Blog

I spent the last few weeks in relative hibernation, trying to look away as the right wing media warped and distorted my story and my experiences. I appeared on Fox News to discuss the Million Student March, a national day of action for free college that took place on 115 campuses nationwide. I have remained silent and silenced as the right-wing dust has settled, but in the past week I've seen the beautiful movements for justice take off in Minneapolis and Chicago. I've seen the horrors of right wing terrorism come into crisis.

If you've ever turned on the TV and seen a charismatic, boyish, conservative looking man yelling at scientists in an animated fashion, there's a good chance it was Marc Morano.

By Kyle Butts, UC Santa Barbara

My name is Kyle Butts. I am an organizer at UC Santa Barbara, and I am a part of history. I don’t say that in a moment of hubris, but rather in recognition of the long story of activism on college campuses across the country. Being a student is my power. 

The last 50 years were filled with movements like the Civil Rights Movement, the Anti-war Movement, the Women's Movement, the Environmental Movement, the Latino Movement, the Counterculture Movement, and many more. These movements gained much of their momentum from solidarity on college campuses.

Today, President Obama stood on our side of history and rejected the Keystone XL pipeline. Make no mistake: I'm grateful to the President, but this victory belongs to our movement. It belongs to you. That's why I want to say, to all of you: thank you, from the bottom of my heart.

The fight against Keystone XL has been a test of faith. A test of faith in ourselves. A test of faith in whether we could turn things around and stop a climate catastrophe.