Tampa, FL – On Friday, October 23, Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) held a rally near the University of South Florida (USF) against sexual assault on college campuses.

The rally was part of National SDS’s day of action to demand college administrators stand with women and survivors and put an end to sexual assault on college campuses. This comes as a result of university admin across the nation increasing repression on student activists while turning a blind eye to sexual assaulters.

At Cornell University, a student was drugged and brutally gang-raped by frat members in 2024. None of the seven students named in the sexual assault case at Cornell have been arrested. Only two of the seven have been expelled, and a number of them were assigned essays and workshops as part of their “punishment” for their participation in this assault.

At Florida State University, SDS members JJ Gluek and Kaiden Rosa faced punishment by their university admin for calling out and informing students about a known rapist who is able to live on campus. Meanwhile, JJ and Kaiden faced potential suspension and expulsion. Their conduct hearings resulted in JJ having to write one essay, while Kaiden had to write two.

“According to the American Universities campus survey, 26% of undergraduate women experience nonconsensual sexual contact involving physical force or inability to consent during college,” said Jayce Solis of Tampa Bay SDS, in a speech about standing with survivors, “These are students trying to get an education and working toward degrees. Students who should be able to walk into a classroom without having to wonder whether their safety will be taken seriously.”

Protesters held signs with slogans reading, “End rape culture!” and “Expel rapists!” and chanted “Admin, hear us loud and clear, we believe survivors here!” and “We want justice, you say how? Start expelling rapists now!” Cars passed by, honking in support.

Tampa Bay SDS member Ryan Freymueller Jr. states, “It’s important for us to be out here rallying about rape culture because it is such a prevalent issue and because so many victims don’t speak out, out of fear or shame. Victims need to know that there are people who are going to stand up for them even if it isn’t the people who should, like admin. And us standing here and showing support puts pressure on those who should be doing something about it.”

Tampa Bay SDS will continue to fight against rape culture and stand in solidarity with the women and survivors who speak out against corrupt and misogynistic university administration.

#TampaFL #FL #StudentMovement #SDS #SexualViolence #Cornell

Tallahassee, FL – Over 30 people gathered at The Bark restaurant to hear from city commission candidates and local organizers about the attacks on voting rights, and on how we can fight back.

On the panel were city commission candidates Dot Inman-Johnson and PJ Perez. The city commission has had a 3-2 conservative-to-progressive split for eight years, during which the majority has served developers over the people. Three seats are up for election this year, with progressive candidates in each, including Inman-Johnson and Perez, so the balance could swing to progressive control.

Also on the panel were Jackson Vanderley from Tallahassee SDS, Kevin Louis-Jeune from FAMU SDS, Lunchbox from Black on Black Rhyme, and Delilah Pierre with the Tallahassee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression.

Louis-Jeune, a first year FAMU student, spoke to the differences he had seen in town: “Walking around the immediate area around campus, compared to around on campus, is like walking into a whole different city.”

Lunchbox responded to an audience question about what to do when the elections are over, “We vote with our time, we vote with our dollar, we vote with our energy. So besides the election process, which is important, we have the power to have conversations with our neighbors.”

When asked about the effects in Tallahassee of racist redistricting in other parts of Florida, Inman-Johnson said, “When [former representative] Al Lawson’s district was eliminated through gerrymandering, the legislature tried to do a fairer district. Desantis vetoed it and had his team develop the district. It’s important that [Democrat nominee for governor, David] Jolly get elected because it would be a fairer governor who would oversee those decisions.”

Perez kept it simple: “Just do away with partisan gerrymandering altogether, at all levels. That’s what we should all be aspiring to.”

An audience member asked about how elected officials can balance holding their values with making small movements towards progress, especially when more and more Republican voters are moving to Florida. Pierre responded by saying, “There might be more Republican voters moving here, but there’s one unity between Republican voters and Democrat voters: we broke as hell. We ain’t got no money. We have to rephrase the question. It’s not Republicans versus Democrats; it's the working class versus the billionaires and multimillionaires.”

#TallahasseeFL #FL #PeoplesStruggles #VotingRights

Orlando, FL – On October 19, over 30 people packed into Bookburn Cafe and Social in Orlando's Milk District to hear FRSO Central Committee member Chrisley Carpio give a detailed report back from her two-week solidarity trip to Korea.

The focus of the Jaju Solidarity Delegation to Korea, and of the subsequent North American speaking tour, was “U.S. out of Korea.” Participants at the event were eager to hear about the well-organized, high level of resistance by the people of Korea against U.S. military occupation.

Much of the presentation focused on the pattern of violence, exploitation, abuse and environmental degradation that the U.S. military has imposed on the people of Korea.

“Koreans are not just sitting back and allowing the U.S. to dominate their communities, their environment, and their daily lives. They are fighting back! There is an active and vibrant resistance movement that is fighting for peace, sovereignty, reunification and national liberation from the U.S.,” Carpio told the crowd.

#OrlandoFL #FL #AntiWarMovement #International #Korea

Tampa, FL – On the evening of Monday, October 12, activists from Tampa Immigrants Rights Committee (TampaIRC) held a press conference with the family of Adelaido Chavez Mariano, a Tampa Bay husband, father and Mexican immigrant, to demand transparency and justice following his brutalization and abduction.

Present were community members, Adelaido’s son Gandi Chavez, daughter Lizette Chavez and activists with TampaIRC and the Tampa Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (TAARPR). The press conference served as a way to get Adelaido’s family’s demands and the truth of his story out to the public.

TampaIRC member Yunqing Zheng spoke about the day that Adelaido was arrested and the brutality that he faced during that arrest. Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) Deputy Ryan Fisher delivered multiple blows to Adelaido’s head that resulted in a hematoma, which Adelaido’s daughter, Lizette, a medical assistant, was able to recognize.

Adelaido was denied medical care at the scene of the arrest, with the police turning away the emergency medical technicians, and was subsequently denied care in Falkenburg Road Jail. He was left visibly bruised, bleeding, unable to stand, and, in an effort to isolate him from his family, placed under a suicide watch, despite having no previous suicidal ideation.

Adelaido was then abducted by ICE and taken to the notorious “Deportation Depot” of Baker Correctional Institute, outside Jacksonville, where he was further denied care.

On October 2, Adelaido was bonded out by his family after being separated from them for two months.

It was revealed at the press conference that Hillsborough County Chief Deputy Joseph Mauer called Lizette several times during the workday and visited her residence. When she returned his call, he disclosed he was calling her on his personal phone, insisted they meet in person, and that she disclose her father’s location. When Lizette declined to disclose her father’s whereabouts, he threatened that he “can make arrangements to find out where he is.”

Gandi discussed the many inconsistencies in HCSO’s story, including whether the arresting officers’ body cameras were turned on, where the body cameras were during the arrest, how Adelaido was brutalized, and to the fact that arresting officer Deputy Ryan Fisher had his gun drawn on Adelaido when he approached him. Gandi stated, “We’re calling for a complete explanation and disclosure of the relevant evidence.”

Lizette Chavez, drawing on her medical background, discussed the obvious injuries that her father suffered that day that she could observe from video footage and the medical documents that she acquired after repeatedly requesting them from Falkenburg Road Jail. She explained how these injuries could be debilitating and life changing, given how they were unaddressed for a prolonged period. Describing Hillsborough Fire Rescue’s clearing of her father for booking, Lizette stated, “This is concerning, as the booking image presents a noticeable trauma to the head, and the statement in Officer Fisher’s preliminary report verbatim states using closed fist strikes – with an ‘s’ at the end.”

Both Lizette and Gandi also related the enormous amount of work that they have done to get their father’s records released, and to demand his release from ICE custody.

TampaIRC member Erain Boxtha placed Adelaido’s arrest in the context of the sweeps of arrests that have been taking place in recent months all across the country, in Trump’s effort to deport millions during his term. In August, ICE arrested over 50,000 people, setting a new record for immigration arrests in one month.

Owing to how obvious a case of police brutality this was, Laura Rodriguez of TAARPR spoke about other instances of HCSO misconduct and brutality, as in the cases of Jamel Daniels and Sandra Zikry, as well as Pastor Carl Soto, with HCSO’s brutalization of Zikry and Soto leaving them with permanent physical conditions.

The family and all attendees were united behind the family’s demands, among them releasing all digital media relating to Adelaido’s arrest, firing and charging the arresting officers, and closing Baker Correctional Institute. The plan to keep pressure on HCSO until these demands are met.

#TampaFL #FL #InJusticeSystem #TIRC #TAARPR #ImmigrantRights

Jacksonville, FL – Marking the third year since Israel escalated its genocide in Gaza, on October 7, the Jacksonville Palestine Solidarity Network, organized a rally at the Saint John’s Town Center mall to bring attention to the fact that Israel continues its massacres of the Palestinian people and to demand that the U.S. stop sending aid to the Zionist state.

Since the ceasefire has taken effect, Al Jazeera reports that Israel has violated it at least 5147 times. These violations include shooting at civilians, raiding residential areas, demolishing at least 273 properties and bombing/shelling Gaza at least 1109 times. All this has resulted in the deaths of almost 1500, the injuries of over 5000 and the detainment of 198 Palestinians.

Starting in the evening rush hour with many cars passing by and showing support, the rally kicked off in the heart of the Saint John’s Town Center. JPSN invited a broad coalition to attend, including the UNF chapter of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), the Jacksonville Community Action Committee, Jacksonville Immigrant Rights Alliance, Jax Democratic Socialists of America, and the Freedom Road Socialist Organization.

Speakers and chants focused on the demands to end U.S. aid to Israel´s genocide as well as showing solidarity with the Palestinian people. Conor Cauley of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization stated, “What October 7 revealed to us, is the fact that the U.S. is nothing more than a greedy, warmongering empire and Israel is its cruel genocidal proxy state. It is now clear to us that we share a common enemy in that empire. While we have to beg year after year for better jobs, better healthcare and better education, our government not only ignores our pleas but sends billions of our own tax dollars to aid in Israel’s genocide.”

Conor continued, “The FRSO is proud to stand with the Palestinian people and their resistance, and we demand an immediate end to all US aid to Israel! Because we know the masses do not want to pay for genocide! We don't want war with Iran! And we don't want war with Lebanon! What we want is a free Palestine!”

Many people held signs demanding “Genocide out of Jax” and displayed flags to show solidarity with the Palestinian, Iranian and Lebanese people.

Sara Mahmoud, a long time organizer in the movement for a free Palestine and currently with JPSN, told the crowd, “We take pride in the heroism we saw during Al-Aqsa Flood, when the Palestinian and the Palestinian people alone broke through the largest open air prison and completely upended the status quo as it relates to Palestine; because the first time in our history, the popular sentiment of the world, including here in the belly of the beast, is with our people in Palestine.”

#JacksonvilleFL #FL #Palestine #AntiWarMovement #October7

Tallahassee, FL – On Thursday, September 17, FAMU Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) held a rally and vigil honoring the life of Pierre Damas Bel, a 20-year-old Haitian immigrant in Ohio who took his own life after being forced by ICE to wear an ankle monitor. Nearly 50 students gathered in front of Lee Hall to demand an end to the terror from ICE that Haitian immigrants are facing and to demand that Florida A&M University’s administration revoke the 287(g) agreement that puts students' lives at risk.

This protest comes after the recent attacks on Haitians after the revocation of their Temporary Protected Status on July 2 by the Trump administration, putting the lives of over 350,000 Haitian immigrants in jeopardy. Bel, a neuroscience student at Ohio State, was one of many Haitians fitted with an ankle monitor that tracked his every move and created the perception that he was a criminal. It also stopped him from being able to participate in his daily activities that brought him joy, like soccer and ROTC, because he was not allowed to participate in them while wearing the monitor.

Florida A&M University is the only HBCU in the entire country to have signed a 287(g) agreement. This agreement requires the FAMU Police Department to have a number of officers participate in a task force to perform immigration enforcement or work collaboratively with ICE agents. In response, FAMU SDS launched its inaugural campaign to end the agreement.

Other groups in attendance included the Haitian Cultural Club, FAMU Dream Defenders, Tallahassee Immigrant Rights Alliance, Voices Poetry Group, Tallahassee SDS, and the Tallahassee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression.

Protesters pointed to the connection between 287(g) and the revoking of TPS status for Haitian immigrants. They also expressed concerns regarding immigration enforcement.

Jayla Jones, vice president of FAMU SDS, stated, “It is embarrassing to be an HBCU that was built upon generations of Black struggle and resistance fall into the trap of hunting its own people. Students should not have to worry about being profiled or surveilled, or potentially dying at the hands of ICE. This is where we come to learn, share our cultures, and be Black and proud. We must not be complacent within this system. ICE is not welcome here.”

A common sentiment among students is outrage about the legal ability of ICE to racially profile and discriminate against immigrant communities. The court decision by the Supreme Court, in Kristi Noem, Secretary of Homeland Security et al. v. Pedro Vasquez Perdomo, et al., allows ICE to detain people based on perceptions that individuals may be immigrants, such as skin color or language. Black Americans have been repeatedly racially profiled and detained by ICE, and that danger has now intensified as Haitian immigrants face more hatred from the GOP.

Considering ICE's long history of mistakenly identifying U.S. citizens for deportations and detention, uprooting the lives of thousands of people, and leaving devastating impacts on individuals who face these unlawful arrests, many students are fearful of what may happen to them.

SDS member Ora Brodie commented, “This could be you, we’re all Black. When ICE comes on this campus, they’re already racially profiling. They don’t care that we’re Black Americans. They just want to kill us or put us in jail.”

FAMU SDS is fighting to revoke the university’s 287(g) agreement and protect their HBCU from ICE and Trump’s attacks. To join, attend a weekly meeting every Thursday at 6pm on the first floor of the Coleman Library. To keep up with what SDS is doing, visit @famusdsofficial on Instagram.

#TallahasseeFL #FL #StudentMovement #ImmigrantRights #TPS #PierreDamasBel #FAMU #287g

Tampa, FL – Students at the University of South Florida held a protest September 29 against the Florida Board of Governors ban on undocumented students attending state-funded schools.

This protest was called by Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society after the Florida Board of Governors voted to restrict the admission of non-citizens to the Florida College system; it now requires students to be “lawfully present” in the U.S. The Florida College system consists of 28 schools, including the University of South Florida.

Students at the protest demanded a sanctuary campus to protect immigrant and undocumented students.

SDS member Briana Beebe stated, “DeSantis and the Board of Governors’ recent policy that bans undocumented students from seeking a higher education at public universities in Florida is a huge blow to educational equity. We are here to say to hell with DeSantis and shame on USF for not standing up for undocumented students.”

#TampaFL #FL #USF #StudentMovement #SDS #RonDeSantis #ImmigrantRights

Jacksonville, FL – On Wednesday, September 23, the Jacksonville Palestine Solidarity Network (JPSN) held their second class in a series of free educational sessions, inspired by the popular education that arose in the First Intifada in opposition to Israel outlawing all Palestinian educational institutions. The second class was held as an introduction to Palestine titled “Life Under Occupation: Finding Hope Through Resistance.”

Over 40 community members attended the teach-in to learn how U.S.-backed Zionism established structural obstacles to Palestinian self-determination as early as the 1910s. Prominent political figures like U.S. President Woodrow Wilson and British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour green-lit the start of the U.S.-Zionist project, against the wishes of Palestinians.

As one instructor with JPSN said, “The legal and military components of this reality were constructed layer by layer over more than a century and tonight we’re tracing that construction.”

Instructors also covered how early components of Zionism still shape modern life under occupation, ranging from present-day resource theft, militarized checkpoints, illegal settlements, and political prisoners, completely bankrolled by the U.S. government under the guise of “aid” to Israel.

Attendees were provided literature and instructed in breakout sessions to analyze the impact of different Zionist policies on Palestinian sovereignty. Each group had the opportunity to present their responses, honoring the revolutionary tradition of popular education transforming students into teachers.

Closing out the class, instructors switched gears to focus on how Palestinians organized for their liberation, citing wins in the national movement resisting Zionist barbarism on multiple fronts, like the legacy of Land Day inspiring generations to come with notable uprisings like the 21-month long Great March of Return, or the prisoners’ struggle, with the unified Palestinian resistance freeing thousands of political prisoners.

Instructors with JPSN concluded the second class with a reading of the poem Here We Will Remain by Tawfiq Zayyad, a lead organizer of the original 1976 Land Day general strike:

In Lidda, in Ramla, in the Galilee, We shall remain, Like a wall upon your chest, And in your throat

Like a shard of glass, A cactus thorn, And in your eyes A sandstorm.

We shall remain, A wall upon your chest, Clean dishes in your restaurants, Serve drinks in your bars, Sweep the floors of your kitchens To snatch a bite for our children From your blue fangs.

Here we shall remain, Sing our songs. Take to the angry streets, Fill prisons with dignity.

In Lidda, in Ramla, in the Galilee, We shall remain, Guard the shade of the fig And olive trees, Ferment rebellion in our children As yeast in the dough.

#JacksonvilleFL #FL #AntiWarMovement #Palestine #JPSN

Jacksonville, FL – On September 26, about 50 people gathered to celebrate Alquan Suydam’s 30th birthday, honoring a life cut short when Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office (JSO) deputies shot and killed him last year.

The event, organized by the Jacksonville Community Action Committee and A Mother’s Cry – an advocacy group of those who have lost loved ones to police brutality – included food, music and games, as attendees remembered Suydam.

The celebration came days after State Attorney Melissa Nelson ruled Suydam’s death was justified, a decision his family, friends and the community reject as another failure to hold JSO accountable.

Organizers said four police cruisers came to the park in an apparent attempt to intimidate Alquan Suydam’s mother, Samina Suydam. She refused to back down. “That’s my baby. I’m not scared and I will fight for him until the day I die,” she said.

Supporters said the vigil was not only a birthday remembrance, but a demand for justice for Alquan and all victims of police violence.

#JacksonvilleFL #FL #InJusticeSystem #JCAC #KillerCops

Tallahassee, FL – On September 22, Tallahassee Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) rallied at the Integration Statue and then marched to Wescott Fountain to protest the unjust firing of Tally SDS Vice President Mariana Guimaraes from the FSU Victim Advocate Program for her role in SDS’s anti-rape culture campaign and her public advocacy for a survivor.

Guimaraes called out this decision, asking, “When an advocate says publicly, clearly, and with conviction that the systems we have are failing, that we need better for students, and they are terminated without a real reason, what message does that send to survivors?”

Speakers from other community organizations spoke in support of Guimaraes and discussed the extent of rape culture on campus and administration’s repression of student activists, including conduct charges for flyering to raise student awareness of a rapist FSU left unpunished.

Protesters chanted, “Don’t punish flyers, punish crimes! Student safety every time!” and “Expel abusers clear the halls, answer when a victim calls!”

Once the students arrived at Westcott, they were told they could not stand on the main steps because they had to make room for an event letting out of a nearby building, where FSU was hosting far-right former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Despite following those orders and making room for those exiting, they were told again to move because the fountain was reserved for pictures. Protesters continued to confront admin, including Brandon Bowden, an FSU administrator who has been placed in charge of the Title IX process at FSU and has refused countless survivors justice. Protesters joined together in chants calling out admin and the role it plays in upholding rape culture.

Tally SDS president JJ Glueck spoke on admin’s attempt to move the protest saying, “Admin claimed that we couldn’t protest by Westcott because Boris Johnson’s speaking event would be letting out in the same area. We knew this was a flagrant violation of our right to gather and make our voices heard. They tried to argue with us, but we stood our ground and held the protest in front of the administrative building like we planned to.”

The protest continued late into the evening, until admin said that SDS had to leave because they couldn’t be protesting on campus after sunset. Nevertheless, the crowd kept chanting for an additional ten minutes before mo