The Five Demands
Two volatile weeks that changed the face of higher education.
What the Critics are Saying
“Eerily timely…puts the students’ struggles for racial justice front and center.”— The New York Times
“Will resonate with anyone who has followed the fights over ‘academic merit’ in admissions.”— Diverse: Issues in Higher Education
“Every single kid in America: Black, brown, Asian, gay, white... Shouldn’t we make sure there is a path that they choose? Career or college or both? And make it affordable and accessible. How do we make that happen for every kid? That, I think, is our fight. THE FIVE DEMANDS showed how to do it in the 60s, and it should inspire us for what we need to do in 2023.”— Randi Weingarten, American Federation of Teachers
About the Film
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.
Pricing and Viewing Options
Colleges, Universities, Community Groups, and Libraries
Individuals
Discussion Guide and Lesson Plans
This discussion guide aims to support critical dialogues and tools for deconstructing, and creating from, concepts presented in the documentary The Five Demands. Flexible and adaptable, the guide is appropriate for use by middle, high school, and college educators to enhance and complement existing curricula and classroom study and/or to support students in developing youth-led campaigns. The lesson plans can be used to support and deepen content areas such as U.S. History, Ethnic Studies, Civics, Sociology, Psychology, and English Language Arts. Multigenerational activists, educators and leaders might also use this guide as a resource in school-based clubs and organizations, after-school and social justice/youth development programs, and after screenings of the film.
Funded in part by:
Additional support from:
The Puffin Foundation
PSC CUNY Research Award Program
And over 200 individual donors - THANK YOU!