Director Raymond Telles joins Sounds of Film to discuss his new documentary American Agitators, which explores the life and legacy of pioneering community organizer Fred Ross Sr. Telles brings decades of experience in documentary filmmaking focused on labor, civil rights, and social justice to a conversation about how grassroots organizing continues to shape American political life.

American Agitators traces Fred Ross Sr.’s lifelong work organizing communities to confront segregation, expand voting rights, and strengthen labor movements across the United States. The film highlights his mentorship of key figures such as Dolores Huerta and connects his organizing model to major civil rights efforts that helped advance school desegregation and broader struggles for racial and economic justice. It also draws a connection between Ross’s disciplined, relationship-based organizing approach and modern movements addressing inequality, labor rights, and civic participation.

At the center of the film is Ross’s methodical philosophy of organizing—built on trust, consistency, and sustained one-on-one engagement rather than short-term protest energy. The documentary emphasizes how this approach continues to influence unions, educators, and grassroots organizers today, particularly as movements adapt to new political and technological landscapes.

Raymond Telles is a veteran documentary filmmaker whose work spans decades of public television and broadcast storytelling focused on labor history, civil rights, and social justice. His credits include The Fight in the Fields: César Chávez and the Farmworkers’ Struggle and The Storm That Swept Mexico, both of which examine major political and social movements in North American history.

Sounds of Film, hosted by Tom Needham, is a long-running radio program featuring in-depth conversations with filmmakers, composers, and cultural figures across film, music, and documentary. Past guests from the show’s documented archive include Billy Joel, Alexander Payne, Alec Baldwin, Laurie Anderson, Bob Geldof, Pam Grier, Rob Reiner, Julie Andrews, Jordan Peele, Dionne Warwick, Michael Moore, William H. Macy, Cicely Tyson, Chuck D, Carter Burwell, Howard Shore, D.A. Pennebaker, and Cornel West, among many others, reflecting the program’s wide-ranging conversations with major voices in culture and cinema.