WORKERS’ CORRESPONDENCE
If you some time think that fascism in America cannot be beaten, let me recommend marching in a Martin Luther King Jr parade. Several thousand of us marched along MLK Blvd in Dallas on the 19th. We were viewed by many thousands more.
I was part of the Dallas AFL-CIO float and marching contingent. There were five of us seniors and at least 45 younger activists. Nearly all of them are members of the Texas youth constituency group, Young Active Labor Leaders (YALL).
As we moved past enthusiastic parade watchers, they picked up our chants and kept them going after we had moved on. We did a lot of the traditional ones, such as “Everywhere we go/People want to know/…” and “What do we want (Justice)/When do we want it?” (Now), but by far the most relevant and popular chant was “No ICE, No K-K-K, no fascist U.S.A.” It morphed into “No Trump, No KKK…” before the mile-long march ended at Fair Park.
We had a beautiful red, white, and blue labor float provided, as it has been for decades, by “St. Gerardo” Contreras of United Auto Workers Local 848 in nearby Grand Prairie. The logistics for this year’s parade may have seemed efficient to the planners, but they were painful for the participants. Gerardo had to bring the float by 5 AM.
The rest of us had to arrive at 7:30AM, but our contingent didn’t even join the float until around 10:45. Amazingly, hardly anybody, even the septuagenarians and one octogenarian, complained. We were having too much fun being part of history and adding new pages.
Stu Becker, local YALL chair and possible contestant for state youth leader, made sure that the true meaning of Dr. King’s life did not get lost in the excitement. He and his group made signs based on pertinent quotes:
“The labor movement was the principal force that transformed misery and despair into hope and progress.”
“To ignore evil is to become accomplice to it.”
“Poverty is placed on the public. The public only asks for a few things to end poverty: equality, healthcare, and a livable wage.”
“The problems of racial injustice and economic injustice cannot be solved without a radical redistribution of political and economic power.”
It was as if King, who was murdered for his beliefs so long ago, was right there with us.
As we waited to launch, some of us discussed the past, present, and future. King is beloved in Dallas today but wasn’t when he was alive. In fact, in 1963, because of safety fears, the Black Ministerial Alliance expressly asked him not to come. (He did anyway).
Today, workers venerate King and are eager to learn more about his life and ultimate sacrifice. We marched by the Martin Luther King, Jr., Community Center, which was established long after he was assassinated in 1968. Another historical site came just after the MLK Center. It is the Mt. Olivet Lutheran Church, where the Southern Christian Leadership Conference met in the basement while being guarded from Klansmen by stalwarts from the United Auto Workers.
Peter Johnson was the Dallas civil rights organizer while MLK was alive. After being shunned by most city “leaders” for decades, he is now a popular speaker and has a regular column in the Dallas Morning News.
The march/parade became a part of Dallas tradition later, in the mid 1980s. The union movement began its long uninterrupted participation as “Jobs with Justice” in 1990; consequently, we were the 36th labor contingent to be well received by the crowds.
By boosting Dr. King’s true message and his strong connection to organized labor, we felt that we were helping the progressive movement. It did us marchers a lot of good, too. In the thick of all that commitment and love, it was hard to imagine any success for fascists.
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