Our souls cry out for more than money. We find poetry and music, dance and art in all neighborhoods, in concert halls and on street corners.
WDI has made cultural programming a core part of our service. Workers need job security, so we offer skills training yet work alone is not enough. Our spirits must be lifted, set free. Freedom brings dignity, a sense of community and pride. We are not cogs in a machine living to produce profits. Culture gives us strength and joy. Culture takes many forms: personal or communal; ethnic, musical, words, dance, sculpture, painting, photography or art.
“We want bread, but we want roses too.” This slogan is attributed to women textile workers on strike in 1912, in Lawrence, Massachusetts. They gave voice to our aspirations. We still fight for good wages and know we are worth more than our labor.
WDI was inspired by Bread and Roses, the cultural arm of 1199/SEIU and their unseenamerica photography program. WDI sponsors photography classes in communities across the state. Workers share individual hopes and common concerns. We offer classes and a regional exhibit. The State Museum hosted a major exhibition of this work in 2007. Creating opportunities for workers culture is not a new idea. Since the beginning of the trade union movement, in this country and around the world, workers have been encouraged to create, to express themselves in so many ways.
We are asked why invest in cultural programs when there is so much unemployment? We are Americans with diverse backgrounds; urban and rural, commuting on subways and along highways. We are an immigrant society and mobility is in our blood. There are many forces available to divide us. We aim to unite, to know each other and strengthen the fabric of society. Each photograph is a personal story. We learn what is seen and important to the photographer. Workers tell their stories through pictures.
Earlier, I discussed listening and learning. I am interested in learning what is important in a person’s life, what makes them smile, what makes our hearts soar. I am Irish and in my tradition we don’t just mourn. We sing, and dance, tell stories and play music. We awaken our inner strength and the resources to go on with life. I see this impulse in other cultures, survivors of war, disease, divorce and loss of a job. In good times we invest in our spiritual bank, through celebrations and on vacation.
Uganda was torn by civil war and is filled with orphans. My heart first broke watching “War Dance”, a documentary, listening to children describes the horror they lived through. Then I watched them prepare for, compete, and win a national music and dance competition. Their discipline and ethnic pride moved them through pain, discovering new abilities. They brought honor to their community and inspired other youth, through their music and dance.
When their factory closed in northern New York, workers wrote about their lives and photographed what mattered most. Their community took pride in what they’d accomplished and the workers were reminded their lives mean more than a paycheck. In another community a refugee’s photo showed her aspiration to own a home. Another photo showed a farmer who milks 50 cows everyday. It helps us look beyond the grocery store. A healthcare worker celebrated her co-worker’s smile while helping a patient.
Why culture? Culture moves us beyond logic or a cost benefit analysis. It celebrates life, makes us smile and offers value beyond dollars; culture helps us to understand each other. I believe in America, this land filled with diversity. Maybe one frontier closed in 1890 but new ones appear everyday, with immigrants, our neighbors, co-workers and inside of each of us.
WDI is helping strengthen a community of workers, values their families and looks forward to learning more. Great novels were read to cigar workers, folk singers honored those who mined coal and built our dams. Unions had bands and theater groups. WDI encourages workers to believe in themselves. We believe in them.
My hope is other state federations of labor will replicate what we have begun. I thank 1199/SEIU for what they started and commit to their dream.
