Survivalfest 1984: “There is No Distance Between These Issues”

• In Event: “Dreams of a Common Language”: Revisiting “Third Worldism” as a Language of Solidarity

Abstract

In the summer of 1984, the short-lived organization ‘84 Mobilization for Peace and Justice—a multiracial and internationalist coalition of community organizers—hosted Survivalfest 1984 to coincide with the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, which started on July 28th and ran from August 3rd to the 5th. Survivalfest ‘84 was a cultural festival featuring various events where communities of color united to oppose high unemployment rates, poverty, police brutality, U.S. interventions in Central America, military spending, and U.S. concessions to apartheid in South Africa. The event centered around themes of survival, peace, and justice, connecting local and global communities through their shared experiences across borders. This paper examines how Survivalfest ‘84 serves as a lens to analyze how an internationalist, multiracial, and ethnic coalition organized collectively during the Summer Games of 1984 in Los Angeles. Survivalfest ‘84 provides an opportunity to explore the solidarity formed among communities to combat racism, colonialism, imperialism, and capitalism, both in the United States and globally. Although the organizers of Survivalfest ‘84 did not collectively identify as a third-world entity, I argue that their approach embodied the principles of third-worldism. These communities forged solidarity that challenged the celebratory narrative associated with the Summer Games and transformed Los Angeles into a site of resistance and struggle against racial injustices, economic inequality, militarism, and U.S. interventions. Survivalfest ’84 created a space for communities to envision a better and more just future, marking a moment of liberation for all to “let the whole world know that we want peace and justice.”

Author

• Jose Lumbreras, Saddleback College