Student Activism

Middle School Students Called “Terrorists”

July 9, 2014 Dan Johnson, www.mintpressnews.com Educate! Civil Disobedience, Education, Student Activism, Terrorism, Youth

A group of Georgia middle school students decided they had enough of the school dress code and would violate it together in an act of civil disobedience. The school, Cowan Road Middle, found out about the plan and suspended the students for…terrorism. What? According to WSB-TV (emphasis added): “To me it was just a bunch of 13-year-olds acting crazy,” said Christopher Cagle, the father of a suspended honor roll student. Cagle said the principal called the students’ actions terroristic threats. He said the principal was too swift and severe with the punishment.” Violating the school dress code is indeed a violation of school policy, but to elevate it to a level where one could be indefinitely detained, without charge or trial, is going way too far.

Lessons In Dissent From Hong Kong’s Youth

July 7, 2014 M.A., www.economist.com Educate! Activism, Hong Kong, Student Activism, Youth

HONG Kong’s youth are scarcely known for being political animals: little wonder, given the example set by their pragmatic elders. Doing well at school, finding a decent job and getting their hands on the latest iPhone tend to be higher priorities than politics. Yet a breed of young activists is challenging the presiding apathy, riding a wave of political activism that is sweeping the city. An unofficial ballot on electoral reform that ended on Sunday drew almost 800,000 votes, while an activist threat to “Occupy Central”, the main business district, hangs in the summer air. The annual July 1st protest march drew a large turnout; though peaceful, it ended in over 500 arrests, mostly of students. A timely documentary, now showing in Hong Kong, portrays two of the young rebels. Joshua Wong is a “rock star” among young activists, as Li Ping Kong, a producer of “Lessons in Dissent”, puts it. In 2011, at 15, Mr Wong founded Scholarism to fight against the government’s proposed “Moral and National Education” curriculum. With their allies, the secondary-school protest group (pictured above, in 2012) decried the government’s plans as an attempt to peddle patriotic, pro-Communist party propaganda through, for instance, teaching a distorted version of history.

After Occupy, Reform or Revolution? | American Autumn Excerpt

June 18, 2014 Dennis Trainor Jr, www.PopularResistance.org Resistance Report Climate Change, Corporatism, Democracy, Environment, Finance and the Economy, Food and Agriculture, Freedom of Speech and Assembly, Human Rights, Occupy, Occupy Wall Street, Protest, Solidarity, Student Activism, Wars and Militarism, Worker Rights and Jobs

A year after the birth of the Occupy Wall Street movement in New York City, writer, director and producer Dennis Trainor, Jr. made a full-length feature documentary capturing the fervor and passion that spread through the nation in fall 2011, fueled a street revolution and introduced the concept of “the 99%” to define the corporate greed that has crippled the U.S. American Autumn lets the protestors and organizers tell in their own words why they joined the protests and what they hoped to accomplish. Shot at the birthplace of the Occupy movement at Zuccotti Park in New York City, as well as on location at protests in Washington, D.C., Trainor offers a Ground Zero view of the movement and its participants. On camera, protesters strive to define the goals of Occupy as well as how to achieve them. “Imagine that a single voice carries as much weight as the CEO of Goldman Sachs” the film posits, distilling one of Occupy’s core beliefs.

Students’ Silent Protest Against Sexual Assault

June 17, 2014 Nina Friend, www.huffingtonpost.com Resist! Protest, Sexual Assault, Student Activism

Many students saw this year's commencement season as a time for solidarity, and not necessarily celebration. Students at elite universities across the United States decorated their caps and gowns in red tape to protest the handling of sexual assault cases on campus, with the latest example at Stanford University on Sunday. The practice of using red tape to convey a message of discontent originated at Columbia University in the late 1990s. It was meant to symbolize the bureaucratic barriers students faced reporting sexual violence. Since then, current Columbia students revived the red tape on campus and at their own commencement. Other schools like Harvard, Brown and most recently Stanford followed suit. All of these universities are accused of mishandling sexual assault cases as well.

Young People Take On Fracking In Pennsylvania

June 13, 2014 Nicole D'Alessandro , http://ecowatch.com Resist! Climate Change, Energy, Environment, Fracking, Student Activism, Youth

This summer students will stand in solidarity with communities on the frontlines of fracking. They are the participants in Energy Justice Summer, a joint project of Energy Justice Network and community groups in the shalefields of northeast Pennsylvania. Who are these young organizers making a difference in Pennsylvania? In the words of Energy Justice Summer: We seek a world where everyone has access to sustainable energy and no one suffers unjustly because of our fossil fuel economy. We believe that fracking presents a grave threat to people everywhere, especially those on the frontlines of extraction. This summer, we will work in solidarity with communities in Pennsylvania to stop the expansion of fracking and move towards renewable energy.

Teachers, Unions, Students Build Trinational Movement

June 10, 2014 Roshan Bliss, www.PopularResistance.org Organize! Canada, Education, Mexico, North America, Student Activism

The significance of winning the struggle for education was summed up in the remarks that CNTE's Juan Melchor shared about the three goals that have guided the CNTE teachers' fight in Mexico: first, democratize the teachers' union. Second, democratize the schools. Third, democratize the country. If the teachers, students, and education activists of the Trinational Coalition In Defense of Public Education are successful, it would mean much more than better schools. It would mean more critical and engaged citizens. It would mean a blow to corporate imperialism and control. It would mean a more just society where education is seen as a human right and a public good, not as a private commodity or an economic market. With the 2016 Trinational Conference In Defense of Public Education tentatively slated to take place in Vancouver, the education activists of the Trinational Coalition have their work cut out for them. But they can count on a growing base of support as more and more people across the continent - and across the globe - start to realize the harm that corporate education reform is doing to our communities, our schools, and our future. So as the Mexican delegation's favored chant from the weekend says, "La lucha sigue, sigue!"

On Brink Of Statewide Strike, UAW Wins Unprecedented Victory

June 7, 2014 Josh Brahinsky and Michelle Glowa, www.facebook.com/ucstudentworkersunion Organize! California, Education, Student Activism, Unions

After nearly a week of bargaining late into the night as a third system-wide strike loomed, the 13,000 workers of the UC Student-Worker Union UAW 2865 reached a labor agreement with UC management yesterday at 7pm. The agreement concludes a year of intense negotiations which traversed a deteriorating union management relationship involving 2 system-wide strikes and now 2 barely averted strikes. The agreement for labor peace includes class size provisions new to the UCs as well as rights for undocumented students and for gender-neutral bathrooms that will set precedent for the labor movement nationwide. The UC Student-Worker Union, which represents front line educators across the UC system, will vote on ratification over the next weeks.

6th Graders Seek Payment For Taking Common Core Field Tests

June 4, 2014 Valerie Strauss, www.washingtonpost.com Resist! Common Core, Education, Student Activism

Some sixth grade students in Massachusetts who spent hours over several days taking practice versions of newly developed Common Core tests decided that they should be paid for their work and are seeking payment for serving as “guinea pigs.” The Ipswich Chronicle reported in this story about what happened after students at Ipswich Middle School field tested new exams written the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC), one of the two multi-state consortia developing new Core exams with $360 million in federal funds. PARCC and the other multi-state consortia, the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium, are now field testing their Core-aligned exams, with millions of students taking part, for use in the next school. Public school students often “field test” questions on standardized exams created by testing companies that then sell the exams to states. In this case, states will pay PARCC and Smarter Balanced for use of the tests that students are field testing. The story quotes teacher Alan Laroche, whose A and B period math classes were randomly chosen to take the field tests. Laroche said that some of the 37 students who took the exams on May 19 heard a teacher joke that the kids should be paid for their time and they asked him if it was really possible. He was quoted as saying:

Newark Students Resisting Neoliberal Reforms In Their City

May 31, 2014 Raven Rakia, www.youngist.org Resist! Education, Neoliberalism, Newark, Student Activism, Unions

On Tuesday, May 20, 2014, the Newark Students Union (NSU) called for a rally on 2 Cedar Street, at the Board of Education building. As their supporters rallied outside, nine high school students from the NSU entered the building where the Board of Education was holding a meeting and staged a sit-in. As they slipped Cami Anderson, the superintendent, a list of their demands and sat down on the floor of the meeting, the nine students declared they weren’t leaving until their demands were met. The four demands read as follows: (1) Cami Anderson’s immediate resignation (2) Local control over the education system (3) Public schools to be fairly and fully funded and (4) All schools remain open. Back in December, the NPS administration issued the “One Newark” plan: a complete restructuring of Newark’s public schools to take place in time for the 2014-2015 school year. Under the slogan, “100 excellent schools,” they describe the plan as a “community-wide agenda to ensure all students are in excellent schools and thriving communities.” In reality, the One Newark plan is a top-down approach orchestrated at the state level, which exercises complete control over public schools. Under the plan, some public schools will be closed, others will be turned into charters, and yet other schools will face a complete staff overhaul with potential layoffs.

DePaul University Student Body Votes To Divest From Israeli Occupation

May 27, 2014 Adam Horowitz, www.mondoweiss.net Resist! Divestment, Israel, Palestine, Student Activism

Student coalition DePaul Divest declares victory in campaign calling for student support to divest from corporations that profit off of human rights abuses against Palestinians. Following two months of campaigning at DePaul University, student coalition DePaul Divest has declared victory in a campaign to divest from corporations that profit off of human rights violations perpetrated against Palestinians via the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestine. While a majority of campus divestment campaigns across the country have been carried out through student government resolutions, DePaul Divest opted to pose the question of divestment to the entire DePaul student body through a Student Government Association (SGA) referendum this week. With a majority of 1575 votes in favor and 1333 against, it is clear that Palestinian human rights, the rights of minorities within Israel, and ethical investment are issues that concern the DePaul student body. This victory did not come without outside interference by pro-Israel lobby group StandWithUs, whose paid staff, frequently presenting themselves as individuals affiliated with DePaul University, canvassed the student body in a counter campaign to DePaul Divest.

Reflections on Vietnam: Interview With Radical Professor Strieb

May 27, 2014 Daniel Falcone, www.truth-out.org Create! Education, FBI, Student Activism, Vietnam

Bertram Strieb, LaSalle University professor emeritus in the Department of Geology, Physics and Environmental Science, and an educator for nearly 50 years, spoke to me about radicalism and campus activism during the Vietnam period. Strieb received a progressive Philadelphia Hebrew School education. His teachers were the parents of Noam Chomsky, MIT institute professor and professor of linguistics (emeritus) and Linguistic Theory. In this interview, Strieb discusses the Chomsky visit to the LaSalle Campus in 1985. Both Strieb and Chomsky attended Central High School in Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania. Daniel Falcone for Truthout: What can you tell me about the Vietnam era at La Salle? Bertram Strieb: The war started in 1962. The United States had sent "advisors." The election of 1964 was when Johnson and Goldwater ran against one another. Kennedy had been assassinated. Johnson said he was not going to escalate the war. Goldwater was considered dangerous. Johnson won in a landslide and then immediately escalated the war. He sent in large numbers of troops. I was teaching here at the time. In 1965-66, a number of college teachers in the area got together and began to set up draft counseling on their campuses. I got involved in that, and I remember meeting at people's homes and things. With a number of other faculty members, I was a, sort of, a key person setting up draft counseling here, which ultimately got taken over by some students who were vets, around 1969. These guys took it over and did a much better job. A number of us got trained as draft counselors and did a bunch of draft counseling. So we were prepared to tell people about conscientious objecting. I had a lot of material in my office, to hand out stuff to students and also to inform myself about legal aspects. And, I found out, when I got my FBI files at a later date, that someone had surreptitiously entered my office and had stolen some stuff out of my office. I didn't know it was gone. I would have been happy to give it to them, if they wanted it.

Chilean Artist Sets Fire To $500m Worth Of Student Debt Papers

May 19, 2014 Huffington Post UK, www.huffingtonpost.co.uk Resist! Arts, Chile, Debt, Student Activism

A heap of ashes is allegedly all that remains of $500 million in “pagarés” — or debt papers — stolen and burned by a Chilean activist. A video by Francisco Tapia, aka “Papas Fritas,” went viral this week in which he confessed to burning the legal papers certifying debt owed by Universidad del Mar students and had thus liberated the students from their debt obligations. “It’s over, it’s finished,” Tapia said in his impassioned five minute video, the Santiago Time reported. “You don’t have to pay another peso [of your student loan debt]. We have to lose our fear, our fear of being thought of as criminals because we’re poor. I am just like you, living a shitty life, and I live it day by day — this is my act of love for you.” The university is still collecting on its student loans, but not without great difficulty. The destruction of the documents occurred during a “toma” — student takeover — of the campus and means the embattled university owners must now individually sue each of its students to assure debt payment — a very costly, time-consuming process, the paper reported. Tens of thousands of students flooded the streets of Chile last year, demanding education reform. Now, it seems, tensions are escalating once again.

St. Louis: Taking On The World’s Largest Coal Company

May 18, 2014 Scott Parkin, www.commondreams.org Resist! Peabody Coal, Protest, Student Activism

There’s an insurrection afoot. And it’s in America’s heartlands no less. Bold and effective organizing against oil companies, natural gas companies and coal companies has started this insurrection that has openly challenged these powerful industries. This phenomenon has spread across the country and created unusual coalitions of Indigenous communities, environmental activists and rural landowners opposed to corporate seizures of their property. The most recent example occurred last week at Peabody Energy’s shareholder meeting in St. Louis. For the second time in less than a week, 11 people were arrested in defiance of the world’s largest coal company. Joining people from St. Louis, Arizona, southern Illinois and other parts of the world, the 11 were arrested while attempting to enter Peabody’s annual shareholder meeting seeking a redress of grievances with the company. From Arizona to the American heartland, Peabody has ravaged communities, the climate, forests and other wild places for over a century. Arizona: For five decades on Black Mesa, a 2.1-million-acre highland in Northeast Arizona, Peabody has mined coal and exploited the Navajo Aquifer to enrich the company’s executives and shareholders. The Navajo Aquifer is the main source of potable water for the Navajo and Hopi tribes.

Students Worldwide Join Week of Action to Reclaim Education

May 10, 2014 Roshan Bliss, www.PopularResistance Resist! Student Activism, Student protest

Students across the world rallied, held teach-ins, and took to the streets this week as part of the Global Week of Action to Reclaim Education slated to take place from May 1st - 8th. The week of action was part of an ongoing effort being mounted by groups of students from many different countries to resist the commodification of education - a trend being seen across the world wherein access to education is becoming less a public good for all and more a consumer product to be purchased by those who can afford it - and to demand instead an "emancipatory education" that would help lift youth across the world from poverty and prepare them for the challenges their generation faces. The week of action saw protests and educational events hosted in at least 10 different countries from Morocco to India to the US. Student groups organized the events as an answer to a call to action to organize the Global Week of Action against problems faced by students around the world: "Budget cuts, outsourcing, school closures, climbing costs of living and tuition fees, among other phenomena, are all linked to an increasing commercialization and privatization of education. Uniting globally is our answer to these obstacles – fighting for emancipatory education for all."

Arrests At Peabody’s Annual Shareholder Meeting

May 9, 2014 Students Against Peabody, www.vimeo.com Resist! Peabody Coal, Shareholder activism, Student Activism

"I am proud to stand with allies from Black Mesa and Rocky Branch against Peabody. Our campaign at WashU is not an isolated one; we stand together with communities all across the country to demand an end to Peabody’s violent and destructive practices. When we organize strategically as a united front, we all won." - Caroline Burney This morning, Wash U Senior, Caroline Burney, was arrested with 10 others outside of the Peabody Shareholders Meeting, demanding that Peabody cease its destruction of communities like Rocky Branch, IL and Black Mesa, AZ and stop subverting democracy in St. Louis. “THE PEOPLE, UNITED, WILL NEVER BE DEFEATED!” 11 people, including Student-Against-Peabody member Caroline Burney, were arrested today at Peabody’s annual shareholder meeting. Those arrested have been released. Resistance efforts from Black Mesa, Rocky Branch, and St. Louis were represented in the protest.

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