YDS event a SUCCESS!!

YDS's first event, featuring racial justice staff attorney Mark Fancher of the Michigan ACLU was nothing short of SUCCESS!

Mr. Fancher's topic of the night was Racial Justice in the 21st Century: What social implications the Jena 6 holds for the future of the United States.

Throughout the course of the night over thirty YDS members and guests attended the event.

Following the lecture, attendees engaged in a Q & A session that lasted over an hour.

Mr. Fancher answered questions pertaining to how the Jena 6 case is progressing, white activism and it's place in the Black Liberation Struggle, structural/institutionalized racism, specifically the high incarceration rate for people of color in the US, and his views on Pan-Africanism and the possibility of a "United States of Socialist Africa." He also spoke about what the ACLU of Michigan is doing along with other states to combat MCRI, or Proposal 2 at the federal level.

Overall, the course of the night went smoothly. We are very proud to have brought in such an active and engaged crowd, one that was truly excited about learning about racial justice and progressing Democratic Socialist values. YDS looks forward to brining more speakers to campus, and soon! Thank you to all that attended. To all those who didn't-- you truly missed out on an awesome talk.

A special thanks goes out to Mitch Goldsmith, the Speaker's Committee, and the Ministry of Information for contacting Mark Fancher, making room reservations, and creating fliers for the event! YDS couldn't have done this without your combined efforts!

Apathy is the new Activism

In the summer of 1969, political activism was alive and kicking in East Lansing. During that summer a group of students knocked on the door of Cowels House demanding that the president of MSU, Walter Adams, take a stance on the Vietnam War. With little hesitation Adams joined the 10,000 students and members of the community in a march to the Capitol. Singing songs and carrying a small American flag, Adams found himself at the front of the march (SN 7/12). I can't help but feel depressed. Where did that kind of student activism go? What happened to that kind of university leadership? It seems to me that young people today are becoming more obsessed with accumulating wealth and consuming the latest versions of everything from clothes to technology rather than fighting to bring awareness to political issues or social justice.

It is obvious to me that students can no longer rely on the leadership here at the University to progress us forward. For example- programs such as "I STOP HATE" have failed miserably on this campus. And so has the university leadership behind it. Lou Anna K. Simon brags that she was one of the first people to sigh the I STOP HATE banner after it was signed, but what has she done since then? This program is meant to promote "...a strong, vibrant learning community comes from the many perspectives we each offer. Our differing perspectives help to make MSU a great university. While we will at times disagree, our disagreements will not be used as a basis to do harm to one another. We commit ourselves to celebrating a community where mutual respect and intellectual discourse, shaped by our differing perspectives, guide how we deal with issues and with each other.” This sounds wonderful-- until one realizes that it's just another (white) liberal bit of symbolism to pacify people and keep them from reacting to the bigger, structural problems of racism, sexism, homophobia, discrimination based on political ideology, and countless other isms.Lou Anna K. Simon and the administration won't even make a public stance TO THIS DAY on the outcome of Proposal 2. The university leaders won't take any stances on the Jena 6 case. They also refuse to move forward on cutting the Coca-Cola contract , and can I just mention that we still serve Chiquita bananas in every single cafeteria? There is literally little or no dialogue between administrators and students on these issues.

Bureaucracy and apathy keep the students from having their voices heard on this campus, when it comes to real life, real world issues.I'm sorry, but this does not sound like leadership that wants to "celebrate community," nor one that "promotes a free exchange of ideas." Let's talk all we want about raising money for MSU (so the BioMedPhySci Building can get more computers, but Morrill Hall, home to the African American and African Studies and English departments can sink more and more into the ground), or the Homecoming parade 2007, or some other frivolous bull crap, but PLEASE, let's stay away from vital current social issues. The silence from our institution is causing DEATH in Sudan. Refusing to divest from any stock that is funding terror in Sudan is practically murder on the part of MSU. But we can't talk about that.

I firmly believe that young people have the most responsibility in advocating for social justice today. It may sound cliché, but young people are the next generation to inherit the world-- why shouldn’t they be the ones to fight for it now? Why aren’t more students devoted to bringing awareness about US political prisoners such as the Jena 6, Assata Shakur, or Mumia Abu-Jamal? Why aren’t more students getting outraged at the fact that their tuition prices are going up, while the amount of scholarships and grants they are receiving are going down? Why aren’t more students frustrated at the US’s lack of intervention of the genocide in Darfur? How many students know what Blackwater even IS?

While American youth finds itself obsessed with name brand labels, Facebook, and the latest celebrity break up, rights are being violated, freedoms are being taken away, and people are dying. It’s time for young people and people of authority in the university to stop ignoring critical issues and demand to know truth, to know justice. In the words of the great Malcolm X "If you don't stand for something you will fall for anything." I fear if this current trend continues, young people will find themselves in a sorry state of apathy and despair before too long. We need to start demanding that those in authority take responsibility for their actions. The perfect place to start is here at home with our current administration. Students don't realize how much power they have!

In the 1980s, MSU students convinced the University to divest stocks of companies doing business in apartheid-ridden South Africa from its endowment portfolio. This wasn't something the leaders of the university would have done on their own. They did it only because of PRESSURE FROM THE STUDENTS. We need to do what the students did back in the summer of 69. We need to bang down the doors of the administration, the president, the faculty, the police, anyone that will listen, and make them learn our names, tell them what we want, and find ways to get our voices heard and our social justice agendas followed. Students need to take back the power that is theirs. We need to fight, fight the power with everything we have.

Rouge members of California group may cause bad local image--

From CNN.com:

ORANGE COUNTY, California (CNN) -- Radical Hispanic separatist organization MEChA ("Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan") is taking responsibility for setting the wildfires in California, confimed Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

California officials received a letter earlier today containing photographs of individuals holding Molotov cocktails, then throwing them into dry brush. The faces of the individuals appeared to have been digitally distorted.

Also included was a rambling manifesto, stating that the reason for the act of arson was that "Aztlán belongs to indigenous people, the Chicanas and Chicanos of Aztlán. We are sovereign and not subject to a foreign culture."

Orange County Fire Battalion Chief Kris Concepcion told CNN that the pattern of wildfires definitely indicates arson.

"The reason we think it is [arson] is because we found multiple points of origin," Concepcion said. "... Our investigators have confirmed that this is, in fact, arson."

Concepcion said evidence indicated the arsonists wanted the fire to grow rapidly.

A $70,000 reward is being offered for any information leading to the arrest of those responsible for setting the fire. No suspects have been identified, though they are probably brown.

The state established a toll-free arson tip line at 800-540-7085. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said anyone convicted of arson would be dealt with harshly.

Concepcion said about 1,100 firefighters were working on controlling the blaze, which has destroyed at least 22 structures. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said the fire was only 30 percent contained Thursday morning after being 50 percent contained the day before.

---
Ok, first of all...what the HELL does this mean? "...No suspects have been identified, though they are probably brown." I'm sorry... but isn't that a tad RACIST? That wasn't even a quote by someone...that was part of the actual CNN report. Wow. Way to maintain ethical reporting, CNN.

After reading this, the only thing I can think of is how this will affect MSU's chapter of MECHa. I hope that other groups here at MSU will be mature and NOT compare MSU MECHa with the several rebellious people in California who claim responsibility for the fires under MECHa's name. I personally know some of the members of the local group, and I know they would not condone something as destructive as the actions of those in California.

What people need to realize is that you can't generalize a whole group because of the actions of a few renegade people who claim responsibility under one organization's name. It seems to be a hobby of the right on this campus to do so in order to rally public support, but I view it as uncalled for and extremely unfair. MECHa is NOT a violent group. Sure, some chapters may be a little be a bit louder or employ different protest tactics than others, but MECHa is generally NOT an advocate of destruction. For example, here's part of their mission statemment on their national website:

"Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán (MEChA) is a student organization that
promotes higher education, cultura, and historia.
MEChA was founded on the principles of self-determination for the liberation of our people.
We believe that political involvement and education is the avenue for change in our society."

That doesn't sound like a group that promotes the destructive and dangerous activity of the "MECHa" members in California. I'm pretty sure the national organization would be against the hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of dollars done in damage to people's homes, businesses, and not to mention the damage done to the land.

In short: MECHa does NOT equal reconquista.
Get it straight.

Think about it.

Somebody Blew Up America- Amiri Baraka

Somebody Blew Up America

They say its some terrorist,
some barbaric
A Rab,
in Afghanistan
It wasn't our American terrorists
It wasn't the Klan or the Skin heads
Or the them that blows up nigger
Churches, or reincarnates us on Death Row
It wasn't Trent Lott
Or David Duke or Giuliani
Or Schundler, Helms retiring

It wasn't
The gonorrhea in costume
The white sheet diseases
That have murdered black people
Terrorized reason and sanity
Most of humanity, as they pleases

They say (who say?)
Who do the saying
Who is them paying
Who tell the lies
Who in disguise
Who had the slaves
Who got the bux out the Bucks

Who got fat from plantations
Who genocided Indians
Tried to waste the Black nation

Who live on Wall Street
The first plantation
Who cut your nuts off
Who rape your ma
Who lynched your pa

Who got the tar, who got the feathers
Who had the match, who set the fires
Who killed and hired
Who say they God & still be the Devil

Who the biggest only
Who the most goodest
Who do Jesus resemble

Who created everything
Who the smartest
Who the greatest
Who the richest
Who say you ugly and they the goodlookingest

Who define art
Who define science

Who made the bombs
Who made the guns

Who bought the slaves, who sold them

Who called you them names
Who say Dahmer wasn't insane

Who? Who? Who?

Who stole Puerto Rico
Who stole the Indies, the Philipines, Manhattan
Australia & The Hebrides
Who forced opium on the Chinese

Who own them buildings
Who got the money
Who think you funny
Who locked you up
Who own the papers

Who owned the slave ship
Who run the army

Who the fake president
Who the ruler
Who the banker

Who? Who? Who?

Who own the mine
Who twist your mind
Who got bread
Who need peace
Who you think need war

Who own the oil
Who do no toil
Who own the soil
Who is not a nigger
Who is so great ain't nobody bigger

Who own this city

Who own the air
Who own the water

Who own your crib
Who rob and steal and cheat and murder
and make lies the truth
Who call you uncouth

Who live in the biggest house
Who do the biggest crime
Who go on vacation anytime

Who killed the most niggers
Who killed the most Jews
Who killed the most Italians
Who killed the most Irish
Who killed the most Africans
Who killed the most Japanese
Who killed the most Latinos

Who? Who? Who?

Who own the ocean

Who own the airplanes
Who own the malls
Who own television
Who own radio

Who own what ain't even known to be owned
Who own the owners that ain't the real owners

Who own the suburbs
Who suck the cities
Who make the laws

Who made Bush president
Who believe the confederate flag need to be flying
Who talk about democracy and be lying

Who the Beast in Revelations
Who 666
Who know who decide
Jesus get crucified

Who the Devil on the real side
Who got rich from Armenian genocide

Who the biggest terrorist
Who change the bible
Who killed the most people
Who do the most evil
Who don't worry about survival

Who have the colonies
Who stole the most land
Who rule the world
Who say they good but only do evil
Who the biggest executioner

Who? Who? Who?

Who own the oil
Who want more oil
Who told you what you think that later you find out a lie

Who? Who? Who?

Who found Bin Laden, maybe they Satan
Who pay the CIA,
Who knew the bomb was gonna blow
Who know why the terrorists
Learned to fly in Florida, San Diego

Who know why Five Israelis was filming the explosion
And cracking they sides at the notion

Who need fossil fuel when the sun ain't goin' nowhere

Who make the credit cards
Who get the biggest tax cut
Who walked out of the Conference
Against Racism
Who killed Malcolm, Kennedy & his Brother
Who killed Dr King, Who would want such a thing?
Are they linked to the murder of Lincoln?

Who invaded Grenada
Who made money from apartheid
Who keep the Irish a colony
Who overthrow Chile and Nicaragua later

Who killed David Sibeko, Chris Hani,
the same ones who killed Biko, Cabral,
Neruda, Allende, Che Guevara, Sandino,

Who killed Kabila, the ones who wasted Lumumba, Mondlane,
Betty Shabazz, Die, Princess Di, Ralph Featherstone,
Little Bobby

Who locked up Mandela, Dhoruba, Geronimo,
Assata, Mumia, Garvey, Dashiell Hammett, Alphaeus Hutton

Who killed Huey Newton, Fred Hampton,
Medgar Evers, Mikey Smith, Walter Rodney,
Was it the ones who tried to poison Fidel
Who tried to keep the Vietnamese Oppressed

Who put a price on Lenin's head

Who put the Jews in ovens,
and who helped them do it
Who said "America First"
and ok'd the yellow stars

Who killed Rosa Luxembourg, Liebneckt
Who murdered the Rosenbergs
And all the good people iced,
tortured, assassinated, vanished

Who got rich from Algeria, Libya, Haiti,
Iran, Iraq, Saudi, Kuwait, Lebanon,
Syria, Egypt, Jordan, Palestine,

Who cut off peoples hands in the Congo
Who invented Aids
Who put the germs
In the Indians' blankets
Who thought up "The Trail of Tears"

Who blew up the Maine
& started the Spanish American War
Who got Sharon back in Power
Who backed Batista, Hitler, Bilbo,
Chiang kai Chek

Who decided Affirmative Action had to go
Reconstruction, The New Deal,
The New Frontier, The Great Society,

Who do Tom Ass Clarence Work for
Who doo doo come out the Colon's mouth
Who know what kind of Skeeza is a Condoleeza
Who pay Connelly to be a wooden negro
Who give Genius Awards to Homo Locus
Subsidere

Who overthrew Nkrumah, Bishop,
Who poison Robeson,
who try to put DuBois in Jail
Who frame Rap Jamil al Amin, Who frame the Rosenbergs,
Garvey,
The Scottsboro Boys,
The Hollywood Ten

Who set the Reichstag Fire

Who knew the World Trade Center was gonna get bombed
Who told 4000 Israeli workers at the Twin Towers
To stay home that day
Why did Sharon stay away?

Who? Who? Who?

Explosion of Owl the newspaper say
The devil face cd be seen

Who make money from war
Who make dough from fear and lies
Who want the world like it is
Who want the world to be ruled by imperialism and national
oppression and terror violence, and hunger and poverty.

Who is the ruler of Hell?
Who is the most powerful

Who you know ever
Seen God?

But everybody seen
The Devil

Like an Owl exploding
In your life in your brain in your self
Like an Owl who know the devil
All night, all day if you listen, Like an Owl
Exploding in fire. We hear the questions rise
In terrible flame like the whistle of a crazy dog

Like the acid vomit of the fire of Hell
Who and Who and WHO who who
Whoooo and Whooooooooooooooooooooo!