Sister Tina Turner-Morfitt, President of the Oregon Chapter of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists and a rank-and-file Oregon AFL-CIO leader and an active Oregon AFSCME retiree and a delegate to our Labor Chapter, sent the following post in. It captures vital moments in labor history and that point of confluence where the Civil Rights Movement and the Labor Movement flow together and become a might river.
The evening of December 10, 2023, was coined: ‘Make a Joyful Noise’. Hundreds of union and civil rights activists filled the ballroom of the Kimpton Holtel Monaco to pay homage to Brother William Bill Lucy on this celebration of his 90th birthday. Some the accolades used that evening described Brother Lucy, as: “the gold standard”, “a courageous visionary”, “a charismatic changer maker” and “the North Star of the labor movement.”
Reverend Terrence Melvin, the current International President of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, reflected that we were all witnessing a tribute to a rare human being, celebrating a rare milestone. The night was truly indeed magical.
A host of presenters who gave tribute to Brother Lucy’s global legacy include:
Brother Fred Redmond, Secretary Treasurer AFL-CIO
Brother Lee Saunders, International President of AFSCME
Representative Maxine Waters (D-CA), United Stated House of Representatives
Marcia L Fudge, U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
Sister Clayola Brown, CBTU First Vice-President and Senior Advisor for Strategic Partnerships
and Racial Justice, AFL-CIO, A Philip Randolph Institute
transitioning in subsequent years to become “a hero for members from every generation”. Later in 1972
he was elected as the first Black secretary-treasurer of AFSCME, one of the highest-ranking Black union leaders in organized labor at that time. To his acumen he didn’t stop there, he along with 4 other Black union leaders set a steady course of ensuring that Black workers and other underrepresented groups would become “full partners” in the labor movement’s leadership and contributing a campaign to broaden their mission statement to be more reflective of direction.
I was blessed to have witnessed this memorable evening and given the opportunity to present him with a signed framed copy of a resolution entitled ‘Legacy to William Lucy’ unanimously passed by the
Delegation of the Oregon AFSCME 2023 Biennial Convention on April 29th, 2023. Here it is, 55 years later, in his retirement, he continues to voice that, “Those that make history seldom see the footprints that they leave because the path is always before them.”
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