"This emphasis on disruptive protest against key institutions does not mean that electing and targeting politicians is always unproductive. We are not arguing that the party in power makes no difference. But the influence of corporations and other large institutions means that the enactment and implementation of progressive policies may depend on first neutralizing that influence through direct pressure."

The St. Louis Board of Education voted this evening to ask Gov. Nixon to veto HB 42. The resolution also encouraged the legislature to sustain the veto. Since it did not pass with enough votes to override a veto, there is hope that if Nixon vetoes the bill that his veto will be sustained.

The bill does nothing to fix the transfer law and expands the use of charter schools and virtual schools.

Saturday, May 9, 2015

Over the past year, the demand for justice in the region has never been stronger. Thousands of St. Louis residents and hundreds of thousands across the world are standing up to police brutality and demanding that Black Lives Matter. As we continue to find the pathways forward for the region like our recent success in reforming the municipal courts, we know that justice will be incomplete without creating a different, sustainable economy that works for everyone. Job training programs are not enough -- we must create a fundamentally different economy that returns economic power to local communities and moves us away from corporate capitalism.

Last year, many of you were active in the Take Back St. Louis initiative, a resident-driven initiative that gathered over 36,000 signatures to get on the city ballot. The Take Back St. Louis initiative would change our local economy by encouraging the city to invest in projects like large-scale urban farming, weatherization and retrofitting programs and renewable energy installation on vacant land, particularly on the Northside of the city.

We know this initiative challenges the status quo because the ruling class of St. Louis is terrified by it. Instead of letting it go to the voters in April 2014, Mayor Slay worked with Peabody Coal to block it from the ballot. This Tuesday, May 12th, Take Back St. Louis will be in the Court of Appeals to challenge the Mayor and his corporate friends on our vision for the city.

Please join us this Tuesday May 12th at 8:45AM at the Old Post Office (815 Olive St., across from Culinaria downtown) for a press conference before we head into the Court of Appeals.Now more than ever, we must contest with the ruling class’ vision for St. Louis. We know that the city has plenty of resources -- the millions of dollars they give every year to developers and corporations, large departments of “development” experts and thousands of vacant lots. We have to force them to use those resources how we want.

If we’re successful in the Court of Appeals, we’ll be back on the ballot and have an opportunity to put forth a different vision of how St. Louis should run -- a city where there is investment in Black communities, where there is full employment, where the local economy is based on sustainable development not coal corporations. Join us from the press conference on Tuesday, May 12th at 8:45AM and then the court hearing at the Old Post Office (815 Olive St.).Toward a more just St. Louis,

WHO WE ARE

We are independent researchers, including undergraduate and graduate students and faculty. We carry out our research under the oversight of the Washington University Human Subjects Review Board. However, we do not represent Washington University and are not associated with the various official activities of the university in relationship to public schools. In addition, while we are in dialogue with many people in the district, we do not represent the St. Louis Public Schools (SLPS). For more information, write the project coordinator, Bret Gustafson (gustafson [at] wustl.edu).