Fifty years ago, today; Oct. 1st 1964.
It all started fifty years ago today. Jack Weinberg was arrested for Tabling political literature in front of Spraul Hall at UC Berkeley. Fifty years ago today, that police car was surrounded by 6,000 people for 32 hours and prevented from taking Weinberg to jail. Fifty years ago today, the Free Speech Movement was born. Mario Savio, Joan Baez, and others emerged from the Berkeley Free Speech Movement and devoted their lives to changing the world.
I missed it by three years and a few hundred miles. In 1967, I was in College in So. Cal. and SDS had taken the place of the Free Speech Movement. We moved the dialog forward, but eventually SDS imploded, as did the movement as a whole.
There is work yet to be done, and fifty years later, we are gathering again in Spraul Plaza at Berkeley to hear speeches by those that were here fifty years ago, those that were moved by what those early activists did, and those who today have vision for the future. The movement died and direction was lost, but we didn't lose our voices. We didn't lose Free Speech, and there is still work to be done. Not everyone is equal in this society. Not everyone has the same rights, or opportunities. So; we will raise our voices today on the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Free Speech Movement. We will not be silenced - I will not be silenced until all are Free and Equal and have the same Rights and opportunities.
Fifty years ago today we were at war. We are still at war, and still being lied to. The U.S. needs to stop trying to police the world and fix it's own house.
