From Kasama Project;
This article first appeared in the New
College Collegian, the newspaper of Seattle Central
Community College
By Liam Wright
Over 100 days now the students of Quebec
have been on strike. Montreal
burns. Literally. There are fires in the streets. I’m not even exaggerating.
One can only imagine a beautiful city, glowing in the firelight born of
dreams deferred. Of the frustration and anger. The determination that the world
and our futures can be different.
And why did this all start?
A tuition increase to about 2,519 USD a year, a fraction of what students in
the US
pay, much less than what we pay here at Seattle Central with our shocking 30%
then another 12% tuition increases.
And what did legislators in Quebec
do about this?
They passed anti-protest laws, offering fines of up to $35,000 for anyone
deemed to be a “student leader.” Half a million people marched in the streets
in open defiance of the new laws. Square red flags regularly adorn the crowds,
because these tuition increases place students and their ledgers, “squarely in
the red.”
There are those participating who call for unlimited strikes until education
is free and students get control of their own education. They are refusing to
stop until they win. Challenging all the limits of mainstream politics,
capitalist austerity. Instead, they are going for what is in the interest of
humanity.
No comments:
Post a Comment