the cries from the cotton field with Larry Foley (ep 2, 23).

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In the late 1800s, a group of Italian immigrants left the mountain villages of Northern Italy in search of opportunity and land in America. What they found instead was exploitation, malaria, and broken promises on the cotton fields of Sunnyside Plantation in Southeast Arkansas. 

In this first of a two-part series, filmmaker and journalist Larry Foley joins us to trace their story—how they came, what they endured, and how their exodus from the Delta to the Ozarks led to the founding of Tontitown, Arkansas. 

Foley’s documentary Cries from the Cotton Field becomes our guide into a story of labor, faith, and survival—while also illuminating the structural forces of colonialism, racism, and capitalism that shaped their journey. Through the voice of Father Pietro Bandini and the legacy of the families who followed him, we uncover a story that still echoes in our region today.

https://www.theunderview.com/episodes/the-underview-cries-from-cotton-field-tontitown-larry-foley

About the underview:

The underview is an exploration of the development of our Communal Theology of Place viewed through the medium of bikes, land, and people to discover community wholeness.

Website: ⁠⁠theunderview.com⁠⁠
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Host: @mikerusch

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