Interview with Sidney Harris, member of IU's Black Student Union

Sidney Harris is a Sociology Major and a member of IU’s chapter of Black Student Union. 

How did you get involved with this year’s Themester theme?

I was recommended and asked to apply to be a themester committee advisor by Professor Alex Lichenstein. So I applied and was chosen!


How did you come to select Barber and Trumka/what was your process for organizing the event?

The program was essentially the dream child of Ben Robinson and I took a special interest in the topic as I have a heart for social justice issues in particular racial equality and justice issues. Selecting Barber and Trumka was the easiest tasks required of the event, because they are two of the most influential men currently in the labor and racial equality and justice arenas, from there it was just a matter of getting everything logistically set up and organized.

What do you hope students will take away from the event?

I hope that students took away from the event that the issues of labor and race are not mutually exclusive but are intrinsically intertwined. I hope that they were able to see the urgency and relevance of these issues as national moral issues that demand our attention and action. finally I hope that they were able to see the ways in which they could affect change or at least become more knowledgeable about these issues that directly effect each and every one of us.

What does labor mean to you? 

Labor translates directly to opportunity and power. The ways in which we as individuals as well as the collective are able to have agency and control over our bodies and labor is the key to democratic freedom, and so to me labor equates to the measure of freedom in a nation. The opportunity for fair, equal, and just labor is something that in my opinion is spiritually and biblically necessary and required at all times, and to give anything less than that is an injustice against humanity. So labor has major implications that manifest in all of our daily lives, therefore something to be taken extremely seriously.

You can watch the Barber / Trumka discussion "Labor and Civil Rights: Bold Legacies and New Directions" here. 

Alexander Zorn 
2015 Intern

Drug War Capitalism and Nicholas Greven

Nicholas Greven, a undergraduate student coordinated the "Drug War Capitalism" videoconference that brought people from around the world to debate issues of labor 

within the illegal drug trade. 

What interested you in making the "Drug War Capitalism" event in connection with the Themester? 

The event was made in connection with Themester because it dealt with how labor is

controlled and coerced through the war on drugs.

How do you think your Themester event went? 

It went well, there was lots of good discussion and connections made.

What was the audiences reactions to the panels? 

The audience found the panels very poignant and informative.

What are the direct connections to the issue of labor and work? 

It dealt a lot with undocumented immigration, and such immigrants make up a lot 

of the labor force. It also dealt a lot with prisons and police, which often function 

as mechanisms of labor coercion or incapacitation.

By: Allison Larmann, 2015 Themester Intern

Global Problem, Local Solution

Stepanka Korytova was interviewed about her I300 class's upcoming presentation on their research and projects on fair labor.

How are you envisioning this panel to go? 

I think it will be somewhat of a reaction to earlier projects that my earlier I300 classes have done, before interacted with the managers with the Bloomington Human Rights Commission but they have taken a new direction. So the students are doing group projects, some are talking to employees of the restaurants, so that the project is credible. One group is setting up a Facebook page to raise awareness for the Fair Labor Initiative. Some students did independent projects, one is a journalism major who wrote an op-ed piece on the project. Global problem, local solution is sort of the theme of the class so that … There are students who are showing a documentary to different student groups and then giving them a survey on how much was known before and how much was learned. There was a lot of fieldwork done by the students. There will also be an explanation in the beginning of what human trafficking and labor rights are.

How many people do you have in your class?

We have 30 people. People have been taking notice there has been three articles in Bloom Magazine on fair labor since my students have started these projects.

Jessica Rodriguez, a sophomore International Studies student in I300 was asked about her role in the project.

I interviewed restaurant workers it was pretty interesting. Half of them had no issues but the other half had experienced a variety of things, almost all of them under the radar. They were asked what their idea of fair labor was and then how they were treated specifically. The worst instance was that one of the interviewees was told to stay and scrub the floor and then never paid for it. There was nothing specific that has not been publicized before.

Alexa Blanton, an I300 student was also asked about her role.

My group created community outreach flyers with information about fair labor standards initiative they include coupons with three member restaurants the Bloomington Sandwich Company, Baked and the Runcible Spoon.

"A Global Problem, a Local Solution," a student panel discussion on fair trade

Join students from Dr. Stepanka Korytova's International Studies course, INTL-I 300 Global Human Trafficking, in a discussion on fair labor in Bloomington, IN .

Start: Monday November 09, 2015 04:00 PM

End: Monday November 09, 2015 05:30 PM

Location: Wylie 015

By: Allison Larmann, 2015 Themester Intern