Manchester, TN – This past weekend Tennessee became a temporary home to over 100,000 people at the 12th Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, one of the largest music festivals in the U.S. In addition to music ranging from Paul Mcartney to the Wu Tang Clan, festival goers heard from student, anti-war and environmental activists from Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), Iraq Veterans Against War (IVAW), Veterans for Peace, Statewide Organizing for Community eMpowerment (SOCM), Mountain Justice and other progressive organizations.

SDSers handed out thousands of fliers for the 2013 SDS National Convention at Austin Peay State University (APSU) in Clarksville Oct. 11-13, where students from around the country will discuss building the student and youth movement. They talked to the people about organizing for education rights and against war and attacks on civil liberties. Many in the crowd saw the large SDS banner that the SDSers were carrying and said that they had heard of SDS before and were excited to see a student activist presence at the festival.

One SDSer said, “The people have been supportive of what we are doing and are very sympathetic to our message. We are building this movement and moving ever forward toward a future where education is free for everyone, a future free of war and oppression, one where everyone has access to food, housing, healthcare and everything they need. We can do it and we will do it. Now is the time to organize and our experience has shown us that when we organize we win. We have a lot to win in this period and talking to everyone here at Bonnaroo has shown us that we have broad support in our efforts. All those who have turned against the people by making war, destroying the environment, repressing anti-war activists and attacking education and civil liberties should take heed – a new day is on the horizon!”

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Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) was re-founded at the beginning of 2006 as a radical student group inspired by the 1960s organization of the same name. Since its founding dozens and dozens of chapters have sprung up independently around the country.

The convention was host to workshops, discussions and meetings that covered a wide range of topics – from anti-racism to worker solidarity to organizing against the war – but the primary emphasis of this year’s gathering was establishing a national organization that could guide the struggles of the coming year. Since its founding the new SDS has operated without any formal structure and local chapters have been totally independent. After several days of discussion and debate, the convention finally settled on a loose federation as the organizational model to use for the time being.

SDS is still a very new organization, but its strength and importance will continue to grow as more and more young people come to reject the policies of war and greed advanced by the U.S. government and start to demand a just and sustainable society instead.

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