A SONG FOR LABOR
Union members have formed a choir, will sing at rally after Women’s March
When the Hartford Women’s March ends Saturday at the Capitol building around 1 p.m., a rally will focus on the “unity principles” that are the basis of the movement: freedom from violence, environmentalism, reproductive freedom, civil rights, and the rights of workers, immigrants, the disabled and the gender nonconforming.
Groups representing these principles will take turns addressing the crowd. The people representing workers’ rights aren’t going to speak their concerns — they’re going to sing them:
“Costs of housing and food are rising faster than our pay.
We’re the workers America relies on each and every day.
We work to keep this country running, then get left out in the cold,
Making more than 900 times less than some of our CEOs.”
The song, “Treat Us Like Family,” was written by Sheena Graham, of West Haven, a music teacher at Harding High in Bridgeport who is the 2019 Connecticut teacher of the year. She is a member of the Connecticut Education Association.
Members of several state unions — such as the CEA, the AFL-CIO, the SEIU, the Western Connecticut Area Labor Federation and the American Federation of Teachers — have formed a choir, hoping to send people home humming their song and internalizing their beliefs:
“Treat us equally by raising minimum wage.
To meet our basic needs, family leave must be paid.
We’re dealing with challenges, just trying to make ends meet.
You can make a difference and help reduce poverty.”
“Singing really gets the point across. It’s a great way to reach people,” Graham said. “It’s the opportunity to say exactly what needs to be said in an art form rather than just repeating something that already exists and has been used to serve other causes.”
Graham specializes in message songs and in the past has written songs about bullying, police violence, child abuse, breast cancer and other issues.
“If I see something that concerns me, the only way I can deal with it is to sing about it,” Graham said.
Graham presided over a choir practice recently at the American Federation of Teachers Connecticut offices in Rocky Hill. About 20 people attended, all but one of them women.
“I like to sing and I want to be in solid with my sisters,” said the only man, Win Heimer, of West Hartford, who wore a pink knitted “pussy hat.”
As Graham played an electric keyboard, the choir ran through the song. Many members made suggestions about lyric changes and phrasing.
“I like that. It’s a community project,” Graham said.
Graham was assisted by Gwenath Doug-
las, of Windsor, a member of Local 2221 of the Hartford Federation of Paraeducators. Douglas, a gospel and jazz singer, was a live wire, suggesting ways to punch up the transition from the chorus to the bridge and how to enhance the communal rapport of the choir.
“You looked at each other and your eyes twinkled. That is profound,” Douglas said. “That spirit of love sparkles out of your belly.”
Graham said a spirit of community is important and is the reason she emphasized family in the lyrics.
“In any business you do, until you get a communitylike spirit, you don’t get that level of success you’re capable of,” she said. “When people are part of a family, anything is possible.”
Family is the reason Valerie Ingram, of New Britain, joined the choir. She is not in a union, but her parents were both members of the United Auto Workers when they were employed at Fafnir Bearing.
“I was on a picket line when I was a little kid. I have memories of them fighting for better wages and better insurance,” Ingram said. “My mom recently passed but I believe her spirit is here.”
THE HARTFORD WOMEN’S MARCH steps off at noon at the Corning Fountain in Bushnell Park and ends at 1 p.m. on the north steps of the Capitol building at 210 Capitol Ave. It is one of scores of “sister marches” being held worldwide Jan. 19 to support the central Women’s March in Washington, D.C.