{"id":6820,"date":"2012-04-28T21:30:16","date_gmt":"2012-04-29T05:30:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/?p=6820"},"modified":"2012-04-29T14:13:53","modified_gmt":"2012-04-29T22:13:53","slug":"rouge-forum-dispatch-for-a-rouge-mayday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/rouge-forum-dispatch-for-a-rouge-mayday\/","title":{"rendered":"Rouge Forum Dispatch: For a Rouge Mayday!"},"content":{"rendered":"

We Say Fightback<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

www.lucyparsonsproject.org\/<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Hundreds of Detroit Youth Walkout from Schools and Start Freedom Schools <\/strong> Two of 100 Detroit Public Schools students suspended for walking out of school to protest district-wide downsizing and to demand a better education started a “Freedom School” on Friday, across the street from their high school.
\nRaychel Gafford and Freddie Burse, students at Western International High School, were each suspended for five days after they and 98 other students walked out of school on Wednesday and into nearby Clark Park in southwest Detroit.
\nThe students said they were protesting the impending closure of Southwestern High School and inequitable conditions at schools, including overcrowded classrooms, inadequate textbooks and supplies, and what they describe as “low expectations” from teachers on their academic futures.
\nGafford said the Freedom School is for all suspended students and will offer courses on several subjects, including social justice, hip-hop music and poetry workshops taught by community members, including a pair of university professors. \u00a0 www.detroitnews.com\/article\/20120427\/SCHOOLS\/204270424\/1026\/schools\/Two-suspended-DPS-students-start-Freedom-School-<\/a><\/p>\n

What We Can Do From Afar in Solidarity With Detroit Youth <\/strong> Dear Friends,
\nWe need your help right away.
\nOn Wednesday, April 25 in Detroit, hundreds of Western International
\nHigh School students walked out in solidarity with fellow students
\nfrom nearby Southwestern High School to protest the state-imposed
\nEmergency Manager’s decision to shut down Southwestern at the end of
\nthe school year.
\n(www.detroitnews.com\/article\/20120426\/METRO01\/204260493\/1026\/<\/a>
\nschools\/180-Detroit-high-school-students-suspended-after-protesting-
\nclosures).
\nStudents from both schools gathered peacefully in Clark Park in a
\njubilant speak out and celebration of their demand for quality
\neducation for all Detroit students.
\nToday at least 100 students (possibly more than 180) at Western
\nInternational High School and 20 students at Southwestern were
\nsuspended-some for up to ten days-for the walk out. A large
\nproportion of those suspended are Latino, in a city where the
\nimmigrant population is under constant assault over status issues.
\nMany of the youth and their families are fearful for what the near
\nterm future will bring.
\nConsistent with their demand to receive a quality, relevant education,
\nstudents from both schools are forming the Southwest Detroit Freedom
\nSchool in Clark Park, which holds its first class this morning at
\n10:55 a.m. (consistent with the time of their joint walkouts).
\n(www.facebook.com\/groups\/390675970977100\/?ref=ts#!\/groups\/<\/a>
\n390675970977100\/members\/)
\nThe students are now asking all of us, as their allies, to contact the
\nfollowing Detroit Public Schools officials immediately to demand:
\n(1) that the suspensions of the Southwestern and Western International
\nHigh School students be rescinded;
\n(2) that public schools be kept open; and
\n(3) that spaces are created for students, families, and community
\nmembers to have legitimate dialogue about decisions concerning their
\nschools.<\/p>\n

Roy S. Roberts, Emergency Manager, Detroit Public Schools
\nPhone: (313) 870-3772
\nFax: (313) 870-3726<\/p>\n

Steve Wasko, DPS Chief Communications Officer
\nsteven.wasko@detroitk12.org<\/a>
\nPhone: (313) 873-4892
\nFax: (313) 873-4565<\/p>\n

Karen Ridgeway, DPS Superintendent of Academics
\nkaren.ridgeway@detroitk12.org<\/a>
\nPhone: (313) 576-0050
\nFax: (313) 873-6446 Please share and forward this message broadly.
\nBest,
\nTom Pedroni<\/p>\n

The Detroit Freedom School Facebook Page <\/strong> www.facebook.com\/groups\/390675970977100\/<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

More on Detroit Suspensions (schools closed by civil strife are superior to open, normal, schools) <\/strong>Between 100 and 180 students were suspended Thursday for walking out of Western International High School to protest school closures and school conditions .
\n“Their cellphones were taken from them and messages and numbers were gone through by security. The police deleted numbers and messages from the students’ phones,” Detroit Board of Education member Elena Herrada said in an email.
\nHerrada said about 180 students were suspended and the suspensions range from one day to two weeks.
\nDPS spokesman Steve Wasko said about 100 students were suspended for five days. He wasn’t immediately able to verify Thursday night if student phones were checked as part of school policies.\u00a0 www.detroitnews.com\/article\/20120426\/METRO01\/204260493\/1026\/schools\/180-Detroit-high-school-students-suspended-after-protesting-closures<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> Montreal Students’ Uprising Still Solid and Growing Despite Fascist Repression \u00a0(photo essay) www.cbc.ca\/news\/interactives\/montreal-protest\/<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Why No News of the Quebec Uprisings? <\/strong> <\/strong>So, why haven\u2019t you heard about this yet?
\nWhile the Quebec student strike is comparable in scale to student movements in Europe and Latin America, it is entirely unique in the context of Canada and the continental United States, which makes the absence of media coverage outside the province puzzling at best and disturbing at worst. As the veteran Canadian activist Judy Rebick observed in a recent rabble.ca column, \u201cit is incredible that there has been almost no coverage of this extraordinary uprising of young people in Quebec in English Canada,\u201d \u00a0 chronicle.com\/blogs\/brainstorm\/the-biggest-student-uprising-youve-never-heard-of<\/a><\/p>\n