Arlington TX - On Wednesday, October 18, the Progressive Student Union (PSU) organized two rallies on the campus of University of Texas Arlington.

At noon, PSU and other members of the community gathered in front of the University Center to speak out against Senate Bill 17 which prohibits the presence of offices around diversity equity and inclusion initiatives and other practices to limit discrimination and lack of representation. The chant “Defend, diversity! Defend, diversity!” could be heard from the megaphones, and the energy gathered was used to march onto the University Hall where the second rally around support for Palestine was held at 1 p.m.

This rally was originally planned to take place within a room where a local political science professor, known for downplaying the oppression of Palestinians and the Israeli regime, was leading a Q&A event around the “Israel-Hamas conflict.” The crowd was prohibited by campus police to enter the room on the grounds of overcrowding, despite many students walking out of the event in disgust, so it was decided to hold the rally right outside of the building. The crowd grew to a peak of 200 as speeches and chants calling out the genocidal war crimes of the Israeli government and the need for Palestinian liberation were expressed by all who gathered. 

The rally went on from 1 to 1:30 p.m., at which point PSU members led a march onto the front of the Central Library where a list of demands of the UTA administration was delivered to the crowd by several members of the organization. The high energy and solidarity of the crowd would carry this rally to its end an hour later in front of the Central Library.

#ArlingtonTX #StudentMovement #FreePalestine #UTA #Diversity #AffirmativeAction

Minneapolis, MN – On Tuesday, October 16, a group of students and community members rallied on the steps of Northrop Hall at University of Minnesota. They were there to protest U.S. Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett at the annual donor-funded Law School public lecture.

The rally was covered by over a dozen local and national news outlets. Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) at UMN and the Minnesota Abortion Action Committee (MNAAC) jointly organized the rally, where at least 250 people mobilized in support of abortion access, affirmative action, and the rights of marginalized peoples.

Justice Barrett is a key figure in the Supreme Court’s conservative supermajority and played an instrumental role in striking down Roe v. Wade (1973) in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (2022). Roe v. Wade was a longstanding precedent for the Supreme Court which protected the constitutional right to an abortion. Since the Dobbs decision, 13 states have banned abortions, and many others imposed client and/or provider restrictions on abortions, according to the Center for Reproductive Rights.

Abortion rights movements in the Twin Cities, especially MNAAC, are currently in the struggle to expand legitimate abortion clinics and shut down the nearly 90 illegitimate “crisis pregnancy centers” across Minnesota.

Barrett also voted with conservative justices to strike down affirmative action in SFFA v. Harvard (2023) and SFFA v. UNC (2023). Student movements in the 1960s and ‘70s called for affirmative action in efforts to increase Black and brown enrollment in U.S. universities. Though legal decisions have debated what affirmative action can look like, affirmative action remains an important tool to increase diversity in higher education. Alongside attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion in states like Florida, Texas and Louisiana, where SDS chapters are currently engaging in struggles against university administrations, the SFFA decisions are certain to make higher education for Black and brown students even less accessible.

Florida members of SDS, the Tampa 5, were arrested on felony charges and are being put on trial for protesting similar attacks on education by Governor Ron DeSantis.

Rally speaker Maggie Moynihan of MNAAC spoke about the contradictions the UMN presents when they invite a Supreme Court justice with a track record of harming women and students of color. “As a white-majority school, the University of Minnesota has an especially important duty to provide its marginalized students with a diverse and inclusive educational experience,” said Moynihan. “Amy Coney Barrett is a threat to all working-class and marginalized people in the United States and the university administrators have invited this threat to spread her hateful ideology to students on this campus. The message this decision sends is clear. The university does not value the safety of the women, people of color, immigrants, or queer people on this campus.”

Speaker Bryce Riesner of SDS reminded the UMN administration that when they invited Barrett to campus, they had invited “a representative of bigotry.” Speaking against the fallacy of “free speech,’”Riesner pointed out that the university has the power to draw the line at hate and intolerance. “I have so many conservative family and friends who have no hatred in their heart for anyone. [Barrett] does not represent them,” said Riesner. “Her fundamentalist beliefs are not conservative. What she practices in her home is her business, but when she takes a seat as a Supreme Court justice, her beliefs affect all of us!”

During the rally, a handful of experienced UMN SDS members disrupted Barrett’s lecture inside Northrop Hall, where over 1500 attendees sat. Video of the interaction posted to the chapter’s @umnsds Instagram account shows protesters chanting “Not the court! Not the state! The people must decide their fate!” and “When affirmative action is under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back!”

In their rally speech, Sasmit Rahman recounted the experience of being removed from the lecture, stating that the removal was a cowardly act by Barrett, who apparently refused to acknowledge the protesters. “You’re so comfortable stripping us of our rights,” Rahman said of Barrett, “but too scared to face the consequences of your bigoted decisions! Shame on you Amy, you fucking coward!”

Over a dozen rally speakers represented progressive grassroots organizations across the Twin Cities. These organizations include the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee, Young Democratic Socialists of America, Twin Cities Coalition for Justice for Jamar, Students for Climate Justice, Anti-War Committee, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, and local trade unions.

Progressive organizations agree that giving Barrett a platform is a disgrace to the UMN and that we must fight back.

Abortion is a human right!

Defend affirmative action and queer rights!

No to Amy Coney Barrett!

#MinneapolisMN #Minneapolis #AmyConeyBarrett #SDS #MNAAC #UMN #ReproductiveJustice #Abortion #SupremeCourt #AffirmativeAction #RoevWade

Tampa, FL – On Tuesday, February 21, around 20 students at the University of South Florida gathered outside of the Marshall Student Center to show their support for affirmative action and diversity programs, and to demand increased Black enrollment at their university. Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) called this protest alongside other SDS chapters to bring attention to two U.S. Supreme Court cases which might overturn affirmative action measures, one against Harvard University and one against the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Speakers made references to the racist Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, who has demanded numbers for how much funding is spent on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs around the state. This move led Florida community college presidents to announce that they would restrict funding for diversity programs from this point on. He has also blocked the formation of an Advanced Placement course on Black history for high schoolers, and his policies demand that kindergarten through 12th grade teachers remove so-called “critical race theory” (teaching about the racism and oppression against Black, Chicano, Latino, Asian and other nationalities) from their curriculum.

The Florida legislature has passed similarly restrictive legislation barring minors from health care related to gender and sexuality. DeSantis has also begun bearing down on colleges for data on these services and its use by LGBTQ students and staff.

Students have been protesting at USF, calling for increased Black enrollment, since before 2020. In the wake of the Justice for George Floyd uprising, the university administration at the time promised that they would boost recruitment at Black-majority high schools in Tampa to meet this need. But they have not since acted on this promise.

“Here at USF, SDS has been fighting to increase Black enrollment on campus since 2020, but this is a fight that has been around since the 1960s,” said Lauren Pineiro, an organizer with Tampa Bay SDS. “Universities only changed their racist and exclusionary policies and implemented diversity programs because of student activism in the past. Only a strong student movement can save them now.”

Last month, student protesters disrupted the new university President Rhea Law's inauguration to remind her of the school's promise. Cowed by the protesters, Law in her speech said, “Big changes are coming.” But protesters correctly pointed out that these promises still prove empty.

Jaden Patel, an organizer with Tampa Bay SDS, spoke on the topic of education about Black history and said it was fundamental to understanding the United States.

“I had a great teacher in high school who taught me about Jim Crow, the Ku Klux Klan, and racist violence, but who also taught me about great revolutionaries such as Langston Hughes and Malcolm X,” Patel said. “It's essential that Black history be taught in schools. You can't erase what Black Americans have gone through over the last 400 years and then say, 'everyone in America lived happily ever after.' You need to teach the history of the struggle. We need to fight for this to be a part of everyone's education.”

Lauren Pineiro went on to present the protesters' demands: for the university to take a stand and own up to the promise they made three years ago.

“So, are we just going to sit by and let bigots like Ron DeSantis and the majority Republican-backed Supreme Court rip away access to education? Hell no!” Pineiro said. “We must defend affirmative action. We must demand that USF does not comply with any of DeSantis’s attacks on diversity. We demand that they save diversity programs and expand current programs to protect Black, Chicano and Latino students. We demand that USF owns up to its promises and increases Black enrollment now!”

#TampaFL #StudentsForADemocraticSocietySDS #AffirmativeAction #UniversityOfSouthFloridaUSF

Tampa, FL – On Dec. 3, a dozen University of South Florida students gave out hundreds of flyers and dropped a banner in support of affirmative action for African American and Latino students. As part of the National Day to Demand Affirmative Action called by the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), chapters held events calling for increased African American enrollment, a defense of affirmative action and an end to racist admissions policies.

On Dec. 9, the Supreme Court will begin hearing Fischer vs. University of Texas-Austin, a case in which a white woman declared that affirmative action for Black and Latino students is unjust and should be ended. In the Bakke vs. University of California case of 1978, the Supreme Court upheld affirmative action, but ended the quota system for advancing equality.

Even after affirmative action policies were upheld, state governments and universities began working to roll them back. Eight states so far, including Florida, have banned affirmative action. Students believe that there is a good chance that the Supreme Court will overturn affirmative action this time, so SDS is mobilizing.

Danya Zituni of Tampa Bay SDS explained, “In 1999, Governor Jeb Bush banned affirmative action in public universities throughout Florida with the One Florida plan. This led to dramatic decreases in Black enrollment across the state. For example, even though Black residents are 20% of the Florida population, Black enrollment at the University of Florida and Florida State University is only at 6% and 7% . If the Supreme Court rules against affirmative action, this will hurt Black enrollment across the entire country.”

Gage Lacharite of Tampa Bay SDS added to the analysis, “Banning affirmative action is one step. Legacy admission for the children of wealthy college alumni is another. And then there are racist testing requirements like the SATs, which are written for wealthy white students.”

Lacharite continued, “After all, university administrators only serve the interests of the highest bidder, and in the end, students lose. Students of all nationalities must unite to beat back campus whitewashing, because students of all nationalities benefit from having more Black and Latino students attending their schools.”

#TampaFL #OppressedNationalities #PeoplesStruggles #AfricanAmerican #AntiRacism #AffirmativeAction #UniversityOfSouthFlorida

The rally was part of the National Day to Demand Affirmative Action called by the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). This national day of action was created in response to the Supreme Court’s decision to take a second look at the Fisher v. University of Texas case, which deals with the legality of the affirmative action program used in the University of Texas system. The previous ruling, which favored the university, did not challenge the legality of affirmative action. If the court changes its decision, it will affect the fate of affirmative action programs in colleges and universities nationwide. The end of affirmative action programs will severely hurt African American students’ ability to be admitted to colleges and universities.

Regina Joseph, an organizer with SDS, opened the event with a brief explanation of the court case. She put forward three demands for the FSU administration: reinstate affirmative action, stop legacy preferences, and drop SAT/ACT testing requirements for admissions. Legacy preferences allow the children of wealthy and privileged graduates to attend the university, with the hope that generous donations will follow.

“The very foundation of this university needs to change. We're going to make that difference, and we're going to be organized, and we're going to increase Black enrollment, because we have the people, and we have the research and the knowledge to actually do what we need to do,” said Joseph.

Others spoke about issues faced by African American students nationwide as well as the struggles of African American students at Florida State. At FSU the freshman class consists of 7% African American students, compared to 12.8% in 1999. At the same time the rates of high school graduation for African American students is steadily increasing.

“I was very shocked to see it drop so dramatically,” said FSU student Roderick Pearson, “When I first enrolled here I thought it would be more diverse than what it is now.”

Protesters also directly addressed FSU administrators who were observing the rally alongside the police. They demanded that the FSU administration end discrimination against African American students. The rally concluded with a call to action for students to get organized and to help continue the fight against racism on campus.

“Right now on campus we have one major task, we need to get organized,” said Zachary Schultz, an organizer with SDS, “You can see the group of people gathered here today. It isn’t enough, we need to get organized.”

Afterwards the students marched across campus chanting, “Black education matters” and “When Black students are under attack, what do we do? Stand up fight back!” They passed out pamphlets with information about the racist admissions policies at FSU and the dropping rates of African American enrollment.

#TallahasseeFL #PeoplesStruggles #AntiRacism #AffirmativeAction #FloridaStateUniversityFSU

Speakers included union leaders, leaders of the poor peoples movements in the Twin Cities and Duluth, the Anti-War Committee of CISPES, the Emergency Committee Against U.S. Intervention In Yugoslavia, and the Progressive Student Organization.

Mick Kelly, an event organizer noted that the tradition of celebrating May Day as a workers holiday grew our the struggle of Chicago workers and that it is now celebrated by hundreds of millions of people around the world.

The following speech was given by Steff Yorek, the national Political Secretary of FRSO:

Everyone in this country and everyone in this room who fights for a better life have a lot in common – besides our courage and commitment, we all have a common enemy. This country is run by a small group of people who hoard all the wealth and power for themselves. They have working for them a group of bought and paid for politicians who do their bidding in government.

The economic system we live under, call it capitalism or call it the free enterprise system, exists to serve this rich elite. In this society you don't get rich by working hard- you get rich by having others work hard for you. Malcolm X said, “Show me a capitalist and I'll show you a bloodsucker.” He was completely right. We are up against a class of people who are parasites and they suck our blood and sweat for their own gain.

The class that's in charge doesn't have a God given right to rule, but they certainly would like us to believe that they do. No ruling class in human history has ever give up its wealth and privilege voluntarily.

We in Freedom Road have come to the conclusion that we need to build a revolutionary organization. What do communists or revolutionaries or socialists advocate that causes so much alarm?

In the context of the U. S today we think everyone has the right to a living wage job. Those of us who are not working have a right to public assistance. Even before “welfare reform” benefits were too low and eligibility requirements too tight.

We think the systematic discrimination against African American, Chicano-Latino, Asian and Native peoples must end. American capitalism is built on the super exploitation of Black and other oppressed peoples. This system that tramples on the basic human rights of some, while others have privileges, must be torn down.

Furthermore, we think that policies such as affirmative action that go a little way towards addressing the racist discrimination that is taking place today should be expanded. We also think that oppressed peoples within the borders of our country have the right to determine their own destiny – the right to self determination.We demand the end to inequality and support the liberation of women. We call for the full equality of immigrants whether documented or undocumented. We are against any actions or policies that discriminate against anyone because of sexual orientation. We are against wars that suck our resources and send us and our children to fight for the interests of the rich and powerful against people just like us in other countries.

We believe that the only way to achieve those goals is to end the rule of the rich, of the capitalists and build a socialist system where all political and economic power is in the hands of the people.

This is no dream. In some places, Cuba for example, they have already done this. Cuba is no rich country; but medical care is free and government policy aims at the elimination, not the creation, of poverty

Is it any wonder that the rich would violently oppose such demands? They have built a heaven on earth for themselves. We intend to storm that heaven and raise all kinds of hell. We don't imagine for a second that these kind of changes will happen tomorrow, but we do think that they will happen

In this city, state, country and planet working people are the majority. We have every right to reorganize society in a way that serves our interests. Provided that we have the organization, determination and understanding necessary the future is ours and the future is bright!

#MinneapolisMN #CapitalismAndEconomy #PoorPeoplesMovements #Labor #News #Editorials #AffirmativeAction #workingClass

UIC has big plans for making itself into the “Harvard on Halsted.” It plans to do this by abandoning its urban mission, and disregarding the needs of students and communities of color. UIC has acted to raise entrance requirements; slowly phase out minority support programs and scholarships; neglect recruitment of students in city schools and minority faculty; and lastly, tear down existing poor and working class neighborhoods to build condominiums for the rich.

On October 21, the MSC held a rally to confront these problems, initiate greater solidarity among students and surrounding community members and to unite their grievances against UIC. Over 250 students, faculty and community members attended the rally, and many enthusiastically cheered the speakers.

To start things off, blues singer Jimmy Lee Robinson sang his 'Maxwell Street Teardown Blues,' which reminded us that UIC “may be big and financially tall, but that doesn't mean you can't fall. UIC that wasn't smart at all.” Maxwell Street was a neighborhood known for its diversity, a part of the city where many could come together to enjoy blues music and a street market. The University expansion has bulldozed the entire area. Blues legends such as Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker played their music there. Now empty buildings, parking lots and plans to build luxury housing condemn Maxwell Street's lively working class roots.

Rene Maxwell, of the Coalition to Preserve Public Housing, rejected the University's elimination of ABLA public housing units. The University demolished housing units without replacing or properly compensating displaced residents whose homes are torn down. Former Dean, Phil Roberts, spoke of the long legacy of racism that UIC has perpetrated. Though UIC has a long history of discrimination, Roberts noted that the current Broski administration is by far the most ruthless and destructive.

November 17, the MSC conducted a teach-in on the history and current rollback of Affirmative Action, and how to preserve it. At the teach-in, professors, lawyers and past administrators emphasized the ongoing need to combat attacks on Affirmative Action and related this to current struggles at UIC.

Professor of History and African American Studies, Barbara Ransby, insisted that the more than fifty participants recognize the importance of fighting for education as a right and not a privilege, and said the education we fight for should be of good quality. Panelists emphasized that Affirmative Action was a direct descendent of Executive Order 11246 of 1964 and that this was the thirty-forth such order to combat job discrimination.

Because creating real equality through bureaucratic channels is a long, slow-moving process, speakers emphasized the need to preserve and enhance Affirmative Action. John Betancur, Professor of Urban Planning, suggested that we look beyond the limited public policy of Affirmative Action and demand more expansive measures to rectify past discrimination.

#ChicagoIL #UIC #MaxwellStreet #AffirmativeAction