Email this article
-------------------------
Via Workers World News Service
Reprinted from the June 15, 2000
issue of Workers World newspaper
-------------------------Video fund established
Continuing Key Martin's revolutionary legacy
By Donna Goodman
Workers World Party and activists from around the world will be celebrating the life and legacy of Key Martin at 3:30 p.m. on June 11 with a public memorial at New York's Fashion Institute of Technology. Martin was a beloved and respected comrade and leader of the Party who died March 18 at the age of 56.
Key had a long revolutionary career, beginning as a leader of the militant wing of the 1960s anti-war movement. Among his more recent accomplishments was the Peoples Video Network, an activist news organization that reports events the corporate media would like to bury.
Key believed in the power of video to move people to action, and organized PVN in order to portray people not as victims of unfortunate circumstances but as actors organized together to change society.
His video work took him to Haiti, Cuba and most recently South Africa. He went behind the walls of U.S. prisons to interview Mumia Abu-Jamal and other political prisoners. And he covered countless picket lines and demonstrations.
At the time of his death, Key was working on two major video projects--"Chris Hani Viva," on the life of the martyred South African Communist Party leader, and "The Battle against the WTO, from South Africa to Seattle," a first-hand report on the struggle against the World Trade Organization.
"Chris Hani Viva" will be a feature-length documentary about the life and work of the legendary anti-apartheid leader. Hani was assassinated in 1993 in one of the final, brutal acts of the dying apartheid regime. His murder shocked the country and was a catalyst for the elections that swept the African National Congress into office and began the process of dismantling apartheid.
Key knew Chris Hani and made it his mission to tell his story to the world. "Chris Hani Viva" includes interviews with key leaders of the South African liberation movement and archival footage of the struggle. "Chris Hani Viva" will have its world premier at Harlem's Apollo Theater. It will also be shown in South Africa and England.
"The Battle against the WTO, from South Africa to Seattle" brings to light the international fight against corporate greed. It spans from South Africa, staggering under the weight of the AIDS epidemic, to Seattle, where youth and labor united against the transnational corporations.
The documentary tells the story of the monumental struggle for affordable medical treatment waged by the Congress of South African Trade Unions, the South African Communist Party and the ANC against the WTO and the international pharmaceutical industry.
"The Battle against the WTO" will provide a powerful indictment of those who have profited so handsomely from high drug prices while preventing Africa from coping with the AIDS pandemic. And, with its dramatic footage of last year's "Battle of Seattle," it will show the potential for unity and internationalism displayed by youth and labor in this country.
Key spent long hours shooting, editing and marketing both projects. But to get these important works before the public, PVN needs an infusion of funds for equipment, travel, production and distribution costs.
In order to complete these projects, Peoples Video Network has established the Key Martin PVN Fund. Workers World joins PVN in asking readers and supporters to contribute generously to this fund. Donations may be sent to Peoples Rights Fund, 39 West 14th Street, Suite 206, New York, NY 10011.
This article is copyright under a Creative Commons License.
Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011
Email: ww@workers.org
Subscribe wwnews-subscribe@workersworld.net
Support independent news http://www.workers.org/orders/donate.php)HOME :: U.S. NEWS :: WORLD NEWS :: EDITORIALS :: SUBSCRIBE :: DONATE