A Open Letter to New College Students in Florida
Middle school-inspired demonstrations and some streamers ain’t gonna cut it
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Observation 1: if the cops didn’t fire off tear gas and nobody was arrested, the demonstration was a flop.
Meatball Ron and his appointed Christian nationalists leaders’ attempt to transform New College into a state-run indoctrination center requires more than an hour walkout. Perhaps review the Berkeley Free Speech movement when it clashed with St. Ronald Reagan, the then-governor of California.
Observation 2: get a copy of Revolution for the Hell of It by Abbie Hoffman.
You need to incorporate Abbie’s sense of street theatre and the in-your-face tactics of the Youth International Party (YIPPIES).
Observation 3: You need a symbol. I’d recommend a meatball to honor the Florida governor, Meatball Ron.
- Meatballs are innocuous and easy to use in protest art.
- Meatballs are non-violent.
- Meatballs allow for making political statements while enjoying lunch.
- Meatballs are readily available.
- Meatballs lend themselves to protest gatherings disguised as community picnics.
- Throwing a meatball is not assault, but you might get a dry cleaning bill.
- Meatballs are fun.
- Best of all, the meatball symbol is a humorous — and mocking — insult to the governor without saying a word.
Observation 4: This is your chance to keep fascism out of higher learning.
If a governor would have tried this kind of authoritarian maneuver when I was in college, we’d have done more than hang streamers and write love notes to the university. These MAGA morons are going to gut New College if you let them.
Don’t you let them.
