Letters and Politics

A Church Occupation by the English Collective of Prostitutes & A History of Railroad Labor Disputes and Government Intervention

Part I. Reflecting on the significance of the occupation of the Church of the Holy Cross (1982) in London to protest “police illegality and racism” against sex workers.

Guest: Selma James is founder of the International Wages for Housework Campaign and author of Hookers in the House of the Lord and The Power of Women and the Subversion of the Community, and Sex, Race, and Class.  Selma James was the first spokesperson for the English Collective of Prostitutes.

Part II. A History of Railroad Labor Disputes and Government Intervention

Guest: Joseph A McCartin is a Professor of History at Georgetown University and the Executive Director of the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor.  His books include Labor’s Great War: The Struggle for Industrial Democracy and The Origins of Modern American Labor Relations 1912-1921, and Collision Course: Ronald Reagan, the Air Traffic Controllers, and the Strike that Changed America, the book won the 2012 Richard A. Lester Prize for the Outstanding Book in Industrial Relations and Labor Economics. Professor McCartin is one of the historians who have signed a Letter to President Biden in Support of the Railway Workers.

 

Feature image: ECP Church Occupation 1982 – Copyright Crossroads AV Collective.

Playlist

Artist Song Album Label
Elijah RobertRedemption's Last ChanceThe Past of BurdensExc3ssive R3cords
Herbie HancockFat Mama (Remastered Album Version)Mwandishi: The Complete Warner Bros. RecordingsRhino/Warner Bros.