Films

10,000 Black Men Named George

Film. By Robert Townsend. 2002. 89 minutes. Docudrama about A. Philip Randolph and the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the first Black labor union in the United States.
Themes: African American, Labor, Organizing, Racism & Racial Identity
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40 Years Later: Now Can We Talk?

Film. By Lee Anne Bell and Markie Hancock. 2013. This DVD and discussion guide offer a powerful way to engage students, teachers, and community groups in honest dialogue about the ongoing problems of racism and what we can do to address them.
Time Periods: People’s Movement: 1961 - 1974
Themes: African American, Civil Rights Movements, Racism & Racial Identity
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Act of War: The Overthrow of the Hawaiian Nation

Film. By Na Maka o ka `Aina. 1993. 58 min. A comprehensive documentary that focuses on the events surrounding the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy in 1893.
Time Periods: 19th Century, Industrial Revolution: 1877 - 1899
Themes: Democracy & Citizenship, Pacific Islander, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements
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Alcatraz Is Not an Island

Film. By James M. Fortier. 2001. 60 min. Documentary on a small group of Native American students and “Urban Indians” who occupied Alcatraz Island in November 1969, and how it forever changed the way Native Americans viewed themselves, their culture and their sovereign rights.
Time Periods: People’s Movement: 1961 - 1974
Themes: Civil Rights Movements, Native American
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Anne Braden: Southern Patriot

Film. Produced by Anne Lewis. 75 min. 2012. Documentary about Southern activist Anne Braden.
Time Periods: 20th Century
Themes: Civil Rights Movements, Labor, Social Class, Women's History
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Banished

Film. Center for Investigative Reporting and Two Tone Productions. 2007. 84 minutes. Filmmaker Marco Williams examined four examples of primarily white communities violently rising up to force their African-American neighbors to flee town.
Time Periods: 19th Century, Cold War: 1945 - 1960, People’s Movement: 1961 - 1974
Themes: African American
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Boycott

Film. By Clark Johnson. 2001. 120 min. Dramatic account of the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
Time Periods: 20th Century, Cold War: 1945 - 1960
Themes: African American, Civil Rights Movements, Organizing, Racism & Racial Identity
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Bread and Roses

Film. By Ken Loach. 2001. 106 min. A compelling, fictionalized account of an actual labor campaign in Los Angeles.
Time Periods: 21st Century, 2001 - Present
Themes: Immigration, Labor, Latinx, Organizing
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Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin

Film. Produced by Nancy Kates and Bennett Singer. 2002. 83 min. Documentary about the life of peace, labor, and civil rights activist Bayard Rustin.
Time Periods: 20th Century, Prosperity, Depression, & World War II: 1920 - 1944, Cold War: 1945 - 1960, People’s Movement: 1961 - 1974
Themes: African American, Civil Rights Movements, Labor, LGBTQ, Organizing
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Bullied: A Student, a School and a Case That Made History

Film. Southern Poverty Law Center. 2010. 40 minutes. This documentary shows the devastating impact of bullying on students, in this case a gay student who works with lawyers to win a precedent setting case to create a safe place for students in school.
Themes: Laws & Citizen Rights, LGBTQ
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Bus Riders Union

Film. Haskell Wexler. 2000. 86 minutes. The Los Angeles Bus Riders Union's triumphant struggle to win better service.
Time Periods: 20th Century, Post-Civil Rights Era: 1975 - 2000
Themes: Organizing
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This Changes Everything (Film)

Film. By Avi Lewis. 2015. 90 min. Seven portraits of communities on the front lines of the climate crisis.
Time Periods: 21st Century, 2001 - Present
Themes: Climate Justice, Environment, Economics
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Chief Joseph: “Account of His Trip to Washington, D.C.”

Film clip. Voices of a People's History. Dramatic reading of Chief Joseph's "Account of His Trip to Washington, D.C." (1879) by Q'Orianka Kilcher.
Time Periods: 19th Century, Industrial Revolution: 1877 - 1899
Themes: Environment, Democracy & Citizenship, Native American
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Chief Tecumseh: “Speech to the Osages”

Film clip. Voices of a People's History. Dramatic reading of Chief Tecumseh's "Speech to the Osages" (Winter 1811-1812) by Deepa Fernandes.
Time Periods: 19th Century, Early 19th Century: 1800 - 1849
Themes: Environment, Native American
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Chisholm ’72 – Unbought and Unbossed

Film. By Shola Lynch. 2004. 76 min. Documentary about Brooklyn Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm and her campaign to become the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee in 1972.
Time Periods: 20th Century, People’s Movement: 1961 - 1974
Themes: African American, Democracy & Citizenship, Women's History
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Chávez Ravine: A Los Angeles Story

Film. By Jordan Mechner. 2004. 26 minutes. A documentary about the politics and economics of land in the United States, based on the story of a Mexican American village razed in the 1950s to build Dodger Stadium.
Time Periods: 20th Century, Cold War: 1945 - 1960
Themes: Economics, Latinx, Social Class, Sports
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Cindy Sheehan: “It’s Time the Antiwar Choir Started Singing”

Film clip. Voices of a People's History. Dramatic reading of Cindy Sheehan's speech "It's Time the Antiwar Choir Started Singing" (2005) is read by Marisa Tomei and Staceyann Chin.
Time Periods: 21st Century, 2001 - Present
Themes: Democracy & Citizenship, Imperialism, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements, Women's History
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