Tag Archives: student protest

Occupy Cuny #1

[8 minutes, New York 2011]
In collaboration with Iva Rad

Select Spanish subtitles

In 1969, a group of black and Puerto Rican students occupied City College demanding the integration of CUNY, which at the time had an overwhelmingly white student body. The occupation spread to other CUNY campuses, forcing the Board of Trustees to implement a ground-breaking new admissions policy.

Such occupations also occurred in the 1980s and 2000s.
It’s that time again.

As graduate Film students at Hunter College in New York, we’re very excited to see how the spreading Occupy Wall Street movement is giving new momentum to the militant protest culture of CUNY (City University, NYC).

We filmed the second General Assembly at Hunter College, and the first Occupy CUNY teach-in at Washington Square Park on October 21st, 2011.

During the last weeks, we learned how quickly small protest gatherings can turn into new social movements. This is a document about the struggle of students and adjunct faculty at Cuny.

This local struggle is part of an international student movement against neoliberal dictatorship. This is only the beginning. The time for action is now.

Article:
Let’s Make History Repeat Itself  by Alden Burke in The Hunter Envoy

Presentations:
Anthology Film Archive (NYC), CUFF 2012 – City University Film Festival (NYC)

Featured in:
European Platform for Progressive Politics, Free Speech TV, The Hunter Envoy, The Monthly Review, Occupy Cuny News