************************************************************ SECOND NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF THE NEW CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor - Feb. 8-10, 2002 ************************************************************ Please FORWARD widely. * Build a march on Washington to defend affirmative action & Stop the U.S. Supreme Court from resegregating higher education! * Win the University of Michigan and all other affirmative action cases. * Overturn California Proposition 209, Washington State Initiative 200, and Jeb Bush's "One Florida Plan"! Overturn the Hopwood decision. * No High-Stakes Testing! Equal, Quality Education for All! * No Budget Cuts in Education! No Corporate Take-overs, No Privatization! * Fight Racism & Sexism! Build the New Civil Rights Movement. * Organize Mass Action and Education. On October 23 and December 6, 2001, thousands of university and high school students marched and rallied in defense of affirmative action and integration in Cincinnati, Ohio. The December 6 march and rally corresponded with the federal Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals hearing on the two historic US Supreme Court-bound University of Michigan affirmative action cases. A Sixth Circuit decision in these cases is imminent. The future of affirmative action programs at every university across the country will be determined by the final outcome of these two cases. Every supporter of affirmative action should attend this conference in order to secure a Supreme Court victory in these TURNING POINT cases. The Second National CONFERENCE of the New Civil Rights Movement on Friday, February 8 through Sunday, February 10 will bring together students, youth, activists, leaders and representatives from universities, schools and communities from around the nation. This conference is the place to come to DEFEND EDUCATION. All over the country struggles are developing in defense of education budgets, against standardized testing and against all manner of attacks on education - particularly education for poor students and black and other minority students. With the defense of affirmative action as its point of departure, the new civil rights movement can unite these separate but related struggles and bring them to VICTORY. At this conference we will discuss and vote on a PLAN OF ACTION for the next phase of struggle of the new movement. We will be building the student and youth leadership that will guide our society through its next period of progressive transformation. It is very important that your school, organization or district be represented. Converging at this conference will be people from all walks of life, brought together by the common aim of defending all the steps our society has taken toward integration and equality. For students and teachers campaigning in defense of schools, programs or whole districts - this conference is the place to give a broader, stronger character to your efforts. For students campaigning to increase minority enrollment at your school or fighting to reverse a state-wide attack on affirmative action, this conference is the place to meet and plan out a winning strategy for state-wide and national action. For students, professors and teachers in the HBCU's and in inner-city majority black and other minority districts facing budget cuts, privatization, charter take-overs and racist political attacks - this conference is the place to unite with other people in struggle so that we can win on all fronts. All the gains in black and other minority education must be defended, irrespective of the current inadequate, underfundend, separate, unequal and segregated state of most schools where most black and other minority students learn. This conference is the place to come to UNIFY these related but disparate struggles. Only on the basis of a winning fight to defend past gains will we have the possibility of breaking down the racist segregation and inequality that permeate our education system and our whole society. The new movement must say to all people who genuinely wish to struggle in defense of what we have achieved, come to this conference, build a united effort of all the local and state-wide campaigns - THIS IS HOW WE WILL WIN. We must unite and we must build the mass struggle. It is through building, and coordinating this mass struggle that we can move our society forward now. The Second National Conference of the New Civil Rights Movement is the place to do just that. * The conference is being organized by BAMN (the Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action & Integration, and Fight for Equality By Any Means Necessary) and co-sponsored by Reverend Jesse Jackson's Rainbow/PUSH Coalition. For more information on how to attend (registration, housing, etc.) go to: www.bamn.com. ********************************* TENATIVE SCHEDULE: DAY 1 - FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2002: HIGH SCHOOL-FOCUSED DAY ********************************* The conference will be held in Hutchins Hall in the U of M Law Quad. Room numbers to be announced. REGISTRATION - All day 9:00-10:00AM: PLENARY & DISCUSSION - What we've achieved so far… (Progress in building U of M legal fight, Marches in Cincinnati, etc.) - Building the new civil rights movement in Detroit Public Schools - Discussion and votes on supporting No Cuts in Our Children's Future Campaign in Detroit: School Board Protest (2/20), Mass Civil Rights March in Detroit (4.13) 10:00-12:00 Noon: HIGH SCHOOL REPORTS - Building for the 10.23 and 12.6 Mass Marches in Cincinnati: Organizing High School Student Participation in the Movement - The Petition to Support Affirmative Action before the US Supreme Court - Building the Movement in the High Schools 1:00PM: Rally, March & Speakout 3:00-5:30PM: WORKSHOPS (Others TBA) - Affirmative Action: What It Is and Why It's So Important - The No Cuts in Our Children's Future Campaign in Detroit 6:00PM: HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS' RECEPTION DINNER: Opening a Weekend and an Era of Civil Rights Education and Action - First Presbyterian Church, 1432 Washenaw at Hill St 7:30PM: KEYNOTE - JONATHON KOZOL (Author of Savage Inequalities) - Brought by the University of Michigan Journal of Race and Law *********************************** DAY 2 - SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2002: *********************************** 8:30AM - 11AM: REGISTRATION 9:00-11:00AM: PLENARY & DISCUSSION - What we've achieved since the last conference (U of M Legal Fight, Mass Demonstrations, etc.) - Where we're going: From the Cincinnati Appeal to the US Supreme Court in the Two Historic U of M Affirmative Action cases. - The Perspective for the Movement: What it Should Be and How to Realize It (Campaign against the SAT, National Civil Rights March on Washington DC for US Supreme Court Hearing, Petition Campaign) 12:00 Noon-2:00PM: PANEL of Campus & High School Civil Rights Leaders (Discussion to follow) 2:00-3:30PM: WORKSHOPS (Others TBA) - Student legal case in the University of Michigan Law School Case - Coalition Building - Integration vs. Separatism: What Way Forward? - A Revolutionary Anti-capitalist Perspective in the New Movement - SAT, ACT, LSAT - Opposing Standardized Testing in Education 3:30-5:00PM: WORKSHOPS (Others TBA) - Why the Fight for Integration is Decisive - This Summer's Teacher's Union Conventions - Their Meaning for the New Movement - The Fight Against Scapegoating of Arab and Muslim Americans: Coordinating the New Civil Rights Movement and the Anti-war Struggle - The Role of High School Youth in Leading the Movement - Birmingham in 1963 and Beyond - Defending the HBCU's 5:00-6:00PM WORKSHOP REPORTS 8:00PM-?: POETRY SLAM/OPEN MIC ********************************** DAY 3 - SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2002: ********************************** 9:30AM-3:00PM: PLENARY DISCUSSION & VOTING - Perspectives for the Next Phase of the Movement - Implementing conference decisions - Coordination between now and next conference Literature tables will be available to schools and organizations supporting the conference. If you or your organization wish to hold a workshop please email bamn@umich.edu. For directions go to www.bamn.com. For housing and other details email bamn@umich.edu. Accommodations are available Friday and Saturday night (blanket or sleepingbag required). Conference registration/donation $20. _____________________________________________________ Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action & Integration, And Fight for Equality By Any Means Necessary (BAMN) bamn@umich.edu * http://www.bamn.com