Harlem residents resist Audubon demolition

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years a battle has been raging in Harlem. Furthermore, Columbia University Columbia University, backed financially and its affiliate, Columbia-Presbyterian by the city government of New York, is Hospital, have not been a benefit for seeking to demolish part of the Audubon local residents, who are overwhelmingly Ballroom/San Juan Theatre complex. Black, Latino, and poor. Rather, The Audabon complex, richly Columbia has promoted "gentrification." designed by Thomas Lamb and built in resulting in the displacement of thou1912, is considered an historical land- sands of residents. mark in the Harlem community. It Understandably, the Harlem/Washingbecame a cultural mecca for the Black ton Heights community takes and Latino communities from the 1940s Columbia's promises of jobs at the new on. Prominent political leaders have facility with a grain of salt. Instead, resispoken there, including Puerto Rican dents are calling for the Audubon patriot Don Pedro Albizu Campos, and complex to be turned into an internaBlack nationalist Malcolm X. In addi- tional, multi-cultural community center tion, Malcolm X used the Audubon for services such as daycare, adult educaBallroom as an organizing center for the ton, a youth center, and a senior center Organization for Afro-American Unity that the community so desperately Columbia University wants to use the based Save the Audubon Coalition New York City-owned site to build a (STAC), Columbia University still $200 million, profit-making, bio-tech seeks to swing the demolition ball facility that will be one more environm- against the Audubon this fall mental hazard that Hadem residents daily The upnsing that erupted just a few suffer. Residents are infuriated by blocks uptown when "Kiko" Garcia was Columbia University's environmental murdered by police in July, should be a racism in an already highly polluted, warning to Columbia that local residents densely populated area where residents are tired of being both pushed around and SOCIALIST ACTION … OCTOBER 1992 11 challenging the whole curriculum of Black education. It was a challenge to the whole ideology of domination—which has been shattered once and for all.

The student political movement also gave a strong impetus to the development of the larger political movement, in the sense of consciously advocating-if one may use that word—a political leadership for Black working-class people. It gave the anti-apartheid struggle a clear class content, and promoted struggles like the worker-student alliance.

SA: The early 1980s saw some of the first actions by the new independent Black trade unions. Were there links at that time between the student activists in the universities and those elemental trade-union formations?

VS: That period was the genesis of the organic links between student activists and the labor movement. For example, the year 1980 saw a large-scale meat boycott in the Western Cape. Students were in the forefront there in terms of assisting with administrative tasks in the trade unions, and so on. It increased our understanding of the potential contributions that students could make, as well as some of their limitations.

SA: Concretely, what were some of their advantages, as you saw it? And what were their limitations?

VS: The advantage would be that the students were able to reach a much wider target audience in terms of generating support and getting financial assistance for workers who went on strike. At that time, the unions weren't as financially strong as they are today. They weren't as well organized.

NEW YORK-For two-and-a-half mental effects. (OAAU), He was assassinated there on needs Feb, 21, 1965. already suffer disproportionately from ignored. skin rashes, asthma, stress from high noise levels, cancers, and otbet environ Despite a lawsuit by the communitygrowth of the African National Congress (ANC) and the formation of the United Democratic Front—which was the [political] front of the ANC inside the country. And larger "umbrella" issues came to center stage.

In general, the student orgnaizations were negatively affected by this. And it was not only student groups were affected. The grassroots and civic structures also had to subordinate their day-to-day activities to the political issues as put forward by the mainstream of the liberation movement, the ANC.

SA: Do you think that the recent negotiations between the ANC and the goverment had a dampening effect on the student struggle?

VS: Definitely. Attention had been focussed on what is happening at the negotiations table to the extent-now this is my personal opinion-that students and others were asked to abdicate political activity to serve the preoccupations of the national leaderships. Students almost feel that there's nothing to do but play a supporting role to the negotiations.

SA: What are the major lessons of the student movement you participated in that you'd like to point out to our readers?

VS: Well, I'd be a little cautious about just drawing "lessons" in a mechanistic way. There have been some recent political rallies and demonstrations. Things are shifting all the time. The situation is very fluid.

I would simply say that students in this country have played a critical role in the Black liberation struggle. In the future, I'd like to see that the students re given recognition for that.

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their desire to be on the "Interim Represen-