Everything Old is New Again

The good old days are back. Another fun controversy at City College—hotbed of radicalism, hothouse for neo-cons, and hot time for swingin’ singles. This time the beef is over a room that students named after convicted cop-killer, Assata Shakur and FALN bomber Guillermo Morales. After The Daily News made a stink, CUNY Chancellor Matthew Goldstein ordered the sign taken down.

Shakur (originally Joanne Chesimard) was convicted of the crime in 1973, (some students, along with prominent hip-hoppers such as Mos Def claim Shakur was wrongfully convicted), but after a dramatic jailbreak, fled to Cuba where she recently announced that she would hand over one million ASSATA t-shirts “to the person or persons who successfully apprehend US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and bring him to face war criminal charges at the International Criminal Court.

Morales, jailed for bombings in New York, was pardoned by President Clinton. He too lives in Cuba.

Although we really hate to, we must give you a quote from The Storeroom of Screeching Leftist Ideologues (you don’t have to read this): “We consider Assata Shakur to be one of the people who were wrongfully and purposefully framed for her activities,” said Igwe Williams, 27, who helps run the Guillermo Morales/Assata Shakur Community and Student Center, and, being born in 1979, never endured endlessly impenetrable anti-war speeches from future bond traders and white shoe partners. “We consider her a hero and a role model for standing up for our people and putting her life on the line.”

Last week, lawyers representing the City College students and community members asked a federal judge to issue an injunction permitting the students to continue to operate the Guillermo Morales/Assata Shakur Community and Student Center at City College.

This week, Recharger, representing himself, will ask a judge to issue an injunction forbidding all speeches by anyone who thinks killing–cops or Iraqi babies–is sometimes ok.

– Annie Lika