Posted by Pinky.
Bunny and I are super excited that a new documentary about the Freedom Riders (Freedom Riders, 113 min, Stanley Nelson, 2009) just debuted at the Sundance Film Festival. They've been written about a lot but I hope this film will bring the story to a wider audience. It's important to learn how ordinary people have challenged injustice at different moments in history, to understand what worked and what didn't work and why - otherwise The Wheel has to be reinvented over and over again.
Democracy Now! did a segment on the new film: here:
In our most recent video we used the phrase class treason a lot. Thinking about the Freedom Riders, I think it is important to consider how history might have been different if only black people were Freedom Riders. Or only white people. Why did it have to be black and white people? And also male and female - why was that important? It brings me back to the question of whether or not we can expect change if the oppressed are left to fight for freedom all by themselves.
Take care,
pinky
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Posted by Bunny: I love the 2nd half - the interview with the two old guys. I think most young people in America aren’t often given a chance to learn from their elders. They aren't raised to think about commitment, sacrifice, solidarity, strategy or anything else meaningfully related to politics and power. As far as I can tell young people in the U.S. are schooled to believe that making society better is the responsibility of politicians, corporations, and famous people. ]
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Posted by Bunny: Another must-see: The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers. I'm expecting this one to be good too. ]