BLW: FRAGMENTS OF A STRIKE

fragments of a strike

re-speaking the san francisco state 1968 walkout

Before the 5 month strike that began in November 1968, students and faculty at San Francisco State college had a considerable degree of power and autonomy. The experimental college at State became the model for experimental colleges and free universities around the country. The successful struggle for a black studies and ethnic studies department was initiated in the communities before finding its expression at the college- Among the legacies most cited- the establishment of black studies and ethnic studies department- the strike also forced the revision of admissions policies to be more inclusive.

The strike is a complex study of solidarity, power, endurance, and agency; gains and also losses. It raises questions about the current moment-- as schools are increasingly crippled by budget cuts and compromised by corporate desires.

In this workshop, participants will read and re-speak recorded archives and other forms of documentation to consider the relationship between politics and education this history brings to bear on today.

< fragments of a strike is part of "Move! Activate! Remember!" , a day of interesting events produced by the Journal of Aesthetics and Protest in collaboration with Southern Exposure

Or see Journal of Aesthetics and Protest

BLW is a media performance group based in the United STates and consisting of Rozalinda Borcila, Sarah Lewison, and Julie Wyman. BLW'w work examines the role of media in radical practices: how do video recordings or other new media act as repository for memory and/or vehicles for interjection? Can we, through a embodied recitation of this radical speech, give this act of "play back" a different outcome? BLW is available for workshops in memory, media and performance that investigat and activates activist histories.
contact through socialsculpture at yahoo dot com.

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