International House Berkeley

International House Times 9 The 60s & 70s Graeme Orr (IH 1969-70) from Scotland says, "It was at I-House that I really learned how important it is to listen in order to learn." "I remember a Mexican resident who explained that the police response to the unrest in Berkeley was nothing compared to the violent, deadly response of the Mexican government to the 1968 student protests in Mexico City. "And then there was a very angry Venezuelan who made a poster with a poem about how the United States was meddling in Latin America. "And feminism, which was just really beginning in the early '70s–I remember a big discussion with some Indian residents about the practice of arranged marriages. To some of the people in I-House, this was a horrible sexist practice; to others, it was just their cultural tradition." Graeme also listened to lots of music during this time. The Berkeley music scene was vibrant, and he made the most of it. "At I-House, I saw folk musician Malvina Reynolds, and I also saw live music elsewhere in Berkeley–Jimi Hendrix, Son House, Lightinin' Hopkins, Big Mama Thornton. Also, Art Flores, who worked at I-House, used to regularly gather people to get pizza at Larry Blake's, a local music venue on Telegraph Avenue. It was a very social time." Kit Choy Loke (IH 1970-72) from Singapore chose to study at UC Berkeley precisely because of the wide range of conversations underway here. "To someone in their 20s, it was exciting to think that there were people making their voices heard. I wanted to see and hear what they had to say, and I wanted to witness first-hand what was going on." Racial equity in academia and elsewhere was being recognized as a social issue during this time, and UC Berkeley began implementing affirmative action policies. Residents on the front steps circa 1975 with former Executive Director Sherry Warrick and his wife, Betsey. These remarkable anti-war posters, screen printed on the reverse of used computer paper, were produced by students in a Political Poster Workshop in May of 1970 at UC Berkeley. Posters courtesy of Graeme Orr.

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