May 25, 1969: 52 years ago, May 25 1969, activists who had been forced out of People's [...]
52 years ago, May 25 1969, activists who had been forced out of People’s Park founded a second “liberated zone” in Berkeley. Despite numerous city attempts to demolish the space, Insurrection City (also known as “People’s Park Mobile Annex”) is now the site of Ohlone Dog Park
Insurrection City was built atop land that had been cleared for BART construction. In a repeat of the founding of People’s Park in April, activists laid down sod, planted trees, cooked pork stew, and built playground equipment on which children played
Insurrection City was just one of several new spaces inspired by People’s Park’s call to “let a thousand parks bloom.” Earlier that month, a group of Black activists from founded the People’s Victory Garden on a nearby lot, planning to distribute vegetables at the Welfare Office
These projects reflected Berkeley radicals’ growing interest in the politics of space, most clearly expressed in 1970’s “And But for the Sky there are No Fences Facing,” many of whose authors participated in the struggles over these parks
https://t.co/tHdCSDa4jO
These radicals hoped to create “liberated zones” which would serve as strategic bases for revolutionary activity and within which everyday life would be reorganized on a communal basis. The Free Church, who helped establish the annex park, worked this concept into their theology
Ecology was central to this emerging politics of space. People’s Architecture, a group of radical architects involved with the park, developed a plan to turn the entire corridor owned by BART in North Berkeley into a green space. Much of this area is now the Ohlone Greenway
While the annex did not go on to serve as a base for revolution, activists did manage to prevent its destruction. In the early 1980s it became one of the country’s first dog parks, and children can still play on structures built during the Insurrection City era
early footage of the park can be viewed here:
https://t.co/wPYOPvIDtQ
