I remember my grandpa as a farmer and a fisherman. I have memories of picking turnips, butter beans and corn with him, and he also taught me how to clean a fish and catch crabs. To this day, I still feel connected to my grandparents any time I am near a farm or on the ocean—whether in my home state of North Carolina or in the countryside of Cuba. But it wasn’t until recently that I realized that my grandpa’s real job was actually welding. I thought it was just a side gig he did in the winter to stay busy while the land was frozen, but in fact the farm was more the hobby. My mom’s memories of what he did for work were quite different than mine. She recalled that he helped build bridges throughout Virginia, was really known for what he did, and made a good living doing it. I never knew if he was in a union or not, but years later, when I was organizing with the Black Radical Congress, I did discover that he was a part of a populist organization of black farmers. In all of this, he taught me to make my own way and to not let anyone get in the way of it. In his retirement, he spent a lot of time taking care of my grandma when she got sick, and in doing so he taught me how to take care of family just as you nurture the land you till. My grandpa represents a lot of things that are more difficult to achieve today—small farming, steady work (not just in the winters), the ability to retire, and the ability to care for his partner at home. I have no doubt he’d want his grandchildren and generations to follow to have access to the same things.
Erica Smiley is the Campaigns Director at Jobs With Justice
Photo: Smiley’s grandfather
