April 29, 1971: 52 years ago, April 28 1971, about 450 prisoners at Santa Rita [...]

52 years ago, April 28 1971, about 450 prisoners at Santa Rita Rehabilitation Center in Pleasanton went on strike in response to authorities attempting to stoke racial tensions. Inmates refused both work and food for one day, and presented a list of demands for better conditions

May 31, 1971: 53 years ago, May 31 1971, 50 people organized by the Intercommunal [...]

53 years ago, May 31 1971, 50 people organized by the Intercommunal Survival Committee to Combat Fascism (an official white auxiliary organization of the Black Panther Party) cleared a vacant lot in Berkeley to build a park. It remains to this day as Berkeley Way Mini-Park The ISCFF was one …

June 12, 1971: 53 years ago, June 11 1971, federal marshals raided Alcatraz Island, [...]

53 years ago, June 11 1971, federal marshals raided Alcatraz Island, removing the last few remaining occupiers. Hundreds of Native people from across North America, led by the Indians of All Tribes, had occupied the former prison island during the previous nineteen months

June 14, 1971: Berkeley Nike Missile Base Occupation

June 14 1971, only a few days after federal marshals ended the Alcatraz occupation, a convoy of nine cars moved to occupy an abandoned Nike Missile base near Tilden park in Berkeley. Alcatraz veteran John Trudell, photographed at the base, helped lead the occupation. Announced in the Berkeley Tribe, the …

July 20, 1971: 52 years ago, July 19 1971, members of the Progressive Labor Party fought [...]

52 years ago, July 19 1971, members of the Progressive Labor Party fought police at San Francisco City Hall, injuring four. The PLP had disrupted a Board of Supervisors meeting as part of the Maoists group’s campaign to demand summer jobs for Bay Area youth PLP’s “Jobs Now!” campaign was …