At the time of writing, we are in the midst of a new era in the student movement that has long since played a key role in revolutionary and liberatory movements all over the world. The revolutionary and influential Students for a Democratic Society was re-founded in 2006 and it— and other student organizations— have taken on a strong role in resistance to both the ever-rising costs of higher education in the United States, been a key ally in building a united front against the ongoing train of abuses and usurpations committed every day by the second Trump administration (and its puppeteering ruling class), and have been steadfast in resistance to the US’ war machine all over the world from Gaza to Caracas.
We must recognize that certainly since the end of World War II, and the resultant imperial domination of the United States, students in the United States have consistently shown themselves to be a considerable force against imperialism at home and abroad. The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)— particularly under the leadership of Kwame Ture (f.k.a Stokely Charmichael)— fought in the Civil Rights Movement against racism and political repression, and student organizations including the original incarnation of SDS were leading the charge in the protests against American anti-communist and imperialist war in Vietnam. The student movement is a central member of the fight for liberation, justice, and harmony for all.
Student work is sometimes referred to as a “movement of movements.” In The Daily Salad’s article, “The Students, UNITED!!” this was termed as students being a sort of microcosm of American political life. Students, and young people at large, consist of all people from all strata of life. They are working-class and petit bourgeois; they are Black and white; they are Queer and Cis-Het, and it is said that every possible type of person can be found at a university campus. These students all have a collective interest in elevating their social status, particularly in opposition to the university administration which serves as a small-scale “ruling class” in this environment.
Students continue to express their needs to this administrative ruling class through all channels, and when they are continually ignored in favor of further placating the wider bourgeoisie in which the university is financially interlinked, it is imperative that they take stronger action. With this knowledge, students build organizations, campaigns, and direct actions that have had material effects. Like in community organizing, students can, must, and do respond to the needs expressed by both their campus community and the political situation present in the wider environment. Students write, protest, organize, and are continually elevating their own consciousness and creatively evaluating their action to learn from their practice.
When students lead these struggles against administration, advocating for policies like sanctuary campuses, D.E.I. programmes, or safe spaces for marginalized students; they are synthesizing the material needs and demands of their student body and their more closed “micro-community” and are preparing to advocate for similar policies in their wider community. These struggles serve as a genuine and material “training ground” of sorts for building revolutionaries in to community work. Students of all backgrounds and a shared revolutionary character will eventually graduate or otherwise leave their university and eventually go into some other form of work— and with the right elevation of consciousness— continue their revolutionary action in their larger community.
Universities will continue to educate students and elevate their revolutionary character whether they expect to or not, irrespective of whether or not they are educated on revolutionary politics in the classroom. The strong communities that are built at colleges across the United States, combined with students continuing to have needs and demands that the administration will not only fail to meet, but actively resist, leads students to have collective interests working to elevate themselves and attain their independence. Fundamentally, he student movement undoubtedly serves as an axis on which people will learn, fight, and liberate themselves.
¡¡Lê z’etidyan uni jamé va té tayé!! – The students, united, will never be defeated!!
