Les was in Wilmington NC on September 19 and 20. George Vlasits, one of the event’s organizers, sent us a report about what went on:
On September 19th and 20th a coalition of 15 labor and community groups sponsored a book tour on Runaway Inequality by Les Leopold in Wilmington, North Carolina.
The two public events, one at the ILA Union Hall and the other at the University of North Carolina – Wilmington, drew 200 activists and students to hear Les’ presentation on “What Happened to the American Dream?” Les also spoke to a sociology class at UNCW and was interviewed on the student TV station at UNCW
The events were preceded by an intensive campaign that included a radio interview with Les on the local NPR station; an interview of two of the organizers on Wilmington’s black radio station; book sales for Runaway Inequality at meetings of participating groups; an op/ed piece in the local newspaper and an article in the UNCW student newspaper; a joint press release with the progressive candidate for the US House of Representatives, NC-D7 and use of social media. All the co-sponsors also publicized the events to their membership.
Among the attendees were several elected officials, announced candidates and local Democratic Party officials. With a signup list of over 100 expressing interest in finding out ways they can help spread the word, the organizers are planning a one day “train the trainers” workshop in conjunction with the CWA and State AFL-CIO in Wilmington sometime in November.
The SENC CLC is also funding edited videos of both a press conference held in Wilmington and the presentations at the two events.
Click here to see the press conference the afternoon before the training.