Important material out of the shadows to which so much labor history is exiled.
Top-drawer narrative histories of two important strikes, and a more amorphous consideration of musicians’ rights to their work, from three progressive historians.
Zinn (The Future of History, 1999, etc.) tackles the Colorado coal strike of 1913–14, during which 11 children and 2 women were found burned to death under tents set ablaze by National Guardsmen in a notorious incident known as the Ludlow Massacre. Zinn is a fine storyteller, keeping the tone low but passionate as he makes plain as day the many evils of John D. Rockefeller Jr.’s coal operation, a veritable fiefdom unto itself, keeping workers in its harness from cradle to grave. He also does a good job highlighting how the New York Times acted in collusion with the coal operators as part of a larger cultural air-brushing of dramatic and violent labor events into oblivion. Frank (American Studies/UC Santa Cruz; Buy American, 1999) displays a jazzier style as he recreates the Woolworth’s sit-down strike of 1937 in Detroit. (“Woolworth’s was a palace built for working-class people. The big fluted columns were made of concrete, not marble, then painted shiny bright colors.”) He too stands foursquare behind the strikers: young white women, poorly paid in dead-end jobs, caught in the revolving door of unskilled work. The radical Waiters’ and Waitresses’ Union of Detroit capitalized on the canny tactic of the sit-down strike, which kept owners from locking out workers and hiring scabs, and the women managed to subvert journalists’ preoccupation with their sex. Kelley (History/NYU; Race Rebels, 1994) tries to get a sense of musicians’ rights through the unsuccessful American Federation of Musicians strike against theater owners in 1936. The topic is unwieldy, as can be seen when looking at today’s controversies Napster and MP3, and Kelley’s broader question—voiced, not answered—is “what happens when working-class consumption of popular culture overrides the interests or concerns of popular culture workers?”
Important material out of the shadows to which so much labor history is exiled.Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2001
ISBN: 0-8070-5012-1
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Beacon Press
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2001
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Two veteran Washington journalists offer a vigorous and resonant portrait of the 30-year decline and polarization of our capital. Jaffe (of Washingtonian magazine) and Sherwood (of WRC-TV, formerly of the Washington Post) tell their story in episodic sketches, covering the city's historic caste system among blacks, the rise of community organizer (and, later, mayor) Marion Barry during the War on Poverty, and the shift of power to blacks after the traumatic 1968 riots. The authors criticize the long-standing federal stranglehold on the district, as well as the Post's ignorance of black Washington, but their major culprit is ``Boss Barry,'' who emerged in his second mayoral term (1982-6) as a betrayer of the biracial coalition that first elected him. Barry's failures were legion: political spoils for a narrow group of adventurers such as profiteer-from-the-homeless Cornelius Pitts; a top aide turned embezzler; a police department in disarray; a downtown that boomed as other neighborhoods crumbled. His defiance of the black bourgeoisie and the white power structure preserved his popularity among blacks, and when he was arrested on drug charges in 1990—an episode recounted in telling detail—his lawyer successfully argued that the government was out to get him. After serving a six-month jail term for one misdemeanor, Barry began a comeback as council member from the city's poorest ward. The authors criticize the current mayor, reformer Sharon Pratt Kelly, as out of touch, and warn that federal receivership for Washington is as likely as full home rule and statehood. Reliance on dialogue-rich scenes sometimes sacrifices depth for drama, but this is a memorable and disturbing reminder of much unfinished urban business.
Pub Date: May 1, 1994
ISBN: 0-671-76846-8
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1994
paper 0-8225-9680-6 A biography that highlights Ventura’s controversial gubernatorial campaign; unfortunately, the book spends too much time fawning over Jesse “the Body” and too little time analyzing what’s coming out of “the Mouth” for young readers to truly understand the man. Greenberg (The Haitian Family, 1998, etc.), who assisted Ventura with his column for World Wrestling Federation Magazine, chronicles his subject’s life from his working-class background in Minneapolis, through his career as a Navy SEAL, his wrestling stardom, and his political aspirations. The book fails to offer any opposing views of Ventura’s celebrity or policies, painting Ventura as an environmentalist for supporting Minnesota wetlands as mayor but omitting any mention of how he has weakened environmental prohibitions of jet skis (of which Ventura owns four). The book ends with Ventura’s election, so no mention is made of his comments on the Littleton, Colorado, shootings, nor—of course—of his recent remarks concerning organized religion, depression, etc. Researchers will be better served by current magazine and newspaper articles about the governor than by this unfettered bit of boosterism. (photos, source, bibliography, index) (Biography. 12-14)
Pub Date: Dec. 28, 1999
ISBN: 0-8225-4977-8
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Lerner
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 1999
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