Dear Friends,
In just two years, Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) has become
one of the largest student led organizations in the U.S., with over
120 active chapters in high schools and colleges all over the country.
Last summer was a turning point, with the first SDS Action Camp and
the second National Convention which involved hundreds of SDSers and
strongly shaped the work that happened during this year. Having
attended the conference, and the one the prior year as well, I can
attest to the seriousness, industry, and creativity these young people
bring to their labors. They have not only the passion and energy
broader activism in the U.S. needs, they also bring insights and even
wisdom – even at so young an age.
As summer arrives again, SDS is planning another Action Camp, their
third National Convention, and actions at the RNC and DNC. The
National Convention and the Action Camps will again bring about 300
SDSer’s together for training, movement building, and friendship. They
need our help to provide food, mentors, and housing, and perhaps most
importantly, assistance to make sure that SDSers from working class
backgrounds or far-away regions are able to participate.
SDS has been winning campaigns and organizing successful actions all
year – SDS chapters in the Northwest helped organize the Port
Militarization Resistance to block US military shipments to Iraq in
Olympia, Washington; Virginia Commonwealth University SDS won their
campaign to get a sexual assault resource center on their campus;
Harvard SDS won higher wages for their campus security guards through
a dramatic hunger strike; Brown SDS won a substantial increase in
financial aid and the smallest tuition increases the school had seen
in a quarter century and DC SDS organized the largest single action in
the country on the 5th anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq.
These are just a few of a vast array of indicators that SDS has grown
tremendously this year. But the hard work of organizing is what
sustains SD and it has costs. For example, Lancaster SDS, a high
school chapter, has built a presence in 6 area high schools and
epitomizes the successful slow approach of community building and
organizing. Chapters around the country are organizing around issues
including opposition to the war in Iraq, environmental justice and
sustainability, gentrification in their communities, and building
student power on campuses. More, in the coming year, SDS is hoping to
organize a national campaign around accessible education and student
debt elimination, and continue working to build a strong, vibrant
student movement.
SDS – meaning young people in motion – is precisely what has been
missing from activism in the U.S. for a long time – yet now its back
to stay, or it can be, that is, if it is sufficiently supported.
So please, I urge you to donate as generously as you can to support
the exciting work of Students for a Democratic Society. They need the
help – and we all need them.
note that all donations are tax deductible through SDS’ fiscal
sponsor, the Alliance for Community Trainers (ACT). Also, you can
make a donation online by going to www.newsds.org, or you can send
donations to:
SDS
741 Morton St NW
Washington DC, 20010
please make your checks payable to ACT and write “SDS” in the memo line.
You can get more information by emailing sdsfundraising@gmail.com
I want to thank you in advance for supporting SDS – we all need what
they have to give!
Michael Albert
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