Third World Liberation Front strikes of 1968

The student and faculty strike started on November 6, 1968 and lasted until March 21, 1969, making it the longest strike by students at an academic institution in the United States. The strikes arose to protest the perpetual Eurocentric lens on education, as the demands of the strikers included an establishment of an autonomous department for Ethnic Studies, more faculty of color representation, and more representation of students of color on campus. John H. Bunzel writes that the students felt that "education from kindergarten to college under the authority of the white community failed to focus on subject matter that was germane to the life experiences of the people in the minority community." Origins The contention between students and administration can be traced to May 2, 1967, when students orchestrated a sit-in at the office of the newly appointed president of the university, Dr. John Summerskill, in protest of the Selective Service Committee's access to students' academic standing. Additionally, they held rallies on campus almost every day. Power in numbers was extremely impactful as well, with TWLF bringing multiple groups of people of color together to fight for their goals. Outcomes of the strike Whitson's essay for the San Francisco State College Strike Collection highlights and tabulates the demands and their outcomes during the agreement of March 20, 1968. :File:Outcomes of the TWLF Strike at SFSU in 1968.pdf , San Francisco State University holds an annual Ethnic Studies Conference, inviting high school students to engage with and understand what ethnic studies is and the reasons for its establishment. ==TWLF strike at University of California, Berkeley==

The University of California, Berkeley housed an establishment of the Third World Liberation Front and saw the second longest student strike in US history for reasons similar to that of the TWLF at San Francisco State College: to address the Eurocentric education and integrate into academia conversations about identity and oppression. The TWLF strike at Berkeley proved to be more violent than that which was at SF State College, with a greater incidence of police brutality against students, striking members of the American Federation of Teachers, and campus workers who decided to strike. The strikers also drew support from several university faculty members. Students and faculty members not in direct support of the TWLF protested the police presence on campus. The violence escalated to a point at which Governor Ronald Reagan had to declare a "state of extreme emergency," while the Berkeley President decided to prohibit demonstrations on campus. Incensed students continued to strike, and tear gas was exchanged between the National Guard and the striking students. Their efforts resulted in the first Ethnic Studies Department in the United States on March 7, 1969, closely followed by the creation of the first College of Ethnic Studies in the US at San Francisco State on March 20. Origin In April 1968, the Afro-American Studies Union (AASU) at University of California, Berkeley submitted a proposal to institute a Black Studies Program. The proposal was passed around the administration, from Chancellor Roger Heyn to professors to the Dean of the College of Letters and Sciences, Walker Knight. In December, when a committee was assembled to discuss the students' proposal without a student representative, no conclusion could be made as to whether or not a Black Studies should be a program within a larger department or a department itself. In August, the Mexican-American Student Confederation (MASC) to ask the university to withhold the purchase of table grapes in support of striking farm workers. The university agreed to boycott the grapes. Yet, Governor Reagan and his Agricultural Secretary Earl Coke spoke out against the school's decision to boycott the table grapes. President Hitch forced the school to resume the purchase of table grapes, and eleven MASC students were arrested for trespassing and unlawful assembly when trying to meet with President Charles J. Hitch. By March 3, over 150 students were arrested and 36 were suspended. However, five days later, Chancellor Heyns and President Hitch conceded to most of the demands of the TWLF, which included the establishment of the Department of Ethnic Studies. == Origin of the name TWLF ==

Students at the campuses of San Francisco State University and UC Berkeley joined together in 1968 and 1969 and created the name Third World Liberation Front in relation to the Third World Liberation struggles. The students understood the similarities between the two and "recognizing their task as one of decolonization in a US context." The students understood these struggles in terms of education and wanted to embody the Third World Liberation into these campuses by a "Third World College." ==References==