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I’m in Minneapolis right now, participating in the fall leadership conference of the Minnesota State College Student Association. The MSCSA graciously invited me out to conduct a workshop, give an address, and take some questions, and they’ve been wonderful hosts. I’ll be hanging out here until tomorrow, seeing some more of the conference and continuing the conversation informally.
Thanks to everyone in MSCSA for giving me such a warm, thoughtful welcome!
As you’ve all noticed, I’ve suspended the blog for the time being so that I can participate in the negotiations surrounding the bailout bill currently under consideration in the nation’s capital. I’ll be back tomorrow, though, with the first in a long string of exciting new entries.
In the meantime, I’d like to ask a favor of my New York readers. There’s a bill on the governor’s desk right now that supports women and children who have been subjected to domestic violence and sex trafficking, specifically those who are undocumented immigrants. It’s a low-profile bill, but an important one, and if the governor doesn’t sign it by tomorrow night it won’t become law.
I’ve put up a full explanation of the situation over at my other blog, and I’d very much appreciate it if the New Yorkers among you could take a couple of minutes to go read that post, and if you find it compelling, make a phone call. It’s literally a fifteen-second call, and it could make a big difference in the lives of women who are trying to put their lives back together in very difficult circumstances.
Thanks.
The United States Student Association Congress is underway this afternoon in Madison, Wisconsin. I’ll be arriving there late tonight, and staying through until the bitter end. If any of my readers are going to be there and would like to meet up, keep an eye out, or have one of the USSA staff point me out.
I’m hoping to get a chance to post on the Congress from the scene. If I don’t, look for a wrapup after I return, and increased posting frequency thereafter.
We’re going to be posting on a somewhat reduced schedule for the next couple of months, because of the summer break. If you’ve got a hot tip about an ongoing action or an upcoming event, give us a holler and we’ll pass it along.
In the last couple of weeks we’ve linked to three articles from WireTap magazine — a discussion of student organizing around sustainable food practices on campus, an overview of today’s student anti-nuclear organizing, and yesterday an interview with youth vote expert Michael Connery. Each of our three posts were quick heads-ups, but the articles we linked to were strong, smart, and detailed.
WireTap describes itself as a “news and culture magazine by and for young people interested in social change, and a place to “hear from young activists as they articulate their vision and describe their work that turns individual hopes into collective, political possibilities.”
They’re a great resource, and a great read. We’ve just added them to our blogroll.
WireTap magazine has a fascinating interview up on youth electoral organizing. The interviewee is blogger Michael Connery, whose new book Youth to Power: How Today’s Young Voters are Building Tomorrow’s Progressive Majority is at the top of our reading list.
We’ve added Connery’s blog, Future Majority, to our blogroll.
There’s a new addition to the “Resources” section of our blogroll this morning — SAFER Campus.
SAFER Campus is a non-profit organization that supports student campaigns to improve sexual assault prevention and response on their campuses. Founded at Columbia University in 1999 and incorporated the following year, SAFER Campus provides organizing trainings, mentoring, and publications to student activists throughout the United States.
On top of everything else, they’ve got a great blog. Check ‘em out.
I’m currently reading Clay Shirky’s Here Comes Everybody, on organizing in the age of the internet. He doesn’t have a huge amount to say about campus activism specifically, but a lot of his general insights are relevant to the student experience, and his understanding of organizing connects up with mine in interesting ways. Once I’m done, I’ll likely post a review, or at least some thoughts.
For now, here’s a quote:
The power to coordinate otherwise dispersed groups will continue to improve; new social tools are still being invented, and however minor they may seem, any tool that improves shared awareness or group coordination can be pressed into service for political means, because the freedom to act in a group is inherently political. … We adopt those tools that amplify our capabilities, and we modify our tools to improve that amplification.
Speaking of social tools, have I mentioned that this blog has a Facebook group? Not quite sure what we’re going to use it for yet, but you’re welcome to join if you’re interested in finding out, or in helping us decide.
After a couple of weeks of experimenting and working out the kinks, we’ve finally gone public! Thanks for stopping by!
I’ll be putting up a lot of new content in the next few days, and doing a big publicity push starting on Monday. In the meantime free to poke around, and you can leave any suggestions you may have in comments to this post.
