THIS IS THE COOLEST THING THAT HAS EVER HAPPENED TO ME!

I was stunned when I read it. It is a beautiful and flattering portrait for sure.

A few of my friends saw it and quickly posted it to my Facebook. I “liked” their notices and then it hit me, “Will I seem vain if I draw attention to it? Is so, should I mention it?”  It seemed kind of weird.

After thinking about it for the month I concluded that, yes, I will seem proud to repost this article and HELL YEAH I SHOULD re-post it!

How can I not? This is the highest and kindest recognition of my work that I have ever received!

Ronnie’s portrait is wonderfully thorough, covering, the event during my mining days that turned me into an organizer, several victories I’ve been fortunate enough have been a part of and even my new job with Philadelphian’s Organized to Witness, Empower and Rebuild (POWER).  Mrs. Polaneczky frames my work by the locations of my various campaigns of the the years.

“…Rodriguez and I could’ve flown to Juneau, Ala., and chatted near the silver mine where he once toiled alongside his father. They pushed their employer to honor the law allowing miners the right to wash their hands before lunch and to eat their meal in a clean place. Father and son got fired for their trouble, but three years later the rights they’d demanded were finally enforced…We could’ve met on the campus of Temple, Penn or Drexel, or on the steps of the Philly Art Museum…at each institution Rodriguez organized protests by security guards … which resulted in the creation of the Philadelphia Security Officers Union…”

It is fantastic. I am extremely honored.

A friend of mine helped my finally understand what a big deal this was when he told me, “Your children will read this some day.”

Wow!

Basking in this spotlight for a couple of weeks really made me feel good. It made me think that the labor and social justice movement doesn’t do enough to appreciate each other and the work that we do together! We would all do well to be celebrated more often.Bread and Roses Community Fund is one of the few organizations that celebrates organizers at their annual Tribute To Change event.  This year it will be on June 24.  Be sure to by tickets and celebrate our local heroes.  Here is a link where you can learn more- http://breadrosesfund.org/tribute-to-change/

Then, as I was pondering how happy I felt being appreciated, I saw a wonderful video by Soul Pancake. The video does a small test based on a scientific study that found that we are most happy when we tell those that we love and admire how much they mean to us. WATCH IT AND SPREAD THE LOVE

Thank you, Ronnie. Thank you for this wonderful article. Thank you for reminding me how important it is to make those around us happy, just as you have done for me.