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If I Could Change the World

If I Could Change the World
Mon, 5/14/2012

Filmmaker Bianca Smith captures Occupy Los Angeles as they come from the north, south, east and west to converge into a Workers' Day celebration. "We are babysitters, nannies, we're gardeners, janitors, security guards," a woman shouts at a union rally. "We're all kinds of workers, and we demand respect!"

Marchers also share their visions of a more just world. "My version of a perfect society would be someplace where everyone has an equal opportunity to live up to their potential," a young man says. "I think that's the ideal place to live in."

Smith explains, "We had been anticipating for the May 1 General Strike (M1GS) for several weeks. Once the date got closer we held a couple meetings to talk about how we could cover all bases throughout the day. We knew that M1GS planned to flood the city in four "winds" (north, south, east, west) until the marches and caravans converged in Downtown LA. We created a camera team for each wind, composed solely of film students from The Los Angeles Film School, and we interviewed the likes of every culture and walk of life we could. Los Angeles is a city full of diversity and we wanted to capture that. There are a multitude of different types of people with a multitude of issues at hand to be dealt with.  We wanted to convey the spirit of people, and I think we're all very happy with the results. This is a beautiful movement with real momentum, and I believe the medium of film and internet can play a very important role in that.

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Article Tabs

Biden cared more about the appearance of having an independent DOJ untainted by politics than he did about holding an unrepentant criminal ex-president accountable.

The American people clearly spoke, and the drubbing Democrats received requires looking beyond just issue polls, voting patterns, campaign strategy, or get-out-the-vote tactics.

The recent decisions by two of the most influential national newspapers of record to not publish their endorsements of Vice President Kamala Harris says a lot about how seriously they take Trump’s threats to democracy and his promises of vengeance against his enemies.

On the eve of the historic November vote, it seems important to ask: What's wrong with men, how did we get here, and can we change this?

As Trump’s campaign grows increasingly bizarre, his team appears to be more tightly controlling his movements and carefully scripting his public appearances to minimize the negative impact his erratic behavior may have on undecided voters in swing states.

Biden cared more about the appearance of having an independent DOJ untainted by politics than he did about holding an unrepentant criminal ex-president accountable.

The country has never moved as close to the course it took under Benito Mussolini as it is doing now — and even if Meloni is not a neo-fascist politician, she has put herself in a position to appeal to and broaden fascism's political base.

The American people clearly spoke, and the drubbing Democrats received requires looking beyond just issue polls, voting patterns, campaign strategy, or get-out-the-vote tactics.

The recent decisions by two of the most influential national newspapers of record to not publish their endorsements of Vice President Kamala Harris says a lot about how seriously they take Trump’s threats to democracy and his promises of vengeance against his enemies.

On the eve of the historic November vote, it seems important to ask: What's wrong with men, how did we get here, and can we change this?

On the eve of the historic November vote, it seems important to ask: What's wrong with men, how did we get here, and can we change this?

Posted 1 month 2 weeks ago

Throughout history, fascist governments have had a similar reliance on the use of lies as a weapon to take and retain power.

Posted 1 month 3 weeks ago

The recent decisions by two of the most influential national newspapers of record to not publish their endorsements of Vice President Kamala Harris says a lot about how seriously they take Trump’s threats to democracy and his promises of vengeance against his enemies.

Posted 1 month 1 week ago

The American people clearly spoke, and the drubbing Democrats received requires looking beyond just issue polls, voting patterns, campaign strategy, or get-out-the-vote tactics.

Posted 3 weeks 5 days ago

As Trump’s campaign grows increasingly bizarre, his team appears to be more tightly controlling his movements and carefully scripting his public appearances to minimize the negative impact his erratic behavior may have on undecided voters in swing states.

Posted 1 month 2 weeks ago

The country has never moved as close to the course it took under Benito Mussolini as it is doing now — and even if Meloni is not a neo-fascist politician, she has put herself in a position to appeal to and broaden fascism's political base.

The American people clearly spoke, and the drubbing Democrats received requires looking beyond just issue polls, voting patterns, campaign strategy, or get-out-the-vote tactics.