Week 7: Amylynn Nguyen

Amylynn Nguyen

ASA 02 A02

11/1/17

In Robby Cohen’s article, “Berkeley Free Speech Movement: Paving the Way for Campus Activism”, the author discusses the protests that occurred on the Berkeley campus during the early 1960s. Cohen describes how the students were protesting against the school for their freedom of speech and the right of political activism. The Berkeley students effectively utilized the non violent protest tactics that were seen during the Civil Rights Movement in their own movement. In the end, the students and the school came to an agreement to discuss their rights. Cohen notes that that Berkeley Free Speech Movement served as a precursor to other protests such as the anti Vietnam War protests. The movement in Berkeley showed the young adults of America that it is possible, and their given right, to protest. The Berkeley protests serving as a foundation for future protests reminds me of the first wave of Southeast Asians that immigrated to the United States during the war. During lecture, Professor Valverde talked about how these immigrants were immersed into American society without any help from previous generations. This first generation served as a precursor to the following waves of Southeast Asian immigrants, much like the Berkeley Protests and future student protests.

Question: Do you believe that the University fully supports the student's’ right to freedom of speech?

Resources:

1) Cohen, R. (1985, April). Berkeley Free Speech Movement: Paving the way for student activism. Organization of American Historians, 1(1), 16-18.

2) Klein, R. W. (n.d.). [Mario Savio, leader of the Berkeley Free Speech Movement, speaks to assembled students on the campus at the University of California, Berkeley, on Dec. 7, 1964.]. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/2014/10/05/353849567/when-political-speech-was-banned-at-berkeley