Milwaukee, WI – On September 9, Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) at UW-Milwaukee, in conjunction with chapters across the country, held a day of action demanding justice for victims of police violence. The day of action consisted of a call and email campaign to pressure Chancellor Mark Mone to adhere to the demands of SDS.

SDS is calling for a defunding of the campus police, which has a budget of $3 million, making it the highest in the UW system. This entails a hiring freeze of campus police, demilitarization and a repurposing of campus police assets.

The only response received by SDS from the chancellor has been that he will “respond substantively by the end of the week,” which he has failed to do at the time of this writing.

In addition to call of action, the recruiting efforts taken by SDS yielded favorable results. There was a high interest amongst new students who also recognized that $3 million for a campus police budget, especially on a campus such as UW-Milwaukee, is just way too high.

One student stated, “If last year showed us anything, it’s that higher police funding just makes crime worse.”

#MilwaukeeWI #PeoplesStruggles #PoliceBrutality #MilwaukeeSDS

“As college students we do have a lot of privilege. We have a lot of resources available and we have to utilize those things to make change,” Appleton SDS chair Terrence Freeman says. “We shouldn’t be inactive, we shouldn’t be lethargic, we should utilize the things we have at our disposal to guarantee that we are changing things in our community, both on and off campus.”

Speakers from each chapter discussed their local work. Appleton SDS is currently organizing to raise the campus minimum wage to $15 an hour, as well as doing mutual aid work in the Appleton area. UW-Milwaukee is currently working to defund campus police and refund programs that support students. While the semesters are soon coming to a close on both campuses, their work will continue into the summer and beyond.

#MilwaukeeWI #PeoplesStruggles #MilwaukeeSDS #AppletonSDS

(Fight Back! News/staff)”)

Milwaukee, WI – On the evening of April 9, Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) held a rally at Spaights Plaza at UW-Milwaukee to call for a Civilian Police Accountability Council (CPAC) in Milwaukee and renew their demands to defund campus police and refund programs that support students.

“SDS is here supporting CPAC because it is an all-elected civilian accountability council with the power to draft MPD’s budget, a council that can and will conduct independent investigations into police crimes, a council that has the power to hire, fire and discipline Milwaukee’s police,” SDS member Jack Rongstad said, addressing the people in attendance. “As members of the CPAC coalition coordinated by the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, we know that CPAC is the program we need to guarantee that the people have real control over the police.”

Rongstad continued by elaborating on the importance of CPAC to redirect public resources to community alternatives that address harm, instead of continuing to funnel them into an institution built to inflict it. For example, funding should be redirected to affordable housing, access to physical and mental health care, replacing police in schools with counselors, transformative justice models, youth programming, and investments into Milwaukee’s chronically underfunded public school system.

Another SDS member, Mike Nelson, said, “CPAC is good for students too because we don’t want to defund campus police only to have more Milwaukee police presence on our campus, who, without CPAC, have no true accountability to the people. We need CPAC now!”

SDS also used this rally to renew their demands to defund the UWM police department and redistribute their funds to programs that actually support students. Chancellor Mone has given flawed reasoning for why they should not and cannot defund the campus police, even though they have a $3 million budget (according to the UW Redbook). Meanwhile, services like mental health, multicultural student offices, and ethnic studies programs face budget cuts. If the $3 million budget of the UWM police department were redistributed, it would be enough to hire four new faculty across 15 departments. The solution is simple: defund UWM PD and redistribute its funds to programs that actually support students.

#MilwaukeeWI #StudentMovement #PeoplesStruggles #PoliceBrutality #MilwaukeeSDS #civilianPoliceAccountabilityCouncilCPAC

Milwaukee, WI – On the evening of July 8, students and community members rallied at Spaights Plaza on UW-Milwaukee’s campus. They came together to honor Texas’ Vanessa Guillén and others who have lost their lives to sexual violence, and to hold Professor Betsy Schoeller accountable for her harmful comments about the situation, and the administration of UW-Milwaukee accountable for not taking action on hate speech.

Professor Schoeller’s comment implies that she believes sexual harassment and assault is justifiable. After her comment got national attention, she responded that she meant to clarify the sexism present in the military, not to glorify it, or condemn people who try to speak against it. Regardless of her intention, UW-Milwaukee reacted quickly to protect Professor Schoeller on the grounds that they cannot do anything to address it because it would be an infringement on her freedom of speech.

This is not new behavior for UWM, whose administration consistently chooses not to address hate speech, or actively encourages it by punishing students who seek to prevent its spread on campus. For example, in May 2019, UWM student Grae Hosmanek was arrested by campus police after taking and ripping up an anti-Semitic sign that was held by a Nazi at an event organized by a Jewish student organization. She was charged with theft, vandalism, disorderly conduct and obstructing an officer. After students at UWM and trade unionists from the Milwaukee Area Labor Council’s Young Workers Committee rallied in solidarity, her charges were dropped.

The organizers of the July 8 event had two clear demands for UWM: to create clear steps and an accountability plan laid out publicly, including a thorough review and investigation of past complaints concerning Professor Schoeller; and that Professor Schoeller must resign or be terminated after making a public apology to Vanessa Guillén’s family and to all the people who she hurt and offended.

“We’re here because UWM took that repulsive comment for what it was, and used the excuse of free speech like they always do,” said Margarita Garcia Rojas, one of the event organizers. “We’re here to celebrate the life of Vanessa, and the thousands of lives that have been killed by white supremacy.”

Around 200 people turned out for the rally, which included several speakers, nine-minutes of silence, an altar to honor Guillén and others who lost their lives to sexual violence, and chalking messages and posting signs all over campus. Speakers included veterans, one of whom shared her story of surviving sexual assault in the military, a UWM staff member, and students, one of whom represented the new UW-Milwaukee chapter of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS).

“What are you doing to make a change?” Emily Cruz, one of the event organizers, asked the crowd. “What are you doing to make sure what happened to Vanessa never happens again, and comments like Betsy Schoeller’s never go unchallenged?”

By the end of the event, campus was covered in messages of support for survivors of sexual assault and harassment, and demanding accountability from UWM. However, less than 24 hours later, UWM power washed these chalk messages away, answering Cruz’s question, and making their stance on the issue even more obvious.

“What did UWM do when made aware of our demands? They reflexively supported the faculty member. UWM’s immediately aggressive stance in defense of Professor Schoeller’s hate speech should leave us with one question: what are they doing for us?” said SDS member Jack Rongstad. “Either UWM listens to us and transforms, or they drop the pretensions and tell us to go to hell.”

SDS intends to keep the pressure on UWM administrators to ensure that the demands put forward at this action are not ignored. But this is just the beginning. Their goal is to address many of the other problems on campus.

#MilwaukeeWI #AntiwarMovement #OppressedNationalities #WomensMovement #PeoplesStruggles #MilwaukeeSDS #VanessaGuillén #ProfessorBetsySchoeller

Milwaukee. WI – About 50 students from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee rallied in solidarity with Palestine, Oct. 28. Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) organized the rally in response to the increase in violence by Israeli occupation forces in which over 50 Palestinians have been killed just this month.

Speakers from a variety of groups such as Students for Justice in Palestine, Youth Empowered in the Struggle, and the Milwaukee Anti-War Committee highlighted the atrocities Israel has been committing and showed their support with the people of Palestine.

Aside from the striking number of extra-judicial killings that have occurred this month, there have been increased obstacles for Palestinian education.

“Since Oct. 21, 17 checkpoints, 20 cement blocks and one earth mound have been installed to isolate Palestinian neighborhoods,” Breanna Eisner from SDS said to the crowd. “As this use of force has continued, the access of education for Palestinians has been difficult. The resistance to the occupation is led by Palestinian youth and students. As Students for a Democratic Society we are against war and the oppression of state-sanctioned violence. We believe that access to education should not be infringed upon and we stand in solidarity with Palestine and its resistance to this occupation.”

Tracey Pollock from the Anti War Committee-Milwaukee said, “We know all too well the role the U.S. government plays in this, providing over $3 billion a year to the apartheid government of Israel. Helping to fund expansion of settlements, the apartheid wall and policies that include not allowing Palestinians to drive on the same streets or take the same buses as settlers in the occupied territories.”

“The U.S. government is also actively working to suppress any solidarity movement within the U.S., particularly with the amazing work that groups like Students for Justice in Palestine are doing on college campuses across the nation with the Boycott Divestment and Sanction movement, or repressing internationally recognized freedom fighters like Rasmea Odeh,” she concluded.

Students then marched through the university's student union chanting “Israel, Israel what do you say, how many kids have you killed today?” and “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!” A small group of Zionist counter-protesters followed and shouted, “Free Gaza from Hamas!” while the pro-Palestine crowd responded with, “Free Gaza from Israel!”

#MilwaukeeWI #AntiwarMovement #StudentMovement #Palestine #MilwaukeeSDS #MiddleEast

Milwaukee, WI – Hundreds of students, faculty, and staff rallied at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee (UWM) for the March 1st National Day of Action for Education rights. Members of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), AFSCME Local 82, and AFT Locals marched across campus chanting “No remorse, no regret, we wont pay our student debt!” The crowd stopped at the Chancellor's office to present the demands of the Education Rights Coalition, where they were met by members of the administration. The coalition demands include a tuition freeze, student loan debt forgiveness, and collective bargaining rights for public employee unions affected by Governor Scott Walker's union busting.

The campaign also demanded the administration “Chop From the Top” by cutting salaries of university administrators before cutting the pay of faculty and staff. The university administration also held their own event on March 1st, an event to select a new Provost who will receive an estimated $80,000 pay raise to his six-figure salary, all while faculty and staff are seeing the biggest cuts in decades. Protesters marched into the event early to conduct their own teach-in led by graduate student members of AFT Local 2169.

The teach-in

When the Interim Provost took the stage to make his case for an $80,000 pay raise, teachers, students, and staff who have been affected by cuts began a silent picket inside the room, holding “Chop From the Top” signs. During the question and answer period, SDS member Willa Leannah grilled the Provost about the anticipated pay raise while students are struggling to pay tuition. Students at UWM work more hours than students at any other state school, while UWM tuition doubled in the last ten years and the UW system was cut 21% by Scott Walker's administration. Student loan debt has already surpassed credit card debt, and is expected to exceed $1 trillion this year.

#MilwaukeeWI #StudentsForADemocraticSociety #SDS #EducationRights #MilwaukeeSDS #EducationRightsCoalition

Milwaukee, WI – On November 12th, over a hundred student organizers from across the country will gather here to participate in the 6th annual National Convention of [Students for a Democratic Society (SDS)](http://www.newsds.org). SDS was re-founded in 2006 in response to the upsurge of war in the Middle East and the need for a united, national multi-issue radical student and youth organization in the United States.

Convention organizers state, “War, corporate bailouts, and the privatization of should-be public sector institutions like schools, lie in direct contradiction to what the government should be protecting: housing, education, and health care.”

In October, SDS chapters throughout the country took to the streets demanding money for jobs and education, not war and occupation. Within the Occupation Movement, students everywhere are saying “Bailout students, not banks!” and are calling for an end to student debt and the creation of student loan forgiveness programs.

According to Stephanie Taylor of Students for a Democratic Society at the University of Minnesota, “Today, students are facing sky-rocketing tuition and attending universities that are more like corporations than schools. Most of us can’t afford an education, and either don’t go to college, or go and graduate with a lifetime of debt. Either way, students and young people are entering an economy with soaring unemployment and many are struggling to survive. The big banks are rolling in profits while the rest of us get deeper in debt. We say, 'Bail out students, not banks!'”

This year at the National Convention, SDS plans to highlight the political repression that is faced by progressive activists, specifically those [targeted by the FBI for their anti-war and international solidarity work](http://www.stopfbi.net). Speakers will include Stephanie Weiner, a Chicago-based activist who is active with the Palestine Solidarity Group, a member of AFSCME 3506, and a target of FBI repression and grand-jury resister. Also speaking will be Scott Crow, a community organizer, writer, and speaker who, because of his affiliations with progressive causes, was labeled a “domestic terrorist” and was the subject of FBI surveillance for almost a decade.

Finally, Carlos Montes will be speaking via Skype. Montes was one of the founding members of the Brown Berets, and organization that fought for Chicano liberation the ‘60s and ‘70s. He later founded Latinos Against War and was a main national organizer of the protests at the Republican National Convention in 2008. In May, Montes’ home was raided and he was arrested. He is now facing trumped up felony charges that carry up to 18-years in prision.

Workshops and breakout sessions will provide space for SDSers to teach each other organizing skills and learn about political struggles going on throughout the country. Sessions this year will involve speakers on Occupy Wall Street, Troy Davis and the Injustice System, Campaign Building on Campuses, Protesting the NATO/G8, Gender & Sexuality, Building the Fight Against Political Repression and more.

Mike Gold of Milwaukee SDS explains the importance of the convention, “I'm excited about the convention because it really allows us to grow closer as a national organization, which is better for our work. It's really cool to meet activists from all over and hear what they've been up to. Plus, it gives us new ideas for our own local work.”

SDS chapters from New Jersey to Minneapolis, D.C. to Chicago, Florida to Vermont will converge in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to discuss new ideas for action, learn from each others successes, and lay the ground work for upcoming national mobilizations in the spring.

#MilwaukeeWI #StudentsForADemocraticSociety #CarlosMontes #OccupyWallStreet #MilwaukeeSDS #ScottCrow

Milwaukee, WI – On Oct. 8, over 100 people rallied and marched against the continuing U.S./NATO occupation of Afghanistan. The event was organized to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, which began in October of 2001.

The rally was followed by a large march to City Hall, where community members spoke before the crowd inside. Attendees included Milwaukee Alderman Nik Kovac, union workers and community organizations including the L.U.V. Brigade, Milwaukee Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), Peace Action-Wisconsin, Veterans for Peace, U.S. Labor Against the War and others represented by the Milwaukee Coalition for a Just Peace.

Khalil Coleman of the L.U.V. Brigade said of the day's events, “We have to start looking at poverty at home and poverty in foreign countries in a different light. If we can take money that is being used to fund violence in Libya and to oppress people in Afghanistan and bring it back to the communities here in the U.S., we can help to build a better world.”

Danielle Meyer, an organizer for the upcoming Occupy Milwaukee protests, said, “We're out here today because military spending on wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is wasteful and is going to kill innocent people. We want to see funding come back for human needs here in Milwaukee, as well as the rest of the country.” Milwaukee is often listed as the most segregated city in the United States with the fourth highest level of poverty.

Solidarity was also expressed for those anti-war activists persecuted by the FBI. Jhosellin Perez, speaking for the Milwaukee Activist Defense Network, urged those present to visit www.stopfbi.net and sign the Pledge to Resist there, as well as to keep active in opposing government repression of anti-war activists.

#MilwaukeeWI #AntiwarMovement #Afghanistan #VeteransForPeace #AfghanistanWar #MilwaukeeActivistDefenseNetwork #MilwaukeeSDS #PeaceActionWisconsin #LUVBrigade #MilwaukeeCoalitionForAJustPeace #USLaborAgainstTheWar #OccupyMilwaukee #NikKovac