By Estella Owoimaha
March 23, 2010
Sacramento, California
On March 22, 2010, approximately 15,000 college students from across the state marched to the Capitol Building and held a rally on its lawn. The march began at Raley Field, in Sacramento, California, and ended on the steps of the Capitol. Bodies covered the entire lawn of the Capitol building, flooding over into the sidewalks and streets. Students marched with signs that read, “Give Me Back My Classes!”, “Educate, Don’t Terminate”, and “No More Budget Cuts!” In complete harmony, 15,000 students chanted: “They say cut back, we say fight back”, “Students united, we’ll never be united”, “STUDENT POWER!”
From 1968-1969, mass, successful student movements have taken place from Berlin to Canada, all over the U.S., Poland, France and Brazil. In solidarity with past student movements, a new student movement has taken root in California and this Nation. Students of California will be written into the pages of history, next to student leaders of the past, for their tremendous feats of activism that has taken place this month.
It is fitting that California State University, Northridge (CSUN), has taken a primary role in this statewide movement just months after their 40th anniversary of the 1969 student rebellion that established the Pan African Studies Department, the Chicano/a Studies Department, and the Educational Opportunity Program.
Fun fact: since 1987, fees for the California State University system have risen by 650%. At CSUN, and similarly on other CSU campuses, full-time faculty are subject to eighteen furlough days during the academic year, no more than nine furlough days each semester. Some Full-time faculty members, including Department Chairs, are subject to twenty-four furlough days between July 1, 2009 and June 30, 2010. Tacked onto to the furloughs is a 10% pay cut for all faculty members. Sadly, furloughs and pay cuts are just a fourth of the picture.
In addition to the affects on faculty and staff, students, by far, have been left to cope and piece back together their shattered education. California college students have suffered through cuts in classes, tuition and fee hikes, loss of financial aid, cuts to programs and services on campus, as well as, the loss of some great professors. Students will continue to suffer and these attacks on the higher education will continue unless something is done to stop them.
The shocking and shameful budget cuts on education have galvanized students everywhere into action. The worst of the education cuts have taken place in California. This state is suffering from its worst financial crises in decades. Officially, the state is broke. Unfortunately, California legislature has seen fit to destroy the public education system in an attempt to salvage what’s left of the world’s 8th largest economy.
Most of what has taken place at CSUN begun in March 4, 2010 with the statewide “Day of Action” protest. Across California Higher Education institutions, students partook in a walk out followed by a march around their respective campuses. Most were peaceful with minor incident, but for Northridge, a “Day of Action” ended in police occupation, six arrest and brutal injury. In the latter hours of March 4th, a few hundred students took to the streets and sat in the intersection of Prairie and Reseda, a few blocks away from the campus and approximately one block away from the permitted protest area. In response to the students’ actions, hundreds of law enforcement officers were brought in to diffuse the situation. Ironically, police officers only heightened the situation.
Students’ intentions were to peacefully protest around the surrounding community, chanting, with picket signs. When the city saw fit to call in at least 150 officers, for about the same amount of students, tensions continued to rise as opposed to dissipate with the tiring legs of CSUN students. Students remained strong, diligent and united. They peacefully stood together, with locked arms, in protest of state budget cuts to education. Chanting “Peaceful Protest!” students refused to be intimidated by police in full riot gear. Consequently, 5 students and one professor were arrested.
In the arrest of 74 year old Dr. Karren Baird-Olsen of the American Indian Studies Department, police officers broke her arm, threw her to the ground, trampled her with the bottom of their black boots and forced her to wait for over two hours for an ambulance. With her heart condition, this was undoubtedly a traumatizing ordeal. Dr. Baird-Olsen, still in recovery, stands in solidarity with the students who were arrested. Also arrested were Jonnae Thompson, Justin Marks, Anthony Garcia, Jose Gomez, and Angel Rodriguez. These five students and professor are now being referred to as the CSUN 6. When asked to comment on this, Dr. Baird-Olsen replied, “The Peaceful CSUN 6.” She went on to say how proud she is of the students and how amazingly honored she is to be involved. Unfortunately, CSUN’s president, Joelene Koester hastily made statements against these students without full perspective on what took place March 4th. She referred to the peaceful protesters as “unruly”.
Dr. Anthony Ratcliff, professor of the Pan African Studies Department, had this to say, “…it is imperative that we stand in support with those students and professors who the police assaulted and arrested for fighting the deterioration of our education system through civil disobedience.”
On the eve of March in March, CSUN students put on “March in March Eve” to help prepare the student body for the events to follow in Sacramento. The night was filled with teach-ins, workshops, poster making, food and music. Workshops covered “Effective Student Lobbying”, Civil Rights” and the “Budget”. Nana Gyamfi, attorney of the Human Right Advocacy, spoke on effective lobbying and civil rights. Also on the panel of speakers were San Francisco 8 members, formerly of the Black Panther Party, and currently members of Committee for the Defense of Human Rights (CDHR), Hank Jones and Ray Boudreaux.
Hank Jones and Ray Boudreaux spoke of their past experiences in the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements. They spoke to help instill some inspiration and affirm to all the students they are in fact doing the right thing. Hank told the crowd, “Don’t be shamed. Be Proud. What you’re fighting for [education] is a human right. What we fought for were human rights. This is just a continuation of that movement.” The theme of Nana’s civil rights workshop was “fearless discipline” – not to be confused with recklessness. She spoke of how, as student activists, we needed to be clear of our goals, tactics, and our limits. If these clear objectives were clear, the fearless discipline would follow and guide our efforts of fighting state budget cuts. Nana’s advice did not fall upon deaf ears.
California State University, Northridge and Associated Students were able to fill three busses and attend the march in Sacramento. CSUN students were at the march in numbers, approximately 150, including many student organizations; Black Student Union, MeCha, Central American United Student Association, Hip Hop Think Tank and others.
Assembly member Warren Furutani was among the agenda of 30 speakers at the March. He reminded the crowd that 50 years ago the California Master Plan for Higher Education was passed and one of the promises it established for the California education system was free education. “Brothers and sisters, the answer is not in this building,” Furutani said. “The answer is in your activism.”
One proposed solution to the current attack on education is California Assembly Bill 656. Presented by California State Assembly Majority Leader, Alberto Torrico, Assembly Bill 656 would create the California Higher Education Fund (CHEF) to be funded by a new 9.9% oil severance tax. Alberto Torrico was also one of the 30 guest speakers at March in March. In his speech, Torrico mentioned how California remains the only oil producing state that does not have a severance tax. The CHEF would annually allocate revenue institutions based on the following formula: 60% to CSU, 30% to UC, and 10% to Community Colleges. This bill is supported by California Faculty Association, California Federation of Teachers, CA State Student Association, California Teachers Association, Faculty Association of California Community Colleges, SEIU and UC Student Association. There is an online petition in support of this bill open to the public.
After the police occupation of CSUN on March 4th, it is worthy to note the absence of violence or incident at the March on Sacramento. It was indeed an honor to be at such a massive, peaceful protest. It is an even greater honor to be a pat of a worthy movement. What’s next for this student movement? April 21, 2010 there will be another march in Sacramento, to converge on the Capitol Building, led by United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) whose primary message is “Fight for California’s Future”. For more information on this march, see www.utla.net/march52010.
A march will not be enough to remedy this ill; a march is merely one tactic. The movement must continue. The state of California must be held accountable; the United States of America must be held accountable. Education is a human right; an inalienable right.
For continued updates, student demands, video and photos, visit: www.inarratefrommargins.blogspot.com
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