The Young Democrat
Youth Profiles
June 4, 2024, Written by Mason A. Grubesic
“The only pushback that I have received in any of my work comes from the UNM administration…who are much more concerned with the use of their public space than they are with people's lives.”- Rakin Faruk. The act of protest is a fundamental right in our country. Since October 7th and Israel’s subsequent invasion of Gaza, college protests have become widespread in numerous states and countries. The University of New Mexico is no different. At the end of April, the Palestine Solidarity Encampment was established near the campus duck pond, the campus saw numerous marches, sit-ins, and building occupations, which organizers and supporters continue to plan until the University Administration agrees to their demands. For the most part, these protests and actions often end the same: state and local police arrest protestors for trespassing or for a similar offense and these actions are broken up. Protestors and activists see the police and university response as heavy handed and brutal to an extent. Nationwide, since April 18th, nearly three thousand protestors have been arrested, sixteen at UNM (New York Times).
As the war continues, the organizers and activists remain committed to pressing their demands until they are met. Most often, these demands center on Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions or BDS. Protestors want their universities to disclose potential investments in Israel or investments that support it, as well as divestment from the nation itself, US defense companies, corporations or other entities. The same is true at UNM, where activists created a 2024 Divestment Resolution calling for divestment, disclosure, and directly or indirectly cutting off possible financial support for Israel. It also calls for UNM to acknowledge the treatment of Palestinians by Israel ("Divestment Resolution," 2024).
The Young Democrat spoke with one of the authors of the resolution and a member of the team negotiating with UNM leadership. Rakin Faruk, is a recent UNM graduate, the President of UNM Democrats, and a leader of and participant in the protest efforts at UNM. Faruk got involved in politics at the age of sixteen, working for the Democratic Party of New Mexico. More recently, she got involved in political issues and activism in 2020, in response to the killing of George Floyd and the subsequent Black Lives Matter protests. Faruk is also Muslim American, born in Albuquerque. Her father is a survivor of the Bangladesh Genocide and bears the scars of beatings and other human rights abuses.
Disclosure: Interview was edited for length and clarity. Mason Grubesic is a former member of UNM Democrats and knows the interviewee. The Young Democrat holds no opinion, position, or viewpoint other than highlighting young New Mexicans involved in Democratic politics. Views, beliefs, and arguments of interviewees are their own and do not constitute an official position or endorsement by Young Democrats of New Mexico. The author can be reached at mason.grubesic@gmail.com. This interview was conducted on May 29th, 2024 between Mason Grubesic (MG) and Rakin Faruk (RF).
MG: “As President of UNM Democrats, how has your leadership impacted this organization?”
RF: “A lot of my teammates have told me that what I bring to the table not as a political science major, but a psych major is that while many of the others within this organization are political analysts, more than anything, I am a political person. And so I bring a lot of the active work into the organization. And, I also think that I have fostered so many connections throughout my time at the actual Democratic Party of New Mexico, which was great in terms of bringing speakers, but also working with legislators on different pieces of legislation, for example, the ceasefire memorial that we were trying to pass through [State Representative] Eleanor Chavez this past legislative session.”
MG: “What issues or causes have you been focusing on during your presidency? I know you mentioned the resolution but are there other issues as well?”
RF: “So in terms of my presidency, it aligned exactly with what is going on around the world right now. And so my main focus has been centering on Gaza and work for Gaza. Whether this be in terms of a ceasefire memorial, such as what was worked on with Representative Eleanor Chavez and Representative [Angelica] Rubio, or I have worked heavily on the divestment resolution–that is one of the demands of the Palestine solidarity encampment. I acquired 40 different student organizations to sign on as co-sponsors of that divestment resolution. I have worked closely with legislators to foster new connections for our students in the UNM College Democrats, whether that be acquiring internships, such as students who recently got scholarships that allow them to work in D.C. for a semester, which was super awesome to work on. And also just fostering connections with the Bernalillo County Democrats has been a focus. We have gained their support in terms of the UNM Palestine Solidarity encampment. We hope to further work with them on an internship program that brings students from the political science department into county party politics.”
MG: “Has there been any pushback within your organization or within the community due to these things that you've sponsored?”
RF: “Definitely not. I mean, in terms of the youth, the youth vote is for Gaza. It's for getting humanitarian aid to Gaza. It's for a ceasefire in Gaza. So in terms of our student organization, I have seen nothing but support. Whether that be from the executive board or from members in general. I have many members of the UNM College Democrats that have become an integral part in the UNM Palestine Solidarity encampment, have spent many nights there, have brought in food, and have brought in just in general: support. And I think in terms of the student community here at UNM, we have garnered an impressive amount of support. I mean everything that we had at the encampment, for example, was completely donated to us, whether that be food or tarps or pallets, art supplies, everything was donated to us. The only pushback that I have received in any of my work comes from [President] Stokes and Communication Director Cinnamon Blair, people like Provost [James] Holloway, who are much more concerned with the use of their public space than they are with people's lives. And at this point, I don't even mean Gazan lives, I mean, the [UNM] students' lives. We've been brutalized twice, the second time being actually less than 24 hours after I personally cried to Stokes in a meeting about how terribly we were brutalized the last time she called the cops. So yeah, in terms of community, I’m appreciative of the support from the students, faculty, alumni, [and] community. The only pushback that we receive is from Stokes and her administration that funds a genocide.”
MG: “As a young Muslim American woman, how do you view our state, city, or country in regard to addressing the issues that you are passionate about?”
RF: “So in terms of our city and state, again, I'm very appreciative of the community. I think it's very much to the advantage of many social movements that our community is a majority-minority state. And so working in the community has been so important to me. Doing the work that I have been doing has really pushed the idea of the power of the people versus the power of the system. At the end of the day, however, the system that our state plays into, that our country plays into, will never serve anything but the system. And so I feel that having worked in both, I feel that our state as a community is a wonderfully supportive space for me to utilize my voice. But when it comes to the state and the country as a system, our voices will always be oppressed and always be shut down. Unless more and more of the community continue to stand up because the government is going to be based off of what it sees in public. And so we often hear even people like the UNM Board of Regents chairwoman, state ‘that making ceasefire statements and whatnot would be performative.’ And what they don't realize is that the system at large is always watching to take note of how to proceed, so that it can still garner support for the system at large. And so sometimes what you need to do is perform.”
MG: “Since the start of the Israel-Gaza War, campus protests and activism in support of Palestinians have been national and international. At UNM, what has your involvement been in these protests or movements? Specifically the Duck Pond encampment or your calls for divestment? I know you talked a little bit about that, but maybe just a little bit more of your role.”
RF: “So I am one of the authors of the divestment resolution that we are trying to pass currently. It has been in front of the Board of Regents since March. Many people think that this is something new that the encampment has brought up, but no, the first time that we presented the full divestment resolution was in March to the Board of Regents. And so, beyond just authoring that, I also extensively helped with the outreach for co-sponsors on that [resolution]. We have 40 of the largest student organizations in UNM, both undergraduate and graduate level organizations co-sponsoring that divestment resolution. Beyond that, for the UNM Palestine Solidarity Encampment, we do not have a hierarchy. We do not work under a hierarchy because a hierarchy is a colonial term and standard. We work very horizontally amongst ourselves as organizers. We bring a diversity of tactics and skill into this encampment. But I was involved from day one. I am always involved as a speaker. I am always involved as an organizer. I am involved with arrestee support. I am involved with media. I am involved with security. I spent many nights at the encampment. While I could not spend a full night, I do take on many security shifts and I do take on the organization of most of the day to day activities: rallies or teach-ins that we had at the encampment. After the eviction of the encampment, the brutal eviction of the encampment, I have been working heavily on further organized events and community organizing, including an event tomorrow [4/29/24] at the Duck Pond because we are 7 months and 75 years into a genocide”
MG: “Do you believe these protests and efforts at UNM were successful in what they aimed to achieve?”
RF: “Absolutely. What I thought was funny when I went into that meeting with Provost Holloway and Stokes, the Provost said that the encampment did not help facilitate these conversations. And I looked at the Provost and I asked him, ‘do you think we would be having this conversation right now if not for the encampment?’ And he said, ‘I think these conversations should have been had sooner.’ I said, ‘I agree. I have been going into your Board of Regents meetings since February, bringing forward divestment resolutions, bringing forward public comment, and you offered no line of communication. So why now, if not for the encampment?’ The encampment has brought upon an insane amount of communication throughout the entirety of New Mexico. What we did at the SUB has not been done at UNM before. Well, actually, except for the 2011 [Occupy Wall Street Protests] occupation of Scholes Hall, which was very, very impressive. Not nearly as controversial because Occupy Wall Street was not nearly as controversial. But we know that the encampment has brought upon a lot of conversation throughout the entirety of New Mexico. And because of the encampment’s demands, we have finally gotten a commitment for disclosure from Stokes and her administration of all of the investments that UNM holds, not only in the Israeli apartheid regime, butalso the war machine at large. So one of our demands has already been committed to by the administration. And they know that we're going to be back throughout the entirety of the summer. We have many actions planned, including the one this Thursday. They know that this is not over. We know that we are not going to let up until our demands of divestment are met.”
MG: “How do you create a balance between championing your cause and ensuring it remains peaceful and welcoming to those that might be on the fence about it?”
RF: “I love talking about the encampment because I say that this is my family now. I’ll tell you that I have never been in a place where I have felt more love. I have found just a community that offers so much political education and so much emotional support. Balancing safety and well-being is the whole idea of the movement. The safety and consent of our comrades and everybody surrounding us is always our number one priority. We also make sure that we keep open lines of communication with the community at large. We have open lines of communication with the organization Hillel, a fairly Zionist organization here in New Mexico but who have spoken at the public comments for the Board of Regents multiple times. We are constantly trying to foster love and care for the community that is impacted by colonialism and colonialist structures.”
MG: “How have the current, recent, and historic relations between Israel and Palestine and their developments impacted you, your family, friends, community?”
RF: “As a young Muslim woman, this has been my fight for my whole life. You know my first protest was when I was eight years old and I think in terms of myself, I have a lot of what I call political privilege. Having worked for the Democratic Party, having my face out there for so long, now I am able to organize and speak out. But the majority of the Muslim community here in New Mexico is still extremely fearful of repercussions of what might happen to them if they took the same steps that I am taking. So while I'm very privileged to be fighting this fight, I know that even here in New Mexico, most people are not [fighting]. So I think that has impacted me to not let up. But a lot of this work is extremely traumatic and extremely taxing. And I'm just a 20 year old girl. I'm pretty new to this, you know. It’s been 75 years of this. It is extremely difficult to see a lot of the newer atrocities like burned refugee camps or dead children. It's not normal. It's not normal that we're seeing this. Nobody should have to see this even once in their lifetime. And people need to realize especially in New Mexico, with us having some of the largest military bases and weapons manufacturers here, we fund the war machine so much more directly than we would like to think we do. So I think it's also just impacted us in the sense of taking accountability for the fact that our tuition pays for this, our taxes pay for this. Taking accountability for that and working to move to change that is the only way to go about this.”
MG: “What are some achievements that you've made in UNM College Democrats? What actions are you most proud of?”
RF: “The divestment resolution in itself is very successful. It's one of the most rock solid resolutions that you'll see in the nation actually, because it directly mirrors the language of the 1985 divestment from Apartheid in South Africa resolution that UNM did successfully pass. So I think the authoring and the outreach of that was super successful. I am also very happy with how the legislative summit turned out this year. I think that some amazing lines of connection were created for our students to many legislators. It got them internships or scholarships which is always something that we are striving to do for our students at UNM Dems. I am also very proud of how a number of our speaker events turned out this year. We weren't reaching out to legislators to come speak. They were reaching out to us. So we had a Gen Z in Politics event in which we brought the youngest [State] House Representatives, both Republican and Democrat, which was really interesting to host because we wanted to start creating some lines of communication between the two party system. And to offer a space of learning for students overall, regardless of what side of the political spectrum they might be on. We also had the new candidates running for House District 18 come in to speak to our group which had over 60 people. Not only from UNM but from the political community at large. So at this point, UNM Dems wasn't only hosting events for students, but we were hosting them for these legislators. We were a resource for them rather than the other way around, which was super cool.”
MG: “Lastly, How should New Mexico's youth ensure that they have a strong voice and influence in politics?”
RF: “I think that the youth needs to begin plugging into student organizations and community resources as much as possible. I say this having started in the [Democratic] Party at 16, where it's hard to be taken seriously by the system at large especially as a younger constituent. So it's extremely important to start using your voice. For you vote, because at the end of the day, we are the next generation of politics. And the politicians right now know that they need to start garnering the youth vote. And if we are not as openly communicative about what our needs are and what our expectations are of our politicians, if we're not holding them accountable, they're not going to do what we want from them. And so I really just always want to push for the youth to be as loud as they can, plug into as many organizations and community resource centers as they can, so that they can start working towards utilizing them to push their voice and push their vote out there. The power of the people will work within the community around you and you will start seeing change.”
Sources:
Faruk, Rakin. Personal interview with the author. 29 May 2024.
Comments