The production company launched by Barack and Michelle Obama, in partnership with Netflix, may be bringing the story of Atlanta's pioneering community organizer, Dorothy Bolden, to the streaming service.
Higher Ground Productions announced its initial line-up on Tuesday. One of the projects is "Overlooked," based on the ongoing New York Times series dedicated to notable deaths the newspaper did not cover but, in hindsight, believes it should have. Bolden was featured in "Overlooked," and as part of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Black History Month series.
Bolden, a Georgia native who began domestic work when she was 9 years old, decided in the 1960s to start a union for African American domestic workers in Atlanta. She credited her Vine City neighbor, Martin Luther King Jr., with encouraging her to organize the women. Bolden was fed up with the low pay, lack of benefits and the disrespect she and other domestic endured.
“She was accused of stealing. She was talked to pretty rough. There was no dignity in the job,” Altermiece Thompson-Gates, one of Bolden’s children, told the AJC on Wednesday.
Using some of her own savings, with the support of her husband, Bolden founded the National Domestic Workers' Union of America in 1968. The organization acted as employment agency and advocate for thousands. She gave workers a place to be heard.
“They took that type of abuse at work because they had to feed their families,” another of Bolden’s daughter, Avon Thompson, said. “It was called survival, doing back-breaking work for pennies a day. So at some point you say, ‘There’s got to be something better.’”
Bolden had one requirement of the women: that they register to vote. For potential employers, Bolden had a longer list.
“When white women would call and say, ‘Do you have a maid you can send over here today,’ she’d say, ‘Sure, you’ll pay her $35 a day, plus carfare.’”
At the time, domestic work could garner as little as $10 a day for an employee.
Bolden’s work caught the attention of politicians such as then-Gov. Jimmy Carter. Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford sought her as an adviser. As a mayoral candidate, Maynard Jackson also sought her out, as well as Andrew Young.
“Mrs. Bolden understood how to organize, understood the issues and understood the power of her voice,” said former Atlanta mayor Shirley Franklin, who served in both the Jackson and Young administrations.
That Bolden got her start as a community organizer, as did former President Obama, is in line with the stated goals of Higher Ground.
“Touching on issues of race and class, democracy and civil rights, and much more, we believe each of these productions won’t just entertain, but will educate, connect and inspire us all,” President Obama said an announcement Tuesday.
A spokesperson for Netflix said Wednesday she could not confirm a Bolden segment, saying the series was in the early stages of development. Bolden’s daughters said they would be honored to participate in a segment about their mother.
“A lot of times, people think because you’re in a certain type of work, you’re minor,” Thompson-Gates said. “But she proved that just because I do a certain job doesn’t mean I cannot be impactful.”
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