Berkeley celebrates 40th anniversary of Free Speech Movement

[struggle4progress]

By Michelle Locke
ASSOCIATED PRESS
3:36 p.m. October 8, 2004

<snip> The Free Speech Movement began in October 1964 when police arrested graduate student Jack Weinberg for handing out leaflets about civil rights in violation of a campus ban on political activities. <snip>

Back in 1964, police put Weinberg in a squad car, but couldn't go anywhere because thousands of students surrounded the vehicle in a 32-hour protest.

Several students scrambled up on the car to speak, after considerately removing their shoes; the 1964 protest was a well-dressed and polite affair. Among the speakers was the late Mario Savio, who electrified the crowd with his call to "put your bodies on the gears ... upon all the apparatus" and change the system.

This time around, police loaned a squad car to the erstwhile protesters to add authenticity to Friday's rally. <snip>

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/state/20041008-1536-wst-freespeechat40.html

[Steelangel]

1. Go Berkeley!