George Hopkins was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1947. He is a College of Charleston professor emeritus. This interview focuses on his family background, his anti-war activism, and his academic career. Hopkins’ parents were WWII veterans. The family resided in mostly suburban, white Republican areas. He worked in a steel mill and attended Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. These life experiences expanded and changed his worldview. In his college years, Hopkins participated in the anti-Vietnam War movement and declared himself a conscientious objector. His activism continued in graduate school at University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, where he studied urban and labor history. There, Hopkins and other students supported the work of Fort Bragg’s GIs that opposed the war. In 1976, he moved to Charleston with a one-year contract that became a thirty-two-year teaching career. Hopkins talks about his teaching and his research and writing. Some of the works he focuses on are his dissertation on Miners for Democracy; his essay on Charleston and the metropolitan military complex included in Martial Metropolis, edited by Roger W. Lotchin, an article about historians’ interpretations of the Vietnam War, and others focused on pop culture.
George Hopkins was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1947. He is a College of Charleston professor emeritus. This interview focuses on George Hopkins' long commitment to social justice and labor rights in Charleston. Initially, Hopkins' activism was mostly related to the College of Charleston and focused on racial issues and academic freedom. By the end of the seventies, he got involved with Carolina Alliance for Fair Employment (CAFE). Since then, he has been a member and has served as president of the organization. He remembers significant labor-related events such as the closing of the Navy Base in the nineties and the longshoremen protest in January 2000 that ended with the five men known as "The Charleston Five" arrested and charged with felonies. He also reflects on the crucial role the ILA 1422 and CAFE - now Charleston Alliance for Fair Employment - have played for Charleston's intersectional organizing and coalition development. Finally, Hopkins talks about his participation in other social justice endeavors in Charleston, such as the Quality Education Project and the Charleston Area Justice Ministry.
Kayla Gilchrist was born in 1988 in Hershey, Pennsylvania, and grew up in Minnesota. After graduating from high school, she moved to Spain to attend the Universidad de San Luis to study Spanish and international relations. During her junior year, she lived in Cairo, Egypt. After graduation, she remained in Spain for another year and a half and then returned to the United States to attend graduate school at The Monterey Institute of International Studies in California. She graduated with a MA in International Policy Studies with a focus on conflict resolution and community development and a MA in Translation-Interpretation. Right after, she moved to Charleston, South Carolina to join Charleston Area Justice Ministry (CAJM) as an associate organizer. Gilchrist reflects on the life events that shaped her interest in organizing people and communities for social justice, including her experiences with school disparities as a child and living overseas. She describes her work with CAJM and Midland's Organized Response for Equity and Justice (MORE Justice). In 2020, she moved to Washington, D.C. and joined National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI).
Beth Schaffer grew up in Goose Creek, South Carolina, where she stills resides. She has worked in the food and beverage industry since she was in high school. In 2014, Schaffer met Emily Ricards, a Fight for $15 organizer, and participated in her first march. Since then, she has been an activist for workers’ rights. In the interview, she reflects on her involvement in the movement demanding better wages and a union as well as on the impact that COVID has in the organizing efforts.
This interview with Nick Rubin focuses on his political work with the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). An organizer in leftist spaces for most of his adult life, Rubin got engaged with Charleston DSA in 2017. The organization became an official chapter in 2018 and was incorporated as a non-profit 501(c) 4 in 2021. Rubin reflects on the challenges and opportunities involved with forming the chapter. He talks about the many issues Charleston DSA members have been part of included the end of the 287(g) agreement between the Charleston Sheriff Office and ICE, the campaign for Medicaid for All, and the Bernie Sanders campaign. He states Charleston DSA members are active on many issues including environmental, housing, and labor rights among others. He is optimistic about the organization's potential to continue growing in South Carolina.
Circular Congregation Church senior pastor Jeremy Rutledge was born in Honolulu, HI, in 1971. When he was five years old, his family moved back to Houston, TX. Rutledge attended Bailey University and then Baptist Theological Seminary in Richmond, VI. After graduation, he returned to Houston and worked in chaplaincy for three years and the following ten as the pastor of a progressive church. In 2012, Rutledge moved with his wife and son to Charleston and became the Circular Church pastor. He recalls that by then, Charleston Area Justice Ministry was taking shape, and the country was shocked by the killing of Trayvon Martin. Rutledge talks about CAJM's organizing model, how white and black congregations came together to build power, and the learning curve necessary for local white progressives to demand accountability to public officials. He remembers the criticism that arose when CAJM demanded action from the Charleston School District Superintendent Nancy McGinley and later when asked for a Charleston Police Department and North Charleston Police Department racial bias audit. Finally, he reflects on the meaningful relationships that have been forge over the years among individuals and congregations thanks to the social justice work.
Taylor Allred was born in Charleston, South Carolina. He was inspired to join Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) by the Bernie Sanders’ campaign of 2016. In 2018, he joined the Charleston group and was a co-facilitator in applying for the chapter status. He has held several offices, including the chair of the eco-socialist group. Allred states that Charleston DSA members are key players in several relevant regional political issues. Among them challenging the 287(g) agreement between the Charleston Sheriff Office and ICE, Medicaid for all, the relief effort in response to COVID, the Mutual Aid Fund, and housing and environmental justice. He reflects on the impact DSA members are having in the PRO Act campaign. Finally, he discusses the future of DSA and socialist organizing in the South.
