Film: The Five Demands

A screening of the film, The Five Demands, about the 1969 protest at City College of New York initiated with five demands from Black and Puerto Rican students seeking more inclusion at the college. The screening will be followed by a discussion with director Andrea Weiss and student leader Francee Covington. 

In April 1969, a small group of Black and Puerto Rican students shut down the City College of New York, an elite public university located right in the heart of Harlem. Fueled by the revolutionary fervor sweeping the nation, the strike soon turned into an uprising, leading to the extended occupation of the campus, classes being canceled, students being arrested and the resignation of the college president. Through archival footage and modern-day interviews, we follow the students’ struggle against the institutional racism that, for over a century, had shut out people of color from this and other public universities. The Five Demands revisits the untold story of this explosive student takeover and proves that a handful of ordinary citizens can band together to take action and effect meaningful change. 

NR, 57 mins., 2023. Closed Captions (CC) in English.