UAW People

MICAH FIALKA-FELDMAN
Social Activism Runs in Family of Special Teen

Story by Sam Stark

Rebecca Cook

Micah Fialka-Feldman

At 17, Micah Fialka-Feldman is like any other teen--only different. He attends high school, enjoys friends, runs cross-country, and loves computers.

Micah’s different partly because he is a political junkie. He eats, breathes and talks politics. He also lives his principles. He has worked his neighborhood for Al Gore and other liberal candidates. He has also walked picket lines with Detroit newspaper strikers and volunteered to help fix up and clean up Detroit. “I like trying to fix up the world and make it a little better than it was,” he says proudly.

Oh yeah, there’s one more thing that makes Micah different. He is a special needs student, a person with developmental disabilities. With limited reading and writing skills, he does his class assignments by scanning book pages electronically and importing them into a computer program that translates the written word into a computer voice. That’s how he reads his email too.

Micah’s social activism was probably inherited from his parents. His father Rick Feldman is the shop chair at UAW Local 900, which represents some 7,000 workers at the Ford Assembly and Truck plants in Wayne, Mich. His mother Janice Fialka is a social worker and a long time activist in the movement for people with developmental disabilities.

Last summer, Micah was selected to attend the Michigan Youth Leadership Forum. The forum was made possible by the Americans with Disabilities Act, which gives people with disabilities opportunities to be constructive members of society.

The goal of the MYLF goes even further. They train potential student leaders among the disabled community to advocate for people with disabilities. “I want to learn how to give speeches that people will understand and want to listen to. I want to learn how to organize kids who have special needs,” Micah says.

Since then, Micah has become active with a national organization called Kids As Self Advocates. He is planning to attend his first KASA meeting where he intends to raise the issue of providing bus service that runs all day and picks up people with disabilities at their homes.

As a social activist, Micah doesn’t just advocate for himself. He looks out for everyone.

JOE & MARJORIE WILHELM
UAW Retirees Keep Civil War History Alive

Story by Mike Rosenbaum

Courtesy of Joe & Marjorie Wilhelm

Joe and Marjorie Wilhelm.

The American Civil War split many families. One hundred forty years later, Local 211 retirees Joe and Marjorie Wilhelm use Civil War re-enacting as a catalyst to bring their family closer together.

The family’s interest began when Joe took his son Terry to Gettysburg. As an adult Terry starting giving classroom talks about the Civil War, dressed in Union blue. His father soon joined him, wearing a Confederate uniform, for contrast.

They began giving talks at re-enactments and soon joined the “battles.” As their involvement grew Joe decided to purchase a cannon. Marjorie said, “You’ve got to be crazy.” But he replied, “we can’t get the kids together for Sunday dinner. If we get a cannon, we can get all of them together” for the re-enactments.

And so, the “Wilhelm Battery” was formed, including Joe, Terry, Joe’s grandson Troy, Marjorie’s son Jeff Mekas, Joe’s son-in-law Scott Russell and the most recent addition, Jeff’s second-grade son, J.D. The women are also involved, dressing in period clothing and cooking over open campfires.

“It’s definitely a family thing,” Joe says. The family is part of an Ohio group that simulates Confederate soldiers and family.

The $12,000 cannon is a fully functional, handmade replica that’s capable of shooting a six-pound cannonball over a mile, although they only shoot black powder out of it.

The family recently purchased a new GM Silverado 2500 pickup truck to carry the cannon and the rest of their equipment to the 10 -12 re-enactments the family participates in each year. It’s an expensive hobby, but “how do you put a price on family?” Joe asks.

At 65, Joe is the oldest member of the group “but I think I’m the most active,” he says. “I’m going to keep on doing this as long as I’m able.”