In 1938, Emma Tenayuca led ten thousand San Antonio pecan shellers in a massive walk out. While the pecan shellers’ strike is recognized by many as the birth of the Chicano movement, it is shrouded in myth and denial about its iconic communist leader. In 1987, workers organized a march of 3,000 through the streets of Nacogdoches — a largely unknown epiphany for black women in Texas. A STRIKE AND AN UPRISING (IN TEXAS) explores both events, using the methods of oral history including myth and humor, and relates these stories strongly to contemporary ideas and events including the removal of the Jefferson Davis statue at UT Austin. The resulting experimental documentary recovers stories of working people in Texas and demonstrates the power of labor and liberation.

Austin: August 8 & 12 at Violet Crown Cinema.