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Activist Women Will Present a Special Reading
of a Play About the Rev. Addie Wyatt
by Jackie Kirley
 Women Empowered for Civic Engagement (WECE) will have a welcoming event for new members, and the play "Addie Wyatt: Life Can Be Better," which was written by Alma Washington, will be presented in a special reading of the play.
Joyce Chapman, president of WECE, invited WWHP to provide the education/entertainment for the event. WWHP selected a play about the renowned activist, Rev. Addie Wyatt, to be read by women from WECE, women who are themselves active in their communities. WWHP's previous experiences of having some union women read plays about women labor leaders have been successful: the reading engaged the audience and the readers experienced the play's message on a more personal level.
Addie Wyatt, who arrived in Chicago as a six-year-old, worked in the meat packing industry and rose to positions of leadership in her union. She helped found organizations that supported African Americans and women, was central to the civil rights movement here in Chicago, and took her activism into her church. Wyatt's biographer, Marcia Walker-McWilliams, wrote that although Wyatt's voice was "Not always the loudest voice, hers was the most persistent and consistent voice for greater inclusion and representation across the organized labor, civil rights, women's rights, and religious movements of the twentieth century." (Reverend Addie Wyatt: Faith and the Fight for Labor, Gender, and Racial Equality, p. 217).
The reading will be followed by short presentations from a panel of 3 WWHP board members who made the play possible:
- Katie Jordan is one of the founders of the Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW) with Addie Wyatt and others.
- Joan Morris conducted the original 2001 interview with Rev. Addie Wyatt for WWHP which was videotaped by Ken Morris
- Alma Washington wrote the play: "Addie Wyatt: Life Can Be Better," using Wyatt's own words from Joan Morris' interview.
There will be Q&A after their presentations.
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Equal Pay Day Chicago--2019 Rally
Join us! March 28, 2019
Thu 12 PM
· Richard J Daley Center · Chicago, Illinois
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Lynda DeLaforgue's Legacy
By Jess Kozik
Lynda DeLaForgue, activist and co-director of Citizen Action/Illinois, passed away in January due to complications from metastatic colon cancer. DeLaforgue had lived a life filled with fighting for causes like quality health care access, marriage equality, and food safety.
She grew up in Franklin Park and initially it did not seem as if her life would point towards politics. After graduating college, she worked as a costume designer and actress in Rockford, IL. She eventually found herself taking a part-time position fundraising for Illinois Public Action Council, a role that would eventually be the catalyst for a life-long career in politics.
Her role increased and she went on to become the group's Rockford office manager and then statewide canvass manager. Her passion for progressive politics continued to grow and she would go on to be a part of many campaigns for candidates such as Senator Paul Simon,
Mayor Harold Washington, and Senator and then President Barack Obama
, just to name a few.
In 1997, Illinois Public Action shut down, which led DeLaforgue
to move on to become the associate director of Citizen Action/Illinois. Citizen Action/Illinois is a public interest organization focusing on the fight for social and economic justice. After three years working with them, she became the co-director, a role she continued until her death.
Her colleague John Cameron spoke highly of her and credited her as "
the day-to-day driving force behind Citizen Action/Illinois and its work." She was a force to be reckoned with. Cameron went on to say in a tribute to her that "It's not just because she was smart, dedicated and courageous - which she is...but because she had the strength and the grit - she was tough, as we say in Chicago." She was tough, and many Chicagoans, as well as others, owe a lot to her and her hard work. Hopefully, we can find that kind of toughness in ourselves and our move into a more progressive future.
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The program, Mother Jones in Heaven, originally scheduled for March 27th at the Irish American Heritage Center, has been canceled. It will be rescheduled at a later date. The Irish American Heritage Center will issue refunds to those who have purchased tickets.
FYI:
SNCC Chicago will be holding a conference from April 4 - 7 titled "The Global Sixties: Social Movements for Civil Rights, Decolonization, Human Rights." For more info, click on:
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