“This is a movement!”
said ILWU International President Willie Adams, who was invited to speak from the fl atbed truck by Local 10 and 34 leaders as thousands of marchers assembled to commemorate Juneteenth on a sunny morning outside the Port of Oakland’s SSA Terminal.
“Young people are taking to the streets all over the world. They are militant; they are smart, and they are marching without apology,” said Adams, who was accompanied by International Secretary-Treasurer Ed Ferris and International Executive Board member Melvin Mackay.
Ongoing struggle against racism
The June 19th event was part of a historic coastwise stand-down that reached from the Port of San Diego up to Vancouver, Canada. The goal was to raise awareness about America’s legacy of racism that began with slavery in 1619, is woven into the nation’s founding documents, caused a Civil War that killed 850,000 Americans which was followed by a century of universal discrimination and sometimes brutal repression -- 400 years after the first African slaves were brought to North America.
Killing that sparked a movement
The stand-down was an act of solidarity with millions of people across America and around the world who joined protests against racist police violence, sparked by the brutal killing of unarmed man George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police. Floyd’s brutal murder was caught on a cell phone video and triggered continuous protests and demands for sweeping reform of the criminal justice system.
Born in the Bay Area
The Bay Area march and rally was organized by ILWU Locals 10 and 34, where Presidents Trent Willis and Keith Shanklin encouraged locals up and down the coast to participate in a united stand-down on June 19. Their effort won backing from all longshore locals, the International Union, and ILWU Canada -- along with dozens of community groups.
March towards justice: The Local 10 Drill Team kept the pace for the threemile march from the Port of Oakland to City Hall.
‘Say their names’
The morning rally kicked-off a threemile march from the port to Oscar Grant Plaza at Oakland City Hall. Before noon, a sea of protesters left the SSA terminal and streamed down Middle Harbor Boulevard, marching behind the Local 10 banner and the Local 10 Drill Team. The atmosphere was festive but defiant. Marchers chanted, sang songs, beat drums, and joined call-andresponses that named those recently killed at the hands of police.
Chant leaders called out “Say their names!” as marchers responded by shouting the names of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Peddie Perez, Miles Hall, Oscar Grant, and others who have died at the hands of police or white vigilantes.
An estimated 20,000 strong
By the time marchers reached downtown Oakland, organizers estimated that the group numbered 20,000 strong. They stopped outside the Oakland Police Department headquarters for a brief rally. Speakers called attention to the OPD’s massive $330 million annual budget and the Department’s long history of abuse, racial discrimination, and violation of court orders — behaviors that cost residents millions in lawsuit settlements.
Remembering George Floyd’s death
The massive Juneteenth action followed a 9-minute work stoppage by ILWU dockworkers on June 9th that began at 9 a.m. in all West Coast ports. The symbolic stand-down action recalled the agonizing eight minutes and 46 seconds that George Floyd suffered while being slowly choked to death by Minneapolis police officers.
Origin of Juneteenth
The action also honored June 19, or Juneteenth, which has been celebrated by African-Americans as a holiday since the late 1800s. Also known as Emancipation Day, Juneteenth commemorates the end of slavery in America and the on-going struggle for Black freedom.
Civil War history
On June 19, 1865, Union soldiers arrived at Galveston, Texas to inform enslaved African-Americans of their freedom and the end of the Civil War. The soldiers came to Galveston twoand-a-half years after Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation abolishing slavery throughout the Confederacy – and two months after the Confederate surrender at Appomattox, Virginia. Slavery was officially abolished in the United States on December 6, 1865, when the Thirteenth Amendment was ratified.
Growing recognition
Early Juneteenth commemorations included an annual pilgrimage to Galveston by formerly enslaved people and their descendants. It wasn’t until 1980 that Texas became the first state to recognize Juneteenth as an official holiday. It is now recognized in 47 states and the District of Columbia, although most employers fail to recognize Juneteenth as a paid holiday.
Coastwise shutdown
The call to shut down the ports originated at Local 10 where President Trent Willis sent a letter to ILWU locals at all 29 ports along the West Coast about the Juneteenth stand-down which received overwhelming support. On June 15, the ILWU issued a nationwide press release announcing that ports along the West Coast would stop work for eight hours in observance of Juneteenth.
“Juneteenth has long been recognized by the African-American community, but for many others it was unknown until now – as our nation, in the wake of George Floyd’s murder refocuses on ways to address ongoing, systemic racial injustice,” said President Adams in a press statement. He went on to explain, “Thousands of dockworkers will stop work for the first shift on June 19, 2020, to show their commitment to the cause of racial equality and social justice.”
Local 13 leaders also issued a statement announcing the shutdown: “Since the founding of our great Union, the ILWU has fought against racism and injustice. We have de-segregated our membership, we condemned the internment of Japanese Americans during WWII, we appointed the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. with an honorary membership, we opposed wars in the East and Middle East, we supported Occupy Wall Street, we fought for immigrant rights, and we opposed police brutality. How did we show our solidarity for those causes? The best way a longshore worker knows—we stop working. When workers stop working it is the loudest voice we have. It is a voice unlike any other in the US.”
ILWU Longshore workers in Vancouver, Canada also joined in solidarity by stopping work for eight hours.
“Racism and division are weapons used by those in power to keep the working class down. A divided class is a class that can never rise and bring true prosperity to us all,” said ILWU Canada President Rob Ashton. “That is why the ILWU Canada Longshore division will
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