Student activist on speaking tour

Larry Hales, a leader of the March 4 National Day of Action to Defend Education, began his Michigan tour Feb. 1 in Ann Arbor speaking to a group of student-workers at the William Monroe Trotter Multicultural Center at the University of Michigan. Hales, also a member of Fight Imperialism, Stand Together (FIST), is touring Michigan the week of Jan. 31 to speak to student-workers at campuses, workplaces, community events and high schools to mobilize for March 4.

Hales will participate in a mass rally at Michigan State University Feb. 3, followed by a march to the State Capitol in Lansing, where students will demand an end to educational budget cuts. The students plan to confront right-wing tea partiers, who will stage an event at the Capitol that day. The Moratorium NOW! Coalition is also sponsoring a protest against the Michigan governor’s state-of-the-state speech at the Capitol on Feb. 3, and will join with the students in solidarity.

Hales will end his tour with a March 4 organizing meeting in Detroit sponsored by FIST, the Michigan Emergency Committee Against War & Injustice and the Moratorium NOW! Coalition. For more information, visit www.defendeducation.org.