DC LaborFest Launches This Week

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)The first annual DC LaborFest kicks off this Thursday, May 1 with a midday May Day wreath-laying in honor of legendary labor organizer Mary Harris “Mother” Jones’ 184th birthday. On Friday there’s a free noontime screening of the film Fasanella at the AFL-CIO – an exhibit of Ralph Fasanella’s paintings opens Friday at the American Art Museum -- and then at 6:30p Fasanella exhibit curator Leslie Umberger and donor Marc Fasanella  will lead a discussion at the Museum. Elizabeth Warren, senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, will discuss her new memoir at 5p Friday at the AFL-CIO (RSVPs required). Saturday night Joe Uehlein performs his Birthday Tribute to Pete Seeger at Zed’s in Silver Spring and around the corner at the Round House Theatre are the first performances of Brother Hal and Sweet Joan of the Textile Mills, two labor-themed plays performed by young actors. Brother Hal is a contemporary adaptation of Shakespeare's Henry V, performed by a cast of actors ages 13-18; Sweet Joan examines the plight of child labor, performed by Lumina Studio Theatre's youngest actors (8-12). PLUS: Tune into 89.3 FM WPFW radio today from 11 am to 12 noon for a special broadcast on Salt of the Earth, the classic labor film screening May 5 at the AFI. The DC LaborFest is an expansion of the annual DC Labor FilmFest; both are organized by the Metro Washington Council, AFL-CIO.