Celebrating Burt Lauderdale’s organizing legacy

KFTC has been organizing the heck out of Kentucky for forty years, and Executive Director Burt Lauderdale was instrumental to the last thirty-eight.

In Burt’s own words,

Unlike many long-time organizers I’ve met, I came to this work a little more by happy accident than strategic design. I was doing home repair work in eastern Kentucky when KFTC was being organized and it sparked my interest. Thirty-eight years ago, Gladys Maynard, Mary Jane Adams, and Betty May interviewed me at the Druther’s restaurant in Martin, Kentucky for KFTC’s first field organizer position, and decided to take a chance.

I was assigned to organize with the Harlan County and Leslie County Chapters. I lived in a two-room log cabin, drove a pickup truck, wore work boots, plaid shirts, and a very full beard. I was a walking, talking, organizing cliché. On my first day, Joe brought me a stapler, an IBM Selectric typewriter, and a list of members from my two counties. On my second day I drove to the head of Bad Creek to meet Effie and Charlie Morgan. By the end of that visit I believed I had found my calling.

Burt retired in August, and KFTC took the opportunity during this year’s virtual Annual Meeting to share stories of the work he’s helped shape, lead, and make possible.

KFTC members, current and former staff, allies from across the country, friends, and family gathered via Zoom on July 31. There were stories, songs, laughter, and lots of appreciation for Burt.

Longtime KFTC member and former chairperson, K.A. Owens asked, “What can you say about a man who dedicated his life to building up an organization that would have an impact on the lives of real people in significant and positive ways?” K.A. continued, “Burt did all of this without being the frontman of the organization. Without sticking his face in front of a camera every five minutes; without trying to hog the spotlight. He was loyal to the grassroots philosophy that was built into the organization from the beginning. He played the true organizing role of providing ordinary, everyday people with the opportunity to develop themselves, so as to be the leaders their communities needed.”

Ai-jen Poo, the co-founder and Executive Director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, shared, “As somebody who knows how hard it is to build things. How much heart, and grit, and patience, and determination, and soul it takes to build a true people’s organization. One that working class people can feel pride in, and feel powerful as a part of. It is so hard. And what you have done has been nothing short of extraordinary. And I have been so proud over the years to bear witness to the incredible impact of your work and the organization that you have built. I’m proud to call you a friend and a co-conspirator. I’m here, and the domestic workers are celebrating you and the incredible work of KFTC.”

And Anthony Thigpenn, Chief Strategist of California Calls, reflected: “I’ve been thinking about how long we’ve known each other. But I’ve lost track of how many years it’s been, how many meetings and projects we’ve been in together. But what I haven’t lost track of, is how I always feel better when you’re in the room … KFTC has always been one of my favorite organizations, and one that I have great admiration for. And that is in large part because of your leadership. Your honesty, integrity, instincts, humility and sense of humor have been a guiding light for me and for the movement for racial and social justice. I know we’re celebrating your retirement from KFTC, but I hope this just means that you’re assuming another role in the movement. We know there’s still a lot of work to be done, but never doubt that the role you have played and the work you have done have made the world a better place.”