Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Speaking Truth to Power: Films on Workers Who Fought Back
Ginny’s companion list of 25 films about workers who challenged power, organized, and fought for change.
Download the movie list here: drive.google.com/file/d/11pUYBjgC_kEigNCalAi9FsMCxQYH1Zk5/view?usp=drive_link
Badge in your bag, hybrid schedule, equity vesting. You think labor history belongs to someone else, someone with grease on their hands.
Somebody taught you that. It took a hundred years and it worked.
I coach a vice president at a Fortune 500 company. Four years since he said anything honest in a leadership meeting. He isn't weak. He priced out the cost of candor and paid the cheaper bill.
In this episode I lay out the five moments that built the silence you're living in.
➔ 1911, lower Manhattan. Locked exits, 146 dead garment workers, and the reason your building has fire exits.
➔ The post-war stretch when private sector union membership hit roughly 35% and pay climbed with productivity. I name who never got in.
➔ 1981. More than 11,000 air traffic controllers fired and barred for life, and the lesson every boardroom in America drew from it.
➔ Shareholder primacy without the jargon, including how the 401(k) moved the risk onto you and got sold to you as control.
➔ I put a question to AI about self-advocacy in 2026. One answer named the thing keeping professionals quiet.
The lone brave employee gets fired. Add a group and the odds change. Finding your voice comes first, and it isn't the finish line.
What are you not saying at work? And what is it costing you personally, not your employer?
Comment if you want my longer list of films that shaped how Americans understood worker power. Norma Rae, 9 to 5, Matewan, Salt of the Earth, Harlan County USA, and more.
🔔 Subscribe for more honest examinations of how work actually functions.
My Newsletter:
newsletter.ginnyclarke.com/sign-up
Free Tool: Career Mapping Workbook
resources.ginnyclarke.com/career-mapping-workbook
My Book:
amazon.com/Career-Mapping-Charting-Course-World/dp/1600379907
Ginny Clarke Website
ginnyclarke.com
Linkedin
linkedin.com/in/ginnyclarke
Tiktok
tiktok.com/@ginnyleads
Instagram
instagram.com/ginny_clarke
Facebook:
facebook.com/FifthDimensionalLeadership
Twitter:
twitter.com/ginnyclarke?lang=en
Youtube:
youtube.com/channel/UC5tOCbeLgn6G069fupd10yw
Speaking Truth to Power: Films on Workers Who Fought Back
Ginny’s companion list of 25 films about workers who challenged power, organized, and fought for change.
Download the movie list here: drive.google.com/file/d/11pUYBjgC_kEigNCalAi9FsMCxQYH1Zk5/view?usp=drive_link
Badge in your bag, hybrid schedule, equity vesting. You think labor history belongs to someone else, someone with grease on their hands.
Somebody taught you that. It took a hundred years and it worked.
I coach a vice president at a Fortune 500 company. Four years since he said anything honest in a leadership meeting. He isn't weak. He priced out the cost of candor and paid the cheaper bill.
In this episode I lay out the five moments that built the silence you're living in.
➔ 1911, lower Manhattan. Locked exits, 146 dead garment workers, and the reason your building has fire exits.
➔ The post-war stretch when private sector union membership hit roughly 35% and pay climbed with productivity. I name who never got in.
➔ 1981. More than 11,000 air traffic controllers fired and barred for life, and the lesson every boardroom in America drew from it.
➔ Shareholder primacy without the jargon, including how the 401(k) moved the risk onto you and got sold to you as control.
➔ I put a question to AI about self-advocacy in 2026. One answer named the thing keeping professionals quiet.
The lone brave employee gets fired. Add a group and the odds change. Finding your voice comes first, and it isn't the finish line.
What are you not saying at work? And what is it costing you personally, not your employer?
Comment if you want my longer list of films that shaped how Americans understood worker power. Norma Rae, 9 to 5, Matewan, Salt of the Earth, Harlan County USA, and more.
🔔 Subscribe for more honest examinations of how work actually functions.
My Newsletter:
newsletter.ginnyclarke.com/sign-up
Free Tool: Career Mapping Workbook
resources.ginnyclarke.com/career-mapping-workbook
My Book:
amazon.com/Career-Mapping-Charting-Course-World/dp/1600379907
Ginny Clarke Website
ginnyclarke.com
linkedin.com/in/ginnyclarke
Tiktok
tiktok.com/@ginnyleads
instagram.com/ginny_clarke
Facebook:
facebook.com/FifthDimensionalLeadership
Twitter:
twitter.com/ginnyclarke?lang=en
Youtube:
youtube.com/channel/UC5tOCbeLgn6G069fupd10yw
