(guest post by Students for a Democratic Society)
Student activists from across the country convened on the campus of Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennessee on the weekend of Oct. 11-13 for Students for a Democratic Society’s (SDS) 8th annual National Convention. SDS is the largest anti-war, education rights, and international solidarity student activist organization active in the U.S. today.
This year’s convention covered diverse topics including organizing to stop the U.S. war on Syria and fighting for affordable education. Of great importance this year was the participation of anti-war leader and International Action Center co-founder Sara Flounders and political hip-hop group Rebel Diaz.
Workshops at the SDS convention are one of the easiest ways for members of SDS and other participating organizations to talk about the successes and challenges of the work they are doing on their campuses and in their communities. This year, there were nearly 20 workshops highlighting important work and issues happening on campuses. Topics included opposing U.S. drones and U.S. war, student organizing and avoiding the perils of student government, combating male chauvinism and rape on campus, “Beyond Student Organizing: Graduation and Continuing The Struggle,” solidarity with Korea against U.S. war and occupation, and many others.
A broad range of groups and organizations were present at the convention tabling between workshops and talking about the work they do such as the Gay-Straight Alliance, Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW), Food Not Bombs, Kasama, Earth First!, Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, Dream Defenders, Fighting Imperialism Standing Together (FIST), and the Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism. The Rosenberg Fund for Children also had a table set up with literature that included a copy of its Carry It Forward newsletter, a flyer with a summary of the Rosenberg case, and information about the resources available from and how to contact the Rosenberg Fund if you have been targeted for social justice organizing.
Marisol Marquez, an SDSer from Tampa Bay, Florida, described one workshop, “The ‘Tuition Equity for Undocumented Students” by Gainesville SDS, as very inspiring. "To know SDS is against wars but also stands for undocumented immigrants is something I have never heard or seen by any other national student group. We fight for full equality for the good of all and we are led by the best youth in the country.”
One of the highlights of the convention for many attendees was hearing Sara Flounders speak about her experiences traveling to countries caught in the crosshairs of U.S. imperialism. Flounders, of the International Action Center, is a writer for Workers World newspaper, and a longtime anti-war leader. Recently, Flounders had the opportunity to travel to Syria and see the death and destruction caused by the U.S.-sponsored Free Syrian Army. She spoke of the importance of U.S. anti-war activists traveling to countries under attack by U.S. imperialism as an act of resistance from the left. She raised the importance of self-determination for the Syrian people - that it should be the Syrians, not the U.S. imperialists, who determine the future of Syria. She also pointed out many contradictions between the countries the U.S. decides to attack and our own system. For instance, Flounders pointed out that in Syria, housing, education and healthcare were not treated as commodities, but rather as a right of the Syrian people. She continued that U.S. citizens do not have these essential rights, and if the U.S. succeeds in overthrowing the Syria government, likely the first things to go would be these public goods that we are fighting for here at home.
Rebel Diaz hosted a workshop called “Hip Hop and Immigration” and performed on campus Saturday night. Rebel Diaz is a political hip-hop group founded in Chicago, but now based in the South Bronx of New York. Chilean brothers Rodstarz and G1 of Rebel Diaz have performed at many important activist events, from the 2006 immigrant rights mega marches in New York to the NATO protests in Chicago last May 2013. In their workshop, Rebel Diaz gave a history of hip-hop and showed how its very foundation was a result of immigration in New York. Through this, Rebel Diaz makes the case that all hip-hop artists have a responsibility to also take a stand for immigration rights in this country and internationally. Rebel Diaz’s work around education rights and radical politics plays out in their work as musicians as well as founders of the Rebel Diaz Arts Collective in the South Bronx, http://rdacbx.blogspot.com.
The Rosenberg Fund for Children was mentioned at the opening of every day of the convention as not only an important sponsor of the convention but as a valuable resource for young activists and children of activists who have come under attack for their organizing work. The RFC was displayed prominently in the convention schedule booklet with a full page informational flyer as well. During dinner on Saturday night we showed a section of the video from the RFC's New York City event on the 60th anniversary of the executions of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg called "Carry It Forward: Celebrate the Children of Resistance" that was narrated by Angela Davis and told the story of the Rosenbergs and the RFC. RFC's support for this convention contributed a lot to helping us get students out to Clarksville and make this convention as successful as it was and we are deeply grateful for all the support we received from the Rosenberg Fund!
At the end of the convention on Sunday, SDSers met to debate and vote on resolutions that guide SDS chapters around areas of primary concern for the upcoming year. Those resolutions include continuing the fight for education rights, demanding an end to U.S. wars and war threats, ending political repression and spying on activists, endorsing the ongoing national campaign for immigrant rights (Legalization 4 All), ending the targeted repression of black and brown youth by law enforcement and vigilantes, and most happily, recognizing U.S. political prisoner and people’s lawyer Lynne Stewart, currently demanding compassionate release to fight a deadly cancer, with an honorary membership in SDS.
In all, SDSers felt excited and motivated about the work that continues to happen. Matthew Boynton of the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities SDS chapter expressed, “The SDS convention this year did a great job integrating student activism into a broader analysis of imperialism, racist war and capitalism. The work to make these connections is particularly useful for younger activists and new SDS members, and an important reminder for all student activists.”
For more information about SDS please visit our website: www.NewSDS.org
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Follow SDS on Twitter: @NewSDS
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