This lesson focuses on the birth of Ethnic Studies through the two longest student strikes in the country’s history, led by youth of color forming the Third World Liberation Front (TWLF) at San Francisco State University and University of California, Berkeley.

Students will:

With the struggle for civil rights and the death of Dr. Martin Luther King, students were expressing an interest in classes that explored Black history and culture. San Francisco State University (SF State) was a college with a mostly white student body and the Black Student Union began to question whether their own education was failing them. They started to demand curriculum that reflected their lives and a better representation of faculty of color. With these demands from the Black Student Union, Asian American students took note.

Just across the Bay, a University of California Berkeley (UC Berkeley) grassroots youth organization called the Asian American Political Alliance (AAPA) became the first in the country to embrace and proclaim the identity “Asian Americans.” Fed up with racism, the AAPA chose to align themselves with the Black Panthers and chose “Yellow Power” as their rallying cry.

Working together, students of color established the Third World Liberation Front (TWLF) at SF State, followed by UC Berkeley. The TWLF was a coalition of students from the Black Student Union, the Asian American Political Alliance, the Latin American Student Organization, the Filipino-American Student Organization, Pilipino American Collegiate Endeavor, El Renacimiento. These students were united in this cause of educational and racial justice.

The Asian American Political Alliance along with the Third World Liberation Front organized the two longest student strikes in U.S. history. The strikes became impactful in “speaking truth to power” and gained much momentum — but not without repercussions. Soon after the strike began at SF State in November 1968, the police and national guard were sent in to disrupt the student protests. Several were beaten and bloodied, and arrests were made. The same violence also occurred at UC Berkeley where some students were beaten unconscious and incarcerated.

However, the students’ perseverance prevailed and they achieved success. On March 3, 1969, UC Berkeley administrators agreed to launch the first Department of Ethnic Studies with SF State following three weeks later. These acts helped to inspire other universities to follow in their lead, bringing in a wave of ethnic studies departments in universities across the U.S.

While the strikes at San Francisco State University and University of California Berkeley resulted in ethnic studies departments at these colleges and influenced other university programs, these changes have mostly been limited to higher education. The fight for ethnic studies continues today at the high school level, as students and community organizations advocate for curriculum that includes the narratives of communities of color.

Teachers may choose to assign students a report or a presentation, depending on what skills students need to develop and the class time available. In either assignment, students should summarize their research findings and present their own analysis of campaign strategy. Remind students to cite all sources and provide evidence for their claims.