Public Comment

I wish to comment about the People’s Park book which just came out. For the most part the book is fine, but there’s a huge deficiency. Has anybody noticed that the book jumps from 1979 to 1991 with very little commentary. It is almost as if the 1980s never existed. In actuality the 1980s was the most critical decade in the People’s Park history. The decade started with Ronald Reagan, one of the worst enemies of the park, in the White House. People’s Park was under siege. By the end of the decade, Sheriff Plummer was advising the university that it would no longer get support from the Sheriff’s Department for every incident that the university drummed up. 

Let us review some of the events that took place in the forgotten 1980s. There were anti-nukes rallies which started in People’s Park with marches up to the Echeverry reactor, sited at the present site of Soda Hall. That reactor nno longer exists, in no small part due to the demonstrations from People’s Park. Bob Sparks lead those demonstrations. The struggle for free speech and concerts in the park began in 1980 when the UC cops pulled the plug on one such concert, and culminated in a lawsuit against the university in 1986. Anne de Leon, Osha Neumann and David Axelrod were co-counsels for the park. The Park won in court on virtually all the issues raised as well as costs including lawyers fees. Some of that money went to the Catholic workers, who in turn proceeded to build the People’s Café. The People’s Park Council had a policy of developing alliances with other political groups. Among the groups, which People Park aligned itself were virtually all of the progressive political forces in the City of Berkeley. For example, David Axelrod, salty, served on the city’s parks commission. There was much cross-fertilization with the anti-nuke and the anti-apartheid forces. 

People’s Park’s finest hour was its participation in the anti-apartheid demonstrations at Biko Plaza. On April 16, 1985, the 16th anniversary concert coincided with the beginning of the anti-apartheid demonstration. An ad hoc march from the park’s concert to Biko Plaza was organized. Historically there was a demonstration against apartheid very similar to the one in 1985 back in 1977. The university put that demonstration down by arresting all of the participants. While organizing continued through the summer and fall, it was to no avail. The difference between 1985 and 1977 was the resilience of the camp-in. One lasted two days and the other in 1985 lasted 36 days. The most resilient population at Pico Plaza were the Park denizens. There were times at the sit-in where Park denizens with only people there. Why is this important? Why it was at the park’s finest hour? Because People’s Park played on the world stage to good effect. Within six years of those demonstrations the apartheid regime collapsed. Within a month of the demonstration, most of the major political entities in the state of California were divesting from South Africa and the companies invested therein. Truth be told there’s enough material from the 1980s to do a book. Something like People Park The Critical Decade—1980-90. 

On the whole the book is pretty good book; what it covers recovers adequately. I discussed the issue of the 80s with the editor Terry Compost and discovered that the slingshot collective made the editorial decisions as to content. I think it obvious why the 80s were excluded. Slingshot came into existence in 1988 and then there was a change in the leadership after that. Bottom line is that the people who are making the decisions are completely ignorant of the history of the 80s in the park. Wish I had been at that editorial board meeting that could set them straight—guess it’s too late for that. 

David Blackman was convener of the Op unit People’s Park Council 1980-90, People Park representative to the board of community services united.