WINDOWS AND MIRRORS
A Tapestry of Faith Program for Children
SESSION 14: ALL WORK HAS HONOR
BY BY GABRIELLE FARREL, NATALIE FENIMORE AND JENICE VIEW SUSAN LAWRENCE, MANAGING EDITOR/DEVELOPMENTAL EDITOR AISHA HAUSER, CHILDREN AND FAMILIES PROGRAM DIRECTOR/DEVELOPMENTAL EDITOR
© Copyright 2009 Unitarian Universalist Association.
Published to the Web on 11/9/2014 12:03:49 AM PST.
This program and additional resources are available on the UUA.org web site at
www.uua.org/religiouseducation/curricula/tapestryfaith.
SESSION OVERVIEW
INTRODUCTION
I wear garments touched by hands from all over the world
35% cotton, 65% polyester, the journey begins in Central America
In the cotton fields of El Salvador
In a province soaked in blood,
Pesticide-sprayed workers toil in a broiling sun...
Third world women toil doing piece work to Sears specifications
For three dollars a day...
And I go to the Sears department store where I buy my blouse
On sale for 20% discount
Are my hands clean? — Bernice Reagon
Some Unitarian Universalists work in professional occupations, such as teacher, physician, attorney, engineer or social worker. Others work in factories; in service roles such as waiter, custodian or repair person; on farms; or at telephone or computer desk jobs. Still others may own their own businesses or earn a living in the arts. We all make choices about our jobs based on our interests, abilities, opportunities and needs.
Our belief in the inherent worth and dignity of all people tells us everyone has the right to dignity of work—that is, the ability to earn a decent livelihood; a work environment that supports one's safety, health and self-respect; and appreciation for the value one's work brings to us all. Yet, as a society we tend to value some jobs more than others—even though we know that when a person's work is disrespected, undervalued or taken for granted, both they and their community suffer.
This session teaches the concept of dignity of work and makes children aware of their own work, whatever it consists of. They hear a story, "Beautiful Hands," about a child ashamed of her work-worn hands until a teacher articulates how her hands show the beauty of physical work. Children refine their understanding of dignity of work by examining and discussing photographs of children at labor. In Faith in Action, they engage in an advocacy project that promotes a fair minimum wage and universal dignity of work.
GOALS
This session will:
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Participants will:
SESSION-AT-A-GLANCE
Activity | Minutes |
Opening | 5 |
Activity 1: What Is My Work? | 5 |
Activity 2: Story — Beautiful Hands | 10 |
Activity 3: When Children Work | 20 |
Activity 4: Window/Mirror Panel — A Circle of Workers | 15 |
Faith in Action: Let Justice Roll | 20 |
Closing | 5 |
Alternate Activity 1: Animal Labor Strike — Click, Clack, Moo! | 10 |
Alternate Activity 2: Singing Labor Songs | 10 |
SPIRITUAL PREPARATION
Find a place where you can be quiet with your thoughts. Make yourself comfortable; light a candle to mark the time as different from your other activities. Close your eyes and breathe deeply and perhaps repeat a word or phrase to separate you from the activities of the day. After opening your eyes, consider:
SESSION PLAN
OPENING (5 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
This ritual welcoming reminds participants of the relational nature of the group experience. Gather the children in a circle around the chalice. Invite them to take a deep breath and release it, and create a deep silence for a moment.
Ask a volunteer to take a reading from the Opening Words Basket and read it aloud. Invite another volunteer to light the chalice. Then, lead a greeting:
Now we will take a moment to greet the people next to us. If you are next to someone who is new to our group, offer a welcome, tell them your first and last name, and learn their name.
Lead the group in singing the hymn you have chosen. Singing a congregational favorite helps children grow in their sense of belonging in congregational life.
If you choose not to sing, use a bell to signal the group to still themselves for another moment of silence.
Ask the child who lit the chalice to extinguish it. Ask the child who read the opening words to return the reading to the Opening Words Basket.
Including All Participants
If you have a non-sighted participant who reads braille, obtain the braille version of Singing the Living Tradition from UUA Bookstore. The bookstore orders from an outside publisher, so order several weeks ahead.
ACTIVITY 1: WHAT IS MY WORK? (5 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Gather the children. Tell them the group's work today will be to learn about work. If you are employed at a job, tell the group about your work in general terms: your job title, where you do your work, your general duties, how you get to work, what kind of clothing you wear, and what tools or materials you use. If you do not currently hold a job, choose one or two past jobs to describe. Be sure to include one or two things that you enjoy(ed) about your work. Show and/or pass around any photos or work-related items you have brought.
Now ask the children to tell you about the jobs they do. Write these down as the children call them out. You may choose to have children call them out, "popcorn" style, or raise their hands. Children often hear from adults that their job is going to school, so expect this response. Prompt to help children broaden their thinking and reflect on their own work. Responsibilities for children this age might include care of siblings, a pet or house plants. Some may have jobs such as keeping track of their own borrowed library books or DVDs, cleaning their bedrooms or play areas or making their own breakfast or lunch.
You might ask:
Ask one last time if the list of jobs is complete. Leave it posted for reference throughout the session.
Including All Participants
Repeat each item as you write it down so children who cannot read or see the material on the newsprint can participate fully.
ACTIVITY 2: STORY — BEAUTIFUL HANDS (10 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Ring the chime (or other noisemaker), make eye contact with each participant and read or tell the story.
Sound the chime (or other noisemaker) again at the end. Invite participants to think silently on their own about the story. Say:
Now we are going to practice listening and discussing skills—both are needed to help us understand the story from multiple perspectives. Let's find out what one another thought about the story.
Remind them not to assume others think or feel the same way. Ask everyone to use "I think" or "I feel" statements. Encourage the group to listen to each comment and then share some silence. Use the bell or chime to move between speakers.
Invite participants to retell the story, briefly, in their own words. What children recall and relay tells you what they found most meaningful or memorable. Then, use these questions to facilitate discussion, making sure everyone who wants to speak has a chance:
Conclude by affirming:
It is nice when others respect the work we do and understand its value, but it is most important that we, ourselves, believe our work is meaningful and valuable. No matter what kind of work we do, we must give ourselves the credit we deserve for doing a job and doing it well.
Thank everyone for sharing.
ACTIVITY 3: WHEN CHILDREN WORK (20 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Tell the children:
In an ideal world, everyone would feel valued, successful and self-respecting about the work they do. However, too often workplaces are not safe. People are not treated with dignity. People are not paid enough money for what they do.
A long time ago, the laws in our country allowed children to skip school and work instead. Plenty of children did this to afford clothes and food to survive. A hundred years ago, almost two million children in the United States had jobs. They worked in factories, on farms, in shops, and at jobs like shining people's shoes, washing dishes, and mending clothes.
This is against the law in our country today, but there are many other places in the world where children work instead of going to school. We are going to look at some pictures of children at jobs.
Pass the photos around the room or invite children to come look at the photos you have posted. Allow some conversation. Then, looking at photos together, one at a time, ask:
Allow the group(s) at least five minutes to explore all the photographs in detail. After children have had a chance to speculate about the photos, share the information you have about individual images.
Then say:
About a hundred years ago, some children in the U.S. took action against the long hours they worked, the difficult and unsafe conditions of their jobs, and the low pay. Some of them wanted to go to school. They joined adults in a movement to improve dignity of work for all workers in the U.S. They marched and protested for better wages and safer, healthier places to work and jobs to do.
Lead a discussion using these questions:
Affirm all reasonable (non-violent, ethical, justice-motivated) suggestions. To conclude, say in your own words:
Dignity of work should be universal, but it is not. As Unitarian Universalists, we have a responsibility to honor our own dignity of work and give others the respect and appreciation their work deserves, too.
ACTIVITY 4: WINDOW/MIRROR PANEL — A CIRCLE OF WORKERS (15 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Participants will cut out images of work to decorate a never-ending Mobius strip, representing the equal respect and dignity that all kinds of work deserve. Show the group the sample Mobius strip you made. Explain how it is made. Make another sample to demonstrate.
Ask the children to bring their Window/Mirror Panels to work tables. Distribute magazines to cut up, blank strips of paper and Window/Mirror Panel basket(s). Tell them they will decorate their strips first, and turn them into Mobius strips later. Say:
We are learning today how to use our first Unitarian Universalist Principle, the inherent worth and dignity of every person, in thinking about work—the work adults do to support themselves and their families and the work you do. Each of you will make a Mobius strip to represent many kinds of work and to remind us that we value all work and believe everyone has a right to dignity of work.
Invite the children to find and cut out images from the magazines that represent people at work, and use them to decorate both sides of their paper strip. They may also draw images to suggest a variety of different kinds of work, using materials from the Window/Mirror basket, and add any finishing touches they wish.
Encourage children to decorate both sides of their strip of paper; once they twist it into a Mobius strip, both sides will show.
When a few participants have their strips decorated, demonstrate making a Mobius strip with one that is finished.
Give the group a two-minute warning so they have time to affix their strips to their Window/Mirror Panels, clean up materials and store their Window/Mirror Panels. If any participants' strips need to dry before they can be twisted, taped and attached to panels, ask them to remain and complete this work and put materials away after the Closing.
CLOSING (5 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Explain that the session is almost over and we now have to work together as community to clean the meeting space. First, everyone should clean up their own personal area, put away materials they were using and store their Window/Mirror Panel. Then they may clean another area or help someone else. No one should sit in the circle until all are done.
Then bring the group back to the circle. Ask them to think about what happened today that was good or what they wish had gone better. If you are running short of time you can ask them for a "thumbs up" or "thumbs down" on the session.
Invite each participant to say, in a word or sentence, why it is important for them to be a part of this faith community. You may go around the circle for responses; allow individuals to speak or pass.
Then ask everyone to hold hands and say together:
Keep alert;
Stand firm in your faith;
Be courageous and strong;
Let all that you do be done in love. — 1 Corinthians 16
If this is the first time the group is using "namaste," briefly explain its origin and meaning. Then, lead the group in the word and bowing gesture. Or, substitute "thank you." Invite each participant to bow their head to the individuals on either side and then bow to the center of the circle and say "thank you" together.
Distribute the Taking It Home handout you have prepared. Thank and dismiss participants.
FAITH IN ACTION: LET JUSTICE ROLL (20 MINUTES)
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Tell the children that your congregation, through the UUA, is part of a national movement to improve dignity of work for people who work at low-paying jobs. The UUA, along with the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC), has joined the Let Justice Roll Living Wage Campaign (at www.letjusticeroll.org/), a nonpartisan coalition of more than ninety faith and community organizations that support raising the federal minimum wage to $10 an hour in 2010.
Explain that "minimum wage" is the least amount per hour an employer is allowed to pay a worker. Mention enterprises most children will know that pay minimum wage, such as supermarkets, fast food restaurants and gas stations. Say:
Minimum wage laws are intended to make sure a full-time worker can support themselves and, if necessary, family members. But the minimum wages are in fact so low that many full-time workers cannot earn enough money to take good care of themselves and their families.
In June 2008, the Unitarian Universalist Association General Assembly passed an Action of Immediate Witness to Raise the Federal Minimum Wage to $10 in 2 0 10 (at www.uua.org/socialjustice/socialjustice/statements/115810.shtml). The action called on congregational leaders to educate themselves about poverty and a minimum standard of living, mark "Living Wage Days" with worship services (January 10-11, 2009), and sign a Faith Leaders Letter to Congress which stated:
An adequate minimum wage is a bedrock moral value for our nation ... For too long, the minimum wage has not provided even a minimally adequate standard of living ... A job should keep you out of poverty, not keep you in it.
You may wish to share these stories from the UUSC web site (at www.uusc.org/content/fedwageraise2008):
Celeste Cook cares for disabled people in their Atlanta homes, preparing meals and medicines, giving baths, and wheeling clients into fresh air on sunny days. She loves her job. It's her passion to make sure that those she cares for live in comfort and dignity.
But Celeste cannot afford health insurance for herself or her family members because she is paid just $5.15 per hour, the state minimum wage. As a healthcare worker in Georgia , she is not covered by the federal minimum wage.
In downtown Cleveland , Rodney Campbell gets up at 5 o'clock every morning to clean office buildings for $6.55 per hour. He makes the floors shine and the bathrooms sparkle—and he takes pride in his work. But when Rodney goes home, he struggles to provide for his children, sometimes relying on food banks to put dinner on the table. He worries about his kids' future.
Celeste and Rodney are not alone. One out of every four U.S. workers—more than 28 million workers between the ages of 18 and 64—works in a job that pays minimum wage or less.
If you have chosen an action for the group to do, tell them what it is—for example, making posters or writing letters to congressional leaders or local government representatives. Distribute materials and explain what children will do. Or, lead a brainstorming session to elicit children's ideas for taking action at a later date.
LEADER REFLECTION AND PLANNING
Reflect on and discuss with your co-leader(s):
Approach your director of religious education for guidance, as needed.
TAKING IT HOME
I wear garments touched by hands from all over the world
35% cotton, 65% polyester, the journey begins in Central America
In the cotton fields of El Salvador
In a province soaked in blood,
Pesticide-sprayed workers toil in a broiling sun...
Third world women toil doing piece work to Sears specifications
For three dollars a day...
And I go to the Sears department store where I buy my blouse
On sale for 20% discount
Are my hands clean? — Bernice Reagon
IN TODAY'S SESSION...
Our Unitarian Universalist belief in every person's inherent worth and dignity tells us that everyone, no matter their occupation, has a right to dignity of work—the ability to earn a livelihood (a living wage), a work environment that supports their self-respect and the respect of others who acknowledge their work as bringing value to society. Yet, as a society we tend to value some work more than other work. When someone's work is disrespected, undervalued or taken for granted, both that person and their community suffer.
Children identified their own work, whatever it consists of, and worked on a Window/Mirror Panel to express the universal dignity of work. They heard a story, "Beautiful Hands," about a child ashamed of her work-worn hands, until a teacher articulates how her hands show the beauty of physical work. Children saw and talked about photographs of children at labor. Faith in Action engaged them in an advocacy project promoting a fair minimum wage and universal dignity of work.
EXPLORE THE TOPIC TOGETHER . Talk about ...
What do the adults in your family do for their jobs? Tell your child about jobs you have had—what you did, where you worked, what tools you used, what you wore. Tell some things you liked about your jobs including ways you were successful, satisfied and appreciated, financially and in less tangible ways.
EXTEND THE TOPIC TOGETHER. Try...
FAMILY DISCOVERY
Research careers with your child in bookstores and libraries, online and by guiding your child to talk with a variety of working adults about what they do. Find out about the training needed for jobs which may exist when your child reaches adulthood. A federal government web site, Kids.gov (at www.kids.gov/k_5/k_5_careers.shtml), spotlights an array of jobs and includes annotated links to career-oriented web sites for children. The Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium (Washington State) offers career discovery workshops (at www.pdza.org/page.php?id=50), described online.
A FAMILY GAME
Play Monopoly or Life as a family, noticing the ways the game confers status and power on players. When a player achieves or loses wealth or power by a roll of the dice, what message is implied? How are these games like, and unlike, real life?
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 1: ANIMAL LABOR STRIKE — CLICK, CLACK, MOO! (10 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Description of Activity
The book, Click, Clack, Moo: Cows that Type, is written for younger children, but provides a jumping-off point to discuss the labor strike as a tool to make working conditions more fair. On the Ohio Employer's Law Blog (at ohioemploymentlaw.blogspot.com/2007/05/lessons-from-childrens-lit.html), Jon Hyman writes:
Farmer Brown's cows and hens decide that they need electric blankets to keep warm at night in the barn. They deliver their demand to Farmer Brown on notes typed by the cows on a typewriter. When Farmer Brown refuses their demands, they go on strike, withholding milk and eggs. Ultimately, in a deal brokered by the duck, Farmer Brown agrees to accept the cows' typewriter in exchange for electric blankets. The labor dispute ends, and the cows and hens go back to producing milk and eggs. The deal backfires on Farmer Brown, though, as Duck absconds with the typewriter and leverages it into a diving board for the pond.
Read the story aloud to the group. Lead them to analyze:
Including All Participants
You may, for your own reasons, wish to use this activity to speak up for working animals. Be mindful, the group may include children from vegan households or whose parents are activists for humane treatment of farm animals. Tell the children Click, Clack, Moo! points out, in a silly way, that farm animals are, in fact, workers that do not have a voice about their working conditions.
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 2: SINGING LABOR SONGS (10 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
U.S. and international labor movements have popularized many songs that are easy to teach and sing. Choose one or two to teach the group.
WINDOWS AND MIRRORS: SESSION 14:
STORY: BEAUTIFUL HANDS
By Barb Pitman, in uu&me! Collected Stories, edited by Betsy Hill Williams ( Boston : Skinner House, 2003).
She was bewildered. Bewildered and ashamed. The other hands in the classroom were smooth with nails cleanly cut. Hands raised to answer the teacher's question. Hands engaged in the age-old art of spit-ball forming. Hands writing on the blackboard. They all seemed so new, so unused, so beautiful.
May hid her hands. In kindergarten she hid them under the table. In first grade she hid them under the table. In second grade, third grade, and even fourth grade, she hid her hands in this way. Winters were always easier, thanks to Grandma's handmade mittens. Colorful and bold, decorated with baby ducks and later, with purple and blue stripes, the mittens meant May felt no shame walking to school carrying books and lunch for herself and her sister.
Exclamations like, "Oh, how beautiful," and "I wish my grandma would make some mittens with stripes," stirred up hope inside May and for a brief moment she would tell herself she was one of them, for they would forget her hands and remember instead her beautiful mittens.
Back in the classroom, May would catch someone looking in her direction and shove her hands back under the desk. She never raised her hand, never applauded with excitement. She wrote in hurried strokes of the pencil so as not to have her hands in full view for very long.
One day she was walking through the school hallway, with her hands shoved into her pants pockets. In the hallway that day, she saw a poster for an art class. It was a special art class, it was going to be taught by her favorite teacher, and each student was going to be able to learn to draw and paint. She signed her name on the poster and all the way home, she thought about the kind of art project she might make. Her mom worked all night long while she watched her younger sister, and she thought maybe Mom would like a pretty picture to look at when she got home from work. She also thought about how tired Mom was during the day, trying to sleep while the rest of the world was awake, and May thought she might make a "Do-not-disturb!" sign for the front door. And then she remembered her beautiful mittens, and thought she might draw a pattern to send to Grandma so Grandma could make new mittens, even some for her sister.
As soon as May got home, she sat her sister, Kate, at the kitchen table for a snack. As she did the breakfast dishes and tried to keep Kate quiet so they would not wake up Mom, May thought of all the wonderful art projects she could try. May was so busy planning her project, she forgot about her hands. She finished the dishes, got out the mop to clean up the milk that didn't quite make it to Kate's mouth, and chopped potatoes for dinner. Mom was up by now, and was rushing out the door to get to work. Mom kissed May on the head, told the girls she loved them so-o-o-o much, and went off to work.
May helped Kate with her bath, tucked her into bed, made up Mom's bed, and vacuumed the front room. After doing her homework, May went to bed and dreamt of being a famous artist. Everyone in town marveled at her beautiful paintings, she won awards from her school, and even got to give a speech in front of the governor.
When May woke up, she jumped out of bed, excited about the art class. As she braided Kate's hair, she saw her hands and suddenly realized she could not paint or draw without the other children seeing her hands.
She could not get Kate ready fast enough, and practically pulled her all the way to school. May ran to the hallway to cross her name off the poster. It was not there. The poster and sign-up sheet were gone. She went to class and told her teacher she needed to drop out of the art class. The teacher said she would have to go to the art class and tell the art teacher that she was no longer interested in the class.
When May went to the art class that day, she tried to get the teacher's attention, but there were so many other children in the class and such a lot of noise that May decided she would wait until after the class to talk to the art teacher.
After the teacher got the class to quiet down, she talked a little bit about drawing things, how important it was to draw what you saw, even it no one else saw the same thing. She said they would eventually draw their pets and maybe even a family member, but that their first lesson was to draw their own hand. May was stunned, and tried her very best not to cry in front of the other children. Though there were many things she wanted to draw, her hand was certainly not one of them. Still, she did her best though she was ashamed to even look at the rough redness around her nails. She had little bumps on her palms, and the lines in her hands reminded her of Grandma's hands. May finished her drawing and left as quickly as possible, even before the teacher had collected the hand pictures and told them what they would be doing the next day.
The following morning, May was determined to tell the art teacher she could not take the class anymore. When she got to art class, the teacher talked about all the wonderful hand drawings she had gathered from their desks the day before. The art teacher laughed about the hand drawing that showed pink-and purple-dotted fingernails. She laughed about the hand that had diamond rings on every finger, and four diamond rings on the thumb. Then she held up a hand drawing that was familiar to May. It showed a small hand, with fingers curled toward the palm as if holding a precious stone or delicate butterfly. May shoved her hands under the desk, and wanted to crawl under there to hide along with her hands.
The teacher said, "Of all the hand drawings I saw yesterday, this is the one I could not stop looking at. This is an interesting drawing, a beautiful drawing, for it shows a hand that is not idle. It shows a hand that has worked hard. The fingers are curved, as if to protect something fragile." She walked to May's desk, and asked May, "Could I please see your hand?" May did not want to show her hand, but being accustomed to obeying teachers, she pulled her hand out from under the desk. The teacher took May's hand into her own.
"Now," said the teacher, "as I hold in my own hand the hand from this drawing, I can see that I was not wrong. It is a hand that has caressed little kittens and held small daisies. It is a hand that has washed many dishes, folded laundry, given baths, and combed hair. Yes, this is a very interesting hand. It is a beautiful hand."
With that, the teacher went back and started talking about that afternoon's drawing assignment.
After class, May ran all the way home, dragging Kate part of the way, and carrying her the rest of the way. She put the drawing on Mom's bed, and with her rough, red hands, she washed the dishes, fixed dinner, bathed Kate, and finished her homework. As she lay down in bed, she noticed that the glow from the moon was shining on her hands. They look different tonight.
May thought of the many dishes and counters she washed when Mom was sleeping. She thought of the times she had bathed her sister and cleaned up the house when Mom was at work. She thought about the way her palm fit over Kate's cheek, and how wonderful her sister's skin felt to her hand. She remembered the tender kisses Mommy gave her hands when she came home from work in the dark hours of the early morning. She would hear her mommy say, "Thank you, May, for all your help. I could not do this without you."
Just as the little girl with the red, rough hands was starting to nod off, she looked one more time at her hands. And she smiled, for they really were most interesting hands.
WINDOWS AND MIRRORS: SESSION 14:
LEADER RESOURCE 1: CHILD LABOR PHOTOGRAPHS
Girl carrying tile. Used with permission of UNICEF.
Download a high-resolution PDF (at www.uua.org/documents/tapestry/windowsmirrors/carryingtile.pdf) for printing.
WINDOWS AND MIRRORS: SESSION 14:
LEADER RESOURCE 2: CHILD LABOR PHOTOGRAPHS
Tobacco farming in Mexico. By Robert Romano. Used with permission.
WINDOWS AND MIRRORS: SESSION 14:
LEADER RESOURCE 3: CHILD LABOR PHOTOGRAPHS
Coffee-picking in Kenya (1 of 3). By Robert Romano. Used with permission.
Download a high-resolution PDF (at www.uua.org/documents/tapestry/windowsmirrors/coffeepicking.pdf) for printing.
WINDOWS AND MIRRORS: SESSION 14:
LEADER RESOURCE 4: CHILD LABOR PHOTOGRAPHS
Coffee-picking in Kenya (2 of 3). By Robert Romano. Used with permission.
WINDOWS AND MIRRORS: SESSION 14:
LEADER RESOURCE 5: CHILD LABOR PHOTOGRAPHS
Coffee-picking in Kenya (3 of 3). By Robert Romano. Used with permission.
WINDOWS AND MIRRORS: SESSION 14:
LEADER RESOURCE 6: CHILD LABOR PHOTOGRAPHS
Children making rugs. Used with permission of the U.S. Peace Corps.
Download a high-resolution PDF (at www.uua.org/documents/tapestry/windowsmirrors/rugmaking.pdf) for printing.
FIND OUT MORE
"Are My Hands Clean?"
The song, "Are My Hands Clean?", written by Bernice Johnson Reagon, is excerpted as a quotation to introduce this session. Reagon performed the song at Carnegie Hall in 1987 with her a capella group, Sweet Honey in the Rock. Hear the song (at www.ladyslipper.org/rel/v2_viewupc.php?storenr=53&upc=01896401062) on the Ladyslipper Music web site.
"Beautiful Hands"
The story, "Beautiful Hands," by Barb Pitman, appears in uu&me! Collected Stories, edited by Betsy Hill Williams ( Boston : Skinner House, 2003). The book offers 26 stories culled from uu&me!, a children's magazine published by the Church of the Larger Fellowship.
The Worst Jobs in America
A July 30, 2007, Time magazine article (at www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1648055,00.html) details some of the health hazards of supermarket workers, nail salon technicians, and others who work for minimum wage.
Child Labor and Protests, Then and Now
The photographs Lewis Hine took at the start of the 20th century remain the definitive documentation of industrial age and rural child labor in the U.S. During the Depression, Dorothea Lange photographed children at work as part of a federal project documenting poverty.
Children have sometimes joined the fight to end exploitative child labor practices. The Library of Congress has images of children engaged in protest, including one from a 1909 labor march.
A book for older grade-school children is Kids on Strike! by Susan Campbell Bartoletti (New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1999), illustrated with photographs, including some by Lewis Hine. According to the Barnes & Noble web site, the book presents:
... children who stood up for their rights against powerful company owners, from a "turn-out" in Lowell, Massachusetts, in 1836 led by eleven-year-old Harriet Hanson to the dramatic strike of 1912 in Lawrence, Massachusetts.
The New Deal Network, an online resource, offers a 1933 account from The Nation (at newdeal.feri.org/texts/document_details.cfm?DocumentID=238)magazine of male, female, and child workers' plight and effective labor strikes—including "baby strikers (children)"—in Pennsylvania .
Internationally, child labor remains a significant problem.
A 2004 documentary about child labor and slavery, Stolen Childhoods, has a web site with comprehensive links to anti-child labor organizations (at www.stolenchildhoods.org/mt/archives/2005/02/individual_acti.php), a resource for exploring how to help as a donor, an advocate, a fair trade/child labor-free consumer, or a teacher or youth leader who can get children involved.