“Those in power will say we can’t afford it. This is just not true. There is always enough money when warmongering austerity driven billionaires like Trump and his counterparts around the world need it.”
Myriam Kane, Black Liberation Alliance, recently spoke at the rally for free education hosted by Arise Festival and organised by students and young activists around the country. You can read an edited version of her speech below:
The conversation around tuition fees and free education is fundamental because education is critical to the advancement of humanity, so it should be part of organising as trade unionists and members of civil society. I am the co-founder of the Black Liberation Alliance, an organisation that represents African, Asian, Arab, Caribbean, indigenous, mixed heritage and other black community descent. We exist to advance the liberation of our communities and education is critical to that aim.
Free education is an issue that lies at the heart of equality, opportunity, and social progress in our country. Education is often celebrated as the great equaliser, a pathway to opportunity that cuts across backgrounds, economic situations, and ethnicities. But for too many young people, particularly those from Black communities, that pathway is obstructed by the rising costs of higher education.
Consider the impact of student debt on Black families in Britain. Black students are more likely to come from working-class backgrounds and more likely to rely on loans to fund their education. And once they graduate, they enter a job market that still discriminates against them. Studies have shown that Black people are more likely to be in lower-paying jobs and are less likely to be promoted than their white counterparts with similar qualifications. This means that the debt taken on to pursue higher education becomes an anchor rather than a ladder – holding back our progress rather than propelling us forward. Inequality in education is only one measure of how institutional racism impacts black communities. The cumulative experience of the black communities includes racist attacks and murders, police brutality and health inequalities, so it is easy to see why many in our communities still think black lives don’t matter.
We must recognise that the current system is not broken; it was designed this way. The exclusionary price of education is part of a broader structure that perpetuates inequality. It keeps wealth concentrated in the hands of the few and prevents marginalised communities, especially Black communities, from accessing economic freedom
This is why we must take a radical stance. Imagine a Britain where working class students don’t have to choose between their dreams and their debt. Imagine a Britain where we are encouraged to study, to innovate, and to lead without financial obstacles. Free education would mean a gateway to breaking down the barriers of elitism and privilege that stand in the way of our communities.
But this won’t happen unless we push for it. This will not happen if we remain quiet and wait for permission. Change has never come from silence; it comes from action, from radical ideas that make those in power uncomfortable.
It’s time for us to demand free education as a right, not as a privilege.
Additionally, free education would help address some of the economic inequalities that have held back communities for generations. When working class and black students have access to higher education without financial burden, they gain the skills and qualifications needed to secure higher-paying jobs, invest in their communities, and break the cycle of poverty. This is how real progress is made – by providing opportunities to those who need it most.
And let’s not forget that when we are told that we cannot afford to have free education, the truth is we cannot afford not to. Many of those in successive governments who ended free education and drove up its costs, benefitted from it themselves. So I won’t take lectures from them on what’s best for students.
Policies that fail us on education are political vandalism. Without a skilled workforce the economy suffers. Graduates and a qualified workforce are investments that will pay back in tax revenue when people start working. So we need jobs, we need skills and we need education.
But those in power will say we can’t afford it. This is just not true. There is always enough money when warmongering austerity driven billionaires like Trump and his counterparts around the world need it. They find money at our expense for wars, deportation schemes and bankers’ bonuses when what we need is money for Hospitals, education and to stop the worst ravages of climate change.
But that change is not coming from the powerful. I am disappointed in Labour for raising tuition fees, and for bringing in tuition fees in the first place. Both of these happened within weeks of the Blair and Starmer landslides, when many young people voted to invest their hopes in a change and instead were given this. What this shows is it is up to us to organise on our campuses, in the anti-austerity movement to champion the cause of education when our leaders fail to.
I am proud to have fought for the restoration of the Education Maintenance Allowance as the President of Lewisham College. Many of us in the BLA were part of the Goldsmiths Anti-Racist Occupation which won scholarships for Palestinian students to be able to study here in Britain. It goes to show that when we fight for all our causes, we can win. For a Free Palestine and a free education. So we must reject those who tell us that we are not being realistic and that the better future we strive for, cannot be won. It can.
So let’s start mobilising and organising for radical change in our student union, in our trade unions and beyond; we need a united front in all of society for us to win free education.
- Myriam Kane recently spoke at the Rally for Free Education hosted by Arise Festival and organised by students and young activists around the country. You can watch the event here or listen to it as a podcast here.
- Myriam Kane is an organiser for the Black Liberation Alliance, you can follow her on Twitter/X; and follow the Black Liberation Alliance on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter/X.
