ANTI-RACISM DAILY

May 5, 2024

Weekend Edition

SPOTLIGHT: STUDENT PROTESTS

Over 2,000 students and faculty have been arrested as student-led protests grow at college campuses across the U.S. Many of these demonstrations are being misinterpreted as generic acts of solidarity with communities in Gaza. But, in reality, students have clear and comprehensive demands from their universities – and they’re not budging. Although each school has it’s own focus, here’s what’s common throughout their demands.

1. Divestment. Demands for universities to stop investing and receiving funds from institutions that support the Israeli attacks and boycott programs with Israeli universities.

2. Agency. The development of councils, committees or task forces that help universities choose external financial partners and, increasingly, the role of policing and punishment on campus.

3. Transparency. Clarity on the investments they receive and partnerships they have with institutions, particularly those related to the military and defense.

4. Advocacy. Universities use their voice to call for an immediate, permanent ceasefire and in defense of Palestinian communities – both on campus and abroad.

How you can help:

1. Call your local school/university and express your support for protestors, your admonishments on calling the police (where applicable), and how the school's decisions will shape your relationship with the school in the future <<< ESPECIALLY if you're a donor. Do this at least three times.

2. Join them IRL (where appropriate) and stand in solidarity. Some communities are choosing to position themselves between students and law enforcement to shield them from harm.

3. Amplify stories from students, student journalists, and others on the ground online. Express your solidarity in your post so it's clear where you stand!

4. Look for student-led accounts on social media that often post other ways to support, including dropping off supplies, donating money for resources and bail funds, and even signing up for meal trains to send food.

5. Call your local officials and express your disappointment with the use of local law enforcement to attack and criminalize students.

6. Donate to student-led journalism, brave and powerful storytelling that’s holding mainstream media accountable and ensuring all perspectives are heard.

List of student-led journalism to follow:

Other resources:

• Here are examples of colleges that have met students’ demands

• How Columbia's students etched a new Gaza protest legacy

• How some faculty members are defending student protesters, in actions and in words

• Here's what students need to know about protesting on campus right now

UPCOMING WORKSHOPS

IN THE NEWS

Millions of Latinas stand to be impacted by abortion bans in Florida and Arizona. While Arizona’s total abortion ban will be in effect only temporarily, it highlights how many Latinx people live in states with restrictions on abortion before fetal viability.

Protest organizers face legal risks after SCOTUS declined to hear liability case. The court’s decision not to hear McKesson v. Doe upholds a lower ruling that makes protest organizers liable for the actions of individual participants.

Unpack the commercialization of Cinco de Mayo. Cinco de Mayo represents the anniversary of Mexico’s victory against the French forces of Napoleon III at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862.

A collection of environmental reporting on Israel's war on Gaza. A collection of reports by Alleen Brown gathered since October 7 on the environmental consequences of Israel’s bombardment of Gaza and ongoing occupation of Palestinian land.

A new report from Amnesty International finds the sale of U.S. weapons to Israel for use in its indiscriminate assault in Gaza is in violation of U.S. and international law. “The U.S. is ‘complicit in the commission of war crimes’.”

New study finds that Southeast Asian Americans face the brunt of racist attacks among Asians in U.S. While many Americans believe anti-Asian hate has passed, experts say many communities are still living in fear.

How the racist history of the filibuster lives on today. By blocking the passage of the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, the filibuster continues its long history as an institutional tool used to oppress Black and brown Americans.

How the Miccosukee Tribe plans to stop oil drilling in the Everglades once and for all. The proposal comes amid continued interest in expanding oil production within the Big Cypress National Preserve, an Everglades wilderness the tribe considers sacred.

They killed their abusive partners. Now their sentences could be reconsidered. Oklahoma could re-examine how it punishes people whose crimes came after years of domestic abuse. Other states may follow.

READ WITH US!

Join our current book club on The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine by Dr. Rashid Khalidi! We’re discussing the book all month long on Patreon and gathering virtually on Thursday, May 30.