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Bodies Upon the Gears

Witness the birth of the free speech movement. Watch the new documentary presented by FIRE and directed by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Paul Wagner.

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Free Speech Movement

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Screenshots from the FIRE mini-documentary "Bodies Upon the Gears"

WATCH: "Bodies Upon the Gears", a new free speech documentary, which is a FIRE presentation of an American Focus production.

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Back in 1964, in light of growing political unrest, the University of California, Berkeley, banned all political speech on campus. In response, a group of college students— Students for Goldwater, conservatives, liberals, and communists— joined forces to create the Free Speech Movement. Their objective? Defend their First Amendment rights at Berkeley. But what started as a small campus protest quickly spread across the country, changing the course of American history forever.

Watch the new free speech documentary "Bodies Upon the Gears," presented by FIRE.

Mario Savio speaks to the press at Berkeley's Greek Theater on Dec. 7, 1964.

There's a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious—makes you so sick at heart—that you can't take part. You can't even passively take part. And you've got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you've got to make it stop.

Free speech activist Mario Savio speaks with reporters outside the Greek Theatre at Berkeley University on December 7, 1964.

Savio, a young college student from Queens, New York, spent the summer of 1964 volunteering for the Mississippi Freedom Summer, going door-to-door to register Black voters in the South. He suffered a beating by the Ku Klux Klan. Mario returned to school at the University of California, Berkeley, that fall to continue his advocacy. At this time, the Berkeley administration was pressured to shut down student activism. So the University decreed that students could no longer set up tables to promote political causes. It was this spark that led Mario and his classmates to create the Free Speech Movement.

Down with the Cops on December 3, 1964
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Jim Jumblatt / Free Speech Movement Archives

Protesters gather on the campus of University of California, Berkeley, on December 3, 1964.

Signs on the front of Sproul Hall at the University of California, Berkeley, on December 3, 1964.
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Jim Jublatt / Free Speech Movement Archives

Signs on the front of Sproul Hall at the University of California, Berkeley, on December 3, 1964.

American flag outside of Sproul Hall on December 3, 1964
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Jim Jumblatt / Free Speech Movement Archives

American flag waves outside of Sproul Hall on December 3, 1964.

Signs in front of Sproul Hall on December 3, 1964
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Jim Jumblatt / Free Speech Movement Archives

Protesters holding signs in front of Sproul Hall at University of California, Berkeley, on December 3, 1964.

"Join the Protest" outside of Sproul Hall on December 3, 1964.
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Jim Jumblatt / Free Speech Movement Archives

"Join the Protest" outside of Sproul Hall on December 3, 1964.

Burton White holds a microphone in front of Sproul Hall on December 3, 1964.
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Jim Jumblatt / Free Speech Movement Archives

Burton White holds a microphone in front of Sproul Hall on December 3, 1964.

University of California, Berkeley, Chancellor Clark Kerr speaking at Greek Theater convocation on December 7, 1964.
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University of California, Berkeley, Chancellor Clark Kerr speaking at Greek Theater convocation on December 7, 1964.

Mario Savio and Bettina Aptheker in the audience at the Greek Theater on the campus of University of California, Berkeley, on December 7, 1964.
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Mario Savio and Bettina Aptheker in the audience at the Greek Theater on the campus of University of California, Berkeley, on December 7, 1964.

“Bodies Upon the Gear” is a Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression presentation of an American Focus production. The documentary is directed, written, and edited by Academy Award and Emmy-winning Paul Wagner (Best Documentary Short Film for The Stone Carvers) and produced by Wagner and his producing partner, Ellen Wagner. 

FIRE Senior Fellow and former national president of the ACLU Nadine Strossen narrates.

So to Speak podcast: Berkeley then and now

News
On this episode, we revisit the events surrounding the 1964 Berkeley Free Speech Movement to see if the university’s storied past can teach us anything about today’s debates.
Student university standing with his back to the camera and his backpack on one shoulder and walking in university campus

Back to School: Free Speech Basics

As you prepare for the new academic year, these resources will help you understand your First Amendment rights, promote a culture of respect for these rights, and provide you with the means to preserve them.

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