Fight Back! News

News and Views from the People's Struggle

Student Movement

By Carlos Montes

Protest against charter school in East LA.

East Los Angeles, CA – Over a 100 students, teachers and parents from Garfield High School (GHS) held a protest in East Los Angeles on October 13, against a planned construction of a new charter high school.

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By Nuala Cacek

U of MN SDS disrupts Board of Regents meeting.

Minneapolis, MN – On October 8, about a dozen members of the University of Minnesota Students for a Democratic Society disrupted a meeting of the UMN Board of Regents to demand the implementation of a Campus Civilian Police Accountability Council (Campus CPAC).

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By Eithne Silva

Tampa students fight to defund campus police.

Tampa, FL – On September 29, Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic (SDS) held a protest calling for the University of South Florida (USF) to defund its campus police force. The students pointed to the police force’s budget of about $7 million, which is higher than many colleges on campus. Last year, citing budget concerns, USF attempted to close the College of Education, which has a budget of about $6 million, until student protests and public outrage forced them to keep it open.

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By staff

PSU organized rally demands access for women's health care products.

Arlington, TX – On September 22, Progressive Student Union (PSU) rallied with at least 40 students over the University of Texas Arlington (UTA) administration’s failures in following through on Resolution 18-04, which was a student resolution involving greater access to women’s healthcare products on campus. This resolution was officially passed by student government in spring 2019, and little progress has been made in regard to dispensaries being put in women’s bathrooms or having affordable products being sold in campus stores.

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By Paris Miller

Milwaukee SDS organizes against police crimes.

Milwaukee, WI – On September 9, Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) at UW-Milwaukee, in conjunction with chapters across the country, held a day of action demanding justice for victims of police violence. The day of action consisted of a call and email campaign to pressure Chancellor Mark Mone to adhere to the demands of SDS.

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By staff

Austin students rally against police crimes.

Austin, TX – On the evening of September 9, a small group of students rallied in front of the University of Texas at Austin’s Littlefield Fountain to protest against police crimes and racism. Austin Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) called the rally as part of the national SDS day of action to stop police crimes.

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By staff

A member of SDS Denver speaks about the power people have when they join togethe

Denver, CO – About 50 students and campus community members gathered at Tivoli Commons for the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) National Day of Action: “Cops Off Campus, Black Lives Matter!” Demands included the disarmament and defunding of Auraria Campus Police Department (ACPD) and more information regarding their participation in the Federal 1033 Program. Members of SDS and Freedom Road Socialist Organization gave speeches about strategies for community control of police and recounted stories of police violence, all while leading chants of “Down with mass incarceration, up, up with education!” and “Black lives matter!”

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By staff

Texas protest against attacks on women's right to chose.

Arlington, TX – On September 1, the Progressive Student Union rallied 50 people to protest the recent attacks launched by Governor Greg Abbott and the GOP against women’s rights, and democracy. The most egregious of these attacks came in the form of an anti-abortion bill that sought to restrict the access to abortion in Texas to only the first six weeks of pregnancy, and made it a liable offense to offer aid in a woman getting an abortion in any way if it was beyond the first six weeks.

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By staff

Parents, educators blast charter schools at LA press conference.

Los Angeles, CA – Black and Latino parents, teachers, students and Centro CSO: Community Service Organization held a press conference, June 14, to denounce money grabbing by the charter school industry and to defend public education. The press conference was held in front of the California Charter Schools Association office (CCSA) to protest their role in funding candidates and legislation that are pro-privatization.

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By staff

Florida protest against U.S. backed attacks on Palestine.

Tallahassee, FL – On June 3, students at Florida State University gathered to demand an end to the Israeli government's attacks on Gaza. Students connected the struggles against political repression in Palestine to similar struggles facing political activists in Colombia.

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By staff

U of MN students march for divestment from companies funding Israel.

Minneapolis, MN – On Friday, May 21, Students for Justice in Palestine at the University of Minnesota held a protest calling for university divestment from companies funding the Israeli apartheid.

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By staff

SDS protest to stop sale of USF nature preserve.

Tampa, FL – On May 7, 80 students and community members gathered at the entrance of the University of South Florida (USF) Forest Preserve to demand that USF protect the preserve instead of selling it for development. The protest was hosted by Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and Save USF Forest Preserve.

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By staff

Milwaukee, WI – On April 4, Vice President Kamala Harris visited Milwaukee for a stop on her “blue collar-oriented” tour of the Midwest. While here, she toured the UWM research institute working on renewable energy and held a roundtable to discuss the Biden administration’s infrastructure plan. This plan is intended to help unemployed people by creating jobs and therefore supporting communities.

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By Rory Donovan

Milwaukee, WI – On May 6, Students for a Democratic Society chapters in Appleton and Milwaukee hosted a panel about the importance of student organizing. Both chapters were recently established to be forces for change at Lawrence University and UW-Milwaukee. The purpose of the panel was to invite local students to join the chapters, and to invite regional students to start their own.

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By staff

Students for A Democratic Society protest at Eastcliff Mansion, the home of Univ

St. Paul, MN – Students for A Democratic Society (SDS) held a sit-in at Eastcliff Mansion, the home of University of Minnesota President Joan Gabel, April 30, to demand police accountability on campus, community control of the police, and to divest from the West Command Task Force. The occupation lasted from noon to 6 p.m. and had an extensive program which included marshal training, cop watch, know your rights training, an explanation of CPAC, and a discussion of disability justice and policing.

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By staff

SDS protest pushes to disarm and defund the Auraria Campus Police Department.

Denver, CO – Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) rallied here April 29, as a part of their campaign to disarm and defund the Auraria Campus Police Department.

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By Organización Socialista Camino de la Libertad

El Primero de Mayo empezó como una celebración de la clase obrera y su lucha heroica después de la brutal violencia de la policía en el año 1886. Los trabajadores que manifestaron en Haymarket lucharon en contra condiciones de trabajo bien peor y por una campana de un día de trabajo por ocho horas. Los atacaron la policía, con muchos trabajadores heridos y muertos, muchos de ellos eran inmigrantes, resultado de un evento infamoso llamado la masacre de Haymarket. El estado de Illinois tuvo un juicio y ejecutó cuatro líderes laborales, siempre recordado como los Mártires de Haymarket. Todavía, el espíritu de este día, el primer Primero de Mayo vive y está celebrado alrededor del mundo cada año.

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By Freedom Road Socialist Organization

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International Workers Day is celebrated on May 1. Around the world, workers have accomplished many great things over the past year that we can be proud of. The ruling class, made up of monopoly capitalists, have tried their best to keep profits high at the expense of the people during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, we’ve seen time and time again that the people can rise above the obstacles created by the 1% and bring about real change. On May Day 2021, it is important to reflect on the past year. We must also renew our efforts to end the rule of the monopoly capitalists and replace their broken, failed system with a system that benefits not the few but the majority of people – socialism.

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By staff

Tampa students defend their right to an education.

Tampa, Fl – Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) held a 20-person protest outside the University of South Florida’s (USF) entrance on April 20 opposing the university’s budget cuts and a state bill restricting the Bright Futures scholarship. Bright Futures provides 75 to 100% of an eligible student’s tuition. USF is implementing $36.7 million in cuts to areas such as student success, financial aid and health services.

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By staff

Students fight for 15 at Lawrence University.

Appleton, WI – On April 16, the Appleton Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), Sunrise Appleton, the Student Liberation Front and a grouping of international students kicked off their Fight for $15 campaign at Lawrence University. Many international students have been discussing the idea of a potential raise of the minimum wage at Lawrence University. Currently, the average student worker makes $7.25 an hour and for many students on-campus jobs are their only avenue of income.

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