Education should be accessible to everyone, regardless of how much money you have, where you come from or what you look like. That is why we are calling for full federal student loan cancellation and free college for all.
Over the last few decades the cost of higher education has continued to rise in the US, making it out of reach for most students and families unless they agree to take on huge amounts of debt.
Over 44 million people and families carry more than $1.7 trillion of student debt.
This crushing burden is keeping millions of people from pursuing dreams, buying homes, starting families, and even making ends meet. That reality falls heaviest on communities of color – particularly Black people and especially Black women – as a direct result of systemic racism.
We are more than piggybanks. We cannot reach our fullest potential when we are tied to the burden of debt. True, free education is a right, not a debate.
We move in the love ethic by seeking education as a means to uplift ourselves and most importantly, our communities. Canceling student debt is a step towards financial freedom- the ability to reinvest our knowledge into liberating the collective. If education was centered on equity, it would have never gotten to this point!
We aren’t helpless in this fight, and we can build the power necessary to organize for a debt-free future.
Let’s be clear: it costs nothing to cancel student debt. The money was lended by the federal government, and they have the power to adjust each borrower’s loans to zero, just as they are adjusted to not accrue interest amid the pandemic. All it requires is that Joe pick up his pen.
A debt-free future is a world closer to getting our #FreedomPapers.
