Labor goes to the Movies

Harvest of Shame’s legacy

The 1960 documentary Harvest of Shame -- presented by legendary broadcast journalist Edward R. Murrow on CBS -- was revolutionary in its raw portrayal of poverty amongst migrant farm workers. Originally aired just after Thanksgiving Day in November 1960, it was "the first time millions of Americans were given a close look at what it means to live in poverty" on their televisions.
On today’s show, from the WBAI show Building Bridges -- produced by Ken Nash and Mimi Rosenberg -- Jessica Garcia, RWDSU farm labor organizer and David Dyssegaard Kallick, Director of the Immigration Research Initiative at The Economic Policy Institute, discuss the film's legacy and the state of farm workers today. They train a spotlight on the low pay and poor conditions endured by the people who help bring America's food to the table, and union organizing, always a challenge in the agricultural sector, while making some recent triumphs even sweeter.
@dclabor @LaborHeritage1 @RWDSU @EconomicPolicy @WBAI
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Working 9 to 5: the movement, the union, the movie, and now the book

Ellen Cassedy, one of the founders 9 to 5, the national association of women office workers, talks about her new book, “Working 9 to 5: A women’s movement, a labor union, and the iconic movie,” and she shares some insider stories about the 1980 hit film 9 to 5 (hint: Dabney Coleman wasn’t just acting his iconic role as a bad boss!). Produced by Chris Garlock
@dclabor @LaborHeritage1 @ellencassedy #working9to5
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Best labor movies (Part 2)

Elise and Chris talk with Kathleen M. Newman and Tom Zaniello about one of those lists of “10 best labor films”; which films make the cut, which don’t, and why. Movies discussed include 9 to 5, Support The Girls, Modern Times, Newsies, and The Pajama Game.
A regular with us here on Labor Goes to the Movies, Kathy’s a professor of English, literary and cultural studies at Carnegie Mellon University, where she teaches and writes about labor, class, film, and media. Tom Zaniello has written a number of books on labor films, including Working Stiffs, Union Maids, Reds, and Riffraff: An Expanded Guide to Films about Labor.
Produced by Chris Garlock
@dclabor @LaborHeritage1
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Best labor movies (Part 1)

We’re back! Elise and Chris got a bit busy with other projects this past summer but we did get a chance to chat with Kathleen M. Newman back at the end of July. A regular with us here on Labor Goes to the Movies, Kathy’s a professor of English, literary and cultural studies at Carnegie Mellon University, where she teaches and writes about labor, class, film, and media. We’d run across one of those lists of “10 best labor films” that pops up from time to time and decided it was a good chance to talk about which films make the lists, which don’t, and why.
Today’s episode is the first part of that conversation; next week we’ll have the second part, when Tom Zaniello, who’s written a number of books on labor films (including Working Stiffs, Union Maids, Reds, and Riffraff: An Expanded Guide to Films about Labor) joins us to provide his perspective.
Produced by Chris Garlock
@dclabor @LaborHeritage1
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Activist explorer Juliana Barnet

This week’s guest is Juliana Barnet, an “anticolonial anthropologist” who’s been active in a wide range of movements in the United States and in Mexico. Earlier this year she started a blog called Activist Explorer, where she writes about how activists and social change movements are depicted in fiction, including films. Reminder: LGTTM co-host Elise Bryant will conduct a Q&A with 9to5 co-founder Karen Nussbaum at the May 23 DC Labor FilmFest screening of 9 to 5: The Story of a Movement at the AFI Silver. Produced by Chris Garlock
@dclabor @LaborHeritage1 @DCLaborFilmFest @AFISilver
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9 to 5, the movies, the movement

Labor Goes to the Movies co-host Elise Bryant recalls the impact of seeing the 1980 hit film 9 to 5 as a working secretary; she went on to a career as a labor educator who worked with 9 to 5 co-founder Karen Nussbaum and now leads the Coalition of Labor Union Women. Elise will conduct a Q&A with Karen Nussbaum at the May 23 DC Labor FilmFest screening of 9 to 5: The Story of a Movement at the AFI Silver. There are also two upcoming screenings -- on May 15 & 17 -- of 9 to 5, the 1980 hit starring Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Dolly Parton. Produced by Chris Garlock
@dclabor @LaborHeritage1 @DCLaborFilmFest @AFISilver @Janefonda @LilyTomlin @DollyParton @9to5org
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Black Dinners Matter

Soleil Ho and Amanda Yee teamed up to write BLACK DINNERS MATTER for Whetstone Magazine, in which they examine the films Moonlight, Do the Right Thing and The Color Purple, arguing that “the dinner table is erected as a potent metaphor for ownership and communion… With four centuries of slavery as the backdrop, what’s eaten and where depicts how enslaved Africans and their descendants reclaimed their agency, had it stripped away, and in some cases, even participated in supremacist structures like patriarchy.”
Soleil Ho is the restaurant critic for the San Francisco Chronicle; Amanda Yee trained as a chef, went to university for English and Sociology, writes with a special interest in the intersection of food and justice and is Creative Director for 4 Color Imprint of Tenspeed/ Penguin Random House.
Produced by Chris Garlock
@dclabor @LaborHeritage1 @DCLaborFilmFest @hooleil
Upcoming DCLFF screenings:LOCAL 1196: A STEELWORKERS STRIKEMon, April 11, 6:00pm – 7:30pm; FREE: RSVP HEREFollowed by a conversation with Pennsylvania Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman.
THE WOBBLIESSunday, May 1, 5:30p; AFI Silver Theatre, 8633 Colesville Road, Silver Spring, MD 20910; INFO/TICKETSOpening Night of the 2022 DC Labor FilmFest!
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Local 1196: A Steelworkers Strike

Last year, 1,500 steelworkers in Western Pennsylvania went out on strike for four long months. If you don’t remember hearing about the strike, don’t worry, we hadn’t, either. It was against a company named ATI, Allegheny Technologies Incorporated, and even though the strike involved 1,500 steelworkers at nine different locations, it never really made the radar on the national labor scene in a year that saw a huge increase in both strikes and union organizing.
So we’re very fortunate that Samuel George decided to embed himself and his camera in the strike by Local 1196. Sam is an exciting young documentary filmmaker who works for the Bertelsmann Foundation, a non-profit, non-partisan organization based in Washington, DC. Samuel’s documentaries – which include "The Fields of Immokalee” -- bring viewers up close and personal to people and communities facing the challenges and opportunities of the 21st century, offering candid perspectives that allow viewers to draw their own conclusions. His films focus on the intersection of politics, economics, social issues, and daily life. Filming on the ground from the Turkish – Syrian border, to the factories of Juarez, Mexico, to elections in West Virginia, and now a factory in Western Pennsylvania, Sam’s films seek to offer a voice to those affected by policy and macro trends, but who often are denied a seat at the table where decisions are made.
Local 1196: A Steelworkers Strike screens free this Saturday, March 19, at 4pm, at the MLK DC Public Library, 901 G St. NW in Washington, DC; CLICK HERE to RSVP.
Produced by Chris Garlock, edited and co-produced by Evan Papp, Empathy Media Lab.
@dclabor @LaborHeritage1 @DCLaborFilmFest @SamuelGeorge76 @BertelsmannFdn @empathymedialab @steelworkers Local 1196
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Labor films at the SAG Awards

LGTTM co-host Chris Garlock got to know Harold Phillips a couple of years ago when he started working with Chris to build the Labor Radio Podcast Network. Harold, who now co-hosts the Working to Live In Southwest Washington podcast, has been a working actor for more than thirty years, with dozens of movie and TV credits. On today’s show, we find out how Harold got into acting, the huge amount of work behind the Screen Actors Guild Awards– which air this Sunday, February 27 at 8pm ET on TNT and TBS – and Harold’s picks for the most laborific films nominated for SAG awards this year, including Belfast, King Richard, West Side Story, Squid Game, Maid, White Lotus, Dopesick, The Chair, and The Morning Show.
Produced by Chris Garlock
@dclabor @LaborHeritage1 @DCLaborFilmFest @haroldPDX @sagaftra
PLUS: Check out Organizing the White Lotus on Laborwave Radio.
Upcoming DCLFF screening: THE FIRST WAVE & CORONAVIRUS CAPITALISM; Tuesday, March 8; FREE; 7p ET; RSVP HERE.
Two must-see films about the pandemic. The First Wave (2021, 93m) follows nurses, doctors, and administrators as they all desperately try to navigate the COVID-19 crisis. Coronavirus Capitalism (2020, 8:48) features Naomi Klein on how COVID gives capitalists license to steal even more than they used to.Introduced by Ken Zinn, Political Director for National Nurses United.
"A breathtaking testament to the fight to live, the calling to heal, and the power of human connection." Variety
Co-sponsored by: Busboys and Poets, Old Labor Hall (Barre. VT), London Labour Film Festival, Construir Cine Film Festival(Buenos Aires, Argentina).
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Meyerson on The Irishman & When Tomorrow Comes

Harold Meyerson, Editor At Large for The American Prospect, writes some of the best political analysis around, but every so often he’ll drop a fascinating column about a film; it was a recent piece he did on Mank that prompted us to invite him on the show, but it turned out that what he really wanted to talk about was When Tomorrow Comes, a 1939 film that we had never heard of, but that Harold insists is one of the “most pro-labor films” ever released. He also has some interesting insights into The Irishman, Martin Scorcese’s 2019 film about Jimmy Hoffa.
Movie: When Tomorrow Comes(1939)When Irene Dunne Sang "Solidarity Forever" by Harold Meyerson.
Trailer: The Irishman (2019)What Did Hoffa Want? by Harold Meyerson.
Produced by Chris Garlock
@dclabor @LaborHeritage1 @DCLaborFilmFest @HaroldMeyerson
Upcoming DCLFF screening: THE FIRST WAVE & CORONAVIRUS CAPITALISM
Tuesday, March 8; FREE; 7p ET; RSVP HERE.
Two must-see films about the pandemic. The First Wave (2021, 93m) follows nurses, doctors, and administrators as they all desperately try to navigate the COVID-19 crisis. Coronavirus Capitalism (2020, 8:48) features Naomi Klein on how COVID gives capitalists license to steal even more than they used to. Introduced by Ken Zinn, Political Director for National Nurses United.
"A breathtaking testament to the fight to live, the calling to heal, and the power of human connection." VarietyCo-sponsored by: Busboys and Poets, Old Labor Hall (Barre. VT), London Labour Film Festival, Construir Cine Film Festival(Buenos Aires, Argentina).
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