The strike in Lawrence Massachusetts, called Bread and Roses Strike,
took place in 1912. Immigrant women went on strike in a textile mill.
And they won. Most people think
Helen Todd a suffragette said the words first and James Oppenheim
Wobbly poet wrote them down. Many have sung the song
on picket lines, in union halls, just sitting in their living room on the couch.
I am not a political poet. I write about Every Day.
Some are bigger than others, e.g. the day I met Moe Foner, union leader, union
hero, through Reverend Paul Sherry, moral compass. I did not grow up
with union leaders or ministers either. Small town Jewish girl
with a rabbi and a synagogue and people I liked next door.
Moe was skinny and funny and relentless, perfecting the method
of hocking. A master. Even Reverend Paul Sherry, a man who knew Reinhold
Neibhur, was hocked into publishing a book about the Lawrence Strike. Ralph
Fassanella paintings on the cover. I was the editor and became one of Moe’s
hockees. He taught me to be a better person and a pretty good hocker.
And to fight whenever I can for roses alongside bread.