
2018-2019: 50th Anniversary of the Third World Liberation Front
The pivotal 1969 UC Berkeley student movement, the Third World Liberation Front (twLF), helped established Ethnic Studies as an interdisciplinary field in the U.S. Marking the upcoming 50th anniversary of the twLF, this research initiative will produce a year-long series of events, discussions, exhibits, and an online digital portal that archives and documents twLF’s critical role in shaping UC Berkeley’s identity, its relationship with Bay Area-based 1960s social movements, and its impact on the inception and development of Ethnic Studies. Initiative members include students, staff, and faculty from the Center for Race & Gender, the Ethnic Studies Library, the Multicultural Community Center, the Ethnic Studies and African American Studies Departments, and American Cultures.
Thank you to the Berkeley’s Student Technology Fund supporting the twLF digital portal and 2018-19 commemoration events with a $40,000 research grant.
The UC Berkeley Ethnic Studies Library organized a Third World Liberation Front Resource Guide that compiles materials on the twLF and the history of Ethnic Studies and African American Studies focusing on, but not limited to the University of California, Berkeley and San Francisco State University. Resource include the following:
- books
- dissertations
- articles
- audiovisual media
- primary sources
- newspapers
- oral histories
- Dong, Harvey. 2009. “Third World Liberation Comes to San Francisco State and UC Berkeley.” Chinese America: History & Perspectives 95. MasterFILE Premier, EBSCOhost.
- Lye, Colleen. 2010. “US Ethnic Studies and Third Worldism, 40 years later.” Inter-Asia Cultural Studies 11, no. 2: 188-193. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost.
- Queena, Hoang. 2012. “Ethnic Studies: The Cyclical Fight, Conquer, and Struggle.” Vermont Connection 33, 59-66. Education Source, EBSCOhost.
- Taylor, Ula. 2010. “Origins of African American Studies at UC-Berkeley.” Western Journal Of Black Studies 34, no. 2: 256-265. Humanities International Complete, EBSCOhost.
- Sexton, Jared and Frank B. Wilderson, III. 1999. “The twLF Hunger Strike: A Critical View–On Tactics and a Broader Mission.” Solidarity.