King symbolic of labor impact

WASHINGTON -- From the AFL-CIO Executive Council meeting to individual unionists around the country, Paul Almeida, president of the Department of Professional Employees, has been hearing great interest in the accomplishments of LeRoy King, the retired Northern California vice president of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union.

Almeida, whose department includes 23 diverse unions ranging from the Screen Actors Guild and ILWU to the National Education Association and NFL Players Association, hosted a well-received screening of the ReUNION: Education-Arts-Heritage documentary The King Behind King, Bridges, Chavez and Mandela at AFL-CIO headquarters along with the ILWU, A. Philip Randolph Institute, Coalition of Black Trade Unionists and D.C. Labor Film Fest.

"Great turnout, great comments at the end. It was well received," Almeida said with satisfaction about an audience that included guest from as far away as the Port of Oakland.

"When I was at the Executive Council, a lot of people were asking how to get ahold of it to do screenings," said Almeida.  Sen. Diane Feinstein, D-CA; House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and former San Francisco Mayor and California Assembly Speaker Willie L. Brown Jr. tell about the lasting impact that King has had using the labor movement to produce social change since the 1940s.

For more than 30 years, none of her children left behind

SAN FRANCISCO -- In the midst of a national debate about educational measurement, including President Obama himself in the State of the Union address, Gail Meadows finds her records simple.

Since 1979, Meadows Livingstone School has specialized in educating African-American children to reach their full academic, social, emotional and creative potential. As she noted to the San Francisco Chronicle, "about 99 percent" graduate.