Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from Students for a Democratic Society, urging participation in the March 2 education rights protests.

All out for Education Rights!

Students for a Democratic Society Call on Students to Protest March 2nd

On March 4th of 2010, faculty, campus workers, and students exploded in protest all throughout the country to demand an end to the ongoing attacks on education. Again on October 7th, 2010 over twenty chapters of Students for a Democratic Society protested on their campuses; from coast to coast chapters held rallies and marches. October 7th was a day to also highlight the 9th year anniversary of the war in Afghanistan as well as the then-recent attacks on anti-war and international solidarity activists by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

This year, Students for a Democratic Society supports the month-long call to action in March and is calling on students nationwide to take action on March 2nd of 2011. We believe that education is a right, not an economic privilege for the advantaged. We demand and fight for a university that is for everyone! We believe big administrators on campus should cut their own pay checks instead off raising our tuition. We say “Chop from the Top!”; cuts should be made to the bloated salaries of those on top. Front-end staff should not have to endure layoffs and furloughs. We also unite with the demands coming out of Arizona where programs like Ethnic Studies are at risk; these programs are NOT expendable. We want student, worker and faculty control over our universities; we should be in control of our own futures and lives.

We also have significant concerns that should be paid attention to this year. While education is under attack, while the U.S. government maintains war and occupation in Iraq and Afghanistan, while the Egyptian people opposed and ousted a regime that the U.S. government has propped up for so long, activists here are facing jail time for opposing U.S. foreign policy. Anti-war activists and international solidarity activists, including one woman from SDS, have been subpoenaed before a grand jury for an investigation of “material support to terrorism”. These accusations are meant to scare and intimidate people away from speaking out against the government, and highlight the importance of continuing to organize and protest. We will not see our futures crumble to these scare tactics and we will fight back against them!

Finally, we see the actions students are taking all over the world, such as in the United Kingdom and Italy, and we are inspired by their courage and determination.

SDS is calling on chapters to organize and take action on March 2nd, 2011. When people come together and demand change, a better world is possible. Strike, rally, walkout, occupy, sit-in, teach-in, leaflet, or table! Whatever you’re doing we want to hear about it! Make March 2nd a day to remember. Education is a right, now is the time to fight!

Let us know if you’re taking action and what you’re up to!

email: [email protected]

#UnitedStates #StudentsForADemocraticSociety #SDS #EducationRights