Folks,
Next Sunday, I am leaving Pittsburgh and heading to Brasil. I’ll be gone for about six weeks, and while I’m excited to be in Brasil, I know I’ll miss Pittsburgh and so many of my friends there.
While Payday is a labor publication that has achieved international prestige, we are based right here in my hometown of Pittsburgh. Our biggest supporters are here in Pittsburgh and are proud to fund labor reporting all over the world. So before we leave for Brasil, we have one last fundraiser happy hour here in Pittsburgh in the neighborhood where I grew up.
Come this Friday, September 23rd, from 5 to 8 p.m. at Murphy’s Taproom in Regent Square for a Payday Happy Hour fundraiser. We will be raising money to cover food, travel costs, salaries, and more for our reporting trip to cover the Brazilian election.
If Bolsonaro attempts to ignore the election results, American union activists will play a crucial role in pushing the Biden administration to pressure Brasil to respect the election results. That’s why it’s so important that American trade union activists have a trusted labor reporter on the ground who speaks Portuguese and who helps foster communication between the two movements.
As a journalism student, I spent two years studying in Brasil. I have also taken Portuguese classes and become fluent in the language. I have maintained contact with trade unionists throughout Brasil, and my old Brazilian host family has even agreed to host me. (Check out our full itinerary.)
While we have plane fare and housing costs covered for this trip, we haven’t yet raised enough money to cover the full travel costs, food, and money to hire a freelancer to help us on the road. For those that can help, please come down to Payday’s Happy Hour fundraiser this Friday.
If you can’t make it, you can donate here. Please, sign up as one of our 725 recurring donors today.
Love & Solidarity,
Melk
