PROTESTS
The Prague Spring of 1968
The Prague Spring of 1968 is the term used for the brief period of time when the government of Czechoslovakia led by Alexander Dubček seemingly wanted to democratise the nation and lessen the stranglehold Moscow had on the nation’s affairs. The Prague Spring ended with a Soviet invasion, the removal of Alexander Dubček as party […]
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Miami Civil Protest
A group of black organizations in Miami called for “a mass rally of concerned Black people,” to take place on August 7, 1968, at the Vote Power building in Liberty City, a black neighborhood. Sponsors were the Vote Power League, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), the Student Nonviolent […]
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San Francisco State College Student Strike
“On strike! Shut it down!” From November 1968 to March 1969, those words rang out daily on the campus of San Francisco State College. Like clockwork, between noon and 3 p.m., striking students would gather at the Speaker’s Platform on campus for a rally, then turn in a mass and march on the Administration Building, […]
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Women’s Liberation groups target the Miss America Beauty Contest
September 7 Women’s Liberation groups, joined by members of New York NOW, target the Miss America Beauty Contest in Atlantic City. The protest includes theatrical demonstrations including ritual disposal of traditional female roles into the “freedom ashcan.” While nothing is actually set on fire, one organizer’s comment – quoted in the New York Times the […]
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Volatile Civil Unrest in France with Massive General Strikes
The volatile period of civil unrest in France during May 1968 was punctuated by demonstrations and massive general strikes as well as the occupation of universities and factories across France. At the height of its fervor, it brought the entire economy of France to a virtual halt. The protests reached such a point that political […]
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Democratic National Convention in Chicago – Tense and Violent Protest
August 26 Mayor Richard Daley opens the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. While the convention moves haltingly toward nominating Hubert Humphrey for president, the city’s police attempt to enforce an 11 o’clock curfew. On that Monday night demonstrations are widespread, but generally peaceful. The next two days, however, bring increasing tension and violence to the […]
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1968 movement in Italy or Sessantotto
The 1968 movement in Italy or Sessantotto was inspired by distaste for traditional Italian society and international protests. In May 1968 all universities, except Bocconi, were occupied. In the same month a hundred artists, including Gio Pomodoro, Arnaldo Pomodoro, Ernesto Treccani and Gianni Dova occupied for 15 days the Palazzo della Triennale. The background of […]
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Mexican Student Movement of 1968
The Mexican Student Movement of 1968 was a student movement against the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), which occurred in the context of the buildup to the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City and the worldwide protests that year. The events that happened from July–October 1968 are colloquially called Mexico 68. For several years prior […]
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Student Union Building in Stockholm occupation
Scandinavia Police action in connection with the 1968 Båstad riots. On May 3, 1968 activists protested the participation of two apartheid nations, Rhodesia and South Africa’s, in the international tennis competition held in Båstad, Sweden. The protest was among the most violent between Swedish police and demonstrators during the 1960s, resulting in a dialogue between […]
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Polish 1968 political crisis
The Polish 1968 political crisis, also known in Poland as March 1968 or March events (Polish: Marzec 1968; wydarzenia marcowe), pertains to a series of major student, intellectual and other protests against the government of the Polish People’s Republic. The crisis resulted in the suppression of student strikes by security forces in all major academic […]
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2,500 people occupy Resurrection City
May 11 Ralph Abernathy, Martin Luther King Jr.’s designated successor, and the Southern Christian Leadership Corps are granted a permit for an encampment on the Mall in Washington, DC. Eventually, despite nearly a solid month of rain, over 2,500 people will eventually occupy Resurrection City. On June 24th the site is raided by police, 124 […]
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Martin Luther King Jr. leads a march in Memphis
March 28 Martin Luther King Jr. leads a march in Memphis which turns violent. After King himself had been led from the scene one 16 year old black boy is killed, 60 people are injured, and over 150 arrested.
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The East Los Angeles Walkouts or Chicano Blowouts
The East Los Angeles Walkouts or Chicano Blowouts were a series of 1968 protests by Chicano students against unequal conditions in Los Angeles Unified School District high schools. The first protest took place on March 1, 1968. The students who organized and carried out the protests were primarily concerned with the quality of their education. […]
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1968 National Convention of the U.S. Democratic Party
The 1968 National Convention of the U.S. Democratic Party was held August 26–29 at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago, Illinois. As President Lyndon B. Johnson had announced he would not seek reelection, the purpose of the convention was to select a new presidential nominee to run as the Democratic Party’s candidate for the office. The […]
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Columbia University protests of 1968
The Columbia University protests of 1968 were one among the various student demonstrations that occurred around the globe in that year. The Columbia protests erupted over the spring of that year after students discovered links between the university and the institutional apparatus supporting the United States’ involvement in the Vietnam War, as well as their […]
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Orangeburg massacre
The Orangeburg massacre refers to the shooting of protesters by South Carolina Highway Patrol officers in Orangeburg, South Carolina, on the South Carolina State University campus on the evening of February 8, 1968. The approximately 200 protesters had previously demonstrated against racial segregation at a local bowling alley. Three of the protestors, African American males, […]
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