A Brief History of Student Movements at Binghamton University
Binghamton University has one of the richest histories of student activism in the country: let's talk about it.
The first wave of student protests were in the 60s, back when Binghamton University used to be called Harpur College. With the Vietnam War raging and the fear of nuclear violence always present, students felt that they were being lied to by their government and saw through Harpur College’s attempt to instill a culture of fear and militarism into the student body. Harpur College students were not alone in their frustration.
Fallout Shelter Protest: In 1960, 40 students protested the national Civil Defense drill that mandated that students and faculty gather in fallout shelters. During and after the drill, they hung up fliers explaining how the cultural obsession with nuclear bunkers is designed to de-radicalize Americans into never wanting to end war—only hide from it.
Campus Wide Strike: Binghamton students learned that the university was giving their grade and exam scores to the Selective Service System, effectively using their grades to determine who would and would not be drafted. Students worked alongside faculty to picket administration buildings, put signs at the entrances to campus, and hold vigils. This reached its crescendo when a firebomb was thrown into the Registrar's Office in November of 1969. One of many effects of these protests was that the longstanding newspaper, The Colonial News, was renamed Pipe Dream.
The anti-militarist energy of the 60s only became more coordinated in the 70s and 80s as Binghamton student organizers began to expand their network, connecting with local Broome County residents and other organizers from other universities.
Looking Left: In response to the failure of Pipe Dream to tell the stories people needed to hear, a new student newspaper began.
Looking Left was an anti-capitalist and anti-war news outlet that covered world news and local Binghamton politics while never forgetting the importance of art and poetry in their publication.
Latin Dialogue Program: Members of the Latin American Student Union (LASU), the Black Student Union (BSU), and Looking Left worked together alongside faculty from BU and Cornell to visit the Elmira Correctional Facility. Students, faculty, and prisoners shared their perspectives with each other, focusing specifically on connecting Puerto Rican prisoners with Puerto Rican students. There was talk of Angela Davis and Marx; they put on plays for each other, and danced the night away while enjoying delicious food.
Statewide SUNY Strike: In 1976, the Binghamton student body took place in a statewide strike on the SUNY system. Instead of going to classes, students and faculty from different SUNY schools worked with each other to set up alternative seminars and speakers that prioritized the needs of their community instead of the needs of capital.
Women’s Center: Founded in 1973, this organization focused on connecting women (be they students, faculty, or locals) to essential resources like housing, abortion access, and domestic violence support. Renamed Women’s Student Union and then re-renamed Feminist Collective in 2023, this organization led to the establishment of today’s Violence, Abuse, and Rape Crisis Center, which was opened in 2021 after months upon months of tireless activism by the Feminist Collective, survivors, and survivor advocates.
With the 80s and 90s, there was a shift away from anti-war activism, as the end of the Vietnam War led to less public attention on student movements. Instead, student activists focused their attention on Apartheid, and the creation of new departments and programs.
Anti Apartheid Action: Students struggled militantly against BU’s investment in South African Apartheid, culminating in the occupation of the Administration Building. As a response the University cut ties with its investments, ended its contract with Mariott (the dining contractor used by BU at the time that had large ties to apartheid), and named a hall in the Union “The Mandela Room.”
Amalgamated Transit Union Strike: BU students boycotted and picketed Greyhound bus services. Articles in publications like Free Press, The Vanguard, and La Voz interviewed striking workers and told them when and where to be.
As you can see, Binghamton University has had a long history of student movements, even being hailed by some as “The Berkeley of the East.” The question then becomes: what happened? Where did all this energy go? Why is it that student movements of today are so few and far between, amounting to only a short event or protest that often lacks the focus necessary to genuinely transform the university on a financial and political level? There is no one answer to this, as we lack the historical distance to fully analyze the failures of today’s movements with clarity, but there is one very important moment in recent history we can learn from.
The story goes like this: Turning Point USA, a right wing group that is famous for tabling on campuses with inflammatory rhetoric and filming students when they try to protest against it, set up shop on the spine. Students noted that TPUSA were not chartered by the SA and did not have the jurisdiction to table, and urged them to leave. The campus police sided with Turning Point USA and defended their right to speech initially, but a massive counter protest led the university to shut TPUSA down. However, it was already too late for the leftist students, many of whom were students of color, who protested the event. Having stoked the flames by using gun imagery directly after a mass shooting event and by loudly proclaiming “racism isn’t real!” to anger protesters, TPUSA
captured protesting students on camera and sent the footage to Young America’s Foundation, another right-wing group. YAF promptly uploaded this footage to their website, YouTube, and social media, doxxing involved leftist students and creating quite a frenzy online. Thousands of racist comments and hundreds of death threats can still be seen in response to these videos, which are still online today. Not even one week later, YAF, TPUSA, and College Republicans teamed up yet again to host an event with the infamous economist Art Laffer, who is renowned for hating poor people and ruining their lives during his time as an economic advisor to the Reagan administration.
Campus was an emotionally volatile hotbed of political toxicity during this time, and leftist organizations BU Progressives, PLOT, and Frances Beal Society, among others, were searching for ways to resist the wave of hatred and conservatism that had arrived on campus—keep in mind, this all occurred three years into Donald Trump’s presidency. A protest was planned in response to the Laffer lecture, and tensions among students were at an all-time high.
When students arrived at Lecture Hall for the event, they were greeted by an enormous police surveillance system set up to film the event, dozens of UPD officers there to protect the right-wing students, and Pinkerton agents, who were hired as security by TPUSA and YAF. The group of right-wing students involved wore business-formal attire and MAGA hats; it was a truly ridiculous sight to behold. (Fun Fact: Jon Lizak, who was the President of College Republicans at this time, was later arrested and charged by federal police for his role in the January 6 Capitol riots! Even Funner Fact: Lacey Kestecher, another right wing student involved in this mess, was invited on stage by President Trump a month later, who thanked her for her brave efforts on Binghamton’s campus.)
Leftist protesters attempted to block the doors of the Lecture Hall to no success. When a student stood on one of the tables and began to speak out using a megaphone, they only got about a minute into their speech before all Hell broke loose. Art Laffer stood there
looking like the fool he is and promptly left. Students surrounded the speaking student, attempting to prevent an arrest, but the police got to this student; a de-arrest attempt was made, and the de-arrester was arrested as well. A rally and open-mic was held outside Lecture Hall directly after this, and students were dismayed by the events of that night—and who could guess what came next?
TPUSA, Young America’s Foundation, and other right-wing campus groups are national organizations, like conservative thinktanks, with a shit ton of money. This was especially true during Trump’s presidency, as out-and-proud MAGAts and wealthy conservatives wanted to further cement their grip upon our country, donating en masse to these groups. This will likely be true again the next time a right-wing fascist comes into power (hello, 2024), so let this serve as a warning: these groups exist to stoke outrage on college campuses, create (often racist) content framing the left as crazed terrorist hooligans (‘antifa’), and launch massive lawsuits and online campaigns against colleges and universities on the basis of ostensible ‘free speech’ violations. This is exactly what happened in 2019: Jon Lizak and YAF filed a lawsuit and a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education, who launched a formal civil rights investigation against Binghamton University. Then, a few months later, COVID hit. What little radical energy there was disappeared under the crushing weight of isolation, and much was lost. This loss of energy and emergence of burnout within BU leftist spaces was compounded, solidified, and sealed by leftist infighting related to racism on behalf of white organizers, rampant abuse apologism, and ego-driven, individualistic organizing practices that fostered cult-ofpersonality spaces which were destined to fall apart.
But something is only lost when it’s not remembered. We talk about these events not out of nostalgia, but strategy. We must learn from the revolutionary work of the past and carry that legacy on. There is work to do and a world to win. Here are some recent examples of what that fight has been looking like:
Recent Successful Student Actions
Protest against Matt Walsh Screening: Attempting to re-create their success working with Turning Point USA, The Binghamton College Republicans hosted a screening of the film “What is a Woman,” a right-wing documentary by political commentator
Matt Walsh. The screening was an obvious attempt to create uproar among the queer and POC students at BU. Their plan was simple: air a transphobic film, antagonize students so they form a counter protest, antagonize protestors to create a spectacle, and then film it so that it airs on right wing media networks. Naturally, thanks to students who were around for the chaos of 2019, we caught on easily. After deliberating collectively over Zoom, the queer community of BU decided not to give them what they wanted. Instead, we occupied the Tillman Lobby for a night of queer joy. We brought art supplies, nail polish, and card games. Instead of spending our divine energy yelling at their pathetic attempt to destroy us, we laughed together and remembered what it is that we fight so hard to protect. Of course, it wasn’t only fun and games. Behind the scenes, we tasked the most republican-looking leftist student we could find (a cis white guy with a beard and baseball cap) to attend the screening and record the audio of the entire event. When playing back the audio, we could hear the College Republicans’ frustration that we didn't attend, that they instead had to sit in a room of their own disappointment and hatred and whine about how happy we were to exist. Interestingly, a dean from the University attended to make sure that things did not escalate. But with no spectacle to observe, it was a deeply boring affair.
Sodexo Unionization: While for students SUNY Binghamton is a place to go to learn, for many in Broome County it is a place to go for work. This is easiest to see in the employment practices of Sodexo, which is the food supplier for all of BU’s dining halls. While Sodexo is known across the country for providing food for hospitals, schools, and prisons, its reach is international.
The French company is the 18th largest employer in the world, and services over 850 campuses in the US. The Sodexo workers at Binghamton University are some of the few that are unionized, and that is because of the coordinated work of student and labor organizers. In 2016, the Sodexo workers at Binghamton University voted to change the Union that they were represented by in order to fight for increased healthcare, wage increases, and a better retirement plan. While Sodexo was initially open to discussion, labor relations representative Bryan Staul stated in a 2016 Pipe Dream article that right as they were about to create a deal, Sodexo backed out. Recognizing that the fight for fair wages had to be fought on multiple fronts, labor representatives worked with campus political groups like BU Progressives to get students to sign petitions and protest in support of a new deal. While the University tried to stay neutral on the issue, the combined force of student power and worker power meant that Sodexo’s long standing relationship with the school was in jeopardy, as their contract was about to expire and student groups like NYPRIG and I.D.E.A.S had already begun looking at alternative institutions to feed the student body. A week after students began protesting on the Spine, the two parties reached an agreement. It's important to note that this was an intergenerational struggle. The protest didn't begin in 2016 when the Sodexo workers voted to change unions; it began in 2001 when Sodexo bought out Marriott food services and became the food service used by college campuses across the country. Student newspapers like Fair Use began the fight years ago, and students worked to support the campaign as they came and left the university. Students are not the center of the struggle due to their transient nature, but they can provide long lasting support to make the fight easier for those who live and work here permanently.
June 2020 Letter to Harvey Stenger: Harvey Stenger is not a very well liked man for many, many reasons. While we could recount all the stories, this letter written by faculty, students, local organizers, and alumni sums it up perfectly. Never properly responded to, it serves as a testament to this University’s apathy. Filled with demands and receipts, it is beautifully written and a must-read for anyone looking to know the history of this man's stupidity. Scan the QR code below to read:
2019 Disorientation Guide: The following is a labor of love put together by leftist students and Professor Dominic “Dom” Davy, a former CCPA adjunct who was tragically found dead in the Susquehanna in 2020 after going missing. His cause of death remains undetermined. This project, meant to introduce incoming students to ongoing struggles within the University community and the City of Binghamton, directly inspired this publication, Sprout—which is currently the only explicitly leftwing publication at BU. We continue this work in his memory, and in memory of many other comrades lost. Scan the QR code below to read:
Museum Of Death by Grigory Stanskiy
after a fun walk through the bourbon street of new orleans
you are going just a block away to the 227 dauphine street there
you are entering The Museum Of Death after passing the gift shop you find yourself under a screen where a white male documentary narrator repeats the words black pedophile homosexual serial killer proceeding with a jewish one
while you are walking through the packed room with the dead in black and white lying the alive in color standing hand on a mouth eyes wide open
you approach a detailed video about how to treat a body before funeral
(you are still hearing the white male documentary narrator)
witness john dillenger bonnie & clyde al capone
all the finest American mass murderers such as (you are still hearing the white male documentary narrator) richard ramirez, john wayne gacy, don’t forget ted bundy be astonished about the obscure sexual practices leading to lethal accidents not without being turned on by the exposed female body parts hear the flattering tale of euthanasia doctor jack kevorkian and after watching another movie about killing and dying reading the old newspapers just as full of blood and war as the modern ones
or visiting the bathroom you realize that
(you are still hearing the white male documentary narrator) there is nothing scary about dead bodies they are just damaged they are in peace you are leaving being greeted by waco siege heaven’s gate charles manson of all people terrorists indians and animals
having learned something about death at this museum of America.
Guidelines for a Healthy Praxis: Safety, Community, Care, and Accountability
In the past five years alone, the City of Binghamton—alongside its namesake University, a large research institution within the SUNY system that is known to some as the ‘Berkeley of the East’—has witnessed the sudden birth and subsequent death of a plethora of organizing spaces, activism circles, and radically-left-leaning communities. Both the threat and the reality of repeated, reckless rupture haunts our every social landscape; rupture, or the explosive and tension-filled dissolution of our social relations and our shared understandings, is a specter which renders us isolated and powerless as the horrors of capitalist extraction, imperialism, and fascism churn on unimpeded. An atmosphere of hopelessness—one that is marked by hypervigilance, distrust, anger, unchecked ego, and fear—arises from the dust particles shed by oppressive structures and mechanisms, permeating the air for the revolutionary masses to inhale, seeping into our collective bloodstream. These forces at play work to deepen our alienation to ourselves and one another, making the need for collectivism and care networks all the more urgent as dangers both external to us and embedded in our own minds escalate in scope and severity.
When a leftist space sinks to the ground and decomposes at the end of its often-short lifespan, a film of earthy matter is left behind; the resulting compost is spread out over the land, containing unfulfilled promises, elements of leftover dogma, and bits and pieces of prior personality. As the intersecting forces of time, emotion, and culture responsible for the growth of such spaces contributes to their very combustion, either fertilizer or toxic waste may be left in their place, making way for new spaces to sprout and to feed off of pre-existing energies and mycological networks. Some may say that the cyclical shedding and rebirth of revolutionary forces is not only necessary, but natural; after all, this life is seasonal, and change is our only constant. Winter freezes over the land, new life blooms in spring, summer brings magnificent growth and warmth, and in autumn, we witness the
gradual beauty of death, only for this process to repeat itself all over again. Yet as we know, pollution produced by human avarice poisons our Earth and its seasonal life cycle, jeopardizing our present and our future as our food systems, climate, and social relations deteriorate. The same goes for leftist organizing spaces: we are materially, psychologically, and communally vulnerable to contamination, whether that means counterinsurgency efforts like COINTELPRO, or our own unaccounted-for traumas and biases brought on by our entanglement in capitalist, white supremacist, cissexist, heteropatriarchal networks of power.
But who am I to tell you all of this? Where does this story begin, and where does it end?
Though I, the anonymous writer of this piece, have only been living and organizing within the Binghamton community for around four and a half years total, I have spent that time keenly observing this life cycle and trying hard to learn from the mistakes and struggles of my elders, my peers, and my community. Using these observations, I intend to outline a road-map of sorts for organizers everywhere to glean radical knowledge from. This is by no means an allencompassing, comprehensive guide, as it is a continuous work-inprogress—but my hope is that these points will be deeply considered, discussed, and expanded upon within radical organizing spaces in Binghamton and beyond. But first, allow me to get more specific.
Movement—or, rather, the actions we take in pursuit of liberation for ourselves, our communities, and our world—is most effective and most efficient in collective form. However, collective movement exists with great precarity: not only are we fighting external and institutional forces of oppression, repression, and violence on a daily basis, but we are also living and breathing these forces, which, in various ways, constitute and inform our own lived experiences and surrounding environments. As such, we are subject to replicate these forces ourselves, both interpersonally and within organizing spaces or
movements—to put it simply, “a child learns what he lives.” As people and as organizers, we do not exist in a vacuum, and we all must be humble, vigilant, and intentional about how we show up in spaces of collective movement such as this one. It is worth noting that people of privilege in these spaces are uniquely predisposed to replicating these forces, meaning that they are especially obligated to engage in critical self-reflection and active listening. However, it must also be clarified that harm is inevitable, and that anyone and everyone is capable of perpetrating or perpetuating harm, as well as apologizing for, trivializing, enabling, or dismissing harm. No one is immune from the highly normalized oppressive forces that seek to divide and alienate us from each other, so we all must practice vigilance with regard to ourselves and those around us—not as a form of policing or control, but as a form of community accountability, movement preservation, and radical love.
It is no secret that one of the greatest threats to leftist movements and organizing spaces are internal conflicts, unaddressed harms (including racism, misogyny, transphobia, and violence/abuse), informal (or not-so-informal) hierarchies, and, to put it plainly, ‘petty’ interpersonal BS/drama, among other grievances. This is true all over the world, across the United States, and in Binghamton specifically, leaving us with a disjointed and disorganized left that brings us no closer to the world we imagine and work to build for ourselves. In the past 5 years alone, countless organizing spaces at Binghamton University as well as within the wider Binghamton community have dissolved or disappeared due to instances of abuse, apologism, conflict, mistrust, or unsafe practices. Though it is often wise to embrace the natural shrinking and growing or evolution of collective movements, the current situation at our University is dire: what was once a place blooming with radical culture and swarming with established left-leaning organizations has dried up, leaving us utterly devoid of any meaningful collective movement, and instead surrounded by performative liberal complacency which has taken the
place of more radical efforts since COVID. When students returned en masse after the COVID shutdown of 2020, many of the experienced organizers had left, and established movements had fallen apart not only as a result of the pandemic and graduation, but because of unresolved internal strife. With all of the aforementioned in mind, it can be concluded that certain forms of conduct are summarily counter-revolutionary to a disruptive extent, and, at best, serve as a severe distraction from our collective goals, plans, and movements.
We cannot allow our movement spaces to act as petri dishes for toxicity, nor is there room in our movement for popularity contests, cult-of-personality formations, power-grabs, or political purity testing. It is also wise to understand that we all make mistakes, and that organizing on the left can be a high-risk activity that is ripe for making mistakes (especially since many of us are young people); what is important is that we learn from these mistakes, and do our best to prevent and respond to harm in order to preserve the longevity and efficacy of our movement. It is important that we view these activities as a place for personal and collective growth, that we practice forgiveness of ourselves and those around us, and that we meet mistakes with curiosity, accountability, and honesty rather than shame or ostracization; it is equally important that we do not allow bad-faith actors, abusers, or individuals who are unwilling to do the work to hinder our movement or divide us. Therefore, our movement as a collective must be highly principled, and it must be one that cultivates trust, safety, and community care. To ensure this, we might utilize a mutually-agreed upon, collaborative system dictating how we move with each other.
The following guidelines were formed through collective lived experiences of organizing on and off campus, as well as through reading and discussing praxis-oriented literature written by the organized left as well as anarchist writers and thinkers.
There is no me without we.
We live in a capitalist, highly individualistic society, at a University which preaches adherence to “grind culture,” professionalism, and respectability, and are therefore prone to engaging in individualism even unconsciously. We also know that “the master’s tools will not dismantle the master’s house”—to achieve our goals, we all need to be in active communication, and to an extent, on the same page about how we are moving, when, and why. This is true on an individual basis, and collectively: we must ask ourselves as individuals why we are here and how we plan to show up, and we must also ask ourselves these questions collectively. We are strongest when moving as a collective, meaning that our decisions should be consensus-based. When we take action or move on behalf of a space, we are representing the space as a whole, and must take everyone’s input, safety, capacity, and hesitations into consideration. Movement is based on ongoing conversation, and can’t be decided upon by one person—action should not be taken for the sake of action. For everyone to move comfortably and collectively, we need to trust each other. If we have a conflict with another person or group of people, this should be communicated and resolved among involved parties, and, if necessary, the collective as a whole. If a conflict requires privacy, one should speak to a trusted friend or pursue resolution through a mediated accountability process. We are in this together. We don’t all need to be best friends, but we need to maintain a level of respect and understanding with one another. When hostility is cultivated, we start to dislike each other and will not want to work together, leaving our organizational movement lifeless. Camaraderie is crucial to comradery.
We are not all going to agree on everything all the time. There will be disagreements, both minor and contentious. ...
There is no me without we (continued).
... Compromise is necessary amongst ourselves. Individual autonomy is important and must be respected, but it should never come at the cost of others’ autonomy, nor should it threaten the existence or standing of a space. If engaging in individual movement, be clear about why, and ensure that you are representing yourself as an individual. Other folks not responding in an allotted period of time or lacking the capacity to move with you is not an acceptable reason to go around/skip over the process of consensusbuilding.
There is no one arbiter of knowledge. Knowledge is facilitated through history and dialogue. We all bring knowledge to the table, and we must all be open to learning as much as possible from one another. When we commit to this, we choose to actively produce and build upon knowledge together rather than accept dogma or statements as facts or directives.
No one person or group has the power to command, preside over, or lead a space. Though we all play different roles and occupy different positionalities, formations should be at the very least somewhat non-hierarchical. Everyone has a different lived experience, and a different valuable perspective to offer. Being well-read is a helpful tool, but by itself does not make you an effective organizer or superior to others. Everyone is important, and no one person is more important than another.
Political disputes or disagreements on tactics do not necessarily mean that you are more or less ‘radical’ or ‘legit’ than someone else, and radical-ness is not a badge of honor, nor is it a criteria that can reasonably be measured, judged, or elevated. This movement work is not a hobby, a chance to prove yourself as a good person, or a means through which to gain clout or look cool. We are all constantly learning and unlearning, and adapting our politics in accordance with what
There is no one arbiter of knowledge (continued). we learn. What is important is that we all hold the same basic beliefs about the world and our role in it as agents of change. Consensus is consent-based.
Our consensus-based decision making must adhere to principles of INFORMED CONSENT:
Though it is important and essential to get out of your comfort zone when doing this work, no one should be pushing/coercing others to involve themselves in actions or movements they are fundamentally uncomfortable with, hesitant about, in disagreement with, or which greatly jeopardize community safety in some way. Engaging in coercion warrants suspicion and conversation. It is acceptable to display frustration when tactics are not agreed upon, but it is not acceptable to engage in personal attacks, spread rumors, or condescend to your peers.
Safety is a priority for marginalized folks on this PWI campus. This must be a primary consideration when planning any action or engaging in consensus-building.
Before any action takes place, folks should be aware and fully informed of any and all risks associated with said action, as well as ways to prevent and respond to these risks. Safety plans should be in place, and support networks should be set up in advance to prepare for worst-case-scenarios (i.e. arrest, doxxing, police involvement, University discipline, legal/social/financial trouble.)
Some forms of harm ultimately cannot be repaired/resolved, as there are limits to restorative justice and other forms of conflict resolution. Patterns of harmful behavior warrant community conversation, and if deemed necessary, removal from a space. Patterns of abuse, racism, transphobia, and other oppressive forms of harm are unacceptable, and should not be tolerated. Minor or first-time transgressions may warrant a conversation regarding accountability, but multiple transgressions
Irreparable harm (continued).
indicating a pattern must give us pause. Harmed parties have the right to decide for themselves what they need, and what actions need to be taken to preserve a space. Individuals who have done harm should accept consequences willingly, and take accountability.
Center the margins.
Spaces should not only focus on the advancement of leftleaning movements in a given community, but also on the protection, uplifting, and centering of marginalized people. No one is free until we are all free. The freedom of any group necessitates the freedom of all marginalized groups, because all struggles and systems of oppression are linked.
Privileged (i.e. white, cis, man, hetero, wealthy, able-bodied, sane, etc.) voices in any space should take care not to center themselves, speak over marginalized folks, or prioritize privileged perspectives/the comfort of privileged individuals or communities.
Each one teach one.
As organizers, we have a responsibility to learn from our experiences, to translate what we learn into meaningful action, and to teach and impart the knowledge we gain onto others. We cannot let our movement be in vain. We are a part of history, and we are working to create and influence the course of history. We must not let what we do—our mistakes, our failures, our successes, our wins, and our love for the world— be forgotten.
For students: when we graduate, we often leave spaces behind. We must work to ensure that those who come after us have the skills, awareness, networks, and experiences necessary to continue this work. By doing this, we invest in this movement as a long-term project that will be sustainable and ongoing even after we leave.
Seize teachable moments. Work to educate and positively
Each one teach one (continued).
influence those around you. If you have questions or are confused about something, speak up and ask for support. We have a responsibility to develop these spaces and each other, so that our communities do not find themselves politically lifeless and without the gains brought by political struggle. Because our struggles are all linked, we all have much to learn from each other. Be open to sharing and receiving knowledge from different spaces and organizers. Work to develop these relationships; reach out, ask questions, share important knowledge and information, and collaborate. None of our spaces should be pitted against each other or in competition with one another. We have so much more to gain by standing together in solidarity.
Love is the message.
We need to care about each other. We need to care for each other. We need to check in with each other. We need to look out for each other. We need to make room for ourselves, and each other. We need to love ourselves, and each other.
Love and care should be balanced—though we are all different people and come with varying capacities and quirks, no one person or handful of people should be carrying all the love or taking on all the care work. As a community, ask yourself: are the same people making sure everyone is okay, fed, listened to, cared for? Do these same people happen to be folks of color, queer folks, folks with marginalized genders? Do not make the grave mistake of taking ‘feminized’ forms of labor for granted.
We must prevent burnout in ourselves and others. If you are overwhelmed or struggling, speak up. If you notice someone taking on all the work, call attention to this and lend a hand. If your movement in a space begins to negatively impact yourself or those around you, consider taking a step back and reflecting, either
Love is the message (continued).
... in solitude or in community, depending on your preference and the situation at hand. Do not ever feel guilty for doing so. Do not shun comrades who decide to take a step back or take time for themselves.
Identify and create networks and systems of care and ways of keeping each other safe. What does that mean? This requires some creativity, and depends on what resources exist in your community. In practice, this could look like a map of available Narcan/drug test kits or KN95 masks in your area, a shareable list of free food distribution sites, a houseless outreach team, a delivery team for Disabled folks, a peer support network, etc.
Enjoy life. Celebrate. Seize the day. Cultivate laughter. Make love, literally and figuratively. Develop friendships. Rest. Nourish. Contemplate. Create. We only have one life: use yours wisely and compassionately, and please, stay here. We need you—we need each other. We have a future that is ours, a future that lies ahead in the near distance; no matter how this struggle evolves, abundance awaits us, for love is everywhere, love is in everything, and love is eternal.
Jewish Reflections on Israel
Growing up in a Jewish household (though one that became increasingly secular as I grew up), Israel occupied a near mythological place in my family’s collective consciousness. It was the subject of many lessons in the Hebrew school I attended until it became too expensive when I was in middle school, and we could never go visit my maternal grandmother without being regaled with the stories of her time there. Hyping up our birthright trip at 18 as the vacation of a lifetime, my brothers and I found ourselves excited about a place with which we had no real connection. As the flimsy religiosity my mom and her mother tried to impose on our family fell apart—first by being priced out of being able to go to Temple, and then by the sheer busyness of my parent’s lives to make way for yet another obligation to their three kids—that already tenuous connection fell away. After all, the only thing that really tied us to this far-off nation was religion, something that was all but completely absent from my household by the time I graduated from high school.
The reality of Israel’s colonial project is something that I don’t think I could have come to see had I not been forcibly unplugged from the Zionist indoctrination machine so early. Most of my Jewish peers, both at home and at school, were not so lucky. Clinging onto the myths and misconceptions of an Israel that exists only in their minds, too many people are refusing to see the reality of the genocide unfolding in front of them—or, even worse, justifying it. As an American Jew, both of the core aspects of my identity are central to this conflict, as the leaders of both nations who claim to represent me add fuel to the fire. As a Jewish person, I watch as Israel’s apartheid government is stoking anti-semitism worldwide by committing a genocide in the name of the Jewish people, while deflecting any criticism as ‘anti-semitic.’ As an American, I watch as my government uses my tax dollars to fund this genocide, providing unconditional support, both materially and rhetorically, to the apartheid government actively endangering Palestinians, world peace, and humanity as a whole. The siege on Palestine has dominated my
mind since it began because of the factors I just laid out, but also because this is a watershed moment in world history, one that has set in motion a number of seismic sea changes across both the West and Global South that will define the coming decades.
It is mind-boggling to me that the so-called ‘protector of democracy’ has thrown its entire weight behind the military-industrial complex and Israel’s increasingly fascist and bellicose society. It’s not surprising that many people can’t see the parallels between this rhetoric and the rhetoric that supported colonialism (spreading Christianity and civilization), precisely because I think many of the people making these decisions do see the parallels, but don’t care. The partnership that America (and more specifically, the Biden administration) has with Israel can only be described as a murdersuicide pact, where Israel in its blind rage and hatred destroys what international support they had, sabotages their own civil society and economy in pursuit of total war, and drags America into the humanitarian nightmare they’ve created. Israel can do this because they know that they are the keystone of the global neocolonial extractive network; the capitalist class has no choice but to ensure Israel’s survival by every means. Public opinion, an upcoming election cycle, and the President's own base be damned, Israel will get every bunker-buster, white phosphorus bomb, and tank shell they need regardless of whether Americans consent to this ongoing catastrophe.
The implications are brutal. The way Israel is waging its ‘war’ is far removed from the myth of the methodical, calculated, and surgical IDF that makes no mistakes, a lie that many in the West were sold on after 1973 and still seem to believe in today. In actuality, this ostensibly ‘systematic’ fighting force is one driven by anger and revenge, vindictively bombing schools, hospitals, and refugee camps indiscriminately and doing nothing to advance their stated goal of ‘destroying Hamas’ (whatever that means)—their actions only serve to eradicate the Palestinian population and make life in Gaza even worse than it already is. What pundits call a ‘war’ has morphed into a fullscale genocide. The Israeli state—with overwhelming firepower and
support from the largest military on Earth—perversely claims victimhood, whilst leveling block after block, neighborhood after neighborhood. I described Israel’s relationship to the US as a murdersuicide pact earlier, because nothing else seems to sufficiently describe or explain how America’s ruling class is spending massive amounts of political capital and completely debasing themselves for a foreign country other than the fact that they understand that Israel is a monster they created, yet also an essential piece of the West’s network of imperialist domination. On this issue, Biden now finds himself to the right of George W. Bush in some regards, who in 2008 condemned Israel for its occupation of Palestinian land and urged them to pull out.
High on AIPAC money and assured by their Israeli counterparts that the IDF can do no wrong, America’s elected leaders found themselves foolishly fueling the rise of Israel’s far-right, replacing the already sinister realpolitik of leaders like Yitzhak Rabin and Ehud Barak with the messianic, religious maniacs who run the country now —all with a blank check and arms supplied by the United States. When Obama repeated Bush’s call for a return to 1967 borders just 3 years later in 2011, successful pressure from Netanyahu and AIPAC forced him to change his tune. As U.S. presidential administrations became progressively more pro-Israel, little was done to keep the Israeli government in check, allowing for the monstrous coalition that exists today to come to power unimpeded. Considering the violent settler-colonial origins of both the United States and Israel, this outcome was somewhat of a historical inevitability. Palestinians all have the same human desires for love, family, and material comfort as Israelis do, yet find themselves oppressed by human creations: borders, religious dogma, national identity, war. Should Israel heed the demands of Palestinian resistance and embark on a shared vision for the land they occupy (much to the dismay of politicians who profit from war and genocide), peace could be secured for everyone involved. Instead, Israel seeks to control every facet of life in the occupied territories and of Palestinians within
Israel’s enforced borders, while claiming that accusations of apartheid are anti-semitic and ungrounded. Every facet of this genocide is heartbreaking and tests the limit of our humanity, both as individuals and as a society, which is why it has had such a profound emotional impact in these last six months. We as Americans must collectively decide whether we are the kind of people who actually have an interest in protecting human rights around the world, or whether we merely pay lip service to this idea in order to advance imperial and capitalist interests. Too many American Jews seem to think never again applies only to us — and not to all oppressed people around the world facing an enemy hell-bent on their annihilation, like Palestinians are. Without true solidarity and action, there is only complicity.
FBC: BU’s Forgotten Sociology Institute
Left-wing radicals on Binghamton’s campus find it hard to imagine a BU not littered with conservatism, but it was not always this way. The most enduring legacy of Binghamton University is its remarkable list of left-wing academics who pushed the boundaries of anti-imperialism, culminating in the creation of the Fernand Braudel Center for the Study of Economies, Historical Systems, and Civilizations (FBC).
As a longtime Binghamton sociology professor and internationally renowned scholar, Immanuel Wallerstein was the founder and head of the FBC. Wallerstein’s prolific career was dedicated to studying imperialism and the international division of labor, leading to the birth of his Modern World-System (MWS) theory, a model demonstrating how colonialism has maintained itself to the present. He borrowed from other Marxist theories, such as the Marxist strain of Dependency Theory and Arghiri Emmanuel’s theory of Unequal Exchange, culminating in his greatest achievement, “The Modern World-System,” volumes 1-4. Arising from the need to better understand the rise of liberation movements in the Global South and social justice movements in the Global North, world-systems is a method of analyzing the world as a singular economic system, focusing on regions rather than states.
Founded in 1976, the FBC was created as a research center dedicated to the study of world-systems and class exploitation. Discussion of a world-economy may seem obvious now, but that was not the case when the center was founded. For a long time after its inception, the FBC was the hub of world-systems research in the United States. and possibly the world. Several other prolific voices and contributors to world-systems research have taught at Binghamton, among them Giovanni Arrighi, Terence K. Hopkins, and William G. Martin. Following Wallerstein’s lead, they helped foster the FBC into an invaluable resource and community. With the exception of the Journal of World-Systems Research produced by John Hopkins University, the FBC’s Review was the most dedicated
and internationally recognized journal of world-systems scholars.
A world-systems analytical frame aimed at understanding the extractive relationship between core countries (ones that export products with high rates of profit) and peripheral countries (ones that export raw materials with low rates of profit) is more relevant than ever. Headline after headline paints a picture of the world in dire need of more world systems studies, yet the University has kept it on the sidelines. Major issues that occupy much of our media’s attention – the Russian-Ukrainian war, US relations with China, BRICS and the challenging of the petrodollar, the genocide in Gaza, etc. – along with those the media ignore, such as the systemic underdevelopment of the Global South – would greatly benefit from using the world-systems analytical lens.
It is rare for Binghamton to be mentioned in the same breath as the words “internationally renowned” or “global hub,” but that is what the FBC was. The university loves touting its academic achievements, and rightly so: Professor Stanley M. Whittingham’s 2019 Nobel Prize in chemistry is one recent example. But one must scour the university’s website to find any mention of Immanuel Wallerstein or the FBC. Why would a university not prominently display such a seminal voice? Despite their virtue signalling rhetoric, they are fundamentally at odds with anti-imperialist ideology.
If the FBC was a center for business administration instead of a center dedicated to exposing capitalism's trajectory, I doubt the university would’ve let it fade into oblivion. The reality is that the Harvey Stenger administration has no sympathy for left-wing causes on campus, and with a mostly tranquilized student body, there is nobody for them to answer to. Sadly, few on campus are aware that an internationally acclaimed center was in the recent past located minutes from The Union. The FBC, however, was much bigger than just Binghamton; it offered an irreplaceable nucleus of antiimperialist thought. The world needs a revitalized FBC, and if Binghamton is a serious academic institution, it would recognize the opportunity to return to international prominence.
Relatedly, here are some awesome texts produced by Binghamton professors:
The Long Twentieth Century by Giovanni Arrighi
Historical Capitalism by Immanuel Wallerstein
World Systems Analysis: An Introduction by Immanuel Wallerstein
Colonilaity of Power, Eurocentrism, and Latin America by Aníbal Quijano
World System Analysis: Theory and Methodology by Terence Hopkins and Immanuel Wallerstein
Home is, Home ain’t
Home is a crow on hunger strike, thawing care in mouths perched open by toothsome currency whose whistles echo flagrantly down prison walls, crawling pleasure: melancholy— no one goes home to work. Not to bathe in a quiver, spout fruit by the slice, corrode like a wrench in a locomotive, wed into subjection— no one who goes home goes to sleep.
dreaming of capital, delay, body:
More on her last hours would sound like a miscarriage and a shift. Sounds like slipping in the shower, wearing old age and illness on your back, and this happening to many women— ain’t I a woman too? A tree awakening as servitude labors on, breath is pardoned and begins to chafe against a metal spine. The workday infinite, the transparency of a lighthouse, is the flesh on fire, seizing and fluttering, a strain on her hip, irreverent, lacunar, a plea for tenderness— there the dance is. There, the affecting body.
sisters elastic, home beckoning— capital, delay, body.
Ain’t I a Woman?! is a NYC-based collective advocating for workers’ rights and the end to racial violence, which both manifest in the 24hour workday. They are currently pushing for Speaker Adrienne Adams to bring the No More 24 Act to a vote.
NYC does not have any legal measures in place to both prevent and condemn the exploitation of our people through inhumane shifts. 24hour workers are often home health attendants, who care for the elderly and sick while neglecting their own health and wellness to make ends meet. Many have cited a lack of sleep, fatigue, injuries, stress, poor mental health, a lack of self, and insufficient wages in their years as home health attendants. Still, the New York State
Department of Labor has silently closed 120 cases of wage theft filed by home health aides since May 2023, including that of 66-year-old Gui Hua Song, who is owed $177,000 in unpaid wages for over 11 years of 96 consecutive hour shifts.
The majority of those with 24-hour workdays are women of color and immigrants as, empirically, the burden of this domestic work is offloaded onto working class women of color. From the caricaturing of Black women as “mammy” figures during and after American slavery to the importation of— primarily female— nurses and nannies from South East Asia and the Pacific Islands emerging from colonial legacies, caregiving, while often visualized in and, even, aggressively confined to the space of the home, is a deeply political act— an act whose potential to animate leftist culture into kin and longing is flustered by value systems that allow racial, gender, and class violence to wander undisturbed.
Since the 1970s, Marxist/materialist feminists have insisted on the recognition of domestic work as productive and for women’s place in the workforce. Should an ethical workplace exist and should liberal feminists insist on wage labor as a gendered right, we must reckon with the implications of both some women’s transition outside the home and the imagining of home as “an-other” workplace. Although home attendants working in these deplorable conditions are not always considered live-in help, the extension of 24-hour wage labor into the domestic sphere renders job sites all-consuming; in that case, where is the home? For women of color who toil in spaces of liminality, their position within the workforce is quite clear.
This is not normal— do not become desensitized to the symptoms of capitalism, and do not let them sterilize your anger, your capacity for empathy, and your will to not only exist, but beyond that. 24-hour exploitation is manufactured by insurance and home care companies’ greed and governmental incompetence— overall, an indifference
among few, to hundreds of workers further thrusted into the peripheries of our cultural and economic psyche. Insurance companies and home care agencies privilege profit over workers’ welfare, touting the 13-hour rule, which deems their exploitative practices legal on the condition that home attendants receive 5 hours of continuous sleep and breaks for meals, while overlooking patients’ need for 24-hour care and workers tasked with these needs. The law has only protected profits from the material realities of blood, sweat, and tears sacrificed in the home care industry, in the logic of economy, sexual division, and racial and social surplus.
In late March, several 24-hour home attendants, many elderly, went on a hunger strike to demand that No More 24 Act be brought to a vote in addition to marching at City Hall three times a week. Ain’t I a Woman?! is preparing for May Day: a day of action at City Hall, reclaiming our time, health, quality of life, rights, and bodies. Bring class struggle to the home front, radicalize affective labor for community-building, care for one another— unburden yourselves, and imagine the home as a site of potential for revolutionary economic transformations.
Student Surveillance : From Wider Systems to Broome County
There is a heavy police presence in the Binghamton City School District. Students are greeted by police everyday as students enter school. They roam the hallways and wait outside of classrooms. Officers are summoned in an instant for issues as small as a student wandering during class all the way up to larger altercations.
As an employee of the Binghamton City School District, a phrase I often overhear students say is, “This school is like a prison.”
Surveillance is an omnipresent force in the lives of students, aiming to control and instill fear in them. Humans don’t like to be controlled, and children are no exception. Children are one of the most vulnerable populations in our society. They are stripped of their autonomy and they do not have the same right to express themselves as adults. We must imagine anti-carceral solutions to keeping our children safe. We need to focus on uplifting our students rather than controlling and punishing them.
West Middle School runs a notoriously tight ship. There are cameras throughout the school that are used regularly to monitor the movement of students. Those who are put on the “No Pass List,” which there often are in each class, must have a teacher call down to the main office before using the restroom, and their walk to the facilities will be monitored through the use of cameras. In addition, it is regularly announced that there will be “hallway sweeps.” However, the problem is not just the sum of these policies but rather an unnerving feeling throughout school grounds, felt by students and staff alike.
Surveillance at Binghamton High School was drastically increased in 2021, after a small fire occurred in one of the bathrooms. The regular use of facial recognition is particularly concerning, as it frequently misidentifies students— especially students of color.
Students must go through metal detectors each time they enter the school. There are many security officers throughout the school, dressed in blue uniforms. A monitor sits in front of each restroom, and students must sign in to verify the time they used the restroom.
Discipline and surveillance go together hand in hand. Disciplinary action in schools is historically racialized, and Binghamton is no exception. Suspensions are common, and even elementary school students are frequently suspended. Black students are suspended disproportionately to White students in this district and the duration of suspensions for Black students were twice the length of White students. Getting in trouble at school often results in a student's first interaction with the criminal justice system. This is particularly the case for Black boys. Suspensions lead to expulsions, expulsions lead to arrests. This is the school to prison pipeline.
These students are pathologized as bad kids. There are frequent announcements on the loudspeaker about how the current class of students are the most difficult group the school has ever had. These schools frequently preach the importance of individual choices, disregarding the impact of systemic forces that influence outcomes. Rather than supporting and uplifting students collectively, capitalist logic encourages children to compete, leaving those who cannot do so on the margins, left to fend for themselves. There certainly are widespread severe behavioral issues in the district, but these cannot be mitigated without an acknowledgement of the high level of trauma and poverty which are underlying causes of these issues. This is a lowincome district, where more than half of students are eligible for federal free and reduced lunch. On top of this, the impact of COVID19 on the development of Gen-Alpha and younger Gen-Z students, cannot be overstated, so it should be expected that these students will behave differently than former classes.
Surveillance technology is easy to market to schools, as safety concerns such as school shootings and suicides are, understandably, the greatest fear of any parent. Schools are branded as irresponsible if they don’t apply for federal grants for security funds. However, there is no evidence that the implementation of security cameras results in a higher degree of safety in schools (University of Louisiana). Clearly, the 3.1 billion dollars spent on school security products each year are far better allocated where there is a greater need, such as hiring more teachers and paying them a fairer salary, as well as purchasing more school supplies.
What could a future look like without the oppression of children? It feels impossible to conceptualize a future where children are granted autonomy because controlling and exploiting children are such core components of capitalist logic. This shift would drastically change the very meaning of the word safety. Children are brought up to be obedient workers, and those who don’t fit within these constraints are labeled deviant. True safety requires building communities upon radical trust and compassion. We can uplift our children by allowing them more autonomy over the way their day is spent, as well as through focusing on their unique strengths. Imagine a world where, instead of focusing on controlling children, we prioritize their passions, as well as their innate empathy and creativity.
A Feminist Analysis
What is feminism? Do you consider yourself a feminist? Why? What does it mean to be a feminist? And, can we all really consider ourselves feminists if we can’t agree on the definition? The term itself has been defined in different ways throughout history. Many types of feminism each have their own focus, and they exist apart from the explicit branches of feminist theory, but everyone seems to have their own subjective definition of feminism while some of these specific types of feminism are in direct opposition to one another.
Liberal or mainstream feminism, which is the most visible form of feminism, is often just White feminism, meaning it is primarily concerned with trying to garner Western, White, middle-class, and cisgender women equal rights to their male counterparts, mostly through legal processes. They don’t care for the women in Palestine, Sudan, or the Democratic Republic of Congo, just to name a few, who suffer due to Western influences and involvement. And this is only talking about cis-gender women, without acknowledging people of different gender identities and/or sexualities who suffer similar injustices. When liberal feminists try to “help” the people within these countries, it is usually through a White savior lens that disregards the complex situation of most non-Western conflicts. Recently, nothing shows the values of mainstream feminism better than the uproar caused by the 2024 Oscar Nominations when Greta Gerwig did not receive a nomination for Best Director. This was all over traditional media outlets and social media. At the same time, many of the same people remain silent as horrific atrocities are committed against women (and everyone else) in Palestine by Israel. Hillary Clinton expressed more concern over Greta Gerwig not getting a nomination than she has for the genocide happening in Gaza, this comes from a woman who likes to assert herself as a feminist, who is not only a former U.S. Secretary of State but also involved in starting an Institute of Global Politics at Columbia University.
Liberal feminists disregard her war crimes and continued support for U.S. imperialism which impacts women disproportionately.
Hillary Clinton and most other liberal feminists miss the complexities of many of these issues, which is the problem when looking with a tunnel-visioned mindset, especially when the person looking is someone who benefits from the system that exists to oppress others.
Intersectional feminism is the framework in which we should be thinking about feminism. Intersectionality is a term coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw to describe how systems of oppression don’t operate separately, rather they compound and reinforce one another. We cannot just look at gender, we must consider the concepts of race, class, sexuality, and so many more constructs and how they interact and perpetuate one another. The first few waves of feminism focused on gaining rights for (White, middle-class, cis-gender, heterosexual) women while excluding everyone else which is what mainstream feminism focuses on now as well. An important caveat is anyone can be a White feminist, it is not contingent on your race, gender, or anything else. Therefore the way to fix this isn’t just to get more diverse voices in positions of power because they can be White feminists as well. Kamala Harris being the first female, Black, and South Asian Vice President is meaningful but it is not enough when she continues to push forward a White feminist agenda by supporting the United States’ imperialism and militarism and when her political history contains anti-trans, anti-sex work policies which disproportionately affect LGBTQ+ people, people of color and people of lower SES.
Using an intersectional framework allows us to recognize the ways we perpetuate the oppression of others even when that isn’t our intention. A good example of this is the development of contraceptive pills. Birth control pills were and continue to be very important for people who can get pregnant as well as have other medical issues that hormones can help with.
Research has shown that access to contraceptive pills increased women's enrollment in higher educational institutions, and the workforce, as well as reduced poverty rates and increased their earnings.
However, the road to the contraceptive pill was not without its perpetuation of injustice and oppression. Puerto Rican women with lower socioeconomic status’ were the guinea pigs for the birth control pill as they were given a strong version of the pill without their informed consent. They experienced severe side effects, made many infertile, and three women died in the course of the trial. This is why we must look at everything through an intersectional framework: here we have colonialism, imperialism, racism, and other -isms compounding together. The contraceptive pill has been beneficial to many people and continues to be, but when we discount intersectionality it comes at the cost of vulnerable populations which is a cost that is too high to pay. This is just one example of many in which vulnerable populations were and continue to be abused and the people who benefit from their abuse the most are Western, privileged women who don’t care about the cost and who has to pay that cost. What is the point of “freeing” a specific population while subjecting another to that same oppression? We can and must end oppression for all!
Intersectionality is the lens through which we should view all issues, especially feminist ones. Many pitfalls of feminist sub-theories are precisely that they neglect this. I am a firm believer that feminism without intersectionality is not feminism. Right now, the feminist movement is divided, many people like to label or not label themselves feminists based on what they want feminism to mean. I think the best way to move forward and push an intersectional feminist agenda is to organize with others who support the dismantling of oppressive systems. We are all being oppressed by the same people and we need to dismantle the systems of oppression that work together to oppress us: capitalism, racism, patriarchy, etc. and we can only do that by working together.
Next, we need a call to action for everyone, especially White feminists to educate themselves on intersectional feminism and practice intersectional feminism because liberal feminism while seemingly beneficial for some people in the U.S. means violence for people all over the world. Finally, we need to acknowledge the fact that having more “representation” in positions of power doesn’t automatically lead to a better outcome for oppressed people, what real difference does it make when the people oppressing us look more diverse when they are still perpetuating our oppression?
The migrant crisis is a housing crisis: how we can build solidarity regardless of status
New York State is undergoing what is currently being called a “migrant crisis”. State politicians, from Eric Adams to our very own Fred Ashkar, have called for local governments to deny incoming migrants shelter, claiming that they are already full and that we simply don’t have the capacity to support new arrivals. Oftentimes, when we think of the housing crisis, we prioritize native-born citizens, with advocates focusing on the issues presented to renters who are already settled in the area. However, this approach ignores how much of the housing crisis disproportionately impacts migrants, who are rendered especially vulnerable as a result of their lack of status. Any meaningful campaign that seeks to address the housing crisis must specifically include the abuses of power and discriminations that immigrants face in the housing market.
As an immigration advocate and child of undocumented parents, I have witnessed firsthand how the housing market discriminates against undocumented people and those from mixed-status families. Like many of my peers, I moved around a lot, subject to the whims of whatever person we happened to be subletting from. Most immigrants without legal status live in informal agreements, subject to the whims of whoever is on the lease and liable to eviction, poor living conditions, and abuses of power as a result of not being able to secure a lease. The conventions of the renters market, such as asking for references or a credit check, are out of the reach of new migrants, who often come with just the clothes on their backs. In my professional work, I have had conversations with landlords in the area, who have directly expressed their unwillingness to rent to migrants, with some hanging up on us and others saying they don’t want to rent to “dirty migrants”.
Local politicians encourage this discrimination, with Broome County Executive Jason Garner even issuing an executive order to close all hotels to incoming migrants. Mirroring this rhetoric, Garner said “We received no information…can you know who are the people coming in… Do they, are they fully immunized?”. Rather than take steps to increase affordable housing or to protect tenants, politicians seem happy to place the blame on new arrivals, using them as a convenient scapegoat for their own shortcomings.
Residents seem to have bought into this rhetoric, with many expressing resentment towards migrants for getting “everything paid for” while natives are struggling. Even other immigrants have expressed anger for new arrivals who are supposedly getting it easier than when they arrived. Not only are these sentiments wrong, racist, and bigoted, they also undercut any opportunity for solidarity between communities that could learn a lot from each other. To begin with, migrants receive objectively inhumane living conditions while awaiting placement. They must travel thousands of miles, often on foot, to reach the southern border. Asylum seekers are then placed in detention centers, some of which are open-air, subjecting migrants to the harsh weather conditions of the desert. They must then make their way up to the country, spending what little they have remaining to make the journey. Migrants are the most vulnerable members of our population, both because they lack the support structures that natives have, and also because most are not able to apply for the few social benefits NYS offers.
These issues are directly correlated to the struggle for equitable housing; one of the issues, for example, that housing organizers have brought up is the way that unhoused people are not able to access social safety nets because they lack government documentation. The “migrant crisis” is really just a repackaged housing crisis, placing migrants at the center of the blame instead of the politicians who are directly in the pockets of the real estate companies preventing equitable housing. Migrants are denied access to housing through the same mechanisms that prevent unhoused people, disabled people, and trans people from getting housing as well. Our struggle is a collective struggle, and we cannot afford to be blaming more marginalized members of our community just because they make easy targets. In order to build collective solidarity, we must actively work against systems of power that seek to pit us against each other. I am proud to come from a working-class immigrant community, and I know that migrants have so much more to offer than what the negative depictions of them in the media may suggest. Everything I know about solidarity comes from the informal mutual aid networks migrants have been forced to create to survive in this country. A politic that ignores migrants is one that aligns with the racist, misogynistic, and classist system this country has built. We must not only advocate for immigrants’ rights in the housing struggle, but actively make them a part of the organizing that we must do in order for liberation.
