A busy week

By no means a typical week, but not totally out of the ordinary.

Sunday.

I attended a talk by Ron Walters on Wichita --and national--civil rights leader Chester I. Lewis. Walters, a leading political scientist, has also been an activist. He was President of the NAACP youth branch in Wichita when they launched the first sit-in of the modern civil rights movement at a downtown Wichita drugstore.
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Here's Walters looking at the exhibit on Lewis at the Wichita Historical Museum.


Monday

Phone calls. web research, writing articles through the day. Sent out email for Tuesday's IAM rally for a fair contract and an email on the minimum wage. Southside Democrat's Club in the evening.

Tuesday

Dropped by the Learjet workers rally at the Broadview hotel. Took some photos and posted them and a story (from LL 639) on the Kansas Workbeat website.











Wednesday


I arranged to take a long lunch and attended an interesting lunch talk at Interfaith Ministries by Paul Sherry of Let Justice Roll on building movements to increase the minimum wage. I'll have a photo or two from the event later.

Later in the evening, I drove over to Friends University for a concert by Bobby Watson, who performed with a variety of student ensembles. Not political, you say. I say, bread and roses.





Thursday

The monthly meeting of the Wichita/Hutchinson Labor Federation was a little different this month. We held it at the Labor Temple in Hutchinson. It was the first time I've been inside the building. It's a nice bit of history and ought to be used more often.

Unfortunately, the change in locale meant I couldn't catch any of Joe Jencks' concert at one of the local Friends churches. Joe, who was recommended by my friend Aaron Fowler, is on the board of the "traveling musicians local"--AFM 1000.

Friday

I'll be attendiing an event to launch a "Helmets to Hardhats" program in Kansas. This is an effort to hook up returning vets into the building and construction trades. A very good initiative from the unions.