Thursday, June 4, 1998
Freedom City set to end crusade
ACTIVISM: Student advocacy groups help convey variety of
concerns about elections, Prop. 209
By Ann Hawkey
Daily Bruin Contributor
After three days of education, advocacy and unity, Freedom City
will end its stay in Royce Quad tonight.
Freedom City, led by the Affirmative Action Coalition, embraced
a broad range of student advocacy groups, such as the Asian Pacific
Coalition, Raza Women and the Friends of Labor Coalition, all
sharing a common goal.
"We envision Freedom City as a place where all different groups
can come together and learn about issues specifically concerning
our communities and to re-establish our presence on this campus as
student activists," said Chad Williams, chair of the African
Student Union.
Complete with a mission statement and charter, Freedom City
organizers set up camp Tuesday morning, beginning their 72-hour
program of education and communication.
"We uphold a true vision of democracy where all people –
including women, queers, immigrants, workers, youth, students and
people of color – can participate fully and have an equal voice in
the political system which governs society," reads the Freedom City
charter.
Organizers of Freedom City strived to promote this ideal through
education. With guest speakers and workshops, organizers hoped to
open lines of communication between both supporters and opponents
of the issues.
"Some people came and disagreed, but that’s what we wanted in
order to create dialogue," said Mike de la Rocha, a USAC general
representative. This disagreement was welcomed, de la Rocha said,
because it helped spark discussion and improved people’s
understanding of the issues.
Groups like La Familia, the Busriders’ Union and Sangam led
workshops which examined topics ranging from fighting homophobia to
the history of student activism, as well as the more political
issues of Proposition 209 and the elimination of affirmative
action.
The fight against Proposition 209 also drew support from groups
outside the UCLA community, as several affirmative action
proponents from Northern California joined the event.
"We wanted to try and hook up everyone together and come down
here in solidarity," said Vincent Kukua, of the Coalition to Defend
Affirmative Action, a group based in the Oakland area.
"Hopefully we can establish some connections, and we can work on
some current issues together," he continued.
In addition to Proposition 209, discussions also focused on
Tuesday’s elections. Freedom City organizers spent much of Tuesday
encouraging students to vote "no" on Propositions 226 and 227.
"Proposition 227 is going to take money away from children and
bring it to adults in this random, experimental, unmethodical,
uneducational process that really is going to hurt students," said
Stacy Lee, USAC president. "It’s going to keep a lot of people
behind."
The passage of Proposition 227 left many Freedom City
participants discouraged, but they plan to continue fighting
against other initiatives like it.
"What we’re going to do is to try to have students understand
that this is just one battle tied to a larger one, and that we may
have lost this one, but that it’s not over," said de la Rocha.
Though the specific political issues were addressed in Freedom
City, the main themes were unity and education within the UCLA
community and beyond.
"This whole campaign is about educating ourselves," said Liz
Geyer, USAC external vice president. "What are the things we
believe in, and why do we believe them?"
JAMIE SCANLON-JACOBS/Daily Bruin
Students work together in Royce Quad to set up tents and display
information about Freedom City.