Appleton, WI – On May 14, Fox Valley Food Not Bombs, a coalition of progressive Appleton residents, and Appleton Students for Democratic Society (SDS) organized a rally to safeguard the reproductive rights of women and others capable of giving birth across the country. This event was held in response to a leaked Supreme Court majority draft, which concedes that Roe and Casey must be overruled. The event was attended by more than 20 people and it was directed by various speakers, all of whom are directly affected by the ongoing crisis.
Appleton, WI – On Saturday, May 21, the family of Jimmie Sanders – a man murdered by Appleton police in May 2017 – alongside Fox Valley Food Not Bombs, Appleton SDS, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, and United Action Oshkosh organized a rally and march to bring attention to the case, and to crowdfund for the Jimmie Sanders legal team.
Appleton, WI – Minutes after the verdict was reached by the jury on the afternoon of November 19, Appleton Students for a Democratic Society called an emergency action in response to the vigilante murderer Kyle Rittenhouse being wrongfully acquitted of all charges. Appleton SDS was joined by Sunrise Fox Valley, students, members of the community, along with comrades from FRSO, United Action Oshkosh, and Food Not Bombs in the rally against the Rittenhouse verdict. Many members of these groups were present during Kenosha’s uprising last year following Jacob Blake’s attempted murder by a white policeman, Rusten Sheskey. Nearly 40 people showed up for the emergency action.
Appleton, WI – The Appleton Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and Sunrise Fox Valley are continuing the “Fight for $15'' at Lawrence University. This campaign seeks to increase the on-campus student worker minimum wage to $15 per hour. At the moment, the average student worker is undercompensated with a meagre $7.25 wage, which is unable to meet the rising costs of tuition and other exorbitant living expenses.
Appleton, WI – On May 29, nearly 30 people gathered at Houdini Plaza in downtown Appleton to demand that the Canadian energy company Enbridge be forced to cease production on their Line 3 and Line 5 projects. These pipelines transport tar sands – some of the dirtiest fossil fuel out there – across hundreds of miles of Canada, into northern Minnesota and Wisconsin, and through Michigan.
Milwaukee, WI – On May 6, Students for a Democratic Society chapters in Appleton and Milwaukee hosted a panel about the importance of student organizing. Both chapters were recently established to be forces for change at Lawrence University and UW-Milwaukee. The purpose of the panel was to invite local students to join the chapters, and to invite regional students to start their own.