What Must Be Done? A Marxist-Leninist response to the VTA strike, transportation crisis and housing crisis.
March 10
The Valley Transportation Authority strike has left thousands of students stranded; low-income students, international students, the undocumented and those who rely entirely on public transportation to access their education.
This is not merely an inconvenience; it is a direct barrier to learning.
Education should not be a privilege only for those who can afford a car.
De Anza has a responsibility to act now, not later and not after endless meetings and discussions. The burden of this crisis should not fall on students.
As the president of The Revolutionary Marxist-Periyarist Panthers, I pen these demands, that are also the sign of the oppressed creatures:
- Ensure hybrid classes have an online option.
Students who cannot reach campus should not be penalized for circumstances beyond their control. All hybrid classes must offer an online attendance option until the strike is resolved. Education must be flexible, or it risks excluding those who need it most.
- Fairness in academics, pause major assessments
No student should have to risk their safety, finances or mental well-being just to take an exam. We call for an immediate pause on major tests, projects and in-person assessments until a solution is in place. This is not about convenience — it is about fairness.
- Emergency mass sheltering and crisis housing
If the strike continues for an extended period and students are left without reliable alternatives, De Anza must provide emergency mass sheltering. This includes repurposing campus spaces for crisis housing, in extreme cases, negotiating accommodations with facilities such as the Juniper Hotel for those most affected. This is not charity, it is a necessity.
- A call for swift action
We do not ask for unnecessary measures, we ask for basic survival. If conditions escalate and students are left with no safe options, De Anza must intervene with emergency accommodations, meal provisions and shower allowances. The decisions made will determine whether the institution truly serves its students or abandons them when they need it most. We stand in solidarity with VTA workers and their strike. Their struggle is our struggle, for an injury to one is an injury to all.
It is not the workers who have caused this crisis, it is those in power who refuse to meet their demands.
As Lenin said, “There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen.” This is such a moment. It is a long walk to freedom, but it is certain, in our unity we birth freedom for all!
These demands are not only voices of the present, but also the demands of our future.
Kavi Kumaresan J.
President, Revolutionary Marxist-Periyarist Panthers (RMPP)
De Anza College
The Road to Revolution.
Revolutions are not born in seated conference rooms. They are not written into policy by those who benefit from the system. They are carved out of standing resistance, out of longing hunger, out of the unbearable weight of injustice pressing down on those who revolted.
At De Anza, they call this democracy. They tell us anyone can run for office. But what they do not say is that to run, you must first afford to run, in the means of the metaphorical time to run and the financial ability to run. That power, even here, belongs not to those with the strongest ideas, but to those with the heaviest pockets.
At the Revolutionary Marxist-Periyarist Panthers we organise to challenge this notion, and so forth we set our demands.
Step One: Organize the Vanguard.
Revolutions do not happen by accident. They require strategy, discipline and an unbreakable commitment to the cause. A vanguard of the oppressed must rise. Undocumented students, working-class students, students from historically silenced backgrounds, we are the ones who must take power into our own hands. We do not need their approval. We are a part, apart, We need only each other.
Step Two: Destroy the Economic Barriers to Leadership.
If leadership is only accessible to those with money, then it is not leadership, it is aristocracy. We demand the immediate creation of a Political Equity Fund to finance the campaigns of students from marginalized communities. Reform the budget given to candidates applying for this need based fund. Allocate excess $100 for those in need. This is justice. Not asking the ones with a blindfold on their eyes to run a race with a person who stands 40 meters ahead of the start line.
Step Three: Rewrite the Rules of Power.
The election system was not designed to include us. It was designed to exclude us. And what is built to oppress must be dismantled, brick by brick. Revolution! The election code must be rewritten to: Acknowledge the structural barriers that have kept the oppressed out of leadership Provide direct financial and institutional support to those historically denied it.
Step Four: Beyond the Ballot is the Streets.
The privileged believe that power lives in the ballot box. They are wrong. Power lives in the hands of those willing to take action. If our demands are ignored, if the system continues to shut us out, we will not wait for permission. We will disrupt. We will protest. We will take what is ours. Change has never come from patience. Freedom has never been given to those who waited for permission. If we do not fight, we lose by default. If we do not take power, we will always be ruled. We are at the crossroads of history. The road ahead is difficult, but it leads only in one direction — to revolution. That road maybe a long walk to freedom, but it is certain, in our unity we birth freedom for all!
Regards,
Kavi Kumaresan J.
President, Revolutionary Marxist-Periyarist Panthers
De Anza College
Editor’s response: We are glad that you thought La Voz was the place to share your concerns. Thank you for sharing.
