ACT UP Flyer: Education is a Right, Fight, Fight, Fight
Item
ACT UP
FIGHT BACK
FIGHT EDUCATIONAL CUTS
We, the Activistas Latinas/os Contra el SIDA of ACT UP/NY, are
in full support of the CUNY Student Strike protesting the radical budget
cuts proposed by Governor Cuomo for the following fiscal year. We
understand that the cuts in education parallel those in health care and
constitute an open attack on the working class and the minorities of the
United States and specifically of New York...
%
Statistics show that Latinas and Latinos, African Americans, Native
Americans, and Asian and Pacific Islanders are being affected
disproportionately by the AIDS epidemic. Still the funds needed to deal
with this problem are not forthcoming due to Governor Cuomo's budget
cuts on health care. The proposed reduction of the funds for education in
the State of New York, if approved, will strike one more blow on the most
disenfranchized of our society. Governor Cuomo's budget cuts are
blatantly racist, sexist, classist, and out-right criminal.
Historically, our conimunities have been fighting to obtain access to
adequate housing, employment, health care, education, among many other
things. For 129 years the CUNY system was free. Presently, the students
are struggling to make CUNY the Free Academy that was intended to be. It
is impossible to overlook the fact that tuition in the CUNY system was
imposed at the time when minority enrollment began to increase.
As AIDS activists we have taken our issues to the streets. We recognize that
when basic rights are at stake radical responses are in order. The students’
actions are the adequate response to the serious problems that face the
educational system.
HEALTH CARE IS A RIGHT !
EDUCATION IS A RIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT,
FIGHT!
FIGHT BACK
FIGHT EDUCATIONAL CUTS
We, the Activistas Latinas/os Contra el SIDA of ACT UP/NY, are
in full support of the CUNY Student Strike protesting the radical budget
cuts proposed by Governor Cuomo for the following fiscal year. We
understand that the cuts in education parallel those in health care and
constitute an open attack on the working class and the minorities of the
United States and specifically of New York...
%
Statistics show that Latinas and Latinos, African Americans, Native
Americans, and Asian and Pacific Islanders are being affected
disproportionately by the AIDS epidemic. Still the funds needed to deal
with this problem are not forthcoming due to Governor Cuomo's budget
cuts on health care. The proposed reduction of the funds for education in
the State of New York, if approved, will strike one more blow on the most
disenfranchized of our society. Governor Cuomo's budget cuts are
blatantly racist, sexist, classist, and out-right criminal.
Historically, our conimunities have been fighting to obtain access to
adequate housing, employment, health care, education, among many other
things. For 129 years the CUNY system was free. Presently, the students
are struggling to make CUNY the Free Academy that was intended to be. It
is impossible to overlook the fact that tuition in the CUNY system was
imposed at the time when minority enrollment began to increase.
As AIDS activists we have taken our issues to the streets. We recognize that
when basic rights are at stake radical responses are in order. The students’
actions are the adequate response to the serious problems that face the
educational system.
HEALTH CARE IS A RIGHT !
EDUCATION IS A RIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT,
FIGHT!
Title
ACT UP Flyer: Education is a Right, Fight, Fight, Fight
Description
In this statement of solidarity with City Unversity of New York (CUNY) Student Strikers, members of Activistas Latinas/os Contra SIDA of ACT UP/NY drew parallels between cuts to education and cuts to health care. The flyer emphasized that when "basic rights are at stake, radical responses are in order" and served as an example of how activist movements across NYC cross-pollinated. As AIDS activists, they recognized that the students' actions were an "adequate response to the educational system's problems."
The 1991 CUNY strikes were part of the larger story of austerity measures imposed on New York City and the community efforts to resist those measures. On April 16th, students mainly from the Graduate Center Anthropology PhD program occupied the Graduate Center in solidarity with a broader undergraduate mobilization across CUNY against the threat of steep tuition hikes, massive budget cuts, and faculty layoffs. What began as a one-day strike turned into a ten-day take-over in which students and faculty practiced forms of participatory democracy, discussed the root causes of the austerity problems being faced, and debated actions for change. Students often drew on CUNY’s history as the premier urban, public institution of higher education in the United States to argue that education was a right and that the proposed measures threatened working-class New Yorkers' ability to receive an education.
Contributor
McCaffrey, Katherine
Creator
Activistas Latinas/os Contra el SIDA of ACT UP/NY
Date
1991 (Circa)
Language
English
Rights
Copyrighted
Source
McCaffrey, Katherine
Activistas Latinas/os Contra el SIDA of ACT UP/NY. Letter. 1991. “ACT UP Flyer: Education Is a Right, Fight, Fight, Fight”, 1991, CUNY DIGITAL HISTORY ARCHIVE, accessed March 10, 2026, https://stephenz.tailc22a4b.ts.net/s/cdha/item/1719