The story of a union organizer who found a second career in community
organizing and helped a Jim Crow city become a better place.
Ernest Thompson dedicated his life to organizing the powerless. This
lively, illustrated personal narrative of his work shows the great
contribution that people's coalitions can make to the struggle for
equality and freedom. Thompson cut his teeth organizing one of the great
industrial unions, the United Electrical Radio and Machine Workers of
America, and brought his organizing skills and commitment to coalition
building to Orange, New Jersey. He built a strong organization and
skillfully led fights for school desegregation, black political
representation, and strong government in a city he initially thought of
as a "dirty Jim Crow town going nowhere." Thompson came to love the City
of Orange and its caring citizens, seeing in its struggles a microcosm
of America. This story of people's power is meant for all who struggle
for human rights, economic opportunity, decent housing, effective
education, and a chance for children to have a better life.
Ernest Thompson (1906-1971) grew up on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, on
a farm that had been given to his family at the end of the Civil War.
The family was very poor and oppressed by racist practices. Thompson was
determined to get away and to obtain power. He migrated to Jersey City,
where he became part of the union organizing movement that built the
Congress of Industrial Unions (CIO). He became the first African
American to hold a fulltime organizing position with his union, the
United Electrical Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE). He
eventually headed UE's innovative Fair Employment Practices program and
fought for equal rights and pay for women and minority workers. Thompson
also helped build the National Negro Labor Council, 1951-1956, and
served as its director of organizing. In 1956, under the onslaught of
the McCarthy era, UE was split in two, and Thompson lost his job. His
wife, Margaret Thompson, brought the local school segregation to his
attention. Ernie "Home" Thompson organized to desegregate the regional
schools, building strong coalitions and political power for the black
community that ultimately served all the people of Orange.
