Draft:Clarence Thomas (labor leader)
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Last edited by LaborHistoryFan (talk | contribs) 4 days ago. (Update) |
Clarence Thomas is a labor activist, former Black Panther, and retired longshore worker from Oakland, California. Thomas served as secretary treasurer and on the executive board of ILWU Local 10 and was a leader in many historical struggles in the Bay Area including the San Francisco State University student strike, the Million Worker March, and numerous port shutdowns.[1][2][3]
Clarence Thomas | |
|---|---|
| Born | August 21, 1947 |
| Organization | International Longshore and Warehouse Union |
Biography
[edit]Clarence Thomas was born in 1947 in Oakland. His parents' families had come to Oakland on the Great Migration to flee racist discrimination and violence in the American South. Thomas has stated that his parents were politically active in the Democratic Party and supported the Black Panther Party, allowing community meetings to be held in their home. His father was a postal worker and became a longshore worker and member of ILWU Local 10 in 1963.[1]
Thomas attended the City College of San Francisco and later transferred to San Francisco State University. At SFSU, he was a member of the Black Student Union. He was among the leadership of the 1968 student strike that led to the creation of a Black studies and ethnic studies department. He was also a member of the Black Panther Party during this time.[1][2]
Thomas became registered as a B-card longshore worker in 1985 and got his A-card in 1986. As an ILWU member, he became close to Leo Robinson, Bill Chester, and other influential Black union leaders and civil rights activists. Thomas was also elected secretary treasurer of the union and served on the executive board. During his time as a longshore worker, Thomas helped organize numerous port stoppages and job actions. In 2009, he was part of an effort to organize a port stoppage to protest the killing of Oscar Grant by BART police.[1] Thomas was also involved with the Occupy movement and helped organize an Occupy Oakland protest that shut down the port.[3] He also was also an organizer of a waterfront rally on Juneteenth in 2020 to protest the killing of George Floyd. Thomas views himself as part of the Black radical tradition and has drawn connections between police brutality against Black Americans and the killing of Howard Sperry and Nick Bordoise during the 1934 West Coast Waterfront Strike.[1]
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Thomas was a founding organizer of the Million Worker March in 2004, in which thousands of working families demonstrated against the Bush administration and called for independence from both the Democratic and Republican parties.[1]
Thomas retired in 2021 but remains involved in Local 10 and community organizing in the Bay Area. In 2021 and 2023, he supported "Block the Boat" campaigns to stop weapons shipments bound for Israel.[1][4]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g Rodas, Ricky (2021-07-09). "'Retired from the waterfront, but not from the struggle': Clarence Thomas' new book on port labor activism". The Oaklandside. Retrieved 2024-09-17.
- ^ a b "Cleophas Williams: My Life Story in the International Longshore & Warehouse Union Local 10 Book Talk". Tenderloin Museum. 2023-07-20. Retrieved 2024-09-17.
- ^ a b Guardsman, The (2011-12-06). "Civil rights leader John Carlos speaks in Oakland". The Guardsman. Retrieved 2024-09-17.
- ^ "Demonstrators form blockade at Port of Oakland over potential US aid being shipped to Israel". ABC7 San Francisco. 2023-11-03. Retrieved 2024-09-17.