Features

The nationwide Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action and Integration and Fight for Equality By Any Means Necessary—otherwise known as BAMN—returned to UC Berkeley’s Sproul Plaza Wednesday to celebrate California’s decision to vote down Proposition 54. 

“Tuesday was the day these racist ballot measures came to an end in California,” said Jodi Masley, a national organizer from BAMN, to a small but enthusiastic crowd. “People have said we are not going to accept a policy of colorblind racism.” 

BAMN, one of several organizations from the Cal campus involved in the anti-54 fight, had been organizing full steam since the summer to defeat the proposition. 

Two weeks ago, the coalition organized a march attended by a number of high school students from around the East Bay which traversed the campus and parts of downtown Berkeley, at one point taking over Bancroft Avenue. The group had originally planned to hold a rally to protest the appearance by Proposition 54 author Ward Connerly at Cal for a debate about the proposition, but a medical emergency forced Connerly to back out. 

Organizers at the rally, while in high spirits, said that the work is far from done. The next step they say, is to remove Connerly from the UC Board of Regents, where he is in the tenth year of a 12-year appointment. 

“We’re going to strike while the iron is hot,” said Josie Hyman, a junior at Cal and one of the organizers working with BAMN. 

Hyman and Masley said BAMN’s next big action is planned for the Nov. 17 Regents meeting in Los Angeles, where they hope to let Connerly know that they want him out. They also said that they will continue to gather signatures to join the 6,000 already gathered for their petition demanding Connerly’s immediate removal.  

For more information on BAMN, see their website: www.bamn.com.