Michael Moore Gets ‘People’s Oscar’
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The Metropolitan Washington (D.C.) Council, AFL-CIO and the American Film Institute in Silver Spring, Md., co-sponsored last night’s showing of “Capitalism: A Love Story,” Michael Moore’s fantastic new documentary that some of us were fortunate to see at its U.S. premier in Pittsburgh during the AFL-CIO Convention. Below is a cross-post from the central labor council.
Calling it “The People’s Oscar,” Michael Moore (left) enthusiastically accepted the Tony Mazzocchi Labor Arts Award at last night’s D.C. preview of his new film Capitalism: A Love Story. “I knew Tony and he was a remarkable man,” an obviously touched Moore said after being presented with the award by DC Labor FilmFest Co-Chairs Jos Williams and Mark Dudzic, “this really means a lot to me.” (Mazzocchi, president of the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers Union, was a driving force in establishing the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration in 1970.)
The Revolution Will Be Twittered
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How appropriate Michael Moore premiered “Capitalism: A Love Story” in Pittsburgh this week, to coincide with our 26th AFL-CIO Convention. Moore, in an action spearheaded by the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee (CNA/NNOC), marched with AFL-CIO delegates to the movie theater, and afterward, encouraged all of us to sponsor it in theaters throughout the country, because, as he says at the end of the film, he needs help to spark the populist revolution.
He’ll have a great partner with the new leadership of the AFL-CIO. Late yesterday, delegates elected Richard Trumka president, Liz Shuler, secretary-treasurer, and re-elected Arlene Holt Baker executive vice president. The team is a mini-revolution in itself: It’s the first time the top leadership of the AFL-CIO includes two women, and Shuler, 39, is the youngest-ever unionist ever to hold so high a position in the labor movement.
CNA/NNOC Hosts Moore’s ‘Capitalism: A Love Story’ for AFL-CIO Convention
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Pittsburgh isn’t just hosting the AFL-CIO Convention next week: The city also will host a special showing of Michael Moore’s latest documentary, “Capitalism: A Love Story,” Monday night.
Moore, who most recently directed “Sicko,” now turns his lens on the U.S. financial and economic crisis. On Monday, Sept. 14, following the second day of the AFL-CIO Convention, AFL-CIO delegates and guests will get a chance to see the film.
Rose Ann DeMoro, executive director of the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee (CNA/NNOC), says that the film is:
the best major labor film in years…an unabashed advocacy of working people and critique of an unjust system and the financial misdeeds that have led to the gravest economic crisis since the Great Depression.
CNA’s Donna Smith, National Organization of Women’s 2009 Woman of Action
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Donna Smith, a community organizer and legislative representative for the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee (CNA/NNOC), was recently honored as the National Organization for Women’s (NOW’s) 2009 Woman of Action.
Smith first came to the public’s attention in Michael Moore’s 2007 movie, “SICKO.” Despite having health insurance and even a health savings account, Donna and her husband Larry were forced to move into their daughter’s basement after being unable to pay staggering health care costs—and were left in financial ruin.
Donna’s husband, Larry, suffered three heart attacks and Donna was diagnosed and treated for uterine cancer. There is even a scene in the movie “SICKO” where Michael Moore takes Donna to Cuba to get the necessary treatment their insurance wouldn’t pay for.
