To all supporters of the struggle against racism here at Miami--

First let me apologize for not writing an update sooner, I was out of town
during the most recent chapter in the stuggle that was sparked by the
incident at the Center for Black Culture and Learning.

As some of you already know, on Thursday, January 21, Nate Snow, the
president of Black Student Action Association, and Brad Allen, one of the
Miami 7, were arrested on charges of criminal mischief and criminal
trespassing in connection with the posting of racist flyers and screen
savers in the CBCL on October 30th.  Criminal mischief is a third degree
misdemeanor and criminal trespass is a fourth degree misdemeanor.
Together, the charges carry with them the potentional of 90 days in jail
and $750 in fines.  Their court date has be set for Feb. 12, just 5 days
before the Miami 7 will appear in court for their jury trial, on Feb. 17.
In addition to the civil charges, both Snow and Allen could be immediately
suspended/dismissed from the university.  In order to avoid a
suspension/dismissal on their permanent academic records, Snow and Allen
decided, in consultation with their lawyer, to withdraw from the university.

The arrests came after a report from the Ohio Bureau of Criminal
Identification and Investigation linking Snow and Allen to the incident.
The report stated that 87 percent of the fingerprints on the fliers belong
to eithr onr or the other.  The local and national papers have only been
supplied with this information but have consistently failed to offer other
reasons for why their fingerprints may have been on the flyers.  The report
also found that most of the flyers were run off at the CBCL office the
night of the incident.  Nate Snow is a student worker at the CBCL.  One of
the responsibilites of student workers is to run off copies and replace the
paper in the copy machine when it is empty.  Brad Allen, makes use of the
CBCL to do most of his computer work.  As anyone who spends time in the
CBCL can attest to, it is not uncommon for students to replace the paper in
the copier when a student worker is doing something else.  As a result of
the reporting, many students, faculty, Oxford residents, and
administrators, have already tried and convicted Nate and Brad in the
community.  It was a community that was ready to believe this was an inside
job from the beginning, so the presumption of "guilty before proven
innocent" has taken a firm hold.

On Saturday, Jan. 23, Nate and Brad held a press conference with their
lawyer.  Both proclaim that they are innocent.  In the press conference,
Brad said that by charging two black men with this crime they are "killing
two birds with one stone."  He argued that regardless of the outcome of
their court case, the case is closed in many peoples minds already and
allegations of racial unrest and a hostile climate at Miami University are
discredited.  While Richard Little, senior director of university
communications has stated that, "the police actions have nothing to do with
the politics of the situation," Nate and Brad continue to proclaim their
innocence and that they are being set up.

No matter what the result of this case, there is no doubt that these events
are a serious blow to our organizing efforts.  Guilty or innocent, people
who put themselves on the line and stood up against the hostile environment
of Miami, are experiencing a mix of anger, loss, cynacism, betrayal, and
hopelessness.  The university's official news releases, the local student
paper, and regional stories about the arrests help to pile on the wet
blankets of cynacism, cooling and snuffing out the fires of struggle for
justice.  We are being told that "if" (the "if" statement that really means
"when") Nate and Brad are found guilty, it will prove the protesters fools
and that we "over-reacted," did not think things through "rationally and
calmly."

Politically committed students, residents, and faculty, are just not trying
to offer other ways of reading and understanding these arrests.  Imagine
the desparation, frustration, and anger that they must have felt if they
thought they had exhausted all other options.  Imagine how painful it would
be to post those flyers in the CBCL knowing the effect it would have on
friends, Black faculty, and staff.  Both Nate and Brad have been deeply
involved in organizing Black and minority students on campus, bringing an
activism to an otherwise slow-to-move Miami.  They would have known the
implications, risks, and problematic nature of that tactic.  Furthermore,
Nate and Brad are both excellent students.  Nate is even applying to grad
school here for next year.  Why would they put their careers on the line?
Imagine what it would take, what kind of daily conditions one must endure,
to resort to these kind of tactics.

Yet, all of the above still presumes they were guilty.  These are counter
explanations contesting the way the university presumes guilt.  What is
COMPLETELY absent from ANY reporting is the possibility that the university
has indeed, set them up.  We know there is a long history of this kind of
practice in the United States.  It would not be unimaginable that the
university would have an interest in getting rid of Nate and Brad.  This is
not to say that the university may have "intended" to set them up, but
given the climate, they may have begun their investigation with the
assumption that a white person did not do this.  Black people were the
first suspects.  The facts remain that Black students, staff, and faculty,
were regarded as the first suspects.  Miami University Police interrogated
Black students first, then moved on to housekeeping people.  Why were these
people singled out first?  What about the student groups on campus that
advotate militia like organization?  What about white students who have
expressed racist thoughts in classrooms?  These questions have been ignored
in the media and the university's "objective truth".

Yet another missing piece in the official narratives, is an active memory
of why the students were protesting in the first place.  1) the university
waited for OVER A WEEK before they let students know what happened; 2)
there has been a LONG HISTORY of racism on Miami's campus coupled with
inadequate university reponse; 3) students were drawing attention to the
interconnectedness of hate crimes, rape, and harrassment to a HOSTILE
ENVIRONMENT that extends beyond the walls of the university, but since this
place is our home, our community, we fought HERE not to give Miami a bad
name, but to committ ourselves to building a democratic and equal
environment for all students and residents of Oxford.  Richard Little and
Miami's media special forces have erased these meanings of the protests.
They have effectively argued to the media that the protests were ONLY about
the CBCL.  This amounts to a historical erasure of our goals and struggles.

In addition to this erasure, we want to extend Brad's comment that through
these arrests the university can kill two birds with one stone.  We think
three birds are hit.  Remember that Brad is one of the Miami 7.  His
arrest--regardless of the outcome of his case--puts our case in jeopardy.
Our lawyers have already said to us that it will be very difficult, if not
impossible, to get a jury of our peers in Oxford.  The community is "a
buzz" with the assumption of guilt.  Not only is our civil case effected,
but so are our university hearings, and our credibility within the
university community.  Rumors persist that we all conspired and created
this whole thing, that we are all academically inept, that we just wanted
to divide the community.  I can't tell you how difficult of a time this is
for us.  If we ever needed support for morale, to breathe fresh life into
our commitments, and to let progressive students know that the struggle
does not die with one obstacle, but requires new ways of thinking about it.
 We must know that struggle is messy.  If everything was always before us
in right/wrong terms, our course would be clear.  Our challenge is the
challenge of political organization today.

We need and would appreciate help in this matter.  How can we think this
through and undercut the cynacism that is seeping into the community?  Can
you offer words of support to students who are just learning what it means
to do activist work?  Have people dealt with this situation before?  If you
have, what did you do?

In addition, as I have mentioned in an earlier update, we are planning a
rally in support of democratic student movements and a day of solidarity in
the struggle against racism, hate crimes, and sexual violence.  We need to
know who would be willing to participate.  The student coalition, born in
the wake of last semester's protests, will be meeting tomorrow night to
plan this rally along with other actions.  If you are interested in
receiving flyers and information on this rally, please email me your snail
mail address.

Also, for those of you within driving distance of Oxford, we are calling
for anyone who can make it, to come and support the Miami 7 on Wed. Feb. 17
by showing up at the courthouse for our trial.  I will send more info on
this as well.

Again, I apologize for not getting you this information sooner...clearly
this is a major development.  Please check our web site at
www.geocities.com/Athens/Atlantis/3395 for links to all the articles and
information from this weekend.

Onwards!
kevin