THE SUN RISES IN THE EAST: FILM SCREENING

The Billie brings back The Sun Rises in The East and 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. The East embodied Black self-determination, building dozens of institutions, including its own African-centered school, food co-op, newsmagazine, publisher, record label, restaurant, clothing shop, and bookstore.

Helmed by a husband-and-wife filmmaking team and creators of Black-Owned Brooklyn Tayo Giwa and Cynthia Gordy Giwa, The Sun Rises in the East features interviews with leaders of the East, historians, and people who grew up in the organization as children and delivers an exhilarating and compelling vision for just how much is possible.