FILM: "Fundi" The Story of Ella Baker

7pm, Monday, Dec 8
Vermont Workers' Center, 294 North Winsooki Ave, Burlington

Come join us on Monday, December 8th, 7pm, at the Vermont Workers' Center, 294 No Winooski Ave. We will be watching "Fundi." This 48 minute film is about the life and efforts of the great Civil Rights organizer Ella Baker. (full description below)

Come get acquainted with this great leader, in whose memory the Workers' Center has dedicated the upcoming Human Rights Conference, at UVM, on Saturday, December 13th (which is her birthday). Learn more and free registration at http://www.workerscenter.org/hrconference

This movie will kick off a series of gatherings at the Workers' Center; to include skill shares, talks, films, book discussions, music, dance, and food! Stay tuned January's schedule coming soon.

More info call the Workers' Center at 861-2877

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FUNDI: THE STORY OF ELLA BAKER reveals the instrumental role that Ella Baker, a friend and advisor to Martin Luther King, played in shaping the American civil rights movement. The dynamic activist was affectionately known as the Fundi, a Swahili word for a person who passes skills from one generation to another.

By looking at the 1960s from the perspective of Baker, the "godmother of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee," FUNDI adds an essential understanding of the U.S. civil rights movement.

First Run/Icarus Films is proud to re-release this landmark civil rights documentary with a new digibeta videomaster that has been digitally restored with enhanced audio and video.

"FUNDI, the powerful film account of Ella Baker's contributions, can enrich us immeasurably, adding depth and texture to our understanding of an important part of our past, inspiring us with examples of lives lived fully and purposefully." -Harvard Educational Review

"FUNDI fills a gap for those who know little of the history of the black struggle [and] is a compelling portrait of an extraordinary woman who has devoted her life to struggle and to the people who take part in it." -Harry Belafonte

"FUNDI does exactly what Ella Baker does: it gives us the courage to act on our own - and to affect the future." -Gloria Steinem

"FUNDI restores Ella Baker, the 'godmother of the SNCC,' to her place in the history of the civil rights movement. Rrecisely and elegantly executed... there's no pomposity, no false reverence - at least none that Baker herself can't cut right through." - Pat Aufderheide, for In These Times

2005 National Women's Studies Association Film Festival; Film of the Year, 1981 London Film Festival; Best of Category, 1981 San Francisco Film Festival; First Prize Winner, Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame (1981); 1981 CINE Golden Eagle Winner

International Women's Day Party March 8

On March 8, 1908, working women in the needle trade industry took to the streets of New York City demanding better working conditions, higher wages, shorter workdays and the overall improvement of women's lives in this country. This year, on the 100th anniversary of that historic march, commemorated since 1910 as International Women's Day, join the Vermont Workers' Center in honoring all the working women who have fought for social justice with a short film, a panel discussion about working women's struggles in Vermont, and a social with refreshments and live music by VWC's own group, the Wildcat Strikers.

6pm Screening of With Babies and Banners, which tells the story of the women who became the backbone of The Great General Motors Sit Down Strike of 1937 — the labor movement's key to the successful drive for industrial unionism and a better life for working Americans.

7pm Panel discussion on the history of organizing around women's economic issues in Vermont and the history of the Women's Union, led by Elaine McCrate, Economics Professor at UVM.

8pm Refreshments, socializing and live music by the official band of the Vermont Workers' Center, the Wildcat Strikers.

[ download flyer ]

CHILD-FRIENDLY EVENT

Social Justice Film Series: SIR NO SIR, Feb 8th

Social Justice Film Series, 7pm, Fri, Feb 8


Vermont Workers' Center Social Justice Film Series presents:
"SIR NO SIR"

7:00pm, Workers' Center, 294 N. Winooski Ave, Burlington. Free public event. This powerful film that tells the untold story of the massive movement within the military to end the Vietnam War. Sir No Sire is a feature-length documentary which focuses on the efforts by troops in the U.S. military during the Vietnam War to oppose the war effort by peaceful demonstration and subversion. It speaks mainly to veterans, but serves as a ready reminder to civilians that soldiers may oppose war as stridently as any civilian, and at greater personal peril.

On January 21, the Vermont Workers' Center started there ongoing Social Justice Film Series with the powerful film "At The River I Stand" and then on January 25th played "SiCKO". Each film drew a couple of dozen local residents. After "Sir No Sir" the Social Justice Film Series presents "The Take" at 7pm on February 22nd.

More info: Call 861-2877 or email info [at]workerscenter.org

SiCKO film & discussion at UVM Nov. 14th

Film: SiCKO film and Panel discussion about establishing a universal health care system [POST EVENT NOTE: Huge turnout, 350+, great job to all the organizers!!]
6:00pm, Weds, Nov 14th
CC Theater (Billings Theater), University of Vermont, Burlington
Free Admission and Food

A film by Michael Moore about the US health care system. Audiences across the country have said this is Moore's best film by far and have found it to be a must-see hillarious and scathing scathing critique of the health care system of the richest country in the world. Panel discussion about stories from the frontlines of our healthcare system and steps toward establishing longterm solutions. Panel includes Dr. Deb Richter from Vermont Health Care For All, Jennifer Henry, RN and President of the Fletcher Allen nurses union, and Carmyn Stanko, President of the UVM Service & Maintenance Workers UE Local 267.

Hosted by the Student Labor Action Project (SLAP) and Vermont Workers' Center
Other sponsors include: UVM United Academics, Students Against War, International Socialist Organization, and UVM Progressives