BY ALARIC DIRMEYER
OLYMPIA, Washington - The State Capitol Building here was the scene of a student-organized and -mobilized demonstration against the affirmative action-gutting Initiative 200 on January 31. Organizers from campuses around the Pacific Northwest were able to draw forces from their schools, totaling close to 200 protesters.

Coalitions at the University of Washington (UW) and Seattle Central Community College (SCCC) were key in drawing together this event. This mobilization followed in the footsteps of prior sizable demonstrations and debates held at both UW and SCCC, as well as other colleges in the area like University of Puget Sound (UPS).

Among the sponsors for the event were the Black Student Union at UPS, the King County Labor Council, the Seattle Young Socialists, and the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU). Althea Burton, an organizer for the CBTU, was a featured speaker.

While talking about the past struggles by working people that won affirmative action Burton remarked, "I am a product of that 30-year movement and me and other Black unionists will be part of the fight of extending it to you."

Kim Thomas, head of the Black Student Union at UPS, pledged "to the people in the Capitol Building, we will fight you all the way." Other student leaders expressed similar sentiments towards maintaining the course of action and continuing to build connections between fighters at various universities. Hop Hopkins, a central organizer for the SCCC-located Students Against I-200, urged continued militancy from participants and said "even if the initiative [I-200] passes in November we must continue fighting. We need to take the streets back!"

Following the rally was a march through downtown Olympia that caught the afternoon crowd of shoppers by surprise. Moving down the sidewalk, these students and their allies chanted "No on I- 200" and "Black and White, Unite and Fight!" This evoked a response from the downtown crowd. Several younger drivers honked their horns in solidarity, boosting the morale of those marching.

The current phase of the affirmative action fight involves students maintaining a militant and active strategy towards defending this right. Another group involved in fighting this initiative is the No on I-200 Coalition, which has deep connections with the Democratic Party and opposes sustained mobilizations for affirmative action. They are endorsing a Democratic party-sponsored counter initiative to I-200 entitled Senate Bill 6689 that calls for maintaining affirmative action only for those who are "qualified." The fighting students have voted in recent meetings to not back the Senate Bill 6689 and to continue speaking out.

MINNEAPOLIS - Thirty people picketed outside the Federal Building in downtown Minneapolis February 4 in response to the bombing of a clinic that provides abortions in Birmingham, Alabama. The protest was organized after a Militant Labor Forum January 30 that marked the 25th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion. At the forum, Megan Lucas, a former student at the University of St. Thomas, a private Catholic college in St. Paul, spoke of her involvement in a fight to get a pro-choice group started on campus. Also at the forum Simone Berg, a member of the United Food and Commercial Workers from Des Moines, Iowa, spoke about the history of the struggle for abortion rights and of the growing attacks on a woman's right to control her own body. She pointed to the example of youth who mobilized to defend abortion rights in response to Operation Rescue's rightist campaigns to shutdown clinics in 1991- 92.

After the forum, Lucas, members of the Young Socialists, and Jessica Swanson, who was also involved in the organizing effort at St. Thomas, decided to organize a protest in response to the bombing. The action was built among campus organizations and area activist groups with a leaflet that said, "Defend a woman's right to choose! Prosecute the bombers! Defend abortion rights! Safe and easy access to clinics!" The organizers also contacted activists who they have worked with in defending abortion rights, the Cuban revolution, fighting police brutality, and speaking out against U.S. war moves against Iraq. The pickets included students from the University of Minnesota, Macalester College, and University of St. Thomas. A number of demonstrators asked to be put on the mailing list for the weekly Militant Labor Forums, and two women bought Militant subscriptions.

Amy Roberts is a member of the United Steelworkers of America.  
 
 
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