Latifa Benson (center), a teacher at PS 65 on Staten Island, brought her daughters to the event celebrating women’s role in the UFT and the broader labor movement.
Reassuring another woman that she is strong. Leaving a care package for a struggling colleague. Inviting a woman into spaces where she can network.
These are some of the ways women at the UFT’s seventh annual HERstory brunch have supported and empowered other women, according to the notes they placed on colorful poster boards. The event, held during Women’s History Month on March 15 at the UFT’s Bronx borough office, celebrated women’s role in the UFT and the broader labor movement.
About 175 members and guests attended HERstory, whose theme this year was “Honoring the Past, Shaping the Future.” They listened to inspiring speakers, received personal care services from Queens Technical HS cosmetology students and ate cake in celebration a day early of the union’s 65th birthday.
HERstory was “inspirational” and “empowering,” said Latifa Benson, an English as a new language teacher and My Sister’s Keeper leader at PS 65 on Staten Island. Benson brought her 8th-grade and college-age daughters with her to the event. “I can see myself making an impact on young girls, and it starts from home,” she said.
Keynote speaker Sheri Davis, the executive director of the Center for Innovation in Worker Organization at Rutgers University’s School of Management and Labor Relations, spoke of the key ingredients of leadership development: trusting one’s instincts, remembering those who came before, acknowledging mentors and having a nurturing “crew.”
“It’s not enough to just continue to do hard things, we have to do what we’re doing today and take care of each other,” she said.
UFT Treasurer Victoria Lee, a featured speaker, urged members to take full advantage of the Tax-Deferred Annuity plan to save for the future. When she was a second-year teacher, she said, an older teacher impressed upon her the importance of setting up a TDA and even helped her fill out her enrollment form. “He comes with the envelope and a little stamp, and he takes it and he mailed it for me,” she said.
UFT President Michael Mulgrew paid tribute to one of the women who mentored him — civil rights and longtime New York State NAACP leader Hazel Dukes, who died in March. “She never stopped advocating because she wanted a better world for everyone,” he said.
Adriane LyonsMayers, a first-year chapter leader at PS 272 in Brooklyn, said she learned a lot as well as made new friends. “I’m feeling uplifted knowing that women are doing so many good things and about the role that we have in the UFT,” she said.
UFT Vice President Janella Hinds, the event organizer, said HERstory was a success. “I think people left here with smiles on their faces and I think people feel empowered and connected to the union,” she said. “And so, what else could you ask for?”
