FILMS
The Old Oak. The main characters in this artfully done feature film by Ken Loach include the owner of the struggling pub in a poor town in northern England and a Syrian refugee who has become an amateur photographer in order to cope. For generations, coal mining families in the town were proud of their work and their union, but there was no plan for them when the mines closed down and their community was left in poverty. When the government chooses to resettle Syrian refugees there, some residents blame the newcomers for their problems, while others find common ground.
Rez Ball. A Native American director and scriptwriter teamed up to produce this exceptional feature film about teenagers and their families on a reservation in New Mexico. A former WNBA professional basketball player from the rez has come home to coach a boys high school team that faces an unexpected challenge off the court.
Suro. In this intense and complex drama, a young couple in Catalonia leaves the city with big plans for the cork tree plantation they have inherited. Their relationship and their ideals are challenged by the realities of the dangerous and exploitative conditions the plantation workers face.
Between Two Worlds. An established French journalist gets work as a cleaning lady on a large ferry boat in order to get material for a book on how economic survival has become more precarious for many working class people. In the process, the people she is writing about become real to her and she learns more about class than she expected.
Driver. It’s estimated that half of today’s truck drivers are so-called owner operators who bear all of the risk of financing and maintaining their vehicle while often reaping little of the reward. This documentary shows a leader of the independent group, Real Women in Trucking, who uses an app of a “logistics” broker to find loads to haul, often in competition with other drivers to see who will do the work for less. She pays unaffordable fees to a leasing company for her truck. Many drivers live in their trucks because they can’t afford to maintain both their vehicle and a home. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, half of truck drivers are over the age of 46, less than 7% are women, and the average full-time income is $43,252 annually,
Skin of Glass. The filmmaker’s father designed a glass skyscraper in São Paulo, Brazil. Years later, the building, like many in the city’s downtown, was taken over by hundreds of homeless families who had nowhere else to go.
BOOKS
The Greatest Indian Stories Ever Told edited by Arunava Sinha (Aleph). Fifty short stories by writers in India from the 19th century to the present add up to a fascinating view of life there, mostly from the point of view of working class people.
Dendrites by Kallia Papadaki (World Editions). Several generations of Greek immigrants struggle to reach the American dream in Camden, NJ and to care for each other in this sensitive novel.
Devils Island by Midge Raymond and John Yunker (Oceanview). Every character has their own agenda and nothing is what it seems in this clever whodunit mystery novel set on an island off the coast of Tasmania.
Private Revolutions by Yuan Yang (Viking). Many U.S. politicians speak of “China” as if it were a monolith whose 1.4 billion people all have the same interests and enemies. This book by a native-born journalist who spent seven years following the lives of four young women, including a labor activist, paints a very different picture. She shows a country where inequality of wealth, privilege, and power is growing rapidly to the benefit of global corporations, many of them based in the U.S. Meanwhile, Chinese workers are told that they must compete with each other to avoid “falling off the ladder” into greater economic insecurity.
People, Power, Change by Marshall Ganz (Oxford University). This road map for community organizing, grounded in a wide range of practical experiences, will be useful both for veteran organizers and for anyone who wants to help create a better world but isn’t sure where to start.
Life and Death of the American Worker by Alice Driver (One Signal). Virtually every time a resident of America eats a meal they are benefiting from the exploitation of immigrant workers. A reporter in Arkansas spent four years going deep into the lives of immigrants who process chickens for Tyson at the cost of their health, their basic human rights, and in many cases their lives.
Vigilante Nation by Jon Michaels and David Noll (One Signal). Corporate-backed politicians in red states are enacting an agenda that takes away the rights of those who already have the least power, wealth, and privilege. Their agenda cannot be opposed only by relying on local or federal elections or hoping some companies will take a stand. Instead, blue states need to take bold action both to protect rights and quality of life within their own borders and to put economic pressure on red state officials.
A.I. Snake Oil by Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor (Princeton). Two computer scientists provide a simple explanation of the different types of artificial intelligence and A.I.’s beneficial uses and pitfalls. One focus is on how, despite claims by some corporations, A.I. cannot accurately predict the future – which job applicant will be a good fit, which individual is likely to commit a crime, which insurance customer will be most profitable, etc.
The Education Wars by Jennifer C. Berkshire and Jack Schneider (New Press). As profiteers and politicians join forces to undermine public schools, those who want to preserve and improve public education have to figure out how to build support rather than driving voters into the arms of their opponents.
Dismantling Mass Incarceration edited by Premal Dharia, James Forman Jr., and Maria Hawilo (FSG). While many books have described how mass incarceration is unjust and neither humane nor effective, this collection of essays grapples with ways to start changing the system. Sections discuss possible changes involving police, prosecutors, public defenders, judges, prisons, and post-incarceration programs.
Blue Collar Empire by Jeff Schuhrke (Verso). In every generation of U.S. union leaders there are some who advocate joining forces with working people in other countries while others support the corporate-dominated foreign policy of the U.S. government. An historian describes how this divide played out in the period from 1945 to 1995, with some union officials accepting money and other perks to coordinate agendas with the State Department and the CIA while others refused.
The Littlest Turtle by Lysa Mullady (Magination). A short book for young children with big illustrations and minimal text tells the story of turtles who learn to share.
The Voices of Nature by Nicolas Mathevon (Princeton). The world of mammals, birds, reptiles, and other beings is full of fascinating examples of communication, even though scientists are still hard at work trying to figure out what is being said or why.
MUSIC
The Breath Between by David Francey. A Scottish-born Canadian carpenter draws on his experiences as a working man in his songs.
Tom Prasada-Rao. The best known work by this singer, who died this year, is “$20 Bill,” a response to the killing of George Floyd.
Chestnut Mare by Paula Fong. Includes a poignant song about her brother who committed suicide when she was 19.