South Central Michigan Greens
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Calhoun, Hillsdale, and Jackson Counties Local
People and planet over profit.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 20, 2021
For more information:
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Monika Dittmann Schwab, Local Contact/SCMiGreens
John Anthony La Pietra, Co-Founder/SCMiGreens
South Central Michigan Greens Send Out a "Mayday for Workers";
Invite All to Join Labor History Walk Starting 10am Saturday 5/1
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Route Touches Post Office, Library, Farmers' Market, and Peace Park
The South Central Michigan Greens local is sending out a "Mayday for
Workers" by sponsoring a Labor History Walk starting across from the VFW
Hall on East Michigan Avenue at 10am on Saturday, May 1.
Local co-founder John Anthony La Pietra of Marshall will lead the walk
between two American Labor Landmarks. The route also links several
other sites of special significance in this time of trials for working
people.
The walk starts at the site of the founding of the Brotherhood of
Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, one of the first labor unions in the
US, in 1863. Nearby stands a monument to the 1847 Crosswhite Incident
-- in which townspeople protected an escaped slave and his family from
agents of his former owners.
Walkers will proceed to and through downtown, cleaning up as they go.
The route first passes the city's historic 1932 Greek Revival sandstone
Post Office, which also features the nation's second-largest postal museum.
Next, walkers will see the season's first outdoor Marshall Area Farmers'
Market, across from the Marshall District Library, and the Marshall
Peace Park The walk ends at the place where union founder J. C.
"Yankee" Thompson's home now stands, at 633 West Hanover Street.
Weather and other circumstances permitting, local Greens hope to have a
lunch or coffee meeting afterward, somewhere on the way back toward the
VFW Hall. The location will be decided by all participants.
Participants should bring masks to wear in public places. If enough
people attend, the walk may proceed on both sides of the street or
spaced out in shifts, as necessary.
A rough map of the route is available at:
The walk is posted as a Facebook event, at:
"Michigan has a total of fifteen entries in the Inventory of American
Labor Landmarks, and two of them are right here in Marshall," notes La
Pietra, who has been making the walk for almost 20 years and gave this
edition its theme: "Mayday for Workers".
"Attention must always be paid to the everyday workers who are essential
to all of us. But it is especially important to recognize them now,
when they face such problems and pressures -- and when the respect and
honors paid to them are slipping back into lip service.
"It is now up to us to walk this walk, and talk together about how to
support each other and our communities, our lives and our livelihoods --
to win back political power for the People."
The South Central Michigan Greens local serves Calhoun, Hillsdale, and
Jackson Counties. Anyone in the area who is interested in discussing
the Green Party's values, platform, and candidates is welcome to take
part. For more details and news about the SCMiG local, please visit its
Facebook page:
For more information about the Green Party of Michigan, its candidates,
its platform, and its values, please visit:
* * * * * * *
WHO:
The public at large; sponsored by South Central Michigan Greens local.
WHAT:
Labor History Walk.
WHEN:
Starting at 10am on Saturday, May 1.
WHERE:
Starting at the intersection of Michigan Avenue, East Drive, and East
Mansion Street in Marshall -- across from the VFW Hall; through downtown
and to the current site of the J. C. "Yankee" Thompson House, 633 West
Hanover Street. (Weather and other circumstances permitting, there will
be a lunch or coffee meeting afterward -- on the way back to the
starting point. The location will be decided by all participants.)
WHY:
To celebrate Marshall's historic connections to labor, Labor Day, and
working people locally and worldwide; consider the dire problems faced
by working people today, and what we can do about them; and help clean
up the town.
# # #
The Four Pillars of GPMI:
Grassroots Democracy
Social Justice
Ecological Wisdom
Non-Violence
For our Ten Key Values, add:
Community-Based Economics
Decentralization
Feminism
Future Focus/Sustainability
Personal and Global Responsibility
Respect for Diversity
