Standing Tall: Willie Long vs. U.S. Government at Mare Island Naval Shipyard
by Jake Sloan

Standing Tall recalls a period in the early 1960s that is part of the social justice continuum in the U.S. This is the story of how Willie Long led a protest for economic and social justice at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard in Vallejo, California. In some ways, the story connects the WWII Port Chicago mutiny to today’s “Black Lives Matter” movement. The “Original 21ers” were a courageous group of African American workers willing to risk everything to create change. The inequities experienced at work and the churning energy of the Civil Rights Movement inspired them. This small group of men did the unthinkable by direct action against the U.S. Government. They challenged the largest West Coast United States naval base to provide equal opportunities and wages and WON! Through their actions, the “Original 21ers” influenced the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which, in part, prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. In so doing, their protest and action built part of the cornerstone upon which our twenty-first century economic justice movements are built.