SDS Member and CAN Activist Speaks at SOA Protest

Hi, I'm Kati from the Asheville NC Students for a Democratic Society. SDS reformed this year as a result of the serious need for a grassroots, independent student anti-war movement in this country. Since its formation over the summer, SDS now has over 200 chapters in the United States.CAN activist and SDS member Kati Ketz

It is so important in this country to build a strong, coordinated student movement in this age of imperialism. Over the summer, I went on a human rights delegation with the Colombia Action Network and was appalled at the number of human rights violations being committed in this beautiful country - many by the military and paramilitary troops trained right here at the School of the Americas. I met with students there whose lives have been threatened because they are leaders in the student movement. And even though these students' lives are in danger, though they have witnessed their fellow students shot down, they are still out in the streets protesting the corrupt Uribe regime. We students should take inspiration from our Colombian brothers and sisters and take all this energy we have brought here back to our campuses and get organized!

At the SDS meeting last night, over 90 students from 20 different campuses voted unanimously to have local coordinated actions on March 20th against the war in Iraq. We demand: End the war in Iraq! End the war in Colombia! US out of Latin American and the Middle East! Close the School of the Americas NOW!