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A Child’s Questions Remain Unanswered
Kristina’s Values Shaped By Her UAW Grandfather

“Martin Luther King Jr. was a man of peace and kindness. He wanted all people to live together in peace. He wanted all racial violence to stop. One day our dream ended. Martin was shot! Why did he have to die? Because of who he was or is it because he wanted peace? Why did all this violence start? Why is it still happening today? Why are people judged by looks or color? Why can’t we join hands and be friends? Why?”

Kristina El-Chemor was nine years old when she wrote that speech for her school. It was published in Solidarity magazine in the April/May 1994 issue called Voices from the Future, an issue featuring our youth’s concerns and opinions of present and future conditions throughout the world.

Kristina’s grandfather is Ed Jackson, a member of UAW Local 737 which represents workers at the Visteon Glass plant in Nashville, Tenn. Although Ed is now retired, he maintains his position as recording secretary of the local and is the vice chairman of the Tennessee veterans’ council.
A UAW member for 40 years, Ed feels his dedication to civil and human rights through Kristina’s formative years have had an impact on her personal convictions and her concerns for all people in this world.

On her 18th birthday, Kristina enlisted in the U.S. Army. She graduated from basic training in October 2003. Currently in Alabama for advanced training, her future assignment is uncertain, but her grandfather’s future is not.

Ed’s involvement with the UAW’s Community Action Program, the union’s political action arm, will keep him busy in the upcoming months as he helps to elect a new president who will turn back the tide of job loss and restore dignity for America’s workers and senior citizens.

Then maybe Kristina’s hope for peace and human rights for everyone will be realized. Someday, her questions will finally be answered.