SALON

Tuesday, Feb 21, 2012 5:50 PM UTC

The 99ers’ unemployment fix

In the latest episode of our video series, jobless Americans fall in love with Occupy -- and bring their own agenda VIDEO

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Topics: F**ked, Unemployment, Occupy Wall Street,

The 99ers' unemployment fixThe 99ers to Occupy: this way to full employment

For our 99ers, an informal group of jobless New Yorkers who have exhausted their 99 weeks of unemployment benefits, the Occupy Wall Street movement came as a dream fulfilled.

As the protests took root in Zuccotti Park, the 99ers found a mass of people who care about the plight of the jobless and want to do something about it. As seen in last week’s episode of our video series, “Occupy Meets MacArthur’s Tanks,” Occupy Wall Street is just the latest in a long line of American protest movements demanding economic justice. The emergence of the Occupy movement, one 99er said, felt “like the early stages of a revolution.”

And then the question arose: What do America’s jobless want? As the video shows, the 99ers have some answers.

Immy Humes, a NYC documentary filmmaker, has produced stories for PBS, NBC News, and Michael Moore. Her short film, "A Little Vicious," was nominated for an Oscar. Her latest feature, "Doc," is a saga of the post-war generation of New York writers and of madness. Her web site is http://www.thedoctank.com/ More Immy Humes.

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“F**ked: The United States of Unemployment” is Salon’s new video documentary series exploring the lives of the long-term unemployed and their struggle to survive and fight back. In “F**ked,” Academy Award-Nominated director Immy Humes follows a diverse group of New York City-area residents from food pantries to marches to tense

confrontations at Occupy Wall Street. Salon’s goal with this series is not only to show the human impact of our nation’s deteriorating social safety net, but to also share the inspiring story of those who are organizing to fight for better living conditions on behalf of all Americans who continue to suffer through “the Great Recession.”

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