When I talk to students, I'm used to hearing quite a bit of cynicism. We often feel like because we are young, there is nothing we can do.
It's very easy to fall into despair as students. Many of us go to college only to get saddled with absurd amounts of student debt we will spend the rest of our lives paying off. For low-income and working-class students, this burden is particularly heavy. We are told that this experience will help us become successful, yet the job market remains increasingly hostile to us. Most of us are only able to get low-wage jobs, which makes it all the more impossible to pay off student debt.
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Debt isn't the only issue facing students. Our schools are becoming increasingly militarized, working-class institutions are receiving a critical lack of funding, and campuses are becoming increasingly unsafe for marginalized students.
It can often seem like we have barely any way to address the injustices we face. As students, it often seems that we have access to very little political capital. Student movements are often snubbed at, called oversensitive, have their organizing rights restricted and sometimes even face violence from the Administration.
But if one looks at any social movement in the US, students have always been the first at the barricades. This rich tradition continues to this day, with student organizers fighting against white supremacy, the culture of sexual assault on campus, etc. Simply put, students have had and continue to have an incredible amount of political power.
The issue is we currently do not know that we have this power. If we wanted to, we could shut down the entire university system in the US. We could make higher education more affordable, transparent, democratic, and equitable.
And considering our current political moment, this is more necessary than ever. What's happening in the US directly affects students. ICE raids are targeting undocumented students. Law enforcement is continuing on Muslim student organizations. Displays of explicit racism towards students of color are becoming much more commonplace.
These are issues that are worth taking to the streets over. And if we all did, we would win.
