Students staging a profession at Goldsmiths, University of London, protesting what they describe as “institutional racism in academia”, have marked their hundredth day of action with a rally and a pledge to continue until their demands are met.
Since March, Goldsmiths Anti-Racist Action protesters have occupied Deptford city hall at the south London campus, worrying about a sequence of measures to tackle racism at the university, inclusive of obligatory anti-racism schooling for all personnel.
After a month-long stalemate, protesters are due to meet senior college management next week. The occupiers warned that if talks fell apart, the occupation would continue.
“We’re willing to continue until our needs are met. We’ll occupy that building indefinitely,” said Sherrie Gasana, a 24-year-old antique grasp scholar.
Fellow protester Fiona Wong stated: “If Goldsmiths hopes the motion will die down, they may be sorely disenchanted. We are momore decided than ever to live until our needs are met, whether or not it’s 10, a hundred, or 1,000 days extra.”
The protesters are also annoyed that Deptford city hall, which the university sold in 2000, has to be opened to the area’s people. They need to see cuts to publications reversed and scholarships earmarked for Palestinian students, won by a preceding pupil career ten years in the past, reinstated.
They are also campaigning to convey an outsourced protection team of workers returned in-house, an excellent way to fortify their workplace rights and ensure they enjoy the same blessings as other personnel at the institution. Cleaning services were added again in-house last month.
There became a celebratory mood among college students occupying the Deptford town hall on Wednesday. The college students’ union training officer, Taylor McGraw, 24, stated that while the occupation had not affected the college as much, the network had been changed for the better. “They understand that people are now not going to be quiet about Goldsmiths’ dirty laundry,” she stated.
