Bail Out the People Movement, like many others, is inspired by the
tremendous movement that has been unleashed around the country. The occupation
movement has captured the imagination of so many who have been suffering under
the conditions of a system that is in a deep and intractable crisis. BOPM
salutes the achievements of the Occupy Wall Street Movement. This movement must
not and cannot be stopped.
Of course, the Occupy Wall Street Movement is not perfect; no movement is.
Clearly, this movement will not be able to realize its full revolutionary
potential unless the most thoughtful and serious activists within its ranks
struggle to overcome any and all barriers to the movements full union with
communities of color, and those who because of race, religion, gender or class
bear the brunt of inequality and oppression. Activists in communities of
color and others have taken on the task of developing consciousness and using
the space opened up to help bring about such a full union.
We stand with all people struggling and fighting and say continue forward.
Seize the time! Occupy everything, demand and fight for
everything!
As the weather grows inclement we hope the movement does not wane and continues
to grow, so we salute activists in Denver, Colorado who are embarking on an
occupation of the largest university campus in the state. Like the
students and activists there, we call on all students to seize your colleges
and universities against cuts, tuition increases and for more educational
opportunities for oppressed people of color and more opportunities to learn the
history of their different cultures. We call on workers facing layoffs
and plant closures to seize your work places, families facing foreclosures and
evictions, seize your homes and apartments.
Occupy the Campuses/Decolonize Our
Minds
The college campuses across this country are a microcosm of the financial
problems that our communities are facing. Students are struggling
with high levels of debt, corporations have become a higher priority than the
students on campuses, university workers are denied their right to organize for
better working conditions and the education we receive only serves to further a
dominant paradigm that supports an economic system rife with
exploitation.
As students, we carry with us the historic burden of being a radical voice
and often the deciding factor that has pressured movements to go beyond minor
reforms and move towards fundamental change in the dominant societal
structure. Therefore, we are calling for an occupation of the
Auraria Campus that will be the opening salvo in a national movement to occupy
university campuses. A network of campuses across the country is
prepared to stand in solidarity with our call to action.
We present these basic demands as a living document and as a foundation
that can be modified through democratic practices initiated during this
occupation.
1. After three straight years of seeing
our tuition raised and our programs cut, we feel the poor are being shutout of
the educational process, further widening the gap between an elite population
that has access to the levers of powers and the rest of the
population. To address this injustice and inequality, we ask for a
four year tuition freeze for all state run institutions in order for this
incoming class to have the opportunity to graduate at the rate at which they
entered the higher educational system. We do not want our tuition to
become part of an austerity program to solve problems that have been created by
corporate greed.
2. In this economic situation we find
ourselves in, we are in solidarity with the working class, as they are part of
our campus community. We demand a halt to the unfair labor practices in
regards to the campus staff and demand that they be permitted to engage in the
process of collective bargaining with the university system so they may have a
voice in the labor practices that directly affect their lives and
families.
3. By focusing solely on dominant
paradigms in the educational curriculum, the university continues to produce
community members that only have the necessary tools to continue the current
structures of government, which have driven this country towards the economic
crisis we find ourselves in. We demand that alternative paradigms be
included in the educational system. One way which this could occur
is through further course offerings that support Indigenous societal models
that provide the necessary tools for students to work towards this paradigm
shift we speak of.
4. To support point 3, Indigenous
students are aware that there are certificate programs and degree options for
Latino studies, African-American studies, and Asian studies, but in their
traditional homeland here in Colorado, they are unable to have a comprehensive
program for Indigenous studies. This needs to be immediately rectified.
5. All corporate funding at this
University should have to obtain the free, prior and informed consent of the
student body prior to being permitted to enter into partnerships with the
University’s educational system.
6. Students should be encouraged to
complete their course work in order to gain their degree. Any
actions that encourage students to leave their select programs should not be
allowed on campuses. This would include military recruiters that
encourage students to enlist in the service and put their educational
aspirations on hold.
7. The current wars of colonial
occupation engaged in by the United States government, in our names, have
drained the resources of this country and have had a direct impact on the
financial structures necessary for achieving a proper education in this
country. We demand an immediate end to these wars to alleviate these
pressures. We ask the government to fund books, not bombs.
8. The demographics of this and many
universities across the country do not mirror the communities they are located
in. We demand more emphasis be placed on programs to recruit and aid
minority students in the university system.
9. We demand that the universities
utilize their purchase powers to drive down the cost of educational materials,
making them affordable to all students.
10. We believe in respecting the human dignity of
all of our community members. We demand that all undocumented local
residents be permitted to pay in-state tuition to attend college.
11. President Obama has called for debt forgiveness for the
Egyptian government and the Libyan government for their commitment to entering
the democratic world. We students, with this occupy movement, are an
example of participatory democracy in action and therefore call upon the
President to provide debt forgiveness for all students currently enrolled in
the university system.
