March 5, 2006 at 13:10:39

Matewan Revisited

SAVE AS FAVORITE

VIEW FAVORITES

By Charles Sullivan (about the author) Page 2 of 2 page(s)

opednews.com Permalink

American history, as dismal as it often appears, is also the history of class struggle against oppression. Therein lies its greatest valueits eternal hope. It is the long continued fight that has always kept America from being what it could becomea bastion of democracy and hope, bristling with peace. This is because a privileged few do not want to share the wealth of this nation with those who create it. They intend to keep it for themselves, as their predecessors did. So we must keep alive the idea of One Big Union. It represents our best hope for halting the exportation of jobs that pits worker against worker across political boundaries. To accomplish this Herculean task requires that we have the courage and the wisdom to bring back the revolutionary unionism championed by people like Eugene Debs, Mother Jones, Emma Goldman and Big Bill Haywood. Sid Hatfield and mayor Testerman have already shown us the way. Do we have the fortitude and the courage to follow their example?

Note: the author gratefully acknowledges and thanks long time union organizer Anthony Debella for providing the inspirational impetus behind this piece.

1 | 2

Charles Sullivan is a photographer, social activist and free lance writer residing in the hinterland of West Virgina.

The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author
and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.

Contact Author

Contact Editor

View Authors' Articles

Book Recommendations for "Enemies Of Democracy"

Demagogue: The Fight to Save Democracy from Its Worst Enemies
by Michael Signer

$26.95
Lowest New Price $6.95
Number of pages: 272
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Real Enemies: Conspiracy Theories and American Democracy, World War I to 9/11
by Kathryn S. Olmsted

$29.95
Lowest New Price $16.00
Number of pages: 336
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA