black History Finale Night. Drummers for the Wayne Daniel Dancers at Local 1407’s event Feb. 13. Court, County and Dept. of Probation Employees Local 1070 hosted a theatrical production about the waning years of juke joints. “Reatha’s Juke Joint” — written, produced and directed by Francine Crawford — is one owner’s soul search while holding onto her business in the face of competition from casinos and hotels. The Mississippi Delta region once had as many juke joints and blues clubs as churches. But as economic opportunities grew and Jim Crow declined, blacks increasingly abandoned juke joints to frequent casinos that lured customers with free music, drink and food. “Reatha’s Juke Joint” discusses the challenges of social and economic change mixed with song-and-dance numbers. Reatha must deal with a dwindling clientele and address the concerns of her worried workers as she struggles to maintain her deceased husband’s place. Ultimately, she decides to open a more modern establishment. “We are closing,” says Reatha as she gathers her workers and loyal customers to toast her deceased husband. “At the same time, this is a new beginning, because you move on.” — GNH

The Medgar Evers College Imani Singers performed traditional spirituals on Finale Night Feb. 24. Local 957’s Black History Month celebration featured Hazel Rosetta Smith’s production of “Tell-It, Sing-It, Shout-It!” Members of the New York City Housing Authority local enjoyed an evening of comedy and drama Feb. 21, with the performance of Smith‘s play. As a morning worship service is about to start, the pastor instructs his parishioners to “Tell your story and don’t leave anything out!” Five religious sisters proceed to tell, sing, and shout their stories. The testimonial gospel musical unfolded, accompanied by piano and drums, and wowed the DC 37 audience. “We need to bring them back for an encore performance,” said Local 957 President Walthene Primus. “Next year, we’ll enjoy this again in March, for Women’s History Month.” — JL At its 19th annual Black History Month event Feb. 15 Civil Service Technical Guild Local 375 presented “Katrina, A Wake-up Call,” with TV host Gil Noble, of WABC-TV’s “Like It is.” “Like you, I was almost ashamed of my blackness,” said Noble, recalling his upbringing in Harlem. Noble delivered a poignant message on the impact of racism in brutally honest personal terms. He also recounted how the civil rights struggle and Black Power movement helped him develop pride and opened the door for his success in television. Noble said his personal evolution began when saxophonist Jackie McLean introduced him to jazz, which instilled a pride in Black achievements. “After that the civil rights movement erupted. That woke me up,” he said. Despite progress, the country today continues to face the painful legacy of racism, and economic polarization in the United States and abroad must be addressed, Noble said. “There is no such thing as painless major surgery, and that’s what we need in this country,” Noble said. “We have to begin to talk candidly among ourselves, between races.” — GNH