March 28 three thousand community college students, faculty and staff listened beginning at 11:00 to a parade of speakers at Pershing Square denounce Governor Gray’s budget cuts in the community colleges. State senator Richard Alarcon said these cuts could force 300,000 students out of the community colleges. The t-shirts and picket signs told the students’ story. Among the thousands of students wearing t-shirts in Pershing Square the most popular t-shirt said, “Keep the Doors Open.” One picket sign said: “I Had A Dream: Community College.” Other signs said: “How Can We Succeed Without Education?” “No iffs; no buts; no fees; no cuts;” and “Don’t Steal Our Future.”

State Senator Gil Cedillo said he chooses books, not bombs and said that after World War II as a promise to the veterans who had fought that war California built its community college system to make higher education accessible to all its citizens. He said, “Challenge the legislators to make true the promise of democracy.” State Senator Cedillo added, “We lived in the 5th largest economy in the world. We shouldn’t have budget cuts but a vision of shared prosperity. Organize! Organize! Organize!” Students would periodically interrupt the Cedillo and the other speakers to chant, “No more cuts! No more cuts!” and “Si, se puedo.”

Miguel Contreras, president of the Los Angeles AFL-CIO, said he represents LA labor from teamsters to janitors and added, “We’re not angry at these cuts. We’re pissed. Tell the legislators to stop these cuts. We should have corporations pay more tax, tax casinos, and crackdown on government waste. Don’t crackdown on the future. LA labor will stand with you and will march with you.”

Student speakers spoke eloquently how their colleges helped them escape gang-ridden neighborhoods and minimum wage jobs. The student speakers urged the crowd to have a voter registration campaign and have the Associate Student Organizations take 50-100 students to the offices of their state senator and assemblyperson five days/week. Student speakers urged mobilizing the over 2 million community college students in California as a voting, lobbying force to stop the cutbacks. The rally was organized by the student governments of these community colleges: Los Angeles, El Camino, Glendale, Orange County, Pasadena, Rio Hondo and Santa Monica.

Then they marched ½ mile began through downtown with students march in groups of their colleges chanting. Santa Monica College students held up a large white banner that said, “Stop the Budget Cuts; Money for education, not incarceration and war.” Students marched in college groups with t-shirts of their college: red for Glendale College; navy for LA Trade Technical College; white with blue for LA Harbor College; light gray for LA Mission College; dark gray for East LA College et al. They chanted as they marched: “We do we want?” “Education.” “When do we want it?” “Now.” And they chanted over and over, “No more cuts! No more cuts!”