Shows
Power At WorkPower At Work Blogcast #37: Labor Podcasters on Labor with Jamala Rogers, Bianca Cunningham, Adam Keller & Jacob MorrisonListen to Burnes Center Senior Fellow Seth Harris’s conversation about worker power, the labor movement, social justice, and podcasting with Jamala Rogers and Bianca Cunningham, co-hosts of Convergence Magazine's Black Work Talk, and Adam Keller and Jacob Morrison, co-hosts of The Valley Labor Report.
Our guests discuss how they coordinate their podcasts and their other jobs, what workers in their communities are currently talking about, and how unions can build power among workers in the South.
You don't want to miss the latest Power At Work blogcast!
Listen to The Valley Labor Re...2024-03-261h 02
Black Work TalkLooking Back and Forward After a Year of Labor Strikes and Wins, with Carlos JimenezThroughout this season of Black Work Talk, we've explored how Black workers have shown up in many of the big labor wins that happened in 2023. This season finale brings the full picture into perspective as Carlos Jimenez, head of the special projects division of the AFL-CIO, joins host Jamala Rogers to analyze the history of labor fights that got us to this moment, and how organized Black workers have shown up throughout that history. The conversation delves into the encouraging and growing trend of action we have seen in the labor movement over the past few years. Jamala and...2024-01-1746 min
Black Work TalkKaiser Workers’ Unsung Win, with Rashad Pritchett and Theresa MylesRashaad Pritchett and Theresa Mtles of SEIU United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW) join hosts Bianca Cunningham and Jamala Rogers for this episode of Black Work Talk. They delve into the challenges faced by Black healthcare support workers, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Rashaad and Theresa recount their experiences of being on the frontlines during the pandemic, tackling fears amongst Black workers as they struggled to perform their duties without proper PPE or safe staffing, lacking proper respect and benefits.
They also discuss SEIU-UHW's monumental healthcare strike in October 2023, which saw participation from 75,000 Kaiser Permanente workers across four...2024-01-101h 07
Black Work TalkKaiser Workers' Unsung Win, with Rashad Pritchett and Theresa MylesRashaad Pritchett and Theresa Mtles of SEIU United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW) join hosts Bianca Cunningham and Jamala Rogers for this episode of Black Work Talk. They delve into the challenges faced by Black healthcare support workers, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Rashaad and Theresa recount their experiences of being on the frontlines during the pandemic, tackling fears amongst Black workers as they struggled to perform their duties without proper PPE or safe staffing, lacking proper respect and benefits. They also discuss SEIU-UHW's monumental healthcare strike in October 2023, which saw participation from 75,000 Kaiser Permanente workers across four st...2024-01-101h 07
Black Work TalkPreparing for a General Strike, with Cecily Myart-CruzIn this episode, United Teachers Los Angeles President Cecily Myart-Cruz joins Bianca and Jamala to discuss the challenges she has faced as the first woman of color to head this powerhouse union, and a leader who took over during the COVID-19 pandemic. When she advocated for educators and students in 2020, she faced immediate backlash. The interview explores how she found the resolve to continue to stand up for LA's teachers, students, and their families amidst such hostility.
Cecily's experience as a strong union leader on the Left makes her consideration of a general strike unique. She, Bianca...2023-12-201h 12
Black Work TalkElectoral Focus of the Working Class in 2024 and BeyondBWT co-hosts Bianca Cunningham and Jamala Rogers take time this episode to explore a few of the crises and challenges shaking the world and the Left in this moment. The recent demands by the United Auto Workers (UAW) and a few other national unions for a ceasefire in Gaza suggest an opening for a worker-led movement for peace. Bianca and Jamala discuss that possibility as well as how the Left is positioned for the upcoming 2024 elections.Opinions on national electoral work vary among those identified with the US Left, but two perspectives stand out in this moment: 2023-12-1348 min
Black Work TalkElectoral Focus of the Working Class in 2024 and BeyondBWT co-hosts Bianca Cunningham and Jamala Rogers take time this episode to explore a few of the crises and challenges shaking the world and the Left in this moment. The recent demands by the United Auto Workers (UAW) and a few other national unions for a ceasefire in Gaza suggest an opening for a worker-led movement for peace. Bianca and Jamala discuss that possibility as well as how the Left is positioned for the upcoming 2024 elections.
Opinions on national electoral work vary among those identified with the US Left, but two perspectives stand out in this moment: 2023-12-1348 min
Black Work TalkSolidarity in the South. Solidarity in Palestine. Solidarity Everywhere. With Shafeah M’BaliaFifty-six percent of people in the US who self-identify as Black call the South home. Today's guest, Shafeah M'Balia, explains why and how we need to focus organizing strategies on Black workers in southern states. Shafeah is a lifelong activist and organizer with Black Workers for Justice and Muslims for Social Change.
In this episode Shafeah talks with host Jamala Rogers to help listeners understand why they need to move through lingering, harmful stereotypes of the South and understand the interconnectedness of all workers in the region's supply chains. She'll review her past and present efforts to...2023-12-061h 02
Black Work TalkWhere the Writers Guild of America Goes Next to Support Marginalized Workers, with Angela Harvey and Tawal Panyacosit Jr.After the second-longest strike in Hollywood history, members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) voted to ratify a new contract in October 2023. Their 146-day walkout brought wins on some of the most pressing issues they were fighting for. These included new standards governing the use of AI for producing content and the distribution of residuals in the age of streaming.
Joining host Bianca Cunningham to discuss the strike, the contract, and these shifts in the entertainment industry are WGA member and Think Tank for Inclusion & Equity (TTIE) co-chair Angela Harvey, whose writing credits include MTV’s Te...2023-11-2952 min
Black Work TalkThe Case for a Black Workers’ Bill of Rights, with Tanya Wallace GobernWithin this moment of labor upsurge, the National Black Worker Center (NBWC) exists to build the collective leadership of Black workers. NBWC is "a Black worker power building and worker’s rights advocacy organization that leads with militant joyfulness and Black movement culture." In addition to the national center, 11 local centers operate around the country, and nine more are in incubation. The centers offer leadership development and political education, as well as tools and safe spaces to help navigate the challenges of “working while Black.”
NBWC Executive Director Tanya Wallace Gobern joins host Jamala Rogers for this episod...2023-11-2247 min
Black Work TalkTeamsters’ Hard Fight For a Fair UPS Contract, with Chris Williamson and Richard Hooker Jr.Around 340,000 members of the Teamsters Union who work for UPS came within days of walking off the job in July 2023 in what would have been the one of the largest strikes in US history. In August, they voted 86.3% in favor of ratification of a new five-year contract with the company. The contract provides provisions like a $21 per hour minimum wage for new part-time hires, increased wages for full-time UPS workers with an average top rate of $49 per hour, and safety provisions such as in-cab air conditioning for vehicles added to fleets after January 1, 2024.
Joining Bianca and Jamala...2023-11-151h 29
Black Work TalkPassing the Torch - Welcome to Season Three with Bill Fletcher Jr.Black Work Talk’s third season goes to the source of the energy for this current wave of labor activism, looks at how this surge impacts Black workers, and offers a fresh vision for what’s next. Listeners will hear conversations with rank-and-file workers from unions including the United Auto Workers, the Teamsters, and the Writers Guild of America. New hosts Bianca Cunningham and Jamala Rogers offer educational tools and compelling strategies for the 90% of American workers who have yet to organize—and have an opportunity to seize the moment.
For this launch episode, Bianca and Jamala are jo...2023-11-0843 minBlack Work TalkPassing the Torch - Welcome to Season ThreeBlack Work Talk’s third season explores where the energy for this current wave of labor activism comes from, how it impacts Black workers, and a fresh vision for what’s next. Listeners will hear conversations with rank and file workers from unions including the UAW, Teamsters, and the Writers Guild of America. New hosts Bianca Cunningham and Jamala Rogers offer educational tools and compelling strategies for the 90% of American workers who have yet to organize — and have an opportunity to seize the moment.To get started they are joined this launch episode by author, international trade union activi...2023-11-0843 min
Black Work TalkBill Fletcher: Keep Fighting Till the Lights Go OutBlack Work Talk comes full circle: This is the last episode of this iteration of Black Work Talk, and host Steven Pitts talks with Bill Fletcher Jr, who was the show’s first guest in November 2020. Their wide-ranging conversation started with some historical reflection on Black worker organizing and leadership, beginning with the National Negro Labor Council in the 1930s and then the National Negro American Labor Council, which did so much to build the 1963 March on Washington.
They reflected on neoliberalism in Black politics, and the dangers that emerge when people who get elected on a progressive message fi...2023-02-021h 28
Black Work TalkEpisode 19: Bill FletcherIn this episode of Black Work Talk, Steven Pitts speaks with Bill Fletcher, long-time racial justice and labor activist.This is the last episode of this iteration of Black Work Talk, and we discuss many of the themes running through the two seasons of the podcast, including:Black worker organizing within a union context. The limitations of the just fights for greater representation. Neoliberalism and the challenges facing Black mayors. The complexities of fighting rightwing authoritarianism. The impact of the growing Black immigrant population in the United States on Black politics.We closed with some thoug...2023-01-2500 minBlack Work TalkCarroll Fife: ‘A Movement Person Having a Political Experience’Carroll Fife didn’t want to run for office, but a movement candidate dropped out of the race to represent Oakland’s District 3 on the City Council. As Fife searched the community for others to step up, people turned to her. “They said, ‘Because you are a servant of the work we are doing together, and you know how to do this, it makes sense for you to run,” she said. On Episode 18 of Black Work Talk, she and co-hosts Steven Pitts and Lauren Jacobs explored what it means to bring movement practice to elected office. They talked about the balanc...2022-12-171h 01
Black Work TalkEpisode 18: Carroll FifeIn this episode of Black Work Talk, Steven Pitts and his co-host Lauren Jacobs talk with Carroll Fife. Carroll Fife is a Councilmember at the City of Oakland. Carroll was formerly director of the Oakland chapter of the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE). Given Carroll’s previous position with ACCE, we started the episode discussing what it meant to bring a Movement perspective to an elected position. We continued to discuss the distinction between the power that Carroll and her colleagues have as policy makers and the power that certain elites have to dictate the terrain upon wh...2022-12-1400 minBlack Work TalkKyra Greene and Branden Snyder: Making the PowerSwitch“Where people live is changing very rapidly. When most of us say we organize locally, usually we mean in the central city,” said San Diego-based Kyra Greene, Executive Director of the Center on Policy Initiatives. “But more and more, as we’re seeing all over the country, it means going out to these suburban communities where our people are being pushed as the cities get gentrified. And there’s much less of the organizing infrastructure, and the connections among people are being reconfigured as we do our work.”
Greene joined Detroit Action Executive Director Branden Snyder for Episode 17 of...2022-10-201h 02
Black Work TalkEpisode 17: PowerSwitch ActionIn this episode of Black Work Talk, Steven Pitts and his co-host, Lauren Jacobs, talk with Kyra Greene and Branden Snyder. Kyra is Executive Director of the Center on Policy Initiatives, and is based in San Diego. Branden is Executive Director of Detroit Action. The Center on Policy Initiatives and Detroit Action are affiliates of PowerSwitch Action, a network of local organizations dedicated to building a multiracial feminist democracy and economies in cities and regions around the county. They had an expansive conversation on the challenges and opportunities facing their organizations; the use of mutual aid efforts as a...2022-10-1200 minBlack Work TalkLinda Burnham on ‘Power Concedes Nothing’As a writer, activist, strategist and political educator, Linda Burnham has developed a nuanced understanding of the complex path to building more power in this country. In this episode of BWT, she talked with co-hosts Steven Pitts and Lauren Jacobs about the new book she co-edited, Power Concedes Nothing: How Grassroots Organizing Wins Elections. Elections are not the only arena where we build and contest for power, Burnham observed, but it would be impossible “to build a broad base in this country while avoiding the electoral arena.”
The work done in 2020 by base-building groups like New Virginia Majority and Flor...2022-09-2856 min
Black Work TalkEpisode 16: Linda BurnhamIn this episode of Black Work Talk’s Season Two, Steven Pitts launches the power-building mini-series with his co-host, Lauren Jacobs. Steven and Lauren talk with Linda Burnham – long-time social justice organizer, writer, and theoretician. Linda is co-editor of a phenomenal book entitled: Power Concedes Nothing: How Grassroots Organizing Wins Elections – a collection of essays and interviews about the on-the-ground efforts that mobilized voters in 2020 across the United States. Linda has a nuanced understanding of power, history, and the path forward to a better world and we talked about the complex path to building more power in this country. Linda str...2022-09-2200 minBlack Work TalkStacy Davis Gates: Our Union’s Fight Is a Fight for Black ChicagoJust before the tenth anniversary of the landmark 2012 Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) strike, new CTU President Stacy Davis Gates sat down with Black Work Talk co-hosts Steven Pitts and Sheri Davis. They started off with the Caucus of Rank-and-File Educators (CORE), which Gates co-founded in 2008, and reflected on the new politics and leadership practices CORE brought when several of its members won union office in 2010. CORE understands the ties that bind teachers, parents, and their communities. Its politics rest on, as Gates said, “recognition of the facts.”
“As a Black educator in Chicago you are experiencing the fullne...2022-09-091h 09
Black Work TalkEpisode 15: Stacy Davis GatesIn this episode of Black Work Talk’s Season Two, Steven Pitts and his co-host, Sheri Davis, talk with Stacy Davis Gates, President of the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU). Stacy was one of the founding members of the caucus that formed in 2008 to revitalize the union and fight for a quality education for the youth of Chicago. After 2 years of organizing, caucus leaders won elective offices in the union and began to forge stronger ties with parent groups and other community organizations to battle school administrators and city politicians.Several times, Stacy mentioned the notion of the CT...2022-09-0700 minBlack Work TalkOrganizing Black Workers: A Conversation Across Generations (Part 2)This is the second of two episodes drawn from “Black Labor Struggles Over Time,” the Black Work Talk panel at the 2022 Labor Notes conference. Panelists Jerome Scott (Project South and the League of Revolutionary Black Workers), Stacy Davis Gates (Chicago Teachers Union), Susan DeCarava (NewsGuild of New York), and Chris Smalls (Amazon Labor Union) discussed what it means to support Black workers at this moment in time. Not surprisingly, given the depth of experience among them, their answers covered the full spectrum from mutual aid to revolutionary vision, from direct action to skillful rooting in Black culture.
“What w...2022-08-1051 minBlack Work TalkOrganizing Black Workers: A Conversation Across Generations (Part 1)At the June 2022 Labor Notes conference, Black Work Talk presented a panel of organizers spanning generations and geographies: Jerome Scott of Project South and the League of Revolutionary Black Workers; Stacy Davis Gates, president of the Chicago Teachers Union; Susan DeCarava, president of the NewsGuild of New York, and Chris Smalls of the Amazon Labor Union. This is the first of two episodes drawn from that panel. Participants responded to the question, “What are the key challenges facing Black workers today and what should we do about them?”
Jerome Scott kicked off the panel by reminding everyone that...2022-07-2357 minBlack Work TalkErica Iheme: ‘We Organize From Our Soul’Burnout nearly took Erica Iheme out of the labor movement twice. “Our organizing culture excludes the most impacted,” Iheme said on the July 7 episode of Black Work Talk. In her work with Jobs To Move America, she’s about changing that to allow people to bring their full selves to the work—and practice an organizing model that brings community partners to the table instead of just going to them with “asks.” She’s based in Alabama, and put that model to the test in building community support for the workers organizing at the Amazon warehouse in Bessemer. The faith/labor/co...2022-07-081h 15Black Work TalkDanielle Phillips-Cunningham: Black Women’s History of All-Sided Labor ResistanceFor more than a century, Black women’s organizations—whether explicitly working-class or not—have fed what Dr. Danielle T. Phillips-Cunningham calls “comprehensive labor resistance.” The Washing Society organized the Atlanta washerwomen’s strike of 1881. The National Council of Colored Women’s Clubs, with chapters in every state, organized around voting rights and unjust incarceration of Black women and men, as well as working women’s issues. They took the view that “when Black women’s lives improve, the whole community will rise,” Phillips-Cunningham said. Some were socialists with a global analysis of labor and capital, documenting labor injustices and quantifying the ex...2022-05-201h 07Black Work TalkBeverly Guy-Sheftall: All Our Oppressions are Interconnected“Black feminism is the political idea that all forms of oppression, which are global and persistent, are interconnected and structural: white supremacy, racism, heterosexism, ableism, class disparities,” said Dr. Beverly Guy-Sheftall, referencing bell hooks. “All of those systems of oppression are connected, and we experience them simultaneously. We have to dismantle all of those structural systems and cannot prioritize one over the other,” she said. Using this lens, Dr. Guy-Sheftall drew a long history of Black feminist activism, including Ida B. Wells and her anti-lynching campaign, the organizers of the Atlanta washerwomen’s strike of 1881, Rosa Parks’ anti-rape organizing, and of cours...2022-04-231h 20Black Work TalkMariame Kaba: Organizing is the HowIn this episode of Black Work Talk, Steven Pitts and his co-host, Toussaint Losier, talk with Mariame Kaba. Mariame is one of this country’s leading abolitionist thinkers and practitioners. She has founded several projects organizing around abolitionist principles including Project NIA. Many of her writings on abolition are collected in a recent book, “We Do This ‘Til We Free Us”. We talk about Mariame’s definition of abolition and what might account for the increased interest in abolition.2022-04-081h 14Black Work TalkNTanya Lee: We Need a Liberatory Strategy for Today and TomorrowIn this episode of Black Work Talk, Steven Pitts and his co-host, Toussaint Losier talk with NTanya Lee, National Secretary of LeftRoots, a national organization of social movement organizers and activists. We began by reviewing the landscape of the Black Left today and continued by discussing the distinctions between the Black Left and Black Lives Matter activism. We later talked about the need for a liberatory strategy so as to better support current activists and better achieve gains that allow us to improve the Black working class lives today AND build power for tomorrow. We closed by discussing how Le...2022-03-251h 05Black Work TalkBianca Cunningham: From AfroSOC to Elections to Eviction DefenseWhen thousands of people occupied the park across from New York City Hall in 2020 to demand defunding of the police, “it turned into a huge mutual aid project, and we had to look at what keeps a community safe,” Bianca Cunningham said. Cunningham, now a campaign director at Action Center for the New Economy, reflected on her range of organizing experiences with Black Work Talk co-hosts Steven Pitts and Toussaint Losier. The energy of the #BlackLivesMatter protests flowed into eviction defense; Cunningham and other supporters of the first Black homeowner on her block faced off against violent landlord goons. Worki...2022-03-091h 09Black Work TalkLester K. Spence: Power makes durable shifts in politics, economics & cultureLester K. Spence parsed the nature of power in his wide-ranging conversation with Black Work Talk co-hosts Steven Pitts and Toussaint Losier. Spence is perhaps best-known for his work on neoliberalism in the Black community. “Neoliberalism turned cross-class solidarity in the Black community towards upper-class interests,” he said, but that is changing. “As a result of Black Lives Matter, we have a robust Black liberal tendency and a growing Black Left.” The three also touched on the impact that the decline of unions has had on Black political power, and the nuances of recognizing police abuse as a class issue as...2022-02-2559 minBlack Work TalkToussaint Losier: What Is the Black Left?In this fifth episode of Black Work Talk’s Season Two, Steven Pitts talks with Toussaint Losier, his co-host for the second mini-series of Black Work Talk on the Black Left. Toussaint is a professor in the African American Studies Department at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. During this episode, we previewed the mini-series by presenting our definitions of the Black Left; discussing the importance of organizations and institutions to expanding the power and influence of the Black Left; and outlining some of the key challenges facing the Black Left.2022-02-1730 min
Black Work TalkWill Jones: How Labor Built the March on WashingtonIn this fourth episode of Black Work Talk’s Season Two, co-hosts Steven Pitts and Bill Fletcher talk with Will Jones. Will is Professor of History at the University of Minnesota. His particular emphasis is understanding the relationship between race and class in the United States during the 20th Century. His 2013 book, “The March on Washington: Jobs, Freedom and the Forgotten History of Civil Rights,” examined the role of Black labor leaders in the 1963 March on Washington and was the basis for our conversation. Beyond understanding how Black unionists were a key to the mobilization of 250,000 marchers to DC, Will di...2022-02-1454 minBlack Work TalkBert Bayou: We meet our members where they liveIn this third episode of Black Work Talk’s Season Two, co-hosts Steven Pitts and Bill Fletcher talk with Bert Bayou. Bert is DC Chapter Director of African Communities Together (ACT) and Vice President of UNITE HERE Local 23. ACT is an organization of African immigrants with chapters in Washington DC and New York. ACT provides services and organizes for power. Local 23 represents airport workers in 10 cities across the United States.
We talked about Bert’s work in both organizations and it appeared that in DC, there was a great deal of overlap between the two organizations. African immigran...2022-01-2539 minBlack Work TalkApril Verrett: Care workers bridge the partisan divideIn this second episode of Black Work Talk’s Season Two, co-hosts Steven Pitts and Bill Fletcher talk with April Verrett. April is president of SEIU 2015, a union of 400,000 long-term caregivers in California. April talked about the importance of Democracy Schools the union operated to engage members in basic political governance activities at the local level. These schools were an important campaign that activates members regardless of their political identifications. One key outcome of these schools was building bridges across partisan divides. April also spoke of the importance of combining a sharp analysis of corporate power with an understanding of ho...2022-01-1253 minBlack Work TalkRob Baril: Health workers say ‘take your knee off our necks’In this first episode of Black Work Talk’s Season Two, co-hosts Steven Pitts and Bill Fletcher talk with Rob Baril. Rob is the president of SEIU 1199NE, a union of health care workers in Connecticut and Rhode Island. Rob talked about how members of SEIU 1199NE have been fighting state officials in Connecticut for better working conditions during the pandemic. He indicated this fight not only won concrete victories but also strengthened the union for future battles. In addition, the various union campaigns allowed the union to build additional power and wield this power around a several issues facing memb...2021-11-171h 00
Black Work TalkBill Fletcher: ‘We need to push the envelope on democracy’In this eighteenth episode of Black Work Talk, we end Season One as we began it with Bill Fletcher, long-time racial justice and labor activist. We reviewed the events over the past 8 months: the insurrection; the determined GOP efforts to promote the Big Lie about the election and insist the adherence to the Big Lie would be a litmus test for GOP elected officials; and the effort of the Biden Administration to govern in this context of the recovery from COVID and the recession; the heightened awareness to fight structural racism; and the inside/outside strategy of the GOP to u...2021-07-1400 min
Black Work TalkDawn Gearhart: Leveraging apps to build care workers’ powerIn this seventeenth episode of Black Work Talk, our guest today is Dawn Gearhart. Dawn is the Director of Gig Economy Organizing for the National Domestic Workers Alliance. Dawn is leading efforts to organize workers who utilize an app to connect with potential clients desiring domestic work services. Prior to joining NDWA, Dawn organized taxi drivers and gig workers in Seattle. NDWA have just entered into an agreement with the Handy Company to launch a pilot program to improve the quality of work for domestic workers who find work online. Given the rising importance of apps in connecting workers and cli...2021-06-301h 01
Black Work TalkMichael Dawson: Breaking down the neoliberal racial orderIn this sixteenth episode of Black Work Talk, our guest is Michael Dawson. Michael is a professor of political science at the University of Chicago, where he has written extensively about the intertwined nature of Black politics and Left politics. Currently, he co-leads the Race and Capitalism Project that seeks to understand how the racial and capitalist systems of domination interact. And all of this work is grounded in his years of labor and community activism.
We had a wide-ranging conversation on a variety of topics including:
The nature of our current neoliberal racial order
The differences between Black liberals an...2021-06-1648 min
Black Work TalkLauren Jacobs: Build people’s sense of collective powerIn this fifteenth episode of Black Work Talk, our guest is Lauren Jacobs. Lauren is the Executive Director of the Partnership for Working Families – a national network of regional power-building organizations. Lauren and I have been friends for over 15 years…I remember when she was a union organizer in Boston. I have always loved the way Lauren combines things: race and class…theory and practice. That nuanced and rooted way of engaging the world is key at building real power to transform the world.
We had a wide-ranging conversation on a variety of topics including:
Working with unreliable partners in the unite...2021-06-021h 01
Black Work TalkSheri Davis: Bringing Black feminist principles to union practiceIn this fourteenth episode of Black Work Talk, today’s Sheri Davis. Sheri is the Associate Director of the Center for Innovation in Worker Organization (CIWO) at Rutgers University and the Senior Program Director – WILL Empower at CIWO. The purpose of WILL Empower is to develop the next generation of women in the labor movement - unions and worker centers. Sheri fuses her desire to promote deep worker organizing with her Black feminist sensibility. Sheri also sees the need to move beyond a narrow focus on individual workers and explore how to transform their organizations – unions and worker centers – into weapon to...2021-05-191h 03
Black Work TalkMaurice Mitchell: Victories now should build to our north-star visionIn this thirteenth episode of Black Work Talk, Today’s guest is Maurice Mitchell. Maurice is the National Director of the Working Families Party. Since its inception, the Working Families Party has done a good job of navigating the complicated waters of combining Left political perspectives with building bases among working class people and maintaining effectiveness in the electoral arena. Maurice became national director about two years and we had a wide-ranging conversation on a variety of topics including:
Policing and the issue of police accountability
The need for social movements to claim their victories as we strive for greater victo...2021-05-051h 01
Black Work TalkBarbara Ransby: Capitalism and racism intertwine and feed on each otherIn this twelfth episode of Black Work Talk, host Steven Pitts welcomes Barbara Ransby, professor of history at the University of Illinois-Chicago. Barbara has written extensively on the Black Freedom Movement on topics ranging from Ella Baker and Eslanda Robeson to the current Black Lives Matter movement. Our conversation took place soon after the release of the videos of the Chicago police’s killing of 13-year old Adam Toledo and we began our talk examining the battle for justice in the face of police brutality. We moved on to look at the relationship between policing and political economy. During the episo...2021-04-211h 01
Black Work TalkRobin D.G. Kelley: Amazon union drive carries on Alabama’s Black radical legacyThis eleventh episode of Black Work Talk was a joint effort with Dissent Magazine’s podcast, Belabored. Belabored’s co-hosts, Michelle Chen and Sarah Jaffe, and Black Work Talk’s host, Steven Pitts were joined by historian Robin D.G. Kelley. Robin’s book, Hammer and Hoe, details the organizing work in the Birmingham metropolitan area during the 1930s where key Black workers were Communist and worked with the Communist Party to improve the living conditions in Jim Crow Alabama. Because of Robin’s knowledge of the region’s history, he was an excellent guest to have on the show given the worke...2021-04-071h 34
Black Work TalkMaurice BP-Weeks: Racial capitalism, ‘because I’m Black all the time’In this tenth episode of Black Work Talk, host Steven Pitts welcomes Maurice BP-Weeks, co-founder of the Action Center on Race and the Economy (ACRE). ACRE sits at the nexus of the struggles for racial and economic justice. As such, they provide campaign assistance to local organizations and engage in national campaigns against corporate elites. Equally important, ACRE shapes the national narrative around role of the corporate elites in the exploitation of communities of color. Last year, Maurice wrote a key article stating that Amazon was a key symbol of racial capitalism. Given the efforts of workers in Bessmer Alabama to...2021-03-241h 02
Black Work TalkJesse Hagopian: #BlackLivesMatter at schoolIn this ninth episode of Black Work Talk, host Steven Pitts welcomes Jesse Hagopian, an Ethnic Studies teacher at Garfield High School in Seattle, Washington. The public schools in the United States have been near Ground Zero during this confluence of COVID, the recession, and the fight for racial justice and because of this, education has become a flashpoint for political struggle. Jesse has been active trying to ensure that any school re-opening takes places on a timeline and fulfills key conditions that best serves the interests of students and staff, not the needs of outside political actors with their ag...2021-03-101h 02
Black Work TalkMichelle Crentsil: Nurses bridge differences to tackle life-and-death issuesIn this eighth episode of Black Work Talk, host Steven Pitts welcomes Michelle Crentsil, political director for the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA). The members of NYSNA have been through hell this past year dealing with the extreme conditions caused by COVID and federal government ineptitude. We talked about these struggles and the reality that the pandemic has forged greater solidarity among nurses and led them to advocate for structural changes in the health care system based on their experiences this past year. As the conversation moved toward Black workers, Michelle talked about the need to see how Black...2021-02-2444 min
Black Work TalkErica Smiley: Can we imagine a democracy worth fighting for?In this seventh episode of Black Work Talk, host Steven Pitts welcomes Erica Smiley, Executive Director of Jobs with Justice. Smiley has been with Jobs with Justice for over 15 years. Prior to joining the organization, she worked at a number of unions and community-based organizations. During the episode, we spoke about a variety of topics including the need to go beyond the red state/blue state view of today’s politics and gain a better appreciation of the nuances within all of the states. In addition, Smiley advocated analyzing organizing prospects through the lens of what has been a state’s (o...2021-02-1044 min
Black Work TalkBill Lucy: At the crossroads of labor, Black power & civil rightsIn this sixth episode of Black Work Talk, host Steven Pitts welcomes William A. Lucy. Bill retired in 2010 after over 50 years in the leadership of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Union (AFSCME). Bill talked about his beginnings in the labor movement organizing government workers in Contra Costa County (CA). He later represented the national staff of AFSCME during the campaign of the Memphis sanitation workers and Bill discussed some of those lessons. As a co-founder of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, Bill provided insights on the relationship between Black unionists, the Civil Rights and Black Power...2021-01-2757 min
Black Work TalkApril Sims: Building vibrant unions with space for all workersIn the fifth episode of Black Work Talk, host Steven Pitts welcomes April Sims, Secretary-Treasurer of the Washington State Labor Council. April told us a bit about her background, in particular, how the experiences of her mother led April to understand the importance of unions to working people’s lives. She also talked about the work of the State Labor Council in developing and rolling out an anti-racism training for unions and their members. (April mentioned a document that resulted from the initial work: “Race to Labor: Can Organized Labor Be an Agent of Social and Economic Justice?” It can be downlo...2021-01-1353 min
Black Work TalkGreg Kelley: Unions can lay a foundation for lasting progressIn the fourth episode of Black Work Talk, host Steven Pitts welcomes Greg Kelley, President of SEIU Health Care Illinois. Greg gave us a sense of how he got into labor organizing. We moved to get a sense of how COVID has impacted union members and their resolve to use the power of their union to protect their quality of life on the job. Greg relayed stories of how efforts to build racial solidarity within the union going back to the murder of Michael Brown in 2014 bore fruits this year as the union fought the impacts of COVID and fought for...2020-12-2340 min
Black Work TalkTanya Wallace Gobern: Our work can be ‘joyous militancy’In this third episode of Black Work Talk, host Steven Pitts welcomes Tanya Wallace Gobern, Executive Director of the National Black Worker Center. Tanya spoke of how growing up in Chicago shaped her passion for social justice and worker organizing. She continued to share lessons from her years of organizing Black workers especially to need to build a “joyous militancy”. We talked about the recent work of the National Black Worker Center and concluded with a discussion of Tanya’s vision for Black freedom.2020-12-091h 02
Black Work TalkBill Fletcher: 2020 election takeaways and next stepsIn this first episode of Black Work Talk, host Steven Pitts welcomes Bill Fletcher, long-time racial justice and labor activist. Bill talks about key takeaways from the 2020 Election and steps needed to build a progressive governing majority. Also, we discuss why it is important to build Black worker power and how to go about doing this.2020-11-1252 min
Black Work TalkInterview Sneak Peek: Bill FletcherGuest Bill Fletcher sits down with Steven and previews for us the big questions he will address in our first real episode, dropping November 11th, one week after the election. Bill tells us what he thinks Black workers and organizers should be paying attention to as election day approaches. This is an important glimpse into the most important challenges and opportunities facing all of us in this critical moment.2020-10-3000 min