Berkeley students and community reject UCB construction in People’s Park, removing chain link fence.

January 29, 2021 — A large rally, mostly University of California, Berkeley students, and many Berkeley residents, all advocates of People’s Park, gathered at the park on Friday afternoon and delivered a set of rousing speeches, eloquent, educational, historical, spanning generations, inspiring in their ideals and vitality. Social justice was a key theme. The Park had about a third of it’s area blocked off with chain link fence for weeks and students and park users were outraged at the ongoing attempts of UC Berkeley to take away a large part of the historical and living park, a landmark of social justice and people power. The park is a significant and valuable cultural resource, hosting many concerts, social gatherings, educational and recreational activities, sports, community gardening, diverse groves of trees and plants, charitable outreach, and more throughout the year. The park is a creative collaboration of students, faculty, and residents of Berkeley, living and breathing the oxygen of ideas in a public open green space.

At the conclusion of the speeches on behalf of protecting the park from unwanted development, an unexpected and brilliant spontaneous outpouring of action was suddenly engaged and the crowd took to dismantling the chain link fence, efficiently taking it down, and carrying a number of the fence sections in a rousing parade down Telegraph Avenue, chanting, “Whose park? People’s Park!”. The fencing and protest signs were deposited on the steps of the Sproul Hall administration building as a strong message to the University to stop any development of buildings in People’s Park.

The next morning, trucks were seen taking away the fencing from the park. The people, from all walks of life, made a strong statement, once again, in defense of the Park and the park community, and will continue to work to enhance the People’s Park and bring people together to learn and share in the public space in collaboration with nature’s healing power.

Below are are a few photos and videos from the fence removal part of the event. If there are videos or transcripts of the excellent speeches, this site would be happy to post them here. Please contact: greg@imaja.com.