The Power of Protest
Walkout on November 2nd showed our strength
by Ty Moore

On a clear Wednesday morning last November, at 10:30 AM, thousands of students across the Twin Cities metro area poured out of their schools to protest the war in Iraq and military recruitment in their schools.

Upwards of 2000 youth rallied at the University of Minnesota on November 2nd for one of the largest antiwar protests in Minnesota since the war began. With many participating in their first protest ever, that day marked the emergence of a new youth-based movement in our region.

The November 2nd Walkout, initiated locally by Youth Against War and Racism, and also built by Socialist Alternative and the Anti-War Organizing League, was timed to mark the anniversary of Bush’s 2004 re-election.

Our local walkout was one of the largest in the nation, with students in over 40 schools in 16 districts participating. All the TV stations featured the walkout as their top local news story and it was on the front pages of the Star Tribune and Pioneer Press local sections.

The walkout showed that young people can have a powerful voice if we are organized and ready to take a bold stand for our future. Military recruiters are on the run in the Twin Cities and, if we keep up the pressure, we can push them out of even more schools. At the same time, budget-cutting politicians now know that young people are watching them and are demanding more money for education and living wage jobs.

But November 2nd was just the beginning. Unless we get more organized and continue to build for mass actions, the corporate-controlled politicians will continue to wage war – on Iraq and on our future.

Ty Moore is an organizer with Socialist Alternative in the Twin Cities.