DC LaborFest Today: Cesar Chavez, Poetry at Work, Iron Workers & More
Tuesday, May 6, 2014
(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)
Cesar
Chavez & Poetry at Work: Busboys
& Poets hosts two free DC
LaborFest events tonight
at their 5th Street location (5th & K
NW), beginning with the free 6p
screening of The Fight in the
Fields: Cesar Chavez
and the Farmworkers'
Struggle. More than two
years in the
making, this film covers the full arc of
Cesar Chávez’ life, using
archival footage, newsreel, and present-day
interviews with Ethel Kennedy,
California Governor Jerry Brown, Dolores
Huerta, and Chávez’ brother, sister,
son and daughter, among others to trace the
remarkable contributions of Chávez
and others involved in this epic
struggle.
Then
at 9p tonight, area poets
-- and maybe you?! -- tackle the workplace,
from drudgery to dignity and even
beauty in our first-ever Poetry at
Work (free). With
featured
poets Kenneth Carroll, Laini Mataka, Sarah
Browning and Bomani
Armah as well as an Open Mic opportunity
for audience
members. Carroll is the author of the
poetry collection So What! For the White
Dude Who Said
This Ain’t Poetry; Mataka's books
include Being a Strong Black Woman Can
Getchu Killed; Armah is best known for his
internet smash hit Read a Book, and
Browning, who organized Poetry at Work for the
LaborFest, co-edited DC Poets Against the
War
and is Executive Director of Split This Rock,
which co-sponsors the evening. Busboys
&
Poets’ great food and drink will be available
for purchase at both shows.
RSVP
Now for Iron Workers History Tour:
there are still spaces available for this
Friday’s
exclusive guided tour of the Iron Workers
headquarters, featuring handmade
motorcycles, a wall mural, historic tools,
photos, convention paraphernalia,
World Trade Center mementos and more! Free but must RSVP
here.
Last
Chance for Brother Hal: Tickets are
sold out for the May 9 special
labor performance of Brother
Hal with AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka
and Metro Washington
Council president Jos Williams, but you can
still get tickets for the
play's final performances on
Saturday and Sunday.
Coming
Up This Week:
The
American Nurse (starts
Tues May 6)
Labor
Heritage Foundation's Solidarity Forever
Awards (Thu, May 8)
Iron
Workers history tour (Fri,
May 9)
Union
Voice/Readers Write:
Re-Discovering Ralph Fasanella; “Man
at the Crossroads” Update
Re-Discovering
Ralph Fasanella: “I have a print
of Ralph Fasanella’s ‘The Great Strike
– Lawrence, 1912’ in my office, but don’t
know that I’ve paid much attention to
it,” says Rosanna Farley at the Utility
Workers Union of America. “Thank you
for organizing the May screening of
‘Fasanella” and exposing me to Mr.
Fasanella and his love of working people and
the labor movement.”
Check out
Fasanella’s work – including paintings and
sketches – at two shows in DC now,
one at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and
one at the AFL-CIO. Read about
Fasanella here The Art of Ralph Fasanella
Comes to the AFL-CIO and
check out a slideshow of Fasanella's art on the
AFL-CIO's @Work site.
"Man
at the Crossroads" Update: “’Man
at the Crossroads’ is NOT open
‘daily through 5/17’ as you reported,”
writes Mike Lewis, “nor was it open
yesterday (Sunday, May 4), as your earlier
column said. I found out the hard
way. It’s open
Saturdays
12-4.”
Our
sincere apologies for the error; the hours –
M-F 10-6 and Saturdays 10-4 – are
correct on our
calendar. Do try to get to the
show before it closes on May
17, however; it’s
terrific!