Video

As a prelude to Zinn’s new illustrated “A People’s History of American Empire”, this animated short gives a brief overview of American imperialism since the nation’s beginnings utilizing Zinn’s personal experiences since WWII as a lens for examining these events.

Shot in the cold month of January, this film focuses on the growing Latino population in post-Katrina New Orleans. Largely ignored by mainstream media, this film addresses not only the Latino reconstruction contribution of N O L A, but also the difficulties many Latino workers face in the recovering city. Issues such as Black/Brown relationships, racial tensions, racism, wage-theft, police brutality, worker exploitation, on-job injuries, worker organizing and resistance, and cultural assimilation are discussed in the film.

In August 2006, almost one year after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, survivors sit down and talk about their experiences of fighting for survival in the days following the disaster and how their lives have progressed since returning to New Orleans. Providing accounts of living in a city whose populace has largely been forgotten, the survivors give a stinging description of a slow reconstruction process that is ignoring the human cost of rebuilding. Down But Not Out shows the people directly affected by the fallout from Hurricane Katrina, and lets those who experienced it tell the stories themselves.

This is a short clip from Anarchism in America, a film by Steven Fischler and Joel Sucher. This segment includes a short portion of a rare interview with legendary anarchist Emma Goldman and a brief summary of the immigrant anarchists who made the movement so vibrant and powerful. In the full documentary Fischler and Sucher take a road trip to map anarchism as a distinctly American tradition, interviewing a diverse cast of characters: from “ordinary” truckers and farmers to famous anarchists like Kenneth Rexroth, Ursula LeGuin, and Murray Bookchin.

The American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) initiated a one-day strike at all University of California campuses in April of 2005. The impact of the strike at the UC Santa Cruz campus was especially strong due to the support the union received from the student body. Together students and workers physically shut down the campus for hours as thousands blocked the two entrances. Blending interviews with custodians and dining hall workers and on-the-ground footage at the picket line, Estamos Aquí gives an inside look at the historic events of April 14, 2005 and the militancy of UCSC students and workers that made the strike successful. This is a film by Colectivo Media Insurgente.

David Rees’ popular comic “Get Your War On” has been turned into an online animated series. Here’s the first episode entitled “The Watch List”.

Legendary labor singer and IWW activist Utah Phillips died peacefully in his sleep on May 23, 2008. Labor Beat celebrates his memory with clips from their video archives over 20 years.

Naomi Klein’s speech attacking Obama’s ‘anti-war’ stance at the National Conference for Media reform was not included on the conference website. subMedia (submedia.tv) got a hold the video and put it on their site, so we thought it would be nice to distribute it as well.

We were saddened to learn of the death of George Carlin. He was one of our favorite comedians due to his incredibly astute (albeit sometimes obscene) societal observations. We’ll miss ya.

A trailer for the upcoming 2008 R.N.C. protests.

Since Hurricane Katrina emptied New Orleans of its residents, a battle has been waged over the future of the city. The struggle over what the “New” New Orleans will look like and who will return to live here largely depends on the future of the city’s public housing developments – and this week is a crucial showdown in that fight.

People & Power, a news-feature on Al-Jazeera English, questions the shifting balances of power between the West and the Middle East, focusing on Iran as an emerging regional power. This clip offers interesting insight into the economic war quietly being waged beneath alleged War on Terror and the reasons we may not see any downward trajectory anytime soon. To top it off, the segment ends with an interview with former-US Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton on the supposed economic and military threat of Iran.

Alfonso Cuarón, director of “Children of Men”, and Naomi Klein, author of “No Logo”, present a short film from Klein’s book “The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism.”