Denver, CO – In the early morning of September 20, Denver Students for a Democratic Society held a pro-Palestine rally outside of the Metropolitan State University (MSU) of Denver board of trustees’ monthly executive session.

A large group of students and community supporters gathered and chanted outside the Jordan Student Success Building (JSSB), where the meeting was taking place, as other attendees from MSU Denver and Colorado University Denver disrupted and spoke during public comment section during the meeting itself.

During the protest, Palestinian solidarity chants were loud, and speakers addressed the need to fight against the repression of students, with several saying that bans and restricting academic freedom won’t stop Denver SDS from meeting on campus and existing as a student organization.

“Students want justice, students want peace!” chant leader Lucia Feast yelled outside the JSSB entrance, which the crowd repeated. “Divest now, hands off the Middle East!

Denver SDS has been organizing for MSU Denver and CU Denver to divest from Israel and issue a statement condemning Israel's actions in Palestine for almost a year. In the last five months, Denver SDS has continued to escalate, most notably with the Auraria Solidarity Encampment for Palestine from late April to mid-May.

Neither the MSU Denver board of trustees, nor the CU Denver board of regents, have been willing to meet with students to discuss divestment from war profiteers. Instead of investing in programs to support students, they continue to invest in weapons and military intelligence engineering companies. MSU Denver has suspended Denver SDS as a student organization, and CU Denver has placed SDS on interim probation.

Probation has not stopped Denver SDS from being active on their campus. Since the beginning of the fall semester, members have been loudly protesting the academic repression almost weekly with various rallies.

“Though having to demand for divestment over and over again as the trustees ignore us may feel like broken-record attempts, we know that the student power we are demonstrating cannot and will not be ignored!” SDS member and University of Colorado Denver student Geral Mueller said during their speech at the rally outside.

Inside the trustees meeting, during President Janine Davidson’s speech, two SDS members began quietly singing, “Which side are you on? Which side are you on? Justice for Gaza is justice for us all.”

The Auraria Campus Police Department arrested those two SDS members without a dispersal order and charged them with “disrupting a lawful assembly.” The public comment section of the meeting was then skipped to prevent students from protesting the trustees’ resolutions.

#DenverCO #StudentsforaDemocraticSociety #MetropolitanStateUniversity #Divest

New Orleans, LA – On July 30, around 40 people gathered outside of New Orleans criminal court at 2 p.m., an hour before the third court date for the 14 people arrested at the Tulane/Loyola University encampment. The 14 were arrested on May 1, around 3 a.m., by a combination of TUPD, NOPD and Louisiana state police officers.

While the crowd gathered, they chanted, “Protesting Is not a crime, free, free, free Palestine” and “Not guilty, not sorry!”

A Loyola University faculty member, Pablo Zavala, shared his thoughts about the encampment, stating, “The popular university rejected the logic of paying for your health, which many of us can’t afford, and instead offered free healthcare – and they didn’t like it. The popular university offered free books to read and learn and grow – and they didn’t like it. There was free food, there was music, there was dancing, there was love, there was community – and they didn’t like it.” Zavala is the advisor for the Loyola chapter of Students for a Democratic Society.

The group moved on to chant “Jason Williams you can’t hide, you’re supporting genocide!”

Jason Williams is currently Orleans Parish’s district attorney. He was elected to office in 2021 after running on a “progressive platform.” He promised to take a different approach to handling New Orleans’ mass incarceration problem by focusing on getting incarcerated people rehabilitated and released.

This court date marked the last day that the DA could accept or decline the misdemeanor charge of “staying in place after forbidden” against the 14.

“Whichever decision they make, whether to accept the charges or not, they’ll have to make that decision under the watchful eye of us, the people!” said Carson Cruse, a member of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization and a part of the group of 14 facing charges.

After requesting for more time, the DA accepted the charges at 15 minutes before the 4:30 p.m. cutoff.

#NewOrleansLA #StudentMovement #StudentsforaDemocraticSociety

Austin, TX – On Thursday, August 24, a group of around 13 students, workers and other members of the University of Texas (UT) community held a sit-in at the UT System Board of Regents fall semester meeting. The protesters were demanding that the board defend diversity, equity and inclusion programs, which have been under threat at public universities since the passing of Texas Senate Bill 17 in May.

Those leading the sit-in are members of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), Texas Students for DEI, and the Texas State Employees Union (TSEU).

Although the Board of Regents posted an agenda with an hour-long open session including time for public testimonies, the board rushed through this open session in just 12 minutes, quickly passing the motion to uphold the ban on diversity programs without any objection. They then proceeded to hold the bulk of the meeting behind closed doors.

This did not stop the protesters, however, who marched outside to hold a rally in the lobby where all the university presidents and upper administrators were talking and eating.

SDS member Ashley Awad said, “It is wild to see all of these administrators – who are supposed to listen to and protect the rights of students – ignoring our message and doing nothing to speak up against the ban on diversity programs.”

When asked if anyone would speak up in support of diversity, equity and inclusion programs, the university administrators looked down at their phones and stayed silent. The group of protesters began chanting, “Your silence is compliance, your silence is compliance” and “When DEI is under attack, what do we do? Stand up fight back!”

After the Board of Regents let people back inside for the end of the meeting, protesters confronted Board Chairman Kevin P. Eltife and UT Austin President Jay Hartzell. When asked why they have not acted in defense of diversity programs, both claimed they support “these issues” and walked away declining to give further comment.

#AustinTX #StudentsForADemocraticSociety

Fight Back News Service is circulating this statement from Students for a Democratic Society at the University of Minnesota.

On Thursday, April 20, the Council of Chairs of CLA reached out to SDS in concern about massive budget cuts to ethnic studies, gender and women’s studies departments that the University intends to make. These budget cuts would not only considerably limit the content available to all students, cutting courses and programs, but would also seriously endanger the jobs and livelihoods of faculty in these departments, if not threaten the existence of the departments as a whole.

The cuts include: 50% cut to the American Indian Studies; 30+% cut to German, Nordic, Slavic, & Dutch languages; 30% cut to Chicano and Latino Studies; 27.5% cut to African and African American Studies; 22% cut to Linguistics, and a 10% cut to Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies.

As a whole, Ethnic studies programs only exist at UMN because of the Morrill Hall Takeover: a Black-led student occupation of Morrill Hall which historically housed the office of the president. Students fought for decades to establish ethnic studies programs and we will not give them up without a fight!

Administration is attempting to place the burden of budget cuts onto American Indian Studies, Chicano and Latino Studies and African American Studies instead of cutting the six figure salaries of top administrators. These budget cuts are also an attempt to erase ethnic studies and gender and women's studies programs altogether and attack the enrollment and rights of Black, Chicano, Latino and Native students at the University. The scale of these budget cuts would not only lead to the removal of many non-tenured faculty and graduate assistants in many of these departments but would further overwork the already overburdened remaining faculty who are disproportionately responsible for doing diversity work for the university.

National SDS has been pointedly combating attacks on ethnic studies, diversity programs, and student cultural centers happening across the country. One way that these attacks materialize is what we see happening in states like Florida and Texas where the existence of DEI programs is being directly threatened on a legislative level. In Tampa, our fellow SDS members were attacked by USF police officers and are facing felony charges and potential expulsion for protesting the financial gutting of the DEI office at USF and demanding administration speak against Governor DeSantis' HB 999 bill attempting to eliminate Black history, ethnic studies, and DEI programs.

We are also seeing these attacks arise in so-called “progressive” states through more subversive budget cuts on the university level that still end up gutting these programs. This can be seen in the massive cuts made by the University of Connecticut in which they are trying to combine all their ethnic departments into one, which severely restricts the resources available to students and staff.

SDS demands an immediate increase in budget and prioritization for the continuation of ethnic studies and GWSS programs. We demand that these cuts be immediately halted, and that any cuts the University makes from their budget be made from the salaries of the overpaid top administrators. Alongside the CLA Council of Chairs, we stand in solidarity with Black, Chicano, Latino, and Native students and faculty and demand that the work of these underfunded departments be seen as vital to the U of MN, just as it is the students that invest their time and money into studying them. We call on students to join the fight, to sign the petition to demand that University administration fully fund these programs, and to stay tuned for further actions as we work with other student groups and unions to fight back against these attacks. Facing these cuts, we – students, staff, and faculty – will not give up, we will not back down, we will unite and fight back!

Defend Ethnic Studies!

Defend Gender and Queer Studies!

Chop From the Top!

Sign the petition to demand that these budget cuts are not allowed to happen: z.umn.edu/StopTheCutsPetition

#MinneapolisMN #StudentsForADemocraticSociety

Milwaukee, WI – On April 11, organizers with the UW-Milwaukee chapter of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) took to Spaights Plaza in the middle of campus to announce a new campaign focused on addressing the shockingly low percentage of Black students on campus, increasing Black representation in student resources like mental health services, and the graduation rate of existing Black students.

“UWM claims to be a campus that supports and values diversity, equity and inclusion, but only 6% of UWM students are Black, even though Black people make up 38% of Milwaukee residents,” said Trenton Houck, outreach chair of UWM SDS. “Black students are also clearly not supported adequately at UWM, as the Black graduation rate is currently an abysmal 28%.”

Houck continued: “We demand that the university provide more financial aid opportunities, such as scholarships and retention grants, available to Black students, so they are able to both enroll in school and stay in school while being financially stable. The Black Student Cultural Center is also severely underfunded, with there only being four full-time staff people. Mental health services at UWM are extremely underfunded as well, and reports show that there is only one Black counselor on campus. We demand that more staff for the BSCC are hired as well as more Black mental health professionals. And last but not least, we demand that UWM directly recruits students from Milwaukee Public Schools, as those schools most properly represent the demographics of our city.”

“Ensuring that Black people have access to education is integral in fighting against racism and oppression,” said Houck.

The kickoff ended with a call to join SDS to win these demands and several chants of “Education for all!” The campaign to increase Black enrollment at UWM will begin in earnest in the fall of 2023.

#MilwaukeeWI #StudentsForADemocraticSociety

Seattle, WA – On Wednesday, April 5, students rallied in front of Suzzallo Library in the University of Washington’s Seattle campus to support Homegrown workers in their fight for a contract. The rally was called by the Progressive Student Union at UW (PSU), a chapter of New Students For A Democratic Society.

In the middle of campus, students and community members came to hear speeches from union organizers, rank-and-file Homegrown workers, and other students in solidarity with the union campaign at Homegrown Sustainable sandwiches.

Homegrown workers voted to unionize with UNITE HERE Local 8 last December after a long fight for recognition and are now in the process of fighting for their first contract. The company has not yet agreed to ensure safer working conditions at the cafes, adequate staffing, or just cause for discipline, delaying and dragging their feet at every turn. In response, Homegrown workers are organizing to take action on the shop floor, and to reach out to the company’s customers asking them to drop Homegrown sandwiches from their stores. The University of Washington is a customer of Homegrown and sells the wholesale sandwiches in its medical center.

Taking the stage at the event, Zane Smith, a rank-and-file worker at Homegrown, declared, “We're fighting for better wages, better working conditions, transparent discipline, and in all fights, a fight for power!”

Emceeing the event, Mantak Singh emphasized the need for a strong labor movement as well as a strong student movement to support workers’ struggles. Mathieu Chubaud, representing PSU, added, “We can start winning things, here, at UW, that support the workers at Homegrown.”

Throughout the rally, the crowd chanted, “What do we want?” answered by “A strong contract” or “Equal treatment!” “When do we want it? Now!”, “If we don’t get it? Shut it down!” and “Union busting is disgusting!”

UNITE HERE Local 8 is calling on the university and other costumers to boycott Homegrown products starting May 1 if a contract is not signed by then.

#SeattleWA #StudentsForADemocraticSociety

Austin, TX – On Wednesday, April 5, Austin Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) met on Speedway at UT Austin with the Texas Students for DEI Coalition to protest recent Texas legislative and administrative attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs. The rally was also called in solidarity with the Tampa 4, a group of University of South Florida SDS members currently facing felony charges after being brutalized and arrested while protesting Florida's attacks on DEI programs.

“While Republican lawmakers like Governor Greg Abbott try to claim that these laws are in the interest of fairness, we know that is a lie. These are targeted attacks against Black, Chicano, Latino, indigenous and all other students who benefit from diversity, equity and inclusion programs,” SDS member Jake Holtzman said in a speech.

He continued, “In late February, the University of Texas Board of Regents put a pause on all new diversity, equity and inclusion programs. It is clear that the board of regents and UT’s top administrators are closely linked to Texas Republican lawmakers. For all we know, they were probably some of the top donors to Governor Greg Abbott’s campaign. UT’s upper administration is not on the side of students, but they are simply doing whatever will line their pockets with more money and keep people like Greg Abbott in power.”

Student speakers also emphasized the need to struggle for more than only protection of DEI programs, and are further demanding that the university hire more Black and Chicano faculty and increase funding to multicultural programs.

After speaking to students making their way on the busy street, members of SDS marched up and down Speedway chanting, “No hate, no fear, DEI is welcome here” and “Racist, sexist, anti-gay, Greg Abbott go away!” while passing out flyers calling for justice for the Tampa 4.

#AustinTX #StudentsForADemocraticSociety

Tallahassee, FL – On Tuesday, March 28, over 100 students held a rally against Florida House Bill 999, at the Skateable Art Park in the city’s Railroad Square. This bill gives the Florida Board of Governors the ability to review curriculum in higher education, review tenure of professors with the power of removal, and provides direction to each university on “removing from its programs any major of minor in Critical Race Theory, Gender Studies, or Intersectionality.” The bill has passed several committees in the Florida House legislature, with no amendments removing these stipulations.

At the protest, led by three Florida chapters of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), student speakers demanded an end to HB 999 and called it a threat to public education. Speakers cited concerns that HB 999 would restrict access to public education for Black, Chicano and native students; threaten the academic freedom of higher education teachers; threaten the right to right to unionize by those professors; and wipe out discussions of racism, sexism, Black history and other multinational contributions to history from their curriculum.

Enya Silva from Tampa Bay SDS said of the bill, “Last year DeSantis passed the ‘Stop WOKE Act’ to limit discussions of race in K12 school and attacked AP African American history. Why did he single out that course specifically? Because he wants to erase Black history. He wants to pretend like the oppression of Black people throughout history never happened. We’ve seen the results of the Stop WOKE Act. AP African American history isn’t taught in Florida. We’ve seen the pictures of emptied bookshelves in schools throughout Florida. When he attacks Black education he attacks all education, and we all suffer the consequences.”

Emily Dorgan of Florida State University SDS noted the bill’s attacks on feminism, stating “HB 999 targets women and gender studies classes as well; courses such as women in literature and feminist ethics are under attack with this legislation. This would be taking us back to a time when women and LGBTQIA+ people were excluded from academia and would be an extreme set-back for gender equality.”

Miffordens Registre from Florida State University Black Men in Medicine said, “Right now, we are seeing these attacks on diversity begin with education. But it'll continue on into the health industry and affect health professionals. We cannot let that happen. We stand with Students for a Democratic Society and your demands!”

Three weeks before, on March 6, students at the University of South Florida protested House Bill 999 and were met with police brutality, of which students captured video footage. Footage of the event shows cops grabbing student protesters, slamming them against walls and the floor, scratching them, groping them, and putting them in chokeholds. Four protesters, now known as the Tampa 4, were arrested, and are now facing a mixture of misdemeanor and felony charges.

Laura Rodriguez, one of the Tampa 4 said, “Shame on [USF President] Rhea Law. You should step down. Shame on [USF Police Chief] Chris Daniel! You should be fired! Make no mistake that the student movement is strong and will only continue to grow in the face of political repression. We are not hiding behind closed doors, we are not sitting idle, we are standing up in the face of repression, in the face of these racist, union-busting bills, and in the face of the university-sanctioned police brutality.”

Kenya Sanchez Torres from the Tampa Bay Community Action Committee said, “We are demanding that the current Hillsborough state attorney picked by Governor Ron DeSantis drop the charges against the Tampa 4. There’s a difference in power dynamics between someone picked by the people and someone appointed by the governor. Governor-appointed State Attorney Susie Lopez is another tool in DeSantis' box to showcase his power. She is not here to protect the rights of our communities. On March 6, students were asking for basic demands to meet their needs – protesting is not a crime. Hence, we demand that Susy Lopez drop the charges.”

Monique Sampson from the Jacksonville Community Action Committee said, “This struggle lives in the memory of the 2020 Justice for George Floyd Uprising. You can bet that these politicians remember that and want us protesters to go away. But when you touch one of us, you touch all of us. We are not going anywhere!”

After SDS’s rally, students marched across the street to join a rally on the other end of Railroad Square, where they heard from other student grassroots organizations, members of Florida university student governments, women’s advocacy groups, veterans, College Democrats, NAACP and National Pan-Hellenic Council chapters, and the president of United Faculty of Florida, Andrew Gothard, and Florida public officials such as the head of the Florida Democratic Party, Nikki Fried.

The action continued further with a march in the rain from Railroad Square to the Florida Board of Governors meeting at Florida A&M University, a public, historically Black university in Florida. Ten organizers went into the meeting and held a silent sit-in demonstration, while the rest of the crowd rallied outside and chanted, “Racist, sexist, anti-gay – Ron DeSantis, go away!”

The Board of Governors, a body of 17 CEOs and experts (14 of whom are appointed by the Florida governor) who oversee the operations of the Florida State University System, later voted to approve a regulation enabling HB 999’s post-tenure review stipulation.

Alivia Kalin of University of North Florida led the crowd in a callout of the Board of Governors shortly before the meeting, as they said, “You want to ban books? To defund DEI programs? To punish teachers for teaching diversity? Shame! Don’t you dare erase religious history, deaf history, and don’t you dare erase disabled history!”

Silva also remarked, “DeSantis calls the teaching of Black history 'indoctrination.' The real indoctrination is teaching a white supremacist vision of history. Not only is it erasing the brutal history of slavery, it’s erasing the valiant efforts of abolitionists to eventually end it. It’s erasing the truth of the Jim Crow South, and all the people who lost their lives in the fight to end segregation. He wants to erase history so that we can’t see how some things haven’t really changed, and that we still live in a very racist society. But we are here to say: Black history is here to stay!”

Even in the wake of the Board of Governors’ decision, and the swift advancement of HB 999 through committee, SDS and its allies refuse to back down. As the rally’s emcee Cas Casanova from FSU SDS reminded the crowd, “every freedom we have now exists because we fought for it,” and as Jason Carles from FSU SDS remarked, “even if HB 999 becomes law, the power we have gained from our education, and the will to fight for that education, can never be taken from us.”

#TallahasseeFL #StudentsForADemocraticSociety #HB999

Chicago, IL – On Monday, October 24 more than a dozen activists from Students for a Democratic Society (SDS); Anakbayan, a patriotic Filipino youth organization, and Young Democratic Socialists of America joined together for a demonstration. Students marched on the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) ROTC building to denounce the Biden administration’s intervention in Haiti and demand an end to the 12-year long UN occupation of the island. The protest was planned in connection with the United National Anti-War Coalition’s week of action.

Marchers gathered in front of the student center and read several short, prepared statements explaining the action. Students passing by stopped to listen to the speeches given by members of SDS and Anakbayan.

SDSers gave speeches condemning the 200-year history of U.S. intervention in Haiti, from the first invasions in the 1800s to the past decade of UN occupation. They also called out the corporate interests backing the Haitian intervention and the “forever wars” that had spanned many of the protesters' entire lives.

An activist from Anakbayan spoke about the importance of international solidarity in the face of American aggression. They called on students in the U.S. to fight against the intervention in Haiti and the 100 million in U.S. military aid going to the Marcos-Duterte regime

After the speakers wrapped up, SDSers led students in chants of “From Haiti to the Philippines, stop the U.S. war machine!” Protesters marched to the ROTC center, circling it before returning to the student center.

SDSer Natalie Praneis summed up the event afterwards, “The U.S. has no place defending a corrupt government over the will of the Haitian people. We must stand in solidarity with Haiti against U.S. acts of aggression.”

#ChicagoIL #AntiwarMovement #StudentMovement #StudentsForADemocraticSociety #Haiti #PeoplesStruggles

Arlington, TX – On September 7, the Progressive Student Union held a rally here to speak out against the reversal of Roe v. Wade, as part of a wider national day of action called by Students for a Democratic Society.

Texas is one of the few states that has nearly banned abortion outright via its “trigger law” from 2019, but there are exceptions for the mother’s life being in danger. Given this reality PSU organized the rally to call upon new University of Texas at Arlington President Jennifer Evans-Cowley to protect abortion on the UTA campus. This sentiment was echoed by many students over the course of planning and building up for the rally, and PSU invited community organizations to speak on abortion rights, such as the Afiya Center. Over 70 students came to protest the reversal of Roe v. Wade, and demanded that UTA provide legal abortions on campus, be more transparent about pill access on campus, and make a public statement concerning the enshrining the protection of abortion rights on campus.

As students rallied, there was an attempted disruption by the local “pro-life” organization on campus as well as the local Turning Point USA – fresh from their controversy involving bigots being in student government. They attempted to harass and prevent PSU members from speaking on why abortion rights are healthcare rights – but the crowd shut them down by demanding “Let them speak!” Once again, the student body at UTA showed that bigotry or right-wing reactionaries have no place on campus.

Maria Pettites spoke on behalf of the Afiya Center and the work they do to continue to both help provide for abortions in Texas, as well as continue to defend the right to abortion in Dallas. Another PSU speaker spoke specifically on how their own sibling had to get an abortion in order to continue their college career, and that these latest restrictions on abortion rights will have a compounding effect on students as well as women in general.

Students especially identified with the message that the Supreme Court – an institution that very rarely suffers from the reversal of rights it imposes – has rolled us back to an era we will not go back to, and that the only way forward, truly, is to build a movement to fight for our rights.

#ArlingtonTX #StudentMovement #StudentsForADemocraticSociety #PeoplesStruggles #RoeVWade #ProgressiveStudentUnion #AbortionRights

Minneapolis, MN – On July 2, over 100 people marched across the University of Minnesota campus calling for the opening and funding of abortion clinics across the state.

The protest, organized by the University of Minnesota Twin Cities chapter of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), was called after the declaration of Minnesota as a sanctuary state for abortion services in the Midwest, despite there only being eight clinics total in the state. Additionally, SDS called for the University of Minnesota to open abortion clinics on all of its campuses, as reportedly the university had run an abortion clinic in the past until it was shut down in 1977.

Before the march began, protesters gathered with their umbrellas and signs at McNamara Plaza, with chants and speakers from grassroots organizations across the metro such as the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC), the Climate Justice Committee, the Antiwar Committee and more.

Robyn Harbison of SDS spoke to the crowd: “With Minnesota now becoming the lone state in the Upper Midwest to have access to legal abortion, it has become abundantly clear that we need more abortion clinics in Minnesota. Not just within the Twin Cities area, but in more counties, more rural areas, and more University of Minnesota campuses like Morris, Crookston, Duluth and Rochester.”

Harbison went on to detail SDS’s other current demands of university administration, including the creation of a reproductive health training module to be used in freshman orientation, the establishment of a reproductive health advocacy and education center for students, and a boycott of states with heartbeat bills, stating: “As an institution with a high degree of buying power, the University of Minnesota should cease in bringing business to states with extreme abortion restrictions such as heartbeat bills.”

Mira Altobell-Resendez, speaking for the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, said, “The clinics that do exist here are already operating at a limited capacity because of the number of people seeking the healthcare they need from severely underfunded abortion providers. If we don’t get more abortion clinics, the people of Minnesota and the rest of the Midwest will suffer due to not being able to terminate unwanted pregnancies, which will inevitably result in deeper levels of poverty and countless preventable deaths.”

Altobell-Resendez continued, “This is no accident: it is capitalism’s way of keeping itself alive by exploiting women, queer & gender non-conforming people, oppressed nationality people and the working class. To the ruling class, the safety of these people is expendable as long as their bodies fuel their economy.”

After the speeches, the protesters marched down Washington Avenue, briefly stopping the light rail and drawing the attention of its passengers and those waiting at the East Bank station, before continuing down the campus mall and ending at Morrill Hall, which houses the office of University of Minnesota President Joan Gabel. During their closing remarks, emcees Olivia Crull and Midori Van Alstine of SDS encouraged the crowd to organize and join the fight for women’s and reproductive rights.

#MinneapolisMN #StudentsForADemocraticSociety #PeoplesStruggles #abortion #AbortionRights

Minneapolis, MN – On February 16, Students for a Democratic Society at the University of Minnesota rallied and marched to demand justice for Amir Locke, a 22-year-old Black man murdered by the Minneapolis police in a relative’s apartment earlier this month.

80 people gathered outside the Student Union on Washington Avenue, chanting “What do we want? Justice!” and “Say his name! Amir Locke!” A banner reading “Justice for all stolen lives” was at the front, along with signs demanding justice for Amir Locke and community control over the Minneapolis Police Department. Signs announced SDS’s own referendum campaign for community control over the University of Minnesota Police Department. Members handed out fliers calling for police accountability and justice on and off campus.

Bella Harbison, speaking for SDS, said, “Police departments and political leaders across the country are not afraid of committing acts of violence against our Black and brown community members; they are afraid of being caught, and being held accountable for crimes against humanity.” Harbison declared to the powers standing in the way of accountability that “Amir Locke’s name will never be forgotten, and that we will always be ready to fight for him.”

Jae Yates from the Freedom Road Socialist Organization made clear that “it is no coincidence that police and slaveowners have so much shared history; both seek to keep oppressed nations and members of the working class in place.” Yates continuing in saying that in order to fight for real accountability, “you should join the fight for community control of police in Minneapolis both on and off campus. We cannot rely on the same people that benefit from policing to defund, demilitarize, or abolish the police. We have to fight for the self-determinative power that Black people have fought for for 400 years.”

Loretta Van Pelt, speaking for the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice 4 Jamar raised the peoples’ demands: community control, a permanent end to no knock warrants and the charging and arresting of Amir Locke’s killer, Officer Mark Hanneman, and all other officers involved in the murder.

Allison Leopold, a member of White Coats for Black Lives, a student group from the UM medical school, made clear that when police are threatening the lives of Black community members it is a health issue, and that we have a duty to fight back against racist police crimes.

After chanting and listening to the speakers, students marched down Washington Avenue, ending up at the UMPD station. As they turned the corner, the chants of “Indict, convict send those killer cops to jail! The whole damn system is guilty as hell” were heard throughout the area.

Closing out the protest, Sasmit Rahman, another SDS member said, “We need you guys to sign [the referendum petition], we need more energy, because it is too easy right now for Joan Gabel and the regents to ignore us and to ignore our demands. We need people to share it with their friends, we need consistent action and consistent pressure on Joan Gabel and the regents!”

UMN SDS is currently running a campaign to get Community Control over the UMPD on the ballot in the all-campus elections of Spring 2022. This would be in the form of a democratically elected, all-civilian Civilian Police Accountability Council, that represents students, staff, faculty and the communities surrounding the campus – such as Cedar-Riverside where the UMPD are regularly present – so that they all have the power to decide UMPD’s budget, to hire and to fire, to discipline and carry out other accountability measures.

For students who want to join the fight, keep an eye out for SDS tabling and petitioning around campus. Sign and share the petition, and to keep up with the campaign follow SDS on instagram @umnsds. If you want to help organize around it, join the SDS weekly meetings, Thursday at 6 p.m. in Tate 105.

#Minnesota #StudentsForADemocraticSociety #AfricanAmerican #CivilianPoliceAccountabilityCouncil #AmirLocke

Denver, CO – On February 10, students gathered outside Tivoli Commons on Auraria Campus to demand the disarmament of Auraria Campus Police Department (ACPD) and the end to their involvement in the Pentagon 1033 Program. Denver Students for a Democratic Society began their “Defund, Disarm, Demilitarize” campaign, joining many student and community organizations around the country in the struggle against police injustice.

“The money being put into ACPD’s budget is being misused. We don’t need rifles or SWAT vehicles; we need tuition relief for students suffering from housing insecurity in a pandemic!” said SDS speaker Kyle Burroughs.

The mobilization was an effort to pressure the university administration to end ACPD's involvement in the Pentagon 1033 program. The Pentagon 1033 Program is facilitated by the Defense Logistics Agency, a combat support agency of the Department of Defense. The program has supplied military surplus to various local law enforcement agencies at an extreme discount, including those that operate on college campuses such as Auraria Campus PD. Law enforcement agencies often only pay for the maintenance and shipping of weapons and military equipment.

“ACPD’s membership in the 1033 Program is another part of the ongoing militarization of police. However, those who know the history of police as slave-catchers and union-busters should not be surprised,” said Katherine Draken of SDS.

The campus police began in the 1960s to counteract and suppress radical student movements. This practice is part and parcel with the ongoing occupying force that police represent within our communities, especially communities of color.

Denver SDS will continue organizing for the demilitarization of campus police until their goals are met by the Auraria Higher Education Committee and ACPD.

#Denver #StudentsForADemocraticSociety #PoliceBrutality #AurariaCampusPoliceDepartmentACPD #1033

This week an FSU undergraduate student has been exposed through copious emails and message logs as being a member of the Neo-Nazi group Patriot Front. The student is Calvin Stow-Ortiz from Tampa, where his father unsurprisingly works for the Tampa Police Department. In leaked messages Stow-Ortiz references spreading the groups propaganda posters and stickers in the Tampa area and made plans with another Patriot Front member to vandalize FAMU’s campus with white supremacist stickers. On the messaging app Telegram, Stow-Ortiz uses a picture of an SS Nazi soldier as his profile picture. In another leaked message Stow-Ortiz shared a video of a torchlit Nazi march and said Patriot Front should emulate it. There can be no doubt that Stow-Ortiz is a white supremacist, anti-semite, and fascist.

Despite overwhelming calls from the community to remove this white supremacist from our campus, Associate Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students Angela Chong made it clear in an email obtained by Our Tallahassee that FSU would once again allow fascists to remain on campus. The email to a concerned citizen says FSU is unaware of any “actionable activity or offenses” and that “FSU prides itself on protecting freedom of expression and speech.” The email falsely claims that the safety of students, faculty, and staff is FSU’s foremost priority. The FSU and Tallahassee community have made it very clear: Calvin Stow-Ortiz presents a threat to the safety of all marginalized groups in Tallahassee.

In October 2021 Patriot Front held a retreat in Tallahassee at Williams Landing Park. In attendance were members from out of state and all around Florida. At this retreat they practiced marching like Nazis and pathetically attempted to train in hand to hand combat. SDS condemns FSU’s inaction in the face of racism and hate in our community and on our campus. SDS demands the immediate expulsion of Calvin-Stow Ortiz from FSU. SDS calls on all progressive student organizations to join us in opposition to Nazis on campus. FSU claims to care about diversity and inclusion, yet have shown time and time again that this is a lie. FSU honored the legacy of slave owner Frances Eppes for decades, so it comes as no surprise that racists like Stow-Ortiz feel that they can spread hate in our community. No white supremacists on our campus!

#TallahasseeFL #StudentMovement #StudentsForADemocraticSociety #Nazis #Antifascism

Austin, TX – On the evening of February 1, around 15 students at the University of Texas at Austin rallied on the steps of UT Tower to speak out for abortion rights.

Austin Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) called the rally, given the attacks on reproductive rights in Texas, Florida and across the country. Chants included, “We won’t back down from this fight, abortion is a human right!” and “When women’s rights are under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back!”

Speakers highlighted the need to defend abortion rights for all – women, but also trans and non-binary folks who are affected by the abortion bans.

SDS member Angela Acha also spoke about demands that students are calling for from the university administration, such as “increasing funding to the UT Gender & Sexuality Center and providing accessible menstrual products in restrooms on campus as well as gender-neutral restroom resources.” Acha and other SDS members called on students to stay organized and join organizations like SDS in demanding reproductive rights for all.

#AustinTX #StudentsForADemocraticSociety #PeoplesStruggles #reproductiveFreedom

Minneapolis, MN – On the weekend of Oct. 16-17, almost 170 students convened at the University of Minnesota for the 15th National Convention of National Students for a Democratic Society. It was the first time SDS organizers had gathered together physically since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last year, SDS hosted a series of national webinars, but this experience was vastly different. Student organizers gathered together to discuss the four crises of the last two years – pandemic, economic crisis, police killings, and environmental disasters. Another theme was “From George Floyd to Winston Smith, The Uprising Continues!”

On a cold Saturday morning, by a building overlooking the Mississippi River, students waited outside for a novel convention experience: to present their vaccination cards, proof of a negative test, and, for out-of-towners, to be tested for COVID-19. It took longer than the program indicated, but went well and the attendees’ enthusiasm were palpable. Masked up, the students were free to commence.

The speakers and workshop presenters had a mighty task ahead of them: to do justice to the momentous uprisings of 2020. But they succeeded. They took the grief of the over 720,000 lives lost in the last few years and transformed it into anger and a determination to resist. They gave rousing presentations that had students thumping on tables, clapping and whooping. The halls rang with chants of, “No justice, no peace! No racist police!” and “Dare to struggle, dare to win!”

Speakers told riveting stories of the Minneapolis uprising for Justice for George Floyd, the burning of the Third Precinct, and drummed up support for victims of police crimes across the country. They spoke up against the increase in police and state repression of protesters as a result.

“We’re currently trying to organize people to fight all of the charges and get all of them dropped because the city can’t continue to talk a big talk about how they admire civil rights activists and how much they are inspired by community organizing and then turn to such brutal tactics of state repression,” said Jae Yates, a guest speaker from the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice for Jamar Clark organizer, commenting on the arrest of over 646 protesters in November 2020 who marched in Minneapolis against police crimes.

Students shared their own experiences of taking these fights against police to their own campuses, in student campaigns to defund, disband, or gain outright control over university police. At least one campus SDS chapter has been formally suspended by their administration as a result.

Attendees also heard from SDS leaders about the effects of the economic crisis, the mass layoffs and unemployment. They talked of student demonstrations that stopped budget cuts, new campaigns for living wages for campus workers. They spoke of the big picture importance of solidarity between workers and students and applauded strikes such as the ongoing United Auto Workers’ strike at John Deere, and the successful Nabisco strike.

“Each of these anecdotes indicate that improved working economic conditions must be tirelessly fought for—even on college campuses,” said Terrence Freeman of Appleton, Wisconsin Students for a Democratic Society at Lawrence University.

Freeman continued, “Victories are won through direct action, not armchair activism. The enemy, the academic establishment, will stubbornly defend their interests. Universities are businesses run by individuals who seek to extract as much profits from their employees as possible. Thus, administrators will concede nothing unless we demand them to do so—unless we organize and create crises that they cannot simply ‘shut down’ or subdue. These people will not willingly increase our pay. They will do nothing that reduces their profit margins. The world rests upon the labor of the worker, not the idleness of the boss. It is time for folks to recognize this fact.”

Students renewed their commitment to oppose U.S. intervention against Venezuela, Syria, Palestine, Afghanistan and more places. Moreover, students heard a full panel of speakers who talked about climate change, climate justice, and the fight to stop oil pipeline Line 3, which does not belong on Ojibwe land.

“Go Fossil Free reports that nearly $15 trillion has been divested from the fossil fuel industry and over 200 academic institutions have been a part of this work which has become a central component of the student movement in the last decade. The University of Minnesota announced its own commitment to fossil fuel divestment. This was won after a decade of organizing on this campus and alongside organizers for this movement all over the world. We are not responsible for this planet’s destruction but we are inheriting its impacts. And we will follow indigenous leadership and stand for these lands to be returned to their original peoples because we demand a livable future,” said Emma Hjelle of the University of Minnesota Students for Climate Justice.

On Sunday, students passed resolutions and made several calls for action to carry through the new school year, from Fall 2021 to Summer 2022. They resolved to continue the fight to get cops off campus and form coalitions to try to gain control of campus police departments.

Ellis Howard from Texas A&M University Students for a Democratic Society said, “The national SDS convention really gave us a lot of ideas for organizing in our community. For example, we are looking to talk more about Community Police Accountability Councils (CPAC) as we carry out our campaign for racial and ethnic justice on campus. We would have never had the opportunity to learn about it with such nuance without our attendance at the convention.”

In further resolutions, SDSers stated they would say no to attacks on abortion rights from state to state. They resolved to fight racism on campus, respond to racist attacks and hate crimes, and fight for higher enrollment of Black and Chicano students. They declared support for labor and striking workers and their own campus unions. They resolved to continue to oppose U.S. wars. They announced that they would continue to fight for protections for LGBTQ+ students.

“This convention I learned about how to stay militant in the next year and have plans to take ideas back to my local SDS chapter and make our current campaign to defund USFPD even better and more militant,” said Taylor Cook from the Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society.

Cook continued, “I was amazed by people’s struggles across the country. I loved to hear the ways we as students and organizers in general are fighting back on all fronts, despite the difficult conditions that resulted from the U.S. government’s mishandling of the pandemic. This next year will be more militant than ever. Across the country we will land blows to our university administrations, and we will make our campuses a progressive and safe space for all students and people from oppressed communities.”

#MinneapolisMN #StudentsForADemocraticSociety #PeoplesStruggles

Austin, TX – On the evening of September 9, a small group of students rallied in front of the University of Texas at Austin’s Littlefield Fountain to protest against police crimes and racism. Austin Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) called the rally as part of the national SDS day of action to stop police crimes.

Students demonstrated both against police crimes and also against the university’s practices that uphold racism on campus, with an emphasis on the need to organize and demand change.

In their speech, SDS member Soaring Falcon said, “After thousands of students petitioned last year to stop singing the racist school song, The Eyes of Texas, to remove of racist statues and monuments, and to defund UTPD, what has UT done in response? Nothing! But we refuse to take no for an answer! We will keep organizing until our demands are won. Instead of increasing UTPD funding by $8 million, the university should use that money for things like creating a scholarship fund for Black students, or increasing funding to UT’s Black Studies department.”

Chants included, “Black lives matter, brown lives matter, blue’s a job, that shit don’t matter!” and “Hey hey, ho ho, the Eyes of Texas has got to go!”

The vast majority of passersby took flyers from SDS members and expressed enthusiastic support for the rally.

#AustinTX #StudentsForADemocraticSociety #PeoplesStruggles #PoliceBrutality

Tallahassee, FL – On June 3, students at Florida State University gathered to demand an end to the Israeli government's attacks on Gaza. Students connected the struggles against political repression in Palestine to similar struggles facing political activists in Colombia.

The event was hosted by Students for a Democratic Society as well as the Tallahassee Community Action Committee. Attendees held signs saying, “End the Occupation” and “Stop Political Repression”.

Event organizer Katherine Draken said, “We need to continue bringing attention to the struggles of the Palestinian people against Zionism and the violent repression they face on a daily basis.”

Students made plans to continue speaking out against injustice and repression during the upcoming school year.

#TallahasseeFL #AntiwarMovement #StudentMovement #StudentsForADemocraticSociety #Palestine #MiddleEast #PeoplesStruggles #TallahasseeCommunityActionCommitteeTCAC

Students for a Democratic Society members at UW-Milwaukee were outside to remind people that Vice President Harris’ history as a prosecutor contradicts this present, apparent desire to “support communities.” SDS members, who are currently working to defund campus police and refund programs that support students, held signs that read “VP Harris protects killer cops” at the intersection by the UWM research facility Harris toured near Capitol Drive.

“It’s frustrating but not surprising that our administrators don’t notify students when politicians visit campus. Neither of them actually wants to deal with people calling for solutions. Vice President Harris has a record of protecting killer cops, and then she wants to talk about building up communities here in Milwaukee without acknowledging how police violence destroys them and how they’ve sucked up half of our city’s budget,” said UWM SDS member Rory Donovan.

Donovan continued, “It sounds like Chancellor Mone, who justifies campus police using violence, pretends that their $3 million budget is small even though it is the largest in the UW system, and then thinks that he can host discussion panels and create powerless police advisory boards to appease us. It’s not real change, and we’re not going to stop fighting until we win real change.”

#MilwaukeeWI #StudentsForADemocraticSociety #PeoplesStruggles #KamalaHarris

Appleton, WI – On April 16, the Appleton Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), Sunrise Appleton, the Student Liberation Front and a grouping of international students kicked off their Fight for $15 campaign at Lawrence University. Many international students have been discussing the idea of a potential raise of the minimum wage at Lawrence University. Currently, the average student worker makes $7.25 an hour and for many students on-campus jobs are their only avenue of income.

The students who rely on these wages to survive, with the help of student organizations have started to collaborate in this fight for a living wage. The three organizations (Appleton SDS, Student Liberation Front and Sunrise Appleton) hosted an open rally at Warch Campus Center, raised a banner and passed out a list of demands to sign. There was a good turnout of around 30 students and faculty over the course of the event.

The rally was kicked off by Barrah Kunaan who spoke of her personal experience as an international student surviving on Lawrence University’s low student worker wage. Next, Terrence Freeman, president of Appleton SDS, gave a rousing speech calling out Administration.

“Lawrence University, just like any other institution of higher education, seeks to extract the most amount of profit from its students, its workers, its faculty and staff…and these profits go to pockets of administrators,” Freeman said.

Next, Gustavo Zuniga of the Student Liberation Front shared his experience as a student worker. Making only $81.00 bi-monthly, going to the grocery store is a luxury for him. Gustavo emphasized how an increase of the minimum wage can improve the material conditions of students who rely on Lawrence University paychecks.

As the speeches started to wind down, Terrence Freeman emphasized to the crowd that the struggle for a living wage will not come overnight, but instead is a long struggle that we must all fight for.

“This isn’t going to be an easy fight; we know we aren’t going to get what we want tomorrow. We came out here today to get the mass support to let the people know this struggle is happening” Freeman said.

For students looking to get involved, they should contact Appleton SDS via their Facebook page to find out when the next event and the next meeting is. They will be participating alongside a handful of other groups in May Day celebrations planned for May 1.

#AppletonWI #StudentsForADemocraticSociety #PeoplesStruggles #LawrenceUniversity