While growing up in the suburbs of Detroit, it is unfortunate that topics of race, class and labor weren't addressed in my predominantly white schools.  I
think the first time I had MLK Day off was in college.  College was
where I received my foundation on progressive ideals.  I'll never
forget marching throughout the city of Kalamazoo while in college for
my first MLK parade.  Then I had the opportunity to learn about the
sanitation workers strike in Memphis as the context to why MLK had
decided to visit Memphis.  If you aren't familiar with this labor
struggle, be sure to watch "At the River I Stand."

Today there is a labor and civil rights issue that deserves our attention.  The workers of New Era Cap in Mobile, Alabama have undergone continued repression both as workers and people of color.  The workers have decided to exercise their right to form a union and take part in determining their own fate rather than continuing to allow management to divide and conquer.  The workers have decided they will no longer stand for blatant racism though they have been forced to endure captive audience meetings by Tim Freer (who is on the board of the Fair Labor Association!) and unjustified firings and lay offs.

It's time for us to act and I encourage you to send an email now.  New Era Cap is a licensee of many colleges and universities and
supplies Major League Baseball with the caps for the baseball players.  You will likely hear about this campaign in the upcoming months as students, labor, and communities across the US demand justice for workers at New Era Cap.  This is what MLK believed in and we owe him a continued struggle so that civil and labor rights are not just a far off dream but rather a part of the life of every worker in the US and around the world.