Filmmaker Hazel Gurland-Pooler ’99 Awarded $25,000 Grant as One of Six Finalists for Library of Congress Lavine / Ken Burns Prize for Film
Still from Storming Caesar's Palace, directed by Hazel Gurland-Pooler ’99.
Hazel Gurland-Pooler ’99 has won a $25,000 grant for her film Storming Caesar's Palace, one of six finalists for the second annual Library of Congress Lavine / Ken Burns Prize for Film. The awards—overseen by the Library of Congress, acclaimed documentarian Ken Burns, the Crimson Lion/Lavine Family Foundation, and nonprofit The Better Angels Society—were presented at a virtual ceremony on October 20.
About Storming Caesar's Palace
Primarily led by low-income African American women, The National Welfare Rights Organization (NWRO) challenged sitting presidents, corporations, and everyday Americans to rethink their notions of the “welfare queen” by protesting benefit cuts, boycotting companies, suing the government—and winning—all before national news cameras.
For Ruby Duncan, Mary Wesley, and Alversa Beals—who lived in the shadow of the Las Vegas Strip—welfare reform was taking too long. With the NWRO, they sought to abolish welfare altogether, instead proposing a guaranteed annual minimum income for all Americans.
Storming Caesar's Palace explores how a group of ordinary mothers launched an extraordinary grassroots movement that fought for economic justice, women’s rights, and Black women’s empowerment.
Post Date: 10-23-2020
About Storming Caesar's Palace
Primarily led by low-income African American women, The National Welfare Rights Organization (NWRO) challenged sitting presidents, corporations, and everyday Americans to rethink their notions of the “welfare queen” by protesting benefit cuts, boycotting companies, suing the government—and winning—all before national news cameras.
For Ruby Duncan, Mary Wesley, and Alversa Beals—who lived in the shadow of the Las Vegas Strip—welfare reform was taking too long. With the NWRO, they sought to abolish welfare altogether, instead proposing a guaranteed annual minimum income for all Americans.
Storming Caesar's Palace explores how a group of ordinary mothers launched an extraordinary grassroots movement that fought for economic justice, women’s rights, and Black women’s empowerment.
Post Date: 10-23-2020