Decade of Discontent - part 1 of 4 - 1960-70 Milwaukee Civil Rights Movement

Описание: What can we learn about contemporary urban problems from the 60s?
Are the conditions that led to the unrest in the 50s still present in 1994? The historical, video-documentary DECADE OF DISCONTENT examines these issues and more in a riveting look-back at the Milwaukee, Wisconsin civil rights movement.

Former Milwaukee alderman Vel Phillips, attorney Lloyd Barbee and the late Father James Groppi are featured leading the community in its efforts to come to grips with four major issues--unemployment, unequal education, police-black community relations and open housing.

The 60s footage that is used in the documentary includes comments from the late Robert Kennedy, Milwaukee police chief--Harold Breier, former Mayor Henry Maier, former senator Charles Percy, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Dick Gregory, and others.

DECADE OF DISCONTENT is the only video available that looks at this period through the eyes of the black community and its progressive white allies. The Milwaukee Journal in a 1981 critique of the documentary said "The documentary...does a first-rate job of telling the story of the black discontent that characterized the period." We might add, it is a valuable historical tool that needs to be preserved for future generations.

As problems in Wisconsin's urban areas continue to challenge us in the 90s, DECADE OF DISCONTENT contains valuable lessons and insights for all of us. Perhaps it's time that we look at it again and begin the long overdue dialogue between blacks and whites. If we are to avoid volatile social unrest in the 90s, then we must learn from the past~-not dismiss it or pretend that the problems don't exist. The issues then and now are real and affect us all.

DECADE OF DISCONTENT first aired in 1981 on the Wisconsin Educational Network as well as commercial TV stations in Green Bay

The documentary was originally funded in part by Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) funds contracted by the Governor's Employment and. Training' Office. WMTV-Channel 15 in Madison, WI provided thousands of dollars worth of in-kind filming and editing services. DECADE OF DISCONTENT is a Project Self-Help and Awareness Production. The executive producer is Chuck Taylor.

Length: 55:34

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