Atlanta, GA – Community members gathered to watch and talk about the documentary Finally Got the News. The documentary was about the League of Revolutionary Black Workers, who fought against racism and for better conditions in the Detroit auto factories.

Jerome Scott, a member of the LRBW since its founding, was there to join the discussion.

The documentary follows the founding of the LRBW by joining together different union caucuses led by militant Black workers. Each was at a different factory but soon realized they faced the same issues. All of the factory managements had racist practices, racist pay scales and dangerous work conditions.

By getting together and founding the LRBW, they were able to work on something bigger and learn from each other. They saw that the factory owners, the mayor, and the police were all on one side.

The organization also expanded into the community, colleges and schools. Having people who did not work in the factories on their side helped them in times of strikes, firings or arrests. With an organization uniting Black workers across industries, they had enough support to put up election campaigns for city office in Detroit.

After the movie showing, there was a question-and-answer session with Jerome Scott who recently co-wrote Motown and the Making of Working-Class Revolutionaries. The book details his experience in the LRBW. Scott filled in some details not mentioned in the documentary, like how they related to other groups, and the mistakes they made. Attendees talked more about the need to fight for people’s everyday problems, organizing at the workplace, and building the strategic alliance between the Black Liberation Movement and the struggle of the multinational working class for socialism.

The screening was put on by Resistance Cinema Atlanta, Atlanta Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, and the Freedom Road Socialist Organization. Speakers talked about what their groups do and urged everyone to join.

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