18.jpeg
Title
18.jpeg
Description
Immediately following 911, I read the following letter from the former union organizer of HERE Local 100. He had organized the workers of WINDOWS ON THE WORLD. My paintings were inspired by his words of internationalism and concerns for working people.
To The Workers of Windows on the World
I represented workers from the top two floors of the World Trade Center. This is for any who may have perished. It is an acknowledgement that working people always suffer the costs of our leaders misdeeds.
For a year I worked as the union representative for the 300 people who cut lettuce, baked tarts, broiled salmon, mixed drinks, washed dishes, waited tables and set up banquets on the top two floors of the World Trade Center. They were my comrades and friends in the struggle to make this a better world for all.
The workers at Windows on the World came from Bangladesh, Syria, Iran, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Mexico, Cuba, Algeria, Ivory Coast … these are just a few of the countries that I can remember. I imagine that many of them were at work at 9 am this morning. I used to visit the night shift as they left and the day shift as they arrived between 7 and 8 am.
This group of people taught me what it means to listen, to care and to struggle. I will never forget the day a dishwasher named Robert Williams hugged me with watery eyes and shouted, "We did it!" after 120 of his coworkers defended his job and stopped the abuse of a mean-spirited supervisor.
To my sisters and brothers at Windows, thank you for teaching me much about myself and about the world we live in. May our country have the courage to look at ourselves and our wrongs before we point the finger at others.
September 11, 2001
Letter by Tony Perlstein
Art Work by Tami Kashia Gold
To The Workers of Windows on the World
I represented workers from the top two floors of the World Trade Center. This is for any who may have perished. It is an acknowledgement that working people always suffer the costs of our leaders misdeeds.
For a year I worked as the union representative for the 300 people who cut lettuce, baked tarts, broiled salmon, mixed drinks, washed dishes, waited tables and set up banquets on the top two floors of the World Trade Center. They were my comrades and friends in the struggle to make this a better world for all.
The workers at Windows on the World came from Bangladesh, Syria, Iran, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Mexico, Cuba, Algeria, Ivory Coast … these are just a few of the countries that I can remember. I imagine that many of them were at work at 9 am this morning. I used to visit the night shift as they left and the day shift as they arrived between 7 and 8 am.
This group of people taught me what it means to listen, to care and to struggle. I will never forget the day a dishwasher named Robert Williams hugged me with watery eyes and shouted, "We did it!" after 120 of his coworkers defended his job and stopped the abuse of a mean-spirited supervisor.
To my sisters and brothers at Windows, thank you for teaching me much about myself and about the world we live in. May our country have the courage to look at ourselves and our wrongs before we point the finger at others.
September 11, 2001
Letter by Tony Perlstein
Art Work by Tami Kashia Gold
Source
unknown
Media Type
still image
Original Name
1 copy.jpg
Date Entered
2002-01-31
Citation
“18.jpeg,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed November 7, 2024, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/36337.