WEBVTT

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♪ Power to the people, power

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♪ Power to the people, power

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♪ Power to the Black people

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♪ Puerto Rican power for
Puerto Rican people ♪

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♪ Power to the people

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♪ Power to the people

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The City College of New York

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was founded more
than 100 years ago,

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as the first free public
university in the country.

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None of the 20,000 students
lives at the school.

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Traditionally, the college

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has served highly motivated
children of immigrants.

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The school in Harlem has

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a high level of
academic excellence.

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So I came in September of
1966 into a city college.

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And well, the first thing
that struck me was coming

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through Harlem on the 101 bus,

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and getting off and
being surrounded

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by Harlem-ites, my folks.

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And then entering the
college and finding

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there weren\'t any
of my folks.

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This campus is
located in Harlem,

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and so few people from
Harlem actually come here.

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It didn\'t seem to make sense,

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because it was a free
university, it was a great education.

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Why aren\'t we adequately
represented in number?

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One summer, my mother
hosted two young women who

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were students at a
traditionally Black college.

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And she would introduce
them to her friends.

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And she\'d say, \"They\'re
college girls.\"

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And everybody would go,
[gasps] \"College girls.\"

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And I said, \"I want
to be one of those.\"

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I actually grew up not
too far away from here.

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I grew up in Harlem in what
we used to call the Valley.

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So when we wanted to dream,
we would walk up on the hill.

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We knew that we could make it

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into one of the best colleges
in the entire country.

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We were gonna be able
to make it individually.

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So coming to City,
it was like a dream.

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CCNY was an elite
school, academically.

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These students were
outstanding students.

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It was a privilege for
the students to be there,

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and it was a privilege for
us to be teaching there.

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And I was happy, except
for this one problem,

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which was it was all white.

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There were very few
African-American students,

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and practically no
Hispanic students,

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because they were not coming
out of the high schools

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with high enough
averages to be able

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to meet the CCNY standards.

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But we were in the
center of Harlem kind

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of looking down on Harlem.

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And it was something
kind of incongruous

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about the location

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of CCNY being where it was.

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And the lack of African-American
students altogether.

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No, not many blacks
were on campus.

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And those that were, a
majority of them were

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in the SEEK program.

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What\'s that means was search

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for education,
elevation and knowledge.

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It\'s a corny name as far as
[laughing] I\'m concerned.

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But the idea was that
there were a lot of

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poor Black people and
Latino people who were

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not getting a chance to get an
education, which they wanted.

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SEEK was a revolutionary idea

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for democratization
of the college.

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And I think a lot of credit
goes to Allen Ballard.

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One day I put things together,

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and I went and set
up an appointment.

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And the president
invited me to his house.

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President Gallagher
had been the president

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of Talladega
University down South.

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And he was a, how can I say it?

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He was a pioneer

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in African-American
education, although white.

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He was a young professor.

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He\'s not supposed to be going
to the president with things,

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but he was gracious.

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I gave him my little written
proposal. He read it.

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And he said, \"Good.\"

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He said, \"I want you
to go ahead with this.\"

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The moment of truth has
finally arrived in America.

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Then the African American
and Hispanic legislators

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got behind the program.

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We went in to see
the assembly speaker.

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And we said, Mr. Speaker,
we\'re politicians too,

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and we need to take
something back home.

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We explained to him
that there would be

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the inability for him
to be reelected speaker

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if our votes were not available.

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So that night, the
SEEK program was born.

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Well, my first day at City
College, I was amazed.

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I had never been on the
City College campus before.

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And the architecture,
the size of the campus,

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I really felt that it was

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the vision I had in mind of
an Ivy League University.

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And I felt so fortunate

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to be among the chosen
few for this new program

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to come and be at City College.

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SEEK was the way in which

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the city of New York
attempted to make up

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for its racist doctrines
prior to the arrival of SEEK.

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Again, the free
school was mostly

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for Irish, Italian, and
Jewish immigrants from Europe.

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The earliest City
College was never

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for the non-white population.

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People were not pleased

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with this influx of
Brown and Black people

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to their hollowed halls.

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The faculty, even after
they saw how smart

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so many of them were, didn\'t
want them in their classes.

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In one class, one
instructor asked all

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of the SEEK students to stand.

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And she proceeded to tell the
other members of the class

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that we were in a special
category, essentially.

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That we had not
done the hard work

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and gotten the high SAT
scores and here we were now.

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I was amazed.

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I had never been singled
out in that way before

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just to satisfy someone else\'s

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idea of what lesser
people look like.

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You walk through
their hallowed halls,

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and you\'ll see, you
know, all these portraits

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of white men all
around the walls.

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It was an uninviting environment
for African Americans.

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The students we were taking in

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were students who ordinarily
would not have qualified

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to come into the college.

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You had to take these
competitive tests,

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and of course, we couldn\'t
compete to get in.

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And so when it was
conceived, they knew they had

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to have support
structures in place,

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they had to have remediation
to get the students ready.

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[children singing]

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♪ Had a baby

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♪ And named him Tiny Tim

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♪ She put him in the basket

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I come from Harlem, I was
born in Harlem Hospital,

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educated in the
public school system.

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I remember taking the
test when I was gonna go

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to high school for
Stuyvesant High School.

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My mother insisted
that I take this test.

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And when I took the
test, I was astounded

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by the many things
that were never covered

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in my education.

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I said, \"What? How
could this be?\"

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I grew up very poor
and very working class.

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And the schools, they didn\'t
know what to do with us.

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You know, we were
those funny niggers

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who spoke that weird language.

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I wasn\'t really taught
how to read, how to write.

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And they had specific programs
where they tracked us into.

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So the program I was into
was to be a nurses aid,

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you know, learn how to
take care of people.

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So I didn\'t even think
about going to college.

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You weren\'t left out of college,

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because you were dumb, or
because you couldn\'t learn.

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You were left out because

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the way society is
structured, okay?

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And you weren\'t structured
into that process.

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♪ Just groove it right here
to the Harlem shuffle ♪

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♪ Yeah yeah yeah, do
the Harlem shuffle ♪

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♪ Oh, do the monkey

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It\'s actually quite un-American.

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You have people who have
been here for 400 years.

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They are paying the same taxes.

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They\'re riding the same subway,

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and they have the same
dreams for their children.

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Which is to be well
educated, to be well spoken,

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to be in a career
of their choice.

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And not forced to do menial
tasks for everyone else.

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Sarah, I have to
yell at you again,

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you must stand there all day!

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Now, sit down, Sarah
and try to [indistinct].

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Okay, now what do we do?

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In the \'50s and
even in the \'60s,

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in predominantly black
and Puerto Rican schools,

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the curriculum was very soft,

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and the books were very old.

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The teachers were newly
minted coming out of college,

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who had the most inexperienced
teachers teaching

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in the ghetto schools.

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Dropping that hat.

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Get over here!

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Get over here and sit down.

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Sit down!

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Everybody sit down.

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Sit down.

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So for someone to say that

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Black and Brown people

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are arriving at CCNY
without a proper foundation,

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who caused that to be?

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Who kept that in place?

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So Dr. Gallagher put the weight

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of the presidency
behind the SEEK program.

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And what he did
was, no, he said,

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\"All right, you need
teachers of English.

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I\'m gonna give you some folks.\"

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And who did he give us?

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♪ Respect yourself.

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♪ Da-da-da-da

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♪ Respect yourself

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♪ De-De-De-De

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♪ Respect yourself

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♪ Da-da-da-da

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♪ Respect yourself

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♪ De-De-De-De-De

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♪ If you don\'t
respect yourself ♪

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♪ Aint nobody gonna
give a good cahoot ♪

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♪ Nah-Nah-Nah oh oh

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♪ Respect yourself

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♪ Na-Na-Na-Na-Na

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♪ Respect yourself

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♪ De-De-De-De-De

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♪ Respect yourself

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♪ Da-Da-Da-Da-Da

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♪ Respect yourself

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♪ De-De-De-De-De

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♪ Da-da-da-da, da-da

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♪ If you don\'t
respect yourself ♪

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♪ Ain\'t nobody gonna
give a good cahoot ♪

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♪ Nah-Nah-Nah oh oh

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♪ Respect yourself

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Audre Lorde and Adrienne
Rich actually met

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at City College in 1968,

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and became the very
best of friends.

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Their incredibly powerful
visions for the future,

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for a non-racist, non-sexist,
non-hierarchical future,

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really changed the
role of literature.

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And we were nappy girls,
quick as cuttlefish,

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scurrying for cover,

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trying to speak.

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If the people who
are teaching us

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are totally brilliant
and they\'re listening

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to what we have to say,
then our opinions matter.

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I feel that Africa is,
at this present time,

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is not our home.

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I think my forefathers
have died in this country,

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and I claim this
country as mine.

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I would like to get out of the
reservation on 145th Street.

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But it is a reservation.
It is a ghetto.

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And I think that this is
what our fight is for.

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To be able to function
in the mainstream,

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in all of American life,

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because we are Americans and
we did build this country.

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And that\'s what they gave us.

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They let us know that
our opinions mattered.

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Mina Shaughnessy directed

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the entire English
component of the program.

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She had just a love
for the students,

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and a demand for standards
at the same time.

253
00:15:42.483 --> 00:15:44.735
she wanted them to do well.

254
00:15:46.028 --> 00:15:48.530
Mina Shaughnessy
inspired a whole movement

255
00:15:48.530 --> 00:15:52.034
of teaching students
from where they are,

256
00:15:52.034 --> 00:15:54.578
and bringing them
from where they are

257
00:15:54.578 --> 00:15:58.332
to a point where, you know,
they can express themselves

258
00:15:58.332 --> 00:16:01.043
in the best language that has

259
00:16:01.043 --> 00:16:03.545
been transmitted down
through the ages.

260
00:16:03.545 --> 00:16:08.217
Mina Shaughnessy and Toni
Cade Bambara, and June Jordan,

261
00:16:08.217 --> 00:16:12.554
they were so expansive, and so
delightful, and so embracing.

262
00:16:12.554 --> 00:16:15.015
It was, they really
built a community here.

263
00:16:15.015 --> 00:16:18.102
These people already
on the faculty here,

264
00:16:18.102 --> 00:16:20.354
just major people who were,

265
00:16:22.481 --> 00:16:25.609
in a sense, leading a sort
of cultural revolution,

266
00:16:25.609 --> 00:16:27.236
a literary revolution.

267
00:16:27.236 --> 00:16:29.446
So there already
was this atmosphere

268
00:16:29.446 --> 00:16:32.616
of literary change,
and consciousness.

269
00:16:33.826 --> 00:16:35.828
We would participate
with The Last Poets.

270
00:16:35.828 --> 00:16:39.123
You know, The Last Poets,
the famous Last Poets.

271
00:16:39.123 --> 00:16:40.708
Poetry is Black.

272
00:16:40.708 --> 00:16:42.584
Poetry is Black people.

273
00:16:43.711 --> 00:16:46.714
Running when it\'s time to run,

274
00:16:46.714 --> 00:16:49.383
and walk when it\'s time to walk.

275
00:16:50.342 --> 00:16:52.636
And grooving all the time.

276
00:16:52.636 --> 00:16:56.640
The Last Poets performed
at CCNY numerous times.

277
00:16:56.640 --> 00:16:58.267
These students, they
could recite our poetry

278
00:16:58.267 --> 00:16:59.727
better than we could.

279
00:16:59.727 --> 00:17:03.105
Already, poetry was becoming
a revolutionary tool.

280
00:17:03.105 --> 00:17:06.942
Before Ice Cube and
Dr. Dre, and Jay-Z,

281
00:17:06.942 --> 00:17:08.944
before all of that,
we were kicking it.

282
00:17:08.944 --> 00:17:12.197
And we were offering
concrete solutions

283
00:17:13.073 --> 00:17:14.450
to sociological, political,

284
00:17:14.450 --> 00:17:15.951
and cultural
problems, and racism.

285
00:17:15.951 --> 00:17:17.119
We were hitting it hard.

286
00:17:19.580 --> 00:17:21.123
Hey now!

287
00:17:21.123 --> 00:17:22.082
Hey now.

288
00:17:22.082 --> 00:17:23.751
There were a number of books

289
00:17:23.751 --> 00:17:26.712
that were pretty obligatory
if you wanted to have

290
00:17:26.712 --> 00:17:29.381
a conversation as a young
Black person of conscience

291
00:17:29.381 --> 00:17:31.967
with other young Black
people of conscience.

292
00:17:31.967 --> 00:17:34.887
We had to train ourselves
in political action,

293
00:17:34.887 --> 00:17:37.931
and to really train
our consciousness,

294
00:17:37.931 --> 00:17:40.434
because some of us had
not read things like that.

295
00:17:40.434 --> 00:17:43.520
Everything that
was going on during

296
00:17:43.520 --> 00:17:47.983
this particular period of time
had political implications.

297
00:18:03.332 --> 00:18:05.876
♪ People are running
people moving in now ♪

298
00:18:05.876 --> 00:18:08.462
♪ Because of the
color of their skin ♪

299
00:18:08.462 --> 00:18:10.464
♪ Run, run, run

300
00:18:10.464 --> 00:18:13.342
We\'re talking \'60s,

301
00:18:13.342 --> 00:18:15.594
mid to late \'60s.

302
00:18:15.594 --> 00:18:18.347
Well, you have a lot of
major things happening

303
00:18:18.347 --> 00:18:20.057
in American society.

304
00:18:22.976 --> 00:18:25.687
It was the height of
the war in Vietnam.

305
00:18:25.687 --> 00:18:30.192
It was the height of the
Civil Rights Movement.

306
00:18:30.192 --> 00:18:33.737
I mean, what we did in
Vietnam was so despicable,

307
00:18:33.737 --> 00:18:36.698
and there was
tremendous opposition.

308
00:18:38.742 --> 00:18:41.954
♪ Segregation, determination,
demonstration, integration ♪

309
00:18:41.954 --> 00:18:45.124
♪ Aggravation, humiliation,
obligation to our nation ♪

310
00:18:45.124 --> 00:18:48.502
♪ Ball of confusion

311
00:18:48.502 --> 00:18:49.920
Of course, most of the student

312
00:18:49.920 --> 00:18:53.257
had absolutely no
political consciousness.

313
00:18:53.257 --> 00:18:56.218
But the immediate
leadership element

314
00:18:56.218 --> 00:18:59.054
in the Black and Puerto
Rican student community

315
00:18:59.054 --> 00:19:00.430
did have some.

316
00:19:00.430 --> 00:19:04.309
They came from organizations
in the community.

317
00:19:04.309 --> 00:19:06.562
The Young Lords was
just being formed.

318
00:19:06.562 --> 00:19:08.814
The Black Panther Party,

319
00:19:08.814 --> 00:19:12.401
and SNCCS, Non-Violent Student
Coordination Committee.

320
00:19:12.401 --> 00:19:16.780
So you had different
levels of consciousness

321
00:19:16.780 --> 00:19:19.241
in terms of the student
population involvement.

322
00:19:19.241 --> 00:19:20.576
It was coming out

323
00:19:20.576 --> 00:19:24.621
of civil rights in
nationalism, Black nationalism.

324
00:19:24.621 --> 00:19:27.708
The pull of Black
nationalism, I don\'t think was

325
00:19:27.708 --> 00:19:29.918
a particularly strong pull.

326
00:19:29.918 --> 00:19:32.921
What was evident
was a larger energy

327
00:19:35.048 --> 00:19:36.466
that came from the teachings

328
00:19:36.466 --> 00:19:38.760
of Malcolm X, W.E.B. Du Bois,

329
00:19:38.760 --> 00:19:40.846
you know, Franz Fanan.

330
00:19:40.846 --> 00:19:43.056
You know, that was
a larger picture

331
00:19:43.056 --> 00:19:44.850
than just Black nationalism.

332
00:19:44.850 --> 00:19:48.854
It was a global realization,
a global awareness that

333
00:19:48.854 --> 00:19:52.691
of the conditions of people
of color all over the world.

334
00:19:55.027 --> 00:19:57.613
It was a political
revolution going on.

335
00:19:57.613 --> 00:20:00.616
Many countries were
obtaining their independence.

336
00:20:00.616 --> 00:20:02.659
There were also movements
in Latin America

337
00:20:02.659 --> 00:20:04.661
against the US-imposed
dictatorships.

338
00:20:07.331 --> 00:20:09.499
World Revolution was
exploding from Mozambique,

339
00:20:09.499 --> 00:20:12.794
to Guinea-Bissau, to
Namibia, South Africa.

340
00:20:12.794 --> 00:20:14.296
And we wanted to be a part

341
00:20:14.296 --> 00:20:17.424
of that world
movement for change.

342
00:20:17.424 --> 00:20:19.468
It should be our first priority

343
00:20:19.468 --> 00:20:22.262
to stop the genocide
in Southeast Asia.

344
00:20:22.262 --> 00:20:24.306
This campus is a hotbed.

345
00:20:24.306 --> 00:20:25.849
You had SDS over there.

346
00:20:25.849 --> 00:20:28.477
You had Student Non-Violent
Coordinating Committee there.

347
00:20:28.477 --> 00:20:30.437
You had the Onyx Society.

348
00:20:30.437 --> 00:20:34.066
I was a member of what was
called the Onyx Society,

349
00:20:34.066 --> 00:20:37.319
you know, Onyx being
the black stone.

350
00:20:37.319 --> 00:20:41.156
The Black students came
together to socialize,

351
00:20:41.156 --> 00:20:44.701
to foment change and
things of that nature.

352
00:20:46.328 --> 00:20:47.162
We just had initial meetings,

353
00:20:47.162 --> 00:20:48.830
just getting together.

354
00:20:48.830 --> 00:20:51.416
We didn\'t even
have the name yet.

355
00:20:51.416 --> 00:20:52.918
Ultimately, we
agreed that it would

356
00:20:52.918 --> 00:20:56.421
be Puerto Rican students
involved in student action.

357
00:20:56.421 --> 00:20:59.258
♪ Revolution is
the only solution ♪

358
00:20:59.258 --> 00:21:00.634
♪ If you want

359
00:21:00.634 --> 00:21:02.803
♪ If you want
♪ To be free

360
00:21:02.803 --> 00:21:05.931
♪ Revolution is
the only solution ♪

361
00:21:05.931 --> 00:21:07.182
♪ Revive me now

362
00:21:07.182 --> 00:21:11.436
♪ Revolution is the
only solution now ♪

363
00:21:11.436 --> 00:21:14.731
♪ Revolution the solution

364
00:21:14.731 --> 00:21:15.565
♪ Sing the song

365
00:21:15.565 --> 00:21:17.025
♪ Revolution

366
00:21:17.025 --> 00:21:19.695
We were striving to do
acts of civil disobedience.

367
00:21:19.695 --> 00:21:21.822
Many of us were also
impacted by the works

368
00:21:21.822 --> 00:21:23.448
of Martin Luther King,

369
00:21:23.448 --> 00:21:26.118
who was always a non-violent.

370
00:21:26.118 --> 00:21:27.953
Civil disobedience in a
non-violent manner was

371
00:21:27.953 --> 00:21:29.746
the best way to
bring about change,

372
00:21:29.746 --> 00:21:31.832
ongoing and lasting change.

373
00:21:31.832 --> 00:21:34.376
And many of us believed that.

374
00:21:34.376 --> 00:21:36.545
Some of us did not, to be
perfectly honest with you,

375
00:21:36.545 --> 00:21:37.963
but many of us did.

376
00:21:37.963 --> 00:21:41.216
And certainly that was something
that I was striving for.

377
00:21:41.216 --> 00:21:45.512
The Young Lords was the most
exciting, the most vibrant,

378
00:21:45.512 --> 00:21:49.224
the most revolutionary group
that existed at that time.

379
00:21:49.224 --> 00:21:50.475
We were for the independence

380
00:21:50.475 --> 00:21:52.477
of Puerto Rico, we
made that clear.

381
00:21:52.477 --> 00:21:55.022
We were for the
independence and liberation

382
00:21:55.022 --> 00:21:56.773
of all communities of color.

383
00:22:08.744 --> 00:22:11.580
We came together because we
were being educated together.

384
00:22:11.580 --> 00:22:15.125
One of the wonderful
things about New York City

385
00:22:15.125 --> 00:22:17.461
is that Blacks and Puerto
Ricans have established

386
00:22:17.461 --> 00:22:19.129
a very strong unity.

387
00:22:20.672 --> 00:22:24.760
It\'s not intellectual, it\'s
not political, it\'s visceral.

388
00:22:24.760 --> 00:22:27.137
The revolution in this country,

389
00:22:27.137 --> 00:22:30.724
the people coming
forth demand freedom!

390
00:22:33.977 --> 00:22:35.937
The most prominent
of the organizations,

391
00:22:35.937 --> 00:22:38.607
in my opinion, were
the Black Panthers.

392
00:22:38.607 --> 00:22:41.109
They influenced us profoundly.

393
00:22:50.243 --> 00:22:52.537
As a teen, I ended
up meeting many

394
00:22:52.537 --> 00:22:56.541
of the people who were
the initial organizers

395
00:22:56.541 --> 00:22:58.919
of the Harlem branch of
the Black Panther Party.

396
00:22:58.919 --> 00:23:00.462
So I joined.

397
00:23:00.462 --> 00:23:02.381
Black Panther Party, we\'re
not a racist organization.

398
00:23:02.381 --> 00:23:05.634
We will not deny white
people their humanity.

399
00:23:05.634 --> 00:23:07.135
\'Cause this is one
of the main grievance

400
00:23:07.135 --> 00:23:11.306
that the Black community has
against the white community.

401
00:23:11.306 --> 00:23:12.516
\'Cause for hundreds of years,

402
00:23:12.516 --> 00:23:14.851
they have denied black
people our humanity.

403
00:23:14.851 --> 00:23:18.313
And like we wouldn\'t
take and practice some

404
00:23:18.313 --> 00:23:20.982
of their racism
that they taught us.

405
00:23:20.982 --> 00:23:23.568
There was the
government perception

406
00:23:23.568 --> 00:23:27.322
of the Black Panther
Party versus the reality.

407
00:23:27.322 --> 00:23:28.657
Open the bag.

408
00:23:28.657 --> 00:23:30.659
The number one thing we had

409
00:23:30.659 --> 00:23:32.411
was a free breakfast program,

410
00:23:32.411 --> 00:23:36.164
and it was responsive to
the needs of the community.

411
00:23:36.164 --> 00:23:39.835
There was a shift in the
Civil Rights Movement.

412
00:23:39.835 --> 00:23:43.463
A number of things took
place that required

413
00:23:46.258 --> 00:23:51.263
younger people to think of
how they were going to respond

414
00:23:52.472 --> 00:23:55.684
to the terrorism that
Black people faced.

415
00:23:55.684 --> 00:23:58.353
I may not get there with you,

416
00:23:58.353 --> 00:24:01.231
but I want you to know tonight

417
00:24:01.231 --> 00:24:04.943
that we, as people, will
get to the promised land!

418
00:24:04.943 --> 00:24:06.695
Dr. Martin Luther King,

419
00:24:06.695 --> 00:24:08.363
the apostle of non-violence

420
00:24:08.363 --> 00:24:09.906
in the Civil Rights Movement,

421
00:24:09.906 --> 00:24:11.199
has been shot to death
in Memphis, Tennessee.

422
00:24:11.199 --> 00:24:13.201
Snipers\' bullets
cut down Dr. King

423
00:24:13.201 --> 00:24:15.787
as he stood in a hotel
balcony in Memphis.

424
00:24:15.787 --> 00:24:17.038
Within an hour, Doctor-

425
00:24:17.038 --> 00:24:19.332
After the murder of
Martin Luther King,

426
00:24:19.332 --> 00:24:21.710
in more than 100 cities,
violence broke out.

427
00:24:26.256 --> 00:24:29.092
When I heard that he was shot...

428
00:24:37.058 --> 00:24:41.062
I just couldn\'t believe that
they would kill this man.

429
00:24:41.062 --> 00:24:43.565
When I heard that this guy,

430
00:24:43.565 --> 00:24:46.902
it\'s like our daddy
was shot and killed.

431
00:24:49.529 --> 00:24:53.074
For me, it was the
end of the romance.

432
00:24:53.074 --> 00:24:55.035
It was the end of
it for America.

433
00:24:55.035 --> 00:24:58.747
All I could say was,
\"Martin Luther King,

434
00:24:58.747 --> 00:25:02.000
Martin Luther King,
Martin Luther King.\"

435
00:25:02.000 --> 00:25:05.253
And everybody started
chanting Martin Luther King.

436
00:25:05.253 --> 00:25:07.797
And we realized, oh my God.

437
00:25:07.797 --> 00:25:10.800
♪ Through the storm

438
00:25:18.350 --> 00:25:19.601
♪ Through

439
00:25:19.601 --> 00:25:20.894
And we marched down
the street chanting,

440
00:25:20.894 --> 00:25:22.479
\"Martin Luther King,
Martin Luther King.\"

441
00:25:22.479 --> 00:25:25.690
We got down to 126th Street,
and there was a barricade

442
00:25:25.690 --> 00:25:27.776
of policemen standing
there saying,

443
00:25:27.776 --> 00:25:29.194
\"You can\'t go to 125th Street,

444
00:25:29.194 --> 00:25:31.154
because there\'s a
riot going on there.\"

445
00:25:32.489 --> 00:25:34.032
And we went through,

446
00:25:34.032 --> 00:25:38.036
and the sound of breaking
plate glass was horrific.

447
00:25:39.454 --> 00:25:41.957
As we got to 125th street,

448
00:25:41.957 --> 00:25:45.752
this white, blonde god
rose from the subway,

449
00:25:45.752 --> 00:25:47.671
it was Mayor Lindsay.

450
00:25:47.671 --> 00:25:52.676
And he came in the middle
of the riot to talk to us.

451
00:25:53.468 --> 00:25:56.096
♪ Brother show us Lord

452
00:25:56.972 --> 00:25:59.140
We took our rage with us.

453
00:25:59.140 --> 00:26:02.310
We decided, okay, we went home.

454
00:26:02.310 --> 00:26:04.646
That weekend people changed.

455
00:26:06.481 --> 00:26:09.985
And people came back
to school that Monday

456
00:26:11.361 --> 00:26:13.238
with a different attitude.

457
00:26:15.949 --> 00:26:18.827
These students, they
would come into my office,

458
00:26:18.827 --> 00:26:22.289
and they\'d talk about
all their concerns

459
00:26:22.289 --> 00:26:24.791
about things going on outside.

460
00:26:26.251 --> 00:26:30.797
The assassination of Martin
Luther King, in particular,

461
00:26:30.797 --> 00:26:35.343
stimulated a lot of anguish,
and protest in these kids.

462
00:26:36.511 --> 00:26:37.887
And they were looking

463
00:26:37.887 --> 00:26:40.849
for something,
something, anything.

464
00:26:42.017 --> 00:26:44.853
At that point, many more
moderate students says,

465
00:26:44.853 --> 00:26:49.190
\"All bets are down. If you
kill him, what about me?\"

466
00:26:50.984 --> 00:26:53.987
And so the death of Martin
Luther King really marked

467
00:26:53.987 --> 00:26:57.699
a departure, especially
in the Northeast,

468
00:26:57.699 --> 00:27:00.535
from nonviolence and
passive resistance

469
00:27:00.535 --> 00:27:02.454
to a much more radical,

470
00:27:03.622 --> 00:27:06.499
even defensive, arms
defensive posture

471
00:27:07.709 --> 00:27:09.544
on the part of students.

472
00:27:09.544 --> 00:27:12.213
At American University
in Washington,

473
00:27:12.213 --> 00:27:13.715
a group of students stormed

474
00:27:13.715 --> 00:27:15.508
the administration
building today,

475
00:27:15.508 --> 00:27:18.887
protesting a campus
program they didn\'t like.

476
00:27:18.887 --> 00:27:22.223
At Dartmouth, the SDS demanded
that military training

477
00:27:22.223 --> 00:27:23.725
be removed from the campus,

478
00:27:23.725 --> 00:27:26.227
and threatened
trouble if it wasn\'t.

479
00:27:26.227 --> 00:27:28.772
At MIT, they were
picketing a lab.

480
00:27:28.772 --> 00:27:31.441
At Boston State,
Black students seized

481
00:27:31.441 --> 00:27:35.362
the building demanding more
Black students and a Black dean.

482
00:27:35.362 --> 00:27:38.156
We had to do something at City.

483
00:27:38.156 --> 00:27:41.201
♪ Freedom, freedom

484
00:27:41.201 --> 00:27:44.412
♪ Each and every
man wants freedom ♪

485
00:27:44.412 --> 00:27:48.249
♪ Freedom
By 1968 into \'69, we

486
00:27:48.249 --> 00:27:51.336
are attempting to
be an integral part

487
00:27:51.336 --> 00:27:53.963
of a national student movement.

488
00:27:53.963 --> 00:27:55.382
♪ Free at last, free last

489
00:27:55.382 --> 00:27:57.175
♪ Good God Almighty,
I\'m free at last ♪

490
00:27:57.175 --> 00:27:59.594
♪ Oo, uh-huh

491
00:27:59.594 --> 00:28:01.805
The students at
Columbia University

492
00:28:01.805 --> 00:28:03.473
had taken over their campus.

493
00:28:03.473 --> 00:28:05.058
We would go up there every day

494
00:28:05.058 --> 00:28:07.352
and support them
outside of the building.

495
00:28:07.352 --> 00:28:11.022
So that idea was
already in the air.

496
00:28:11.022 --> 00:28:14.109
There\'s also a
group of faculty who

497
00:28:16.444 --> 00:28:19.114
were talking to
them all the time

498
00:28:19.114 --> 00:28:22.534
about empowerment,
empowerment, empowerment.

499
00:28:22.534 --> 00:28:25.370
All these factors
are working on them.

500
00:28:25.370 --> 00:28:26.913
When is the time to move?

501
00:28:26.913 --> 00:28:28.790
The time is now!
The time is now!

502
00:28:28.790 --> 00:28:31.042
When is the time for
a rainbow to arrive?

503
00:28:31.042 --> 00:28:32.502
The time is now!
The time is now!

504
00:28:32.502 --> 00:28:34.671
When is time to rename America?

505
00:28:34.671 --> 00:28:36.047
The time is now!

506
00:28:36.047 --> 00:28:38.341
When is it time
starvation to starve?

507
00:28:38.341 --> 00:28:39.718
The time is now!

508
00:28:39.718 --> 00:28:41.344
When is the time for change?

509
00:28:41.344 --> 00:28:43.096
The time is now!

510
00:28:43.096 --> 00:28:44.973
When is it time for freedom?

511
00:28:44.973 --> 00:28:46.808
The time is now!
The time is now!

512
00:28:46.808 --> 00:28:48.977
The time is now!
The time is now!

513
00:28:48.977 --> 00:28:51.896
We decided we had
to have a plan.

514
00:28:51.896 --> 00:28:56.484
That we had to have a strategy
on how to open the doors

515
00:28:57.694 --> 00:29:00.405
of City College for
more people like us.

516
00:29:00.405 --> 00:29:03.450
We created a committee of 10.

517
00:29:03.450 --> 00:29:06.661
I was one of those that was
elected to be on that committee.

518
00:29:06.661 --> 00:29:09.664
It was known to be
the negotiating body

519
00:29:09.664 --> 00:29:13.585
for the Black and Puerto Rican
student, you know, community.

520
00:29:13.585 --> 00:29:17.338
I do recall that there
was only one woman.

521
00:29:17.338 --> 00:29:20.300
Most of the men had
already been selected.

522
00:29:20.300 --> 00:29:22.302
I think there were nine.

523
00:29:23.470 --> 00:29:25.930
The entire nine had
already been selected,

524
00:29:25.930 --> 00:29:27.515
when somebody said, \"What?

525
00:29:27.515 --> 00:29:29.809
We don\'t have any women so far.\"

526
00:29:29.809 --> 00:29:34.773
And so I was pushed forward,
\"Francee, you do it.\"

527
00:29:34.773 --> 00:29:36.691
And that\'s how I
became the only woman

528
00:29:36.691 --> 00:29:38.526
on the committee of 10.

529
00:29:38.526 --> 00:29:41.613
There\'s sexism within
our own communities,

530
00:29:41.613 --> 00:29:42.989
as well as without.

531
00:29:42.989 --> 00:29:45.867
In the 1960s, there was
a tremendous emphasis

532
00:29:45.867 --> 00:29:48.787
on manhood in Black movements.

533
00:29:48.787 --> 00:29:51.790
Very often, when we were
talking about the term race,

534
00:29:51.790 --> 00:29:55.126
in the 1960s, we all thought
it meant women and men.

535
00:29:55.126 --> 00:29:58.004
And what we discovered
to a large extent

536
00:29:58.004 --> 00:30:00.715
within the movements was
that it meant maleness.

537
00:30:00.715 --> 00:30:02.967
We saw that, the way that

538
00:30:05.637 --> 00:30:08.389
Black American
women were treated

539
00:30:09.557 --> 00:30:12.977
by the Black American
men in the struggle.

540
00:30:16.356 --> 00:30:21.236
And it was something that
was totally unacceptable.

541
00:30:21.236 --> 00:30:23.321
It was an affront.

542
00:30:23.321 --> 00:30:24.405
Some of the

543
00:30:27.700 --> 00:30:31.746
men, the brothers were sexist.

544
00:30:32.747 --> 00:30:35.875
And there was struggle
within the leadership,

545
00:30:35.875 --> 00:30:39.921
and the organizers around
the equality of women,

546
00:30:39.921 --> 00:30:42.090
because women pushed back.

547
00:30:44.342 --> 00:30:46.594
There were a number of meetings.

548
00:30:46.594 --> 00:30:51.266
And people talked about the
fact that CCNY is in Harlem.

549
00:30:54.435 --> 00:30:56.062
It is totally white.

550
00:30:58.565 --> 00:31:03.236
What finally happened was,
we came up with five demands.

551
00:31:10.535 --> 00:31:11.870
Demand number one,
a separate school

552
00:31:11.870 --> 00:31:15.415
of Black and Puerto
Rican studies.

553
00:31:15.415 --> 00:31:20.086
I think you can say that
just about any human endeavor

554
00:31:21.337 --> 00:31:23.548
in America, the
concentration has been

555
00:31:23.548 --> 00:31:26.759
on those people of
European descent.

556
00:31:26.759 --> 00:31:31.055
History is essential, you
know, to our getting a,

557
00:31:31.055 --> 00:31:33.808
especially a liberal
arts education, right?

558
00:31:33.808 --> 00:31:38.271
So where is our history?
And there was none there.

559
00:31:40.732 --> 00:31:42.275
A separate orientation program

560
00:31:42.275 --> 00:31:44.819
for Black and Puerto
Rican students.

561
00:31:44.819 --> 00:31:48.114
I\'m sure they still do
your freshman orientations

562
00:31:48.114 --> 00:31:50.783
and orientations for folks.

563
00:31:50.783 --> 00:31:53.453
We didn\'t feel like
it spoke to us.

564
00:31:53.453 --> 00:31:56.915
We also needed to have,
you know, a better way

565
00:31:56.915 --> 00:32:00.543
of getting us oriented
to this college,

566
00:32:00.543 --> 00:32:03.796
but also getting the college
better oriented to us.

567
00:32:05.214 --> 00:32:07.842
A voice for SEEK
students in the setting

568
00:32:07.842 --> 00:32:10.845
of all guidelines
for the SEEK program,

569
00:32:10.845 --> 00:32:14.933
including the hiring and
firing of all personnel.

570
00:32:16.142 --> 00:32:18.519
Okay, so SEEK\'s the
primary support area

571
00:32:18.519 --> 00:32:20.355
for Black and Puerto
Rican students.

572
00:32:20.355 --> 00:32:22.065
We need to have some control

573
00:32:22.065 --> 00:32:25.693
about what occurs
within those programs.

574
00:32:25.693 --> 00:32:27.487
Of course, these are all
sensible, aren\'t they?

575
00:32:27.487 --> 00:32:29.030
We were college students.

576
00:32:30.740 --> 00:32:32.450
That the racial composition

577
00:32:32.450 --> 00:32:34.786
of all entering classes
reflect the Black

578
00:32:34.786 --> 00:32:36.871
and Puerto Rican
population of all

579
00:32:36.871 --> 00:32:39.540
of New York City\'s high schools.

580
00:32:39.540 --> 00:32:43.044
We thought that we
needed more Black

581
00:32:43.044 --> 00:32:45.880
and Puerto Rican
students at CCNY,

582
00:32:45.880 --> 00:32:50.885
and that we needed that to
happen sooner rather than later.

583
00:32:52.053 --> 00:32:53.888
How does the city
university, starting

584
00:32:53.888 --> 00:32:57.558
with this flagship City
College, the senior college,

585
00:32:57.558 --> 00:33:01.771
reflect the graduating
population ethnically

586
00:33:01.771 --> 00:33:03.231
of the city of New York?

587
00:33:03.231 --> 00:33:05.149
That\'s what we
were talking about.

588
00:33:09.821 --> 00:33:11.781
That Black and
Puerto Rican history,

589
00:33:11.781 --> 00:33:14.575
and Spanish language
be a requirement

590
00:33:14.575 --> 00:33:16.661
for all education majors.

591
00:33:17.578 --> 00:33:19.497
If you\'re going to go out

592
00:33:19.497 --> 00:33:21.332
and teach people
in our communities,

593
00:33:21.332 --> 00:33:23.710
maybe you should be
at least more aware

594
00:33:23.710 --> 00:33:25.878
of our history and culture.

595
00:33:25.878 --> 00:33:28.131
Yes, if you are going to
be part of this community,

596
00:33:28.131 --> 00:33:31.092
and instruct this community,
and teach this community,

597
00:33:31.092 --> 00:33:33.177
you must try, you
must at least have

598
00:33:33.177 --> 00:33:36.889
some understanding of that
language, where it came from,

599
00:33:36.889 --> 00:33:39.892
and not view it in
a pejorative way.

600
00:33:43.062 --> 00:33:46.274
We presented Buell
Gallagher with the demands.

601
00:33:46.274 --> 00:33:47.817
He did not respond.

602
00:33:49.610 --> 00:33:52.280
When we first put
these things together,

603
00:33:52.280 --> 00:33:53.740
we felt that all you needed

604
00:33:53.740 --> 00:33:55.742
was well-intentioned
people sitting down

605
00:33:55.742 --> 00:33:57.910
and having conversation.

606
00:33:57.910 --> 00:33:59.954
There was no budging
on any of it.

607
00:33:59.954 --> 00:34:02.790
None of the demands
were even considered

608
00:34:02.790 --> 00:34:06.794
as being valid enough to
sit down and negotiate.

609
00:34:08.171 --> 00:34:11.674
You take action if your words
are falling on deaf ears,

610
00:34:11.674 --> 00:34:15.636
if nothing is happening,
if you see no movement

611
00:34:15.636 --> 00:34:17.805
in something that you\'ve
been talking about.

612
00:34:17.805 --> 00:34:21.225
And so I was not in
the upper echelons

613
00:34:21.225 --> 00:34:23.936
of planning, or
anything like that.

614
00:34:23.936 --> 00:34:26.981
I was a foot
soldier, essentially.

615
00:34:26.981 --> 00:34:29.984
Well, I knew it came down
to we gotta plan this thing,

616
00:34:29.984 --> 00:34:31.986
and we planned it.

617
00:34:31.986 --> 00:34:35.156
So we decided that
we\'d get there

618
00:34:35.156 --> 00:34:37.825
around 6:00 in the morning.

619
00:34:37.825 --> 00:34:40.453
We had purchased chains
and locks and whatnot.

620
00:34:40.453 --> 00:34:42.455
There was a feeling
of excitement,

621
00:34:42.455 --> 00:34:45.249
tension and empowerment.

622
00:34:45.249 --> 00:34:49.337
We took the chains and we
decided to lock those gates.

623
00:34:49.337 --> 00:34:51.631
Black and Puerto
Rican students chained

624
00:34:51.631 --> 00:34:55.218
the gates to City College
of New York, closing it.

625
00:34:55.218 --> 00:34:58.846
They wanted minority groups
to have 50% of the enrollment.

626
00:34:58.846 --> 00:35:02.141
At that moment in
history, the city college,

627
00:35:02.141 --> 00:35:04.185
the mayor and the
police was faced

628
00:35:04.185 --> 00:35:07.688
with the largest student
takeover in history.

629
00:35:07.688 --> 00:35:10.024
Yet it rarely ever
gets discussed.

630
00:35:10.024 --> 00:35:13.361
You got 17 buildings
[chuckles] in your hands.

631
00:35:13.361 --> 00:35:15.071
All the entrances
were closed down.

632
00:35:15.071 --> 00:35:17.365
We went into each
building, emptied out,

633
00:35:17.365 --> 00:35:18.825
advised the students.

634
00:35:18.825 --> 00:35:20.368
Took some time to get
everything rolling,

635
00:35:20.368 --> 00:35:22.703
but say by about
10:00 in the morning,

636
00:35:22.703 --> 00:35:26.040
the campus was officially
under our control.

637
00:35:26.040 --> 00:35:29.710
♪ So power to the
people, power ♪

638
00:35:29.710 --> 00:35:32.588
♪ Power to the people, power

639
00:35:32.588 --> 00:35:35.466
♪ Black power to Black people

640
00:35:35.466 --> 00:35:38.302
♪ Puerto Rican power to
Puerto Rican people ♪

641
00:35:38.302 --> 00:35:41.806
♪ Power to the people, power.

642
00:35:41.806 --> 00:35:42.723
So, yeah.

643
00:35:43.724 --> 00:35:45.685
♪ Day new day

644
00:35:45.685 --> 00:35:47.019
♪ A brand new way

645
00:35:47.019 --> 00:35:48.479
♪ Brand new way

646
00:35:48.479 --> 00:35:49.605
♪ For yeah

647
00:35:49.605 --> 00:35:51.983
♪ Brand new day

648
00:35:51.983 --> 00:35:54.318
♪ Brand new way

649
00:35:54.318 --> 00:35:57.280
♪ We gotta put our
heads together ♪

650
00:35:57.280 --> 00:36:00.324
♪ And see where
we go from there ♪

651
00:36:00.324 --> 00:36:03.786
♪ We\'ve gotta fight for
what we believe in ♪

652
00:36:03.786 --> 00:36:05.413
♪ Something\'s in the air

653
00:36:05.413 --> 00:36:07.623
♪ It\'s a brand new day

654
00:36:07.623 --> 00:36:09.500
♪ Today ♪ It\'s
a brand new way ♪

655
00:36:09.500 --> 00:36:11.169
My brother and I
pulled up in our car

656
00:36:11.169 --> 00:36:14.130
and parked on St.
Nicholas Terrace waiting

657
00:36:14.130 --> 00:36:16.507
for the alternate side of the
street parking regulations

658
00:36:16.507 --> 00:36:18.092
to go off at 11:00.

659
00:36:19.260 --> 00:36:21.929
And I\'m gonna rush to
my class in Wagner Hall.

660
00:36:21.929 --> 00:36:24.557
We get out of the car
and we get to the gate,

661
00:36:24.557 --> 00:36:27.393
and we are stopped by a handful

662
00:36:27.393 --> 00:36:30.062
of African American students.

663
00:36:30.062 --> 00:36:33.733
They handed us a flyer
telling us why we were

664
00:36:33.733 --> 00:36:36.360
not allowed to be on campus.

665
00:36:36.360 --> 00:36:40.281
We didn\'t know what was gonna
happen, but we were stopped.

666
00:36:40.281 --> 00:36:43.868
We were stopped from
coming into our campus.

667
00:36:43.868 --> 00:36:47.455
Our campus, I didn\'t
think in those terms,

668
00:36:47.455 --> 00:36:49.665
was a white campus.

669
00:36:49.665 --> 00:36:54.086
And now we\'re being turned
away because we\'re white.

670
00:36:54.086 --> 00:36:57.381
We never said this is
just about Black people.

671
00:36:57.381 --> 00:36:59.675
We was just saying we\'re
left at the bus stop

672
00:36:59.675 --> 00:37:02.094
and the bus just took off, okay?

673
00:37:02.094 --> 00:37:04.847
Either bring the bus
back or send another bus.

674
00:37:04.847 --> 00:37:06.098
But we didn\'t say don\'t pick up

675
00:37:06.098 --> 00:37:09.101
the other students
at the bus stop.

676
00:37:09.101 --> 00:37:11.479
It was quite a shocking moment

677
00:37:11.479 --> 00:37:15.942
for the first time being
told you can\'t go here.

678
00:37:15.942 --> 00:37:19.028
Now, you think back in time
there were times where Jews

679
00:37:19.028 --> 00:37:21.989
were told in this country,
you can\'t go here.

680
00:37:21.989 --> 00:37:25.618
Whether it\'s a hotel, or
a resort, or a school.

681
00:37:25.618 --> 00:37:28.287
Now City College with
its great reputation

682
00:37:28.287 --> 00:37:30.539
for openness to all groups,

683
00:37:31.958 --> 00:37:36.796
but I have to define as all
white groups for the most part.

684
00:37:38.172 --> 00:37:40.549
Now it\'s off limits to
us as part of the strike.

685
00:37:40.549 --> 00:37:44.262
So it\'s very unsettling,
and made me start to think

686
00:37:44.262 --> 00:37:48.182
about where do we fit
into this moment in time?

687
00:37:50.893 --> 00:37:52.728
At City College,
the faculty called

688
00:37:52.728 --> 00:37:54.730
an urgent morning meeting
in an effort to resolve

689
00:37:54.730 --> 00:37:56.023
the problem that caused

690
00:37:56.023 --> 00:37:58.359
the first shutdown in
the college\'s history.

691
00:37:58.359 --> 00:38:00.361
Here, Black and
Puerto Rican students

692
00:38:00.361 --> 00:38:01.862
would air their grievances.

693
00:38:01.862 --> 00:38:04.865
A large delegation
marched into the meeting.

694
00:38:04.865 --> 00:38:07.576
I myself was a little
bit ambivalent.

695
00:38:07.576 --> 00:38:09.120
If you\'re gonna shut
down the campus,

696
00:38:09.120 --> 00:38:12.081
and these are students who
are struggling to make it,

697
00:38:12.081 --> 00:38:14.542
I didn\'t think it was
such a great idea.

698
00:38:14.542 --> 00:38:16.627
But I went to this meeting,

699
00:38:16.627 --> 00:38:19.547
and the students
were so brilliant

700
00:38:19.547 --> 00:38:23.759
in the way they presented their
arguments about everything,

701
00:38:23.759 --> 00:38:26.387
that I was totally won over.

702
00:38:27.763 --> 00:38:30.057
The first Black student
speaker took the floor.

703
00:38:30.057 --> 00:38:31.934
But his shouts for
power caused dozens

704
00:38:31.934 --> 00:38:35.146
of faculty members to walk out.

705
00:38:35.146 --> 00:38:36.856
Well, Mr. Gardner, would
you tell us your reasons

706
00:38:36.856 --> 00:38:38.065
for leaving this meeting?

707
00:38:38.065 --> 00:38:39.608
Well, the meeting
has just begun.

708
00:38:39.608 --> 00:38:43.779
But when this kind of tone
and language are employed,

709
00:38:44.989 --> 00:38:47.575
I feel that the meeting
as a civilized dialogue

710
00:38:47.575 --> 00:38:49.660
hasn\'t really
begun, it has ended.

711
00:38:49.660 --> 00:38:52.538
And there just wasn\'t
any point in remaining,

712
00:38:52.538 --> 00:38:56.751
For the most part, the
faculty was very hostile.

713
00:38:56.751 --> 00:38:59.712
They had such stereotypes
of who the students were

714
00:38:59.712 --> 00:39:02.423
that would be coming in.

715
00:39:02.423 --> 00:39:06.344
And so I got up and
talked about my experience

716
00:39:06.344 --> 00:39:09.388
with SEEK students and how
much they wanted to learn,

717
00:39:09.388 --> 00:39:13.100
and you know, I was very
scared when I got up to talk.

718
00:39:13.100 --> 00:39:14.894
But anyway, I did it.

719
00:39:16.437 --> 00:39:19.315
We thought we
probably could stay

720
00:39:19.315 --> 00:39:21.609
maybe two hours, three max.

721
00:39:23.611 --> 00:39:26.113
If we can get through
the morning, you know,

722
00:39:26.113 --> 00:39:27.365
it would\'ve been a victory.

723
00:39:27.365 --> 00:39:29.867
Because the takeover
really started as,

724
00:39:29.867 --> 00:39:33.204
it was more symbolic
than anything else.

725
00:39:34.914 --> 00:39:38.417
So here\'s what happened.
We had security.

726
00:39:38.417 --> 00:39:42.296
They were ordered to
remove us and they refused.

727
00:39:42.296 --> 00:39:45.633
All of the guards on
campus were Black.

728
00:39:45.633 --> 00:39:49.387
They were instructed
to clear us out.

729
00:39:49.387 --> 00:39:52.723
And the word went back
to the administration

730
00:39:52.723 --> 00:39:55.643
that the guards have
decided as a whole

731
00:39:55.643 --> 00:39:58.646
that they will not
touch the students.

732
00:39:58.646 --> 00:40:02.024
And so they fired all
of the security officers

733
00:40:02.024 --> 00:40:03.484
that were on duty.

734
00:40:03.484 --> 00:40:06.821
So the sixth demand
became the first demand,

735
00:40:06.821 --> 00:40:09.532
and that was, we would
not negotiate on anything

736
00:40:09.532 --> 00:40:13.744
until all of those security
guards were reinstated,

737
00:40:13.744 --> 00:40:15.871
and rehired in their jobs.

738
00:40:15.871 --> 00:40:18.457
So Gallagher took care of that.

739
00:40:19.875 --> 00:40:23.462
On the south campus, there is
the house of the president,

740
00:40:23.462 --> 00:40:24.880
and we basically kidnapped him.

741
00:40:24.880 --> 00:40:27.675
So Buell Gallagher was
held captive on the campus.

742
00:40:27.675 --> 00:40:29.885
Gallagher lived on
the south campus,

743
00:40:29.885 --> 00:40:31.804
so we were locking him out.

744
00:40:31.804 --> 00:40:34.181
So he came out and you know,

745
00:40:34.181 --> 00:40:36.725
and he says, \"Okay,
we just need calm.

746
00:40:36.725 --> 00:40:38.853
I\'m not calling the police.\"

747
00:40:38.853 --> 00:40:42.398
President. Gallagher
was a very nice man.

748
00:40:42.398 --> 00:40:44.817
And I know cause I was
the one guarding him

749
00:40:44.817 --> 00:40:47.319
in his house during
the takeover.

750
00:40:47.319 --> 00:40:49.196
And we would talk all the time.

751
00:40:49.196 --> 00:40:50.906
But he was not going to condone

752
00:40:50.906 --> 00:40:52.992
the takeover of the college.

753
00:40:52.992 --> 00:40:55.369
He refused to meet with us.

754
00:40:55.369 --> 00:40:57.872
He refused to even
consider the demands.

755
00:40:57.872 --> 00:41:01.167
The five demands did not
miraculously appear a month ago.

756
00:41:01.167 --> 00:41:03.043
They were first
formally presented

757
00:41:03.043 --> 00:41:05.713
to President
Gallagher in October,

758
00:41:05.713 --> 00:41:09.758
at which time there
was no response from
the administration.

759
00:41:09.758 --> 00:41:11.218
Again, in January,

760
00:41:11.218 --> 00:41:13.137
the Black and Puerto
Rican community

761
00:41:13.137 --> 00:41:16.056
presented President
Gallagher with the demands.

762
00:41:16.056 --> 00:41:18.893
He was asked to
agree in principle

763
00:41:19.894 --> 00:41:21.729
to the validity of the demands,

764
00:41:21.729 --> 00:41:23.647
and to set up the means by

765
00:41:23.647 --> 00:41:26.859
which negotiations
could take place.

766
00:41:26.859 --> 00:41:28.611
Again, there was no response.

767
00:41:28.611 --> 00:41:31.155
No structure was set up
for negotiation until

768
00:41:31.155 --> 00:41:34.408
the Black and Puerto Rican
student closed down south campus

769
00:41:34.408 --> 00:41:37.244
and declared
themselves on strike.

770
00:41:37.244 --> 00:41:39.997
The basic purposes of
all five of the demands

771
00:41:39.997 --> 00:41:43.584
were accepted by me more
than three months ago.

772
00:41:43.584 --> 00:41:47.796
I was at work on two of them
more than six months ago.

773
00:41:47.796 --> 00:41:50.841
And what has happened now
is that the public demands

774
00:41:50.841 --> 00:41:52.927
and agitation have interfered

775
00:41:52.927 --> 00:41:54.595
with the processes of achieving

776
00:41:54.595 --> 00:41:56.514
the goals we all
want to achieve.

777
00:41:56.514 --> 00:41:57.723
There\'s just a question

778
00:41:57.723 --> 00:41:59.433
of bad timing,
you\'re suggesting?

779
00:41:59.433 --> 00:42:02.144
Well, I\'m not talking about
putting any blame anywhere,

780
00:42:02.144 --> 00:42:03.604
but I\'m answering your question

781
00:42:03.604 --> 00:42:06.106
as to whether or
not progress is made

782
00:42:06.106 --> 00:42:08.108
without disruptive activity.

783
00:42:08.108 --> 00:42:11.195
And I\'m indicating that
disruptive activity only slows down

784
00:42:11.195 --> 00:42:13.280
the process we
already had underway.

785
00:42:13.280 --> 00:42:14.782
The strangest thing.

786
00:42:14.782 --> 00:42:17.409
I was one of those who was
asked to come mediate it.

787
00:42:17.409 --> 00:42:20.120
They sent and they all knew me.

788
00:42:20.120 --> 00:42:25.125
The students were more
asophisticated than the professors.

789
00:42:26.293 --> 00:42:27.211
I always thought Buell
Gallagher was one

790
00:42:27.211 --> 00:42:29.463
of the great men of our time.

791
00:42:29.463 --> 00:42:32.174
They ran rings around him.

792
00:42:32.174 --> 00:42:34.218
He was a progressive guy,

793
00:42:34.218 --> 00:42:37.555
but he didn\'t understand
what they were pushing for.

794
00:42:37.555 --> 00:42:39.014
Didn\'t understand it.

795
00:42:39.014 --> 00:42:42.309
It as president of a college
that had been taken over

796
00:42:42.309 --> 00:42:44.812
by a bunch of Black
and Latino students,

797
00:42:44.812 --> 00:42:47.648
he could have had the
cops come in immediately,

798
00:42:47.648 --> 00:42:49.858
call out a SWAT team and
had everybody kicked off.

799
00:42:49.858 --> 00:42:51.318
That\'s not what he did.

800
00:42:51.318 --> 00:42:53.320
And then it turned from one day

801
00:42:53.320 --> 00:42:54.989
into the next, into the next.

802
00:42:54.989 --> 00:42:59.910
♪ I wish I knew how it
would feel to be free ♪

803
00:43:01.412 --> 00:43:05.874
♪ Just to break all
of the chains that
kinda keep finding me ♪

804
00:43:07.042 --> 00:43:09.003
♪ And I wish that
I had to take ♪

805
00:43:09.003 --> 00:43:11.046
My mother did not know anything

806
00:43:11.046 --> 00:43:14.216
about what I was doing and
I knew that if she knew,

807
00:43:14.216 --> 00:43:19.221
she\'d say, \"You didn\'t go to
college for that.\" [laughs]

808
00:43:20.389 --> 00:43:22.725
And actually, I did go
to college for that.

809
00:43:22.725 --> 00:43:24.643
I went to college
to get an education,

810
00:43:24.643 --> 00:43:27.521
[chuckles] to help
change the world.

811
00:43:27.521 --> 00:43:30.566
My parents were
furious, of course.

812
00:43:31.775 --> 00:43:34.737
This is not what we
came to America for.

813
00:43:34.737 --> 00:43:35.988
But my parents,

814
00:43:37.406 --> 00:43:41.535
my mother, after screaming
at us showed up at the gate

815
00:43:42.911 --> 00:43:45.956
with her sister, my
aunt, with food for us.

816
00:43:45.956 --> 00:43:47.499
Local community people came.

817
00:43:47.499 --> 00:43:49.001
They brought us blankets.

818
00:43:49.001 --> 00:43:51.962
They brought us food,
they brought us funds.

819
00:43:51.962 --> 00:43:54.340
And the people in the community

820
00:43:54.340 --> 00:43:56.342
started connecting with us.

821
00:43:56.342 --> 00:43:57.885
Because this was
like a little island,

822
00:43:57.885 --> 00:43:59.178
a little ivy league island

823
00:43:59.178 --> 00:44:01.055
in the middle of
this Black community.

824
00:44:02.473 --> 00:44:03.891
And folks from the
community had never

825
00:44:03.891 --> 00:44:06.727
been on the campus before.

826
00:44:06.727 --> 00:44:09.063
It was there, but
not there for them.

827
00:44:09.063 --> 00:44:12.149
♪ I\'m talking about freedom

828
00:44:12.149 --> 00:44:15.235
♪ I\'m talking about freedom

829
00:44:15.235 --> 00:44:20.240
♪ Oh what a wonderful
world this would be ♪

830
00:44:21.116 --> 00:44:23.619
♪ If everybody could feel free

831
00:44:27.790 --> 00:44:29.750
♪ Freedom for you and me

832
00:44:33.253 --> 00:44:36.423
♪ And every living thing

833
00:44:36.423 --> 00:44:39.218
I saw a lot of community people,

834
00:44:39.218 --> 00:44:42.513
and maybe some parents of
students bringing food in.

835
00:44:42.513 --> 00:44:44.807
And I asked what
that was all about.

836
00:44:44.807 --> 00:44:49.603
And so they said that the
students had no access to food.

837
00:44:49.603 --> 00:44:51.897
They couldn\'t take the
chance of leaving the campus,

838
00:44:51.897 --> 00:44:54.608
and there was no
way they could cook.

839
00:44:54.608 --> 00:44:57.903
So we decided we would
bring food every day.

840
00:44:57.903 --> 00:45:00.656
And the first day
that we did that,

841
00:45:00.656 --> 00:45:03.617
the person manning the gate
was one of my students.

842
00:45:03.617 --> 00:45:05.411
So he welcomed us in.

843
00:45:06.829 --> 00:45:09.039
And after that we
got in every day

844
00:45:09.039 --> 00:45:10.791
with pots and pots of food.

845
00:45:10.791 --> 00:45:12.501
On strike, shut it down.

846
00:45:12.501 --> 00:45:17.005
On strike, shut it down.
On strike, shut it down.

847
00:45:17.005 --> 00:45:19.842
On strike, shut it down.
On strike, shut it down.

848
00:45:19.842 --> 00:45:22.803
That was a radical time
for white students too.

849
00:45:22.803 --> 00:45:23.971
Shut it down!

850
00:45:23.971 --> 00:45:25.931
On strike, shut it down.

851
00:45:25.931 --> 00:45:28.642
A lot of the white
students stood in front

852
00:45:28.642 --> 00:45:31.687
to protect us and enable
us to continue to be there.

853
00:45:31.687 --> 00:45:34.356
So they were our
comrades, our allies,

854
00:45:34.356 --> 00:45:35.524
and they had our back.

855
00:45:35.524 --> 00:45:37.860
Shut it down, on
strike, shut it down.

856
00:45:37.860 --> 00:45:40.654
During the strike my concern was

857
00:45:40.654 --> 00:45:44.825
what in the world\'s gonna
happen to our semester?

858
00:45:44.825 --> 00:45:46.368
We were careerists.

859
00:45:46.368 --> 00:45:51.373
We want to make sure the the
semester continued as it was

860
00:45:52.583 --> 00:45:55.335
because we have our
mundane aspirations

861
00:45:55.335 --> 00:45:58.505
just to advance ourselves
another step further,

862
00:45:58.505 --> 00:46:02.676
and hopefully someday to
be a college professor.

863
00:46:02.676 --> 00:46:03.969
We don\'t want a small group

864
00:46:03.969 --> 00:46:06.263
of troublemakers to
take over the campus.

865
00:46:06.263 --> 00:46:07.765
We want the school,

866
00:46:07.765 --> 00:46:10.142
the racial composition of
the City College of New York

867
00:46:10.142 --> 00:46:13.854
to be representative
of the high schools,

868
00:46:13.854 --> 00:46:16.356
of the city of New
York, which is 57%.

869
00:46:16.356 --> 00:46:17.983
You can check this
with the Board of Ed.

870
00:46:17.983 --> 00:46:19.735
57% of the public
Shut up!

871
00:46:19.735 --> 00:46:20.903
school students
Aw, shut up!

872
00:46:20.903 --> 00:46:23.280
are Black and Puerto Rican!

873
00:46:23.280 --> 00:46:27.534
The thing is that racism
is hurting everybody here,

874
00:46:30.037 --> 00:46:32.956
and discrimination is
hurting all people.

875
00:46:32.956 --> 00:46:34.124
Why don\'t you join the majority?

876
00:46:34.124 --> 00:46:35.876
I am joining the
majority of Americans

877
00:46:35.876 --> 00:46:37.503
who want a better
life in this country.

878
00:46:37.503 --> 00:46:38.712
Well, the majority around you

879
00:46:38.712 --> 00:46:40.339
doesn\'t seem to support that.

880
00:46:40.339 --> 00:46:42.132
What does the majority say?!

881
00:46:42.132 --> 00:46:44.885
We want in! We want in!

882
00:46:44.885 --> 00:46:46.720
That\'s what the majority says.

883
00:46:46.720 --> 00:46:49.306
The people standing around
here are not the majority.

884
00:46:49.306 --> 00:46:52.059
Well, the people in
there certainly are not!

885
00:46:52.059 --> 00:46:54.061
Wow. I think I
held my own there.

886
00:46:54.061 --> 00:46:57.481
It\'s funny, you know,
I don\'t remember that.

887
00:46:57.481 --> 00:47:00.067
But now seeing it, I feel like,

888
00:47:01.527 --> 00:47:04.279
you know, I knew what was
important and I stood up.

889
00:47:04.279 --> 00:47:08.242
And you notice I don\'t see
any women yelling at me.

890
00:47:08.242 --> 00:47:11.203
It all seems to be like
it\'s just all these big men,

891
00:47:11.203 --> 00:47:13.038
like converging on me.

892
00:47:13.914 --> 00:47:16.375
So they were not the majority,

893
00:47:19.253 --> 00:47:23.257
even though they said they
were, but don\'t, that\'s...

894
00:47:23.257 --> 00:47:27.302
It\'s part of history that
that white men often feel

895
00:47:27.302 --> 00:47:31.849
like they are the majority,
like what they say is truth.

896
00:47:31.849 --> 00:47:36.103
And they try to erase
everything else that is said.

897
00:47:37.938 --> 00:47:40.482
Gallagher was having
a lot of difficulty

898
00:47:40.482 --> 00:47:42.109
with the student protestors.

899
00:47:42.109 --> 00:47:46.655
This must have been a very
frustrating situation for him.

900
00:47:46.655 --> 00:47:51.159
The students in fact burned
a puppet of him in effigy.

901
00:47:53.078 --> 00:47:57.666
Since I was present when that
happened, I remember that.

902
00:47:57.666 --> 00:48:00.627
And it actually made me sad,

903
00:48:00.627 --> 00:48:04.256
because there are very,
very few presidents

904
00:48:04.256 --> 00:48:08.135
that I think who would\'ve
been as sympathetic

905
00:48:08.135 --> 00:48:11.638
to the student demands
as Gallagher was.

906
00:48:11.638 --> 00:48:13.015
♪ Say it loud

907
00:48:13.015 --> 00:48:14.266
♪ I\'m black and proud.

908
00:48:14.266 --> 00:48:19.271
♪ No matter how you
try [singing faintly] ♪

909
00:48:20.772 --> 00:48:23.108
♪ Say it

910
00:48:23.108 --> 00:48:28.113
♪ No matter how hard you
try ♪

911
00:48:29.698 --> 00:48:30.824
♪ Say it

912
00:48:30.824 --> 00:48:32.701
♪ I\'m Black and I\'m proud

913
00:48:32.701 --> 00:48:36.747
♪ No matter hard you
try ♪

914
00:48:36.747 --> 00:48:39.958
By that time we had
renamed all the buildings.

915
00:48:39.958 --> 00:48:42.836
That was a way of making
the college buildings

916
00:48:42.836 --> 00:48:45.005
more relevant to the Black

917
00:48:46.089 --> 00:48:47.799
and Latino population
that was here.

918
00:48:47.799 --> 00:48:50.010
Having all these buildings
named was another way

919
00:48:50.010 --> 00:48:51.595
of empowering the students.

920
00:48:51.595 --> 00:48:53.847
We declared at
Harlem University.

921
00:48:53.847 --> 00:48:57.309
We were in south campus, there
was a pool that had showers,

922
00:48:57.309 --> 00:48:59.061
so we were able to shower.

923
00:48:59.061 --> 00:49:02.481
We had already collected
sleeping bags, blankets.

924
00:49:02.481 --> 00:49:07.069
We were sleeping on
[laughs] the cold floor.

925
00:49:07.069 --> 00:49:08.403
And there was a lot of babies

926
00:49:08.403 --> 00:49:10.530
that was born nine months later,

927
00:49:10.530 --> 00:49:12.032
and we all joked about it.

928
00:49:12.032 --> 00:49:14.910
I said, \"So that\'s what y\'all
were doing, while we were up.\"

929
00:49:14.910 --> 00:49:18.205
We weren\'t sleeping, you
know, we were patrolling.

930
00:49:18.205 --> 00:49:21.708
And all the time
we are thinking,

931
00:49:21.708 --> 00:49:24.920
when are the police
going to storm?

932
00:49:24.920 --> 00:49:27.047
When are we going
to be billy clubbed?

933
00:49:27.047 --> 00:49:30.258
That was always in
the back of our mind.

934
00:49:30.258 --> 00:49:32.427
We were holding our
own classes by the way.

935
00:49:32.427 --> 00:49:34.054
We had political
education classes.

936
00:49:34.054 --> 00:49:36.223
We had English as a
second language classes,

937
00:49:36.223 --> 00:49:37.808
we had childcare.

938
00:49:37.808 --> 00:49:40.519
And everyone who was
not part of the takeover

939
00:49:40.519 --> 00:49:42.354
had to leave by 9:00 p.m.

940
00:49:42.354 --> 00:49:46.066
We invited local as
well as national leaders

941
00:49:46.066 --> 00:49:47.401
to come and speak with us.

942
00:49:47.401 --> 00:49:49.277
Stokley Carmichael
came and he talked.

943
00:49:49.277 --> 00:49:51.363
He was a very powerful speaker.

944
00:49:51.363 --> 00:49:53.281
We have to move as a people

945
00:49:53.281 --> 00:49:55.492
in our neighborhood for control.

946
00:49:55.492 --> 00:49:59.746
We have to stop reactions and
we have to become aggressive.

947
00:49:59.746 --> 00:50:02.416
We can no longer
stand up beg anybody

948
00:50:02.416 --> 00:50:04.751
for victory or concessions.

949
00:50:04.751 --> 00:50:06.253
Because I\'m here to tell you

950
00:50:06.253 --> 00:50:08.005
that if beg a man for a victory,

951
00:50:08.005 --> 00:50:10.340
he\'ll give it to you, it\'s
his victory, not yours.

952
00:50:12.300 --> 00:50:14.636
Confrontation has been
the order of the day today

953
00:50:14.636 --> 00:50:16.388
at the City College of New York,

954
00:50:16.388 --> 00:50:18.390
where education limps
along on a campus,

955
00:50:18.390 --> 00:50:20.392
half open and half closed.

956
00:50:20.392 --> 00:50:23.228
ABC\'s Peter Jennings
reports from New York City.

957
00:50:23.228 --> 00:50:24.855
City College is
physically divided

958
00:50:24.855 --> 00:50:27.357
into what they call the
north and south campus.

959
00:50:27.357 --> 00:50:31.028
The north campus opened today
for the first time in 12 days.

960
00:50:31.028 --> 00:50:32.446
The south side remains occupied

961
00:50:32.446 --> 00:50:34.781
by Black and Puerto
Rican students.

962
00:50:34.781 --> 00:50:36.658
Knowing a rally called
by a student supporting

963
00:50:36.658 --> 00:50:38.994
the Black occupation turned
into a shouting match

964
00:50:38.994 --> 00:50:40.996
on who was right
and who was wrong.

965
00:50:40.996 --> 00:50:42.539
Now, you people say,

966
00:50:42.539 --> 00:50:44.624
\"Well, didn\'t Gallagher
say yes to these demands?\"

967
00:50:44.624 --> 00:50:47.878
No, he said no to these
demands in effect,

968
00:50:47.878 --> 00:50:49.171
because he gave no indication

969
00:50:49.171 --> 00:50:51.465
of their specific
implementation.

970
00:50:51.465 --> 00:50:52.799
And he gave no indication-

971
00:50:52.799 --> 00:50:54.968
Those in favor of seeing
the Black students leave

972
00:50:54.968 --> 00:50:57.304
their sanctuary weren\'t
always well received

973
00:50:57.304 --> 00:50:59.014
by some of the more militant.

974
00:50:59.014 --> 00:51:01.349
The rally became quieter
and more reasonable

975
00:51:01.349 --> 00:51:06.146
when radical students took
their PA system and left.

976
00:51:06.146 --> 00:51:07.606
The man in the middle is still

977
00:51:07.606 --> 00:51:09.316
the president of City
College, Buell Gallagher.

978
00:51:09.316 --> 00:51:12.152
Yesterday, he agreed to three
of the students filed demands,

979
00:51:12.152 --> 00:51:14.946
and immediately ran into
resistance from his faculty.

980
00:51:14.946 --> 00:51:16.823
Today he was ordered
to open the campus,

981
00:51:16.823 --> 00:51:18.617
and was commended
by most students

982
00:51:18.617 --> 00:51:21.078
for refusing to bring
police on campus,

983
00:51:21.078 --> 00:51:23.371
saying he would rather
go to jail himself.

984
00:51:23.371 --> 00:51:24.831
But as optimistic as he is about

985
00:51:24.831 --> 00:51:27.125
the Black students
leaving voluntarily,

986
00:51:27.125 --> 00:51:29.086
they show no signs of doing so.

987
00:51:29.086 --> 00:51:32.964
If they don\'t, they will soon
face a court order themselves.

988
00:51:32.964 --> 00:51:36.218
This is Peter Jennings, ABC
News, City College, New York.

989
00:51:36.218 --> 00:51:37.969
I have this morning requested

990
00:51:37.969 --> 00:51:40.847
the Board of Higher
Education to relieve me

991
00:51:40.847 --> 00:51:42.766
of my duties and
responsibilities

992
00:51:42.766 --> 00:51:45.727
as president of
the City College.

993
00:51:45.727 --> 00:51:50.065
My own functions as a
reconciler of differences,

994
00:51:50.065 --> 00:51:52.859
and a catalyst for
constructive change have

995
00:51:52.859 --> 00:51:56.154
become increasingly
difficult to carry out.

996
00:51:56.154 --> 00:51:59.950
A man of compassion must
stand aside for a time

997
00:52:02.244 --> 00:52:04.871
and await the moment
when sanity returns,

998
00:52:04.871 --> 00:52:08.625
and brotherhood based on
justice becomes a possibility.

999
00:52:08.625 --> 00:52:12.587
President Gallagher
resigned because Rockefeller

1000
00:52:12.587 --> 00:52:14.339
was the governor at the time.

1001
00:52:14.339 --> 00:52:18.844
And instead of trying to bring
the college along towards

1002
00:52:18.844 --> 00:52:21.221
the dreams of the students,

1003
00:52:21.221 --> 00:52:24.850
he was doing everything
he could to oppose it.

1004
00:52:24.850 --> 00:52:27.561
President Gallagher is
moving out of City College

1005
00:52:27.561 --> 00:52:30.605
after his resignation,
effective yesterday.

1006
00:52:30.605 --> 00:52:32.607
This is Marlene
Sanders, ABC News,

1007
00:52:32.607 --> 00:52:34.943
at City College in New York.

1008
00:52:36.319 --> 00:52:40.407
It was sad to see his
departure from the college.

1009
00:52:40.407 --> 00:52:43.785
One of the casualties
of the the whole event.

1010
00:52:47.080 --> 00:52:49.291
What Dr. Gallagher
did not say was that

1011
00:52:49.291 --> 00:52:51.626
the Board of Higher
Education removed him

1012
00:52:51.626 --> 00:52:53.086
from the negotiations

1013
00:52:53.086 --> 00:52:55.922
on Black and Puerto
Rican student demands.

1014
00:52:55.922 --> 00:52:58.300
Just as a partial
settlement appeared near.

1015
00:52:58.300 --> 00:53:00.302
There is bitterness
here about that.

1016
00:53:00.302 --> 00:53:02.053
You sorry to see him go?

1017
00:53:02.053 --> 00:53:03.597
Not really because I
don\'t think he handled

1018
00:53:03.597 --> 00:53:05.390
the situation effectively.

1019
00:53:05.390 --> 00:53:06.600
I\'m very sorry.

1020
00:53:06.600 --> 00:53:08.101
I think he tried the
best that he could

1021
00:53:08.101 --> 00:53:10.770
to handle the situation
in the best way possible.

1022
00:53:10.770 --> 00:53:14.524
And responsibility was
just usurped from him.

1023
00:53:14.524 --> 00:53:18.320
I think if it was left
up to him, he had the,

1024
00:53:18.320 --> 00:53:20.697
so to speak, the feel
of the situation.

1025
00:53:20.697 --> 00:53:22.157
When Gallagher was here,

1026
00:53:22.157 --> 00:53:24.451
you know, he was so
sensitive to our needs,

1027
00:53:24.451 --> 00:53:26.953
and you know, and really,
really took an approach,

1028
00:53:26.953 --> 00:53:30.290
which is why the
takeover lasted as long.

1029
00:53:30.290 --> 00:53:32.334
That college is a
sanctuary place.

1030
00:53:32.334 --> 00:53:33.793
He refused to allow the police

1031
00:53:33.793 --> 00:53:36.504
to come on the
campus and so forth.

1032
00:53:36.504 --> 00:53:40.217
So when he was
replaced by Copeland,

1033
00:53:40.217 --> 00:53:42.177
the first thing Copeland
did was to look up

1034
00:53:42.177 --> 00:53:47.182
all of our academic records and
see who he could get rid of.

1035
00:53:48.350 --> 00:53:49.142
Soon we heard that
there was going

1036
00:53:49.142 --> 00:53:50.936
to be a police presence.

1037
00:53:50.936 --> 00:53:53.647
And they\'re gonna take
anybody and everybody out

1038
00:53:53.647 --> 00:53:57.400
off of this campus by
whatever means of force.

1039
00:53:58.568 --> 00:54:01.446
They were coming in
to declare officially

1040
00:54:01.446 --> 00:54:03.365
the end of this occupation.

1041
00:54:04.824 --> 00:54:07.452
So we left that Sunday night,

1042
00:54:08.870 --> 00:54:11.665
about two weeks and three
days into the takeover.

1043
00:54:15.502 --> 00:54:18.171
♪ We shall be free yeah

1044
00:54:18.171 --> 00:54:21.841
♪ We shall be free

1045
00:54:21.841 --> 00:54:24.511
♪ Everybody want
to get together ♪

1046
00:54:24.511 --> 00:54:28.348
♪ And walk like you and me

1047
00:54:28.348 --> 00:54:31.393
♪ We shall be free

1048
00:54:31.393 --> 00:54:34.688
♪ We shall be free

1049
00:54:34.688 --> 00:54:37.691
♪ Everybody gonna get together

1050
00:54:37.691 --> 00:54:41.278
♪ And walk like you and me

1051
00:54:43.154 --> 00:54:46.116
While there was no violence
during the takeover,

1052
00:54:46.116 --> 00:54:47.742
the aftermath of the takeover

1053
00:54:47.742 --> 00:54:49.369
is where the violence occurred.

1054
00:54:49.369 --> 00:54:51.997
Classes were resumed today
at City College of New York,

1055
00:54:51.997 --> 00:54:53.456
but the troubles
which have assailed

1056
00:54:53.456 --> 00:54:55.458
the institution
reached a new peak.

1057
00:54:55.458 --> 00:54:57.210
What happened here this morning?

1058
00:54:57.210 --> 00:54:59.170
Well, about 10:30 we
saw demonstrations,

1059
00:54:59.170 --> 00:55:01.381
which had taken over the
campus last two weeks

1060
00:55:01.381 --> 00:55:03.883
arrived again, and people
started being beat up,

1061
00:55:03.883 --> 00:55:06.303
and this is the
result of it, now.

1062
00:55:06.303 --> 00:55:07.971
Well now, who beat who?

1063
00:55:07.971 --> 00:55:10.098
Well, the Black and
Puerto Rican students

1064
00:55:10.098 --> 00:55:11.766
were beating up
various white students

1065
00:55:11.766 --> 00:55:13.601
and throwing them off campus.

1066
00:55:13.601 --> 00:55:15.103
Why?

1067
00:55:15.103 --> 00:55:17.230
Well, apparently because some
of the demands weren\'t met.

1068
00:55:17.230 --> 00:55:18.898
There were some white students

1069
00:55:18.898 --> 00:55:22.402
that trapped Black women
students at the gate.

1070
00:55:22.402 --> 00:55:24.487
And the word got
out and we came,

1071
00:55:24.487 --> 00:55:27.365
and there was this
major, major altercation.

1072
00:55:28.575 --> 00:55:30.368
Fine black women
were being assaulted

1073
00:55:30.368 --> 00:55:33.038
by about 200 white
male students.

1074
00:55:33.038 --> 00:55:36.249
We just leaped into the
crowd of all these men,

1075
00:55:36.249 --> 00:55:38.626
and started swinging.

1076
00:55:38.626 --> 00:55:40.045
By the next day they\'re talking

1077
00:55:40.045 --> 00:55:42.297
about Blacks chasing
down white students,

1078
00:55:42.297 --> 00:55:45.967
which is just the
opposite of what occurred.

1079
00:55:47.344 --> 00:55:51.723
The City College, while
shaken by the present events,

1080
00:55:51.723 --> 00:55:54.225
is not going to be overturned.

1081
00:55:55.643 --> 00:56:00.023
We will have a restoration of
law and order on the campus.

1082
00:56:01.483 --> 00:56:03.902
Black is so terrible,
it\'s terrifying.

1083
00:56:03.902 --> 00:56:06.154
Black is 1,000
Black faces hiding

1084
00:56:06.154 --> 00:56:08.573
and a million white
faces hasn\'t even seen.

1085
00:56:08.573 --> 00:56:10.867
Oh my god, what do they want?

1086
00:56:10.867 --> 00:56:14.079
Black is such a shock
it\'s electrifying.

1087
00:56:15.622 --> 00:56:17.457
There are those students
at City College who said

1088
00:56:17.457 --> 00:56:19.709
that violence was
inevitable here.

1089
00:56:19.709 --> 00:56:21.795
Black students would want to
fight against white students.

1090
00:56:21.795 --> 00:56:23.129
Fights between Black

1091
00:56:23.129 --> 00:56:24.381
and the Puerto Rican students,

1092
00:56:24.381 --> 00:56:25.757
and those who wanted to
return to their studies.

1093
00:56:25.757 --> 00:56:27.801
Days of violence
among it\'s Black-

1094
00:56:27.801 --> 00:56:30.053
The City College of New
York ringed by police

1095
00:56:30.053 --> 00:56:32.055
in a frenzy of
fear and violence.

1096
00:56:44.025 --> 00:56:46.319
There was no attack by Black

1097
00:56:46.319 --> 00:56:48.822
and Puerto Rican
students, no onslaught.

1098
00:56:48.822 --> 00:56:51.324
There are perhaps 20
to 30 students who

1099
00:56:51.324 --> 00:56:53.743
were Black and Puerto Rican
who went over that gate.

1100
00:56:53.743 --> 00:56:55.370
There were about
100 white students

1101
00:56:55.370 --> 00:56:57.497
on the other side, to 200,

1102
00:56:58.748 --> 00:57:00.875
with hammers and chains.

1103
00:57:03.378 --> 00:57:04.796
How do you feel about the Black

1104
00:57:04.796 --> 00:57:08.716
and Puerto Rican students
position at CCNY?

1105
00:57:08.716 --> 00:57:09.926
They\'re not doing
anything any different

1106
00:57:09.926 --> 00:57:11.469
than many of the white
students are doing

1107
00:57:11.469 --> 00:57:13.596
at Princeton, Harvard, and
some of the other places.

1108
00:57:13.596 --> 00:57:15.765
It\'s only that he\'s been
advertised much more,

1109
00:57:15.765 --> 00:57:17.851
and it\'s been played up
much more in the media.

1110
00:57:17.851 --> 00:57:19.102
But they\'re not doing
anything different

1111
00:57:19.102 --> 00:57:20.437
than many of the other
students are doing.

1112
00:57:20.437 --> 00:57:21.855
You\'re suggesting then

1113
00:57:21.855 --> 00:57:23.189
that they\'re getting more
attention because they\'re Black?

1114
00:57:23.189 --> 00:57:24.941
That\'s part of the reason.

1115
00:57:24.941 --> 00:57:27.652
It evokes a feeling of
hostility, resentment.

1116
00:57:27.652 --> 00:57:29.070
These are kinds of
students you have going

1117
00:57:29.070 --> 00:57:31.781
to campuses,
disrupting campuses.

1118
00:57:31.781 --> 00:57:35.243
But nobody spoke about what
happened before those students

1119
00:57:35.243 --> 00:57:36.870
got to that particular point.

1120
00:57:36.870 --> 00:57:39.873
This is what I say, we do
not do things in perspective.

1121
00:57:39.873 --> 00:57:41.499
You give the public what
you wanna give them.

1122
00:57:44.043 --> 00:57:49.007
♪ Say that you
better let my hand ♪

1123
00:57:49.007 --> 00:57:51.217
♪ You let my people go

1124
00:57:54.846 --> 00:57:59.767
♪ Said you better let my hand

1125
00:58:00.560 --> 00:58:01.853
♪ Let my people go

1126
00:58:06.566 --> 00:58:09.486
We were considered to be
criminals, by the way.

1127
00:58:09.486 --> 00:58:11.571
I myself was arrested.

1128
00:58:11.571 --> 00:58:13.907
The number of other
kids were arrested.

1129
00:58:13.907 --> 00:58:17.911
We were all brought down
and held by the Red Squad,

1130
00:58:17.911 --> 00:58:20.163
and interrogated and
things of that sort.

1131
00:58:29.797 --> 00:58:31.216
On the south campus

1132
00:58:31.216 --> 00:58:32.592
a serious fire started.

1133
00:58:32.592 --> 00:58:34.511
A two alarm blaze in the chapel

1134
00:58:34.511 --> 00:58:36.596
of the Student
Center Friendly Hall.

1135
00:58:36.596 --> 00:58:39.182
Fire officials said it
was definitely suspicious,

1136
00:58:39.182 --> 00:58:41.935
meaning they\'re sure it
was set deliberately.

1137
00:58:52.153 --> 00:58:54.447
Our position was that you

1138
00:58:55.615 --> 00:58:59.160
don\'t burn down what
you have come to use.

1139
00:58:59.160 --> 00:59:02.413
We came to inherit this. We
didn\'t come to destroy it.

1140
00:59:02.413 --> 00:59:05.542
But we never found
out who set that fire.

1141
00:59:05.542 --> 00:59:09.003
City College sits in the
middle of Black Harlem.

1142
00:59:09.003 --> 00:59:11.548
And there is worry that
violence on the campus

1143
00:59:11.548 --> 00:59:14.133
will spread to the
nearby community.

1144
00:59:14.133 --> 00:59:16.678
That is why it is
vitally important

1145
00:59:16.678 --> 00:59:19.639
for City College to
solve its latest problem

1146
00:59:19.639 --> 00:59:21.891
as quickly as possible.

1147
00:59:21.891 --> 00:59:25.812
Lem Tucker, NBC News
City, College of New York.

1148
00:59:27.146 --> 00:59:29.774
At this stage of the
game, what has happened is

1149
00:59:29.774 --> 00:59:32.110
the demands were transmuted.

1150
00:59:33.570 --> 00:59:37.574
They were not accepted
by the university itself.

1151
00:59:39.284 --> 00:59:43.121
By now, this whole problem
is no longer limited

1152
00:59:43.121 --> 00:59:44.581
to City College.

1153
00:59:44.581 --> 00:59:47.208
There were events taking place
in all the other campuses.

1154
00:59:47.208 --> 00:59:49.794
And this led to the chancellor,

1155
00:59:52.755 --> 00:59:56.134
and the Board of
Higher Education trying

1156
00:59:56.134 --> 00:59:59.178
to formulate some
way of quieting all

1157
01:00:01.973 --> 01:00:04.601
the storm that was around us.

1158
01:00:04.601 --> 01:00:06.936
After days of rioting
and demonstrating

1159
01:00:06.936 --> 01:00:09.480
by Black and Puerto
Rican students,

1160
01:00:09.480 --> 01:00:12.066
school officials agreed
to consider their demands

1161
01:00:12.066 --> 01:00:15.653
that hereafter half of
every freshman class

1162
01:00:15.653 --> 01:00:18.573
be admitted from Negro and
Puerto Rican neighborhoods,

1163
01:00:18.573 --> 01:00:21.034
regardless of their grades.

1164
01:00:21.034 --> 01:00:23.786
It has produced in New York
an enormous controversy.

1165
01:00:23.786 --> 01:00:25.371
I believe it is a quota system,

1166
01:00:25.371 --> 01:00:28.041
and therefore wrong
and unacceptable.

1167
01:00:28.041 --> 01:00:30.376
And the Board of Higher
Education, I\'m sure,

1168
01:00:30.376 --> 01:00:33.880
will have to take into
account what I say to it.

1169
01:00:33.880 --> 01:00:35.965
The campus itself
has been divided over

1170
01:00:35.965 --> 01:00:38.217
the proposed dual
admissions policy,

1171
01:00:38.217 --> 01:00:42.388
which has generated debate
between Black and white students.

1172
01:00:42.388 --> 01:00:45.183
Many students feel
that CCNY\'s tradition

1173
01:00:45.183 --> 01:00:47.685
of scholastic excellence
will be lost under

1174
01:00:47.685 --> 01:00:49.729
a dual admissions policy.

1175
01:00:50.938 --> 01:00:54.150
It could be next
year, 11% Italian,

1176
01:00:54.150 --> 01:00:59.072
8% Norwegian, 3% blood type
O, and 4% blood type AB.

1177
01:01:00.156 --> 01:01:03.576
That process stops
right now. No quotas.

1178
01:01:03.576 --> 01:01:06.371
City College will not
be the first university

1179
01:01:06.371 --> 01:01:09.791
to allow waters to
raise ugly heads.

1180
01:01:09.791 --> 01:01:13.836
It\'s been estimated
that 90% of the students

1181
01:01:13.836 --> 01:01:16.381
at City College were Jews.

1182
01:01:16.381 --> 01:01:19.842
Am I opposed ideologically
or practically

1183
01:01:19.842 --> 01:01:21.594
to what the African
American students are doing?

1184
01:01:21.594 --> 01:01:23.596
The answer is no.

1185
01:01:23.596 --> 01:01:27.433
But having grown up
in a Jewish family

1186
01:01:27.433 --> 01:01:31.437
that was egalitarian,
never spoke a racist word,

1187
01:01:33.272 --> 01:01:36.693
but was never tested on
issues of civil rights,

1188
01:01:36.693 --> 01:01:39.612
race and the like,
I have to say that

1189
01:01:39.612 --> 01:01:41.614
it raised my consciousness

1190
01:01:41.614 --> 01:01:45.785
about Jewish-Black
relations in the city.

1191
01:01:45.785 --> 01:01:47.495
I myself am Jewish.

1192
01:01:49.914 --> 01:01:53.584
I know a lot of the
people who supported

1193
01:01:53.584 --> 01:01:56.129
the takeover were Jewish.

1194
01:01:56.129 --> 01:01:59.799
And there was no
particular antagonism

1195
01:01:59.799 --> 01:02:03.720
between the students of
color and Jewish students.

1196
01:02:03.720 --> 01:02:05.430
Professor Oscar Lumpkin feels

1197
01:02:05.430 --> 01:02:07.432
that opening city
college\'s doors

1198
01:02:07.432 --> 01:02:09.559
to ghetto children is necessary.

1199
01:02:09.559 --> 01:02:12.228
It is not our intent to
lower the curriculum.

1200
01:02:12.228 --> 01:02:16.691
It is our intent to raise
the academic qualifications

1201
01:02:16.691 --> 01:02:19.068
of these students to
a level commensurate

1202
01:02:19.068 --> 01:02:22.196
with their ambitions, their
desires, and their motivations.

1203
01:02:22.196 --> 01:02:25.324
All we wanted was
that opportunity,

1204
01:02:25.324 --> 01:02:27.201
you know, to pick ourselves up,

1205
01:02:27.201 --> 01:02:30.663
dust ourselves off,
compete with the best.

1206
01:02:30.663 --> 01:02:32.623
None of us wanted a handout.

1207
01:02:32.623 --> 01:02:35.835
At the core of
all these problems

1208
01:02:35.835 --> 01:02:39.338
is access to the
university by minorities.

1209
01:02:40.840 --> 01:02:44.469
And there were meetings
at which I sat down

1210
01:02:46.012 --> 01:02:49.682
with the chancellor and
the vice chancellor,

1211
01:02:50.683 --> 01:02:51.684
to hammer it out.

1212
01:02:51.684 --> 01:02:53.603
What are we gonna do about this?

1213
01:02:53.603 --> 01:02:56.147
How are we gonna
solve the problem?

1214
01:02:56.147 --> 01:03:00.359
And the final way of
solving the problem, right,

1215
01:03:00.359 --> 01:03:04.530
which I did not agree
with, was open admissions.

1216
01:03:04.530 --> 01:03:07.408
We had gone through all of
the negotiations with CUNY,

1217
01:03:07.408 --> 01:03:10.703
and with City College
and the mayor\'s office.

1218
01:03:10.703 --> 01:03:12.371
We felt that these demands would

1219
01:03:12.371 --> 01:03:14.749
be implemented one at a time.

1220
01:03:15.958 --> 01:03:18.252
And indeed, most of them
I think was implemented

1221
01:03:18.252 --> 01:03:20.129
in some form or another.

1222
01:03:20.129 --> 01:03:21.756
But a new concept arose,

1223
01:03:21.756 --> 01:03:24.759
which was not a concept
we were pushing.

1224
01:03:24.759 --> 01:03:27.762
And that concept was
called open admissions.

1225
01:03:27.762 --> 01:03:30.890
Could you define open
admissions for us please?

1226
01:03:30.890 --> 01:03:33.810
Open admissions means
that the only requirement

1227
01:03:33.810 --> 01:03:37.188
for entrance to college
to one of the colleges

1228
01:03:37.188 --> 01:03:41.651
of the city university of New
York is a high school diploma.

1229
01:03:41.651 --> 01:03:44.862
And every student who
graduated this June

1230
01:03:44.862 --> 01:03:46.989
from any high school
in New York City

1231
01:03:46.989 --> 01:03:50.201
was offered a place in
one of our colleges.

1232
01:03:50.201 --> 01:03:51.911
How many took up the offer?

1233
01:03:51.911 --> 01:03:54.539
Well, an alarmingly
large number.

1234
01:03:54.539 --> 01:03:58.084
They were totally unprepared
for what happened,

1235
01:03:58.084 --> 01:04:00.837
because they were just flooded.

1236
01:04:00.837 --> 01:04:03.214
This was against my advice,

1237
01:04:03.214 --> 01:04:08.219
which was that they should
simply increase the SEEK program.

1238
01:04:09.637 --> 01:04:13.558
Because what the university
did when it took in everybody,

1239
01:04:14.725 --> 01:04:17.311
is that it took on a situation

1240
01:04:17.311 --> 01:04:20.147
It was not financially
able to handle.

1241
01:04:20.147 --> 01:04:22.483
What people, I
think don\'t realize,

1242
01:04:22.483 --> 01:04:25.778
that while we were struggling
for open admission,

1243
01:04:25.778 --> 01:04:29.115
there was already a campaign
to slash the budgets.

1244
01:04:29.115 --> 01:04:33.244
So some people think that
it was the open admissions

1245
01:04:33.244 --> 01:04:36.247
that changed the
nature of the college,

1246
01:04:36.247 --> 01:04:40.543
but actually it was
Rockefeller\'s proposed budget,

1247
01:04:40.543 --> 01:04:42.295
and the SEEK program.

1248
01:04:42.295 --> 01:04:45.840
That was one of the
things slated to cut.

1249
01:04:45.840 --> 01:04:47.633
It was a successful program.

1250
01:04:47.633 --> 01:04:51.470
It was on the right
track into making

1251
01:04:51.470 --> 01:04:54.932
the CUNY system and City
College representative

1252
01:04:54.932 --> 01:04:57.727
of the city that it was in.

1253
01:04:57.727 --> 01:04:59.770
But they were saying
they were gonna cut

1254
01:04:59.770 --> 01:05:01.063
the funding for that,

1255
01:05:01.063 --> 01:05:03.441
and then they were
gonna cut more funding.

1256
01:05:03.441 --> 01:05:05.067
So it wasn\'t just cutting SEEK,

1257
01:05:05.067 --> 01:05:08.946
it was really destroying the
university by defunding it.

1258
01:05:08.946 --> 01:05:11.365
We talk, they were defunding it.

1259
01:05:11.365 --> 01:05:15.953
But the students won a
large battle in the sense

1260
01:05:15.953 --> 01:05:18.664
that the campuses at that time,

1261
01:05:18.664 --> 01:05:23.169
and maybe now did reflect
the population of the city.

1262
01:05:23.169 --> 01:05:26.589
So that is a very major legacy.

1263
01:05:26.589 --> 01:05:31.594
♪ We need knowledge
and education ♪

1264
01:05:32.803 --> 01:05:36.265
♪ We need new books
with [indistinct] ♪

1265
01:05:36.265 --> 01:05:39.310
That open admissions
policy brought hundreds

1266
01:05:39.310 --> 01:05:44.315
of thousands Black and Latino
people into the CUNY system.

1267
01:05:45.399 --> 01:05:48.319
Probably the biggest
education leap

1268
01:05:48.319 --> 01:05:52.114
for Black Americans
happened at City University,

1269
01:05:52.114 --> 01:05:56.035
especially after and
immediately after the takeover.

1270
01:05:56.035 --> 01:05:57.995
And I mean that nationally.

1271
01:05:57.995 --> 01:06:01.832
The really great result
of open admissions,

1272
01:06:01.832 --> 01:06:05.002
not only at the city university,
but across the country,

1273
01:06:05.002 --> 01:06:07.880
is that we\'ve changed the story.

1274
01:06:07.880 --> 01:06:11.968
And the expectation is if
you wanna go to school,

1275
01:06:13.135 --> 01:06:16.389
you can go to school,
and you can succeed.

1276
01:06:35.408 --> 01:06:36.993
It is an honor for me to stand

1277
01:06:36.993 --> 01:06:40.121
in front of you today representing
the graduating class.

1278
01:06:42.289 --> 01:06:44.250
I was born and raised in Yemen.

1279
01:06:44.250 --> 01:06:47.336
And before migrating with my
family to the United States,

1280
01:06:47.336 --> 01:06:50.673
I couldn\'t have imagined
attending college simply,

1281
01:06:50.673 --> 01:06:52.591
because we weren\'t allowed to.

1282
01:06:52.591 --> 01:06:54.093
My sisters weren\'t allowed to.

1283
01:06:54.093 --> 01:06:56.637
Girls before me
weren\'t allowed to.

1284
01:06:56.637 --> 01:06:59.807
I fought to be allowed
to pursue an education,

1285
01:06:59.807 --> 01:07:01.767
for the right to be here.

1286
01:07:04.645 --> 01:07:06.647
As I am sure all of you standing

1287
01:07:06.647 --> 01:07:09.900
in front of me today
fought for the same thing.

1288
01:07:09.900 --> 01:07:11.610
We earned the right to be here.

1289
01:07:13.320 --> 01:07:14.864
And I was a freshman
at this school, right.

1290
01:07:14.864 --> 01:07:16.949
I remember hearing people talk
about diversity all the time,

1291
01:07:16.949 --> 01:07:18.868
but I didn\'t really
understand what it meant.

1292
01:07:18.868 --> 01:07:21.120
And I absolutely did
not under understand

1293
01:07:21.120 --> 01:07:23.164
or appreciate what it\'s worth.

1294
01:07:23.164 --> 01:07:25.124
You see, my definition of
diverse at that time was

1295
01:07:25.124 --> 01:07:27.543
just having people maybe
with different skin tones,

1296
01:07:27.543 --> 01:07:29.253
who were born in
different countries,

1297
01:07:29.253 --> 01:07:30.880
or who grew up speaking
different languages.

1298
01:07:30.880 --> 01:07:32.214
And while that\'s
part of diversity,

1299
01:07:32.214 --> 01:07:35.760
while that contributes
to its overall meaning,

1300
01:07:35.760 --> 01:07:37.636
it\'s bigger than that.

1301
01:07:37.636 --> 01:07:40.306
More broadly, I think
diversity can be defined

1302
01:07:40.306 --> 01:07:42.141
as people who\'ve had
different life experiences

1303
01:07:42.141 --> 01:07:44.477
and struggles that
I was not aware of.

1304
01:07:44.477 --> 01:07:45.853
And because of
that, they\'ve grown

1305
01:07:45.853 --> 01:07:48.147
into people who think
distinctly differently

1306
01:07:48.147 --> 01:07:49.648
than the way I do.

1307
01:07:50.816 --> 01:07:52.026
So what I\'m telling
you is that diversity

1308
01:07:52.026 --> 01:07:54.945
of people gives rise to
diversity of thought.

1309
01:07:54.945 --> 01:07:58.199
Diversity of people allows us
to be a stronger student body.

1310
01:07:58.199 --> 01:08:00.493
Go on to be a stronger
workforce, economy,

1311
01:08:00.493 --> 01:08:01.994
and a stronger nation.

1312
01:08:01.994 --> 01:08:04.622
And I say to you,
esteemed first lady,

1313
01:08:04.622 --> 01:08:06.499
you can tell the
president that his dreams

1314
01:08:06.499 --> 01:08:09.043
for our nation have
been alive and well

1315
01:08:09.043 --> 01:08:10.753
at City College for decades

1316
01:08:10.753 --> 01:08:13.130
and will be for decades to come!

1317
01:08:19.428 --> 01:08:22.139
There is a reason why
of all of the colleges

1318
01:08:22.139 --> 01:08:24.683
and universities
in this country,

1319
01:08:24.683 --> 01:08:29.480
I chose this particular school,
in this particular city.

1320
01:08:31.398 --> 01:08:35.027
You represent more
than 150 nationalities,

1321
01:08:35.027 --> 01:08:37.780
just about every
possible background,

1322
01:08:37.780 --> 01:08:42.368
every color and culture,
every faith and walk of life.

1323
01:08:42.368 --> 01:08:45.329
So graduates, with your
glorious diversity,

1324
01:08:45.329 --> 01:08:49.917
you all embody the very purpose
of this school\'s founding.

1325
01:09:09.895 --> 01:09:14.275
♪ So power to the
people, power. ♪

1326
01:09:14.275 --> 01:09:18.320
♪ Power to the people, power.

1327
01:09:18.320 --> 01:09:22.324
♪ Black power for Black people

1328
01:09:22.324 --> 01:09:26.162
♪ Puerto Rican power for
Puerto Rican people ♪

1329
01:09:26.162 --> 01:09:28.747
♪ Power to the people

1330
01:09:30.374 --> 01:09:34.003
Thank you everyone. It
is wonderful to be here.

1331
01:09:34.003 --> 01:09:36.088
I\'m sure you\'ve all heard

1332
01:09:37.423 --> 01:09:39.884
that the arc of the
moral universe is long,

1333
01:09:39.884 --> 01:09:42.761
but it bends towards justice.

1334
01:09:42.761 --> 01:09:45.764
The arc does not bend
itself, we do that.

1335
01:09:45.764 --> 01:09:47.933
People of conscience do that.

1336
01:09:47.933 --> 01:09:51.604
In 1969, we did our
part in kicking down

1337
01:09:51.604 --> 01:09:53.189
the doors of racism.

1338
01:09:53.189 --> 01:09:55.691
The reason we were successful

1339
01:09:56.609 --> 01:09:58.444
is because we did our part

1340
01:09:58.444 --> 01:10:02.114
in pulling, pushing,
pulling, pushing the arc.

1341
01:10:05.784 --> 01:10:07.745
I\'d like to give
an official welcome

1342
01:10:07.745 --> 01:10:08.996
to the President of

1343
01:10:08.996 --> 01:10:11.624
the City College of New
York, Vincent Boudreau.

1344
01:10:14.960 --> 01:10:17.838
The thing that I
am most proud of

1345
01:10:20.049 --> 01:10:22.051
on this campus, you did.

1346
01:10:25.095 --> 01:10:26.096
Amen.

1347
01:10:26.096 --> 01:10:26.931
You did.

1348
01:10:29.225 --> 01:10:32.478
And you changed not just
the history of City College.

1349
01:10:32.478 --> 01:10:35.981
You changed what it meant
to be educated in America.

1350
01:10:35.981 --> 01:10:38.442
That is your legacy.

1351
01:10:40.778 --> 01:10:45.115
And it states therefore be
resolved, April 22nd, 2019,

1352
01:10:45.115 --> 01:10:47.243
be commemorate it as
the 50th anniversary

1353
01:10:47.243 --> 01:10:49.662
of the 1969 takeover to honor

1354
01:10:49.662 --> 01:10:51.622
the Black and Puerto
Rican student community.

1355
01:10:51.622 --> 01:10:54.667
And supporting faculty
who courageously defended

1356
01:10:54.667 --> 01:10:57.086
and fought social and
educational justice.

1357
01:10:57.086 --> 01:10:58.754
And for the sacrifices they made

1358
01:10:58.754 --> 01:11:01.507
to create higher
educational opportunities

1359
01:11:01.507 --> 01:11:04.635
for all deserving students
in the city of New York.

1360
01:11:43.924 --> 01:11:46.885
♪ We shall be free yeah

1361
01:11:46.885 --> 01:11:50.180
♪ We shall be free

1362
01:11:50.180 --> 01:11:53.142
♪ Everybody want
to get together ♪

1363
01:11:53.142 --> 01:11:56.812
♪ And walk like you and me

1364
01:11:56.812 --> 01:11:59.898
♪ We shall be free yeah

1365
01:11:59.898 --> 01:12:03.152
♪ We shall be free

1366
01:12:03.152 --> 01:12:06.071
♪ Everybody gonna get together

1367
01:12:06.071 --> 01:12:08.574
♪ And walk like you and me

1368
01:12:16.498 --> 01:12:19.251
♪ People got to understand

1369
01:12:19.251 --> 01:12:22.755
♪ That a man ain\'t
nothing but a man ♪

1370
01:12:22.755 --> 01:12:25.758
♪ He may be Black
and he may be white ♪

1371
01:12:25.758 --> 01:12:28.969
♪ But he\'s still
a man all right ♪

1372
01:12:28.969 --> 01:12:31.847
♪ Well, brother [indistinct]

1373
01:12:31.847 --> 01:12:34.016
♪ Coming in the morning

1374
01:12:34.016 --> 01:12:35.893
♪ In the morning

1375
01:12:35.893 --> 01:12:38.020
♪ You ever get
ready, get ready ♪

1376
01:12:38.020 --> 01:12:42.441
♪ \'Cause I\'m giving
you the morning ♪

1377
01:12:42.441 --> 01:12:44.109
♪ People got to learn how to

1378
01:12:44.109 --> 01:12:47.363
♪ Treat each other ♪
They got to learn how to ♪

1379
01:12:47.363 --> 01:12:49.114
♪ Love our brother

1380
01:12:49.114 --> 01:12:50.699
♪ We\'ve got to learn how to

1381
01:12:50.699 --> 01:12:52.326
♪ Sit down together

1382
01:12:52.326 --> 01:12:53.994
♪ We\'ve got to learn how

1383
01:12:53.994 --> 01:12:55.621
♪ To live together

1384
01:12:55.621 --> 01:12:57.164
♪ We\'ve got to learn how

1385
01:12:57.164 --> 01:12:58.791
♪ To live together

1386
01:12:58.791 --> 01:13:00.125
♪ Be it in Japan

1387
01:13:00.125 --> 01:13:02.002
♪ We\'ve got to live together

1388
01:13:02.002 --> 01:13:03.670
♪ Vietnam

1389
01:13:03.670 --> 01:13:05.214
♪ We\'ve got to live together

1390
01:13:05.214 --> 01:13:06.465
♪ Down in Alabama

1391
01:13:06.465 --> 01:13:08.342
♪ We\'ve got to live together

1392
01:13:08.342 --> 01:13:09.802
♪ Oh in Mississippi

1393
01:13:09.802 --> 01:13:11.637
♪ We\'ve got to live together

1394
01:13:11.637 --> 01:13:13.305
♪ We\'ve got to learn how

1395
01:13:13.305 --> 01:13:16.308
♪ We\'ve got to live together
♪ We\'ve got to learn how ♪

1396
01:13:16.308 --> 01:13:18.268
♪ We\'ve got to live together

1397
01:13:18.268 --> 01:13:19.353
♪ New York City

1398
01:13:19.353 --> 01:13:21.480
♪ We\'ve got to live together

1399
01:13:21.480 --> 01:13:22.773
♪ Oklahoma City

1400
01:13:22.773 --> 01:13:25.109
♪ We\'ve got to live together

1401
01:13:25.109 --> 01:13:26.068
♪ Yeah

1402
01:13:26.068 --> 01:13:27.986
♪ We\'ve got to live together

1403
01:13:27.986 --> 01:13:29.279
♪ Out in California

1404
01:13:29.279 --> 01:13:31.323
♪ We\'ve got to live together

1405
01:13:31.323 --> 01:13:32.658
♪ Here in Detroit

1406
01:13:32.658 --> 01:13:34.410
♪ We\'ve got to live together

1407
01:13:34.410 --> 01:13:35.828
♪ Like here in Detroit

1408
01:13:35.828 --> 01:13:37.996
♪ We\'ve got to live together

1409
01:13:37.996 --> 01:13:39.790
♪ Oh

1410
01:13:45.254 --> 01:13:48.507
♪ We shall be free

1411
01:13:48.507 --> 01:13:51.969
♪ We shall be free

1412
01:13:51.969 --> 01:13:54.680
♪ Everybody gonna get together

1413
01:13:54.680 --> 01:13:58.183
♪ And walk like you and me