Manifestation à Victoriaville – 4 mai 2012 from UNIVERSITV.TV on Vimeo.

“Buses unloaded students, unions and citizens from across Quebec to come forward and protest against the Liberal government that held its General Council this weekend in Victoriaville.

The simple act of having put barriers on the ground separating the protesters from Congress, was enough to justify police violence against the people.

A rain of gas and violence fell on the demonstrators: more than 250 cans of CS gas, drawn from close range for some, many rubber bullets and hundreds of arrests. The police chief welcomed the excellent work of law enforcement …

ONE STUDENT LOST AN EYE AND ANOTHER IS BETWEEN LIFE AND DEATH, many have suffered head injuries.

The SQ has hampered the work of paramedics who tried to rescue one of the injured students. Buses on the way home were also arrested, the police is now attacking the freedom to manifest and move in Québec.

The will of a man continues to crush democracy.”

NYU Community Picket – 8:30am–9:30am

Bobst Library/Administration Offices (70 Washington Sq. South)

https://www.facebook.com/events/369892446390972/

NYU May Day Convergence and Assembly – 2pm

(Followed by March to Union Square)

Washington Square Park

https://www.facebook.com/events/238510712922683/

For a Full-listing of Citywide May Day events, visit: http://maydaynyc.org/

http://occupywallst.org/article/nyc-full-schedule-permitted-and-unpermitted-may-da/

For more NYU May Day info, visit: http://nyu4ows.tumblr.com/

WHY YOU SHOULD JOIN US ON MAY 1st

A historic coalition, including students, labor unions, immigrant rights organizations, community groups, and Occupy Wall Street will be mobilizing on Tuesday, May 1. NYU4OWS, many other activist groups at NYU, and members of NYU’s faculty stand in support of workers, students, and immigrant rights groups who will participate on May 1 in “A Day without the 99%.”

Moreover, we support those students at our university and others who are walking out of class or work on May 1 as part of a “General Strike” against a system which does not work for us.

Join NYU4OWS and our allies for two events at NYU on May Day, as we stand in opposition to tuition hikes, student debt, student debt-financed expansion, and the corporate governance practices at our university.

First, from 8:30am to 9:30am, NYU students, faculty, and community members will greet the NYU administration with a community picket at Bobst Library as they arrive to work on the morning of May 1st . We will protest the university’s student-debt financed 2031 expansion plan, as well as the administration’s refusal to cut ties with JP Morgan Chase, the leader in foreclosures in New York. We’ll also be standing with the dozens of other community pickets happening at locations around the city on May Day.

Then, at 2pm, students and faculty will gather for a university-wide assembly in Washington Square Park. The assembly will be an opportunity to share our vision for our school and of a more just society. There will be some discussion of the history and importance of May Day for our current moment, as well as chants and speeches from a number of student groups based on campus, focused on getting our university to live up to its human rights obligations. Groups will be tabling, flyering, and doing other kinds of outreach. There will also be face-painting, sign-making, and 1% vs. 99% tug-of-war!

Following these events we will march to Union Square to join the the citywide solidarity rally/march which is scheduled to begin around 4pm.

Check the full roster of student-related activities on May 1 in NYC, including the Free University in Madison Square Park, from 10am-3pm on May 1st!

It’s going to be an energetic day of people power. We look forward to seeing you in the streets!

Any questions?  Feel free to contact : nyu4ows@gmail.com

For months now, you have not ceased to show courage, solidarity, resilience, combativeness and creativity through educational and political actions, opposing unjust tuition hikes imposed by the government with the longest and largest student strike in the history of Quebec. You are doing it not only in resistance to the tuition increase, but to clearly oppose the logic of neoliberalism and austerity which has infiltrated all spheres of society.

As collectives of artists and activists engaged in social movements for many years, we are truly moved by the magnitude of the popular mobilization that your cause has inspired. We see it as being part of a worldwide movement of resistance against a political and financial elite that has far too much power in their hands. We are 100% behind your struggle.

As collectives composed in great part of people of colour, we are familiar with the repression that follows the exertion of a real, non-hierarchical and direct democracy. We condemn the contemptuous and paternalistic attitude of the government and of university and cegep administrations who are hiding behind their judges, their police, private security guards, mainstream media and a minority of scabs. Like you, we know that it is their censorship, their intimidation, their sexist, classist and racist violence that incite more anger. You have the right to self-defense. Like you, we are not fooled by their tricks and dishonesty.

As collectives of artists and activists, we have been trying to come up with ways of standing behind your struggle by gathering the support of artists and cultural workers; by making links between different struggles, since that is one of the main reasons behind the existence of our groups.

In that context, we are inviting artists and cultural workers to join the hundreds of others who have endorsed a declaration of solidarity with the student struggle by visiting: http://artistescontrelahausse.org

Your cause is a just one. Don’t listen to anyone other than yourselves and the people that you trust. Do what you need to. You have already changed your life and your relations with others. Your struggle is still in your hands. Continue to share it. (inspired from an excerpt of “From Athens workers to the students,” December 2008).

Artivistic collective http://artivistic.org/

Howl! Arts Collective http://howlarts.net/

Cinema Politica http://www.cinemapolitica.org/

/////////////// version française

Lettre ouverte aux étudiants et étudiantes

Depuis des mois, vous n’avez cessé de faire preuve de courage, de solidarité, de résilience, de combativité et de créativité, en menant des actions éducatives et politiques, incluant la plus longue grève étudiante de l’histoire du Québec, pour protester contre la hausse des droits de scolarité imposée par le gouvernement. Vous ne le faites pas seulement pour ça. Vous le faites aussi pour opposer la logique néolibérale et d’austérité qui depuis des années a pénétré toutes les sphères de la société.

En tant que collectifs d’artistes et activistes impliqué-e-s dans les mouvements sociaux depuis plusieurs années, nous sommes réellement ému-e-s par l’ampleur de la mobilisation populaire que votre cause a provoquée. Nous la voyons comme étant inscrite dans une mouvance mondiale de protestation contre une élite politique et financière qui détient bien trop de pouvoir. Nous vous soutenons à 100% dans votre lutte.

En tant que collectifs composés en grande partie de personnes racisées, nous connaissons la répression qui s’ensuit de l’exercice d’une démocratie réelle, non-hiérarchique et directe. Nous condamnons l’attitude méprisante et paternaliste du gouvernement et des administrations des universités et cégeps, qui se cachent derrière leurs juges, leur police, des compagnies privées de gardien-ne-s de sécurité, des médias traditionnels et d’une minorité de scabs. Nous savons, comme vous, que c’est leur censure, leur intimidation et leur violence sexistes, classistes et racistes qui incitent à plus de colère. Vous avez le droit à l’auto-défense. Comme vous, nous ne sommes pas dupes de leurs stratagèmes et de leur malhonnêteté.

En tant que collectifs d’artistes et activistes, nous avons tenté de trouver des moyens de soutenir votre lutte en allant chercher l’appui des centres d’artistes, des artistes et des travailleurs et travailleuses culturelles; de trouver des manières de croiser les luttes, puisque c’est une des principales raisons d’être de nos groupes.

Dans cette lignée, nous invitons artistes, travailleurs et travailleuses culturelles à se joindre à des centaines d’autres qui ont endossé une déclaration de solidarité avec la lutte étudiante en se rendant au : http://artistescontrelahausse.org

Votre cause est juste. N’écoutez personne d’autre que vous-mêmes et les personnes en qui vous avez confiance. Faites ce que vous devez faire. Vous avez déjà changé votre vie et vos relations avec les autres. La lutte est toujours entre vos mains. Continuez à la partager. (inspiré d’un extrait du texte « From Athens workers to the students », décembre 2008)

Le collectif Artivistic http://artivistic.org/

Howl! Arts Collective http://howlarts.net/

Cinema Politica http://www.cinemapolitica.org/

_______________________________________________

edufactory mailing list

edufactory@listcultures.org

http://listcultures.org/mailman/listinfo/edufactory_listcultures.org

a few more detailed pictures here, taken by Graeme Braque

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150833728592604.467204.559782603&type=1&l=1f678cfa0e

from the Toronto Media Coop

The Gazette 

The Globe & Mail  (that’s the Canadian only national -ugh!-newspaper)

We provide bilingual resources against the tuition hikes and for the student strike. We translate documents (letters, articles, etc.) mainly from french to english and english to french. Our translations are made freely available to the public.

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