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028 52 1062799|bKanopy
035 (OCoLC)897768016
040 UtOrBLW|beng|erda|cUtOrBLW
043 n-us-tn
099 Streaming Video Kanopy
245 00 At the river I stand.|h[Kanopy electronic resource]
264 1 [San Francisco, California, USA] :|bKanopy Streaming,
|c2014.
300 1 online resource (1 video file, approximately 56 min.) :
|bdigital, .flv file, sound
336 two-dimensional moving image|btdi|2rdacontent
337 computer|bc|2rdamedia
338 online resource|bcr|2rdacarrier
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500 Title from title frames.
518 Originally produced by California Newsreel in 1993.
520 At the river I stand: the 1968 Memphis sanitation workers
strike and the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King
Memphis, Spring 1968 marked the dramatic climax of the
Civil Rights movement. At the River I Stand skillfully
reconstructs the two eventful months that transformed a
strike by Memphis sanitation worker into a national
conflagration, and disentangles the complex historical
forces that came together with the inevitability of
tragedy at the death of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This
58-minute 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, the demand for full inclusion of
African Americans in American life and the fight for
dignity for public employees and all working people. In
the 1960s, Memphis' 1,300 sanitation workers formed the
lowest caste of a deeply racist society, earning so little
they qualified for welfare. 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.
Through stirring historical footage we see the community
mobilizing behind the strikers, organizing mass
demonstrations and an Easter boycott of downtown
businesses. The national leadership of AFSCME put the
international union's full resources behind the strike.
One day, a placard appeared on the picket lines which in
its radical simplicity summed up the meaning of the strike
: "I am a man." In March, Martin Luther King, Jr. came to
Memphis as part of his Poor People's Campaign to expand
the civil rights agenda to the economy. The film recreates
the controversies between King's advisors, local leaders,
and younger militants - debates that led to open conflict.
When young hotheads turned King's protest march into a
violent confrontation with the brutal Memphis policy, King
left. King and the nation realized his leadership and
nonviolent strategy had been threatened. King felt obliged
to return to Memphis to resume a nonviolent march despite
the by-now feverish racial tensions. The film captures the
deep sense of foreboding that pervaded King's final "I
have been to the mountaintop" speech. The next day, April
4, 1968, he was assassinated. Four days later, thousands
from Memphis and around the country rallied to pull off
King's nonviolent march. The city council crumbled and
granted most of the strikers' demands. Those 1,300
sanitation workers had shown they could successfully
challenge the entrenched economic structure of the South.
Endemic inner-city poverty, attempts to roll back gains
won by public employees, and the growing gap between the
rich and the rest of us make clear that the issues Martin
Luther King, Jr. raised in his last days have yet to be
addressed. At the River I Stand succeeds in showing that
the causes of (and possibly the solutions to) our present
racial quandary may well be found in what happened in
Memphis. Its riveting portrait of the grit and
determination of ordinary people will inspire viewers to
re-dedicate themselves to racial and economic justice.
Producer David Appleby began making and producing
documentaries 30 years ago with his first film, Remains
(1979). His independent and collaborative film work has
earned him a Peabody Award, a duPont-Columbia Award, three
CINE Golden Eagle awards, as well as a regional Emmy and a
national Emmy nomination. He is currently a professor at
the University of Memphis. Other titles by the producer:
Hoxie: The first stand a professor of media studies in the
Department of Communication at The University of Memphis,
Allison Graham currently researches and teaches American
culture, and media. Her work spans documentary film
production, journalism, and scholarly publication, for
which she has received several national awards,
international and national grants, and an Emmy nomination.
Steven Ross writes, produces, and directs documentary and
fiction films. He is currently a Communications professor
at the University of Memphis. His films have been
broadcasted on PBS, the Arts and Entertainment Network,
and have been screened at several international film
festivals.
538 Mode of access: World Wide Web.
600 10 King, Martin Luther,|cJr.,|d1929-1968.
610 20 AFSCME.
650 0 Sanitation Workers Strike, Memphis, Tenn., 1968.
650 0 Assassination|zTennessee|zMemphis.
650 0 Employees|zTennessee|zMemphis.
650 0 Documentary films.
655 7 Documentary films.|2lcgft
700 1 Appleby, David,|eproducer.
710 2 Kanopy (Firm)
856 40 |uhttps://naperville.kanopy.com/node/62800|zAvailable on
Kanopy
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image