Cleophas Williams: My Life Story in the ILWU Local 10

Book reading:  by Clarence Thomas
Location: Tenderloin Museum, 398 Eddy St., SF

“Cleophas Williams My Life Story in the Longshore & Warehouse Union Local 10” is a compilation of Williams’ writings selected by Clarence Thomas and edited by Delores Lemon-Thomas. Every effort was made to stay true to his original manuscripts:

“I write these memories speaking in my own name because I think the story should be told. I write them because there is universal silence about the contributions of Black Longshoreman on the West Coast, as though we never existed. People from many sources have come to me for interviews and I have given some. I have spoken into tape recorders for someone else to transcribe, but the story of my 38 years working as a longshoreman cannot be told orally in two hours with a professional writer. I am writing the story myself. I take responsibility for all errors and omissions. I have no axes to grind. I am comfortably retired with a good longshore pension and social security which I have a right to because I earned them.
I also write as a witness to one of the greatest stories ever told, ‘The ILWU Story.’ It is the history of a leader named Harry Bridges and a rank and file who supported his ideas and dreams and built the best union in the country. It is also about men who differed with Bridges and were unafraid to take him on.”
-Cleophas Williams