{"id":9033,"date":"2022-02-18T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-02-18T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iatse.net\/?p=9033"},"modified":"2022-02-16T14:23:30","modified_gmt":"2022-02-16T19:23:30","slug":"black-history-month-a-look-into-the-life-of-dc-stagehand-gary-pair","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iatse.net\/black-history-month-a-look-into-the-life-of-dc-stagehand-gary-pair\/","title":{"rendered":"Black History Month: A look into the life of DC Stagehand, Gary Pair"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Today we are shedding light on Local 22 member, Gary Pair. He has been an IA member for 49 years and in 2023 he will become a Gold Card member. Gary is also the General Manager of The Production and Rigging Dept for The Walter E Washington Convention Center in Washington D.C.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Joining the IA in 1973, Gary became a member of Local 224A, the IA\u2019s last segregated Local, and says activism played a key part in his career. \u201cMy entire career has been one of activism, first joining what the IA called a segregated Local, we were told by the IA that we could not have white members and no other blacks could apply. We were not allowed to transfer to the white Local, so I had to go out and get work for our members or starve,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI was very successful getting contracts for our members and was able to force the IA\u2019s hand to allow us to bring in more members before we merged the two Locals in 1980. Today we are involved with the CECAP program for the District of Columbia, which in conjunction with Local 22 we train minority kids interested in a career in the industry.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pair admits being a union member has impacted his life tremendously. \u201cBecoming a member of IATSE changed my life, because of the way I became a member has molded me into who I am today,\u201d he added. \u201cThe minority members which came before me never had a chance to be all that they could be, and it is in their name that I give back to others.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He says the entertainment industry has taught him that performance is everything and a behind-the-scenes worker\u2019s performance is just as important to those working on screen. \u201cBeing backstage is no different than being on stage. You must perform and if you don\u2019t, you will not be back. But if you do, you\u2019ll have a great career and travel the world doing what you love.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Today we are shedding light on Local 22 member, Gary Pair. He has been an IA member for 49 years and in 2023 he will become a Gold Card member. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":9037,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[36],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Black History Month: A look into the life of DC Stagehand, Gary Pair - IATSE<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/iatse.net\/black-history-month-a-look-into-the-life-of-dc-stagehand-gary-pair\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Black History Month: A look into the life of DC Stagehand, Gary Pair - IATSE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Today we are shedding light on Local 22 member, Gary Pair. He has been an IA member for 49 years and in 2023 he will become a Gold Card member. 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