SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
With Demands for Racial Justice, Student 'BlackOut' Actions Sweep US
"We're here. We've been here. We ain't leaving. We are loved," chanted Princeton University students on Wednesday
Nov 18, 2015
Students at colleges and universities from coast to coast walked out of class, held rallies and teach-ins, and protested on Wednesday as part of a coordinated national day of action demanding racial justice both on- and off-campus.
The actions were both inspired by and in solidarity with recent protests at the University of Missouri and other institutions.
"We hope that Black students organize and participate in actions that really challenge white supremacy and anti-blackness on their campuses," University of Connecticut student Yamiesha Bellan, an organizer of the #StudentBlackOut mobilization, told NBC News. "Every school is [unique] and has different needs and wants; however, we know oppression takes place at every institution in this country and white supremacy is embedded all through higher education."
Demands from almost two dozen schools were collected on one website by Twitter user @samswey, an activist with Campaign Zero, which seeks to combat police violence and reform the criminal justice system. Calls ranged from greater access to higher education for Black and Indigenous communities to a public acknowledgment of deep-seated racism in the top echelons of school administrations.
At the time of publication dozens of protesters were occupying the office of the Princeton University president demanding a transformation of the school's racist legacy.
"We're here. We've been here. We ain't leaving. We are loved," they chanted as they staged their direct action.
Meanwhile, students at Stanford University publicly recited the words of exiled black liberation activist Assata Shakur:
At Tufts University, where a small percentage of students are African American, protesters are using the hashtag #thethreepercent to highlight their mobilization.
Students at the University of Cincinnati are demanding justice for Samuel Dubose, an unarmed black man shot and killed by police.
And the movement crossed national borders as students in Ottawa joined in the mass mobilization:
#StudentBlackOut at uOttawa. We stand in solidarity with students at Yale and Mizzou pic.twitter.com/rLHbqPNtNx
-- nima/eartha kitt (@somaliforehead)
November 18, 2015
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Deirdre Fulton
Deirdre Fulton is a former Common Dreams senior editor and staff writer. Previously she worked as an editor and writer for the Portland Phoenix and the Boston Phoenix, where she was honored by the New England Press Association and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. A Boston University graduate, Deirdre is a co-founder of the Maine-based Lorem Ipsum Theater Collective and the PortFringe theater festival. She writes young adult fiction in her spare time.
Sarah Lazare
Sarah Lazare is the editor of Workday Magazine and a contributing editor for In These Times. She is a former Staff Writer at Common Dreams. She comes from a background in independent journalism for publications including The Intercept, The Nation, and Tom Dispatch.
Students at colleges and universities from coast to coast walked out of class, held rallies and teach-ins, and protested on Wednesday as part of a coordinated national day of action demanding racial justice both on- and off-campus.
The actions were both inspired by and in solidarity with recent protests at the University of Missouri and other institutions.
"We hope that Black students organize and participate in actions that really challenge white supremacy and anti-blackness on their campuses," University of Connecticut student Yamiesha Bellan, an organizer of the #StudentBlackOut mobilization, told NBC News. "Every school is [unique] and has different needs and wants; however, we know oppression takes place at every institution in this country and white supremacy is embedded all through higher education."
Demands from almost two dozen schools were collected on one website by Twitter user @samswey, an activist with Campaign Zero, which seeks to combat police violence and reform the criminal justice system. Calls ranged from greater access to higher education for Black and Indigenous communities to a public acknowledgment of deep-seated racism in the top echelons of school administrations.
At the time of publication dozens of protesters were occupying the office of the Princeton University president demanding a transformation of the school's racist legacy.
"We're here. We've been here. We ain't leaving. We are loved," they chanted as they staged their direct action.
Meanwhile, students at Stanford University publicly recited the words of exiled black liberation activist Assata Shakur:
At Tufts University, where a small percentage of students are African American, protesters are using the hashtag #thethreepercent to highlight their mobilization.
Students at the University of Cincinnati are demanding justice for Samuel Dubose, an unarmed black man shot and killed by police.
And the movement crossed national borders as students in Ottawa joined in the mass mobilization:
#StudentBlackOut at uOttawa. We stand in solidarity with students at Yale and Mizzou pic.twitter.com/rLHbqPNtNx
-- nima/eartha kitt (@somaliforehead)
November 18, 2015
Deirdre Fulton
Deirdre Fulton is a former Common Dreams senior editor and staff writer. Previously she worked as an editor and writer for the Portland Phoenix and the Boston Phoenix, where she was honored by the New England Press Association and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. A Boston University graduate, Deirdre is a co-founder of the Maine-based Lorem Ipsum Theater Collective and the PortFringe theater festival. She writes young adult fiction in her spare time.
Sarah Lazare
Sarah Lazare is the editor of Workday Magazine and a contributing editor for In These Times. She is a former Staff Writer at Common Dreams. She comes from a background in independent journalism for publications including The Intercept, The Nation, and Tom Dispatch.
Students at colleges and universities from coast to coast walked out of class, held rallies and teach-ins, and protested on Wednesday as part of a coordinated national day of action demanding racial justice both on- and off-campus.
The actions were both inspired by and in solidarity with recent protests at the University of Missouri and other institutions.
"We hope that Black students organize and participate in actions that really challenge white supremacy and anti-blackness on their campuses," University of Connecticut student Yamiesha Bellan, an organizer of the #StudentBlackOut mobilization, told NBC News. "Every school is [unique] and has different needs and wants; however, we know oppression takes place at every institution in this country and white supremacy is embedded all through higher education."
Demands from almost two dozen schools were collected on one website by Twitter user @samswey, an activist with Campaign Zero, which seeks to combat police violence and reform the criminal justice system. Calls ranged from greater access to higher education for Black and Indigenous communities to a public acknowledgment of deep-seated racism in the top echelons of school administrations.
At the time of publication dozens of protesters were occupying the office of the Princeton University president demanding a transformation of the school's racist legacy.
"We're here. We've been here. We ain't leaving. We are loved," they chanted as they staged their direct action.
Meanwhile, students at Stanford University publicly recited the words of exiled black liberation activist Assata Shakur:
At Tufts University, where a small percentage of students are African American, protesters are using the hashtag #thethreepercent to highlight their mobilization.
Students at the University of Cincinnati are demanding justice for Samuel Dubose, an unarmed black man shot and killed by police.
And the movement crossed national borders as students in Ottawa joined in the mass mobilization:
#StudentBlackOut at uOttawa. We stand in solidarity with students at Yale and Mizzou pic.twitter.com/rLHbqPNtNx
-- nima/eartha kitt (@somaliforehead)
November 18, 2015
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.