updates

[Michael McCabe]

Hello everyone!

 

First, Riad and I want to thank all of you for making our Take Back Trenton Coalition May Day protest a success! We successfully united people from various different communities who have traditionally been atomized. Furthermore, we have gained the attention of the unions who now see us as a legitimate force in NJ! Therefore, it is clear that May 1st was a success as well as a catalyst for what appears to be a burgeoning movement!

 

We must not slow down the momentum we have gained. This Sunday is Mother's Day, so it seems inappropriate to call a meeting for this weekend. We do, however, need a meeting asap which is why we are scheduling a meeting for Sunday, May 16th at 2pm in the Graduate Student Lounge (student center) at Rutgers University where we will assess the good and bad of our May 1st protest as well as discuss where we go from here. Riad and I have some ideas that we are looking forward to sharing with you, and will be working on a summer program of localized direct-actions which we will be presenting at the upcoming meeting.

 

If you have any questions or comments please feel free to contact us!

 

In solidarity,

 

Riad Azar

Mike McCabe

 

Also, for those of you who have yet to see it, below is the new Take Back Trenton Coalition Call to Action:

 

The Take Back Trenton Coalition has its roots in the US student-led right to education movement. After participating in the March 4th nation-wide student mobilization against cuts to higher education, students across New Jersey formed the Take Back Trenton Coalition as we realized that we cannot win this fight against Chris Christie’s draconian budget cuts and favoritism of the super wealthy alone! Instead, through our collective power, students and working people must unite and oppose Chris Christie’s Reaganomic policies which seek to defund, undermine and essentially privatize the public sector that was developed to better our lives. For too long, New Jersey’s various working-class, public sector, and community groups have unintentionally fought against each other for the scraps that the politicians dangle in front of their faces.  As such, these groups have inadvertently divided themselves, making it easy for the rich and the powerful to dominate and exploit them.  This must end! If we are to prevail over Chris Christie’s war against the public sector then students, workers, teachers, environmentalists and community organizations must unite to Take Back Trenton from the political elites and put it back into the hands of the people of New Jersey!
 
We have exhausted all “formal” avenues of political power in an attempt to make our elected leaders responsive to the needs of the majority rather than the wants of a few privileged individuals. It has become painstakingly clear that letter writing, phone calls, emails, petitions and face-to-face meetings with the politicians have resulted in nothing but disingenuous smiles, generic responses and empty promises, all while the conditions of students and working people in New Jersey continues to erode. High school students are suffering from overcrowded classrooms and the loss of experienced teachers; College students are falling deeper and deeper into debt, as the NJ public university system which was established to provide working-class youth with higher education is being rapidly underfunded;  Working people in New Jersey are suffering from steadily increasing taxes and the loss of public services and jobs within the public sector which disproportionately affects women, especially women of color; Teachers who have dedicated their lives to developing our next generation of leaders are enduring some of the harshest attacks as Chris Christie is attempting to divide the working-class, forcing us into a race to the bottom; Libraries are being drained of resources as librarians are starting to be laid off by the dozen; Many New Jersey residents are facing home foreclosures due to the reckless practices of Wall Street which crashed the economy and the exploitive practices of the banks who repossess people’s homes as they struggle with their unemployment; NJ Transit riders are facing skyrocketing fare increases and a reduction in service which will decrease ridership, leading to the layoffs of countless transit workers and a negative impact on the environment as riders resort to less carbon-efficient modes of transportation; And all of this while Chris Christie gives those making over $450,000 a tax cut! Therefore, it is clear that we must explore alternative tactics as we struggle against the rich and the political elites who have waged a war on the public sector!
 
Our struggle is not new; it is a classic example of competing interests – the interests of a highly privileged few and everyone else. We have a history of protest movements to draw upon for guidance as we work towards protecting the public sector which was guaranteed to us following the struggles of previous generations of students and working people. The establishment of the Take Back Trenton Coalition and the initial May 1st protest we organized stems from lessons we learned from these previous movements, as we seek to create a new unified movement of all those who benefit from the public sector! Therefore, our May 1st March on Trenton is not a flash-in-the-pan protest that only temporarily captures the anger and frustration over policies which force New Jersey’s students and working people to bear the tax burden that the rich and powerful pass on to us. Instead, May 1^st is the first of many actions that will disrupt the status quo until the needs of the many are given priority over the wants of a privileged few!

It is for these reasons that we call on all citizens of New Jersey to begin a campaign of disruptive protest and non-violent civil disobedience as we unite to reclaim the public sector from the rich and the political elites who seek to destroy it!