UMASS AMHERST
Hundreds cheer anti-racist struggle
By Bryan G. Pfeifer
Standing before a crowd of more than 500 in Amherst at the
University of Massachusetts Bowker Auditorium Nov. 1, Leslie
Feinberg began hir talk by dedicating it to the struggle of
ALANA students: African American, Latin@, Asian, Pacific
Islander and Native American who are under siege by racists on
campus. [See related article.]
Feinberg's gesture of solidarity received cheers and
thunderous applause from the multi-national, multi-gendered
audience.
Feinberg--a Workers World managing editor and author of the
books "Stone Butch Blues," "Transgender Warriors" and "Trans
Liberation"--was invited to cam pus by the UMass Stonewall
Center and Pride Alliance, a lesbian, gay, bi and trans student
organization. The event kicked off November's Transgender
Awareness Month.
Other scheduled events include a "Trans Awareness Panel," a
"Graves in Rem em brance" day when paper tombstones will
remember those murdered by bashing, a "Trans Films @ Real Out
Film Festival" and a UMass Pride Alliance drag ball.
Proudly wearing a Graduate Employee Organization UAW Local
2322 button, Feinberg, who co-chairs the Queer Caucus of the
National Writers Union/UAW, raised GEO's demands. The union is
currently in contract negotiations with the university
administration. Its demands include support for ALANA and for
trans employees.
Feinberg asked, "Are we going to stand up with GEO to win
their contract demands?" Once again Feinberg's unity and
solidarity was greeted with massive applause and cheers, a
common event throughout her talk.
Feinberg presented a historical materialist view of lesbian,
gay, bisexual and transgender oppression--from communal
societies to the 1969 Stonewall Rebellion. Ze focused on how
historically those battling racism, sexism and imperialist war
have found a basis for unity against a common enemy.
"In order to cement unity we have to walk our talk. We have
to fight against each other's oppression as though it was our
own."
Feinberg concluded with calls to build the anti-capitalist
revolutionary current within all mass movements and to
repudiate anti-communism and red-baiting.
For over an hour after hir talk Feinberg greeted audience
members in front of a beautiful four-color Million Worker March
banner at a Western Mass. Inter national Action Center table.
Those who surrounded the table to talk included members of many
of the major LGBT organizations in western Massachusetts: Every
woman's Center, Food for Thought Books collective, GEO, the
Office of ALANA Affairs, Pride Alliance, the Stonewall Center,
the Student Govern ment Associ ation, the UMass Anti-War
coalition. There were also people from various student
organizations from the Five College system: Amherst College,
Hampshire College, Mt. Holyoke, Smith College and UMass
Amherst.
Dozens of pieces of literature--including the call for a
week of anti-war actions Dec. 3-10, information about the first
national meeting of Fight Imperialism, Stand Together--FIST,
LGBT 4 Million Worker March stickers, Workers World Party
conference brochures and WW newspapers--flew off the table.
More than 20 people opened trial subscriptions to Workers World
newspaper.
Reprinted from the Nov. 18, 2004, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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