Members of Boston University’s chapter of the Young Democratic Socialists of America, among other Boston student groups, took to the Boston Common Saturday afternoon to advocate against racism and counterprotest the Rally for the Republic, a free speech rally led by Resist Marxism and Boston Free Speech.
Formally recognized by the Student Activities Office earlier this year, Young Democratic Socialists of Boston University (YDSABU) identifies as a multi-issue leftist organization that opposes capitalism and aims to spark positive change on campus and in the Greater Boston area.
Hannah Kinney-Kobre, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences, who co-founded the BU chapter of YDSA with Claudia Benincasa, a junior also in CAS, said they founded the group because they felt BU lacked a dedicated leftist activist group.
“We saw that, in a lot of ways, BU’s campus is very apolitical and not oriented toward making changes,” Kinney-Kobre said ahead of the march. “We wanted to start an organization that would draw people who wanted a left organization that wasn’t just for Democrats and could also make changes on campus.”
YDSABU’s goals are flexible, Benincasa said, and largely contingent on issues raised by its members.
“[Our goals include] bringing to light how BU fits into the capitalist structure and how that seeks to either give students power or not give students power,” Benincasa said before the march.
Kinney-Kobre said she received emails from several YDSABU members suggesting that the club take action and organize a BU-specific coalition to counteract the Rally for the Republic, which, according to Benincasa, was not supposed to take place because its organizers were denied a permit.
Benincasa said YDSABU participated in the counterprotest to communicate that white supremacy and racism should not be tolerated, even under the guise of free speech.
At the protest, Benincasa held a sign that read “Marx was Right.” Kinney-Kobre’s read “You owe the world not the other way around.”
During the counterprotest, Zachary Coto, a second-year graduate student in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, engaged in a debate with two other individuals who advocated for the Rally for the Republic’s right to free speech.
“This is typically how racism perpetuates now,” Coto said, following the disagreement. “People are not explicit racists, but we defend people’s freedom to be racist.”
As speakers at the Rally for the Republic took to the stage, counterprotesters united in a collective effort to drown them out with music and chants.
“Change is only possible through collective action,” Kinney-Kobre said. “One person can only do so much, but a group of people united against something can get a lot done — especially if those issues affect everyone.”
Kinney-Kobre said this sentiment is at the core of YDSABU’s initiative. As members stood shoulder to shoulder with other counterprotesters, she said they showed a united front against racism and bigotry.
Amid chants and shouted rebuttals at the Rally for the Republic, counterprotesters expressed the responsibility they felt to take part in the counterprotest.
Simeon Atha, a freshman in CAS, echoed the belief that students should work for positive social change.
“As students, we have more freedom than people in full-time careers to go and do this kind of stuff,” Atha said.
Bianca Tocco, a sophomore in CAS, said she attended the counterprotest to combat white supremacy and encourage other students to do the same.
“Encourage your friends to come out with you, even if they are not fully on board just yet,” Tocco said. “I think it is a really great experience to feel like you are doing something, rather than feel like you are not.”
Ben Yumkas, a senior at Emerson College, said he thinks organizations like YDSABU play a crucial role in student involvement, and he hopes to form a similar division on his own campus.
“Students are already in an environment where they are constantly being intellectually challenged,” Yumkas said. “I think that students are the vanguard for the next generation of [Democratic Socialists of America].”
