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LHF at the Takoma Park Folk Festival this Sunday!
The Labor Heritage Foundation will be participating in the Takoma Park Folk Festival this year; look for Chris, Elise and Hetty at our table in the vendor area, where we'll have cool free labor arts stuff available! Sunday, September 8, 2024, 10:30 AM until 6:30 PM; Takoma Park Middle School (rain or shine), 7611 Piney Branch Rd, Takoma Park, MD 20910 Volunteer for a 1-hour shift!
| | Our theme song contest (click here to listen); Chris and Elise play songs submitted in our Labor Heritage Power Hour Theme Song Contest; which will be the winner? | | |
Like this newsletter? Share the wealth and pass it along to colleagues, friends and family! | |
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MoJo goes viral
A free online screening over the long Labor Day weekend of "Fight Like Hell: The Testimony of Mother Jones" went viral, racking up nearly 600 views. The screening was presented by Friday’s Folklore and co-sponsored by the Labor Heritage Foundation. Drawn from Jones’ autobiography, letters, speeches, and interviews, FIGHT LIKE HELL is adapted from Obie Award-winning Actress Kaiulani Lee’s one-woman play “Can’t Scare Me,” and directed by Emmy-nominated and Peabody Award-winning filmmaker Ian Cheney. If you missed it; here’s a link to the $3.99 one-time rental from Bullfrog Films.
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Netflix hit “The Union” is a miss
Review by Chris Garlock
The Union is a hit on Netflix, but it’s not really about the labor movement, and it’s a pretty lousy movie, despite starring Mark Wahlberg and Halle Berry. Wahlberg plays Mike, a construction worker in New Jersey, who finds himself thrust into the world of super spies when his high school sweetheart, Roxanne (played by Berry), enlists his help on a high-stakes US intelligence mission for a shadowy group of ex-agency operatives called The Union. It’s a telling sign that a film called The Union doesn’t bother to say whether Mike’s construction job is union or not. J.K. Simmons runs the team and does have a cool class-conscious rationale for its existence: “(We’re the) invisible army that keeps the world running. The people who do the actual work. Street smarts over book smarts. Blue collar, not blue blood. Able to build our cities, keep production lines humming. That's who we are. We get shit done.” Unfortunately that’s about the only nod to labor in the film, which has been getting abysmal viewer reviews, the best of which call it “generic” and “cheesy”. Action fans will be disappointed by the rote gunplay, endless — and pointless — car chases and lame dialogue from movie stars who — like us — deserve better. And the big plot twist involving a traitor in The Union is not only completely unbelievable, but misses an obvious opportunity to take a shot at scabs. Hate to say it, but this is one union you won’t want to join.
Got an opinion you’d like to share about labor art you’ve seen or heard lately? Email us at info@laborheritage.org.
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2025 Great Labor Arts Exchange dates set
The 2025 Great Labor Arts Exchange will be held June 20-22 in Silver Spring, Maryland. Mark your calendar now for this annual gathering of activists and artists celebrating all labor arts, including music, film, poetry, puppetry, street theater and much, much more! Registration is not yet open but you can be among the first to know by signing up here. Proposals for workshops at the GLAE are being accepted now; click here now for details and to submit your proposal.
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10,000 hotel workers strike for better working conditions and pay. | |
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“It isn’t about you alone. It’s about the people who will come after you.”
Former President of CWA Local 3907 Ken Worthen (center, in the gray hat), who showed up this week to support striking AT&T workers.
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CLICK HERE for our complete labor arts calendar; look for our Labor Arts Calendar edition on Monday | |
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Rustin (Rochester Labor Film Series)
Friday, September 6; 7:30 PM; Dryden Theatre, 900 East Avenue, Rochester, NY
The story of Bayard Rustin’s critical yet unsung role in organizing the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. A joint effort of the Dryden Theatre and the Rochester Labor Council, the Rochester Labor Film Series presents motion pictures celebrating workers around the world.
Joe Uehlein: Songs of Work, Hope and Freedom
Saturday, September 7, 2024, 7:30 PM until 9:00 PM; El Golfo Restaurant, 8739 Flower Avenue, Silver Spring, MD 20901
Labor Day-themed concert! Joe Uehlein's concerts always include a wide and deep presentation of Americana and roots-rock music, including folk, rock’n roll, bluegrass, country, soul, and more. But his solo shows take on a more intimate feel, talking more about music, politics, and the human spirit.
LHF at the Takoma Park Folk Festival
Sunday, September 8, 2024, 10:30 AM until 6:30 PM; Takoma Park Middle School (rain or shine), 7611 Piney Branch Rd, Takoma Park, MD 20910
LHF will be participating in the Takoma Park Folk Festival this year; look for our table in the vendor area and/or volunteer for a 1-hour shift!
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September 6, 1973
Tony Boyle, former president of the United Mine Workers, is charged with murder in the 1969 deaths of former UMW rival Joseph A. Yablonski and his wife and daughter
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A labor walk in Wheeling (CLICK HERE to listen): Walter Reuther’s name is forever linked to Detroit, Michigan, where he and his brother Victor built the United Automobile Workers -- the UAW -- into one of the largest and most progressive labor unions in American history. In Wheeling, West Virginia, where he was born on September 1, 1907, Reuther is a hometown boy who made good. LHT producers Chris Garlock and Patrick Dixon drove out to Wheeling last Friday to cover the Reuther-Pollack Labor History Symposium. | |
| Which of these DID NOT happen on Labor Day 1942? | | | |
LAST WEEK’S QUIZ: While New York was the first state to introduce a bill recognizing Labor Day, Oregon was the first to pass a law recognizing Labor Day, on February 21, 1887. During 1887, four more states – Colorado, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York – passed laws creating a Labor Day holiday. | |
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"The worker must have bread, but she must have roses, too."
Please CLICK HERE NOW to pledge your financial support to our 2024 program, which includes our annual Solidarity Forever Award, the Great Labor Arts Exchange, the DC Labor FilmFest and much more (check out our website for details!).
Donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.
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