Reflections on March 4th 2010
University of Washington, Seattle
Democracy
Insurgent
In the wake of the student strike held on March 4th at the University of
Washington, Democracy Insurgent offers this reflection to review what happened.
The action was an overwhelming success and we appreciate the efforts that
everyone put into building what was the largest and most energetic
demonstration at UW in recent years. March 4th was just the beginning for
building toward a statewide and nationwide fight involving students and workers
against the most destructive economic crisis of our generation.
Democracy Insurgent is a member group of the UW Student/Worker Coalition
(SWC), the organizing body that planned the March 4th Student Strike. This
account is written from the perspective of Democracy insurgent organizers and is
not an official statement of the SWC.
Beyond our expectations: loud, dynamic energy on the Quad
In the lead-up to March 4th, as a part of the SWC, we made detailed plans for the
day’s action. The picket lines would start up at 1 p.m. in the Quad, a central place
on campus surrounded by buildings in which classes are conducted. Interspersed
with speeches and chants, our picket would continue till 2:30pm, when we
planned to march through buildings to convince students to walk out. Blocking a
road intersection to campus was also in the escalation plan for the day. We had
picket leaders, police liaisons, independent media, and legal observers ready.
On the day of, at 1pm, we set up picket lines on the Quad and encouraged a lot of
students to walk out by marching in a way that blocked the main paths students
take to go to class. Hundreds of students and workers came out in full force.
There was an inspiring dynamic convergence of high school students, workers
and college students. People spoke out about solidarity with students of color
facing racism at UC San Diego, the need to fight to make UW more accessible,
and how to fight overwork and harassment of workers at UW, particularly the
situation of custodians. There were also 2 spectacular banner drops by other
member groups of the SWC, declaring to everyone the purpose of our actions.
Students of color, women, and students with disabilities, were in the lead -
organizers with the Student Worker Coalition, as well as dozens of other folks who
stepped up spontaneously and led the crowd in chants against the privatization of
the university.
The vibrant and dynamic energy of
the crowd was a huge success in
itself. We found out soon that the
detailed plans that we had agreed
to as a coalition, could not be
effectively carried out. One of the
key barriers was the lack of a
sound system. The scheduled
speeches, which were intended to
break up the picketing routine,
would now be inaudible to most
people in the crowd. The bullhorns
we had were too soft for such a
large crowd. We were also unable
to communicate effectively with
the crowd to convey our plans. This
key logistical problem meant that
our previous plans had to be
altered, and we now had to think
on our feet.
Democratic leadership on the spot
We picketed for an hour and then re-formed into a mass crowd. We intended to
announce what happened at other schools like UC Davis and San Francisco State
University so far that day, and then to march through the classrooms. People
would “vote with their feet”, meaning that those who want to go through the
buildings would go with some picket leaders while those who didn’t want to
participate would stay outside and do a solidarity rally.
However, after we announced that students in California had blocked roads
around their campuses and had even stopped interstate highways, many people
in the crowd started chanting, “Take the Ave!” The chant resonated through the
crowd! It became the most audible, most energetic, and most democratic
decision that the crowd made. People were getting tired of marching around the
quad and many folks were expressing this to us before we had re-converged. As
organizers, we decided to respect and follow this energy of the crowd. This
flexibility and ability to respond to the mass spontaneous energy of the people
who came out on March 4th, was a key feature of the day. It was also a contested
theme of the day.
Off to the Ave we headed! However, we still wanted to make sure that we
marched through some classrooms to bring more students out, so we started
chanting "Kane Hall - On Strike!" and stormed one of the largest academic
buildings on the Quad. We marched through an overcrowded lecture that was still
in session and encouraged students to walk out. As we headed toward the Ave,
some students in the crowd were agitating to occupy Gerberding Hall on Red
Square. This is the main administration building on campus. Democracy
Insurgent members chose not to back this proposal because an occupation
requires a lot of prior logistical planning that we had not done. It was not
something we felt that could be done on the spot, the same way our plans
changed to take over the Ave. An occupation meant that we needed to be ready
to stay there for the long haul with food and water, and also required building
mass support on campus. However, the fact that some people assembled there
wanted to do this shows the rising militancy and sense of urgency on campus
around the issue of the budget cuts. Organizers who support such actions need to
think about the strategy, the coordination required with those on the outside, and
the timing of occupations in the future. The strategy has a rich history on the UW
campus, winning admissions of people of color as well as the birth of Ethnic
Studies on UW campus in 1968, after a building occupation by the Black Student
Union then. It would be continuing the legacy of student of color militancy on this
campus, if an occupation happened again at a time when we are increasingly
denied entrance from this university through tuition hikes and a lack of academic
support services.
On our way to the Ave, we effectively shut down the main streets entering
campus, bringing traffic to a halt. Confronted with a 700-strong crowd, the cops
did nothing to try to stop us, and at multiple points we stopped and occupied key
intersections. It is worth asking ourselves: Under what conditions did the cops
respond this way? Would it be same the next time round? We saw in the
California struggles, particularly in the Wheeler Hall occupation at UC Berkeley as
well as the UC Regents meeting in UCLA in 2009, that behind every tuition hike is
a line of cops defending those decisions and putting down student and worker
resistance. How can we be prepared to carry on and defend our struggles?
The Interstate 5 (I-5) Debate
The crowd was at its largest as we
moved up the Ave towards 45th,
another main street in the
University District. With the mass
of people and upbeat energy, a lot
of people started agitating to
march onto Interstate 5 (I-5). Some
Democracy Insurgent organizers
were inspired by this energy and
joined in the call for the takeover of
the freeway. The takeover of I-5 is
part of the historical memory of UW
activism. In 1970, thousands of
students marched onto the freeway
as part of a massive student strike,
demanding an end to the war in
Vietnam and the increasing attacks
on the Black liberation movement
in the country. This was a proud
tradition that was coincidentally,
being commemorated on campus
through museum exhibits. Many in
the crowd were not happy only
with commemorating the history.
We wanted to make history to fight
back against the crisis of our We turned onto 45th and stopped at the
generation too! intersection of 45th and Brooklyn (one block
away from 45th and the Ave). We blocked the
intersection for about half an hour at this point to hold a speak-out. At this time,
people at different points of the crowd were saying different things – some felt
that marching onto I-5 was too risky and we were too unprepared; others felt we
should take the chance. Because of the absence of an effective sound system,
these conversations were being held in small groups rather than as a mass
grouping. Flawed as it was, we felt that this back and forth discussion among the
crowd was an important process. We were sensitive to the change in peoples’
attitude toward the taking of the freeway. In response, Democracy Insurgent
members called for a vote to get a better sense of how many people wanted to
take the freeway. When we realized that there wasn’t a clear mandate from the
crowd to escalate, we decided not to proceed with the plan.
We decided that in the absence of enough people advocating the takeover of I-5,
we would not be able to pull of such an action. Taking the freeway is an action
that needs the power of numbers. It is a scenario where the more people there
are, the safer it is.
1968: Black Student Union fights for admission of students of color into University of
Washington.
BSU member climbs up to the 3rd floor during occupation of President’s office
Pictures from Seattle Civil Rights and Labor Project
As organizers, we aim to build a fierce and strong democratic movement that is
neither afraid of militancy and spontaneity, nor reckless in its escalation. We have
been told too many times to follow and obey rules that suppress our rage and our
power. Ironically, the same rules of legality are broken when the state attacks our
right to affordable education, breaks union contracts to attack healthcare, and
shovel our communities into prisons and wars in the Middle East. It is moments
when hundreds of oppressed people take the streets that we realize our power
and we must not be afraid of it. Our decision to turn back away from the takeover
of the freeway is rooted in the belief that we need large numbers of people who
will come together to shatter the myth of our powerlessness. It is a myth that
these tuition hikes, attacks on social services and healthcare are inevitable.
Through bold mass actions, we demand that top administrators take a pay cut,
that the state tax the rich to fill the budget, and keep tuition and healthcare
affordable for all working people!
We realized later that some people were advocating marching up to the off-ramp
of I-5, NOT onto the freeway itself. This was also lost in the moment. Regardless,
the uncertainty expressed in the crowd was a sign that we need to organize for
more people to join us. This has to be a powerful citywide and statewide
movement including community colleges, teachers, and off-campus workers and
communities.
We decided at the point to convene at the UW Tower. The UW Tower is a
securitized and highly inaccessible 22-storey office building with only revolving
door entrances. When we arrived at the UW Tower, it was lined with cops. There,
one person advocated rushing the entrance of the UW Tower. Others advocated
going back to campus so we could march through more classrooms. We took a
democratic decision and decided to do exactly the latter.
Questions of Leadership
Since March 4th, some have questioned the actions of Democracy Insurgent
members who organized for a speak-out, and a vote regarding the I-5 action,
suggesting that this shows a lack of leadership in a mass action. We have
received criticisms that democratic assembly in the middle of a mass action is not
strategic. As a movement-building organization, we are happy that these
questions are coming to the fore. It means people have a stake in what happens.
We need to channel these constructive criticisms toward the planning and
organizing of future actions. Even with our different viewpoints, we should come
together to fight against the budget cuts that hurt us and our communities.
We believe that leadership and a respect for the spontaneity of the crowd are
complementary. As people who want to advance the struggle against the budget
cuts, we realize that it is only the mass activity of large numbers of people who
are willing to take more action, that will be able to change the current scenario of
retreat. This movement energy cannot be planned beforehand, and neither can it
be feared. We are careful and conscientious organizers who work daily to cohere
a strong message against the propaganda that these cuts are inevitable.
However, this daily, careful organizing cannot replace the raw anger and
militancy when thousands of oppressed people hit the streets. We are a group
that is made up of oppressed peoples who envision a world where justice,
democracy and compassion can thrive. Together with others, we support these
moments of mass activity.
What we can learn from March 4th
On March 4th, in collaboration with other members of the SWC, Democracy
Insurgent organizers worked to ensure that our route was always accessible. The
struggles of people with disabilities have been obscured too long even in
progressive movements. Too many times, people with disabilities have been
excluded from movements and treated as second-class citizens because of our
society’s continual enforcement of ableism. We aim to build a movement that
brings people together across race, genders, and disabilities. We have to reflect
that in our actions.
The media painted the actions as only a student issue. In reality, on March 4th,
there were many campus and off-campus workers who joined us in our actions.
The combination of students and workers in a struggle that affects us all creates
opportunities for us to break down the barriers that divide us. In fact, many
students are workers, and many workers are also students. Joint organizing
between workers and students in actions like March 4th give new possibilities to
us. In these times in particular, the UW functions on the one hand, as an
administration that imposes tuition hikes and decreased accessibility of the
university, as well as an oppressive management that uses the budget cuts as a
pretext to impose union busting, dictatorial working conditions, weak contracts
and inhuman amounts of work. We believe the state functions in the same way in
these times of economic crisis when we, students and workers, carry the brunt of
the economic crisis.
We realized through our experience in March 4th, that there is need for further
education about the significance of strikes and the importance of picket lines.
Strikes are crucial weapons of the working class against attacks by the rulers and
the wealthy who seek to further squeeze more profit through our exploitation.
However, in our time and age where only a meager 12% of the US workforce is
unionized, alongside a general erosion of knowledge about labor history and
struggles, the significance of strikes and picket lines have been lost. In the
liberation movements of the 1960s, student strikes were also important
strategies that won the demands for Black Studies and Ethnic Studies, countering
the white supremacist curriculums in universities that erased the agency and
histories of people of color. On March 4th, as organizers, we were at times unable
to convey the importance of maintaining picket lines. This is partly because the
crowd could not hear the SWC speakers who explained the significance due to the
weak sound system. In any case, we aim to educate one another and others
involved on the significance and relevance of strikes to our movement against
these further cuts.
Democracy Insurgent, along with other organizations, intend to participate and
organize for a month of action in May against the budget cuts that will only
deepen if we do not rise up and fight back. May 1st marks International Labor Day
and Immigrant Rights day and we will participate in citywide actions then. Along
with the SWC and other supporting organizations, we will be working toward a
May 3rd Campus Strike, in solidarity with the teaching assistants on campus
whose contract is currently being negotiated, as well as with all state workers
whose healthcare and jobs are on the line. We demand from Gregoire and the
state legislature: Tax the rich, don’t tell us to sacrifice! We been giving too much,
too long!
We aim to build a citywide, statewide movement to push back against these cuts.
March Forth Seattle, toward a month of May actions for immigrant rights and
worker, student power!
We are a majority people of color activist group animated by principles of democracy, anti-racism,
anti-imperialism, queer liberation, Third World Feminism, and workers' power. We are based in
Seattle, Washington
www.democracyinsurgent.org * www.nobudgetcutsuw.blogspot.com
