 The 2017 DC LaborFest wraps up tonight with Hidden Figures at AFI's Silver Theatre. The Oscar-nominated film reveals the untold story of Katherine Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer) and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monáe)—brilliant African-American women working at NASA, who battled racism and sexism to serve as the brains behind one of the greatest operations in history.
If you haven't seen it yet, now's the time, and if you've already seen it, catch it again and be re-inspired! LaborFest Today HIDDEN FIGURES: Wed, May 31, 7:00p HIDDEN FIGURES Wed, May 31, 7:00p Click here for tickets AFI Silver Theatre, 8633 Colesville Rd, Downtown Silver Spring, MD Hosted by the AFL-CIO ITC, IFPTE, SEIU and UFCW 1994/MCGEO The untold story of Katherine Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer) and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monáe)—brilliant African-American women working at NASA, who battled racism and sexism to serve as the brains behind one of the greatest operations in history: the launch of astronaut John Glenn into orbit, a stunning achievement that restored the nation’s confidence, turned around the Space Race, and galvanized the world. who were part of NASA's team of human "computers." The film is a window into the growth of the federal workforce during and after World War II after President Franklin Roosevelt issued Executive Order 8802, which banned "discrimination in the employment of workers in defense industries or government because of race, creed, color, or national origin." Nominated for three Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Theodore Melfi, US, 2016, 127 min  By forcing workers to make hard decisions on matters of life or death, financial ruin or stability, Maryland Governor Hogan’s veto of Paid Sick Leave legislation is "channeling the spirit of President Trump right here in Maryland,” said SEIU 32BJ's Jaime Contreras last week. “People will go broke, get sicker and maybe even die on Governor Hogan’s watch,” added Paul Brown, a security officer in downtown Baltimore and a member of SEIU 32BJ. “I am lucky to be alive after having a heart attack that could’ve been prevented if I had paid sick leave," said Brown. "Both my brother and sisters died of cancer and I couldn’t afford time off to care for them." Brown called on the Maryland Legislature to override the Governor’s veto as soon as they come back in January.
"We'd never had any opportunity to do that kind of work. Do you think that if you did domestic work all of your life where you cleaned somebody's toilets and did all the cooking for some lazy characters who were sitting on top, and you finally got a chance where you can get a dignified job, you wouldn't fly through the door?"
Childs was a wartime shipyard worker featured in the documentary film "Rosie the Riveter."  The Johnstown Flood. More than 2,200 die when a dam holding back a private resort lake burst upstream of Johnstown, Pennsylvania. The resort was owned by wealthy industrialists including Andrew Carnegie and Henry Clay Frick. Neither they nor any other members of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club were found guilty of fault, despite the fact the group had created the lake out of an abandoned reservoir – 1889
Some 25,000 white autoworkers walk off the job at a Detroit Packard Motor Car Co. plant, heavily involved in wartime production, when three black workers are promoted to work on a previously all-white assembly line. The black workers were relocated and the whites returned - 1943 Rose Will Monroe (right), popularly known as Rosie the Riveter, dies in Clarksville, Ind. During WWII she helped bring women into the labor force - 1997 Compiled/edited by Union Communication Services |
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