Councilwoman: Film screening & discussion
Fri, September 6, 8pm – 10pm
Georgetown University, 3700 O St NW, Washington, DC 20057, USA; Healey Family Student Center Film Screening Room
Co-sponsored by WILL Empower, the Gender Justice Initiative, and the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor.
Councilwoman is the story of a UNITE HERE member and hotel housekeeper, Carmen Castillo, who won a hotly-contested seat on the Providence, Rhode Island city council. Between shifts, she built a name for herself in local politics as she fought to unionize and, unsuccessfully, to raise the minimum hourly wage to $15 for all local hotel workers. She also infuriated her more corporate-minded constituents in Ward 9. Councilwomen tracks the story from her arrival in the U.S. from the Dominican Republic in the mid-1990s to her 2014 reelection bid, when she once again espouses a fiery progressive platform. Neither of her opponents proves shy about using her marginalized economic status and lack of formal higher education against her. Castillo battles personal setbacks and legacy notions of who is qualified to run for political office — all the while fiercely defending her vision of a society in which all people earn enough to support themselves and their families

When They See Us: Organizing Conversation
Sat, September 7, 11am – 1pm
Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 689, 2701 Whitney Pl, District Heights, MD 20747
Join a conversation about the Netflix show When They See Us and the existing issues in our criminal justice system. Learn about our plan for action to end mass incarceration here in Maryland.
Progressive Maryland’s Justice Task Force, Former NAACP President Ben Jealous, and other special guests will participate in a discussion hosted by Progressive Maryland’s Justice Task Force.

D.C. Labor Chorus at Takoma Park Folk Festival
Sun, September 8, 10:30am – 12:00pm
Takoma Park Middle School, 7611 Piney Branch Road, Silver Spring, MD 20910.
The D.C. Labor Chorus will open the 2019 Festival by leading a singing procession through the Festival site, the Takoma Park Middle School.
The Chorus will then perform between 11 a.m. and noon, remembering Pete Seeger with labor songs and other old and new songs of peace, justice, freedom, and the environment. Come sing along!

Book talk: Beaten Down, Worked Up: The Past, Present, and Future of American Labor
Mon, September 9, 12:30pm – 2:00pm
Economic Policy Institute 1225 Eye St. NW, Suite 600, Washington, DC xxxxxx 
FREE; Register here
The Economic Policy Institute is excited to welcome New York Times journalist Steven Greenhouse for a talk and discussion about his new book, Beaten Down, Worked Up: The Past, Present, and Future of American Labor.
Greenhouse chronicles the rise of unions in the United States, including all the progress they have managed to secure for workers over American history. He also examines how the decline of unions and worker power more broadly fueled wage stagnation, increased income inequality, and skewed our system so that corporate America has gained far too much sway over our politics and policymaking.
The author explores models for rebuilding worker power, including the #RedforEd teachers strikes, the Fight for $15, and bargaining for the common good.
“In no other industrial nation do employers fight so hard to defeat, indeed quash, labor unions,” Greenhouse writes. He argues that we need a strong workers’ movement “to serve as a countervailing force to corporate power.”
Heidi Shierholz, EPI’s director of policy, will introduce Greenhouse and moderate the discussion that follows, which will include time for questions from the audience.
Light snacks, refreshments, and coffee will be served. Your RSVP will help us prepare.

Baltimore Symphony Musicians present a Free Concert: Celebrate Baltimore, Community and the Power of Music
Sat, September 14, 4pm – 6pm
New Shiloh Baptist Church, 2100 N Monroe St, Baltimore, MD 21217
FREE but RSVP required
Free concert featuring the Baltimore Symphony Musicians in performance led by Marin Alsop and featuring a combined choir from the choral community of Baltimore, including the Carter Legacy Singers. Also featured, as soloists are renowned soprano, Janice Chandler and Tony Award winning baritone, Brian Stokes Mitchell. The event will also feature a video message from Congressman Elijah Cummings.
The event is free of charge to the public, but attendees must reserve and print tickets through Eventbrite.

The Moment Was Now (World Premiere!)

September 13-15 and 20-22

at the Emmanuel Episcopal Church

811 Cathedral St., Baltimore

Buy Tickets Now

Written and conceived by longtime labor organizer Gene Bruskin, The Moment Was Now takes you back to 1869 in post-civil war Baltimore during the period of Reconstruction, a moment when America almost did the right thing. Echoing the current moment, the musical centers around the impassioned search for unity among the dynamic leaders of powerful movements, at a meeting convened by Frederick Douglass. Hope hangs in the balance at this turning point in US history.

Director and Choreographer Darryl! Moch

Musical Director Glenn Pearson, with Chester Burke

Featuring: Julia Nixon, Ariel Jacobson, Lecount Holmes, Jenna Rose Stein, Darryl! Moch

More about the moment at www.themomentwasnow.com or on Facebook. Presented by The Cultural Worker Ensemble.