The outrageous paramilitary occupation and destruction of People’s Park proceeds each day behind a fortress of barbed wire, 24/7 security guards and a giant Trump-style border wall. With little regard for the displaced community, the history that is being erased or the gentrification that is being furthered, the University and its functionaries make no apologies. In a tiny gesture of recognition, the University has hired Walter Hood, a UCB professor and renowned Black artist to create a “commemorative monument” to serve as a reminder of the space that was retained by the people for almost 55 years. Turns out, nobody who actually used, cared for and supported People’s Park wants anything to do with this whitewashing of history.
Yes, the Walter Hood Design Studio reached out to the People’s Park Council and others for input on how to create a history of the Park. Why can’t we all just sit together in a focus group and work together to tell the story of People’s Park? We could give them all of our choicest anecdotes and timelines. They can then pick through what we give them, choose what they want, present it however they will and claim that we collaborated with them in the telling. We say, “NEVER!”
Is UC really ready to tell the history of how in 1967, it illegally used eminent domain to steal the land and tear down the radical cooperative houses that once stood on what became People’s Park? Is UC ready to explain how many times it has used violence and even lethal violence over the past 55 years to prevent the people from claiming this land for use by the community? Is UC ready to talk about the ways that it claimed ownership and yet neglected to maintain the property and prevented others from caring for the land and the community with SLAPP suits and threats of arrest? Is UC ready to tell the history of how an educational institution that was chartered to provide free and public education to every Californian became a “research university” that has been privatized by corporations and war profiteers? Shall we tell the history of how UC has continued to increase the number of students and manipulated the housing market to ensure that the cost of housing yields huge profits for developers and landlords and forces marginalized and poor people out of Berkeley?
Imagine someone destroying your home, your community, or your sacred space and then asking for your “input” on how they tell the story of your destruction? Would you help your destroyer write your epitaph? We refuse. We who love the park and have served our community for years declare definitively that we will NOT help you whitewash history and THE STRUGGLE CONTINUES!
People’s Park Council, August 17, 2024