At the River I Stand

The Climax of the Civil Rights Movement

Part of the Series: California Newsreel Essential Collection

Memphis, Spring 1968 marked the dramatic climax of the Civil Rights movement. AT THE RIVER I STAND skillfully reconstructs the two eventful months that transformed a strike by Memphis sanitation worker into a national conflagration, and disentangles the complex historical forces that came together with the inevitability of tragedy at the death of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

This documentary brings into sharp relief issues that have only become more urgent in the intervening years: the connection between economic and civil rights, debates over strategies for change, the demand for full inclusion of African Americans in American life and the fight for dignity for public employees and all working people. In the 1960s, Memphis' 1,300 sanitation workers formed the lowest caste of a deeply racist society, earning so little they qualified for welfare. In the film, retired workers recall their fear about taking on the entire white power structure when they struck for higher wages and union recognition. But local civil rights leaders and the Black community soon realized the strike was part of the struggle for economic justice for all African Americans.

"More than any other Civil Rights documentary, this is a deeply emotional, riveting narration of black working-class resistance that speaks to the current crisis and jars our collective memory. To see these determined, dignified sanitation workers and to witness the Black Memphis community's solidarity with the strikers was enough to bring tears." - Robin D.G. Kelley, Columbia University

"Has all the impact of Eyes on the Prize. It would seem almost inconceivable not to acquire this video. Beautifully conceived, produced and presented." - Video Rating Guide for Libraries