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Workshops Announced for 2025 Great Labor Arts Exchange

From Red Scared: How the FBI and CIA De-Politicized American Art and Music to Solidarity Through Singing and Stitching Our Voices: Banner Making for All, the 2025 Great Labor Arts Exchange is bringing the heat — and the harmony.

The Labor Heritage Foundation has just released the full lineup of workshops and plenaries for this year’s event, happening June 20–22 at the Silver Spring Civic Center in Silver Spring, MD. Expect hands-on sessions in music, film, visual arts, theater, and organizing — plus bold conversations about the role of art in the labor movement today.

👉 Click here for details, including the workshop schedule, registration and how to sign up for the Friday night contest! photo: at the 2024 GLAE; photo by Chris Garlock

JUST ADDED: New Events Join 2025 DC LaborFest Lineup

The DC LaborFest has announced three new additions to its May schedule, offering a deeper dive into labor history and culture:

IBEW Museum Tour – Monday, May 12, 12–1 PM: Explore the roots of the electrical workers’ union at the IBEW Museum.

Singing for Justice – Monday, May 19, 7 PM: Join the DC Labor Chorus at New Deal Café in Greenbelt, MD, for a screening of Singing for Justice, a new documentary on folk musician and activist Faith Petric.

Postal Workers Museum Tour – Wednesday, May 21, 12–1 PM: Visit APWU Headquarters for a special tour of “The Struggle Continues,” an inspiring look at postal worker history and activism. photo: IBEW museum

Echoes of Emancipation: Labor Leaders Speak and Sing Out

DC Metro Council President Sam Epps, DC CLUW President Chelsea Bland, and DC Labor Chorus Director Elise Bryant were among those who took part in the DC Emancipation Day Speak Out Wednesday at Metropolitan AME Church. Epps spoke passionately about the importance of standing up to power and the urgent need for solidarity. He then invited Bryant to join him in leading the crowd in a rousing rendition of “Solidarity Forever.”

AFI Silver Offers Discount for Federal Workers

The AFI Silver Theatre – home of the upcoming annual DC Labor FilmFest -- is now offering a special discount for current or recent federal employees: $8 movie tickets for all in-person purchases through Labor Day. The promotion is available only at the box office. For showtimes and more info, visit afisilver.afi.com.

Southwest Washington Unions Launch Solidarity Scavenger Hunt for May Day — And It’s an Idea Others Could Borrow

Southwest Washington’s labor community is celebrating May Day with a Solidarity Scavenger Hunt — a creative way to explore local labor history while getting ready for International Workers’ Day. Read more here.

TL;DR: Why don't protests in the U.S. feature live music anymore?

"How did so many people get the impression, all at the same time, that live music at protests was a bad idea?” musician/activist Dave Rovics takes a deep dive into a dozen possible explanations, concluding, “More music may help build your movement, less music won't. And no music will kill it off quickly.” Read Dave’s column here.

photo: at the Hands Off rally in Jackson, WY; photo by Sophia Boyd-Fliegel/KHOL

PICKET SIGN OF THE WEEK

Teamsters strike Amazon 

Lights, Action, Harmony: Labor’s Creative Resistance

This week's Labor Heritage Power Hour: Coast to coast on this week’s show as we kick things off in DC with Part 2 of our Labor FilmFest preview, then head to Washington State, where workers are fighting budget cuts with creativity. Finally, Elise Bryant talks with fellow chorus leaders from Seattle and NYC about upcoming concerts, political resistance through song, and the power of solidarity in harmony.

CLICK HERE to listen to the show!

Like this newsletter? Help us spread labor art by passing it along!

LABOR VIDEO OF THE WEEK

Washington for All Anthem – Floorchild Washington State workers battle budget cuts…creatively.

LABOR SONG OF THE WEEK

Do You Hear The People Sing? NYC Labor Chorus

Featured on this week’s Labor Heritage Power Hour (catch it Thursday at 1p ET on WPFW 89.3 FM).

LABOR QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“The song is a weapon of struggle, an instrument of the people.”

Victor Jara

LABOR ART OF THE WEEK

Guerilla Girls: Making Trouble

Step into a decades-long protest with Guerrilla Girls: Making Trouble at the National Museum of Women in the Arts. This bold, eye-opening exhibit marks 40 years of feminist art activism, spotlighting how the Guerrilla Girls have exposed systemic inequality in the art world. With striking visuals, sharp humor, and hard truths, their work doesn’t just critique — it demands justice. A must-see for anyone who cares about art, labor, and who gets left out. By Mircy Coca Soriano; read more here.

Got labor art? Send it to us at info@laborheritage.org

LABOR POEM OF THE WEEK

On The Move

Can we walk in this new land, 

heads held to the sky, no questions

left on the table? Who --or What--

Will greet us? it borders on insanity

to think we can move around as if 

unscathed. But we won't flinch--

even if our eyes fill with shame

when years of sweat and struggle

flash before us; the ones left behind 

in the dirt and heat. We step with

caution over this new earth, careful

not to speak above a whisper, shoes 

gone, feet blistered and swollen.

Bodies of one breath on the move. 

Cathy Porter, Omaha, NE in The Blue Collar Review, from Partisan Press

CLICK HERE for our complete labor arts calendar; look for our Labor Arts Calendar edition on Monday

WEEKEND LABOR ARTS CALENDAR

Saturday: Labor's Martyr: The Story of Joe Hill (Showcase)

Ongoing:

Power & Light: Russell Lee's Coal Survey

Historic photographs of Yakima Valley farmworkers

LABOR HISTORY TODAY

April 18, 1941

After a four-week boycott led by Rev. Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., bus companies in New York City agree to hire 200 black drivers and mechanics.

LABOR HISTORY TODAY PODCAST
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE SHOW!

On Labor History Today: Para Power 

AFT president Randi Weingarten talks with Nick Juravich, associate director of the Labor Resource Center at UMass Boston, about class, race and education and his book Para Power: How Paraprofessional Labor Changed Education. PLUS: Nick’s almost-favorite labor song, and, on Labor History in 2:00, Florence Reece is born.

LABOR HISTORY QUIZ OF THE WEEK
On this date in 1912, striking WV coal miners strike defended themselves against whom?
Company security guards
The National Guard
Local sheriff’s deputies

"The worker must have bread, but she must have roses, too."

Please CLICK HERE NOW to pledge your financial support to our 2025 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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