Bobby Seale Speaks at Michigan State University!

January 15, 2009. 5pm.

I look around me-- the auditorium in the Kellogg Center on MSU's campus is packed-- it’s standing room only. Around the room I see students, professors, deans of colleges, members of the community, the old and the young, all gathered together to hear Mr. Bobby Seale’s keynote speech titled “The State of Black Politics in the 21st Century.” Even the aisle ways are crowded with people, standing sitting, doing whatever they have to do to catch a glimpse of the legend before them. People who would normally never be in the same room with one another come together, waiting in anticipation to hear a legend speak before them.

Bobby Seale walks across the stage and stands tall behind the podium. Though his khaki pants, striped blue sweater and black baseball cap make Bobby Seale look pretty laid back, but the man is anything but. At age 74, Mr. Seale is still a firecracker, or as some have said: “He don’t play.” What more could one hope for former Co-founder and Chairman of the Black Panther Party for Self Defense? As a sign of my appreciation for all the great things that this man did and stood for (and continues to do and stand for) I eagerly fulfilled his every wish, demand, and answered his every question. Whether it be to get the man some coffee or more ice for his water, to move the plastic tree away from the podium so “people can see [him], not some ugly shrubbery”, or explain the purpose of the Kellogg Center—I was happy to do it all.

Mr. Seale begins his speech with some background information from his early life and about the beginnings of the Black Panther Party for Self Defense. The most touching parts were when he talks about how he met Huey P. Newton and their academic adventures railing their professors for subscribing to racist ideologies while teaching the history of Black people. Newton, he said, was so smart he often dumbfounded his professors, who were unable to justify their actions. He was able to recall and recount facts and laws in painstaking detail. This skill proved handy when the Black Panthers were dealing with insolent people “in authority” such as corrupt police officers that were harassing people in Black neighborhoods.

Mr. Seale also spoke more on the ideology of the Panthers. He rejected the myth that the Panthers were the antithesis to the Civil Rights movement lead by Martin Luther King, Jr. They operated under not a doctrinaire form of socialism, but one that changed and flexed with the times. The BPP advocated for SELF DEFENSE rather than unprovoked violence, and for the ballot over the bullet. However, said Mr. Seale, “…if you take away our right to the ballot, then you force us to use the bullet because if you are taking away our lives.”

After some foreground, Mr. Seale then got into the bread and butter of his keynote speech. The state of Black politics in the United States, he said, is the state of politics itself! This goes along with my thinking about the Black Liberation Struggle (see “Why the ‘White’ Girl Joined the Black Struggle” blog post), that the Black struggle has been one for true peace and parity, unburdened by race, class, gender, sexuality, physical ability, etc. It is the struggle for true democracy. There needs to be a new movement he said, and this time it needs to involve the whole world.

Mr. Seale also offered some practical advice as to how this needs to be done. When participating in activism for social justice, you can’t completely “drop out of the system”, he said. You have work against the wrongs of the system, while still maintaining your own autonomy within the system. There also needs to be more community organizing, more community effort in organizing against injustice. This was the ideology fueling the Black Panthers. They were constantly in motion, bringing people together as a community in order to meet the needs of the people. So in addition to more community organizing, there is a need for more participatory democracies in communities. This mean having real people’s community control—such as control over the police, not “police review boards.” He asked the younger folks in the room to start thinking of other ways that more ways in which the community can take more control of what goes on.

Overall, Mr. Seale’s speech was great. He touched on a lot of salient points, including one that is close to my heart—the need for more community building and organizing. The atmosphere made it all the more inspiring. I really loved seeing the diverse group of people gathered together to hear him speak, to see and appreciate a piece of Black history in the flesh. After almost two years of organizing for the event—fundraising, asking for more funds, booking, advertising, going back and forth with agents, and planning his itinerary down to the very minute, Mr. Seale’s time with us at Michigan State was over as quickly as it had begun. It was a lot of work, but it was worth it.

Much love and thanks goes out to Jennifer White and Allie Carter for their relentless efforts to get Mr. Seale here and keep him happy. Also, much credit goes out to all the other members of the MSU Young Democratic Socialists and the W.E.B. Du Bois Society for their contributions to this event. Without your help, it would not have been possible!

Help us promote this event!!

The Language of Oppression: the degradation of Black languge in the USA and South Africa

I know about structural racism …. Racial oppression through entrenched systems in society through various public bodies, laws, corporations, the prison system, universities...you name it. But when the idea of racial oppression through use of language was introduced to me, I was suddenly taken aback. I had never though about it before-- was there such a thing as a linguistic hierarchy? After making some connections in my mind, I came to conclude that this is so. For the sake of making this blog entry brief, I will say that English is at the top of this hierarchy. I come to this conclusion because it seems like everywhere you go, you can find some sort of evidence that English is spoken there.

In a world where global politics are becoming more important than ever, how will people continue to communicate with one another? Will people continue to place an emphasis on learning to speak English as a common language, or will they attempt to broaden their horizons and learn to speak the language of others?

Some more things to ponder:

Have you ever stopped to think about the words you are using, or the way you are speaking in order to express yourself? How does your language or diction differ from that of other surrounding you? Do you think you speak "better" English than others?

Picture this scenario. It’s a stereotypical one at best, but it speaks to my point. An African-American child grows up in the ghetto where she learns to speak a form of colloquial English known to some as "Ebonics," or in more technical terms, Black Vernacular English. She grows up in a community where this is the dominant form of languages spoken. She doesn't think anything is wrong with the way she talks, it's just how she grew up. However, the outside world of "proper English speakers" would tend to disagree. The way she speaks is unacceptable and crude. She is accused of sounding ignorant and stupid because of the way she speaks and misses out on many opportunities in life such as being considered for job, housing, etc. How is this fair? Why isn't it OK for her to express herself in a way that feels comfortable for her? Why must she conform to certain standards of language in order to be taken seriously?

Geneva Smitherman, a university distinguished professor at Michigan State University, explores such oppressive parallels between the Black speech communities in both the United States of America (USA) and the Republic of South Africa (RSA). Though the culture, history, demography, legal structure, and other important elements of both countries have significant differences, there is a basis for comparing the Black politics in both countries as it relates to language (316).

Both the RSA and USA are attempting to adopt policies centered around the creation of the English language as an official and premier language of the country. In the RSA this would be a policy of “English Plus,” and in the USA “English Only” (316). This presents fundamental problems for all linguistic minorities, including those who speak African or Pidgin Languages in the RSA or Black Vernacular English (Ebonics) in the USA (317).

According to Smitherman, such impositions can be though of as modern day “internal colonialism” in both countries, similar to the extermination of Native Americans from the USA, the introduction of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade to the global market, and the conquest of South Africa by the Netherlands and later Great Britain (317-18). Such internal colonialism is not just a polarization between and oppressor nation and a colonized people but an entrenched system of “racial capitalism” where Europeans are socially constructed as the “superior” race with superior qualities and characteristics (318). In order to do this, the Europeans created elaborate systems of law, education, politics, customs, and cultural belief sets to support the economic exploitation of the indigenous peoples (318). One can see how the European claim of superior language could greatly affect each one of these systems.

Linguistic colonialism in both the RSA and USA negatively affects the Black populations. The colonizers’ languages, English and Afrikaans in the RSA and English in the USA are considered to be much more prestigious than African languages or Ebonics. Such imposition of language makes it impossible for Africans and African Americans to experience life and learning, as they are forced to use a language that makes it impossible to properly reflect the real life of Black communities (320). Though Blacks share this major similarity, they do experiences some differences as well in their experience.

Africans brought to the USA as slaves were almost completely stripped of their native languages while Africans were allowed to keep their languages in the RSA. However, the British policy in the RSA regulated other African languages in the RSA as having a lower status by considering them “dialects” instead of “languages” (321). Africans who learned to speak English were given rewards by the British in form of allowing them to become part of a class of Black elite with special economic and social privileges.
On the other hand, African Americans developed a form of pidgin English in order to communicate with their masters as well as other Blacks who were brought to the USA as slaves. Their masters often mixed slaves who spoke different languages and came from different parts of West Africa together, and they developed their own forms of communication as a survival mechanism (322-3).

Presently in both the USA and RSA the legacy of internal colonialism continues to connect to Black language politics and pose barriers to moving toward a linguistic democracy. Blacks who speak primarily Ebonics or an African English are scrutinized for not speaking “good” English and award social and economic benefits such as jobs and mobility to those who can speak English properly (340). Language is being used to divide the Black community into groups competing with one another for material and social wealth, making it that much more impossible for Black people across the globe to stand in solidarity against the capitalist systems that continue to oppress them. At the end of the article Smitherman pushes for the Black community to unite and pressure the dominate white elite toward linguistic democratization (341).

One thing is for certain—these languages with their variations, history, and cultural influence aren’t going away any time soon. Both sides need to develop a way to make room for the diversity of people within them and the way in which they express themselves. If some happy medium can't be reached, future generations of Black people will be both physically and psychologically damaged by the internal colonialism of language heiarchy and its practices.

Another thing that certain-- respect should be given to all people, regardless of what words they choose to use. All language is sacred; it brings dreams and ideas to life, sharing the thoughts, feelings, and emotions of humans to the rest of the world.

Works Cited:

Smitherman, Geneva. “Language and Democracy in the USA and the RSA.” Ed. Roseanne Dueñas González and Ildikó Melis. Language Ideologies: Critical Perspectives on the Official English Movement. Lawrence Elbaum Associates, 2001. 316-344.

Make Love Not CO2

Valentine's Day is fast approaching, so why not hold back on a few chocolates and donate $2 to Student Environmental Action Coalition! Or, if you're REALLY awesome, sign up for a monthly donation of 2 dollars – only $24 for the whole year!

All you have to do is go to the following link and fill out the form – it seriously takes five minutes!
https://secure.groundspring.org/dn/index.php?aid=697

My goal is to raise at least $400 for Student Environmental Action Coalition by next Wednesday!!! I'm on SEAC's National Council and our goal this year is to really ramp up our grassroots fundraising so we can be as sustainable and independent as possible.

Your donation will go to support a growing coalition of student environmental organizations that are most notably involved in fighting Mountain Top Removal in Appalachia, oil infrastructure expansion in Detroit and a whole host of local campaigns throughout the North East, Appalachia and the Midwest.

Here's a link to our blog so you can get a little bit of an idea of what's been going on recently: http://www.seac.org/blog

Please send me a message and/or leave a comment on this event page once you've made a donation and let me know how much you donated so I can keep track! I'll send out status reports to let y'all know if I'm on track to meet my goal!

Call for Papers

SCOUT BANANA, in conjunction with Michigan State University's African Studies Center and Office of International Development, invites you to submit a manuscript to Articulate: Undergraduate Research Applied to International Development.

Articulate is an undergraduate journal that publishes academic papers and writings (research papers, field work, interviews, etc.) on issues in international development, focusing primarily on African studies and health care issues. Our journal focuses on relationships between development, health care, and the African continent. Articulate is a forum for students to contribute to, as well as make, the debates in international development. Undergraduate students remain a vital, untapped force that can bring new ideas, perspectives, and concepts into the development dialogue. Our goal is to spark, share, and spread knowledge to create innovative change now.

Articulate is peer-reviewed by fellow undergraduate students and an appointed editorial board. Publication is based on relevance, quality, and originality. We ask for submissions that are 10-15 pages long and formatted in the Chicago Manual of Style with 200-word abstracts. In addition, we ask that the author's name, major, college, and university appear on a separate cover sheet, with no reference to the author within the manuscript.

Potential topics, include, but are not limited to:
The effectiveness of foreign aid, microfinance, and social enterprise in Africa
Intersections of gender, religion, ethnicity, and sexuality in African development
Ethics and development in African countries
Historical analyses and case studies of health care programs in Africa
Politics of water and medicine in Africa
The role of African youth in development programs and projects
Effects of conflict and forced migration on health care and development

In addition, Articulate is also seeking brief reflective essays on young peoples' experiences in Africa. Ideally, these pieces are 2-3 single-spaced pages and can take a variety of creative forms. These essays should explore how development work is from the perspective of a young person from the Global North, entering the Global South. Is it how you thought it would be? What did you enjoy and hate about it? What do you wish you'd known when you were just 'studying' as opposed to working in Africa on health-related issues? Other themes may be considered with consultation from the Editor-in-Chief.

Papers will be accepted until March 15th, 2009 with an intended publication date during Spring 2009. For submissions, please contact the Editor-in-Chief at articulate@scoutbanana.org. For more information on SCOUT BANANA, check out www.scoutbanana.org.

Not an undergraduate student? Paper too long? Still want to get your ideas published as a volunteer or researcher in the field? Inquire at: banana@scoutbanana.org.

Are you an undergraduate looking to be a larger part of SCOUT BANANA? Can you peer review articles extremely well and motivate others to do the same? Apply for the Editor-in-Chief position, contact: alex.h@scoutbanana.org

Bobby Seale to speak at MSU!!

*PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY!*

The W.E.B. Du Bois Society and the Young Democratic Socialists Present

Co-founder and former Chairman of the Black Panther Party for Self Defense

Bobby Seale

Thursday, January 15th, 2009

Join us for an inspiring lecture given by a historic icon and legend within the Civil Rights and Black Liberation Movements:

"The State of Black Politics in the 21st Century"

Lecture begins at 5pm in the Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center Auditorium, followed promptly by a Q&A Session.

Doors open at 4:45pm

For more information, please e-mail

msuduboissociety@gmail.com or

msuyds@gmail.com.

Also, see attached flier.

We would like to thank all

of our sponsors for their support:

The Office of Inclusion and Intercultural Initiatives• James Madison College • The Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs and Services • The Residential College of Arts and Humanities •The Multicultural Business Program • The African American and African Studies Program • Case Hall Government • Lyman Briggs College

Why the "white girl" joined "the Black struggle."

Last week I wrote about a certain transformation of mine--one of racial transcendence and of forming bonds of solidarity with African-African Americans. I told you how I overcame my fears about personally interacting with Black people and how I was able to build strong relationships with people I would have otherwise avoided, simply because they were “different” from myself. But what I failed to tell you was why I was moved to do it. Why was it so important for me to learn more about Black culture, or to truly understand the consequences of Black history in the United States? What motivated me from just knowing about the history of racial struggle in this country, to actively doing something about achieving racial justice in the present by joining Black organizations on campus? What moved me to study African American and African studies in school or decide to devote my life to working toward equalizing educational opportunity for children of color across the Diaspora? In a world where many would argue racism no longer exists, I can’t help but point to the overwhelming amount of racism that still exists. Though outward and obvious forms of racism such as slavery or segregation are no longer allowed, a new kind of racial exploitation has taken its place. Now it is through racist institutions and structures such as laws, public bodies, corporations, and universities that perpetuate racial disparities. The fact of the matter is my dedication to the Black liberation struggle is not one that is seen among the majority of white people in this country. I hope that by sharing my reasons and the stories of two other brave white women, Viola Liuzzo and Silvia Baraldini, I will be able to convince others to see the truth as I did, and to be moved away from the status quo and toward action against injustice.

In March of 1965, a group of peaceful protestors in Selma, Alabama were attacked by state troopers as they Marched toward Montgomery. A few days later another group of protestors, led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., won a court order allowing for another march from Selma to Montgomery directing the state to protect the marchers. The Governor at that time, a well known racist, told the White House that the state couldn’t afford to pay for the mobilization of the National Guard, so President Johnson sent in 1,900 of Alabama’s National Guard, 2,000 regular army soldiers, and 200 FBI agents and US marshals to protect the march. Viola Liuzzo, a 39 year old housewife from Detroit watched the second march move toward the Alabama capital. Liuzzo had watched the disaster of the first march on TV and decided she needed to do something to aid the Civil Rights marchers. Against the wishes of her husband and five children, Liuzzo drove alone from Michigan to Alabama in her family’s car to assist where she could.

Earlier in the week before the second march, Liuzzo had spent most of her time working at the hospitality desk in Brown Chapel at Selma and used her car to take people back and forth to Montgomery’s airport. The last day of the march to Montgomery, she worked at the first aid station, aiding those who had fainted from heat or exertion during the march. She then watched Dr. King deliver his "How long will it take? ... Not long, because mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord” speech. When the march ended, there were thousands of people from across the country who had come to participate in the marche, just like Liuzzo, that needed to get out of the city. She loaded her car with passengers, mostly black, and headed back toward Selma. When the passengers were dropped off, Liuzzo and Leroy Moton, a black teenager, headed back to Mongomery to pick up more people. After being harassed several times before leaving Selma, they stopped at a traffic light. Soon another car pulled up beside them. When the lights changed, the car began to speed up and chased Liuzzo. The chase went on for almost 20 miles as she tried to outrun her pursuers. All the while she was singing “We Shall Overcome” at the top of her lungs. Soon the other car closed in—a car full of Klansmen. One of the men fired twice into Liuzzo’s car, killing her.

An all white jury in Alabama acquitted the four Klansmen for the murder of Liuzzo. Since they could not be charged with murder in federal courts, they were tried under another law with conspiring to deprive her of her civil rights. They were found guilty, and served only 20 years in prison. The punishment given to these men was hardly appropriate for such a heinous act of injustice.

Another great woman, Silvia Baraldini, gave up her white privilege to aid in the struggle for people of color. At 14, she moved to the United States from Italy with her parents. Later on in life she attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she became a political activist. She became active in both the Black Power and Puerto Rican independence movements in the US between the 1960s and 80s.

In 1982 Baraldini was sentenced to 43 years in prison for conspiring to commit two armed robberies, driving a getaway car during the prison break of convicted murderer and fellow political activist Assata Shakur, who was wrongly accused of shooting and killing a New Jersey State Trooper, and for contempt of court for refusing to testify before a Grand Jury that was investigating the activities of the Puerto Rican independence movement.

Soon after her conviction, a campaign for her release began in Italy, mainly among leftist parties and movements. Her supporters claimed that the harshness of her punishment was due to her political beliefs and for her participation in the Black Liberation Army. Her punishment was seen as unfair and disproportionate to her “crimes.” Had she been convicted for the same crimes in Italy, her sentence would have only been a maximum of 25 years in prison.

After serving time in several maximum-security prisons, and after repeated petitions by the Italian government for her transfer, Baraldini was transferred to Italy to serve the remainder of her sentence. According to the terms of the agreement, she was supposed to stay in prison until 2008, but was released on house arrest in 2001. In 2006, she was released from detention in September of 2006 by a general pardon approved by the Italian Parliament.

Both of these women recognized the injustice that their brothers and sisters of color were facing in the United States. Both knew that despite what anyone else told them, they were doing the right thing by stepping up and taking on the burden of joining the struggle to end racism against people of color. They realized that the Black struggle is what American socialists and communists recognized earlier in US history: the struggle for true democracy. They struggled for a kind of democracy where racism, class division, and feelings of fear and hatred toward people “different” from the social norm were abolished. Viola Liuzzo and Silvia Baraldini were willing to give up the privilege that so many white women cherish and achieve freedom for all human beings at any price, including their lives. They believed, as I believe, that everyone on this earth deserves the right for equal opportunity. Seeing that such equality was being denied to people of color through racist institutions and structures, seeing the contradictions within our own government, we must be willing to face scrutiny and disapproval from the loved ones in our lives as well as expulsion and punishment from the society around us in order to do what’s right. In the face of great suffering, where do you stand? Are you willing to watch your brothers and sisters get beat down in the street, are you ready to watch democracy burn, or are you ready to take a stand and do something to change it?

Chicago workers shut down plant -- a sign of more to come?

On Saturday a group of 250 unionized workers peacefully shut down the Republic Windows and Doors plant after they were given 3 day’s notice that their factory was closing. They were also told that they would not be getting their severance packages or their vacation pay. With the thought of losing their jobs in an already unforving economy, workers decided to take action and are still protesting at this very moment.

So what started this mess in Chicago? As the workers closed down the plant in shifts, union leaders talked to the press outside and criticized the bailout of the plant that is leaving ordinary laborers behind while the head honchos on top leave with millions. The company claims that it can’t pay its employees because cancelled loans from the Bank of America won’t let them.

The Bank of America received $25 million by the US government in order to give out to corporations in the form of loans. Republic Windows and Doors was one of the many factories that was given tax payer money by the government during the bailouts, and their loans were to come from the Bank of America. When their loan money was cancelled and their monthly sales had almost fallen by half ($2.9 million), CEO Rich Gillman decided to close the doors of the factory. The Bank of America responded that they were not responsible for the factory’s financial obligations to its employees, therefore resolving itself of any guilt. It does seem rather ironic doesn’t it… taxpayer money being handed out to banks and corporations and not being used to better the working conditions for the TAX PAYING workers. Workers and protesters outside the factory realize how badly they had been exploited and carrying signs that say: “You got bailed out, we got sold out.”

Workers along with US Representative Luis Gutierrez (D) arranged for a meeting with company officials on Friday, but were angered when no officials showed up. Another meeting was scheduled for today in the afternoon.

The workers of the Republic factory are finding themselves in the national spotlight, providing hope and encouragement for workers across the country that find themselves without jobs. Many of the workers are surprised to see support coming from Rev. Jesse Jackson who has delivered food for the striking workers, the governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich who has urged all corporations in Illinois to not accept loans from the Bank of America, and even Barack Obama who spoke in favor of their strike. “The workers who are asking for the benefits and payments that they have earned, I think they’re absolutely right and understand that what’s happening to them is reflective of what’s happening across this economy,” he said at a news conference on Sunday.

Such action is reminiscent of the workers’ struggles in the 1920s and 30s. It has been compared to the 1936-37 sit down strikes by General Motors factory workers in Flint, MI as a way to unionize the Auto Industry. As the United States finds itself on the brink of another depression, is this a sign of things to come? Will similar protest be seen around the country as the economy continues to get worse?

We can only hope so.

It may be the only hope for the working class people of this nation.

Amnesty International Global Write-a-thon!

Dear friends (and people I thought would be interested),

After a long struggle, we have finally secured a real room and time for the Amnesty International 2008 Global Write-a-thon! It will be held in 319L South Case Hall Tuesday December 9th and Wednesday December 10th from 1-6pm. PLEASE TELL EVERYONE in your student groups and friends too! Also, for those who aren't sure what this event's about, Amnesty supporters around the world will write letters on behalf of prisoners of conscience and human rights defenders at risk of severe human rights violations. We will be writing to governments and others in positions of power on 14 different cases. I really want this to be a success, so please stop by, write a letter (or as many as you want), and save some lives. More information can be found at their website: http://www.amnestyusa.org/individuals-at-risk/global-write-a-thon/page.do?id=1108452

Thank you!
Allie

Efrén Paredes, Jr. Public Hearing Press Conference

Efrén Paredes, Jr. Public Hearing Press Conference
Date: Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Time: 12:00 PM
Location: NorthStar Center • 106 Lathrop St. • Lansing, MI 48912

PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
Friday, November 21, 2008

Media Contact
David Mitchell
NorthStar Center
Phone: 517-242-3501

The Michigan Parole Board has scheduled a public hearing on Thursday,
December 4, 2008, to consider the possible commutation of sentence for
Efrén Paredes, Jr., #203116. It will be held at 11:00 a.m. at the
T-100 Training Center, G. Robert Cotton Correctional Facility,
Jackson, Michigan.

Efrén is an innocent Latino former honor student who was arrested at
age 15 and wrongly convicted in 1989 for a murder and armed robbery he
did not commit; a crime to which others plead guilty. The crime
occurred in St. Joseph, Michigan (Berrien County), USA.

The case against Efrén was entirely circumstantial. There was no
physical evidence linking Efrén to the crime, no eyewitnesses to the
crime, and Efrén was home with his parents and two brothers when the
crime occurred. He was arrested, tried and convicted in a three month
period and was sentenced to three life sentences. Efrén has been
imprisoned nearly 20 years and is now 35-years-old.

The Berrien County Prosecutor's Office and investigating police
provided false and erroneous information to the media in an attempt to
convict Efrén in the media before trial. Their unethical conduct and
betrayal of the public trust infected every level of the legal process
and contributed to Efrén's unlawful conviction.

The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) prohibits the
imposition of life without parole sentences and the death penalty
against juveniles. One hundred ninety-two nations in the world have
ratified the CRC. Refusal to acknowledge this treaty is a human
rights violation that contravenes the evolving standards of decency in
a civilized society.

Efrén enjoys the support from notable scholars and knowledgeable
people across the country, including authors, criminologists, clergy,
community leaders, activists and a world renowned wrongful convictions
expert and veteran private investigator, Paul Ciolino.

Ciolino is the author of numerous articles in professional
publications and the book "In the Company of Giants: The Ultimate
Investigation Guide for Legal Professionals, Activists, Journalists &
the Wrongfully Convicted." In addition he co-wrote the best-selling
and critically acclaimed textbooks "Advanced Forensic Criminal Defense
Investigations" and "Advanced Forensic Civil Investigations."

Others supporting Efrén's release include The Injustice Must End
(TIME), National Lawyers Guild, Michigan Coalition for Human Rights,
NorthStar Center, Peace Education Center, Multi-Racial Unity Living
Experience (MRULE), Advocacy, Re-entry, Resources, and Outreach
(ARRO), American Friends Service Committee -Lansing (AFSC), Second
Chance for Youth (SCY), College Assistance Migrant Program (CAMP),
Chicanos y Latinos Unidos (CAMP), Greater Lansing Network Against War
and Injustice (GLNAWI), Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch,
Everybody Reads Bookstore, Gone Wired Cafe, et al.

According to Efrén's family, "We strongly support the commutation
request that was submitted by The Injustice Must End (TIME) Committee
on Efrén's behalf to the Michigan Parole Board. We are confident that
upon his release Efrén will be a productive member of society and
society as a whole will benefit from his release. As long as Efrén
remains incarcerated we all remain imprisoned to injustice."

# # #

Ayers' Reflection on Election, Future Change for America

What a Long, Strange Trip It's Been

Looking back on a surreal campaign season

By Bill Ayers

On the campaign trail, McCain immediately got on message. I became a prop, a cartoon character created to be pummeled

Whew! What was all that mess? I’m still in a daze, sorting it all out, decompressing.

Pass the Vitamin C.

For the past few years, I have gone about my business, hanging out with my kids and, now, my grandchildren, taking care of our elders (they moved in as the kids moved out), going to work, teaching and writing. And every day, I participate in the never-ending effort to build a powerful and irresistible movement for peace and social justice.

In years past, I would now and then—often unpredictably—appear in the newspapers or on TV, sometimes with a reference to Fugitive Days, my 2001 memoir of the exhilarating and difficult years of resistance against the American war in Vietnam. It was a time when the world was in flames, revolution was in the air, and the serial assassinations of black leaders disrupted our utopian dreams.

These media episodes of fleeting notoriety always led to some extravagant and fantastic assertions about what I did, what I might have said and what I probably believe now.

It was always a bit surreal. Then came this political season.

During the primary, the blogosphere was full of chatter about my relationship with President-elect Barack Obama. We had served together on the board of the Woods Foundation and knew one another as neighbors in Chicago’s Hyde Park. In 1996, at a coffee gathering that my wife, Bernardine Dohrn, and I held for him, I made a donation to his campaign for the Illinois State Senate.

Obama’s political rivals and enemies thought they saw an opportunity to deepen a dishonest perception that he is somehow un-American, alien, linked to radical ideas, a closet terrorist who sympathizes with extremism—and they pounced.

Sen. Hillary Clinton’s (D-N.Y.) campaign provided the script, which included guilt by association, demonization of people Obama knew (or might have known), creepy questions about his background and dark hints about hidden secrets yet to be uncovered.

On March 13, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), apparently in an attempt to reassure the “base,” sat down for an interview with Sean Hannity of Fox News. McCain was not yet aware of the narrative Hannity had been spinning for months, and so Hannity filled him in: Ayers is an unrepentant “terrorist,” he explained, “On 9/11, of all days, he had an article where he bragged about bombing our Pentagon, bombing the Capitol and bombing New York City police headquarters. … He said, ‘I regret not doing more.’ “

McCain couldn’t believe it.

Neither could I.

On the campaign trail, McCain immediately got on message. I became a prop, a cartoon character created to be pummeled.

When Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin got hold of it, the attack went viral. At a now-famous Oct. 4 rally, she said Obama was “pallin’ around with terrorists.” (I pictured us sharing a milkshake with two straws.)

The crowd began chanting, “Kill him!” “Kill him!” It was downhill from there.

My voicemail filled up with hate messages. They were mostly from men, all venting and sweating and breathing heavily. A few threats: “Watch out!” and “You deserve to be shot.” And some e-mails, like this one I got from satan@hell.com: “I’m coming to get you and when I do, I’ll water-board you.”

The police lieutenant who came to copy down those threats deadpanned that he hoped the guy who was going to shoot me got there before the guy who was going to water-board me, since it would be most foul to be tortured and then shot. (We have been pals ever since he was first assigned to investigate threats made against me in 1987, after I was hired as an assistant professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago.)

The good news was that every time McCain or Palin mentioned my name, they lost a point or two in the polls. The cartoon invented to hurt Obama was now poking holes in the rapidly sinking McCain-Palin ship.

That ’60s show

On Aug. 28, Stephen Colbert, the faux right-wing commentator from Comedy Central who channels Bill O’Reilly on steroids, observed:

"To this day, when our country holds a presidential election, we judge the candidates through the lens of the 1960s. … We all know Obama is cozy with William Ayers a ’60s radical who planted a bomb in the capital building and then later went on to even more heinous crimes by becoming a college professor. … Let us keep fighting the culture wars of our grandparents. The ’60s are a political gift that keeps on giving."

It was inevitable. McCain would bet the house on a dishonest and largely discredited vision of the ’60s, which was the defining decade for him. He built his political career on being a prisoner of war in Vietnam.

The ’60s—as myth and symbol—is much abused: the downfall ofcivilization in one account, a time of defeat and humiliation in a second, and a perfect moment of righteous opposition, peace and love in a third.

The idea that the 2008 election may be the last time in American political life that the ’60s plays any role whatsoever is a mixed blessing. On the one hand, let’s get over the nostalgia and move on. On the other, the lessons we might have learned from the black freedom movement and from the resistance against the Vietnam War have never been learned. To achieve this would require that we face history fully and honestly, something this nation has never done.

The war in Vietnam was an illegal invasion and occupation, much of it conducted as a war of terror against the civilian population. The U.S. military killed millions of Vietnamese in air raids—like the one conducted by McCain—and entire areas of the country were designated free-fire zones, where American pilots indiscriminately dropped surplus ordinance—an immoral enterprise by any measure.

What is really important

McCain and Palin—or as our late friend Studs Terkel put it, “Joe McCarthy in drag”—would like to bury the ’60s. The ’60s, after all, was a time of rejecting obedience and conformity in favor of initiative and courage. The ’60s pushed us to a deeper appreciation of the humanity of every human being. And that is the threat it poses to the right wing, hence the attacks and all the guilt by association.

McCain and Palin demanded to “know the full extent” of the Obama-Ayers “relationship” so that they can know if Obama, as Palin put it, “is telling the truth to the American people or not.”

This is just plain stupid.

Obama has continually been asked to defend something that ought to be at democracy’s heart: the importance of talking to as many people as possible in this complicated and wildly diverse society, of listening with the possibility of learning something new, and of speaking with the possibility of persuading or influencing others.

The McCain-Palin attacks not only involved guilt by association, they also assumed that one must apply a political litmus test to begin a conversation.

On Oct. 4, Palin described her supporters as those who “see America as the greatest force for good in this world” and as a “beacon of light and hope for others who seek freedom and democracy.” But Obama, she said, “Is not a man who sees America as you see it and how I see America.” In other words, there are “real” Americans — and then there are the rest of us.

In a robust and sophisticated democracy, political leaders—and all of us—ought to seek ways to talk with many people who hold dissenting, or even radical, ideas. Lacking that simple and yet essential capacity to question authority, we might still be burning witches and enslaving
our fellow human beings today.

Maybe we could welcome our current situation—torn by another illegal war, as it was in the ’60s—as an opportunity to search for the new.

Perhaps we might think of ourselves not as passive consumers of politics but as fully mobilized political actors. Perhaps we might think of our various efforts now, as we did then, as more than a single campaign, but rather as our movement-in-the-making.

We might find hope in the growth of opposition to war and occupation worldwide. Or we might be inspired by the growing movements for reparations and prison abolition, or the rising immigrant rights movement and the stirrings of working people everywhere, or by gay and lesbian and transgender people courageously pressing for full recognition.

Yet hope—my hope, our hope—resides in a simple self-evident truth: the future is unknown, and it is also entirely unknowable.

History is always in the making. It’s up to us. It is up to me and to you. Nothing is predetermined. That makes our moment on this earth both hopeful and all the more urgent—we must find ways to become real actors, to become authentic subjects in our own history.

We may not be able to will a movement into being, but neither can we sit idly for a movement to spring full-grown, as from the head of Zeus.

We have to agitate for democracy and egalitarianism, press harder for human rights, learn to build a new society through our self-transformations and our limited everyday struggles.

At the turn of the last century, Eugene Debs, the great Socialist Party leader from Terre Haute, Ind., told a group of workers in Chicago, “If I could lead you into the Promised Land, I would not do it, because someone else would come along and lead you out.”

In this time of new beginnings and rising expectations, it is even more urgent that we figure out how to become the people we have been waiting to be.

© All Rights Reserved

Bill Ayers
is a Distinguished Professor of Education and Senior University Scholar
at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He is the author of Fugitive Days (Beacon) and co-author, with Bernardine Dohrn, of Race Course: Against White Supremacy (Third World Press).

More information about Bill Ayers

Rock The Vote @ MSU!

Dear friends,

There is a major voter protection and voter assistance effort taking place across MSU precincts this upcoming Election Day.  A broad coalition of MSU student groups is organizing to make sure voters aren't disenfranchised and that people are taken care of while waiting in line to vote.  We'll be providing free t-shirts to those wearing campaign materials, free food to those in line, and will have on-call legal assistance in case of potential attempted voter disenfranchisement.

There will be a planning meeting this Sunday, November 2nd, in the MSU Union Main Lounge at 9pm.  Hope to see you all there!

John Simpkins
MSU ACLU

Letter from Efren via Helen

Dear Friends,

It is with great pleasure that I announce to you I have received
official notice from prison administrators that my public hearing has
been scheduled for Thursday, December 4, 2008.

I was grateful to receive the news, and am happy to share it with
family, friends and supporters who have fought long and hard to help
me arrive at this moment. We have all worked diligently to one day
witness this day become a reality. It is a culmination of our
collective spirit, ideas, energies, vision, and evidence of our
unwavering determination to pursue justice.

My mother cried when I shared the news with her. She was elated about
the prospect that I could be released as early as the Christmas
holiday or within the next couple of months. She witnessed my arrest
as a 15-year-old boy in the kitchen of our home on March 15, 1989 and
painfully observed as I was paraded away in handcuffs to a waiting
police car.

For almost 20 years my mother and others have traveled across the
state to visit me caged in prisons. Sometimes the visits have
occurred in contact visiting rooms, other times in small booths behind
glass partitions that separated us from contact altogether. My mother
now prays for the day she will be able to see me walk out of prison
without handcuffs — a free citizen for the first time in my life as a
35-year-old adult.

After the public hearing has been held the Parole Board will make a
recommendation to the Governor supporting or opposing my commutation
request. Upon receipt of the Parole Board recommendation the Governor
will deliberate over the matter and render a final decision about my
release.

The urgency of this phase of our campaign for justice can not be
underscored enough. It is imperative that we closely coordinate our
efforts and continue working to maximize our efficacy. This is the
most important opportunity to have my freedom restored — and perhaps
the final one — I may ever receive.

Only 34 days remain for us to launch the strongest phase of our
campaign yet. Within these days are the seeds of my potential
release. The manner in which we cultivate these seeds could determine
the final outcome of my public hearing and future.

Please take a few moments to download the attachment to this message
and print out as many copies as you can. Ask people to sign them and
please personally mail the letters in groups of 10 or 20 letters at a
time in large envelopes to the Parole Board. This will ensure as many
letters as possible are mailed.

Hundreds of support letters have been mailed to the Parole Board and
hundreds of support postcards continue to be mailed to the Governor's
office. We are doing a remarkable job with this aspect of our effort
and I want to encourage you to please continue doing it.

The next phase of our campaign will include organizing as many people
possible to attend the public hearing to express their support on my
behalf. In the next week I will be sending you more information about
the location and time of the hearing so everyone can begin their
preparations.

This is extremely important. We can expect that members of the
victim's family in the case and the prosecutor's office is going to
encourage opposition to show up at the hearing. Therefore, it is
imperative that we make a strong show of support and be well-
represented. We do not want to underestimate the number of people who
may appear expressing opposition to my release.

On a very personal note, I am asking all of you to please pray for
Helen's father, George, and our family. Recently George suffered a
heart attack and he has been hospitalized for two weeks. This week we
learned that George now has extensive irreparable heart damage.
Doctors have offered very discouraging news about his future.

I am hopeful that we will be successful with my campaign for freedom
so I can spend time with George while it is still possible. Time is
not on his side right now. Your prayers and thoughts would be very
much appreciated during this difficult time.

I am confident everyone will do the best they can to answer this
urgent call to action and impassioned appeal. Thank you for your
continued support, and thank you for helping me stay strong and
determined to never acquiesce to injustice. The source of our
strength lies in our collective effort.

In Solidarity,

Efrén Paredes, Jr.

Support Efren Paredes' Public Hearing - DECEMBER 4th

Hello Everyone--

With great joy , I would like to let yall know that EFREN's Public Hearing has been set for DECEMBER 4th!!!

This is what we've been waiting for everyone! Let's show our SUPPORT

More Info, in terms of organizing and transportation, will be sent out through the CLU list serve.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE ADDED PLEASE SEND ME YOUR NAME AND EMAIL.

GRACIAS!!!

-----------
For more information check out the Free Efren Paredes Campaign here.

Support the 4-day 'Fast for Out Future'

Join Chicanos y Latinos Unidos (CLU) and Efrén Paredes, Jr./Tlecoz
Huitzil for a four day fast November 1, 2008 to November 5, 2008 in
solidarity with the fasters currently participating in the Fast for
Our Future in Los Angeles. Due to the recent raids and deportations
affecting our community here in the Lansing/East Lansing community, we
will fast on only water for four days. Plan of Action (Subject to
changes/additions): -Saturday November 1, 2008 -meet at 12:00 a.m.
1:00 a.m. in el Centro de la Raza for a small ceremony to begin the
fast. -People will be there all day until 8pm -12 (noon) press
conference: your presence is extremely important for support -Sunday
November 2, 2008 -9am - Morning talk for the fasters to share their
experiences so far -Fasters will be in el Centro de la Raza most of
the day Sunday until about 6pm at which time most fasters will be
going to the Dia de los Muertos event at the median on Grand River and
Abbott Sympathizers of our cause are going to b able to visit/interact
with the fasters. We are trying to raise awareness of how I.C.E.
operatives are resorting to Gestapo tactics to arrest and detain
people, of the disturbing lack of remorse from I.C.E. and the American
government by the actions of detainment and transport of the arrested
to jails like criminals of society How can you help: 1.) Join the
fast: Contact Xavier Gonzalez if you want to join so that we can put
your name on the official press release. gonza365@msu.edu or (956) 739
- 5264. 2.) Donate $5 per person fasting to help fundraise for
affected families. 3.) Sign the pledge and spread the word about the
pledge: http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5586/t/3595/signUp.jsp?key=422
4.) Come to El Centro de la Raza to show your support for the fasters
5.) Bring water to those fasting


The following information is from the Fast for Our Future web site at
http://www.fastforourfuture.com. Please read the information and visit
the link to sign the Pledge.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
Over 100 people are engaging in a hunger strike to mobilize 1,000,000
people to sign the Pledge to vote and take action for immigrant
rights. On October 15th, 21 days before the 2008 election, immigrants,
movement leaders, day laborers, faith leaders, student leaders,
grassroots organizers, musicians and artists, and people of conscience
rose out of fear and began one of the largest hunger strikes in
American history. "The Fast for our Future" set up a permanent
encampment at La Placita Olvera (or Olvera Street Plaza), the historic
heart of Los Angeles, for the duration of the hunger strike. In the
same spirit as César Chávez and Mohandas K. Gandhi, our shared
sacrifice and commitment to the Immigrant Rights Movement will inspire
a historic mobilization of Latino, immigrant, and pro-immigrant rights
voters. We must remember the I.C.E. raids, those detained and
deported, the families torn apart, the dreams deferred. We must
remember the marches, the walkouts, the boycotts, and the promise we
made: "Hoy Marchamos, Mañana Votamos." In 2006 we marched in millions
for our rights. On November 4th we will vote in unprecedented numbers.
Be 1 of 1,000,000 to vote and take action for immigrant rights. Sign
the Pledge to demand an end to the I.C.E. raids and respect for
immigrant rights across the country: http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5586/t/3595/signUp.jsp?key=422

Will the Youth Vote Swing This Election?

Original article By Cora Currier on The Nation.

October 17, 2008

As state deadlines pass, voter registration numbers are reaching record highs. The Associated Press estimated last week that nationwide there have been more than 9 million new registrations in the past six months, with Democrats outnumbering Republicans four to one. Get-out-the-vote groups that target young people are reporting unprecedented numbers of young voters added to the rolls. This week Rock the Vote, one of the largest nonpartisan GOTV organizations, surpassed 2.3 million registrations this election cycle.

"The numbers are staggering," said Andy Karsch, director of Rock the Vote's bus project, which has been touring around the country since September. Through its bus tour, Rock the Vote has secured more than 1 million new registrants in the past month alone. The Obama campaign would not give out specifics on the number of voters it had registered through its outreach effort, Vote for Change, but Chris Hughes, the campaign's director of online organizing, said that the website had been "hugely successful; it surpassed all our expectations. Almost everyone who came to the website followed through with the whole registration process." On a local level, a group called New Era Colorado has registered more than 11,000 voters, according to executive director Steve Fenberg. "The registration levels are enormous in Colorado," he said. "There's an excitement on the ground I've never seen before."

The number of newly registered Democrats eclipses Bush's margins of victory in swing states like Colorado, New Mexico and Nevada. In North Carolina Democrats have registered twice as many voters as Republicans, helping to put the state in play. A big reason is the number of new young voters, 18- to 29-year-olds who favor Obama by upwards of twenty points.

In Virginia, once a Republican bastion, the State Board of Elections had received 306,000 new voter registration applications by the end of September: 42 percent of them were from people younger than 25. In Pennsylvania the number of registered Democrats has increased by about 13 percent, thanks in part to heavy targeting of the state's large college population. Since many states' deadlines still haven't passed, the exact percentage of new registrants nationally who are under 30 won't be clear until after the election. Historically, new registrants tend to be younger, and both campaigns and nonpartisan efforts have overwhelmingly targeted the demographic.

Of course, registration is only part of the puzzle--getting voters to the polls is the ultimate goal. Yet the registration numbers thus far bode well for November. According to the US Census Bureau, only 49 percent of people ages 18 to 29 voted in 2004, but 81 percent of those who were registered voted. Even among 18- to-21-year-olds, all new voters based on their age, roughly 80 percent of registrants voted. These rates of participation among registered young voters could spell a record high turnout in terms of raw numbers this election cycle.

What's more, organizers are pointing to a number of factors that may indicate that there's real substance behind all the talk of young voters this year. For one, youth turnout rose in the 2004 and 2006 elections, and it doubled and tripled in some states' primaries in 2008, compared with 2000.

There are also the technological advancements that have served as vital communication tools in getting people registered and to the polls. GOTV groups like Rock the Vote are finding that the number of people they reach has expanded exponentially thanks to peer-to-peer networking tools like Facebook and Twitter. The Nation's Ari Melber has reported extensively on the Obama campaign's effective use of new technology to reach voters, such as utilizing text messaging and their own networking site MyBO.

"All this targeting and talk is having an effect," Fenberg said of his experience on the ground in Colorado. "People are plugged in, and we're seeing more excitement than ever."

Karsch said Rock the Vote's staff has felt the same kind of excitement. "I'd be shocked if there wasn't an unprecedented turnout," he said. "This is a transitional election, and people want to be a part of it." If the registration numbers are any indication, new young voters could change the game come November.

Call for submissions (and positions) open for Lansing magazine

We're writing to tell you about the upcoming issue of Amplifx Magazine, coming out this November. Amplifx is a Lansing-based community organization and magazine that focuses on issues of equality, social justice, environmentalism, community empowerment and solidarity/coalition building. It is published bi-monthly on recycled paper with soy ink, and prints locally generated textual, visual and creative work, including poetry, short fiction/non-fiction, photography, graphic design, comics, op ed pieces, reviews, journalistic articles, and more.

The theme for the next issue is creative responses that communities have had or can have to the need for social change. Examples of this might include creation of alternative economies, media justice movements, sharing of local resources, interdependence and building of sustainable initiatives. We are actively looking for submissions that consider this theme. If you have writing, artwork, thoughts/contributions, please send them our way at submit@amplifx.org. All submissions are due by November 1st.

Amplifx Magazine is always accepting submissions on a rolling basis, even if they do not directly relate to the theme of the issue. Also, Amplifx Magazine shares a network of syndicated content with several other Campus Progress/Center for American Progress sponsored publications in the country. If your submission is published, there is potential for it to be republished or picked up by magazines at other universities, which increases readership/distribution for your writing and artwork.

For more ways to get involved with Amplifx, visit our "Get Involved" webpage at http://amplifx.org/involved.html. We are currently looking for interested persons to help out with magazine production (staff writers, graphic and web designers, bloggers, illustrators) and distribution, coalition building with local social justice groups, outreach efforts such as planning community art showcases, skillshares and workshops, and general publicity and fundraising. If any of these appeal to you, or if you'd like to discuss options for contributing, please feel free to contact us at info@amplifx.org.

Our weekly meetings are on Sundays at 3pm at Gone Wired. They are run democratically and are open to the public, and you are always welcome at them!

Looking forward to hearing from you and working with you,
Peace
The Amplifx Staff.

Opportunity for Students of Color fighting for Social Justice

I want to share with you some information about a scholarship program
for students of color who are interested in fighting for social justice.
This program is for sophomores and juniors at four year colleges or
universities. We place them on one of our organizing drives for 10
weeks during the summer. The program is designed to expose students to
as much of the labor movement as possible. They are paired with a
mentor who helps them through the summer. A couple days of the program
are spent at Harvard University where we either orient the students to
the program at the beginning of the summer or debrief them at the end.
We cover all transportation costs, housing and provide a rental car.
Students receive a stipend of $4000 and up to $5000 in scholarship money
from the United Negro College Fund (UNCF). Below is the link for our
webpage. If you know of any students that qualify for this program
please pass this information to them. I can also send you brochures if
you're interested.

click here for more info

Philip Allen
Education Coordinator
Education Dept, AFSCME
202-429-1025
202-429-5088 (fax)

the slacker uprising and revolution?

Armed with underwear and ramen noodles the youth of America are set to overthrow the failed system! They will wait no longer, they will sit no more and they will apathetically listen to no one but Barack Obama anymore. Young people are fed up, that is for certain, but to what extent and will their record numbers in the polls really revolutionize American political life?

Michael Moore recently released his fifth major film, Slacker Uprising and is giving it out for free (download from site).

"Slacker Uprising" takes place in the wake of "Fahrenheit 9/11," during the run-up to the 2004 election, as I traveled for 42 days across America, visiting 62 cities in a failed attempt to remove George W. Bush from office. My goal was to help turn out a record number of young voters and others who had never voted before. (That part was a success. Young adults voted in greater numbers than in any election since 18-year-olds were given the right to vote. And the youth vote was the only age group that John Kerry won.)

While this may have been a failed experiment in mobilizing young people to actually effect change, we may be able to see some of the results in this year's election combined with a number of other factors. In the primaries, the youth vote was very strong - more young people than ever before voted in the primaries. This coming election there are so many young people registered and registering to vote that I would not be surprised to see the youth vote carry some regions. With the candidates picked and running through the mud, the real question becomes: is voting really the most effective way to make change? Is voting for one man or the other really going to show us a reversal in American political action?

At the end of the movie trailer, Michael Moore says, ". . . the young people of America, you're the ones who are gunna do it, you're leading the revolution."

Getting young people out to vote will not show us a different America. Granted this is a great chance to get more young people involved in civic and community action, but the chances are slim if the movement only works through ramen and registering. The opportunities for long-term engagement need to be offered if young people are going to really make change in this country. The young people of today are hardly prepared to lead a revolution in America. If we look back to the 60s and 70s (an era of high political stakes, massive movement building, and student protest) we can see a different type of young person.

Today young people are tucked away, sheltered, and left unaware of the wide world outside. In the 60s you had students who were raised by parents affected by crises, they were first generation at college, they were raised in the steel mill, they were right up close to the issues of the day. Not to mention they were raised during the build up of a very active time with the Civil Rights Movement coming to a peak and that morphing into a number of other issues. Students during that time were able to get involved because they felt marginalized even with their middle class college backgrounds. Today, students are also marginalized and excluded, but young people cling to a apathetic stance as opposed to an involved one. This may be a result of our upbringing. The best student movement examples come from Berkley California with the Free Speech Movement (FSM). What resulted as the FSM moved from Civil Rights to Free Speech to ending the Vietnam War to spurring a counter culture, was a split thinking. One track that led people to think that the students were dirty hippies who were bad for challenging the status quo. The other track led people to romanticize fighting the man and rioting against the system. This romanticizing has led many people to try to recreate movements of the past.

Probably one of the most detrimental results of the 60s and 70s student activist era was the institutionalizing of campus activism. In a documentary that I viewed about the FSM it was clear to see this new mode of control take place as students were allowed to 'table' on campus. Now in order to take any action on campus you have to register, open a student account if you plan to raise money, file your planned events, get proper security if it is a large event, and jump through any number of hoops to be approved to engage in activism. In December 2007, Matt Birkhold wrote on student power and activism,

". . .colleges want to make sure that students do not get too radical and recreate the late 60s. To accomplish this, they monitor everything student groups do. When student groups get too radical or begin to question university policies, they typically lose university support. Because students want to get their message out, they create flyers that will be approved by the university. Unfortunately, this is too big of a compromise because all the time students spend getting flyers approved could be spent organizing or studying. By continuing with university approved activism students are giving up a great deal of power and giving the university far too much. This must be seen as both a diversion and a way to absorb radicalism."

University administrations learned from the past so that events of that era could never be repeated. Student activism has been boxed in and so most students wouldn't even imagine some of the most effective actions to make change on their campuses. To quote FSM leader Mario Savio,

"There is a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart, that you can't take part; you can't even passively take part, and you've got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you've got to make it stop. And you've got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it, that unless you're free, the machine will be prevented from working at all!

The idea of ungovernability is how real change occurs, when something is ground to a halt it is forced to engage that which is preventing it from continuing. This was a tactic used throughout the 60s and 70s as well as during actions against the apartheid regime in South Africa. Making the townships ungovernable was how the black majority was able to force change.

In light of this, Universities have created a sterile vacuum for student action within the campus setting. For one example, during the 80s on Michigan State University's (MSU) campus students took over the administration building to demand a more diverse faculty. This was effective because it ground the university to a halt. All money was moved in and out of the administration building. Since they took over on pay day, and for a prolonged time after, the finances of the university were shutdown. Sadly, these movements were phenomenas, after negotiations were entered and actions were said to be taken - the follow up was gone because the movement has dissipated. Piecemeal outcomes were won for a long and often violent movement building. As Nelson Mandela noted, the oppressor defines the nature of the struggle. When Reagan had the national guard corral and gas students at a peaceful rally at Berkley, that marked the end of a long period of highly involved student activism.

Yesterday, Barack Obama came to speak at MSU's campus as the most recent presidential election draws ever closer. The student turnout was incredible, Obama's speech the usual, but still good. However the whole time I couldn't help but think about how sterile an environment this was for student activism and political involvement. Everyone is corralled into a small area, the police are everywhere, no signs are allowed, and the politician isn't there to talk to you. He is there to deliver sound bites to the press and media, your concerns are not that important. It almost felt like a day wasted on youth - get out of class, skip this, miss work - to hear a presidential candidate deliver My vote in Michigan as far as the Presidential election is concerned does not matter. Right, it is unimportant, since we have a winner take all system and McCain is pulling his campaign out of Michigan, Barack Obama will take the state and I won't even have to vote. This is where it is important to remind people that there is more than one man to vote for this election (and not even voting per say). I am a strong proponent of involvement in local politics because that is all that really matters.

And so back to the idea of a Slacker Uprising, we have a long way to come if we are going to have a mass movement of students. They may be going to the polls, but we need students running in the city councils, volunteering in their neighborhoods, taking action for their local environment, and caring for their communities. The opportunity and threat present in the 60s is not here today. The average college student is not going to jump into a rally because they see no need to. I agree with Michael Moore on one thing and that is the belief that it will be young people who make the greatest change in America. I firmly believe that young people are the key to social change. This can be evidenced by the 60s and 70s, and even today. I see its potential, but I am not sure that just engaging young people to vote is the best way. There needs to be a more comprehensive knowledge of how things are before involvement will lead to a revolution of sorts. We cannot seek to recreate the past, we need to learn and develop new tactics, we need to research how our power as students and young people can best make change. Birkhold reminds us that, "Students have power; they just have to learn how to use it."

Is participation to perpetuate an extremely flawed structure better than choosing rather to engage people and work for a justice deferred by that structure? The one decision here is the power in your right (or left) hand on election day - will you only check a box (fill a bubble, etc.), or will you help ideas become more than paper promises?

Previously posted on the Young People For Blog.

Free Efren Event!

Maria Zavala, Xicana activist and active Lansing community member,will present on the Efren Paredes Jr case.

A case in which an innocent 15 year old Latino honor role student was given 3 life sentences for a crime he did not commit.

Come learn about Juvenile life sentences without parole, the injustices in the prison and justice system.

FYI! Efren is going to call us from Prison at the event!