People’s Park Berkeley Riots 1969
Janine Wiedel
£7.00
People’s Park Berkeley Riots 1969 by
Janine Wiedel documents one of the most searing conflicts that closed out the tumultuous 1960s. In April 1969, a few Berkeley activists planted the first tree on a University of California-owned, abandoned city block.
People from all over the city helped build the park... Read More
People’s Park Berkeley Riots 1969 by
Janine Wiedel documents one of the most searing conflicts that closed out the tumultuous 1960s. In April 1969, a few Berkeley activists planted the first tree on a University of California-owned, abandoned city block.
People from all over the city helped build the park as an expression of a politics of joy. The University was appalled, and warned that unauthorised use of the land would not be tolerated; and on May 15, which would soon be known as Bloody Thursday, a violent struggle erupted, involving thousands of people.
Hundreds were arrested, martial law was declared, and the National Guard was ordered by then-Governor Ronald Reagan to crush the uprising and to occupy the entire city. The police fired shotguns against unarmed students. A military helicopter gassed the campus indiscriminately, causing schoolchildren miles away to vomit. One man died from his wounds. Another was blinded. The vicious overreaction by Reagan helped catapult him into national prominence