April 20, 2013.
A group of journalists and activists in Winston-Salem are organizing a rally and march to commemorate the work of a historic labor union at R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Factory in Winston-Salem during the 1940s. The union, Local 22, was led primarily by African-American women and pushed the boundaries of labor and civil rights during the Jim Crow. It led to the election of the first African-American candidate against a white man in the South since Reconstruction. LAWCHA member and Duke University professor Robert Korstad said, “Local 22 is the most important example of democratic participation in the South that preceded the civil rights movement of the 1950s and the 1960s.”
A special historic state marker will be unveiled on April 20, 2013, in Winston-Salem to commemorate the union. There will be a panel discussion, rally and march at First Calvary Baptist Church at 12:00pm. Several groups have endorsed the marker commemoration.
While the history of Local 22 is virtually unknown to most residents of Winston-Salem and the rest of North Carolina, the April 20th celebration is also about the present. It will serve to inform, inspire and embolden working people in Winston-Salem and across North Carolina what is possible with courage and solidarity.
For more information, see the Local 22 Commemoration Website, the Local 22 short film, and the event press release.
Thanks to Winston-Salem-based journalist Jonathan Michels for passing this along.
