Report from Chicago: Dyett Hunger Strike Ends Today
By Michelle Gunderson.
The hunger strike for Dyett High School ended this morning on day 34.
Once again I headed to the south side to be with my friends and fellow education fighters known as the Dyett Twelve. Education activists had been told that the hunger strikers would have an announcement this morning, and many of us converged at the Rainbow Push Coalition broadcast to be there in support.
I sit in the pews behind Cathy Dale and Jeanette Taylor-Ramann – two women who I have come to love and respect through this struggle. After 34 days of fasting the hunger strikers have an other-worldly presence. They seem so strong and focused, yet vulnerable at the same time.
The Dyett hunger strikers make their decisions collectively, and I have seen this process first-hand. There is always a careful and respectful debate, an analysis of strategical plan, and a strong focus on the mission: A neighborhood high school open to all children governed by the community and focused on a curriculum that the community wants.
It was difficult to bring this strike to a righteous close and a real win.
Here are the remarkable accomplishments made through this struggle. First, we know of no closed neighborhood school in the country that has be re-opened as a neighborhood school. Second, the school will not be opened as a charter or a contract school.
The planning for curriculum and governance of the school has not yet been decided, and this is where national allies and supporters need to take notice. To continue this fight, we cannot turn away and let the appointed school board of the Chicago Public Schools think we are no longer watching. Our continued insistence on a school FOR the community, FROM the community will bring the hunger strike to its full resolution.
A hunger strike is an action of last resort, a stance taken by those who no longer agree to be victims of a Report from Chicago: Dyett Hunger Strike Ends Today - Living in Dialogue:
