California High School Walkouts Spread to SF, Oakland, Richmond, San Jose...

CA High School Student Walkouts/ Blowouts Spread North to SF, Oakland, Richmond, San Jose...

CNN and other news sources [http://www.libertypost.org/cgi-bin/readart.cgi?ArtNum=133985] reported more walkouts on Monday 3/27/06 not just again in Los Angeles High Schools but now spreading to other high schools throughout the state.

The LA Times Reported more than 40,000 students walking out in Southern California -

Nearly 40,000 students from across Southern California staged walkouts to protest proposed immigration legislation Monday, blocking traffic on four freeways and leaving educators concerned about how much longer the issue will disrupt schools. The protests are believed to eclipse in size the demonstrations that occurred during the anti-Proposition 187 campaign in 1994 and even a famous student walkout for Chicano rights in 1968.
Some principals put their schools on lockdown Monday to keep students from leaving campus, and Los Angeles Unified School District officials said all middle and high schools will be on lockdown today. Monday's demonstrations appeared to start in Los Angeles but quickly spread to San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardino, Orange and Ventura counties. Though the protests were mostly peaceful, there were a few clashes and several arrests.

From the Immigrant Solidarity Network in Los Angeles -

24,680 Los Angeles Students Walk Out to Protest H.R. 4437

LOS ANGELES, March 27, 2006 - The Los Angeles Unified School District is reporting 24,680 students have walked out of classes today to protest anti-immigrant law H.R. 4437. An official from LAUSD said that students from 52 separate middle schools and high schools throughout the district have walked
out. Many students have joined a rally now taking place at city hall numbering
in the 1000’s. There are also reports of walkouts in other school districts. The district is expecting more walkouts tomorrow.
From the newswire: Students WALK OUT at Riverside high school LA school district is reporting 24,680 students have walked out Walkout in the West SGV Hundreds of Orange County Youth Protest Anti-Immigration Law!
VIDEO: Marshall High students walkout

MAYOR, OTHERS, ADDRESS STUDENTS ON STEPSOF CITY HALL; SOME MARCHERS TAKE THE STREETSAND FREEWAYS; NO ARRESTS UP TO 2:00 P.M.by don white - LOS ANGELES March 27, 2006

Peaking at about 5000 students, a demonstration Monday on the south lawn of City Hall in downtown Los Angeles was addressed by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa as the youth chanted, applauded and waved banners and flags. His appearance from a City Hall door created a surge of students to the steps of the building. Earlier students poured into the City Hall lawnafter walking out of scores of local high school and middle schools to protest the immigration legislationnow in Congress. As each student contingent enter the area, deafening cheers greeted the newcomers.

Richmond, Oakland and San Francisco High School and Middle School students turned out in the thousands in the pouring rain today to march with the immigrant rights organizations, faith-based human rights and grassroots social justice organizations, and to join the Immigrant Rights Hunger Strikers and the Latino Peace marchers at a huge demonstration at Senator Diane Feinstein’s financial district office.

For more photos - http://www.flickr.com/photos/ericmar/sets/72057594092271645/

The San Jose Mercury News reported hundreds of students walking out of San Jose Unified and East Side Union school districts. Hundreds of immigrants and folks in solidarity rallied at San Jose City Hall later monday evening as well.

Students who walked out from the Richmond, Oakland and San Francisco schools are representing a tradition of walkouts and ‘blowouts’ from the Civil Rights movement to the Chicano/Latino movements of the 60’s. Asian American students at San Francisco's predominantly Chinese American Galileo High School also walked out at different times in the late 1960's over racism and an unequal education system for immigrants, working class, and students of color.
Retired UC Berkeley Chicano Studies Prof. Carlos Munoz, a veteran of the Chicano Movemiento and a college student supporter of the March 1968 high school ‘Blowouts’ in East Los Angeles gives a great history at http://65.61.160.86/news/article_tol.jsp?id=740
For more on the HBO Edward James Olmos film Walkout which premiered on HBO earlier this month. See my earlier blog entries.
Walkout/Latino-voice-for-peace-march-mexico
CABE - bilingual education teachers/parents support language equality

Pictured to the right is East Oakland Community High School co-founder Wayne Yang, one of the SF Hunger Strikers, who was supported at SF's rally today by his entire high school according to organizers of the protest.

Blowouts and walkouts are also spreading in many other areas of CA and throughout the Southwest. For example, the aztlanrising.com website is reporting –

Monday, 27 March 2006
LA VOZ DE AZTLAN NEWS BULLETIN -Los Angeles, Alta California - March 27, 2006
School walkouts spreading throughout Aztlan
We are getting reports that school walkouts by Latinostudents are now taking place in San Marcos, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, San Antonio, Houston and El Paso.
http://aztlanrising.com/cms/content/view/634/105/

The Anti-war and immigrant rights movements seem to be converging more now not only with today’s uniting of the Latino Peace Marchers with the SF Hunger Strikers and their supporters but also with United for Peace and Justice in NYC and the ANSWER LA supporting and helping lead the historic Mach 26, 2006 Los Angeles immigrant rights march and rally.

In solidarity with the immigrant rights movement – The NY-based United for Peace and Justice has put out an action alert –

http://www.unitedforpeace.org/ 212-868-5545

Please forward widely!
Tell Congress: Vote No on Sensenbrenner's, Specter's, or Any Other Anti-Immigrant Bill!

Congress is on the verge of passing legislation that will decide how immigrants will be treated for decades to come. 11 million undocumented immigrants and those who help them get food, a job, or a home would be turned into criminals -- unless we act now!

CALL YOUR SENATORS TODAY
United for Peace and Justice urges you to add your voice to the chorus that is calling for real immigration reform that does not criminalize immigrant adults and children or the social workers, nurses and others who provide them with help:

Capitol Switchboard: (888) 355-3588 (toll-free) or (202) 334-3121

Please call both of your Senators TODAY. You can ask for the Senator by name at the number above. If you don't know his/her name or the line is busy, see: http://www.senate.gov
and click on "Senators" at the top left.

Tell your Senator to vote NO on HR 4437, the Sensenbrenner bill, Senator Arlen Specter's bill, or any other version that retains anti-immigrant provisions. Instead of undermining civil rights and civil liberties, they should support immigration reform that enables undocumented immigrants to legalize their status and gain a path to citizenship, reunifies immigrant families, stops mandatory deportations and indefinite detentions, and supports the rights of all workers.
To find out about protests in your community, see: http://www.immigrantsolidarity.org/

Thanks as always for your hard work on behalf of peace and justice,
United for Peace and Justice
Visit http://www.unitedforpeace.org/
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