People’s Park From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People’s_Park_(Berkeley<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People's_Park_(Berkeley>
)
(Redirected from People’s Park
(Berkeley)<http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/w/index.php?title=People%27s_Park_(...>
)
Jump to: navigation <http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wp-admin/#column-one>,
search <http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wp-admin/#searchInput>
For other uses, see People’s Park
(disambiguation)<http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wiki/People%27s_Park_(disambiguation)>
.
Coordinates<http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wiki/Geographic_coordinate_system>:
37°51′56″N 122°15′25″W<http://stable.toolserver.org/geohack/geohack.php?pagename=People%27s_...>
/ 37.86556°N 122.25694°W / 37.86556; -122.25694
<http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wiki/File:People%27s-Park.jpg>
<http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wiki/File:People%27s-Park.jpg>
People’s Park, Berkeley
*People’s Park* in Berkeley,
California<http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wiki/Berkeley,_California>,
USA <http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wiki/United_States> is a park
off Telegraph
Avenue <http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wiki/Telegraph_Avenue>, bounded by
Haste and Bowditch Streets and Dwight Way, near the University of
California, Berkeley<http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wiki/University_of_California,_Berk...>.
The park was created during the radical political activism of the late
1960s<http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wiki/Counterculture_of_the_1960s>
.
Today People’s Park serves as a free public park. Although accessible to
members of the larger community, the park serves mainly as a daytime
sanctuary for Berkeley’s large homeless population who, along with others,
take advantage of meals offered by East Bay Food Not
Bombs<http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wiki/Food_Not_Bombs>.
Public restrooms are available, and the park offers innovative demonstration
gardens, including organic community gardening beds and areas landscaped
with California native plants, all of which were user-developed by volunteer
gardeners. Many students make regular use of the basketball courts. A wider
audience is attracted by occasional rallies, concerts, and hip-hop events
conducted at the People’s Stage, a wooden bandstand designed and built on
the western end of the park by volunteers organized by the People’s Park
Council. Nearby residents and those who attempt to use the park for
recreational purposes sometimes experience conflict with the more aggressive
homeless denizens of People’s Park.
[1]<http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wp-admin/#cite_note-Rone1-0>
[2] <http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wp-admin/#cite_note-1>[3]<http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wp-admin/#cite_note-2>
[4] <http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wp-admin/#cite_note-3>
The mythology surrounding the park is an important part of local culture.
The surrounding South
Campus<http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wiki/Southside,_Berkeley,_California>neighborhood
was the scene of a major confrontation between student
protestors and law enforcement during May, 1969. A mural near the park,
painted by Berkeley artist and lawyer Osha Neumann, depicts the shooting of
James Rector, a student who died from shotgun wounds inflicted by law
enforcement on May 15 <http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wiki/May_15>,
1969<http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wiki/1969>
.
History
[edit<http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/w/index.php?title=People%27s_Park&a...>
] Origin of the park
In 1956 the Regents<http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wiki/Regents_of_the_University_of_C...>of
the University
of California<http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wiki/University_of_California>earmarked
a 2.8-acre (11,000 m
2) plot of land containing residences for future development into student
housing, parking and offices as part of the University’s “Long Range Plan
for Expansion.” At the time funds were lacking to purchase the land, and the
plan was shelved until June 1967, when the University acquired $1.3 million
to take the land through the process of eminent
domain<http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wiki/Eminent_domain>.
After taking control of the land, neighbourhood residents were evicted, and
demolition of the existing homes
began.[5]<http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wp-admin/#cite_note-Brenneman1-4>
By 1967 the University had altered its plan; the new plan was to build
student parking lot and a playing field on the land. Demolition of the
existing residences took over a year, and the University ran out of
development funds, leaving the lot only partially cleared of demolition
debris and rubble. It remained in this state for over a year, and as winter
began the muddy site became derelict with abandoned
cars.[6]<http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wp-admin/#cite_note-Lowe1-5>
[5] <http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wp-admin/#cite_note-Brenneman1-4>
On April 13 <http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wiki/April_13>,
1969<http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wiki/1969>,
local merchants and residents held a meeting to discuss possible uses for
the derelict site. Michael Delacour presented a plan for developing the
under-utilized University-owned land into a public park. This plan was
approved by those attending the meeting, but not by the University. Stew
Albert <http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wiki/Stew_Albert>, a co-founder of
the Yippie Party, agreed to write an article for the local counter-culture
newspaper, the Berkeley
Barb<http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wiki/Berkeley_Barb>,
on the subject of the park, particularly to call for help from local
residents.[5]<http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wp-admin/#cite_note-Brenneman1-4>
Michael Delacour stated, “We wanted a free speech area that wasn’t really
controlled like Sproul
Plaza<http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wiki/Sproul_Plaza>was. It was
another place to organize, another place to have a rally. The
park was secondary.”[7]<http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wp-admin/#cite_note-Wittmeyer1-6>The
University’s Free Speech microphone was available to all students,
with
few if any restrictions on free speech. The construction of the People’s
Park involved many of the same people and politics as the 1964 Free Speech
Movement <http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wiki/Free_Speech_Movement>.[8]<http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wp-admin/#cite_note-imdb-7>
On April 18 <http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wiki/April_18>,
1969<http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wiki/1969>,
Albert’s article appeared in the Berkeley Barb, and on Sunday, April
20<http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wiki/April_20>,
1969 <http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wiki/1969> over 100 people arrived
at the site to begin building the park. Local landscape architect Jon Read
and many others contributed trees, flowers, shrubs, and sod. Free food was
provided and community development of the park proceeded. Eventually,
approximately 1000 people became directly involved, with many more donating
money and materials. The park was essentially complete by
mid-May.[5]<http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wp-admin/#cite_note-Brenneman1-4>
[7] <http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wp-admin/#cite_note-Wittmeyer1-6>[6]<http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wp-admin/#cite_note-Lowe1-5>
Frank Bardacke, a participant in the park’s development, stated in a
documentary film called Berkeley in the
Sixties<http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wiki/Berkeley_in_the_Sixties>,
“A group of people took some corporate land, owned by the University of
California, that was a parking lot and turned it into a park and then said,
‘We’re using the land better than you used it; it’s
ours’”.[8]<http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wp-admin/#cite_note-imdb-7>
On April 28 <http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wiki/April_28>,
1969<http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wiki/1969>,
Berkeley Vice Chancellor Earl Cheit released plans for a sports field to be
built on the site. This plan conflicted with the plans of the People’s Park
activists. However, Vice Chancellor Cheit stated that he would take no
action without notifying the park builders. Two days later, on April
30<http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wiki/April_30>,
he decided to allocate control over one quarter of the plot to the Park’s
builders. On May 6 <http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wiki/May_6>,
1969<http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wiki/1969>,
Chancellor Heyns held a meeting with members of the People’s Park committee,
student representatives, and faculty from the College of Environmental
Design. He set a time limit of three weeks for this group to produce a plan
for the park, and he reiterated his promise that construction would not
begin without prior
warning.[5]<http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wp-admin/#cite_note-Brenneman1-4>
[9] <http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wp-admin/#cite_note-8>
[edit<http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/w/index.php?title=People%27s_Park&a...>
] “Bloody Thursday” and its aftermath
During its first three weeks, People’s Park was enjoyed and appreciated by
University students and local residents alike. Telegraph Ave. merchants were
particularly appreciative of the community’s efforts to improve the
neighborhood.[10] <http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wp-admin/#cite_note-9>[
11] <http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wp-admin/#cite_note-10> Objections to
the expropriation of University property tended to be mild, even among
school administrators.
Governor Ronald
Reagan<http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wiki/Ronald_Reagan>had been
publicly critical of University administrators for tolerating
student demonstrations at the Berkeley campus, and he had received enormous
popular support for his 1966 gubernatorial campaign promise to crack down on
what was perceived as the generally lax attitude at California’s public
universities. Reagan called the Berkeley campus “a haven for communist
sympathizers, protesters and sex
deviants.”[12]<http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wp-admin/#cite_note-gov-11>
Reagan considered the creation of the park a direct leftist challenge to the
property rights of the University, and he found in it an opportunity to make
good on his campaign promise.
Governor Reagan overrode Chancellor Heyns’ May
6<http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wiki/May_6>,
1969 <http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wiki/1969> promise that nothing
would be done without warning, and on Thursday, May
15<http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wiki/May_15>,
1969 <http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wiki/1969> at 4:45 a.m., he sent 250
California Highway Patrol and Berkeley police officers into People’s Park.
The officers cleared an 8-block area around the park while a large section
of what had been planted was destroyed and an 8-foot (2.4 m) tall perimeter
chain-link wire fence was installed to keep people out and to prevent the
planting of more trees, grass, flowers and shrubs.
Beginning at noon, approximately 3,000 people appeared in Sproul
Plaza<http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wiki/Sproul_Plaza>at nearby
U.C. Berkeley for a rally, the original purpose of which was to
discuss the Arab-Israeli conflict. Several people spoke, then Michael
Lerner<http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wiki/Michael_Lerner>ceded the
Free Speech platform to ASUC Student Body President Dan
Siegel <http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wiki/Daniel_Mark_Siegel> because
students were concerned about the fencing-off and destruction of the park.
Siegel said later that he never intended to precipitate a riot; however when
he shouted “Let’s take the
park!,”[13]<http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wp-admin/#cite_note-12>police
turned off the sound system.
[14] <http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wp-admin/#cite_note-13> This angered
some people, and the crowd responded spontaneously, moving down Telegraph
Avenue toward People’s Park chanting “We want the
park!”[15]<http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wp-admin/#cite_note-Rone2-14>
Arriving in the early afternoon, the protesters were met by the remaining
159 Berkeley and University police officers assigned to guard the fenced-off
park site. The protesters opened a fire hydrant, the officers fired tear gas
canisters, some protesters attempted to tear down the fence, and bottles,
rocks, and bricks[16]<http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wp-admin/#cite_note-UCBerkeleyPolic...>were
thrown. A major confrontation ensued between law enforcement and the
crowd. Initial attempts by the police to disperse the protesters were not
successful, so more officers were called in from surrounding cities.
At least one car was set on
fire.[16]<http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wp-admin/#cite_note-UCBerkeleyPolic...>
Reagan’s Chief of Staff, Edwin Meese III, a former district attorney from
Alameda County, had established a reputation for firm opposition to those
protesting the Vietnam
War<http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wiki/Vietnam_War>at the Oakland
Induction Center and elsewhere. Meese assumed responsibility
for the governmental response to the People’s Park protest, and he called in
the Alameda County Sheriff’s deputies, which brought the total police
presence to 791 officers from various
jurisdictions.[12]<http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wp-admin/#cite_note-gov-11>
Under Meese’s direction, the police were permitted to use whatever methods
they chose against the crowds, which had swelled to approximately 6,000
people. Officers in full riot gear (helmets, shields and gas masks) obscured
their badges to avoid being identified and headed into the crowds with
nightsticks swinging.
The most aggressive were the Alameda County Sheriff’s deputies —later dubbed
“The Blue Meanies”—who resorted to using shotguns loaded with “00″ buckshot.
“00″ buckshot consists of lead pellets that are much larger, and thus more
lethal, than the birdshot that is occasionally used for crowd
control<http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wiki/Crowd_control>
.
After people on the roof of an adjacent building threw bricks at the police[
17] <http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wp-admin/#cite_note-time-16>, the
Alameda County Sheriff’s deputies used shotguns to fire “00″ buckshot at
people sitting on the roof at the Telegraph Repertory Cinema, fatally
wounding student James
Rector<http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wiki/James_Rector>and
permanently blinding carpenter Alan Blanchard. According to Time
Magazine, Rector was a bystander, not a
protestor.[17]<http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wp-admin/#cite_note-time-16>The
University of California Police Department (UCPD) claims Rector threw
steel rebar down onto the police, however that claim has never been
substantiated.[16]<http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wp-admin/#cite_note-UCBerkeleyPolic...>The
Alameda County Sheriff’s deputies fired at bystanders on roofs even as
they were leaving.[5]<http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wp-admin/#cite_note-Brenneman1-4>
As the protesters retreated, the Alameda County Sheriff’s deputies chased
them several blocks down Telegraph Avenue as far as Willard Junior High
School at Derby Street, firing tear gas canisters and “00″ buckshot into
their backs as they fled. At least one tear gas canister landed on the
school grounds[*citation
needed<http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed>
*]. Many people, including innocent bystanders, suffered permanent injuries,
some with as many as a hundred lead pellet wounds in their scalps, necks,
backs, buttocks and thighs. One man, John Willard, lived for years in
intractable pain with lead pellets lodged near his spine.
At least 128 Berkeley residents were admitted to local hospitals for head
trauma, shotgun wounds, and other serious injuries inflicted by law
enforcement. The actual number of seriously wounded was likely much higher,
because many of the injured did not seek treatment at local hospitals to
avoid being arrested.[18]<http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wp-admin/#cite_note-17>Many
more protesters and bystanders were treated for minor injuries. Local
hospital logs show that 19 police officers or Alameda County Sheriff’s
deputies were treated for minor injuries; none were
hospitalized.[19]<http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wp-admin/#cite_note-smitha-18>However,
the UCPD claims that 111 police officers were injured, including
one who was knifed in the
chest[16]<http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wp-admin/#cite_note-UCBerkeleyPolic...>
.
The authorities initially claimed that only birdshot had been used as
shotgun ammunition. When physicians provided “00″ pellets removed from the
wounded as evidence that buckshot had been
used,[20]<http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wp-admin/#cite_note-19>Sheriff
Frank
Madigan <http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wiki/Frank_Madigan> of Alameda
County justified the use of shotguns loaded with lethal buckshot by stating
“… the choice was essentially this: to use shotguns—because we didn’t have
the available manpower—or retreat and abandon the City of Berkeley to the
mob.”[21] <http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wp-admin/#cite_note-20> Sheriff
Madigan did admit, however, that some of his deputies (many of whom
were Vietnam
War <http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wiki/Vietnam_War> veterans) had been
overly aggressive in their pursuit of the protestors, “as though they were Viet
Cong <http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wiki/Viet_Cong>.”[22]<http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wp-admin/#cite_note-beauty-21>
[23] <http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wp-admin/#cite_note-22>
Governor Reagan declared a state of emergency in Berkeley and sent in 2,700
National Guard troops— ironically some Guardsmen were students called to
active duty.[12]<http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wp-admin/#cite_note-gov-11>The
Berkeley City Council voted 8-1 against the decision to occupy their
city,[19] <http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wp-admin/#cite_note-smitha-18>[
22] <http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wp-admin/#cite_note-beauty-21>however
this vote was ignored. For two weeks the streets of Berkeley were
barricaded with rolls of barbed wire, and freedom of assembly was denied as
National Guardsmen sent tear gas canisters skittling along the street toward
any group of more than two people together.
On Wednesday, May 21 <http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wiki/May_21>,
1969<http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wiki/1969>,
a midday memorial was held for student James Rector at Sproul Plaza on the
University campus. Rector had suffered massive internal injuries from his
shotgun wounds, finally dying at Herrick
Hospital<http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wiki/Alta_Bates_Summit_Medical_Center>on
May
19 <http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wiki/May_19>. In his honor, several
thousand people peacefully assembled to listen to speakers remembering his
life. Without warning, National Guard troops surrounded Sproul Plaza, donned
their gas masks, and pointed their bayonets inward, while helicopters
dropped CS gas <http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wiki/CS_gas> directly on
the trapped crowd. No escape was possible, and the gas caused acute
respiratory distress, disorientation, temporary blindness and vomiting. Many
people, including children and the elderly, were injured during the ensuing
panic. The gas was so intense that breezes carried it into Cowell Memorial
Hospital, endangering patients, interrupting operations and incapacitating
nurses. Students at nearby Jefferson and Franklin elementary schools were
also affected.[17]<http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wp-admin/#cite_note-time-16>
[19] <http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wp-admin/#cite_note-smitha-18>
During the Peoples Park incident, National Guard troops were stationed in
front of Berkeley’s empty lots to prevent protestors from planting flowers,
shrubs or trees. Young
hippie<http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wiki/Hippie>women taunted and
teased the troops, on one occasion handing out
marijuana-laced brownies and lemonade spiked with
LSD.[17]<http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wp-admin/#cite_note-time-16>A
few stripped to the waist and danced for the young recruits, who tried
to
hide their smiles from superiors. Initially, Guardsmen were occasionally
seen walking hand in hand with young Berkeley women, and they often
expressed sympathy with the protesters. After about a week, however, local
National Guardsmen were sent home and replaced with National Guardsmen from
the more conservative Orange
County<http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wiki/Orange_County,_California>south
of Los Angeles; this “fixed” this problem in the view of the
governor’s office. Citizens who dared ask questions of National Guard
commanders, or engage them in debate, were threatened with violence.
A curfew was established, and protestors jumped fences after dark to plant
flowers in the guarded lots. Guardsmen destroyed the flowers each morning.
Some protestors, their faces hidden with scarves, challenged police and
National Guard troops. Hundreds were arrested, and Berkeley citizens who
found it necessary to venture out during curfew hours risked police
harassment and beatings. Berkeley city police officers were discovered to be
parking several blocks away from the Annex park, removing their
badges/identification and donning grotesque Halloween type maskes
(ironically including pig faces) to go inflict violence upon citizens they
found in the park annex.
Flower Children vs.The
Establishment<http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wiki/The_Establishment>;
these differing perspectives mirrored widespread 1960s societal tensions
that tended to flow along generational lines regarding the war in Vietnam,
race relations, sexual mores, women’s rights, traditional modes of
authority, experimentation with psychedelic drugs and opposing
interpretations of The American
Dream.[24]<http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wp-admin/#cite_note-23>
In a University referendum held soon after, the U.C. Berkeley students
themselves voted 12,719 to 2,175 in favor of keeping the
park.[17]<http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wp-admin/#cite_note-time-16>
On May 30 <http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wiki/May_30>,
1969<http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wiki/1969>,
30,000 Berkeley citizens (out of a population of 100,000) secured a Berkeley
city permit and marched without incident past barricaded People’s Park to
protest Governor Reagan’s occupation of their city, the death of James
Rector, the blinding of Alan Blanchard and the many injuries inflicted by
law enforcement.[25]<http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wp-admin/#cite_note-afsc-24>Young
girls slid flowers down the muzzles of bayoneted National Guard
rifles,[19]<http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wp-admin/#cite_note-smitha-18>and
a small airplane flew over the city trailing a banner that read, “Let
A
Thousand Parks Bloom.”[25]<http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wp-admin/#cite_note-afsc-24>
[26] <http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wp-admin/#cite_note-25>
Almost a year after ‘Bloody Thursday’ and the death of James Rector,
addressing the California Council of Growers at Yosemite, Reagan defended
his actions, saying: “If it takes a bloodbath, let’s get it over with. No
more appeasement.”[27]<http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wp-admin/#cite_note-26>Less
than a month later, on May
4 <http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wiki/May_4>,
1970<http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/wiki/1970>,
similar violence erupted at Kent State University, killing four students and
seriously wounding nine.
No police officers, Alameda County Sheriff’s deputies or National Guardsmen
were disciplined for their actions in the Bloody Thursday incident.
have a peaceful day,
Bill
--
Free the Weed MP3
http://myspace.com/twosmoothstones
|
