Re:Work by the UCLA Labor Center Re:Work by the UCLA Labor Center

It’s Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, and we’re sharing an episode about gentrification in Little Toyko from State of the Human, a podcast of the Stanford Storytelling Project.

Little Tokyo is a small neighborhood in Downtown Los Angeles. Since 1905, it has been home to generations of Japanese Americans. Today, gentrification is threatening to destroy everything these families have built. This episode tells the story of one community's struggle for survival and the ways in which historical development has both fractured and solidified its people. For some, home is a bed one sleeps in. For us, home is Little Tokyo. This episode was produced by Leah Chase with the Stanford Storytelling Project.

To learn more about the Stanford Storytelling Project, please visit storytelling.stanford.edu.

In partnership with the UCLA Institute for Research on Labor and Employment (IRLE), Re:Work presents “Changing Lives, Changing L.A.,” a play created from transcripts from the UNITE HERE Local 11 Oral History Project and originally performed before a live audience at Loyola Marymount University and UCLA.

Portrayed by professional actors, four members of UNITE HERE Local 11 share their stories of becoming leaders in their union, and fighting for a better life while helping transform Los Angeles.

Special thanks to Emma Worthington, Regla Soto, Soledad Garcia, and Ignacio Ruiz for sharing their stories.

“Changing Lives, Changing L.A.” was conceived by veteran organizer Vivian Rothstein and crafted by playwrights Doris Baizley and Rose Portillo. It was directed by Rose Portillo and Doris Baizley, and produced by Vivian Rothstein.

The oral histories of the women and men of UNITE HERE Local 11 were voiced by actors Joyce Guy, Marco Rodriguez, Rose Portillo, and Sarita Ocón. For access to the UNITE HERE Local 11 oral history interviews, please visit tinyurl.com/unitehereoralhistory.

To watch a video recording of the play, please visit tinyurl.com/changingliveschangingla. The video recording was edited by Robert Hillig.

Re:Work's audio version was produced by Veena Hampapur and Saba Waheed with mixing by Aaron Dalton.

Thank you to the individuals and organizations who made this presentation possible including:

UNITE HERE Local 11
Tobias Higbie, Professor of History and Labor Studies, UCLA
UCLA Department of History and Luskin Center for History and Policy
Research assistants: Danielle Wilson, Michael Dean, Liliana Katz
CASE - Central Arizonans for a Sustainable Economy
John Wilhelm
Interviewers: Danielle Wilson, Antonio Mendoza, Gaspar Rivera Salgado, Vivian Rothstein
Marco Amador

Civil rights icon, Reverend James Lawson Jr., shares his recollections of the 1960s and working closely with Martin Luther King Jr.

Reverend Lawson presents the nonviolent movement in America as the "nuclear engine" of the mid-20th century civil rights movement, and as a strategic series of organizing campaigns for racial and economic justice.

This is the second part of our miniseries on Reverend James Lawson Jr.

Transcript: bit.ly/soulforcepart2

This episode contains material from Rev. Lawson's UCLA Labor Studies course, Nonviolence and Social Movements, which he teaches with UCLA Labor Center Director Kent Wong. To watch the class, visit bit.ly/UCLALawson.

Books by Rev. Lawson:
bit.ly/revolutionarynonviolence
books.labor.ucla.edu/nonviolence

Related Links:
irle.ucla.edu/labor-studies/comm…-social-movements/
newsroom.ucla.edu/stories/ucla-cla…ther-king-legacy
newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/dedicat…ing-james-lawson
newsroom.ucla.edu/stories/james-la…lding-dedication

We’re closing out the year with an episode from our friends at the Pulso Podcast:

Latinos work hard. But is our "work hard" attitude too closely connected to our sense of self-worth? The Pulso Podcast brings you the untold stories & unheard voices that make up our history, our culture, nuestra gente. For Latinos, by Latinos

This episode was produced by Maribel Quezada Smith with editorial oversight by Charlie Garcia. Audio engineering & music by Julian Blackmore.

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This fall, California’s fast food workers won a historic victory when Governor Newsom signed AB 1228, which ensures the creation of a fast-food industry council with the ability to determine wages and industry standards, and which, importantly, includes worker voices. The bill also means that by next spring, the minimum wage for California’s fast-food workers will go up to $20 an hour.

In this episode, Mauricio Juarez shares his journey from working in the silver mines in Taxco, Mexico to working in fast-food in San Diego in his sixties, and becoming a part of the Fight for $15.

To learn more about the fast-food industry, please check out our recent reports:

(2022)"Fast-Food Frontline: COVID-19 and Working Conditions in Los Angeles" - bit.ly/fast-food-frontline

(2021) "The Fast-Food Industry and COVID-19 in Los Angeles" - bit.ly/fastfoodcovid19

These reports were a collaboration between the UCLA Labor Center, UC Berkeley Labor Center, UCLA Labor Occupational Health and Safety Program, and UC Berkeley Labor Occupational Health Program.

To learn more about the Fight for $15, visit fightfor15.org.

Find Re:Work on social media at:
instagram.com/rework_radio/
twitter.com/rework_radio
www.facebook.com/reworkradio

We've partnered with Feet in 2 Worlds: A Better Life? and are excited to share an episode from their show!

A Better Life? Producer Oscar Durand tells the story of Cesar, a delivery worker from Mexico who found a cause and a community while organizing his fellow delivery workers in New York. We also speak with Hildalyn Colón Hernández from Los Deliveristas Unidos, a group that advocates for delivery workers in New York City.