In the spring of 1968, the Afro-American Student Union at Berkeley submitted their proposal for a Black Studies program the administration. Declaring that Black students all over America were in state of crisis, the AASU demanded that the university implement “a program which will be of, by, and for Black people.” The AASU contended that the Black Studies program would reflect a more relevant education for Black students at Berkeley. They expected the program to evolve into an autonomous department that would ensure that Black students would be educated rather than indoctrinated.
The Berkeley Revolution
A digital archive of the East Bay's transformation in the late-1960s & 1970s
Black Studies Proposal
Date: Spring 1968
Citation:
Black Studies proposal, Spring 1968, CES ARC 2015/2, Location 2:7 twLF box 2 Folder 7. Ethnic Studies Library, University of California, Berkeley.
Additional Notes:
For the full seventeen-page document, please click on the link below.
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1. Self Determination: The Coalition Coalesces (1968-January 1969)
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Black Studies Proposal
–Spring 1968–The proposal which inspired and laid the groundwork for the Third World College
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Asian American Political Alliance General Statement
–8/24/1968–Practicing democracy in one part of the coalition.
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twLF Constitution
–1/1969–AASU, MASC, AAPA, & NAP came together—and borrowed language from the Black struggle to do so
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Strike Demands
–1/1969–Liberation demands to gain rightful autonomy in the university
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Strike On! Survival the Issue
–1/24/1969–Extensive coverage, from the Barb, of the start of the TWLF strike at Berkeley
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Student Masses Win
–1/31/1969–In its second week the TWLF strike took on a new momentum and met stronger resistance
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2. Solidarity Under Pressure: the Strike Widens (February-March 1969)
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Support from SF State Graduate Teachers Union
–1/20/69–SF State's graduate teachers union wrote a letter in support of twLF
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The TWLF marching on Sproul Plaza
–2/1969–Manuel Delgado, of the Mexican American Students Confederation, heading up a TWLF rally
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Cal TA’s in the Soup
–2/21/1969–The Cal TA union voted to strike after 17 TAs were busted on a TWLF picket line
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twLF Communiqué #8
–2/24/1969–The twLF held the "first session of the Third World College," grounding their struggle in educational self-determination, not police brutality or the street struggle
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Berkeley, Son of SF State
–2/28/1969–An analysis—from a later Pulitzer Prize winner—of how the two TWLFs converged and diverged
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Berkeley Strikers Battle Police
–2/28/1969–Battles between strikers and police led to greater support for the TWLF among students and TAs
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A Cal Student’s Mother Supports twLF
–03/1969–A Cal mother wrote to the Regents supporting the fight for a Third World College
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Gas Over Berkeley
–3/7/1969–The Barb on "Reagan's robots" and some confusion within the TWLF after the Berkeley Faculty vote
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SOLIDARITY!
–3/1969–A pamphlet that offered analysis of the TWLF position and of the police and campus counterreaction
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Strike 1969 Pamphlet
–c. 3/15/69–The TWLF answered the question: why should students stick their neck out for the cause?
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Women’s Liberation Supports TWLF
–3/69–Berkeley's Women's Liberation Front announced their support for twLF
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3. The Conservative Counterreaction: Policing and Paternalism (1969)
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ASUC Senate Supports Demands, Not Strike
–1/24/1969–To understand that efficacy over one's life is at stake, not specific bureaucratic demands.
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“A True WASP” Responds to Strikers
–1/30/1969–A failure to understand the true meaning of self-determination.
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Chancellor Heyns on the State of Emergency
–02/5/1969–A crucial moment: Chancellor Heyns asked Governor Reagan to declare a 'state of emergency' and bring in police from elsewhere
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Campus in Clouds of Tear Gas
–2/1969–Police turned the Cal campus into a militarized war zone
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Police Arrest Striker
–03/1969–Cops arresting a TWLF striker on Sproul
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Chancellor Heyns to Academic Senate
–3/4/1969–Heyns lambasted the strike and argued for an Ethnic Studies unit bound by university protocols
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Faculty at UC Berkeley Votes for Ethnic Studies Department
–3/6/1969–Cal faculty voted for an Ethnic Studies department—not a Third World College
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Gas Over Berkeley
–3/7/1969–The Barb on "Reagan's robots" and some confusion within the TWLF after the Berkeley Faculty vote
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Moratorium?
–3/14/1969–Uncertainty hovered over the TWLF as its leadership attempted to negotiate with Chancellor Heyns
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4. The Vision: Building a Revolutionary Curriculum (1969-1970)
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Black Studies Proposal
–Spring 1968–The proposal which inspired and laid the groundwork for the Third World College
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Third World College Proposal
–3/1969–The goal of a detailed plan for a Third World College: radical education out of the radical imagination
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Asian Studies Proposal
–1969–"The roots of the Asian-American lie in Asia. A knowledge of history is essential; most pertinent is history involving Western man."
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Chicano Studies Proposal
–1969–"The present needs of the Chicano must be met in such a way to...sustain self confidence and provide a feeling of acceptance on the student's terms."
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Native American Studies Proposal
–1969–"To a considerable degree all who reside in the United States have been 'Indianized' while at the same time, of course, Indians have become 'Europeanized.'"
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Asian American Political Alliance Central Committee
–9/9/1969–A questionnaire suggests how the twLF struggle was about more than a course of study
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5. Negotiating Humanity: What We Won & Lost (1969-1974)
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Afro-American Studies Proposal
–1969 –The proposal that lead to the creation of the Afro-American Studies Department in the College of Letters in Science
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twLF Negotiation Notes
–2/1969–The strategy for negotiations with the University
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Faculty at UC Berkeley Votes for Ethnic Studies Department
–3/6/1969–Cal faculty voted for an Ethnic Studies department—not a Third World College
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The Blood Runs Cold
–10/10/1969–Seven months after the TWLF strike, black leaders reflected on the gains of the struggle and its future
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Asian Studies Program Summary
–1971–"It is indeed a minor miracle the Division has survived its first year."
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Bowker Bumsout Blacks
–1/29/1972–When the Cal administration installed its own chair of Afro-American Studies, dissenters went to the Rainbow Sign to strategize
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Keep Black Studies in Ethnic Studies!
–11/11/1974–The struggle to halt the divide & conquer strategy of the University.
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