I've been trying to organize what I've found to figure out what to pursue further. There are so many aspects to the strikes in 1937, I really don't know what to talk about. From what I've gathered there was a lot of talk about striking for union rights, but the most interesting info comes from the fact that it wasn't just the strikers that helped promote unionism. The woman's auxiliary played a huge factor in helping the strikers maintain their stance. Things like bringing food to the different plants, forming 6 deep protest lines to stop the police from tear gassing the men inside, and keeping the hopes of the residence of Flint alive. A quote that I pulled from a news article titled How the Famous Flint Auto Auxiliary Does It by Genora Johnson said "we do not to stop until unionism is brought to every home in Flint". It just emphasizes the fact that it wasn't just the workers who need the union, but the town itself.
Hopefully this is something I can run with. Let me know what you think.
-Josh
Remember that this paper needs to have a community focus, and that you want to avoid rehashing a report for me. Focus on your understanding of how the community in Flint worked together during the strike and how it changed over time (depending on the time period you choose). I'm kind of in the same boat right now - I have to give a 40 min. presentation on Thursday to a group of people about mineworkers in South Africa and Arizona. I'm having some real issues trying to cram all the info I feel like I need to tell people into 40 min! Just remember that it's important to form a thesis and the rest of the paper should be devoted to supporting that argument!
ReplyDelete