“Making the Impossible Possible” Film Screening and Panel

Making the Impossible Possible, chronicles the story of the student-led struggle to win Puerto Rican Studies at Brooklyn College, CUNY, in the late 1960s. The documentary is a mosaic of voices, film footage, and photographs taken by student activists. This important intergenerational story highlights how students and faculty seized the moment to build upon an alliance of Puerto Rican, African American, and other progressive students forged in their communities and the civil rights movement. Together they changed the face of higher education, transforming the curriculum and expanding who gets educated. The film sheds light on the 50-year history of struggle that started with the founding of one of the first Puerto Rican Studies departments in the nation, and documents the continued movement to maintain their gains.

Speakers will also talk about their research on the 50 years of Puerto Rican studies for the City University of NY book project, as well as a current overview of Puerto Rican Studies at CUNY.

Speakers:

• María E. Pérez y González and Virginia Sanchez-Korrol, Brooklyn College, CUNY
• Ricardo Gabriel, PhD candidate, CUNY Graduate Center
• Pam Sporn, Grito Productions
• Tami Gold, Department of Film and Media Studies Hunter College.

Co-sponsors:

• Department of Film and Media Studies at Hunter College
• Puerto Rican and Latino Studies Department at Brooklyn College
• Third World Newsreel

Making the Impossible Possible is a production of the Alliance for Puerto Rican Education and Empowerment and was directed by Pam Sporn and Tami Gold and co-produced by Gisely Colón López. It is available from Third World Newsreel,www.twn.org.