Student Under Attack for Honoring Black & Puerto Rican Liberation Heroes

carlwebb — Sat, 23 Dec 2006 06:15:48 GMT

Student Activists Under Attack at City College of New York
for Honoring Black and Puerto Rican Liberation Heroes

By Brad Sigal

New York, NY - The New York Police Department is on the defensive because of
mass outrage over the police’s murder of Sean Bell. Bell, a 23-year old
unarmed African American man was killed by the NYPD in a hail of 50 bullets
Nov. 25 a few hours before he was going to be married. His murder has
sparked large protests against racist police brutality.

The Morales / Shakur Community and Student Center in the NAC Building at
City College of New York. The sign with the center's name and the photo of
Assata Shakur above the door was removed by the CCNY administration on
December 14.

Two weeks later, the right-wing New York Daily News tried to create a
diversion from the issue of racist police brutality by attacking student
activists at the City College of New York (CCNY), accusing them of promoting
“cop killers” and “terrorists.” On Dec.12 the Daily News ran a cover story
and editorial attacking CCNY’s Guillermo Morales/Assata Shakur Community and
Student Center, a student-run activist space on the flagship Harlem campus
of the City University of New York (CUNY). The Daily News editorial demanded
that Shakur and Morales’s names be removed from the Center.

The Center is named for former Black Panther leader Assata Shakur and Puerto
Rican revolutionary nationalist Guillermo Morales. They were both students
at CCNY in the 1960s that dedicated their lives to the liberation of Black
and Puerto Rican people. Both were imprisoned in the 1970s and escaped and
fled to Cuba, where they currently live in exile. Assata’s 1987
autobiography has inspired countless people to join the struggle for Black
liberation.

When the Daily News article came out, the CUNY administration quickly joined
in the attack on the student activists. CUNY Chancellor Matthew Goldstein
released a statement saying that the CUNY Board of Trustees never authorized
naming the center after Shakur and Morales. He demanded the immediate
removal of the sign bearing their names.

The Center has been named after Shakur and Morales for its 17 years of
existence. Students won use of the space as a result of the 1989 CUNY
student strike against a proposed tuition increase. Ydanis Rodriguez, a
leader in the 1989 student strike and a leader of the Center’s community
projects, states, “In 1989 when we ended our organizing movement against the
tuition increase proposed by Governor Mario Cuomo, we were able to persuade
the governor not to increase tuition. At the end of that movement, as part
of the negotiation, we got that space to use as a student and community
center. The center has been a very important place at City College because
this is a real link between the university and the surrounding community,
especially Harlem, Washington Heights and El Barrio.”

When the Daily News article came out, the City College administration asked
the students to remove the sign themselves. The students responded
immediately with a press statement saying they would not remove Shakur and
Morales’s names from the Center. They expressed support for Shakur and
Morales, who they said are freedom fighters for the liberation of Black and
Puerto Rican people. In defense of Assata Shakur, the students’ statement
said, “We know that many Black people who fought for better conditions in
the 1970s were framed. We consider Assata Shakur to be one of the people who
were wrongfully and purposefully framed for her activities. And we consider
her a hero and role model for standing up for our people and putting her
life on the line.”

After the students’ press conference, the attack against the students
broadened when Fox News picked up the story, making it the top national
story on FoxNews.com under the headline “Students Love Cop Killer Honored at
New York College”. This was then picked up by many other news outlets.

On Dec. 13 the students attempted to meet with the CCNY administration to
negotiate. The administration refused to meet when the students said they
wanted their lawyer present and wanted the conversation recorded. Then
taking unilateral action, on Dec. 14 the CCNY administration removed the
sign with Shakur and Morales’s names from the entrance to the center. They
threatened student activists with disciplinary action if they put the sign
back up.

Students responded by calling a meeting to defend the center. Over 100
people came. From that meeting a rally was planned for Dec. 20 to confront
the CCNY administration and show support for the Morales/Shakur Center. The
rally will take place at 4:00 p.m. on CCNY’s NAC Plaza (outside of the
Administration Building) on Convent Avenue between 137th and 138th Streets.
Students are also encouraging supporters of the Morales/Shakur Center to
contact CCNY President Gregory H. Williams to protest CCNY’s infringement on
academic and student rights by their attack on the Center. Williams can be
contacted at 212-650-7285 or by fax at 212-650-7680. Plans are also in
motion to file a federal injunction to win the right to put the sign back
up.

A Center for Organizing

The Morales/Shakur Center houses various activist groups and projects.
Students for Education Rights was the group that led the student strike that
won the space for the Morales/Shakur Center from the CUNY administration in
1989. Union de Jovenes Dominicanos and Dominicanos 2000 use the
Morales/Shakur Center for their activities, including running a
Pre-University Program that works with hundreds of high school students from
the community. Student Liberation Action Movement is an activist group at
CUNY formed in 1995 in opposition to another round of tuition hikes. The
Messenger, which was started as an alternative newspaper at CCNY in 1997,
uses the center too.

http://fightbacknews.org/2006/05/ccny.htm

posted in Harlem, NYC - 1 reply

COMING TO NEW YORK

Tue, 29 Aug 2006 18:08:24 GMT

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posted in Harlem, NYC - 3 replies

Sharing empowerment!

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posted in Harlem, NYC - 2 replies

A Walk Through Harlem PBS Show

scorintha — Mon, 20 Jun 2005 11:41:10 GMT

Has anyone seen this show? It's a 3 hour walking tour and detailed historical overview of the neighborhood. The two hosts David Hartman and Barry Lewis interview Marcus Garvey Jr., Reverend Calvin Butts III, and Dr. Walter Turnbull, founder of the Harlem boys choir.

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posted in Harlem, NYC - 2 replies

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Sat, 12 Mar 2005 00:08:02 GMT

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posted in Harlem, NYC - 2 replies

Hi Ralph...

theunrulyj — Thu, 11 Nov 2004 19:02:03 GMT

Just you and me in here huh?

posted in Harlem, NYC - 0 replies

Harlem, NYC's topics - tribe.net

Student Under Attack for Honoring Black & Puerto Rican Liberation Heroes

COMING TO NEW YORK

Sharing empowerment!

A Walk Through Harlem PBS Show

WHAT?????

Hi Ralph...