Event

FEATURED FILM: THE SUN RISES IN THE EAST (DIRS. TOYA GIWA AND CYNTHIA GORDY GIWA, 2022, 59 MIN.)

The film chronicles the birth, rise and legacy of The East, a pan-African cultural organization founded in 1969 by teens and young adults in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. Les by educator and activist Jitu Weusi, The East embodied Black self-determination, building dozens of institutions, including its own African-centered school, food co-op, newsmagazine, publishing company, record label, restaurant, clothing shop, and bookstore. The organization hosted world-famous jazz musicians and poets at its highly sought-after performance venue, and it served as the epicenter for political contemporaries such as the Black Panther Party, the Young Lords and the Congress of the Afrikan People, as well as comrades across Africa and the Caribbean.

Donte McFadden
Email: dontemcf@buffalo.edu