Join us for a screening of the Sixth Section, followed by discussion on the meaning of radical hope in connection to global and local collective action in the Americas.
About the Film
Alex Rivera’s The Sixth Section tells a contemporary story that reveals a new perspective on Mexican migrant labor life. Rivera and co-producer Bernardo Ruiz followed José Garcia, a young man from the small Mexican town of Boqueron. Garcia decided to leave to support his wife and family, coming to the U.S. hidden in the trunk of a car. Once here, he moved to Newburgh, New York, and found much more than a job — he saw that he could use his own labor in America to relieve the stark poverty of his hometown.
In Newburgh, Garcia began speaking to others about an idea — eventually over 300 people from Boqueron settled there — and soon they formed Grupo Unión, a “hometown association,” dedicated to raising dollars in America and using the money to revitalize their hometown in Mexico.
With so many people from Boqueron now transplanted to Newburgh, they refer to themselves as the “sixth section” because Boqueron itself is divided into five sections, or neighborhoods. In Newburgh, these men work long, hard hours in construction, at restaurants, driving taxis and other primarily low-paying jobs. Yet they meet once a week and carefully count out the $10, $20 or $30 each hands over to José Garcia, the Grupo Unión treasurer. It usually adds up to about $200 or $300 each week.
This event will be in Room M-207 at 70 Murray St.
See the complete list of Hispanic Heritage Month events at BMCC. Attend 2 or more events for Co-Curricular Transcript verification.
For more information, contact Rosario Torres at rtorres@bmcc.cuny.edu.Hispanic Heritage Month:
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