The victory results from an organizing campaign targeting FSU President John Thrasher and Governor Rick Scott. The Board of Governors is now set to vote on the decision to stay unified and strengthen their relationship.

“Having the College of Engineering maintain its partnership is great news for both parties. Now we can focus on the known, solvable issues that can improve the execution of our mission, as opposed to being distracted by decisions that may or may not even result in research, educational and social goals both universities want to achieve,” explained Ruben Nelson, former Vice President of the National Society of Black Engineers.

The Tallahassee Dream Defenders and National Society for Black Engineers led the charge against the racist bill, first proposed by FSU’s current president John Thrasher. With the help of allies such as FAMU Student Government Association, FAMU President Dr. Elmira Mangum and Students for a Democratic Society, they resisted an attack on African American students’ education rights.

The coalition rejected the Engineering School split for several reasons. First, the decision was announced abruptly in between the transition of both the FAMU and the FSU presidents. Second, many denounced the proposal as ‘separate but equal.’ It also reminded many of FSU’s previous action to open a law school, resulting in the relocation of the FAMU’s law school to Orlando.

Coupled with photo petitions and a viral media campaign, the coalition of groups worked hard for victory. As reported previously by Fight Back! in 2014, “Students from Florida State University (FSU) and the historically Black college Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU), gathered outside the state capitol building on the morning of April 23. Despite final exams, they joined together to speak out against the split of the joint FAMU-FSU Engineering School.”

Additionally, FAMU Student Government Association (SGA) successfully passed an amendment to condemn the split, but FSU’s student government did not. The students also had an ally, FAMU President Dr. Elmira Mangum, who supported the students. The FAMU SGA donated to the efforts of the Dream Defenders. Then, over the summer, students continued to organize. As a result, Florida House Speaker Will Weatherford postponed the decision until the next Board of Governors meeting in spring 2015. On Feb. 19, the Board will reinforce the existing relationship between the two universities.

“Powerful interests will always try to stop the power of students. It is up to us to collectively build that power to stop racist actions such as this,” said a smiling Shivaani Eshaan of Dream Defenders.

#TallahasseeFL #GovernorRickScott #DreamDefenders #JohnThrasher #FloridaStateUniversityFAMU #FAMUEngineeringSchool #FloridaAgriculturalMechanicalUniversityFAMU

As of Aug. 2, Dream Defenders have held steady in the office of Governor Rick Scott since then with no signs of leaving – even after Governor Scott meets with members of the organization just days after they started their occupation.

“The Governor tried to pacify us within the first week of us being here,” said Florida State University (FSU) Dream Defender President Brian Marshall. “He has shown that, under his reign, he has zero compassion for the lives of Black and Brown youth and has shown zero leadership in response to the Trayvon Martin tragedy. We aren't leaving until he answers for his crimes to the youth of this state.”

Dream Defenders are calling for Governor Scott and the Florida Legislature to pass a bill called Trayvon's Law, which would address factors of racism and national oppression that contribute to a climate that leads to the death of Black and Brown youth every day.

“We are demanding that laws be put in place to stop racial profiling practices by law enforcement officers, that the school-to-prison pipeline that ruins the life of millions of youth nationally be addressed in Florida by the repealing of zero tolerance laws and that the Stand Your Ground Law be repealed,” said Regina Joseph, Vice President of Dream Defenders at FSU. “All these laws create a climate of racial oppression that lead to the death of Trayvon Martin, but will continue to lead to more tragedy of Black and Brown life until we stop it.”

Aug. 2 marked day 17 of the Dream Defenders’ “Dream In” at the Florida capitol, with national support coming from everywhere.

“We have had youth from Philadelphia to the Bronx come out in full force to Tallahassee to support us here,” said Michael Sampson, an organizer with Tallahassee Dream Defenders. “The support is amazing as we understand that this action is an important step to building a real national movement against the racist practices of the school-to-prison pipeline and institutional racism.”

On July 26, civil rights icon Harry Belafonte paid a visit to the capitol to support the youth organization’s goals of Justice for Trayvon Martin. On July 30, another civil rights legend, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, flew into Tallahassee to support the Dream Defenders. Jackson even chanted with Dream Defenders as they yelled, “We believe that we will win!” and slept in the capitol with the activists.

“What's exciting is these students coming alive,” said Jackson. “We are in this sit-in so justice can stand up. This is an emergency. People are crying out and people are hurting,” in reference to the racist laws that plague communities of color in Florida, like voter suppression, the school-to-prison pipeline, the Stand Your Ground law and racial profiling.

One thing that is clear is that the Dream In shows no signs of letting up.

“If we don't stand up now for the injustices that people of color face in this state, and this country, we will never truly be free,” said Dream Defender Issis Alvarez. “The injustices may not be as evident as they were 60 years ago, but because of that it's even more important to bring them to the light and take action.”

For more information on how you can support Dream Defenders, visit dreamdefenders.org.

#TallahasseeFL #InJusticeSystem #AntiRacism #CivilRights #GovernorRickScott #TrayvonMartin #DreamDefenders #TrayvonsLaw

The sit-in began at 9:00 a.m. on July 16, with at least 25 students sleeping in the governor’s office every night. The action was called in response to the acquittal in the George Zimmerman trial. Protesters demanded to meet with Governor Scott and push for a special legislative session. Dream Defenders demands that the governor push for an end to racial profiling, the repeal of mandatory minimum sentencing laws that place African-American and Latino youth in prison and the repeal of the Stand Your Ground law. Protesters are calling for a package of laws from the governor and the legislature called the Trayvon Martin Act.

“It’s my first time doing an overnight sit-in,” said Florida State University Dream Defender President Brian Marshall. “Having Rick Scott agree to meet with us is a victory, but we’re disappointed he didn’t agree to our demands. We’re going to continue protesting him and the criminal injustice system that let Trayvon’s killer off the hook.”

The meeting with Scott comes after the governor dodged protesters for two days, spending time in New York and then in Pensacola and Tampa, far from his Tallahassee office. On July 18, protesters in Tampa crashed the event Scott spoke at, demanding he meet with the occupiers in his office in Tallahassee.

On the night of July 13, protesters in Sanford, Florida rallied outside of the Seminole County Criminal Justice Center to demand justice for Trayvon Martin, the 17-year-old Black youth murdered by George Zimmerman in February 2012. When the nearly all-white jury found Zimmerman not guilty, protesters issued a call for nationwide protests. That call was answered, with mass militant demonstrations in Los Angeles, New York City, Milwaukee, Chicago, Dallas, Minneapolis, North Carolina, Tampa, Gainesville and Miami, among others.

In Tallahassee, a midnight march protesting the verdict stormed the steps of the Florida capitol building. Organized by Florida State University Dream Defenders, the protest drew more than 300 people, mostly African-Americans, from the campus and the community.

Since Dream Defenders launched its occupation of Scott’s office, other organizations have joined their demonstration. The newly formed Tallahassee Students for a Democratic Society marched from the nearby All Saints Café to reinforce the occupation and groups like the NAACP and the Big Bend Labor Chapter have helped provide refreshments and blankets. Hip hop media magnate Russell Simmons endorsed the action, and importantly, the FSU student body President Rosie Contreras publicly announced her support for the FSU chapter of Dream Defenders.

For more info, see: http://www.fightbacknews.org/2013/7/16/build-fight-get-justice-trayvon-martin

#TallahasseeFL #OppressedNationalities #AntiRacism #GovernorRickScott #FloridaStateUniversityFSU #TrayvonMartin #GeorgeZimmerman #DreamDefenders #InjusticeSystem

The bill would not have allowed DACA recipients to have a permanent driver’s license. DACA itself is only a two-year temporary ‘fix’ and recipients are required to reapply and pay new fees to have the temporary two-year DACA-status. HB 235 would act in the same manner; DACA recipients would have to start the process all over again (fees included) every two years. However, this will still benefit a large portion of the undocumented.

Driver's licenses for the undocumented provide many benefits. The main reason is that it allows travel to drive to work, school, the hospital or anywhere else without the fear of being pulled over by the police. In many places the police put up stop points to target the undocumented for arrests. Being targeted by the police and ICE (Immigration Customs Enforcement), the undocumented can face anything from fines and arrests to deportations. In fact, many of the deportations result from driving without a license. For those who are not deported, and are arrested, they will have a much harder time gaining legal status as well as citizenship. On top of this, a license will help the undocumented with employment. As it stands now, without a license, the undocumented are exploited at the workplace in terms of harassment, wage theft and in some cases, slavery. Having a license and documentation, even in a small form, would help to provide more opportunities for employment and limit random immigrant searches.

Governor Scott, like most of the right wing, does not want undocumented people to obtain legal status. In fact, upon entering office, Scott wanted to pass laws similar to Arizona's racist SB1070.

For now, groups around Florida have been planning press conferences and actions to demand licenses for all undocumented immigrants. In Tampa, Dream Defenders is planning a press conference and action within the next few days. Dream Defenders has been demanding that driver’s licenses be extended to all 1.5 million undocumented in the state of Florida. They have started a petition while pressuring their city council to pass a resolution in support.

Sign here: https://www.change.org/petitions/support-licenses-for-all-undocumented-immigrants-in-the-state-of-florida

#TallahasseeFL #driversLicense #GovernorRickScott #immigrationRights #legalizationForAll

The important question is “Who is it working for?” We say “Not the people of Florida.”

Since Governor Scott was elected on the right-wing Tea Party wave in the 2010 midterm election, Florida workers, women, students, immigrants, African-Americans and Latinos are facing full-frontal attacks on their rights and their livelihood. However, tireless activists and organizers all across the state are leading people to fight back and beat some of the worst attacks by Governor Scott and the Republican-dominated legislature.

Now as the 2013 legislative session begins, the people of Florida must unite and fight again as Governor Scott pushes more cutbacks and renewed austerity.

The Republican Party dominates the Florida state government and senate districts in part due to gerrymandering. Voting areas are cut up and maps are manipulated in bizarre ways to favor Republicans. Electoral efforts in 2010 to redraw fair congressional and senate districts proved futile in breaking the Republican stranglehold. The Republicans lost their super-majority in the Florida House, but they still maintain a strong majority in both the House and Senate. Worse yet, many of the moderate Republican state senators who stood against Governor Scott’s more reactionary policies either lost to more radical Tea Party Republicans in the 2012 election or were term-limited out. All of it means that the Florida legislature is even more right wing and crazy than last year.

The only appropriate answer to these attacks is mass organizing by the people of Florida. The Florida District of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization will be working tirelessly in the trade unions, student organizations, immigrant rights groups, and by uniting with other progressive forces during the 2013 legislative session to oppose the reactionary policies of Governor Scott and his legislature.

House Bill 7011 – Bail Out Wall Street, Sell Out State Workers

Governor Scott and the Republican legislature are taking aim at the pensions and retirement benefits for state workers, including teachers and firefighters. 1.2 million current or former state workers and teachers are covered under the Florida Retirement System (FRS) defined benefits plan. House Bill 7011, which is still in committees, would close Florida's defined benefit retirement plan and force new state workers to take on a 401(k) plan instead.

This bill is part of a larger plan by Republican lawmakers to break the state government's obligation to workers and transfer the fate of their retirement benefits to Wall Street executives. On Jan. 18, the Florida Supreme Court ruled in favor of Republican Governor Rick Scott, who signed legislation that cut public workers' paychecks 3%, by forcing them to contribute to the FRS. Emboldened by their legal victory, the legislature is seeking to destroy defined benefits entirely.

Florida's pension system makes up a meager 2.4% of the state's annual budget. The pension plan is both sound and solvent, with 86% of its obligations fully funded. This move by the legislature has nothing to do with saving taxpayers money and everything to do with transferring the money for earned retirement benefits of workers to Wall Street banks and corporations.

With the 2008 financial market crash fresh in the minds of workers who saw invested retirement plans destroyed by Wall Street, HB 7011 seeks to deal state workers a major body blow. 401(k) plans lost an estimated $1.6 trillion – approximately one-third of their value – during the 2008 financial crisis, according to a Forbes article in December 2012, leaving many workers with significantly less for retirement. This high-risk model favors employers, corporations, and banks who gamble with the money in retirement plans, but they leave workers vulnerable to losing their retirement benefits.

Labor unions in Florida, including the Florida AFL-CIO, oppose the bill and are already organizing against it. Protecting FRS and opposing this massive transfer of workers’ money to Wall Street is a top priority for all progressive Floridians.

Fighting the School-To-Prison Pipeline

The Florida state government presides over the mass incarceration of Black and Latino youth through a school-to-prison pipeline, which is a series of laws leading to arrests at school. So-called Zero Tolerance laws and minimum sentencing are racist tools of the state’s criminal injustice system. Florida ranks second to California in the U.S. for juvenile incarceration rates. The police and courts in Florida target low-income African-American and Latino youth for harassment, arrest and imprison them, starting at a young age.

The prison industry in Florida is highly lucrative for the private sector because of the state’s repressive laws. Private corporations take over prisons and cut deals with the state government to guarantee a certain inmate occupancy rate. In order to meet these rates, legislators pass harsher minimum sentences and imprison more youth. These private prisons also provide cheap, often involuntary, labor for corporations who profit from paying little in wages to inmates.

Organizations like Dream Defenders are leading the campaign against the school-to-prison pipeline. Dream Defenders demands the repeal of Senate Bill 2112, which allows local sheriffs to establish largely unregulated juvenile detention facilities, full of prisoner abuse and injustices.

During the 2012 legislative session, labor unions in Florida rallied to oppose mass privatization of Florida’s prisons and won. Although the legislature has heard no official legislation on prison privatization yet, Governor Scott and his allies have expressed interest in trying to pass this bill again.

Progressive forces must boldly oppose the Florida legislature’s racist, pro-prison agenda. Unite all who can be united against the expansion of the school-to-prison pipeline!

Blue Ribbon Task Force – Slashing Higher Education

Last year Governor Scott commissioned the so-called “Blue Ribbon Task Force” to make proposals for restructuring Florida’s higher education system. The members of the Task Force included wealthy elites, university administrators, and conservative bureaucrats. No faculty union representatives or students were invited to participate. Unsurprisingly, the Blue Ribbon Task Force proposals seek to take away the rights of students and faculty, raise tuition, and make higher education less accessible for low-income and working students.

Students and faculty overwhelmingly oppose the Task Force’s proposals. The United Faculty of Florida passed local and statewide resolutions condemning the proposals to raise tuition on non-STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) majors, which would gut liberal arts programs. Groups like Students for a Democratic Society at the University of Florida, Florida State University, University of South Florida, and many other public universities have held mass demonstrations against the proposals. Widespread outcry has also focused on the deep budget cuts that higher education experienced every year since the economic crisis in 2008.

As legislation comes out based on the Task Force’s proposals, students and faculty must forge strong unity and resolutely oppose these devastating policies. The Florida legislature should “Chop from the top,” and cut the bloated salaries of administrators instead of slashing programs and jobs.

Parent-Trigger – Corporate-trigger for Public Schools

Across the country, like we saw with the teachers’ strike in Chicago, teachers, students, parents and public education are under attack by the rich. This year, the Florida legislature is debating the so-called “Parent Trigger” bill, which would allow corporations to convert poor and under-funded public schools into private, for-profit charter schools. In the 2012 legislative session, teachers and students organized and defeated Parent Trigger in a close 20 for, 20 against vote tie.

One year later, Parent Trigger is back from the grave and its proponents will stop at nothing to see it passed. Jeb Bush wants to enact Parent Trigger in Florida so he can market these attacks through his Foundation for Florida’s Future to other states and use it as a model for privatized education. The legislature also hopes to further weaken and bust the teachers’ unions across the state by promoting charter schools. It has nothing to do with education and everything to do with making profit.

The Florida legislature refuses to give additional funding for schools they designate as failing. Public schools are funded by local property taxes, causing low-income working class communities to have underfunded schools. The legislature wants to use Parent Trigger to take control of public schools and further privatize education.

Parents, students, teachers, education support workers and whole communities need to organize once again and resist these attacks on Florida’s public education system.

“Local Preemption” – Republican “Big Business” Wage Theft

Another priority for the big business Republicans in the Florida legislature is House Bill 655, which will stop local governments from passing Wage Recovery Ordinances to protect workers' paychecks. Labor activists in Miami-Dade County set a standard for Florida by passing a local ordinance against wage theft by bosses. The new law recovered $437,000 in stolen wages for workers. Workers and unions in Gainesville have an ongoing campaign to enact a similar ordinance.

Wage theft is one of the ways that bosses increase their company profits. Each year approximately $30 billion is stolen from workers in the U.S. Lobbyists for the Florida Retail Federation are demanding politicians to pass HB 655 in order to stop the new ordinances from protecting workers' paychecks and preserve ‘business as usual.’

The Tea Party and the far-right love to rant about “big government,” but the Republican politicians in the Florida legislature are more than willing to take away the rights of the people so big business can profit – even from wage theft. Trade unions across Florida overwhelmingly oppose this “local preemption” bill and workers are taking to the streets to defend wage recovery ordinances in counties that have them.

Unite Against Rick Scott’s Far-right Agenda in the 2013 Florida Legislative Session

The legislative session is a time of great activity for Florida’s progressive forces. In 2010, teachers unions across the state fought and won the battle to veto Senate Bill 6, the so-called ‘merit pay’ bill. In the 2011 session, grassroots coalitions like Awake the State and Fight Back Florida led massive protests against Governor Scott’s right-wing agenda. In 2012, trade unions and student groups won victories against reactionary legislation attacking workers’ rights and higher education.

In 2013, progressives have an opportunity to deepen the people’s struggle in Florida during the legislative session. Overwhelmingly, session is a time when people are talking about politics. Confronting the reactionary policies of the governor and legislature is an important way that people can learn how the wealthy few run the state in their own interest. People can learn to fight and have an impact on the system of oppression we live under.

Some believe that change can only come through the ballot box or through corporate insiders lobbying at the capitol in Tallahassee. Instead, the Florida District of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization calls on all progressive activists and organizers to grab their picket signs, join groups struggling for change, and take to the streets in the legislative session.

#Florida #FL #Labor #FreedomRoadSocialistOrganization #RepublicanAgenda #GovernorRickScott

The day of action was called by Awake the State, an activist network formed after Florida Governor Rick Scott began attacking trade unions and public education in 2011. The rallies coincided with the first day of the Florida legislative session. Activists hope to repeal the Republican-sponsored voter suppression laws.

In downtown Pensacola, 30 union workers, bus riders and community members gathered at Martin Luther King Jr. Plaza to protest. The Northwest Florida Federation of Labor organized the event.

Protesters listened to a speech by a representative from the Escambia County Supervisor of Elections office. She spoke out against laws designed to restrict the voting rights of people. As she spoke, the audience held signs reading “Our Right, Our Vote” and “Protect the 15th like you do the 2nd,” a reference to the Fifteenth Amendment legally guaranteeing the right to vote.

Meanwhile, 80 protesters assembled outside of the Historic Capitol building in Tallahassee to send the same message to the Florida legislature. Members of Dream Defenders, a black and Latino student organization, joined activists from Progress Florida, several trade unions and other groups in speaking out against voter suppression.

In Jacksonville, 30 people gathered at the Duval County Supervisor of Elections. Members of the North Florida Central Labor Council, Florida New Majority, the Jacksonville Progressive Coalition and other groups heard from a short stack of speakers and talked directly with Jerry Holland, Supervisor of Elections for Duval County.

Richard Blake, member of Teamsters Local 512 and organizer with the Jacksonville Progressive Coalition, said, “People were excited to fight back against Governor Scott’s policies during this session, especially against the voter suppression laws. Most of the people seem to think the laws will be repealed early in the legislative session.” Blake added, “A lot of the speeches focused on getting ex-felons the right to vote after they serve their time. Florida’s laws are the worst in the country. This is one of the biggest ways that Governor Scott is taking away the voting rights of poor people.”

In Tampa Bay, 70 people from the community marched to Lykes Gaslight Park and spoke out against Governor Scott’s reduction in early vote days. Cutting early voting causes long lines and disenfranchises voters. Protesters held signs reading, “Free the vote” and “Florida elections are a national punch line… Let’s change that,” which referenced the continued irregularities with Florida elections since the infamous 2000 Presidential recount going to George Bush.

Other rallies took place in Gainesville, Orlando, Miami, Fort Lauderdale and 15 other cities across Florida.

#PensacolaFL #OppressedNationalities #GovernorRickScott #voterSuppression #AwakeTheState