On campuses around the world, a wave of occupations and militant organizing has been underway to fight undemocratic administrations that are using the economic crisis to push through racist policies that disproportionately target people of color. This has included community college students in New York, students across England and Italy.
Many of us recognize that public education in this country has long been a disservice to those of us who need it. There’s a reason why Kanye West can make hit songs that clown college degrees. But this recent round of attacks on education is about more than just classrooms and textbooks. It’s about our right as people of color to decide what kind of education we deserve, and how we want to use it .
In Louisiana, we are facing serious cutbacks. So far, we know:
- All of Louisiana's four-year universities and technical and
community colleges face an 18-30% cut
- For Delgado, this could mean cuts between $6 and $11 million affecting students, faculty and staff
- General Education will be the first area cut, which means few choices and fewer opportunities for students of color
Why is education under attack in Louisiana? What type of cuts is Delgado facing? Who will these affect? How are students of color responding at other community colleges? One thing is certain: people of color all over are making it clear that the recession is not our fault, it is the fault of the politicians, bankers, and elites. This is their crisis. Not Ours.
Join the Ella Baker Organizing Committee
Monday, March 9
in the Dolphin Den
in the Student Life Center of Delgado City Park
from 1:30-3:00pm
for an Open Discussion about the crisis in our education and what we can do about it.
The Ella Baker Organizing Committee is a campus-based organization animated by the principles of democracy and anti-racism. For more information, email us at ellabakeroc@gmail.com or join us on Facebook at “Cuts for Them, Not Us”
Damn right, y'all. We've been organizing against budget cuts and free speech limitations at Northeastern Illinois University. They're trying to take this crisis out on working class students, but students at plenty of colleges have made it clear that they won't take it lying down. It feels like a real movement for the first time in a while, and is probably one of the most promising developments that the left has seen in a long time.
ReplyDeleteYou might want to mention at the meeting that other successful occupations have taken place at Rochester University, and the kids at Hampshire College made history a couple weeks ago when they got the school to divest from companies that do business with the Israeli apartheid state.
They can't stop us now!