Solidarity Then, Solidarity Now: Film & Discussion Series
In 2021, Jobs with Justice East TN, and the Tennessee AFL-CIO Central Labor Councils partnered to launch a monthly virtual film series, highlighting struggles for social, economic, and racial justice in the workplace. At each event, we showed a film that touched on a particular moment in labor history. Following each screening, we featured a discussion with labor and community leaders in Tennessee who will helped connect these histories to the struggles for workplace justice here and now. We plan to continue this series in 2022!
Pride
(June 2021)
To celebrate Pride Month and the countless LGBTQ folks who have led worker struggles past and present, we will be screening the film... Pride! Following the film, we will have a discussion (details TBD).
About the film:
It’s the summer of 1984, Margaret Thatcher is in power and the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) is on strike. At the Gay Pride March in London, a group of gay and lesbian activists decides to raise money to support the families of the striking miners. But there is a problem. The Union leadership seems embarrassed to receive their support.
But the activists are not deterred. They decide to go directly to the striking miners. They identify a mining village in deepest Wales and set off in a mini bus to make their donation in person. And so begins the extraordinary story of two seemingly alien communities who form a surprising and ultimately triumphant partnership.
At the River I Stand (
April 2021)
For our April screening, we will be showing “At the River I Stand.” This documentary recounts the two months leading to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr in 1968, coinciding with the 65-day strike of 1,300 Memphis sanitation workers. In the 1960s, Memphis' 1,300 sanitation workers were earning so little they qualified for welfare. Using the slogan “I Am a Man,” the workers went on strike to demand a living wage. In the film, retired workers recall their fear about taking on the entire white power structure when they struck for higher wages and union recognition. But local civil rights leaders and the Black community soon realized the strike was part of the struggle for economic justice for all African Americans. This documentary brings into sharp relief issues that have only become more urgent in the intervening years: the connection between economic and civil rights, debates over strategies for change, and the fight for dignity for public employees and all working people.
After the screening, we will be joined for a discussion by special guests: Honey Hereth (Trustee, SEIU Local Local 205), and Joyce Richardson (Vice President, AFSCME Local 1733).
We will hear about contemporary fights of public sector workers in Tennessee, and will end with several "calls to action".
You Got to Move
(March 2021)
For our March screening, we will be showing"You Got to Move: Stories of Change in the South". This documentary shares several snapshots of Southerners daring to take action together to change the world for the better. The common thread of each story is Tennessee's world-renowned Highlander Folk School (now Highlander Research and Education Center), which for 80 years has provided a critical space for Southerns to learn and build movement together. From fighting for Civil Rights and the rights of working people, to stopping the ravaging of communities by strip mining and toxic waste dumping, the people of Highlander have been part of some of the most significant movements in this country.
After the screening, we will be joined by special guests from the Highlander Research and Education Center as well as director Lucy Phenix to hear about how the stories in the documentary connect to the work happening now!
Waging Change (
February 2021)
Our first featured film is "Waging Change". We will be joined by members of Service Industry Coalition Knoxville, and Restaurant Opportunity Center Music City, to hear about how restaurant workers are organizing here in Tennessee!
About "Waging Change" (from the website):
Waging Change, a new documentary featuring Saru Jayaraman, Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda, who have been working tirelessly for One Fair Wage, weaves together the female driven movements that reveal an American workers’ struggle hidden in plain sight-- the effort to end the federal tipped minimum wage of $2.13 for restaurant servers and bartenders and the #MeToo movement's efforts to end sexual harassment. The film shines a spotlight on the challenges faced by restaurant workers trying to feed themselves and their families by intertwining stories of individuals, such as Nataki Rhodes of Chicago, Andrea Velasquez of Detroit and Wardell Harvey of New Orleans with the growing movement to end the tipped minimum wage, spearheaded by One Fair Wage and the Restaurant Opportunities Centers (ROC-United). Directed by Peabody award winner, Abby Ginzberg, Waging Change helps all consumers see the important role they have to play in ending this two-tiered wage system.