Archival film night! 1970s childcare activism in NYC

As part of an ongoing series of archival film nights this summer, this event will highlight the often overlooked politics of and experiments with collective childcare in NYC in the 1970s and what reflections or questions it raises for today. This will be followed by an open and collective discussion around the significance and strategies of these actions and histories, particularly in relation to ongoing and current struggles around the issues and politics of care and children.

We’ll be showing the following films (thanks to Third World Newsreel!) followed by a discussion with members of the DSA’s Red Sprouts and Socialist Feminist working groups about their related work as well as opening it up into a broader collective conversation. As always, your participation, questions and reflections are welcomed and encouraged!

Also, while the space is not so easily set up for it, we are looking into having an option for childcare at the screening if needed. Please pick the ticket option for this at checkout and we can be in touch!

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ARCHIVAL FILMS:

• Childcare: People’s Liberation (1970, 20 min): The film shows how community run childcare centers are a step toward liberation, by giving parents and children a chance to develop relationships with their peers and new relationships with each other.
• Fresh Seeds in the Big Apple (1976, 25 min): Made in cooperation with the parents and workers of two publicly funded daycare centers in Manhattan and Brooklyn, this film asks some fundamental questions about the state of early education in the 1970s. Why was daycare available to only six percent of the pre-school-age children in the city? What were the effects of the daycare center on the child?

Supplemented by additional archival social movement materials, the hope for this film series is to not only foreground often overlooked activist histories of the city, but also reflect together more broadly on political organizing, care and historical methods/archives/media, particularly in relation to current and ongoing struggles.

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Organized in collaboration with members of the DSA who are interested in or working on issues of childcare.

Co-sponsored by the Third World Newsreel — with special thanks for the preservation and access to these films! You can learn more about their amazing historical collection and ongoing work here.

Please note: masks are encouraged at all of our events and will be provided at the door if needed.