a history of ivory violence (nearly forgotten)

we are not without historical precedent...

just found this article about the 1968-69 student occupations (and tent-in! and hunger strike) at uchicago. it was the most brutally repressed student occupation of the 60s--62 students were suspended and 37 expelled. paul sally, the pirate-esque current head of the math department, tried to defend students against one of the many disciplinary committees which sprung up.

it's an interesting story -- read here. (http://thecore.uchicago.edu/winter2010/which-side.shtml)

sounds like the maroon was a lot better back then.

also, some of the protesters' claims still ring eerily true--
"'How can an unbiased judgment be expected from a committee formed from a University which claims to be a bastion of pure, value-free, uncorrupted, ivory tower thought, yet which allies itself with the war machine and acts as an agent of social repression to the black ghetto?' Steve Rothkrug, X’70, wrote in the Maroon."
racism, sexism...

i love the parts of the article about the "chickenshit theatre brigade" and the WITCHes (Women’s International Terror Conspiracy from Hell).

apparently after the repression of the '69 occupation, the university got a lot of bad press and enrollment dropped; it took until the 80s or so for the university's "reputation" to "recover."

cool shit!
enjoy.
(this story should totally be told on admissions tours. and taught in classes.)

group of 8000

hi kids,
after an exhausting, exhilarating, and downright fucking sweet two days of protesting and naughtiness, i'm back in the burbs with my folks (that is, far from the action but part of the problem; but speaking personally, safe and mostly sound).

tmo's last post on fear was really fascinating for me to read in light of my experience in the past few days as well as this summer, playing around with so many scenes and headspaces and new experiences. after my last trip, i decided (to leli in the back o the station wagon) to eliminate fear from my life. to me, this meant shedding my fear of social repercussions for my actions--following through on my desires without fearing the law (or the dark.) but last night i dreamt of cops and woke up sweating. when i close my eyes i see riot cops. i can't shake off the feeling of running, not knowing when my clothes and actions will make me criminal since the rules don't really matter. in the past two days, i have become aware of more cop/military surveillance and experienced more fear of surveillance than ever in my life...and then there was the incredible polarization of pittsburgh, a rhetorical accomplishment by the state, police, and media that made "normal pittsburghers" cast their eyes aside as i walked down the sidewalk. that made ME an object of fear in college dorms and lunchrooms, and not for legit reasons. in contrast to the intense solidarity of protesters, fear had boarded up windows, shut down classes, and many students and business owners seemed rallied against these destructive outsider crazy whacko anarchists (what does that even mean). i heard they pee on people, hide in tunnels to slash tires, etc. etc.

i'm excited to come back and talk to you all and tell you about some crazy shit that went down. dunno if you've been following the news. many people were arrested and i am free, trying to construct a rationale for why things happened as they did. i'll see you all (or most) on sunday night.

with queeranarcholove and solidarity,
winknight