The 1964 Free Speech Movement erupted on the Berkeley campus of the University of California after the university tried to repress student political activism. Thousands of students engaged in mass civil disobedience, resisting the administration, the police, and the state of California.
Amidst a growing radicalisation emerging from the civil rights movement and opposition to the Vietnam War, the Berkeley Free Speech Movement was a formative moment in the development of the student radicalism of the sixties.
Hal Draper was a revolutionary socialist who played a significant role in the Free Speech Movement. This account examines the nature of the student movement and the conservative forces against which it fought. It is an invaluable piece of history for anyone who wants to understand the power of protest.
Red Flag Books has published this modern edition of Draper's text, featuring a new introduction by US revolutionary Joel Geier and beautiful cover art by Melbourne-based cartoonist, unionist and member of Workers Art Collective Sam Wallman.