Protests and Social Movements of the 60s

Free Speech Movement:

The Free Speech Movement was stemmed from the need for change and rebellion from society that many young adults felt during the 60s. The culture of the 50s emphasized conformity and everyone following certain unwritten guidelines that society and their parents expected to be followed. During the 60s the baby boomers were reaching college and they began to see a need for change in society. The perceived notion that all of youth of the sixties were hippies and advocated peace and love was not true. The youth that took part in the free speech movement mainly wanted to change society rather than separate themselves from it as the hippies wanted to.

The Free Speech Movement had its origins on the University of California, Berkeley campus where they fought to regain their right to protest on campus. In 1964 under the informal leadership of Mario Savio the students demanded that the university administration lift a ban on on-campus political activities and recognize the students' right to free speech and academic freedom. Furthermore they were encouraged by a new and optimistic leader in John F. Kennedy. When he came into office he really encouraged the youth of America to stand up for their freedoms. In his Inaugural address of 1961 he made the famous quote which stated, "ask not what your country can do for you-ask what you can do for your country." Kennedy inspired the youth of this era and helped fuel them for the vast movements of the 60s.

The movement began after a student decided to break the rules and protested on campus. The police arrested him but a group of 3,000 students spontaneously sat down around the police car that impeded it from leaving the area. The event lasted 36 hours and during this period the car was used as a speaker's podium and a continuous public discussion was held which continued until the charges against the student were dropped. However the University declined to change the rule and this resulted in a large sit-in that nearly shut down the campus. The center of the protest was the main administration building, Sproul Hall, and the police ended up arresting over 800 students. However the movement was successful and the administration was forced to back down in the end.

A strong voice that arose from the Berkeley protests was that of Mario Savio who strongly tried to show the students the ills of society. He gave a very fiery speech during the protests in the Sproul Plaza before the mass sit-in began. Savio was a philosophy major at the university and was a very big part of the organization of the Berkeley Free Speech movement.

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