by Veena Hampapur | Mar 12, 2024 | Episodes
In partnership with the UCLA Institute for Research on Labor and Employment (IRLE), Re:Work presents “Changing Lives, Changing L.A.,” a play created from transcripts from the UNITE HERE Local 11 Oral History Project and originally performed before a live audience at Loyola Marymount University and UCLA.
Portrayed by professional actors, four members of UNITE HERE Local 11 share their stories of becoming leaders in their union, and fighting for a better life while helping transform Los Angeles.
by Veena Hampapur | Feb 15, 2023 | Episodes
“The Tractor Princess” draws on excerpts from an oral history interview with Antoinette Yvonne DeOcampo-Lechtenberg, which is a part of a community archive and research initiative called Watsonville is in the Heart. Watsonville is in the Heart highlights the stories...
by Veena Hampapur | Aug 15, 2022 | Episodes
There’s a tendency to associate fast-food with American nostalgia, which can shield issues in the franchise structure ranging from wage theft to violence and safety concerns. Most recently, fast-food workers have been at higher risk of contracting COVID-19 in their...
by Veena Hampapur | May 5, 2022 | Episodes
Civil rights icon, Reverend James Lawson Jr., shares his recollections of the 1960s and working closely with Martin Luther King Jr. Reverend Lawson presents the nonviolent movement in America as the “nuclear engine” of the mid-20th century civil rights movement, and as a strategic series of organizing campaigns for racial and economic justice. This is the second part of our two-part series on Reverend James Lawson Jr.
by Veena Hampapur | Feb 1, 2022 | Episodes
On Dec. 11, 2021, the UCLA Labor Center’s historic MacArthur Park building was officially named the UCLA James Lawson Jr. Worker Justice Center, in honor of a civil and worker rights icon who has been teaching at UCLA for the last 2 decades. In this episode of Re:Work, 93-year-old Rev. Lawson shares stories from his youth, and how he came to discover soul force and the path of nonviolence.
by Veena Hampapur | Oct 11, 2021 | Episodes
In 2020, India suddenly went into a national lockdown without advance planning or adequate government support, which led to a humanitarian crisis in addition to the COVID-19 public health emergency. Millions of jobs disappeared and hunger was a serious issue. Tens of millions of migrant workers struggled to get home — often on foot — and many died attempting the journey. In this episode, we bring you the story of Gulzar, a migrant worker who left his village as a child and traveled across the country, to earn money to support his family.
