New England Tour - Yale University

Following two wonderful days at Brown, we drove down to New Haven to screen Made in L.A. at Yale University. The event was sponsored by the Initiative on Labor and Culture and the Program in Ethnicity, Race and Migration, whose director Prof. Stephen Pitti was our wonderful host (despite the fact that he was on sabbatical -thank you Steve!).

The moment I entered the screening room, I received a huge hug from Unidad Latina organizer Fátima Rojas, who had seen Made in L.A. on PBS in September. That was moving, and it was a beautiful reminder of how many people may have seen or been impacted by the film without our even knowing...

The panel discussion following the screening was moderated by Professor Jennifer Klein and included Fatima and Juan Granados, from Unidad Latina en Acción, and Elizabeth Breton from the UNITE-HERE Joint Laundry Board. It was moving to be able to hear a deep discussion of the human and local issues that stem from the film, and I wrote down a few sentences that touched me, to share here:

"Many times we feel very small but when we are organized we lose our fear" - Juan
"I was waiting for the American dream to come knock on my door and say ‘come join me', but it never happened" - Elisabeth.
"Everyone living in a community, all of us, at the end of the day, we are all workers" -Fatima.

Fear. Unity. Hope. These are the three words I wrote on my pad to remember from that night.

This panel was a great example of how the film can help bring together students, academics, community members, activists and workers! As a result of the event, Unidad Latina has shown the film in New Haven today, May 1st, during the day of action "La Unidad hace la Fuerza. In Unity there is Strength". For more info click here or write ULAccion@yahoo.com.

We also just heard from Professor Klein about a successful union organizing drive at a laundry plant near New Haven (click here for more info). Exciting news!

Here's a group photo of everyone involved, with Made in L.A. flyers: Left to right, bottom to top: Alfonso Santiago with little Ambar, a student, Juan Granados, Fátima Rojas, Elizabeth Bretón, Michael Denning, me, Jennifer Klein, Steve Pitti and Robert.