The Commemoration of the 1968 SF State Strike

From Wednesday, October 29th, 2008 to Thursday, October 30th, my Asian American Culture class at San Francisco State University made our presence felt through our campus cultural guerrilla invasion commemorating the 40th anniversary of the 1968 strike. For those of you who are not aware of what happened, here's a little background information before I go on.

On November 6, 1968, the Black Student Union and other student groups which referred to themselves as the Third World Liberation Front led a strike at San Francisco State University to fight for their rights to establish a school of ethnic studies. They presented 15 demands that they want the school to accomplish including the expansion of the college's black studies department, the creation of the school of ethnic studies, and more recruitment and admissions of minority students. The fighting continued for several months until March 21, 1969, when all protesting came to an end. After all the hard work and dedication the students put into the protesting, they won their right to establish the school of ethnic studies and they expanded the Black Studies Department.

On the morning of October 30th, my group and I came out in guerrilla fashion along with the rest of the class from our classroom (to support us) to Cesar Chavez quad area (an area that many students walk through throughout the entire day) to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the SF State Strike. As we were walking from our classroom to the Cesar Chavez quad area, we began chanting melodically over and over, "On strike, we're gonna shut it down!" As we were walking from our class through the campus to reach the quad area, this positive vibe and feeling overcame me. I felt amazing knowing that I was in this large group together with other people who supported this cause to commemorate the 1968 strike. That really pumped me up right before my group and I presented our skit.

Immediately when my group reached the quad area we ran into our positions and began our fashion-related skit. I felt so much good energy between me and the rest of the class that it was rather intoxicating (in a good way). Being in a huge group really changes the mentality of everyone to focus on one main goal and I could understand why so many people banned together to fight in the strike for their rights to a college of ethnic studies at SF State. Not to mention, our reenactment of the strike gave me a new-found appreciation for all the students who participated in the 1968 strike. Without these students before me, I would have never been able to be in an Asian American class like this. All my life I have learned of history through the Eurocentric perspective and now in college, I am able to venture off and learn about history through the eyes of other people. It makes me proud to attend a school that has the first and only ethnic studies building in the United States. After my group and CPG + Team Kamikaze presented their skit, we ended with our teacher leaving us with the note that if students come together, they can never be defeated. As we left to go on to our next classes, we chanted, "The students united, will never be defeated." And it's true. If we ban together as students and fight for our rights like the students during the '68 strike did, change will occur.

"The students united will never be defeated." Ooooooohhhhhhhhhhh yeaaaahhh.