Film- The War At Home I: Rebellion (2020, 104 min) By Scott Noble

Film starts 7:00, Q&A and discussion at 8:45

The director Scott Noble will introduce the film and participate in a Q&A.
Scott Noble’s latest documentary series, THE WAR AT HOME, takes a hard look into the history of American labor movements and state and corporate repression of those movements.  Part I of THE WAR AT HOME series, REBELLION, chronicles the years from 1886 to 1919 when Americans in large numbers around the country waged an organized rebellion against prominent corporations.  During this foundational period, countless labor actions seeking better wages and benefits, job security, safer working conditions, an end to child labor, the 8 hour work day and an end to corporate rule were often led by anarchists, socialists and the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW).  Although state and corporate interests responded to labor actions with intimidation and violence during this time with the goal of destabilizing all labor movements, big gains for organized labor continued until the beginning of World War I.  Part I: REBELLION details the multiple actions taken by the Federal government and corporate sector during WWI to ideologically undermine earlier and important victories of labor.  Passage of the Military Service Act (1916) imposing unpopular conscription, the Immigration Act (1917) used to expel or exclude ‘undesirables’ from the USA, the Espionage Act (1917) seeking to limit freedom of speech, the Sedition Act (1918), which expanded limitations on speech and the implementation of a national media campaign to equate the labor movement with Anti-American values, formed a solid backlash whose goal was simple:  The destruction of labor unions, the jailing of labor and worker activists, the censoring and even the elimination of voices struggling for the rights of working people in America.