In April 1969, about 200 black and Puerto Rican students from City College of New York interrupted classes. For two weeks, protesters occupied the school’s campus in Harlem to demand a more equitable education and a student body that reflected New York’s racial makeup. The culmination of a nearly decade-long endeavor, filmmakers Andrea Weiss and Greta Schiller explore historical action in a new documentary titled The five requirements (2023), screening at the Downtown Community Television Center (DCTV) Firehouse Theater in Chinatown today, July 18 through Thursday, July 20. Following last month’s Supreme Court decision to overturn affirmative action, the story seems more pressing than ever.

Weiss and Schiller have made a number of documentaries under Jezebel Productions, a company they founded in 1984. While many of their films illuminate erased historical narratives, this story has particularly touched close to home. Schiller has two degrees from City College and Weiss taught at the school for 20 years. Schiller never heard of the protest as an undergrad, and Weiss said she first heard about it 10 years into her college career.

“It was such a hidden story,” Weiss said. Hyperallergic in an interview. “We all know about the anti-war movement, but it had a much bigger effect.” She credits the “occupation” with opening the doors of higher education to non-whites.

By the late 1960s, the free and academically rigorous City College had earned itself the nickname “the Harvard of the proletariatbut the school failed to reflect New York’s demographics in its admissions process. In 1969, the Harlem neighborhood surrounding the school was 98% black and Puerto Rican. Citywide, black, and Puerto Rican students made up 40% of the high school population, but at City College they made up only 9% of the student body.

Not only were these students not admitted, but the few who were admitted struggled to succeed inside the institution. In February 1969, black and Puerto Rican students at City College handed over administration five requests: The creation of a School of Black and Puerto Rican Studies; implementing a freshman orientation for Black and Puerto Rican students; student monitoring of the school’s SEEK program (which recruited low-income students); a student body that reflected the 40% black and Puerto Rican makeup of New York high schools; and the requirement that all education students learn Spanish and take courses in black and Puerto Rican history. Dissatisfied with the school’s response, about 200 students took over 17 buildings on the school’s South Campus in Harlem on April 22.

Police descended on the school six days later, on April 28. The school president resignedthe new leader of the institution told the authorities to keep the protesters away “by any means necessary”, And police violence broke out on campus. The uprising continued for another week, and eventually City College accepted three of the students’ applications and implemented an open admissions policy for the following year.

THE effects were immediate: the next enrollment class was 75% larger, and by 1971 the percentage of black and Puerto Rican students had doubled. By 1975, the percentage of white students had fallen from 78% in 1969 to 30%. The policy lasted only until 1976, when the school canceled its new plan in the face of budget cuts. The historically free City College began charging tuition and resumed strict admission requirements.

Weiss and Schiller tell the story through a series of interviews with protesters and other former City College students.

“I hope people don’t just see it as this interesting little footnote to history: It’s not in the past, it’s still with us in the present,” Weiss said. She believes that history has been instrumental in changing perceptions of higher education admissions.

“It was important to explain why the American myth of meritocracy doesn’t work – because the rules of the game are so unequal,” Weiss said, explaining that she intentionally dedicated the beginning of the film to this notion before recounting. the demonstration itself. “We have this enormous resource — all these young people — who are not in school even today. It is a waste of an incredible resource that we have. Society would be incredibly different if we simply educated our young people.

General admission tickets for Firehouse Cinema screenings are $14. The five requirements will play at 7 p.m. today, July 18, at 4 p.m. on July 19, and at 4 and 7 p.m. on Thursday, July 20.