Bread & Roses- Screening “City of Trees”
Date and Time
Jul 12, 2016 6:00 pm
Location
Takoma
235 Carroll St NW, Washington, District of Columbia, 20012
Jul 12, 2016 6:00 pm
Takoma
This Month:
Join us for a special Bread and Roses Screening of the film "City of Trees". Â
About the Film:
City of Trees is a deeply personal story about the struggle for good jobs and environmental justice in our cities.
Since 1990, nonprofit Washington Parks & People has tried to reduce poverty and violence in Washington, D.C. neighborhoods by improving parks. At the height of the recession, the organization received a stimulus grant to create a "green" job-training program in communities hardest hit. They had two years to help unemployed people find jobs and improve parks in their neighborhoods.
Steve Coleman, a grassroots environmental activist who directs the organization, is tasked with using the grant to hire 150 unemployed residents to plant several thousand trees, care for some of the city's most blighted urban parks and improve upon the soft skills required to get a job. For Charles Holcomb, the paycheck offers a chance to give his newborn daughter the life he never had. For Michael Samuels, the job training is a first step forward after a drug conviction marred his employment record. For James Magruder, the program offers a chance to prove that his neighborhood roots position him as an unsung leader.
What sounds like a simple goal — putting people back to work by planting trees — becomes complicated by a community’s distrust of outsiders and a fast-approaching deadline before the grant money runs out. Filmed in an unflinching and compelling verité approach over the course of more than two years, CITY OF TREES thrusts viewers into the inspiring but messy world of job training and the paradoxes changemakers face in urban communities everyday.
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76 min, USA, directed by Brandon Kramer, produced by Lance Kramer
a film by Meridian Hill Pictures, in association with Kartemquin Films and Magic Labs Media
Bread & Roses is a monthly labor series that features a variety of events focused on workers and organized labor. Each month brings a new topic through interactive discussions, film screenings, and performances. The hope for these events is that attendees walk away with a greater understanding of organized labor, its role in shaping history and current relevance.
The name "Bread & Roses" was inspired by a poem/song written by James Oppenheim that appeals for both fair wages and dignified conditions. Bread & Roses is held on the second Tuesday of every month at Busboys and Poets, Takoma.
This event is free and open to the public. To RSVP click here.Â
