“7 Days @ Minimum Wage” Begins Monday
It’s about to happen. On Monday, October 23, the national video blog I was invited to work on for ACORN and AFL-CIO goes live on the Net. And as my life has been going for the past few months, since last Monday I’m in deeper still.
I started out doing media work for the project. Then late last week I was asked to help find and interview the workers (I was lucky to find Jessica and Erin). The subject of one of those interviews, Jessica, told a tale of life on minimum wage so emotionally stark and, frankly, devastating, that her interview has become the centerpiece of the project, and will be shown in its 13-minute entirety on Thursday evening, October 26.
It was the first time in my life I ever used a video camera, much less interviewed somebody with one. I have every belief that God had a hand in the result. Jessica and her four children make it through life on fumes, not money. Her perseverance, her courage, and her tears, all portrayed in the video, will bring you to weep for a country that allows anyone to live like this.
Jessica is not alone in her plight. Beginning Monday at sevendaysatminimumwage.org, these are the people you’ll meet:
Monday 10/23
Susan Windham and Paul Greg Valdez (construction laborers in Denver)
Tuesday 10/24
Erin (a supermarket worker in Northern Indiana)
Wednesday 10/25
Jeffrey Edwards (a fast-food worker in Denver)
Thursday 10/26
Jessica (a clerical worker in Chicago)
Friday 10/27
Chris Peters (a day-laborer in Denver)
Saturday 10/28
Amanda Stewart (a fast-food worker in Cleveland)
Sunday 10/29
Mallory McCarty (a retail clerk in Cleveland)
The interviews are being hosted by ACORN-supporter Roseanne Barr (and from what I hear she did a spectacular job), and we’re further blessed to be able to host a chat with Nickel and Dimed-author Barbara Ehrenreich, scheduled for Sunday, October 29, from 11 a.m. to Noon EST.
This is truly the most just effort I have ever had the good fortune to be involved in. In three short weeks, I am changed, truly. I invite you all to come and watch the seven days of “7 Days…” and find out why.
Jessica and Erin, thank you for saying yes.
* * *
For more information…
Visit the 7 Days @ Minimum Wage blogsite, or read the regularly updated 7 Days Daily Dose news page.
You can also view the project on YouTube.
Browse the AFL-CIO “7 Days…” press release here.
Browse the ACORN press release here.
Press inquiries can be directed to me in Chicago or Sarah Massey in Washington D.C.
Or simply visit your nearest Wal-Mart, diner, or day-laborer staging area…and ask someone who works there about their life.
Just be prepared for their answer.
As of November 2011, my subscriber feed has changed! To get the new feed, go here or click the orange logo in the right sidebar. Thanks for being a regular reader!
Other posts you might like from Chicago Carless:
Being a Huffington Post blogger was a good fit while it lasted. But I finally got tired of seeing all my words stolen and reposted on spam sites with little help from HuffPo to stop the practice.
CTA President Ron Huberman calls new signage barring 'continuous riding' through 'L' terminals part of an overall 'sign upgrade' at stations. But what about the health and safety of homeless people ejected from the rail system into frigid Chicago winters?
Last night on CNN, Campbell Brown nailed John McCain's campaign advisers to the cross, damned near literally. In her 'Cutting Through the Bull' segment, she made one thing clear to GOP aides who have been set on publicly humiliating ex-Republican VP candidate Sarah Palin ever since Barack Obama's historic win: they picked h...
