Do people know when they are living through events of great historical significance? As history majors and (sigh) readers of Hegel, we’ve often wondered about historical consciousness during tumultuous times. It seems hard to imagine that investors on Black Tuesday in 1929 and Columbia rebels in 1968 didn’t have some sense of their impact on the country’s future. Since November, and especially since the market plunge, there has been a growing sense that now a genuine paradigm shift may be possible. Judging by a recent Rasmussen poll showing that only 53 percent of Americans currently prefer capitalism to socialism, the nation is questioning certain fundamentals in ways not previously considered respectable. In London, Strasbourg, and Athens, militant protesters have shattered bank windows and taken to the streets by the thousands.
In the midst of this global turmoil, activism closer to home has flourished on all fronts. Columbia students have reached out to the community and, in some cases, tapped into international movements. At the beginning of this school year, we wrote that Columbia activists ought to unite. This ideal hasn’t been fully realized, but we have seen a remarkable reorientation toward the needs of those outside of our marble fortress. The campus itself may have seemed quiet compared to last year—there were no controversial world leaders, hunger strikes, banner drops, or all-out brawls. But this clearly has not been due to apathy or deradicalization.
Take the Student Coalition on Expansion and Gentrification. After years of building connections with community groups and activists in West Harlem, SCEG has seen a resurgence of on-campus interest and enthusiasm, exemplified by its successful mobilization around the Floridita restaurant. At a time when mortgage defaults and bank evictions are skyrocketing, SCEG has continued to ally itself with people for whom Manhattanville is a home, not an investment. We can only hope that as this recession grinds on, the nation can begin to re-evaluate who has the right to land, to a house, to a neighborhood. SCEG has already staked out a clear place for Columbia students in this struggle.
Another genuine collaboration between Columbia students and the surrounding community was Lucha’s recent health fair, which brought doctors and other medical professionals to Altschul. Lucha members postered the neighborhood and announced the fair in subway cars all day to alert locals to the free services. Universal health care is one of America’s most critical challenges, and Lucha not only provided valuable services to an underserved community, but also demonstrated what effective local care, on a small scale, could look like.
There are more examples of activists’ outward orientation: the Columbia University Food Sustainability Project’s community garden collaboration with residents of the Grant Houses on 125th Street, activist solidarity with striking workers at Kim’s Fruit and Vegetables, and the formation of a CU Student/Farmworker Alliance chapter. In each of these cases, students contribute to pushing the University’s political climate out of the shadow of the ’60s and toward tackling the most compelling issues of the present. We are bound by a regenerated solidarity and a unity of progressive purpose that propels us out of the Columbia cocoon.
As graduation nears and we leave our campus projects behind us, we have the opportunity to step into a new arena of youth-powered activism. A New Way Forward, for instance, is an organization driven by young people who are mobilizing Americans to fight for bank decentralization. Unions need energetic young organizers as well, and it looks like Obamamania may be encouraging recent college graduates to become community leaders of one sort or another. In a sense, what we’ve all been doing on a small scale in college has just been a warm-up for the real world. But the political frameworks and ideas being developed now by our activist groups may have a unique opportunity to shape the country at this particular time of instability. Having watched a few congressional hearings, we have become even more convinced that our elected officials don’t have a damn clue what they’re doing and have been caught off guard by the suddenly desperate need for intelligent leadership. As many of our most passionately committed activists graduate this spring, the market will be flooded with individuals ready to rebuild a radically different economy. We know exactly what we want. We want a unionized work force. We want decentralized banks, and we want to bail out people whose homes were lost to corporate greed. We want single-payer health care and fair food for all our families. Fortunately, Columbia activists have spent this year reaching out instead of turning in, figuring out what it’s going to take to set these things right.
Sarah Leonard is a Columbia College junior majoring in history. Kate Redburn is a Columbia College junior majoring in history and African studies. Shock and Awe runs alternate Fridays. opinion@columbiaspectator.com