A Moment of Silence
The union is calling on all CUNY faculty and professional staff to observe a moment of silence in memory of Eric Garner at 11:00 AM this Thursday. The moment of silence is called for 11:00 AM on Thursday, December 11 to recall that the video depicting Eric Garner’s death at the hands of the police showed him saying eleven times “I can’t breathe.” By asking all CUNY faculty and staff to observe the moment together, we hope to open a space for private reflection and public discussion of questions of history, race and justice. Nowhere are such discussions more appropriate than at CUNY. We also hope to express a connection to our students, many of whom live in communities where people of color are aggressively policed. Please take part in this silent action, and help spread the word. Learn more.
5,800+ Have Signed the Contract Campaign Petition
Add Your Name Today
The contract campaign petition is still growing. If you haven’t signed the online or paper version of the petition already, add your name today to the union’s message to Governor Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio calling for immediate action to enable a fair resolution of our contract. More than 5,800 people have signed so far. To build support for the petition, the PSC has been sending union-wide emails with contract-related testimony from the CUNY Board of Trustees hearing on November 24. We will continue that campaign tomorrow, but you can read all the testimony at psc-cuny.org.
Other Actions on Racial Justice
How Do You Teach About Racial Injustice and Police Conduct? Clarion is working on an article in its upcoming issue on “Teaching Racial Injustice and Police Conduct,” inspired by ideas collected by the Twitter hashtag #fergusonsyllabus. We want to know how you’ve addressed these topics in the classroom, or how you plan to next semester. Please tell us using this web form.
#WeCantBreathe: A Town Hall at the Graduate Center. The Mentoring Future Faculty of Color Project is organizing a “#WeCantBreathe: A Town Hall for the Graduate Center Community on Police Brutality and Murder” in the Graduate Center cafeteria on Thursday, December 11 from 3:30-6:00 PM. Learn more.
Labor Goes to the Movies Presents An Evergreen Island and Before the Mountain Was Moved
The union’s film series continues this Friday, December 12 at 6 PM with two documentaries: An Evergreen Island (2000, Australia) is about the people of Bougainville Island, geographically part of the Solomon Islands but governed by Papua New Guinea, who shut down a copper mine that savaged the land stolen from one of their villages and faced a retaliatory trade blockade imposed upon them by the government of Papua New Guinea. (Read a description. Watch a clip.) Before the Mountain Was Moved (1970, U.S.) shows the people of Pine Knob, West Virginia, as they battle powerful strip-mining companies and convince their state legislature to pass a strong law requiring mine companies to reclaim the land they destroyed. (Watch a clip.)
The screening will be in the PSC Union Hall, 16th floor, 61 Broadway. Doors open at 6 PM. Light refreshments provided. Carolyn Strachan, an Australian filmmaker and Hunter College faculty member noted for her work with Aboriginal communities, will lead the discussion on An Evergreen Island. Sharon Persinger, a native of West Virginia coal country and the Bronx Community College PSC chapter chair, will talk about Before the Mountain Was Moved. Learn more.
