The War Against Gentrification: Then and Now

EVENT DATE/TIME: April 24th, 2020 / 6:30pm

A Third World Newsreel Screening of "Break and Enter" and "MAYDAY: The Art of Building Community"

Join us for a film screening and discussion, hosted by Third World Newsreel, exploring the decades-old fight against gentrification in New York City. Third World Newsreel is proud to present three films Break and Enter (1971), MAYDAY: The Art of Building Community (2017), and The Fight for Mom’s House (2019), showcasing social movements in this fight and the community power fueling the flames of resistance. The screening will be followed by a panel discussion with filmmakers and community activists leading anti-gentrification organizing efforts from the Upper West Side, to Bushwick, and across the city.

Break and Enter (1971, 42 min) (AKA "Squatters")

This Newsreel doc captures the militant antecedents to today's housing reclamation movement in New York City. In 1970, several hundred Puerto Rican and Dominican families forced out of their homes by "Urban Renewal", reclaimed housing left vacant by the city on the upper west side. The women-led organization "Operation Move-In" pulled boards off doors, cleaned and repaired the buildings and moved in. "Break and Enter" is part of Third World Newsreel’s historical Newsreel collection.

MAYDAY: The Art of Building Community (2017, 5 min)
Third World Newsreel student filmmakers collaborated with The May Day Space in Bushwick, New York, to explore the importance of member-led arts spaces to strengthen community power and to challenge oppression, with a focus on the Mi Casa No Es Su Casa art/organizing effort against gentrification.

The Fight for Mom’s House (2019, 14 min)
A group of homeless mothers reclaims a vacant house in Oakland to provide safe housing for their children and to draw attention to the wider housing crisis. In a city where the average rent is close to $3,000 per month and thousands of people are living on the streets, the occupation quickly grew into a movement for housing justice.

6:30 PM Reception with light refreshments
7:00 PM Film screening
8:30 PM Panel discussion moderated by co-founder of the Chinatown Art Brigade, Betty Yu.

This event is being presented by Third World Newsreel and The Mayday Space. It is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts and by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in Partnership with the City Council.