Salt Lake City, UT – Student activists from as far as Massachusetts, Florida, Texas and Minnesota gathered in Salt Lake City for the 13th annual Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) national convention over the weekend of October 20.

The two-day convention, with the theme, “Struggle! Solidarity! Strike!” focused on the current period of Trump’s attacks, and our need to build movements against police crimes, opposing racism and hate crimes, and international solidarity. Speakers included organizers speaking from Jacksonville Community Action, Anakbayan, and the SLC Brown Berets.

Members of Teamsters Local 220 and the Jersey City Educators Association spoke about workers’ strikes and the need for student-worker solidarity actions. SDS speakers from University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, University of North Florida, University of Minnesota and the host chapter, University of Utah, spoke on experiences and tips for how to start, lead and maintain SDS chapters to win campaigns on campus.

On the second day of the convention, resolutions were passed, with SDS chapters recommitting themselves to the fight against Trump’s attacks, racism and police crimes, attacks on labor, predators in power, and war. These came with specific calls to action, such as promising to fight all reactionary proposals by the Trump administration, to demand justice for the families of victims of police crimes, to organize Black Lives Matter demonstrations on campuses, and organize events and campaigns alongside labor unions, especially unions on campuses.

Olivia Crull, University of Minnesota SDS, called on SDS chapters to “pursue campaigns that reflect the specific needs of their campuses,” and to “and continue to struggle because these gains aren’t easily won.” Many felt charged and ready to build toward those new victories, with several chapters using newly acquired skills to immediately organize against Trump’s agenda of transphobic attacks. Students for a Democratic Society continues to grow and forge a path of struggle for the student movement across the United States.

#SaltLakeCityUT #AntiwarMovement #ImmigrantRights #InJusticeSystem #Labor #OppressedNationalities #PeoplesStruggles #Teamsters #StudentsForADemocraticSocietySDS #SDSConvention #Strikes #TeachersUnions

Clarksville, TN – Over 100 student activists from across the country convened here the weekend of Oct. 12-13 to participate in Students for a Democratic Society’s (SDS) 8th annual National Convention. This year’s convention included a diversity of topics which included organizing to stop the U.S. war on Syria and fighting for affordable education. Of great importance this year was the participation of anti-war leader and International Action Center co-founder Sara Flounders and political hip-hop group Rebel Diaz.

Workshops at the SDS convention are one of the easiest ways for members of SDS and other participating organizations to talk about the successes and challenges of the work they are doing on their campuses and in their communities. This year, there were nearly 20 workshops highlighting important work and issues happening on campuses. Topics included opposing U.S. drones and U.S. war, student organizing and avoiding the perils of student government, combating male chauvinism and rape on campus, “Beyond Student Organizing: Graduation and Continuing The Struggle,” solidarity with Korea against U.S. war and occupation, and many others.

Marisol Marquez, an SDSer from Tampa Bay, Florida, describes one workshop, “The ‘Tuition Equity for Undocumented Students’ workshop by Gainesville SDS as very inspiring. To know SDS is against wars but also stands for undocumented immigrants is something I have never heard or seen by any other national student group. We fight for full equality for the good of all and we are led by the best youth in the country.”

One of the highlights of the convention for many attendees was hearing Sara Flounders speak about her experiences traveling to countries caught in the crosshairs of U.S. imperialism. Flounders, of the International Action Center, is a writer for Workers World newspaper, and a longtime anti-war leader. Recently, Flounders had the opportunity to travel to Syria and see the death and destruction caused by the U.S.-sponsored Free Syrian Army. She spoke of the importance of U.S. anti-war activists traveling to countries under attack by U.S. imperialism as an act of resistance from the left. She raised the importance of self-determination for the Syrian people – that it should be the Syrians, not the U.S. imperialists, who determine the future of Syria. She also pointed out many contradictions between the countries the U.S. decides to attack and our own system. For instance, Flounders pointed out that in Syria, housing, education and healthcare were not treated as commodities, but rather as a right of the Syrian people. She continued that U.S. citizens do not have these essential rights, and if the U.S. succeeds in overthrowing the Syria government, likely the first things to go would be these public goods that we are fighting for here at home.

Rebel Diaz hosted a workshop called “Hip Hop and Immigration” and performed on campus Saturday night. Rebel Diaz is a political hip-hop group founded in Chicago, but now based in the South Bronx of New York. Chilean brothers Rodstarz and G1 of Rebel Diaz perform at many activist events, from the 2006 immigrant rights mega marches in New York to the NATO protests in Chicago last May 2013. In their workshop, Rebel Diaz gave a history of hip-hop and showed how its very foundation was a result of immigration in New York. Through this, Rebel Diaz makes the case that all hip-hop artists have a responsibility to also take a stand for immigration rights in this country and internationally. Rebel Diaz’s work around education rights and radical politics plays out in their work as musicians as well as founders of the Rebel Diaz Arts Collective in the South Bronx, http://rdacbx.blogspot.com.

Finally, at the end of the convention SDSers met to debate and vote on resolutions that guide SDS chapters around areas of primary concern for the upcoming year. Those resolutions include continuing the fight for education rights, demand an end to U.S. wars and war threats, end political repression and spying on activists, endorse the ongoing national campaign for immigrant rights (Legalization 4 All), end the targeted repression of black and brown youth by law enforcement and vigilantes, and most happily, recognize U.S. political prisoner and people’s lawyer Lynne Stewart, currently demanding compassionate release to fight a deadly cancer, with an honorary membership in SDS. These resolutions can be read online at www.newsds.org.

In all, SDSers felt excited and motivated about the work that continues to happen. Matthew Boynton of the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities SDS chapter expressed, “The SDS convention this year did a great job integrating student activism into a broader analysis of imperialism, racist war and capitalism. The work to make these connections is particularly useful for younger activists and new SDS members, and an important reminder for all student activists.”

#ClarksvilleTN #StudentsForADemocraticSociety #SDS #SDSConvention

Clarksville, TN – In less than one week, progressive students from throughout the country will attend the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) 8th annual National Convention, Oct. 11-13, at Austin Peay State University here. Featured at this year’s convention are Rebel Diaz, Sara Flounders and Kait McIntyre.

SDS is the nation’s largest multi-issue student organization. Since its re-founding in 2006, SDS is broadly building the student left – helping to lead mass campaigns against tuition hikes, school privatizations, and student debt. SDS is the leading voice of the student movement against U.S. wars and occupations.

Sara Flounders, anti-war activist and co-director of the International Action Center, will speak about the ongoing wars, occupations and so-called ‘humanitarian interventions’ of the U.S. government. Speaking with Flounders will be Kait McIntyre, an SDSer with the Chicago Anti-War Committee. McIntyre says about the convention, “As students, much of the technology utilized by the U.S. to further its wars and fuel the military-industrial complex begins at our college research institutions. I believe the SDS Convention will offer student organizers the tools to take back their campus and demand money for education and human needs, not war and destruction across the globe.”

Rebel Diaz will perform at the convention as well as host a workshop on Saturday called “Hip Hop and Immigration.” Rebel Diaz is a politically-minded hip-hop group based out of South Bronx, New York. Their workshop will focus on the historic role of immigration, the criminalization of immigrants and youth of color, and hip-hop’s role and responsibility in defending immigrant rights. Rebel Diaz will perform at 8:00 p.m. on Oct. 12 in Clement Auditorium. Admission is free and it is open to the public.

Other workshops will feature topics such as abortion rights, overcoming problems with organizing through student governments, revolutionary organizing in America’s heartland and the international student movement.

Preston Gilmore, a Clarksville SDSer and lead organizer on the SDS National Working Committee explains, “The SDS National Convention is of huge importance to the student movement. It allows all of us to learn from each other’s experiences and gain knowledge about how to synchronize our campaigns and build a national movement that unites students across the country. We are in a historical period where atrocities are being committed not only abroad, but also right here at home. From the murder of Trayvon Martin to the threat of U.S. war with Syria, students and young people are looking at the world they will be inheriting and are rising up to fight back. The convention provides an opportunity for us to meet each other. We will come together to build a more powerful movement together.”

The convention is free for everyone and is open to the public. Registration will begin at 5:00 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 11 in the University Center on the Austin Peay State University campus with introductions from speakers and organizers beginning at 7:00 p.m. On Oct.12 the convention will open at 9:00 a.m. in the University Center ballroom and will run until 7:00 p.m. Rebel Diaz will perform at Saturday night in the Clement Auditorium. On Oct. 13, the convention runs from 10:00 a.m. until around 1:00 p.m.

#ClarksvilleTN #StudentsForADemocraticSociety #SDS #SaraFlounders #SDSConvention #RebelDiaz #ClarksvilleSDS

Milwaukee, WI – On Oct. 23-24, around 100 student activists from across the country converged here for the fifth Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) National Convention.

From Diablo Valley and Los Angeles, California, Dallas, Texas, Gainesville, Florida and College Park, Maryland, SDS chapters came together to share their experiences organizing locally and to discuss the two major campaigns – education rights and anti-war – that SDS has been leading nationally and to talk about the next steps for the student movement in the U.S.

The convention began with discussion around the recent FBI attacks on the anti-war and solidarity activists in the U.S., including one member of SDS at the University of Minnesota, Tracy Molm. Keynote speakers included Jess Sundin and Steff Yoerk , two targets of the FBI raids, who spoke to SDSers about their personal experiences and shared ideas for how to speak out against the raids locally.

Workshops that weekend included immigration rights, campaign building and a workshop hosted by the Chicano student organization MEChA. Two plenaries on the education rights movement and anti-war movement addressed those issues and how to continue to build them from a student perspective.

Student activists shared tactics, ideas and lessons with one another, hoping to help build the student movement’s struggle for justice – in the fight to stop the privatization of education, stop attacks on immigrants and in protesting the wars and occupations in Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine.

“I felt the convention was a good opportunity to learn different methods of how to perform actions,” said Allan Brooks, who traveled over 20 hours from Gainesville, Florida to attend the convention. “If it wasn’t for different chapters meeting up then I wouldn’t have learned how to write legislation, I wouldn’t have learned how to do sit-ins or occupations.”

“I was tickled pink to attend the conference. It was my first national convention,” Milwaukee SDS member Dolly Perse remarked. “I learned a lot and will be much more prepared for the next national convention.”

This fall’s convention marked the first time SDS has met since the historic March 4 and October 7 days of action for Education Rights, which rocked the nation with militant protests demanding an end to cuts to public education. “Nationally, SDSers had a lot of important experiences to share,” national SDS organizer Kas Schwerdtfeger said, “SDS has been the single largest student organization involved in the education rights movement and the knowledge shared will no doubt help make the movement even stronger.”

Students for a Democratic Society was formed in 2006, in response to the war in Iraq. It the largest multi-issue, national, grassroots student organization in the U.S. and does work around a variety of issues. So far this year, SDS nationally has helped organize and lead national days of actions around education rights on March 4 and Oct. 7, nationally coordinated days of action around the anniversary of the Iraq war in March and Arizona Freedom Summer. SDS will also be mobilizing students and youth to participate in the yearly demonstration at the School of the Americas (SOA) in Fort Benning.

For more information, visit http://www.studentsforademocraticsociety.org.

#MilwaukeeWI #StudentsForADemocraticSociety #SDS #SDSConvention

Students for a Democratic Society held their Third National Convention this summer in College Park, Maryland. The event drew over 120 students from across the country. At the top of the agenda was the need to pass and implement a national structure. In the past three years SDS has grown into one of the largest student and youth organizations in the U.S., with over one hundred chapters. Most focus their activity against the U.S. war in Iraq. For example last March over 90 SDS chapters and endorsing student groups participated in a SDS-initiated week of action against the U.S. occupation of Iraq. This became the largest coordinated student antiwar protest since the Vietnam War.

This year's SDS Convention saw unprecedented unity around the need for a workable structure. Cheers erupted as the main proposal was passed during a plenary. This decision will help SDS step on the scene in the U.S. as a major force of the anti-war and radical movements. The proposal calls for a National Working Committee made up of representatives from each region, working group, and caucuses representing oppressed groups. It marks a huge step forward.

Students also discussed proposals such as supporting the upcoming September 1st March on the RNC, including a united student contingent. Another campaign proposal to “Protest McCain!” seeks to build a movement amongst college and high school students who oppose the U.S. war and occupation in Iraq and understand that McCain is committed to “another 100 years” in Iraq.

Chapin Gray from the University of Alabama SDS said, “This year's convention highlighted the positive changes SDS is making. After three years of working hard on our campuses, we're ready to take the next step – putting together a national organization. A student movement that connects students and young people with the movements against war, and for peace, against racism and for full equality, against poverty and oppression, standing up for economic justice and liberation!” Chapin Gray and other leaders of her SDS group from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, plan to take what they learned back to their campus. “Our experiences in local organizing teach us the importance of coming together on a national level and having a structure in place that can help us make a huge impact both locally and nationally.”

According to many participants, the convention highlighted the advances that SDS is making. Freddy Bastone, a student at Hunter College in NYC, commented, “I think when you look at the difference between last year and today you can see, politically and methodologically, that there have been leaps and bounds in consciousness, and increased practical understanding of class and oppression as it relates to nationality. We are seeing more emerging discussion of class, nationality, and oppression.”

Finally, SDSers had difficulty agreeing on a plan for action in the coming year, but one proposal proved highly popular. The campaign proposal adopted by the 2008 convention is called “Student Power for Accessible Education”. The ultimate goal of this campaign is to have free and accessible higher education, which SDSers hope to achieve by fighting tuition increases on campuses and addressing issues like student debt and fees. SDSers from dozens of chapters are already building this campaign.

Overall, the third national SDS convention was a resounding success, moving both SDS and the student movement forward. The challenge of the coming school year will be to use the newly-adopted national structure to build a powerful national student movement that moves tens of thousands to take action against the Iraq war and support the struggles for peace, justice, and equality.

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