From Democracy Now!
College and high school students across the nation walked out class Thursday in a national student strike against the Iraq war. In California, an estimated 1,000 students at UC-Santa Barbara blocked traffic on a freeway. Up to 3,000 students turned out for an anti-war rally at UC - Berkeley. And at least four hundred rallied at Columbia University here in New York. More than a dozen other schools took part around the country.
by Matt Simpson
KSBY Channel 6 News reported on it, with KEYT, and KTVU has video.
Jake definitely had the best, most impassioned reporting on the demonstration--his diary was recommended on DKos yesterday, assuring half a million viewers that the student anti-war movement is alive and kicking.
One very legit complaint many of the SB Antiwar organizers have is how some media coverage of the protest has given far too much weight to the Revolutionary Communist Party affiliate World Can't Wait for organizing what was in reality an entirely student initiated demonstration. Papers blindly followed a misleading WCW press release that claimed credit for being "instrumental" in spreading UCSB's message and "putting out a call for national action." The Chronicle reported (almost verbatim) that "The rallies were in a response to a call by the protest group World Can't Wait to Drive Out the Bush Regime for a national student strike Feb. 15." Organizer (and friend) Darwin BondGraham called them out for trying to appropriate the protests--
You all were very helpful in making yesterday bigger than it would have been and I have to thank you for your brilliant energy, but the RCP seems intent on claiming this student led movement as their own. You people are great organizers, but I don't want the RCP taking credit for my political actions. And I definitely don't want RCP
trying to speak for me. I am not a communist and I have zero interest in Bob Avakian's political program. I am a student, a feminist, an antiracist and a little d democrat, and when I organize an action I want to speak about it and I want to represent it.
It wouldn't be the first time WCW has pulled that move. RCP and WCW are very effective at turn-out, but their ideology leaves them and the folks whose protests they try to horn in on open to marginalization.
The difficult part will always be creating that initial spark--convincing people to participate, explaining why the strike is an effective means of protest (if last May 1st wasn't proof enough). Darwin responded to skeptics:
Ask yourself this; if the entire nation went on strike tomorrow – didn’t go to work or school and didn’t buy anything – how much longer do you think Bush’s war could last? I’d give it 24 hours or less. Striking alone here at UCSB might not mean much, but the world is watching. News of our strike is spreading across other campuses and cities. We will not be acting alone on the 15th. And if the 15th is empowering, perhaps there can be a real movement beyond this, a shift toward a larger national peace movement that joins us in withdrawing consent and shaking the foundations of power. The more of us that act together, the more hope there is that we can end the war.
It began with a handful of people. Then a university. Then 5. Then 27. But before there's that kind of momentum, it's challenging to rise above the apathy and convince cynics and natural allies that it's worth their time. But once it starts snowballing, there's no stopping it. If people felt empowered by yesterday's action (and even the most seasoned activists I've talked to felt it was a truly remarkable day), then maybe they'll be motivated to stay involved.
It goes on one at a time,
it starts when you care
to act, it starts when you do
it again after they said no,
it starts when you say We
and know who you mean,
and each day
you mean one more.
