I awoke this morning thinking of my Ancestors who walked this earth before me, those I knew and others that I didn’t. I am so grateful for all their sacrifices, and all the love that was poured into me. I walk proudly knowing that their blood flows through my veins, and will spend the rest of my life bringing honor to them ❤️
Brilliantly written, your words pay homage to a generation that knew sacrifices all too well. They honored hard work, endurance and a belief in a better tomorrow for their children even as that future was cloudy. You and I are only a few years apart in age and I hail from Raleigh but there is no distance between us when it comes to saluting that generation, my own parents, Carl and Patricia Seawell who endured so much, poverty, inferior educational opportunities and denial from a system damn determined to force us back to a past that should be…past. But we still bear witness and will do what our ancestors did. How can we not? And when your mother and father can endure no more, having fully spent the coin of their time on earth, when they cross the River Jordan they will go with the love of..a native son.
Thank you for sharing this wonderful tribute to your parents and family, Eddie. Many of us, myself included, were raised in similar families with hardworking parents, and truly appreciate your sentiments. I pray your Mom is doing well.
It is the most honored and sacred gift from a child to its parent, for that child to not only receive the lessons and direction from their parents, but to accept it and understand its sacrifice and its value. You are a precious gift to them, young man, as they are to you. Thank you for sharing.
Such a wonderful tribute to your parents, Eddie. My daddy came home from WWII and became an apprentice carpenter. I have his Carpenters' Local union pin and membership certificate and a picture of the men he joined with in that union. Earning scant dollars by the hour most of his adult life to support a wife and 4 daughters, sacrificing to work overtime when there was a special need of one of us...and many times in that same vicious Mississippi heat and humidity! How much I owe to that work and brotherhood ethic! Thanks for the reminder. XO Jeanne Forrester
As always, Professor, your writings hit home. As a child of a single mother with only a high school education I grew up working class and poor. My ultimate advantage was that it had me going to integrated schools in the 50s and 60s and learning first hand that my student friends, of all kinds, were regular humans like me, despite different cultures and food and sometimes language.
Thanks for this, which in some wise helped me to recognize that the story of labor is my story too, even though I retired a professional, like you, with more than eight years of undergraduate and graduate studies under my belt. Paid for by Yours Truly, via loans, scholarships and work study, because all the college dollars in my parents' bank account went to my brother, tragically, as he ended up disabled in Viet Nam and never able to use those college degrees he earned. Me? I worked as many as five jobs at a time for years after graduation so as to pay off my college loans. One compensation is that I will never, ever, have to live in Arkansas like my parents did. Brrr, and OMG. But my first 'real job' was as a teacher, in Virginia, where labor unions were against the law. I earned less than a living wage, even as some of us ate saltines and ketchup filched from the school cafeteria as soup for our supper. When we brought this grievance to our county school board some one of its members suggested we get married and consider our wages as 'pin money.' We pin-monied them by initiating a work to the rule protest, refusing to work unpaid hours after school, spend any of our money on supplies the school wouldn't buy, or correct homework at home. They got the point, more or less, but this is a fight that still goes on among those who choose to educate the young, almost everywhere. I left the profession and went into clinical social work, another such profession without much union support. If I could say one and only one thing to America today, I'd say join a union, and if you don't have one, form one. Only as a whole people together, black and white, male and female, rural and urban, old and young, will we advance.
Well said. I will add that the only way we as humans can really come together is to have an Enlightenment 2.0 and move toward decisions made on the basis of critical thinking, evidence, logic and rational thought. We must get past mythical beliefs and wishful thinking based on books written by MEN who knew less about the real world than my grandchildren, so much of those ancient writings have been destroyed by science as we continue to learn by being willing to say “I don’t know” until we have evidence to answer the unknown. Making up answers and stop searching only supports ignorance and if early people had not asked questions, despite religious prohibitions, (Galileo etc), we might still be living in the Dark Ages!
Thank you for this beautiful Labor Day message. Your Labor Day message resonates deeply with me and brings back many memories of my youth, as well as those of my six siblings. As a child of working-class parents who often worked two jobs to send their seven kids to college, your Labor Day tribute rings true to me.
I awoke this morning thinking of my Ancestors who walked this earth before me, those I knew and others that I didn’t. I am so grateful for all their sacrifices, and all the love that was poured into me. I walk proudly knowing that their blood flows through my veins, and will spend the rest of my life bringing honor to them ❤️
This is a beautiful love letter. I’m going to spend time today thinking about what my parent’s labor allowed me to inherit as well as avoid.
Thank you for posting this! Paul Robeson’s magnificent voice has the weight to carry Joe Hill’s message
Brilliantly written, your words pay homage to a generation that knew sacrifices all too well. They honored hard work, endurance and a belief in a better tomorrow for their children even as that future was cloudy. You and I are only a few years apart in age and I hail from Raleigh but there is no distance between us when it comes to saluting that generation, my own parents, Carl and Patricia Seawell who endured so much, poverty, inferior educational opportunities and denial from a system damn determined to force us back to a past that should be…past. But we still bear witness and will do what our ancestors did. How can we not? And when your mother and father can endure no more, having fully spent the coin of their time on earth, when they cross the River Jordan they will go with the love of..a native son.
A beautiful tribute to your family and the real meaning of Labor Day.
Thank you for your faithfulness and powerful messages!
Such a good read! Thank you for sharing your story!
Dr. Eddie,
Thank you for always reminding us about the importance of this special celebration. Happy Labor Day!
“ All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.” Martin Luther King, Jr.
Thank you Dr. Eddie. Please consider writing a memoir.
Thank you for sharing this wonderful tribute to your parents and family, Eddie. Many of us, myself included, were raised in similar families with hardworking parents, and truly appreciate your sentiments. I pray your Mom is doing well.
Thank you Professor Eddie, you always give voice to words that are hidden deep in the heart. I am grateful on this Labor Day.
It is the most honored and sacred gift from a child to its parent, for that child to not only receive the lessons and direction from their parents, but to accept it and understand its sacrifice and its value. You are a precious gift to them, young man, as they are to you. Thank you for sharing.
Such a wonderful tribute to your parents, Eddie. My daddy came home from WWII and became an apprentice carpenter. I have his Carpenters' Local union pin and membership certificate and a picture of the men he joined with in that union. Earning scant dollars by the hour most of his adult life to support a wife and 4 daughters, sacrificing to work overtime when there was a special need of one of us...and many times in that same vicious Mississippi heat and humidity! How much I owe to that work and brotherhood ethic! Thanks for the reminder. XO Jeanne Forrester
As always, Professor, your writings hit home. As a child of a single mother with only a high school education I grew up working class and poor. My ultimate advantage was that it had me going to integrated schools in the 50s and 60s and learning first hand that my student friends, of all kinds, were regular humans like me, despite different cultures and food and sometimes language.
Thanks for this, which in some wise helped me to recognize that the story of labor is my story too, even though I retired a professional, like you, with more than eight years of undergraduate and graduate studies under my belt. Paid for by Yours Truly, via loans, scholarships and work study, because all the college dollars in my parents' bank account went to my brother, tragically, as he ended up disabled in Viet Nam and never able to use those college degrees he earned. Me? I worked as many as five jobs at a time for years after graduation so as to pay off my college loans. One compensation is that I will never, ever, have to live in Arkansas like my parents did. Brrr, and OMG. But my first 'real job' was as a teacher, in Virginia, where labor unions were against the law. I earned less than a living wage, even as some of us ate saltines and ketchup filched from the school cafeteria as soup for our supper. When we brought this grievance to our county school board some one of its members suggested we get married and consider our wages as 'pin money.' We pin-monied them by initiating a work to the rule protest, refusing to work unpaid hours after school, spend any of our money on supplies the school wouldn't buy, or correct homework at home. They got the point, more or less, but this is a fight that still goes on among those who choose to educate the young, almost everywhere. I left the profession and went into clinical social work, another such profession without much union support. If I could say one and only one thing to America today, I'd say join a union, and if you don't have one, form one. Only as a whole people together, black and white, male and female, rural and urban, old and young, will we advance.
Well said. I will add that the only way we as humans can really come together is to have an Enlightenment 2.0 and move toward decisions made on the basis of critical thinking, evidence, logic and rational thought. We must get past mythical beliefs and wishful thinking based on books written by MEN who knew less about the real world than my grandchildren, so much of those ancient writings have been destroyed by science as we continue to learn by being willing to say “I don’t know” until we have evidence to answer the unknown. Making up answers and stop searching only supports ignorance and if early people had not asked questions, despite religious prohibitions, (Galileo etc), we might still be living in the Dark Ages!
Thank you for this beautiful Labor Day message. Your Labor Day message resonates deeply with me and brings back many memories of my youth, as well as those of my six siblings. As a child of working-class parents who often worked two jobs to send their seven kids to college, your Labor Day tribute rings true to me.