Mobilize for a National Student Antiwar Walkout
A Call to Action from Minnesota Youth Against War and Racism
With every passing day the disaster in Iraq worsens. Over 3,500 U.S. soldiers and hundreds of thousands of Iraqi’s have been killed in a war for oil and empire.
In the November 2006 Congressional elections the American people sent a clear antiwar message. Yet the new Democratic Congress refuses to bring the troops home, instead giving Bush another $100 billion to implement his escalation of the war. The situation is clear: It’s up to us, ordinary people, to build a massive antiwar movement which shakes the foundations of this country and forces the ruling elite to end the war.
Mass direct action
Ending this war will take a variety of tactics, but we think a mass national walkout should be the central focus of the student antiwar movement next fall, to show that we will not allow business as usual to continue until the government ends its brutal war in Iraq. Public opposition to the war is huge and still growing. A genuinely national student walkout, involving hundreds of schools and tens of thousands of students could inspire and push forward the wider antiwar movement.
In high schools, , walkouts are acts of collective defiance and solidarity. We urge college activists, who often have more resources and experience, to help spread the walkout call into your community high schools. While at some colleges walkout calls have received less of an echo, campus protests that link up with high school walkouts can inspire wider participation.
While many direct actions involve only a small dedicated core, walkouts are a form of mass civil disobedience that can unite thousands of youth in struggle. Walkouts disrupt business as usual and demand the attention of the entire student body – as well as the wider community and media.
Through walkouts we can help popularize the idea that ordinary people, through collective action, can and must disrupt the war machine, which our schools are part of. If this idea catches on among the tens of thousands of disgruntled young soldiers in Iraq, then US military operations there can be ground to a halt, just as they were in Vietnam.
Setting a date
Various student groups have called national walkouts before, but often these have been called on short notice with little time to prepare a serious mobilization, and with only a few dozen colleges and high schools involved. As a result, the national reach and political impact of past walkouts have been limited. That’s why we want to help jump-start serious dialogue and planning this summer about how we can unite our whole movement behind a well prepared, nationally coordinated, powerful action next fall.
A number of prominent individuals such as Howard Zinn and Cindy Sheehan and key antiwar organizations, including U.S. Labor Against War and United for Peace and Justice, are calling for Iraq Moratorium Days every third Friday of the month starting in September and continuing through November, if not beyond. Among other actions they are encouraging students to organize “school closings.”
While the Iraq Moratorium call to action is quite vague (see: http://iraqmoratorium.org), they have committed to a major grassroots media campaign to promote decentralized local actions on those third Fridays. Minnesota Youth Against War and Racism (YAWR) is proposing – as a tentative idea for discussion – that we unify the student antiwar movement behind a major national walkout on November 16th, the third Friday in November.
Holding off until November 16th will give students enough time to get organized for an all-out, serious walkout mobilization. The basis exists to bring thousands of students into the streets in all major cities, but that will require local groups developing major outreach initiatives, fundraisers, and networks prepared months in advance. A November walkout will also allow time for the idea of the Iraq Moratorium Days to gain national momentum and media attention in September and October.
Another option under discussion is to walkout on Friday, October 26th, which is the day before major regional antiwar protests, called by United for Peace and Justice, are scheduled to take place. While we prefer November 16th, if other larger student groups call for walkouts on October 26th, Minnesota YAWR will unite with them. We hope to make a final decision about a date by August.
Do you support this call to action?
A genuinely mass national action will increase our collective strength, but this will only happen if local groups take creative ownership over this initiative. We urge local and national antiwar groups who support the idea of a national student walkout to get in touch with us. Minnesota YAWR is calling our walkout to demand: Troops home now; Military recruiters out of our schools; Money for education, not war. Sign onto our call to action or issue your own call, highlighting your own demands.
Contact MN Youth Against War and Racism
952-465-5307 * against.war@gmail.com * www.YAWR.org