[ShareTompkins] Fwd: This is actually important!! 8am tomorrow! Friends of Africana! Please join us tomorrow--- and become a part of history!

[Gregory Rothman]

>
> Hi everyone,
> I'm writing to let you all know that the Save Africana Committee is
> planning a set of actions over the next couple of days because the
> Board of Trustees is in town.  Tomorrow morning, we're going to do an
> action outside the Statler Auditorium at 8 a.m. as they enter their
> meeting. It had been scheduled for later in the day but then they got
> word of us and are trying to dodge us.  Fat chance!!!  We need you all
> to come out and stand in support of the ASRC tomorrow morning. Like,
> we really, seriously need you there.  I know its early, and the
> weather will be crappy, but this is a critical moment for our campaign
> and we need to demonstrate that we have widespread support!  We'll
> provide the signs to hold-- All you have to bring is yourself. Pretty
> Pretty Please consider joining us in telling the Board of Trustees
> that the Provost's decision to restructure the Africana Studies and
> Research Center without their knowledge or consent is unacceptable.
>
> Also, after the Trustees  enter their meeting, there will be a press
> conference held on Ho Plaza.  I believe the conference will begin at
> 10.  Please consider showing your support there, as well.
>
> By the way, most of this organizing has been happening on the DL so
> please spread the word but do so quietly! Please don't forward this
> email indiscriminately. You're on this email list because I know we
> can trust you not to let the cat out of the bag  :).
>
> For those of you who may be a little bit out of the loop, the struggle
> has been chugging along since the administration announced the change
> last December.  The Save Africana Committee has been mounting a
> significant campaign calling for a full reversal of their decision.
> As of today, prominent intellectuals, including Cornel West, Kimberly
> Crenshaw, Manning Marrable, and Sundiata Keita Cha-Jua, President of
> the National Council for Black Studies, have called on Cornell
> University's Provost to reverse his unilateral decision to demote the
> Africana Studies & Research Center (ASRC).  Also, recent press
> coverage links the threat against the ASRC to nation-wide trends to
> dismantle ethnic studies and corporatize universities.
>
> http://www.ithacatimes.com/main.asp? 
> SubSectionID=83&ArticleID=13768&SectionID=16
>
> We also have a website where you can find up-to-date information about
> the campaign: http://saveasrc.blogspot.com/.  We've topped 1,000 hits,
> and petition signatures are well above 1,500.
>
> Also, please see the image I've attached to this email.  It's a copy
> of a full page ad that was taken out in today's Cornell Daily Sun by
> over a dozen leading academics, including the editors of multiple
> Africana and African American Studies journals.
>
> Thanks and I really hope we see you tomorrow morning!!!!
> Courtney
> -- 
> Courtney Elizabeth Knapp
> PhD Student
> Department of City and Regional Planning
> Cornell University
> email: cek77 at cornell.edu
> 617-755-8412
> New City Solutions <http://www.ncsolutions.blogspot.com>
> Cornell Participatory Action Research Network (CPARN)
> <http://www.cornellparnetwork.blogspot.com>
>
>
> "A fully functional multiracial society cannot be achieved without a
> sense of history and open, honest dialogue.” - Cornel West
>
>
> </mail/s/?view=att&th=12ea25c5f36e2f58&attid=0.1.1&disp=emb&zw>
>
>
> -- 
> Carrie Freshour
> Graduate Student
> Development Sociology
> Cornell University
> Email: crf64 at cornell.edu