For the seventh consecutive year, the Youth Studies programs at the CUNY School of Professional Studies (CUNY SPS) presented the Community & Youth Organizing Conference over a three-week period in January.
This year, the theme of the three-part virtual film festival was “Reimagining Justice Through Art” and examined performance, storytelling, and cultural production as tools for challenging systems and advancing justice movements.
As in previous years, Youth Studies Professor Lumumba Bandele curated the films and moderated the post-screening discussions that included over 500 registrants. Professor Bandele, a longtime grassroots activist, was recently appointed to Mayor Mamdani’s Committee on Community Organizing, and his experience in community organizing informed the film series.
Dr. Sarah Zeller-Berkman, academic director of the CUNY SPS Youth Studies programs, acknowledged Professor Bandele’s vital contribution to the department through this important annual event.
“There will always be a need for resistance, but beyond organizing against injustice, we must also co-create the world we want to live in.” said Dr. Zeller-Berkman. “This year’s Community and Youth Organizing series, curated by Professor Lumumba Bandele, centered the arts as a powerful tool for organizing and collective imagination, using film and dynamic guest speakers to inspire our Youth Studies community toward creative, courageous, and collective action.”
The first segment of the “Reimagining Justice through Art” series featured the IMPACT Repertory Theatre, a New York City youth performance group founded by Jamal Joseph, who currently serves as its executive director. Joseph joined the CUNY SPS community live for the showing of several short films and testimonials, each highlighting IMPACT’s involvement with Harlem youth.
Throughout the digital display, Joseph detailed IMPACT’s powerful model of creative activism, youth leadership development, and community impact. He also took student questions afterwards.
At the second event, Professor Bandele presented the MTV-produced documentary Angola Do You Hear Us? Voices From a Plantation Prison, which tells the story of playwright Liza Jessie Peterson’s production of her acclaimed play The Peculiar Patriot was shut down mid-performance at the Louisiana State Penitentiary, commonly known as Angola Prison, (still photograph from the film shown above).
Following the screening, Professor Bandele dedicated the evening’s exhibition to an incarcerated man he met while working on the NAACP legal defense team — the artist and poet Kenneth Reams, who is currently serving a life sentence in Arkansas.
Bandele also led a discussion about how youth programs can lower crime rates and ultimately reduce the need for prisons.
He began his remarks by noting “This [Louisiana State Penitentiary] is one of the most notorious prisons in the country, for some very obvious reasons, some of which were explained in the film. I'm glad we were able to see some of what it is like to do work in prison, to engage with men and women who are incarcerated,” Professor Bandele said. “Because as much as the state would like to take their humanity away from them, we know that that is not true. We know many are valuable, amazing, just vibrant and brilliant human beings who are struggling to stay alive.”
The final event in the series featured a screening of the documentary Black August Hip-Hop Project, which centers on the work to free political prisoners by the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement. The film, which was shot over 10 years in New York City, Cuba, and South Africa, includes interviews with former political prisoners, intellectuals, and social activists, including Assata Shakur, Kathleen Cleaver, Nehanda Abiodun, as well as performances by artists such as Talib Kweli, Mos Def, David Banner, Dead Prez, and Common.
In an engaging conversation moderated afterwards by Professor Bandele, the audience reflected on the insights shared in the film and offered a parallel to past grassroots work with today’s justice movements.
About the CUNY SPS Youth Studies Program
The CUNY SPS MA in Youth Studies, the first program of its kind in New York, was established in 2017, and the BA in Youth Studies was launched in Fall 2022. These programs, along with the Advanced Certificate in Youth Studies, aim to support the needs of individuals ages 12 to 24 by training qualified frontline youth workers, directors, and administrators. In addition to offering a high-quality degree, the youth studies program has a research agenda that uses youth-adult partnerships and a critical participatory action research approach to inform youth policy and practice in NYC. Current projects include collaborations with ACS and DOE and Amplify, a set of new and innovative research tools designed to engage young people in city-wide policy-making and drive local action.
About the CUNY School of Professional Studies
As New York's leading online school since 2006, the CUNY School of Professional Studies (CUNY SPS) offers the most online bachelor's and master's degree options at the City University of New York and serves as the University's first undergraduate all-transfer college. With 26 degrees and numerous other non-degree and grant-funded workplace learning programs, CUNY SPS meets the needs of adults who wish to finish a bachelor's degree, progress from an associate's degree, earn a master's degree or certificate in a specialized field, and advance in the workplace or change careers. Consistently ranked highly by U.S. News & World Report for its online offerings, CUNY SPS has emerged as a nationwide leader in online education. The School's renowned and affordable online programs ensure that busy working adults may fulfill their educational goals on their own time and schedule.
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