Michael Berkowitz

Michael Berkowitz, a veteran of the civil rights and anti-war movements, has been Land Use Planning Consultant to the government of China for many years. He taught Chinese and American History at the college level, worked with Eastern Kentucky Welfare Rights Org. with miners, and was an officer of SEIU. He has served as a supernumerary with the San Francisco Opera for years without getting to sing a single note on stage!

LATEST ARTICLES BY Michael Berkowitz

Culture

“Lady Bird”: The hidden injuries of class
December 14, 2017 By Michael Berkowitz
Greta Gerwig’s new film Lady Bird is a brilliant primer on how young people experience class and alienation in America.
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Culture

“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”: Writing on the wall
November 30, 2017 By Michael Berkowitz
This film leaves us with the question of how we live together and what actions love and the pursuit of truth justify.
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Culture

Star of India: The girl who rode the tiger
November 29, 2017 By Michael Berkowitz
Divya Srivastava came to Ranthambore, India’s National Park Tiger Reserve, for a vacation. She stayed to save the world.
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Culture

“Dolores”: Sí se puede
November 27, 2017 By Michael Berkowitz
Writer-producer-director Peter Bratt’s spirited biopic Dolores, about United Farm Worker co-founder Dolores Huerta, is a story for our times!
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Culture

“Quest”: Save the world, start with the family
November 20, 2017 By Michael Berkowitz
In a sea of save-the-world super heroes, Quest offers us the real thing—a working-class family that stares down 21st-century adversity and challenge to cobble together community.
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Culture

“Naila and the Uprising”: Holding up half the Palestinian sky
November 17, 2017 By Michael Berkowitz
The story of Naila Ayesh, a leader in the uprising, unfolds lessons not always expected, nor welcome.
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Politics

Rev. William Barber and the new Poor People’s Campaign
September 20, 2017 By Michael Berkowitz
Here in the richest nation in the world, the poor and working class are being left further behind. The Poor People's Campaign intends to do something about it.
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Arts

“Dayveon”: Growing up poor and Black in rural Arkansas
September 15, 2017 By Michael Berkowitz
Dayveon, the central character in Amman Abbasi’s new film, is a study in contrasts. He lives amidst great beauty and great danger.
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