Youth Activism

Suspended Columbia Student Activist Speaks Out

April 11, 2024 Left Voice. Resist! Columbia, Education, Free Speech, Palestine, Retaliation, Youth Activism

On Wednesday, April 3, Columbia University suspended six students, including a Palestinian student and two Jewish students. These suspensions came two nights after students were visited at their homes by private investigators hired by Columbia. The investigators also sent threatening emails to leaders of Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD), a coalition fighting to compel Columbia to divest all its economic and academic stakes from Israeli apartheid. The emails pressured the group to cancel a rally on April 4 for Al-Shifa Hospital, organized with Student Workers of Columbia (SWC).

International Indigenous Youth Council Banned From Powwow For Advocating For Palestine

March 20, 2024 Darren Thompson, Last Real Indians. Resist! Colorado, Indigenous Activism, Indigenous Peoples, Israel, Palestine, Pine Ridge, Youth Activism

Denver, Colorado — Youth representing the International Indigenous Youth Council’s (IIYC) Oglala Lakota Chapter were told they would be banned from attending the 48th Annual Denver March Powwow if they demonstrated solidarity with Palestine. It's one of the first documented instances where pro-Palestinian messages were prohibited at a Native American cultural event. The International Indigenous Youth Council’s (IIYC) Oglala Lakota Chapter published a statement on its Instagram Saturday afternoon: “Denver March tried to shut youth down, we will not be silenced.

Six Lessons For Climate Activists In Turbulent Times

February 1, 2024 Nick Engelfried, Waging Nonviolence. Strategize! climate crisis, Climate Justice, Youth Activism

Not many eras in modern U.S. history have been as turbulent for activists as the last 18 months. Grassroots organizers have had to contend with a lingering pandemic, increasingly unstable geopolitics and signs that Earth’s ecological systems are finally paying us back for decades of abuse. For the climate movement in particular, it’s been a confusing time with unprecedented wins juxtaposed against a backdrop of worsening planetary crises. I had the chance to reflect deeply on these realities while preparing an updated edition of “Movement Makers: How Young Activists Upended the Politics of Climate Change” — a book that distills inspirational moments and lessons from more than two decades of youth-led climate organizing in the United States.

How We Move Forward Together: The Rank And File Project

January 30, 2024 Abdullah F., Cyn Huang and Marsha Niemeijer, Convergence. Strategize! Democracy, Independent Politics, Labor Movement, Socialism, Unions, Youth Activism

Most major advances toward a more equal and just society come about because organized working people use their power to disrupt capitalist profits. And we think that’s the only force that can ultimately end capitalist exploitation and establish a truly democratic society. For that reason, many on the Left see labor unions as essential to making radical change. But unions today are often top-down and undemocratic in structure, weak, defensive and even conservative in their politics. The labor movement lacks a coherent, organized left-wing leadership that could help re-found the movement on a democratic, class-struggle basis.

Greek Students Hit The Streets For Protests Against Private Universities

January 28, 2024 People's Dispatch. Resist! Greece, Higher Education, Privatization, Youth Activism

For the third consecutive week, Greek student and youth groups and other progressive sections hit the streets, denouncing the conservative New Democracy (ND) government’s bid to open private universities. On Thursday, January 25, massive protest rallies were held in more than 40 cities, including Athens. Tens of thousands of students from coordination committees, and members of the Students’ Struggle Front (MAS), Panspoudastiki KS, Communist Youth of Greece (KNE), parents’ associations, teachers’ unions, and university workers demanded that the government scrap the proposed bill.

High School Journalists Are Fighting Back Against Censorship

January 26, 2024 Marium Zahra, Prism. Resist! Censorship, Journalism, Journalists, Press Freedom, Student Journalists, Youth Activism

From book bans to anti-critical race theory laws adopted by 28 states, youth censorship is increasingly becoming an issue in U.S. high schools, especially for young journalists. Students say school newspapers are one of the few outlets high schoolers have to report on their communities and that limiting what they can write about directly immobilizes their voices. “[Administrative censorship] firmly says that youth expression should only be at the discretion of the adults in their environment,” said McGlauthon Fleming IV, a high school student from Midlothian, Texas. Despite Tinker v. Des Moines, the historic 1969 SCOTUS ruling that states neither students nor teachers “shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate,” student censorship finds a loophole in the precedent set by Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier case.

100,000 Expected To Take Pro-Palestine Demands To Biden’s Doorstep

January 12, 2024 Natalia Marques, People's Dispatch. Resist! Ceasefire, Gaza, Israel, Palestine, Palestine Solidarity, Washington DC, Youth Activism

A coalition of Muslim and pro-Palestine organizations are taking the overwhelmingly popular demand for a ceasefire straight to Biden’s doorstep on January 13, at 1 pm, at the Freedom Plaza in Washington, DC. The “March for Gaza” is being organized by the American Muslim Task Force on Palestine, which includes American Muslims for Palestine, Council on American-Islamic Relations, Islamic Circle of North America, Muslim American Society, Muslim Student Association-National, Muslim Legal Fund of America, Muslim Ummah of North America, and Young Muslims, alongside the ANSWER Coalition, which played a key role in organizing the largest pro-Palestine demonstration in US history on November 4.

Youth Climate Case Against U.S. Government Should Go To Trial

January 7, 2024 Climate in the Courts. Resist! climate crisis, Climate Justice, Legal System, Youth Activism

A federal trial court judge in Oregon has rejected the US government’s latest attempts to quash the constitutional climate case Juliana v. United States, once again allowing the youth-led civil rights lawsuit to advance to trial. In a ruling issued on December 29, 2023, US District Judge Ann Aiken denied the government defendants’ motions to dismiss and to further stall the litigation as well as their request to bring another pre-trail appeal. Aiken’s ruling also orders the parties to arrange a pre-trial conference to discuss next steps including scheduling a trial date. The case had been previously slated to start trial five years ago on October 29, 2018, but the government’s extraordinary and repeated obstruction tactics derailed the trial and ultimately resulted in a federal appeals court ordering the case be dismissed in January 2020.

Beyond A Ceasefire: Palestinian Youth Movement’s Demands For Liberation

December 29, 2023 People's Dispatch. Resistance Report Ceasefire, Israel, Joe Biden, Palestine, Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM), Youth Activism, Zionism

The entire Palestine solidarity movement in North America has united behind the demand of a ceasefire in Gaza. For the first time in years, organizations of the working class such as labor unions have been united against the status quo of Western foreign policy and taken an unprecedented stance against Israeli violence. At the same time, important sectors in the movement have been trying to push the demands even further. The Palestinian Youth Movement, a major international formation of Palestinian youth with significant presence across North America, has been working to push the movement beyond dreaming of an end to current aggression, and into demanding full liberation from Israeli occupation.

Youth Climate Lawsuit Against Canadian Climate Policy Can Go To Trial

December 16, 2023 Dana Drugmand, DeSmog. Resist! Canada, climate crisis, Climate Justice, Legal System, Our Children's Trust, Youth Activism

A federal appeals court in Canada breathed new life into a youth-led constitutional climate lawsuit against the Canadian government, allowing it to proceed towards trial on a narrower scope and partially reversing the trial court’s ruling that the entire case should be tossed. In its opinion issued on December 13, Canada’s Federal Court of Appeal determined that one part of the legal claims asserted in the case was viable and that a trial would help assess whether that claim violates the constitution. Initially filed in 2019 by 15 young Canadians, La Rose v. His Majesty the King alleges Canada’s policies and actions that perpetuate fossil fuels and worsen the climate crisis amount to violations of youths’ fundamental rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Palestinian Youth Movement” ‘Our People Cannot Afford For Us To Fail’

December 1, 2023 Ju-Hyun Park, The Real News Network. Resist! Israel, Liberation, Palestine, Youth Activism

Israel’s war on Gaza has ignited a firestorm of international condemnation. In the midst of this outrage, organizations like the Palestinian Youth Movement have spearheaded a global mass movement to fight Israel’s genocide and to stand in solidarity with Palestine. With the temporary truce in Gaza likely ending, this mass movement faces a critical juncture. Yara Shoufani of the Palestinian Youth Movement speaks with The Real News about the tasks of the Western left in this moment, the opportunity to revive anti-imperialism and anti-colonialism as core pillars of the left, and the central role of Palestinian struggle in “sharpening the contradictions” of a status quo that may be breaking apart before our eyes.

How Students Are Leading The Movement For Palestine

November 12, 2023 Sam Carliner, Left Voice. Resist! Anti-War, Education, Israel, New York City (NYC), Palestine, Walkouts, Youth Activism

New York City, New York - Students and educators from hundreds of schools across New York City converged in Bryant Park on Thursday afternoon. This was part of a national day of mobilizations to “shut it down” in solidarity with the Palestinian people who are suffering a genocide at Israel’s hands; a genocide that is being backed by the United States. As this action and countless others over the past weeks have shown, the world is witnessing the emergence of a massive movement against Zionism and imperialism, with student activists at the forefront. 20 minutes before the official start of the rally at 3pm, hundreds had already crowded the stairs of the New York Public Library chanting “Free free free Palestine!” and “One two three four, we don’t want your bloody war!”

Young, Bold, And Angry: The Youth-Led Revival Of The Palestinian Cause

November 9, 2023 Mohamad Hasan Sweidan, Orinoco Tribune. Strategize! Israel, Palestine, Propaganda, Youth Activism

For years, there’s been a prevailing notion that the Palestinian cause is losing its grip on the younger generations. This perception stems from the belief that, as globalization tightens its hold, the youth in West Asia, particularly in occupied Palestine, might become more disconnected from their historical roots and national affiliations. With the spread of liberal ideas, many speculated that economic opportunities, technological advancements, and global exposure would shift their focus away from the Palestinian cause. Some even anticipated that the younger generation would turn against armed resistance to the Zionist occupation, owing to the small tide of Arab-Israeli normalization.

Harvard Students Stand Strong For Palestine Despite Intimidation

October 22, 2023 People's Dispatch. Resist! Education, Harvard, Israel, Palestine, Youth Activism, Zionism

Shortly following the historic Palestinian resistance offensive into Israel and the beginning of the bombing campaign of Gaza by Israeli forces, dozens of student organizations at one of the most elite universities in the world took a bold stance—unequivocally citing the state of Israel as responsible for all violence in the region. “We, the undersigned student organizations, hold the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence,” read the first sentence of a student solidarity statement at Harvard University, spearheaded by the Harvard Palestine Solidarity Committee. “The apartheid regime is the only one to blame,” reads the letter.

Students For A Democratic Society National Convention Held In Chicago

October 22, 2023 Shaine Carrol-Frey, Fight Back News!. Organize! Chicago, Illinois, Israel, Palestine, Students for a Democratic Society, Youth Activism

Chicago, IL – On October 14 and 15, roughly 160 members and affiliates of the New Students for a Democratic Society(SDS) from over 20 campuses met for their annual National Convention in Chicago, Illinois. The students came from all over the U.S. to unite under the slogan of “Students Defend Education, Unions Strike Back!” to highlight both the attacks of education, especially ethnic studies such as Black studies and American Indian studies, and the increased level of union activity in 2023. Attendees listened to panels and gave workshops over a variety of topics, sharing strategy and tactics with SDS chapters from across the country.

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