Defying Police Threats, Students Walk Out Against the Republican National Convention
By Ty Moore

Despite police attempts to intimidate students from participating, hundreds of Twin Cities youth walked out of high schools on Thursday, September 4^th, to protest the war on the final Republican National Convention. Over 400 joined an energetic rally and march from the State Capitol, featuring a theatrical mock trial of giant puppet caricatures of Dick Cheney and other "War Criminals" who run Washington.

"While the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul roll out the red carpet for the convention, we say no to business as usual while the people responsible for the killing of hundreds of thousands of ordinary Iraqis, Afghans, and U.S. soldiers come to our city to plot their next steps," said Desarae Walker, a sophomore at the University of Minnesota and an activist with Youth Against War & Racism and Socialist Alternative. "We are tired of paying for a war with no end in sight."

The walkout also received substantial media coverage, including on TV news, in both local and national outlets (several links are included at the end of this article).

Most organizers of the event had anticipated a substantially higher turnout, but this was cut across by thinly veiled threats by police of violence against students who walked out - threats echoed by school officials. With the student strike called for just the third day of classes, there was little time for organizers to counter this fear campaign.

Police intimidation
St. Paul Police Chief John Harrington told the press, "The one untoward event that we are hoping that most well-thought out students in the city will not take part in is ... a call for students to walk out of school today. We think that's a bad idea on almost every possible basis. The place for students today is to stay in school" (Pioneer Press, 9/4/08).

The police told St. Paul and Minneapolis school district officials that the streets of downtown St. Paul would not be safe for students participating in the student strike. This message was clearly conveyed to students and many parents, in some cases through automated phone calls to students' homes warning of the alleged dangers and potential extra disciplinary action from the schools themselves

However, with walkout organizers publicly projecting a peaceful and permitted march, the only threat to students' safety was from the heavily armed police themselves! As promised by organizers, the walkout rally and march was a spirited, family -friendly event that proceeded without any confrontations with police. Hundreds of students peacefully left school in an act of collective civil disobedience, many participating in their first ever protest, demanding an end to the war in Iraq, and end to military recruiters in their schools, and money for education, not war.

Police Chief Harrington deceitfully told the media that students should skip the walkout since "there will be opportunities [Thursday] evening" to protest. Yet that evening, over 1000 people gathered at the State Capitol for a rally and march to the Xcel, where McCain was to give his acceptance speech. However, the police refused to grant organizers a permit to march after 5pm, effectively turning the streets around the Xcel into a "No protest zone" in the hours before McCain's speech (rendering the First Amendment null and void on Thursday night).

Of those who turned out to the evening protest, nearly 400 were arrested after cops blocked them from crossing bridges to get anywhere near the convention site. About 20 members of the media, including 2 Associated Press reporters, were caught in this indiscriminate police round-up! This was the culmination of a week of police repression against mostly peaceful protests, which created an extremely anxious climate in the city – difficult conditions under which to mobilize fresh layers of youth into action.

Counter-Recruitment Campaign Grows
While the turnout on the September 4^th student strike was smaller than past walkouts organized by Youth Against War & Racism, which have brought up to 2000 youth out, the local campaign YAWR has led against military recruitment in schools is stronger than ever.

Earlier this year, YAWR successfully pushed the Minneapolis school board to pass a resolution substantially restricting military recruiters' access to schools, and opening the door to a more institutional presence for the counter-recruitment movement in schools. This fall, YAWR intends to build on this success and expand our presence and base in Minneapolis high schools.

Just as important, over the last year the core activist base of YAWR has continued to expand. This in part came out of a highly successful activist training camp YAWR organized in August in partnership with the Ruckus Society, Fellowship of Reconciliation, Socialist Alternative, and Headwaters Foundation for Justice. Out of this camp, and in the run-up to the RNC, a whole new group of youth leaders developed, solidified as a team, and politically educated each other. In many respects, this will likely prove the most important lasting success of YAWR's student strike, because it lays the foundation for future youth movements to develop and flourish in the Twin Cities and beyond.

Further, a walkout by 400 students on the third day of school in the face of a hostile climate of police repression shows there is a substantial base of serious youth activists. Our key task now is to build off this success to organize more youth to take action to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and counter the presence of military recruiters in our schools.

Pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/30317436@N08/page2/

"Students Skip School to Stage Peaceful Protest", Star Tribune:
http://www.startribune.com/politics/national/conventions/27867639.html

 Video and news story on the student strike from KSAX: http://ksax.com/article/stories/S567267.shtml?cat=10230

Minnesota Public Radio report on Day 4 RNC protests, including the walkout:
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2008/09/04/rnc_day4/?refid=0

Video from Democracy Now! (3 minutes in):
http://www.democracynow.org/shows/2008/9/5

"Police Urge Students to Stay in School During the RNC":
http://www.wkbt.com/Global/story.asp?S=8952217

Sunday, August 17th
Student Strike Meeting
1pm - 2:30pm
Mayday Books
301 Cedar Ave S.
(West Bank, below the Hub Bike Co-op, near Cedar/Riverside)


Puppet Making
2pm - 5pm
Bedlam Theatre Scene Shop
1501 S. 6th St.
Minneapolis, MN
(west bank)
http://www.bedlamtheatre.org/display.php?info=directions

Wednesday, August 20th
Puppet Making
6pm - 9pm
Bedlam Theatre Scene Shop
1501 S. 6th St.
Minneapolis, MN
(west bank)
http://www.bedlamtheatre.org/display.php?info=directions


Sunday, August 24th
Student Strike Meeting
1pm - 2:30pm
Mayday Books
301 Cedar Ave S.
(West Bank, below the Hub Bike Co-op, near Cedar/Riverside)

Puppet Making
2pm - 5pm
Bedlam Theatre Scene Shop
1501 S. 6th St.
Minneapolis, MN
(west bank)
http://www.bedlamtheatre.org/display.php?info=directions


Wednesday, August 27th
Puppet Making
2pm - 5pm
Bedlam Theatre Scene Shop
1501 S. 6th St.
Minneapolis, MN
(west bank)
http://www.bedlamtheatre.org/display.php?info=directions

Sunday, August 31st
Student Strike Meeting
1pm - 2:30pm
Mayday Books
301 Cedar Ave S.
(West Bank, below the Hub Bike Co-op, near Cedar/Riverside)

Puppet Making
2pm - 5pm
Bedlam Theatre Scene Shop
1501 S. 6th St.
Minneapolis, MN
(west bank)
http://www.bedlamtheatre.org/display.php?info=directions



*Dates and Location Subject to Change pending on location of puppet making.

Sunday, August 17th
Student Strike Meeting
1pm - 2:30pm
Mayday Books
301 Cedar Ave S.
(West Bank, below the Hub Bike Co-op, near Cedar/Riverside)


Puppet Making
2pm - 5pm
Bedlam Theatre Scene Shop
1501 S. 6th St.
Minneapolis, MN
(west bank)
http://www.bedlamtheatre.org/display.php?info=directions

Wednesday, August 20th
Puppet Making
6pm - 9pm
Bedlam Theatre Scene Shop
1501 S. 6th St.
Minneapolis, MN
(west bank)
http://www.bedlamtheatre.org/display.php?info=directions


Sunday, August 24th
Student Strike Meeting
1pm - 2:30pm
Mayday Books
301 Cedar Ave S.
(West Bank, below the Hub Bike Co-op, near Cedar/Riverside)

Puppet Making
2pm - 5pm
Bedlam Theatre Scene Shop
1501 S. 6th St.
Minneapolis, MN
(west bank)
http://www.bedlamtheatre.org/display.php?info=directions


Wednesday, August 27th
Puppet Making
2pm - 5pm
Bedlam Theatre Scene Shop
1501 S. 6th St.
Minneapolis, MN
(west bank)
http://www.bedlamtheatre.org/display.php?info=directions

Sunday, August 31st
Student Strike Meeting
1pm - 2:30pm
Mayday Books
301 Cedar Ave S.
(West Bank, below the Hub Bike Co-op, near Cedar/Riverside)

Puppet Making
2pm - 5pm
Bedlam Theatre Scene Shop
1501 S. 6th St.
Minneapolis, MN
(west bank)
http://www.bedlamtheatre.org/display.php?info=directions



*Dates and Location Subject to Change pending on location of puppet making.

Help Create Giant Puppet Theater to confront
the Republican National Convention!


TRAINING for VOLUNTEERS
Sunday, July 20th, 3pm – 9pm
Powderhorn Park Neighborhood Association
821 E 35th St, Minneapolis

The Project: A theatric "March to Arrest the War Criminals" and Student Strike
On September 4th, the final day of the Republican National Convention, high school and college students across the Twin Cities are planning a mass student strike organized by Youth Against War & Racism, among others. Student strikers will gather at Noon at the State Capitol , just blocks from the Xcel Center, for an antiwar festival and a theatrical "March to Arrest the War Criminals." Conceived as a three act interactive puppet theater play, in which the audience is transformed into the actors, the afternoon will culminate in a mass mock trail of the Republican "war criminals" on the west steps of the Minnesota State Capitol.

The Training: A workshop with Chris Lutter of Puppet Farm Arts
At the July 20th training we aim to bring together a team of volunteers, artists, and actors to design, build, and produce the September 4th "March to Arrest the War Criminals." The workshop will be led by Chris Lutter, Artistic Director of Puppet Farm Arts, who has extensive experience facilitating the process of collaborative art-making, from conceptualization through to final presentation (Check out Chris's bio at: http://puppetfarm.org/lutter.html ). Following the July 20 training, we'll schedule regular drop-in volunteer hours and, as September 4th approaches, regular play rehearsals.

*** Please send us an RSVP if you can attend the July 20 training by emailing tytymo@gmail.com so we know how many folks to plan for. Bring some food to share if you can – if needed we'll order pizzas or something to ensure all volunteers get fed!

Volunteers are encouraged to attend the entire six hour workshop, but if you can only make part you are also welcome. If you want to volunteer but can't come on July 20th, contact Ty at 612.760.1980 or tytymo@gmail.com with your availability.

This project is a collaboration of Puppet Farm Arts and Youth Against War & Racism

Hi all,
Here is a really AMAZING (and short) documentary by MTC High YAWR activist Ashley Roberts of the November 16th walkout last fall.

Fox 9 ran a story tonight investigating the lies told by military recruiters to convince kids to enlist. They picked up the story thanks in part to all the work that we have done through YAWR exposing the lies of recruiters. They decided to investigate whether what we were saying was true, and found that yes, it was - that recruiters routinely lie about the money you will make, the college money available, the jobs you can get, whether you will be sent to Iraq, etc. The video features interviews with Ty and Peter as well as coverage of the YAWR youth contingent on March 15th and the protest at the University of Minnesota on March 27th.

As a result of the undercover investigation by Fox 9 reporters, 4 Army recruiters in the Twin Cities were suspended!

Now it's key that we continue to organize to expose the lies of the recruiters, and bring an end to these unjust wars. Hope to see you at the next YAWR meeting and at the camp we are organizing in early July (details on that soon). And for community supporters, we will soon be starting a fundraising drive to help us have more of a presence in schools to counter the recruiters, so be on the look out for that.

If you have any questions about how to get involved, please don't hesitate to get in touch!

This will be are last meeting before the May Day parade. Please come to this meeting if you want to be involved. We will also be continuing our discussion about our plans for the RNC! ..tr>..table>

Saturday, April 26, 2008

1:00pm - 2:30pm

Ty's House

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School board limits access to students by military recruiters
Years of organizing by students leads to victory
Southside Pride, March 2008 edition

by DAN DIMAGGIO

Military recruiters will no longer be able to roam the halls or table in the cafeterias in Minneapolis schools, thanks to a resolution passed by the Minneapolis School Board on Feb. 25. With nearly 30 students and community members sitting in the audience with bright yellow signs demanding "End Military Recruitment in Our Schools," the board voted unanimously to restrict recruiters' access to college career centers only, where they can be supervised by school personnel.

The resolution also mandates that Minneapolis schools "provide equal access for organizations that wish to counsel alternatives to, or provide additional information about, military service" (i.e. counter-recruitment groups). As the resolution states, "If literature encouraging military service is displayed for students to read or pick up, groups counseling alternatives to military service may similarly display their literature." School administrators will now have to notify the public whenever the military is coming to table in a school and allow counter-recruitment groups to table as well.

While the resolution falls short of the demand put forward by Youth Against War and Racism and many community members to ban military recruiters from schools altogether, YAWR organizer Ty Moore declared

it "a major step forward that will provide important opportunities to expand the counter-recruitment presence in Minneapolis schools."

According to Moore, school administrators have often erected barriers to counter-recruitment organizations, including denying students their democratic right to form their own organizations like Youth Against War and Racism to counter the military's presence in schools. "This resolution gives us the authority of the School Board to demand the right to table to counter the military's propaganda in every school," Moore said.

At the School Board meeting, several military recruiters and pro-war vets argued that the resolution was an attack on ordinary soldiers and veterans, an assertion that was countered by members of Veterans for Peace in the crowd. Organizers with Youth Against War and Racism and Socialist Alternative pointed out that the counter-recruitment campaign is not aimed personally at the military recruiters themselves or the spirit of sacrifice that causes many to enlist in the military, but rather against the Bush administration and the political establishment that has waged unpopular wars of military aggression.

This resolution came about after several years of struggle by Twin Cities students against military recruitment in schools, including organized petition drives, teach-ins, lobbying of school officials and direct action. In particular it was a walkout of over 900 students from dozens of schools across the Twin Cities last November, combined with petitioning and community pressure on the School Board, which got official gears turning. As Minneapolis School Board member Peggy Flanagan said at the meeting, "This motion came to be because young people did exactly what we ask them to do. To all the young people in the audience, thank you for your organizing."

While many have dismissed the current generation of youth as apathetic, the organizing done by YAWR has shown a different reality. According to YAWR organizer Tyrus Thompson, who graduated from Mahtomedi High last year, "Our experience has been that students are willing to take action against the war if given a lead. There is a ton of opposition to the war and military recruitment in high schools. You saw that by the great response we got to the walkouts."
Laura Madsen, a student at Kennedy High in Bloomington, said, "Students are infuriated at the brutality of the war and occupation as well as the overcrowded classrooms and lack of money for schools in the U.S., while the war is now estimated to cost up to $3 trillion. Students are also disgusted by the lies and harassment by military recruiters and are quite willing to take a stand against the war and military recruitment. But we have to get organized."

Students and counter-recruitment activists say that their main goal now is to set up tables every single time the military comes to Minneapolis schools. Their aim is to counter the presence of recruiters and argue against students joining the military to provide more bodies for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
According to YAWR, wherever student peace activists have consistently managed to set up counter-recruitment tables in schools, military recruiters have either stopped coming or dramatically lowered their frequency of visits. This could mean dozens or even hundreds fewer local youth will end up fighting in these wars.

However, the experience of other school districts which have passed similar resolutions shows that enforcement remains a major problem. Also, the military has many more methods other than their lunchroom tables to get youth to enlist. In 2006, the military spent $3.9 billion on recruitment.

Counter-recruitment activists and organizations, meanwhile, survive on a shoestring budget. YAWR is planning to launch a fundraising drive aimed at raising enough money to hire at least a part-time organizer dedicated to helping organize students and community members to staff the counter-recruitment tables in schools every time recruiters show up.

YAWR plans to use their victory in Minneapolis to push for other school boards to pass similar restrictions on recruiters' access, including the St. Paul School Board, which voted down a similar resolution last year after the military lobbied heavily against it.

Their aim remains making Twin Cities schools military-free zones. For Moore, "Ultimately, our goal is to build up the independent, self-organized strength of young people to ensure that our schools are made completely off-limits to the military, and more broadly, to ensure that the rising generation will grow old in a just, peaceful and sustainable world."

Dan DiMaggio is a member of Socialist Alternative and an active supporter of Youth Against War and Racism .

"Five days or five weeks or five months, but it certainly isn't going to last any longer than that." - Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, November 15, 2002

After FIVE YEARS of war ...
U.S. OUT OF IRAQ NOW!
YOUTH MARCH AGAINST THE WAR AND MILITARY RECRUITMENT

Saturday, March 15, 2008
Students and youth: Meet up at NOON
in front of the Military Recruitment Station at Lake & Lyndale Ave. S, Minneapolis (Uptown)

We will march from there to a mass community-wide ANTI-WAR PROTEST, starting at 1pm at Hennepin and Lagoon Ave. in Minneapolis (Uptown). See http://peace1.wordpress.com for more info on the community-wide march.

Bring your voices, drums, noisemakers, enthusiasm, and outrage at this unjust war!!!

Followed by YO! the Movement Kick It Spot starting around 5pm at the Dinkytowner on the East Bank (412 1/2 14th Ave SE). Come hear youth counter-recruitment-themed hip-hop and spoken word and hang out with a bunch of cool people.

To download flyers for March 15th for your school, visit http://www.yawr.org
Download quarter sheets: http://www.yawr.org/files/080315YouthMarchquartersheet.pdf
Download posters:http://www.yawr.org/files/080315YouthMarch02.pdf
Check us out on MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/yawrmn
and on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=10238288254