This anthology includes essays, photographs, and reflections from individuals who participated in or were inspired by the Third World Liberation Front (TWLF) student strike in 1969 that led to the establishment of Ethnic Studies at UC Berkeley.
Multiracial solidarity was established through the coming together of African American, Asian American, Chicano and Native American students to form the Third World Liberation Front (TWLF) along with support from white student allies.
This anthology fills a historical void. In social movement histories, we hear about the historical importance of struggles such as the Free Speech Movement in 1964 and the People's Park conflict in 1969 but very little about the TWLF. If the participants do not retell their history, it will be inaccurately retold. Or worse, it becomes omitted and erased from the narrative of general social movement history.
This anthology is also the story of what future generations did to continue the struggle, including the establishment of new twLF coalitions in 1999 and afterwards.
The strike reshaped academia then and its legacy has ramifications on how we look at history and societal transformation today. In many ways, the TWLF and the solidarity that emerged has provided future generations to draw on past lessons to make change in the present.
