Madeline Anderson’s documentary brings viewers to the front lines of the civil rights movement during the 1969 Charleston hospital workers’ strike, when 400 poorly paid Black women went on strike to demand union recognition and a wage increase, only to find themselves in confrontation with the National Guard and the state government. Anderson personally participated in the strike, along with such notable figures as Coretta Scott King, Ralph Abernathy and Andrew Young, all affiliated with Martin Luther King’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Anderson’s film shows the courage and resiliency of the strikers and the support they received from the local black community. It is an essential filmed record of this important moment in the history of civil and women’s rights. The film is also notable as arguably the first televised documentary on civil rights directed by a woman of color, solidifying its place in American film history.
“More than a thousand of us went to jail during strike. As a matter of fact, it was like a badge of honor to go to jail. I was in jail twice. My kids were in jail too.”
A beautiful and tight ode to solidarity. Seeing so many people come together and take to the streets in support of overworked and underpaid black women hospital workers is great. Solidarity with a group of people that is oppressed and exploited on multiple levels - for being black, for being women, for being working class - on such a huge and effective scale is so good to see.
“More than a thousand of us went to jail during strike. As a matter of fact, it was like a badge of honor to go to jail. I was in jail twice. My kids were in jail too.”
A beautiful and tight ode to solidarity. Seeing so many people come together and take to the streets in support of overworked and underpaid black women hospital workers is great. Solidarity with a group of people that is oppressed and exploited on multiple levels - for being black, for being women, for being working class - on such a huge and effective scale is so good to see.
chloe donges
8.0★ · 05/13/24
ah yes police in riot gear disturbing peaceful protests..
ah yes police in riot gear disturbing peaceful protests..
sophiaPRO
10.0★ · 07/13/20
its ridiculous how much history is like ignored or not discussed that is so close and so recent
its ridiculous how much history is like ignored or not discussed that is so close and so recent
