New York on Film: The Fight for Rights

A still of Regina King as Shirley Chisholm on the left and a still of Coleman Domingo as Bayard Rustin on the right. — Stills from "Shirley" (left) and "Rustin" (right).

Don’t miss this one-day, multimedia festival celebrating New York civil rights leaders Bayard Rustin and Shirley Chisholm in conjunction with our new exhibition, Changing the Face of Democracy: Chisholm at 100. Through screenings of two feature films, an exhibition tour, and a performance, explore how Chisholm and Rustin — two barrier-breaking organizers from New York who advocated for equality, racial equity, and worker’s rights— navigated their own marginalization in political spaces.

12:00pm: Start the day with a tour of Changing the Face of Democracy with exhibition co-curator, Puffin Foundation Curator of Social Activism Sarah Seidman. Limited tickets for the tour can be purchased here.

1:15pm: Watch a screening of Shirley (2024, John Ridley, 116 min), starring Regina King as Shirley Chisholm during her historic 1972 run for president, a campaign that made her the first woman to run for president on a major party ticket. The screening is free. Register here.

4:00pm: Join NYU Professor, director, and writer Lee Summers for a performance of an excerpt from his currently in development musical, Bayard, which explores the life of civil rights activist, Bayard Rustin.

Directly after the performance, we will end the day with a screening of the award-winning film Rustin (2023, George C. Wolfe, 108 min), starring Colman Domingo as Bayard Rustin as he works to organize the 1963 March on Washington. The screening is free. Register here.

Please note: The film Rustin (2023, George C. Wolfe, 108 min) and Bayard: The Musical are entirely separate and unaffiliated works. Netflix, the distributor of Rustin, has no connection or involvement with the musical.