CBTU Boston

Greetings:

To all of you that are familiar with me as a person. You should be aware by now. That I only post what I find to be inspiring or motivational. So I’am sharing these words with you all. I find the words to be informotive, thought provoking, and true.

“I ‘ve Learned That People Will Forget What You Said, People Will Forget What You Did, But People Will Never Forget How You Made Them Feel.” Maya Angelou

Special LGBTQ/Black Labor History Presentation

Special Presentation The LGBTQIA +community and allies are playing a major role protesting the current genocide in Gaza while we are simultaneously resisting national attacks against the trans community from coast to coast. This narrated slide show is based on decades of research, my own lived experience as a union orga...

Please join us March 9th as we end women in construction week with an informative conference

Breaking: 7 national unions & over 200 hundred local unions representing 9 million workers freeannounce the formation of the National Labor Network for Ceasefire (NLNC)

twitter.com

Ladies, Will you be joining me to become part of the Society for Professional Rope Access Training?

Feb 12-16 8:30-4:00. Certified training

Free Sprat Training Certification Available – Wind Win RI

Brother Malcolm X. Speaking on the genocide and occupation of the Palestianian people. He spoke, truth to power. As he generally did.

Malcolm X on Palestine: Eloquent, Courageous, Fearless, - the Voice of Truth!

Calling all MA workers and unions!

Labor must not be silent in the face of the genocide happening now in Palestine. Please join us for a labor-led picket outside Rep. Katherine Clark’s district office in Malden on Tuesday, January 23 in Malden from 5-7 pm (157 Pleasant Street, 2 blocks from Malden Center T Orange Line) to demand that she take action for an immediate ceasefire. Congresswoman Clark has the power to sway the Democratic Party to call for an immediate ceasefire to end the genocidal extermination of the Palestinian people.

There is growing opposition coming from labor, especially in Massachusetts. Tens of billions of our dollars are paying to bomb and starve an entire population of 2.1 million people many will starve tonight. Please consider joining this movement for a permanent ceasefire.

The following is an updated record of U.S. Internationals, Central Labor Councils, locals, statewide locals and other labor bodies that have passed ceasefire resolutions. Nearly 25% of organized labor in the U.S. is on record of calling for a ceasefire.

Palestinian General Confederation of Unions Call to Action (link below)
https://merip.org/2023/10/palestinian-trade-unions-call-for-an-end-to-arming-israel/
signal-2024-01-12-18-13-34-026.jpg

Palestinian trade unions have issued an urgent global call to action, calling on workers everywhere to halt the sale and funding of arms to Israel — and related military research. Refuse to build weapons destined for Israel.

Refuse to transport weapons to Israel.

Pass motions in their trade union to this effect.

Pressure governments to stop all military trade with Israel, and in the case of the US, funding to it.

Links to U.S. unions endorsing a ceasefire:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1u12GC54pKM701ODnfyfrQO2ghbB8rlMnAch6GDelXUA/edit =0

Massachusetts Unions Endorsing a Ceasefire in Gaza :

AFT Local 6516 Brown Grad Union

Andover Education Association

Boston Teachers Union AFT Local 66

Faculty Staff Union UMass Boston NEA

Harvard Graduate Students Union HGSU-UAW Local 5118

American Postal Workers Union

Malden Education Association MTA/NEA

Melrose Education Association MTA/NEA

IUPAT District Council 35

Mass Teachers Association /NEA

North Shore Central Labor Council (MA)

OPEIU 153 Tufts Resident Assisants

Pride at Work/Eastern Massachusetts

SEIU 509

1199SEIU

Somerville Educators Association

Starbucks Workers United

UAW International

UE International

"Dr. King called for a radical revolution of values. He said that we have to be a people-oriented society, and not a thing-oriented society. And that we have to deal with the triplet of racism, materialism, and militarism. There are so many programs going on about Dr. King today, but who is calling the question? How are we using our resources— and our labor—to protest this injustice in the world today? Labor has that capacity. What role will workers—and particularly black workers—play?" — Professor Tony Van Der Meer, one of this year's MLK Brunch speakers

Thank you to the dozens of trade unionists from all different industries who joined us and our speakers, including our second keynote Kendra Lara, members Andre Francois and Eddie Childs, IUPAT DC 35 Business Manager Chris Brennan, Massachusetts AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Kevin Brousseau, Boston City Councilors Julia Mejia and Chris Worrell—for making our second annual CBTU MLK Brunch a powerful event.

Thank you to our caterer Everbody Gotta Eat � and our union sponsors Painters and Allied Trades District Council 35, Boston Carmen's Union Local 589Team Solidarity- the Voice of United School Bus Union Workers and Massachusetts AFL-CIO State Fed.

TODAY 11-2: Ticket sales are still open online, or pay at the door. Admission includes hot breakfast buffet catered by Everbody Gotta Eat �. Keynote speakers: Kendra Lara and Tony Van Der Meer. Celebrate MLK, Support CBTU:

CBTU Boston MLK Day Brunch 2024 CBTU Boston invites local unionists and friends to celebrate and uplift the economic vision of Martin Luther King.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2vQ7suQWGg

Watch in full: First day of ICJ hearings in South Africa's genocide case against Israel in Gaza Watch the full proceedings of the first day at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) hearing for South Africa's genocide claim against Israel in Gaza.ICJ ...

JUST ANNOUNCED MLK Brunch Keynote Speakers: Kendra Lara, activist and former Boston City Councilor, and Tony Van Der Meer, Professor of Africana Studies at UMass Boston. Tickets here: https://cbtumlk24.eventbrite.com/

During her term as the first person of color representing District Six on the Boston City Council and as a lifelong activist, Lara has fought tirelessly against poverty and racism. From standing with workers and challenging capitalism to fighting for alternatives to policing and her recent work on a pilot program for a universal basic income in Boston, Lara is a champion of the multi-racial working class.

Tony Van Der Meer, noted Africana Studies professor at UMass Boston, embodies the intersection of education and action. An activist in his union, FSU-MTA, Van Der Meer always emphasizes labor in organizing conversations. He has helped defend the Africana Studies program at UMass from right-wing attacks and attempted budget cuts and has built international solidarity with workers and activists in Cuba, Africa and more.

Several CBTU members, local labor leaders and city council members will also speak on the meaning of continuing MLK’s legacy today.

All CBTU members, allies in the labor movement, family and friends are welcome! Tickets are $30, $20 for union apprentices, but no one will be turned away. All proceeds help support CBTU Boston’s organizing.

https://cbtumlk24.eventbrite.com/

Those that come after us will judge what we did in the labor movement to oppose Israeli genocide in Gaza.

Israeli MK Doubles Down on Call to 'Burn' Gaza, Says There Are 'No Innocents' - News From Antiwar.com A member of the Israeli Knesset has doubled down on comments he made in November when he called to “burn Gaza now” and is now claiming there are “no innocents” in areas where the Israeli military ordered evacuations. “I stand behind what I said. It is better to burn, to take down buildings...

CBTU's MLK Brunch is NEXT MONDAY, MLK Day!

Special keynote speakers to be announced! Hot breakfast served buffet style by local Black-owned caterer Everbody Gotta Eat �

Let's pack the house. We are uplifting MLK's dedication to anti-racist unionism, bottom-up organizing, collective action, and opposition to imperialist war. Share the invite in your unions!

Register at cbtumlk24.eventbrite.com ✅

CBTU Boston MLK Day Brunch 2024 CBTU Boston invites local unionists and friends to celebrate and uplift the economic vision of Martin Luther King.

States Passed a Record Number of Transgender Laws. Here’s What They Say. Many of the bills denied certain medical care to transgender people, while others targeted bathroom use and preferred personal pronouns.

CBTU Canada demands cease fire in Palestine 🇵🇸

Silence is Violence: CBTU Demands a Ceasefire Now The Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, in Canada is a community based organization rooted in the labour movement formed to give voice to Black trade unionists within our workplaces, Unions and communities. Members of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists will not remain silent or be censored in th...

Malcolm X on Palestine

Malcolm X on Palestine: Eloquent, Courageous, Fearless, - the Voice of Truth!

Support the nurses at Beth Israel Lahey Anna Jaques Hospital in Newburyport. They are strike-ready.

BI Anna Jaques Hospital RNs Cast Overwhelming Vote to Authorize Three-Day Strike In Effort to Attain a New Contract to Recruit and Retain the Staff Needed to Ensure Quality Patient Care - Massachusetts Nurses Association The vote to strike follows years of efforts by the nurses, the lowest paid nurses in the region, to convince hospital management to improve conditions that have resulted in unprecedented... Read more »

UAW Region 9A, UAW International call for a ceasefire

UAW Statement on Israel and Palestine - UAW | United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America On Friday, December 1, the UAW International Executive Board announced the union was joining a growing number of labor organizations in calling for a ceasefire in Israel and Palestine. The Executive Board voted to sign on to a petition drafted by The United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of A...

'All Criticism of Israel Is Not Inherently Anti-Semitic': An Open Letter From Jewish Writers 'We find this rhetorical tactic antithetical to Jewish values, which teach us to repair the world, question authority, and champion the oppressed over the oppressor.'

http://magaziner.house.gov/media/press-releases/reps-magaziner-budzinski-call-equitable-access-restrooms-women-workplace

Reps. Magaziner, Budzinski Call for Equitable Access to Restrooms for Women in the Workplace Washington, DC — Representatives Seth Magaziner (RI-02) and Nikki Budzinski (IL-13) led ten members of Congress in a letter to Assistant Secretary Douglas L.

This is exactly why. I am asking for people to sign onto the anti-black hate crime bill. The alleged white youth. According to the article that I read. Is 14 years of age.

White teen charged with attempted murder after allegedly trying to drown Black youth - NewsBreak A white teen is charged with attempted murder after allegedly trying to drown a Black juvenile.

Great turnout of CBTU members at the Greater Boston Labor Council Labor Day Breakfast today.

Victory to striking SAG-AFTRA actors!

This is exactly why we need to have the Anti Black Hate Crime Bill passed into law. So that senseless acts like this one is not perpetuated.

White teen charged with attempted murder after allegedly trying to drown Black youth - NewsBreak A white teen is charged with attempted murder after allegedly trying to drown a Black juvenile.

At the NAACP National Convention Labor Lunch & Symposium

Today I was thinking of the phrase. That we are all very familiar with hearing and saying. That phrase is “ Mind Over Matter”. So as I was thinking of the phrase. This is what I came up with.

We do not see all things with our eyes. We see most things with our minds. Our eyes is just one of the tools our minds uses to see. So if our minds are blind. It does not matter what our eyes can see. But if our minds can see, it does not matter, if our eyes are blind.

A bit of general information pertaining to the name Buffalo Soldiers. American Plain Indians who fought against these soldiers referred to the black cavalry troops as “Buffalo Soldiers” because of their fierce nature of fighting. The nickname soon became synonymous with all African American regiments formed in 1866.

No one knows for certain why, but the soldiers of the all-Black 9th and 10th Calvary Regiments were dubbed, “Buffalo Soldiers” by the Native Americans they encountered.

One theory claims the nickname arose because the soldiers’ dark, curly hair resembled the fur of a Buffalo. Another assumption is the soldiers fought so valiantly and fiercely that the indians revered them as they did the mighty Buffalo.

Whatever the reason, the name stuck, and African American regiments formed in 1866, including the 24th and 25th Infantry ( which were consolidated from four regiments) became known as the Buffalo Soldiers.

Rain or shine, we celebrate the rebellion of our ancestors which led to emancipation and the abolition of chattel slavery. Happy Juneteenth!

Before Central Park: The Story of Seneca Village

Before Central Park was created, the landscape along what is now the Park’s perimeter from 82nd to West 89th Street was the site of Seneca Village, a community of predominately African Americans, many of whom owned property. By 1855, the village consisted approximately 225 residents, made up of roughly 2/3 African Americans, 1/3 Irish immigrants, and a small number of individuals of German descent. One of few African American enclaves at the time. Seneca Village allowed residents to live away from the more built up sections of downtown Manhattan and escape the unhealthy conditions and racial discrimination they faced there.

THE FORMATION OF SENECA VILLAGE

Seneca Village began in 1825, when landowners in the area, John and Elizabeth Whitehead, subdivided their land and sold it as 200 lots. Andrew Williams, a 25 year old African American shoeshiner, bought the first three lots for $125.00. Epiphany Davis, a store clerk, bought 12 lots for $578.00, and the AME Zion Church purchased another six lots. From there a community was born. From 1825 to 1832, the Whiteheads sold about half of their land parcels to other African Americans. By the early 1830s, there were approximately 10 homes in the village.

There is some evidence that residents had gardens and raised livestock in Seneca Village, and the nearby Hudson River was a likely source of fishing for the community. A nearby spring, known as Tanner’s Spring, provided a water source. By the mid 1850s Seneca Village comprised 50 homes and three churches, as well as burial grounds, and a school for African American students.

A THRIVING AFRICAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY

For African Americans. Seneca Village offered the opportunity to live in an autonomous community far from the densely populated downtown. Despite New York State’s abolition of slavery in 1827, discrimination was still prevalent throughout New York City, and severely limited the lives of African Americans. Seneca Village’s remote location likely provided a refuge from this climate. It also would have provided an escape from the unhealthy and crowded conditions of the City, and access to more space both inside and outside the home.

Compared to other African Americans living in New York, residents of Seneca Village seem to have been more stable and prosperous by 1855, approximately half of them owned their own homes. With property ownership came other rights not commonly held by African Americans in the City namely, the right to vote. In 1821, New York State required African American men to own at least $250.00 in property and hold residency for at least three years to be able to vote. Of the 100 black New Yorkers eligible to vote in 1845, 10 lived in Seneca Village.

The fact that many residents were property owners contradicts some common misperceptions during the mid-19th century that the people living on the land slated for the Park were poor squatters living in shanties. While some residents lived in shanties and in crowded conditions, most lived in two story homes. Census records show that residents were employed, with African Americans typically employed as laborers and in service jobs, the main options for them at the time. Records also show that most children who lived in Seneca Village attended school.

THE CREATION OF CENTRAL PARK

During the 1850s, the City began planning for a large municipal park to counter unhealthful urban conditions and provide space for recreation. In 1853, the New York State Legislature enacted a law that set aside 775 acres of land in Manhattan from 59th to 106th Streets, between Fifth and Eighth Avenues to create the country’s first major landscape public park.

The City acquired the land through eminent domain, the law that allows the government to take private land for public use with compensation paid to the landowner. This was a common practice in the 19th century, and had been used to build Manhattan’s grid of streets decades earlier. There were roughly 1,600 inhabitants displaced throughout the area. Although landowners were compensated, many argued that their land was under valued. Ultimately, all residents had to leave by the end of 1857. Research is underway to determine where Seneca Village residents relocated - some may have gone to other African American communities in the region, such as Sandy Ground in Staten Island and Skunk Hollow in New Jersey