New Orleans, LA — On February 24, students from the Black Students Resistance Network (BSRN), a Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) affiliate at Xavier University of Louisiana, organized a panel of activists from around the New Orleans area to discuss how and why students should fight for progressive policies on their campuses and in their communities.

The panel featured speakers from BSRN, the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, the NAACP, Students for a Democratic Society, and a political opinion blog, The Daily Salad.

Central to the discussion was the question of “Why do we protest?”

“One of the reasons we hold these direct actions is because that is how people learn about these struggles and how we keep attention on these issues,” said Rosalina Framboise, a student activist at Loyola University. She invoked the story of the Black Panther Huey P. Newton putting up a stop sign in a community when the government refused to, and concluded by saying, “I think that is what our job is as organizers. If campus administration, or the government, or anyone else is not going to properly advocate the needs of the students or the community, it is our job to get together and do that ourselves.”

Among the other questions posed to the panelists was a question as to how people should respond to the idea Black people should “sit back,” as opposed to engaging in political organizing, because it “isn’t [their] fight.”

Aniya Grisham of BSRN responded, “Just because we can ‘sit at the front of the bus’ now doesn’t mean that it’s all sunshine and rainbows.” She added, “Black people are the most incarcerated people in the country, the least educated.” Grisham emphasized that the work of Black liberation is not done and that it is up to the people to continue fighting.

Overall, the event was a strong opportunity for Xavier students to discuss their thoughts with local student activists and learn more about how to get organized.

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