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People's Park (Berkeley)

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People's Park, Berkeley

People's Park in Berkeley, California is a park at Telegraph Avenue and Haste Street that was created as part of the city's radical activism in the Sixties. It is today a popular hideout for drug addicts and residence for the homeless.

The University of California bought the land and tore down dwellings inhabited by Berkeley's liberal activists and members of the counterculture with the intention of building student residence halls and a parking lot. This was met with widespread protest from the community.

On April 18, 1969, The Berkeley Barb, an underground publication, urged Berkelelyans to bring materials to create "the People’s Park." The university responded a month later by bulldozing the gardens, pathways, and sandbox the activists had built and enclosed the plot with fencing. Thousands of protestors gathered to oppose the university's destruction of their solidarity and community. The situation soon got out of hand as protestors hurled rocks and metal rods at the police. Governor Ronald Reagan responded by sending in 2000 National Guardsmen. (Some of these Guardsmen were also Cal students who got the order to report to barracks after returning from protesting). He was quoted on May 15, 1969 as saying "If there has to be a bloodbath, then let's get it over with." For days, the streets of Berkeley were barricaded as National Guard helicopters sprayed tear gas on the protestors. In the chaos, 128 were injured, one was blinded, and one was killed. The National Guard occupied the city for weeks afterward.

The community reclaimed the land and rebuilt the park. For a period of time, the park was leased by the university to be run by the City of Berkeley. Further riots broke out in 1991 when the university tried to build volleyball courts in the park. These were dismantled in 1997 after constant vandalism. Today People's Park is also managed by the university.

Alternative meanings

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