MEDIA

The Right To Vend

10 min. Third World Newsreel. 2017. $25. ISBN unavail.
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Gr 9 Up—This short documentary provides a glimpse into "an integral part of New York City culture": the city's approximately 20,000 street vendors. Food and clothing vendors, artists, and more are working class and predominantly immigrants trying to sell their goods on the public sidewalks as "the smallest of small business" owners. Their struggles for vending licenses, dealing with New York's "quality of life" crackdown and the closing of streets to vendors, plus the navigation of regulations are juxtaposed with their collective action to organize, change laws, and raise awareness. Vendors speak of their livelihood, background, their connections to their customers and community, and more in this fast-paced film.
VERDICT High school social studies classrooms and college-level sociology courses will find the content useful and insightful.

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