the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
Aug 5, 2024
Film: Two American Families: 1991–2024, streaming on PBS or on YouTube, 2024
This special, two-hour documentary was filmed over more than 30 years. It is a portrait of two families, one black, one white, in Milwaukee, done by Frontline, Bill Moyers, and filmmakers Tom Casciato and Kathleen Hughes. You see the racism the black family faced. You see both families willing to work hard and dreaming of a better life for their children. The film shows the economic decline over the last 30 years, no matter who’s president, and how the families had to fight from slipping into poverty. And you see the price both families had to pay.
Book: The Rent Collectors: Exploitation, Murder, and Redemption in Immigrant LA by Jesse Katz, 2024
This new book traces the life around MacArthur Park in Los Angeles County, California from 1980–2023. It is a book about struggling Latino immigrants, the appeal of the gangs to the young, sidewalk vending to survive, the role of the gangs in the community, but so much more.
This non-fiction narrative traces the lives of individuals caught up in actual events, such as an accidental gang killing of a newborn. But the author repeatedly steps back from the events and gives the reader the historical and familial context of a refugee from El Salvador, the plight of women refugees fighting for their families, or incredibly damning statistics of the California prison system. The book focuses on specific events but never neglects the big picture.