Somebody is going to read what I wrote about the version of capitalism this generation never saw and call it nostalgia. Call it an old man’s memory dressed up as an argument. I understand why. Memory is soft. It bends toward the good years and away from the bad ones. So, I am not goingContinue reading “Reality Check: The Receipts on Forty Years”
Tag Archives: Politics
The Version They Never Saw
Why an entire generation is rejecting capitalism, and what Labor already built to answer them I actually did learn what capitalism was from a textbook. I also learned it living inside an America where the earmarks of prosperity, civil service, community, and social capital were not slogans. They were simply how life worked. I amContinue reading “The Version They Never Saw”
My May Day Rally Speech – May 1, 2026
I recently made comments at a May Day Rally in Cincinnati. These were my comments: Sisters and brothers, Friends, community partners… Champions of working people… Good afternoon! I am Brian Griffin… and I have the honor of serving as the Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the Cincinnati AFL-CIO Central Labor Council…Representing tens of thousands of working familiesContinue reading “My May Day Rally Speech – May 1, 2026”
NO KINGS!
I had the honor and the privilege of speaking at today’s Cincinnati “No Kings” Rally. These are my comments: No kings rally – remarks (03-28-2026) Good afternoon, sisters and brothers, My name is Brian Griffin. I am the executive secretary of the Cincinnati AFL-CIO Central Labor Council. And I have the awesome and distinguished honorContinue reading “NO KINGS!”
Radical? Let’s Talk About Radical.
Yes, the Democratic Party is broad. It is diverse. It is sometimes unruly. But… Brian Griffin Mar 14, 2026 For years now, we have heard the same political refrain: the Democratic Party is “radical.” It is a convenient line, repeated so often that some people accept it without much reflection. But step back and lookContinue reading “Radical? Let’s Talk About Radical.”
Public Education Is Under Siege in Ohio
Public education works best when communities have a stake in it. When teachers are respected. When parents are engaged. When school boards can advocate for the children they serve without fear of retaliation.
Statement by Brian D Griffin | Executive Secretary-Treasurer, Cincinnati AFL-CIO Central Labor Council
October 27, 2025 | CINCINNATI, OH—I am urgently speaking out today on behalf of working people across this community and this state. Every day, people get up at dawn, punch the clock, care for their families, stretch every dollar in tight budgets, and still do everything they can to make ends meet. And now theirContinue reading “Statement by Brian D Griffin | Executive Secretary-Treasurer, Cincinnati AFL-CIO Central Labor Council”
Stockholm Syndrome and the Labor Movement
Stockholm Syndrome describes how hostages sometimes identify with their captors, believing cooperation or small concessions might spare them greater harm. In today’s labor movement, we see echoes of that same instinct. Too often we find ourselves nuzzling up to the very forces that are cutting us down, hoping to soften the blow. But it willContinue reading “Stockholm Syndrome and the Labor Movement”
From Bartlet to McAvoy: America’s Dream and Its Reckoning
When Aaron Sorkin gave us President Josiah Edward Bartlet in The West Wing (1999), he gave Democrats a dream. Bartlet was brilliant and flawed, moral and principled. He made politics feel noble again. He quoted scripture and Nobel economics in the same breath, believing government could still be smart, decent, and good. For a partyContinue reading “From Bartlet to McAvoy: America’s Dream and Its Reckoning”
Diminished by Every Death: Guns, Rhetoric, and the Soul of America
Charlie Kirk’s assassination is tragic, but it is not an isolated wound. Daily gun deaths, toxic rhetoric, and unchecked access to weapons are hollowing out our nation — and we refuse to act. “No man is an island. Any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind.” John Donne wrote those words fourContinue reading “Diminished by Every Death: Guns, Rhetoric, and the Soul of America”
Why Eye Write 