By Democratic Socialists of America
By Deborah Rosenfelt
| Salt of the Earth, 1954 |
This year marks the sixtieth anniversary of the film Salt of the Earth. With a story based on an actual strike in southwestern New Mexico, the film represents the struggles of working class miners and their families for decent wages and working and living conditions. It explores the tensions between male and female, Mexican American and Anglo community members, who finally come together to win a victory for the community as a whole.
The real strike had taken place two years earlier in Bayard, New Mexico. As in the film, the community was challenged and changed when, after an injunction against the striking miners, the women of the Ladies Auxiliary took over the picket line. The film evolved through an unusual collaboration between blacklisted Hollywood filmmakers and members of the mining community of Bayard, the headquarters of Local 890 of the progressive International Union of Mine, Mill, and Smelter Workers. Most of the roles in the film were played by members of the mining community.
Source: Salt of the Earth Remains Relevant 60 Years Later
