Mixed Media

Saving Community Video

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Abstract

Black and white static resolves into footage of a woman standing in a crowded town hall in Norton, Virginia, demanding an answer from the city officials to a simple question: why can’t they change an existing law to ban strip mining near her town and protect her children from the resulting pollution? The scene is electric. It is the early 1970s, and when the woman relinquishes the floor, another mother rises to second her concern. Throughout the scene the all-male town council sits at a long table facing their constituents in an uncomfortable silence, not even acknowledging the question. Several more women add their comments, and then a grandfatherly man stands up at the back of the room and reminds the audience that “the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world.” He declares his admiration for the women who he has just watched stand up to the powers that be as his speech breaks down into static, and then the screen turns blue.

How to Cite:

Fox, H., (2011) “Saving Community Video”, MAC Newsletter 38(4), 21-23.