If I Had A Hammer

Contents:

SECTION I: INTRO

Through the songs and stories of Pete Seeger and other active participants, If I Had A Hammer demonstrates how history is the shared progress of ordinary and extraordinary people working together toward common goals. With an innovative mix of documentary footage, personal stories and the songs that helped shape each era, a lively and engaging history of major US social movements is portrayed.

If I Had A Hammer follows the struggles for expanded civil rights and freedoms in the US using Pete Seeger's life and music as a guide. Profiles of individual activists included throughout the film exemplify how ordinary citizens just like those viewing help shape our society. This program empowers the viewer to involve themselves in the political process and make his or her voice and ideas heard.

The movements and individuals profiled are:

SECTION II: LABOR

Labor and Unions

Song: Union Maid (Guthrie)

Profile: Vicki Starr (Stella Nowicki). Ms. Starr helped organize 25,000 Chicago packinghouse workers into a union in the late 1930's, and was later featured in the 1970's Academy Award-nominated film Union Maids.

SECTION III: Anti-communism

SECTION IV: Civil Rights

Civil Rights Movement

Song: We Shall Overcome (Horton, Hamilton, Carawan, Seeger)

Profile: Dorothy Cotton. Ms. Cotton helped design and run Freedom Schools/Citizenship Schools to teach literacy to African-American adults so they could pass poll tests and register to vote. These schools have since served as global models for community-based adult education.

SECTION V: Peace Movement

Peace Movement

Song: Where Have All The Flowers Gone? (Seeger)

Profile: Philip Berrigan. This former Josephite priest has organized against war since the sixties and has been jailed numerous times for civil disobedience against nuclear weapons and war.

SECTION VI: Women's Rights

Women's Rights Movement

Song: I'm Going To Be An Engineer (Peggy Seeger)

Profile: Byllye Avery. This community organizer founded National Black Women's Health Project to support and educate black women around health issues, share health information and take action on local problems. Avery received a MacArthur Foundation "Genius" award in 1989.

SECTION VII: Environmental Movement

Environmental Movement

Song: Sailing Up, Sailing Down (Seeger)

Profile: Lois Gibbs. This housewife-turned-activist co-founded and was first president of the Love Canal Homeowners Association, formed in 1978 to fight for the cleanup of 200 tons of toxic waste in Love Canal, NY.

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