Text / "Where We Stand: The Strike Goes On"

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Title: "Where We Stand: The Strike Goes On"
Creator: Third World Liberation Front
Date Created and/or Issued: 1969
Contributing Institution: UC Berkeley, Ethnic Studies Library
Collection: Third World Strike at University of California, Berkeley collection, 1968-1972
Rights Information: Please contact the contributing institution for more information regarding the copyright status of this object.
Rights Notes: Copyright status unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owner. In addition, the reproduction of some materials may be restricted by terms of gift agreements, donor restrictions, privacy and publicity rights, licensing and trademarks. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.
Type: text
Identifier: CES ARC 2015/1 Carton 1 Folder 3
CES0059
Subject: Student movements
Student strikes
Third World Liberation Front (Berkeley, Calif.)
Place: Berkeley, Calif.
Source
Location: UC Berkeley Ethnic Studies Library
Transcription: WHERE WE STAND THE STRIKE GOES ON Three days ago, the Academic Senate overwhelmingly passed a resolution in support of the establishment of an Ethnic Studies Department which would report directly to the Chancellor and which would eventually evolve into a College of Ethnic Studies. The Academic Senate resolution, however, does not deal with two major issues of the strike -- the Implementing Committee and community involvement. The TWLF is demanding that the Implementing Committee be composed of Third World faculty, students and community people. We also believe that the Third World College must be relevant to the Third World community; therefore, community work must be an integral part of the program of the College. The Administration disputes both of these positions. The faculty's skillful avoidance of the major issues of the strike reveals the weakness of their position. The faculty is not willing to move to implement their support for a Third World College; they do not even specify a date by which the temporary Department of Ethnic Studies would be established. We cannot depend upon the faculty to help us win our demands; they do not have the will or the power to establish a Third World College. The vote of the Academic Senate, though, does represent a major advance for the faculty, who have now given approval for the TWLF demand for an autonomous Third World College. The passing of this resolution makes it clear that Chancellor Heyns is the main obstacle to the establishment of the Third World College. Chancellor Heyns has broken off negotiations with the Third World Liberation Front. He claims that he cannot negotiate in an atmosphere of "violence." Yet, he is the one who precipitated the violence by calling in the police. It has been six weeks since the TWLF strike began at Cal. The strike is not a mere symbolic gesture nor it is a frustrated attempt to tear down the University. The Third World Liberation Front has shown that we are seriously striking until our demands are met. We do not want to destroy the University; we want to open it to more people. We are prepared to continue our struggle for self-determination as long as it takes for us to win. CAN WE WIN? Yes, we can win this strike, but only if we work together and refuse to be intimidated by the Administration and the police. The tactic of the strike is the means by which we feel that we can win the Third World College. Moral reasons are not enough to persuade the Administration and Regents to establish an autonomous Third World College; otherwise, we would have had a College two months ago. Clearly, the only language that Chancellor Heyns and the Regents understand is that of power. We cannot pressure them with the power of money nor of traditional political backing. Our only power is the power of numbers. The strike is one way of demonstrating that power; through supporting and extending the strike, people can develop their power. The Administration and Regents have embarked on a series of repressive moves designed to prevent organization of the people's power on campus. They have banned the use of sound equipment in Sproul Plaza to prevent us from voicing our ideas to many people at one time, so we have been forced to bring our own sound equipment for rallies. They have placed on interim suspension students who are arrested in connection with the strike and are not citing more students for the vague charges of "conduct unbecoming a member of the academic community" and "disruption of the University." Furthermore, students on interim suspension who set foot on campus will be subject to immediate dismissal. Students thereby face double jeopardy -- punishment by both the courts and the academic institution -- and prior restraint. The ACLU will be testing the constitutionality of these rules. The Chicano Center, whose two month lease officially expired on Monday, March 3, has been closed down. Permanent status of the Center, which was one of the concessions who from President Hitch after the Chicano boycott last fall, is one of the strike demands. over Most blatant of all reprisals, the Administration called the police on campus and gave them effective control over the functioning of the University. Although their avowed purpose for being on campus is to protect property from damage, the police have been used only to break up peaceful picket lines. They have aroused indignation by their brutal and indiscriminate clubbings, tear-gassings and arrests. They have provoked violence by their use of violence against strikers. Their continued presence on campus is a threat to strikers and intimidates strike support. The repression on campus demonstrates the effectiveness of the strike. The Administration and Regents can not ignore us and dismiss our demands as irrelevant. As we continue to gain support on the campus and in the community, we pose a greater threat to the established powers. The power of the people is challenging the power of the Regents and the Administration. Thus, they are using the "state of emergency" to suspend civil rights and civil liberties on campus. HOW CAN WE WIN? We can win by demonstrating our power to act collectively. In the last six weeks, we have built a solid organization of committed people who are working on the strike. Our present task is to increase that base of support, both on the campus and in the community. Our most important work on campus is to educate people about the necessity for mass action to back up our demands. We can do this through departmental organizing and classroom education. We must convince people that they have to act NOW. If the TWLF wins the right to self-determination, it sets a precedent for participation by all students, faculty and community people in the educational process. A VICTORY IN THIS STRIKE IS A VICTORY FOR ALL PEOPLE! We must also develop our communication with the community which is off-campus. The potential community support must be organized to be effective. The support of the unions, such as the Oil Workers' Union Local 1-561, helps to build the strike. The TWLF is organizing community support in high schools, churches, and other local groups. There will be a mass community meeting on Sunday, March 9, to rally Third World support. We need people to work in all these areas to develop strike support more fully and effectively. We must develop a mass organization to win this strike. DON'T GO TO CLASS! JOIN OUR PICKET LINES! TWLF labor donated

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