This straightforward, unembellished documentary captures the struggle of Newark welfare mothers to form a buying club in response to store markups on food prices for welfare recipients. The film shows the meetings and discussions the women took part in to get the club started. They faced resistance from all sides: store owners, wholesalers, government officials, and even potential members. In one scene, a group of the all-black club members enter a warehouse staffed by all white men. This scene, more than any other in the film, shows the tensions and fear with which the women struggled. In the end, they succeed in forming their club, and the film ends on a somewhat false note of hope that no children in the future will need to live in poverty. Despite the tacked-on ending, this film is an important documentation of the brave struggle of the poor women living in the Newark project against the racial, financial, and social obstacles in their way.
Included Films:
With No One to Help Us
With No One to Help Us
Produced: 1967
Length: 19 Minutes
This straightforward, unembellished documentary captures the struggle of Newark welfare mothers to form a buying club in response to store markups on food prices for welfare recipients. The film shows the meetings and discussions the women took part in to get the club started. They faced resistance from all sides: store owners, wholesalers, government officials, and even potential members. In one scene, a group of the all-black club members enter a warehouse staffed by all white men. This scene, more than any other in the film, shows the tensions and fear with which the women struggled. In the end, they succeed in forming their club, and the film ends on a somewhat false note of hope that no children in the future will need to live in poverty. Despite the tacked-on ending, this film is an important documentation of the brave struggle of the poor women living in the Newark project against the racial, financial, and social obstacles in their way.
