Strike City

STRIKE CITY, made by Tom Griffin and John Douglas, was filmed in Mississippi through the winter and spring of 1966. Six tractor drivers and their families were thrown off the plantation on which they had been working for $6 a day, because they were striking for higher wages. The film follows the families, who lived in tents through the winter, as they began to build their own homes. They were urging people in the surrounding Delta area to go to Washington to demand housing for the many, many others who needed decent and affordable housing. They put up tents across from the White House, hoping to bring the plight of the people of Mississippi before the nation and the world. The film was made with support from the Delta Ministry, the National Council of Churches, and Neighborhood Developers. It won a Blue Ribbon at the American Film Festival in 1967, and is still distributed by Third World Newsreel in New York City.