Waking Up, Shaking Up Campuses to STOP Police Terror

At San Francisco State, 75 people including over a dozen students who walked out from a middle school, rallied and marched-- shaking up and waking up the campus. Students marched through campus chanting, “If you're sick of the murdering police, get out of your classes and into the streets!” And “Students play a role in every revolution, wake up, stand up, be part of the solution!” At one point the march intersected with another march by the Fossil Fuel Divestment group and everyone cheered and exchanged high fives. The protest went straight through the library making a ton of noise. And the day ended with a die-in at one of the main entrances to SFSU, calling out the names of people who'd been killed by police.

Photos: Special to revcom.us

At Cal State University East Bay, a religious club kicked off protest with a die-in while calling out names of individuals murdered by police. A defiant march through campus called on other students to let their voice be heard, and to make a change. During a speak-out a male Black student said, “I myself have been stopped, told by an officer to 'step out of the vehicle and turn around.' In that brief period of time, I have to think, 'is this it? Is this the day I die? Is this when he pulls the trigger on me? In broad daylight?' So this shouldn't be a thought that enters into my head but it was." An Asian student said: "We cannot identify with those that are in power. Something is happening every day that we cannot ignore. Out in Oakland, out in the City. This is a real issue. Police brutality happens every day.” `

Photos: Special to revcom.us

Photo: Special to revcom.us

At UC Riverside fifty people rallied for two hours. A Palestinian woman spoke powerfully to how oppression is at the heart of this country and a Black professor exposed what happened to Tyisha Miller (a 19-year-old African-American woman shot dead by Riverside California police).

The protesters marched through a classroom building while classes were in session, recruited visiting high school students to join them, formed a human chain around the library, and -- before quitting – ten of them blocked traffic in the street outside campus.

At UCLA protesters blocked a large section of a busy campus walkway. Some students were outraged at the protesters for disrupting their day, while other students whose normal routine was shaken up appreciated the protest -- and a couple joined in. The administration claimed the protest was against fire codes, and police were on the scene, but protesters stood their ground for hours, followed by a march across campus. At one point they held a speak-out where a friend of Feras Morad, murdered by police last year in nearby Long Beach, challenged people to pay attention because people are losing their loved ones.

Photo: Special to revcom.us

Hundreds of students were part of protests on April 21 at the University of Wisconsin, Madison – an action initially called by the family of Tony Robinson (who was murdered by Madison police last year) as part of the National Student Day of Action to STOP Police Terror. It gained momentum, and many student groups including Black Lives Matter got involved, after an April 14 incident, in which police outrageously entered a classroom and dragged a Black student out, arresting him on 11 felony vandalism charges for anti-racist graffiti.