the Isla Vista riots of 1969 -- I was there

[Meredith]

That quarter I wasn't enrolled at UCSB, but I still displayed three huge paintings in the student show and had a job painting the Arts & Lectures kiosk calendar each week. A popular Anthropology professor was denied tenure and a student group called the Radical Union staged bullhorn protests all over campus. They were compelling. One morning the police formed a cordon around the Administration Building and were heckled for hours. Then Nixon invaded Cambodia and we really had something to protest. Berkeley was already rioting and they sent members from their RU to Isla Vista to offer advice. I wasn't a member but I sat in at meetings because I'd interviewed the Anthropology professor for a class assignment the previous quarter. The crowds at the RU protests grew larger and angrier. (I lost my job at A & L because I couldn't concentrate on anything else.) The Isla Vista Bank of America became a target for fury and one night it was burned to the ground. We were then placed under martial law. (to be continued)

[enderzero]

Thanks Mere! Looking forward to more. Here are some pics I found on the official IV page.



and another IV site.

[Meredith]

Dear Ryland: Thanks for the links with the factual information. I wasn't aware of a lot of the particulars because I didn't listen to radio -- I just lived through the experience. We were so upset when Kevin Moran was killed! A wake was held for him at the beach (Ramp). I remember the police saying it was "accidental discharge" but I don't remember their sniper theory cover-up. I knew Lefty Bryant well because my best friend in highschool was his girlfriend's little sister. I spent every other weekend at their apartment. I learned to dance from Lefty. Years later it came out that he was a shill for the SBPD: an infiltrator in the Black Students League all along. He had a lot of charisma. Love, Meredith