BLACK HISTORY MONTH -Guest Blog By Living Witness Leonard Ginsberg On MLK Jr, and The Civil Rights Revolution

  This Blogger has been  friends with Lenny since they both attended P.S. 167 and Wingate High School in Brooklyn. He has contributed mightily to the Republic, fortifying one of the the key sinews of the Republic, honest and honorable American Unionism. 

The following is written by Mr. Ginsberg, a Living Witness to the importance of  The 1199, the Civil Rights Revolution and the Anti-War Movement.

"My father was active in the American Labor movement dating back to 1916.He became a Business Agent for the Amalgamated Clothing Workers Union in 1923 and later on became President of the Amalgamated Retirees .

My father helped me get the job with 1199 . Leon Davis was familiar with my father and his friend Sidney Hillman.Nearly everyone I met at 1199 was active politically from Davis himself to Moe Foner to Marshall Dubin and others 

In 1955 my best friend who was 10 1/2 years old was murdered by 3 twelve year old boys.The reason they attacked him was because of the color of his skin . I was 12 at the time and my life afterward was never the same .

In 1961 I joined the NAACP chapter at the college I was attending .While a student I became friends with another student member of the organization and one day she asked me to go with her to meet her cousin .He was Stokely Carmichael .He told us that if we wanted to fight racism in America the organization for us was CORE .We joined and became active in the civil rights movement . During my time in CORE I met Dr.Martin Luther King Jr and other prominent leaders .

In 1961 as I previously indicated I was a college member of the NAACP .I became friends with a fellow student who as it turned out was a cousin of Stokely Carmichael .He was quite militant even then .He said to us but primarily to me that CORE was the place to make a difference .It was as a member of CORE that I had the honor to meet Dr. King and other civil rights activists .Dr. King was an inspiration to all of us .

In 1969 I became to work for the 1199 Health and Hospital Workers in NYC .Leon Davis was the union President and I worked directly with him and Moe Foner . While employed there I met 2 young people who came to visit family members also working there .The 2 people were H.Rap Brown and Angela Davis .

One day when I was working at 1199 one of my co-workers told me that her nephew was meeting her for lunch .She asked if I would join them .

The nephew was H.Rap Brown . He seemed almost shy in demeanor ,perhaps because he had no idea of why I was asked to join them .

My memories of meeting Angela Davis were that she was a very intelligent person .I know that we had an interesting conversation but nothing that I can recall ,unfortunately.

Many of the people I met from 1961 to 1968 later became active in the Anti -War movement. Most people associate the movement as the members of the Chicago 7(8 with Bobby Seale) but there were thousands of us who were not in the spotlight .

While I continued to remain active in the Civil Rights movement I also found myself being active in the Anti-War movement and met people such as William Kunstler and Abbie Hoffman .I was a behind the scenes person and therefore my name will not appear in history books .

I was at a demonstration in NYC in which many of NYC police officers got out of a bus and began to club the protesters without warning . William Kunstler and his staff were there to represent everyone .

Abbie Hoffman was a man who inspired a lot of people ,Most associate him with the anti-war movement but he was very active in the Civil rights struggle .

Abbie was one of the few people who never "sold out" .  

Dr. Martin Luther King Speaking to the 1199

Angela Davis

H. Rap Brown

Leon Davis

"Leon Davis, founder and long-time president of Local 1199, was born in Russia on  in 1906. Under his leadership for half a century, the union grew from a small confederation of drug store workers to more than 150,000 members in twenty states .... Davis led some bitter strikes to gain union recognition for them, and 1199 became America’s most progressive union. It was among the first to establish basic education and training programs for its members and to provide health care, housing assistance, and more. It vociferously opposed American involvement in the Vietnam War, campaigned against the nuclear arms race, developed links between workers and the arts, and organized its members to join the civil rights movement; Dr. Martin Luther King called 1199 his favorite union. For many years, Davis also held union executive compensation, including his own, down to a modest ratio with the lowest-paid union members; he was earning only $40,000 a year when he retired in 1982. West 43rd Street off Eighth Avenue is named in his honor"