Dear colleague,
On Monday, February 21, at 7 p.m., we’ll hold our first Freedom School of the semester on “Camden Matters: The Fight for Reparation and Racial Equity.” Click here to RSVP for the Zoom link, invite your colleagues and friends, and share the Facebook page.
We’re holding this Freedom School because the inequitable treatment of Rutgers-Camden is a critical issue of racial justice that our union must address. Camden was recently recognized by the US Department of Education for its service to BIPOC students, yet it has endured underfunding and neglect going back years, because of administration policies that starve the campus of the resources it needs.
At Freedom School, we’ll talk about the consequences for Camden students, staff, and faculty of the Rutgers administration’s fiscal policies under the RCM budget system—and what we can do about it as a union. Our commitment to equity, dignity, and racial justice demands that we stand with Camden.
This session of Freedom School will feature distinguished scholar Davarian L. Baldwin, author of In the Shadow of the Ivory Tower: How Universities Are Plundering Our Cities, in conversation with a range of other speakers, including judge and attorney Ma’isha Aziz, a graduate of Rutgers-Camden and adjunct faculty member at the RUC School of Business; Camden activists Ayinde Merrill and Reet Starwind, president and creative director, respectively, of the community organization Watu Moja and former RUC students; Rutgers-Camden faculty members Jim Brown and Nate Link; and others. We’ll be the co-hosts and introduce the session.
We began organizing Freedom School in Fall 2020 to follow in the tradition of Ella Baker, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, and the 1960s civil rights movement. The pandemic has disrupted both our ordinary lives and how we connect to each other. We want Freedom School to be a virtual classroom and discussion space for union members, students, and the broader communities that Rutgers serves, with the goal of developing leadership and political consciousness for a new generation.
Please join us on Monday, February 21, at 7 p.m. for “Camden Matters: The Fight for Reparation and Racial Equity.” You can click here to RSVP for the Zoom link and share the Facebook page. If you haven’t already, please subscribe to our Freedom School YouTube channel. If you have any questions about Freedom School or ideas about future sessions, email me at donnamurch1968@gmail.com.
See you on the 21st!
In solidarity,
Donna Murch, Executive Council, People of Color Caucus Co-Chair, Rutgers AAUP-AFT
Keith Green, Director, Africana Students, Rutgers-Camden; member, Rutgers AAUP-AFT
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