Living Broke in Boom Times

Living Broke in Boom Times has condensed three groundbreaking documentary films (Takeover, Poverty Outlaw & Outriders) spanning a decade of an American movement to end poverty, into segments of ideal length for educational use or advocacy workshops, with new wrap-around commentary from key activists who led the movement. Cheri Honkala, Willie Baptist and Liz Theoharis discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the organizing, and the lessons learned from hard-won experience.  As the economic inequality gap in the United States continues to increase, this film gains evermore relevance.

“It is a wonderful documentary, heart-rending in its depiction of homelessness and desperation, yet inspiring in what it shows about the magnificence of people fighting back, organizing, refusing to accept their situation, trying to build a national movement. I found the close-ups of these people, their voices, their down-home eloquence very moving. I do hope this will be widely seen. I think it can play an important role in arousing people to action. ”

HOWARD ZINN