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Activists from multiple Michigan universities converge at MSU

Rather than representing isolated pockets of social-political action, student activists from across the state united at MSU to share stories, resources and tactics

June 4, 2015
<p>During a group discussion in the Combating White Supremacy Culture in Radical Spaces workshop Trish Abalo (right) speaks as Justin Murshak (left) listens May 29 in Berkey Hall. Wyatt Giangrande/State News</p>

During a group discussion in the Combating White Supremacy Culture in Radical Spaces workshop Trish Abalo (right) speaks as Justin Murshak (left) listens May 29 in Berkey Hall. Wyatt Giangrande/State News

Photo by Wyatt Giangrande | The State News

The climate of activism on many college campuses can be discouraging for some. A small group of on-campus activists trying desperately to convince the student body, who are more often concerned with exams and the 10-page essay they’ve been neglecting for a week, why issues they can’t directly see, matter.

A relatively new grassroots organization, the Michigan Student Power Network, took a major step forward this weekend at the Michigan Student Power Convergence 2015

Looking at strengthening bonds between campus groups and strategizing for the next few years, the MSPN picked MSU to hold its state-wide event, organizing to better fight the injustices they so strongly advocate against.

Origins of the Network

Founded in April 2014, the MSPN is a 14-month-old “association of young people in the state of Michigan formed to co-ordinate action, share skills and build statewide unity around social justice causes,” according to the group’s Facebook page, also aimed to connect progressive student organizers across the state.

They partner with campus groups at nine different universities across Michigan, mainly concentrated in the lower thumb region, although a major suggestion from members going forward was to expand north in the months and years ahead. At MSU, the MSPN is associated with groups such as MSU Students United, the Black Student Alliance and the Black Lives Matter movement.

Many of the activists have different backgrounds in the issues they specialize in — some come from the LGBT community, some care most about issues of race and privilege and others have an environmentalist bent — but the outlook uniting them is a progressive one.

One major undertaking by the network was the march on the Capitol in March, at which MSU jazz studies senior Duncan Tarr was arrested.

State-wide organizer and University of Michigan alumnus Ian Matchett, said their yearly operating budget is effectively $10,000, which comes from union and other progressive group donations.

A common theme among campus activists is dealing with a larger apathy, which can discourage members, but the MSPN looks to broaden the perspective of activists on campus.

“It’s really kind of getting a broader vision of like, this is not just ... one cause in one room that may be doing well or poorly at any given moment, but it’s part of a whole movement and everyone is kind of contributing consistently,” Matchett said.

Building Bonds

When the Convergence was called, a primary goal was simply to give activists from across the state time to know each other and bond over shared causes. Major attendant numbers at the event came from Grand Valley State University, the University of Michigan, Central Michigan University and MSU itself.

Jacob Peck, a neuroscience and premed senior from the University of Michigan, said he is involved in the Student Socialist Union and that campus faces the same problem of student apathy and having very few radically-minded people.

“A pretty big gathering of like-minded people like this who do a lot of organizing, that wouldn’t really happen at Michigan’s campus,” Peck said.

A handout detailing the Convergence said the MSPN hoped the event would “build the connections and skills that would carry MSPN forward for years to come.”

Recent Grand Valley State University graduate Brandan Bilski said the biggest challenge facing student activists is learning how to overcome historic biases against them, and at his campus the climate is similar to MSU, with only a small, core group of activists.

“I think having a state-wide organization allows that to change in a fundamental way,” he said.

Convergence

Convergence itself operated with a few rules of conduct, including respecting the chosen pronouns of participants and quickly apologizing if an offhand remark offended someone. In a spirit of pure democracy, those who spoke often were asked to give time for other voices and to not “delegitimize other people’s experiences.”

About 60 people participated in the three-day event, with overnight lodging and food provided and social events and parties planned for late at night.

However, the focus of the event concerned workshops and hands-on strategy activities, interrupted by break-out sessions and caucuses for different racial and gender-identity groups. During break periods, activists would speak casually about issues, with concepts such as triggering, patriarchy, misogyny and white supremacy, governed by a mutual adherence to the agreed rules of conduct.

On the final day, a major session involved an overview of “direct action,” defined by Tarr, the director of that session as, “a critical component of a variety of tactics used to change the world around us. Direct action is a disruption of business as usual. It either immediately solves a problem or it makes the operation of business as usual so dysfunctional that the change you want has to be met before your targets can continue operating.”

The group shared past uses of direct action that involved protests, sit-ins and arrests.

“It’s been really nice to talk with people from different parts of the state and from different states about what kind of organizing they’ve done and what sort of methods they’ve used (that) have worked ... just kind of sharing our stories. That’s been the best part of it, really,” Peck said.

Future of MSPN

The final discussion of the weekend involved the future structure of MSPN. Currently grassroots, minimally organized and bottom-led, Matchett said it would be necessary to better organize and plan for when the MSPN would hopefully become a ballooning coalition across the state. An open forum discussion included setting up regional representation structures and expanding to the currently underrepresented northern part of the state, while also increasing the role of minorities in MSPN governance.

Other goals suggested were to set up a funding platform, with one person suggesting they abuse university speaker funds and direct them to the MSPN, hopefully to hire more statewide organizers, though no suggestion has been officially endorsed by the MSPN yet.

Fourteen nominees were named to form a committee that will put the suggestions into practice, with the goal of creating at least a plan by the end of the summer.

A major success was the creating of bonds between the diverse membership, Matchett said.

“Seeing people working together, talking together and connecting with (people) who hadn’t even met before this weekend, ... that’s why we’re doing the work,” Matchett said.

Tarr, who was late making copies of handouts due to two broken copiers at the last training session on Sunday, shared an anecdote with the group that held important symbolic significance to the mentality of the MSPN in its view of current power structures.

“This one piece of paper crumpled up and stopped the whole system from working,” Tarr said, to the approving laughter of the attendees.

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