2025 Community & Youth Organizing Series

Join the Fight for Justice: Youth and Community Organizing Event Series

Today, it’s more important than ever for young people and their allies to be at the forefront of resisting oppression and building a better world. This January, the CUNY School of Professional Studies (CUNY SPS) Youth Studies program invites you to a transformative three-part virtual event series on youth and community organizing.

Curated and hosted by Professor Lumumba Bandele, this series highlights the power of youth-led movements through thought-provoking films and dynamic conversations. Don’t miss:

Two compelling films showcasing youth-driven activism.
A live panel with NYC youth activists fighting for economic justice.

Be inspired. Get activated. Take action.

Browse and register for these three thought provoking events below:

Told by the activists and leaders who live and breathe this movement for justice, Whose Streets? is an unflinching look at the Ferguson uprising. When unarmed teenager Michael Brown is killed by police and left lying in the street for hours, it marks a breaking point for the residents of St. Louis, Missouri. Grief, long-standing racial tensions and renewed anger bring residents together to hold vigil and protest this latest tragedy. Empowered parents, artists, and teachers from around the country come together as freedom fighters. As the National Guard descends on Ferguson with military grade weaponry, these young community members become the torchbearers of a new resistance.

Running Time: 103 Minutes

Join us for the CUNY SPS Youth Studies Community and Youth Organizing Series as we spotlight three youth organizing efforts in NYC tackling economic justice. Professor Lumumba Bandele will lead a conversation with the NYC Youth Agenda Coalition on policy recommendations for housing, transportation, jobs, and food access. Hear from the NYC Union of Students advocating for equity and labor solidarity, and Youth N Power fighting for basic income support for those transitioning out of child welfare. Discover how you can support these vital efforts to help all young people thrive in NYC.

Lumumba Akinwole-Bandele is the Director of Community Organizing and Advocacy at the Alliance of Families for Justice. He briefly served as the director of Strategic Partnerships with Movement for Black Lives (M4BL) in 2020 and from 2011 to 2020 he served as the Director of Community Organizing at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. He is a community organizer and educator from Central Brooklyn.

From 1994 – 1998 Lumumba served as programming coordinator at the Franklin H. Williams Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute (CCC). During his tenure at CCC, he also co-found Azabache, an organizers training conference and workshop series for young activists. All the while as a Black Studies Major at City College of NY/CUNY, he went on to receive his Masters in Human Service from Lincoln University in 1998. As a member and organizer with the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, Mr. Akinwole-Bandele helped establish its campaign to counter police abuse and misconduct.

He also co-founded the world-renowned Black August Hip Hop Project. Black August raises awareness and support for political prisoners in the United States. From 2002 to 2007 Lumumba served as a counselor and lecturer at Medgar Evers College/CUNY. Over the years he has taught at Pratt Institute, City College of NY, Lehman College, San Francisco State University and currently serves as an adjunct lecturer teaching Community Organizing at CUNY School of Professional Studies.