Jacksonville, FL — On Nov. 20, University of North Florida (UNF) students took a stand against white supremacy, the KKK and neo-Nazis on their campus. Students came out at 8:30 a.m. on a cold Florida morning to demand that administration takes a stance against white supremacy on the UNF campus. The event was put on by UNF Students for a Democratic Society (UNF SDS) and others. Approximately 120 progressive student, alumni, faculty and community members gathered in front of Hicks Hall and marched to Alumni Hall where a conduct hearing for a neo-Nazi was being held.
Santa Barbara, CA – Over 95 students from every corner of the U.S. gathered on the University of California-Santa Barbara campus over the Oct. 21 weekend to attend workshops and hear speeches from fellow SDSers and affiliates, and to forge plans for the next year. The convention was organized and hosted by the SDS affiliate Student Activist Network.
Lakewood, CO – On Oct. 11, at Red Rocks Community College here, students and faculty members gathered to hold a vigil for Heather Heyer, the 32-year-old woman who was killed by white supremacists in August. Speakers included Denver SDS members Jarrid Carroll-Frey, Amber Hott, as well as a musical tribute from Ralph Mallet.
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Jacksonville, FL – On Oct. 11, University of North Florida Students for a Democratic Society (UNF SDS) held a rally for Black Lives Matter and in solidarity with the protest going on in the NFL across the country. The event was called “Take a Knee UNF.” The event drew a crowd of over 150 students in support.
Salt Lake City, UT – 70 students and community members gathered to support the local chapter of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) of the University of Utah, Oct. 6, to raise money for the SDS National Convention in Santa Barbara, California.
Salt Lake City – 400 people gathered to protest Ben Shapiro’s speaking spot, Sept. 27, on the University of Utah Campus. The protest was led by Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and Black Lives Matter-SLC with the demand that hate speech has no place on campus and would be met with counter-protest. Ian Decker of SDS wrote a letter to the editor of the Salt Lake Tribune and said, “We have no shame in saying that we intend to shut down Ben Shapiro.”
Milwaukee, WI – The rooms were filled at the first two out of five sessions from the Young People’s Resistance Committee’s (YPRC) Summer School program. The first session featured a panel of three women who spoke about their daily experiences and politics in Milwaukee. The second session explored economic inequality in Milwaukee and how the working class is exploited.
NYC, NY – On April 25, at Marymount Manhattan College in New York City, a group of student activists shut down a speech by former Obama Middle East adviser Rob Malley.
Jacksonville, FL – The University of North Florida chapter of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) hosted a panel discussion, April 25, titled “Civil Rights in the Era of the Jax5.” The Jax5 are the five anti-war activists who were brutalized by police and arrested on April 7 in Jacksonville’s Hemming Park.
Fight Back! interviewed Chrisley Carpio, a student activist and leader of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) Student Commission. Carpio organizes with campus activists across the country from a variety of student groups. She is an experienced and tested leader who others can learn from.Fight Back!: How did you get involved in student activism?
Chicago, IL – Sarah Chambers is one of the best-known rank-and-file leaders of the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU). A distinguished, award winning Special Education teacher at Maria Saucedo Academy, her name is a familiar one to politicians, and to the Board of the Chicago Public Schools (CPS). Photos of her leading protests to defend her students have appeared regularly in the Chicago media, and even in the New York Times.
Los Angles – Angry Chicano parents and children from Marianna Avenue Elementary School protested, April 4, a proposal to place a KIPP charter school on their campus. Parents at Marianna asked Centro CSO to help organize this protest with the parents in leadership. The protest and march started in front of Marianna with loud and furious chants, “What do we want? Public schools, no charters!”
Houston, Texas – On March 27, Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) hosted a discussion at the University of Houston called “The Black Radical Tradition and Palestine” with Dr. Gerald Horne, chair of African-American Studies at the University of Houston (UH). Over 50 students and people from the community who showed up to learn about the history of Black activism and about the importance of solidarity between Black people and Palestinians in America.
Police detain pro-immigrant protester assaulted by Trump supporter
Salt Lake City, UT – One month after delivering demands for a sanctuary campus to the University of Utah administration, Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) sat in and shut down their office on March 8.
St. Paul, MN – Pro-Trump supporters came to the MN state capitol, March 4, for their “March 4 Trump” rally, while protesters showed up to oppose the Trump regime and to shut down the rally. The counter protest was organized by the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) at the University of Minnesota. They were joined by other citywide groups and Twin Cities residents to unite against the Trump rally under the slogan “Make Racists Afraid Again.”
West Chester, PA – On March 4, Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) hosted a workshop titled “Socialism 101: Students, Socialism & The Revolution” at West Chester University of Pennsylvania. The workshop included an introduction to socialist theory, followed by discussion on applying socialist theory to the student movement.
Washington D.C. – Twenty-five students protested the morning of March 2 on the campus of Howard University, one of the prominent historically Black colleges and universities (HBCU). African American students formed “Howard Resist” to demand President Wayne Frederick make Howard University a sanctuary campus and to criticize Frederick for his recent meeting with Donald Trump.
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Jacksonville, FL – The University of North Florida (UNF) chapter of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) rallied, marched, and staged a sit in, Feb. 28, to present several demands to the school administration. These demands included turning the campus into a sanctuary campus, banning Trump’s administration from visiting UNF, and pushing for more Black, Latino and other oppressed nationality teachers and students on campus. There was also a call for a $15 living wage for all workers on campus. Over 40 students participated in the event, titled “SDS Strikes Back” in reference to last semester’s huge Black Lives Matter rally that launched SDS and pulled a core of student activists together.
