The Heritage of our Fathers

…The Loudest Voice in the Room!

“Our power comes from the fact that we create wealth. Wealth is power, we have the ability to withhold that power.” Boots Riley- Filmmaker and Activist , Juneteenth 2020 ILWU shutdown Port of Oakland

ILWU Walking Boss George Donald Porter and Family — Circa 1958. Porter lived with his family in the Potrero Hill Housing Projects at the time of this photo. Porter was a Silver Terrace homeowner and shipping clerk for American Presidents Line at age 56 when forced into premature medical retirement due to pulmonary asbestosis. His daughter, Dr. Ahimsa Porter Sumchai, founded the Hunters Point Community Biomonitoring Program.

“An injury to one is an injury to all!” The International Longshore and Warehouse Union shut down twenty nine West Coast seaboard ports for eight hours on Friday, June 19, 2020, in honor of Juneteenth; the date in 1865 when slaves in Texas were belatedly proclaimed free. It was the largest work stoppage the nations most powerful unions has undertaken in a decade.

The ILWU West Coast Port Shutdown affected 10,000 workers in Washington, Oregon and California.

Protestors gathered at the Port of Oakland and marched to City Hall, followed by a mile long car caravan. Speakers, including Angela Davis, emphasized the power of organized labor. Gabriel Prawl, past president ILWU Local 52 described it as “a historic action…the first time organized labor has taken an action to stop work on Juneteenth.”

“There’s a difference between a movement and a moment. A moment means we do something for a day and it’s over. A movement requires sacrifice, and that’s what we’re doing as longshoremen. We’re sacrificing our…