SFSU 1968 Student Strike Led Way For Obama and Others
October 29, 2008
SFSU 40th Commemoration Steering Committee
1600 Holloway Ave, San Francisco
1600 Holloway Ave, San Francisco
News Release
For Immediate Release
October 29, 2008
Media Contacts:
Dr. Ramona Tascoe, 510 289.3792
Jackie Wright, 415 824 3990
1968 STUDENT STRIKERS DEMANDING CHANGE
40 YEARS AGO HELPED PAVE WAY FOR
BARACK OBAMA'S PRESIDENTIAL RACE AND OTHER CHANGES
40 YEARS AGO HELPED PAVE WAY FOR
BARACK OBAMA'S PRESIDENTIAL RACE AND OTHER CHANGES
San Francisco- The civil rights struggles of the United States of America included the longest strike in the nation's history on the campus of San Francisco State University. This week original student strikers and supporters will hold ceremonies at the university noting the accomplishments of that movement.
"Education is the key to liberation and what we did forty years ago, as actor Danny Glover myself and others stood up for change resulted in people accepting others that did not have the same color of skin, or the same cultural experience, "said The Reverend Dr. Ramona Tascoe. "As a physician who served people after the Kenyan bombing in Nairobi and others across the world, I see the remnants of our action from 1968 at work in the world today".
Tascoe is among several original student strikers that will be gathering at San Francisco State to remember the past with a call to the nation, not to repeat the past. "The racial division that has come up during this presidential race with the emphasis of the possibility of the first 'Black President,' indicates that our nation still has work to do when it comes to race and class, added Tascoe.
Tascoe is the moderator for a panel on civil rights and social justice, one of the key activities among the ceremonies scheduled at San Francisco State University this week. Panelists include: Former San Francisco Mayor Willie L. Brown, Dr. Nathan Hare, Mayor Ronald Dellums, Mr. Roberto Vargas, Mr. Bruce Hartford, and Dr. Jim Hirabayashi, Hari Dillon and actor/activist Danny Glover. Robert A. Corrigan, President of San Francisco State University and Dr. Ken Monteiro, Dean of the College of Ethnic Studies. They will participate with the students at a press conference prior to the 10 a.m. panel at Jack Adams Hall on Wednesday, October 29.
The student strike that began with the Black Student Union and the Third World Liberation Front in collaboration with Students for a Democratic Society, American Federation of Teachers, and Bay Area community leaders, resulted in culturally sensitive and historically accurate studies of Blacks, Asians, Latinos and Native Americans at Universities across the nation and resulted in SF State's College of Ethnic Studies.
The college has grown over forty years from the original, ground-breaking departments of Black Studies, La Raza Studies, American Indian Studies, and Asian American Studies to now include programs in Arab and Muslim Ethnicities and Diasporas, Race and Resistance Studies, a Masters degree program in both Ethnic Studies and Asian American Studies, and the César E. Chávez Institute, a community-based, socially-engaged research center located in the Mission District.
"Education and enlightenment sparked by the student strike helped this country tremendously in its effort to be truly a nation for and by the people," said former Mayor Willie Brown, who was helpful in negotiating a settlement between the strikers and San Francisco State administration. "I believe in part that Barack Obama's race for the presidency is viable today because of the student strike that helped this nation take a look at itself," Brown added.
Tascoe also realizes that there is still a need for healing. One of the government entities that Tascoe feels needed to be addressed was the Office of the Governor of the State of California. Then Governor Ronald Reagan called the state troopers to the campus to bust the strike. In a letter to the governor, Tascoe appealed for participation from the state's highest office. In a letter she wrote appealing the Governor and his wife to attend the ceremonies or at the least to send a proclamation for November 6th to be "All Power to the People Day": "Today, we are united. Not unlike the American Revolution, the Battle at Gettysburg, or the historic Civil Rights Movement, change comes through challenge. Will you or Maria please join us? Will you send us a letter of commendation for our achievement? Can we bury the proverbial ax?"
"Yes, there will be a reception with the honorable Harry Belafonte, there will be symposiums and papers presented, but most of all, we need people to note what happened forty years ago and make sure there will not be a need to once again sacrifice as we did back in 1968," said Tascoe. "The communities at large as well as students of diverse social and ethnic backgrounds have gained voice and recognition because of our contribution. This is our legacy: They stand on the shoulders of the student strikers, supportive faculty and others who fought for their right to equal and social justice in higher education and the workforce."
For more information about the scheduled commemoration events visit http://www.sfsu.edu/~ethnicst/fortieth.html
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