50th Anniversary of SF State Strike – The Lessons for Today

This commemorative event honors the 50th anniversary of the San Francisco State Strike. What are the lessons of that strike for today when students have to go into debt to attend college? The mass SF State Strike, which was supported by campus unions including the AFT Teachers Union, was the longest student strike in the history of the United States. The demands for ethnic studies and open admissions are relevant today as there is an organized attack on ethnic studies and the privatization of public education. Working class and poor students in California and throughout the country must go into massive debt to obtain an education. Ethnic cleansing is also taking place in San Francisco and Oakland, where African American communities are being driven out of their homes. ILWU Local 10 also played a critical role in supporting the strike. They supported the strikers, including professors and staff at the college, by supplying work on the docks during the strike and this was important to sustain their struggle. There will be a photo display and videos screened during the event. It is time to continue and build the fight that was made 50 years ago.

Labor and The 1968 San Francisco State Strike (20min.)