<i> Inquilaab Zindaabad! </i>
The group of young adults barely noticed the heat and the lack of space as they yelled their slogan, posed belligerently for the camera with their fists in the air. These members of Desis Rising Up and Moving's YouthPower! wore bold red shirts as they made their statement: Immigrants should not be treated like second-class citizens.
Decorated with hand-made posters with slogans like 'Education is a right for all!' and 'Education Not Deportation!,' the Queens Diversity Center was ready for the DRUM's YouthPower! Open Mic Night and Forum on August 21. And along with the thump of upbeat hip-hop and fast-paced Bollywood tunes, wafted in the spicy aroma of <i>samosas</i>.
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Founded in 2000, DRUM strives to empower New York City's immigrant <i>desis</i>, especially low-wage workers and families fighting deportation. YouthPower!, the junior division of DRUM, is a membership-led volunteer organisation targeted towards mostly high school, but also college students. Their focus is to make immigrant students, especially those without legal documentation, feel safe in school and prevent racial discrimination and harassment.
Although New York City forbids public schools from requesting information regarding students' immigration status, a 2006 study conducted by DRUM and the Urban Justice Centre proved otherwise. Many schools require students' social security numbers to join clubs. Some schools even refuse to serve lunch to those who choose not to write their social security number on lunch forms.
In May, YouthPower! fought to make the Hillcrest High School in Jamaica, Queens, the first Immigrant Safe Zone school. After meeting and negotiating with several high-end officials from the Department of Education, DRUM members succeeded in passing an Immigrant Safe Zone declaration. The large diverse population at Hillcrest is now able to access education without fear of arrest or deportation. DRUM members are striving to make every school across all five boroughs of New York ISZs.
The forum was a chance to celebrate the victory at Hillcrest HS, but also stress the need to continue working diligently to achieve DRUM's goals. YouthPower! leaders encouraged members to write letters explaining the necessity of ISZs in public schools to Chancellor Joel Klein.
After reciting the group pledge, a series of funny, but truthful skits performed by YouthPower! members depicted how difficult it is for poor immigrants without documents to receive financial aid and other necessary resources to get into college.
Amar, a Hillcrest High School student, told of a friend who missed getting into the University of Pennsylvania. He scored a 750 on the Math section, a 650 on Writing, but only a 450 on Critical Reading in his SAT.
"Don't you think someone who could do so well on two sections of a test should be able to do the same on the third?" asked Amar, arguing that immigrant students struggle to overcome language barriers everyday, a fact standardised exams such as the SATs don't acknowledge. Many of these immigrants cannot afford a private tutor. Inadequate resources in overcrowded city schools fail to offer any worthwhile assistance. Frustrated and discouraged, countless students drop out and take on low-paying jobs, he said.
DRUM's YouthPower! came up with Student Success Centres to provide a non-threatening environment for students to learn from their peers and get information about college applications, financial aid, and scholarships.
Denise Fasuyi, a student at the Brooklyn Community High School of Communication, Arts and Media, was there so that she and her youth group could get DRUM members to support their upcoming campaign to get jobs for teens. Now, she says, she understands the situation better.
"I did know that a lot of immigrants were being racially profiled but I didn't know it hit schools, too. I didn't know kids can't get scholarships because they don't have social security," she said. "That really opened up my eyes," she said.
Various student leadership and ethnic groups were represented at the forum, among them Families United for Racial and Economic Equity, a non-profit organisation in Brooklyn.
Sunny Singh of the Sikh Coalition drew attention to two vicious attacks on Sikh students in Queens a few months ago. He also thanked DRUM members for marching with the Sikh community on June 30 at the Richmond Hill High School to protest the harassment of Sikhs.
Guest speaker Udi Ofer of the New York Civil Liberty Union talked about the criminalisation of students.
"Here in New York City, for example, we've seen an environment created in many schools where school discipline has been taken away from educators and handed over to the police departmentÂ…. We're seeing it happening in close to 100 schools that have permanent metal detectors and are dominated by students of colour from poor families."
Ofer encouraged students to watch season four of <i>The Wire</i>, a social documentary addressing education and criminalisation of youth, and distributed pocket cards titled 'Know Your Rights with Police in Schools.'
These green mini-pamphlets, created by NYCLU, provide useful information about how students should behave when approached by a school safety agent.
"Isn't it a sad day when we have to come out with a 'Know Your Rights' card on what to do with cops in schools?" he asked. "But it's a reality that many students have to deal with," he said.
The YouthPower! group, made up of about 150 members aged 13 to 21, learn leadership skills and how to better represent themselves at meetings every Friday, so they may confidently defend their rights.
One of DRUM's members, Priya, sang a song entitled <i>Struggle</i> toward the end of the event. She was a little nervous but her peers clapped and pushed her encouragingly to the microphone. When she began singing, the audience fell silent and listened to the optimistic lyrics:
<i>"We won't let them break us, in this world outside of ours, that is consumed by greed and power, we all should go through life, but united we'll make it all right." </i>
