#soccerdiplomacy: SK Delegation
After returning from a South Korean peace delegation in 2017, knew that we’d need to come back with a full labor contingent to fulfill a promise to one of our hosts, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) but we also knew this delegation would need to shine bright with the full diversity of our folks of all stripes and industries. So we set out toward the end of last year to ask the people we knew would fit into this container if they were willing to take a chance on us. We told folks we were going to address three critical issue areas:
1. Bringing trade unionists from the Korean Peninsula together with American trade unionists to discuss how to be better allies as we push our respective governments toward peace.
2. Working for Just Transition in a time where climate change and militarism are, hand-in-hand, destroying the globe.
3. Doing what we can together to help our brothers and sisters free political prisoners whose crime was leading a strike during the reign of a hostile regime.
To our amazement so many people have said yes to this experience, even as the drumbeat for war grew louder. Potential delegates moved their union leadership to yes, fought to get time off, and stuck to their commitment through date changes and a rather opaque itinerary.
Now, a little over a month away from our travel date, here’s how our delegation looks:
- 80 percent of those traveling with us will be people of color
- Over 60 percent of those going are women of color
- 90 percent of those going will have never traveled to Asia before
But this delegation is more than percentages and demographics, something that deserves to be seen and felt.
In art, gold leaf is sometimes pressed into the paint or onto the canvas. This addition seems to make the subject glow from the inside, radiating warmth and power and allowing what is beneath to be expressed just as much as what is seen on the surface. It is our belief that working people deserve to be seen in their power and dignity, glowing from the inside as well. So we have seen it as our responsibility as an organization that believes in the power of working people to make this real. That is why we will have a team of union folk, students, and narrative builders traveling with us to allow this story and these people to shine. Our beautiful crew is so special and we’ve taken great care to make sure the story gets told in a way that honors the commitment, power, and beauty of the people that have honored us with their presence.
Now, as we get closer to our date, I need to ask a big favor.
We’re confident in our ability to get our folks there and our comrades in KCTU have been amazing in their love and support. But we know that our work doesn’t stop after everyone returns home from their journey. The work that follows will include:
- Reporting out to the Congressional Progressive Caucus (at the request of the indefatigable Rep. Barbara Lee) about their experiences
- Traveling to union locals, chapters and labor movement events to share experiences and connect people on a tangible level to our comrades in South Korea
- Being present for press and conferences outside of the labor movement to explain why this work is important to workers
… and so much more. It will be an enormous undertaking and risk is high in an intensely anti-union political climate where traditional labor unions, the backbone of our work for nearly a decade and a half, stands to suffer greatly if the Janus Supreme Court decision goes as expected. But we feel the risk is worth it if it means that more people get to see the powerfully beautiful solidarity that will come from workers from two different continents shining together. We’re going to need all the help we get, so I figured I could start with you to help us fund the work that will happen after our journey.
So I ask you to support us. We owe it to those that are going to tell this story to tell this story the right way to as many people as possible. This money will help cover the cost of travel and housing for our students, ground transportation of all of our participants, and make it possible for the students and delegates to tell their story across the country.
* Please check back in with us to see updates about what we'll be doing while we are there, who the delegates are and an introduction to our super-awesome Narrative Team.
*GoFundMe asked me to include more information so I did so below. Sorry if this makes things even longer.
Who Are You?
My name is Reece Chenault, for those that haven't met me prevously. I'm National Coordinator for US Labor Against the War (primary host for the delegation.) For a little more informaiton, feel free to go to Soccer Diplomacy
Where Are You From?
Originally? I was born in Bowling Green OH, raised in NC and MD, and living currently in Louisville, KY.
Your relationship to the parties you're raising funds for?
I'm point person for the delegation, meaning I'm responsible for the health and welfare of every person traveling with us. I negotiate with our hosts in Korea, manage the staff traveling with us, and doing all the logistics. I buy every plane ticket, arrange every meeting and every meal. We agreed that my org would handle tickets, etc. but that for ground transportation and other costs we'd use online fundraising tools to raise funds.
How the funds will be used (be specific as possible)
At this point, this money is really about ground transportation, last minute costs once in South Korea, and the work we do after the trip is over. Delegates already have requests for their participation in various things (see above) and, along with staff, will need to be transported and available if they so choose to participate. They'll need everything from hotel stays to child care or lost wages in many cases. My intention is to make it as easy as possible for those that choose to participate to do so. I'll continue my responsibilites as point person for arranging all activities afterwards (press, etc.) for as long as folks agree that I should have that role and our organization will pay upfront for all logistical needs. Funds raised here will reimburse us (in part as we recognize that for 20+ people this may not nearly cover all that is needed.)
Why #soccerdiplomacy?
So, yeah we're not a sports team or something. "Soccer diplomacy" became a theme for us because during a conversation with the Reunification committee chair informed us that KCTU has long had a strong relationship with North Korean trade unionists. They’d been in communication since 1999 and had spent time together enough for him to recognize that the people he was meeting with were workers. If they were workers, he said, then we should respect them as our comrades and talk to them. I asked how this was possible and he told me that their meetings are (amazingly) centered around a soccer match. When possible, the North Koreans and South Koreans get together and play a game and around that discussions are had. I was happy to hear this, particularly as pressure was again placed on us to come to the proverbial table as Americans and talk to the North Korean labor movement. It was there that I did something I was, up until that point, not thinking would be possible.
I agreed to work hard to make a conversation happen between our labor movements, specifically to get American labor to the next soccer game as long as we can nail down details. There were audible gasps and a look of astonishment on some faces. I cautioned that these details were going to take work and that I really hadn’t committed to more than talking, but I think folks knew better by that point.
When I came home, traveling to talk to our affiliates and their comrades across the country, this story caught on and inspired so many people to answer our call. It just made sense for us to see it as a larger goal, even if it wasn't happening this trip. The loftier idea that worker-to-worker diplomacy through sport resonated with so many that it morphed into a larger theme.
