Where I work, at CUNY [City University of New York], there is a lot of worry about the State budget. Administrators encourage students and faculty to lobby Albany, while admonishing us to keep our activities "productive." Recently, a state legislator explicitly told a CUNY professor that their strategy is to float a governor's budget that scares everybody to death. Then after much hand-wringing, they cut us less, and we feel relieved and grateful.
The above shows that it is not possible to build a movement on the basis of fighting the budget cuts. The capitalists are in fact denying working people educational rights, among many others. Working people have to fight for their rights by means of demands that can unite and sustain an effective social movement. A focus on the capitalists' budgetary problems cuts across our ability to build a movement for educational rights. This happens for a number of reasons: It diverts our energies, it keeps our activities too spasmodic, and it puts us in bed with our enemy.
Lets keep our eye on the ball. Our problem is that human rights are under attack, and we need to build a movement to fight back.
The budget and the chancellor are the capitalists' problem. That's why we should support the students from Medgar Evers, and other CUNY colleges, who chanted "Fight! Fight! Education is our right !" at the March 23 demonstration in New York.
Chuck Cairns
New Hyde Park, New York
Union T-shirt days
I felt that Militant readers would be interested in a
recent event that happened at my workplace. I live in Peoria,
Illinois. Even though my plant is non-union, subcontracted by
Caterpillar, many of my co-workers wanted to express
solidarity with the strikers of the United Auto Workers by
having a "union T-shirt wearing day," where the majority wear
solidarity T-shirts and/or buttons.
There is a large majority who can't afford shirts and buttons, so many people will bring extras. The most interesting part is most people acknowledge and support that these days coincide with Caterpillar management's visits to our plant - the days that they come to evaluate our work and try to show how well they get along with their workers.
This day has begun much discussion among my co-workers about the strike, and how it affects us as workers throughout the country and the world. The discussions begin around the strike, and that will inspire people to talk about broader politics - including the attacks on welfare and other social gains made by the working class in the past. Our plant plans to continue the union T-shirt wearing days!
Gloria Del Cid
Peoria, Illinois
Philadelphia cop brutality
On March 13, 125 people demonstrated in front of the
offices of Philadelphia district attorney Lynne Abraham to
protest her announcement that police would face no criminal
charges in the death of Moises DeJesus.
A 30-year-old Latino, DeJesus died August 24, 1994, three days after police beat arrested him.
The protest was called by the Police-Barrio Relations Project and supported by other community organizations including the National Congress of Puerto Rican Rights. Among the youth at the march was a contingent from Asian Americans United.
The demonstrators chanted, "What do we want? Justice! When do we want it? Now!" in both English and Spanish. They spilled into the street, forcing the police to divert traffic for the duration of the march. Will Gonzalez, coordinator of the Police-Barrio Relations Project, said, "the DA's office didn't interview any of the officers involved and did not subpoena documents it says it needed. We want honest and objective investigations."
Last August, neighbors and a family member called the police for assistance. Instead, neighbors and relatives of DeJesus said that several police officers beat him with flashlights. "All the cops hit him," said Edna Leon, a neighbor. "They dragged him. I wanted to help but they wouldn't let me."
District Attorney Abraham claimed that none of DeJesus's wounds appeared to have been inflicted with flashlights and that the autopsy showed that DeJesus died from a coronary arrest brought on by a combination of cocaine and prescription antidepressants.
The DA also said that DeJesus had been struck in the forehead and suffered a two and a half inch laceration on the forehead, but that "he would have recovered fully from the injuries" if drugs had not been involved.
Helen Myers
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
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