1. Finish watching the movie. I chose Harlan County USA because it is an
award winning documentary. Meaningful music is playing throughout
the documentary. Pick a song from the movie. Give us the name and
singer of the song and tell us why you believe this song was selected for
this documentary.
I chose the song “Black Lung” from Harlan County, USA. This song was written by
Hazel Dickens, who sang a lot of pro-union music in her time. This song is very
fitting for the movie, as it’s played over the footage of miners suffering from and
getting tested for black lung. It talks about how the disease claims the lives of so
many miners and how the bosses don’t care that their men are suffering, and aren’t
covering them with medical plans, just leaving them to die. It’s a beautiful song
about the terrible affliction, and is very fitting in this documentary, as it helps show
us how bad the disease we see them suffering from is. I read a bit about the song, and
it turns out that Hazel’s own brother died from black lung, and had no funds to pay
his medical expenses. It’s clearly a very personal song and that makes it fit
seamlessly into the film.
Source
Dickens, Hazel. Working Girl Blues: the Life and Music of Hazel Dickens. 2008.
Kopple, B. (1976). Harlan County, USA.
2. Consider these articles and begin to formulate what you believe to be
