Dear friends of the Berkeley People’s Park,
Coming from Germany in 1972, hitch-hiking across the USA to SF, I heard about Berkeley People’s park, about the history from 1969, which was still fresh in 1972 and helped to defend the People’s Park in May 1972. I still remember vividly the demonstration on Telegraph Ave and helped tear down the fence at People’s Park.
Now I hear the UCB is still trying to occupy this historic place. Let me know if I can help in any way, may just tell you about the memories of Johnny’s Soup Kitchen on Telegraph Ave or when we blocked the streets to Oakland harbor with cars from junk yards to prevent the aircraft carrier from getting supplies so it couldn’t go to Viet Nam to bomb dikes to drown people, or about hiring a helicopter to coordinate the demonstration by FM radio from the air, or just from the all night drum players in front of the student union building, etc.
Maybe there is a historic archive about this half century lasting fight for the park.
I wish you all good luck to keep this place in the hands of the people and turn it into a historic monument, with just grass and trees, benches and playgrounds. No concrete, no houses.
Take care,
Dieter Müller-Greven