CAPITOL HILL. Monday, March 20, 2023.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The World Peace Prize has announced that South Carolina State President, AFL-CIO, Charles Brave, Jr., is a Laureate of the “Richard L. Trumka World Peace Prize for Solidarity.”
The Presentation Ceremony will take place from 2:30 to 4:30 PM, May 11, 2023, in the AFL-CIO Headquarters, 2999 Sunset Blvd. Suite 103, West Columbia, SC 29169.
President Brave’s office will issue the invitations to this free event—not a fundraiser.
The announcement was made by Fr. Sean McManus, Chief Judge of the World Peace Prize and President of the Capitol Hill-based Irish National Caucus/Irish Peace Foundation.
Fr. McManus explained: “The late, great President Trumka, God rest him, on February 3, 2016, at his AFL-CIO Headquarters, helped us to launch the World Peace Prize throughout American Organized Labor. In his memory, we re-named the World Peace Prize for Solidarity the: “Richard L. Trumka World Peace Prize for Solidarity.”
There was wide and warm welcome for the re-naming of the prize.
Organized Labor as “Organized Love of Neighbor” because “Love of Neighbor” means, in effect, the doing of social justice on this earth: “The labor movement was the principal force that transformed misery and despair into hope and progress.”— Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., 1965 Address to Illinois AFL-CIO.
President Trumka deeply appreciated and enthusiastically supported our linking Organized Labor to the World Peace Prize and that is now an important part of his legacy. View his own 3-minute statement— https://drive.google.com/file/d/13ZF5S61DVCS7Cuey4YAl3Dn6kA0ztr3C/view
And President Trumka’s son, Rich Jr., has stated:'[My father] appreciated that the World Peace Prize saw what so many others missed…that organized labor through solidarity, and the pursuit of justice, forges the path to peace.’ (January 5, 2023).
President Trumka also greatly welcomed our policy of diversity, equity, and inclusion in our selection of World Peace Prize Laureates.
I have the honor of being the Chief Judge of the World Peace Prize, which is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. It was founded in 1989 by the late Presbyterian Minister, Rev. Dr. Han Min Su. Its Awarding Council of international and inter-faith Judges are representatives of all nine major world religious groups.
I was pleased to propose President Brave because he is a true trailblazer—being the first Black person to ever be a State President of the massive AFL-CIO. And now he is the first State AFL-CIO President to be announced a Laureate of the Richard L. Trumka World Peace Prize for Solidarity—and I know President Trumka is smiling down on that. Furthermore, it’s one thing to be a Union Leader in a strong Labor Union State, and another thing to be a Union Leader in a State like South Carolina where Union membership rates are the lowest in the entire United States. That takes admirable steadfastness, dedication, and solidarity. And deserves special commendation.
President Brave —like the beloved President Trumka, AFL-CIO — has shown a lifelong commitment to the Union, and to solidarity, social justice, and peace. And social justice is the heart and soul of peace, and of the World Peace Prize.
Since I became the Chief Judge in 2013, we have made social justice front and center—the heart and soul— of the World Peace Prize. And, also, we have placed American Organized Labor in the category of those who should be considered worthy recipients of the World Peace Prize—because Labor leaders who spend their lives fighting for social justice for working women and men are also building peace locally, nationally, and worldwide.
And the wonderful thing about placing social justice at the heart and center of peace is this: People of faith believe that faith must be the faith that does justice on this earth (otherwise, it is not faith). And people of no faith, but of goodwill, also know they have to do justice (otherwise, they are not of goodwill).
Furthermore, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. taught us that peace is the fruit of justice; and Saint Pope John Paul II taught us, “peace is the fruit of solidarity.”
President Brave said:” I am honored and humbled by this precious and blessed Prize, which I accept on behalf of the South Carolina AFL-CIO. To receive a World Peace Prize re-named in honor of the great and beloved President Trumka —and, moreover, a Prize for solidarity—is something that no true Labor person could receive without feeling overwhelmed. I am profoundly grateful.”
END.
