In April 1969, a small group of Black and Puerto Rican students shut down the City College of New York, an elite public university located in the heart of Harlem. The CCNY strikers were the vanguard of a national Black student movement that transformed the culture, mission, and curriculum of American higher education. For many, it was the first time they ever stepped foot on the neo-Gothic campus on a hill overlooking their neighborhood. Told through the participants' point of view, the film follows the students' struggle against the institutional racism that, for over a century, had shut out people of color from this institution and other public universities.

In April 1969, a small group of Black and Puerto Rican students shut down the City College of New York, an elite public university located in the heart of Harlem. Fueled by revolutionary fervor, the strike turned into an uprising, leading to the extended occupation of the campus, classes being canceled, students being arrested, and the resignation of the college president.