Creation Amid Destruction
You’re listening to Revolution Per Minute on listener sponsored WBAI in NYC broadcasting at 99.5 FM and streaming on your favorite podcast app. To connect with us after the show you can email us at revolutionsnyc@gmail.com. You can find us on our website revolutionsperminute.simplecast.com or on twitter @nycRPM.
YDS Statement on Jack Dunn’s Comments to WBUR
The members of YDS of BC were disappointed to hear Jack Dunn’s comments on WBUR Wednesday. We do not think it is appropriate for a high ranking administrator and the official university spokesperson to attack students in the press because we are demanding better protections for students, workers, and members of the local community during a pandemic. When confronted by host Tiziana Dearing that YDS raised serious concerns with administrators about BC’s testing plan this summer and were ignored, Dunn refused to address this legitimate question and instead attacked YDS as a bad group on campus not worth his consideration.
YDS of BC is proud of the activism we do on and off campus and proud that we strive as a group to try our best to support other student organizations on campus in the work they do.
This spring and summer we have been proud to be part of the campaign, launched by a YDS member, calling for a resource center for queer and trans students on campus and for the addition of gender identity to BC’s non-discrimination policy. This effort has garnered significant public support in a short period of time.
YDS was the first group on campus to call attention of BCPD officers policing the protest against the murder of Geroge Floyd in Dorchester this summer. We, along with many students and members of the alumni community, thought it was wholly innaproriate that BC sent officers to a predominantly Black neighborhood in Boston to a protest of the murder of a Black man by police.
We have led the campaign to remove BCPD Chief Evans and have done extensive reporting on his collaboration with ICE and the racially discriminatory policing of the Boston police during his time as the city’s chief.
In 2019 we collaborated with R.E.A.C.T. , an anit-sex trafficking group on campus to call for BC to cut ties with Patriots owner Robert Kraft. We called for BC to cancel an event at the BC CEO Club featuring the CEO’s of two of the world’s largest weapons manufacturers.
We have been involved in the fight over free speech on campus. CJBC and YDS helped organize a free speech protest in 2018 which led to BCPD detaining two students for writing in sidewalk chalk in support of an LGBTQ+ resource center, Black Lives Matter, divestment, and other causes.
Our members have supported antiracist protests on campus, and supported Eradicate Racism BC during their struggles against the administration. YDSA of BC members have attended counter protests against white supremacists in Boston on multiple occasions.
We also have a strong relationship with Climate Justice BC supporting their fight for divestment and other causes like, rallying to stop the BC political science department from accepting funding from the Koch Foundation. In 2019 we held a divestment town hall with CJBC, Students for Justice in Palestine at BC, GLC and FACES.. This event focused on the BC endowment and pushed for divestment from all unethical investments.
YDS has called for the removal of Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark from the BC Board of Trustees. Clark’s office fuels the mass incarceration of Black and Hispanic New Yorkers in the Bronx. Earlier this summer Clark refused to press charges against anyone in connection with the death of Layleen Polanco, an Afro-Latina transgender woman who died in Rikers after she was unable to pay $500 in bail, a tragic story that shows the disregrad the criminal justice system has for transgender lives.
We chastised BC for not being part of the Harvard & MIT lawsuit against ICE this summer, and forced BC spokesman Jack Dunn to acknowledge that BC had not signed onto the amicus brief with other universities as the school falsely claimed on its website.
When other schools were already distributing CARES Act funds to students we called out BC for its lack of transparency and inaction. We brought attention to the fact BC kept 50% of the money it received from the government, unlike schools like BU and the University of Chicago which gave 100% of the funds to their students.
YDSA has been a longtime supporter of the BC Graduate Employees Union. Our members have taken part in a number of union events and protests over the years. We partnered with the BC College Democrats to attend the March for Our Lives protest in 2018 and our members attended rallies against sexual assault and in support of tour guides fighting to be paid hosted by students at Boston University. We joined striking Stop & Shop workers on the picket lne in the spring of 2019.
We are proud of all of this work by students over the years. We will never apologize for advocating on behalf of the student body or on behalf of any social justice cause.
Follow us on social media:
Instagram @ydsofbc or https://www.instagram.com/ydsofbc/
Twitter @YDS_BC or https://twitter.com/YDS_BC
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/YDSABC
Check out our website to see some of the things YDS of BC is involved in.
What's Going On?
You’re listening to Revolution Per Minute on listener sponsored WBAI in NYC broadcasting at 99.5 FM and streaming on your favorite podcast app. To connect with us after the show you can email us at revolutionsnyc@gmail.com. You can find us on our website revolutionsperminute.simplecast.com or on twitter @nycRPM
Board of Supervisors Meeting: Sanctuary Resolution
In response to consistent pressure from activist groups like ICE Out of Marin, the Marin County Board of Supervisors will discuss a resolution to “Reaffirm Support for Immigrant Community” tomorrow at 2 PM. As the name (and its nature as a resolution instead of legislation), this resolution is not legally binding, incremental, and vague. While making a public statement can help shift public opinion, we do not believe this action is nearly enough for what is needed to bring real equality to our undocumented neighbors.
Call To Action!
ICE Out of Marin is encouraging those affected as well as immigrant allies to make their voices heard during the public comment section of this upcoming meeting. We want to make sure the Board knows that this non-binding resolution will not satisfy our calls for justice.
How Can I Help?
The Board of Supervisors meeting will be held on Tuesday, September 15th at 2 PM Pacific. There will be an opportunity for public comment during which you can speak up on this topic. The meeting will be held over Zoom.
Link: https://www.zoom.us/join
Meeting ID: 947 4251 8384
Password: 352533
DSA Calendar Event
Building Inclusive Movement for Economic Justice
Stop the Astoria Power Plant
You’re listening to Revolution Per Minute on listener sponsored WBAI in NYC broadcasting at 99.5 FM and streaming on your favorite podcast app. To connect with us after the show you can email us at revolutionsnyc@gmail.com. You can find us on our website revolutionsperminute.simplecast.com or on twitter @nycRPM.
Fan the Flames of Discontent
You’re listening to Revolution Per Minute on listener sponsored WBAI in NYC broadcasting at 99.5 FM and streaming on your favorite podcast app. To connect with us after the show you can email us at revolutionsnyc@gmail.com. You can find us on our website revolutionsperminute.simplecast.com or on twitter @nycRPM
WE ARE WITH ALEX MORSE
We stand unshaken in our support for Congressional candidate Alex Morse following fabricated accusations of sexual misconduct made by leaders of the College Democrats of UMass Amherst.
Since the initial allegations, The Intercept has revealed nearly a year-long, coordinated effort to sabotage Mayor Morse’s campaign in our district. It is most alarming, that the Massachusetts Democratic Party itself colluded with the College Democrats to favor the 15-term incumbent, Congressman Richard Neal. The leaders of the College Democrats utilized homophobic tropes, culminating in allegations being made just three weeks before the primary.
We say no to homophobic tropes. We say no to cynically exploiting social issues for political gain. We say no to the rampant corruption that continues to degrade our democracy. All of those involved with this reprehensible smear campaign must be held accountable for their actions.
All too often, when progressive candidates rise electorally to unseat entrenched power in government, the political machine resorts to tactics such as these- not only in this race, but in those across the country. Such underhanded tactics are a disservice to voters and to fair elections- indeed, they are a disservice to democracy itself.
Alex Morse is a proponent of desperately needed policies such as Medicare for All and the Green New Deal. These policies are now being blocked by another form of corruption– corporate donors buying political influence in order to maintain the status quo — no matter how noxious or unsustainable it is.
Morse is running a clean campaign to challenge a prominent, corporate democrat who is known for accepting such money to prevent needed change. People are sick and tired of the corruption of American politics that corrodes our democracy. We urge the first congressional district to support Morse in this critical election, and for our supporters to contribute to his campaign to ensure his victory on September 1st.
No MORE Dead Teachers: The Rank & File Rebellion Against Schools Reopening
You’re listening to Revolution Per Minute on listener sponsored WBAI in New York City broadcasting at 99.5 FM and streaming on your favorite podcast app. To connect with us after the show you can email us at revolutionsnyc@gmail.com. You can find us on our website revolutionsperminute.simplecast.com or on twitter @nycRPM.