Nearly 1,500 African-American leaders, union members, community activists and other locals braved nearly 100 degree temperatures to join USW International President Leo W. Gerard, AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka, AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Arlene Holt-Baker, CNA National President Deborah Buger, CWA Secretary-Treasurer Jeff Rechenbach, and regional leaders from UFCW, AFGE, CWA, USW. 

They came in caravans from cities around the state on eight buses and hundreds of cars. Click here for more information on the July 11, 2009, Little Rock event. And click here for more info on the Employee Free Choice Act from USW's Rapid Response.

The crowd was upbeat from the beginning of the event at the famous Central High School - the site of one of the most prolific battles in the U.S. civil rights movement. USW International President Leo W. Gerard spoke, urging Arkansas Sens. Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor to support the Free Choice Act, which would give workers - not employers - the power to choose a union and how they want to vote for it.

After hearing from Arlene Holt-Baker, the crowd marched through the streets of Little Rock to the state Capitol, where Trumka spoke passionately about how the Employee Free Choice Act will bring justice to Middle Class America.

See the video below to watch President Gerard and others march. Click here for more videos from yesterday's event.