How is it that the wealthiest 1% of Americans usually get their way? In a democratic society, the majority is supposed to rule, right?
For the other 99% to be empowered, we need to:
- Understand that we're being oppressed, and allow ourselves to feel righteous anger
- Stop buying into the ideologies that the 1% use to divide us, and join together in solidarity
- Organize!
In his book Bloody Lowndes: Civil Rights and Black Power in Alabama’s Black Belt, Hasan Kwame Jeffries describes how this scenario unfolded on a local scale in Lowndes County, Alabama. African Americans were the overwhelming majority in the county, but decades of voter intimidation kept blacks off the county's registration books, and kept white elites in power. That is, until the formation of the Lowndes County Freedom Organization (LCFO) in 1966.
Dr. Jeffries teaches in the history department at The Ohio State University and the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity.
At 4 p.m. on Sunday, March 24, Dr. Jeffries will speak about the history of the LCFO, its influence on later civil rights work, and its implications for community organizing today. The event is part of the Labor College series at the Mid-Ohio Workers Association, 1392 E. Weber Road.
Dr. Jeffries' talk will be followed by a discussion and potluck dinner. The event is free and everyone is welcome.
The Mid-Ohio Workers Association (MWA) is a coalition of the lowest-paid workers in Central Ohio who help each other to meet basic survival needs, and organize to end government policies that perpetuate their poverty.
Labor College is a series of presentations designed to educate MWA members and the general public in the lessons of history, and discuss how they can be applied in today's struggle for systemic change. For more information, contact the MWA at (614) 262-0567.
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