Street Spirit May 2006

The Berkeley Free Box Poetry Contest

Interview by Joan Clair

Despite the University of California's resolve to remove the Free Box from People's Park, a large group of community supporters have shown just as much commitment to protecting it. Activists have mobilized to rebuild the Free Box every time it has been demolished and hauled away on the orders of UC officials, or burned down by freelance vigilantes.

On April 23, on People's Park anniversary, Charles Gary and Danny McMullan organized the Berkeley Free Box Poetry Contest. The three poems on this page were chosen as the award winners. The event was held to cast the controversy in a more positive light by inviting poets to reflect on the deeper values at stake in the struggle over the Free Box. For many of its supporters, the Free Box has lasting social significance because it promotes the ethical values of sharing, compassion and justice. Click here, to read the award-winning poems from the contest.

Street Spirit: Why did you hold a Free Box poetry contest in People's Park?

Charles Gary: The poetry contest was conceived as a way to bring the Free Box issue to the public in a creative way.

Street Spirit: Can you explain the controversy around the Free Box's repeated destruction and rebuilding?

Charles Gary: The Free Box got burnt, literally, in March of 2005 by "hard partyers."

Danny McMullan: It was not a political act of vandalism, just a bunch of young knuckleheads.

Charles Gary: It's been rebuilt three times since then, and today (April 23, 2006) is the fourth time.

Street Spirit: What happens when you rebuild it?

Charles Gary: Each time we've rebuilt it, within 24 hours, the University has removed it.

Street Spirit: Carrie Guilfoyle, People's Park assistant site coordinator of the UC Office of Community Relations, was quoted in the Berkeley Daily Planet as saying that the clothes were a real problem and that eventually they had to be thrown away.

Charles Gary: Any problem the University brings up could be solved if our common goal was to find positive solutions and serve the common good.

Street Spirit: A UC official said donated clothes could be brought to a store located outside People's Park.

Charles Gary: We need a place where people can get clothes 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. For someone sleeping outdoors who gets wet, they may need dry clothes right away, not just when a store is open. But the real issue is that the Free Box and Food Not Bombs serve in the open because there are so many people who have been abused; they have no interest in going inside.

Street Spirit: You are a member of the People's Park Project and the People's Park Anniversary Committee. Can you tell us a little about the People's Park Project?

Charles Gary: The People's Park Project is a process that facilitates the possibility of user development and a place for free speech.

Street Spirit: Does this include University officials?

Charles Gary: Anyone who shows up is a user.

Click here, to read the award-winning poems from the contest.

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