In the final analysis DC 37’s protest for peace campaign became the center pieces of the union’s international movement of the 1980s. The strategy in confronting injustices in South Africa and Central America did differ. Activism against the minority controlled apartheid government in South Africa focused on picketing in front of the South African Embassy in Washington and the South African Consult in New York City. Central American activism focused more on ending the flow of U. S. military aid to the region and exposing U. S. complicity in human rights atrocities there. About Frederick Dougla ..read more

Labor leaders like Stan Hill framed the situation in South Africa and Central America as part of larger struggle for civil and human rights. In mobilizing workers for a mass rally in D.C., Hill made a link between U. S. foreign policy and domestic policy in a way that his member had palpable daily experiences. In a March 1987 article in the Public Employee Press he said, “I want our members to come out in force to protest U. S. policies that hurt working people and the poor in Central America and Southern Africa. We have to tell Reagan and the Congress that this country’s distorted priorities ..read more

DC 37 organized forums at the local level that stressed the human rights aspect of struggle and made class linkages between unionist in New York, South Africa, and Central America. DC 37 followed the example of how Cleve Robinson who mobilized people for the 1968 march on Washington; organizing local forums for the purpose of raising political awareness and understanding among the body politic. Specialist on the labor movement in South Africa and Central America met with DC 37 committees such as the political action committees and then they disseminated the information to the members at shop s ..read more

In South Africa DC 37 focused on aiding the South labor movement and its civil disobedience campaign The Public Employee Press reported that tens of thousands of workers in 1980 defied state laws against organizing African workers. Workers had successfully organized “unofficial all-black trade unions and even managed to carry out strikes in the face of the most brutal repression.” The growing political and trade union consciousness of black laborers in the 1980s represented the greatest hope of ending apartheid and subsequent economic exploitation of blacks in South Africa. By 1985 Unionist al ..read more

The critique of U. S. complicity in Central America in the paper in the 1980s read equally as scathing. As early as 1981 DC 37’s parent organization AFSCME along with DC 37’s Delegates Council passed a resolution condemning the resumption of U. S. arms shipments to El Salvador. DC 37 sent fact fighting missions and delegations to Central America in the 1980s who came back and reported in the paper that Reagan’s Central American policy increased tensions in El Salvador instead of fostering a peaceful solution.  Moreover, Regan had requested an “aid package to El Salvador of $433.5 million ..read more

Recently US students on college campuses have been protesting against the Israeli states’ human rights violations against Palestinian civilians in Gaza and most recently Raffa. There are historical examples of how to pressure the US government to do more to end Israeli state oppression against Palestinians and pressure Hamas to release Israeli hostages. In the 1980s Local DC37 leaders wanted to expose the complicity of both the public and private sectors in the United States in supporting oppressive governments in South Africa and Central America. One article criticized the U. S. government fo ..read more

About Frederick Douglass Opie Books Youtube Facebook Instagram Podcast  For Speaking ..read more

Ousmane K. Power-Greene on the right discussing hiss new novel on book tour at Columbia University Courtesy of arts.columbia,edu An author interview with Dr. Ousmane K. Power-Greene published his first novel titled The Confessions of Matthew Strong, We talk about his journey to becoming a fiction writer, returning to graduate school, lessons learned in playing lacrosse at Yorktown High School and UNC Chapel Hill, and the new book. Power-Greene is an Associate Professor of History at Clark University. Earlier Interview with Dr. Power-Greene Angela Davis About Dr. Opie Books Youtube Facebook ..read more

Fred Opie 1985, Courtesy of Fred Opie Fall ball in lacrosse parlance is the time in which college players compete for starting position in the spring regular season. In the fall of 1983 I was over confident that I would start as I stepped on the campus of Syracuse University (SU). I was a two time junior college All American and had the playing experience of a big fish in a small pond. I was out of playing shape and over my head. Do to knee surgery and overeating I lost my normal quick first step and the footwork essential to defending an offensive player.  After Doc Baker cleared me to ..read more

Early Lewis Courtesy of Earl Lewis Earl Lewis is Thomas C. Holt Distinguished University Professor of History, Afro American and African Studies, and Public Policy and Director of Center for Social Solutions at University of Michigan. He talks about his journey through higher education and why he has created a way to prepare for higher education leadership. Earl Lewis About Dr. Opie Books Youtube Twitter Facebook Instagram Podcast ..read more