Students for a Democratic Society

On June 22-26, in Detroit, MI, SDS will join thousands of organizers and activists at the U.S. Social Forum to share our perspectives and strategies for social and economic justice. Members of SDS are traveling from across the country to discuss our experiences in building the student movement over the last four years.

SDS has been involved in many important battles since the 2007 USSF in Atlanta - from fighting to defend education as a right, to leading tens of thousands of students and youth in protesting against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. SDS has also been active in the struggle for immigrants rights, labor solidarity, support for the Palestinian liberation movement, and many other key issues that we have faced over the last few years.

So come hang out with SDS! We will sum up our experience in how to organize on our campuses and communities against U.S. empire abroad and repression and cutbacks here at home.

Join us at our two workshops:

Students in the Campus Anti-war Movement

SDS workshop addressing the need to continue building a student anti-war movement on campus in the post-Bush era.
Thursday, Jun 24 2010 - 1:00pm.
TWW: Fourier.

The Fight for Education Rights: March 4th and Beyond

Students and Youth discuss March 4th action for education rights and next steps.
Jun 25 2010 - 1:00pm.
Cobo Hall: D3-18.

Or stop by and hang out with us at our table:

SDS Meet-and-Greet

At the SDS Table, we'll likely be in the main hall.

Send us an e-mail to let us know you're coming, or give a call if you want to meet up in Detroit!

Contact Kas Schwerdtfeger, Milwaukee SDS, kas.psom [at] gmail.com | 262-893-2806 (Cell)

RSVP on Facebook

For more information on SDS, check out http://www.studentsforademocraticsociety.org/.

To register for the USSF, visit http://www.ussf2010.org/register

*For Immediate Release*

Students for a Democratic Society condemns in the strongest terms
Israel's massacre and kidnapping of the activists of the Freedom
Flotilla on May 31 that was bringing humanitarian aid in solidarity
with the people in Gaza. This terroristic act of piracy on the high
seas by the Israeli military resulted in the deaths of at least nine
people and the wounding of many more. The surviving activists say that
they were beaten and tortured with electricity before being abducted
from international waters into Israeli territory, where they were
jailed on the absurd charge of illegally entering Israel.

Meanwhile, as the whole world responds to these events with shock and
outrage, the US government hasn't skipped a beat in providing the
usual diplomatic, political and financial support for Israel's war
crimes. This has played a critical role in enabling Israel to conduct
business as usual, as can be seen by the boarding and kidnapping of
another aid ship headed for Gaza, the MV Rachel Corrie only days after
the massacre.

SDS is mobilizing across the country to protest Israel's criminal
aggression against the Freedom Flotilla as well as its occupation and
oppression of Palestine in general:

• On June 1 and June 4, the UW-Milwaukee and UW-Waukesha SDS chapters,
  alongside MEChA, the Arab-American and Jewish communities brought out
  hundreds to protest at the Milwaukee Federal Building.
• Chicago SDSers joined with a picket of more than 3000 at the Israeli
  consulate in Chicago on June 1.
• On June 3, UNC-Chapel Hill SDS mobilized for a rally in Durham,
  North Carolina.
• UNC-Asheville SDS called for an emergency protest on June 7.

SDS calls on students everywhere to join us in protest of Israel's war
crimes and the United States government's complicity in them. We are
calling for the following:

• Release the activists with the MV Rachel Corrie
• Lift the siege of Gaza
• Dismantle the Jewish settlements in the West Bank
• End all US aid to Israel
• Campus divestment from businesses profiting from Israeli apartheid

For more information about Students for a Democratic Society, visit
http://www.newsds.org

The following call to action is from DC SDS

Funk the War 9: Bad Romance
Student power against Obama's recession empire

Funk the War, light the bed on fire, and break free from this bad romance!
Washington, DC. March 19, the 7th anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq.
Student mutiny against the War on Terror: Fund Education, Not War & Occupation.

Obama's got us singing like Lady Gaga, “I want your love and all your lover's revenge.” Thousands of anti-war youth fell in love with Obama and dropped everything to build his campaign. He seduced us with promises of hope and change from Bush's abuses, all the while refusing to give up his lust for the War on Terror.

We've been together a while now and Obama keeps expanding the War on Terror in the Middle East and Central Asia. He's taking advantage of record youth unemployment and skyrocketing college costs to drag young people into a war we've got nothing to gain from. More soldiers trapped in the War on Terror are committing suicide than ever before. Obama, “Baby, you're sick.”

March 19th is the 7th anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq and the occupation's going strong. It's time to Funk the War, light the bed on fire, and break free from this bad romance.

“Walk, walk, fashion baby, work it!” DC SDS is calling for a massive student power dance party against empire to disrupt the corporate-political war machine in streets of the capital city. We refuse to let another year of war in Iraq and war on our youth pass by without resistance. Join us in the streets and help build an unstoppable student & youth anti-war movement in 2010.

Assemble your crew, practice your moves, and throw on them dancing shoes. We'll be hosting anti-imperialist education events, direct action trainings, dance floor mayhem, and smaller actions in the lead up to March 19th. Get in touch if you'd like to attend or host an event or if we can help support your resistance efforts: strategic planning, action trainings, logistical support, we'd love to help. We'll see you in the streets.

Upcoming events in Washington, DC:

* January 29: Funk the Warming – Down with the Fossil Hawks
* February 13: Funk the War 9 Consulta & Bad Romance Weekend
Consulta @ 4pm, RSVP to funkthewar9@gmail.com for more info.
* March 19: Funk the War: Bad Romance
* March 20: Mass march against the war; Funk the War post-action meet-up

More information:
visit us on the interwebs at dc-sds.org
email: funkthewar9@gmail.com
phone: Sam 202-436-2075; Rachel 609-529-6415

More reports coming soon. Please email sds-website@googlegroups.com to get your report posted here.

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Drexel SDS

Things at Drexel are just starting up again, and our day of action on campus was pretty successful. Members of SDS managed to fight the windy elements and distribute over 200 flyers! The goal of the flyers were to not only promote the campaign, but to increase awareness of the SDS presence at Drexel to hopefully gain membership. After distributing the flyers at Drexel, we heaeded over to Temple, where there was a fair of sorts. They were able to get a table and pass out flyers also. We're both small chapters that are in the process of starting up again, so I believe our small steps will pay off in time.

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Diablo Valley College March 4th Rally and March for Public Education

On March 4th, 2010 the students of Diablo Valley College rallied together in the Student Union plaza to call for an end to fee hikes and budget cuts to the education system. The rally, which consisted of speakers, music, and dance performances, was energetic and covered with students holding picket signs showing slogans such as “rise up against fee hikes” and “fund education not imperial occupation”. Speakers included college professors, the president of the faculty union, students, and community organizers. The rally of approximately 200 students was followed by a march around campus, with stops in the Liberal Arts quad, the main Quad, and continuing through the corridors of many buildings. They called for students to come out of their classes and join the movement to save public education. Following the march, students and others filled an 84 seat community bus across the street from DVC, heading into San Francisco for the central regional rally at 5pm.

Over the time of our rally we probably got around 1.200 people to come in and out of our rally with the consideration of classes starting and ending. The spreading of the message overall well.

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In Chicago there was a forceful protest of over 250 at the University of Illinois-Chicago who came out to defend education and fight for fair contracts. Chanting "Chop from the top!" and "Whose university? Our university!", students, members of SEIU Local 73, the Graduate Employees Organization, and faculty joined in unison against the administration placing the budget crisis on their backs. Earlier in the day featured a forum by several professors speaking on the budget crisis, followed by a rally and march through the campus to the administrator’s building, and closed with a soup kitchen provided by SEIU to demonstrate for a fair contract.

"This is the first step toward more militant actions," says Kait McIntyre, a student at UIC and member of Chicago SDS. "Today we showed that you can't put this on the backs of students and workers, you can't cut our diversity centers without a fight."

Tuscaloosa SDS at the University of Alabama has been playing a big role in offering support to drivers of the school's shuttle buses, the Crimson Ride, as they fight for a living wage. Despite joining Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 1208 last May, the drivers have been unable to get a fair contract with First Transit, a corporation notorious for unfair labor practices. In January, students in SDS began riding the buses to talk to passengers about the drivers' struggle and collecting petition signatures to present to University president Dr. Witt and First Transit. Encountering overwhelmingly positive support, the students also began an online petition as well to reach out to national supporters including other SDSers across the country, collecting hundreds of signatures urging Dr. Witt and First Transit to negotiate with the drivers to give them job security, a living wage, and benefits as well as respect on the job.

After hearing of student support, First Transit agreed to negotiate on February 18, and so Tuscaloosa SDS and the Network to Fight for Economic Justice set up a national call-in day for the day before the negotiations. Despite hundreds of calls, Dr. Witt said that the negotiations were not in his control and he said he would not make a statement about them. Once again, negotiations stalled when drivers were offered an insulting 17 cent raise. In order to put more pressure on their employer, Crimson Ride drivers decided to strike. Students made signs and stood beside the drivers on the picket line starting at 5am on March 1st. Later in the school day, they handed out flyers to students and urged them not to get on the few scab buses that were running or the scab vans driven by university office employees after Dr. Witt called them to drive under threat of job termination. Students also boarded these scab vehicles briefly to talk to drivers and pass out flyers to passengers. After a few hours of striking, First Transit agreed to come back to the negotiating table. Though the drivers will be back at work on March 2nd, students will be keeping up the pressure on Dr. Witt as the negotiations begin and ask that their supporters in solidarity with the Crimson Ride drivers do the same.

Call Dr. Witt at (205) 348-5103 and tell him that these drivers deserve a fair wage!