Struggles

UC Berkeley Students Protest Racist Acts

Written by Berkeley Daily Planet
Wednesday, 03 March 2010 15:40
UC Berkeley became the scene of yet another protest Monday when a group of students and supporters staged a “Blackout 2010” blockade of Sather Gate. The group—comprised mainly of black students on campus—wore black clothing, with black scarves around their mouth, to silently protest racist acts at UC San Diego, including an off-campus event mocking Black History Month. The situation escalated when a noose was found hanging in UCSD’s Geisel Library two weeks later. An e-mail message from Blackout’s organizers said the Feb. 14 “Compton Cookout” themed party encouraged “female participants to be ‘ghetto chicks’ with gold teeth, cheap clothes and ‘short, nappy hair ...’ and ‘a limited vocabulary,’ while consuming ‘chicken and watermelon.’” It pointed out that state Bill AB 412 makes placing a noose on school property a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in prison and a fine of up to $5,000. “It is deplorable that while our students, faculty and staff work to heal the campus, a few misguided individuals tried to divide it,” UC San Diego Chancellor Marye Anne Fox said in a statement Feb. 26. “We are feeling real pain, and we will take real action. The safety of our students, faculty, and staff is my primary concern.”
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UC Irvine PROTEST: 17 Arrested

Written by The Huffington Post
Sunday, 28 February 2010 10:42
Seventeen UC Irvine activists were arrested after carrying out an impassioned sit-in outside the school chancellor's office this morning. According to a report in the Orange County Register, the activists were demonstrating in protest of the dissolution of contract talks between the school and the UC system's janitorial union. The school wants to perform citizenship checks on its workers, potentially endangering their standing at the university and in the country. The protesters were demonstrating against myriad issues plaguing the UC system, including proposed massive tuition hikes and the system's lukewarm response to a racist television segment produced by UC San Diego student media last week.
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Berkeley, CA – Durant Hall is occupied

Friday, 26 February 2010 13:08

Berkeley, CA – Durant Hall (next to Wheeler Hall) is occupied. Hundreds have stormed this building (that is being renovated).

updates:

12:10am: some UCPD (~5) present around the building, still trying to figure out what’s going on. They are spotlighting people near the entrance with flashlights, but a green chain-link fence obscures most of their view. People are dancing right outside.

1:30am: About 200 people inside. Doors are wide open but barricades are set up to keep cops out. There’s a few police on each side, a few hundred feet away from the building. Durant is under construction, so random materials and fences are keeping police out for now. Organizers have released a statement: Why Durant Hall?