The origins and trajectory of Asian American political activism in the San Francisco Bay Area, 1968--1978

The purpose of this dissertation is to provide a historical analysis of the Asian American movement in the San Francisco Bay Area during the period 1968–1978. It focuses on the transition of student activism, beginning with the Third World Liberation Front Strike at UC Berkeley, which resulted in the formation of community-based organizations on the Kearny Street-International Hotel block. This ten-year time frame was foundational in the establishment of Asian American political activism. This period produced a threshold of social and political change in both the university environments and in the Asian American community. The uniqueness of this period stemmed from the ability of Asian American activists to respond to a rapidly changing world and local context.;In this period of study, an interconnection was created between student and community activism. The trajectory involved a campus movement serving as a catalyst for social change in the community. The unique characteristic of the Asian American movement was the infusion of first and second plus generations of youth into the urban immigrant community social and political environment. This criterion was set by an intense period of student and community upheaval in 1968–78. An enduring political space resulted for a radical political agenda within the communities affected. The student activism within the immigrant community also gave the Asian American movement a global direction, as Asia home-country politics intersected with the local environment. The expanded political arena created from this period of study has given following generations of activists more flexible boundaries of advocacy and greater freedom of action.