1959 Highlander Way · New Market, TN 37820 · phone: (865) 933-3443 · fax: (865) 933-3424
e-mail: hrec@highlandercenter.org

At the River I Stand - Directors David Appleby, Alison Graham and Steven Ross. 58 minutes. 1993. English version only.

This video chronicles a critical climax in the African American Civil Rights Movement, a two month period in Memphis in the spring of 1968. Memphis' 1,300 sanitation workers, a low paid African American work force, struck for higher wages and union recognition, and for dignity and respect. Civil rights leaders and the Black community mobilized behind the workers. Martin Luther King, Jr. came to Memphis as part of his Poor People's Campaign to expand the civil rights agenda to include the economy and, in his second trip there, was assassinated. This is a powerful film showing the grit and determination of ordinary people caught up in the Civil Rights Movement in the southern United States. Available from California Newsreel at www.newsreel.org. Home use $29.95, $49.95 for selected organizations, $199.95 list price

La Ciudad - David Riker. 88 minutes. 1999. English version or Spanish version with English subtitles.

This film tells four stories of immigrant experiences in New York City. Filmed in black and white, it is a powerful way to begin to understand the many difficulties faced by immigrants to this country. To order, contact Zeitgeist Films, www.zeitgeistfilms.com. See the PBS web page, www.pbs.org/itvs/thecity, for interesting stories and tools, including an immigration quiz and fact sheet. Institutional price is $195 (VHS only). Copies for home use can be ordered at www.amazon.com.

Dialogues for an Inclusive Democracy - Southern Regional Council. 7-½ minutes. 2002. English version only.

This short video provides a wide cross-section of comments from African American and Latino leaders about the changing demographics of this region in light of recent increases in immigration. Southern activists share views about the need for alliance building across these two populations, as well as tensions and divisions to be overcome. This video conveys a number of ideas in a concise format and is a great tool to help groups initiate strategic conversations around coalition building and across race and ethnicity in the southern United States. Available from the Highlander Bookstore at www.highlandercenter.org/r-bookstore.asp. $19.95

Echando Raices/Taking Root: Immigrant and Refugee Communities in California, Texas and Iowa - American Friends Service Committee. 60 minutes. 2002. English or Spanish version.

This is a production of the American Friends Service Committee and community partners working on immigrant rights. Stories and reflections from immigrants and refugees are woven with scenes of immigrants in Fresno and Stockton, California; Houston, Texas, and Des Moines, Iowa. There are also very good ideas and information in an accompanying study guide. Available from the Highlander Bookstore at www.highlandercenter.org/r-bookstore.asp or through American Friends Service Committee at www.takingroot.org.

Eyes on the Prize I - Henry Hampton. Blackside Films. 1987. Six one-hour-long segments, black and white. English version only.

This six-part series about the civil rights movement in the South was done in 1987. Widely acclaimed, it covers much of the "messy history" of this period. Though this video is available from Amazon.com, it is still quite expensive. However, you should also be able to find it through public and university libraries.

From the Mountains to the Maquiladoras - Tennessee Economic Renewal Network. 25 minutes. 1993. English version only.

In 1991, the Tennessee Economic Renewal Network (formerly the Tennessee Industrial Renewal Network or TIRN) conducted a Worker Exchange Project with members of the Committee Fronterizo de Obreras (CFO, or Border Committee of Women Workers), an association of women who work in "maquiladoras," factories on the US/Mexican border near Matamoras, Mexico. The video documents the trip of nine Tennessee women, primarily factory workers, to this area. It includes their conversations with CFO members, a visit to a "colonia" where workers live, and an interview with the manager of a General Motors plant. It provides a look at the realities of life in the Maquiladora region while demonstrating the importance of worker-to-worker exchanges in our increasingly global economy. Available from the Highlander Bookstore at www.highlandercenter.org/r-bookstore.asp. $15.00

The Intolerable Burden - Directed by Chea Prince; produced by Constance Curry. English version only.

This film tells the inspiring story of Mrs. Bertha Mae Carter and her family's victory over a segregated school system in Mississippi. Mrs. Carter and her husband, Matthew, enrolled the youngest eight of their thirteen children in the public schools in Drew, Mississippi. Through their powerful witness, these ordinary sharecroppers change the status quo in Drew. The Carters provide an important example in understanding how ordinary Black people can change a violent, powerful, white supremacist system. It brings this history into the present as it also explores re-segregation and the growth of the prison population in the US. Available from First Run/Icarus Films, www.frif.com.

Long Journey Home - Directed by Elizabeth Barret, Appalshop. 58 minutes. 1987. English version only.

This is a great video for new immigrants to the U.S. to learn more about Appalachian migration and economic history. It details the ethnic diversity of Appalachia and chronicles both the in-migration of immigrants and African Americans to the growing coal camps in the early twentieth century and the enormous out-migration in the 1950's as mechanization took coal mining jobs. "Long Journey Home is an important film for anyone contemplating the past and future of the American economy and the toll industrial capitalism takes on individuals, families, and communities." Available from Appalshop, www.appalshop.org.

Morristown Video Letters: Stories from the Grassroots About Globalization - Ann Lewis. 60 minutes. 2000. English or Spanish versions.

In Tennessee, Mexico and on the US/Mexican border, workers talk about life, work, disappointment and hope. Common threads in these accounts - poverty, migration, insecurity, exploitation, the need to organize - offer a working class critique of globalization. These video letters are meant to be used a few at a time, together with discussion, for popular education and organizing. Available from the Highlander Bookstore at www.highlandercenter.org/r-bookstore.asp. $20.00 DVD

The New Americans - Kartemquin Films. Three parts, seven hours total. 2004. English version only. An independent lens special presentation.

"What does the American dream look like through the eyes of today's immigrants and refugees?" From Nigeria, India, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, and the Israeli-occupied West Bank, they come with different dreams: to achieve athletic glory or high-tech riches, to escape poverty and persecution, to provide for their families. This seven-hour, three-part series follows these newcomers from their homelands through their first years in America. Available from PBS at www.pbs.org/newamericans; home video copies can be ordered by calling 888-572-8918. Educational materials to accompany the film are available at www.activevoice.net.

The Shadow of Hate: A History of Intolerance in America - Charles Guggenheim, Teaching Tolerance. 40 minutes. 1995. English version only.

A good historical chronology that examines the connection between immigration and intolerance in this country. "The Shadow of Hate" spans three centuries to examine this country's ongoing struggle to live up to its ideals of liberty, equality and justice for all. Documentary footage and eyewitness reports guide viewers through centuries of US racial and religious intolerance. Available from Teaching Tolerance at www.tolerance.org. $20.00 for kit

The Sixth Section - Alex Rivera. 27 minutes. 2003. English version only.

This video "captures a dynamic form of cross-border organizing through the efforts of Grupo Unión, a small band of Mexican immigrants in upstate New York devoted to raising money to rebuild the town they left behind." Additional information, stories and links around this form of cross-border organizing can be found on the PBS website at www.pbs.org. "The Sixth Section" can be ordered from SubCine at www.subcine.com. University/library/institution price $175, plus $10 shipping and handling; community/grassroots price $75, plus $10 shipping and handling; home use $29.95, plus $10 shipping and handling.

Underground Railroad in Mexico - Curtis Muhammad, Colorline Project. 2004. Spanish version with English subtitles.

This video documents stories of people of African descent living in Mexico, a racial history rarely discussed and acknowledged. The video shares dances and other cultural aspects of daily life of what some call an Afro-Mestizo culture among communities on the Mexican Pacific coast. The goal is to help "Latinos and African Americans come to see themselves in each other." This is part of an on-going project to build alliances between people of color in the Americas. For further information and copies of the video contact Curtis Muhammad, national organizer for the Colorline Project at curtismuhammad@earthlink.net or 504-236-4703.

Uprooted: Refugees of the Global Economy - National Network of Immigrant and Refugee Rights (NNIRR). 28 minutes. 2002. English or Spanish versions.

The film presents three stories of immigrants who left their homes in Bolivia, Haiti and the Philippines after global economic powers devastated their countries, only to face new challenges in the U.S. These powerful stories raise critical questions about U.S. immigration policy in an era when corporations also cross borders. All three stories show immigrants organizing for change. This video is great for helping people to understand some of the devastating reasons people are pushed to immigrate to the United States. Available from the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (NNIRR) Bridge Project, 310 8th Street, Suite 303; Oakland, CA 94607; (510) 465-1984; www.nnirr.org. $25.00

Desplazados en la Economía Global - Red Nacional para los Derechos de los Inmigrantes y Refugiados (NNIRR). 30 minutos. 2002. Inglés o Español.

El film presenta tres historias de inmigrantes que dejaron sus hogares en Bolivia, Haití, y las Filipinas luego de que los poderes económicos globales devastaron sus países, sólo para enfrentar nuevos desafíos en los Estados Unidos. Estas poderosas historias dan lugar a preguntas cruciales acerca de la política de inmigración de los EEUU en una era en que las empresas cruzan las fronteras sin obstáculo alguno" (NNIRR) Estas tres historias muestran como los inmigrantes se organizan para impulsar el cambio. Este video es estupendo para ayudar a la gente a entender algunas de las devastadoras razones por las cuales las personas se ven forzadas a inmigrar a los Estados Unidos. Available from the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (NNIRR) Bridge Project, 310 8th Street, Suite 303; Oakland, CA 94607; (510) 465-1984; www.nnirr.org. $25.00

Viva la Causa: 500 Years of Chicano History - Southwest Organizing Project. Double video (Part One and Part Two, 30 minutes each). 1995. English or Spanish versions.

Part One of the video depicts Mexican Americans from their pre-Columbian origins through Spanish colonization, the 1848 US takeover of today's Southwest, the people's resistance, workers creating great wealth, and their massive strikes up to World War II.

Part Two includes the 1943 "Zoot Suit Riots" and early efforts to fight discrimination, the farm workers' struggle, student protests, the Chicano Moratorium against the US war in Vietnam, and new Chicano art. Today's Latino struggles bring the video up to date.

Available from the Southwest Organizing Project, www.swop.org, or he Highlander Bookstore at www.highlandercenter.org/r-bookstore.asp. $50.00

Viva la Causa: 500 Anos de la Historia Chicana - Southwest Organizing Project. Video Doble (Primer Parte y Segunda Parte, 30 minutos). 1995. Inglés o Español.

El Primer Parte del video representa a los Chicanos de sus origenes pre-Colombianas hasta la colonizacion espa-ola, la toma de poder del Sureste de hoy por los EE.UU. en 1848, la resistencia del pueblo, los trabajadores produciendo una gran riqueza, y sus huelgas masivos, hasta la Segunda Guerra Mundial.

La Segunda Parte incluye los "Zoot Suit Riots" (Disturbios de Trajes de Zoot) de 1943 y sus primeros esfuerzos de luchar en contra de la discriminacion, la lucha de los trabajadores agricolas, las protestas estudiantiles, la Moratoria Chicana en contra de la guerra estadounidense en Vietnam, y el arte chicano nuevo. Las luchas latinas de hoy lleva el video hasta el momento presente.

Available from the Southwest Organizing Project, www.swop.org, or he Highlander Bookstore at www.highlandercenter.org/r-bookstore.asp. $50.00

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