DiscoverLabor History TodayHow We Get Free: Worker Solidarity in Racine
How We Get Free: Worker Solidarity in Racine

How We Get Free: Worker Solidarity in Racine

Update: 2025-08-17
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On this week’s Labor History Today, scholar and creator Shana L. Redmond sits down with Naomi R Williams, Assistant Professor of Labor Studies and Employment Relations at Rutgers University, to discuss Williams' new book A Blueprint for Worker Solidarity: Class Politics and Community in Wisconsin.


Williams takes us into the history of Racine, Wisconsin — a small industrial city where, in the 1970s and 80s, workers built cross-racial, cross-sector alliances that transformed their community. From “total person unionism” to coalitions linking labor, civil rights, and women’s movements, Racine’s story offers a powerful blueprint for building democracy and justice today. NOTE: This conversation is excerpted from a longer version on the Labor Heritage Power Hour, available on all podcast platforms.


This episode also features John Lewis Says Freedom, a brand-new song from musical storyteller and political satirist Charlie King.



And, on Labor History in Two: A Little Security for Workers.


Questions, comments, or suggestions are welcome, and to find out how you can be a part of Labor History Today, email us at LaborHistoryToday@gmail.com


Labor History Today is produced by the Labor Heritage Foundation and the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor.


#LaborRadioPod #History #WorkingClass #ClassStruggle @GeorgetownKILWP #LaborHistory @UMDMLA @ILLaborHistory @AFLCIO @StrikeHistory #LaborHistory @wrkclasshistory  

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How We Get Free: Worker Solidarity in Racine

How We Get Free: Worker Solidarity in Racine

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