Sacramento – A Second Chance at Activism

Sandra E. Block

Spirits were high with committed enthusiasm. Three busloads of us lingered in the SMC parking lot at 10:30 p.m. on Sunday, March 16th waiting to hit the road for our march on the Capitol in Sacramento. Whether or not the powers that be would hear our message wasn’t a certainty, but we knew our VOICES would be raised loud and clear.

Working as an administrative assistant and executive secretary in the sixties I had missed the opportunity to participate the era’s passionate activism. Now, with budget cuts to education looming large over the community college system that is enabling me to finally reach for my dreams, I felt a strong and passionate commitment to join in this march on Sacramento. I felt this commitment not only as a student, but also as a future educator, and a mother with college age children. I certainly had more reasons than one to make my voice heard.

We rolled out somewhere close to midnight that Sunday. You have to have a certain strength and commitment to ride all night curled up like a pretzel on a bus. The night was cold and a bit rainy, but there was no doubt that this was a committed group. Instructors, staff and students, 150 people, joined together in an effort to protect the quality and quantity of educational and vocational opportunities for students attending SMC.

It was exciting for me to be among enthusiastic young people, as well as my cohorts. And, as president of the Future Educators/SCTA chapter at SMC, I felt I was representing not only the students of SMC, but also those of my professors who, but for their strong commitments to teaching their classes, would have participated.

We arrived in Sacramento about six in the morning to clear skies and bright sunshine. The buses proceeded to Rally Field where the various schools busing in would converge before marching up to the Capitol. Donning t-shirts emblazoned in blue with “KEEP THE DOOR OPEN..ACCESS TO ALL ..Education…Equality..SANTA MONICA COLLEGE,” the SMC contingent emerged from our buses ready to join a group of protestors already enthusiastically raising their picket signs. As we stood, our assembly growing larger with the passing minutes, we raised our voices chanting such slogans as “We want education, not incarceration”, which alluded to the Governor’s diversion of funds to the prisons, and “Fee, fi, fo fum, Sacramento, here we come,” as well as “Students united will never be defeated”.

As we marched up the mile-long boulevard to the State Capitol, our chants grew louder with “Who are we? Community colleges! What do we want? Justice! When do we want it? Now!” Well over 7,000 supporters of community colleges converged on the steps of the Capitol. Legislators, who themselves had been products of the community college system, spoke out in support. Governor Davis was viewed as an elitist, a product of Stanford, with no empathy for the proletariat. Chanting “1,2,3,4, throw Gray Davis out there door”, expressed the mass dissatisfaction with Davis’ performance in protecting education. It was Lt. Governor Cruz Bustamante who won the crowds favor when he expressed his outrage over the 118 percent increase in fees and asserted his commitment to education for the people of California.

Legislators were made aware of the strength and size of community colleges. A fact unknown to me prior to the day of the march was that community college students outnumber the entire population of the UC and Cal State systems by 5 to 1. Those are a lot of votes and the opportunity was not missed to increase voter registration among the community college population.

It was an exciting day, my first time in a capitol, raising my voice as a concerned citizen for a cause I passionately believed in. It was just the beginning for me of what I see as new role as an activist. No longer will I sit passively by accepting the status quo. Now I will raise my voice with the others who are protesting the injustices of our society.

The budget cuts have become a reality at SMC now, with classes potentially cut in many programs, some programs that get people right into the job market, like Fashion Design & Merchandising, the Public Safety program, and the Tourism/Hospitality programs. But these cuts will not come without a fight. Perhaps if we continue to fight hard enough, the message will get through and the people who need it the most will have access to a community college system that will give them an equal opportunity to the life they deserve as free participants in this great democracy we call America, and as citizens of California, the wealthiest state in the union. Loud and clear, our voices will continue to be raised in protest against budget cuts that threaten the future of our country and our great state.

Sandra E. Block is a single mother and student at Santa Monica College majoring in English and women's studies. She will be transferring to Wells College in the fall. Sandra also writes under the name of Ellen Irving.