Laborfest: Movies on Eugene Debs & 1968 SF State Strike

If you missed opening night, you can catch the Eugene Debs movie tonight. You can also commemorate the 40th anniversary the famous 1968 student-worker strike at San Francisco State University, closing most of the school for 6 months, for the demands of the Black Student Union that included ethnic studies, and the demands of the professors who joined in the student picket line in solidarity and on labor issues. 1968 is remembered for many milestone events, including but not limited to:
(1) SF State University strike; (2) assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy, (3) Mexico City massacre of students, (4) Mexico City Olympics where black power salute was seen around the world, (5) French student and worker strikes, (6) many struggles in Czechoslavkia, including the invasion of this country by the Soviet Union, (and (7) last and perhaps most important of all, the Tet Offensive by the liberation forces in Vietnam, the turning point of the struggle that ended with kicking out the mightiest imperialist death machine the world had seen since Nazi Germany, namely the USA, on April 30, 1975. All of the political struggles of 1964-1975 were under the umbrella of the peace movement to end the US war against Vietnam.

(1) Eugene Debs & The American Movement
(43 min) 1977
By Cambridge Documentary Films
This film tells the story of railroad worker Eugene Debs’ life through his speeches and photographs. He is one of the most important labor leaders in the history of the United States. Jailed for opposing the 1st world war, he fought for workers rights and received over one million votes while running for president from jail. He founded the American Railway union and led the Pullman strike in 1894. He founded the Socialist Party in 1901 and ran four times as its presidential candidate. He won 900,369 votes in 1912, about 6% of the vote. He also organized the Industrial Workers of the World with Mother Jones, Big Bill Haywood and others.
http://www.cambridgedocumentaryfilms.org/debs.html#

(2) San Francisco State On Strike (20 min) 1968
This film shows the struggle of the students and teachers in the 6 months long strike at San Francisco State University.
See also
http://www.laborfest.net/2008schedule.htm