I Am Somebody (1970 film) explained
I Am Somebody |
Director: | Madeline Anderson |
Producer: | American Foundation of Non-Violence |
Editing: | Madeline Anderson |
Runtime: | 28 min. |
Country: | United States |
Language: | English |
I Am Somebody is a 1970 short political documentary by Madeline Anderson about black hospital workers on strike in Charleston, South Carolina. This was the first half-hour documentary film by an African-American woman in the film industry union.[1] This film is one of the first to link black women and the fight for civil rights.[2]
Summary
Four hundred black hospital and nursing home employees, all but 12 women, organize for higher pay and unionization for over 100 days in Charleston, South Carolina.[3] The film follows the efforts of the strikers as they receive help from Coretta Scott King and both praise and admonishment from the public, even capturing the National Guard's arrival to the strikes.[4] The documentary captures the workers' fight, considered "...one of the south’s most disruptive and bitter labor confrontations since the 1930s”, for recognition through the lens of an African-American women, and focuses on striker and mother Claire Brown.[5] With the help of thousands of inspired protestors, the efforts were ultimately successful.[6]
Production
Anderson was commissioned to create a documentary about the strike by the Hospital Workers Union Local 1199. She used archival footage and interviews with strikes and city officials.[7] Of the commission, Anderson recalls:Anderson shared an interest in fighting for equity: "I knew that the obstacles that were before me were based on gender, race and politics...I tried to make a film that reflected my experience through their eyes."[8] The film captures the events through a feminist's lens.
Reception and legacy
Civil rights leaders praised the film; Fannie Lou Hamer said "..this film packs a tremendous punch and is deeply moving at the same time."[9] Manohla Dargis of The New York Times called it a "a familiar story of social injustice and self-determination that relates to the larger civil rights movement even as it remains rooted in specific lives".[10]
In 2019, the film was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the United States National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[11] [12] [13]
In popular culture
Clips from the film appeared in a 2008 episode of The Colbert Report.[14]
External links
Further reading
- Martin. Michael T.. Madeline Anderson in Conversation: Pioneering an African American Documentary Tradition. Black Camera. 2013. 5. 1. 72–93. 10.2979/blackcamera.5.1.72. 10.2979/blackcamera.5.1.72. 143588614.
- BFC/A Documentaries on the Civil Rights and Black Nationalist Movements. Black Camera. 2007. 22. 1. 35–37. 27761694.
- Williams. John. DAUGHTERS OF THE DIASPORA: A Filmography of Sixty-Five Black Women Independent Film- and Video-Makers. Cinéaste. 1994. 20. 3. 41–42. 41687325.
- Warren, Shilyh. “Recognition on the Surface of Madeline Anderson’s I Am Somebody.” Signs, vol. 38, no. 2, 2013, pp. 353–378. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/667201, .
- Warren, Shilyh. Films for the Feminist Classroom. Film review: I Am Somebody. Directed by Madeline Anderson. Brooklyn: Icarus Films, (1969) 1999. 30 minutes. http://ffc.twu.edu/issue_4-2/rev_Shilyh%20Warren_4-2.html
- Cynthia A. Young, Soul Power: Culture, Radicalism, and the Making of a U.S. Third World Left. (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2006).
Notes and References
- Web site: Madeline Anderson, I Am Somebody (1969). Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society. 20 November 2012.
- Web site: Alternative Histories of Labor: "HSA Strike '75" and "I Am Somebody," Sep. 26 South Side Projections. southsideprojections.org.
- Web site: Madeline Anderson & I Am Somebody. Black Film Center/Archive. 15 January 2013.
- Web site: I am somebody [electronic resource] in SearchWorks]. searchworks.stanford.edu. 2014 . en.
- Book: Hawkesworth. Mary. Feminist Practices: Signs on the Syllabus. 2013. University of Chicago Press. 9780226172521. en.
- Web site: Cable Car Cinema & Cafe - Magic Lantern Cinema Presents: Black Celebration. www.cablecarcinema.com.
- Web site: I Am Somebody: Three Documentaries by Madeline Anderson. BAMPFA.
- Web site: Madeline Anderson – Civil Rights Movement. Augmented Society.
- Web site: I Am Somebody. icarusfilms.com.
- Web site: Dargis. Manohla. A Film Series Honors Black Women Directors. The New York Times. 27 January 2017.
- Chow . Andrew R. . December 11, 2019 . See the 25 New Additions to the National Film Registry, From Purple Rain to Clerks . Time . New York, NY . December 11, 2019.
- Web site: Women Rule 2019 National Film Registry. 2020-11-16. Library of Congress.
- Web site: Complete National Film Registry Listing . 2020-11-16. Library of Congress.
- Web site: Andrew Young - The Colbert Report. https://web.archive.org/web/20170314003306/http://www.cc.com/video-clips/xw3v9i/the-colbert-report-andrew-young. dead. March 14, 2017. Comedy Central. January 23, 2008 .