Jack O'Dell Conference Speakers: Professor Peter Cole (2/2) and Clarence Thomas

people that we would all agree at least in this room are worthy of our respect right um and so how is it right that these four incredible figures across upwards of 80 years have found their way to want to actually be honorary members of the LW that's a good question right um so that's what I'll do a little um about in my introduction so there's a long history of black radicalism and non-black radicalism in the out view in fact as someone in the session noted Harry Bridges was a white man actually an Australian immigrant who helped lead for many years and found the ilw and lcal 10 the San Francisco barrier chapter wood his home local now at the birth of the Union actually there were very very few African-Americans in the LW and very very few African-Americans in the barer for that matter um however there's a long history going back to really the 30s and 40s of African-Americans in local 10 and other branches including up in the Pacific Northwest who are militant unionists um were by definition working class because of the nature of their work and backgrounds um were intellectuals right um who read and thought and wrote and spoke deeply um and lived Cosmopolitan lives which is of course the case for port cities around the world past and present many of these people not all or not even necessarily most were anti- capitalists of one strike or another um some were formerly affiliated with parties like the Communists the Socialists and others um but many were what we might consider independent leftists um many of these African-American with their many many white allies especially in the Bay Area fought racism in their unions fought racism in their communities fought racism in their country and also fought racism and colonialism in Africa in particular um because of the reality that many of these black and white radicals in the LW identified with Liberation struggles in the 1950s 60s 1970s right um and that is of course why people like Robson and King and Mandela and Davis wanted to sort of be connected to the not the reverse right um although it's maybe mutually beneficial right um so back in the 1930s short short history um thew was born right um out of the big strike of 1934 which shut down the west coast of uh every port up and down the coast from Southern California up into the Pacific Northwest also included other types of Maritime workers including those on ships although it's South and was closely associated with those along the shore um and although not uh and that big strike was Victoria after over 6 weeks um especially for the doc workers who won all sorts of gains wage raises hours Cuts Union recognition Union essentially control of the hiring Hall end of the shape up and more right um they also instituted a low man out system in which they tried to equitably distribute the work meaning that if workers showed up at the hall in order to report for work um those who would had the least amount of hours in that quarter of the year would get first jobs um although that has changed significantly in recent decades um the low man out tradition and dispatch somewhat Still Remains now in terms of racial politics um as other people have noted including Clarence here today you know when the AL was born in the mid 1930s there were very few African-Americans who worked on the waterfront in San Francisco very few um and as he also noted many of those actually found their way to the Waterfront by breaking the 1919 strike which happened or after war war I was a big defeat for the then Union um but 1930s Harry Bridges and other white radicals had actually learned some lessons um and decided actually that it would be wise to sort of open up the union to African-Americans and other people of African descent um famously Harry Bridges is quoted as saying if there were going to be two people working left on the waterfront he wanted one of them to be black right um uh in the 1940s a huge number of African-Americans came into many Western cities due to the so-called Great Migration right due to really labor demand from labor shortage West Coast ports and industrial cities and so really the 30s still small 40s significant growth maybe a quarter of local 10 was um African-American by the late 60s uh majority black the only black majority local actually uh in the long tore division of the LW to the stay um now it is easy to celebrate the local 10 I am often guilty as charged um but it is also well worth noting that actually other locals provided much more resistance to Racial equality uh including um Local 8 in Portland which was Notorious for being white only for decades um and in the port of LA Long Beach which actually had somewhat of a diverse membership where there was in particular um problems for African-Americans for many decades so just quickly about these um four fabulous figures who have connected to the LW and then who was connected to them within the LW well Paul Robson um I always tell my students about Paul Robson none of them have ever heard of Paul Robson um it's amazing right the most important well-known black person in the world in the 1930s 40s is simply unknown right like his legacy has been eliminated that's actually the single best example of how red baiting worked right um that we lost him right um I tell my students if you combine I don't know Will Smith and Kanye West in terms of a well-known black actor well-known black singer into a single person and make them a leftwing radical that's Paul Ren right like um uh and um well he was good friends with people in the ilw and the Marine Crooks and stewards which was red dated into death and subsumed if you will by the LW by the early 1950s including his good friend Joe Johnson who's pictured on the far right on the uh the bottom picture and then Rebels kton right who of course started in Seattle before moving down to San Francisco where he stayed with the out of in between the cooks and stewards now in that era that same era that Paul rson became uh an honorary member 1944 1943 of the IW a young man from Arkansas named qu Williams moved to the San Francisco baray actually moved to Oakland but he found work after starting on the shipyards as many did um he found work on the waterfront in 1944 right um cus Williams is a legend in local 10 and somewhat up and down the coast he passed away a few years ago although his widow will be turning 100 next month and there will be a big party at local 10 and I'm not sure if everyone is invited but at least some of the people in this room are going to be there unfortunately not me um now local 10 um led by people people not who are older than cleus Williams people like Johnny Walker um Albert James and others actually pushed hard in the 40s and 50s in local 10 to democratize it and um integrate it right um there was some resistance in particular in if you know your Longshore stuff well the Kirk's local which was all white right um and resisted really many black people until basically blacks and local 10 forced 34 to open up its ranks in the early 60s with the support of Harry Bridges from the top but also pushed From Below from activist and local 10 um a lot of the in between work was done by this man Bill Chester pictured on the bottom right and in the center of the photograph shaking the hands of Martin Luther King right um who himself was a migrant to the Bay Area from Texas and Missouri um but who really became the most well-known African-American first sort of most well-known African-American in thew he came out of local 10 and thanks to subsequent black local 10 activists the local 10 Hall is actually named in honor of Bill Chester today right there's a small plaque outside of their hall right now what local 10 did with people like Chester with people like cleus Williams with people um well many too numerous to name is often called by uh academics as civil rights unionism right um where unions um collaborate with other um organizations to promote Racial equality not just inside of the labor movement but in communities at large often in conversation with and support of black churches in particular um Bill Chester served as an important bridge between really the black churches um in the Bay Area at that time including San Francisco now I know we don't think of really another set movie The Last black man in San Francisco um but like uh really in the East Bay right but also in the city of San Francisco I interviewed many elderly black do workers who were homeowners in San Francisco when I was working on my book in the 201s um they did all sorts of cool things but the thing I like to highlight is the San Francis housing Cooperative which was the first privately developed interracial working class affordable housing in city of San Francisco which came online in 1963 and still exists as a housing Cooperative in what then um uh was Japan town but because the Japanese been pushed out um it was also called the East Filmore right um and uh that area that St Francis housing cop is still in existence although it's also changed in a variety of ways but it still stands and it was again the first multiethnic multi-racial workingclass affordable housing that the LW financed right um after Urban Redevelopment um uh happened in the 50s right um he is a source of reason that a young man he was only in his mid-30s right Martin Luther King Jr uh came to San Francisco in 1967 to hang out with the LW where he was be made an honorary member of local 10 um he did so because as we know in the 50s but increasingly in the 60s saw that unions were a key Ally uh but also as he said many times um it doesn't matter if you can afford a hamburger if you can sit at the counter if you can't afford the hamburger that was a vegetarian right whatever um but I appreciate the sentiment right like uh we need money we don't just need equal rights on paper right um economic power is necessary in order to make political power a reality right by and so unions are that and King understood that he of course also was a Democratic Socialist third thing that the LW did connected to seem to be Nelson Mandela was um fight for racial equality and racial um to overcome racial apartheid in southern Africa um so there's a long history of anti-apartheid activism on the waterfronts in South African ports I actually my book on the be is also about Durban which is the strongest most important port in South Africa and in sub subsaharan Africa it were doc workers led by this man named V mini pictured on the right one of the first persons executed by the state of South Africa in the early 1960s was a doc worker uh a leader Inc a leader in MK the arm struggle um and also a songwriter and he was actually arguably killed killed because of his powerful songs um and he sang walking to the Gallows famously in 1964 in Johannesburg um a just prior to his murder by the state of South Africa um doc workers in San Francisco led by Bill Chester were the first American Union to refuse to work to protest aparti in South Africa and so when a ship landed a Dutch ship um landed in the Port of San Francisco with South African cargo aborted um the men on the right um excuse me on the left in the background friend of this small community picket um who uh the the union knew was going to be placed refused to cross this very small community picket um in order to um Express solidarity with the struggle against part time right um it is worth noting that this morning right led by Arab activists Arab American activists who threw up a community picket in Oakland a ship was just refused was refused to work um and the doc workers respected that picket and weapons were not loaded aboard US ship for the war that Israel is perpetrating against pal like so that wasn't the union action although it was with coordination of and support of the Union but it was actually again the ack thank you um that effort was led by Leo Robinson Leo Robinson pictured here a second generation long shoreman from Oakland um who was the leader of the southern Africa Liberation support committee um whose most important action or at least most consequential was in 1984 um where a Dutch ship came in and for 10 days that ship didn't work as local 10 members refused to basically work in this case they weren't crossing a community picket they just refused to work right um and so there's actually two different tactics we're talking about here in terms of how do workers might engage in refusing to work ships right um that is why Nelson Mandela when he came to the US on his first visit in um 1990 um he toured 10 places I don't think he actually touched the city of San Francisco but in Oakland um in Oakland Coliseum he before 50,000 people he thanked the LW and local and um for their efforts last and not least Angela Davis right um now cleus Williams the first black president of local tan who became president I believe in 1968 um or thereabouts um uh was President um in the early 7s when Angela Davis was on the run right um and local ten Hall was the site one of many uh where Free Angela rallies occurred but this poster is really the bomb right like um and sort of an example right of the sort of community activism and both in and outside of the labor movement and of course famously after George Floyd was murdered um there was a shutdown of the Port of Oakland on juneth right um where Angela Davis spoke among others um and the following year um she was inducted into the local 10 honorary membership um at local 10's Hall where she said if I didn't if I couldn't be a professor I would have wanted to be a long shorman or warehouse worker I swear to you that I've said that before her um but you didn't know it because I'm not as famous as her right like um but anyway of course there's a long history that takes us to the present where we have Labor internationalism and black internationalism because doc workers are by definition International in their thinking ships are coming from overseas and vice versa being sent overseas and so labor internationalism separate from black internationalism but connected to black internationalism really takes us to the present moment where in recent years in cities like um in ports in Italy and ports in France and ports in South Africa where there's been protests refusal to work Israeli owned ships to protest its treatment and mistreatment of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank and so I thank you for your attention I hope you now if you didn't already know why the LW is a fascinating Union to appreciate and um so I look forward to hearing to from several members to talk more about their efforts thank you solidarity greetings all I want to thank Peter for not stealing my thunder when he got to the part about Leo Robinson because that's what I'm going to talk about today uh I just wanted to say that I had the I'm going to be doing a lot of reading from this text because I've been told that I have 15 15 minutes and I got about an hour speech and 15 minutes to give it so going stick to the script but I had the opportunity of of meeting uh Jack Hunter Odell it was in Oakland California in 2012 the occasion was a lecture sponsored by congresswoman Barbara Lee and former mayor ell Harris was a part of a series of Civil Right lectures by Veterans of the movement I shall always remember our relatively brief but memorable and meaningful conversation that I had with him regarding ILWU and local specifically he was very well acquainted with the history of our Union including our then recent shutdown of Wall Street on the waterfront a coordinated West Coast Port black aade and solidarity with the Occupy Movement when Reckoning with the black radical tradition inside of the ILWU particular local 10 the person who comes to mind is Leo L Robinson a second generation Longshore worker Robinson in my opinion is one of the more important Rank and file leaders in the modern era and I say modern era meaning the 70s to the90s I say that because he was in the tradition of the founders of the ILWU he was uh leftist who uh was committed to rank andile democracy as well as as well as to the rank as well as to the working class at home and abroad labor historian Peter Cole described Leo Robinson in an article following his passing in 2013 dly quote legendary local CH activist Leo Robinson recently passed away his intellect commitment passion and Savvy allowed him to help lead local T though he served as an elected official only once he loved his disunion and fought to improve Pro the lives of all working people but Robinson might be best known for leading the ILWU in the Bight against racial depression in South Africa born May 26 1937 in shreport Louisiana to the proud parents of Arthur Robinson Jr and pearl Lee Young his mother moved to the West Coast in 1942 to work in mois Shipyard in Oakland to prepare a place for his family his father and four siblings moved to Oakland in 1943 Leo's dad also worked at Mo Shipyard and was hired on the waterfront in 1944 the same year as my maternal grandfather found work on the docks during the Great Migration of African-Americans to the Bay Area Leo attended public schools in both Los Angeles and Oakland George Washington Carver Junior High School's model stuck with him all of his life Leo said quote I'll never forget I remember it as a Man educated is easy to lead but impossible to enslave the quote is actually from Henry Peter bro and it reads education makes people easy to lead but difficult to drive easy to govern but impossible to enslave Rah was a British Statesman played a prominent role in the passing of the SL slavery abolition Act of 1833 Leo attended Oakland Technical High School and asked his mother for permission to join the Navy after completing the 11th grade Leo said I knew running around with my hoodland friends that I wouldn't graduate from the 12th grade he enlisted in the Navy in 1954 and spent 3 years 11 months 22 days 11 hours and 45 minutes and what he describ as wasted time he briefly worked in the ilw local to as a ship scaler after working on an assembly line for General motives he became a long worker 1963 when he came to the Waterfront he wasn't that political his issues were all locals and it was only later that it occurred to him that everything local was National and international during the Vietnam war questioned by a young long show worker changed his political outlook for life and led him into his activism he said I want to ask you a question and you don't have to answer it now but I want you to answer this question of what kind of a threat do the Vietnamese pose to you he became politicized in the late 1960s discussing the Vietnam war with fellow Longshore workers and eventually joining the Communist Party photojournalist David bacon wrote a Brother Robinson quote one of the things I learned about Leo was that he was not a afraid of being called a red he took great pride in it when some one insult you and call you a red he said that's when you know you're doing good work when you're really hurting the racist that's their weapon of choice to call you a red with radical leaders on the docks both black and white Leo's emergence as a rank and file leader began to emerge in the early 1970s he became an active Rank and file member vigilantly protecting workers rights Union democracy and worker contracts he was repeatedly elected to the locals executive board as the Union's key decision-making body the Longshore caucus it's important to mention that iwu is the only predominantly African-American Longshore local on the west coast it is also the most radical of all Longshore locals in the ILWU in the 1970s and 80s Leo's leadership exde the power of the rank and file and the us working class on the side of South African Liberation struggle and against the race of dep parchai regime 1976 after the sueto uprising and youth were Massacre Leo introduced a resolution to local 10 for a boycott of goods to and from South Africa Leo assisted in forming local 's South Africa Li South Africa Liberation support committee the first anti parti group and American labor union in April 1976 it put that resolution in action a 5,000 person strong Community picket was honored by ilw local 10 members stalling African cargo at San Francisco's Pier 27 for two days at a time when Ben in prison Nelson Mandela and the African National conf Congress was slandered as terrorist by the government US Government he was appointed by locatin to speak at rallies regarding anti-ar and the South African Liberation movement along with the Coalition of black trade unions and other community organizations he organized the First Union conference on a partti at San Francisco State College my M by the way and brought High officials from the from the African National Congress to San Francisco ilw sponsored media events to bring thec and South African trade unionist involved in The Liberation Ming to the West Coast and Beyond to speak on their struggles they did such thing as organized nightly meetings radio interviews travel to other cities raised funds and worked with coalition to raise money to build a clinic in mosam Beque the the southern African Liberation support committee was successful in securing containers from Longshore employers and collected tons of food and medical supplies for freedom fighters in mosm Beek South Africa and in Zimbabwe the the most impressive action of loin occurred in 1984 when they initiated the longest boycott of South African Cargo in US history when the n Lloyd Kimberly Doc in San Francisco as Peter explained earlier that took place at Pier 80 they refused to touch South African cargo though they unloaded the rest of the ship's contents so they didn't just boycott the ship they worked of vessels work of the contents of the ship and Leo Robinson was quoted on one of the local television saying that we have no quarrel with the people from Australia we worked their cargo but we did not work the cargo in South Africa that was in order to make the point and to pinpoint exactly what the struggle was all about and on the 11th day what happened was that pressure from the employers and the federal injunction that threatened massive finds on the union and leaders like Leo Robinson and others this revolutionary courageous act came to an end immediately but it energized the Bay Area anti aarti movement including students at nearby the University of California and sparked a movement that spread throughout the west coast and played a big part in the anti-ar actions throughout the country it's important to remember that the boycotting of the ships there was also the issue of divesting from any uh companies that did business with South Africa and also the issue of sanctions and I think it's important for us to underscore this for this reason boycott sanction divestment isn't that what we're talking about right now with respect to Israel it worked there didn't and it can work again it worked with South Africa and it can work again so it's important to also understand that an individual who was responsible for introducing legislation regarding sanctions against South Africa was a congressman by the name of Leo by the congressman by the name of Ronald B Dums and I'm mentioning his name because Ron D dellums was a classmate of Leo Robson at Oak Technical High School M mod as well now it may be a coincidence that Leo Ron delam and myself all went to Oakland Technical High School but we all had fathers who were members of ilw local champ and I think that that's part of the reason that I'm standing here before you today Leo and his wife Johnny Pearl Robinson opened their home to South African Freedom Fighters who were living underground in the US they provided financial support to self attending University I ities in the state during this period Leo along with Sister Geraldine Johnson and several others were founding members of the northern California chapter of the Coalition of black trade unionist otherwise known as cbtu it was the most radical of all chapters in the country Leo stated quote Sister Geraldine Johnson my mentor my sister and my teacher was what one of the most dynamic women I ever laid eyes on when Gerald deine gave you your marching orders you didn't deviate you didn't equivocate you just did it even if you didn't know how cbtu was one of the key Coalition groups in the Bay Area and the anti-ap parde movement it initiated broader support for the struggle within the ranks of black labor and it was already mentioned that Nelson Mandela spoke at the Oakland Coliseum which where I was born and raised and he acknowledged the ILWU Local 10 specifically during the early early 1980s Leo along with David Stewart and other local members of the cptu brought a resolution passed at this convention uh pass calling for international unions to include in their Union contracts making Dr Martin Luther King Jr paid holiday local ten adopted it as a contract caucus demand for the Longshore caucus the Longshore division gained Dr King's birthday as a paid holiday Leo was a strong believer and ranking fers belonging to working class organizations outside of their local for the purpose of building Coalition movements and solidarity Leo was indeed an Internationals he and others believed that black people would not be free in the United States if they were not free in South Africa they were determined to end support given by the US government that kept the apart time regime alive Leo knew that workers from both countries have the potential to bring down a part time if a long shman long shman in San Francisco could find a way to support black workers in South Africa it would help The Liberation movement there survive when and change the conditions for black workers here at home Leo was a tremendous speaker he possessed a commanding presence and voice when when he spoke he had the full attention of every member of local 10's cavernous Union Hall when he was once asked what did the anti AAR struggle have to do with the American workers here at home Leo he responded by explaining that while plants are being shut down here corporations are investing in industry in South Africa taking advantage of the subjugation of black workers under aarth he further highlight how cargo discharged from the boycotted ship Nat ly Kimberly contained steel glass apple juice concentrate products that all were once produced here and produced here in the United States Leo had a way with words to hammer home a point here's something that come to mind we have permanent interests not permanent friends if you don't know your rights you don't have any and when it came to dealing with people who he thought were enemies of the working class he said quote they were not worth two dead flies on a syrup bucket ranking F he also said Rank and file members should introduce resolutions that say if workers take a pay cut in wages that the leadership should take a cut in their wages as well he also said the power of the rank and file resides in its back pocket referring to his Wallace that was a quote from Harry Bridges Leo also said only in unity is their strength you will either organize or you will starve it is as simple as that Leo was a guy that was close to the membership they would come to him and express their concerns about matters on the job and in the community they knew he could facilitate discussion on these issues at the Executive Board of the Union meetings Memphis trusted his judgment because he believed in what what was right as opposed to who was right he was excellent at dominoes yeah I know about that he played dominoes in the hall on occasions before A dispatch he was also effective in getting members who may not have agreed with his politics to support efforts that he initiated such as volunteering the stuff and load containers with humanitarian supplies for Freedom privacy in southern Africa he was cited for heroism when he and two other Long Shore workers rescued a fellow worker from sinking in tons of raw sugar we handle sugar and sugar could be like an avalanche and killed it he saved the brother's life one day while he was listening to a progressive radio station he heard about no let me back up that's later when a Longshore brother and his family were being attacked by the KKK in Contra Casta County this is not in the South this is in the Bay Area in the 1980s Leo and others organized the ilw civil rights committee which included Interfaith labor and Community forces Longshore workers provided security for the brother and his family which meant that they were on to the tee to protect him until such time as they hired a security firm to protect that brother right one day while listening to a progressive radio station he heard two black women being interviewed about being harassed by the KKK and other racist in oraville California Leo invited them to speak at the membership meeting rank and filers wanted to give support to their plight he wrote a resolution to have the next membership meeting in Orville a stop work meeting was organized with by the way the employees on the morning of the meeting members loaded buses and cars in the city marched through the main thorough far of the town to deliver a message to the police chief their message was to stop the harassment cross burning graffiti Etc the single mothers or they would be coming back Leo wrote the ilw position on the Israeli Palestinian question calling for the recognition of the Palestine Liberation Organization of the sole representative the Palestinian people okay they say my time is up let me just conclude with this today there was an announcement at I Wu local 10 that there would be no jobs dispatched today because it was announced a few days ago that the Arab resources and organizing Center was going to have a demonstration so the employers to not seem to be conceding to not working the vessel because of the protester decided it was not going to dispatch any jobs the tradition of Leo Robinson continues today and I will close with this Leo always said that if we don't record our history and documented it never happened which led to me led me to become a writer and publisher and I have two books that are here today and my lovely wife in the back will accommodates you one book is called mobilizing in our own name the minion work of March which Leo Robinson was a major player in organizing the other book is Cleo cleopas Williams my life story in ILWU Local 10 I suggest that many of you take advantage of these books they're very reasonable and you're looking at the publish along with my wife dores thank you for your time