IWW BLACK HISTORY MONTH EVENT: DETROIT'S REVOLUTIONARY UNIONS OF THE 60'S & 70'S

A talk by Dr. Luke Tripp, a former leader of the and screening of the rare 1970 documentary film "FINALLY GOT THE NEWS"

Saturday, February 23rd, 2008 * 1 PM * Free
Sabathani Community Center
310 East 38th Street Minneapolis MN 55409

Sponsored by the Industrial Workers of the World (I.W.W.) union
(612) 339-1266 * twincities@iww.org

The League of Revolutionary Black Workers united radical Black organizing projects in Detroit's factories, neighborhoods, high school and college campuses against the racist and exploitative conditions that dominated life for African-American workers in the 1960's and '70's.

At the heart of the League were Revolutionary Union Movements (RUM's) built by rank & file Black workers, mainly in Detroit's auto factory "plantations". The RUM's sought to organize Black workers to resist the racist and exploitive conditions in these factories - and within the white-dominated business unions that officially represented the workers.

While not as well known as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the Black Panther Party, or the Nation of Islam, thousands of workers in Detroit participated in the League and it's RUM's. The League distributed mass circulation newspapers & plant bulletins, organized pickets and rallies, formed community and student groups, ran opposition union candidates, and led wildcat strikes that successfully shut down production.

Despite repression from the joined forces of Chrysler, Ford, GM, the United Auto Workers, and Detroit and suburban police departments, the League built the last sustained mass revolutionary unions in this country. The history of the League - and it's lessons - should be known by all concerned with the struggle for freedom and equality.

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Dr. Luke Tripp is Professor and Chair of Community Studies at St. Cloud State University, St. Cloud, Minnesota. He received his Ph. D. from The University of Michigan. He is an activist and author of several articles on Black college students and Black Workers. He was a leader in the and the Detroit chapter of the Black Panther Party in the 1960s.

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FINALLY GOT THE NEWS is a forceful, unique documentary that reveals the activities of the League of Revolutionary Black Workers inside and outside the auto factories of Detroit. Through interviews with the members of the movement, footage shot in the auto plants, and footage of leafleting and picketing actions, the film documents their efforts to build an independent black labor organization that, unlike the UAW, will respond to worker's problems, such as the assembly line speed-up and inadequate wages faced by both black and white workers in the industry.

55 minutes/b&w
Original Release Date: 1970

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The Industrial Workers of the World (I.W.W.) is a revolutionary industrial union founded in Chicago in 1905. Over the years the I.W.W. has blazed a trail as a champion of workers solidarity: organizing across race & gender lines, defending working class free speech, and opposing the Bosses' militarism and war. Today the I.W.W. is starting to grow again - among immigrant workers, workers in the service industry, trade union militants seeking real solidarity - and many others.

The Twin Cities General Membership Branch of the I.W.W. is honored to help share the history and lessons of the League of Revolutionary Black Workers.

For more information please contact:
I.W.W. Twin Cities GMB
(612) 339-1266 * twincities@iww.org