News and Views from the People's Struggle
New York, NY – On October 27, former student activists from the City College of New York (CCNY) will seek justice in a lawsuit dating back to a series of incidents in 1998. A jury in the courtroom of Federal Judge Thomas Griesa will decide if former CCNY President Yolanda Moses acted illegally in nullifying the results of a student government election that a slate of student activists had won.
Asheville, NC – When members of the University of North Carolina – Asheville Students for a Democratic Society (UNC-Asheville SDS) heard that Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin was coming to hold one of her lynch mob style rallies in Asheville, there was no question of organizing a protest. Workers, students and members of the Asheville community assembled outside of the Civic Center downtown. On Oct. 26, there was an outpouring of over 300 protesters who confronted Palin and her rally of supporters.
Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the Stop the War! Stop McCain! working group of Students for a Democratic Society
New York, NY – Over 100 students are occupying the 65 5th Avenue building of the New School. The occupation began Wednesday, Dec. 17 and has the broad support of faculty and staff at the university. The New School in Exile, as the building occupation is called, is organized by the Radical Student Union (RSU), a coalition of Students for a Democratic Society, Student Environmental Action Coalition and United for Peace and Justice at New School.
Fight Back! interviewed Eric Eingold, a member of the New School chapter of Students for a Democratic Society and one of the leaders in the New School in Exile. The New School in Exile was an occupation of a campus building to demand the resignation of president Bob Kerrey, among other demands (see Students Occupy New School, Demand President Kerrey Resign, Fight Back! December 2008). The occupation lasted for two days and won significant victories that have strengthened the student movement in the United States.
Durham, NC – Speaking to a packed audience of mostly African American students at North Carolina Central University on Oct. 18, Louis Scott, lead attorney for Mychal Bell of the Jena 6, said that the struggle to free the Six was far from over. Reverend William Barber, civil rights leader and president of the North Carolina NAACP, also spoke at the forum. The discussion was focused on the injustices of the Jena 6 case, but speakers at the event also highlighted the ongoing abuses of the criminal justice system used to oppress African Americans here in North Carolina.
Washington D.C. – Over 500 students, trade unionists and solidarity activists gathered here, March 4 – 6, for the National Venezuela Solidarity Conference. They founded the Venezuela Solidarity Network and united the forces struggling against U.S. intervention in Venezuela. The conference was a huge success. Attendees gathered in support of Venezuela’s Bolivarian Revolution, lead by President Hugo Chavez.
Letter Delivered to Administration Demands Boycott and Divestment
Chapel Hill, NC – A delegation of students from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's chapter of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) delivered a letter to Chancellor Thorp's office, Feb. 25, demanding that UNC divest from Israel. Holding a banner that said, “End U.S. aid to Israel!” the students explained their demands to the university administrator who received the letter in place of Chancellor Thorp. “We want our university to stop investing in the murder of Palestinian civilians,” said Maddy Miller, a member of SDS.
Chicago, IL – Hundreds of Latino students from the University of Illinois-Chicago (UIC) and Chicago high schools packed into the UIC Forum on Oct. 27 to defend their right to an education. The occasion was a hearing on the Status of Latinos at UIC held by the Illinois Latino Legislative Caucus.
For nearly five months in the fall and winter of 1968-1969, San Francisco State College was paralyzed by a student strike.
“You don’t care about Black People”
Chicago, IL -“I feel about UIC like Kanye West said about George Bush: You don’t care about Black people,” snapped Lou Jones, state representative from Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood. She was confronting administrators at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) about charges of neglect by Black and Latino medical students.
Asheville, NC – Over 40 students confronted North Carolina Army National Guard recruiters on the University of North Carolina at Asheville campus during the university’s Career Fair, Feb. 21. The UNCA Socialist Unity League, a progressive and antiwar student group, led the effort for students to protest the recruiters’ presence.
Students and community activists march at University of Illinois-Chicago, Feb. 25. The protest opposed military recruiters and ROTC on campus. Students from area colleges and high schools and veterans of Iraq and Vietnam joined the action. After a conference on the lessons of counter-recruitment efforts in the public schools and colleges in the Chicago area, the group occupied the front of the ROTC building on campus for fifteen minutes.
To: Planning Committee SDS National Convention
On August 4, student activists and others will be meeting in Chicago to launch a new Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). In the 1960s SDS was one of the largest and most influential radical student organizations.
Chapel Hill, NC – Over 120 students rallied against John Ashcroft at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill campus Sept. 12, disrupting his speech. Ashcroft was Attorney General under Bush. He is responsible for the repressive PATRIOT Act, legislative attacks on women's reproductive rights and policies aimed at criminalizing immigrant workers.
Minneapolis, MN – The Anti-War Committee and the Anti-War Organizing League co-sponsored a lively protest here, Nov. 15, to voice opposition to U.S. wars in the Middle East and to challenge the presence of United States Central Command (USCENTCOM) on the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus.
Chapel Hill, NC – Chants of, “Out of Iraq, out of our schools!” rose above the noise of afternoon traffic as protesters marched to Chapel Hill’s new Army Career Center on Wednesday, Nov. 15. Led by UNC-Chapel Hill’s chapter of Students for a Democratic Society, the group of about 50 marchers was joined by another several dozen protesters at the recruiting station. Demonstrators held a rally and a press conference condemning the war against Iraq and the predatory tactics of military recruiters.
for Honoring Black and Puerto Rican Liberation Heroes
New York, NY – The New York Police Department is on the defensive because of mass outrage over the police’s murder of Sean Bell. Bell, a 23-year old unarmed African American man was killed by the NYPD in a hail of 50 bullets Nov. 25 a few hours before he was going to be married. His murder has sparked large protests against racist police brutality.
Greensboro, NC – Students from colleges across North Carolina rallied Feb. 2 against a recent hate crime committed against three Palestinian students at Guilford College. The regional protest was organized by the University of North Carolina at Asheville Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) chapter and UNC-Chapel Hill Solidarity with Palestine through Education and Action at Carolina (SPEAC). UNC-Chapel Hill SDS helped to mobilize students for the demonstration.
Detroit, MI – The new Students for a Democratic Society has just completed its second annual National Convention in Detroit. The convention, held on the campus of Wayne State University, spanned from July 27-30 and drew over 150 student and youth activists from around the United States.