BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.1 PRODID:-//aPC//aPC//EN BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Cuban Revolution (1959) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250101 DTEND:20250102T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Marxism COMMENT:On this day in 1959\, U.S.-backed Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista fled the country following the victory of Fidel Castro's 26th of July Mov ement at the Battle of Santa Clara\, marking the successful conclusion of the Cuban Revolution. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1959\, U.S.-backed Cuban dictator Fulgencio Bat ista fled the country following the victory of Fidel Castro's 26th of July Movement (M-26-7) at the Battle of Santa Clara\, marking the successful c onclusion of the Cuban Revolution.\n\nThe 26th of July Movement takes its name from the date of with a failed attack on the Moncada Barracks in 1953 \, however\, the movement bearing this name was not formally organized unt il the attackers were released from prison in 1955. Public resistance cont inued sporadically until November 1956\, when 80 members of the M-26-7 ret urned from exile.\n\nSoon after landing on the island\, a separate revolut ionary group\, the "Directorio Revoluncionari Estudiantil" (DRE)\, unsucce ssfully attempted an attack on the Presidential Palace in Havana.\n\nThrou ghout 1957\, armed resistance from groups such as the DRE and M-26-7 would escalate. After a failed offensive by the government against rebels in th e summer of 1958\, the rebels launched a major counter-offensive.\n\nOn De cember 28th\, 1958\, after a fraudulent election in favor of Batista\, rev olutionary forces reached the city of Santa Clara. Seizing equipment from an armored train intended to transport government reinforcements\, the reb els quickly captured the city\, prompting Batista to panic and flee to the Dominican Republic with a personal fortune of more than $300 million.\n\n In the following days\, revolutionary forces entered Havana with no resist ance\, and Castro established a provisional government. The 26th of July M ovement later reformed along Marxist–Leninist lines\, becoming the Commu nist Party of Cuba in October 1965.\n\nBatista later settled in fascist Sp ain\, dying there in 1973 at the age of 72. RESOURCES:https://www.britannica.com/event/Cuban-Revolution/The-rise-of-Ca stro-and-the-outbreak-of-revolution RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Santa_Clara RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/history/etol/document/fi/cuba/index.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Haitian Independence (1804) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250101 DTEND:20250102T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Independence COMMENT:On this day in 1804\, the Haitian Republic was established by self -liberated slaves\, the culmination of years of violent revolt against Fre nch colonizers. More than 200\,000 Haitians died in the struggle for liber ation. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1804\, the Haitian Republic was established by self-liberated slaves\, the culmination of years of violent revolt against French colonizers. More than 200\,000 Haitians died in the struggle for l iberation.\n\nThe Haitian Revolution was the only uprising of enslaved peo ple that led to the founding of a state which was both free from slavery\, and ruled by non-whites and former captives.\n\nThe revolt began on Augus t 21st\, 1791\, in what was then the French colony of Saint-Domingue. Thou sands of people began to kill their masters\, plunge the colony into civil war.\n\nWithin the next ten days\, slaves had taken control of the entire Northern Province in an uprising of unprecedented scale. The fighting was particularly brutal\, and more than 200\,000 black people died in the yea rs between the initial uprising and formal independence.\n\nAlthough Touss aint Louverture established himself as a military leader of the revolution by 1801\, he died shortly before independence was won. Jean-Jacques Dessa lines\, his former lieutenant\, became the first leader of Haiti. RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/haitian-revolut ion-1791-1804/ RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/library/black-jacobins-toussaint-louverture-s an-domingo-revolution RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haitian_Revolution RESOURCES:https://eji.org/news/haitis-forced-payments-to-enslavers-cost-ec onomy-21-billion-the-new-york-times-found/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Herbert Lee (1912 - 1961) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250101 DTEND:20250102T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Civil Rights,Birthdays COMMENT:Herbert Lee\, born on this day in 1912\, was an American civil rig hts activist who fought for voting rights in Mississippi\, where black peo ple had been disenfranchised since 1890. In 1961\, Lee was assassinated by a state representative. DESCRIPTION:Herbert Lee\, born on this day in 1912\, was an American civil rights activist who fought for voting rights in Mississippi\, where black people had been disenfranchised since 1890. In 1961\, Lee was assassinate d by a state representative. Lee was a charter member of the National Asso ciation for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in Amite County and had sought to enfranchise black Americans by encouraging voter registratio n.\n\nIn 1961\, Lee assisted Bob Moses\, a field secretary with the Studen t Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)\, in his efforts to persuade lo cals to register. His activities were met with threats of reprisal by the white community\, and Lee became one of the movement's earliest victims to white violence. On September 25th\, 1961\, Lee was murdered by Mississipp i state representative E. H. Hurst (1908 - 1990) in broad daylight at the cotton gin while delivering cotton near Liberty.\n\nHurst killed Lee with a single shot to the head\, but later claimed in court that he was defendi ng himself after Lee attacked him with a tire iron. An all-white jury rule d that the killing was a justifiable homicide. In 1964\, civil rights acti vist Louis Allen was killed after he informed federal investigators that h is testimony in the case had been coerced on threat of violence. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbert_Lee_(activist) RESOURCES:https://snccdigital.org/people/herbert-lee/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Zapatista Uprising (1994) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250101 DTEND:20250102T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Indigenous COMMENT:On this day in 1994\, the same day that NAFTA took effect\, the Za patista Army of National Liberation declared war on the Mexican state\, de manding "work\, land\, housing\, food\, health\, education\, independence\ , liberty\, democracy\, justice and peace." DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1994\, the same day that NAFTA took effect\, th e Zapatista Army of National Liberation declared war on the Mexican state\ , demanding "work\, land\, housing\, food\, health\, education\, independe nce\, liberty\, democracy\, justice and peace."\n\nFollowing this war decl aration\, armed indigenous rebels seized four towns in Chiapas\, Mexico\, releasing nearly 200 predominantly indigenous prisoners and destroying lan d records. The fighting lasted eleven days and estimates of those killed r ange from 300-400. The EZLN remains active to this day. RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/1994-the-zapatista-uprising RESOURCES:http://www.internationalaffairs.org.au/news-item/the-zapatista-m ovement-the-fight-for-indigenous-rights-in-mexico/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:2nd Palmer Raids Begin (1920) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250102 DTEND:20250103T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Anarchism COMMENT:On this day in 1920\, the Department of Justice launched a series of attacks against leftists and labor organizers across more than 23 state s\, arresting more than 3\,000. President Hoover later admitted that there were "clear cases of brutality". DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1920\, the Department of Justice launched a ser ies of attacks against leftists and labor organizers across more than 23 s tates\, arresting more than 3\,000. President Hoover later admitted that t here were "clear cases of brutality".\n\nThe Palmer Raids were a series of raids conducted in November 1919 and January 1920 during the First Red Sc are by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ)\, under the administration of President Woodrow Wilson. The raids targeted suspected leftists and labor activists\, mostly Italian and Eastern European immigrants\, especially if they were anarchists or communists\, and generally sought to deport them from the United States.\n\nThe arrests occurred under the leadership of At torney General A. Mitchell Palmer\, with more than 3\,000 arrested. Though 556 people were deported\, including prominent anti-capitalist thinkers l ike Emma Goldman\, Palmer's efforts were largely frustrated by officials a t the U.S. Department of Labor\, which had authority for deportations and objected to DOJ methods.\n\nAlthough the DOJ initially claimed to have tak en possession of several bombs\, no evidence of the bombs was produced. In their entirety\, all of the raids confiscated just four pistols. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palmer_Raids RESOURCES:https://www.jacobinmag.com/2019/12/red-scare-industrial-workers- of-the-world-iww END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Anton Pannekoek (1873 - 1960) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250102 DTEND:20250103T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Labor,Marxism,Birthdays COMMENT:Antonie Pannekoek\, born on this day in 1873\, was a Dutch astrono mer\, philosopher\, socialist revolutionary\, and Marxist theorist associa ted with council communism. "Common ownership by the producers can be the only goal of the working class." DESCRIPTION:Antonie Pannekoek\, born on this day in 1873\, was a Dutch ast ronomer\, philosopher\, Marxist theorist\, and socialist revolutionary.\n\ nA respected Marxist theorist\, Pannekoek was one of the founders of counc il communism and a main figure in the radical left in the Netherlands and Germany\, active in the Communist Party of the Netherlands\, the Communist Workers' Party of the Netherlands and the Communist Workers' Party of Ger many.\n\nPannekoek is perhaps best known for his writing on workers' counc ils. He regarded these as a new form of organization capable of overcoming the limitations of the old institutions of the labor movement\, the trade unions and social democratic parties.\n\nPannekoek was a sharp critic of anarchism\, social democracy\, and Leninism. During the early years of the Russian revolution\, Pannekoek gave critical support to the Bolsheviks. I n later analysis\, however\, Pannekoek argued that the Bolsheviks crippled the workers' soviets\, and formed a new ruling class of their own party.\ n\nUnlike other progressive thinkers of his time\, Pannekoek was also high ly critical of Social Darwinism\, derisively calling it "bourgeois darwini sm".\n\n"Public ownership is a middle-class program of a modernized and di sguised form of capitalism. Common ownership by the producers can be the o nly goal of the working class."\n\n- Antonie Pannekoek RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonie_Pannekoek RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/archive/mattick-paul/1960/pannekoek.htm RESOURCES:https://www.workerscontrol.net/theorists/anton-pannekoek-brief-b iography END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Ellsberg Charged With Espionage (1973) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250103 DTEND:20250104T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1973\, American whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg was c harged with violating the Espionage Act for releasing the Pentagon Papers\ , carrying a maximum sentence of 115 years. Due to state misconduct\, the charges were dismissed. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1973\, American whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg w as charged with violating the Espionage Act for releasing the Pentagon Pap ers\, carrying a maximum sentence of 115 years. Due to state misconduct\, the charges were dismissed.\n\nDaniel Ellsberg is an American economist\, activist and former United States military analyst who\, while employed by the RAND Corporation\, precipitated a national political controversy in 1 971 when he released the Pentagon Papers\, a top-secret Pentagon study of the U.S. government decision-making in relation to the Vietnam War.\n\nThe Pentagon Papers revealed\, among other things\, that Lyndon B. Johnson ha d repeatedly lied about the nature of American involvement in Vietnam and that the United States had been undermining Vietnamese autonomy continuous ly since the Truman administration.\n\nDue to governmental misconduct and illegal evidence-gathering\, Daniel Ellsberg was dismissed of all charges on May 11th\, 1973. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Ellsberg RESOURCES:https://www.npr.org/2018/01/19/579101965/daniel-ellsberg-explain s-why-he-leaked-the-pentagon-papers END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Federico Borrell García (1912 - 1936) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250103 DTEND:20250104T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Anarchism,Fascism COMMENT:Federico García\, born on this day in 1912\, was a Spanish anarch ist and Republican militiaman who fought in the Spanish Civil War. Some be lieve him to be the soldier whose death is depicted in the "Death of a Loy alist Soldier"\, shown. DESCRIPTION:Federico García\, born on this day in 1912\, was a Spanish an archist and Republican militiaman who fought in the Spanish Civil War. Som e believe him to be the soldier whose death is depicted in the "Death of a Loyalist Soldier"\, shown.\n\nFederico Borrell García was born in Benill oba\, Spain\, and founded a local branch of the anarchist "Iberian Federat ion of Libertarian Youth" (FIJL). When the Civil War broke out\, García j oined the local Loyalist militia\, the Columna Alcoiana\, and fought to de fend the Spanish Republic against the Nationalist forces of Francisco Fran co.\n\nOn September 5th\, 1936\, Borrell was one of approximately fifty me n who arrived at Cerro Muriano in Córdoba to reinforce the militia agains t Francoist forces commanded by General José Enrique Varela.\n\nBorrell w as fatally shot around five o'clock on or near the hill known as La Loma d e las Malagueñas. He was identified as the man in the photo by his brothe r\, corroborated by the fact that Spanish government records state was the only member of the Columna Alcoiana to die in the fighting that day.\n\nT hat García is the man in the photo has been disputed\, with at least one documentary\, "La sombra del iceberg"\, claiming that the picture was stag ed and that García is not the individual in the picture. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federico_Borrell_Garc%C3%ADa RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/borrell-federico-1936 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Lucretia Mott (1793 - 1880) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250103 DTEND:20250104T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Feminism,Birthdays COMMENT:Lucretia Mott\, born on this day in 1793\, was an American Quaker\ , abolitionist\, women's rights activist\, pacifist\, and social reformer. Mott helped write the "Declaration of Sentiments" during the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention. DESCRIPTION:Lucretia Mott\, born on this day in 1793\, was an American Qua ker\, abolitionist\, women's rights activist\, pacifist\, and social refor mer. She had formed the idea of reforming the position of women in society when she was amongst the women excluded from the World Anti-Slavery Conve ntion in 1840.\n\nIn 1848\, Mott was invited by Jane Hunt to a meeting tha t led to the first public gathering about women's rights\, the Seneca Fall s Convention\, during which Mott co-wrote the Declaration of Sentiments.\n \nWhen slavery was outlawed in 1865\, Mott advocated giving former slaves who had been bound to slavery laws within the U.S.\, whether male or femal e\, the right to vote. She remained a central figure in the abolition and suffrage movement until her death in 1880. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucretia_Mott RESOURCES:https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/lu cretia-mott END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Sammy Younge Jr. Assassinated (1966) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250103 DTEND:20250104T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Civil Rights,Assassinations,Imperialism,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1966\, activist Sammy Younge Jr. was shot dead by a clerk after he attempted to use a "whites only" restroom in Tuskegee\, Al abama. After his murderer's acquittal by an all-white jury\, the SNCC oppo sed the Vietnam War. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1966\, activist Sammy Younge Jr. was shot dead by a clerk after he attempted to use a "whites only" restroom in Tuskegee\ , Alabama. After his murderer's acquittal by an all-white jury\, the Stude nt Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) opposed the Vietnam War.\n\nYo unge served in the U.S. Navy for two years before being medically discharg ed\, after which he began attending the Tuskegee Institute as a political science student.\n\nYounge became a civil rights activist after enrolling in college\, becoming active with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Comm ittee (SNCC) and a leader with the Tuskegee Institute Advancement League. He also participated in the Selma to Montgomery protest march in March 196 5.\n\nIn September 1965\, Younge was arrested and jailed after attempting to drive a group of black people to get registered to vote in Lee County\, Alabama. Younge continued his efforts to get blacks registered to vote in Macon County\, Alabama for four months after being released from jail\, u p until his death.\n\nOn January 3rd\, 1966\, Younge was shot and killed b y a gas station clerk after trying to use a "whites only" bathroom in his hometown of Tuskegee. Earlier that day\, Younge had brought 40 people to r egister to vote at Macon County Courthouse\, where he was threatened with a knife by a registrar.\n\nAt 21 years of age\, Younge became the first bl ack university student to be killed in the civil rights movement. His murd erer was quickly arrested\, indicted\, and found not guilty by an all-whit e jury. This led to widespread protests in Tuskegee and SNCC to formally c ome out in opposition to the Vietnam War. The SNCC issued a statement on J anuary 6th\, 1966\, saying:\n\n"We believe the United States government ha s been deceptive in its claims of concern for the freedom of the Vietnames e people\, just as the government has been deceptive in claiming concern f or the freedom of colored people in such other countries as the Dominican Republic\, the Congo\, South Africa\, Rhodesia\, and in the United States itself.\n\n...The murder of Samuel [Younge] in Tuskegee\, Alabama\, is no different than the murder of peasants in Vietnam\, for both [Younge] and t he Vietnamese sought\, and are seeking\, to secure the rights guaranteed t hem by law. In each case the United States government bears a great part o f the responsibility for these deaths. Samuel [Younge] was murdered becaus e United States law is not being enforced. Vietnamese are murdered because the United States is pursuing an aggressive policy in violation of intern ational law." RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sammy_Younge_Jr. RESOURCES:https://snccdigital.org/events/murder-of-sammy-younge-snccs-stat ement-on-vietnam/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Baixa de Cassanje revolt (1961) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250104 DTEND:20250105T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Colonialism,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1961\, cotton plantation workers in the Baixa de Ca ssanje region of Angola protested for better working conditions\, an act w hich escalated into a period of open rebellion and war against Portuguese colonizers. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1961\, cotton plantation workers in the Baixa d e Cassanje region of Angola protested for better working conditions\, an a ct which escalated into a period of open rebellion and war against Portugu ese colonizers.\n\nEmployed by Cotonang\, a Portuguese-Belgian cotton plan tation company\, several workers launched a protest on January 4th\, deman ding improved working conditions. The protest quickly evolved into a gener al uprising\, with workers burning identification cards\, attacking Portug uese traders\, blocking roads\, and destroying company buildings.\n\nIn re sponse\, the colonial government quickly suppressed the uprising with brut al military force\, initiating a bombing campaign of nearby villages that killed anywhere from 400 - 10\,000 people.\n\nDespite the short-term failu re of the uprising\, it served as an important precursor to the Angolan In dependence War\, which would eventually lead to the end of colonial rule. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baixa_de_Cassanje_revolt RESOURCES:https://journals.openedition.org/mulemba/1807 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:CLR James (1901 - 1989) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250104 DTEND:20250105T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays COMMENT:CLR James\, born on this day in 1901\, was a Trinidadian historian and journalist whose works include "The Black Jacobins"\, a history of th e Haitian Revolution\, and "World Revolution"\, detailing the rise and fal l of the Communist International. DESCRIPTION:CLR James\, born on this day in 1901\, was a Trinidadian histo rian and journalist whose works include "The Black Jacobins"\, a history o f the Haitian Revolution\, and "World Revolution"\, detailing the rise and fall of the Communist International.\n\nBorn in Trinidad\, James later mo ved to England to assist his friend\, the West Indian cricketer Learie Con stantine\, with his autobiography. In 1933\, he moved to London and begin organizing with Trotskyists. In the next few years\, James wrote some of h is most notable works\, including both "World Revolution" and "The Black J acobins".\n\nIn 1939\, James visited Leon Trotsky in Coyoacán\, México. The two disagreed on the "Negro Question"\; Trotsky saw the Trotskyist Par ty as providing leadership to the black community in a relationship simila r to the Bolsheviks and ethnic minorities in Russia\, while James suggeste d that the self-organized struggle of African-Americans would lead to a br oader radical social movement.\n\n"When history is written as it ought to be written\, it is the moderation and long patience of the masses at which men will wonder\, not their ferocity."\n\n- CLR James RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._L._R._James RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/archive/james-clr/ RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/article/black-jacobins-toussaint-louverture-a nd-san-domingo-revolution-clr-james RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/james-c-l-r-190 1-1989/ RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/archive/james-clr/biograph.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Dundalli Executed (1855) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250105 DTEND:20250106T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Colonialism,Indigenous COMMENT:Dundalli\, executed by the state on this day in 1855\, was an Abor iginal lawman who mediated conflict between European settlers and indigeno us aboriginal peoples in the area of Brisbane in South East Queensland. DESCRIPTION:Dundalli\, executed by the state on this day in 1855\, was an Aboriginal lawman who mediated conflict between European settlers and indi genous aboriginal peoples in the area of Brisbane in South East Queensland .\n\nCharacterized by colonial authorities as a criminal\, Dundalli was an indigenous leader who coordinated decade-long resistance to the process o f colonization.\n\nAs tensions escalated between indigenous people and set tlers around Brisbane\, Dundalli's role as a tribal leader led to widespre ad speculation that he instigated various violent conflicts. Despite this perception\, modern historians note his restraint - he had not exacted rev enge for his brother's murder at the hands of a settler and rival tribe an d had saved at least one settler's life in a raid.\n\nIn 1854\, Dundalli e ntered Brisbane to be paid for removing a felled tree and was arrested by the police. Tried and convicted for murder on flimsy evidence\, he was han ged a few months later on this day in 1855. Historian Libby Connors writes that\, from the gallows\, Dundalli gave a speech addressed to his wife an d Turrbal\, Ningy Ningy\, and Djindubari people gathered nearby\, calling on them to avenge his death.\n\nConnors states "In the end\, the theatre o f his own execution and gallows speech provides further evidence that a pa rallel system of justice was operating in the region which the colonial au thorities refused to acknowledge." RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dundalli RESOURCES:https://eprints.usq.edu.au/7257/2/Connors_ANZLH_2006_PV.pdf END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Eisenhower Doctrine Declared (1957) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250105 DTEND:20250106T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism COMMENT:On this day in 1957\, President Eisenhower declared the "Eisenhowe r Doctrine"\, authorizing commitment of U.S. forces to any nation threaten ed by "international communism". In 1958\, 14\,000 U.S. troops occupied Le banon during a political crisis. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1957\, President Eisenhower declared the "Eisen hower Doctrine"\, authorizing commitment of U.S. forces to any nation thre atened by "international communism".\n\nIn 1958\, 14\,000 U.S. troops occu pied Lebanon during a political crisis. On this basis\,14\,000 U.S. troops would occupy Lebanon to intervene in the 1958 Lebanon Crisis\, an action named "Operation Blue Bat". Following the Lebanese intervention\, some U.S . Senators accused Eisenhower of exaggerating the threat of communism to t he region. Eisenhower later privately admitted that the real goal behind t he policy was combating Arab nationalism. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eisenhower_Doctrine RESOURCES:https://millercenter.org/the-presidency/presidential-speeches/ja nuary-5-1957-eisenhower-doctrine END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Revolutionary Committee of Puerto Rico Founded (1867) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250106 DTEND:20250107T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Independence COMMENT:On this day in 1867\, the Revolutionary Committee of Puerto Rico w as founded by exiled revolutionaries to fight for independence from Spain. This group later organized the insurrection known as the "Grito de Lares" . DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1867\, the Revolutionary Committee of Puerto Ri co was founded by exiled revolutionaries to fight for independence from Sp ain. These revolutionaries included Juan Ríus Rivera\, Segundo Ruiz Belvi s\, Ramón Emeterio Betances\, and José Francisco Basora.\n\nThe Committe e began planning an armed revolution in Puerto Rico in early 1868\, issuin g several "Proclamas" criticizing Spanish exploitative practices and deman ding rebellion against the government. On September 23rd\, 1868\, the Revo lutionary Committee\, led by Betances\, declared independence in the city of Lares\, Puerto Rico\, calling it the Republic of Puerto Rico.\n\nSevera l hundred rebels took over city hall\, looted stores owned by "peninsulare s" (Spanish-born men)\, and took some of the store owners prisoner. The re volutionary uprising was suppressed by the Spanish militia\, and around 47 5 rebels were imprisoned. The event became known as "El Grito de Lares" (s hown). RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolutionary_Committee_of_Puerto_ Rico RESOURCES:https://www.loc.gov/collections/puerto-rico-books-and-pamphlets/ articles-and-essays/nineteenth-century-puerto-rico/rebellion-of-1868/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:SNCC Adopts Anti-War Position (1966) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250106 DTEND:20250107T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Civil Rights,Imperialism COMMENT:On this day in 1966\, the SNCC adopted an official stance against the Vietnam War\, connecting the struggle for liberation at home to Vietna mese liberation struggle. "We ask\, where is the draft for the freedom fig ht in the United States?" DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1966\, the SNCC adopted an official stance agai nst the Vietnam War\, connecting the struggle for liberation at home to Vi etnamese liberation struggle. "We ask\, where is the draft for the freedom fight in the United States?"\n\nThe Student Nonviolent Coordinating Commi ttee (SNCC) was the principal channel of student commitment in the United States to the Civil Rights Movement during the 1960s. The group emerged in 1960 from the student-led sit-ins at segregated lunch counters in Greensb oro\, North Carolina and Nashville\, Tennessee and played a key role in he lping black people in the South both register and exercise their right to vote.\n\nIn a November 1965 staff meeting\, SNCC decided to issue a public statement about the Vietnam War\, although some workers voiced concern ab out the political consequences. One worker wrote "While we care a great de al about both Vietnam and civil rights\, we can’t do anything to help th e Vietnam situation\, and we can hurt ourselves by trying."\n\nOn January 3rd\, 1966\, twenty-one year old civil rights activist Sammy Younge was mu rdered by white supremacists in Tuskegee\, Alabama. His death pushed SNCC to make a public stance on the war\, regardless of the political consequen ces.\n\nThree days later\, on January 6th\, SNCC’s Executive Committee r eleased a statement on the Vietnam War\, writing "the murder of Samuel You ng in Tuskegee\, Alabama\, is no different than the murder of peasants in Vietnam\, for both Young and the Vietnamese sought\, and are seeking\, to secure the rights guaranteed them by law." Here is an excerpt from their s tatement:\n\n"We believe the United States government has been deceptive i n its claims of concern for the freedom of the Vietnamese people\, just as the government has been deceptive in claiming concern for the freedom of colored people in other countries as the Dominican Republic\, the Congo\, South Africa\, Rhodesia\, and in the United States itself.\n\n...We questi on\, then\, the ability and even the desire of the United States governmen t to guarantee free elections abroad. We maintain that our country's cry o f 'preserve freedom in the world' is a hypocritical mask\, behind which it squashes liberation movements which are not bound\, and refuse to be boun d\, by the expediencies of United States cold war policies.\n\n...We recoi l with horror at the inconsistency of a supposedly 'free' society where re sponsibility to freedom is equated with the responsibility to lend oneself to military aggression...We ask\, where is the draft for the freedom figh t in the United States?" RESOURCES:https://snccdigital.org/inside-sncc/policy-statements/vietnam/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Student_Nonviolent_Coordinating_Co mmittee RESOURCES:https://snccdigital.org/events/murder-of-sammy-younge-snccs-stat ement-on-vietnam/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Arturo Giovannitti (1884 - 1959) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250107 DTEND:20250108T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Birthdays,IWW COMMENT:Arturo Giovannitti\, born on this day in 1884\, was an Italian-Ame rican IWW organizer\, socialist activist\, and poet. While imprisoned duri ng the 1912 Lawrence Textile Strike\, he authored much working class poetr y\, including "The Walker". DESCRIPTION:Arturo M. Giovannitti\, born on this day in 1884\, was an Ital ian-American IWW organizer\, socialist political activist\, and poet. Giov annitti was a member of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)\, and is best remembered for his leadership and subsequent arrest in the 1912 Lawr ence Textile Strike.\n\nAlong with "Smiling Joe" Ettor\, Giovannitti was s ent to Lawrence to help rally and organize striking workers there. When a striking worker was shot and killed\, Ettor and Giovannitti were arrested as accomplices to the murder on little to no evidence.\n\nWhile in jail\, he wrote many poems\, "The Walker" in particular becoming well-known. The trial made the textile strike a national controversy and resulted in "Big Bill" Haywood and Elizabeth Gurley Flynn coming in to lead the strike in t heir stead. Months after the strike itself ended\, Ettor\, Giovannitti\, a nd a third co-defendant were acquitted of all charges.\n\n"A man may lose his soul for just one day\n\nOf splendor and be still accounted wise\,\n\n Or he may waste his life in a disguise\n\nLike kings and priests and jeste rs\, and still may\n\nBe saved and held a hero if the play\n\nIs all he kn ew. But what of him who tries\n\nWith truth and fails and then wins fame w ith lies?\n\nHow shall he know what history will say?\n\nBy this:\n\nNo ma n is great who does not find\n\nA poet who will hail him as he is\n\nWith an almighty song that will unbind\n\nThrough his exploits eternal silences . Duce\, where is your bard? In all mankind\n\nThe only poem you inspired is this."\n\n- Arturo Giovannitti\, "To Mussolini" RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arturo_Giovannitti RESOURCES:https://www.historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/giovannittijury.html END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Tragic Week (Argentina\, 1919) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250107 DTEND:20250108T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Riots COMMENT:On this day in 1919\, the "Semana Trágica" began in Argentina whe n police attacked striking metalworkers in Buenos Aires\, killing five\, a fter workers set the police chief's car on fire. The city was quickly plac ed under martial law. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1919\, the "Semana Trágica" began in Argentina when police attacked striking metalworkers in Buenos Aires\, killing five \, after workers set the police chief's car on fire. The city was quickly placed under martial law.\n\nThe "Semana Trágica" (Tragic Week in English \, not to be confused with the Spanish Tragic Week) was the violent supres sion of a general workers' uprising\, beginning with the attack on January 7th. In addition to the actions of the police and military\, right-wing v igilantes launched pogroms against the city's Jews\, many of whom were not involved\, in order to suppress the rebellion.\n\nThe conflict began as a strike at the Vasena metal works\, an English Argentine-owned plant in th e suburbs of Buenos Aires. On January 7th\, workers overturned and set fir e to the car of the police chief Elpidio González. Militant workers also shot and killed the commander of the Army detachment protecting González. Following this\, police attacked\, killing five workers and wounding twen ty more.\n\nOn the same day\, maritime workers of the port of Buenos Aires voted in favor of a general strike for better hours and wages. After the police attack at Vasena\, a waterfront strike began: all ship movements\, and all loading and unloading\, came to a halt.\n\nRioting soon spread thr oughout Buenos Aires\, and workers battled with both state and right-wing paramilitary forces. Police utilized members of the far-right Argentine "P atriotic League"\, who targeted the city's working class Russian Jewish po pulation\, which they associated with the rebellion\, beating and murderin g many uninvolved civilians.\n\nOn the 11th\, the city was placed under ma rtial law\, and the military restored control over the city over the next several days. Estimates of the death toll range from between 141 to over 7 00. The United States embassy reported that 1\,500 people were killed in t otal\, "mostly Russians and generally Jews"\, and that many women were rap ed. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragic_Week_(Argentina) RESOURCES:https://www.elhistoriador.com.ar/la-semana-tragica/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:German Coast Uprising (1811) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250108 DTEND:20250109T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1811\, the largest slave revolt in U.S. history beg an near modern day LaPlace\, Louisiana when ~100 enslaved men began marchi ng towards New Orleans\, collecting more people and destroying slaveowners ' property as they went. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1811\, the largest slave revolt in U.S. history began near modern day LaPlace\, Louisiana when ~100 enslaved men began ma rching towards New Orleans\, collecting more people and destroying slaveow ners' property as they went.\n\nOn the first day\, 64-125 enslaved men mar ched from sugar plantations in and near present-day LaPlace on the German Coast toward the city of New Orleans\, collecting more men as they travele d. During their two-day\, twenty-mile march\, the men burned five plantati on houses (three completely)\, several sugarhouses\, and crops\, armed wit h little more than hand tools.\n\nThe revolt ended when white planters\, a ided by Native American trackers\, captured and executed Charles Deslondes (suspected leader of the revolt). In the following days\, nearly one hund red enslaved people were either sentenced to death in unfair trials or sum mary executions\, while only two white people were killed during the upris ing. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1811_German_Coast_uprising RESOURCES:https://ushistoryscene.com/article/german-coast-uprising/ RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/andry-s-rebel lion-1811/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Panamanian Flag Protest (1964) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250109 DTEND:20250110T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Riots,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1964\, the anti-American riot known as the "Flag Pr otest" began in Panama over sovereignty of the Panama Canal Zone\, then co ntrolled by the United States. Twenty-two Panamanians and four U.S. soldie rs were killed. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1964\, the anti-American riot known as the "Fla g Protest" began in Panama over sovereignty of the Panama Canal Zone\, the n controlled by the United States. Twenty-two Panamanians and four U.S. so ldiers were killed.\n\nThe riot started after a attempt by students to fly the Panamanian flag turned violent as police shot and killed protesters\, tearing the flag in the process. After news of the violence and flag dese cration spread\, angry residents from the area turned out to confront poli ce.\n\nThat evening\, less than a hundred police were overwhelmed by sever al thousand protesters who set fire to American-owned businesses in the ar ea. U.S. troops were put on the ground to quell the rebellion.\n\nIn total \, at least twenty-two Panamanians and four U.S. soldiers died in the figh ting. The event is now a national day of mourning in Panama\, commemorated annually as "Martyr's Day". The riots are considered to be a significant factor in the U.S. decision to transfer control of the Canal Zone to Panam a through the 1977 Torrijos-Carter Treaties. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martyrs%27_Day_(Panama) RESOURCES:https://santamariatimes.com/news/local/throwback-thursday-martyr s-day-in-panama-commemorates-riots-over-control/article_b67fce70-592e-5dc7 -878a-0f300553a5f0.html END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Senator Beveridge's Imperialist Speech (1900) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250109 DTEND:20250110T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Imperialism COMMENT:On this day in 1900\, Senator Albert J. Beveridge (1862 - 1927) ga ve a speech that made plain the United States' imperialist intentions for the Pacific region. "The Philippines give us a base at the door of all the East..." DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1900\, Senator Albert J. Beveridge (1862 - 1927 ) gave a speech that made plain the United States' imperialist intentions for the Pacific region. It was given a few years after the U.S. had acquir ed Puerto Rico\, Cuba\, and the Philippines in the Spanish-American War. H ere is a short excerpt:\n\n"Mr. President\, the times call for candor. The Philippines are ours forever...and just beyond the Philippines are China' s illimitable markets. We will not retreat from either.\n\nWe will not ren ounce our part in the mission of our race\, trustee\, under God\, of the c ivilization of the world...The Pacific is our ocean...Where shall we turn for consumers of our surplus? Geography answers the question. China is our natural customer...The Philippines give us a base at the door of all the East..." RESOURCES:https://china.usc.edu/us-senator-albert-j-beveridge-speaks-phili ppine-question-us-senate-washington-dc-january-9-1900 RESOURCES:https://www.historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/zinnempire12.html END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:UK Miners' Strike (1972) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250109 DTEND:20250110T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:On this day in 1972\, coal miners in Britain went on strike\, the first national miners' strike since 1926. After the Battle of Saltley Gate rendered the last large stockpile of fuel inaccessible in February\, work ers won their demands. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1972\, all the coal miners in Britain went on s trike\, the first official national miners' strike since 1926. After the B attle of Saltley Gate rendered the last large stockpile of fuel inaccessib le in February\, workers won their demands.\n\nThe dispute arose from pay negotiations. Miners\, led by Joe Gormley\, initially asked for pay rises of between 35-47%\, while the National Coal Board (NCB) was only prepared to offer 7.4%. After the strike began\, all 289 coal mines in the country ceased production.\n\nAt the beginning of the strike\, it was estimated th at there were sufficient stockpiles of fuel to supply national requirement s for about 8 weeks\, however the fuel was unevenly distributed throughout the country. The success of the strike depended on ensuring the scarcity of fuel.\n\nAccordingly\, the miners enjoyed solidarity from other industr ies - engineers ceased working at collieries\, train drivers refused to dr ive trains carrying fuel\, and dockworkers refused to unload ships carryin g coal.\n\nUnder guidelines agreed between the National Union of Mineworke rs (NUM)\, the NCB\, and the government\, dispensation was given to allow fuel to be transported to "priority consumers"\, i.e.\, hospitals\, nursin g homes\, orphanages\, and\, later\, schools.\n\nBy February\, the last la rge accessible stockpile of solid fuel in the country was held by a West M idlands Gas Board (WMGB) coke plant in Birmingham\, where up to 700 vehicl es were collecting fuel each day for in miles-long queues. The WMGB argued that they could stay open because they did not employ miners directly.\n\ nThousands of picketing workers descended on the open coke works\, attempt ing to close it\, but were initially repelled by a large police force. Art hur Scargill\, a left-wing leader of the strike and NUM member\, asked for solidarity from local engineering unions.\n\nWith their support\, more th an 10\,000 workers managed to close the depot on February 10th\, an event known as "The Battle of Saltley Gate". With the country facing massive pow er outages\, the government conceded to worker demands.\n\n"The victory on the 10 February was a battle between the working class and the government \, which the working class won."\n\n- Peter Jackson\, of the Birmingham Tr ades Council RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Saltley_Gate RESOURCES:http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_9694000/9694645.stm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Allegations CIA Caused Cuban Epidemic Published (1977) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250110 DTEND:20250111T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1977\, the San Francisco Chronicle reported allegat ions that the CIA assisted anti-Castro terrorists in spreading the African Swine Fever virus in Cuba\, causing the disease's first outbreak in the W estern hemisphere. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1977\, the San Francisco Chronicle reported all egations that the CIA assisted anti-Castro terrorists in spreading the Afr ican Swine Fever virus in Cuba\, causing the disease's first outbreak in t he Western hemisphere. The allegations were first published in the New Yor k based magazine "Newsday".\n\nThe virus's spread resulted in the slaughte r of 500\,000 Cuban pigs to prevent a nationwide animal epidemic and was l abeled the "most alarming event" of 1971 by the United Nations Food and Ag ricultural Organization.\n\nNewsday's reporting cited an anonymous U.S. in telligence source\, who claimed that he was given a sealed\, unmarked cont ainer at a U.S. Army base and CIA training ground in the Panama Canal Zone \, with instructions to turn it over to an anti-Castro group.\n\nAlthough the allegation has never been confirmed\, the account was corroborated by a Cuban exile involved in the operation\, who said he was on the trawler w hen the virus was put aboard at a rendezvous point off Bocas del Toro\, Pa nama. RESOURCES:https://www.uky.edu/~rmfarl2/cubabio1.htm RESOURCES:https://covertactionmagazine.com/2020/10/05/new-evidence-implica tes-cia-in-1971-attack-on-cuba-with-african-swine-fever-virus/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Donghak Peasant Rebellion Begins (1894) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250110 DTEND:20250111T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1894\, the anti-colonial Donghak Peasant Rebellion began with the "Gobu Uprising"\, where 1\,000 peasants stormed the county of Gobu\, freeing prisoners\, occupying government buildings\, and causing the county ruler to flee. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1894\, the anti-colonial Donghak Peasant Rebell ion began with the "Gobu Uprising"\, where 1\,000 peasants stormed the cou nty of Gobu\, freeing prisoners\, occupying government buildings\, and cau sing the county ruler to flee.\n\nThe Donghak Peasant Rebellion was an upr ising that took place in late Joseon-era Korea during the 1890s. "Donghak" refers to a religious movement\, founded in 1860\, which preached for soc ial equality and the uplifting of the peasantry. Choe Jeu was executed by the state in 1864.\n\nAmidst a backdrop of growing foreign influence in Ko rea (which would eventually lead to colonization by Japan)\, Donghak peasa nts rebelled against oppression by feudal rulers. The uprising began in th e county of Gobu in Jeolla province\, where the magistrate had extorted va st amounts of wealth and forced the peasants to build a reservoir.\n\nOn J anuary 10th\, 1894\, approximately 1\,000 peasant rebels gathered at an em pty horse ranch\, from which they split off into two separate armies where they successfully destroyed three of Gobu's four gates\, occupied governm ent offices\, and set about destroying prisons and freeing the people held in them.\n\nAs rebels successfully defeated government forces\, unrest wo uld spread across the country\, and the panicked Joseon dynasty called for Chinese Qing dynasty for support. Doing this\, however\, aggrieved the Ja panese government\, which was competing with China for influence over Kore a.\n\nJapan invaded Korea\, occupying Seoul\, triggering the First Sino-Ja panese War. Following a temporary truce\, the peasant rebellion would resu me in October\, this time directed towards the Japanese occupation.\n\nThe Japanese proved successful in defeating the uprising\, however\, continui ng to quell rebels through 1895. Korea would become increasingly absorbed into Japan's sphere of influence before official annexation in 1910. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donghak_Peasant_Revolution RESOURCES:https://www.jeongeup.go.kr/culture/index.jeongeup?menuCd=DOM_000 000601001003000 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Francisco Ferrer (1859 - 1909) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250110 DTEND:20250111T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays COMMENT:Francisco Ferrer\, born on this day in 1859\, was an anarchist edu cator who founded a network of secular libertarian schools in and around B arcelona\, Spain. Following a sham trial in 1909\, Ferrer was executed by the state. DESCRIPTION:Francisco Ferrer\, born on this day in 1859\, was an anarchist educator who founded a network of secular libertarian schools in and arou nd Barcelona\, Spain. Following a sham trial in 1909\, Ferrer was executed by the state.\n\nIn 1901\, Ferrer founded the Barcelona Modern School\, " Escuela Moderna"\, which sought to provide a secular\, libertarian curricu lum as an alternative to the religious dogma and compulsory lessons common within Spanish schools. His school eschewed punishments and rewards\, and encouraged practical experience over academic study.\n\nIn mid-1909\, Fer rer was arrested and accused of orchestrating a week of insurrection in Ba rcelona known as the "Tragic Week". He was convicted in a show trial and e xecuted by firing squad on October 13th\, 1909.\n\nFerrer's death triggere d international outcry\, and his life was prominently memorialized in writ ing\, monuments\, and demonstrations across three continents. His last wor ds before being shot were "Aim well\, my friends. You are not responsible. I am innocent. Long live the Modern School!"\n\n"Let no more gods or expl oiters be served Let us learn rather to love one another."\n\n- Francisco Ferrer RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francisco_Ferrer RESOURCES:https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/francisco-ferrer-the-ori gin-and-ideals-of-the-modern-school RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/subject/anarchism/francisco-ferrer/inde x.html END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Julio Mella Assassinated (1929) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250110 DTEND:20250111T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Labor,Marxism,Assassinations COMMENT:Julio Mella was a Cuban communist activist who helped found the in ternational Cuban Communist Party. On this day in 1929\, Mella was assassi nated by an unknown assailant while walking home with revolutionary photog rapher Tina Modotti. DESCRIPTION:Julio Mella was a Cuban communist activist who co-founded the Cuban Communist Party in 1925. On this day in 1929\, Mella was assassinate d by an unknown assailant while walking home with revolutionary photograph er Tina Modotti.\n\nBorn in Havana in 1903\, Mella developed an interest i n politics as a young adult\, first getting arrested during the government of Alfredo Zayas (1921 - 1924). Mella had studied law in the University o f Havana\, but was expelled in 1925.\n\nAlthough Cuba already had various anti-capitalist parties\, Julio Mella helped found the "international" Cub an Communist Party\, recognized by the Soviet Union in 1925\, during the M achado regime.\n\nAt the time of his murder\, Mella was working as a Marxi st revolutionary in Mexico\, collaborating with other exiles and supporter s to organize the overthrow of General Gerardo Machado in Cuba.\n\nMella w as assassinated on January 10th\, 1929\, while walking home at night with revolutionary photographer Tina Modotti. It is unknown who killed Mella\, as both Machado and the Cuban Communist Party\, which was afraid Mella had come under the influence of Trotsky (who lived in Mexico at the time)\, h ad cause to assassinate him.\n\nThe Cuban government's official position i s that Machado had Mella assassinated\, while also acknowledging that Modo tti was a Stalin-aligned agent. On September 29th\, 1933 the troops of Ful gencio Batista\, less than a month in power\, broke up a procession to bur y his ashes in Havana\, shooting as many as six people. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julio_Antonio_Mella RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/archive/mella/index.htm RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/archive/moreau/mella-assassination.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Pedro Chamorro Assassinated (1978) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250110 DTEND:20250111T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Assassinations COMMENT:On this day in 1978\, prominent critic of the Nicaraguan Somoza re gime Pedro Chamorro was assassinated in downtown Managua. His death led to a popular uprising against the government\, successfully ousting Anastasi o Somoza in 1979. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1978\, prominent critic of the Nicaraguan Somoz a regime Pedro Chamorro was assassinated in downtown Managua. His death le d to a popular uprising against the government\, successfully ousting Anas tasio Somoza in 1979.\n\nPedro Joaquín Chamorro Cardenal served as editor of "La Prensa"\, the only significant opposition newspaper to the rule of the Somoza family\, which had ruled the country since 1937. Chamorro was also an activist who founded the Democratic Union of Liberation (UDEL).\n\ nAccording to his widow\, Violeta\, Chamorro remained a staunch critic of the government despite being arrested\, tortured\, and being made aware of plans of his own assassination. In 1975\, Chamorro wrote to Somoza\, stat ing "I am waiting\, with a clear conscience\, and a soul at peace\, for th e blow you are to deliver."\n\nOn January 10th\, 1978\, at 53 years old\, Chamorro was shot 18 times by three men in a car who forced his auto to th e curb. In the aftermath of his death\, tens of thousands of Nicaraguans t ook to the streets in anti-government protests. A general strike broke out in the capital Managua\, paralyzing the city.\n\nThe following year\, the decades long rule of the Somoza regime finally came to an end when Anasta sio Somoza was ousted\, fleeing to Miami. The anti-capitalist Sandinista N ational Liberation Front (FSLN) came into power\, making significant gains in literacy\, health care\, education\, childcare\, unions\, and land ref orm.\n\nIn 1990\, Pedro's widow Violeta Charmorro became the first and onl y female President of Nicaragua\, serving until 1997. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedro_Joaqu%C3%ADn_Chamorro_Carden al RESOURCES:https://www.nytimes.com/1978/01/11/archives/prizewinning-editor- is-shot-dead-in-nicaragua-he-opposed-somoza.html END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Pemberton Mill Collapse (1860) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250110 DTEND:20250111T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1860\, the Pemberton Mill in Lawrence\, Massachuset ts collapsed\, killing around 150 people\, mostly Scottish and Irish women . Despite workers testifying that the building was unsafe\, no one was pun ished for the disaster. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1860\, the Pemberton Mill in Lawrence\, Massach usetts collapsed\, killing around 150 people\, mostly Scottish and Irish w omen. Despite workers testifying that the building was unsafe\, no one was punished for the disaster.\n\nJohn B. Tuttle\, superintendent of brickwor k\, told the architect Charles Bigelow he thought the walls insufficient\, and another engineer testified in court he knew the building was not well -made.\n\nThe Pemberton Mill was rebuilt and still stands today. RESOURCES:https://www.newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/pemberton-mill-disas ter/ RESOURCES:https://historicipswich.org/2019/01/10/pemberton-mill-in-lawrenc e-collapses-and-burns-killing-workers-january-10-1860/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907 - 1972) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250111 DTEND:20250112T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Civil Rights,Birthdays COMMENT:Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel\, born on this day in 1907\, was a Po lish-born American rabbi\, civil rights activist\, and one of the leading Jewish theologians and philosophers of the 20th century. "Few are guilty\, but all are responsible." DESCRIPTION:Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel\, born on this day in 1907\, was a Polish-born American rabbi\, civil rights activist\, and one of the lead ing Jewish theologians and philosophers of the 20th century.\n\nHeschel wa s active in the civil rights movement\, marching with MLK Jr. in Selma\, A labama. At the Vatican Council II\, as a representative of American Jews\, Heschel was also responsible for persuading the Catholic Church to remove anti-Semitic language from its doctrine\, including references to "deicid e" and expectations of conversion to Christianity.\n\n"Few are guilty\, bu t all are responsible."\n\n- Abraham Joshua Heschel RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Joshua_Heschel RESOURCES:https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/abraham-joshua-heschel- a-prophets-prophet/ RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/1963-rabbi-ab raham-joshua-heschel-religion-and-race/ RESOURCES:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEXK9xcRCho END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Casas Viejas Massacre (1933) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250111 DTEND:20250112T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Anarchism,Massacre COMMENT:On this day in 1933\, forces of the Second Spanish Republic massac red suspected anarchists in the village of Casas Viejas\, trapping familie s in their homes and setting them on fire. 21-24 people were killed. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1933\, forces of the Second Spanish Republic ma ssacred suspected anarchists in the town of Casas Viejas\, trapping famili es in their homes and setting them on fire. 21-24 people were killed.\n\nT he massacre happened following revolutionary marches by the anarcho-syndic alist union Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT). Earlier in January\ , two government guards were wounded in one of these demonstrations.\n\nTh e Second Spanish Republic (not to be confused with the socialist governmen ts during the Spanish Civil War)\, forcibly suppressed this working class movement. On January 11th\, 1933\, the "Civil Guard" and "Assault Guard" a rrived in the village Casas Viejas. Many of the villagers fled\, but some anarchists tried to resist arrest and barricaded themselves in the home of an anarchist\, Francisco Cruz Gutiérrez\, who was nicknamed Seisdedos.\n \nWhen guards under the command of Captain Rojas arrived\, they set the ho use on fire with the anarchists and their families still inside. One anarc hist\, Maria Silva Cruz\, survived the fire and emerged with a child\, a b oy\, still alive.\n\nSoldiers and police then arrested anyone in the villa ge who possessed a gun\, marched them to the smoking ashes of the cottage and their dead colleagues\, and shot them in the back. Between twenty-one and twenty-four people died during the incident.\n\nThe massacre led to wi despread outrage among left-wing groups\, some of which had previously par ticipated in the Second Spanish Republic\, significantly undermining suppo rt for and compliance with the government. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casas_Viejas_incident RESOURCES:https://www.surinenglish.com/lifestyle/201901/11/january-1933the -savage-massacre-20190111101337-v.html END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Lawrence Textile Strike (1912) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250111 DTEND:20250112T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,IWW COMMENT:The Lawrence Textile Strike\, also known as the Bread and Roses St rike\, began on this day in 1912 in Massachusetts. Workers\, mostly immigr ant women and children\, won their demands after months of violence and na tional press campaigns. DESCRIPTION:The Lawrence Textile Strike\, also known as the Bread and Rose s Strike\, began on this day in 1912 in Massachusetts. Workers\, mostly im migrant women and children\, won their demands after months of violence an d national press campaigns.\n\nThe strike was led by the Industrial Worker s of the World (IWW) and united immigrant workers of over forty nationalit ies. Prompted by a two-hour pay cut following a new law shortening women's workweeks\, the strike spread rapidly through the town\, growing to more than twenty thousand workers and involving nearly every mill in Lawrence.\ n\nNational attention to the strike greatly increased when two IWW leaders \, "Smiling Joe" Ettor and Arturo Giovannitti\, were arrested on fabricate d charges related to the murder of a striking worker. Upon their arrest\, "Big Bill" Haywood and Elizabeth Gurley Flynn took over leadership of the strike. They further sensationalized the condition of the striking workers by ostentatiously sending their hungry children to stay with families and supporters in New York City.\n\nStriking workers and families were brutal ized by police. When authorities tried to prevent more children from leavi ng the city\, the police attacked a crowd of parents and their children\, causing one pregnant woman to miscarry.\n\nGrowing national sympathy for t he strikers finally led the mill owners to agree to worker demands\, and t he parties agreed on significant pay raises to return to work.\n\nEttor an d Giovannitti were in prison for months after the strike ended\, but were eventually acquitted of all charges. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1912_Lawrence_textile_strike RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/articles/lawrence-textile-strike-1912 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Cheri Honkala (1963 - ) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250112 DTEND:20250113T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Birthdays COMMENT:Cheri Honkala\, born on this day in 1963\, is an American anti-pov erty advocate who co-founded the Kensington Welfare Rights Union (KWRU). I n 2011\, she ran for Sheriff of Philadelphia\, promising to refuse to evic t families from their homes. DESCRIPTION:Cheri Honkala\, born on this day in 1963\, is an American anti -poverty advocate who co-founded the Kensington Welfare Rights Union (KWRU ) co-founder and National Coordinator of the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign.\n\nBorn in Minneapolis\, Minnesota in 1963\, Honkala grew up in poverty. As an adult\, Honkala was forced to move out of her apartm ent with her young son\, and they were compelled to live out of their car\ , a white Camaro.\n\nTheir situation was made more dire after the Camaro w as demolished by a drunk driver\, and Honkala could not find a shelter tha t would allow them to remain together that winter.\n\nTo stay together and keep from freezing\, Honkala decided to move into an abandoned Housing an d Urban Development (HUD) home. At a press conference\, she stated "This i s me\, this is my nine-year-old son\, and we're not leaving until somebody can tell us where we can live and not freeze to death."\n\nIn Philadelphi a\, she co-founded the Kensington Welfare Rights Union (KWRU) and the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign (PPEHRC). She has organized numer ous protests\, holding marches\, demonstrations and setting up tent cities \, over the course of which she claims to have been arrested more than 200 times for civil disobedience.\n\nIn 2011\, Honkala ran for Sheriff of Phi ladelphia\, promising to refuse to evict families from their homes. She fi nished in third place with over 10\,000 votes.\n\n"It's easier to do horri ble things to people if you don't really see them as people."\n\n- Cheri H onkala RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheri_Honkala RESOURCES:https://www.gp.org/cheri_honkala_sb END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:James Farmer Jr. (1920 - 1999) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250112 DTEND:20250113T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays COMMENT:James Farmer Jr.\, born on this day in 1920\, was a civil rights a ctivist who organized the first Freedom Rides\, co-founded the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE)\, and fought for desegregation alongside MLK Jr. DESCRIPTION:James Farmer Jr.\, born on this day in 1920\, was a civil righ ts activist who organized the first Freedom Rides\, co-founded the Congres s of Racial Equality (CORE)\, and fought for desegregation alongside MLK J r.\n\nIn 1942\, Farmer co-founded the Committee of Racial Equality (which later became CORE) in Chicago along with George Houser\, James R. Robinson \, and others The organization was dedicated to ending racial segregation in the United States through nonviolence.\n\nIn a 1964 interview for the b ook "Who Speaks for the Negro?"\, Farmer described the founding principles of CORE as involving the people themselves rather than "experts"\, reject ing segregation\, and opposing it via nonviolent direct action.\n\nIn 1961 \, Farmer\, then working for the NAACP and serving as the national directo r of CORE\, organized the first set of Freedom Rides\, direct action prote sts against segregated bus systems throughout the South. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Farmer RESOURCES:https://jamesfarmer.umwblogs.org/ RESOURCES:https://jamesfarmerlectures.umwblogs.org/selected-stories2/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Rizo Šurla (1922 - 2003) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250112 DTEND:20250113T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays COMMENT:Rizo Šurla\, born on this day in 1922\, was a Yugoslav photograph er\, actor\, and anti-fascist who fought with the Yugoslav Partisans durin g World War II. Šurla was a prominent member of the Afro-Albanian communi ty in the town of Ulcinj. DESCRIPTION:Rizo Šurla\, born on this day in 1922\, was a Yugoslav photog rapher\, actor\, and anti-fascist who fought with the Yugoslav Partisans d uring World War II. Šurla was a prominent member of the Afro-Albanian com munity in the town of Ulcinj.\n\nAccording to journalist Mustafa Canka\, Šurla was a boxer and waiter in Zagreb\, as well as a partisan fighter on the Srem Front. Canka quotes Ulcinj chronicler Ismet Karamanaga: "He was striking\, unusually beautiful\, kind of like the famous Muhammad Ali\, ra diating charm and positive energy".\n\nCanka also cites a Ulcinj resident\ , Daudet Abazovic\, who called Šurla "a symbol of Ulcinj and Ulcinj's Bla ck community." RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rizo_%C5%A0urla RESOURCES:https://lefteast.org/only-memories-and-emptiness-remain-the-hist ory-of-ulcinjs-afro-albanian-community-in-montenegro/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Durban Riots (1949) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250113 DTEND:20250114T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Riots COMMENT:The Durban Riots were an anti-Indian pogrom that began on this day in 1949 in Durban\, South Africa\, committed primarily by African people against poor Indians. 142 were killed\, and 40\,000 Indians became refugee s. DESCRIPTION:The Durban Riots were an anti-Indian pogrom that began on this day in 1949 in Durban\, South Africa\, committed primarily by African peo ple against poor Indians. 142 were killed\, and 40\,000 Indians became ref ugees.\n\nThe two days of rioting were exceptionally violent\, resulting i n rape\, immolation\, and massacre of Indians and the looting and burning of their properties.\n\nThe Durban Riots were among the worst episodes of anti-Indian violence in the region\, and Durban would continue to experien ce ethnic tensions and episodes of violence between Indians and native Afr icans in the following decades. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durban_riots RESOURCES:https://www.iol.co.za/thepost/this-month-marks-70-years-since-th e-horrific-1949-race-riots-18783849 RESOURCES:https://aidc.org.za/a-nation-divided-1948-2021/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Mombasa General Strike (1947) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250113 DTEND:20250114T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,General Strikes COMMENT:On this day in 1947\, 15\,000 workers in Mombasa\, Kenya initiated a general strike\, demanding higher and equal wages for all races. Althou gh the strike was declared illegal\, workers persisted and won major conce ssions 12 days later. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1947\, 15\,000 workers in Mombasa\, Kenya initi ated a general strike\, demanding higher and equal wages for all races. Al though the strike was declared illegal\, workers persisted and won major c oncessions 12 days later.\n\nIn 1945\, Kenya was a colony of Great Britain . Threats of a worker strike due to low wages led the British to create an investigatory "Phillips Committee"\, but\, by the end of 1946\, workers i n Mombasa were upset with any meaningful change.\n\nIn December 1946\, wor kers held mass meetings\, rumors spread about a potential strike\, and gov ernment officials worked to prevent any labor action. On January 7th\, 194 7\, 3\,000 workers met to organize a strike\, which began on the 13th with more than 15\,000 workers\, approximately 75% of the workforce in Mombasa \, engaging in a general strike.\n\nThe labor stoppage crossed many indust ries\, including government\, railroad\, hotel\, domestic workers\, and do ck workers. Taxi drivers went around the city spreading word of the strike and urging others to participate.\n\nThe government immediately declared the strike illegal\, citing the "Defense Regulations"\, which mandated the port at Mombasa to stay open\, as it was the only major access site to Ke nya Colony and Uganda.\n\nDespite this\, workers persisted\, meeting every day at a soccer field to organize. On the second day of the strike\, 10\, 000 workers showed up to the daily meeting\, which was run with no officia l leader\, giving everyone an opportunity to speak.\n\nAfter more than a w eek of the city being paralyzed\, a government official promised to gain i mprovements in working conditions within three months if the people would end their strike. Workers agreed and\, on January 25th\, 1947\, all worker s returned to their jobs.\n\nAt the end of March\, workers were given a 20 -40% wage increase\, housing allowances\, paid holidays\, paid overtime\, and a higher minimum wage. RESOURCES:https://nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu/content/15000-workers-strike-w in-wage-increases-mombasa-kenya-colony-january-1947 RESOURCES:https://worldhistoryconnected.press.uillinois.edu/15.3/blanker.h tml END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Adolph Reed (1947 - ) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250114 DTEND:20250115T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Marxism,Birthdays COMMENT:Adolph Reed Jr.\, born on this day in 1947\, is a Marxist American professor of political science at the University of Pennsylvania\, specia lizing in the study of issues of racism and U.S. politics. DESCRIPTION:Adolph Reed Jr.\, born on this day in 1947\, is a Marxist Amer ican professor of political science at the University of Pennsylvania\, sp ecializing in the study of issues of racism and U.S. politics. He is a con tributing editor to The New Republic and has been a frequent contributor t o The Progressive and The Nation and other leftwing publications.\n\nReed' s work on U.S. politics is noted for its critique of identity politics and anti-racism\, particularly of their role in black politics. In his essay "The Limits of Anti-Racism"\, Reed wrote:\n\n"As a basis for a politics\, antiracism seems to reflect [a depoliticization of] the critique of racial injustice by shifting its focus from the social structures that generate and reproduce racial inequality to an ultimately individual\, and ahistori cal\, domain of 'prejudice' or 'intolerance.'" RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolph_L._Reed_Jr. RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/library/limits-anti-racism-adolph-reed-jr RESOURCES:https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/12/20/reed-d20.html END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Murray Bookchin (1921 - 2006) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250114 DTEND:20250115T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Anarchism COMMENT:Murray Bookchin\, born on this day in 1921\, was a libertarian soc ialist political philosopher whose thought is associated with the Democrat ic Federation of Northern Syria. "If we do not do the impossible\, we shal l be faced with the unthinkable." DESCRIPTION:Murray Bookchin\, born on this day in 1921\, was a libertarian socialist political philosopher whose thought is associated with the Demo cratic Federation of Northern Syria.\n\nBookchin was the author of two doz en books covering topics in politics\, philosophy\, history\, urban planni ng\, and social ecology. Some notable titles include "Our Synthetic Enviro nment"\, "Post-Scarcity Anarchism"\, and "The Ecology of Freedom". In the late 1990s\, he became disenchanted with what he saw as an increasingly ap olitical "lifestylism" of the contemporary anarchist movement and stopped referring to himself as an anarchist.\n\nBookchin's ideas have influenced social movements since the 1960s\, including the New Left\, the anti-nucle ar movement\, the anti-globalization movement\, Occupy Wall Street\, and\, most notably\, Abdullah Öcalan's concept of democratic confederalism and its application in Rojava.\n\n"If we do not do the impossible\, we shall be faced with the unthinkable."\n\n- Murray Bookchin RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murray_Bookchin RESOURCES:https://theanarchistlibrary.org/category/author/murray-bookchin RESOURCES:https://reason.com/1979/10/01/interview-with-murray-bookchin/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Tunisian Revolution (2011) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250114 DTEND:20250115T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 2011\, following twenty-eight days of mass uprising in Tunisia\, President Ben Ali formally resigned\, marking a new period o f democratic reforms in the country. Ben Ali successfully evaded arrest by fleeing to Saudi Arabia. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 2011\, following twenty-eight days of mass upri sing in Tunisia\, President Ben Ali formally resigned\, marking a new peri od of democratic reforms in the country. Ben Ali successfully evaded arres t by fleeing to Saudi Arabia.\n\nThe protests were sparked in part by the self-immolation of Mohamed Bouazizi\, a disgruntled street merchant whose wares had been seized\, on December 17th\, 2010. In the month that followe d\, hundreds of thousands of Tunisians poured into the streets\, clashing with police.\n\n338 people were killed\, including one journalist who was hit in the head with tear gas fired by police. 2\,147 were injured\, accor ding to the Associated Press.\n\n28 days after the protests began\, Ben Al i fled to Saudi Arabia and officially resigned from his post. Despite bein g tried in absentia\, Ben Ali successfully evaded arrest in Saudi Arabia\, dying there in 2019 at the age of 83.\n\nAfter Ben Ali was ousted from po wer\, the police and army defected from the state and sided with protester s. Labor unions\, such as the UGTT\, also played an integral role in organ izing the mass protests.\n\nDespite achieving a more democratic government \, Tunisia remains in political crisis. On July 25th\, 2021\, amid ongoing anti-government protests\, President Kais Saied suspended parliament\, di smissed the Prime Minister\, and withdrew immunity of parliament members. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunisian_Revolution RESOURCES:https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/inpictures/2015/12/tunisian-re volution-151215102459580.html END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:MLK Jr. (1929 - 1968) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250115 DTEND:20250116T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Civil Rights,Birthdays COMMENT:Martin Luther King Jr.\, born on this day in 1929\, was an America n Christian minister and activist who became one of the most visible leade rs of the U.S. civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968. DESCRIPTION:Martin Luther King Jr.\, born on this day in 1929\, was an Ame rican Christian minister and activist who became one of the most visible l eaders of the U.S. civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968.\n\nKing is best known for advancing civil rights through nonviol ence and civil disobedience\, inspired by his Christian beliefs and the no nviolent activism of Mahatma Gandhi.\n\nOn October 14th\, 1964\, King won the Nobel Peace Prize for combating racial inequality through nonviolent r esistance. In 1965\, he helped organize the Selma to Montgomery marches. I n his final years\, he expanded his focus to include opposition towards po verty\, capitalism\, and the Vietnam War.\n\nFor his activism\, King was t he target of multiple assassination attempts\, arrested 23 times\, and sur veilled and harassed by the U.S. government. In particular\, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover targeted by Dr. King by making him a target of COINTELPRO\ , a secret program where FBI agents spied on\, infiltrated\, and attempted to discredit "subversive" political movements.\n\nIn 1968\, King and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference organized the "Poor People's Camp aign" to address issues of economic justice. King traveled the country to assemble "a multiracial army of the poor" that would march on Washington t o engage in nonviolent civil disobedience at the Capitol until Congress cr eated an "economic bill of rights" for poor Americans.\n\nBefore the plans for the march could come to fruition\, however\, King was assassinated in Memphis\, Tennessee while supporting striking black sanitation workers. J ames Earl Rey was convicted for the murder\, but speculation of government involvement has persisted for decades after his death.\n\n"I submit to yo u that if a man has not discovered something that he will die for\, he isn 't fit to live."\n\n- MLK Jr. RESOURCES:https://crossculturalsolidarity.com/mlk-speeches-sermons-essays/ RESOURCES:https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/publications/call-conscience- landmark-speeches-martin-luther-king-jr RESOURCES:https://thekingcenter.org/about-tkc/books-bibliography/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King_Jr. END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (1809 - 1865) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250115 DTEND:20250116T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Anarchism COMMENT:Pierre-Joseph Proudhon\, born on this day in 1809\, was a French p olitician and founder of mutualist philosophy. "Justice\, nothing else\; t hat is the alpha and omega of my argument: to others I leave the business of governing the world." DESCRIPTION:Pierre-Joseph Proudhon\, born on this day in 1809\, was a Fren ch politician\, philosopher\, and founder of mutualist philosophy.\n\nProu dhon was the first person to declare himself an anarchist and is widely re garded as one of the ideology's most influential theorists\, sometimes cal led "the father of anarchism". He became a member of the French Parliament after the Revolution of 1848\, afterwards referring to himself as a feder alist.\n\nProudhon favored workers' associations or co-operatives as well as individual worker and peasant possession over private ownership or the nationalization of land and workplaces. In "The Confessions of a Revolutio nary"\, Proudhon asserted that "Anarchy is Order Without Power"\, the phra se which much later inspired in the view of some the anarchist circled-A s ymbol.\n\nIt is worth noting that\, despite his egalitarian beliefs in oth er respects\, Proudhon was an avowed sexist and anti-Semite. One unpublish ed quote reads "The Jew is the enemy of the human race. This race must be sent back to Asia\, or exterminated." Proudhon also maintained that a woma n's choice was to be "courtesan or housekeeper"\, stating that man is "a f ather\, a chief\, a master: above all\, a master".\n\nThese views did not go uncontested amongst his colleagues. Joseph Déjacque\, a contemporary l ibertarian communist\, told Proudhon to "speak out against man's exploitat ion of woman" or "do not describe yourself as an anarchist".\n\nProudhon u nsuccessfully tried to create a national bank\, to be funded by what becam e an abortive attempt at an income tax on capitalists and shareholders. Si milar in some respects to a credit union\, it would have given interest-fr ee loans.\n\n"I build no system. I ask an end to privilege\, the abolition of slavery\, equality of rights\, and the reign of law. Justice\, nothing else\; that is the alpha and omega of my argument: to others I leave the business of governing the world."\n\n- Pierre-Joseph Proudhon RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/economics/proudhon/in dex.htm RESOURCES:https://theanarchistlibrary.org/category/author/pierre-joseph-pr oudhon RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre-Joseph_Proudhon END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht (1919) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250115 DTEND:20250116T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Marxism,Assassinations COMMENT:Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht were prominent German communist s who were assassinated on this day in 1919 by the German Freikorps\, a gr oup of government-sponsored paramilitary forces\, after the Spartacist Upr ising. DESCRIPTION:Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht were prominent German commu nists who were assassinated on this day in 1919 by the German Freikorps\, a group of government-sponsored paramilitary forces\, after the Spartacist Uprising.\n\nLuxemburg and Liebknecht had co-founded the Spartacist Leagu e and the Communist Party of Germany (KPD)\, groups that had been engaging in revolutionary political activity.\n\nIn 1919\, Luxemburg and Liebknech t participated in the "Spartacist Uprising"\, an armed rebellion against t he German state. The uprising was forcibly put down by the Freikorps and\, for their role in it\, both Luxemburg and Liebknecht were tortured and su mmarily executed by the government forces on this day that year.\n\nKarl L iebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg have since become celebrated martyrs of the G erman left. Since 1919\, an annual Liebknecht-Luxemburg Demonstration has been held in Berlin\, the world's largest funerary parade and the biggest meeting of the German left. The annual "L-L Demo" is held on the second Su nday in January. In 2016\, 14\,000 people attended the rally in Liebknecht 's and Luxemburg's honor.\n\nEpitaphs composed by German playwright Bertol t Brecht read as follows:\n\nEpitaph for Karl Liebknecht\nHere lies\nKarl Liebknecht\nThe fighter against war\nWhen he was struck down\nOur city sti ll continued to stand.\n\nEpitaph for Rosa Luxemburg\nHere lies buried\nRo sa Luxemburg\nA Jewess from Poland\nChampion of the German workers Murdere d on the orders of\nThe German oppressors. Oppressed\;\nBury your differen ces!\n\n"Marxism is a revolutionary worldview that must always struggle fo r new revelations. Marxism must abhor nothing so much as the possibility t hat it becomes congealed in its current form. It is at its best when butti ng heads in self-criticism\, and in historical thunder and lightning\, it retains its strength."\n\n- Rosa Luxemburg RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosa_Luxemburg RESOURCES:https://www.versobooks.com/blogs/4203-the-many-interpretations-o f-rosa-luxemburg-s-legacy RESOURCES:https://revolutionarydemocracy.org/rdv5n1/luxembrg.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Benin Attempted coup d'état (1977) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250116 DTEND:20250117T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Socialism,Marxism,Colonialism COMMENT:On this day in 1977\, French mercenaries attempted to overthrow th e socialist People's Republic of Benin. Forces allied with President Kér ékou\, aided by North Korean soldiers\, effectively repelled the invading force\, and the coup failed. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1977\, French mercenaries attempted to overthro w the People's Republic of Benin. President Kérékou’s Presidential Gua rd\, aided by North Korean soldiers\, effectively repelled the invading fo rce\, and the coup failed.\n\nFollowing a coup of young military officers in 1972\, the junta government of Benin (then known as Dahomey) would coop erate closely with various domestic socialist political groups.\n\nThis le ftward turn would culminate in President Mathieu Kérékou proclaiming the formal accession of his government to Marxism-Leninism in 1974\, and the official establishment of the People's Republic of Benin in 1975.\n\nBenin 's turn towards socialism would draw the ire of its former colonial master \, France. A small group of Beninese political exiles would make their hom e in France and conspire with Robert Denard\, a notorious French\, anti-co mmunist\, imperialist mercenary.\n\nDenard and the exiles would form a sma ll army of around 150 hired guns. Led by Denard\, this group created a pla nned to depose Kérékou and received funds\, arms\, and training from sev eral pro-French African governments\, including Morocco\, Togo\, and the I vory Coast.\n\nThe mercenaries departed from a Gabonese airstrip in the ea rly hours of January 16th\, 1977\, disguised as a civilian aircraft and de stined for Cotonou\, the executive seat of the government of Benin.\n\nUpo n landing at the Cotonou airport around 7 am\, the mercenaries quickly too k control of both air traffic control and the airport's main terminal\, th en advanced towards the Presidential Palace.\n\nKérékou\, informed of th e ongoing assault\, would call on civilians over the radio to take up arms in defense against the coup. The Army\, Presidential Guard\, which Presid ent Kérékou had expanded North Korean soldiers\, and armed civilians def end the Presidential Palace until the mercenaries retreated back to the ai rport and returned to Gabon.\n\nSeven Beninese were killed during the atta ck: 6 soldiers and 1 civilian. A large monument in central Cotonou was ere cted in their memory in 1979.\n\nToday\, January 16th is celebrated as Mar tyr's Day in Benin to commemorate those who lost their lives fighting agai nst neo-colonialism. RESOURCES:https://warisboring.com/in-1977-80-mercenaries-nearly-took-over- benin/ RESOURCES:https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Place_du_Souvenir RESOURCES:https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1977/01/17/benin -says-mercenaries-tried-to-oust-government/7c74d953-0f38-463c-a8a0-5dcf254 8f6fb/ RESOURCES:https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-13040372 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Draftee's Prayer Published (1943) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250116 DTEND:20250117T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1943\, the Baltimore Afro-American published the "D raftee's Prayer"\, an ode against imperialist war and call to fight domest ic oppression. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1943\, the Baltimore Afro-American published th e "Draftee's Prayer"\, an ode against imperialist war and call to fight do mestic oppression. It reads:\n\n"Dear Lord\, today\n\nI go to war:\n\nTo f ight\, to die\,\n\nTell me what for?\n\nDear Lord\, I'll fight\,\n\nI do n ot fear\,\n\nGermans or Japs\;\n\nMy fears are here\n\nAmerica!" RESOURCES:https://books.google.com/books?id=3ToXCAAAQBAJ&pg=PT183&lpg=PT18 3&dq=draftees+prayer+1943&source=bl&ots=axJ28R9eYl&sig=ACfU3U3Os2ukFezYW73 WU-YVdWYZ1cH8Zw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjqrP20k83qAhUIWs0KHa0wBsoQ6AEwAHoECA oQAQ#v=onepage&q=draftees%20prayer%201943&f=false RESOURCES:https://www.historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/zinnpeopleswar.html END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Herndon Addresses the Court (1933) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250116 DTEND:20250117T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Labor COMMENT:Angelo Herndon was a communist labor leader convicted of insurrect ion after attempting to organize black and white workers in Atlanta\, Geor gia. He addressed the court on this day in 1933\, stating "You cannot kill the working class". DESCRIPTION:Angelo Herndon (1913 - 1997) was a communist labor leader conv icted of insurrection after attempting to organize black and white workers in Atlanta\, Georgia. He addressed the court on this day in 1933\, statin g "You cannot kill the working class".\n\nAfter nearly 1\,000 unemployed w orkers\, both black and white\, demonstrated at the Atlanta federal courth ouse on June 30th\, 1932\, local officials began to monitor known and susp ected radicals. On July 11th\, Herndon\, an active labor organizer in the area\, was arrested while checking on his mail. A few days later his hotel room was searched\, and Communist Party publications were found.\n\nHernd on was charged with insurrection under a Georgia Reconstruction era law. H is case went to the Supreme Court twice\, and Herndon was freed when the i nsurrection charge was finally ruled unconstitutional in 1937.\n\nHere is an excerpt of what Herndon said to the court on January 16th\, 1933\, at 1 9 years of age:\n\n"You may do what you will with Angelo Herndon. You may indict him. You may put him in jail. But there will come thousands of Ange lo Herndons. If you really want to do anything about the case\, you must g o out and indict the social system. But this you will not do\, for your ro le is to defend the system under which the toiling masses are robbed and o ppressed...\n\nYou may succeed in killing one\, two\, even a score of work ing-class organizers. But you cannot kill the working class." RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/1932-angelo-h erndon-addresses-his-jury/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angelo_Herndon RESOURCES:https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology /angelo-herndon-case/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Juan Sanchez (1900 - 1972) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250116 DTEND:20250117T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Fascism COMMENT:Juan López Sanchez\, born on this day in 1900\, was a Spanish con struction worker\, anarchist\, member of the Confederación Nacional del T rabajo (CNT)\, and one of the founders of the Federación Sindicalista Lib ertaria. DESCRIPTION:Juan López Sanchez\, born on this day in 1900\, was a Spanish construction worker\, anarchist\, member of the Confederación Nacional d el Trabajo (CNT)\, and one of the founders of the Federación Sindicalista Libertaria. During the Spanish Civil War (1936 - 1939) he was Minister of Commerce under Francisco Largo Caballero.\n\nAfter the fascists won the c ivil war\, Sanchez spent several years in exile before returning to Spain where he lived without persecution and participated in the "vertical" trad e union movement authorized by the dictatorship of General Francisco Franc o. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_L%C3%B3pez_S%C3%A1nchez RESOURCES:https://spartacus-educational.com/SPlopez.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Hawaiian Kingdom Overthrown (1893) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250117 DTEND:20250118T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Imperialism COMMENT:On this day in 1893\, a U.S.-backed coup d'état against Queen Lil i'uokalani took place\, establishing the Republic of Hawaii and beginning the process of annexation. The U.S. apologized in 1993\, but did not give the islands back. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1893\, a U.S.-backed coup d'état against Queen Lili'uokalani took place\, establishing the Republic of Hawaii and beginn ing the process of U.S. annexation. The U.S. apologized for this in 1993\, but did not give the islands back.\n\nThe majority of the insurgents were non-natives\, and they successfully requested assistance from the U.S. go vernment\, who sent 162 sailors to occupy Oahu.\n\nAlthough the coup force s established an independent republic\, they did so with the ultimate goal of the United States annexing the islands\, which occurred in 1898.\n\nTh is revolution and the subsequent annexation of Hawaii signaled an expansio n of U.S. imperialist interests. The same year\, the U.S. fought and won t he Spanish-American War\, acquiring Puerto Rico\, Guam\, the Philippines\, and establishing economic control of Cuba via the Platt Amendment.\n\nIn 1993\, the U.S. government issued an "Apology Resolution"\, acknowledging that "the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii occurred with the active part icipation of agents and citizens of the United States and further acknowle dges that the Native Hawaiian people never directly relinquished to the Un ited States their claims to their inherent sovereignty as a people over th eir national lands".\n\nHawaiian scholar Dr. Keanu Sai has written about t he illegality of the U.S. occupation and annexation\, citing an 1893 Execu tive Agreement between President Grover Cleveland and Queen Lili'uokalani. On June 1st\, 2010\, Sai filed a lawsuit against President Obama on this basis\, demanding the restoration of the Hawaiian Kingdom government. RESOURCES:https://www.nea.org/advocating-for-change/new-from-nea/illegal-o verthrow-hawaiian-kingdom-government RESOURCES:https://hawaiiankingdom.org/blog/an-act-of-war-of-aggression-uni ted-states-invasion-of-the-hawaiian-kingdom-on-august-12-1898/ RESOURCES:https://hawaiiankingdom.org/sai-obama.shtml RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overthrow_of_the_Hawaiian_Kingdom RESOURCES:https://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/17/jan-17-1893-hawaii an-monarchy-overthrown-by-america-backed-businessmen/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Patrice Lumumba Assassinated (1961) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250117 DTEND:20250118T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Assassinations,Colonialism COMMENT:Patrice Lumumba was a Congolese anti-colonial revolutionary assass inated by U.S. and Belgian assisted forces on this day in 1961\, after ser ving as Prime Minister. "Who will forget the rifle-fire from which so many of our brothers perished?" DESCRIPTION:Patrice Lumumba was a Congolese anti-colonial revolutionary as sassinated by U.S. and Belgian assisted forces on this day in 1961\, after serving as Prime Minister. Lumumba had served as the first Prime Minister of the independent Democratic Republic of the Congo from June until Septe mber 1960\, and played a significant role in the transformation of the Con go from a colony of Belgium into an independent republic.\n\nIdeologically an African nationalist and pan-Africanist\, Lumumba led the Congolese Nat ional Movement (MNC) party from 1958 until his assassination\, in a coup b y Joseph-Désiré Mobutu\, assisted by U.S. and Belgian forces. The coup o ccurred when Lumumba\, facing armed rebellion and an occupation by Belgian forces\, asked for support from the Soviet Union. This led to a governmen t split between himself\, President Joseph Kasa-Vubu\, and military comman der Joseph-Désiré Mobutu.\n\nOn December 1st\, 1960\, Lumumba was captur ed by Mobutu's forces and imprisoned. On January 17th\, 1961\, he and his associates were brutally beaten and tortured by Katangan and Belgian offic ers\, and Lumumba was executed later that night. The execution was carried out with Belgian and U.S. assistance. Belgium formally apologized for its role in the assassination in 2002.\n\nOn Lumumba's legacy\, his friend an d colleague Thomas Kanza wrote the following:\n\n"He lived as a free man\, and an independent thinker. Everything he wrote\, said and did was the pr oduct of someone who knew his vocation to be that of a liberator\, and he represents for the Congo what Castro does for Cuba\, Nasser for Egypt\, Nk rumah for Ghana\, Mao Tse-tung for China\, and Lenin for Russia."\n\n"No C ongolese worthy of the name will ever to be able to forget that this indep endence has been won through a struggle in which we did not spare our ener gy and our blood...We have known ironies\, insults\, and blows which we ha d to undergo morning\, noon and night because we were Negroes. We have see n our lands spoiled in the name of laws which only recognized the right of the strongest. We have known laws which differed according to whether it dealt with a black man or a white. We have known the atrocious sufferings of those who were imprisoned for their political opinions or religious bel iefs\, and of those exiled in their own country. Their fate was worse than death itself. Who will forget the rifle-fire from which so many of our br others perished\, or the jails in to which were brutally thrown those who did not want to submit to a regime of justice\, oppression and exploitatio n which were the means the colonialists employed to dominate us?"\n\n- Pat rice Lumumba RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrice_Lumumba RESOURCES:https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/patrice-lumumba-executed / RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/subject/africa/lumumba/index.htm RESOURCES:https://www.britannica.com/biography/Patrice-Lumumba RESOURCES:https://www.theafricareport.com/58653/drc-how-the-cia-got-under- patrice-lumumbas-skin/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Zunyi Conference Ends (1935) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250117 DTEND:20250118T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism COMMENT:The Zunyi Conference was a three day meeting of the Communist Part y of China (CPC) that ended on this day in 1935\, resulting in Mao Zedong' s leadership within the party and a decreased influence from the Communist International. DESCRIPTION:The Zunyi Conference was a three day meeting of the Communist Party of China (CPC) that ended on this day in 1935\, resulting in Mao Zed ong's leadership within the party and a decreased influence from the Commu nist International. The Conference took place during the Long March (a mil itary retreat of CPC forces from attacks by the Nationalists).\n\nThe Zuny i Conference involved a power struggle between the leadership of Bo Gu and the opposition\, led by Mao Zedong. The result was in Mao's favor\, and t he conference concluded with Mao in position to take over military command and become the leader of the Communist Party.\n\nThe Red Army had been fl eeing their overwhelmed base of operations at Jiangxi-Fujian for several m onths by this point in the Long March\, and this conference involved the d ebate/accountability of CPC leadership for various tactical and strategic failures. The CPC went on to achieve a new base of operations in Shaanxi P rovince and continued its revolutionary activity from there.\n\nThe Confer ence was completely unacknowledged until the 1950s and still no detailed d escriptions were available until the fiftieth anniversary in 1985. The sit e of the meeting has now become a popular tourist destination in China. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zunyi_Conference RESOURCES:http://en.chinaculture.org/library/2008-02/15/content_34014.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Battle of Hayes Pond (1958) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250118 DTEND:20250119T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1958\, armed Lumbee Native Americans broke up a KKK rally near Maxton\, North Carolina\, driving the white supremacists away and confiscating their flag. Four Klansmen were injured in the "Battle of Hayes Pond". DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1958\, armed Lumbee Native Americans broke up a KKK rally near Maxton\, North Carolina\, driving the white supremacists a way and confiscating their flag. Four Klansmen were injured in the "Battle of Hayes Pond".\n\nGrand Dragon James W. "Catfish" Cole was the organizer of the Klan rally. Sanford Locklear\, Simeon Oxendine and Neill Lowery we re Lumbee leaders who attacked the Klansmen and successfully disrupted the rally.\n\nThe year prior\, Cole had initiated a campaign of harassment de signed to intimidate the Lumbee Tribe to help organize the local Klan. He called a rally on January 18th\, and 100 Klansmen arrived at the private f ield near Hayes Pond which Cole had leased from a sympathetic farmer. Cole managed to erect the cross\, but before he could finish the ceremony\, ov er 500 Lumbee men appeared and encircled the assembled Klansmen.\n\nFour K lansmen were injured in the subsequent exchange of gunfire. Cole was later found guilty of inciting a riot and sentenced to two years in prison. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Hayes_Pond RESOURCES:https://progressive.org/dispatches/the-time-native-americans-rou ted-the-ku-klux-klan-Hayes-Pond-1958-180719/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Brisbane General Strike (1912) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250118 DTEND:20250119T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,General Strikes COMMENT:On this day in 1912\, tramway workers in Brisbane\, Australia were fired after they wore union badges despite them being banned. Their dismi ssal led to a general strike with more than 50\,000 workers. Union badges remained banned until 1980. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1912\, tramway workers in Brisbane\, Australia were fired after they wore union badges despite them being banned. Their d ismissal led to a general strike with more than 50\,000 workers. Union bad ges remained banned until 1980.\n\nAt the time\, the tramways in Brisbane were owned by the General Electric Company of the United Kingdom and manag ed by an American\, Joseph Stillman Badger\, who refused to negotiate with the Australian Labour Federation or let his employees wear union badges o n their uniform.\n\nOn January 18th\, 1912\, a large crowd of sightseers g athered to watch as tramway employees donned the union badges in defiance of this ban. Badger addressed the wearers at the depot and gave them the c hoice of removing the badges or not working\; most chose the right to wear the badges\, and later 10\,000 workers marched to modern day King George Square to listen to labor organizers speak.\n\nForty-three Brisbane based Trade Unions subsequently formed the Combined Unions Committee and appoint ed a General Strike Committee. The General Strike Committee planned for a general strike on January 30th and began functioning as an alternative gov ernment in the area\, whose approval became needed for work to be done.\n\ nAs planned\, trade unionists of Brisbane went out on a general strike Jan uary 30th\, 1912\, not just for the right to wear a badge but also for the basic right to join a union. Brisbane was brought to a standstill by the next day - trains didn't run\, hotels were closed\, most transport shut do wn\, and most food shops were closed. Only shops with special permits issu ed by the Committee were opened in order to keep the Australian government running at the minimal margin.\n\nWorkers celebrated with parades\, speec hes\, and sporting contests. The government began prohibiting these demons trations\, and\, when 15\,000 workers defied this ban on February 2nd\, 19 12\, they were attacked by police. Strikers and their family members were beaten and arrested en masse.\n\nEmma Miller\, a 70-year old trade unionis t and suffragist\, stood her ground and stabbed the rump of the Police Com missioner's horse. The horse threw the Commissioner to the ground\, giving him life-long limp.\n\nThe strike failed due to a lack of money and parti cularly food. It officially ended when the Employers Federation\, supporti ng the strike\, agreed on the March 6th\, 1912 that there would be no vict imization of strikers from Badger and the company.\n\nDespite this\, many workers who had participated were blacklisted by Badger until 1922\, when the Queensland Government acquired the tram system and reinstated them. We aring of union badges on uniforms remained forbidden until 1980. RESOURCES:https://nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu/content/australians-general-st rike-right-unionize-brisbane-australia-1912 RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1912_Brisbane_general_strike END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Tokyo Students Battle Police (1969) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250118 DTEND:20250119T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1969\, around four hundred protesters who had occup ied Tokyo University's Yasuda Hall in protest of US-Japan relations battle d with police\, throwing rocks and gas‐filled bottles at officers on the street. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1969\, around four hundred protesters who had o ccupied Tokyo University's Yasuda Hall in protest of US-Japan relations ba ttled with police\, throwing rocks and gas‐filled bottles at officers on the street. The battle lasted until January 19th\, and was broadcast on t elevision\, causing a national sensation.\n\nThe protest was part of a gro wing leftist sentiment against the US and the conservative Japanese govern ment that led to more than 10\,000 young people being arrested by the end of the year. One year after this event\, more than 22 colleges were either closed or only partially open due to student unrest. RESOURCES:https://www.nytimes.com/1970/01/19/archives/newleft-youths-prote st-in-tokyo-5000-pledge-a-revolution-in-japan.html RESOURCES:https://aboutjapan.japansociety.org/tokyo_university_protest END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Baburova and Markelov Assassinated (2009) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250119 DTEND:20250120T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Assassinations,Anarchism,Journalism,Fascism COMMENT:On this day in 2009\, anarchist journalist Anastasia Baburova (198 3 - 2009) and human rights lawyer Stanislav Markelov (1974 - 2009) were as sassinated by Russian neo-Nazis. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 2009\, anarchist journalist Anastasia Baburova (1983 - 2009) and human rights lawyer Stanislav Markelov (1974 - 2009) wer e assassinated by Russian neo-Nazis.\n\nBaburova was a member of the Russi an anarchist group "Autonomous Action" and a student of journalism at Mosc ow State University. Markelov was a lawyer who defended left-wing politica l activists\, anti-fascists\, journalists\, and victims of police violence .\n\nOn January 19th\, 2009\, Markelov gave a press conference where he fi ercely denounced the early prison release of a Russian army officer\, conv icted for the abduction and murder of a Chechen girl. After finishing\, a masked assailant shot him in the back of the head\, killing him instantly. Baburova\, who was covering the press conference\, was shot and killed af ter trying to stop the shooter.\n\nIn May 2011\, the shooter Nikita Tikhon ov was sentenced to life imprisonment\, and his partner Eugenia Khasis was sentenced to 18 years in prison.\n\nRussian military analyst Pavel Felgen hauer has speculated that the Russian government was involved\, noting tha t Tikhonov's use of a pistol fitted with a silencer was atypical for the n eo-Nazi movement\, which usually used knives and homemade explosives to co mmit violence. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanislav_Markelov RESOURCES:https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/profile/anastasia-baburova END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Philip Agee (1935 - 2008) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250119 DTEND:20250120T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Massacre COMMENT:Philip Agee\, born on this day in 1935\, was an ex-CIA officer who became a prominent critic of CIA policies\, detailing his experiences in the text "Inside the Company: CIA Diary". Agee ultimately defected to Cuba \, dying there in 2008. DESCRIPTION:Philip Agee\, born on this day in 1935\, was an ex-CIA officer who became a prominent critic of CIA policies\, detailing his experiences in the text "Inside the Company: CIA Diary". Agee ultimately defected to Cuba\, dying there in 2008.\n\nPhilip Agee (1935 - 2008) served as a Centr al Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer for eight years\, joining the organiz ation in 1960. He was assigned posts in Montevideo\, Mexico City\, and Qui to\, Ecuador.\n\nAgee resigned from the CIA in 1968 following the Tlatelol co massacre in Mexico City\, in which the U.S.-supported government engage d in mass shootings and arrests of a crowd of more than ten thousand prote sters. The same massacre also played a role in the political radicalizatio n of Subcomandante Marcos of the Zapatistas.\n\nAgee moved to London and p ublished "Inside the Company"\, a tell-all text that\, among other things\ , detailed his work in spying on diplomats\, engaging in illegal activity to force a diplomatic break between Ecuador and Cuba\, naming President Jo sé Figueres Ferrer of Costa Rica\, President Luis Echeverría Álvarez of Mexico\, and President Alfonso López Michelsen of Colombia as CIA collab orators\, and exposing the identities of dozens of CIA agents.\n\nFor the exposure of agents\, Agee was expelled from the United Kingdom. Agee was a lso eventually expelled from the Netherlands\, France\, West Germany and I taly\, and was compelled to live under a series of socialist governments - Grenada under Maurice Bishop\, then Nicaragua under the Sandinistas\, and finally Cuba under Castro. Agee died in Cuba in January 2008.\n\n"I don't think we have ever had real democracy in this country. Anyone who studies adoption of the constitution will understand quite clearly that\; democra cy - as we understand that on today\; was the last thing the founding fath ers had in mind when they wrote the constitution....it was: to establish s trong central authority responding the elitist interests in United States. \n\nThat's private property. And those men who wrote the constitution were representatives of the elites. They were the lawyers\, bankers\, merchant s\, the land owners\, slave owners and so forth. And they write the consti tution for their own private interest$. That is how government has served ever since. And that is why we have so little democracy in United States." \n\n- Philip Agee RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Agee RESOURCES:https://spartacus-educational.com/JFKagee.htm RESOURCES:https://archive.org/stream/pdfy-DAzR701tP2dL_DNu/inside-the-comp any-cia-diary-philip-agee_djvu.txt END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Amílcar Cabral Assassinated (1973) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250120 DTEND:20250121T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Socialism,Assassinations,Independence COMMENT:Amílcar Cabral was a Bissau-Guinean and Cape Verdean agricultural engineer\, intellectual\, and communist revolutionary who was assassinate d on this day in 1973 by a PAIGC veteran and Portuguese agents. DESCRIPTION:Amílcar Cabral was a Bissau-Guinean and Cape Verdean agricult ural engineer\, intellectual\, and communist revolutionary who was assassi nated on this day in 1973 by a PAIGC veteran and Portuguese agents. Cabral was one of Africa's foremost anti-colonial leaders\, leading the national ist movement of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde Islands and the ensuing war o f independence in Guinea-Bissau.\n\nFrom 1963 until his death\, he led the Partido Africano da Independência da Guiné e Cabo Verde (PAIGC) guerril la movement against the Portuguese government\, beginning a decade-long\, but ultimately successful war of liberation. The goal of the conflict was to achieve independence from both Portuguese Guinea and Cape Verde.\n\nCab ral was assassinated on January 20th\, 1973 by at PAIGC headquarters in Co nakry by PAIGC veteran Inocêncio Kani and Portuguese agents\, according t o historian Lucy Burnett. Eight months later\, Guinea-Bissau issued a unil ateral declaration of independence. Cabral's pan-Africanism and revolution ary socialism continues to be an inspiration for socialists and national i ndependence movements worldwide.\n\n"In combating racism we do not make pr ogress if we combat the people themselves. We have to combat the causes of racism. If a bandit comes to my house and I have a gun\, I cannot shoot t he shadow of the bandit\; I have to shoot the bandit. Many people lose ene rgy and effort\, and make sacrifices combating shadows. We have to combat the material reality that produces the shadow."\n\n- Amílcar Cabral RESOURCES:https://www.jacobinmag.com/2019/10/amilcar-cabral-portuguese-col onialism-biography RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/subject/africa/cabral/index.htm RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/cabral-amilcar- lopes-1924-1973/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Am%C3%ADlcar_Cabral END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Juan García Oliver (1901 - 1980) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250120 DTEND:20250121T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Anarchism COMMENT:Juan García Oliver\, born on this day in 1901\, was a Spanish ana rcho-syndicalist revolutionary\, affiliated with the Confederación Nacion al del Trabajo (CNT)\, and Minister of Justice of the Second Spanish Repub lic. DESCRIPTION:Juan García Oliver\, born on this day in 1901\, was a Spanish anarcho-syndicalist revolutionary\, affiliated with the Confederación Na cional del Trabajo (CNT)\, and Minister of Justice of the Second Spanish R epublic.\n\nHe was a leading figure of anarchism in Spain and fought on th e side of the republic against fascists in the Spanish Civil War. During t he war\, García organized "People's War Schools"\, set up work camps for political detainees\, abolished court fees\, and wiped criminal records.\n \nWith the end of the Spanish Civil War in 1939\, he settled in Sweden\, V enezuela\, and finally Mexico. In 1978\, two years before his death\, Garc ía Oliver published his autobiography\, "El eco de los pasos". RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Garc%C3%ADa_Oliver RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/%E2%80%9Crevolutionary-syndicalism-se rves-proletariat-whereas-anarchism-one-brand-humanism%E2%80%9D-inte END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Wannsee Conference (1942) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250120 DTEND:20250121T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Fascism COMMENT:On this day in 1942\, leading Nazi officials met at a villa in Wan nsee\, Berlin\, to discuss the "Jewish question". Here\, the policy of Jew ish genocide was explicitly architected\, although the "Final Solution" ha d been approved one year earlier. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1942\, leading Nazi officials met at a villa in Wannsee\, Berlin\, to discuss the "Jewish question". Here\, the policy of Jewish genocide was explicitly architected\, although the "Final Solution " had been approved one year earlier.\n\nThe conference was attended by 15 high-ranking party and state officials\, headed by Reinhard Heydrich\, SS Lieutenant-General and head of the Reich Security Main Office. Other impo rtant attendees included Heinrich Müller\, chief of the Gestapo\, and Ado lf Eichmann\, who was executed in 1962 for war crimes in Jerusalem.\n\nBec ause a policy of mass extermination had already been approved by Hitler in 1941 (especially as mass killings of Jews had already begun in occupied E urope)\, the historical importance of the meeting was not recognized by th ose present.\n\nThe purpose of formalizing the logistics behind the "Final Solution's" implementation was simply to emphasize that\, once the deport ations had been completed\, the fate of the deportees became an internal m atter of the SS\, totally outside the purview of any other agency. Heydric h estimated that there were around 11 million Jews in Europe who would be targeted for extermination. Within a few months of the Wannsee Conference\ , the Nazis would begin installing the first poison-gas chambers in Polish extermination camps.\n\nOn January 20th\, 1992\, on the fiftieth annivers ary of the meeting\, the site was finally opened as a Holocaust memorial a nd museum known as the Haus der Wannsee-Konferenz (House of the Wannsee Co nference).\n\n"Those who suffer from conspiracy phobia are fond of saying: 'Do you actually think there's a group of people sitting around in a room plotting things?' For some reason that image is assumed to be so patently absurd as to invite only disclaimers. But where else would people of powe r get together - on park benches or carousels?"\n\n- Michael Parenti RESOURCES:https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/wannsee-confer ence-and-the-final-solution RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wannsee_Conference RESOURCES:https://www.britannica.com/event/Wannsee-Conference END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Irish War of Independence (1919) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250121 DTEND:20250122T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Independence COMMENT:On this day in 1919\, the republican party Sinn Féin declared Iri sh independence from Britain. After two years of guerilla warfare against British occupation and ~2\,300 deaths\, the Anglo-Irish Treaty was signed\ , creating the Irish Free State. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1919\, the republican party Sinn Féin declared Irish independence from Britain. After two years of guerilla warfare agai nst British occupation and ~2\,300 deaths\, the Anglo-Irish Treaty was sig ned\, creating the Irish Free State.\n\nIn April 1916\, Irish republicans had launched the Easter Rising against British rule\, proclaiming an Irish Republic. Although the rebellion was suppressed\, the incident led to gre ater popular support for Irish independence. In December 1918 elections\, just a month prior to their independence declaration\, republican party Si nn Féin won a landslide victory.\n\nOn January 21st\, 1919 Sinn Féin for med a breakaway government (Dáil Éireann). The same day\, two Royal Iris h Constabulary (RIC) officers were killed in the Soloheadbeg ambush by Iri sh Republican Army (IRA) volunteers.\n\nThroughout 1919\, the IRA went abo ut capturing weapons and freeing republican prisoners while the Dáil bega n building up a state. In September\, the British government outlawed the Dáil and Sinn Féin\, and the conflict intensified.\n\nOver the following two years\, the IRA waged a campaign of guerilla warfare against British occupiers. In total\, approximately 2\,300 people were killed - 936 of the British-aligned forces\, 491 of the Irish-aligned forces\, and 900 civili ans.\n\nThe British government bolstered the RIC with recruits from Britai n\, the "Black and Tans and Auxiliaries"\, who became notorious for ill-di scipline and reprisal attacks on civilians.\n\nOn December 6th\, 1921\, th e Anglo-Irish Treaty was signed\, bringing an end to the 1919 Irish War of Independence. The treaty formally recognized the Irish Free State and led to the creation of Northern Ireland\, partitioning the island.\n\n"If you remove the English Army tomorrow and hoist the green flag over Dublin Cas tle\, unless you set about the organization of the Socialist Republic your efforts will be in vain. England will still rule you. She would rule you through her capitalists\, through her landlords\, through her financiers\, through the whole array of commercial and individualist institutions she has planted in this country and watered with the tears of our mothers and the blood of our martyrs."\n\n- James Connolly RESOURCES:https://www.theirishstory.com/2012/09/18/the-irish-war-of-indepe ndence-a-brief-overview/#.Y8wACnbMJPY RESOURCES:https://www.theirishwar.com/history/irish-war-of-independence/ RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/history/international/comintern/ci/old_ series/11-12/ireland.htm RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_War_of_Independence RESOURCES:https://www.neversuchinnocence.com/irish-war-of-independence END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Itō Noe (1895 - 1923) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250121 DTEND:20250122T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Anarchism COMMENT:Itō Noe\, born on this day in 1895\, was a Japanese anarchist\, s ocial critic\, and feminist author. In 1923\, Noe\, along with Sakae Ōsug i and his 6-year-old nephew\, was assassinated by state police in what was called the "Amakasu Incident". DESCRIPTION:Itō Noe\, born on this day in 1895\, was a Japanese anarchist \, social critic\, and feminist author. She was the editor-in-chief of the feminist magazine "Seitō"\, although the magazine eventually folded due to lack of funds because the government would not let distributors carry i t.\n\nBeginning in 1916\, Itō lived and worked with her partner and fello w anarchist Sakae Ōsugi\, and continued to gain prominence as a feminist and anarchist writer. She was highly critical of the existing political sy stem in Japan\, which led her to call for an anarchism to exist in "everyd ay practice"\, namely that people should in various small ways seek routin ely to undermine the kokutai (a sense of national body politic). Itō also translated anarchist writings into Japanese\, including works of Emma Gol dman.\n\nOn September 16th\, 1923\, Itō\, Ōsugi\, and his 6-year-old nep hew Munekazu were arrested\, strangled to death\, and thrown into an aband oned well by a squad of military police known as the "Kenpeitai". The kill ing of such high-profile anarchists\, together with a young child\, became a national controversy known as the "Amakasu Incident" (named after the l eader of the squad).\n\nLt. Amakasu was arrested and sentenced to ten year s in prison for the murders\, however he was released after serving only t hree years. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%C5%8D_Noe RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/articles/1895-1923-ito-noe RESOURCES:https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/david-g-nelson-ito-noe-1 895-1923 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Lenin's Death and Testament (1924) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250121 DTEND:20250122T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Marxism COMMENT:On this day in 1924\, revolutionary Vladimir Lenin died after a se ries of strokes. Following his death\, his wife Krupskaya circulated "Leni n's Testament"\, a letter in which he criticized Party leadership and made suggestions for the future. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1924\, revolutionary Vladimir Lenin died after a series of strokes. Following his death\, his wife Krupskaya circulated " Lenin's Testament"\, a letter in which he criticized Party leadership and made suggestions for the future.\n\nThe majority of the Testament had been dictated by Lenin to his secretary\, Lidya Fotieva\, on December 25th\, 1 922\, with a postscript added on January 4th\, 1923\, approximately a year before his death.\n\nIn the letter\, Lenin expressed concerns over the st ability of the Central Committee\, and by extension the Communist Party\, writing "Our party rests upon two classes\, and for that reason its instab ility is possible\, and if there cannot exist an agreement between such cl asses its fall is inevitable...I have in mind stability as a guarantee aga inst a split n the near future\, and I intend to examine here a series of considerations of a purely personal character."\n\nLenin goes on to state that the personal relationship between Stalin and Trotsky could cause such a split: "I think that the fundamental factor in the matter of stability – from this point of view – as such members of the Central Committee a s Stalin and Trotsky. The relation between them constitutes\, in my opinio n\, a big half of the danger of that split..."\n\nIn the letter's postscri pt\, dated January 4th\, Lenin calls Stalin "rude" and recommends Party me mbers to find another General Secretary\, "another man who in all respects differs from Stalin only in superiority – namely\, more patient\, more loyal\, more polite and more attentive to comrades\, less capricious\, etc ."\n\nAfter\, Lenin's death\, his surviving widow\, Nadezhda\, began circu lating the document and attempted to present it at the 13th Congress. By a vote of 30 to 10\, party leadership refused to have the document read to the congress. The Testament was\, however\, published by anti-communists\; the full English text of Lenin's testament was published as part of a 192 6 New York Times article.\n\nBill Bland\, a Marxist-Leninist historian\, n otes that the contents of the letter mark a striking reversal to Lenin's p revious assessment of both Stalin and Trotsky. Stalin had been elected Gen eral Secretary of the Central Committee in April 1922 on Lenin's proposal. While Lenin praises Trotsky as the "the most able man in the present Cent ral Committee" in the letter\, Lenin had previously referred to Trotsky as "Judas Trotsky" and "swine".\n\nHistorian Stephen Kotkin argued that the evidence for Lenin's authorship of the Testament is weak and suggested tha t the document could have been created by Krupskaya\, although other histo rians\, such as Isaac Deutscher and Dmitri Volkogonov\, accepted its legit imacy. Trotskyist journal The New International noted in 1935 that Stalin himself acknowledged Lenin as the author in a 1927 speech. RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/history/etol/newspape/ni/vol02/no01/len in.htm RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenin%27s_Testament RESOURCES:https://www.revolutionarydemocracy.org/rdv7n2/blandlt.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Antonio Gramsci (1891 - 1937) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250122 DTEND:20250123T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Marxism,Birthdays,Fascism COMMENT:Antonio Gramsci\, born on this day in 1891\, was an Italian Marxis t philosopher and communist politician. "The crisis consists precisely in the fact that the old is dying and the new cannot be born." DESCRIPTION:Antonio Gramsci\, born on this day in 1891\, was an Italian Ma rxist philosopher and communist politician. His works touch on a variety o f topics\, including political theory\, sociology\, history\, and linguist ics.\n\nGramsci was a founding member and leader of the Communist Party of Italy and was imprisoned by Benito Mussolini's fascist regime. Gramsci wr ote more than 30 notebooks and 3\,000 pages of history and analysis during his imprisonment. His "Prison Notebooks" are considered a highly original contribution to 20th-century political theory.\n\nToday\, Gramsci is perh aps best known for his concept of cultural hegemony\, which describes how the state and ruling capitalist class use cultural institutions to maintai n power in capitalist societies without resorting to force. Hegemonic cult ure promotes capitalist values and norms such that they become the "common sense" values of all and reinforce the status quo.\n\n"The crisis consist s precisely in the fact that the old is dying and the new cannot be born." \n\n- Antonio Gramsci RESOURCES:https://revisesociology.com/2016/06/23/gramscis-humanist-marxism / RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/archive/gramsci/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_Gramsci END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:La Matanza (1932) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250122 DTEND:20250123T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Assassinations,Indigenous COMMENT:La Matanza was the brutal repression of a peasant insurrection tha t occurred in El Salvador on this day in 1932\, killing ~30\,000 people. A mong those killed were indigenous chief José Ama and communist revolution ary Farabundo Martí. DESCRIPTION:La Matanza was the brutal repression of a peasant insurrection that occurred in El Salvador on this day in 1932\, killing ~30\,000 peopl e. Among those killed were indigenous chief José Ama and communist revolu tionary Farabundo Martí.\n\nThe Salvadoran army\, vastly superior in term s of weapons and soldiers\, indiscriminately executed those who stood agai nst it.\n\nThe rebellion was a mixture of protest and insurrection which e nded in state-sanctioned ethnocide\, claiming the lives of an estimated 30 \,000\, many of them indigenous Pipil people.\n\nAmong those assassinated in the uprising was Pipil chief José Feliciano Ama and Martí\, who was e xecuted by the state on February 1st. The Salvadoran Farabundo Martí Nati onal Liberation Front (FMLN) is named after Martí. RESOURCES:https://opentext.ku.edu/propiaspalabras/chapter/cicatriz-de-la-m emoria-la-matanza-de-1932-en-el-salvador/ RESOURCES:https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/la-matanza RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Matanza END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Russian Revolution (1905) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250122 DTEND:20250123T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Assassinations,Massacre,Mutinies,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1905\, troops at the Russian Winter Palace fired up on a huge procession of working class demonstrators\, killing hundreds. Th e massacre led to widespread uprisings and sweeping reforms known as the 1 905 Russian Revolution. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1905\, troops at the Russian Winter Palace fire d upon a huge procession of working class demonstrators\, killing hundreds . The massacre\, known as "Bloody Sunday"\, led to widespread uprisings an d sweeping reforms in what is known as the Russian Revolution of 1905.\n\n The revolt took place amidst widespread discontent with conditions under t he Tsarist absolute monarchy\, and a growing proliferation of political ra dicalism. Although mass strikes broke out weeks earlier in St. Petersburg\ , the beginning of the revolution is typically marked by the "Bloody Sunda y" massacre on January 22nd\, when unarmed protesters marching towards the Winter Palace to present a petition to Tsar Nicholas were fired upon by s oldiers\, killing hundreds.\n\nIn response to the massacre\, mass worker r esistance exploded across the Russian empire. Half of European Russia's in dustrial workers went on strike in 1905\, 93.2% in Poland. The Tsar's uncl e was assassinated on February 17th.\n\nOn March 2nd\, the Tsar agreed to the establishment of a legislature\, the State Duma. However\, with the bo dy's powers remaining limited (initially only given consultative powers)\, the rebels were emboldened to push harder.\n\nSummer saw peasant rebellio n and mutinies (Russia being at war with Japan at the time)\, most famousl y the mutiny on the battleship Potemkin\, triggered when sailors refused t o eat borscht made from maggot-infested meat.\n\nAs strikes continued\, th e government announced a Manifesto on October 17th\, enacting emergency ci vil reform to placate the masses\, and successfully crushed remaining resi stance in the following months\, such as the Moscow Uprising in December.\ n\nThe uprising is considered the predecessor to the Russian Revolution of 1917 which led to the establishment of the Soviet Union\; Vladimir Lenin called it "The Great Dress Rehearsal"\, without which the "victory of the October Revolution in 1917 would have been impossible". RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1905_Russian_Revolution RESOURCES:https://www.bolshevik.info/russian-revolution-1905.htm RESOURCES:https://www.thoughtco.com/russian-revolutions-1905-1221816 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Guinea-Bissau War of Independence Begins (1963) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250123 DTEND:20250124T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Pan-Africanism,Assassinations,Independence COMMENT:The Guinea-Bissau War of Independence was an armed conflict betwee n Pan-African revolutionaries and Portuguese colonizers that began on this day in 1963\, lasting until 1974. The war is also known as "Portugal's Vi etnam". DESCRIPTION:The Guinea-Bissau War of Independence was an armed conflict be tween Pan-African revolutionaries and Portuguese colonizers that began on this day in 1963\, lasting until 1974. The war is also known as "Portugal' s Vietnam".\n\nFought between Portugal and the African Party for the Indep endence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC)\, the war is referred to as "Port ugal's Vietnam" due to the large numbers of men and amounts of material ex pended in a long\, mostly guerrilla war and the internal political turmoil it created in Portugal. Until his assassination in 1973\, Pan-African soc ialist Amílcar Cabral played a key role in the revolutionary activity of PAIGC.\n\nThe first act of the revolution took place on January 23rd\, whe n PAIGC guerrillas attacked a Portuguese garrison in Tite\, near the Corub al River\, south of Bissau. Similar guerrilla actions quickly spread acros s the colony. PAIGC had few weapons - perhaps only one submachine gun and two pistols per group - and so they attacked Portuguese convoys to gain mo re weapons.\n\nThe war ended when Portugal\, after the Carnation Revolutio n of 1974\, granted independence to Guinea-Bissau\, with Cape Verde's inde pendence following a year later. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guinea-Bissau_War_of_Independence RESOURCES:https://uca.edu/politicalscience/dadm-project/sub-saharan-africa -region/portuguese-guinea-1951-1974/ RESOURCES:https://jacobin.com/2022/12/guinea-bissau-liberation-struggle-am ilcar-cabral-west-africa-anti-colonialism RESOURCES:https://aaprp-intl.org/history-of-the-paigc/ RESOURCES:https://thetricontinental.org/studies-1-national-liberation-paig c-education/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Nicaraguan General Strike (1978) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250123 DTEND:20250124T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:General Strikes COMMENT:On this day in 1978\, more than 80% of businesses across Nicaragua closed as part of a general strike that demanded an end to the repressive Somoza regime\, two weeks after the assassination of journalist and activ ist Pedro Chamorro. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1978\, more than 80% of businesses across Nicar agua closed as part of a general strike that demanded an end to the repres sive Somoza regime.\n\nTwo weeks earlier\, on January 10th\, the editor of the Managua newspaper "La Prensa" and founder of the Union for Democratic Liberation (UDEL)\, Pedro Joaquín Chamorro Cardenal\, was murdered by su spected elements of the Somoza dictatorship\, causing riots to break out i n the capital city\, Managua.\n\nThe strike lasted for two and a half week s\, but widespread resistance and anti-Somoza revolutionary activity persi sted for more than a year afterward\, resulting in many deaths\, state abu ses of power\, and atrocities committed both by the Somoza regime.\n\nAfte r Somoza resigned in June of 1979\, the FSLN took control of the state cap ital\, however widespread fighting continued between the Sandinistas and t he U.S.-backed Contras continued for years afterward. RESOURCES:http://www.cidh.org/countryrep/Nicaragua78eng/intro.htm RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicaraguan_Revolution END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:South Africa Platinum Strike (2014) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250123 DTEND:20250124T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:On this day in 2014\, the longest wage strike in South African his tory began when nearly 70\,000 platinum mine workers struck. The five mont h strike cost employers R24-billion in revenue and ended with workers winn ing a pay increase. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 2014\, the longest wage strike in South African history began when nearly 70\,000 platinum mine workers struck. The five month strike cost employers R24-billion in revenue and ended with workers winning a pay increase.\n\nThe majority of these mine workers belong to a newly formed trade union\, Association of Mines and Construction Union (AM CU)\, under the leadership of Joseph Mathunjwa.\n\nThe strike lasted five months\, and on June 23rd\, 2014\, both the platinum companies and AMCU se ttled for a pay increase spread over three years. Several mine assets were sold off by the companies due to the burden of the strike. RESOURCES:https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/2014-south-african-platinum -strike-longest-wage-strike-south-africa RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_South_African_platinum_strike END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Atocha Massacre (1977) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250124 DTEND:20250125T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Labor,Assassinations,Massacre,Fascism COMMENT:On this day in 1977\, the Atocha Massacre took place when Spanish fascists assassinated five labor activists from the Communist Party of Spa in (PCE) and the workers' federation "Comisiones Obreras". DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1977\, the Atocha Massacre took place when Span ish fascists assassinated five labor activists from the Communist Party of Spain (PCE) and the workers' federation "Comisiones Obreras".\n\nThe nigh t of January 24th\, three fascists entered a legal office run by the PCE i n support of workers' rights. Their target was Joaquín Navarro\, the gene ral secretary of the transport union of the Comisiones Obreras\, who at th at time was leading a transport strike in Madrid. The attackers searched t he office\, found the eight remaining staff\, and\, discovering Navarro ha d departed earlier\, decided to kill all present.\n\nTold to raise their " little hands up high"\, the remaining eight people present were lined up a gainst a wall and shot\, killing four people (the fifth victim was killed earlier) and injuring four more. One of the injured\, Dolores Ruiz\, was p regnant and lost her child as a result of the attack.\n\nThe assassination s took place within the wider context of far-right reaction to Spain's tra nsition to constitutional democracy following the death of dictator Franci sco Franco two years prior.\n\nIntended to provoke a violent left-wing res ponse that would provide legitimacy for a subsequent right-wing counter co up d'état\, the massacre had an immediate and opposite effect\, causing m ass popular revulsion against the far-right and accelerating the legalizat ion of the long-banned Communist Party.\n\nThe trial took place in Februar y 1980 and the defendants were sentenced to a total of 464 years in jail. A number of them escaped custody\, however\, fleeing to South America. Aft er more than 20 years on the run\, one the perpetrators\, García Juliá\, was arrested in Brazil in 2018. Juliá was extradited to Spain in Februar y 2020\, and transferred to Soto del Real prison to serve the remainder of his sentence. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1977_Atocha_massacre RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/wildcat-spain-encounters-democracy-19 76-1978 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:High Treason Twelve Executed (1911) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250124 DTEND:20250125T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Anarchism,Journalism COMMENT:On this day in 1911\, the Japanese government executed twelve anar chists\, including radical journalists Kanno Sugako and Kōtoku Shūsui (s hown)\, as part of a widespread crackdown on left-wing activism. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1911\, the Japanese government executed twelve anarchists\, including radical journalists Kanno Sugako and Kōtoku Shūsu i (shown)\, as part of a widespread crackdown on left-wing activism. Among those executed were Uchiyama Gudō\, a Buddhist priest and socialist who spoke out against the Meiji government for its imperialism and advocated f or conscripted soldiers to desert en masse.\n\nThe pretext for this crackd own was the "High Treason Incident"\, a plot to assassinate the Emperor of Japan. The incident began when police searched the room of Miyashita Taki chi\, a young lumbermill employee\, and found materials which could be use d to construct bombs\, concluding that there was a broader conspiracy to h arm the imperial family.\n\nOn the basis of this plot\, the Japanese gover nment rounded up leftist activists from all over the country. 24 of the 26 defendants actually brought to trial were sentenced to death\, despite th e evidence against nearly all of them being circumstantial.\n\nAmong those executed anarcha-feminist journalist Kanno Sugako (some sources say she w as executed on January 25th). At the age of 29\, Kanno became the first wo man with the status of political prisoner to be executed in the history of modern Japan.\n\nPrior to his execution\, Kōtoku Shūsui etched this mes sage on the wall of his cell: "How has it come about that I have committed this grave crime? Today my trial is hidden from outside observers and I h ave even less liberty than previously to speak about these events. Perhaps in 100 years someone will speak out about them on my behalf." RESOURCES:https://www.amwenglish.com/articles/-taigyaku-jiken-an-introduct ion-to-the-anarchists-of-japan/ RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/blog/great-treason-incident-anarchism-japan-1 6082018 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Kim Chwa-chin Assassinated (1930) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250124 DTEND:20250125T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Assassinations,Colonialism,Independence COMMENT:Kim Chwa-chin was a Korean general and anarchist independence acti vist who was assassinated by Park Sang-sil\, an agent of the Japanese colo nial government\, on this day in 1930. DESCRIPTION:Kim Chwa-chin (1889 - 1930) was a Korean general and anarchist independence activist who was assassinated by Park Sang-sil\, an agent of the Japanese colonial government\, on this day in 1930.\n\nWhen Kim was 1 8\, he released 50 enslaved families when he burned a slave registry and p rovided each family with enough land to live on\, resulting in the first e mancipation of slaves in modern Korea.\n\nIn 1918\, Kim was one of 40 Kore an representatives to sign the Korean Declaration of independence. He then joined the Korea Justice Corps\, later becoming the general commander of the Northern Military Administration Office Army and playing a key role in the "Battle of Cheongsanri" against Japanese forces.\n\nIn 1928\, the Kor ea Independence Party was formed\, and the following year\, when the Korea n General Association was established\, Kim was designated as its Presiden t.\n\nAfter allying with an anti-Japanese group in China to prepare for wa r against the Japanese colonial government\, Kim was assassinated by Park Sang-sil in Northern Manchuria\, on January 24th\, 1930. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Chwa-chin RESOURCES:https://web.archive.org/web/20151226035222/http://english.hongse ong.go.kr/eng/sub01_05_04.do END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Egyptian "Day of Anger" (2011) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250125 DTEND:20250126T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Protests COMMENT:On this day in 2011\, known as the "Day of Anger"\, millions of pe ople took to the streets in massive anti-government protests all across Eg ypt\, including the cities of Cairo\, Alexandria\, Suez\, and Ismaïlia. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 2011\, known as the "Day of Anger"\, millions o f people took to the streets in massive anti-government protests all acros s Egypt\, including the cities of Cairo\, Alexandria\, Suez\, and Ismaïli a. The protests kicked off weeks of civil disobedience that successfully o usted Hosni Mubarak from power on February 11th\, 2011.\n\nActivist journa list Hossam el-Hamalawy gave this statement on the protests to Al-Jazeera: \n\n"People are fed up of Mubarak and of his dictatorship and of his tortu re chambers and of his failed economic policies. If Mubarak is not overthr own tomorrow then it will be the day after. If it's not the day after it's going to be next week." RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_Egyptian_revolutio n_of_2011#25_January_%E2%80%93_Day_of_Anger RESOURCES:https://english.alaraby.co.uk/english/blog/2017/1/28/egypts-day- of-rage-six-years-on END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:FLOC Campbell's and Nestle Boycott (1979) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250125 DTEND:20250126T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:On this day in 1979\, the Farm Labor Organizing Committee\, a labo r union representing migrant farm workers\, initiated a boycott against Ca mpbell's and Nestle products to achieve union recognition and higher wages . DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1979\, the Farm Labor Organizing Committee\, a labor union representing migrant farm workers\, initiated a boycott agains t Campbell's and Nestle products to achieve union recognition and higher w ages. The Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC) was founded in 1967 in To ledo\, Ohio by Baldemar Velasquez.\n\nIn 1978\, Velasquez planned an ambit ious labor action\, noting that Ohio tomato growers would be unable to rec ruit enough workers to see them through a long strike. That year\, 2\,000 FLOC members walked off their jobs in Ohio\, demanding a guaranteed minimu m wage\, better housing\, and medical care.\n\nWhile some growers were wil ling to negotiate\, big canners such as Campbell's and Nestle were unwilli ng to pay the higher prices which would accompany a unionized workforce. F LOC reacted by boycotting their products and marching 560 miles from Toled o\, Ohio to Campbell's headquarters in Camden\, New Jersey in a well-publi cized protest.\n\nA resolution finally came in 1986 when FLOC\, growers\, and Campbell's announced a collective bargaining agreement which achieved union recognition and provided for wage increases\, grievance resolution\, health insurance\, and committees to study pesticide safety\, housing\, h ealth care\, and day care issues.\n\nShortly thereafter\, FLOC reached dea ls with Vlasic\, Heinz\, Dean Foods\, and 23 of the largest cucumber growe rs in Ohio and Michigan. RESOURCES:https://library.ucsd.edu/dc/object/bb78511890/_1.pdf RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farm_Labor_Organizing_Committee END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Fumiko Kaneko (1903 - 1926) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250125 DTEND:20250126T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Anarchism,Imperialism COMMENT:Fumiko Kaneko\, born on this day in 1903\, was a Japanese anarchis t\, nihilist\, and opponent to Japanese imperialism in Korea. She authored "The Prison Memoirs Of A Japanese Woman" while jailed for treason. DESCRIPTION:Fumiko Kaneko\, born on this day in 1903\, was a Japanese anar chist\, nihilist\, and opponent to Japanese imperialism in Korea. Fumiko i s perhaps best remembered for her "The Prison Memoirs Of A Japanese Woman" \, written while imprisoned after being convicted of high treason against the Japanese government.\n\nTogether\, Fumiko and her Korean partner Pak Y ol published two magazines which highlighted the problems Koreans faced un der Japanese imperialism and showed influences of their radical politics. Sometime between 1922 and 1923\, they also established a group called "F"u tei-sha (Society of Malcontents)"\, which Fumiko identified as a group for direct action against the government.\n\nThese activities soon brought Pa k and Fumiko under government scrutiny. In September 1923\, the Japanese g overnment therefore made a number of arrests\, mostly Koreans\, on limited evidence\, and among those arrested were Pak and Fumiko.\n\nAfter lengthy judicial proceedings\, Fumiko and Pak were convicted of high treason for attempting to obtain bombs with the intention of killing the emperor or hi s son. They were both sentenced to life in prison\, however Fumiko alleged ly committed suicide in her cell in 1926.\n\nHere is a short excerpt from one of Fumiko's interrogations while imprisoned (text by Max Res from thea narchistlibrary.org):\n\nQ: Your class?\n\nA: A divine commoner.\n\nQ: How are you employed?\n\nA: My job is tearing down everything that currently exists. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fumiko_Kaneko RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/prison-memoirs-japanese-woman END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Passaic Textile Strike (1926) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250125 DTEND:20250126T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Labor COMMENT:The Passaic Textile Strike was a walkout by 15\,000 mill workers t hat began on this day in 1926 in New Jersey. It began as the one of the fi rst communist-led strikes in the U.S.\, however the AFL took over on condi tion that radicals step aside. DESCRIPTION:The Passaic Textile Strike was a walkout by 15\,000 mill worke rs that began on this day in 1926 in New Jersey. It began as the one of th e first communist-led strikes in the U.S.\, however the AFL took over on c ondition that radicals step aside.\n\nConducted in its initial phase by a "United Front Committee" organized by the Trade Union Educational League o f the Workers Party (TUEL)\, the strike lasted more than a year\, ending o n March 1st\, 1927\, when the final mill being picketed signed a contract with the striking workers.\n\nThe Passaic Textile Strike was one of the fi rst communist-led work stoppages in the United States\, and notable left f igures such as Elizabeth Gurley Flynn\, Norman Thomas\, and Robert W. Dunn helped organize it. Although political radicals led the strike for the fi rst several months\, the American Federation of Labor (AFL) took over nego tiations in the fall of 1926 on condition of communist activists stepping aside.\n\nThe strike was memorialized by a seven reel silent movie titled "The Passaic Textile Strike"\, intended to generate sympathy and funds for the striking workers. Six of the seven reels survive today. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1926_Passaic_textile_strike RESOURCES:https://socialwelfare.library.vcu.edu/organizations/labor/passai c-textile-strike-1926-2/ RESOURCES:https://digitaltamiment.hosting.nyu.edu/s/tamfilms/item/2227 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Angela Davis (1944 - ) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250126 DTEND:20250127T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Marxism,Feminism,Birthdays COMMENT:Angela Davis\, born on this day in 1944\, is a Marxist and feminis t activist\, prison abolitionist\, philosopher\, and educator. "I am no lo nger accepting the things I cannot change. I am changing the things I cann ot accept." DESCRIPTION:Angela Davis\, born on this day in 1944\, is a Marxist and fem inist activist\, prison abolitionist\, philosopher\, and educator.\n\nIdeo logically a Marxist\, Davis was a member of the Communist Party USA until 1991\, after which she joined the breakaway "Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism". She is the author of over ten books\, coveri ng topics such as class\, feminism\, and the U.S. prison system.\n\nBorn t o an African-American family in Birmingham\, Alabama\, Davis studied Frenc h at Brandeis University and philosophy at the University of Frankfurt in West Germany. Back in the U.S.\, she joined the Communist Party and\, as a Marxist feminist\, involved herself in a range of radical movements\, inc luding second-wave feminism\, the Black Panther Party\, and the campaign a gainst the Vietnam War.\n\nIn 1969\, Davis was hired as an acting assistan t professor of philosophy at the University of California\, Los Angeles (U CLA). In 1970 UCLA's governing Board of Regents fired her due to her Commu nist Party membership\; after a court ruled this illegal\, the university fired her again\, this time for her alleged use of "inflammatory language" .\n\nPraised by Marxists and others on the left\, Davis has received numer ous awards\, including the Lenin Peace Prize in 1980. Davis has also been inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame\, and was Time magazine's "Woman of the Year" for 1971 in its 2020 "100 Women of the Year" edition.\ n\n"I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I am changing the things I cannot accept."\n\n- Angela Davis RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angela_Davis RESOURCES:https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jun/15/angela-davis-on- george-floyd-as-long-as-the-violence-of-racism-remains-no-one-is-safe RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/subject/women/authors/davis-angela/hous ework.htm RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/workers/black-panthers/1998 /01/x01.htm RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/people-africa n-american-history/davis-angela-1944/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Anti-Gulf War D.C. Protests (1991) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250126 DTEND:20250127T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1991\, between 75\,000 - 250\,000 placard-wielding students\, veterans\, farmers\, and feminists marched past the White House in protest of the Gulf War initiated by President George Bush. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1991\, between 75\,000 - 250\,000 placard-wield ing students\, veterans\, farmers\, and feminists marched past the White H ouse in protest of the Gulf War initiated by President George Bush. The ma rch stretched over a mile long\, sweeping down Pennsylvania Avenue.\n\nCha nts included "Hey\, Hey\, Uncle Sam\, we remember Vietnam" and "No blood f or oil!". Representative Rangel (D-NY) was the only member of Congress amo ng the speakers there\, saying "We have no right to have a Clint Eastwood foreign policy". RESOURCES:https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1991-01-27-1991027045-s tory.html RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/1990-1991-resistance-to-the-gulf-war END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Auschwitz Liberated (1945) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250127 DTEND:20250128T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Fascism COMMENT:On this day in 1945\, the Soviet Red Army liberated Auschwitz conc entration camp in Nazi-occupied Poland\, the largest such complex during t he Holocaust. In 2005\, the United Nations named today as International Ho locaust Remembrance Day. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1945\, the Soviet Red Army liberated Auschwitz concentration camp in Nazi-occupied Poland\, the largest such complex duri ng the Holocaust. In 2005\, the United Nations named today as Internationa l Holocaust Remembrance Day.\n\nAs Soviet forces approached the camp\, Naz is attempted to evacuate prisoners from the camp and to destroy evidence o f their atrocities. Approximately 56\,000 inmates were forced on a "death march" west away from the camp through the Polish winter.\n\nAround 15\,00 0 prisoners (about 1 in 4) perished during their forced march\, and\, by t he time the Soviets had arrived\, only 9\,000 remained on-site\, monitored by a handful of remaining SS guards and staff.\n\nThe buildings themselve s were left largely intact\, along with large amounts of clothing\, seized items\, and human hair\, alongside the dying prisoners left behind.\n\nOn e Red Army general\, Vasily Petrenko\, is quoted as saying\, "I who saw pe ople dying every day was shocked by the Nazis' indescribable hatred toward the inmates who had turned into living skeletons. I read about the Nazis' treatment of Jews in various leaflets\, but there was nothing about the N azis' treatment of women\, children\, and old men".\n\nEfforts were made t o document the atrocities\, and to hospitalize the remaining inmates. Ausc hwitz remained in use as an ad hoc facility for German POWs until the end of the war in Europe later that year.\n\nSince 2005\, the day has been mar ked annually by the United Nations as International Holocaust Remembrance Day\, commemorating all those targeted and killed by the Third Reich\, inc luding around six million Jews and five million others. RESOURCES:https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/what-happened-after-liber ation-auschwitz-180974051/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberation_of_Auschwitz_concentrat ion_camp RESOURCES:https://www.ushmm.org/information/exhibitions/online-exhibitions /special-focus/liberation-of-auschwitz END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Samuel Gompers (1850 - 1924) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250127 DTEND:20250128T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Socialism,Labor,Birthdays,IWW COMMENT:Samuel Gompers\, born on this day in 1850\, was a founder of the A merican Federation of Labor\, serving as its president for 38 years. Gompe rs expelled radicals from the AFL\, promoted trade unionism\, and advocate d for racist immigration policies. DESCRIPTION:Samuel Gompers\, born on this day in 1850\, was a founder of t he American Federation of Labor\, serving as its president for 38 years. G ompers expelled radicals from the AFL\, promoted trade unionism\, and advo cated for racist immigration policies.\n\nAlthough Gompers began his caree r sympathetic to socialist and Georgist thought\, he became increasingly c onservative throughout his career\, making "peace" with capitalist labor r elations rather than seeking to abolish them. This led to a split in the l abor movement\, with the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) representin g the more radical advocacy of labor interests via industrial unionism.\n\ nAs AFL President\, Gompers promoted collaboration among the different cra ft unions that comprised the AFL and supported collective bargaining to se cure shorter hours and higher wages for laborers.\n\nGompers also successf ully promoted anti-immigrant and anti-socialist politics using the influen ce of the AFL\, endorsing the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and supporting the U.S. government and its entry into World War I as the state arrested anti-war union leaders.\n\nGompers was particularly critical of the IWW\, stating "the IWWs...are exactly what the Bolsheviki are in Russia\, and we have seen what the IWW Bolsheviki in Russia have done for the working peo ple." RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Gompers RESOURCES:https://aflcio.org/about/history/labor-history-people/samuel-gom pers RESOURCES:https://gompers.umd.edu/ RESOURCES:https://depts.washington.edu/antiwar/WW1_reds.shtml END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Wilckens Kills Valera (1923) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250127 DTEND:20250128T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Assassinations,Anarchism COMMENT:On this day in 1923\, anarchist miner Kurt Wilckens (1886 - 1923) assassinated Colonel Héctor Benigno Varela after he led government forces that summarily executed 1\,500 revolutionary workers in Argentine Patagon ia. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1923\, anarchist miner Kurt Wilckens (1886 - 19 23) assassinated Colonel Héctor Benigno Varela after he led government fo rces that summarily executed 1\,500 revolutionary workers in Argentine Pat agonia.\n\nWilckens\, a German Wobbly who had immigrated to Argentina a fe w years prior\, was disgusted by the brutal suppression of the Patagonian Uprising. On the morning of January 27th\, 1923\, Wilckens met Colonel Var ela on the street and hurled a bomb at him. Wounded in both legs\, Varela attempted to draw his sabre\, but Wilckens shot Varela four times\, kiling him.\n\nWilckens was injured during the event after shielding a 10-year o ld girl from the blast. Due to his wounds\, he could not leave the scene a nd was arrested there. On June 15th\, Wilckens was murdered in prison by a member of the fascist paramilitary "Liga Patriótica Argentina".\n\nOn th e assassination\, Wilckens said "It was not vengeance\; I did not see in V arela a minor official. No\, he was everything in Patagonia: governor\, ju dge\, executioner\, and undertaker. I tried to hurt him as the naked symbo l of a criminal system. But revenge is unworthy of an Anarchist! The dawn\ , our dawn\, claims no quarrels\, no crimes\, no lies\; it affirms life\, love\, science\; we work to hasten that day." RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/wilckens-kurt-gustav-1886-1923 RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_Gustav_Wilckens END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Berlin General Strike (1918) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250128 DTEND:20250129T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:General Strikes COMMENT:On this day in 1918\, 200k-400k workers initiated a revolutionary general strike in Berlin to demand an end to World War I and the democrati zation of their government. By the end of the week\, more than half a mill ion were participating. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1918\, 200k-400k workers initiated a revolution ary general strike in Berlin to demand an end to World War I and the democ ratization of their government. By the end of the week\, more than half a million were participating.\n\nMembers of the revolutionary Spartacus Leag ue were active in the uprising\, trying to turn the strike into a full-fle dged revolution. Workers elected a council of 414 delegates\, who issued a set of demands. These included an end to the war\, amnesty for all politi cal prisoners\, the democratization of government\, and more and better qu ality food.\n\nOn February 3rd\, the rebellion was quelled with considerab le force from the state\, who viewed the strike as a threat to the current order. Despite the initial failure of the strike\, on November 9th the so cial-democratic German Revolution of 1918 took place. Emperor Wilhelm II w as forced to abdicate his throne and flee the country\; German elections w ere held in January the following year. RESOURCES:https://www.jstor.org/stable/4545893?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_con tents RESOURCES:https://www.cairn.info/revue-cahiers-bruxellois-2014-1E-page-173 .htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Buckley's Sugar Strike (1935) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250128 DTEND:20250129T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:On this day in 1935\, sugar cane cutters on Buckley's Estate on th e Caribbean island of St. Kitts went on strike after not receiving a pay r aise that year. Soldiers and police fired into a crowd of strikers\, killi ng 3. 39 were arrested. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1935\, sugar cane cutters on Buckley's Estate o n the Caribbean island of St. Kitts went on strike after not receiving a p ay raise that year. Soldiers and police fired into a crowd of strikers\, k illing 3. 39 were arrested.\n\nStrikers marched to the Shadwell Estate and convinced workers there to join them. The owner threatened the workers wi th a gun\, but the crowd overpowered him\, beating him and breaking his we apon.\n\nAfter another violent clash between a plantation owner and worker s\, the governor of St. Kitts deployed troops to the area. Soldiers and po lice attempted to control the crowd of striking workers and\, on January 2 9th\, used live ammunition on them\, killing three and wounding eight. Thi rty-nine strikers were arrested and six were sentenced to terms of impriso nment of two to five years. RESOURCES:https://www.historicstkitts.kn/events/buckley-s-strike-timeline RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/library/labour-rebellions-1930s-british-carib bean-region-colonies-richard-hart END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Croatian-Slovene Peasant Revolt (1573) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250128 DTEND:20250129T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1573\, the Croatian-Slovene Peasant Revolt began wi th an attack on the fortress of Cesargrad\, near the town of Klanjec. Peas ants formed their own government\, planning to abolish feudalism and estab lish self-rule. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1573\, the Croatian-Slovene Peasant Revolt bega n with an attack on the fortress of Cesargrad\, near the town of Klanjec. Peasants formed their own government\, planning to abolish feudalism and e stablish self-rule.\n\nAmidst growing incursions by Ottoman forces into th e region\, local feudal lords ramped up economic demands on the local peas antry. One powerful noble\, Franjo (or Ferenc) Tahy was particularly notor ious for his cruel and violent treatment of the local populace.\n\nComplai nts made by peasants to the central government were ignored\, so popular r esistance efforts began to develop. The local peasantry refused to pay tax es to Tahy\, who responded by sending armed mercenaries to attack them\, h owever they were defeated by armed peasants.\n\nOn the night of January 27 -28\, rebels seized the fortress of Cesargrad\, marking the start of the r evolt. The peasants formed an alternative government\, with serf Matija Gu bec elected as leader.\n\nThe rebels made long term plans of systemic refo rm\, including replacing feudal lords with peasant officials\, abolishing feudal land holdings and provincial borders\, canceling obligations to the Roman Catholic Church\, opening of highways for trade\, and establishing self-rule by the peasants.\n\nNews of the uprising quickly spread through the discontented lower classes of the region\, who followed suit by fighti ng back against their oppressors\, taking further territory throughout Car niola\, Croatia and Styria.\n\nThe Croatian Parliament declared the revolu tionary peasants traitors. After their initial wave of success\, peasant f orces suffered a major defeat at Krško on February 5th\, which precipitat ed a further wave of defeats over the coming days.\n\nThe rebels made thei r final stand at Stubičke Toplice on the 9th\, where the uprising was cru shed for good. Matija Gubec was captured\, and Ivan Mogaić\, another impo rtant revolutionary leader\, was killed on the battlefield.\n\nCaptives we re maimed and tortured by authorities\, and Gubec was publicly tortured an d executed on the 15th. Although the revolt was unsuccessful\, its memory has persisted in the region in the centuries since\, with Gubec attaining legendary status in local folklore.\n\nA detachment of Yugoslav volunteers for the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War named themselves the "Grupo Matija Gubec". In 1975\, a film based on the events entitled "Anno Domini 1573" was released\, and historical re-enactments of the Revolt are held i n Croatia every year. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croatian%E2%80%93Slovene_Peasant_R evolt RESOURCES:https://www.total-croatia-news.com/travel/41568-peasants-revolt END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic Established (1918) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250128 DTEND:20250129T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Socialism,Labor,Imperialism COMMENT:On this day in 1918\, the Finnish People's Delegation declared a s ocialist workers' republic (known as "Red Finland")\, at the start of the Finnish Civil War. The burgeoning working class movement was crushed by im perialist German forces. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1918\, the Finnish People's Delegation declared a socialist workers' republic (known "Red Finland")\, at the start of the Finnish Civil War. The burgeoning working class movement was crushed by i mperialist German forces.\n\nPrior to 1917\, Finland had been ruled as a G rand Duchy\, an autonomous part of the Russian Empire. With the collapse o f the Tsarist state in the wake of February Revolution and a long-term inc rease in nationalist sentiment\, Finland declared independence on December 4th\, 1917\, formally recognized by the Russian Bolsheviks on December 31 st.\n\nDue to industrialized Finland having a strong revolutionary labor m ovement\, conservative and proletarian forces were immediately thrown into conflict.\n\nRed Guard paramilitary units representing the labor movement found themselves in a cycle of escalation with loyalist "White" Guards\, culminating in a mass uprising of Reds in Helsinki on January 27th\, 1918\ , marking the start of revolution. The following day\, the Finnish People' s Delegation was formed by members of the Social Democratic Party. Bourgeo is forces fled to Vaasa\, where they set up their own "White Senate".\n\nT he war saw the Whites\, under the leadership of General Mannerheim\, recei ve support from the German Empire\, which was more well-established than t he Reds' primary ally\, the newly-created Russian Soviet Socialist Republi c.\n\nFollowing an imperialist intervention by Germany on the side of the Whites in March 1918\, the war ended in defeat for the Reds in May. Over 1 2\,000 people perished from starvation and hunger while imprisoned in Whit e-operated POW camps\, and reparations were not paid to former victims of the White Terror until 1973. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finnish_Civil_War#Escalation RESOURCES:https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/finnish_civil_ war_1918 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:James Larkin (1874 - 1947) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250128 DTEND:20250129T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Socialism,Labor,Marxism,Birthdays,IWW COMMENT:James Larkin\, born on this day in 1874\, was an Irish republican\ , revolutionary socialist\, and trade unionist who co-founded the industri al Irish Transport and General Workers' Union\, the Irish Labour Party\, a nd the Irish Citizen's Army. DESCRIPTION:James Larkin\, born on this day in 1874\, was an Irish republi can\, revolutionary socialist\, and trade unionist who co-founded the indu strial Irish Transport and General Workers' Union (ITGWU)\, the Irish Labo ur Party\, and the Irish Citizen's Army (ICA).\n\nLarkin\, also known as " Big Jim"\, was born to Irish emigrants and began working from the age of s even years old. He took an interest in socialism at a young age\, joining the Independent Labour Party as a teenager.\n\nIn 1905\, while working on the docks\, Larkin participated in a strike and was elected to the strike committee\, losing his foreman's job as a result. The union was impressed with his organizing ability\, and he later gained a permanent position wit h them\, beginning his career as a labor organizer.\n\nIn 1908\, Larkin be gan organizing in Dublin\, working with other Irish socialists such as Jam es Connolly and William O'Brien. He also initiated a worker's newspaper\, The Irish Worker and People's Advocate\, however it was subject to censors hip and shut down in 1915.\n\nIn 1908\, Larkin founded the industrial Iris h Transport and General Workers' Union (ITGWU). Under Larkin's leadership the union continued to grow\, reaching approximately 20\,000 members in th e time leading up to the Dublin lock-out.\n\nIn 1913\, led by union bustin g capitalist William Martin Murphy\, over 400 of Dublin's employers began requiring their workers to sign a pledge not to be a member of the ITGWU a nd not to engage in sympathetic strikes\, causing the Dublin lock-out\, on e of the most severe labor conflicts in Irish history.\n\nLarkin and other labor leaders were arrested for sedition on August 28th while the lock-ou t continued. Striking workers were subject to police violence\, leading La rkin to call for the formation of a workers' militia\, the Irish Citizen's Army. During this period\, Vladimir Lenin referred to Larkin as 'a remark able speaker and a man of seething energy [who] has performed miracles amo ngst the unskilled workers'.\n\nFollowing the lock-out's defeat\, Larkin c ame to the United States to do a speaking tour on invitation of "Big Bill" Haywood of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). On November 7th\, 1 919\, during a series of anti-Bolshevik raids\, Larkin was arrested and ch arged with 'criminal anarchy' for helping publish socialist literature.\n\ nLarkin eventually returned to Ireland\, allying with the newly formed Sov iet Union\, attending at the 1924 Comintern Congress in Moscow. His relati onship with the Soviet Union became strained in the 1930s\, as Larkin's sy ndicalist politics clashed with the Marxism-Leninism of the Comintern.\n\n Larkin spent the rest of his life as a organizer\, receiving fatal injurie s from a fall while supervising repairs to the Worker's Union of Ireland's Thomas Ashe Hall in Dublin in 1946.\n\n"No\, men and women of the Irish r ace\, we shall not fight for England. We shall fight for the destruction o f the British Empire and the construction of an Irish republic."\n\n- Jame s Larkin RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Larkin RESOURCES:https://spartacus-educational.com/IRElarkin.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Plaza Bulnes Massacre (1946) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250128 DTEND:20250129T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Massacre COMMENT:On this day in 1946\, a group of labor organizers in Santiago\, Ch ile were gunned down by police while holding a solidarity rally in Plaza B ulnes. Six were killed and several more were wounded. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1946\, a group of labor organizers in Santiago\ , Chile were gunned down by police while holding a solidarity rally in Pla za Bulnes. Six were killed and several more were wounded. Among the worker s killed was Ramona Parra Alarcón\, a young communist activist who became an icon for the victims of this massacre.\n\nAfter the incident\, the Com munist Party of Chile withdrew from the government. The next year\, the co ncentration camp Pisagua (formerly used for detaining citizens of enemy na tions during WWII) was re-opened\, and a period of open state persecution of communists and anarchists began. RESOURCES:https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masacre_de_la_Plaza_Bulnes RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/articles/anarchism-in-chile END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Torres Starts Bath Riots (1917) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250128 DTEND:20250129T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Riots,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1917\, 17 year old maid Carmelita Torres refused a delousing gasoline bath from immigration authorities\, sparking what is no w known as the "Bath Riots" in which thousands blocked trains and vehicles at the station there. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1917\, 17 year old maid Carmelita Torres refuse d a delousing gasoline bath from immigration authorities\, sparking what i s now known as the "Bath Riots" in which thousands blocked trains and vehi cles at the station there.\n\nLike many other Mexicans\, Carmelita Torres crossed every day from Juarez to El Paso to clean U.S. homes. As part of t his process\, in order to fight a typhus outbreak\, the workers were force d to strip and bathe in gasoline\, which killed any lice on their bodies.\ n\nOn the morning of January 28th\, Torres refused to be bathed\, instead\ , convincing thirty other Mexican women to get out and protest with her. W ithin an hour\, there were more than 200 women blocking the entrance to El Paso.\n\nBy the end of the protest\, the crowd was several thousand stron g. They laid in front of trains and vehicles and refused to leave when thr eatened with guns by the police. Eventually\, the riot was subdued and Tor res was arrested for her role in starting it.\n\nDespite the energized pro test\, the noxious delousing continued\, later with insecticides like DDT\ , for decades afterward. RESOURCES:https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5176177 RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carmelita_Torres END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Anna LoPizzo Murdered by Police (1912) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250129 DTEND:20250130T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,IWW COMMENT:On this day in 1912\, striking worker Anna LoPizzo was shot and ki lled by police during the Lawrence Textile Strike\, one of the most signif icant labor struggles in U.S. history. Two IWW leaders were arrested for h er death. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1912\, striking worker Anna LoPizzo was shot an d killed by police during the Lawrence Textile Strike\, one of the most si gnificant labor struggles in U.S. history. Two IWW leaders were arrested f or her death.\n\nThe Lawrence Textile Strike was a strike of immigrant wor kers in Lawrence\, Massachusetts that began on January 11th\, 1912. It was led by the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) and united immigrant wor kers of over forty nationalities. Prompted by a two-hour pay cut correspon ding to a new law shortening the workweek for women\, the strike spread ra pidly through the town\, growing to more than twenty thousand workers and involving nearly every mill in Lawrence.\n\nLoPizzo was a striking immigra nt worker who was killed when\, according to IWW literature\, officer Osca r Benoit fired into a crowd of protesters who had been cornered and were b eing attacked by police. Anna LoPizzo was likely an assumed name\; histori an Ardis Cameron wrote "relying on old-world practices and principles of c ollectivity\, the immigrant community routinely 'swapped' names and falsif ied documents to evade 'impossible' laws and ensure mutual survival."\n\nA fter her death\, two IWW leaders\, "Smiling Joe" Ettor and Arturo Giovanni tti\, were arrested on fabricated charges related to the murder of a strik ing worker. Upon their arrest\, "Big Bill" Haywood and Elizabeth Gurley Fl ynn took over leadership of the strike. They further sensationalized the c ondition of the striking workers by conspicuously sending their hungry chi ldren to stay with families and supporters in New York City.\n\nThe Lawren ce Strike was ultimately won by the IWW and strikers. Eugene V. Debs said this of the ordeal: "The Victory at Lawrence was the most decisive and far -reaching ever won by organized labor." RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_LoPizzo RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/articles/lawrence-textile-strike-1912 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Firestone Sit-Down Strike (1936) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250129 DTEND:20250130T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:On this day in 1936\, tire builders at the Firestone plant in Akro n\, Ohio engaged in a sit-down strike to protest a reduction in rates and the firing of a union worker\, one of the earliest sit-down strikes in U.S . history. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1936\, tire builders at the Firestone plant in Akron\, Ohio engaged in a sit-down strike to protest a reduction in rates and the firing of a union worker\, one of the earliest sit-down strikes in U.S. history.\n\nSit-down strikes were effective because the workers woul d occupy the factory and stand by their machines\, not allowing production to continue with strikebreakers. They were also often spontaneous\, not e asily controlled or planned for by union or factory management.\n\nThe wor kers began the strike by sending one committee around the plant to call ou t other departments\, another to talk with the boss\, and a third to polic e the shop. Within a day\, the entire Plant No. 1 was struck\, and after f ifty-three hours the workers at Plant No. 2 announced they had voted to si t down in sympathy.\n\nManagement gave in completely\, and\, over the next few weeks\, waves of strikes rocked other plants in Akron\, most dramatic ally at Goodyear\, where as many as 10\,000 workers\, including people fro m all trades in Akron\, picketed around the gates of the Goodyear factory. RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/akron-rubber-workers-struggles-1933-1 936-jeremy-brecher RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akron_rubber_strike_of_1936 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Fort Leavenworth Prison Strike (1919) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250129 DTEND:20250130T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:On this day in 1919\, 150 workers at Fort Leavenworth Prison stopp ed their assigned work in the middle of the day\, beginning a labor strike that would quickly grow to more than 2\,000 strong over the next few days and win reforms. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1919\, 150 workers at Fort Leavenworth Prison s topped their assigned work in the middle of the day\, beginning a labor st rike that would quickly grow to more than 2\,000 strong over the next few days and win reforms.\n\nThe same night\, three prisoners started a fire a nd burned parts of the quartermaster's warehouse\, causing $100\,000 of da mage\, although it's unclear whether this was part of the labor action.\n\ nAlthough the initial group of prisoners were not settled on specific dema nds\, 2\,300 workers who went on strike the next day spent their day organ izing\, setting up committees and electing leaders from each wing of the p rison. Out of this organization came a drafted a list of demands\, includi ng the immediate release of military prisoners\, immunity from punishment for all men who had participated in the strike\, and establishing a perman ent grievance committee.\n\nThe strike was successful. Over the next few m onths\, many improvements were made: committee members replaced some of th e prison guards\; prisoners were given charge of discipline in the kitchen \, mess hall\, and yard\; meat\, poultry\, butter\, and eggs came from a f arm from inside the prison\; new bathrooms were built\; prison officials g ave five members of the Prisoners Committee adjudication powers for fellow prisoners accused of breaking basic prison rules. RESOURCES:https://nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu/content/fort-leavenworth-priso n-strike-better-prison-conditions-and-reduced-sentences-1919 RESOURCES:http://libcom.org/history/1919-prison-strikes-fort-leavenworth END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Magonistas Take Mexicali (1911) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250129 DTEND:20250130T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:IWW,Anarchism COMMENT:On this day in 1911\, Magonistas\, Mexican anarchists drawing from the ideas of Ricardo Flores Magón\, took the city of Mexicali in the fir st of battle of the Magonista Rebellion of 1911. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1911\, Magonistas\, Mexican anarchists drawing from the ideas of Ricardo Flores Magón\, took the city of Mexicali in the first of battle of the Magonista Rebellion of 1911.\n\nThe Magonista upri sing was an early incident of the more broad period of unrest known as the Mexican Revolution. It was organized by the Liberal Party of Mexico ("Par tido Liberal Mexicano"\, PLM)\, and was successful in northern Mexico\; th e Magonistas controlled Tijuana and Mexicali for about six months.\n\nThe capture of Mexicali began in a pre-dawn raid on January 29th\, 1911\, when 30 rebels\, guided by José María Leyva and Simón Berthold\, seized the town of Mexicali without resistance. They opened the jail\, killed the ja ilor\, occupied the barracks\, and confiscated government office funds.\n\ nOther settlers joined the rebels as well as many foreign socialists and a narchists\, mainly militant members of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)\, including Frank Little and Joe Hill. The U.S. government in Calex ico and Yuma offered military support to aid the Mexican government's effo rts to suppress the rebellion in order to protect hydraulic works of Ameri can engineers.\n\nAlthough the rebellion was launched against the rule of Porfirio Díaz\, it was was put down by forces loyal to Francisco Madero\, a wealthy landowner who supported reforms and became the Mexican Presiden t in 1911. The PLM split into factions\, with one faction still supporting the incarcerated Magón brothers while the other faction supported Madero \, the new president of Mexico. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magonista_rebellion_of_1911 RESOURCES:http://libcom.org/library/magonista-revolt-tijuana-prelude-san-d iego-free-speech-fight END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Marina Ginestà (1919 - 2014) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250129 DTEND:20250130T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Socialism,Birthdays,Journalism COMMENT:Marina Ginestà\, born on this day in 1919\, was a French-born com munist who served in the Spanish Civil War. She became famous due to the p hoto taken by Juan Guzmán on a Barcelona roof in 1936\, when she was just 17 years old (shown). DESCRIPTION:Marina Ginestà\, born on this day in 1919\, was a French-born Spanish communist who served in the Spanish Civil War. She became famous due to the photo taken by Juan Guzmán on a Barcelona roof in 1936\, when she was just 17 years old (shown).\n\nGinestà was born in Toulouse\, Fran ce to a working-class leftist Jewish family that had emigrated to France f rom Spain. She moved to Barcelona with her parents at the age of 11. Gines tà later joined the Unified Socialist Party of Catalonia.\n\nAs the war b roke out\, she served as a reporter and a translator assisting Mikhail Kol tsov\, a correspondent of the Soviet newspaper Pravda.\n\nThe famous photo graph by Juan Guzmán was taken on July 21st\, 1936. It shows the 17 year old Ginestà wearing an army uniform and posing with a M1916 Spanish Mause r rifle on the top of the original Hotel Colón in Barcelona. Because she was a reporter\, it was the only time Ginestà had carried a gun.\n\nBefor e the end of the war\, Ginestà was wounded and evacuated to Montpellier. As France was occupied by the Nazis\, she fled to the Dominican Republic a nd married a former Republican officer. Marina Ginestà died in Paris at t he age of 94 in January 2014.\n\nOn the iconic photograph\, Ginestà state d "It's a good photo. It reflects the feeling we had at that moment. Socia lism had arrived\, the hotel guests had left. There was euphoria. We retir ed in Columbus\, we ate well\, as if bourgeois life belonged to us and we would have changed category quickly." RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marina_Ginest%C3%A0 RESOURCES:https://www.rtve.es/noticias/20140106/muere-paris-marina-ginesta -miliciana-fue-icono-guerra-civil/840220.shtml END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Bloody Sunday (1972) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250130 DTEND:20250131T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Massacre,Protests COMMENT:Bloody Sunday\, also known as the Bogside Massacre\, was a massacr e of Irish anti-internment protesters by the British government that took place on this day in 1972 in the Bogside area of Derry\, Northern Ireland. DESCRIPTION:Bloody Sunday\, also known as the Bogside Massacre\, was a mas sacre of Irish anti-internment protesters by the British government that t ook place on this day in 1972 in the Bogside area of Derry\, Northern Irel and.\n\nBloody Sunday resulted in the highest number of people killed in a shooting incident during the Troubles and remains the worst mass shooting in Northern Irish history. This violence was in response to a protest org anized by the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA) in opposit ion to a state policy of internment without trial\, introduced in August o f 1971.\n\nOn January 18th\, 1972\, Prime Minister of Northern Ireland Bri an Faulkner banned all parades and marches in response to widespread civil unrest. The protest march was organized despite this order.\n\nOn the day of the protest\, approximately 10\,000-15\,000 joined the march\, however their path was blocked by British Army barriers. The protest descended in to chaos\, with British soldiers chasing down protesters and attacking the m indiscriminately. 26 people were shot\, 14 were killed. Many of the vict ims were shot while fleeing from the soldiers or attending to the wounded\ , while others were injured by shrapnel\, rubber bullets\, batons\, or bei ng ran down by army vehicles.\n\nThe soldiers were from the 1st Battalion Parachute Army\, which had perpetrated the Ballymurphy Massacre just month s prior. The events of Bloody Sunday greatly increased hostilities between Northern Ireland and the British government. Support for and recruitment by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) rose following the massacre . RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloody_Sunday_(1972) RESOURCES:https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-foyle-west-47433319 RESOURCES:https://www.irishcentral.com/roots/history/what-happened-on-bloo dy-sunday-in-northern-ireland END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Ecuador Fuel Strike (1994) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250130 DTEND:20250131T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1994\, approximately half a million workers staged a 24-hour strike in Ecuador to protest a government increase in fuel price s\, blocking roads and burning tires. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1994\, approximately half a million workers sta ged a 24-hour strike in Ecuador to protest a government increase in fuel p rices\, blocking roads and burning tires.\n\nFuel prices would again cause widespread strikes and civil unrest in 2019\, when President Lenín Moren o issued a decree on October 1st\, ending subsidies for diesel and extra g asoline with ethanol to comply with International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan conditions.\n\nLeaders of the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities o f Ecuador (CONAIE) and the United Workers Front (FUT) announced a national strike to protest the resultant fuel increases on October 9th\, 2019. RESOURCES:https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-02-04-mn-19156-stor y.html RESOURCES:https://www.workers.org/2019/10/43959/ RESOURCES:https://www.dw.com/en/ecuador-transport-union-leaders-call-off-f uel-protests-following-arrest/a-50692449 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Battle of George Square (1919) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250131 DTEND:20250201T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:On this day in 1919\, the Battle of George Square took place in Gl asgow\, Scotland\, a conflict between Glasgow police and the British Army against 25\,000 striking Glasgow workers who were demanding a 40-hour work week. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1919\, the Battle of George Square took place i n Glasgow\, Scotland\, a conflict between Glasgow police and the British A rmy against 25\,000 striking Glasgow workers who were demanding a 40-hour work week.\n\nThe strike began a few days earlier\, on January 27th\, afte r a meeting of around 3\,000 workers gathered in St. Andrew's Halls. The m ovement for the 40 hour week grew quickly\; by the 30th\, more than 40\,00 0 workers from local engineering and shipping industries had joined in\, a nd sympathy strikes broke out among power station workers and local miners .\n\nOn January 31st\, approximately 20\,000-25\,000 workers gathered in G eorge Square. Fighting broke out between city police and workers\, and lab or leaders David Kirkwood and William Gallacher were beaten and taken into custody. During the riot\, the sheriff of Lanarkshire called for military aid\, and British troops\, supported by six tanks\, were moved to key poi nts in Glasgow.\n\nKirkwood was found innocent after a photo surfaced of h im being struck with a baton from behind by a policeman\, however Gallache r served five months in prison. The strike ended on February 12th in defea t for the workers\, who did not win a 40-hour work week. RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/1919-the-forty-hours-strike RESOURCES:https://www.glasgowlive.co.uk/news/history/george-square-bloody- battle-friday-15721937 RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_George_Square END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Bob Moses (1935 - 2021) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250131 DTEND:20250201T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Civil Rights,Birthdays COMMENT:Robert Moses\, born on this day in 1935\, was an American educator and civil rights activist who led SNCC work on voter education and regist ration in Mississippi and co-founded the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Pa rty. DESCRIPTION:Robert Moses\, born on this day in 1935\, was an American educ ator and civil rights activist who led SNCC work on voter education and re gistration in Mississippi and co-founded the Mississippi Freedom Democrati c Party.\n\nDuring the civil rights era\, Moses led the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) committee on voter education and registrati on in Mississippi. Moses was also vehemently opposed to the Vietnam War\, and explicitly linked his opposition to the war to the civil rights strugg le.\n\nLater in life\, Moses ran the Algebra Project\, a continued effort to improve math education in poor communities with the goal of preparing s tudents for the modern workforce. At the time of the Project's founding\, many middle schools\, especially those serving non-white communities\, did not teach algebra at all. Moses stated - "We are growing the equivalent o f sharecroppers in our inner cities."\n\n"I was taught about the denial of the right to vote behind the Iron Curtain in Europe\; I never knew that t here was denial of the right to vote behind a Cotton Curtain here in the U nited States."\n\n- Bob Moses RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Moses_(activist) RESOURCES:https://snccdigital.org/people/bob-moses/ RESOURCES:https://snccdigital.org/events/bob-moses-begins-algebra-project/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Louis Allen Murdered (1964) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250131 DTEND:20250201T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Civil Rights,Assassinations COMMENT:Louis Allen was a civil rights activist in Liberty\, Mississippi w ho was assassinated by white supremacists on this day in 1964. When Allen told the U.S. government that he feared for his life\, the Justice Departm ent refused to protect him. DESCRIPTION:Louis Allen was a civil rights activist in Liberty\, Mississip pi who was assassinated by white supremacists on this day in 1964. When Al len told the U.S. government that he feared for his life\, the Justice Dep artment refused to protect him.\n\nAllen had previously tried to register to vote and had allegedly talked to federal officials after witnessing the 1961 murder of Herbert Lee\, an NAACP member and volunteer with the SNCC\ , by E. H. Hurst (1908 - 1990)\, a white Mississippi state legislator.\n\n Allen watched as Hurst assassinated Lee with a single gunshot to the head and was forced by local police to testify in court that Hurst acted in sel f-defense (Hurst falsely claimed Lee attacked him a tire iron).\n\nAfter g iving this coerced testimony\, Allen talked to the FBI and the United Stat es Commission on Civil Rights in Jackson\, asking for protection if he tes tified about how his testimony was made under duress. The Justice Departme nt said they could not offer him protection\, and so Allen declined to spe ak out.\n\nWhen Allen reported receiving death threats\, the FBI referred the matter to the office of Amite County Sheriff Daniel Jones. The FBI did so despite an agent acknowledging in a 1961 memo that "the local sheriff was involved in the plot to kill him". FBI documentation also noted that J ones was a member of the Ku Klux Klan.\n\nFollowing the murder of Herbert Lee\, Sheriff Jones began a campaign of harassment against Allen\, arresti ng him on false charges multiple times and breaking his jaw with a flashli ght. When Allen filed formal complaints about Jones' behavior\, they were ignored.\n\nOn January 31st\, 1964\, the day before Allen had planned to m ove out of the state entirely\, he was assassinated on his own property. I n 2011\, the CBS program "60 Minutes" conducted a special on his assassina tion which suggested that Allen was killed by Sheriff Jones. No one has be en arrested or prosecuted for his murder. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Allen RESOURCES:https://snccdigital.org/events/louis-allen-murdered/ RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/lee-herbert-1 912-1961/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Winter Soldier Investigation (1971) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250131 DTEND:20250201T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Imperialism COMMENT:The "Winter Soldier Investigation" was a media event that began on this day in 1971\, sponsored by Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW)\, who were intending to publicize war crimes committed by the United States . DESCRIPTION:The "Winter Soldier Investigation" was a media event that bega n on this day in 1971\, sponsored by Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVA W)\, who were intending to publicize war crimes committed by the United St ates.\n\nThe VVAW challenged the morality and conduct of the war by showin g the direct relationship between military policies and war crimes in Viet nam. More than one hundred people all gave testimony about war crimes they had committed or witnessed during the years 1963 - 1970.\n\nWith the exce ption of Pacifica Radio\, the event was not covered extensively outside of Detroit press. Several journalists and a film crew recorded the event\, h owever\, and a documentary film called "Winter Soldier" was released in 19 72. A complete transcript was later entered into the Congressional Record by Senator Mark Hatfield (R-OR). RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_Soldier_Investigation RESOURCES:http://www.wintersoldier.com/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Farabundo Martí Executed (1932) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250201 DTEND:20250202T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Marxism,Indigenous COMMENT:Farabundo Martí was a Salvadoran labor organizer and Marxist-Leni nist revolutionary executed by the state on this day in 1932 after he help ed lead a peasant uprising against President Maximiliano Hernandez Martín ez. DESCRIPTION:Farabundo Martí was a Salvadoran labor organizer and Marxist- Leninist revolutionary executed by the state on this day in 1932 after he helped lead a peasant uprising against President Maximiliano Hernandez Mar tínez.\n\nMartí was born in Teotepeque\, El Salvador on May 5th\, 1893. He abandoned studying in university in favor of more directly participatin g in revolutionary working class organizing. He was a member of a number a nti-capitalist organizations throughout the region\, and became a founder of the Central American Communist Party in 1925.\n\nIn 1928\, Martí fough t alongside Augusto Sandino in Nicaragua in opposition to the country's oc cupation by the U.S. military. In 1931\, Martí returned to El Salvador to help initiate a guerrilla revolt of indigenous farmers.\n\nThe uprising a gainst dictator Maximiliano Hernández Martínez\, fomented by collapsing coffee prices\, enjoyed some initial success\, but was soon drowned in a b loodbath\, crushed by the Salvadoran military just ten days after it had b egun. Over 30\,000 indigenous people were killed at what was to be a "peac eful meeting" in 1932\; this became known as "La Matanza" ("The Slaughter" ).\n\nFor his role in the uprising\, Martí was executed on orders from Sa lvadoran President Martínez on February 1st\, 1932. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farabundo_Mart%C3%AD RESOURCES:https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/la-matanza RESOURCES:https://www.telesurenglish.net/analysis/Salvadoran-Revolutionary -Farabundo-Marti-Born-122-Years-Ago-20150505-0017.html END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Greensboro Sit-ins Begin (1960) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250201 DTEND:20250202T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Civil Rights,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1960\, the "Greensboro Four" sat down at F. W. Wool worth Company Store's lunch counter in Greensboro\, North Carolina to prot est segregation\, sparking a wave of sit-in protests across the country. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1960\, the "Greensboro Four" sat down at F. W. Woolworth Company Store's lunch counter in Greensboro\, North Carolina to protest segregation.\n\nThe four men had purchased toothpaste and other pr oducts from a desegregated counter at the store with no problems\, but wer e then refused service at the store's lunch counter when they each asked f or a cup of coffee.\n\nThe four students returned the next day\, and withi n a few days the protest included hundreds of students. The Greensboro Sit -in sparked a movement of sit-in protests against segregation across the c ountry\, continuing into the summer and expanding to other places of discr imination\, such as swimming pools\, parks\, and art galleries.\n\nOn July 25th\, after months of harassment\, including a bomb threat\, and nearly $200\,000 in losses ($1.7 million in 2020 dollars) the Greensboro Woolwort h's finally ended its discriminatory policies. Four years later\, the Civi l Rights Act of 1964 mandated desegregation in public accommodations. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greensboro_sit-ins RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/greensboro-si t-ins-1960/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Langston Hughes (1901 - 1967) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250201 DTEND:20250202T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Birthdays COMMENT:Langston Hughes\, born on this day in 1901\, was an American autho r\, radical dissident\, and luminary of the Harlem Renaissance. "What happ ens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or does it explode?" DESCRIPTION:Langston Hughes\, born on this day in 1901\, was an American a uthor\, radical dissident\, and luminary of the Harlem Renaissance.\n\nHug hes moved from Joplin\, Missouri to New York City as a young man\, where h e began his career as an author and became one of the earliest innovators of the then-new literary art form called "jazz poetry".\n\nHughes was a co mmunist sympathizer - his poetry was frequently published in the Communist Party (CPUSA) newspaper and he was involved in initiatives supported by C ommunist organizations\, such as the drive to free the Scottsboro Boys\, a group of black teens falsely accused of rape. During the Spanish Civil Wa r\, Hughes traveled there as a correspondent for the Baltimore Afro-Americ an and supported the anti-fascist forces.\n\nAfter being subjected to a se cret government interrogation and subsequent televised Senate hearing\, le d by virulent anti-communist Joseph McCarthy\, Hughes distanced himself fr om radical politics. Biographer Laurie Leach notes that\, when selecting w orks for his Selected Poems (1959)\, Hughes excluded all his radical socia list verse from the 1930s.\n\nWhen asked why he never joined the Communist Party\, Hughes responded "[My not joining the Communist Party] was based on strict discipline and the acceptance of directives that I\, as a writer \, did not wish to accept."\n\n"What happens to a dream deferred?\n\nDoes it dry up\n\nLike a raisin in the sun?\n\nOr fester like a sore—\n\nAnd then run?\n\nDoes it stink like rotten meat?\n\nOr crust and sugar over— \n\nlike a syrupy sweet?\n\nMaybe it just sags\n\nlike a heavy load.\n\nOr does it explode?"\n\n- Langston Hughes\, "Harlem" RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langston_Hughes RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/hughes-langst on-1902-1967/ RESOURCES:https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/langston-hughes END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Battle of Cinderloo (1821) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250202 DTEND:20250203T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Riots COMMENT:On this day in 1821\, 3\,000 striking workers in present-day Telfo rd\, England clashed with Yeomanry\, who fired into the crowd after worker s refused an order to disperse. Two workers were killed\, two were sentenc ed to death\, and nine were arrested. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1821\, 3\,000 striking workers in present-day T elford\, England clashed with Yeomanry\, who fired into the crowd after wo rkers refused an order to disperse. Two workers were killed\, two were sen tenced to death\, and nine were arrested.\n\nColliers across the Coalbrook dale Coalfields had gone on strike the previous day in response to the low ering of their wages\, and production across the area came to a halt. A la rge body of men marched to ironworks at Madeley Wood and Dawley\, blowing out all the furnaces\, damaging machinery\, and inciting non-striking work ers to join in.\n\nBy mid-afternoon the next day\, a crowd of 3\,000 had g athered at Old Park\, near two industrial spoil heaps known as the 'Cinder s Hills'. Yeomanry were sent out to disperse the crowd\, and they were rea d the Riot Act and ordered go home. When Yeomanry moved forward to arrest the ringleaders of the strike\, they were assaulted by the crowd. After fu rther attempts to control the protesters were frustrated\, the Yeomanry fi red onto the crowd\, killing two.\n\nNine strikers were arrested - two wer e sentenced to death and the other seven served nine months of hard labor. The initial dispute which had caused the riot was resolved soon after\, w ith some ironmasters agreeing to reduce the daily pay of the workers by 4d instead of 6d. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinderloo_Uprising RESOURCES:http://www.dawleyheritage.co.uk/unpublished-articles/355/battle- of-cinderloo-by-p-sherry END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:NYC Tenants Resist Evictions (1932) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250202 DTEND:20250203T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Tenant COMMENT:On this day in 1932\, a crowd of more than 1\,000 clashed with pol ice attempting to evict three families in the Bronx. The action was part o f a larger period of tenant rebellion which kept 77\,000 tenants from bein g evicted. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1932\, a crowd of more than 1\,000 clashed with police attempting to evict three families in the Bronx. The action was pa rt of a larger period of tenant rebellion which kept 77\,000 tenants from being evicted.\n\nThe New York Times described the crowd like this: "Women shrieked from the windows\, the different sections of the crowd hissed an d booed and shouted invectives. Fighting began simultaneously in the house and the street".\n\nThe action was part of a larger period of tenant rebe llion in 1930s New York City. Beginning in 1930\, small bands of people\, often led by communists\, began to use strong-arm tactics to prevent marsh als from putting furniture on the street. Rent riots began in the Lower Ea st Side and Harlem\, but quickly spread to other parts of the city.\n\nHis torians Richard Boyer and Herbert M. Morais claimed that these acts of res istance kept 77\,000 tenants from being evicted. RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/1930-1939-unemployed-workers-movement RESOURCES:http://www.tenant.net/Community/history/hist03d.html END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:54-48 Strike (1919) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250203 DTEND:20250204T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1919\, 17\,000-30\,000 immigrant workers walked out of mills throughout Lawrence\, Massachusetts and began the '54-48' strike . Despite being beaten\, arrested\, and kidnapped\, strikers won a 48 hour week and a 15% wage increase. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1919\, 17\,000-30\,000 immigrant workers walked out of mills throughout Lawrence\, Massachusetts and began the '54-48' st rike. The labor action got its name because one of the workers' demands wa s to reduce the workweek from 54 to 48 hours without a reduction in pay.\n \nThe strikers organized themselves among twenty different ethnic groups\, with one leader per group. Ethnic store and businesses supported the stri kers by accepting coupons in place of cash and the strikers boycotted stor es that did not support the strike.\n\nStrikers were violently harassed by the police and community - with cops beating and arresting protesters. Tw o strike leaders were kidnapped and taken out of town by unknown assailant s. The strike ended on May 20th with workers not only winning the 48 hour work week\, but a 15% wage increase as well. RESOURCES:https://nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu/content/lawrence-mill-workers- strike-against-wage-cuts-1919 RESOURCES:https://www.ofaplace.com/home/the-return-of-the-jedi-the-lawrenc e-textile-strike-of-1919 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:E.P. Thompson (1924 - 1993) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250203 DTEND:20250204T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Marxism,Birthdays COMMENT:E.P. Thompson\, born on this day in 1924\, was an English Marxist historian and communist intellectual known for works such as "The Making o f the English Working Class" (1963) and "Time\, Work-Discipline\, and Indu strial Capitalism" (1967). DESCRIPTION:E.P. Thompson\, born on this day in 1924\, was an English Marx ist historian and communist intellectual known for works such as "The Maki ng of the English Working Class" (1963) and "Time\, Work-Discipline\, and Industrial Capitalism" (1967).\n\nThompson was born in Oxford on February 3rd\, 1924. His older brother was a British officer in the Second World Wa r\, captured and shot while aiding Bulgarian anti-fascist partisans. After his own military service\, Thompson studied at Corpus Christi College\, C ambridge and joined the Communist Party of Great Britain.\n\nIn 1946\, Tho mpson formed the Communist Party Historians Group with Christopher Hill\, Eric Hobsbawm\, Rodney Hilton\, Dona Torr and others. In 1952\, they launc hed the influential journal "Past and Present".\n\nThompson is probably be st known for his 1963 work "The Making of the English Working Class"\, whi ch focuses on the development of the capitalist-era class system in Englan d. He left the Communist Party after the Soviet invasion of Hungary\, but remained committed to communist politics.\n\nThompson became a major figur e in the New Left in Britain from the 1960s\, becoming a prominent support er of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) and a vociferous left-win g critic of the Labour governments of 1964–70 and 1974–79.\n\nThompson died in 1993\, and his final work\, "Witness Against the Beast"\, a biogr aphy of poet William Blake\, was published posthumously the same year.\n\n "We must commence to act as if a united\, neutral and pacific Europe alrea dy exists. We must learn to be loyal\, not to 'East' or 'West' but to each other\, and we must disregard the prohibitions and limitations imposed by any national state."\n\n- E.P. Thompson RESOURCES:https://www.britannica.com/biography/E-P-Thompson RESOURCES:http://pubs.socialistreviewindex.org.uk/isj61/mcnally.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Eduardo Mondlane Assassinated (1969) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250203 DTEND:20250204T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Assassinations COMMENT:Eduardo Mondlane was a Mozambican anthropologist and professor who resigned from Syracuse University to serve as President of the Mozambican Liberation Front from 1962 until his assassination on this day in 1969. DESCRIPTION:Eduardo Mondlane was a Mozambican anthropologist and professor who resigned from Syracuse University to serve as President of the Mozamb ican Liberation Front from 1962 until his assassination on this day in 196 9.\n\nMondlane was born in "N'wajahani"\, a district of Mandlakazi in the province of Gaza\, Portuguese East Africa (modern day Mozambique). In 1948 \, he enrolled in Witwatersrand University in Johannesburg\, South Africa but was expelled after one year there\, following the rise of the Aparthei d government.\n\nMondlane eventually came to the United States\, enrolling at Oberlin College in Ohio at the age of 31 under a Phelps Stokes scholar ship\, graduating in 1953 with a degree in anthropology and sociology.\n\n Mondlane later became an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Syracuse U niversity and helped develop the East African Studies Program there. In 19 63\, he resigned from his post at Syracuse to move to Tanzania\, co-foundi ng the Mozambican Liberation Front (FRELIMO) to fully engage in armed libe ration struggle\, receiving aid from both the Soviet Union and Maoist Chin a.\n\nIn 1969\, Mondlane was assassinated by a bomb planted in a book\, se nt to him at the FRELIMO Headquarters in Dar es Salaam\, Tanzania. The kil ling remains unsolved to this day\, although former Portuguese agent Oscar Cardoso claims that Casimiro Monteiro planted the bomb. FRELIMO went on t o successfully win power and an independent Mozambique in 1975. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eduardo_Mondlane RESOURCES:https://isis2.cc.oberlin.edu/alummag/oampast/oam_spring98/Alum_n _n/eduardo.html RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/mondlane-eduard o-chivambo-1920-1969/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Elizabeth Blackwell (1821 - 1910) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250203 DTEND:20250204T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays COMMENT:Elizabeth Blackwell\, born on this day in 1821\, was a physician a nd social reformer who became the first woman to receive a medical degree in the U.S. Blackwell helped poor women get access to a doctor of their ow n gender. DESCRIPTION:Elizabeth Blackwell\, born on this day in 1821\, was a physici an and social reformer who became the first woman to receive a medical deg ree in the United States and to be registered with the British General Med ical Council.\n\nBlackwell played an important role in both the United Sta tes and the United Kingdom as a social awareness and moral reformer\, and was a pioneer in promoting education for women in medicine.\n\nBlackwell a lso founded the "New York Dispensary for Indigent Women and Children" to\, in her words\, "give poor women an opportunity of consulting physicians o f their own sex". Her contributions remain celebrated with the Elizabeth B lackwell Medal\, awarded annually to women who have made significant contr ibution to the promotion of women in medicine. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Blackwell RESOURCES:https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/el izabeth-blackwell END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:NYC School Boycott (1964) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250203 DTEND:20250204T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Civil Rights COMMENT:On this day in 1964\, 464\,000 New York City school children\, abo ut half of the city's student body\, boycotted the segregated school syste m\, one of the largest civil rights demonstrations in U.S. history. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1964\, 464\,000 New York City school children\, about half of the city's student body\, boycotted the segregated school s ystem\, one of the largest civil rights demonstrations in U.S. history.\n\ nAccording to the Brooklyn Eagle\, a newspaper at the time\, "Though segre gation in New York was not codified like the Jim Crow laws in the South\, a de facto segregation was evident in the city's school system." The NY Ti mes reported that more than a third of the schools were picketed by parent s\, students\, teachers\, and activists.\n\nBayard Rustin\, a chief organi zer of the 1963 March on Washington and the Freedom Rides\, directed the b oycott. A flier explaining the reason for the boycott stated the following :\n\n"We have found that one of the quickest ways to destroy inequality an d segregation is to hit it in the pocketbook. Financial aid to the school system is based upon pupil attendance. No pupils — no money. It's as sim ple as that." RESOURCES:https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/nyc-school-children-boyc ott-school/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City_school_boycott RESOURCES:https://crdl.usg.edu/events/ny_school_boycott END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Betty Friedan (1921 - 2006) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250204 DTEND:20250205T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Feminism,Birthdays COMMENT:Betty Friedan\, born on this day in 1921\, was an American feminis t activist and writer\, authoring the widely influential book "The Feminin e Mystique" in 1963. "The truth is that I've always been a bad-tempered bi tch." DESCRIPTION:Betty Friedan\, born on this day in 1921\, was an American fem inist activist and writer\, authoring the widely influential book "The Fem inine Mystique" in 1963. "The Feminine Mystique" is often credited with sp arking the second wave of American feminism in the 20th century.\n\nIn 196 6\, Friedan co-founded and was elected the first president of the National Organization for Women (NOW)\, which aimed to bring women "into the mains tream of American society now [in] fully equal partnership with men."\n\nI n 1970\, Friedan organized the nationwide Women's Strike for Equality on A ugust 26th\, the 50th anniversary of the Nineteenth Amendment to the Unite d States Constitution granting women the right to vote.\n\nThe national st rike was successful beyond expectations in broadening the feminist movemen t\; the march led by Friedan in New York City alone attracted over 50\,000 people. In 1971\, Friedan joined other leading feminists to establish the National Women's Political Caucus.\n\nFriedan's politics around feminism were not always intersectional with respect to class and race. Despite the success NOW achieved under her leadership\, Friedan's decision to pressur e Equal Employment Opportunity to use Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights A ct to enforce more job opportunities among American women met with fierce opposition within the organization.\n\nSiding with arguments from the grou p's black members\, many of NOW's leaders accepted that black people below the povery line\, both men and women\, needed those opportunities more th an predominantly white upper class women.\n\nFriedan stepped down as presi dent in 1969 and founded the "First Women's Bank and Trust Company" a few years later.\n\n"The truth is that I've always been a bad-tempered bitch. Some people say that I have mellowed some. I don't know..."\n\n- Betty Fri edan RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betty_Friedan RESOURCES:https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/be tty-friedan END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Big Bill Haywood (1869 - 1928) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250204 DTEND:20250205T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Birthdays,IWW COMMENT:"Big Bill" Haywood\, born on this day in 1869\, was a founding mem ber of the IWW. "The mine owners did not find the gold\, they did not mine the gold\, they did not mill the gold\, but by some weird alchemy all the gold belonged to them!" DESCRIPTION:William "Big Bill" Haywood\, born on this day in 1869\, was a founding member of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) and a member of the executive committee of the Socialist Party of America. During the f irst two decades of the 20th century\, Haywood was involved in several imp ortant labor battles\, including the Colorado Labor Wars\, the Lawrence Te xtile Strike\, and other textile strikes in Massachusetts and New Jersey.\ n\nHaywood was an advocate of industrial unionism\, a labor philosophy tha t favors organizing all workers in an industry under one union\, regardles s of the specific trade or skill level. He believed that workers of all et hnicities should be united\, and favored direct action over political acti on.\n\nHaywood was renowned for leading strikes in times of crisis. When m artial law was declared during the Lawrence Textile Strike\, Haywood trave led to the strike and implemented many innovative tactics to help the work ers involved. One such ploy was to conspicuously send the hungry children of striking workers to host families in other states\, garnering good pres s for the working families.\n\nIn 1917\, Big Bill Haywood was arrested for espionage\, along with 164 other members of the IWW. He was convicted\, a nd\, while temporarily released from prison due to an appeal\, fled to the Soviet Union\, where he served as labor advisor to Vladimir Lenin and spe nt the rest of life.\n\n"The mine owners did not find the gold\, they did not mine the gold\, they did not mill the gold\, but by some weird alchemy all the gold belonged to them!"\n\n- Big Bill Haywood RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Haywood RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/archive/haywood-b/1922/04/prisoners.htm l END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Fugitive Slave Act (1793) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250204 DTEND:20250205T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:The Fugitive Slave Act\, passed on this day in 1793\, was a federa l law that guaranteed the right of a slaver to recover an escaped enslaved person and acquire their children as property. The law was invoked by Pre sident Washington twice. DESCRIPTION:The Fugitive Slave Act\, passed on this day in 1793\, was a fe deral law that guaranteed the right of a slaver to recover an escaped ensl aved person and acquire their children as property.\n\nFounding U.S. Presi dent George Washington used the Fugitive Slave Act twice to try and kidnap a 19 year old woman who escaped his bondage\, Oney Judge. According to an 1845 article from The Liberator\, first Washington sent a man by the name of Bassett to persuade her to return. They told her they would set her fr ee when she arrived at Mount Vernon\, to which she replied "I am free now\ , and choose to remain so."\n\nBassett would be sent a second time by Wash ington\, with orders to bring her and her infant child by force. New Hamps hire Governor John Langdon entertained Bassett while sending word to Judge to flee before midnight. In this way\, she successfully evaded Bassett. W ashington died soon after\, and no subsequent attempts were made to kidnap Judge or her family.\n\nOney later gave an interview in the 1840s\, stati ng that\, even fifty years after escaping bondage\, she and her child coul d still be claimed as the legal property of Washington's descendants due t o the Fugitive Slave Act. The law also resulted in many black people who h ad never been enslaved illegally claimed as such\, kidnapped\, and sold in to slavery.\n\nOn June 28th\, 1864\, the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793\, alon gside a similar law in 1850\, were repealed by an act of Congress. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fugitive_Slave_Act_of_1793 RESOURCES:https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/fugitive-slave-acts RESOURCES:https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/washingtons-runaway-sla ve-the-liberator-august-22-1845/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Rosa Parks (1913 - 2005) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250204 DTEND:20250205T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Civil Rights,Birthdays COMMENT:Rosa Parks\, born on this day in 1913\, was an American civil righ ts activist best known for her pivotal role in the Montgomery Bus Boycott. "The only tired I was\, was tired of giving in." DESCRIPTION:Rosa Parks\, born on this day in 1913\, was an American activi st in the civil rights movement best known for her pivotal role in the Mon tgomery Bus Boycott. U.S. Congress has called her "the first lady of civil rights" and "the mother of the freedom movement".\n\nParks was not the fi rst person to resist bus segregation in Montgomery\, but the National Asso ciation for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) believed that she wa s the best candidate for seeing through a court challenge after her 1955 a rrest for refusing to give up her bus seat for a white person.\n\nAccordin g to historian Dr. Casey Nichols\, following this arrest\, Parks immediate ly contacted local NAACP president E.D. Nixon and informed him of her arre st. Within hours\, the Women’s Political Council (WPC)\, formed in 1946 to address the grievances of black bus patrons in Montgomery\, sprang into action\, printing flyers\, phoning potential supporters\, and organizing carpools.\n\nThe boycott succeeded in 1957 after the Supreme Court declare d bus segregation unconstitutional. Parks' act of defiance and the Montgom ery bus boycott became important symbols of the movement\, and she became an international icon of resistance to racial segregation.\n\nAfter the bo ycott's conclusion\, Parks moved to Detroit\, Michigan and began working a s an assistant to Detroit Congressman John Conyers. She has received numer ous honors\, including over 40 honorary degrees\, the Medal of Freedom\, t he Congressional Gold Medal of Honor\, and two NAACP image awards. In 2002 \, Parks produced a biographical film titled “The Rosa Parks Story.”\n \n"The only tired I was was tired of giving in."\n\n - Rosa Parks RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosa_Parks RESOURCES:http://teacher.scholastic.com/rosa/interview.htm RESOURCES:http://repository.wustl.edu/concern/videos/5d86p1921 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:J.W. Loguen (1813 - 1872) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250205 DTEND:20250206T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Abolitionism COMMENT:Jermain Wesley Loguen\, born into slavery on this day in 1813\, wa s an abolitionist\, bishop of the AME Church\, and author of "The Reverend J. W. Loguen\, as a Slave and as a Freeman\, a Narrative of Real Life". DESCRIPTION:Jermain Wesley Loguen\, born into slavery on this day in 1813\ , was an abolitionist\, bishop of the AME Church\, and author of "The Reve rend J. W. Loguen\, as a Slave and as a Freeman\, a Narrative of Real Life ".\n\nAt the age of 21\, he escaped slavery via the Underground Railroad\, and his home as a free man went on to become a major stop in the railroad . He also founded schools for black children in Utica and his city of resi dent\, Syracuse\, New York.\n\nOn October 1st\, 1851\, an enslaved man he was harboring known as "Jerry" was arrested under the Fugitive Slave Act o f 1850. The anti-slavery Liberty Party was holding its state convention in the city and\, when word of the arrest spread\, several hundred abolition ists broke into the city jail and freed Jerry. The event came to be widely known as the "Jerry Rescue". RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jermain_Wesley_Loguen RESOURCES:https://www.nationalabolitionhalloffameandmuseum.org/jermain-wes ley-loguen.html END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:La Canadenca Strike (1919) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250205 DTEND:20250206T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,General Strikes COMMENT:On this day in 1919\, a general strike broke out in Catalonia when thousands of workers across multiple industries went out on strike\, caus ing widespread power outages and the Spanish government to declare a state of war. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1919\, a general strike broke out in Catalonia when thousands of workers across multiple industries went out on strike\, causing widespread power outages and the Spanish government to declare a s tate of war.\n\nThe strike was initiated after an energy company\, La Cana denca\, reduced wages and fired over one hundred striking workers who were protesting the pay cuts. This and the curbing of labor rights prompted th e rest of the workers at La Canadenca to go on strike and demand the readm ission of those sacked and wage increases.\n\nThe labor stoppage soon spre ad to other companies in the sector via the CNT's union for water\, gas an d electricity workers. The lack of electricity in the city affected transp ort\, hampering the provision of supplies and paralyzing 70% of factories in the province of Barcelona.\n\nA state of war was declared by the govern ment and over 3\,000 workers were detained. Despite this\, the strike ende d after two days on the conditions of no repercussions for participating w orkers\, a wage increase\, and an 8 hour work day. RESOURCES:https://www.barcelona.cat/infobarcelona/en/barcelona-marks-the-c entenary-of-the-canadenca-strike_797743.html RESOURCES:https://www.regeneracionlibertaria.org/la-huelga-de-la-canadiens e END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Camilo Cienfuegos (1932 - 1959) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250206 DTEND:20250207T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Independence COMMENT:Camilo Cienfuegos\, born on this day in 1932\, was a Cuban revolut ionary who served as one of Fidel Castro's top guerilla commanders\, becom ing known as the "Hero of Yaguajay" after winning a key battle of the Cuba n Revolution. DESCRIPTION:Camilo Cienfuegos\, born on this day in 1932\, was a Cuban rev olutionary who served as one of Fidel Castro's top guerilla commanders\, k nown as the "Hero of Yaguajay" after winning a key battle of the Cuban Rev olution.\n\nIn 1954\, Cienfuegos became an active member of the undergroun d student movement against U.S.-aligned dictator Fulgencio Batista. On Dec ember 5th\, 1955\, the eve of the anniversary of the death of 19th-century Cuban independence figure Antonio Maceo\, soldiers opened fire on Cienfue gos and other students who were returning to Havana university after placi ng a wreath on Maceo's monument.\n\nCienfuegos credited this incident with his political awakening and decision to dedicate his life to freeing Cuba from Batista's government. Along with Fidel Castro\, Che Guevara\, Juan A lmeida Bosque\, and Raúl Castro\, he was a member of the 1956 Granma expe dition\, which launched Fidel Castro's armed insurgency to establish Cuban independence.\n\nOn the evening of October 28th\, 1959\, Cienfuegos' Cess na 310 ('FAR-53') disappeared over the Straits of Florida during a night f light\, returning from Camagüey to Havana. Despite several days of search ing\, his plane was not found. By mid-November\, Cienfuegos was presumed l ost at sea. In 1979\, the Cuban government established the "Order of Cienf uegos" in his honor.\n\nIn October 1958\, when a Cuban Masonic organizatio n expressed concern that someone captured by the rebels might be tortured and killed\, Cienfuegos replied:\n\n"Your petition is unnecessary\, becaus e under no condition would we put ourselves at the same moral level as tho se we are fighting...We cannot torture and assassinate prisoners in the ma nner of our opponents\; we cannot as men of honor and as dignified Cubans use the low and undignified procedures that our opponents use against us." RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camilo_Cienfuegos RESOURCES:https://www.cndh.org.mx/noticia/muere-camilo-cienfuegos-revoluci onario-cubano-0 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Seattle General Strike (1919) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250206 DTEND:20250207T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,General Strikes,IWW COMMENT:On this day in 1919\, a general strike involving ~100\,000 workers in Seattle began. Workers\, vilified as "Bolsheviki"\, set up an alternat ive government that distributed 30\,000 meals daily and a police force tha t did not carry weapons. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1919\, a general strike involving ~100\,000 wor kers in Seattle began. Workers\, vilified as "Bolsheviki"\, set up an alte rnative government that distributed 30\,000 meals daily and a police force that did not carry weapons.\n\nDissatisfied workers in several unions beg an the strike to gain higher wages after two years of World War I wage con trols. Government officials\, the press\, and much of the public viewed th e strike as a radical attempt to subvert American institutions.\n\nDuring the strike\, a cooperative body made up of rank and file workers from all the striking locals was formed\, called the General Strike Committee. It a cted as a "virtual counter-government for the city"\, according to labor h istorian Jeremy Brecher.\n\nThe committee organized to provide essential s ervices for the people of Seattle during the work stoppage. A system of fo od distribution was also established\, which distributed as many as 30\,00 0 meals each day.\n\nArmy veterans created an alternative to the police in order to maintain order. A group called the "Labor War Veteran's Guard" f orbade the use of force and did not carry weapons\, using "persuasion only ". Major General John F. Morrison\, stationed in Seattle\, claimed that he had never seen "a city so quiet and orderly."\n\nOn February 7th\, Mayor Ole Hanson threatened to use 1\,500 police and 1\,500 troops to replace st riking workers the next day\, but the strikers assumed this was an empty t hreat and were proved correct. A few days later\, Hanson stated the "sympa thetic strike was called in the exact manner as was the revolution in Petr ograd."\n\nUnion leadership\, including the American Federation of Labor ( AFL)\, began to exert pressure on the General Strike Committee and individ ual unions to end the strike\, causing some locals to return to work.\n\nT he executive committee of the General Strike Committee\, pressured by the AFL and international labor organizations\, proposed ending the general st rike at midnight on February 8th\, but their recommendation was voted down by the General Strike Committee.\n\nOn February 10th\, the General Strike Committee voted to end the general strike the following day\, listing the following reasons: "Pressure from international officers of unions\, from executive committees of unions\, from the 'leaders' in the labor movement \, even from those very leaders who are still called 'Bolsheviki' by the u ndiscriminating press. And\, added to all these\, the pressure upon the wo rkers themselves\, not of the loss of their own jobs\, but of living in a city so tightly closed."\n\nImmediately following the general strike's end \, the Socialist Party headquarters was raided by police\, and thirty-nine IWW members were arrested as "ringleaders of anarchy" despite playing a m arginal role in the strike's development. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seattle_General_Strike RESOURCES:https://depts.washington.edu/labhist/strike/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Cripple Creek Miners' Strike (1894) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250207 DTEND:20250208T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:On this day in 1894\, miners in Cripple Creek\, Colorado went out on strike to fight against wage cuts. The town was placed under martial la w and brutalized by an illegal\, mercenary army of deputies who had to be disbanded by state militia. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1894\, miners in Cripple Creek\, Colorado went out on strike to fight against wage cuts. The town was placed under martia l law and brutalized by an illegal\, mercenary army of deputies who had to be disbanded by state militia.\n\nPrior to the strike\, mine owners in Cr ipple Creek had attempted to expand the 8-hour day at $3.00 a day to a 10- hour day. When miners protested the increased hours\, their employers kept the 8-hour day\, but at a decreased wage of $2.50 a day.\n\nSoon after th ese changes were implemented\, organized miners became affiliated with the Western Federation of Miners (WFM). After mine owners ignored union presi dent John Calderwood's demands for an 8-hour day at the $3.00 wage\, the u nion struck on February 7th\, 1894.\n\nBy the end of February\, every smel ter in Colorado was either closed or running part-time. When some mines be gan to hire scab labor\, the WFM tried to persuade these men to join the u nion and strike. When this was unsuccessful\, the union drove the scabs ou t of the area with threats and violence.\n\nAfter miners captured and assa ulted six deputies\, El Paso County Sheriff M. F. Bowers requested the int ervention of the state militia (predecessor to the Colorado National Guard ). Finding no apparent disorder on arrival\, the state militia left Crippl e Creek on March 20th.\n\nAfter miners rejected an offer of $2.75 a day\, mine owners secretly met with Sheriff Bowers and struck an agreement to fu nd a mercenary army of one hundred deputies (later expanded to 1\,200) to police the region.\n\nAs word of the owner's militia spread\, miners began to arm themselves. Junius J. Johnson\, a former U.S. Army officer\, was r ecruited to take over strike operations. He ordered that fortifications be built\, a commissary stocked\, and the miners drilled in maneuvers.\n\nOn May 24th\, strikers seized the Strong mine on Battle Mountain\, which ove rlooked the town of Victor. The next morning\, 125 deputies arrived in tow n. As they marched toward the strikers' camp\, workers at the Strong mine blew up the shafthouse and steam boiler\, showering the deputies with timb er\, iron and cable\, causing them to flee the area.\n\nFollowing this inc ident\, Governor Davis Waite issued a proclamation demanding that miners d isband their fortifications on Bull Hill and declaring that the force of 1 \,200 deputies was illegal and to be disbanded.\n\nDespite this\, mine own ers refused to disband the militia\, which seized the town of Cripple Cree k and began imprisoning and brutalizing hundreds of people. Owners only br oke up the militia after Cripple Creek was re-captured by state forces and Waite threatened to occupy the area for the next thirty days.\n\nThis act ion was the only time in U.S. history when a state militia was called out in support of striking workers. Following a June agreement to give workers their 8-hour day at a $3.00 wage\, more than 300 union members were arres ted on a variety of charges. Only four were convicted\, but they were quic kly pardoned by Governor Waite.\n\nThe WFM became popular following the st rike's victory and used its success to organize almost every worker in the Cripple Creek region\, including waitresses\, laundry workers\, bartender s and newsboys\, also helping to elect a new sheriff. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cripple_Creek_miners%27_strike_of_ 1894 RESOURCES:https://progressive.org/latest/Cripple-Creek-1894-Mining-strike- 180209/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:France Anti-CPE Protests (2006) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250207 DTEND:20250208T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 2006\, 400\,000 people in France took the streets t o protest the "First Employment Contract" (CPE)\, Prime Minister Villepin' s new labor law which eroded worker protections for young people. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 2006\, 400\,000 people in France took the stree ts to protest the "First Employment Contract" (CPE)\, Prime Minister Ville pin's new labor law which eroded worker protections for young people.\n\nC laiming that "urgent" action was needed to "bring the French labour market into the modern era"\, Villepin's CPE package would allow employers to hi re 18-26 year-olds on two year contracts and fire them without notice or e xplanation.\n\nIn response\, student unions called for a week of meetings and mobilization\, and for a national day of protest on February 7th. The national protest continued beyond February 7th\, however\, and a national strike was called on March 28th (incidentally\, the same day a million wor kers in the UK struck to defend their pensions).\n\nHundreds of thousands of workers went on strike\, and three million people took to the streets a ll across the country. Unions were prepared to call another general strike when the French government finally gave in and withdrew the law.\n\nA sim ilar law (the CNE) which applied to small businesses of fewer than 25 peop le was eventually overturned by the courts in 2007. RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/blog/short-history-cpe-protests-france RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_youth_protests_in_France END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Miguel García Death Sentence (1949) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250207 DTEND:20250208T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Anarchism,Fascism COMMENT:On this day in 1949\, anti-Francoist anarchist writer Miguel Garc ía\, along with eight others\, was sentenced to death by the fascist Span ish government. Five of the nine anti-fascists were executed by Franco's g overnment. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1949\, anti-Francoist anarchist writer Miguel G arcía\, along with eight others\, was sentenced to death by the fascist S panish government. Five of the nine anti-fascists were executed by Franco' s government.\n\nGarcía (1909 - 1980) was a member of the Tallion Action Group who militantly opposed Francisco Franco's fascism. His capture came during a brutal crackdown on political dissidents by Spanish security forc es in October 1949.\n\nWell known writers and intellectuals\, including An dre Breton\, Albert Camus\, Rene Char\, Jean-Paul Sartre\, and Ignazio Sil one protested the planned executions. There was also support for the nine prisoners from the British Labour Party.\n\nFor unknown reasons\, four of the condemned men\, including García\, had their sentences commuted to li fe imprisonment. The other five were executed on March 14th\, 1952\, in Ba rcelona.\n\nHere are the names and a brief description of the five execute d men:\n\nPedro Adrover Font\, aged 44\, was a major figure in the Barcelo na anarchist resistance who had once placed a bomb under a cathedral in or der to assassinate Franco.\n\nSantiago Amir Gruanas ("El Sheriff")\, aged 38\, was a guide and member of the anarchist resistance who had helped sho t-down British airmen\, Jews\, and French Resistance members from France i nto Spain.\n\nGines Urrea Pina\, aged 56\, was a veteran of the Spanish Ci vil War and advocated for launching a new period of armed resistance again st Franco.\n\nJose Perez Pedrero\, nicknamed "Tragapanes" ("bread swallowe r") because he was always hungry\, was a miner and had been involved in ma ny guerrilla operations with the anarchist resistance.\n\nJorge Pons Argil es\, known as "Tarantula"\, was a farmer and\, like Tragapanes\, was invol ved with the guerrilla activities of the resistance. RESOURCES:https://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/dv42ss RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miguel_Garc%C3%ADa_Garc%C3%ADa END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Jose Maria Sison (1939 - 2022) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250208 DTEND:20250209T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Birthdays COMMENT:Jose Maria Sison\, born on this day in 1939\, was a revolutionary Filipino writer who founded the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) a nd its armed wing\, the New People's Army (NPA)\, which fought for decades against the Marcos dictatorship. DESCRIPTION:Jose Maria Sison\, born on this day in 1939\, was a revolution ary Filipino writer who founded the Communist Party of the Philippines (CP P) and its armed wing\, the New People's Army (NPA)\, which fought for dec ades against the Marcos dictatorship.\n\nBorn in Cabugao to a prominent la ndowning family\, Sison established the CPP in 1968 while functioning as a student activist. After he met Bernabé Buscayno\, another former activis t who had served in the left-wing Huk Rebellion\, they founded the armed w ing of the CPP\, the NPA. Together\, they are referred to as the CPP-NPA.\ n\nIn 1970\, Sison outlined the CPP-NPA's guiding principles in a book cal led "Philippine Society and Revolution"\, identifying the Philippines' thr ee major problems as bureaucrat capitalism\, feudalism\, and U.S. imperial ism and advocating the Maoist concept of a protracted people's war to effe ct change in Filipino society.\n\nThat same year\, the Philippine governme nt\, led by dictator Ferdinand Marcos\, conducted a large military offensi ve against the CPP-NPA\, decimating its ranks.\n\nThe CPP-NPA waged a camp aign of guerilla warfare against the Marcos government for decades\, and S ison continued to author various texts detailing the theory and practice o f the CPP-NPA. In 1976\, Buscayno was captured by the state\, and Sison hi mself was captured the following year.\n\nIn 1986\, following the People P ower Revolution and election of Corazon Aquino\, Sison and Buscayno were r eleased. Sison found political refuge in The Netherlands\, where he reside s today.\n\nSince August 2002\, Sison has been classified by the United St ates as a "person supporting terrorism". In 2009\, the European Union de-l isted him as a "person supporting terrorism" and reversed a decision by me mber governments to freeze his assets.\n\n"The Filipino communists and mas ses are confident of winning revolutionary victory because of the ever-wor sening crisis of the domestic ruling system as well as that of the world c apitalist system. They consider the Philippine revolution as part of the w orld proletarian revolution and hope that in the coming years and decades the revolutionary struggles will spread and intensify on an unprecedented scale in all continents."\n\n- Jose Maria Sison RESOURCES:http://web.stanford.edu/group/mappingmilitants/cgi-bin/groups/pr int_view/149 RESOURCES:http://www.bannedthought.net/India/PeoplesMarch/PM1999-2006/arch ives/2000/aug2k/interview.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Louis Auguste Blanqui (1805 - 1881) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250208 DTEND:20250209T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Socialism,Marxism,Birthdays COMMENT:Louis Auguste Blanqui\, born on this day in 1805\, was a French so cialist and political activist\, notable for his revolutionary theory of B lanquism and being the elected president of the Paris Commune while impris oned. DESCRIPTION:Louis Auguste Blanqui\, born on this day in 1805\, was a Frenc h socialist and political activist\, notable for his revolutionary theory of Blanquism and being the elected president of the Paris Commune while im prisoned.\n\nBlanqui was a non-Marxist socialist who believed in immediate \, violent revolution to overturn the capitalist order. Because of his unr elenting radicalism\, he spent 33 years of his life in prison\, leading to the nickname "l'enfermé"\, or "the locked-up one".\n\nBlanquism is more of a revolutionary theory than an economic or social one\; his thinking wa s chiefly concerned with how to achieve revolution. Unlike Karl Marx\, Bla nqui did not believe in the predominant role of the working class. Instead \, he believed that revolution should be carried out by a small group of p rofessional\, dedicated revolutionaries who would establish a temporary di ctatorship by force.\n\n"He who has iron\, has bread. People bow down befo re bayonets\; a disarmed crowd is swept aside. But a France bristling with workers in arms means the advent of socialism. In the presence of armed p roletarians\, all obstacles\, resistances and impossibilities will disappe ar."\n\n- Louis Blanqui RESOURCES:https://www.britannica.com/biography/Auguste-Blanqui RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blanquism END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:San Diego Free Speech Fight (1912) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250208 DTEND:20250209T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,IWW,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1912\, the city of San Diego banned giving speeches on the street in an attempt to suppress labor organizing efforts by the I WW\, leading to a "Free Speech Fight" involving more than 5\,000 IWW membe rs. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1912\, the city of San Diego banned giving spee ches on the street in an attempt to suppress labor organizing efforts by t he IWW\, leading to a "Free Speech Fight" involving more than 5\,000 IWW m embers.\n\nFree Speech Fights were struggles over free speech involving th e Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) in the early 20th century\, usuall y involving civil disobedience and direct action. The IWW members\, along with other radical labor groups\, were often met with suppression (sometim es violent) from local governments and business leaders when trying to giv e speeches.\n\nThe San Diego ordinance directly targeted IWW members\, who se street "preaching" was explicitly made illegal. The law was met with im mediate civil disobedience by labor activists\, and several were immediate ly arrested. Over five thousand IWW members came to San Diego to protest t he free speech limitation\, and the city's jail capacity was strained.\n\n Vigilantes began transporting arrested IWW members to the county border an d beating them. One city official who opposed the ordinance was threatened with lynching.\n\nPolice indiscriminately used fire hoses on crowds of pr otesters\, including women and children. By the fall of 1912\, the protest movement petered out and the Free Speech Fight in San Diego was lost. RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/1912-san-diego-free-spech-fight RESOURCES:https://archive.iww.org/history/library/misc/DJones2005/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:The Dawes Act (1887) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250208 DTEND:20250209T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Indigenous COMMENT:The Dawes Act\, passed on this day in 1887\, authorized the U.S. t o divide indigenous tribal land into allotments for heads of families and individuals\, leading to a loss of 2/3rds of land (~100 million acres) ove r the next 50 years. DESCRIPTION:The Dawes Act\, passed on this day in 1887\, authorized the U. S. to divide indigenous tribal land into allotments for heads of families and individuals\, leading to a loss of 2/3rds of land (~100 million acres) over the next 50 years.\n\nThe law converted traditional systems of land tenure into a state-imposed system of private property by forcing Native A mericans to "assume a capitalist and proprietary relationship with propert y" that did not previously exist in their cultures\, according to historia n Kent Blansett. The act declared remaining lands after allotment as "surp lus" and available for sale\, including to non-Natives.\n\nBetween 1887 an d 1934\, indigenous people lost control of about 100 million acres of land \, or about two-thirds of the land base they held in 1887\, as a result of the act.\n\nThe loss of land and the break-up of traditional leadership o f tribes had such devastating consequences that many scholars refer to the Dawes Act as one of the most destructive U.S. policies for indigenous peo ple in history. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dawes_Act RESOURCES:https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/cleveland-signs-the- dawes-severalty-act END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Boeing Employees Strike (2000) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250209 DTEND:20250210T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:On this day in 2000\, 19\,000 of Boeing Company engineering and te chnical employees walked off the job in what historian Howard Zinn called "the biggest white-collar strike in [U.S.] history". DESCRIPTION:On this day in 2000\, 19\,000 of Boeing Company engineering an d technical employees walked off the job in what historian Howard Zinn cal led "the biggest white-collar strike in the [U.S.] history".\n\nThe strike was the result of a breakdown in negotiations between Boeing and the Soci ety of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEAA). Striking w orkers said the protest wasn't just about asking for more money\, it was a lso to "improve the culture of the company and chart a new course for orga nized labor".\n\nWhen asked if he thought the strike had a lasting impact on the legacy of labor unions\, Charlie Bofferding\, Executive Director of SPEAA\, stated "I'd have to say certainly less than we would have liked.. .At that time\, what SPEEA was going for was an attempt to rebrand the lab or movement from the people who beat up bad management to the people who m ade working in America better for everyone. I don't know that that message stuck." RESOURCES:https://www.knkx.org/post/did-boeing-engineers-strike-2000-succe ed-long-run RESOURCES:https://money.cnn.com/2000/02/09/companies/boeing/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Marianne Baum (1912 - 1942) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250209 DTEND:20250210T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Birthdays,Fascism COMMENT:Marianne Baum\, born on this day in 1912\, was a German communist who was executed by the Nazis after the Baum Gruppe\, co-founded by her hu sband\, Herbert (shown)\, set fire to an anti-communist propaganda exhibit ion in Berlin. DESCRIPTION:Marianne Baum\, born on this day in 1912\, was a German commun ist who was executed by the Nazis after the Baum Gruppe\, co-founded by he r husband\, Herbert (shown)\, set fire to an anti-communist propaganda exh ibition in Berlin.\n\nMarianne Baum\, born Marianne Cohen\, was born on Fe bruary 9th\, 1912\, in Saarburg\, Germany\, later moving to Berlin. She wa s active in left-wing political groups as a teen\, joining a communist you th organization in 1931.\n\nAlongside her husband Herbert Baum\, she co-fo unded the anti-fascist Baum Gruppe in 1938-39. The organization\, almost e ntirely composed of young Jewish people\, produced anti-Nazi propaganda an d sometimes engaged in direct action against the Third Reich.\n\nOn May 18 th\, 1942\, the group set fire to an anti-communist exhibition held in Ber lin\, temporarily closing it. The high profile attack caught the attention of senior Nazi officials and many Baum Gruppe members\, including Mariann e and Herbert\, were arrested in the following days.\n\nOn August 18th\, 1 942\, Marianne was executed via guillotine by the Nazi state. Her husband Herbert had died a few months earlier\, tortured to death in Moabit Prison on June 11th\, 1942. Today\, there is a plaque in the Weißensee Cemetery in Berlin commemorating the Herbert Baum Group. RESOURCES:https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/baum-gruppe-jewish-women RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marianne_Baum END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Hiratsuka Raichō (1886 - 1971) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250210 DTEND:20250211T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays COMMENT:Hiratsuka Raichō\, born on this day in 1886\, was an anarchist wr iter\, journalist\, political activist\, and pioneering Japanese feminist. Her efforts helped legalize Japanese women joining political organization s in 1922. DESCRIPTION:Hiratsuka Raichō\, born on this day in 1886\, was an anarchis t writer\, journalist\, political activist\, and pioneering Japanese femin ist. Her efforts helped legalize Japanese women joining political organiza tions in 1922.\n\nUpon graduating from university\, Hiratsuka founded Japa n's first all-women literary magazine\, Seitō (青鞜\, literally "Bluest ocking")\, in 1911.\n\nHiratsuka began the first issue with the words\, "I n the beginning\, woman was the sun"\, a reference to the Shinto goddess A materasu\, and to the spiritual independence which women had lost. Adoptin g the pen name "Raichō" ("Thunderbird")\, she began to call for a women's spiritual revolution.\n\nHiratsuka also founded the New Women's Associati on with fellow women's rights activist Ichikawa Fusae. It was largely thro ugh this group's efforts that the Article 5 of the Police Security Regulat ions\, which barred women from joining political organizations and holding or attending political meetings\, was overturned in 1922. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiratsuka_Raich%C5%8D RESOURCES:https://unseenjapan.com/hiratsuka-raicho/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Yên Bái Mutiny (1930) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250210 DTEND:20250211T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Colonialism,Mutinies,Independence COMMENT:On this day in 1930\, 50 Vietnamese soldiers of the French colonia l army mutinied\, attempting to take control of the Yên Bái garrison and begin a war of independence against the French. The uprising failed and i ts leaders were executed. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1930\, 50 Vietnamese soldiers of the French col onial army mutinied\, attempting to take control of the Yên Bái garrison and begin a war of independence against the French. The uprising failed a nd many of its leaders were executed.\n\nThe revolt was planned in advance by the Việt Nam Quốc Dân Đảng (VNQDD)\, a socialist party founded by Nguyễn Thái Học (shown) that sought independence from France. The VNQDD had previously attempted to engage in clandestine activities to und ermine French rule\, but increasing state scrutiny on their activities led to their leadership risking a large scale military attack in the Red Rive r Delta in northern Vietnam.\n\nMultiple uprisings were planned throughout the region\, with VNQDD members taking command of forces with specific st rategic missions. The uprisings were supposed to be simultaneous\, but mat ters were complicated when a messenger carrying an order from Học to del ay the uprising until the 15th was arrested.\n\nEarly in the morning of Fe bruary 10th\, 1930\, ~50 Vietnamese soldiers stationed at Yên Bái attack ed their 29 French officers\, aided by 60 civilian members of the VNQDD. A lthough the French were caught off guard and several officers were killed\ , the majority of the soldiers present remained loyal to the colonial army and helped suppress the uprising. Three Vietnamese sergeants were awarded the Médaille militaire for their efforts.\n\nLater than evening\, anothe r planned VNQDD revolt in the rural district of Sơn Dương was also supp ressed. Although insurgents initially succeeded\, raising the VNQDD flag o ver the town\, at sunrise they were routed by the colonial army.\n\nThe Fr ench retaliation was swift and brutal. When VNQDD forces fled into the vil lage of Co Am\, the French bombed the entire settlement\, killing 200 peop le\, mostly civilians. This was the first time that military air power had been used in Indochina.\n\nIn France\, the severity of the sentences led to a campaign of solidarity by the French Communist Party and various demo nstrations by Vietnamese expatriates. On May 22nd\, 1930\, more than 1\,00 0 demonstrated outside Élysée Palace against the French reaction to Yên Bái. The police arrested 47 people\, deporting 17 back to Vietnam\, wher e most of them engaged in communist anti-colonial activities.\n\nIn total\ , 547 individuals\, both soldiers and civilians\, were prosecuted for thei r role in the uprising. Thirty-nine of the surviving leaders of the VNQDD were sentenced to death\, although some of these were later granted clemen cy. Học\, along with twelve others\, was guillotined on June 17th\, 1930 . The thirteen shouted "Vietnam!" in unison before being executed. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Y%C3%AAn_B%C3%A1i_mutiny RESOURCES:https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/274/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:James P. Cannon (1890 - 1974) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250211 DTEND:20250212T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Socialism,Labor,Birthdays,IWW COMMENT:James P. Cannon\, born on this day in 1890\, was an American Trots kyist and radical labor organizer. "The workers of America have the power to topple the structure of capitalism at home and to lift the whole world with them when they rise." DESCRIPTION:James P. Cannon\, born on this day in 1890\, was an American T rotskyist and radical labor organizer associated with the Industrial Worke rs of the World (IWW)\, the Communist Party USA (CPUSA)\, and the Socialis t Workers Party (SWP).\n\nOn February 11th\, 1890\, Cannon was born in Ros edale\, Kansas to Irish immigrants with strong socialist convictions. As a young adult\, Cannon joined the Socialist Party of America (SPA) in 1908 and the IWW in 1911.\n\nCannon was personally trained by "Big Bill" Haywoo d\, a top IWW leader\, worked as a labor organizer for the IWW in the Amer ican Midwest from 1912-14. In 1919\, along with other left luminaries such as Earl Browder\, John Reed\, and William Bross Lloyd\, Cannon co-founded the CPUSA.\n\nWhile in Russia in 1928\, Cannon read a critique of the dir ection of the Communist International written by Leon Trotsky. Convinced o f Trotsky's arguments\, Cannon attempted to form a Left Opposition within the Communist Party. This resulted in Cannon's expulsion on October 27th\, 1928\, together with his collaborators Max Shachtman and Martin Abern.\n\ nFollowing this incident\, Cannon participated in a variety of left factio ns\, co-founding the Communist League and the Workers Party of the United States\, also participating in the Socialist Party before finally settling on the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) in 1938.\n\nCannon was a leading fig ure in the Fourth International\, the international Trotskyist movement\, visiting Britain in 1938 with the intention of aiding the unification of t he competing British groups.\n\nAn opponent of America's involvement in th e Second World War\, Cannon was arrested under the Alien Registration Act in 1941. Cannon served as national secretary of the Socialist Workers Part y until 1953\, retiring in California.\n\nAmong Cannon's works are "Strugg le for a Proletarian Party" (1943)\, "History of American Trotskyism" (194 4)\, "America's Road to Socialism" (1953) and "Speeches for Socialism" (19 71).\n\n"The workers of America have power enough to topple the structure of capitalism at home and to lift the whole world with them when they rise ."\n\n- James P. Cannon RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_P._Cannon RESOURCES:https://spartacus-educational.com/USAcannonJ.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Mark Ashton Passes (1960 - 1987) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250211 DTEND:20250212T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Queer COMMENT:Mark Ashton was a British communist\, gay rights activist\, and co -founder of the Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners (LGSM) group who pass ed away from an AIDS-related illness on this day in 1987\, at the age of 2 6. DESCRIPTION:Mark Ashton was a British communist\, gay rights activist\, an d co-founder of the Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners (LGSM) group who passed away from an AIDS-related illness on this day in 1987\, at the age of 26.\n\nAshton was born on May 19th\, 1960 and grew up in Portrush\, Cou nty Antrim\, Northern Ireland. In 1982\, he began volunteering with the Lo ndon Lesbian and Gay Switchboard\, supported the Campaign for Nuclear Disa rmament\, and joined the Young Communist League\, later serving as its gen eral secretary.\n\nIn 1984\, with his friend Mike Jackson\, Ashton co-foun ded the Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners (LGSM) support group after th e two men collected donations for striking miners at the London Lesbian an d Gay Pride march that year.\n\nDiagnosed with HIV/AIDS\, Ashton was admit ted to Guy's Hospital on January 30th\, 1987 and died 12 days later of Pne umocystis pneumonia. His death prompted a significant response from the ga y community\, particularly in publication and attendance at his funeral at Lambeth Cemetery.\n\nThe LGSM's activities were dramatized in the 2014 fi lm "Pride"\, however the film completely omitted Ashton's participation in the Communist Party.\n\n"I had to question the morals and the ideas that society had put there for me to follow. What they wanted me to be was a li ttle straight boy\, getting married\, settling down\, having kids...If tha t's what they say about sexuality\, then what about the rest of life? And I started to see that basically the whole country is not geared for the pe ople. It's geared for the few people who're making money out of it."\n\n- Mark Ashton RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Ashton RESOURCES:https://lgbtlawyers.co.uk/2021/02/23/mark-ashton-life-and-legacy / END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Nelson Mandela Released From Prison (1990) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250211 DTEND:20250212T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Civil Rights COMMENT:On this day in 1990\, anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela was rel eased from prison following negotiations with South African President de K lerk. In 1994\, Mandela was elected President\, becoming the country's fir st black head of state. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1990\, anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela was released from Victor Verster Prison following negotiations with South Afr ican President F. W. de Klerk. In 1994\, Mandela was elected President\, b ecoming the country's first black head of state.\n\nMandela\, a leading me mber of the African National Congress (ANC)\, had been convicted on charge s of sabotage at the Rivonia Trial in 1964\, and was sentenced to life imp risonment\, serving 27 years before his release in 1990.\n\nDuring his yea rs in prison\, Mandela became a major symbol of both the domestic and inte rnational anti-apartheid movement. In 1988\, hundreds of millions people w atched the "Free Nelson Mandela" concert\, televised from London's Wembley Stadium.\n\nFollowing decades of mass internal resistance along with glob al boycotts and sanctions\, newly inaugurated South African State Presiden t F.W. de Klerk lifted the state of emergency law\, legalized anti-aparthe id opposition groups such as the ANC\, South African Communist Party\, and Pan-Africanist Congress\, and released many political prisoners.\n\nMande la was released on February 11th\, 1990 to massive international attention . Driven to Cape Town's City Hall through crowds\, Mandela gave a speech w here he declared his intention to participate in negotiations\, although h e noted that the ANC's armed struggle was not yet over before change had t aken place.\n\nIn 1994\, he was elected South Africa's first black preside nt in the country's first ever multiracial election.\n\n"It always seems i mpossible until it's done."\n\n- Nelson Mandela RESOURCES:https://www.sahistory.org.za/people/nelson-rolihlahla-mandela RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelson_Mandela END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Slovak Unemployment Riots Begin (2004) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250211 DTEND:20250212T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Riots,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 2004\, the first store was looted in a series of ri ots and protests by unemployed people in Slovakia. Although the protests w ere brutally suppressed by police\, the govt. subsequently increased activ ation benefits by 50%. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 2004\, the first store was looted in a series o f riots and protests by unemployed people in Slovakia. Although the protes ts were brutally suppressed by police\, the government subsequently increa sed activation benefits by 50%.\n\nThe protests were in response to welfar e cuts by the Slovakian government. Many Roma people participated in the p rotests. At the time\, 51% of Roma women and 72% of Roma men were unemploy ed\, a trend which can be traced back to liberalization policies after the collapse of the Soviet Union.\n\nIn February 2004\, unemployed workers al l over Slovakia received official notices from the government informing th em of steep cuts to welfare benefits\, and demonstrations broke out in the eastern parts of the country.\n\nThe reaction was a mix of peaceful demon strations and outright rioting. Signs from protests read "We want work\, n ot food stamps" and "We've had enough of capitalism"\, and were attended b y some of the white ethnic majority.\n\nIn the largest police and military operation since 1989\, over 2\,000 troops were mobilized and sent to the affected regions. On February 23rd\, in Trebišov (southeastern Slovakia)\ , police attacked a Roma demonstration with teargas and\, in the freezing February cold\, water cannons.\n\nEarly the next morning\, around 240 poli cemen attacked a settlement the protesters were suspected to live in by ab out 80 people in the historical town of Levoča.\n\nAlthough the protests failed to develop into a more substantive political movement\, they had a lasting impact. Soon afterward\, the government made important concessions \, increasing activation benefits by 50%\, introducing scholarships and va rious subsidies for pupils and students from poor families\, and increasin g funding for placement opportunities for the unemployed. RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/slovakias-unemployed-riots-2004 RESOURCES:http://www.errc.org/cikk.php?cikk=1884 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Virgilia D'Andrea (1888 - 1933) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250211 DTEND:20250212T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Anarchism,Fascism COMMENT:Virgilia D'Andrea\, born on this day in 1888\, was an anarchist ac tivist and poet whose writings were suppressed by the fascist regime of Be nito Mussolini. DESCRIPTION:Virgilia D'Andrea\, born on this day in 1888\, was an anarchis t activist and poet whose writings were suppressed by the fascist regime o f Benito Mussolini.\n\nD'Andrea was politicized by the bloodshed of World War I and left teaching to join the movement against Italian participation in the war. By 1917\, the state had deemed her an effective and dangerous radical anti-war agitator. Following Italy's entry into the war\, both D' Andrea and her partner Armando Borghi were subjected to house arrest and l egally confined for the duration of the war.\n\nIn 1922\, she published he r first book of poetry\, "Tormento"\, which included a forward by Italian anarchist Errico Malatesta. A prominent free love advocate and noted anti- fascist\, she fled Italy with the rise of fascism and emigrated to the Uni ted States.\n\nIn 1929\, a second edition of "Tormento" was published\, ho wever the prints were immediately seized by the Italian government. Citing her outspoken advocacy of free love\, Italian authorities charged D'Andre a with "reprehensible moral behavior" and asserted that she was committed to violence\, with her verses "carefully composed to instigate lawbreaking \, to incite class hatred\, and to vilify the army."\n\nD'Andrea died of b reast cancer in New York City on May 12th\, 1933\, aged 45. A collection o f writings "Torce nella Notte" (English: "Torches in the Night") was publi shed in New York shortly after D'Andrea's death. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgilia_D%27Andrea RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/andrea-virgilia-d-1890-1933 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:David Graeber (1961 - 2020) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250212 DTEND:20250213T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Anarchism COMMENT:David Graeber\, born on this day in this 1961\, was an American an thropologist\, anarchist activist and author known for his books "Debt: Th e First 5000 Years"\, "The Utopia of Rules"\, and "Bullshit Jobs: A Theory ". DESCRIPTION:David Graeber\, born on this day in this 1961\, was an America n anthropologist\, anarchist activist and author known for his books "Debt : The First 5000 Years"\, "The Utopia of Rules"\, and "Bullshit Jobs: A Th eory". He was a professor of anthropology at the London School of Economic s.\n\nGraeber's parents were self-taught working-class intellectuals in Ne w York. His father was a member of the Youth Communist League\, and fought in the Spanish Civil War. Graeber stated that he had been an anarchist si nce at least the age of 16.\n\nAside from his scholarship\, Graeber was ac tive in the Global Justice movement\, also playing an early and influentia l role in the Occupy Wall Street protests. Graeber is sometimes attributed to coining the phrase "We are the 99%"\, however he credited the slogan t o on-scene collaboration.\n\n"Most of all\, anarchism is just a matter of having the courage to take the simple principles of common decency that we all live by\, and to follow them through to their logical conclusions."\n \n- David Graeber RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Graeber RESOURCES:https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/mar/21/books-interview-da vid-graeber-the-utopia-of-rules END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:John L. Lewis (1880 - 1969) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250212 DTEND:20250213T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Birthdays COMMENT:John L. Lewis\, born on this day in 1880\, was a significant Ameri can labor leader who served as President of the United Mine Workers of Ame rica (UMW) from 1920 to 1960\, also becoming influential within the CIO an d AFL. DESCRIPTION:John Llewellyn Lewis\, born on this day in 1880\, was a signif icant American labor leader who served as President of the United Mine Wor kers of America (UMW) from 1920 to 1960\, also becoming influential within the CIO and AFL.\n\nA major player in the history of coal mining\, he was the driving force behind the founding of the Congress of Industrial Organ izations (CIO)\, which established the United Steel Workers of America and helped organize millions of other industrial workers in the 1930s.\n\nAft er resigning as head of the CIO in 1941\, he took the Mine Workers out of the CIO in 1942 and in 1944 took the union into the American Federation of Labor (AFL).\n\nFor forty years\, many coal miners hailed him as their le ader\, whom they credited with bringing high wages\, pensions and medical benefits.\n\nLewis marketed unionism to his capitalist contemporaries as a way of preventing more revolutionary change:\n\n"The organized workers of America\, free in their industrial life\, conscious partners in productio n\, secure in their homes and enjoying a decent standard of living\, will prove the finest bulwark against the intrusion of alien doctrines of gover nment."\n\nJ. B. McLachlan\, a prominent Canadian communist trade unionist \, characterized Lewis as a "traitor to the working class". RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_L._Lewis RESOURCES:https://aflcio.org/about/history/labor-history-people/john-lewis END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:New York Flour Riot (1837) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250212 DTEND:20250213T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Riots COMMENT:On this day in 1837\, after a meeting called by the pro-labor "Loc ofocos" movement to protest high food prices\, hungry workers in New York City plundered private storerooms containing hoarded flour. 40 people were arrested. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1837\, after a meeting called by the pro-labor "Locofocos" movement to protest high food prices\, hungry workers in New Y ork City plundered private storerooms containing hoarded flour. 40 people were arrested.\n\nEarlier that year\, flour prices had more than doubled\, going from $5.67 a barrel to $12 a barrel. There were also rumors that on ly four weeks' worth of flour were left.\n\nAt the meeting\, an orator ini tiated the riot by saying this to the gathered crowd: "Fellow citizens! Mr . Hart has now 53\,000 barrels of flour in his store\; let us go and offer him eight dollars a barrel\, and if he does not take it..."\n\nHungry wor kers plundered private storerooms filled with sacks of hoarded flour\, and forty were arrested. The riot was a sign of the impending financial crisi s known as the Panic of 1837 that hit the American economy the following m onth. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flour_riot_of_1837 RESOURCES:https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1931/11/14/the-flour-riot-of- 1837 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Pat Finucane Assassinated (1989) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250212 DTEND:20250213T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Assassinations COMMENT:On this day in 1989\, while eating with his family\, Irish crimina l defense lawyer Pat Finucane was assassinated by loyalist forces acting i n collusion with the British government. No members of British state secur ity have been prosecuted. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1989\, while eating with his family\, Irish cri minal defense lawyer Pat Finucane was assassinated by loyalist forces acti ng in collusion with the British government. No members of British state s ecurity have been prosecuted.\n\nPatrick Finucane was born on March 21st\, 1949 to a prominent Republican family in Belfast. Three of his brothers w ere Irish Republican Army (IRA) members\, two of whom would be imprisoned by the British government.\n\nFinucane himself was a criminal defense lawy er. Although he had represented both Republicans and loyalists\, Finucane' s most notable client was likely Bobby Sands\, a member of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) who died on hunger strike while imprisoned at HM Prison Maze in Northern Ireland.\n\nOn February 12th\, 1989\, while ea ting a Sunday meal at home with his wife and three children\, Finucane was shot fourteen times by two gunmen. Twelve shots were to his face. The loy alist paramilitary Ulster Defence Association took credit for his murder\, alleging without evidence that Finucane was a high-ranking member of the IRA.\n\nFollowing a 2001 peace agreement\, the British government promised to consider opening an inquiry into Finucane's death\, appointing an inte rnational judge to review his case. The government declined to open an inq uiry\, however\, after the judge found evidence of state collusion.\n\nIn 2004\, Ken Barrett\, a member of the Ulster Defence Association\, pled gui lty to Finucane's murder. The identity of the second gunman remains unknow n.\n\nIn 2011\, British Prime Minister David Cameron met with Pat Finucane 's family and admitted to state collusion in his assassination\, but as of February 2022 no member of the British security services has been prosecu ted.\n\nOn November 30th\, 2020\, Brandon Lewis\, the Northern Ireland Sec retary\, rejected calls for a public inquiry into Finucane's killing. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pat_Finucane RESOURCES:https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4179&c ontext=flr END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Amiriyah Shelter Bombing (1991) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250213 DTEND:20250214T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Terrorism COMMENT:On this day in 1991\, during the Gulf War\, at least 408 Iraqi civ ilians were killed when an air-raid shelter in the Amiriyah neighborhood o f Baghdad was destroyed by two U.S. Air Force "smart bombs". DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1991\, during the Gulf War\, at least 408 Iraqi civilians were killed when an air-raid shelter in the Amiriyah neighborho od of Baghdad was destroyed by two U.S. Air Force "smart bombs".\n\nThe sh elter was used in the Iran-Iraq War and the Persian Gulf War by hundreds o f civilians. The U.S. military claimed the shelter was a legitimate milita ry target because it fit the profile of a military command center.\n\nSeve n Iraqi families living in Belgium who lost loved ones in the attack launc hed a lawsuit against former President George H. W. Bush\, Dick Cheney\, C olin Powell\, and General Norman Schwarzkopf for committing war crimes.\n\ nThe suit was brought under Belgium's universal jurisdiction guarantees in March 2003\, but was dismissed in September. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amiriyah_shelter_bombing RESOURCES:https://www.gicj.org/positions-opinons/gicj-positions-and-opinio ns/1521-no-justice-for-victims-of-al-amiriyah END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Aung San (1915 - 1947) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250213 DTEND:20250214T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Labor,Birthdays,Colonialism,Independence COMMENT:Aung San\, born on this day in 1915\, was a Burmese revolutionary nationalist who was instrumental in helping Burma achieve independence fro m British imperialists\, however he was assassinated six months before ind ependence was formalized. DESCRIPTION:Aung San\, born on this day in 1915\, was a Burmese revolution ary nationalist who was instrumental in helping Burma achieve independence from British imperialists\, however he was assassinated six months before independence was formalized.\n\nAung San was born to a family distinguish ed in the resistance movement after the British annexation of 1886. He enr olled in Rangoon University in 1933 and became secretary of the university 's student union and and editor of its newspaper.\n\nIn 1936\, Aung San wa s expelled for refusing to reveal the name of an author for the paper who had criticized a university official. In response\, students went on strik e\, leading to his reinstatement. The incident garnered nationwide publici ty and recognition for Aung San.\n\nIn 1938\, Aung San joined the Thakins\ , a movement of nationalist intellectuals who rejected British rule. In 19 39\, he became a founding member and the first Secretary-General of the Co mmunist Party of Burma\, however he had a unsteady relationship with the P arty\, joining and leaving it twice.\n\nIn 1940\, Aung San was contacted b y Japanese agents\, who offered assistance to help him raise an army to fi ght against British rule. On December 28th\, 1941\, Aung San\, as part of the "Thirty Comrades"\, formally inaugurated the Burma Independence Army ( BIA) in Bangkok.\n\nThe BIA initially collaborated with Japanese forces fo llowing their invasion of the country in 1942 and establishment of a puppe t government. However\, relations between the BIA and Japan soon deteriora ted\, and Aung San grew suspicious of Japan's true intentions in the regio n.\n\nAung San began to secretly organize against the Japanese occupation\ , founding the "Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League" (AFPL) in 1944. On M arch 27th\, 1945\, Aung San led a surprise attack against Japanese forces\ , continuing to fight them for the remainder of World War II.\n\nFollowing the end of war and official alignment with Allied forces\, British forces sought to integrate the Burma National Army into the colonial armed force s. Aung San\, who was not personally invited to negotiate by the British\, reorganized former soldiers as the paramilitary "People's Volunteer Organ ization" in an attempt to preserve an armed\, nationalist formation.\n\nCl ement Attlee's newly-elected Labour Party government in the United Kingdom decided to start moving towards a withdrawal\, and\, beginning in Septemb er 1946\, Aung San served as Premier of the Crown Colony of Burma\, a move criticized by the Communist Party. On January 27th\, 1947\, Aung and Attl ee signed an agreement on the terms of independence within the year.\n\nOn July 19th\, before the transition to independence had been completed\, Au ng San was assassinated along with seven other members of the interim gove rnment under unclear circumstances.\n\nU Saw\, a political rival\, was lat er executed for his role in the killings\, although there have been allega tions made regarding British complicity in the incident.\n\n"If you're fee ling helpless\, help someone."\n\n- Aung San RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aung_San RESOURCES:https://www.britannica.com/biography/Aung-San END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Nashville Sit-ins Begin (1960) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250213 DTEND:20250214T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Civil Rights,Protests COMMENT:The Nashville Sit-ins began on this day in 1960 when 124 students protesting segregation walked into downtown Nashville stores and were refu sed service at their lunch counters. On May 10th\, six downtown stores int egrated. DESCRIPTION:The Nashville Sit-ins began on this day in 1960 when 124 stude nts protesting segregation walked into downtown Nashville stores and were refused service at their lunch counters.\n\nThe Nashville Sit-ins were par t of a nonviolent direct action campaign to end racial segregation at lunc h counters in downtown Nashville\, Tennessee. The first group sat in the s tores for two hours and then left without incident\, but the act kicked of f months of civil rights protests in Nashville.\n\nThe sit-in campaign was coordinated by the Nashville Student Movement and the Nashville Christian Leadership Council\, and was notable for its early success and its emphas is on disciplined non-violence in the face of harassment and assault by co unter-protesters.\n\nThe Nashville Sit-ins\, along with the Greensboro Sit -ins\, became part of a broader\, national movement of civil disobedience against discriminatory policies. The Nashville Sit-ins ended in victory on May 10th\, when six downtown stores began serving black customers for the first time. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nashville_sit-ins RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/nashville-sit -ins-1960/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Akron Rubber Strike (1936) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250214 DTEND:20250215T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:On this day in 1936\, the Akron Rubber Strike began after Goodyear laid off 700 people\, leading to 10\,000 picketing around the factory. Go odyear funded a right-wing militia to attack strikers\, but workers won af ter a month of protest. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1936\, the Akron Rubber Strike began after Good year laid off 700 people\, leading to 10\,000 picketing around the factory . Goodyear funded a right-wing militia to attack strikers\, but workers wo n after a month of protest.\n\nDuring the strike\, police were unable to e nforce an injunction against mass picketing because of the size of the cro wd. A private force of about 5\,200\, known as the "Law and Order League" and funded by Goodyear\, was prepared to attack workers during the strike. \n\nThe Summit County Central Labor Council was able to convince the Law a nd Order League against initiating violence\, threatening a general strike if there were attacks on picketing workers. After a month of picketing\, the workers won their terms.\n\nThe event took place during a period of in tense labor organization among auto factory workers in Akron\, Ohio from 1 933 - 1936. This group of workers were among the earliest in U.S. history to implement the "sit-down" strike\, occupying their workplace as a bargai ning measure. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akron_rubber_strike_of_1936#Picket _strike_of_February%E2%80%93March_1936 RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/akron-rubber-workers-struggles-1933-1 936-jeremy-brecher END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:T-Bone Slim (1880) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250214 DTEND:20250215T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,IWW COMMENT:T-Bone Slim\, born on this day in 1880\, was an IWW member\, worki ng class songwriter\, and author. Due to his popular\, labor themed tunes\ , Slim was dubbed the "laureate of the logging camps". DESCRIPTION:T-Bone Slim\, born on this day in 1880\, was an IWW member\, w orking class songwriter\, and author. Due to his popular\, labor themed tu nes\, Slim was dubbed the "laureate of the logging camps".\n\nBorn Matti V alentin Huhta to Finnish immigrant parents in Ashtabula\, Ohio\, Slim beca me an itinerant worker after leaving his wife and family in 1912. It isn't known when Slim became a Wobbly\, a member of the Industrial Workers of t he World (IWW)\, but he first appeared in the IWW's press in the 1920 edit ion of the IWW Songbook.\n\nSlim became one of the IWW's most famous write rs during the 1920s and 30s\, and many people would buy the "Industrial Wo rker" just to read his articles - one ad from the paper read "there's a lo t more in Industrial Solidarity and Industrial Worker than T-Bone Slim's c olumns".\n\nSlim did not presume his working-class readership to be uninte lligent people\, making use of complex wordplay and experimental writing t echniques\, playing with ambiguity\, satire and surrealism.\n\nSlim was al so well-known for his songs\, such as the "Lumberjack's Prayer"\, a parody of the Lord's Prayer about the poor quality of food available for the wor king class\, and "The Popular Wobbly"\, which experienced a revival among civil rights activists during the 1960s.\n\nIn spite of his renown in radi cal circles during his lifetime\, many details of Slim's life remain uncle ar. During the mid-1930s\, he settled in New York City\, where he worked a s a barge captain on the docks.\n\nIn May 1942\, Slim's body was found in the East River. His cause of death remains unknown and has been subject to speculation. Following his death\, Slim largely faded into obscurity\, es pecially compared to more famous IWW-associated writers such as Joe Hill.\ n\nSlim's songs have been preserved\, however\, re-published in editions o f the Little Red Songbook and covered by musicians such as Pete Seeger\, U tah Phillips\, and his own great-grandnephew\, John Westmoreland.\n\nUntil recently\, there was thought to be no surviving photographs of Slim\, how ever\, in 2019 two photos were discovered and published by Working Class H istory in a Newberry Library collection. RESOURCES:https://archive.iww.org/history/biography/TBoneSlim/1/ RESOURCES:https://workingclasshistory.com/podcast/wcl-e01-t-bone-slim-the- laureate-of-the-logging-camps/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Baldemar Velásquez (1947 - ) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250215 DTEND:20250216T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Birthdays COMMENT:Baldemar Velásquez\, born on this day in 1947\, is an American la bor organizer who founded\, and is currently President of\, the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC)\, a union that organizes farm workers. Velás quez led his first strike at age 12. DESCRIPTION:Baldemar Velásquez\, born on this day in 1947\, is an America n labor organizer who founded\, and is currently President of\, the Farm L abor Organizing Committee (FLOC)\, a union that organizes farm workers. Ve lásquez led his first strike at age 12.\n\nWhen he was just four years ol d\, Velásquez began assisting his parents\, migrant farm workers\, in the fields. They rode with other migrant workers in a pickup truck with a can vas-covered bed\, huddling around a can of hot ashes and covering themselv es in blankets to stay warm. Velásquez led his first strike at the age of 12\, helping pickers at his summer job win better wages.\n\nIn September 1967\, Baldemar co-founded FLOC with his father to help migrant workers co llectively bargain for better conditions. Through FLOC\, Velásquez helped organize strikes and a boycott against the Campbell Soup Company\, as wel l as leading migrant workers on a 560 mile protest march from the union he adquarters in Toledo\, Ohio to Campbell's headquarters in Camden\, New Jer sey.\n\nAfter winning a collective bargaining agreement with Campbell's\, growers began complaining that they could not compete with inexpensive Mex ican produce. Velásquez personally traveled to Mexico and successfully lo bbied the Mexican unions to raise their wages and benefits\, closing the g ap in prices.\n\nIn 1994\, Velásquez was awarded the Order of the Aztec E agle\, the highest honor Mexico can bestow on a non-citizen.\n\n"We can ju st lay down and let matters overwhelm us and whine and complain about how bad things are\, or get up and do something and start speaking to those th ings that are upon you and those things that are evil...Just do it and don ’t stop\, and whatever happens happens… As Emiliano Zapata said\, it ’s better to die on your feet than to live on your knees."\n\n- Baldemar Velásquez RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baldemar_Velasquez RESOURCES:http://www.floc.com/wordpress/about-floc/floc-leadership/ RESOURCES:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J79h-8Qqh1o&ab_channel=Farmworke rJusticeYouTubeChannel END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:San Quentin Prison Strike (1968) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250215 DTEND:20250216T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:On this day in 1968\, 1/5th of San Quentin's prison population of 3\,900 risked the Warden's threat of an additional year behind bars by ini tiating a work strike\, returning to their cells after breakfast. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1968\, 1/5th of San Quentin's prison population of 3\,900 risked the Warden's threat of an additional year behind bars by initiating a work strike\, returning to their cells after breakfast. One of the main grievances of the convicts was their inability to voice compla ints about brutality from the prison guards.\n\nPrison authorities claimed that the strike was a failure and that there was only a "sick call" only slightly larger than normal\, however reports from prisoners themselves in dicated more than seven hundred went on strike the first day.\n\nThe strik e quickly grew in proportion - just a few days after it began\, more than 80% of the prison population were refusing to work.\n\nThe prison warden d eclared a "general lockup"\, which confined all prisoners to their cells\, and claimed the strike was over. Despite this\, the prisoners considered their protest a victory\, as prison work had successfully been stopped\, a nd without the violence of other prison uprisings. RESOURCES:https://voices.revealdigital.org/?a=d&d=BGJFHJH19680223.1.2&e=-- -----en-20--1--txt-txIN---------------1 RESOURCES:http://deadsources.blogspot.com/2013/06/february-15-1968-san-que ntin-prison.html END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Susan B. Anthony (1820 - 1906) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250215 DTEND:20250216T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays COMMENT:Susan B. Anthony\, born on this day in 1820\, was an American abol itionist and women's rights activist who played a pivotal role in the wome n's suffrage movement. "'Organize\, agitate\, educate' must be our war cry ." DESCRIPTION:Susan B. Anthony\, born on this day in 1820\, was an American abolitionist and women's rights activist who played a pivotal role in the women's suffrage movement.\n\nBorn into a Quaker family committed to socia l equality\, she collected anti-slavery petitions at the age of 17. In 186 3\, she\, along with Elizabeth Cady Stanton\, founded the Women's Loyal Na tional League\, which conducted the largest petition drive in United State s history up to that time\, collecting nearly 400\,000 signatures in suppo rt of the abolition of slavery. In 1866\, they founded the American Equal Rights Association\, which campaigned against gender and racial discrimina tion.\n\nIn 1872\, Anthony was arrested for voting in her hometown of Roch ester\, New York\, and convicted of violating the Enforcement Act in a wid ely publicized trial. Although she refused to pay the fine\, authorities d eclined to take further action.\n\nIn 1878\, Anthony and Stanton arranged for Congress to be presented with an amendment giving women the right to v ote. In 1920\, it was ratified as the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitut ion\, colloquially known as the Susan B. Anthony Amendment.\n\n"'Organize\ , agitate\, educate' must be our war cry."\n\n- Susan B. Anthony RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_B._Anthony RESOURCES:https://www.womenshistory.org/resources/lesson-plan/susan-b-anth ony END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Susan Brownmiller (1935 - ) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250215 DTEND:20250216T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Civil Rights,Birthdays COMMENT:Susan Brownmiller\, born on this day in 1935\, is an American femi nist author\, journalist\, and civil rights activist best known for her 19 75 book "Against Our Will: Men\, Women\, and Rape." DESCRIPTION:Susan Brownmiller\, born on this day in 1935\, is an American feminist author\, journalist\, and civil rights activist best known for he r 1975 book "Against Our Will: Men\, Women\, and Rape."\n\nIn the book\, B rownmiller argues that rape had been previously defined by men rather than women\, and that men use it as a means of perpetuating male dominance by keeping all women in a state of fear. The New York Public Library selected "Against Our Will" as one of 100 most important books of the 20th century .\n\nBrownmiller was also a member of the Congress of Racial Equality (COR E) and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in the 1960s\, and volunteered for Freedom Summer in 1964\, wherein she worked on voter registration in Meridian\, Mississippi. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_Brownmiller RESOURCES:https://time.com/4062637/against-our-will-40/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Ho Chi Minh Letter to Truman (1946) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250216 DTEND:20250217T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Colonialism,Independence COMMENT:On this day in 1946\, Ho Chi Minh wrote a letter to President Harr y Truman\, asking for assistance in supporting the Vietnamese independence movement. DESCRIPTION:On September 2nd\, 1945\, Ho Chi Minh had declared Vietnam ind ependent of French colonial rule\, which led to immediate war with France. In Vietnam's Proclamation of Independence\, Ho Chi Minh quoted passages f rom America's Declaration of Independence\, pointing out that the ideals e xpressed in that revolution were aligned with their own desire for freedom .\n\nOn this day in 1946\, Ho Chi Minh wrote a letter to President Harry T ruman\, asking for assistance in supporting the Vietnamese independence mo vement. Truman did not respond\, and the U.S. began meddling in Vietnamese affairs to undermine Ho Chi Minh's movement. Here is an excerpt from the letter:\n\n"Our Vietnam people\, as early as 1941\, stood by the Allies' s ide and fought against the Japanese and their associates\, the French colo nialists. From 1941 to 1945 we fought bitterly\, sustained by the patrioti sm of our fellow-countrymen and by the promises made by the Allies at [the summits in] Yalta\, San Francisco and Potsdam.\n\n...The French aggressio n on a peace-loving people is a direct menace to world security. It implie s the complicity\, or at least\, the connivance of the Great Democracies. The United Nations ought to keep their words. They ought to interfere to s top this unjust war\, and to show that they mean to carry out in peace-tim e the principles for which they fought in war-time.\n\n...It is with this firm conviction that we request of the United States as guardians and cham pions of World Justice to take a decisive step in support of our independe nce. What we ask has been graciously granted to the Philippines. Like the Philippines our goal is full independence and full cooperation with the Un ited States. We will do our best to make this independence and cooperation profitable to the whole world." RESOURCES:http://vietnamwar.lib.umb.edu/enemy/docs/Ho_letter_to_Truman_Feb _46.html END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Leaked Pike Committee Report Published (1976) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250216 DTEND:20250217T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1976\, the newspaper Village Voice published excerp ts of the Pike Committee Report under the headline "The CIA Report the Pre sident Doesn't Want You to Read". DESCRIPTION:The Pike Committee was a House committee that investigated ill egal activities by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)\, the Federa l Bureau of Investigation (FBI)\, and the National Security Agency (NSA). The Pike Committee conducted much of its investigation while its Senate co unterpart\, the Church Committee\, conducted its own investigation into th e actions of the same groups.\n\nUnlike the concluding report of the Churc h Committee\, which was eventually released to the public in the face of E xecutive Branch opposition to its release\, the Pike Committee report was intended to be kept secret from the American public. On this day in 1976\, the newspaper Village Voice published excerpts of the Pike Committee Repo rt under the headline "The CIA Report the President Doesn't Want You to Re ad".\n\nA link to this Village Voice article is provided below. RESOURCES:https://www.villagevoice.com/1976/02/16/the-cia-report-the-presi dent-doesnt-want-you-to-read/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pike_Committee END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Mildred Fish-Harnack Executed (1943) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250216 DTEND:20250217T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Fascism COMMENT:Mildred Fish-Harnack was an American historian and anti-fascist ex ecuted by the Nazi government on this day in 1943. She is the only America n woman executed on the direct orders of Adolf Hitler. DESCRIPTION:Mildred Fish-Harnack was an American historian and anti-fascis t executed by the Nazi government on this day in 1943.\n\nTogether with he r husband\, Fish-Harnack brought together a discussion circle which debate d political perspectives on the time after the National Socialists' expect ed downfall. From these meetings arose what the Gestapo called the "Red Or chestra" resistance group. Beginning in 1940\, the group was in contact wi th Soviet agents\, trying to thwart the forthcoming German attack upon the Soviet Union. Fish-Harnack even sent the Soviets information about the fo rthcoming Operation Barbarossa.\n\nOn September 7th\, Arvid Harnack and Mi ldred Fish-Harnack were arrested while on a weekend outing. She was execut ed on this day in 1943 by beheading. Her last words were purported to have been: "Ich habe Deutschland auch so geliebt" ("I loved Germany so much as well").\n\nFish-Harnack is the only member of the Red Orchestra whose bur ial site is known\, as well as the only American woman executed on the ord ers of Adolf Hitler. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mildred_Harnack RESOURCES:https://news.wisc.edu/mildred-fish-harnack-honored-as-hero-of-re sistance-to-nazi-regime/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Huey Newton (1942 - 1989) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250217 DTEND:20250218T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Marxism,Birthdays COMMENT:Huey Newton\, born on this day in 1942\, was a Marxist-Leninist re volutionary who\, alongside Bobby Seale\, co-founded the Black Panther Par ty. "Black Power is giving power to people who have not had power to deter mine their destiny." DESCRIPTION:Huey Newton\, born on this day in 1942\, was a Marxist-Leninis t revolutionary who\, along with fellow Merritt College student Bobby Seal e\, co-founded the Black Panther Party (1966 - 1982). Together with Seale\ , Newton created a ten-point program which laid out guidelines for how the black community could achieve liberation.\n\nIn the 1960s\, under Newton' s leadership\, the Black Panther Party founded over 60 community support p rograms (renamed survival programs in 1971) including food banks\, medical clinics\, sickle cell anemia tests\, prison busing for families of inmate s\, legal advice seminars\, clothing banks\, housing co-ops\, and their ow n ambulance service.\n\nThe most famous of these programs was the Free Bre akfast for Children program which fed thousands of impoverished children d aily during the early 1970s. Newton also co-founded the Black Panther news paper service which became one of America's most widely distributed black newspapers.\n\nIn 1967\, he was involved in a shootout which led to the de ath of the police officer John Frey. Although arrested for the murder of F rey\, the charges were eventually dismissed\, following a massive "Free Hu ey!" campaign.\n\nDespite graduating from high school illiterate\, he taug ht himself how to read by reading Plato's Republic\, later earning a PhD. in social philosophy from the University of California at Santa Cruz's His tory of Consciousness program in 1980. In 1989\, he was murdered in Oaklan d\, California by Tyrone Robinson\, a member of the Black Guerrilla Family .\n\n"Black Power is giving power to people who have not had power to dete rmine their destiny."\n\n- Huey Newton RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huey_P._Newton RESOURCES:http://digital.wustl.edu/e/eii/eiiweb/new5427.0458.119hueypnewto n.html RESOURCES:https://abolitionnotes.org/huey-p-newton/revolutionary-intercomm unalism-1970 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:KC Tenants Founded (2019) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250217 DTEND:20250218T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Tenant COMMENT:On this day in 2019\, KC Tenants\, a citywide tenant union\, held their first meeting. KC Tenants has engaged in direct action to shut down eviction hearings and won the right to legal counsel for every tenant faci ng eviction in Kansas City. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 2019\, KC Tenants\, a citywide tenant union\, h eld their first meeting. KC Tenants has engaged in direct action to shut d own eviction hearings and won the right to legal counsel for every tenant facing eviction in Kansas City.\n\nKC Tenant's first meeting had just twel ve people\, including one landlord infiltrator. By the next week\, the org anization had tripled in size. Since 2019\, KC Tenants has helped achieve a city-wide Tenant Bill of Rights\, established a "People's Housing Trust Fund"\, shut down eviction hearings with direct action\, and won a guarant eed right to legal counsel for all tenants facing eviction in Kansas City. \n\nOn its website (linked below)\, KC Tenants describes itself like this: \n\n"KC Tenants is the citywide tenant union\, an organization led by a mu ltigenerational\, multiracial\, anti-racist base of poor and working class tenants in Kansas City. KC Tenants organizes to ensure that everyone in K C has a safe\, accessible\, and truly affordable home. KC Tenants organize s to ensure that everyone in KC has a safe\, accessible\, and truly afford able home.\n\nWe believe the people closest to the problem are closest to the solution. To us\, organizing is fundamentally democratic\; it relies o n developing tenant leaders to learn their rights\, tell their own stories \, and determine their own liberation." RESOURCES:https://kctenants.org/about RESOURCES:https://www.kcur.org/tags/kc-tenants END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Audre Lorde (1934 - 1992) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250218 DTEND:20250219T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Queer COMMENT:Audre Lorde\, born on this day in 1934\, was a queer feminist auth or and socialist activist. Among her works are "The Black Unicorn" and "Yo ur Silence Will Not Protect You: Essays and Poems". "Without community\, t here is no liberation." DESCRIPTION:Audre Lorde\, born on this day in 1934\, was a queer feminist author and socialist activist. Among her works are "The Black Unicorn" and "Your Silence Will Not Protect You: Essays and Poems".\n\nLorde was born in New York City to Caribbean immigrants - a father from Barbados and Gren adian mother. She took an interest in poetry and reading at an early age\; when asked how she was feeling\, Lorde would often respond by reciting a memorized poem.\n\nLorde attended Hunter College in New York\, graduating in 1959. While there\, she worked as a librarian and became an active part icipant in the gay culture of Greenwich Village.\n\nIn 1961\, Lorde earned a master's degree in library science from Columbia University. During thi s period\, she worked as a public librarian in nearby Mount Vernon\, New Y ork\, authored poetry\, and participated in civil rights demonstrations.\n \nIn 1984\, Lorde started a visiting professorship in West Berlin at the F ree University of Berlin. During her time in Germany\, Lorde became an inf luential part of the nascent Afro-German movement. Together with a group o f black women activists in Berlin\, Audre Lorde coined the term "Afro-Germ an" and became a mentor to a number of women\, including May Ayim\, Ika H ügel-Marshall\, and Helga Emde.\n\nLorde's thinking was emphatically inte rsectional\, criticizing\, in her words\, "racism\, the belief in the inhe rent superiority of one race over all others and thereby the right to domi nance. Sexism\, the belief in the inherent superiority of one sex over the other and thereby the right to dominance. Ageism. Heterosexism. Elitism. Classism."\n\nOf non-intersectional feminism in the U.S.\, Lorde famously said "Those of us who stand outside the circle of this society's definitio n of acceptable women\; those of us who have been forged in the crucibles of difference -- those of us who are poor\, who are lesbians\, who are Bla ck\, who are older -- know that survival is not an academic skill. It is l earning how to take our differences and make them strengths. For the maste r's tools will never dismantle the master's house. They may allow us tempo rarily to beat him at his own game\, but they will never enable us to brin g about genuine change. And this fact is only threatening to those women w ho still define the master's house as their only source of support."\n\n"W ithout community\, there is no liberation."\n\n- Audre lorde RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audre_Lorde RESOURCES:https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/audre-lorde RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/speeches-afri can-american-history/1981-audre-lorde-uses-anger-women-responding-racism/ RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/1982-audre-lo rde-learning-60s/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Joan Peiró (1887 - 1942) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250218 DTEND:20250219T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Anarchism,Fascism COMMENT:Joan Peiró i Belis\, born on this day in 1887 (also known as Juan Peiró)\, was an anarchist activist and writer who became Minister of Ind ustry of the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War. DESCRIPTION:Joan Peiró i Belis\, born on this day in 1887 (also known as Juan Peiró)\, was an anarchist activist and writer who became Minister of Industry of the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War. He was also editor of the anarchist newspaper Solidaridad Obrera and two-time Secretary General of the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT).\n\nFo llowing the fall of the republic in 1939\, Peiró fled to France\, where h e was turned over to Nazi Germany by the Vichy Regime. Peiró was executed after the Gestapo extradited him to the fascist Franco government in Spai n. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_Peir%C3%B3 RESOURCES:https://spartacus-educational.com/SPpeiro.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Lucio Urtubia (1931 - 2020) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250218 DTEND:20250219T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:Lucio Urtubia\, born on this day in 1931\, was an anarchist from S pain who aided anti-fascist movements all over the world\, once forging $2 0 million dollars worth of Citibank travelers's checks to aid Latin Americ an guerilla movements. DESCRIPTION:Lucio Urtubia Jiménez was an anarchist from Spain known for h is practice of expropriative anarchism through forgery and anti-fascist di rect action.\n\nLucio was born in Cascante\, Navarre\, Spain on February 1 8th\, 1931. As a young man\, he served in the Spanish military\, but deser ted\, fleeing to France in 1954 after ransacking a warehouse that belonged to his company.\n\nAfter moving to Paris\, Urtubia was asked to hide a me mber of the Maquis\, Spanish guerrillas who opposed Franco from exile\, in his house. The refugee in this case turned out to be legendary anti-fasci st Francesc Sabaté Llopart\, one of the two Sabaté brothers.\n\nUrtubia' s anti-fascist actions continued as he learned how to forge government doc uments and currency\, using these skills to aid left-wing movements around the world. One of the most dramatic examples took place in 1977\, when he forged $20 million dollars worth of Citibank traveler's checks\, money wh ich went to aid left-wing guerillas in Latin America.\n\n"We are bricklaye rs\, painters\, electricians - we do not need the state for anything. The banks are the real crooks. They exploit you\, take your money and cause al l the wars."\n\n- Lucio Urtubia RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucio_Urtubia RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/news/lucio-urtubia-jim-nez-legendary-life-220 72020 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Toni Morrison (1931 - 2019) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250218 DTEND:20250219T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:Toni Morrison\, born on this day in 1931\, was an American writer\ , public intellectual\, and educator\, author of "Beloved" and "The Bluest Eye". "Freeing yourself was one thing\, claiming ownership of that freed self was another." DESCRIPTION:Toni Morrison\, born Chloe Ardelia Wofford on this day in 1931 \, was an American writer\, public intellectual\, and educator\, author of "Beloved"\, "Song of Solomon"\, and "The Bluest Eye".\n\nMorrison was bor n to a working class black family in Lorain\, Ohio. Her father had moved t o the integrated town in order to flee white supremacist violence in Georg ia. When Morrison was two years old\, her landlord set the family's home o n fire while they were inside because they could not pay their rent.\n\nMo rrison graduated from both Howard and Cornell University\, earning a B.A. in English and Master of Arts respectively. After working for several year s as an English professor\, Morrison was hired as an editor by Random Hous e in New York City\, where she became their first black woman senior edito r in the fiction department.\n\nIn this capacity\, Morrison worked to brin g black literature into the mainstream\, editing and promoting the writing of authors such as Angela Davis\, Huey Newton\, Muhammad Ali\, Toni Cade Bambara\, Henry Dumas\, Nigerian writers Wole Soyinka and Chinua Achebe\, and South African playwright Athol Fugard.\n\nIn 1970\, Morrison's novel " The Bluest Eye" was published to popular acclaim. Other works by Morrison include "Beloved" (1987)\, for which she won the Pulitzer Prize\, and "Son g of Solomon" (1977).\n\nIn 2008\, Morrison endorsed Barack Obama in his c ampaign for the American presidency. When Obama won\, Morrison said she fe lt like an American for the first time\, and that "I felt very powerfully patriotic when I went to the inauguration of Barack Obama. I felt like a k id."\n\n"Freeing yourself was one thing\, claiming ownership of that freed self was another."\n\n- Toni Morrison RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toni_Morrison RESOURCES:https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/to ni-morrison RESOURCES:https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/books/a28621535/toni-morri son-white-supremacy-charlie-rose-interview-racism/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:"The Feminine Mystique" Published (1963) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250219 DTEND:20250220T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Feminism COMMENT:The Feminine Mystique\, published on this day in 1963\, is a book by Betty Friedan that is often credited with sparking the beginning of sec ond-wave feminism in the United States. DESCRIPTION:The Feminine Mystique\, published on this day in 1963\, is a b ook by Betty Friedan that is often credited with sparking the beginning of second-wave feminism in the United States.\n\nThe next year\, The Feminin e Mystique was the number one non-fiction book in the U.S.\, selling over a million copies. The phrase "feminine mystique" was created by Friedan to illustrate the assumptions that women would be fulfilled from their house work\, marriage\, sexual lives\, and children. Friedan sought to prove tha t housewives were unsatisfied but could not voice their feelings.\n\nDespi te the importance of the book in feminist history\, it has faced numerous criticisms. According to Kirsten Fermaglich and Lisa Fine\, "women of colo r - African American\, Latina\, Asian American and Native American women - were completely absent from Friedan's vision\, as were white working-clas s and poor women." \n\nProfessor Lindsey Churchill wrote that bell hooks found Friedan’s manifesto both racist and classist\, not at all applicab le to African Americans and other working-class women who joined the labor force from necessity. RESOURCES:https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Feminine-Mystique RESOURCES:https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/be tty-friedan RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Feminine_Mystique RESOURCES:https://www.theatlantic.com/sexes/archive/2013/02/4-big-problems -with-the-feminine-mystique/273069/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Executive Order 9066 (1942) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250219 DTEND:20250220T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1942\, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9 066\, authorizing the Secretary of War to classify certain areas "military zones"\, leading to the internment of Japanese-Americans in concentration camps. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1942\, President Roosevelt signed Executive Ord er 9066\, authorizing the Secretary of War to classify certain areas "mili tary zones"\, leading to the internment of Japanese-Americans in concentra tion camps. By declaring wide swaths of domestic territory as "military zo nes"\, the American government provided legal justification for forcibly r emoving people deemed a threat from them.\n\nUsing a broad interpretation of Executive Order 9066\, Lieutenant General John L. DeWitt issued orders declaring areas of the western United States as zones of exclusion under t he Executive Order. As a result\, approximately 112\,000 men\, women\, and children of Japanese ancestry were evicted from the West Coast of the Uni ted States and held in American concentration camps and other "confinement sites" across the country.\n\nAmericans of Italian and German ancestry we re also targeted by these restrictions\, including internment. 11\,000 peo ple of German ancestry were interned\, as were 3\,000 people of Italian an cestry\, along with some Jewish refugees.\n\nIt wasn't until 1990 that sur viving internees began to receive individual redress payments and a letter of apology. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Order_9066 RESOURCES:https://www.britannica.com/topic/Executive-Order-9066 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Philadelphia General Strike (1910) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250219 DTEND:20250220T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,General Strikes COMMENT:On this day in 1910\, the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company (RTC) fired 173 union members\, resulting in a series of escalating labor actio ns that culminated in a general strike. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1910\, the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company ( RTC) fired 173 union members\, resulting in a series of escalating labor a ctions that culminated in a general strike.\n\nRTC fired the workers "for the good of the service" and hired replacement workers from New York City. Immediately after the firings\, the union leadership ordered the strike\, taking their respective trolley cars off the streets effective at 1:00 th at afternoon.\n\nDuring the strike\, workers destroyed trolley property. A crowd of 2\,000 seized a trolley and set it on fire. Another crowd of 5\, 000 seized a crew working a trolley and beat them in the street. A bomb th reat in Germantown was disregarded until dynamite was loaded onto the trac ks by 2\,000 workers.\n\nDespite the union threatening a general strike if strike breakers were brought in\, RTC brought in 600 strike breakers whil e simultaneously denying that they had done so.\n\nWhen the National Guard entered Philadelphia to provide protection for RTC\, members of other uni ons saw this as a clear signal that the city and state governments were un iting in favor of the companies against the unions\, and the entire city b egan a general strike.\n\nThe general strike began on March 5th\, 1910 wit h 60\,000-75\,000 workers\, but grew to more than 140\,000 over the follow ing weeks. During the strike\, Philadelphia police arrested high-ranking u nion organizers and sympathy strikers\, half of whom were under eighteen.\ n\nNewspapers reported violence and sabotage that rendered streetcars inop erable\, as well as retaliation by strikebreakers who shot into crowds and killed several bystanders with trolleys. Approximately ten strikers and b ystanders were killed by gunfire from strikebreakers and police.\n\nThe ge neral strike ended on March 27th\, however streetcar workers remained on s trike until April 19th. After nine weeks of the strike\, costing RTC $2\,3 95\,000 and the city government millions\, RTC agreed to a wage increase\, the re-hiring of strikers within three months\, and mediation of the init ial 173 union-targeted firings. RESOURCES:https://philadelphiaencyclopedia.org/archive/general-strike-of-1 910/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphia_general_strike_(1910) END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Angelina Grimké (1805 - 1879) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250220 DTEND:20250221T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Abolitionism,Feminism COMMENT:Angelina Grimké Weld\, born on this day in 1805\, was an American abolitionist and women's rights advocate\, notable for being\, along with her sister Sarah\, one of the few southern white women to join the abolit ionist cause. DESCRIPTION:Angelina Grimké Weld\, born on this day in 1805\, was an Amer ican abolitionist and women's rights advocate\, notable for being\, along with her sister Sarah\, one of the few southern white women to join the ab olitionist cause.\n\nThe Grimké sisters were raised in Charleston\, South Carolina\, however they spent their adult lives in the North. Angelina wa s a notable orator and writer of the suffragist and abolitionist movement in the 1830s\, published in the magazine "The Liberator".\n\nHere is an ex cerpt from a speech Angelina gave at an integrated abolitionist meeting at Pennsylvania Hall in Philadelphia\, at which an angry crowd of protesters had gathered around:\n\n"Those voices without ought to awaken and call ou t our warmest sympathies. Deluded beings! 'they know not what they do.' Th ey know not that they are undermining their own rights and their own happi ness\, temporal and eternal. Do you ask\, 'what has the North to do with s lavery?' Hear it -- hear it. Those voices without tell us that the spirit of slavery is here\, and has been roused to wrath by our abolition speeche s and conventions".\n\nThe next day\, Pennsylvania Hall was destroyed by a rson. Angelina Grimké was its final speaker. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angelina_Grimk%C3%A9 RESOURCES:https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/an gelina-grimke-weld END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Frank Wamsutta James Passes (1923 - 2001) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250220 DTEND:20250221T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Indigenous COMMENT:Frank B. Wamsutta James was an Aquinnah Wampanoag elder and indige nous political activist who died on this day in 2001. DESCRIPTION:Frank B. Wamsutta James was an Aquinnah Wampanoag elder and in digenous political activist who died on this day in 2001.\n\nJames was the first Native American graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music i n 1948. While many of his classmates secured positions with top symphony o rchestras\, James was flatly told that\, due to segregation and racism\, n o orchestra in the country would hire him as a trumpet player because of h is dark skin.\n\nJames first came to national attention in 1970 when he\, along with hundreds of other Native Americans and their supporters\, went to Plymouth and declared Thanksgiving a National Day of Mourning for Nativ e Americans.\n\nJames was initially invited to speak at this event\, howev er the invitation was rescinded when the speech was read by organizers bef orehand. Here is an excerpt of the speech he would have given:\n\n"I speak to you as a man -- a Wampanoag Man. I am a proud man\, proud of my ancest ry\, my accomplishments won by a strict parental direction ("You must succ eed - your face is a different color in this small Cape Cod community!"). I am a product of poverty and discrimination from these two social and eco nomic diseases.\n\n...We\, the Wampanoag\, welcomed you\, the white man\, with open arms\, little knowing that it was the beginning of the end\; tha t before 50 years were to pass\, the Wampanoag would no longer be a free p eople. What happened in those short 50 years? What has happened in the las t 300 years?" RESOURCES:http://www.nativeweb.org/obituaries/wamsutta.html RESOURCES:http://www.uaine.org/suppressed_speech.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Taking of Encarnación (1931) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250220 DTEND:20250221T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Anarchism COMMENT:On this day in 1931\, anarchist workers and students in Paraguay s eized control of the city of Encarnación and attempted to declare an anar chist community\, holding the town for 16 hours before it was reclaimed by state forces. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1931\, anarchist workers and students in Paragu ay seized control of the city of Encarnación and attempted to declare an anarchist community\, holding the town for 16 hours before it was reclaime d by state forces.\n\nThe uprising took place amidst widespread a backdrop of widespread social discontent amongst the working classes of Paraguay\, with a strong existing anarcho-syndicalist movement.\n\nThe rising in Enc arnación had been planned in tandem with actions in Asunción and Villarr ica\, but the government had arrested and deported labor leaders there in the days preceding. Workers had planned to seize control of rail links bet ween the cities\, paralyzing the country's transport links.\n\nDue to the lack of instantaneous communication at the time\, revolutionaries were una ware that their compatriots in the other cities had been arrested before t hey crossed the Paraná River from Argentina into the city on February 20t h.\n\nDespite this setback\, 150 revolutionaries\, among them notable comm unists Oscar Creydt\, Marcos Kanner\, and Félix Cantalicio Aracuyú\, suc cessfully held the commune in Encarnación for sixteen hours before it was recaptured by the state.\n\nMany rebels successfully managed to flee\, us ing two seized steamboats to travel towards Brazil\, attacking "yerba mate " plantations and burning records of indentured servitude along the way. S eventeen who were unable to flee were arrested and subject to torture and incarceration.\n\nIn 1985\, Paraguayan researcher Fernando Quesada publish ed a book about the uprising\, titled "1931\, la toma de Encarnación". RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taking_of_Encarnaci%C3%B3n RESOURCES:https://canalabierto.com.ar/2018/02/20/la-toma-de-encarnacion/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Augusto Sandino (1895 - 1934) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250221 DTEND:20250222T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Assassinations COMMENT:On this day in 1934\, Nicaraguan revolutionary Augusto C. Sandino was assassinated while leaving the Presidential Palace on orders of Nation al Guard leader Anastasio Somoza García. DESCRIPTION:Augusto C. Sandino\, assassinated on this day in 1934\, was a Nicaraguan revolutionary and leader of a rebellion between 1927 and 1933 a gainst the U.S. military occupation of Nicaragua.\n\nAlthough derisively c alled a "bandit" by the U.S. government\, Sandino's guerilla style warfare against U.S. forces made him a hero throughout much of Latin America\, wh ere he became a symbol of resistance to U.S. imperialism.\n\nOn this day i n 1934\, Sandino attended a round of talks with Sacasa\, the Nicaraguan Pr esident. On leaving Sacasa's Presidential Palace\, Sandino and five others were stopped in their car at the main gate by local National Guardsmen an d were ordered to leave their car.\n\nOn orders from National Guard leader Anastasio Somoza García\, these men took Sandino\, his brother Socrates\ , and his two generals to a crossroads section in Larreynaga and summarily executed them.\n\nSandino has been cited as an influence by many Latin Am erican revolutionaries and organizations\, including Che Guevara\, Fidel C astro\, Hugo Chávez\, the Nicaraguan Sandinista National Liberation Front \, and the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) in El Salvado r.\n\n"Come\, morphine addicts\, come and kill us in our own land. I await you before my patriotic soldiers\, feet firmly set\, not worried about ho w many of you there may be. But keep in mind that when this happens the Ca pitol Building in Washington will shake with the destruction of your great ness\, and our blood will redden the white doom of your famous White House \, the cavern where you concoct your crimes."\n\n- August Sandino RESOURCES:https://jacobin.com/2017/03/augusto-sandino-nicaragua-somoza-us- imperialism-sandinista RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augusto_C%C3%A9sar_Sandino RESOURCES:https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/s3-euw1-ap-pe-ws4-cws-documen ts.ri-prod/9781138824287/ch5/11._Carleton_Beals\,_With_Sandino_in_Nicaragu a\,_1928.pdf END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Cherokee Phoenix 1st Edition (1828) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250221 DTEND:20250222T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Indigenous COMMENT:On this day in 1828\, Cherokee Phoenix\, the first newspaper writt en by indigenous Americans\, began publishing. The paper was written in bo th English and the written Cherokee language invented by Sequoyah\, a trib al chief. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1828\, Cherokee Phoenix\, the first newspaper w ritten by indigenous Americans\, began publishing. The paper was written i n both English and the written Cherokee language invented by Sequoyah\, a tribal chief.\n\nAs the paper's name suggests\, the publication was establ ished by the General Council of the Cherokee Nation\, which selected Elias Boudinot (born Galagina Oowatie) as its first editor.\n\nBoudinot address ed issues many indigenous communities faced\, relating to white assimilati on and removal from their traditional homelands. The paper also published debates over indigenous "removal" and related U.S. Supreme Court cases.\n\ nThe Cherokee Phoenix was written in both English and the written Cherokee language\, which the tribe's chief\, Sequoyah\, had invented. Although th e paper ceased publication in 1834\, it was revived in the 20th century an d continues to publish today. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherokee_Phoenix RESOURCES:https://www.historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/zinnasl7.html END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Claudia Jones (1915 - 1964) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250221 DTEND:20250222T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Marxism,Birthdays,Imperialism COMMENT:Claudia Jones\, born on this day in 1915\, was a communist author\ , activist\, and journalist active in the United States and Great Britain. She was imprisoned and deported by the U.S. for violating the anti-commun ist McCarran and Smith Acts. DESCRIPTION:Claudia Jones\, born on this day in 1915\, was a communist aut hor\, activist\, and journalist active in the United States and Great Brit ain. She was imprisoned and deported by the U.S. for violating the anti-co mmunist McCarran and Smith Acts.\n\nBorn in the British colony of Trinidad as Claudia Vera Cumberbatch\, she later adopted the name Jones as "self-p rotective disinformation". She came to the U.S. as a child when her family migrated to Harlem.\n\nGrowing up working poor had a lasting impact on Jo nes\; her mother died when she was twelve from work-related exhaustion and she herself caught tuberculosis at the age of 17 from poor living conditi ons\, leading to lifelong lung damage.\n\nIn 1936\, Jones joined the Young Communist League USA to help support the Scottsboro Boys\, a group of you ng black men being subjected to a legalized form of lynching in the Americ an South. Jones became a prominent author within the organization\, editin g its monthly journal "Spotlight".\n\nAs a member of the Communist Party U SA and a feminist black nationalist\, Jones' main focus was on creating "a n anti-imperialist coalition\, managed by working-class leadership\, fuele d by the involvement of women"\, and championed women's causes inside the Party.\n\nOne of Jones' best known works is the 1949 piece "An End to the Neglect of the Problems of the Negro Woman!". In the work\, Jones shows an understanding of what would later be called "intersectionality"\, writing : "The bourgeoisie is fearful of the militancy of the Negro woman\, and fo r good reason. The capitalists know\, far better than many progressives se em to know\, that once Negro women begin to take action\, the militancy of the whole Negro people\, and thus of the anti-imperialist coalition\, is greatly enhanced."\n\nFollowing a hearing by the Immigration and Naturaliz ation Service\, Jones was found in violation of the McCarran Act for being an "alien" (a non-citizen) who had joined the Communist Party\, despite t he fact that she had identified herself as a party member when completing her Alien Registration in 1940. She was ordered to be deported in 1950.\n\ nBefore Jones could be deported\, however\, she was tried and convicted wi th eleven others\, including her friend and communist of note Elizabeth Gu rley Flynn\, of "un-American activities" under the anti-communist Smith Ac t.\n\nAfter serving several years in prison\, Jones was released in 1955 a nd deported to the United Kingdom on December 7th that year. She immediate ly joined the Communist Party of Great Britain upon her arrival in Britain and remained a member until her death.\n\nJones continued her activism in Britain\, campaigning against racism and sexism\, speaking at trade union rallies\, and visiting China\, meeting with Mao Zedong. In 1958\, Jones f ounded the West Indian Gazette\, Britain's first major black newspaper\, a nd helped organize celebrations of Caribbean culture that became the annua l Notting Hill Carnival.\n\nJones died in 1964 at the age of 49. She is bu ried next to Karl Marx in Highgate Cemetery\, North London.\n\n"It was out of my Jim Crow experiences as a young negro woman\, experiences likewise born of working-class poverty that led me to join the Young Communist Leag ue and to choose the philosophy of my life\, the science of Marxism-Lenini sm - that philosophy not only rejects racist ideas\, but is the antithesis of them."\n\n- Claudia Jones RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/jones-claudia -1915-1964/ RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/history/erol/uk.secondwave/jones.pdf RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claudia_Jones END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Communist Manifesto Published (1848) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250221 DTEND:20250222T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Marxism COMMENT:On this day in 1848\, the Communist Manifesto\, co-authored by Kar l Marx and Friedrich Engels\, was published in London by a group of German revolutionaries known as the Communist League. "Working men of all countr ies\, unite!" DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1848\, the Communist Manifesto\, co-authored by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels\, was published in London by a group of Ge rman revolutionaries known as the Communist League.\n\nThe famous politica l pamphlet actually fell into obscurity on its initial publication\, only becoming influential decades later as Marx became more well-known\, due to his support for the Paris Commune and leadership in the First Internation al.\n\nIn the Manifesto\, Marx and Engels succinctly state the materialist and class-centric conception of history central to Marxist thought and ca ll for a forcible overthrow of the existing capitalist order.\n\n"Working men of all countries\, unite!" RESOURCES:https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/marx-publishes-manif esto RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1848/communist-manif esto/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:John Lewis (1940 - 2020) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250221 DTEND:20250222T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Civil Rights,Birthdays COMMENT:John Lewis\, born on this day in 1940\, was a civil rights activis t who served as one of the original "Freedom Riders"\, risking his life to battle segregation. As chairman of the SNCC\, Lewis helped organize the 1 963 March On Washington. DESCRIPTION:John Robert Lewis\, born on this day in 1940\, was an American politician and civil rights leader. He was the U.S. Representative for Ge orgia's 5th congressional district\, having served since 1987. His distric t included the northern three-fourths of Atlanta.\n\nLewis played a key ro le in the civil rights movement as chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coor dinating Committee (SNCC) and as one of the "Big Six" leaders of groups wh o organized the 1963 March on Washington. He was also one of the first thi rteen Freedom Riders\, repeatedly beaten and jailed for his activism.\n\n" When you see something that is not right\, not fair\, not just\, you have to speak up. You have to say something\; you have to do something."\n\n- J ohn Lewis RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Lewis_(civil_rights_leader) RESOURCES:https://johnlewis.house.gov/john-lewis/biography END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Kurt Eisner Assassinated (1919) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250221 DTEND:20250222T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Socialism,Assassinations,Journalism COMMENT:On this day in 1919\, social democratic revolutionary Kurt Eisner was assassinated by a far-right nationalist while leading the People's Sta te of Bavaria. Eisner became a martyr and a Bavarian Soviet Republic was d eclared just a few months later. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1919\, social democratic revolutionary Kurt Eis ner was assassinated by a far-right nationalist while leading the People's State of Bavaria. Eisner became a martyr and a Bavarian Soviet Republic w as declared just a few months later.\n\nKurt Eisner\, born to a Jewish fam ily in Berlin\, was a revolutionary German socialist\, radical journalist\ , and theater critic. Before leading the People's State of Bavaria\, he wo rked as a journalist in Marburg\, Nuremberg\, and Munich. In the early 189 0s\, Eisner served nine months in prison for writing an article that attac ked Kaiser Wilhelm II.\n\nIn 1918\, Eisner was convicted of treason for hi s role in inciting a strike of munitions workers. He spent nine months in Cell 70 of Stadelheim Prison\, but was released during the General Amnesty in October of that year.\n\nFollowing his release from prison\, Eisner he lped organize the revolution that overthrew the Bavarian monarchy\, declar ing Bavaria to be a free state and republic. Despite Eisner's socialist po litics\, he explicitly distanced the movement from the Bolsheviks and prom ised to uphold property rights.\n\nOn February 21st\, 1919\, while on his way to deliver his resignation to Parliament\, Eisner was assassinated in Munich by a far-right German nationalist. Eisner's murder made him a marty r for left-wing causes\, and a period of lawlessness in Bavaria followed h is death.\n\nOn the night of April 6th-7th\, 1919\, communists\, encourage d by the news of the communist revolution in Hungary\, declared a Soviet R epublic\, with Ernst Toller as chief of state. The Bavarian Soviet Republi c was crushed by the right-wing German Freikorps.\n\nSome of the military leaders of the Freikorps\, including Rudolf Hess and Franz Ritter von Epp\ , would go on to become powerful figures in the Nazi Party. Ironically\, A dolf Hitler himself marched in the funeral procession for Eisner\, a Jew\, wearing a red armband as a display of sympathy.\n\n"Truth is the greatest of all national possessions. A state\, a people\, a system which suppress es the truth or fears to publish it\, deserves to collapse."\n\n- Kurt Eis ner RESOURCES:https://spartacus-educational.com/GEReisner.htm RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_Eisner END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Malcolm X Assassinated (1965) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250221 DTEND:20250222T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Assassinations,Civil Rights COMMENT:On this day in 1965\, before addressing the Organization of Afro-A merican Unity in Manhattan\, Malcolm X was assassinated by 3 gunmen. 2 of the men convicted were later exonerated and the 3rd had met with an ex-FBI agent the night before. DESCRIPTION:Malcolm X was a Muslim minister and human rights activist who was assassinated on this day in 1965. He is best known for militant advoca cy of black liberation and time spent as a vocal spokesman for the Nation of Islam.\n\nMalcolm's policy of endorsing violent self-defense (i.e.\, ac hieving liberation "by any means necessary") and opposition to integration stood in stark contrast to his contemporary Martin Luther King Jr.\, whom Malcolm referred to as a "chump".\n\nOn this day in 1965\, he was prepari ng to address the Organization of Afro-American Unity in Manhattan's Audub on Ballroom when a quarrel broke out. A man rushed forward and shot him on ce in the chest with a sawed-off shotgun and two other men charged the sta ge firing semi-automatic handguns.\n\nMalcolm X was pronounced dead at 3:3 0 pm\, shortly after arriving at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital. The gunme n\, identified as members of Nation of Islam\, were convicted of murder an d sentenced to life in prison. Two of these men were exonerated on Novembe r 18th\, 2021.\n\nDespite the conviction of these three men\, allegations of conspiracy surround Malcolm's death\, including the complicity of the N ew York Police Department and involvement of Louis Farrakhan\, a leader wi thin the Nation of Islam at the time of Malcolm's death.\n\nEarl Grant\, o ne of Malcolm X's associates who was present at the assassination\, wrote: "About five minutes later\, a most incredible scene took place. Into the hall sauntered about a dozen policemen. They were strolling at about the p ace one would expect of them if they were patrolling a quiet park...Here w ere New York City policemen\, entering a room from which at least a dozen shots had been heard\, and yet not one of them had his gun out!...some of them even had their hands in their pockets.\n\nJournalist Louis Lomax wrot e that John Ali\, national secretary of the Nation of Islam\, was a former FBI agent. Malcolm X had confided to a reporter that Ali was his "archene my" within the Nation of Islam leadership. Lomax notes that Ali had a meet ing with Talmadge Hayer\, one of the men convicted of killing Malcolm and the only one not exonerated later\, the night before the assassination.\n\ n"We didn't land on Plymouth Rock\, my brothers and sisters—Plymouth Roc k landed on us."\n\n- Malcolm X RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/x-malcolm-192 5-1965/ RESOURCES:http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/ows/seminars/aahistory/Malco lmX.pdf RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malcolm_X END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Nina Simone (1933 - 2003) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250221 DTEND:20250222T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Marxism,Birthdays COMMENT:Nina Simone\, born on this day in 1933\, was an American singer\, pianist\, composer\, and civil rights activist\, known for songs such as " Mississippi Goddam" and "Four Women". "It was always Marx\, Lenin\, and re volution - real girl's talk." DESCRIPTION:Nina Simone\, born on this day in 1933\, was an American singe r\, pianist\, composer\, and civil rights activist\, known for songs such as "Mississippi Goddam" and "Four Women".\n\nSimone was born Eunice Kathle en Waymon to a working class family in Tryon\, North Carolina on February 21st\, 1933. Showing prodigious musical talent at a young age\, at twelve years old\, she refused to perform at her first classical recital until he r parents were allowed to sit in the front of the recital hall.\n\nThrough out the 1950s\, 60s\, and 70s\, Simone made a living as musician and singe r in the U.S.\, teaching\, playing\, and singing. Although Simone was and is often categorized as a jazz musician\, she dismissed the term\, saying "To most white people\, jazz means black and jazz means dirt\, and that's not what I play. I play black classical music."\n\nFollowing the white sup remacist murders of Medgar Evers and four young black girls in the Birming ham Church Bombing of 1963\, she released "Nina Simone in Concert"\, an al bum which contained the song "Mississippi Goddam"\, raging explicitly agai nst racism in the U.S.\n\nMississippi Goddam\, which Simone stated was "li ke throwing ten bullets back at them"\, was boycotted in some southern reg ions\, and copies of the album were smashed and mailed back to her record distributor. Undeterred\, Simone continued to be overtly political in her music\, authoring "Old Jim Crow" and performing songs such as "Strange Fru it" and "Backlash Blues"\, written by Langston Hughes.\n\nSimone left the U.S. for Barbados in September 1970\, living in London and the Netherlands before finally settling in France. In 2003\, she passed away in Carry-le- Rouet.\n\n"It was always Marx\, Lenin\, and revolution - real girl's talk. "\n\n- Nina Simone\, on conversations with playwright Lorraine Hansberry RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nina_Simone RESOURCES:https://www.ninasimone.com/biography/ RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/simone-nina-1 933-2003 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:February Revolution (1848) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250222 DTEND:20250223T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1848\, the French February Revolution began when th ousands of Parisians took to the streets to protest political suppression\ , leading to the founding of the Second Republic and establishment of labo r reforms. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1848\, the French February Revolution began whe n thousands of Parisians took to the streets to protest political suppress ion\, leading to the founding of the Second Republic and establishment of labor reforms. Among the reforms the Second Republic passed were universal male suffrage and a guaranteed "right to work"\, provided by National Wor kshops which gave the unemployed with a source of income.\n\nThe protests of February 22nd were triggered by the banning of political banquets\, leg al means of criticizing the government and fundraising for political organ izing. Incidentally\, communist journalist Friedrich Engels was in Paris a t the time and witnessed these banquets. After the ban\, thousands flooded out onto the streets to protest against the "Citizen King" Louis Philippe and his chief minister François Pierre Guillaume Guizot.\n\nShouting "Do wn with Guizot" and "Long Live the Reform"\, the crowds marched past Guizo t's residence and erected barricades in the streets of Paris\, where fight ing broke out between the citizens and the Parisian municipal guards. Fren ch troops shot into the crowd\, killing at least fifty-two people.\n\nIn t he next few days\, Guizot resigned and King Philippe fled the country. By February 26th\, the Second Republic had been formed\, with poet Alphonse d e Lamartine acting as a de facto dictator over France for the next three m onths.\n\nThe Second Republic's governance would be tested in the "June Da ys" uprising\, which Karl Marx identified as a conflict between petite bou rgeoisie and the proletariat. The revolting workers were crushed by force (with over 4\,000 insurgents being deported to Algeria) and the Second Rep ublic continued until elected President Louis Napoléon Bonaparte dissolve d the parliament in a coup in 1851. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Revolution_of_1848 RESOURCES:https://www.britannica.com/event/Revolutions-of-1848 RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1850/class-struggles -france/index.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Lovejoy Topples Weather Tower (1974) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250222 DTEND:20250223T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1974\, Sam Lovejoy\, an anti-nuclear activist\, sab otaged a 500 foot weather tower near Montague\, Massachusetts to protest a nuclear power site. Historian Howard Zinn testified at his trial and Love joy was found not guilty. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1974\, Sam Lovejoy\, an anti-nuclear activist\, sabotaged a 500 foot weather tower near Montague\, Massachusetts to prote st a local nuclear power site. The tower had been built by Northeast Utili ties to test wind direction so that authorities would know which way the r adiation would blow from the plant in case of an accident.\n\nUsing a few simple farm tools to loosen the turnbuckles in the stays of the tower\, Lo vejoy left behind him 349 feet of twisted wreckage. At Lovejoy's trial\, h istorian Howard Zinn was brought in as an expert witness on civil disobedi ence. Zinn testified that Lovejoy's act was in the best tradition of activ ists like Gandhi and Henry David Thoreau.\n\nLovejoy was found not guilty\ , and the destruction of the tower and trial brought national attention to the anti-nuclear cause. RESOURCES:https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/lovejoys-nuclear-plant-c ivil-disobedience/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montague_Nuclear_Power_Plant END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:New England Shoemakers' Strike (1860) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250222 DTEND:20250223T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:The New England Shoemakers Strike began on this day in 1860 when 3 \,000 shoemakers walked off their jobs in Lynn\, Massachusetts\, leading t o more than 20\,000 workers going on strike all across New England. DESCRIPTION:The New England Shoemakers Strike began on this day in 1860 wh en 3\,000 shoemakers walked off their jobs in Lynn\, Massachusetts\, leadi ng to more than 20\,000 workers going on strike all across New England.\n\ nIn a few days\, shoeworkers throughout New England joined the strike - in Natick\, Newburyport\, Haverhill\, Marblehead\, and other Massachusetts t owns\, as well as towns in New Hampshire and Maine. Within a week\, strike s had begun in all the shoe towns of New England. Newspapers called it "Th e Revolution at the North" and the "Beginning of the Conflict Between Capi tal and labor."\n\nApproximately 20\,000 workers went on strike across New England which made it the largest mass walkout in American history prior to the Civil War. It ended in April with modest gains for shoemakers\, inc luding pay increases and owner recognition of some labor unions. RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/1860-the-lynn-shoe-strike RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_England_Shoemakers_Strike_of_1 860 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Collar Laundry Union Strike (1864) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250223 DTEND:20250224T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:On this day in 1864\, the "Collar Laundry Union"\, the first femal e union in the U.S.\, went on strike for a 20-25% raise\, winning their de mands after just six days. The union continued to fight for worker rights for several years afterward. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1864\, the "Collar Laundry Union"\, the first f emale union in the U.S.\, went on strike for a 20-25% raise\, winning thei r demands after just six days. The union continued to fight for worker rig hts for several years afterward.\n\nThe union was formed under the leaders hip of Kate Mullany\, a 23-year old Irish immigrant. Kate was employed as a laundress in Troy\, New York. Working conditions were particularly bruta l - workers were expected to work 12 to 14 hours a day in dangerous condit ions due to scalding hot water.\n\nOn February 23rd\, 1864\, shortly after forming the union\, approximately 300 women went on strike from all fourt een commercial laundry establishments in Troy. That afternoon\, Kate met w ith the women to discuss their demands for a 20-25% wage increase and conc erns about the boiling water.\n\nAfter just six days\, workers won their d emands. The female laundresses had been assisted by the male Iron Molders' Union No. 2\, and the laundresses showed their appreciation in a picnic\, attended by more than 4\,000.\n\nKate Mullany and the Collar Laundry Unio n continued to agitate for better pay and working conditions\, going on mu ltiple strikes in the following years. The Collar Laundry Union also forme d a cooperative to sidestep negotiating with capitalist employers\, howeve r their venture failed.\n\nMullany would go to become the first woman to h old a national labor position\, serving as the assistant secretary of the National Labor Union. RESOURCES:https://www.katemullanynhs.org/kate-mullany-trade-union-pioneer RESOURCES:https://www.womenofthehall.org/inductee/kate-mullany/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:W.E.B. Du Bois (1868 - 1963) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250223 DTEND:20250224T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Socialism,Pan-Africanism,Birthdays COMMENT:W.E.B. Du Bois\, born on this day in 1868\, was a seminal American intellectual and socialist civil rights activist who co-founded both the Niagara Movement and the NAACP\, also authoring texts such as "Black Recon struction in America". DESCRIPTION:W.E.B. Du Bois\, born on this day in 1868\, was a seminal Amer ican intellectual and socialist civil rights activist who co-founded both the Niagara Movement and the NAACP\, also authoring texts such as "Black R econstruction in America".\n\nDu Bois grew up in the relatively tolerant a nd integrated community of Great Barrington\, Massachusetts\, and\, after completing graduate work at the University of Berlin and Harvard\, he beca me a professor of history\, sociology\, and economics at Atlanta Universit y in Georgia.\n\nAmong Du Bois's works are "The Souls of Black Folk"\, a c ollection of essays\, and "Black Reconstruction in America"\, which challe nged the prevailing orthodoxy that black people were responsible for the f ailures of the Reconstruction Era. Du Bois was also a Pan-Africanist and h elped organize several Pan-African Congresses to fight for the independenc e of African colonies from European powers.\n\nLater in life\, Du Bois was openly sympathetic to communist movements. The Federal Bureau of Investig ation (FBI) began to keep a file on Du Bois in 1942\, and\, during the ant i-communist hysteria of the McCarthy era\, Du Bois was explicitly targeted by the state.\n\nIn 1951\, Du Bois was indicted by the U.S. government fo r acting as an agent of a foreign state after he advocated for nuclear dis armament via the Peace Information Center (PIC). Although left-wing figure s such as Langston Hughes and Albert Einstein came to his defense\, the NA ACP declined to support Du Bois during his trial\, which ultimately failed to convict him.\n\nDu Bois died on August 27th\, 1963\, in Accra\, the ca pital of Ghana\, at age 95.\n\n"The problem of the twentieth century is th e problem of the color line."\n\n- W.E.B. Du Bois RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/dubois-willia m-edward-burghardt-1868-1963/ RESOURCES:https://www.gutenberg.org/files/408/408-h/408-h.htm RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._E._B._Du_Bois END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Aurora Levins Morales (1954 - ) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250224 DTEND:20250225T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays COMMENT:Aurora Morales\, born on this day in 1954\, is a Puerto Rican femi nist author. In "Medicine Stories"\, Morales makes the case for a medicina l history that seeks to heal the trauma inflicted by colonized histories. DESCRIPTION:Aurora Morales\, born on this day in 1954\, is a Puerto Rican feminist author. In "Medicine Stories"\, Morales makes the case for a medi cinal history that seeks to heal the trauma inflicted by colonized histori es.\n\nIn her collection of essays "Medicine Stories: History\, Culture\, and the Politics of Integrity"\, Morales questions traditional accounts of American history and their consistent exclusion of people of color. She a rgues that traditional historical narratives have had devastating effects on those it has silenced and oppressed.\n\n"We need electrons\, storytelle rs who can trace the lines of connection between disability and ecology\, peace in the Middle East and the preservation of the Great Lakes\, how clo sing public schools in Black neighborhoods is driven by the same forces de foresting West Africa\, how women’s ownership of land can prevent famine \, protect soil\, and slow climate change. \n\nI am that kind of storytelI er."\n\n- Aurora Morales RESOURCES:http://www.auroralevinsmorales.com/blog RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurora_Levins_Morales END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Tolpuddle Martyrs Arrested (1834) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250224 DTEND:20250225T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:On this day in 1834\, six workers in the English village of Tolpud dle were arrested and sentenced to penal labor in Australia after forming a union. Their case became a cause célèbre for the working class\, and t he men were pardoned. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1834\, six workers in the English village of To lpuddle were arrested and sentenced to penal labor in Australia after form ing a union. Their case became a cause célèbre for the working class\, a nd the men were pardoned.\n\nThe "Tolpuddle Martyrs" - George and James Lo veless\; James Hammett\; James Brine\; Thomas and John Standfield - had pr eviously formed the "Friendly Society of Agricultural Labourers" to organi ze around their shared interest as farm workers. Their arrests took place in the context of a crackdown on protest and worker agitation by the Briti sh ruling class\, following the Swing Riots of 1830.\n\nThe six men were c harged with "taking an illegal oath" under the Mutiny Act of 1797\, as the y had sworn each other to secrecy in order to avoid repression by authorit ies. The prosecution was driven by their boss\, local landowner James Fram pton\, who also sat on the jury during their trial.\n\nAll six men were se ntenced to seven years in Australia in March 1834\, sparking outcry from t he labor movement. On April 21st\, 1834\, 30\,000 people gathered in moder n day King's Cross to present an 800\,000-strong petition on the men's beh alf. Home Secretary Lord Melbourne avoided workers by hiding behind a set of curtains.\n\nAfter the government attempted to provide conditional pard ons in June 1835\, the unions continued to push further\, compelling the s tate to give full\, unconditional pardons to all six men on March 14th\, 1 836. The men finally returned home from Australia between 1837 and 1839.\n \nThe case of the Tolpuddle Martyrs became an important milestone and a su ccess for the early English worker movement. Today\, this working class vi ctory is commemorated with a museum and annual July festival in the villag e of Tolpuddle. RESOURCES:https://www.tolpuddlemartyrs.org.uk/story RESOURCES:https://tuc150.tuc.org.uk/stories/the-tolpuddle-martys/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:William Bross Lloyd (1875 - 1946) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250224 DTEND:20250225T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Labor,Birthdays,Journalism COMMENT:William Bross Lloyd\, born on this day in 1875\, was a U.S. attorn ey and political activist who co-founded the Communist Labor Party of Amer ica. Lloyd would become one of twenty communists convicted in a major anti -communist Chicago trial. DESCRIPTION:William Bross Lloyd\, born on this day in 1875\, was a U.S. at torney and political activist who co-founded the Communist Labor Party of America. Lloyd would become one of twenty communists convicted in a major anti-communist Chicago trial.\n\nThe oldest son of the muckraking journali st Henry Demarest Lloyd and Jessie Bross\, daughter of the founder of the Chicago Tribune\, William is best remembered as a founding member and fina ncial angel of the fledgling Communist Labor Party of America\, forerunner of the Communist Party USA.\n\nLloyd would become one of twenty Communist s indicted for conspiring to overthrow the U.S. government in a major Chic ago trial\, prosecuted by future Chicago judge Frank D. Comerford and defe nded by attorney Clarence Darrow. The trial\, which ran from May 10th to A ugust 2nd\, 1920\, resulted in convictions for all of the defendants.\n\nL loyd received a sentence of 1 to 5 years in prison but remained free on ba il pending resolution of the appeal process. Though the appeals process wa s exhausted in 1922\, Lloyd was no longer seen as a threatening advocate o f communism by that date and his sentence was commuted accordingly. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Bross_Lloyd RESOURCES:https://spartacus-educational.com/USAlloydWB.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Amsterdam February Strike (1941) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250225 DTEND:20250226T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Labor,General Strikes,Fascism,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1941\, workers in Amsterdam\, organized by the Comm unist Party\, launched a general strike against the persecution of the Jew s by occupying Nazi forces\, in one of the only major acts of solidarity w ith the Jews during WW2. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1941\, workers in Amsterdam\, organized by the Communist Party\, launched a general strike against the persecution of the Jews by occupying Nazi forces\, in one of the only major acts of solidari ty with the Jews during WW2.\n\nThe strike came after the Nazis forcibly s ealed off the Jewish quarter of the city from non-Jewish inhabitants and l aunched a pogrom after residents fought back an attack by police on a Jewi sh ice cream parlor.\n\nOrganized on the 24th\, the banned Communist Party of the Netherlands printed and distributed flyers calling on the city's w orkers to go on strike the following morning in defiance of Nazi rule.\n\n The strike spread rapidly\, quickly bringing the city to a halt\, and reac hing nearby towns and regions. By the next day\, 300\,000 workers were on strike.\n\nWhile the Nazis were initially caught off-guard\, they quickly mobilized to crush the strike before it could develop into a wider revolt. Nazi authorities violently broke up the protests\, killing nine people an d bringing the general strike to an end after two days.\n\nAccording to au thor David B. Greene\, the February Strike was the first public protest ag ainst the Nazis in occupied Europe. The World Jewish Congress identified t he rebellion as the only mass protest against the deportation of Jews to b e organized by non-Jews.\n\nEven though the uprising failed\, the strike i s still commemorated in Amsterdam on February 25th every year. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/February_strike RESOURCES:https://roarmag.org/2016/02/25/on-this-day-in-1941-anti-nazi-feb ruary-strike-in-amsterdam/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Columbia Race Riot (1946) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250225 DTEND:20250226T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Riots COMMENT:On this day in 1946\, a race riot broke out in Columbia\, Tennesse e with a scuffle between a white clerk and black WWII veteran\, escalating into armed defense by the black community against a white lynch mob. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1946\, a race riot broke out in Columbia\, Tenn essee with a scuffle between a white clerk and black WWII veteran\, escala ting into armed defense by the black community against a white lynch mob.\ n\nLike other outbreaks of violence in the South in the immediate postwar era\, this incident involved military veterans who were unwilling to accep t prevailing racial norms upon returning to their hometowns.\n\nThe Columb ia Race Riot began when a young white male clerk began harassing the black mother of WWII veteran James Stephenson. Stephenson and the clerk began t o fight and the veteran threw the clerk through a window. He and his mothe r were arrested for disturbing the peace.\n\nThat night\, a white mob gath ered outside of the black-owned part of town\, "Mink Slide". Rumors were t hat Stephenson may be lynched\, and an armed black crowd began to gather a s well. When four policemen tried to enter Mink Slide and refused demands to leave\, they were wounded by gunfire.\n\nThe next day\, several officer s stormed the district\, firing randomly into buildings\, stealing cash an d goods\, searching homes without warrants\, and taking any guns\, rifles\ , and shotguns they found. When the sweep was over\, more than one hundred black people had been arrested\, and three hundred weapons had been confi scated.\n\nIn a highly publicized trial\, lawyers from the NAACP managed t o acquit 23 of 25 black people of attempted murder charges\, and the remai ning charges were dropped by prosecutors. RESOURCES:https://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entries/columbia-race-riot-194 6/ RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/the-columbia- race-riot-1946/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:EDSA People Power Revolution (1986) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250225 DTEND:20250226T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Assassinations,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1986\, U.S.-backed Filipino dictator Ferdinand Marc os fled the country after days of millions protesting in the streets follo wing rigged elections. The uprising is known as the EDSA\, People Power\, or Yellow Revolution. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1986\, U.S.-backed Filipino dictator Ferdinand Marcos fled the country after days of millions protesting in the streets f ollowing rigged elections. The uprising is known as the EDSA\, People Powe r\, or Yellow Revolution.\n\nFerdinand Marcos had initially assumed power through a popular election in 1965. However\, in 1972 he declared martial law during his second term\, citing the threat posed by the Communist Part y of the Philippines (CPP) and other rebel groups\, effectively gaining di ctatorial powers.\n\nMarcos and his allies embezzled billions of dollars i n state assets while the government persecuted and killed dissidents throu ghout the 1970s and early 80s\, enjoying support from the U.S. In 1981\, t hen Vice President George Bush commended Marcos for his "adherence to demo cratic principles".\n\nIn 1983\, exiled opposition leader Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino attempted to returned to the country\, but was assassinated after l anding at Manila International Airport. The shock of this event\, alongsid e an economic crisis\, compounded public anger\, and civil resistance grew significantly in the following years.\n\nIn response to this pressure\, M arcos announced that a snap presidential election would take place in Febr uary 1986. Ninoy Aquino's widow Corazon served as the main opposition cand idate.\n\nOfficial results from the election saw a victory for Marcos\, bu t the vote saw widespread instances of fraud and intimidation\, resulting in a walkout of workers at the national election monitor and a condemnatio n from the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines.\n\nBoth candid ates claimed victory\, and Aquino called for civil disobedience and boycot t of media and companies which supported Marcos. The "Reform the Armed For ces Movement"\, a group of dissenting military officers\, plotted a coup\, but were arrested by authorities.\n\nOn February 22nd\, the Archbishop of Manila urged civilians via the Catholic radio station Radio Veritas to ga ther on a stretch of the Epifanio de los Santos Avenue\, (commonly known a s "EDSA") in order to help to supply and support rebel officers.\n\nOver t he next few days\, crowds ballooned\, with approximately 2 million partici pating in total. Marcos ultimately backed down from using lethal force to disperse the crowds\, and\, faced with growing military defections\, fled the country on February 25th\, 1986. Corazon Aquino was inaugurated Presid ent the same day.\n\nAlthough Marcos' dictatorship was brought to an end a nd the Philippines has maintained liberal rule as the Fifth Philippine Rep ublic\, extrajudicial killings and rampant corruption continued through Aq uino's rule and beyond. Less than a year later\, 12 people were killed by state forces in the Mendiola Massacre\, when police fired on a farmers' ma rch in Manila.\n\nResearcher Mark John Sanchez writes: "In the years since 1986\, the legacy of the People Power Revolution has remained uncertain.. .The agricultural and economic reform that many Filipinos hoped for in a p ost-Marcos world did not come. Peace talks with the Communist Party of the Philippines dissolved and leftists continued to be maligned\, attacked\, and hunted." RESOURCES:https://www.tatlerasia.com/culture/arts/looking-back-at-the-hist oric-events-of-the-1986-people-power RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People_Power_Revolution RESOURCES:https://origins.osu.edu/milestones/people-power-revolution-phili ppines-1986?language_content_entity=en END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Khrushchev Denounces Stalin (1956) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250225 DTEND:20250226T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism COMMENT:"On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences" was an anti-Stal in speech delivered by Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev to the 20th Congres s of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union on this day in 1956. DESCRIPTION:"On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences" was an anti- Stalin speech delivered by Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev to the 20th Con gress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union on this day in 1956.\n\nK hrushchev's speech was sharply critical of the reign of the deceased Josep h Stalin\, particularly with respect to the purges which took place in the 1930s. The U.S. State Department received a copy of the speech from East European sources and quickly released it.\n\nThe speech marked a decisive turning point in not just Soviet history\, but international communist his tory more broadly. It led\, in part\, to the Sino-Soviet Split (deteriorat ion of relations between the USSR and communist China) and was an importan t milestone in the so-called "Khrushchev Thaw"\, a liberalization of socia l policies in the USSR.\n\nKhrushchev's denunciation of Stalin caused poli tical turmoil throughout the international communist movement. Historian L ewis Siegelbaum notes that\, in Tbilisi\, Georgia\, students demonstrated against the removal of a monument to Stalin\, while in Poland\, demonstrat ions by workers in Poznan over declining wages and deep divisions between recalcitrant Stalinists and anti-Stalinists within the Polish Workers’ P arty threatened to engulf the country in crisis. In the West\, the Communi st Party USA alone lost more than 30\,000 members within weeks of its publ ication. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Cult_of_Personality_and_Its _Consequences RESOURCES:https://soviethistory.msu.edu/1956-2/khrushchevs-secret-speech/ RESOURCES:https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2007/apr/26/greatspeeche s1 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Paterson Silk Strike (1913) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250225 DTEND:20250226T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:IWW COMMENT:On this day in 1913\, the Paterson Silk Strike began in New Jersey . More than 24\,000 mill workers participated and approximately 1\,850 str ikers were arrested\, including IWW organizers "Big Bill" Haywood and Eliz abeth Gurley Flynn. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1913\, the Paterson Silk Strike began in New Je rsey. More than 24\,000 mill workers participated and approximately than 1 \,850 strikers were arrested\, including IWW organizers "Big Bill" Haywood and Elizabeth Gurley Flynn.\n\nThe workers demanded an establishment of a n eight-hour day and improved working conditions. The strike included work ers from several different industries and lasted five months\, ending on J uly 28th.\n\nDuring the course of the strike\, approximately 1\,850 strike rs were arrested\, including Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) leaders "Big Bill" Haywood and Elizabeth Gurley Flynn. The event was also remarka ble for its non-violence\, given its scale and the time period - only two people died.\n\nUltimately\, the strike was not successful in meeting its immediate demands\, although the Paterson Silk Strike is regarded as a piv otal event in advancing the 20th century labor movement toward improved wo rking conditions. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1913_Paterson_silk_strike RESOURCES:https://socialwelfare.library.vcu.edu/organizations/labor/paters on-silk-strike-1913/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:William Z. Foster (1881 - 1961) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250225 DTEND:20250226T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Labor,Marxism,Birthdays,IWW COMMENT:William Z. Foster\, born on this day in 1881\, was a labor organiz er and Marxist politician whose served as General Secretary of the Communi st Party USA (CPUSA) from 1945 to 1957 and authored "Towards Soviet Americ a". DESCRIPTION:William Z. Foster\, born on this day in 1881\, was a labor org anizer and Marxist politician whose served as General Secretary of the Com munist Party USA (CPUSA) from 1945 to 1957 and authored "Towards Soviet Am erica". Foster was previously a member of the Socialist Party of America ( SPA) and the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)\, although he was criti cal of the former for not working with already existing unions.\n\nFoster was a key figure in the drive to organize the packinghouse industry during World War I and in instigating the Steel Strike of 1919. He was the more radical\, pro-Soviet political rival of CPUSA leader Earl Browder\, who of fered critical support to the Roosevelt administration.\n\nFoster was also a prolific political writer\, and his work "Towards Soviet America" has b een continuously republished by both leftists and anti-communists who see it as scandalous.\n\nFoster described the book as a "plain statement of Co mmunist policy\, avoiding technical complexities and theoretical elaborati on...Its central purpose is to explain to the oppressed and exploited mass es of workers and poor farmers how\, under the leadership of the Communist party\, they can best protect themselves now..."\n\n"Tear bombs can't unm ake Communists because you can't fill a man's stomach with tear gas. Nor w ould it help the capitalists to let our leaders talk because campaign orat ory can't fill a man's stomach either. The capitalists are damned if they do and damned if they don't. They know it and are afraid. That's why they hire policemen to beat us up."\n\n- William Z. Foster RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Z._Foster RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/archive/foster/index.htm RESOURCES:https://spartacus-educational.com/USAfosterW.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Nadezhda Krupskaya (1869 - 1939) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250226 DTEND:20250227T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Marxism,Birthdays COMMENT:Nadezhda Krupskaya\, born on this day in 1869\, was a Bolshevik re volutionary\, feminist\, and librarian who helped develop the Soviet educa tional system. In 1926\, she authored a memoir of her life and the life of her husband\, Vladimir Lenin. DESCRIPTION:Nadezhda Krupskaya\, born on this day in 1869\, was a Bolshevi k revolutionary\, feminist\, and librarian who helped develop the Soviet e ducational system. In 1926\, she authored a memoir of her life and the lif e of her husband\, Vladimir Lenin.\n\nKrupskaya was born to an aristocrati c\, well-educated family\, but grew up with a working class experience. Fr om a young age\, Krupskaya was committed to improving the lives of the poo r\, and was influenced by Leo Tolstoy's ideas and\, later\, Marxism.\n\nNa dezhda met Lenin at an illegal Marxist discussion group (the works of Marx were banned) in February 1894. In October 1896\, Krupskaya was arrested a nd sentenced to three years exile in Ufa. Before she was deported\, Nadezh da received a "secret note" from Lenin\, which suggested that she could ta ke refuge in his village of exile if she became his fiancée. This offer w as accepted.\n\nKrupskaya was politically active in the Russian Social Dem ocratic Labour Party\, a precursor to the Bolshevik movement\, helping edi t the party's newspaper\, "Iskra" ("Spark"). After the 1917 Russian Revolu tion\, she was appointed deputy to the People's Commissar for Education an d later served as Deputy Education Commissar (government minister) from 19 29 to 1939.\n\nDuring this time\, Krupskaya was fundamental in the develop ment of the system of Soviet libraries\, establishing formal training for librarians to make them good stewards for working class education and faci litators of the communist revolution.\n\nAccording to American Soviet scho lar Robert V. Daniels\, in December 1922\, after Lenin had suffered a seco nd stroke\, Krupskaya had a violent quarrel with Stalin after she denied h im access to Lenin\, who she claimed was too ill. On December 23rd\, she w rote to Lev Kamenev complaining that the "vile invectives and threats" fro m Stalin were the worst abuse she had suffered from a fellow revolutionary in 30 years.\n\nKrupskaya backed anti-Stalin opposition after Lenin's dea th in 1924. In 1930\, she gave a speech defending the leaders of the right wing opposition against Stalin\, Nikolai Bukharin and Alexei Rykov. Despi te this\, Nadezhda retained her post as Deputy Education Commissar until t he year of her death in 1939.\n\nIn 1926\, Krupskaya wrote a memoir of her life with Lenin\, translated in 1930 as "Memories of Lenin" and in 1959 a s "Reminiscences of Lenin." The text gives the most detailed account of Le nin's life before his coming to power\, ending in 1919.\n\n"Solidarity amo ng the male and female workers\, a general cause\, general goals\, a gener al path to that goal - that is the solution to the "woman" question in the working-class environment."\n\n- Nadezhda Krupskaya RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nadezhda_Krupskaya RESOURCES:https://spartacus-educational.com/RUSkrupskaya.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Robert F. Williams (1925 - 1996) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250226 DTEND:20250227T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Civil Rights,Birthdays COMMENT:Robert F. Williams\, born on this day in 1925\, was a civil rights leader known for serving as president of the Monroe\, North Carolina chap ter of the NAACP and advocating for armed self-defense in his book "Negroe s With Guns". DESCRIPTION:Robert Franklin Williams\, born on this day in 1925\, was a ci vil rights leader known for serving as president of the Monroe\, North Car olina chapter of the NAACP and advocating for armed self-defense in his bo ok "Negroes With Guns".\n\nWilliams succeeded in integrating the local pub lic library and swimming pool in Monroe\, and helped gain support for gube rnatorial pardons for two young black children who had received lengthy se ntences in the "Kissing Case of 1958."\n\nAt a time of high racial tension \, Williams promoted armed black self-defense in the U.S. Williams obtaine d a charter from the National Rifle Association and set up a rifle club to defend black people in Monroe from the Ku Klux Klan\, once driving them o ut of his neighborhood with gunfire.\n\nAfter allowing a white couple to t ake refuge in their home during a race riot\, the local police indicted Wi lliams for kidnapping the couple\, forcing him to flee the country and tak e up residence in Cuba as a guest of Fidel Castro.\n\nWhile there\, Willia ms ran a radio program called "Radio Free Dixie" with Castro's support\, p laying contemporary jazz music and advocating for black insurrection again st the U.S. government. The program was broadcast over the entire continen tal U.S.\n\nIn 1966\, Williams moved to China\, where he became a friend a nd advisor to Mao Zedong. In 1969\, he returned to the U.S. and was immedi ately arrested for fleeing the kidnapping charge\, however all charges wer e dropped.\n\nWilliams' book "Negroes with Guns" (1962) details his experi ence with violent racism and his disagreement with the non-violent wing of the civil rights movement. The text was widely influential\; Black Panthe r Party founder Huey Newton was among those who cited it as an influence.\ n\n"I have asserted the right of Negroes to meet the violence of the Ku Kl ux Klan by armed self-defense — and have acted on it. It has always been an accepted right of Americans\, as the history of our Western states pro ves\, that where the law is unable\, or unwilling\, to enforce order\, the citizens can\, and must act in self-defense against lawless violence."\n\ n- Robert F. Williams RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/williams-robe rt-f-1925-1996/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_F._Williams END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:NLRB v. Fansteel Metallurgical Corporation (1939) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250227 DTEND:20250228T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:On this day in 1939\, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Nation al Labor Relations Board could not order an employer to re-hire workers fi red for striking\, even if the strike was triggered by that employer's ill egal actions. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1939\, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Na tional Labor Relations Board could not order an employer to re-hire worker s fired for striking\, even if the strike was triggered by that employer's illegal actions. The case is known as National Labor Relations Board v. F ansteel Metallurgical Corporation.\n\nIn the late 1930s\, sit-down strikes had become prevalent in the auto industry and were particularly effective at winning worker demands. In a sit-down strike\, workers stay by their s tation in the factory but refuse to work it. Factory management was usuall y reluctant to try and force workers out of the factory for fear of damagi ng expensive machinery\, and often capitulated to them.\n\nOn February 17t h\, 1937\, workers frustrated by failed attempts at getting Fansteel to re cognize their union announced a sit-down strike and seized a portion of th eir factory. The employer won an injunction ordering the union men to vaca te the premises\, which they ignored\, but were ultimately forced out.\n\n The NLRB held on March 14th\, 1938\, that Fansteel had to reinstate 90 of the workers because the company had violated the law first (precipitating the sit-down strike). Fansteel sued the government in response and won in the Supreme Court case NLRB v. Fansteel Metallurgical Corp (1939). RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NLRB_v._Fansteel_Metallurgical_Cor p. RESOURCES:https://repository.law.umich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=htt ps://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1620&context=mlr END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Ralph Nader (1934 - ) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250227 DTEND:20250228T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays COMMENT:Ralph Nader\, born on this day in 1934\, is a U.S. attorney and ac tivist whose causes include consumer protection and environmentalism. "I o nce said to my father\, 'Dad we need a third political party.' He said to me\, 'I'll settle for a second.'" DESCRIPTION:Ralph Nader\, born on this day in 1934\, is a U.S. attorney an d activist whose causes include consumer protection and environmentalism.\ n\nRalph Nader was born in Winsted\, Connecticut to Lebanese immigrants an d graduated from both Princeton and Harvard Law School. Nader identified w ith libertarian philosophy in his youth\, but gradually shifted away from it in his early 20s. Initially opposed to public housing\, Nader changed h is mind when he "saw the slums and what landlords did".\n\nFollowing the p ublication of Unsafe at Any Speed (1965)\, a critical analysis of the auto industry's safety record\, Nader led a group of volunteer law students\, dubbed "Nader's Raiders"\, in an investigation of the Federal Trade Commis sion\, leading directly to that agency's overhaul and reform.\n\nIn the 19 70s and 80s\, through his advocacy group "Public Citizen"\, Nader continue d to be involved in issues of consumer rights and public accountability. H is work testifying before Congress\, drafting model legislation\, and orga nizing citizen letter-writing and protest efforts\, played a role in the F oreign Corrupt Practices Act\, Clean Water Act\, Consumer Product Safety A ct\, and Whistleblower Protection Act.\n\n"I once said to my father\, when I was a boy\, 'Dad we need a third political party.' He said to me\, 'I'l l settle for a second.'"\n\n- Ralph Nader RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Nader RESOURCES:https://nader.org/ RESOURCES:https://achievement.org/achiever/ralph-nader/#interview END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Reichstag Fire (1933) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250227 DTEND:20250228T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Fascism COMMENT:On this day in 1933\, the Reichstag was burned. Nazis blamed the a rson on communists and arrested them en masse. Dutch communist Marinus van der Lubbe was executed for the act\, but some historians believe it may h ave been a false flag. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1933\, the Reichstag was burned. Nazis blamed t he arson on communists and arrested them en masse. Dutch communist Marinus van der Lubbe was executed for the act\, but some historians believe the burning may have been a false flag by the Nazis in order to consolidate th eir power.\n\nThe first report of the fire came shortly after 9:00 pm on F ebruary 27th\, 1933. The police conducted a thorough search inside the bui lding and found Van der Lubbe\, who was arrested.\n\nOn February 28th\, Pr esident Paul von Hindenburg issued the "Reichstag Fire Decree"\, suspendin g civil liberties and beginning a widespread crackdown on communists. The Nazi-controlled police arrested leftists en masse\, including all of the c ommunist Reichstag delegates\, severely crippling their participation in t he elections the following week.\n\nVan Der Lubbe\, and four communist lea ders were tried in the Leipzig Trial in September 1933. All except Van der Lubbe were acquitted\, and the Dutch council communist was executed at th e age of 24.\n\nAt the same time Nazis were using the fire as a pretext to suppress their political opponents\, communists internationally were accu sing Nazis of organizing the fire as a false flag operation. Historians re main divided on the issue\, with some concluding that van der Lubbe acting alone and others believing that Nazis were responsible for the arson.\n\n In July 2019\, more than 80 years after the fire\, an affidavit from Hans- Martin Lennings\, a former member of a Nazi paramilitary\, was discovered. The document stated that\, the night of the fire\, his unit had driven Va n der Lubbe from an infirmary to the Reichstag and that the fire was ongoi ng when they arrived\, indicating Van der Lubbe's innocence and possible N azi complicity.\n\nIn any case\, the Reichstag Fire proved a pivotal event in the establishment of Nazi Germany\, with Nazis winning the subsequent March elections after imprisoning and terrorizing their left opposition. T he Reichstag Fire Decree paved the way for Nazi dictatorship\, according t o the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reichstag_fire RESOURCES:https://spartacus-educational.com/GERreichstagF.htm RESOURCES:https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/the-reichstag- fire END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Wounded Knee Occupation (1973) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250227 DTEND:20250228T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Indigenous COMMENT:On this day in 1973\, a 71-day uprising began when approximately 2 00 Oglala Lakota and American Indian Movement (AIM) members seized the tow n of Wounded Knee\, South Dakota\, on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation to demand treaty negotiations. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1973\, a 71-day uprising began when approximate ly 200 Oglala Lakota and American Indian Movement (AIM) members seized the town of Wounded Knee\, South Dakota\, on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservatio n to demand treaty negotiations. Paul Manhart S.J. and ten other residents of the area were apprehended at gunpoint and taken hostage.\n\nThe town w as promptly surrounded by an army of U.S. personnel. John Sayer\, author o f "Ghost Dancing the Law: The Wounded Knee Trials"\, wrote - "The equipmen t maintained by the military while in use during the siege included fiftee n armored personnel carriers\, clothing\, rifles\, grenade launchers\, fla res\, and 133\,000 rounds of ammunition\, for a total cost\, including the use of maintenance personnel from the National Guard of five states and p ilot and planes for aerial photographs\, of over half a million dollars."\ n\nAlthough the Department of Justice (DoJ) prohibited media from the site \, the occupation received support from the Congressional Black Caucus and prominent public figures\, including Marlon Brando\, Johnny Cash\, Angela Davis\, and Jane Fonda. Angela Davis was turned away by federal forces as an "undesirable person" when she attempted to enter Wounded Knee in March 1973.\n\nMarlon Brando asked Sacheen Littlefeather\, President of the Nat ional Native American Affirmative Image Committee\, to speak at the 45th A cademy Awards on his behalf. She appeared at the March 27th ceremony in tr aditional Apache clothing and stated that Brando declined the award due to "the treatment of American Indians today by the film industry...and on te levision and movie reruns and also with recent happenings at Wounded Knee" .\n\nTribal leaders called off the occupation after 71 days after the kill ing of Lawrence "Buddy" Lamont\, a local Oglala man\, by U.S. sniper fire. The terms of ending the occupation included a mandated meeting at Chief F ools Crow's land to discuss reinstating the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie\, which stated that the Black Hills of South Dakota belonged to the Sioux pe ople.\n\nIn the 1980 Supreme Court case United States v. Sioux Nation of I ndians\, the Court held that the taking of property that was set aside for the use of the nation required just compensation\, including interest. Th e Sioux have not accepted the compensation awarded to them by this case\, valued at $1.3 billion as of 2011.\n\n"If we accept the money\, then we ha ve no more of the treaty obligations that the federal government has with us for taking our land\, for taking our gold\, all our resources out of th e Black Hills...we’re poor now\, we’ll be poorer then when that happen s."\n\n- former Oglala Sioux Tribe President Theresa Two Bulls RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/article/siege-wounded-knee-1973 RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wounded_Knee_Occupation RESOURCES:https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uiug.30112037588586&view= 1up&seq=5 RESOURCES:https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/10/occupy-woun ded-knee-a-71-day-siege-and-a-forgotten-civil-rights-movement/263998/ RESOURCES:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QUacU0I4yU&ab_channel=Oscars RESOURCES:https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/north_america-july-dec11-black hills_08-23 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:228 Massacre (1947) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250228 DTEND:20250301T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Massacre,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1947\, the 228 Massacre took place in Taiwan when a nti-government protesters were fired on by the army\, killing three. The m urders began a period of open rebellion and 38 years of martial law known as the "White Terror". DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1947\, the 228 Massacre took place in Taiwan wh en anti-government protesters in Taipei were fired on by the army\, killin g three people. The murders began a period of open rebellion and 38 years of martial law known as the "White Terror".\n\nThe incident took place in the wake of drastic political changes following World War II. After the su rrender of Japan\, the Allies handed administrative control of Taiwan to t he Republic of China (ROC\, not to be confused with the People's Republic of China\, PRC)\, thus ending 50 years of Japanese colonial rule. The ROC' s rule was resented by the local population\, characterized by massive pri ce inflation and corruption.\n\nOn February 27th\, 1947\, state agents con fiscated contraband cigarettes from a 40-year-old widow named Lin Jiang-ma i (林江邁). When she demanded their return\, one of the men struck her in the head with the butt of his gun\, prompting the surrounding Taiwanese crowd to challenge the agents. As they fled\, one agent shot his gun into the crowd\, killing a bystander.\n\nThe next morning\, protesters gathere d around Taipei\, calling for the arrest and trial of the agents involved in the shooting. Soldiers opened fire into the crowd\, killing at least th ree people.\n\nFormosans (Taiwanese people) took over the administration o f the town and military bases on March 4th\, and forced their way into loc al radio station to broadcast news of the incident and calling for people to revolt\, causing uprisings to erupt throughout the island.\n\nBy evenin g\, martial law had been declared\, and curfews were enforced by the arres t or shooting of anyone who violated curfew. Reinforcements from the Natio nalist Government\, led by Chen Yi\, arrived on March 8th and initiated a brutal campaign of suppression.\n\nOne American eyewitness was cited by th e New York Times: "[ROC troops] indulged in three days of indiscriminate k illing and looting...In the poorer sections the streets were said to have been littered with dead. There were instances of beheadings and mutilation of bodies\, and women were raped\, the American said."\n\nThe initial 228 Massacre was followed by 38 years of martial law\, commonly referred to a s the "White Terror"\, lasting until the end of 1987\, during which period over a 100\,000 people were imprisoned for political reasons and more tha n 1\,000 were executed. Discussion of the 228 Massacre was prohibited.\n\n Since the end of martial law\, the government has set up the 228 Incident Memorial Foundation\, a civilian reparations fund supported by public dona tions for the victims and their families. Today\, February 28th is an offi cial public holiday called "Peace Memorial Day"\, on which the president o f Taiwan gathers with other officials to ring a commemorative bell in memo ry of the victims. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/February_28_incident RESOURCES:https://228massacre.org/ RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/subject/art/literature/ahuti/whiteterro r.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:February 28th Salvadoran Massacre (1977) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250228 DTEND:20250301T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Massacre,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1977\, following fraudulent elections that put Gene ral Romero in power\, the right-wing Salvadoran military viciously attacke d anti-government protesters in San Salvador\, killing between 200 and 1\, 500 people. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1977\, following fraudulent elections that put General Romero in power\, the right-wing Salvadoran military viciously att acked anti-government protesters in San Salvador\, killing between 200 and 1\,500 people.\n\nThe protest was anti-government in character\, and took place following fraudulent elections earlier that year\, in which the Nat ional Opposing Union (Spanish: "Unión Nacional Opositora"\, UNO)\, a poli tical coalition composed of the Christian Democratic Party\, the National Revolutionary Movement\, and the Nationalist Democratic Union\, had "lost" to the right-wing\, military-controlled National Conciliation Party.\n\nO n February 28th\, 1977\, a crowd of political demonstrators gathered in do wntown San Salvador to protest the electoral fraud. Security forces arrive d on the scene and opened fire\, resulting in a massacre as they indiscrim inately killed demonstrators and bystanders alike.\n\nEstimates of the num ber of civilians killed range between 200 and 1\,500. The casualties were underreported by the New York Times\, which reported on March 1st\, 1977 t hat only six people had been killed. President Molina blamed the protests on "foreign Communists" and immediately exiled a number of top UNO party m embers from the country.\n\nOne of the consequences of the massacre was th e formation of "February 28 Popular Leagues" (Spanish: "Ligas Populares 28 de Febrero"\, LP-28)\, a movement launched in September 1977 by the Peopl e's Revolutionary Army (ERP)\, functioning as its mass front. RESOURCES:https://www.jstor.org/stable/25675122?read-now=1&refreqid=excels ior%3A85eb432a25a72438271aa90382b8aec7&seq=5#page_scan_tab_contents RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvadoran_Civil_War END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Victor L. Berger (1860 - 1929) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250228 DTEND:20250301T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Socialism,Birthdays COMMENT:Victor L. Berger\, born on this day in 1860\, was a co-founder of the Socialist Party of America and the first socialist member of the House of Representatives. A white supremacist\, Berger sought to ban Asian immi grants from the Party. DESCRIPTION:Victor L. Berger\, born on this day in 1860\, was a co-founder of the Socialist Party of America and the first socialist member of the H ouse of Representatives. A white supremacist\, Berger sought to ban Asian immigrants from the Party.\n\nBorn in Austria-Hungary\, Berger immigrated to the United States as a young man and became an influential journalist i n Wisconsin\, helping establish the "Sewer Socialist" movement. In 1910\, he was elected as the first socialist to the U.S. House of Representatives \, representing a district in Milwaukee\, Wisconsin.\n\nBerger was a white supremacist\, defending segregation on the grounds that "negroes and mula ttoes constitute a lower race - that the Caucasian and even the Mongolian have the start on them in civilization by many years."\n\nHistorian Sally Miller notes that Berger also drafted an unsuccessful resolution to ban As ian immigrants from the Socialist Party\, stating "If we admit the Chinese \, the Japanese\, and the Korean...it will be clear to America's workingme n that the party does not want to help them".\n\nIn 1919\, Berger was conv icted of violating the Espionage Act for publicizing his anti-intervention ist views surrounding World War I. As a result\, he was denied his seat in the House of Representatives. The verdict was eventually overturned by th e Supreme Court in 1921\, and Berger was elected to three successive terms in the 1920s. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_L._Berger RESOURCES:https://emke.uwm.edu/entry/victor-l-berger/ RESOURCES:https://jacobin.com/2015/08/debs-socialism-race-du-bois-socialis t-party-black-liberation/ RESOURCES:https://www.jstor.org/stable/25144336 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Haitian Coup (2004) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250301 DTEND:20250302T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 2004\, a coup d'état took place in Haiti\, ousting democratically elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in favor of Bonif ace Alexandre\, the Chief Justice of the Haitian Supreme Court. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 2004\, a coup d'état took place in Haiti\, ous ting democratically elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in favor of B oniface Alexandre\, the Chief Justice of the Haitian Supreme Court.\n\nAri stide was flown out of Haiti by U.S. personnel\, and accounts differ on th e precise nature of his exit. Aristide claims he was kidnapped and told to leave by the U.S. Haitian Embassy's chief of staff under threat of violen ce\, although the U.S. government disputes this claim.\n\nIn the years lea ding up to the coup\, right wing paramilitary groups violently targeted ac tivists and government officials aligned with the Aristide government. The re were also incidents of police brutality against students protesting Ari stide's government.\n\nIn the aftermath\, Boniface Alexandre succeeded Ari stide as interim president and petitioned the United Nations Security Coun cil for the intervention of an international peacekeeping force. Within da ys\, official U.N. troops the combined forces of U.S.\, Canadian\, French\ , and Chilean troops arrived on the island. Aristide was forced into exile in South Africa\, although he returned to Haiti in 2011. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Haitian_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat RESOURCES:https://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/americas/03/01/aristide.claim/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Great Southwest Railroad Strike (1886) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250301 DTEND:20250302T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1886\, the Great Southwest Railroad Strike began\, involving 200\,000 workers throughout the U.S. After months of protest in which six were killed by police\, the strike failed\, leading to the colla pse of the Knights of Labor. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1886\, the Great Southwest Railroad Strike bega n\, involving 200\,000 workers throughout the U.S. After months of protest in which six were killed by police\, the strike failed\, leading to the c ollapse of the Knights of Labor.\n\nThe strike began when an agreement bet ween the Knights of Labor and Union Pacific to give notice and investigate all firings was violated - a Knight named Charles A. Hall in Marshall\, T exas was fired for attending a union meeting on company time. In response\ , District Assembly #101 of the Knights called a strike.\n\nWithin a week\ , more than 200\,000 workers were on strike throughout Arkansas\, Illinois \, Kansas\, Missouri and Texas\, paralyzing railway lines with both inacti on and sabotage.\n\nAt least nine people were killed in conflicts between police and crowds of striking workers. On April 9th in East St. Louis\, ei ght deputies guarding a freight train shot into a crowd of strikers\, kill ing six bystanders. The crowd responded by setting the rail yards on fire. \n\nAfter two months of protest\, the strike was called off on May 4th wit hout the workers winning their demands. The failure of the strike led dire ctly to the collapse of the Knights of Labor and the rise of the American Federation of Labor (AFL). RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Southwest_railroad_strike_of _1886 RESOURCES:https://www.historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/zinnbaron11.html END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Kronstadt Rebellion Begins (1921) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250301 DTEND:20250302T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Labor,Marxism,Anarchism,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1921\, ~15\,000 people assembled in Kronstadt\, dem anding election reforms\, an end to censorship\, and the allowance of indi vidual production\, marking the beginning of the Kronstadt Rebellion again st the Bolshevik government. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1921\, ~15\,000 people assembled in Kronstadt\, demanding election reforms\, an end to censorship\, and the allowance of individual production\, marking the beginning of the Kronstadt Rebellion a gainst the nascent Bolshevik government.\n\nThe uprising consisted of sail ors\, soldiers\, and civilians from a variety of political persuasions\, i ncluding anti-communist reactionaries and anarchists. The uprising was als o the last major revolt against the Bolsheviks on Russian territory during the civil war.\n\nThe Kronstadt Rebellion took place in the context of a difficult winter in which fuel and food became scarce. Protests and civil unrest were happening throughout Russia\, and sailors in Kronstadt had dep osed their commander Raskolnikov in weeks earlier\, in late January.\n\nOn February 28th\, in reaction to government suppression of protests in Petr ograd\, the sailors drafted a set of fifteen demands\, including free elec tions\, freedom of assembly for peasant and labor organizations\, to aboli sh the Bolshevik fighting detachments in all army branches\, and to allow peasants full control of their land\, provided they don't employ others.\n \nOn March 2nd\, a Provisional Revolutionary Committee was formed\, demand ing a "third revolution" to restore the revolutionary values Kronstadt sup porters felt the Bolsheviks had betrayed. The Bolsheviks accused Kronstadt rebels of being counter-revolutionary and petty bourgeois in character\, moving to crush the rebellion by force.\n\nOn March 7th\, the Red Army beg an attacking the island with small land forces and aerial bombardment\, ho wever little progress was made at first. On March 16th\, a Bolshevik force of 50\,000 met and defeated the 15\,000 rebels\, seizing control of the i sland.\n\n8\,000 Kronstadt refugees crossed into Finland within a day of K ronstadt's fall\, sabotaging the defenses as they left. Casualty estimates vary widely\, but thousands of soldiers were killed on either side.\n\nTh e political character of the uprising is seriously contested\, and the ins urrection has been memorialized by critics of the Soviet Union\, from figu res such as anarchist Emma Goldman to Boris Yeltsin\, the corrupt\, anti-c ommunist first President of the Russian Federation. In 1994\, Yeltsin reha bilitated the rebels and created a memorial for them in Kronstadt.\n\nAnar chists tend to view the Kronstadt Rebellion as a righteous uprising agains t an increasingly repressive Soviet state\, while Marxist-Leninists genera lly regard it as counter-revolutionary and petty bourgeois in character.\n \nFor his part\, Vladimir Lenin regarded the episode as a critical challen ge to the revolution\, calling Kronstadt "undoubtedly more dangerous than Denikin\, Yudenich\, and Kolchak combined".\n\nIn 1970\, anarchist histori an Paul Avrich published a seminal and thorough history of the uprising in English\, titled "Kronstadt\, 1921". RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kronstadt_rebellion RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/library/kronstadt-1921-paul-avrich-0 RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/history/etol/newspape/spartacist-us/199 9-2011/0059_Spring_2006_Spartacist.pdf RESOURCES:https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/ravil-ashirov-a-reply-to -the-icl-fi-s-bolshevism-vs-counterrevolution-and-assessing-the-effects RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1938/01/kronstadt.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Berta Cáceres Assassinated (2016) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250302 DTEND:20250303T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Assassinations,Indigenous,Protests COMMENT:Berta Cáceres was a Honduran environmental and indigenous activis t who was assassinated on this day in 2016 by a squad of hitmen with ties to the Honduran military\, an energy company she campaigned against\, and the U.S. government. DESCRIPTION:Berta Cáceres was a Honduran environmental and indigenous act ivist who was assassinated on this day in 2016 by a squad of hitmen with t ies to the Honduran military\, an energy company she campaigned against\, and the U.S. government.\n\nCáceres was a co-founder and leader of the Co uncil of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH)\, coord inating protests on a wide variety of issues\, including protesting illega l logging\, plantation owners\, and the presence of U.S. military bases on Lenca land. She won the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2015\, for "a gras sroots campaign that successfully pressured the world's largest dam builde r to pull out of the Agua Zarca Dam" at the Río Gualcarque.\n\nAs of 2018 \, nine people have been arrested for Cáceres' murder. Of these nine\, on e was the executive president of the company building the dam which Cácer es campaigned against\, accused of masterminding the plot\; four had ties to the Honduran Military\; two had received military training at the forme r "School of the Americas" in Fort Benning\, Georgia\, linked to thousands of murders and human rights violations throughout Latin America.\n\n"Natu re and justice at some point must be interwoven."\n\n- Berta Cáceres RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berta_C%C3%A1ceres RESOURCES:https://www.goldmanprize.org/recipient/berta-caceres/ RESOURCES:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvgXdHa0NTM&ab_channel=UNEnviron mentProgramme END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Claudette Colvin Refuses to Move (1955) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250302 DTEND:20250303T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1955\, 15-year old Claudette Colvin was arrested in Montgomery\, Alabama for refusing to give up her seat to a white woman\, nine months before the more widely known incident with Rosa Parks. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1955\, 15-year old Claudette Colvin was arreste d in Montgomery\, Alabama for refusing to give up her seat to a white woma n\, nine months before the more widely known incident with Rosa Parks.\n\n Colvin's arrest was not peaceful - Claudette was forcibly removed from the bus by police while shouting that her constitutional rights were being vi olated\, and she was sexually harassed while detained. Colvin was charged with disturbing the peace\, violating segregation laws\, and battering and assaulting a police officer.\n\nParks was deliberately chosen by the NAAC P as a better person to predicate the struggle for civil rights in Montgom ery on. Parks was married\, employed\, and worked as a secretary of the lo cal chapter of the NAACP.\n\nColvin\, however\, was an unmarried teenager at the time and rumored to be pregnant by a married man. On Colvin's case\ , Parks stated "If the white press got ahold of that information\, they wo uld have [had] a field day. They'd call her a bad girl\, and her case woul dn't have a chance." Of Parks\, Colvin said "Her skin texture was the kind that people associate with the middle class. She fit that profile."\n\nCo lvin was one of four women plaintiffs in Browder v. Gayle\, the court case that successfully overturned bus segregation laws in Alabama.\n\nColvin l eft Montgomery for New York City in 1958 because she had difficulty findin g work after her participation in the federal court case that overturned b us segregation (similarly\, Rosa Parks left Montgomery for Detroit in 1957 ). Colvin stated she was branded a troublemaker by many in her community. She withdrew from college and went on to become a nurse in Manhattan.\n\nO n her act of defiance that day\, Colvin stated "History kept me stuck to m y seat. I felt the hand of Harriet Tubman pushing down on one shoulder and Sojourner Truth pushing down on the other." RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/colvin-claude tte-1935/ RESOURCES:https://www.npr.org/2009/03/15/101719889/before-rosa-parks-there -was-claudette-colvin RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claudette_Colvin END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Puyallup Fish-in (1964) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250302 DTEND:20250303T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Indigenous,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1964\, a group of indigenous rights activists\, amo ng them actor Marlon Brando and Puyallup tribal leader Bob Satiacum\, ille gally fished in the Puyallup River to demand treaty rights to Native Ameri cans. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1964\, a group of indigenous rights activists\, among them actor Marlon Brando and Puyallup tribal leader Bob Satiacum\, illegally fished in the Puyallup River to protest the denial of treaty rig hts to Native Americans. This form of civil disobedience is known as a "fi sh-in"\, and in this specific incident both Brando and an Episcopal clergy man were arrested.\n\nThe fish-in was staged by the National Indian Youth Council\, a Native American civil rights organization formed in Gallup\, N ew Mexico in 1961. It became part of the so-called "Fish Wars"\, a set of protests spanning decades in which Native American tribes around the Puget Sound pressured the U.S. government to recognize fishing rights granted b y the Point No Point Treaty.\n\nThe protests eventually won indigenous peo ple in the area the right to fish without state permits - in the 1974 case "United States v. Washington"\, U.S. District Court Judge George Hugo Bol dt stated that treaty right fishermen must be allowed to take up to 50% of all potential fishing harvests and required that they have an equal voice in the management of the fishery.\n\nThe so-called "Boldt Decision" was r eaffirmed by the Supreme Court in 1979 and has been used as a precedent fo r handling other\, similar treaties. RESOURCES:https://www.historylink.org/File/5332 RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fish_Wars END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Enrollment Act of 1863 DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250303 DTEND:20250304T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:The Enrollment Act\, passed on this day in 1863\, was the first na tional conscription law in the United States\, explicitly allowing people to avoid service by paying $300 or hiring a substitute to take their place . DESCRIPTION:The Enrollment Act of 1863\, passed on this day\, was the firs t national conscription law in the United States\, explicitly allowing peo ple to avoid service by paying $300 or hiring a substitute to take their p lace.\n\nThe Enrollment Act was passed by the U.S. Congress during the Civ il War to provide fresh manpower for the Union Army. It required the enrol lment of every male citizen and those immigrants who had filed for citizen ship\, between 20 and 45 years of age\, unless exempted by the Act.\n\nIn protest of the law\, a "Song of the Conscripts" was written\, distributed later at the 1863 New York City Draft Riots. One verse reads:\n\n"We are c oming\, Father Abraham\, three hundred thousand more\,\n\nWe leave our hom es and firesides with bleeding hearts and sore\,\n\nSince poverty has been our crime\, we bow to thy decree\,\n\nWe are the poor who have no wealth to purchase liberty" RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enrollment_Act RESOURCES:https://www.historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/zinnother10.html END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Schenk v. United States (1919) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250303 DTEND:20250304T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Socialism COMMENT:Schenck v. United States\, decided on this day in 1919\, was a Sup reme Court case that upheld the conviction of socialist Charles Schenck fo r encouraging draft resistance\, establishing the "clear and present" dang er limitation of speech. DESCRIPTION:Schenck v. United States\, decided on this day in 1919\, was a Supreme Court case that upheld the conviction of socialist Charles Schenc k for encouraging draft resistance\, establishing the "clear and present" danger limitation of speech.\n\nIn this specific case\, the U.S. Supreme C ourt ruled that encouraging would-be soldiers to resist the draft was not protected by the First Amendment.\n\nThe Court made this ruling unanimousl y\, upholding socialist activist Charles Schenck's conviction under the Es pionage Act of 1917\, after he distributed leaflets urging young men to re sist the draft during World War I. RESOURCES:http://landmarkcases.c-span.org/Case/5/Schenck-v-United-States#: ~:text=Charles%20Schenck%20was%20arrested%20under\,ruled%20to%20uphold%20t he%20Act. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schenck_v._United_States END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Émilie Busquant (1901 - 1953) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250303 DTEND:20250304T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Anarchism,Colonialism,Independence COMMENT:Émilie Busquant\, born on this day in 1901\, was a French feminis t\, anarcho-syndicalist\, and anti-colonial activist who helped design the Algerian flag. Busquant fought for Algerian independence alongside her hu sband\, Messali Hadj. DESCRIPTION:Émilie Busquant\, born on this day in 1901\, was a French fem inist\, anarcho-syndicalist\, and anti-colonial activist who helped design the Algerian flag. Busquant fought for Algerian independence alongside he r husband\, Messali Hadj.\n\nÉmilie Busquant was born to a working class\ , anarchist family in Neuves-Maisons\, France. While working in Paris\, Bu squant met and began dating Messali Hadj\, then a young Algerian migrant. Their partnership was marked by a shared commitment to progressive and ant i-colonial causes.\n\nDuring Messali's long spells in prison\, Émilie oft en spoke on his behalf and used her position as a French woman to criticiz e France's commitment to "civilising" Algeria. She is sometimes credited w ith creating the first Algerian flag\, however this story is considered ap ocryphal or exaggerated by some historians.\n\nBusquant died in Algiers in 1953 while her husband was in exile in France. Hadj was refused permissio n to visit her on her death bed. A cortege of 10\,000 followed her coffin\ , draped in the Algerian flag\, through the streets of the Algerian capita l on its way to the port.\n\nÉmilie's funeral in Neuves-Maisons was atten ded by delegations from many socialist parties. Under police surveillance\ , Hadj gave a eulogy recalling her activism\, declaring her "the symbol of the union of the Algerian and French peoples in their shared struggle".\n \nIn 1962\, nine years after Émilie's death\, Algeria achieved independen ce from France. In 2015\, journalist Rabah Zanoun produced a film about Bu squant's life. RESOURCES:https://www.historyworkshop.org.uk/algerian-portrait/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89milie_Busquant END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Baum Group Nine Executed (1943) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250304 DTEND:20250305T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Socialism,Fascism COMMENT:On this day in 1943\, nine members of the German anti-Nazi resista nce Baum Group were executed by the state following an arson attack on an anti-Semitic and anti-Communist event prepared by Joseph Goebbels at the B erliner Lustgarten. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1943\, nine members of the German anti-Nazi res istance Baum Group were executed by the state following an arson attack on an anti-Semitic and anti-Communist event prepared by Joseph Goebbels at t he Berliner Lustgarten.\n\nThe Baum Group ("Baum Gruppe" in German) was fo rmed by Jewish anti-fascists Herbert and Marianne Baum and their friends M artin and Sala Kochmann after the seizure of power by the National Sociali sts. Together\, they organized meetings dealing with the threat of Nazism\ , meeting in the residences of various members. Up to 100 youths attended these meetings at various times\, engaging in political debates and cultur al discussions. The group openly distributed leaflets arguing against Nati onal Socialism.\n\nOn May 18th\, 1942\, the Baum Group set fire to the ant i-Soviet exhibit "Das Sowjetparadies" (The Soviet Paradise)\, held in the Lustgarten in Berlin. The attempted arson was not successful and the exhib ition was re-opened the following day. Nine days later\, the Gestapo arres ted an unspecified number of Jews and incarcerated them in the internment camp at the Lewetzowstrasse Synagogue.\n\nOn March 6th\, 1943\, nine captu red members were executed: Heinz Rotholz (1922–1943)\, Heinz Birnbaum (1 920–1943)\, Hella Hirsch (1921–1943)\, Hanni Meyer (1921–1943)\, Mar ianne Joachim (1922–1943)\, Lothar Salinger (1920–1943)\, Helmut Neuma nn (1922–1943)\, Hildegard Löwy\, and Siegbert Rotholz (1922–1943).\n \nBoth Herbert and Marianne Baum were executed by the state separately in 1942. RESOURCES:https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/baum-gruppe-jewish-women RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbert_Baum END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Kimmel Park Mutiny (1919) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250304 DTEND:20250305T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Riots,Mutinies COMMENT:On this day in 1919\, on the signal of "Come on the Bolsheviks!"\, 15\,000 Canadian soldiers in Bodelwyddan\, Wales began rioting following delays in their return home and being used as forced labor by British offi cers. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1919\, on the signal of "Come on the Bolsheviks !"\, 15\,000 Canadian soldiers in Bodelwyddan\, Wales began rioting follow ing delays in their return home and being used as forced labor by British officers.\n\nThe uprising began when the camp commander\, Colonel Colquhou n\, left the base for a social outing on March 4th. In his absence\, sever al leaders were appointed by the men and\, on the signal of "Come on the B olsheviks!"\, the soldiers began raiding the Quartermaster's Stores\, loot ing sergeant's messes\, and setting fires.\n\nWhen 20 of the mutineers wer e seized\, the rest simply charged the guardroom and set them free. Throug hout the mutiny\, rifle shots were exchanged - 3 rioters and 2 guards were killed\, and around 23 were wounded. Of the 78 Canadians arrested\, 25 we re convicted of mutiny\, with sentences between 90 days detention and 10 y ears' penal servitude handed out by military courts.\n\nFollowing the riot s\, priority was given to repatriating the Canadian troops. The affair was "hushed up"\, and\, by March 25th\, over 15\,000 Canadians had been trans ported home. RESOURCES:https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/wales/entries/cfb526c8-186d-3afe-b3e 0-095c8898f868 RESOURCES:https://www.westernfrontassociation.com/world-war-i-articles/the -kinmel-park-riot-of-canadian-servicemen-march-1919/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Fenian Rebellion (1867) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250305 DTEND:20250306T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1867\, thousands of Fenians\, Irish Republicans who se goal was the establishment of an independent Irish Republic\, rose up a gainst the British government\, battling police and burning down police ba rracks. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1867\, thousands of Fenians\, Irish Republicans whose goal was the establishment of an independent Irish Republic\, rose up against the British government\, battling police and burning down polic e barracks.\n\nThe Fenians were a transatlantic association consisting of the Irish Republican Brotherhood\, founded in Dublin by James Stephens in 1858\, and the Fenian Brotherhood\, founded in the United States by John O 'Mahony and Michael Doheny the same year. Their aim was the establishment of an independent Irish Republic by force of arms.\n\nIn 1865\, the Fenian s began preparing for a rebellion\, collecting about 6\,000 firearms and a s many as 50\,000 men willing to fight for Irish independence. The uprisin g began on February 14th\, when Fenians attacked a coastguard station\, ro bbed a man's house and stole his horses\, and killed one policeman in Coun ty Kerry\, however they retreated after discovering Killarney was occupied by the British Army.\n\nThe main rebellion took place on March 5th\, when an uprising broke out in Dublin\, Cork City\, and Limerick. Twelve people were killed\, and the attempted revolution failed\, in part to poor plann ing by the Irish and competent surveillance and suppression by the British government.\n\nThe Irish Republicans declared a briefly lived provisional government during the rebellion. Here is an excerpt from their declaratio n:\n\n"We have suffered centuries of outrage\, enforced poverty\, and bitt er misery. Our rights and liberties have been trampled on by an alien aris tocracy\, who treating us as foes\, usurped our lands\, and drew away from our unfortunate country all material riches.\n\nThe real owners of the so il were removed to make room for cattle\, and driven across the ocean to s eek the means of living\, and the political rights denied to them at home\ , while our men of thought and action were condemned to loss of life and l iberty. But we never lost the memory and hope of a national existence." RESOURCES:https://www.theirishstory.com/2011/03/05/today-in-irish-history- %E2%80%93the-fenian-rebellion-march-5-1867/#.YEUPvGhKhPY RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fenian_Rising END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:John R. Lawson (1871 - 1945) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250305 DTEND:20250306T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Birthdays,Massacre COMMENT:John R. Lawson\, born on this day in 1871\, was a leader of the Un ited Mine Workers of America during the 1913-14 Colorado Coalfield War. Af ter the Ludlow Massacre\, he was sentenced to a life of hard labor\, later freed on appeal. DESCRIPTION:John Rankin Lawson\, born on this day in 1871\, was a leader o f the United Mine Workers of America during the 1913-14 Colorado Coalfield War. After the Ludlow Massacre\, he was sentenced to a life of hard labor \, later freed on appeal.\n\nThe Ludlow Massacre was a mass murder perpetr ated by anti-striker militia during the Colorado Coalfield War. On April 2 0th\, 1914\, soldiers from the Colorado National Guard and private guards employed by Colorado Fuel and Iron Company (CF&I) attacked a tent colony o f roughly 1\,200 striking coal miners and their families in Ludlow\, Color ado\, killing twenty-one\, including children.\n\nDespite this atrocity\, Lawson\, a leader with the UMWA and not any anti-union militia\, was the o nly person convicted of murder during the strike\, for the death of a depu ty sheriff who died at Ludlow. Lawson was sentenced to a life of hard labo r\, but was later freed on an appeal to the Colorado Supreme Court.\n\nLaw son also participated in the Cripple Creek Strike of 1903-04. During the s trike\, Lawson's family home was dynamited in an attack probably executed by mine operators. Although his family survived\, his young daughter Fern was thrown from her crib by the blast.\n\n"If nobody quits until I do\, th ere will be no quitting!"\n\n- John R. Lawson\, after being sentenced to l ife in prison in 1915 RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_R._Lawson RESOURCES:https://history.denverlibrary.org/colorado-biographies/john-r-la wson-1871-1945 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Rosa Luxemburg (1871 - 1919) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250305 DTEND:20250306T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Socialism,Labor,Marxism,Birthdays COMMENT:Rosa Luxemburg\, born on this day in 1871\, was a revolutionary Po lish Marxist philosopher and economist who was assassinated by the right-w ing Freikorps paramilitary alongside her collaborator\, Karl Liebknecht. DESCRIPTION:Rosa Luxemburg\, born on this day in 1871\, was a revolutionar y Polish Marxist philosopher and economist who was assassinated by the rig ht-wing Freikorps paramilitary alongside her collaborator\, Karl Liebknech t.\n\nLuxemburg was born to a Jewish family living in the Russian sector o f Poland after the country was partitioned a century earlier. While enroll ed in an all-girls' gymnasium in Warsaw\, Rosa studied banned Polish texts and was a member of the illegal\, leftist Proletariat Party.\n\nLuxemburg was very politically active\, and an influential member of many political parties. In succession\, she served as a member of the Social Democracy o f the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania (SDKPiL)\, the Social Democratic Par ty of Germany (SPD)\, the Independent Social Democratic Party (USPD) and\, finally\, the Communist Party of Germany (KPD)\, which she co-founded wit h Liebknecht.\n\nAmong Luxemburg's noted works are "Social Reform or Revol ution?" (1900)\, "The Mass Strike\, the Political Party and the Trade Unio ns" (1906)\, and "The Accumulation of Capital" (1913).\n\nIn 1918-19\, Lux emberg publicly supported a violent rebellion against the German state\, o rganizing through the KPD and the Spartacist League. She was captured and summarily executed by the Freikorps\, government-sponsored paramilitary gr oups consisting mostly of World War I veterans. Her body was thrown in the Landwehr Canal in Berlin.\n\nDue to her pointed criticism of both Leninis t and more moderate social democratic schools of socialism\, Luxemburg's l egacy is a revolutionary school of socialist thought that exists outside o f either tradition.\n\n"Without general elections\, without freedom of the press\, freedom of speech\, freedom of assembly\, without the free battle of opinions\, life in every public institution withers away\, becomes a c aricature of itself\, and bureaucracy rises as the only deciding factor."\ n\n- Rosa Luxemburg RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosa_Luxemburg RESOURCES:https://spartacus-educational.com/RUSluxemburg.htm RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/archive/luxemburg/index.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Zhou Enlai (1898 - 1976) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250305 DTEND:20250306T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Marxism,Communism COMMENT:Zhou Enlai\, born on this day in 1898\, was a communist revolution ary\, statesman\, and military officer who served as the 1st Premier of th e People's Republic of China from 1949 to 1976. "All diplomacy is a contin uation of war by other means." DESCRIPTION:Zhou Enlai\, born on this day in 1898\, was a communist revolu tionary\, statesman\, and military officer who served as the 1st Premier o f the People's Republic of China from 1949 to 1976. "All diplomacy is a co ntinuation of war by other means."\n\nZhou was educated in a missionary co llege in Tianjin before studying at a Japanese university. In Tianjin\, he met his future wife\, Deng Yingchao while participating in a radical poli tical group known as the "Awakening Society". In 1920\, Zhou moved to Fran ce\, where he helped form the overseas branch of the Chinese Communist Par ty. He also lived in Britain and Germany before returning to China in 1924 .\n\nWhile working in the Political Department of the Whampoa Military Aca demy\, Zhou was also made the secretary of the Communist Party of Guangdon g-Guangxi\, and served as the CCP representative with the rank of major-ge neral.\n\nAfter the Chinese Civil War broke out in 1927\, Zhou served in t he communist forces\, helping establish and oversee a network of undergrou nd cells of communist resistance. Zhou played a leading role in the Long M arch of 1934-35\, an arduous military retreat of communist forces over 8\, 000 miles.\n\nFollowing the Zunyi Conference in 1935\, Mao Zedong became Z hou's assistant. After the conclusion of the Long March\, Mao officially t ook over Zhou Enlai's leading position in the CCP\, while Zhou took a seco ndary position as vice-chairman. Both would hold their leadership position s until their deaths in 1976.\n\nZhou was a prominent participant in the 1 955 Asian–African Conference\, held in Indonesia. The conference produce d a declaration in strongly in favor of peace\, the abolition of nuclear a rms\, general arms reduction\, and the principle of universal representati on at the United Nations. Zhou was critical of American imperial aggressio n and stated "the population of Asia will never forget that the first atom bomb was exploded on Asian soil."\n\nZhou passed away from bladder cancer on January 8th\, 1976\, just nine months before Mao Zedong's death in Sep tember that year. Frederick C. Teiwes and Warren Sun\, two Australian hist orians\, have claimed that Mao was worried that public expressions of mour ning would be directed against him and his policies\, as Zhou's later year s had been closely associated with reversing and moderating its excesses. Out of this concern\, Mao thus suppressed public expressions of mourning i n the period following his death.\n\n"Today the first unification of the C hinese people has emerged. The people themselves have become the masters o f Chinese soil\, and the rule of the reactionaries in China has been irrev ocably overthrown."\n\n- Zhou Enlai\, from "Chinese People Will not Tolera te Aggression" (October 1950) RESOURCES:https://spartacus-educational.com/COLDenlai.htm RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhou_Enlai RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/zhou-enlai/index.htm RESOURCES:https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2016-06/07/content_25636968. htm RESOURCES:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QrvXtt5JIQ&ab_channel=PublicRes ourceOrg RESOURCES:https://digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org/topics/conversations-zho u-enlai END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:German Peasants Begin Drafting Twelve Articles (1525) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250306 DTEND:20250307T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1525\, 50 representatives of various German peasant groups met to draft the Twelve Articles\, what some historians consider t he first draft of human rights and civil liberties in continental Europe a fter the Roman Empire. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1525\, 50 representatives of various German pea sant groups met to draft the Twelve Articles\, what some historians consid er the first draft of human rights and civil liberties in continental Euro pe after the Roman Empire.\n\nThe meeting took place during the German Pea sants' War\, when 50 representatives of various Swabian peasant groups met in the town of Memmingen to adopt a joint platform against the aristocrat ic government of the Swabian League.\n\nAmong the concepts laid out in the Twelve Articles are giving the right to every town and village freely ele ct and dismiss pastors\; egalitarian land\, rent\, and labor reform\; the right of all to be free (as contrasted with serfdom)\; and the right of th e poor to hunt.\n\nThe Articles were just one example among many similar p rograms developed and printed during the German Peasants' War. The Twelve Articles were printed over 25\,000 times within the next two months\, a tr emendous print run for the 16th century. Copies quickly spread throughout Germany. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelve_Articles RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1850/peasant-war-ger many/ch0e.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Mariya Kislyak (1925 - 1943) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250306 DTEND:20250307T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Birthdays,Fascism COMMENT:Mariya Kislyak\, born on this day in 1925\, was a Soviet partisan and the leader of a Kharkov underground Komsomol cell where she seduced an d killed Nazi officers\, actions for which she was executed by the Gestapo at the age of seventeen. DESCRIPTION:Mariya Kislyak\, born on this day in 1925\, was a Soviet parti san and the leader of a Kharkov underground Komsomol cell where she seduce d and killed Nazi officers\, actions for which she was executed by the Ges tapo at the age of seventeen.\n\nKislyak was born to a Ukrainian peasant f amily in the village of Lednoe. She graduated from medical training for pa ramedics and housewives the day before the German invasion of the Soviet U nion. During fighting in her hometown\, a wounded Soviet soldier she had b een taking care of asked her why the city didn't have a strong partisan mo vement.\n\nWhen the soldier recovered\, Kislyak contacted several partisan s hiding out in a nearby forest and asked if she could join their cause\, recruiting several acquaintances into the movement. With this organization \, she helped kill Nazi officers\, sometimes flirting with them to lure th em into an isolated area where they could be killed out of sight.\n\nWhen she received word that a Gestapo agent nicknamed "the Butcher" would be co ming to Kharkiv\, she and her partisan unit spent two days planning his ca pture. Kislyak rented a room right next to his at the farm he was staying at.\n\nAfter courting him for a few days\, Mariya lured him to a riverbank \, where her conspirators captured him. After interrogating the officer\, the group summarily executed him with a crowbar.\n\nIn response\, more tha n one hundred villagers\, including Mariya\, were collectively arrested by the Gestapo and told they would be killed by a firing squad if the SS man wasn't found alive soon. After the plot became known\, Mariya and two oth ers were brutally tortured and interrogated for weeks.\n\nOn June 18th\, t he group of three was hanged and their bodies put on public display. On Ma y 8th\, 1965\, she was posthumously awarded the title Hero of the Soviet U nion. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariya_Kislyak RESOURCES:http://www.warheroes.ru/hero/hero.asp?Hero_id=1974 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:UK Miners' Strike (1984 - 85) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250306 DTEND:20250307T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:On this day in 1984\, the UK Miners' Strike of 1984-85 began\, lea ding to more than 26 million lost workdays in what the BBC termed "the mos t bitter industrial dispute in British history". DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1984\, the UK Miners' Strike of 1984-85 began\, leading to more than 26 million lost workdays in what the BBC termed "the most bitter industrial dispute in British history".\n\nThe strike action was led by Arthur Scargill of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM)\, wh ich sought to oppose colliery closures\, using the possibility of energy s hortages as leverage (a tactic used in 1972). Opposition to the strike was led by the Conservative government of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher\, who wanted to reduce the power of the trade unions.\n\nThe strike was rule d illegal in September 1984\, as no national ballot of NUM members had bee n held\, and the labor action failed on March 3rd\, 1985. It was a definin g moment in British industrial relations\, with NUM's defeat significantly weakening the trade union movement and providing a major victory for That cher and the Conservative Party.\n\nThe number of strikes fell sharply in 1985\, and all of Britain's working pits were closed in the following thre e decades. Poverty significantly increased in former coal mining areas\; i n 1994\, Grimethorpe in South Yorkshire was the poorest settlement in the country. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UK_miners%27_strike_(1984%E2%80%93 85) RESOURCES:http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/12/newsid _3503000/3503346.stm RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/history/etol/newspape/workershammer-uk/ 067_1985_03_workers-hammer.pdf END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:"Bloody Sunday" in Selma (1965) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250307 DTEND:20250308T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Civil Rights,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1965\, U.S. civil rights activists attempting to ma rch from Selma\, Alabama to the state capital in protest of voting discrim ination were attacked by police and deputized white citizens\, an event kn own as "Bloody Sunday". DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1965\, U.S. civil rights activists attempting t o march from Selma\, Alabama to the state capital in protest of voting dis crimination were attacked by police and deputized white citizens\, an even t known as "Bloody Sunday". The several hundred protesters were making the ir first of three attempts to complete the march\, which was 54 miles long .\n\nThe march had gone according to plan until protesters reached the Edm und Pettus Bridge\, where they encountered a wall of state troopers and co unty posse waiting for them on the other side. Earlier that day\, County S heriff Jim Clark had ordered all white men in Dallas County over the age o f 21 to report to the courthouse that morning to be deputized.\n\nThe poli ce began assaulting the demonstrators\, knocking many to the ground and be ating them with nightsticks. Another detachment of troopers fired tear gas \, and mounted officers charged the crowd on horseback. One marcher\, a 14 year old girl\, required 28 stiches in the back of her head.\n\nThis assa ult ended the first attempt of protesters to march to Montgomery\, but it brought international attention to the protest. On March 21st\, a third at tempt was made to march to Montgomery\, this one successful and culminatin g in 25\,000 people arriving at the state capitol building.\n\nThe protest was a watershed moment in the civil rights struggle. By the next year\, 1 1\,000 black people successfully registered to vote in Selma\, up from jus t 130. RESOURCES:https://snccdigital.org/events/bloody-sunday/ RESOURCES:http://digital.wustl.edu/e/eop/eopweb/you0015.0111.115revandrewy oung.html RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selma_to_Montgomery_marches#%22Blo ody_Sunday%22_events END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Lucy Parsons Passes (1942) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250307 DTEND:20250308T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Labor,IWW,Anarchism COMMENT:Lucy Parsons was an American labor organizer and anarcho-communist who died on this day in 1942. She co-founded the IWW and was described by the Chicago Police Department as "more dangerous than a thousand rioters" . DESCRIPTION:Lucy Parsons was an American labor organizer and anarcho-commu nist who died on this day in 1942. She co-founded the IWW and was describe d by the Chicago Police Department as "more dangerous than a thousand riot ers".\n\nParsons entered the radical movement with her husband and fellow anarchist Albert Parsons\, contributing to "The Alarm"\, a radical newspap er Albert edited. Lucy also edited the "Liberator"\, an anarchist newspape r that supported the IWW\, and worked with the International Labor Defense \, a communist legal advocacy group that defended the Scottsboro Boys and Angelo Herndon.\n\nFollowing her husband's 1887 infamous execution in rela tion to the Haymarket affair\, Parsons remained committed to radical labor organizing. One of her last appearances was a speech to striking workers at International Harvester in February 1941\, at approximately 90 years ol d.\n\nParsons was prescient on the nature of labor conflict\, stating "My conception of the strike of the future is not to strike and go out and sta rve\, but to strike and remain in\, and take possession of the necessary p roperty of production"\, anticipating the labor tactics of sit-down strike s and worker occupations.\n\n"Never be deceived that the rich will allow y ou to vote away their wealth."\n\n- Lucy Parsons RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/1886-lucy-par sons-i-am-anarchist/ RESOURCES:https://www.zinnedproject.org/materials/lucy-gonzales-parsons/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucy_Parsons RESOURCES:https://theanarchistlibrary.org/category/author/lucy-e-parsons END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Rudi Dutschke (1940 - 1979) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250307 DTEND:20250308T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Socialism,Labor,Birthdays,Protests COMMENT:Rudi Dutschke\, born on this day in 1940\, was a socialist German sociologist and anti-war activist. In 1967\, he advocated for radicals to take a "long march through the institutions" as a non-violent way to seek revolutionary change. DESCRIPTION:Rudi Dutschke\, born on this day in 1940\, was a socialist Ger man sociologist and anti-war activist. In 1967\, he advocated for radicals to take a "long march through the institutions" as a non-violent way to s eek revolutionary change.\n\nRudi Dutschke grew up in post-war East German y. As a youth\, he became involved with the Evangelical Church in East Ger many and would later claim religious inspiration for his socialism\, tying the idea of spiritual transcendence with societal transcendence.\n\nDutsc hke's views on socialism\, influenced by worker councils during the Hungar ian Uprising of 1956\, put him in conflict with GDR authorities\, and he d efected to West Germany shortly before construction of the Berlin Wall beg an in 1961.\n\nDutschke became influenced by ideas of social provocation p roposed by the Situationist International\, and joined the Situationist gr oup Subversive Action in 1963. He edited their newspaper and wrote about r evolutionary developments in the Third World.\n\nSubversive Action would l ater join the German Socialist Students' Union\, which had formerly been t he student wing of the social democratic SPD before being expelled due to being well to the left of its parent organization. After being elected to the political council of the West Berlin SDS in 1965\, Dutschke became a m ajor leader calling for student resistance in West Germany\, focusing on t he Vietnam War in particular.\n\nAs the movement grew\, Dutschke's visibil ity made him a figure of attack from right-wing politicians and press\, su ch as those owned by Axel Springer\, which controlled around 67% of West G ermany's press market at the time. His family was forced to leave their ap artment after it was attacked with smoke bombs\, excrement\, and threateni ng graffiti.\n\nIn 1967\, Dutschke famously advocated for a "long march th rough the institutions"\, to join political and media establishments to bu ild power for leftist movements from within.\n\nOn April 11th\, 1968\, whi le attempting to collect a prescription for his infant son\, Dutschke was shot by Josef Bachmann\, a young laborer with ties to neo-Nazi groups. Bac hmann shouted "you dirty\, communist pig!" and shot him three times.\n\nBa chman claimed to have been inspired by the assassination of MLK Jr.\, whic h had taken place just a week prior. The assassination attempt spawned ano ther wave of attacks on Springer Press facilities by protestors\, and the shooting was viewed as a major factor in the rise of the militant Red Army Faction (RAF).\n\nWhile Dutschke survived\, he suffered from significant memory and speech issues along with epileptic seizures\, and was soon forc ed to step down from his political roles. He moved with his family to Engl and in 1969\, only to be accused by the Conservative Party-controlled UK H ome Office of engaging in political activity in 1971 and expelled\, before taking up a teaching role at the University of Aarhus in Denmark.\n\nDuts chke would later maintain limited political involvement during the 1970s\, supporting East German dissidents. His thoughts on the Red Army Faction d uring this time remain controversial\; when RAF member Holger Meins died o n hunger strike\, he commented at his grave\; "the struggle continues". Ho wever\, he grew critical of their actions which risked harm to civilians a nd people rather than infrastructure and objects.\n\nIn December 1978\, Du tschke wrote\, "Every small citizens' initiative\, every political and soc ial youth\, women\, unemployed\, pensioner and class struggle movement is a hundred times more valuable and qualitatively different than the most sp ectacular action of individual terror".\n\nDutschke died on December 24th\ , 1979 after suffering an epileptic seizure while taking a bath at his hom e in Denmark\, causing him to drown. Thousands gathered at his funeral\, w here Protestant theologian Helmut Gollwitzer described him as someone "fou ght passionately\, but not fanatically\, for a more humane world". RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudi_Dutschke RESOURCES:https://www.dw.com/en/interview-remembering-student-movement-fir ebrand-rudi-dutschke/a-5031510 RESOURCES:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wS82Z2zSHPU&ab_channel=criminals andcrimefighters END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Citizens' Commission Exposes COINTELPRO (1971) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250308 DTEND:20250309T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Civil Rights COMMENT:On this day in 1971\, a group of activists known as the "Citizens' Commission" broke into an FBI field office and stole over 1\,000 classifi ed documents\, exposing COINTELPRO\, a widespread surveillance operation o f left-wing activists. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1971\, a group of activists known as the "Citiz ens' Commission" broke into an FBI field office and stole over 1\,000 clas sified documents\, exposing COINTELPRO\, a widespread surveillance operati on of left-wing activists.\n\nThe "Citizens' Commission to Investigate the FBI" was an activist group that operated in the U.S. during the early 197 0s\, of which this is their only known action. Members of the raid mailed these documents anonymously to several U.S. newspapers\, most of which ref used to publish the information. The Washington Post was the first newspap er willing to publish the story.\n\nThe documents detailed widespread ille gal surveillance on civil rights activists and contained some of the FBI's most self-incriminating documents\, including several that detailed the F BI's use of postal workers and switchboard operators to spy on black civil rights activists.\n\nNoam Chomsky stated that analysis of the stolen docu ments show that 40% of them were devoted to political surveillance\, inclu ding two cases involving right-wing groups\, ten concerning immigrants\, a nd over two hundred on left or liberal groups. Notably\, Muhammed Ali\, wh ose 1971 fight with Joe Frazier provided cover for the burglary\, was hims elf a target of this surveillance.\n\nThe perpetrators were never caught. Over 40 years after the break-in\, some participants decided to go public with their story. In 2014\, Betty Medsger's book "The Burglary: The Discov ery of J. Edgar Hoover's Secret F.B.I." was released\, which details the b urglary and revealed the identities of five of the eight participants. In 2014\, filmmaker Johanna Hamilton made a documentary about the event\, tit led "1971". RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizens%27_Commission_to_Investig ate_the_FBI RESOURCES:https://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/07/us/burglars-who-took-on-fbi-a bandon-shadows.html END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:February Revolution (1917) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250308 DTEND:20250309T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1917\, the February Revolution began in Russia when tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets\, demanding an end to food shortages\, World War I\, and autocratic rule by Nicholas II. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1917\, the February Revolution began in Russia when tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets\, demanding an en d to food shortages\, World War I\, and autocratic rule by Nicholas II.\n\ nThe anti-government protests took place in the context of deeply unpopula r Russian participation in World War I\, which had garnered six million ca sualties and a desertion rate of about 34\,000 soldiers a month in early 1 917.\n\nBy February\, the majority of people in Petrograd (modern day St. Petersburg) had lost faith in the Tsarist regime. The first major protest of the February Revolution occurred on March 3rd when workers at Petrograd 's largest industrial plant\, the Putilov Factory\, announced a strike to demonstrate against the government.\n\nOn March 8th\, the strikers were jo ined by workers celebrating International Women's Day and protesting food rations. These workers recruited more than 50\,000 people from other plant s. By March 10th\, nearly all industry was shut down due to at least 250\, 000 workers participating in anti-government demonstrations.\n\nOn March 1 2th\, the majority of the city garrison joined the protesters\, who seized Petrograd and began hunting police and shooting city officials. Despite a senior government official warning Nicholas II that "any procrastination [in addressing the protests] is tantamount to death"\, Nicholas responded "again\, this fat [official] has written me lots of nonsense\, to which I shall not even deign to reply". He was forced to abdicate the throne three days later.\n\nPower was then shared by the Petrograd Soviet and a Provis ional Government (formed by the Provisional Committee of the State Duma\, a representational branch of the previous government)\, declared on March 16th.\n\nThe relationship proved untenable\, however (Lenin\, for example\ , insisted on offering no support to the Provisional Government)\, and ult imately it was overthrown by the Bolsheviks in the October Revolution late r that year. RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/library/russian-revolution-1917-reading-guide RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/glossary/events/f/e.htm#february-1917 RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/February_Revolution RESOURCES:https://www.britannica.com/topic/Russian-Provisional-Government END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:International Women's Day DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250308 DTEND:20250309T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1857\, New York City garment workers protested agai nst inhumane working conditions\, low wages\, and for equal rights for wom en\, an event that is commemorated annually as International Women's Day. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1857\, New York City garment workers protested against inhumane working conditions\, low wages\, and for equal rights for women\, an event that is commemorated annually as International Women's D ay. Their protest was attacked and broken up by police\, but the labor act ion led to the creation of the first women's labor union.\n\nOn the same d ay in 1908\, 15\,000 women marched in NYC for shorter work hours\, better pay\, voting rights\, and an end to child labor. The slogan "Bread and Ros es" emerged from the protest\, with bread symbolizing economic security an d roses for better living standards.\n\nInternational Women's Day in 1917 was also the date of the Russian February Revolution\, in which workers ce lebrating International Women's Day joined protests and riots against food rationing\, with more than 50\,000 people in the streets. The protests gr ew quickly and developed revolutionary fervor\, eventually overthrowing th e monarchy.\n\nInternational Women's Day (then International Working Women 's Day) was introduced during the 1910 International Conference of Working Women in Copenhagen\, Denmark. Clara Zetkin\, a German socialist\, sugges ted a holiday honoring the strike of garment workers in the U.S. The propo sal received unanimous approval from the 100 women from 17 countries. RESOURCES:https://www.yesmagazine.org/democracy/2013/03/09/where-did-inter national-women-s-day-come-from/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Women%27s_Day END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Jeremy Brecher (1938 - ) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250308 DTEND:20250309T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Birthdays COMMENT:Jeremy Brecher\, born on this day in 1938\, is an American histori an\, filmmaker\, activist\, and author of essential books on labor and soc ial movements\, including "Strike!" and "Root & Branch: The Rise of the Wo rkers' Movements". DESCRIPTION:Jeremy Brecher\, born on this day in 1938\, is an American his torian\, filmmaker\, activist\, and author of essential books on labor and social movements\, including "Strike!" and "Root & Branch: The Rise of th e Workers' Movements".\n\nIn 1969\, Brecher and other collaborators\, incl uding Paul Mattick\, Jr.\, Stanley Aronowitz\, and Peter Rachleff\, began publishing a magazine and pamphlet series called "Root & Branch"\, drawing on the tradition of workers councils and adapting them to contemporary Am erica. In 1975\, they published the collection "Root & Branch: The Rise of the Workers' Movements."\n\nIn 1972\, Brecher published "Strike!"\, which chronicles the story of "repeated\, massive\, and sometimes violent revol ts by ordinary working people in America"\, in the author's own words. The text\, which has been updated as recently as 2020\, is published in full at libcom.org.\n\nBrecher's career as a historian was described by fellow historian James R. Green as "history from below"\, pioneering "shared auth ority" between history professionals and the communities they study and wr ite about\, with an emphasis on oral history and the historical interpreta tions formed by the communities in question. RESOURCES:https://www.jeremybrecher.org/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremy_Brecher RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/article/strike-jeremy-brecher RESOURCES:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnr4f8cPmnA END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Bill Frank Jr. (1931 - 2014) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250309 DTEND:20250310T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Indigenous COMMENT:Bill Frank Jr.\, born on this day in 1931\, was an indigenous envi ronmental leader and treaty rights activist known for his use of the "fish -in"\, a civil disobedience tactic used to win indigenous rights to natura l resources. DESCRIPTION:William Frank Jr.\, born on this day in 1931\, was an indigeno us environmental leader and treaty rights activist known for his use of th e "fish-in"\, a civil disobedience tactic used to win indigenous rights to natural resources.\n\nA Nisqually tribal member\, Frank is particularly k nown for his grassroots campaign for fishing rights on the tribe's Nisqual ly River. Frank was arrested more than 50 times in the "Fish Wars" of the 1960s and 1970s because of his intense dedication to the treaty fishing ri ghts cause.\n\nThe tribal struggle was taken to the courts in "U.S. v. Was hington"\, with federal judge George Hugo Boldt issuing a ruling in favor of the native tribes in 1974. The "Boldt Decision" established the 20 trea ty Indian tribes in western Washington as co-managers of the salmon resour ce with the State of Washington\, and re-affirmed tribal rights to half of the harvestable salmon returning to western Washington. RESOURCES:http://billyfrankjr.org/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Frank_Jr. END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Bobby Sands (1954 - 1981) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250309 DTEND:20250310T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Protests COMMENT:Bobby Sands\, born on this day in 1954\, was an Irish revolutionar y who served in the IRA. Sands died from a hunger strike while imprisoned at age 27\, just one month after becoming the elected MP for Fermanagh and South Tyrone. DESCRIPTION:Bobby Sands\, born on this day in 1954\, was an Irish revoluti onary who served in the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA). Sands die d from a hunger strike at age 27 while imprisoned\, just one month after b ecoming the elected MP for Fermanagh and South Tyrone.\n\nSands grew up in North Belfast\, a member of the Catholic minority and in a majority Prote stant area. After being threatened at gunpoint and called "Fenian scum" by his co-workers at the age of 15\, Sands became dedicated to revolutionary politics. In 1972\, he attended his first Provisional IRA meeting.\n\nJus t a few months later\, Sands was arrested and charged in October 1972 with possession of four handguns found in the house where he was living. After being released in 1976\, he continued to be active in the IRA.\n\nLater t hat year\, Sands and five others were arrested following the bombing of th e Balmoral Furniture Company in Dunmurry and a subsequent shootout with po lice. Sands and three others were sentenced to 14 years in prison for poss ession of a revolver.\n\nUndeterred\, Sands continued to protest in prison . He refused to wear a prison uniform and was kept in his cell naked witho ut access to bedding for 13 hours a day. While incarcerated\, Sands author ed poems and songs\, published by Republican magazines.\n\nOn March 1st\, 1981\, Sands initiated a hunger strike in collaboration with other inmates . The demands of the hunger strike included the right to not have to do pr ison work\, the right to not wear a prison uniform\, and full restoration of remission lost through protest.\n\nSands narrowly won a special electio n to serve as MP of Fermanagh and South Tyrone on April 9th\, 1981\, more than a month into the hunger strike. In response\, the British government introduced the "Representation of the People Act"\, which prevents prisone rs serving jail terms of more than one year in either the UK or the Republ ic of Ireland from being nominated as candidates in British elections.\n\n Less than a month after winning this election\, Sands died in prison at th e age of 27. More than 100\,000 people lined the route of Sands' funeral\, and he was buried in the New Republican Plot\, alongside 76 others.\n\n"T hey have nothing in their whole imperial arsenal that can break the spirit of one Irishman who doesn't want to be broken."\n\n- Bobby Sands RESOURCES:https://www.bobbysandstrust.com/ RESOURCES:https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/ira/readings/diar y.html RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Sands END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Batista Coup d'état (1952) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250310 DTEND:20250311T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1952\, Fulgencio Batista led a military coup agains t outgoing Cuban president Carlos Prío Socarrás. With Batista's help\, U .S. capital dominated the Cuban economy until he was ousted from power in 1959. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1952\, Fulgencio Batista led a military coup ag ainst outgoing Cuban president Carlos Prío Socarrás. With Batista's help \, U.S. capital dominated the Cuban economy until he was ousted from power in 1959.\n\nAs part of the coup\, Batista canceled national elections thr ee months before they were scheduled to take place. Batista\, himself a ca ndidate\, was not leading in the polls.\n\nClaiming his actions were neces sary to "save the Republic from chaos"\, Batista\, with the backing of the army\, stormed the Presidential Palace with squads of troops and police s urrounding the building. President Prío had left the area 30 minutes befo re however\, and the palace was seized without violence.\n\nThe United Sta tes recognized his government on March 27th\, and Batista allowed U.S. fin ancial interests to dominate Cuba's economy. By the late 1950s\, U.S. capi talists owned 90% of Cuban mines\, 80% of its public utilities\, 50% of it s railways\, 40% of its sugar production and 25% of its bank deposits\, ap proximately $1 billion in total assets.\n\nWhen asked to analyze Batista's government\, historian Arthur Schlesinger wrote "The corruption of the Go vernment\, the brutality of the police\, the government's indifference to the needs of the people for education\, medical care\, housing\, for socia l justice and economic justice...is an open invitation to revolution."\n\n Accordingly\, Batista's reign ended on January 1st\, 1959 when he was oust ed from power by communist revolutionaries. Early that morning\, Batista f led with an estimated personal fortune of $300 million to the Dominican Re public\, where strongman and previous military ally Rafael Trujillo held p ower. Batista eventually found political asylum in Oliveira Salazar's Port ugal and Francisco Franco's Spain\, dying in the latter in 1973. RESOURCES:https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2013/mar/11/cuba-batista -fifth-revolution-1952 RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulgencio_Batista END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Courrières Mine Disaster (1906) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250310 DTEND:20250311T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1906\, the Courrières Mine Disaster\, Europe's wor st mining accident to date\, occurred\, killing 1\,099 miners in Northern France and causing 46\,000 workers to strike. Some survivors were trapped underground until April 4th. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1906\, the Courrières Mine Disaster\, Europe's worst mining accident to date\, occurred\, killing 1\,099 miners in North ern France and causing 46\,000 workers to strike. Some survivors were trap ped underground until April 4th.\n\nThis was the second-worst mining disas ter in history\, surpassed only by the Benxihu Colliery accident in China on April 26th\, 1942\, which killed 1\,549 miners. The majority of the dea ths and destruction were caused by an explosion of coal dust\, which swept through the mine\, however the cause of the explosion was never conclusiv ely proven.\n\nAround 500 miners were able to get to the surface in the ho urs after the explosion\, however survivors trapped underground were found as late as April 4th.\n\nOn the incident\, socialist politician Jean Jaur ès wrote "It is a call for social justice that comes to the nation's repr esentants from the depths of the burning mines. It is the harsh and suffer ing destiny of work that\, once more\, manifests itself to all. And would political action be something else than the sad game of ambitions and vani ties if it didn't propose to itself the liberation of the workers' people\ , the organisation of a better life for those who work?". RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Courri%C3%A8res_mine_disaster RESOURCES:https://www.lefigaro.fr/histoire/archives/2016/03/09/26010-20160 309ARTFIG00306-courrieres-la-catastrophe-miniere-la-plus-meurtiere-d-europ e-1906.php END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Leo Jogiches (1919) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250310 DTEND:20250311T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Marxism,Assassinations COMMENT:Leon "Leo" Jogiches (1867 - 1919)\, also known by the party name J an Tyszka\, was a Marxist revolutionary and politician who was executed on this day in 1919 for investigating the recent murders of Rosa Luxemburg a nd Karl Liebknecht. DESCRIPTION:Leon "Leo" Jogiches (1867 - 1919)\, also known by the party na me Jan Tyszka\, was a Marxist revolutionary and politician who was execute d on this day in 1919 for investigating the recent murders of Rosa Luxembu rg and Karl Liebknecht.\n\nJogiches was active in both Germany and Poland\ , founding the political party "The Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Pol and" in 1893 and becoming a key figure in the underground Spartacus League in Germany during World War I.\n\nJogiches was also a personal companion and a close political ally of Rosa Luxemburg. After Luxemburg and her poli tical partner Karl Liebknecht were killed by the German Freikorps\, Jogich es began investigating their deaths.\n\nJogiches was assassinated in Moabi t prison on March 10th\, 1919\, in Berlin. RESOURCES:https://spartacus-educational.com/RUSjogiches.htm RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Jogiches END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Ralph Abernathy (1926 - 1990) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250311 DTEND:20250312T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Civil Rights,Birthdays COMMENT:Ralph Abernathy (shown left)\, born on this day in 1926\, was a Ba ptist minister and civil rights activist who co-founded the Southern Chris tian Leadership Conference and helped lead the 1968 Poor People's Campaign . DESCRIPTION:Ralph David Abernathy Sr. (shown left)\, born on this day in 1 926\, was a Baptist minister and civil rights activist who co-founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and helped lead the 1968 Poor Peo ple's Campaign.\n\nAbernathy was a close friend and mentor of Martin Luthe r King Jr.\, collaborating with King to create the Montgomery Improvement Association (which led to the Montgomery Bus Boycott) and co-founding the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC).\n\nAbernathy is noted for leading\, among other demonstrations\, the Poor People's Campaign in Wash ington\, D.C.\, testifying in Congress in favor of the Voting Rights Act o f 1982\, and helping broker a deal between Native Americans and the U.S. g overnment during the Wounded Knee Incident of 1973.\n\nHis tombstone reads "I tried". RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Abernathy RESOURCES:https://www.wnyc.org/story/dr-and-mrs-ralph-abernathy-interview/ RESOURCES:http://repository.wustl.edu/concern/videos/j3860c03h END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Wyndham Mortimer (1884 - 1966) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250311 DTEND:20250312T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Labor,Birthdays COMMENT:Wyndham Mortimer\, born on this day in 1884\, was an American comm unist union organizer active with the United Auto Workers union (UAW). Aft er refusing to follow an anti-strike line from UAW leadership\, he was ous ted in 1941. DESCRIPTION:Wyndham Mortimer\, born on this day in 1884\, was an American communist union organizer active with the United Auto Workers union (UAW). After refusing to follow an anti-strike line from UAW leadership\, he was ousted in 1941.\n\nWyndham Mortimer was born March on 11th\, 1884 in Kart haus\, Pennsylvania\, the son of a coal miner who was organized with the K nights of Labor\, an early American labor union. He later recalled that on e of his earliest memories of life involved "walking behind parades of str iking miners."\n\nMortimer left school at age 12 to work in the mines of P ennsylvania as a coal trapper. In 1900\, still a teenager\, he joined the United Mine Workers of America in 1900. In 1908\, Mortimer joined the Soci alist Party of America after hearing a campaign speech by the party's Pres idential nominee\, Eugene V. Debs.\n\nToday\, Mortimer is best remembered as a key figure in the 1937 Flint Sit-Down Strike\, during which he was Vi ce President of the UAW. Also a member of the Communist Party USA\, Mortim er was a vehement critic of the efforts of the conservative American Feder ation of Labor (AFL) to control the union.\n\nIn 1941\, Mortimer's refusal to follow the anti-strike line of the UAW's governing Executive Board dur ing a controversial work stoppage at a California aircraft factory led to his termination by the union\, effectively bringing an end to his career.\ n\n"The [Walter] Reuther-Murray-Roman Catholic hierarchy has plans for us. They plan to make the American labor movement the staunch ally of monopol y capitalism in its war against the exploited and poverty stricken peoples of the world. And here at home\, their witch hunting\, disrupting\, and r aiding of other unions\, is treason to the American working class."\n\n- W yndham Mortimer\, in his autobiography "Organize! My Life as a Union Man" RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wyndham_Mortimer RESOURCES:http://reuther.wayne.edu/node/2753 RESOURCES:https://archive.org/details/organizemylifeas00mort_0 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Ala Gertner (1912 - 1945) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250312 DTEND:20250313T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays COMMENT:Ala Gertner\, born on this day in 1912\, was a Polish Jewish woman who helped facilitate the Sonderkommando revolt at Auschwitz\, blowing up one of the crematoriums there. She was executed for this act of resistanc e in 1945. DESCRIPTION:Ala Gertner\, born on this day in 1912\, was a Polish Jewish w oman who helped facilitate the Sonderkommando revolt at Auschwitz\, blowin g up one of the crematoriums there. She was executed for this act of resis tance in 1945.\n\nGertner was a member of the Sonderkommandos\, slave labo rers forced to aid with the disposal of gas chamber victims during the Hol ocaust. At Auschwitz\, Gertner worked in the warehouses at first\, sorting the possessions of Jews who had been gassed. There\, she met Roza Robota\ , who was active in the underground resistance.\n\nWhen Gertner was assign ed to the munitions factory\, she and Roza smuggled gunpowder to the Sonde rkommando\, who were building bombs and planning an escape. Gertner recrui ted other women to join the conspiracy and passed the stolen gunpowder to Roza.\n\nOn October 7th\, 1944\, the Sonderkommando blew up Crematorium IV \, but the revolt was quickly quelled by armed SS guards. A lengthy invest igation led the Nazis back to Gertner and Roza\, and then to Estusia Wajcb lum and Regina Safirsztajn\, who were also implicated in the conspiracy. T hey were interrogated and tortured for weeks.\n\nGertner\, along with thre e co-conspirators\, were executed on January 5th or 6th (sources differ) i n 1945. Their deaths were the last public hanging at Auschwitz. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ala_Gertner RESOURCES:http://web-static.nypl.org/exhibitions/sala/gertner.html RESOURCES:https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/photo/prewar-portrait- of-ala-gertner RESOURCES:https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/timeline-event/holocau st/1942-1945/auschwitz-revolt END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Manol Vassev Assassinated (1958) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250312 DTEND:20250313T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Assassinations,Anarchism COMMENT:On this day in 1958\, Bulgarian anarcho-syndicalist labor organize r Manol Vassev was assassinated by communist secret police\, one day befor e his scheduled release from prison. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1958\, Bulgarian anarcho-syndicalist labor orga nizer Manol Vassev was assassinated by communist secret police\, one day b efore his scheduled release from prison. This entry relies almost entirely on the work of anarchist historian Nick Heath:\n\nA tobacco industry work er by trade\, Vassev turned to anarchism while serving at the front in Wor ld War I\, becoming a labor organizer and speaker. Vassev was persecuted f or this work\, serving time in prison and having to assume a fake identity (he was born Jordan Sotirov and adopted the name Manol Vassev to escape a uthorities). He was also active in anti-fascist resistance during World Wa r II.\n\nVassev was arrested by the communist police for the first time on March 10th\, 1945\, along with all the delegates to the national conferen ce of the Anarchist Communist Federation at Kniajevo\, near Sofia. He was interned at the concentration camp of Dupnitsa and then at Kutzian.\n\nAft er serving five years in prison\, a trial was held for a second sentence. Held in public\, Vassev was accused of being an "agent in the pay of the A nglo-Americans".\n\nVassev interrupted the accusation\, retorting "It isn' t me who signed the Teheran and Yalta treaties with the English and the Am ericans\; it's not me who went to London to kiss the skirt of the Queen of England!"\n\nVassev died the day before his release was scheduled\, poiso ned by the Bulgarian secret police. RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/articles/1898-1958-manol-vassev-sotir ov RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manol_Vasev END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Havana Presidential Palace Attack (1957) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250313 DTEND:20250314T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1957\, the Directorio Revoluncionari Estudiantil\, a group of anti-Batista\, revolutionary Cuban students\, attacked the Pres idential Palace in Havana in a failed attempt to assassinate Fulgencio Bat ista and overthrow the government. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1957\, the Directorio Revoluncionari Estudianti l\, a group of anti-Batista\, revolutionary Cuban students\, attacked the Presidential Palace in Havana in a failed attempt to assassinate Fulgencio Batista and overthrow the government.\n\nParticipants of the attack succe ssfully stormed the palace\, making it to the third floor and killing many of Batista's personal guards\, but failed to locate and kill Batista hims elf. The rebellion was successfully quelled\, and two of the revolutionari es were put on trial\; the rest were either killed or escaped.\n\nA large pro-Batista rally\, attended by ~250\,000 people\, took place on April 7th . Signs read "For Batista\, in the Past\, Now and Forever" and "Five Hundr ed American Residents of the Isle of Pines Have Faith in Batista."\n\nOn J anuary 22nd\, 1959\, Fidel Castro stated to journalists that individual-fo cused acts such as the palace attack are "false concepts about the revolut ion" because "tyranny is not a man\; tyranny is a system...We were never s upporters of tyrannicide or military coups\, [which tended] to inculcate t he people a complex of impotence." RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Havana_Presidential_Palace_attack_ (1957) RESOURCES:https://www.radiotelevisionmarti.com/a/cuando-los-universitarios -cubanos-se-levantaron-contra-el-gobernante-de-cuba/260147.html END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:New Jewel Revolution (1979) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250313 DTEND:20250314T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Marxism COMMENT:On this day in 1979\, the People's Revolutionary Government (PRG) was proclaimed in Grenada after the Marxist-Leninist New Jewel Movement ov erthrew the state in a socialist revolution\, with Maurice Bishop serving as Prime Minister. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1979\, the People's Revolutionary Government (P RG) was proclaimed in Grenada after the Marxist-Leninist New Jewel Movemen t overthrew the state in a socialist revolution\, with Maurice Bishop serv ing as Prime Minister.\n\nAfter coming into power\, Bishop stated the goal s of the NJM: "We definitely have a stake in seeking the creation of a new international economic order which would assist in ensuring economic just ice for the oppressed and exploited peoples of the world\, and in ensuring that the resources of the sea are used for the benefit of all the people of the world and not for a tiny minority of profiteers".\n\nThe new govern ment developed an ambitious social program\, initiating a literacy campaig n\, expanding education programs\, worker protections\, and establishing f armers' cooperatives.\n\nDuring the PRG's reign\, unemployment was reduced from 49% to 14%\, the ratio of doctors per person increased from 1/4000 t o 1/3\,000\, the infant mortality rate was reduced\, and the literacy rate increased from 85% to 90%. In addition\, laws guaranteeing equal pay for equal work for women were passed\, and mothers were guaranteed three month s' maternity leave.\n\nThe government suspended the constitution of the pr evious regime\, ruling by decree until a factional conflict broke out\, ul timately leading to Maurice Bishop's assassination. President Ronald Reaga n launched an invasion of Grenada a few weeks later\, on October 25th\, 19 83.\n\n"We have attempted to show in this Manifesto what is possible. We h ave demonstrated beyond doubt that there is no reason why we should contin ue to live in such poverty\, misery\, suffering\, dependence and exploitat ion...The new society must not only speak of Democracy\, but must practise it in all its aspects. We must stress the policy of 'Self-Reliance' and ' Self-Sufficiency' undertaken co-operatively\, and reject the easy approach es offered by aid and foreign assistance. We will have to recognise that o ur most important resource is our people."\n\n- Manifesto of the New Jewel Movement (1973) RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/history/grenada/1973/manifesto.htm RESOURCES:https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/grenada-revolution/ RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/article/nobodys-backyard-maurice-bishops-spee ches-1979-1983-edited-chris-searle-introduction RESOURCES:https://www.jacobinmag.com/2019/09/grenada-revolution-maurice-bi shop-reagan RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%27s_Revolutionary_Governmen t_(Grenada) END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Marielle Franco Assassinated (2018) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250314 DTEND:20250315T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Assassinations,Queer,Fascism,Feminism,Socialism COMMENT:On this day in 2018\, Marielle Franco\, a queer feminist and socia list politician in Brazil\, was assassinated by ex-military police. The da y before her death\, she tweeted "How many others will have to die for thi s war [with police] to end?" DESCRIPTION:On this day in 2018\, Marielle Franco\, a queer feminist and s ocialist politician in Brazil\, was assassinated by police. The day before her death\, she tweeted "How many others will have to die for this war [w ith police] to end?"\n\nMarielle Franco (1979 - 2018) was raised in Maré\ , a slum in northern Rio de Janeiro\, where she also resided for most of h er life. Franco began working to support her family at eleven years old an d raised her daughter while working as a preschool teacher for minimum wag e.\n\nAs an adult\, Franco earned a master's degree in public administrati on from the Fluminense Federal University. Her master's thesis was titled "UPP: The Reduction of the Favela to Three Letters"\, dealt with a law enf orcement program to retake control of Rio's favelas from gangs.\n\nIn 2016 \, Franco ran for Rio de Janeiro City Council and won her seat with more t han 46\,500 votes. As a city council member\, Franco fought against violen ce against women\, for reproductive and gay rights\, and for the rights of favela residents.\n\nOn March 14th\, 2018\, Franco attended a round-table discussion titled "Young Black Women Moving [Power] Structures" (Portugue se: Jovens Negras Movendo Estruturas). Two hours after leaving the talk\, Franco and her driver were assassinated by two men driving another car. Fr anco had been planning to marry her partner Mônica Benício that Septembe r.\n\nTwo former members of the military police were arrested for the murd ers in March 2019. All presidential candidates in Brazil during the 2018 c ampaign condemned the crime\, except for Jair Bolsonaro\, who repeatedly r efused to condemn the assassination.\n\n"Though we may earn lower salaries \, be relegated to lower positions\, work triple workdays\, be judged for our clothing\, be subjected to sexual\, physical\, psychological violence\ , killed daily by our partners\, we will not be silenced: our lives matter !"\n\n- Marielle Franco\, from a speech she was preparing to give days aft er her assassination RESOURCES:https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/democraciaabierta/life-and-batt les-marielle-franco/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marielle_Franco END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:SS Columbia Eagle Mutiny (1970) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250314 DTEND:20250315T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Imperialism,Mutinies COMMENT:On this day in 1970\, the SS Columbia Eagle Mutiny began when two anti-war crewmembers seized the napalm bomb-carrying vessel\, forcing its crew to sail to Cambodia rather than complete its delivery of weapons to b e used in the Vietnam War. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1970\, the SS Columbia Eagle Mutiny began when two anti-war crewmembers seized the napalm bomb-carrying vessel\, forcing its crew to sail to Cambodia rather than complete its delivery of weapons to be used in the Vietnam War. It is the only mutiny of a United States sh ip in recent history.\n\nThe ship was under contract with the Military Sea Transportation Service to carry napalm bombs to be used by the U.S. Air F orce during the Vietnam War and was originally bound for Sattahip\, Thaila nd.\n\nDuring the uprising\, 24 of the crew were forced into two lifeboats and set adrift in the Gulf of Thailand while the remainder of the crew we re forced to take the ship to a bay near Sihanoukville\, Cambodia. The two mutineers had planned to take political refuge in Cambodia\, however Prin ce Sihanouk had just been deposed by a coup the led by the pro-U.S. Sirik Matak and Lon Nol. Instead\, they became prisoners of the new Cambodian go vernment.\n\nOne mutineer\, Alvin Glatkowski\, turned himself in at an Ame rican Embassy\, was extradited to the U.S.\, and served seven years in pri son. The other mutineer\, Clyde McKay\, escaped capture and sought out the Khmer Rouge. Remains from Cambodia were positively identified as McKay's in 2005. RESOURCES:https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/columbia-eagle-mutiny/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Columbia_Eagle_incident RESOURCES:https://workingclasshistory.com/podcast/wch-crime-columbia-eagle -mutiny/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Tolpuddle Martyrs Pardoned (1836) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250314 DTEND:20250315T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1836\, six English workers who had been sentenced t o penal labor in Australia after forming a trade union were pardoned\, fol lowing years of mass working class protests on their behalf. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1836\, six English workers who had been sentenc ed to penal labor in Australia after forming a trade union were pardoned\, following years of mass working class protests on their behalf.\n\nThe "T olpuddle Martyrs" - George and James Loveless\; James Hammett\; James Brin e\; Thomas and John Standfield - had previously formed the "Friendly Socie ty of Agricultural Labourers" to organize around their shared interest as farm workers. Their arrests took place during a crackdown on protest and w orker agitation by the British ruling class following the Swing Riots of 1 830.\n\nThe six men were charged with "taking an illegal oath" under the M utiny Act of 1797\, as they had sworn each other to secrecy in order to av oid repression by authorities. The prosecution was driven by their boss\, local landowner James Frampton\, who also sat on the jury during their tri al.\n\nAll six men were sentenced to seven years' transportation to Austra lia in March 1834\, sparking outcry from the organized labor movement. On April 21st\, 1834\, 30\,000 people gathered in modern day King's Cross to present an 800\,000-strong petition on the men's behalf. Home Secretary Lo rd Melbourne avoided the workers by hiding behind a set of curtains.\n\nAf ter the government attempted to provide conditional pardons in June 1835\, the unions continued to push further\, compelling the state to give full\ , unconditional pardons to all six men on March 14th\, 1836. The men final ly returned home from Australia between 1837 and 1839.\n\nThe case of the Tolpuddle Martyrs became an important milestone and a success for the earl y English worker movement. Today\, this working class victory is commemora ted with a museum and annual July festival in the village of Tolpuddle. RESOURCES:https://www.tolpuddlemartyrs.org.uk/story RESOURCES:https://tuc150.tuc.org.uk/stories/the-tolpuddle-martys/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Anna Campbell Dies for Rojava (2018) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250315 DTEND:20250316T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:Anna Campbell\, also known as Hêlîn Qereçox\, was a British fem inist\, anarchist\, and prison abolitionist who died on this day in 2018\, fighting with the Women's Protection Units (YPJ) of Rojava during the Syr ian civil war. DESCRIPTION:Anna Campbell\, also known as Hêlîn Qereçox\, was a British feminist\, anarchist\, and prison abolitionist who died on this day in 20 18\, fighting with the Women's Protection Units (YPJ) of Rojava during the Syrian civil war.\n\nShe was killed by a Turkish Armed Forces missile str ike during the Turkish military operation in the Afrin Canton\, Operation Olive Branch.\n\nOn her decision to join the Kurdish forces\, Campbell sai d "I wanted to participate in the revolution of women that is being built up here and fight\, and join also the weaponized fight against the forces of fascism and the enemies of the revolution. And so now I'm very happy an d proud to be going to Afrin to be able to do this." RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Campbell RESOURCES:https://anfenglishmobile.com/rojava-syria/memorial-for-ypj-marty r-anna-campbell-in-london-42304 RESOURCES:https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/anna-campbell-da ds-new-bid-6976945 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Nikolai Bukharin Executed (1938) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250315 DTEND:20250316T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Socialism,Labor,Marxism,Imperialism COMMENT:Nikolai Bukharin was a prominent Bolshevik revolutionary and Marxi st theorist who was executed by the Soviet Union on this day in 1938\, fol lowing a controversial trial and international pleas for clemency. DESCRIPTION:Nikolai Bukharin was a prominent Bolshevik revolutionary and M arxist theorist who was executed by the Soviet Union on this day in 1938\, following a controversial trial and international pleas for clemency.\n\n As a young man\, Bukharin joined the Russian Social Democratic Labour Part y in 1906\, becoming a member of the Bolshevik faction. He served on a com mittee that was infiltrated by the Tsarist secret police\, the Okhrana\, a nd was imprisoned and exiled in 1911.\n\nIn 1911\, Bukharin escaped exile\ , fleeing to Germany. During this period\, he met Vladimir Lenin for the f irst time and authored "Imperialism and World Economy"\, a work that preda ted and influenced Lenin's "Imperialism\, the Highest Stage of Capitalism" .\n\nAfter Lenin's death in 1924\, Bukharin became a full member of the Po litburo\, allying himself with Stalin in the power struggles of that perio d. Bukharin formulated the thesis of "Socialism in One Country" put forth by Stalin in 1924\, which argued that socialism could be developed in a si ngle country\, even one as underdeveloped as Russia.\n\nBukharin was align ed with the forces that defeated Leon Trotsky\, Lev Kamenev\, and Grigory Zinoviev in various power struggles within the Communist Party. A supporte r of the market-based New Economic Policy (NEP)\, Bukharin opposed Stalin' s support of collectivization policies in the late 1920s. On this basis\, he was criticized and began politically conspiring against Stalin.\n\nAfte r the trial and execution of Zinoviev\, Kamenev\, and other leftist Old Bo lsheviks in 1936\, Bukharin was arrested in 1937 and charged with conspiri ng to overthrow the Soviet state. The following trial was controversial an d drew international criticism\, alienating some communist sympathizers ab road.\n\nFrench author Romain Rolland wrote to Stalin directly\, arguing t hat "an intellect like that of Bukharin is a treasure for his country"\, d rawing comparisons to the execution of chemist Antoine Lavoisier\, guillot ined during the French Revolution: "We in France\, the most ardent revolut ionaries...still profoundly grieve and regret what we did...I beg you to s how clemency." Bukharin was executed by gunshot on March 15th\, 1938\, at the Kommunarka shooting ground.\n\n"We see now that infringement of freedo m is necessary with regard to the opponents of the revolution. At a time o f revolution we cannot allow freedom for the enemies of the people and of the revolution. That is a surely clear\, irrefutable conclusion."\n\n- Nik olai Bukharin RESOURCES:https://spartacus-educational.com/RUSbukharin.htm RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolai_Bukharin RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/archive/bukharin/library.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Davide "Dax" Cesare Murdered (2003) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250316 DTEND:20250317T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Riots,Fascism COMMENT:On this day in 2003\, Italian anti-fascist Davide "Dax" Cesare was stabbed to death by two fascist brothers in Milan\, leading to widespread rioting. The brothers were sentenced to a combined nineteen years in pris on. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 2003\, Italian anti-fascist Davide "Dax" Cesare was stabbed to death by two fascist brothers in Milan.\n\nCesare was brou ght to the hospital\, but died in the ambulance. Immediately after Cesare' s death\, his comrades tried to enter the hospital but were blocked by the police\, leading to riots that left several injured.\n\nDespite the Itali an media initially portraying the violence as a "riot between young dissid ents" and the murder as "a consequence of anti-globalization violence"\, t he trial uncovered that the fascist brothers\, Federico Morbi and Mattia M orbi\, had killed him with premeditation. Federico was sentenced to 16 yea rs in jail\, while Mattia (who was a minor at the time) was sentenced to 3 years.\n\nA plaque has been placed in Via Brioschi\, the street of Milan where he was killed. Graffiti in memory of Dax have become common in Milan and elsewhere\, often reading "Dax vive" (English: "Dax lives") or "Dax o dia ancora" (English: "Dax still hates"). RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davide_Cesare RESOURCES:https://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/200 4/03/30/dax-fu-un-aggressione-premeditata.html RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/article/we-dont-forgive-we-dont-forget-anti-f ascists-commemorate-ten-years-murder-davide-cesare END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Minneapolis General Strike (1934) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250316 DTEND:20250317T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,General Strikes COMMENT:On this day in 1934\, a general strike broke out in Minneapolis\, shutting down local commercial transport. The strike began the career of F arrell Dobbs\, a Trotskyist union leader\, and caused widespread unionizat ion throughout the city. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1934\, a general strike broke out in Minneapoli s\, shutting down most local commercial transport. The strike began the ca reer of Farrell Dobbs\, a Trotskyist union leader\, and caused widespread unionization throughout the city.\n\nThe strike grew out of Teamsters labo r action against most of the trucking companies operating in Minneapolis\, the major distribution center for the Upper Midwest.\n\nThe strike was ef fective\, shutting down most commercial transport in the city with the exc eption of certain farmers\, who were allowed to bring their produce into t own\, but delivering directly to grocers\, rather than to the market area\ , which the union had shut down.\n\nThe worst single day of violence was F riday\, July 20th\, known as "Bloody Friday"\, when police shot at striker s who were blocking off the delivery of company merchandise\, killing two and injuring sixty-seven.\n\nEnsuing violence lasted periodically througho ut the summer before the strike was formally ended on August 22nd\, with m ost of the union demands being met. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minneapolis_general_strike_of_1934 RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/minneapolis-teamsters-strike-1934-jer emy-brecher RESOURCES:https://mndigital.org/projects/primary-source-sets/minneapolis-t eamsters-strike-1934 RESOURCES:https://libguides.mnhs.org/1934strike END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:My Lai Massacre (1968) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250316 DTEND:20250317T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Massacre,Imperialism COMMENT:On this day in 1968\, the My Lai Massacre took place when U.S. tro ops in the Vietnamese Sơn Tịnh District massacred and raped hundreds of unarmed civilians\, including women\, children\, and infants. The war cri me was suppressed by the U.S. govt. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1968\, the My Lai Massacre took place when U.S. troops in the Sơn Tịnh District\, South Vietnam massacred and raped hu ndreds of unarmed civilians\, including women\, children\, and infants. Th e event was a war crime and suppressed by the U.S. military despite multip le whistleblowers coming forward. Estimates of the total killed range betw een 347 and 504.\n\nAlthough two soldiers wrote letters to their superiors about the possibility of a war crime having taken place\, the U.S. govern ment claimed that the event was a military victory for several months afte r it occurred. It was only after an independent journalist broke the story and the true nature of the massacre became public that twenty-six soldier s were charged with criminal offenses.\n\nOnly one\, Lieutenant William Ca lley Jr.\, was convicted. Found guilty of killing 22 villagers\, he was or iginally given a life sentence\, but served only three and a half years un der house arrest. The incident sparked global outrage and spurred the dome stic anti-war movement.\n\nThree U.S. servicemen who had tried to halt the massacre and rescue civilians were shunned and denounced as traitors\, in cluding by multiple members of Congress.\n\n"It is why I’m old before my time. I remember it all the time. I’m all alone and life is hard. Think ing about it has made me old...I won’t forgive as long as I live - think of the babies being killed\, then ask me why I hate them."\n\n- A Vietnam ese survivor of the My Lai massacre RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Lai_Massacre RESOURCES:https://www.workers.org/2018/03/36134/ RESOURCES:https://alphahistory.com/vietnamwar/quotations-about-the-my-lai- massacre-1968/ RESOURCES:https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/mylai-massa cre-evidence/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Bayard Rustin (1912 - 1987) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250317 DTEND:20250318T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Civil Rights,Birthdays,Protests COMMENT:Bayard Rustin\, born on this day in 1912\, was a gay socialist civ il rights leader in the US. "When an individual is protesting society's re fusal to acknowledge his dignity as a human being\, his very act of protes t confers dignity on him." DESCRIPTION:Bayard Rustin\, born on this day in 1912\, was a gay socialist civil rights leader in the United States.\n\nRustin worked with A. Philip Randolph on the March on Washington Movement in 1941 to press for an end to racial discrimination in employment. Rustin later organized Freedom Rid es and helped to organize the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to strengthen Martin Luther King Jr.'s leadership\, teaching King about nonvi olence and later serving as an organizer for the March on Washington for J obs and Freedom.\n\nDespite his overtly left-wing political positions\, su ch as supporting universal healthcare and full employment\, later in his c areer Rustin became known for more moderate political takes. In 1966\, Rus tin stated the slogan "black power" "lacked any real value for the civil r ights movement". Rustin also gave repeated and full-throated support for I srael.\n\nDuring the 1970s and 1980s\, Rustin served on many humanitarian missions\, such as aiding refugees from Vietnam and Cambodia. At the time of his death in 1987\, he was on a humanitarian mission in Haiti.\n\n"When an individual is protesting society's refusal to acknowledge his dignity as a human being\, his very act of protest confers dignity on him."\n\n- B ayard Rustin RESOURCES:https://www.nps.gov/people/bayard-rustin.htm RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayard_Rustin RESOURCES:http://repository.wustl.edu/concern/videos/vm40xt471 RESOURCES:https://www.commentary.org/articles/bayard-rustin-2/black-power- and-coalition-politics/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Makhno Released From Prison (1917) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250317 DTEND:20250318T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Anarchism COMMENT:On this day in 1917\, Ukrainian anarchist revolutionary Nestor Mak hno was released from prison as a result of the February Revolution\, goin g on to play a leading role in the revolutionary anarchist movement in Ukr aine. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1917\, Ukrainian anarchist revolutionary Nestor Makhno was released from prison as a result of the February Revolution\, going on to play a leading role in the revolutionary anarchist movement in Ukraine.\n\nIn 1908\, due to a police spy within the anarchist group Huly ai Pole\, Makhno was arrested and put in jail. Makhno and thirteen others were sentenced to death by hanging\, however Makhno's sentence was commute d to life in prison due to his prior military service.\n\nAfter returning to Ukraine\, he became a key figure in the organization of the Revolutiona ry Insurrectionary Army of Ukraine (also known as the Black Army)\, which helped organize and protect an anarcho-communist movement in Ukraine known as the Free Territory or Makhnovschina. This movement was established in the context of the Russian Civil War a complex power struggle following th e Bolshevik-led October Revolution of 1917.\n\nThe anarchist revolution wa s defeated by the Bolsheviks in 1921\, who would go on to win the civil wa r and establish the Soviet Union. Makhno fled\, living the rest of his lif e exiled in Western Europe. After settling in Paris\, Makhno contributed w ritings to anarchist journals and met anarchists of note\, including Buena ventura Durruti and Francisco Ascaso.\n\n"I would still call on you\, read er and brother\, to take up the struggle for the ideal anarchism\, for onl y if you fight for this ideal and uphold it will you understand it properl y."\n\n- Nestor Makhno RESOURCES:http://libcom.org/history/makhno-nestor-1889-1934 RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nestor_Makhno RESOURCES:https://theanarchistlibrary.org/category/author/nestor-makhno RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/history/ussr/events/civilwar/index.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Santa Rita Massacre (1982) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250317 DTEND:20250318T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Assassinations,Massacre,Journalism COMMENT:On this day in 1982\, the Salvadoran army assassinated a group of Dutch journalists and FMLN soldiers in violation of international law. The murders caused international outrage\, and the colonel who ordered the at tack fled to the U.S. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1982\, the Salvadoran army assassinated a group of Dutch journalists and FMLN soldiers in violation of international law. The murders caused international outrage\, and the colonel who ordered th e attack fled to the U.S.\n\nThe four journalists had arrived in El Salvad or on February 24th\, 1982 to report on the ongoing Salvadoran Civil War\, fought between the right-wing military junta ruling the country with U.S. support\, and the left-wing Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (F MLN).\n\nAs part of their work\, the journalists visited Mariona prison in San Salvador to interview and film prisoners accused of belonging to the guerrilla forces. The videos filmed by the journalists included shots of p risoners' scars\, which the prisoners said were the result of torture.\n\n This work earned the ire of the military\, and the journalists were interr ogated by the Director-General of the Treasury Police on March 11th. Despi te being advised to leave by Jan Pierre Lucien Schmeitz\, another Dutch jo urnalist\, as well as their FMLN contacts\, the group decided to stay to c omplete their work.\n\nOn March 17th\, 1982\, soldiers from the Atonal Bat talion\, acting on orders from Colonel Reyes Mena\, assassinated the journ alists while they were traveling with a group of five FMLN soldiers. All b ut one of the FMLN guerillas survived.\n\nThe deaths caused international outrage\, including mass protests in the Netherlands. The Dutch government conducted an investigation which uncovered the fact that U.S. soldiers we re present at the base the day of the massacre.\n\nThe 1993 Report of the UN Truth Commission on El Salvador concluded that the murders were a targe ted assassination by the state (not an "accident"\, as the Salvadoran Pres ident claimed)\, and were in violation of international law. The report wa s aided by the testimony of "Martin"\, the lone survivor of the attack.\n\ nSalvadoran Col. Reyes Mena\, whom the U.N. concluded ordered the massacre \, fled to the United States after the incident. Reyes Mena was discovered in Virginia and confronted at his home by the Dutch organization ZEMBLA i n 2018. RESOURCES:http://www.derechos.org/nizkor/salvador/informes/truth.html RESOURCES:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qY5tQ593g-k&ab_channel=Zembla RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Rita_massacre END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Paris Refuses to Disarm (1871) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250318 DTEND:20250319T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Marxism,Socialism COMMENT:On this day in 1871\, French soldiers refused orders from their su periors to disarm working class neighborhoods in Paris\, arresting them an d joining working class radicals in the revolution that would become the P aris Commune. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1871\, French soldiers refused orders from thei r superiors to disarm working class neighborhoods in Paris\, arresting the m and joining working class radicals in the revolution that would become t he Paris Commune.\n\nOn the morning of March 18th\, French soldiers member s began attempting to remove cannons from working class neighborhoods in P aris\, left there following the end of the Franco-Prussian War. As soldier s became surrounded by members of the National Guard\, a popular Parisian militia with radical tendencies\, the soldiers' superior officer\, General Lecomte\, ordered them to fire on the crowd.\n\nThis order was refused. M any soldiers mutinied\, joining the National Guard. Some of the military o fficers were disarmed and escorted away\, while others\, including General Lecomte\, were arrested. Lecomte himself was executed later that day. Thi s incident marked the beginning of a working class revolution in Paris\, o ne anticipated by the conservative national government of Adolphe Theirs.\ n\nOn March 26th\, elections were held to establish a Paris Commune counci l\, consisting of 92 members\, one for every 20\,000 residents. Out of 485 \,000 registered voters\, more than 230\,000 voted. Participation was sign ificantly higher in working class neighborhoods than bourgeois ones.\n\nOn March 27th\, the Commune was formally declared. Prosper-Olivier Lissagara y\, a participant of the Commune and author of "History of the Paris Commu ne of 1871"\, describes the celebration:\n\n"The next day 200\,000 'wretch es' came to the Hôtel-de-Ville there to install their chosen representati ves\, the battalion drums beating\, the banners surmounted by the Phrygian cap and with red fringe round the muskets\; their ranks\, swelled by sold iers of the line\, artillerymen\, and marines faithful to Paris\, came dow n from all the streets to the Place de Greve like the thousand streams of a great river...\n\nA member of the Committee announced the names of those elected. The drums beat a salute\, the bands and two hundred thousand voi ces chimed in with the Marseillaise. [Gabriel] Ranvier\, in an interval of silence\, cried out\, 'In the name of the People the Commune is proclaime d.'\n\nA thousandfold echo answered\, 'Vive la Commune!' Caps were flung u p on the ends of bayonets\, flags fluttered in the air. From the windows\, on the roofs\, thousands of hands waved handkerchiefs...The quick reports of the cannon\, the bands\, the drums\, blended in one formidable vibrati on. All hearts leaped with joy\, all eyes filled with tears."\n\nThe gover nment of the Paris Commune developed a set of policies that tended towards a progressive\, secular\, and highly democratic social democracy\, althou gh its existence was too brief to implement them with much permanence. Amo ng these policies were the separation of church and state\, abolition of c hild labor\, abolishment of interest on some forms of debt\, as well as th e right of employees to take over and run an enterprise if it was deserted by its original owner.\n\nThe national French Army suppressed the Commune at the end of May during La semaine sanglante ("The Bloody Week")\, begin ning on May 21st\, 1871. Even after the Commune was defeated\, the Army co ntinued their campaign of slaughter.\n\nIn an 1886 account of the Paris Co mmune\, The Socialist League wrote "Thus was extinguished the despair of P aris\; but though the fighting was over\, the killing went on merrily\; fo r instance\, in the prison of La Roquette alone nine hundred prisoners wer e slain in cold blood\, and without any pretence of form of trial. The cou rts martial disposed of others. 'Have you taken arms\, or served the Commu ne? Show your hands.' If the judge thought the man looked likely\, 'class é' was the word\; if anyone was spared\, “ordinaire” was pronounced\, and he was kept for Versailles. None were released — sex or age made no difference. Those who were 'classés' were shot at once\; perhaps they we re not the unluckiest."\n \nA watershed moment in revolutionary working cl ass history\, the Paris Commune was analyzed by many communist thinkers\, including Karl Marx\, who identified it as a "dictatorship of the proletar iat." Vladimir Lenin danced in the snow in celebration when the newly form ed Bolshevik government lasted longer than the Paris Commune.\n\n"It is ti me people understood the true meaning of this Revolution\; and this can be summed up in a few words…It was the first attempt of the proletariat to govern itself. The workers of Paris expressed this when in their first ma nifesto they declared they 'understood it was their imperious duty and the ir absolute right to render themselves masters of their own destinies by s eizing upon the governmental power.'"\n\n- Eleanor Marx RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/history/france/archive/lissagaray/index .htm RESOURCES:https://marxistleftreview.org/articles/celebrating-the-paris-com mune-of-1871-glorious-harbinger-of-a-new-society/ RESOURCES:https://www.jacobinmag.com/2015/05/kristin-ross-communal-luxury- paris-commune/ RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/history/international/social-democracy/ paris-commune.htm RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_Commune END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Unita Blackwell (1933 - 2019) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250318 DTEND:20250319T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Civil Rights,Birthdays COMMENT:Unita Zelma Blackwell\, born on this day in 1933\, was an American civil rights activist and educator who became the first black woman to be elected mayor in the state of Mississippi. DESCRIPTION:Unita Zelma Blackwell\, born on this day in 1933\, was an Amer ican civil rights activist who became the first black woman to be elected mayor in the state of Mississippi. Blackwell also served as a project dire ctor for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and helped o rganize voter drives for African Americans across Mississippi.\n\nBlackwel l was responsible for one of the first desegregation cases in Mississippi\ , filing a suit\, Blackwell v. Issaquena County Board of Education\, again st the Issaquena County Board of Education after the principal suspended m ore than 300 black children - including her son - for wearing pins that de picted a black hand and a white hand clasped with the word "SNCC" below th em.\n\nAlthough the courts ruled that the students could not wear the pins \, they also ruled that the school district in question must desegregate. Blackwell's son and approximately 50 other children boycotted the school b ecause of its decision to not let the children wear the SNCC freedom pins. \n\nAs a result\, Blackwell and some other activists in the community form ed "Freedom Schools" in Issaquena County to resolve the issue. The Freedom Schools were popular and remained open until the school system finally in tegrated in 1970.\n\n"Movements are not radical. Movements are the America n way. A small group of abolitionists writing and speaking eventually led to the end of slavery. A few stirred-up women brought about women's voting . The Populist movement\, the Progressive movement\, the anti-Vietnam War movement\, the women's movement - the examples go on and on of 'little peo ple' getting together and telling the truth about their lives. They made o ur government act."\n\n- Unita Blackwell RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/blackwell-uni ta-1933/ RESOURCES:https://snccdigital.org/people/unita-blackwell/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unita_Blackwell END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Gabriela Silang (1731 - 1763) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250319 DTEND:20250320T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Colonialism,Indigenous COMMENT:Gabriela Silang\, born on this day in 1731\, was a Filipina revolu tionary who led a revolt against Spanish colonizers after her husband's as sassination\, vowing to avenge his death. The Spanish captured Gabriela\, executing her at age 32. DESCRIPTION:Gabriela Silang\, born on this day in 1731\, was a Filipina re volutionary who led a revolt against Spanish colonizers after her husband' s assassination\, vowing to avenge his death. The Spanish captured Gabriel a\, executing her at age 32.\n\nGabriela married Diego Silang\, an Ilocano resistance leader\, in 1757. Diego was imprisoned after he suggested to t he Spanish authorities that they abolish the tribute\, colonialist tax\, a nd replace Spanish functionaries with native people. Together\, Diego and Gabriela resisted colonial rule\, engaging in skirmishes with Spanish troo ps.\n\nGabriela took over the reins of her husband's revolutionary movemen t after his assassination on May 28th\, 1763. She led Ilocano rebels for f our months before being captured and executed on September 20th that year by the colonial government of the Spanish East Indies. Spanish forces exec uted her later that year\, at age 32.\n\n"Her undaunted determination\, al ong with her skill and strength is what the people of the Philippines will never forget\, and why she is regarded as the pioneering female Bayani. T oday her courageous leadership became a symbol for the importance of women in Filipino society\, and their struggle for liberation during colonizati on."\n\n- Margarita Mansalay RESOURCES:https://liberationschool.org/07-04-27-gabriela-silang-anticoloni al-f-html/ RESOURCES:https://www.bayaniart.com/articles/gabriela-silang-biography/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabriela_Silang END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Harlem Riot (1935) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250319 DTEND:20250320T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Riots COMMENT:On this day in 1935\, a riot in Harlem began\, sparked by rumors t hat a black Puerto Rican teenager was beaten by employees at a "five and d ime" store\, leading to what historian Jeffrey Stewart called "the first m odern race riot". DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1935\, a riot in Harlem began\, sparked by rumo rs that a black Puerto Rican teenager was beaten by employees at a "five a nd dime" store\, leading to what historian Jeffrey Stewart called "the fir st modern race riot".\n\nThat evening\, a demonstration organized by the Y oung Communist League and a black group called the Young Liberators was he ld outside the store and\, after someone threw a rock through the window\, police began arresting speakers and trying to disperse the crowd. More ge neral destruction of the store and other white-owned properties ensued. In the subsequent violence\, 3 black people were killed\, 125 were arrested\ , and 100 more injured.\n\nAn estimated $2 million in damages was caused t o properties throughout the district\, although black-owned homes and busi nesses were spared the worst of the destruction.\n\nSociologist Allen D. G rimshaw identified the Harlem Riot of 1935 as "the first manifestation of a 'modern' form of racial rioting"\, which he characterized as having dest ruction directed almost entirely at property\, and violent clashes taking place between black people and police\, as opposed to racial groups fighti ng directly. RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/events-africa n-american-history/harlem-riot-1935/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harlem_riot_of_1935 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Chicago Eight Indicted (1969) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250320 DTEND:20250321T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Civil Rights,Riots,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1969\, the "Chicago Eight"\, protesters associated with the 1968 DNC riots\, including Black Panther co-founder Bobby Seale a nd civil rights activist Abbie Hoffman\, were indicted for conspiracy and intent to incite a riot. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1969\, the "Chicago Eight"\, protesters associa ted with the 1968 DNC riots\, including Black Panther co-founder Bobby Sea le and civil rights activist Abbie Hoffman\, were indicted for conspiracy\ , crossing state lines with the intent to incite a riot\, and various othe r crimes associated with the counter-cultural protests in Chicago.\n\nAt t he 1968 Democratic National Convention\, activists from around the United States came to Chicago to protest the Vietnam War and other U.S. policies. \n\nThe protests were attended by a variety of organizations\, including t he National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam\, the Youth I nternational Party ("Yippies")\, and the Poor People's Campaign\, led by R alph Abernathy. The protests devolved into a melee with a militarized poli ce presence\, later described by a federal commission as a "police riot"\, outside the Conrad Hilton Hotel\, an incident that was broadcast internat ionally.\n\nFollowing federal investigations into the incident\, Chief Jud ge William J. Campbell of the U.S. District Court for the Northern Distric t of Illinois convened a grand jury to investigate whether the organizers of the demonstrations had violated federal law and whether any police offi cers had interfered with the civil rights of the protesters.\n\nOn March 2 0th\, 1969\, this grand jury indicted eight organizers associated with the protests: Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin of the Youth International Party\ ; pacifist organizer David Dellinger\; Tom Hayden\, Lee Weiner\, and Renni e Davis of the National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam\; chemist John Froines\; Bobby Seale\, co-founder of the Black Panther Part y.\n\nDespite being charged with conspiracy\, these individuals were only tenuously linked through their participation in the 1968 protests. Author Bruce Ragsdale noted in 2008: "The eight were linked less by common action or common political goals than by a shared radical critique of U.S. gover nment and society."\n\nThe trial itself was fraught with outbursts from th e defendants and celebrity testimony: Seale called the presiding judge a " rotten racist pig\, fascist liar" and later appeared before the jury bound \, gagged\, and chained to his chair\; Hoffman attempted to bring in a Vie tnamese flag to the courtroom and fought for possession of it with a court marshal\; witnesses included Phil Ochs\, Arlo Guthrie\, Allen Ginsberg\, and Timothy Leary.\n\nSeale's case was declared a mistrial\, while the rem aining seven were convicted of a total of 159 counts of criminal contempt. On February 18th\, 1970\, the jury acquitted all seven defendants of cons piracy\, and Froines and Weiner of all charges. At his sentencing\, Dellin ger stated:\n\n"Whatever happens to us\, however unjustified\, will be sli ght compared to what has happened already to the Vietnamese people\, to th e black people in this country\, to the criminals with whom we are now spe nding our days in the Cook County jail. I must have already lived longer t han the normal life expectancy of a black person born when I was born\, or born now. I must have already lived longer\, 20 years longer\, than the n ormal life expectancy in the underdeveloped countries which this country i s trying to profiteer from and keep under its domain and control." RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Seven RESOURCES:https://famous-trials.com/chicago8/1366-home END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Ota Benga Passes (1916) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250320 DTEND:20250321T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Colonialism COMMENT:Ota Benga was a Mbuti man brought from his African homeland as a t een and displayed like an animal at the Bronx Zoo. After World War I inter fered with his plans to return to Central Africa\, Benga shot himself on t his day in 1916. DESCRIPTION:Ota Benga was a Mbuti man brought from his African homeland as a teen and displayed like an animal at the Bronx Zoo. After World War I i nterfered with his plans to return to Central Africa\, Benga shot himself on this day in 1916.\n\nWhen Ota was a teenager\, his entire village\, inc luding his wife and two children\, was slaughtered by the Force Publique\, a private army created by Belgian King Leopold to enforce rubber producti on quotas. Benga was then kidnapped by slave traders and put to work in an agricultural village.\n\nIn 1904\, Benga was freed by an American busines sman Samuel Verner\, who was under contract from the St. Louis World Fair to bring back African pygmies to be part of a human exhibition. Verner fou nd Benga and negotiated his release from the slave traders for a pound of salt and a bolt of cloth. Verner recruited other Africans for the exhibit as well\, and the group\, including Benga\, was brought to St. Louis in Ju ne 1904.\n\nTwo years later\, Benga was hired by the Bronx Zoo to help tak e care of animals. After noticing that some visitors paid more attention t o Benga than the animals\, zoo officials "exhibited" him in the organizati on's Monkey House.\n\nA group of black New York clergymen\, led by Rev. Ja mes H. Gordon\, demanded that he be freed. By the end of 1906\, 23-year-ol d Benga was released to the custody of Rev. Gordon\, who placed him in the New York City’s Howard Colored Orphan Asylum.\n\nBenga began working at a local tobacco factory in Lynchburg\, Virginia to pay for his journey ba ck to Central Africa. After the outbreak of World War I\, however\, passen ger ship travel became severely limited and he was unable to make the jour ney.\n\nOn March 20th\, 1916\, Ota Benga built a ceremonial fire and shot himself in the heart with a borrowed pistol. He was approximately 33 years old. RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/benga-ota-1883- 1916/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ota_Benga END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:U.S. Invades Iraq (2003) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250320 DTEND:20250321T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Imperialism,Terrorism COMMENT:On this day in 2003\, Iraq was invaded by the U.S. and a "coalitio n of the willing"\, including the U.K.\, Australia\, and others. The invas ion and subsequent military occupation killed more than one million people and displaced 9.2 million Iraqis. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 2003\, Iraq was invaded by the U.S. and a "coal ition of the willing"\, including the U.K.\, Australia\, and others. The i nvasion and subsequent military occupation killed more than one million pe ople and displaced 9.2 million Iraqis.\n\nThe invasion came after the U.S. government lied about Iraqi President Saddam Hussein possessing "weapons of mass destruction"\, including a now-infamous appearance at the United N ations by then Secretary of State Colin Powell\, in which he falsely state d "Indeed\, the facts and Iraq's behavior show that Saddam Hussein and his regime are concealing their efforts to produce more weapons of mass destr uction".\n\nOn March 20th\, a coalition of forces led by the United States invaded Iraq. The day afterward\, 76% of Americans approved of military a ction against Iraq\, according to a March 2003 Gallup poll.\n\nThe invasio n and subsequent military occupation caused widespread death\, disease\, a nd displacement for the people of Iraq. According to Brown University's Co sts of War project\, since 2003\, more than 9.2 million Iraqis have been d isplaced\, and more than 300\,000 people have been killed as a direct resu lt of violence. In 2007\, Opinion Research Business (ORB) estimated that m ore than one million people have died as a result of the war.\n\nKurdish f eminist Houzan Mahmoud opposed the invasion\, speaking at a London anti-wa r rally in 2003. In a 2017 interview\, she stated:\n\n"I asserted my oppos ition to the war on Iraq\, despite the fact of being Kurdish and someone w ho has suffered immensely under Saddam's regime. I still didn't think that any foreign intervention was going to improve our lives. I also emphasise d that this war will only bring more terrorism because it will strengthen political Islam\, i.e. Islamism...\n\nThere is no doubt that we all wanted an end to Saddam's totalitarian regime\, but I was opposed to foreign inv asion. In this region we don't have a good experience with foreign interve ntions and colonialism throughout history. Imperialist powers invade\, des troy and support or install puppet regimes to serve their interest only. L ook at Iraq and Afghanistan — since the invasion we are faced with much more terrorism\, instability\, poverty\, displacement and mass migration o f people. There is a humanitarian disaster and an endless tragedy of war a nd bloodshed." RESOURCES:https://apnews.com/article/iraq-invasion-war-timeline-saddam-hus sein-50828061c98e410063753045179bdcfb RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_War RESOURCES:https://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/2022/IraqWarCosts RESOURCES:https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iraq-deaths-survey/iraq-confl ict-has-killed-a-million-iraqis-survey-idUSL3048857920080130 RESOURCES:https://medium.com/humanist-voices/an-interview-with-houzan-mahm oud-co-founder-the-culture-project-7c8861d186a1 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Xiang Jingyu Arrested (1928) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250320 DTEND:20250321T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Feminism COMMENT:On this day in 1928\, Xiang Jingyu\, an early feminist pioneer and revolutionary in the Communist Party of China\, was arrested by French of ficials and turned over to the Nationalist government\, which executed her on May 1st that year. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1928\, Xiang Jingyu\, an early feminist pioneer and revolutionary in the Communist Party of China\, was arrested by Frenc h officials and turned over to the Nationalist government\, which executed her on May 1st that year.\n\nXiang Jingyu (1895 - 1928) was politically r adicalized when she attended the Montargis Women's University in France. W hile studying there\, Jingyu read many of Marx's works and became a commun ist. In 1923\, Xiang Jingyu was elected as a Central Committee member and became the first secretary of the "Women's Movement Committee".\n\nIn 1924 \, she led a strike involving about 10\,000 female workers from silk facto ries and later founded the "Committee of Women's Liberation"\, which train ed many female cadres to oppose feudalism and imperialism.\n\nOn March 20t h\, 1928\, Xiang Jingyu was arrested in the French Concession Sandeli in W uhan\, possibly due to the betrayal of members of her group to the police. The French officials turned her over to Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist gov ernment in April. On May 1st\, 1928\, Xiang Jingyu was executed by Guomind ang police. After her death\, she became a martyr for the communist revolu tion in China. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xiang_Jingyu RESOURCES:https://books.google.com/books?id=EFI7tr9XK6EC&lpg=RA3-PA449&dq= Xiang%20Jingyu%20(1895-1928)&pg=RA3-PA449#v=onepage&q&f=false END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Anton Lembede (1914 - 1947) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250321 DTEND:20250322T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Civil Rights,Birthdays COMMENT:Anton Lembede\, born on this day in 1914\, was a South African law yer\, activist\, and founding president of the African National Congress Y outh League (ANCYL) who played a key role in the ideological development o f African nationalism. DESCRIPTION:Anton Lembede\, born on this day in 1914\, was a South African lawyer\, activist\, and founding president of the African National Congre ss Youth League (ANCYL) who played a key role in the ideological developme nt of African nationalism.\n\nLembede was born to a peasant family in KwaZ ulu-Natal\, South Africa. He showed great academic potential as student\, studying at the prestigious Adams College despite his family's poverty. Le mbede later earned a law degree from the University of South Africa in 194 2.\n\nLembede was the principal thinker behind launching the African Natio nal Congress Youth League. In 1943\, he led Nelson Mandela\, Oliver Tambo\ , Walter Sisulu\, and other to-be prominent figures in the anti-apartheid struggle in forming the organization\, becoming the first elected general president of the ANC Youth League in 1944. The league wanted to reform the ANC\, which they described as "a body of gentlemen with clean hands".\n\n In 1945 Lembede\, Water Sisulu\, and Oliver Tambo almost succeeded in pers uading the Transvaal Congress to expel the communists from its membership for opposing African nationalism.\n\nIn 1947\, at the age of 33\, Lembede died suddenly from an unknown intenstinal illness. Despite his short lifes pan\, Lembede influenced prominent South African thinkers such as Nelson M andela\, who wrote "From the moment I heard Lembede speak\, I knew I was s eeing a magnetic personality who thought in original and often startling w ays."\n\nMandela also credited Lembede's ideas as influencing his own - "L embede's views struck a chord in me...I came to see the antidote as milita nt African nationalism."\n\nLembede is regarded as the architect of the "P rogramme of Action" that was adopted as a guiding document by the 1949 mee ting of the African National Congress.\n\n"We have to go out as apostles t o preach the New Gospel of Africanism and to hasten and bring about the bi rth of a new nation. Such minor insignificant differences of languages\, c ustoms etc. will not hinder or stop the irresistible onward surge of the A frican spirit."\n\n- Anton Lembede RESOURCES:https://www.sahistory.org.za/people/anton-muziwakhe-lembede RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anton_Lembede END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Pat Finucane (1949 - 1989) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250321 DTEND:20250322T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays COMMENT:Pat Finucane\, born on this day in 1949\, was an Irish criminal de fense lawyer who defended prominent IRA activists such as Bobby Sands. Fin ucane was assassinated in 1989 by loyalist forces acting in collusion with the British state. DESCRIPTION:Pat Finucane\, born on this day in 1949\, was an Irish crimina l defense lawyer who defended prominent IRA activists such as Bobby Sands. Finucane was assassinated in 1989 by loyalist forces acting in collusion with the British state. No member of state security forces has been prosec uted for his murder.\n\nPatrick Finucane was born on March 21st\, 1949 to a prominent Republican family in Belfast. Three of his brothers were Irish Republican Army (IRA) members\, two of whom would be imprisoned by the Br itish government.\n\nFinucane himself was a criminal defense lawyer. Altho ugh he had represented both Republicans and loyalists\, Finucane's most no table client was likely Bobby Sands\, a member of the Provisional Irish Re publican Army (IRA) who died on hunger strike while imprisoned at HM Priso n Maze in Northern Ireland.\n\nOn February 12th\, 1989\, while eating a Su nday meal at home with his wife and three children\, Finucane was shot fou rteen times by two gunmen. Twelve shots were to his face. The loyalist par amilitary Ulster Defence Association took credit for his murder\, alleging without evidence that Finucane was a high-ranking member of the IRA.\n\nF ollowing a 2001 peace agreement\, the British government promised to consi der opening an inquiry into Finucane's death\, appointing an international judge to review his case. The government declined to open an inquiry\, ho wever\, after the judge found evidence of state collusion.\n\nIn 2004\, Ke n Barrett\, a member of the Ulster Defence Association\, pled guilty to Fi nucane's murder. The identity of the second gunman remains unknown.\n\nIn 2011\, British Prime Minister David Cameron met with Pat Finucane's family and admitted to state collusion in his assassination\, but as of February 2022 no member of the British security services has been prosecuted.\n\nO n November 30th\, 2020\, Brandon Lewis\, the Northern Ireland Secretary\, rejected calls for a public inquiry into Finucane's killing. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pat_Finucane RESOURCES:https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4179&c ontext=flr END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Selma-Montgomery March (1965) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250321 DTEND:20250322T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Civil Rights,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1965\, on what was the third attempt by organizers to do so\, voting rights activists successfully marched 54 miles from Selm a\, Alabama to the state capital Montgomery\, arriving there with more tha n 25\,000 people. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1965\, on what was the third attempt by organiz ers to do so\, voting rights activists successfully marched 54 miles from Selma\, Alabama to the state capital Montgomery\, arriving there with more than 25\,000 people.\n\nThe marches were organized by civil rights activi sts to demonstrate the desire for black citizens to exercise their constit utional right to vote\, in defiance of state repression. By highlighting r acial injustice\, they contributed to the passage of the Voting Rights Act that year\, a landmark federal achievement of the civil rights movement.\ n\nThe first attempt to make the march happened on March 7th\, but failed due to police brutality. Police knocked marchers to the ground\, beat them with nightsticks\, and fired teargas. One marcher\, a 14 year old girl\, required 28 stitches in the back of her head. Although the assault ended t he first attempt of protesters to march to Montgomery\, it brought interna tional attention to the protest.\n\nAfter a federal court ruled that the m arch was legal\, the third and successful attempt to march to Montgomery w as made. By its end\, 25\,000 people marched to steps of the State Capitol Building in Montgomery. The protest was a watershed moment in the civil r ights struggle\, and\, by the next year\, 11\,000 black people were succes sfully registered to vote in Selma. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selma_to_Montgomery_marches#%22Blo ody_Sunday%22_events RESOURCES:http://digital.wustl.edu/e/eop/eopweb/you0015.0111.115revandrewy oung.html END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Sharpeville Massacre (1960) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250321 DTEND:20250322T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Civil Rights,Massacre,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1960\, the Sharpeville Massacre occurred at a polic e station in Sharpeville\, South Africa when police fired into a crowd of anti-apartheid protesters\, killing 69 people and injuring at least 180 mo re. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1960\, the Sharpeville Massacre occurred at a p olice station in Sharpeville\, South Africa when police fired into a crowd of anti-apartheid protesters\, killing 69 people and injuring at least 18 0 more.\n\nThe protests were organized by the Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC )\, a black nationalist rival to the African National Congress (ANC). More than 20\,000 protesters showed up at the police station in opposition to apartheid.\n\nThe unarmed crowd was met with armored police armed with Ste n submachine guns and Lee–Enfield rifles. After F-86 Sabre jets and Harv ard Trainers flew low over the crowd\, within a hundred feet of the ground \, in an attempt to scatter it\, the crowd began throwing rocks at police. \n\nThe police responded by opening fire on the crowd\, killing 69 people and injuring 180 others. 29 children were casualties of the violence\, and many people were shot in the back as they fled.\n\nA storm of internation al protest followed the Sharpeville shootings\, including sympathetic demo nstrations in many countries and condemnation from the United Nations. Sha rpeville marked a turning point in South Africa's history\; the country fo und itself increasingly isolated in the international community.\n\nThe Sh arpeville Massacre contributed to the banning of the PAC and ANC as illega l organizations. The massacre was one of the catalysts for a shift from pa ssive resistance to armed resistance by both of these groups. RESOURCES:https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/sharpeville-massacre-21-mar ch-1960 RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/sharpeville-mas sacre/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharpeville_massacre RESOURCES:https://michiganintheworld.history.lsa.umich.edu/antiapartheid/e xhibits/show/exhibit/origins/sharpeville END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Slavoj Žižek (1949 - ) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250321 DTEND:20250322T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Protests COMMENT:Slavoj Žižek\, born on this day in 1949\, is a Slovenian communi st philosopher and public intellectual. "I am eating from a trash can. [It s name] is ideology. The material force of ideology makes me not see what I am effectively eating." DESCRIPTION:Slavoj Žižek\, born on this day in 1949\, is a Slovenian com munist philosopher and public intellectual.\n\nŽižek grew up in Ljubljan a\, PR Slovenia\, Yugoslavia\, born into a middle-class family. His father was an economist and civil servant\, while his mother was an accountant i n a state enterprise.\n\nAs a youth\, Žižek was influenced by Western cu ltural\, in particular film\, English detective novels\, German Idealism\, French structuralism\, and the French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan. He ach ieved a master's degree and Doctorate in philosophy in 1975 and 1981\, res pectively.\n\nŽižek was politically active in Slovenia\, co-founding the Slovenian Liberal Demorcratic Party and running for one of four seats tha t comprised the collective Slovenian presidency in 1990. He came in fifth. \n\nŽižek is a public intellectual of international renown\, famous for his political and cultural commentary. Among his works are "The Sublime Ob ject of Ideology" (1989)\, "The Pervert's Guide to Cinema" (2006)\, and "T he Pervert's Guide to Ideology" (2012). Žižek's idiosyncratic presentati on style and fame have led some to call him "the Elvis of cultural theory" .\n\nŽižek was also a participant in the Occupy Wall Street protests\, a ddressing other protesters in a speech in Zuccotti Park given on November 2011.\n\n"I already am eating from the trash can all the time. The name of this trash can is ideology. The material force of ideology makes me not s ee what I am effectively eating."\n\n- Slavoj Žižek\, in "The Pervert's Guide to Ideology" (2012) RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavoj_%C5%BDi%C5%BEek RESOURCES:https://egs.edu/biography/slavoj-zizek/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Truman's "Loyalty Order" (1947) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250321 DTEND:20250322T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism COMMENT:On this day in 1947\, U.S. President Harry Truman signed the "Loya lty Order"\, an executive order designed to root out communist influence i n the federal government\, allowing the FBI to screen federal employees fo r left-wing sympathies. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1947\, U.S. President Harry Truman signed the " Loyalty Order"\, an executive order designed to root out communist influen ce in the federal government\, allowing the FBI to screen federal employee s for left-wing sympathies.\n\nThe order led to the creation of the first general loyalty program in the United States\, which investigated more tha n three million government employees. Approximately 300 were determined to be security risks and fired.\n\nThe Loyal Order established a wide domain for the departmental loyalty boards to conduct screenings of federal empl oyees and job applicants\, allowing the FBI to run initial name checks on federal employees and authorize further field investigations if the initia l inquiry uncovered information that cast someone in a negative light.\n\n Executive Order 9835 also was the main impetus for the creation of the Att orney General's List of Subversive Organizations (AGLOSO). It was later re voked by Eisenhower in 1953\, but only to further expand the restrictions in a new executive order (Executive Order 10450). Both executive orders we re later repealed by President Bill Clinton (Executive Orders 12968 and 13 087). RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Order_9835 RESOURCES:https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/education/presidential-inquiries/t rumans-loyalty-program END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:American Protective League Founded (1917) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250322 DTEND:20250323T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Anarchism COMMENT:The American Protective League\, founded on this day in 1917\, was a volunteer organization of U.S. citizens that collaborated with the gove rnment to identify\, raid\, and spy on anarchist\, anti-war\, and other le ft-wing organizations. DESCRIPTION:The American Protective League\, founded on this day in 1917\, was a volunteer organization of U.S. citizens that collaborated with the government to identify\, raid\, and spy on anarchist\, anti-war\, and othe r left-wing organizations.\n\nOn this day in 1917\, the APL was granted fo rmal approval to act a deputized\, anti-communist agency from the Departme nt of Justice\, later receiving authorization from the Attorney General to carry on its letterhead the words "Organized with the Approval and Operat ing under the Direction of the United States Department of Justice\, Burea u of Investigation."\n\nTeams of APL members conducted numerous raids and surveillance activities aimed at those who failed to register for the draf t and at German immigrants who were suspected of sympathies for Germany.\n \nThe APL was also accused of illegally detaining citizens associated with anarchist\, labor\, and pacifist movements. Thousands of APL members join ed authorities in New York City for three days of checking registration ca rds\, resulting in more than 75\,000 arrests.\n\nIn 1918\, the Attorney Ge neral gave a favorable statement about the APL\, saying "it is safe to say that never in its history has the nation been so thoroughly policed as at the present time." The APL formally disbanded a few months after the conc lusion of World War I. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Protective_League RESOURCES:https://www.whitehousehistory.org/the-american-protective-league -and-white-house-security-during-world-war-one END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Emilio Aguinaldo (1869 - 1964) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250322 DTEND:20250323T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays COMMENT:Emilio Aguinaldo\, born on this day in 1869\, was a Filipino revol utionary\, politician\, and military leader who became the first President of the Philippines (1899 - 1901)\, and the first president of an Asian co nstitutional republic. DESCRIPTION:Emilio Aguinaldo\, born on this day in 1869\, was a Filipino r evolutionary\, politician\, and military leader who became the first Presi dent of the Philippines (1899 - 1901)\, and the first president of an Asia n constitutional republic.\n\nIn his mid-20s\, Aguinaldo joined the "Katip unan"\, a secret organization dedicated to ousting Spanish colonizers. His military career against the Spanish began in August 1896 with the Katipun an-led Philippine Revolution.\n\nAguinaldo would go on to lead Philippine forces against multiple colonizing forces - first against Spain in the Phi lippine Revolution (1896 - 1898)\, again in the Spanish-American War (1898 )\, and finally against the United States during the Philippine-American W ar (1899-1901).\n\nAguinaldo was involved in multiple controversies as a g overnment leader\, most notably his role in the execution of Andrés Bonif acio (1863 - 1897)\, the leader of the Katipunan group. Bonifacio was a pr ominent revolutionary and political dissident to Aguinaldo's authority. Th e trial in which he was convicted is now seen as dubious.\n\nAlthough Agui naldo was the first president of an Asian constitutional republic\, this g overnment was dissolved by invading U.S. forces\, and he was forced to swe ar an oath of allegiance to the U.S. Aguinaldo was 77 when the United Stat es finally recognized Philippine independence in the Treaty of Manila on J uly 4th\, 1946\, in accordance with the Tydings–McDuffie Act of 1934. RESOURCES:https://www.britannica.com/biography/Emilio-Aguinaldo RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emilio_Aguinaldo END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Bhagat Singh Executed (1931) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250323 DTEND:20250324T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Assassinations,Colonialism,Marxism COMMENT:On this day in 1931\, Marxist Indian revolutionary Bhagat Singh wa s executed by the colonial British government at 23 years of age after ass assinating a police officer and exploding two bombs in a government buildi ng. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1931\, Marxist Indian revolutionary Bhagat Sing h was executed by the colonial British government at 29 years of age after assassinating a police officer and exploding two bombs in a government bu ilding.\n\nSingh was an avid reader of Bakunin\, Marx\, Lenin\, and Trotsk y. He was also openly critical of Mahatma Gandhi\, having become disillusi oned with his non-violent tactics after Gandhi called off the non-cooperat ion movement.\n\nIn December 1928\, Bhagat Singh and an associate fatally shot a 21-year-old British police officer\, John Saunders\, in retaliation for the death of Lala Lajpat Rai\, a popular Indian nationalist leader wh o died after being attacked by police. On the run from the police\, Singh was arrested when he\, along with Batukeshwar Dutt\, exploded two improvis ed bombs inside the Central Legislative Assembly in Delhi\, showered leafl ets onto the legislators below\, and allowed the authorities to arrest the m.\n\nAwaiting trial\, Singh gained public sympathy after he joined fellow defendant Jatin Das in a hunger strike\, demanding better prison conditio ns for Indian prisoners. Das died from starvation in September 1929. Singh was convicted and hanged in March\, 1931. Four days before his execution\ , Singh refused to sign a letter drafted for him that would appeal for cle mency.\n\n"Non-violence is backed by the theory of soul-force in which suf fering is courted in the hope of ultimately winning over the opponent. But what happens when such an attempt fail to achieve the object? It is here that soul-force has to be combined with physical force so as not to remain at the mercy of tyrannical and ruthless enemy."\n\n- Bhagat Singh RESOURCES:https://www.britannica.com/biography/Bhagat-Singh RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhagat_Singh RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/archive/bhagat-singh/index.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Norris-La Guardia Act (1932) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250323 DTEND:20250324T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:The Norris-La Guardia Act\, passed on this day in 1932\, is a U.S. labor law that bans yellow-dog contracts\, federal injunctions against no n-violent labor disputes\, and employers from interfering in workers' atte mpts to form a union. DESCRIPTION:The Norris-La Guardia Act\, passed on this day in 1932\, is a U.S. labor law that bans yellow-dog contracts\, federal injunctions agains t non-violent labor disputes\, and employers from interfering in workers' attempts to form a union. Yellow-dog contracts are binding agreements wher e employers ban workers from unionizing as part of the hiring process.\n\n The title comes from the names of the sponsors of the legislation: Senator George W. Norris of Nebraska (shown left) and Representative Fiorello H. La Guardia of New York (shown right). The law helped mitigate decades of a nti-union activity\, enabled in part by the precedent of court cases like In re Debs (1895)\, which affirmed the right of the federal government to end the Pullman Strike with an injunction.\n\nThe Norris-La Guardia Act wa s a precursor to the sweeping National Labor Relations Act of 1935\, which established the National Labor Relations Board and is considered one of t he most important pieces of labor legislation in the 20th century United S tates. RESOURCES:https://www.britannica.com/event/Norris-La-Guardia-Act RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norris%E2%80%93La_Guardia_Act_of_1 932 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Walter Rodney (1942 - 1980) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250323 DTEND:20250324T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Marxism,Assassinations,Pan-Africanism COMMENT:Walter Rodney\, born in Guyana on this day in 1942\, Pan-African\, Marxist intellectual who was assassinated by the Guyanese government in 1 980 at 38 years old. "If there is to be any proving of our humanity it mus t be through revolutionary means." DESCRIPTION:Walter Rodney\, born in Guyana on this day in 1942\, Pan-Afric an\, Marxist intellectual who was assassinated by the Guyanese government in 1980 at 38 years old.\n\nRodney attended the University College of the West Indies in 1960 and was awarded a first class honors degree in History in 1963. He later earned a PhD in African History in 1966 at the School o f Oriental and African Studies in London\, England\, at the age of 24.\n\n Rodney traveled extensively and became well-known as an activist\, scholar \, and formidable orator. He taught at the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania from 1966-67 and 1969-1974\, and in 1968 at his alma mater Univer sity of the West Indies.\n\nOn October 15th\, 1968\, the government of Jam aica declared Rodney a "persona non grata" and banned him from the country . Following his dismissal by the University of the West Indies\, students and poor people in West Kingston protested\, leading to the "Rodney Riots" \, which caused six deaths and millions of dollars in damages.\n\nIn 1972\ , Rodney published "How Europe Underdeveloped Africa". Historian Melissa T urner describes the work this way: "A brutal critique of long-standing and persistent exploitation of Africa by Western powers\, How Europe Underdev eloped Africa remains a powerful\, popular\, and controversial work in whi ch Rodney argued that the early period of African contact with Europe\, in cluding the slave trade\, sowed the seeds for continued African economic u nderdevelopment and had dramatically negative social and political consequ ences as well. He argued that\, while the roots of Africa’s ailments res ted with intentional underdevelopment and exploitation under European capi talist and colonial systems\, the only way for true liberation to take pla ce was for Africans to become cognizant of their own complicity in this ex ploitation and to take back the power they gave up to the exploiters."\n\n On June 13th\, 1980\, Rodney was killed in Georgetown\, Guyana via a bomb given to him by Gregory Smith\, a sergeant in the Guyana Defence Force\, o ne month after returning Zimbabwe. In 2015\, a "Commission of Inquiry" in Guyana that the country's then president\, Linden Forbes Burnham\, was com plicit in his murder.\n\n"If there is to be any proving of our humanity it must be through revolutionary means."\n\n- Walter Rodney RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/rodney-walter-1 942-1979/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Rodney RESOURCES:https://abahlali.org/files/3295358-walter-rodney.pdf RESOURCES:https://thepulseinstitute.org/2020/06/18/walter-rodneys-influenc e-on-the-global-push-against-police-brutality/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Dorothy Height (1912 - 2010) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250324 DTEND:20250325T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Civil Rights,Birthdays COMMENT:Dorothy Irene Height\, born on this day in 1912\, was an activist part of the "Big Six" of civil rights leaders (including MLK and John Lewi s) who focused on issues facing black women\, including unemployment\, edu cation\, and voting rights. DESCRIPTION:Dorothy Irene Height\, born on this day in 1912\, was an activ ist part of the "Big Six" of civil rights leaders (including MLK and John Lewis) who focused on issues facing black women\, including unemployment\, education\, and voting rights.\n\nHeight is credited as the first leader in the civil rights movement to recognize inequality for women and African Americans as problems that should be considered as a whole\, and was the president of the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) for forty years.\n \nWhile working with both the Young Women's Christian Association and NCNW \, Height participated in the civil rights movement and was considered a m ember of the "Civil Rights Six" (a group with up to nine members\, includi ng Martin Luther King\, Jr.\, James Farmer\, John Lewis\, A. Philip Randol ph\, Roy Wilkins\, and Whitney Young). In his autobiography\, civil rights leader James Farmer noted that Height's role in the "Big Six" was frequen tly ignored by the press for sexist reasons.\n\n"If the times aren't ripe\ , you have to ripen the times."\n\n- Dorothy Height RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothy_Height RESOURCES:https://naacp.org/articles/remembering-dr-dorothy-irene-height END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:NATO Bombing of Yugoslavia Begins (1999) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250324 DTEND:20250325T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Terrorism COMMENT:On this day in 1999\, the first NATO airstrikes of Yugoslavia bega n\, initiating a wave of violence that killed 1\,500 people\, damaging hos pitals\, schools\, cultural monuments\, and private businesses alongside m ilitary targets. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1999\, the first NATO airstrikes of Yugoslavia began\, initiating a wave of violence that killed 1\,500 people\, damaging hospitals\, schools\, cultural monuments\, and private businesses alongsi de military targets. The bombings lasted until June 10th of that year.\n\n The North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) bombing campaign was its f irst military action taken without the endorsement of the U.N. Security Co uncil. James Byron Bissett\, former Canadian ambassador to Yugoslavia\, ca lled the campaign a "war crime"\, and Noam Chomsky referred to it as an ac t of "terrorism".\n\nSupporters for the campaign claimed the bombing was n ecessary to stop a genocide of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo and to remove Sl obodan Milošević from power\, although claims made by the Clinton admini stration along these lines were later found to be highly exaggerated.\n\nA pproximately 500 of the people killed were civilians\, and the bombs damag ed many civilian structures alongside legitimate military targets. Chomsky has argued that the main objective of the NATO intervention was to integr ate Yugoslavia into the Western neoliberal social and economic system.\n\n In 2000\, Michael Parenti authored "To Kill a Nation: The Attack on Yugosl avia"\, which argues that the bombing was predicated on capitalist rather than humanitarian interests. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NATO_bombing_of_Yugoslavia RESOURCES:https://chomsky.info/200005__/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Yanis Varoufakis (1961 - ) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250324 DTEND:20250325T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Marxism,Birthdays COMMENT:Yanis Varoufakis\, born on this day in 1961\, is a Greek economist and politician who co-founded DiEM25\, a left-wing European political par ty. "The economy is too important to leave to the economists." DESCRIPTION:Ioannis "Yanis" Varoufakis\, born on this day in 1961\, is a G reek economist and politician who served as Finance Minister during the Gr eek debt crisis and co-founded DiEM25\, a left-wing European political par ty. He has served as DiEM25's Secretary-General of DiEM25 since 2018.\n\nI n January 2015\, Varoufakis was appointed Minister of Finance in Greece. H e led tense negotiations with Greece's creditors during the government-deb t crisis\, but failed to reach an agreement with the European troika (Euro pean Commission\, European Central Bank\, and International Monetary Fund) \, leading to the 2015 bailout referendum.\n\nThe referendum rejected the troika bailout terms\, and the day afterwards Varoufakis resigned as Minis ter of Finance\, being replaced by Euclid Tsakalotos. Varoufakis has since appeared in numerous debates\, lectures and interviews\, describing in de tail what he sees as corruption and anti-democratic governance within the European Union.\n\nIn February 2016\, Varoufakis launched the Democracy in Europe Movement 2025 (DiEM25). In the 2019 legislative election\, DiEM25 amassed nine parliamentary seats\, with Varoufakis himself returning to th e Hellenic Parliament.\n\nToday\, DiEM25 has 138\,000 members around the w orld. In December 2018\, Varoufakis also launched the "Progressive Interna tional" with U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders.\n\nOn March 10th\, 2023\, Varouf akis was physically attacked while dining in Athens with DiEM25 associates in what the party condemned as a "brazen fascist attack".\n\n"My reason f or writing [this book] was the conviction that the economy is too importan t to leave to the economists."\n\n- Yanis Varoufakis\, on writing "Talking to My Daughter About the Economy" RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yanis_Varoufakis RESOURCES:https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/may/03/yanis-varoufakis-g reece-greatest-political-memoir RESOURCES:https://www.yanisvaroufakis.eu/category/interviews/talks/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Óscar Romero Assassinated (1980) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250324 DTEND:20250325T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Assassinations COMMENT:Óscar Romero was an Archbishop of San Salvador and social activis t who was assassinated on this day in 1980 after giving a sermon where he urged government soldiers to desert their ranks and stop carrying out stat e oppression. DESCRIPTION:Óscar Romero was an Archbishop of San Salvador and social act ivist who was assassinated on this day in 1980 after giving a sermon where he urged government soldiers to desert their ranks and stop carrying out state oppression.\n\nRomero spoke out against social injustice\, assassina tions\, and torture happening during the Salvadoran Civil War. Although in itially perceived as a conservative\, Romero became an activist after the assassination of his friend and fellow priest Rutilio Grande in 1977.\n\nD uring the civil war\, Romero was a prominent figure in El Salvador\, givin g popular radio sermons in which he reported disappearances\, tortures\, m urders\, and other repressed information each Sunday. In a media landscape that was heavily censored\, Romero became an important source of news for what was going on in the country. According to listener surveys\, 73% of the rural population and 47% of the urban listened regularly.\n\nIn 1980\, Romero was assassinated while celebrating Mass in the chapel of the Hospi tal of Divine Providence\, the day after he gave a sermon urging soldiers to listen to "God's orders" and desert their ranks rather than continuing to oppress the domestic population. Romero's funeral was interrupted by sm oke bombs and rifle shots from surrounding buildings that were fired into the mourning crowd\, killing dozens.\n\nIn 2000\, The Guardian named Oscar Perez Linares as the assassin\, using declassified CIA documents as evide nce. Investigations by the UN-created "Truth Commission for El Salvador" c oncluded that the extreme right-wing politician and death squad leader Rob erto D'Aubuisson had given the order to kill Romero. Both died before bein g brought to justice for their role in Romero's murder.\n\n"A church that doesn't provoke any crises\, a gospel that doesn't unsettle\, a word of Go d that doesn't get under anyone's skin\, a word of God that doesn't touch the real sin of the society in which it is being proclaimed — ​wha t gospel is that?"\n\n- Óscar Romero RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%93scar_Romero RESOURCES:https://www.britannica.com/biography/Oscar-Arnulfo-Romero RESOURCES:https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/voices/remembering-romero -assassination END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Julio Mella (1903 - 1929) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250325 DTEND:20250326T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Labor,Marxism,Birthdays COMMENT:Julio Antonio Mella\, born on this day in 1903\, was an activist w ho\, in 1925\, co-founded the "internationalized" Cuban Communist Party in Moscow. While organizing for revolution in Mexico\, Mella was assassinate d by an unknown assailant. DESCRIPTION:Julio Antonio Mella\, born on this day in 1903\, was an activi st who\, in 1925\, co-founded the "internationalized" Cuban Communist Part y in Moscow. While organizing for revolution in Mexico\, Mella was assassi nated by an unknown assailant.\n\nBorn in Havana in 1903\, Mella developed an interest in politics as a young adult\, first getting arrested during the government of Alfredo Zayas (1921 - 1924). Mella had studied law in th e University of Havana\, but was expelled in 1925.\n\nAlthough Cuba alread y had various anti-capitalist parties\, Julio Mella helped found the "inte rnational" Cuban Communist Party\, recognized by the Soviet Union in 1925\ , during the Machado regime.\n\nAt the time of his murder\, Mella was work ing as a Marxist revolutionary in Mexico\, collaborating with other exiles and supporters to organize the overthrow of General Gerardo Machado in Cu ba.\n\nMella was assassinated on January 10th\, 1929\, while walking home at night with revolutionary photographer Tina Modotti. It is unknown who k illed Mella\, as both Machado and the Cuban Communist Party\, which was af raid Mella had come under the influence of Trotsky (who lived in Mexico at the time)\, had cause to assassinate him.\n\nThe Cuban government's offic ial position is that Machado had Mella assassinated\, while also conceding that Modotti was a Stalin-aligned agent. On September 29th\, 1933 the tro ops of Fulgencio Batista\, less than a month in power\, broke up a process ion to bury his ashes in Havana\, shooting as many as six people. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julio_Antonio_Mella RESOURCES:https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-t ranscripts-and-maps/mella-julio-antonio-1905-1929 RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/archive/mella/index.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Rudolf Rocker (1873 - 1958) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250325 DTEND:20250326T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Anarchism COMMENT:Johann Rudolf Rocker\, born on this day in 1873\, was an anarchist theorist\, historian\, and activist\, known for critical anarchist texts such as "Anarcho-Syndicalism: Theory and Practice" (1938) and "Pioneers of American Freedom" (1949). DESCRIPTION:Johann Rudolf Rocker\, born on this day in 1873\, was an anarc hist theorist\, historian\, and activist\, known for critical anarchist te xts such as "Anarcho-Syndicalism: Theory and Practice" (1938) and "Pioneer s of American Freedom" (1949).\n\nThough often described as an anarcho-syn dicalist\, Rocker was a self-professed anarchist without adjectives\, beli eving that anarchist schools of thought represented "only different method s of economy" and that the first objective for anarchists was "to secure t he personal and social freedom of men".\n\nRocker was involved in helping organize a number of labor strikes and represented the federation at the I nternational Anarchist Congress in Amsterdam in 1907. Rocker was well-read in his lifetime - his readers included figures Thomas Mann\, Albert Einst ein\, Herbert Read\, and Bertrand Russell.\n\n"Anarchism is no patent solu tion for all human problems\, no Utopia of a perfect social order\, as it has so often been called\, since on principle it rejects all absolute sche mes and concepts."\n\n- Rudolf Rocker RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolf_Rocker RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/library/london-years-rudolf-rocker RESOURCES:https://theanarchistlibrary.org/category/author/rudolf-rocker END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Scottsboro Boys Accused (1931) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250325 DTEND:20250326T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism COMMENT:On this day in 1931\, the Scottsboro Boys were falsely accused of raping white women after fending off a group of white attackers\, leading to a national scandal involving lynch mobs\, Supreme Court appeals\, and t he Communist Party. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1931\, the Scottsboro Boys were falsely accused of raping white women after fending off a group of white attackers\, lead ing to a national scandal involving lynch mobs\, Supreme Court appeals\, a nd the Communist Party.\n\nThe Scottsboro Boys were nine African American teenagers\, ages 13 to 19\, falsely accused in Alabama of raping two white women on a train. The accusers were a group of young white men who were f ought off by the Scottsboro Boys after they attacked and tried to remove t hem from the train.\n\nA landmark set of legal cases came out of the Scott sboro Boys case\, dealing with systemic racism and the right to a fair tri al. The U.S. Supreme Court was compelled to force the state of Alabama to let black people serve on the trial's jury\, leading to multiple sets of t rials.\n\nOther incidents included lynch mobs\, formed before the suspects could even be indicted\, rushed trials\, and disruptive mobs. The Scottsb oro Boys case is commonly cited as an example of a miscarriage of justice in the United States legal system.\n\nInitially\, all but the youngest\, 1 3 year old Roy Wright\, were convicted of rape and sentenced to death. Wit h help from the Communist Party USA (CPUSA) and the National Association f or the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)\, the case was appealed to th e Alabama Supreme Court\, which affirmed seven of the eight convictions. T he cases were then appealed twice to the U.S. Supreme Court\, which ordere d new trials due to the exclusion of black people from juries (Norris v. A labama) and violation of due process (Powell v. Alabama).\n\nIn the subseq uent re-trials\, Creed Conyer was selected as the first black person since Reconstruction to sit on an Alabama grand jury. Despite the successful le gal appeals\, most of the Scottsboro Boys were convicted on charges of rap e or sexual assault.\n\nThe legal aid of the Communist Party impressed som e poor black sharecroppers in the South\, leading to increased black parti cipation in the party there (prominent examples include Ned Cobb and Hosea Hudson).\n\nClarence Norris\, the only defendant ultimately sentenced to death\, "jumped parole" in 1946 and went into hiding. He was found in 1976 and pardoned by Governor George Wallace. Norris later wrote a book about his experiences\, "The Last of the Scottsboro Boys: An Autobiography"\, an d died in 1989\, the last surviving defendant. RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/scottsboro-ca se-1931-1950/ RESOURCES:https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/scottsboro- boys-who-were-the-boys/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottsboro_Boys END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire (1911) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250325 DTEND:20250326T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:On this day in 1911\, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire took pl ace in New York City. Managers had locked the exits to prevent theft and u nauthorized breaks\; the fire killed 146 garment workers\, mostly young im migrant girls. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1911\, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire too k place in New York City. Managers had locked the exits to prevent theft a nd unauthorized breaks\; the fire killed 146 garment workers\, mostly youn g immigrant girls. It was the deadliest industrial disaster in the history of the city\, and one of the deadliest in U.S. history.\n\nThe fire cause d the deaths of 146 garment workers - 123 women and girls and 23 men - who either burned to death\, choked on smoke\, or jumped to their deaths from high windows. Most of the victims were recent Italian and Jewish immigran t women and girls aged 14 to 23.\n\nThe death toll was high in part becaus e the doors to the stairwells and exits were locked (a then-common practic e to prevent workers from taking unauthorized breaks and to reduce theft). The incident led to legislation requiring improved factory safety standar ds and helped spur the growth of the International Ladies' Garment Workers ' Union (ILGWU)\, which fought for better working conditions for sweatshop workers.\n\nThe owners (who survived the fire by fleeing to the roof when it began)\, were acquitted of manslaughter charges\, but found liable for wrongful death. Although they had to pay out $75 per victim killed\, thei r insurance provider paid them out $400 per casualty. Two years later\, on e of the owners was arrested and fined $20 for again locking his doors dur ing factory hours.\n\nA week later\, on April 2nd\, 1911\, Rose Schneiderm an\, a prominent socialist\, feminist\, and union activist\, spoke to work ers\, saying this about the incident: "I would be a traitor to these poor burned bodies if I came here to talk good fellowship. We have tried you go od people of the public and we have found you wanting...I know from my exp erience it is up to the working people to save themselves. The only way th ey can save themselves is by a strong working-class movement." RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangle_Shirtwaist_Factory_fire RESOURCES:https://aflcio.org/about/history/labor-history-events/triangle-s hirtwaist-fire END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Food Not Bombs Serves First Meal (1981) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250326 DTEND:20250327T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1981\, Food Not Bombs shared their first meals outs ide the Federal Reserve Bank during the stock holders meeting of the Bank of Boston to protest the exploitation of capitalism and investment in the nuclear industry. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1981\, Food Not Bombs shared their first meals outside the Federal Reserve Bank during the stock holders meeting of the B ank of Boston to protest the exploitation of capitalism and investment in the nuclear industry.\n\nFood Not Bombs is a loose-knit group of independe nt collectives\, sharing free vegan and vegetarian food with others. Food Not Bombs' ideology is that corporate and government priorities are skewed to allow hunger to persist in the midst of abundance.\n\nAs evidence of t his\, a large amount of the food served by the group is surplus food from grocery stores\, bakeries\, and markets that would otherwise go to waste ( or\, occasionally\, has already been thrown away). RESOURCES:http://foodnotbombs.net/new_site/faq.php RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_Not_Bombs END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Kate O'Hare (1876 - 1948) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250326 DTEND:20250327T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays COMMENT:Kate Richards O'Hare\, born on this day in 1876\, was an American Socialist Party activist\, editor\, and orator who was imprisoned during W orld War I after giving an anti-war speech and worked with Emma Goldman on prison reform. DESCRIPTION:Kate Richards O'Hare\, born on this day in 1876\, was an Ameri can Socialist Party activist\, editor\, and orator who was imprisoned duri ng World War I after giving an anti-war speech and worked with Emma Goldma n on prison reform.\n\nFor giving an anti-war speech in Bowman\, North Dak ota\, O'Hare was convicted and sent to prison by federal authorities for v iolating the Espionage Act of 1917\, an act criminalizing interference wit h recruitment and enlistment of military personnel.\n\nWith no federal pen itentiaries for women existing at the time\, O'Hare was delivered to Misso uri State Penitentiary on a five-year sentence in 1919\, but was pardoned in 1920 after a nationwide campaign to secure her release. While incarcera ted\, O'Hare met the anarchists Emma Goldman and Gabriella Segata Antolini \, working with them to improve prison conditions.\n\nIn April 1922\, she joined a national march to release other activists also convicted of viola ting the 1917 Espionage Act. With support of the fledgling ACLU\, women an d children stood at the gates of the White House for almost two months bef ore President Harding met with them.\n\nLike some other white socialist co ntemporaries\, such as Victor L. Berger\, Kate O'Hare was a white supremac ist and supporter of racial segregation. In a pamphlet whose title contain ed a racial slur\, she wrote: "In Kansas City black men have replaced whit e men in the packinghouses wherever possible\, and the white daughters of both Republican and Democratic voters are forced to associate with them in terms of shocking intimacy. In the coal mines of the whole United States black men have been used to replace white miners until there is not a shre d of race distinction left."\n\n"Thank God that at this hour I am dangerou s to the war profiteers of this country who rob the people on the one hand \, and rob and debase the government on the other\; and then with their po ckets and wallets stuffed with the filthy\, bloodstained profits of war\, wrap the sacred folds of the Stars and Stripes about them and [about] thei r blatant hypocrisy to the world."\n\n- Kate O'Hare RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kate_Richards_O%27Hare RESOURCES:https://historicmissourians.shsmo.org/historicmissourians/name/o /ohare/ RESOURCES:https://www.jstor.org/stable/25144336 RESOURCES:https://blackagendareport.com/white-socialist-left-seeing-bleak- future-black-and-white-unite-and-fight END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Vine Deloria Jr. (1933 - 2005) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250326 DTEND:20250327T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Indigenous COMMENT:Vine Deloria Jr.\, born on this day in 1933\, was an indigenous th eologian\, historian\, professor\, and activist who authored "Custer Died for Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto" (1969). DESCRIPTION:Vine Deloria Jr.\, born on this day in 1933\, was an indigenou s theologian\, historian\, professor\, and activist who authored "Custer D ied for Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto" (1969). The book helped bring nati onal attention to Native American issues\, the same year as the Alcatraz-R ed Power Movement.\n\nDeloria also worked on the legal case that led to th e historic "Boldt Decision" of the United States District Court for the We stern District of Washington. This decision granted legal fishing rights t o Native Americans in Washington state\, and was used as legal precedent f or other lawsuits that sought to restore rights granted in Native American treaties.\n\nFrom 1964 to 1967\, Deloria also served as executive directo r of the National Congress of American Indians\, increasing tribal members hip from 19 to 156. Beginning in 1977\, Deloria was a board member of the National Museum of the American Indian\, which now has buildings in both N ew York City and Washington\, DC.\n\n"Until America begins to build a mora l record in her dealings with the Indian people she should not try to fool the rest of the world about her intentions on other continents."\n\n- Vin e Deloria Jr. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vine_Deloria_Jr. RESOURCES:https://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/15/us/vine-deloria-jr-champion-o f-indian-rights-dies-at-72.html RESOURCES:https://archives.yale.edu/repositories/11/resources/1302 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Annie Mae Aquash (1945 - 1975) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250327 DTEND:20250328T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Indigenous COMMENT:Annie Mae Aquash (Mi'kmaq name "Naguset Eask")\, born on this day in 1945\, was a First Nations activist and Mi'kmaq tribal member from Nova Scotia\, Canada who played a prominent role in the American Indian Moveme nt (AIM). DESCRIPTION:Annie Mae Aquash (Mi'kmaq name "Naguset Eask")\, born on this day in 1945\, was a First Nations activist and Mi'kmaq tribal member from Nova Scotia\, Canada who played a prominent role in the American Indian Mo vement (AIM).\n\nIn the 1960s\, she moved to Boston and joined other First Nations and indigenous Americans who were focused on education and organi zing against police brutality against urban indigenous peoples. Aquash par ticipated in several key events\, including the 1973 occupation of Wounded Knee at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation\, the 1972 Trail of Broken Trea ties\, and the occupation of the Department of Interior headquarters in Wa shington\, DC.\n\nOn February 24th\, Aquash's body was found in Wanblee on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota\, murdered by an execut ion-style gunshot. In his book "In the Spirit of Crazy Horse"\, Peter Matt hiessen writes that the FBI and CIA had previously disseminated rumours th at she had been an informant and that Aquash had claimed an FBI agent thre atened her life.\n\nOn the matter of Aquash's death\, Leonard Peltier stat ed\, "I know that [the FBI's] behavior hasn't changed just as I know that Anna Mae was not an informant." RESOURCES:https://www.canadashistory.ca/explore/women/annie-mae-aquash RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Mae_Aquash END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Dutch Resistance Bombs Nazi Registry (1943) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250327 DTEND:20250328T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Fascism,Terrorism COMMENT:On this day in 1943\, members of the anti-fascist Dutch Resistance bombed a civil registry office in Amsterdam in an attempt to prevent Nazi s from identifying Jews and others marked for persecution\, arrest\, or fo rced labor. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1943\, members of the anti-fascist Dutch Resist ance bombed a civil registry office in Amsterdam in an attempt to prevent Nazis from identifying Jews and others marked for persecution\, arrest\, o r forced labor. The bombing was a partial success\, destroying 15% of the records\, around 800\,000 in total.\n\nFollowing the 1940 German invasion and occupation of the Netherlands\, everyone aged 15 and older was require d to carry an identification card\, the "persoonsbewijs"\, with them at al l times. Resistance members soon started to forge identification cards at a large scale – the largest such operation\, led by sculptor Gerrit van der Veen\, produced some 80\,000 forged documents. Forged documents could be easily detected\, however\, because they could be compared against the records in the civil registries.\n\nDisguised in police uniforms\, the res istance group approached the security guards and told them that they had c ome to search the building for explosives. Believing their story\, the gua rds let them in. Two medical students then sedated the guards by injecting them with phenobarbital. While inside the building\, the saboteurs then s et the building on fire with a series of timed explosions.\n\nFollowing th e bombing\, the Nazis immediately offered a 10\,000 guilder reward to whom ever could identify the perpetrators of the assault. Within a week\, most of the conspirators had been betrayed to the Nazis and arrested\, includin g resistance leader and openly gay man Willem Arondeus\, who was executed along with twelve others. Arondeus' last words were "Tell the world that g ays are no less courageous than anyone else." RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1943_bombing_of_the_Amsterdam_civi l_registry_office RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/history-dutch-fascism-militant-anti-f ascist-response END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Paris Commune Proclaimed (1871) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250327 DTEND:20250328T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Marxism,Socialism COMMENT:On this day in 1871\, the Paris Commune was formally declared\, fo llowing city-wide elections. "200\,000 voices chimed in with the Marseilla ise. Ranvier\, in an interval of silence\, cried out\, 'In the name of the People the Commune is proclaimed!'" DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1871\, the Paris Commune was formally declared\ , following city-wide elections. "200\,000 voices chimed in with the Marse illaise. Ranvier\, in an interval of silence\, cried out\, 'In the name of the People the Commune is proclaimed!'"\n\nOn the morning of March 18th\, French soldiers members began attempting to remove cannons from working c lass neighborhoods in Paris\, left there following the end of the Franco-P russian War. As soldiers became surrounded by members of the National Guar d\, a popular Parisian militia with radical tendencies\, the soldiers' sup erior officer\, General Lecomte\, ordered them to fire on the crowd.\n\nTh is order was refused. Many soldiers mutinied\, joining the National Guard. Some of the military officers were disarmed and escorted away\, while oth ers\, including General Lecomte\, were arrested. Lecomte himself was execu ted later that day. This incident marked the beginning of a working class revolution in Paris\, one anticipated by the conservative national governm ent of Adolphe Theirs.\n\nOn March 26th\, elections were held to establish a Paris Commune council\, consisting of 92 members\, one for every 20\,00 0 residents. Out of 485\,000 registered voters\, more than 230\,000 voted. Participation was significantly higher in working class neighborhoods tha n bourgeois ones.\n\nOn March 27th\, the Commune was formally declared. Pr osper-Olivier Lissagaray\, a participant of the Commune and author of "His tory of the Paris Commune of 1871"\, describes the celebration:\n\n"The ne xt day 200\,000 'wretches' came to the Hôtel-de-Ville there to install th eir chosen representatives\, the battalion drums beating\, the banners sur mounted by the Phrygian cap and with red fringe round the muskets\; their ranks\, swelled by soldiers of the line\, artillerymen\, and marines faith ful to Paris\, came down from all the streets to the Place de Greve like t he thousand streams of a great river...\n\nA member of the Committee annou nced the names of those elected. The drums beat a salute\, the bands and t wo hundred thousand voices chimed in with the Marseillaise. [Gabriel] Ranv ier\, in an interval of silence\, cried out\, 'In the name of the People t he Commune is proclaimed.'\n\nA thousandfold echo answered\, 'Vive la Comm une!' Caps were flung up on the ends of bayonets\, flags fluttered in the air. From the windows\, on the roofs\, thousands of hands waved handkerchi efs...The quick reports of the cannon\, the bands\, the drums\, blended in one formidable vibration. All hearts leaped with joy\, all eyes filled wi th tears."\n\nThe government of the Paris Commune developed a set of polic ies that tended towards a progressive\, secular\, and highly democratic so cial democracy\, although its existence was too brief to implement them wi th much permanence. Among these policies were the separation of church and state\, abolition of child labor\, abolishment of interest on some forms of debt\, as well as the right of employees to take over and run an enterp rise if it was deserted by its original owner.\n\nThe national French Army suppressed the Commune at the end of May during La semaine sanglante ("Th e Bloody Week")\, beginning on May 21st\, 1871. Even after the Commune was defeated\, the Army continued their campaign of slaughter.\n\nIn an 1886 account of the Paris Commune\, The Socialist League wrote "Thus was exting uished the despair of Paris\; but though the fighting was over\, the killi ng went on merrily\; for instance\, in the prison of La Roquette alone nin e hundred prisoners were slain in cold blood\, and without any pretence of form of trial. The courts martial disposed of others. 'Have you taken arm s\, or served the Commune? Show your hands.' If the judge thought the man looked likely\, 'classé' was the word\; if anyone was spared\, “ordinai re” was pronounced\, and he was kept for Versailles. None were released — sex or age made no difference. Those who were 'classés' were shot at once\; perhaps they were not the unluckiest."\n \nA watershed moment in re volutionary working class history\, the Paris Commune was analyzed by many communist thinkers\, including Karl Marx\, who identified it as a "dictat orship of the proletariat." Vladimir Lenin danced in the snow in celebrati on when the newly formed Bolshevik government lasted longer than the Paris Commune.\n\n"It is time people understood the true meaning of this Revolu tion\; and this can be summed up in a few words…It was the first attempt of the proletariat to govern itself. The workers of Paris expressed this when in their first manifesto they declared they 'understood it was their imperious duty and their absolute right to render themselves masters of th eir own destinies by seizing upon the governmental power.'"\n\n- Eleanor M arx RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/history/france/archive/lissagaray/index .htm RESOURCES:https://marxistleftreview.org/articles/celebrating-the-paris-com mune-of-1871-glorious-harbinger-of-a-new-society/ RESOURCES:https://www.jacobinmag.com/2015/05/kristin-ross-communal-luxury- paris-commune/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_Commune RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/history/international/social-democracy/ paris-commune.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Polish "Warning Strike" (1981) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250327 DTEND:20250328T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Labor,General Strikes,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1981\, the largest strike in USSR history began whe n 12-14 million Poles went on a four-hour national strike to protest polic e brutality and political repression\, threatening a prolonged general str ike. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1981\, the largest strike in USSR history began when 12-14 million Poles went on a four-hour national strike to protest p olice brutality and political repression\, threatening a prolonged general strike.\n\nIn the early spring of 1981\, several members of "Solidarity"\ , a very large trade union movement independent of state control\, were be aten by state security services when they refused to leave a session of ne gotiations regarding a Solidarity strike.\n\nThe incidents became known as the "Bydgoszcz Events"\, and political tensions increased when the Polish government downplayed or outright denied being responsible the injuries s ustained by the involved Solidarity members.\n\nSolidarity made several de mands\, including the immediate punishment of officials responsible for th e Bydgoszcz incident\, legal permission for peasants to form their own uni on\, annulment of a government directive giving only half pay to strikers\ , and the closing of all pending cases against people arrested for politic al opposition to government policies between 1976 and 1980.\n\nIf no agree ment between the government and Solidarity could be reached by March 31st\ , Solidarity planned to instigate a general strike. As a kind of "warning shot" to the state\, nearly all Polish workers went on a 4-hour strike on March 27th\, 1981.\n\nWorkers set up guard around occupied factories\, and people still on their job wore red and white armbands to express solidari ty with those who were striking. During the four hours of protest\, televi sion screens in Poland showed the words "Solidarity-Strike"\n\nSolidarity and the Polish government came to an agreement after this episode\, and th e general strike planned for March 31st was averted. The government conced ed to demands about police brutality and admitted to mishandling the Bydgo szcz Events. In return\, Solidarity leader Lech Wałęsa agreed to postpon e the general strike.\n\nIn the following years\, Solidarity secretly rece ived millions of dollars from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)\, also openly accepting money from the anti-communist AFL-CIO.\n\nSolidarity wou ld go on to play a key role in the liberalization of Poland. By the end of August 1989\, Poland was governed by a liberal\, Solidarity-led coalition \, with one of its leaders\, the anti-communist Tadeusz Mazowiecki\, servi ng as the first liberal Prime Minister in Eastern Europe for nearly 40 yea rs. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1981_warning_strike_in_Poland RESOURCES:https://www.counterfire.org/article/solidarity-part-two-the-stru ggle/ RESOURCES:https://www.nytimes.com/1981/03/28/world/millions-in-poland-go-o n-4-hour-strike-to-protest-violence.html END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:RAF Bombs Weiterstadt Prison (1993) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250327 DTEND:20250328T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1993\, the Red Army Faction (RAF) bombed and destro yed the newly finished Weiterstadt Prison near Frankfurt\, Germany\, causi ng approximately $90 million in damages. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1993\, the Red Army Faction (RAF) bombed and de stroyed the newly finished Weiterstadt Prison near Frankfurt\, Germany\, c ausing approximately $90 million in damages.\n\nThe Weiterstadt prison had taken eight years to build and was not housing inmates yet - they were sc heduled to begin holding inmates that May. The act of rebellion began when at least three armed people climbed a high well and entered the guardhous e early in the morning of March 27th\, 1993.\n\nThe group subdued ten pris on guards and locked them in a van near a landfill. After that\, the RAF m embers brought in more than 200 kilograms of explosives\, detonating them at 5:12 am. The prison had to be rebuilt\, which took another four years\, opening and receiving inmates in May 1997.\n\nThe bombing was the last ma jor action of the RAF before they dissolved in 1998. In 2007\, fourteen ye ars later\, detectives identified three perpetrators using DNA analysis\, however all three suspects are still at large. In May 2020\, all three sus pects were on the Europe Union's "Most Wanted" list. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weiterstadt_prison_bombing RESOURCES:https://www.dw.com/en/germanys-raf-prison-bombers-identified-14- years-later/a-2845541 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Sergei Kirov (1886 - 1934) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250327 DTEND:20250328T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Marxism,Birthdays COMMENT:Sergei Kirov\, born on this day in 1886\, was Bolshevik revolution ary and Soviet politician. In 1934\, Kirov was assassinated by an ex-Party member\, the catalyst for a series of purges and state repression. DESCRIPTION:Sergei Kirov\, born on this day in 1886\, was Bolshevik revolu tionary and Soviet politician. In 1934\, Kirov was assassinated by an ex-P arty member\, the catalyst for a series of purges and state repression led by Stalin\, sometimes called the "Great Purge".\n\nSergei Kirov (1886 - 1 934) began his career as an engineer\, becoming after in politics after mo ving to the Siberian city Tomsk\, where he became a Marxist and joined the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) in 1904.\n\nAfter the RSDL P split\, Kirov followed the Bolshevik faction. During the Russian Civil W ar\, he became commander of the Bolshevik military administration in Astra khan\, and fought for the Red Army until 1920.\n\nIn 1921\, Kirov became F irst Secretary of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan\, the Bolshevik party organization in Azerbaijan. Kirov was a loyal supporter of Joseph Stalin\, the successor of Vladimir Lenin\, and in 1926 he was rewarded with comman d of the Leningrad party organization.\n\nOn December 1st\, 1934\, Kirov w as shot dead in his office by Leonid Nikolaev\, a disaffected and expelled ex-Party member. Kirov was buried in the Kremlin Wall necropolis in a sta te funeral\, with Stalin and other prominent members of the CPSU personall y carrying his coffin.\n\nStalin called for swift punishment of the traito rs and those found negligent in Kirov's death\, announcing that Nikolaev h ad been put up to the job by "Zinovievites" (supporters of Grigorii Zinovi ev\, who had been ousted as Leningrad party boss in 1926).\n\nNikolayev wa s swiftly found guilty and executed on December 29th\, 1934. Arrests of Zi noviev\, Lev Kamenev and many of their associates followed\, as did summar y executions of alleged White conspirators.\n\nThe circumstances of Kirov' s death have been the source of great speculation and conspiracy\, particu larly by Soviet dissidents. One conspiracy\, alleged by Nikita Khrushchev and anti-Soviet defectors such as Alexander Orlov and Alexander Barmine\, is that Stalin himself secretly ordered the assassination\, fearing Kirov as a political rival and requiring a justification to begin mass purges.\n \nDespite these claims\, at least two official investigations\, one in the 1960s and another in 1989\, failed to establish Stalin's or the NKVD's co mplicity in Kirov's assassination.\n\nMany cities\, streets\, and factorie s were named or renamed after Kirov in his honor\, including the town of K irov (formerly Vyatka).\n\n"Whenever there is a conflict between precept a nd example\, the latter wins because deeds speak louder than our words."\n \n- Sergei Kirov RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergei_Kirov RESOURCES:http://soviethistory.msu.edu/1934-2/the-kirov-affair/ RESOURCES:https://spartacus-educational.com/RUSkirov.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Arkansas Bans Anarchy and "Bolshevism" (1919) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250328 DTEND:20250329T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Labor,Anarchism COMMENT:On this day in 1919\, Arkansas\, joining the majority of U.S. stat es at the time\, passed a law to explicitly "punish anarchy and to prevent the introduction and spread of Bolshevism and kindred doctrines" within i ts borders. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1919\, Arkansas\, joining the majority of U.S. states at the time\, passed a law to explicitly "punish anarchy and to pre vent the introduction and spread of Bolshevism and kindred doctrines" with in its borders.\n\nThe law\, known as Act 512\, also banned advocating for the overthrow of the state of Arkansas or federal government\, as well as any flag "which is calculated to overthrow present form of government".\n \nAct 512 categorized these behaviors as a misdemeanor crime\, punishable by a fine of between $10 and a $1\,000\, and the perpetrator could be impr isoned in the county jail for up to six months. On March 28th\, 1919\, the Act was signed into law by Governor Charles Brough (shown).\n\nThese anti -Bolshevik laws were used against socialist\, communist\, and union organi zers in Arkansas a number of times in the 1930s\, approximately the same t ime that the Communist Party of Arkansas reached its zenith. Examples of r epression enabled by this law include the 1934 arrest of George Cruz\, ass ociated with the Original Independent Benevolent Afro-Pacific Movement of the World (OIBAPMW) and the 1935 arrest of Ward Rodgers\, a member of the Southern Tenant Farmers' Union (STFU). RESOURCES:https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/red-scare-4600/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Scare#First_Red_Scare_(1917%E2 %80%931920) END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Clara Lemlich (1886 - 1982) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250328 DTEND:20250329T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Labor,General Strikes,Birthdays COMMENT:Clara Lemlich Shavelson\, born on this day in 1886\, was a Jewish communist and labor leader of the "Uprising of 20\,000"\, a massive strike of shirtwaist workers in New York's garment industry in 1909. DESCRIPTION:Clara Lemlich Shavelson\, born on this day in 1886\, was a Jew ish communist and labor leader of the "Uprising of 20\,000"\, a massive st rike of shirtwaist workers in New York's garment industry in 1909. Later b lacklisted from the industry for her labor union work\, she became a membe r of the Communist Party USA and a consumer activist.\n\nBefore the shirtw aist strike began\, Clara had been listening to men speak at a union meeti ng about the disadvantages and cautions about the shirtwaist workers going on a general strike. After four hours of this\, she rose and declared in Yiddish that she wanted to say a few words of her own.\n\nShe declared tha t the shirtwaist workers would go on a general strike\, which received a s tanding ovation from the audience. Clara then took an oath swearing that i f she became a traitor to the cause she now voted for\, then that the hand she now held high wither from her arm.\n\nThe strike was successful - und er a "Protocol of Peace"\, factory owners and the union agreed to end the strike under improved wages\, working conditions\, and hours. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clara_Lemlich RESOURCES:https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/shavelson-clara-lemlich END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:New Peoples' Army Founded (1968) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250329 DTEND:20250330T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Terrorism COMMENT:On this day in 1968\, the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines\, the New People's Army\, was founded. The CPP-NPA waged one of the longest communist insurgencies in the world and is deemed a terrori st org by the US and EU. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1968\, the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines\, the New People's Army\, was founded. The CPP-NPA waged one of the longest communist insurgencies in the world and is deemed a ter rorist org by the US and EU.\n\nIn December 1968\, Filipino revolutionary Jose Maria Sison met Bernabé Buscayno\, who had commanded an armed group during a communist-led uprising in the 1950s known as the Huk Rebellion. T ogether with Buscayno\, who still commanded his armed group\, Sison set up the NPA on March 29th\, 1969\, a few months after establishing the CPP.\n \nBuscayno became the NPA's first commander\, bringing his fighters into t he newly established militant wing. The NPA adopted the Maoist strategy of the protracted people's war\, and\, according to liberal journalist Seth Mydans\, has waged the "world's longest-running communist insurgency".\n\n In 2017\, the Office of the President of the Philippines designated both t he NPA and the CPP as terrorist groups. The United States and the European Union have designated the CPP-NPA as "foreign terrorist organizations" in 2002 and 2005\, respectively.\n\nJose Maria Sison wrote extensively about his experiences with revolutionary struggle\, authoring texts such as "Fo undation for Resuming the Philippine Revolution" (1968 - 1972) and "Contin uing the Struggle for National & Social Liberation" (1986 - 1991). \n\n"Pa rty members were encouraged to adhere to the mass line and do painstaking mass work. With the Party core\, mass organizations were expanded and cons olidated. The NPA was reoriented\, reorganized and redeployed for mass wor k and for extensive and intensive guerrilla warfare on the basis of an eve r widening and deepening mass base."\n\n- Jose Maria Sison RESOURCES:https://stanford.edu/group/mappingmilitants/cgi-bin/groups/print _view/149 RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_People%27s_Army RESOURCES:http://www.bannedthought.net/India/PeoplesMarch/PM1999-2006/arch ives/2000/aug2k/interview.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Storming of Connolly House (1933) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250329 DTEND:20250330T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism COMMENT:On this day in 1933\, a crowd of 5\,000-6\,000 Catholic anti-commu nists stormed and burned the Connolly House in Dublin\, the headquarters o f the Communist Party. The incident was one of many anti-communist Catholi c attacks in Ireland. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1933\, a crowd of 5\,000-6\,000 Catholic anti-c ommunists stormed and burned the Connolly House in Dublin\, the headquarte rs of the Communist Party. Attempts were also made to attack the Workers' College in Eccles Street and the Workers Union of Ireland office in Marlbo rough Street.\n\nThe Connolly House had been under siege for multiple days \, and the incident was part of a larger series of events where anti-commu nist crowds attacked Dublin buildings associated with the far left.\n\nThe Catholic Church played a key role in fostering this anti-communist sentim ent. In October 1931\, the Church stated "You cannot be a Catholic and a C ommunist. One stands for Christ\, the other for Anti-Christ". In his Lente n pastoral for 1933\, the Bishop of Kildare warned his congregation "be pr epared to fight...There is no reason why anyone who undertakes to propagat e Communism should be allowed do so". RESOURCES:https://www.historyireland.com/20th-century-contemporary-history /the-storming-of-connolly-house/ RESOURCES:http://www.workersrepublic.org/Pages/Ireland/Communism/cpihistor y2.html END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Wellington Trades Hall Bombing (1984) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250329 DTEND:20250330T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Terrorism COMMENT:On this day in 1984\, the Trades Hall in Wellington\, New Zealand was bombed\, killing the building's caretaker and badly injuring his dog. Police suspected a retire marine engineer with anti-union sentiments\, how ever no charges were filed. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1984\, the Trades Hall in Wellington\, New Zeal and was bombed\, killing the building's caretaker and badly injuring his d og. To this day\, the perpetrator has not been identified.\n\nThe Trades H all was the headquarters of a number of trade unions\, and it is most comm only assumed that unions were the target of the bombing. Ernie Abbott\, th e building's caretaker\, was killed when he attempted to move the suitcase \, which is believed to have contained three sticks of gelignite triggered by a mercury switch.\n\nTo this day\, the perpetrator has never been iden tified. It was revealed in a 2019 episode of Cold Case that police had a p rime suspect\, a retired marine engineer with explosives expertise and ant i-union attitudes\, however the evidence was considered circumstantial and insufficient to lay charges. RESOURCES:http://www.stuff.co.nz/good-reads/9872178/Wellingtons-unsolved-T rades-Hall-mystery RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrorism_in_New_Zealand#Wellingto n_Trades_Hall_bombing END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Land Day (1976) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250330 DTEND:20250331T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:General Strikes,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1976\, Palestinians initiated a campaign of resista nce\, including a general strike\, occupations\, and violent confrontation with police\, in opposition to Israeli settlement plans. The event is com memorated annually as Land Day. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1976\, Palestinians initiated a campaign of res istance\, including a general strike\, occupations\, and violent confronta tion with police\, in opposition to Israeli settlement plans. The uprising is commemorated annually as Land Day.\n\nLand Day was not a spontaneous u prising\, but the result of months of planning. On May 21st\, 1975\, activ ists and Arab intellectuals held a meeting in Haifa to discuss a strategic response to Israel stepping up its campaign to appropriate Palestinian-ow ned land. This began a series of meetings over which the campaign was conc eptualized\, including a general congress that was the largest public gath ering of Palestinians in Israel since 1948.\n\nOn February 14th\, 1976\, m ore than 5\,000 residents rallied in the village of Sakhnin\, calling for a general strike in response to Israeli repression. To prepare for the str ike\, local land defense committees and branches of the Communist Party di stributed leaflets\, organized demonstrations\, and held meetings in sever al Arab towns and villages.\n\nThe first confrontations began on the eve o f Land Day\, March 29th as demonstrators in Arraba demanded the release of a local activist\, closing the streets and setting fire to tires. Israeli soldiers fired on demonstrators with live ammunition\, injuring many of t hem.\n\nThe following day\, the general strike was initiated in Arab towns and villages\, including the West Bank\, Gaza Strip\, and refugee camps i n Lebanon. Israeli troops and border guards in military trucks and tanks r aided Arab communities to arrest activist politicians and disperse demonst rators.\n\nIn total\, six people were killed\, approximately fifty were in jured\, and three hundred were arrested. When some of the injured applied for compensation\, the Israeli Ministry of Defense categorized the Land Da y confrontations as "combat activity".\n\nThe Interactive Encyclopedia of the Palestine Question describes Land Day's legacy this way: "Land Day was a turning point in the orientations and tools adopted for Palestinian str uggle inside Israel. After Land Day the Palestinians in Israel gradually s tructured their presence as a national group inside Israel in a way that w ent beyond their local struggles."\n\nDuring Land Day protests in 2018\, s eventeen Palestinians were killed\, including five Hamas members\, and mor e than 1\,400 were injured in shootings by the Israeli Army during a march calling for the Palestinian right of return at the borders with Gaza. RESOURCES:https://www.palquest.org/en/highlight/14509/land-day-1976 RESOURCES:https://jacobinmag.com/2021/06/palestinian-labor-trade-unions-st rike-resistance-worker-solidarity-may-18-labor-history RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_Day END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Loray Mill Strike (1929) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250330 DTEND:20250331T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Communism COMMENT:On this day in 1929\, mill workers in Gastonia\, North Carolina\, led by communist labor organizer Fred Beal\, voted in favor of striking to demand a 40 hour work week\, higher wages\, and union recognition\, begin ning the Loray Mill Strike. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1929\, mill workers in Gastonia\, North Carolin a\, led by communist labor organizer Fred Beal\, voted in favor of strikin g to demand a 40 hour work week\, higher wages\, and union recognition\, b eginning the Loray Mill Strike.\n\nOn April 1st\, 1\,800 mill workers walk ed out on the job and formally made their demands. Workers lived in compan y homes and the mill owners promptly had them evicted. Workers created a t ent city on the outskirts of town\, guarded by armed strikers.\n\nOn June 7th\, an altercation between strikers and police led to the police chief b eing shot to death\, and several strikers and police were wounded. In the aftermath\, 71 strikers were arrested\, and mobs of anti-strike community members harassed and shot at striking workers\, killing a young woman. Fre d Beal and Clarence Miller\, another leader of the strike\, were indicted and convicted for the murder of the police chief. Both skipped bail and fl ed to the Soviet Union.\n\nThough largely unsuccessful in attaining its go als of better working conditions and wages\, the strike was considered ver y successful in a lasting way - it caused an immense controversy which gav e the labor movement momentum\, propelling the movement in its national de velopment. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loray_Mill_strike RESOURCES:https://www.ourstate.com/loray-mill-strike/ RESOURCES:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zA0h2-02Ro4&t=1s&ab_channel=Pedi mentPublishing END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Alexandra Kollontai (1872 - 1952) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250331 DTEND:20250401T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Marxism,Birthdays COMMENT:Alexandra Kollontai\, born on this day in 1872\, was a Marxist fem inist revolutionary who served as People's Commissar for Social Welfare in the Soviet Union and\, later in life\, as a diplomat for the USSR abroad. DESCRIPTION:Alexandra Kollontai\, born on this day in 1872\, was a Marxist feminist revolutionary who served as People's Commissar for Social Welfar e in the Soviet Union and\, later in life\, as a diplomat for the USSR abr oad.\n\nAlexandra was born into a wealthy family of Ukrainian\, Russian\, and Finnish background\, acquiring a fluency in both Russian and Finnish e arly on. This experience would later assist her in her career as a Soviet diplomat.\n\nIn 1895\, Kollontai read August Bebel's "Woman and Socialism" \, which was a major influence on her thinking. In 1896\, she helped fundr aise in support of a mass textile strike in St. Petersburg\, retaining con nections with the women textile workers of St. Petersburg for the rest of her career.\n\nIn the years leading up to 1917\, Kollontai was active as a Marxist theoretician\, educator\, and anti-war activist (opposing World W ar I\, specifically). During this time\, she established contact with Vlad imir Lenin and gave a lengthy speaking tour in the U.S.\, sharing a stage with Eugene V. Debs and giving 123 speeches in 4 languages.\n\nFollowing t he 1917 February Revolution\, Kollontai returned to Russia. Later that yea r\, she voted in favor of the decision to launch an armed uprising against the government\, also participating in the revolt. At the Second All-Russ ian Congress of Soviets\, she was elected Commissar of Social Welfare in t he new Soviet government.\n\nThe Encyclopedia of Women's Autobiography des cribes her efforts within the Soviet government: "The changes that Kollont ai tried to bring about were enormous\, involving the complete destruction of the old system and the creation of a new one...Kollontai authorized de crees that committed the Soviet State to full funding of maternity care fr om conception through the first year of a child's life - an unheard of mea sure for the beginning of the 20th century. She attempted to establish ful l legal\, political\, and sexual equality for women and to redress the ent ire marriage code."\n\nIn 1920\, Kollontai joined the left "Workers' Oppos ition"\, an opposition tendency in the Bolshevik Party opposed to what the y saw as the increasing bureaucratization of the Soviet state. In March 19 21\, the Workers' Opposition was banned\, along with all other factions.\n \nIn 1922\, Kollontai was one of the signers of the "Letter of the 22" to the Communist International\, protesting the banning of factions in Russia . The appeal failed\, and a three-man commission\, Stalin\, Zinoviev and D zerzhinsky\, recommended her be expelled from the party\, however she was ultimately allowed to remain.\n\nFollowing this incident\, Kollontai began to serve as a Soviet diplomat\, becoming one of the first women to work i n international diplomacy. Although she initially intended this venture to be temporary\, she soon began to regard her work abroad as a kind of poli tical exile\, and would spend the rest of her political career in this rol e.\n\n"Class instinct...always shows itself to be more powerful than the n oble enthusiasms of 'above-class' politics. So long as the bourgeois women and their [proletarian] 'younger sisters' are equal in their inequality\, the former can\, with complete sincerity\, make great efforts to defend t he general interests of women.\n\nBut once the barrier is down and the bou rgeois women have received access to political activity\, the recent defen ders of the 'rights of all women' become enthusiastic defenders of the pri vileges of their class\, content to leave the younger sisters with no righ ts at all. Thus\, when the feminists talk to working women about the need for a common struggle to realise some 'general women's' principle\, women of the working class are naturally distrustful."\n\n- Alexandra Kollontai RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandra_Kollontai RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/archive/kollonta/into.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:César Chávez (1927 - 1993) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250331 DTEND:20250401T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Birthdays,Civil Rights COMMENT:César Chávez\, born on this day in 1927\, was a civil rights act ivist who served as a leader with the United Farm Workers (UFW) and establ ished worker co-operatives. "The fight is never about grapes or lettuce. I t is always about people." DESCRIPTION:César Chávez\, born on this day in 1927\, was a civil rights activist who served as a leader with the United Farm Workers (UFW) and es tablished worker co-operatives.\n\nAlong with labor organizer and civil ri ghts activist Dolores Huerta\, Chávez co-founded the National Farm Worker s Association (NFWA)\, which later merged with the Agricultural Workers Or ganizing Committee (AWOC) to form the United Farm Workers (UFW).\n\nCháve z emphasized direct but nonviolent tactics\, including pickets and boycott s\, to pressure farm owners into granting strikers' demands. His campaigns used Catholic symbolism\, including public processions\, masses\, and fas ts.\n\nChávez would go on to play key roles in pivotal labor struggles su ch as the Delano Grape Strike and the Salinas Lettuce Strike. Although ini tially based in California\, Chávez began expanding the UFW\, working to make it a national organization.\n\nViewing undocumented workers as an obs tacle to successful organizing\, in the 1970s\, Chávez pushed a controver sial "Illegals Campaign"\, using UFW union members to spy on and oust undo cumented workers\, alienating some of his allies in the process. Addressin g this criticism\, the UFW website states "Like every legitimate union and labor leader\, the United Farm Workers and Cesar Chavez strongly opposed strikebreaking by anyone...When it came to how the union was run and its i mmigration stands\, no American union or labor leader embraced undocumente d immigrants and immigration reform earlier and more consistency than the UFW and Cesar Chavez."\n\nAlso interested in co-operatives as a form of or ganization\, Chávez established a remote commune in the foothills of the Tehachapi Mountains.\n\nIn 2014\, President Barack Obama proclaimed March 31st "Cesar Chavez Day" in the U.S.\, urging Americans to "observe this da y with appropriate service\, community\, and educational programs to honor César Chávez's enduring legacy."\n\n"The fight is never about grapes or lettuce. It is always about people."\n\n- César Chávez RESOURCES:https://chavezfoundation.org/about-cesar-chavez/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cesar_Chavez RESOURCES:https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/the-crusades-of-cesar-chavez-97816 08197101/ RESOURCES:https://ufw.org/cesar-chavez-and-ufw-longtime-champions-of-immig ration-reform/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Iraqi Communist Party Founded (1934) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250331 DTEND:20250401T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Marxism COMMENT:On this day in 1934\, the Iraqi Communist Party was founded. In th e 1940s\, the ICP successfully organized the working class\, but was cripp led by state repression. The ICP is still active today\, participating in the 2018 national elections. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1934\, the Iraqi Communist Party was founded. I n the 1940s\, the ICP successfully organized the working class\, but was c rippled by state repression. The ICP is still active today\, participating in the 2018 national elections.\n\nThe Iraqi Communist Party emerged out of a nascent leftist student movement\; Husayn Al-Rahhal\, sometimes calle d "Iraq's first Marxist"\, formed the left-leaning group "Mutadarisi Al- A fkar Al-Hurrah" (Students for Independent Ideas). A member of this group\, Yusuf Salman Yusuf\, would serve as the ICP's first Secretary under the c adre name "Comrade Fahd".\n\nUnder Yusuf Salman Yusuf's guidance\, the par ty grew with great success over the next decade despite being illegal. The ICP supported strikes and walkouts\, its members served as union leaders\ , and the Party spoke out against government repression. This repression l ed to Al-Wathbah\, a period of urban unrest in Baghdad in 1948 in which hu ndreds of protesters were killed.\n\nFollowing this uprising\, Fahd and tw o comrades were publicly hanged in 1949 after being accused of organizing agitation from prison. The ICP was further hurt after adopting the Soviet position of supporting a Zionist state in 1948\, causing many members to r esign and public support to decline.\n\nIn 1953\, communists actively resi sted the Ba'athist coup that deposed Abd al-Karim Qasim\, who had good rel ations with the Party. Dozens were killed\, and a campaign of anti-communi st repression followed.\n\nAfter a brief period of legalization in the 197 0s\, the ICP broke ties with the Iraqi government following another anti-c ommunist crackdown in 1978 and Saddam Hussein's rise to power the followin g year.\n\nIn 2018\, the ICP won more than 1.5 million votes as part of th e "Saairun" political coalition\, gaining 13 seats. Al-Khateeb\, a communi st teacher and feminist\, said upon her victory "the Communist party have [sic] a long history of honesty - we were not agents for foreign occupatio ns. We want social justice\, citizenship\, and are against sectarianism\, and this is also what Iraqis want."\n\nIn 2021\, the ICP boycotted the nat ional elections in October\, citing "widespread corruption and the lack of prosecution for the most corrupt"\, and stating "an atmosphere conducive to holding free and fair elections has become nothing but an illusion expo sed by the tragic daily realities and the bitter suffering of millions". RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraqi_Communist_Party RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/article/red-flag-over-babylon-brief-overview- iraqi-communist-party RESOURCES:https://www.iraqicp.com/index.php/english END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Poll Tax Riots (1990) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250331 DTEND:20250401T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Anarchism,Riots,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1990\, 180k-250k people gathered in Kennington Park \, London to protest an unpopular poll tax imposed by Margaret Thatcher\, leading to widespread police brutality and rioting. The tax was replaced a few years later. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1990\, 180k-250k people gathered in Kennington Park\, London to protest an unpopular poll tax imposed by the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher\, leading to widespread police brutality and rioting. By 1991\, the government promised to replace the tax\, and th e poll tax was repealed in 1993.\n\nThe proposed poll tax was a "Community Charge"\, a head tax that saw every adult pay a fixed rate amount set by their local authority according to Daily Telegraph correspondent Nick Coll ins.\n\nThe Charge proved extremely unpopular\; while students and the reg istered unemployed had to pay 20%\, some large families occupying relative ly small houses saw their charges go up considerably\, and the tax was thu s accused of saving the rich money and moving the expenses onto the poor.\ n\nOn March 31st\, 1990\, between 180\,000 and 250\,000 people gathered in Kennington Park. A police report completed a year after the riot estimate d the crowd at 200\,000.\n\nThe rally was met with a large police presence \, and rioting broke out around 4pm. By midnight\, around 113 people were injured\, mostly members of the public and 339 people had been arrested.\n \nRadical left-wing groups in the protest\, anarchists and the UK Socialis t Workers' Party (SWP) in particular\, were blamed by various media and po litical figures for the violence and property destruction. A member of the SWP Central Committee told The Times: "We did not go on the demonstration with any intention of fighting with the police\, but we understand why pe ople are angry and we will not condemn that anger." A 1991 police report c oncluded there was "no evidence that the trouble was orchestrated by left- wing anarchist groups".\n\nThe large scale of opposition and resistance wo uld facilitate Thatcher's fall from power as Prime Minister and Conservati ve leader later that year\, and the poll tax itself would later be abolish ed entirely\, replaced with a "Council Tax" in 1993. RESOURCES:https://www.rs21.org.uk/2020/03/29/bollocks-to-the-poll-tax-2/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poll_tax_riots END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Ray Rogers (1944 - ) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250331 DTEND:20250401T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Birthdays COMMENT:Ray Rogers\, born on this day in 1944\, is an American labor right s activist and organizer known for initiating the "Killer Coke Campaign"\, which sought to hold Coca-Cola accountable for violence against Latin Ame rican workers. DESCRIPTION:Ray Rogers\, born on this day in 1944\, is an American labor r ights activist and organizer known for initiating the "Killer Coke Campaig n"\, which sought to hold Coca-Cola accountable for violence against Latin American workers.\n\nRogers is credited with pioneering the strategy of t he "corporate campaign"\, a tactic of applying public pressure to companie s that has been used with success by labor unions\, human rights advocates \, and environmental activist groups in their battles against corporations in the United States and all over the world.\n\nIn 2003\, Rogers began th e "Campaign to Stop Killer Coke". The so-called "Killer Coke Campaign" sou ght to hold the Coca-Cola Company\, including its bottlers and subsidiarie s\, accountable for numerous acts of violence\, including the kidnapping\, torture\, and murder of union leaders and members of their families in fa ctories in Colombia and Guatemala.\n\nAccording to Michael Blanding of The Nation\, the campaign is "the largest anti-corporate campaign since the o ne against Nike." RESOURCES:http://www.corporatecampaign.org/ray_rogers_bio.php RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Rogers_(labor_activist) END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Coal Creek War Begins (1891) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250401 DTEND:20250402T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:On this day in 1891\, the Coal Creek War began when the Tennessee Coal Mining Company (TCMC) rejected worker demands\, closing operations. A fter TCMC used strikebreaking convict labor\, workers razed their stockade s and freed hundreds of prisoners. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1891\, the Coal Creek War began when the Tennes see Coal Mining Company (TCMC) rejected worker demands\, closing operation s. After TCMC used strikebreaking convict labor\, workers razed their stoc kades and freed hundreds of prisoners.\n\nAmong miners' demands were to be paid in cash\, not scrip (currency only accepted by the employer)\, and t o weigh their own haul to ensure fairness of payment. The strike marked th e beginning of a period of open rebellion by workers against capitalists a nd the state.\n\nOn July 5th\, TCMC reopened the Briceville mine using con vict labor leased from the Tennessee Coal\, Iron\, and Railway Company (TC I). Convict labor was heavily racialized\; of 120 men brought in to work i n the mines at Coal Creek by TCI\, only five were identified as white.\n\n On July 14th\, armed miners surrounded the stockades where leased convicts were held and sent them by train out of the city. After repeated attacks on mine property and the stockades where prison workers were kept\, the mi ners burned the prison to the ground and freed hundreds of convicts being held there on October 31st.\n\nOn November 2nd\, workers attacked a differ ent set of stockades\, freeing the prisoners detained there as well. From these two events alone\, at least 453 convicts were set free.\n\nThe strik e was forcibly put down by state militia\, ending with the arrest of hundr eds of miners. All but one were either acquitted or merely fined. Tennesse e ended its policy of allowing convict labor to replace mine workers in 18 92. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coal_Creek_War RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/files/stockade-stood-burning-rebellion-and-co nvict-lease-tennessees-coalfields-1891-1895-1.pdf RESOURCES:https://www.jstor.org/stable/42623533 RESOURCES:https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/coal-creek-war/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Diggers Occupy St George's Hill (1649) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250401 DTEND:20250402T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Anarchism COMMENT:On this day in 1649\, a group of commoners began sowing vegetables on St George's Hill in Surrey\, England. Their movement became known as t he Diggers\, agrarian proto-communist dissidents who opposed enclosure dur ing the English Civil War. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1649\, a group of commoners began sowing vegeta bles on St George's Hill in Surrey\, England. Their movement became known as the Diggers\, agrarian proto-communist dissidents who opposed enclosure during the English Civil War.\n\nThe Diggers arose during a time of socia l upheaval - England was in the midst of a civil war between the Parliamen t\, led by Oliver Cromwell\, and the Crown. While the Parliamentarians con flicted with royalist aristocracy\, it did not represent commoners\; only property owners could vote.\n\nDuring the civil war\, other dissenting gro ups came into prominence. Among them were the Levellers\, often seen as pr oto-liberal\, which supported extending suffrage to all male heads of hous eholds\, regardless of property ownership. The Diggers (who called themsel ves the "True Levellers")\, meanwhile\, opposed the seizure of land by pri vate individuals\, and sought to preserve and utilize common land for the benefit of the common people.\n\nAccording to British historian J.F.C. Har rison\, on April 1st\, 1649 a small group of about thirty to forty people began to dig and plant the common land on St George's Hill in Surrey. Over the first few days\, their numbers on the hill quickly swelled as they at tracted sympathizers.\n\nSoon\, however\, the protesters found themselves under violent assaults from mobs coordinated by local landowners. The lead ers of the Levellers attempted to distance themselves from the "True Level lers"\, making a statement in opposition to the expropriation of estates.\ n\nTwo leaders of the Diggers\, Gerard Winstanley and William Everard\, we re ordered to appear before the Council of State in London\, where they ar gued that the land had been granted by God to the common people\, and that they were simply claiming the commons in the name of the poor. They furth er expressed hope that more people would follow their example.\n\nOn the s ame day\, the group published a pamphlet outlining their beliefs\, entitle d "The True Levellers Standard". The pamphlet described private property a s the original sin and war as a means which was used to defend the system of property. New Model Army commander Thomas Fairfax considered the men ha rmless\, declining to persecute them further.\n\nWhile St. George's Hill w ould face regular evictions\, the Diggers would persistently return as reb ellions appeared in other areas during 1649-50. The Diggers would eventual ly be defeated and driven from the lands via military force in April 1650. Many surviving Diggers\, such as Winstanley\, continued to advocate for l and redistribution.\n\nThe continuing process of enclosure was a major par t of the transition from feudalism towards capitalism. However\, the legac y of the Diggers would not be forgotten\, as ownership of land remained an important issue for the poor.\n\nThe Diggers would later come to be recog nized as proto-socialist\, proto-communist or proto-anarchist\, and served as an inspiration for radicals in the centuries that followed. The "Digge rs' Song"\, a folk ballad commemorating them\, is still sung to this day\, and was covered by anarcho-punk band Chumbawumba in 1988.\n\nDuring the 1 960s\, an influential radical theatre collective in San Francisco named th emselves after the Diggers. In 1975\, a film entitled "Winstanley" was rel eased about the movement.\n\nIn 1999\, 300 people\, organized under the ba nner "The Land is Ours"\, reoccupied St Georges Hill on the 350th annivers ary of the Diggers' commune. RESOURCES:https://spartacus-educational.com/STUdiggers.htm RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diggers END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:IWW Espionage Trial Begins (1918) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250401 DTEND:20250402T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,IWW COMMENT:On this day in 1918\, the IWW Espionage Trial began\, with more th an one hundred Wobblies standing trial after the Department of Justice eng aged in mass raids and arrests of IWW members in 1917 for violating the Es pionage Act. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1918\, the IWW Espionage Trial began\, with mor e than one hundred Wobblies standing trial after the Department of Justice engaged in mass raids and arrests of IWW members in 1917 for violating th e Espionage Act.\n\nUsing the newly passed Espionage Act of 1917 as a just ification\, on September 5th\, 1917\, the Department of Justice raided for ty-eight Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) meeting halls\, arresting 1 65 IWW members for "conspiring to hinder the draft\, encourage desertion\, and intimidate others in connection with labor disputes."\n\nOf the 165 a rrested\, only 101 actually stood trial. The trial\, which began on this d ay in 1918\, was unusual in the way that the prosecution did not try to de monstrate the guilt of individuals\, but rather to indict the IWW as an en tire organization. During the trial\, prosecutors read inflammatory passag es from seized documents\; accordingly\, the defense testified about the p light of the working man and the evils of capitalism.\n\nAll defendants we re found guilty on all charges brought by the prosecution\, and many IWW m embers served several years in prison. Among those convicted was "Big Bill " Haywood\, a prominent leader of the IWW\, however he skipped bail before his sentencing and fled to the Soviet Union\, where he would spend the re st of his life. RESOURCES:https://depts.washington.edu/iww/justice_dept.shtml RESOURCES:https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/iww-trial/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Richard Wolff (1942 - ) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250401 DTEND:20250402T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Marxism,Birthdays COMMENT:Richard D. Wolff\, born on this day in 1942\, is a Marxist economi st and author who co-founded Democracy at Work and hosts Economic Update\, a weekly series which discusses political and economic issues from a Marx ist perspective. DESCRIPTION:Richard D. Wolff\, born on this day in 1942\, is a Marxist eco nomist and author who co-founded Democracy at Work and hosts Economic Upda te\, a weekly series which discusses political and economic issues from a Marxist perspective.\n\nWolff is also Professor Emeritus of Economics at t he University of Massachusetts Amherst and currently a Visiting Professor in the Graduate Program in International Affairs of the New School Univers ity in New York.\n\nIn 1988\, Wolff co-founded "Rethinking Marxism"\, a st ill running academic journal dedicated to Marxist analyses of economics\, culture\, and society. Among his other works are "Capitalism Hits the Fan" (2009) and "Democracy at Work: A Cure for Capitalism".\n\nThe New York Ti mes dubbed Wolff "America's most prominent Marxist economist"\, and he is featured regularly in television\, print\, and internet media.\n\n"If you lived with a roommate as unstable as this economic system\, you would've m oved out or demanded that your roommate get professional help."\n\n- Dr. R ichard Wolff RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_D._Wolff RESOURCES:https://www.democracyatwork.info/ RESOURCES:https://www.youtube.com/@democracyatwrk END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Strangeways Prison Riot (1990) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250401 DTEND:20250402T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Riots,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1990\, the longest prison riot in British history b egan when prisoners at the overcrowded Strangeways Prison in Manchester di srupted a religious service\, shouting "Fuck your system!" and seizing con trol of the facility. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1990\, the longest prison riot in British histo ry began when prisoners at the overcrowded Strangeways Prison in Mancheste r disrupted a religious service\, shouting "Fuck your system!" and seizing control of the facility.\n\nThe uprising took place in the context of an overfilled prison with abusive guards. On March 31st\, there was a 30-minu te sit-down protest took place after a prisoner was strip searched and bea ten following a visit from his mother. The same day\, a black prisoner was beaten in front of other prisoners and tranquilized. The day of the riot\ , the prison contained 1\,647 prisoners\, significantly over its capacity of 970.\n\nIn advance\, prisoners decided to stage a further protest in th e prison chapel on April 1st. A note was passed the night before\, reading "There's going to be a riot in the Church of England".\n\nOn April 1st\, prisoners disrupted the service\, interrupting the service with shouts of "Fuck your system!". Prisoners donned masks\, brandished weapons\, attacke d several prison guards\, and seized two sets of prison keys.\n\nFollowing this\, prisoners seized control of large sections of the prison and began rioting. Up to 1\,100 of the 1\,647 prisoners were involved in the riotin g\, and by the end of the first day\, 700 of the prison population had sur rendered.\n\nRioting prisoners occupied the rooftop of the Strangeways fac ility\, communicating with media and crowds below. Prisoners made demands via telephone\, including improved visiting facilities\, to be allowed to wear their own clothes and receive food parcels\, longer exercise periods\ , and an end to 23-hour-a-day lock-up.\n\nState forces gradually took cont rol over the prison from the lower levels upward\, and it took 25 days for the last holdouts on the roof to surrender. In total\, one prisoner was k illed\, 147 prison officers and 47 prisoners were injured\, and £55m of p roperty was damaged (equivalent to £127\,801\,000 in 2020). One uninjured prison officer died of pneumonia during the riot.\n\nThe Strangeways faci lity was re-opened in 1994. One prisoner told a visiting journalist:\n\n"T he better conditions in here are not down to the prison department. But fo r the riot\, we would still be in the same old jail banged up all day and slopping out [manually removing human waste]...The rioters brought this ab out. These conditions...should not have cost the lives of a prisoner\, a p rison officer\, and two huge court trials. They should have done it years ago but it took a riot to get them to do it." RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1990_Strangeways_Prison_riot RESOURCES:https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/nostalgia/gallery/4 3-photos-1990-strangeways-prison-23427441 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Richmond Bread Riot (1863) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250402 DTEND:20250403T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Riots COMMENT:On this day in 1863\, the Richmond Bread Riot\, the largest of sev eral bread riots that took place in the Confederacy\, began when thousands of hungry people began attacking government warehouses and stores\, chant ing "Bread or Blood!" DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1863\, the Richmond Bread Riot\, the largest of several bread riots that took place in the Confederacy\, began when thous ands of hungry people began attacking government warehouses and stores\, c hanting "Bread or Blood!"\n\nDuring the Civil War\, Richmond\, Virginia ha d been suffering an economic crisis in which overcrowding\, skyrocketing r ent prices\, and unaffordable food led to widespread suffering among the p oor. Thousands of people\, mostly poor women\, protested and demanded a me eting with the governor of Virginia.\n\nWhen this meeting was denied\, the crowd took the streets\, chanting "We celebrate our right to live! We are starving!" and "Bread or blood!" They then began attacking government war ehouses\, grocery stores\, and various mercantile establishments\, seizing food\, clothing\, and wagons\, as well as jewelry and other luxury goods. \n\nOver sixty rioters were arrested\, and the Confederate government cens ored reporting of the event in the press\, fearing that it would hurt the morale of the war effort. RESOURCES:https://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/bread_riot_richmond#start_e ntry RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_bread_riots#Richmond_brea d_riots END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Ruth Wilson Gilmore (1950 - ) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250402 DTEND:20250403T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays COMMENT:Ruth Wilson Gilmore\, born on this day in 1950\, is a prison aboli tionist and scholar who founded the field of "carceral geography"\, the st udy of the relationships across space and political economy that define mo dern incarceration. DESCRIPTION:Ruth Wilson Gilmore\, born on this day in 1950\, is a prison a bolitionist and scholar who founded the field of "carceral geography"\, th e study of the relationships across space and political economy that defin e modern incarceration.\n\nGilmore serves as the Director of the Center fo r Place\, Culture\, and Politics and professor of geography in Earth and E nvironmental Sciences at The City University of New York. She has also co- founded several social justice organizations\, such as the California Pris on Moratorium Project.\n\nIn 1998\, Gilmore was one of the co-founders of Critical Resistance\, alongside Angela Davis. In 2003\, she co-founded Cal ifornians United for a Responsible Budget (CURB) to fight jail and prison construction and currently serves on its board.\n\nIn 2007\, Gilmore publi shed her work Golden Gulag\, which provides the first detailed explanation for the dramatic increase of U.S. carceral rates since 1980\, described b y a California state analyst as the "biggest prison building project in th e history of the world"\, according to University of California Press.\n\n "In the United States\, where organized abandonment has happened throughou t the country\, in urban and rural contexts\, for more than 40 years\, we see that as people have lost the ability to keep their individual selves\, their households\, and their communities together with adequate income\, clean water\, reasonable air\, reliable shelter\, and transportation and c ommunication infrastructure\, as those things have gone away\, what's rise n up in the crevices of this cracked foundation of security has been polic ing and prison."\n\n- Ruth Wilson Gilmore RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth_Wilson_Gilmore RESOURCES:https://theintercept.com/2020/06/10/ruth-wilson-gilmore-makes-th e-case-for-abolition/ RESOURCES:https://cominsitu.files.wordpress.com/2018/08/gilmore-ruth-wilso n-golden-gulag-2007.pdf RESOURCES:https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520242012/golden-gulag END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:"The Ballot or The Bullet" Speech (1964) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250403 DTEND:20250404T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1964\, Malcolm X delivered a speech at Cory Methodi st Church in Cleveland\, Ohio\, discussing the strategies of electoralism and armed defense\, stating "In 1964\, it's the ballot or the bullet". DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1964\, Malcolm X delivered a speech at Cory Met hodist Church in Cleveland\, Ohio\, discussing the strategies of electoral ism and armed defense\, stating "In 1964\, it's the ballot or the bullet". \n\nThe speech took place less than a month after Malcolm X announced his split with the Nation of Islam\, and in it he signaled a willingness to co operate with civil rights leaders. In the speech\, Malcolm X did not aband on electoralism entirely\, but stated "Don't be throwing out any ballots. A ballot is like a bullet. You don't throw your ballots until you see a ta rget\, and if that target is not within your reach\, keep your ballot in y our pocket".\n\nHere is a brief excerpt from the speech:\n\n"I went to a w hite school over here in Mason\, Michigan. The white man made the mistake of letting me read his history books. He made the mistake of teaching me t hat Patrick Henry was a patriot\, and George Washington - wasn't nothing n on-violent about ol' Pat\, or George Washington. 'Liberty or death' is was what brought about the freedom of whites in this country from the English .\n\nThis is why I say it's the ballot or the bullet. It's liberty or it's death. It's freedom for everybody or freedom for nobody.\n\n...\n\nA revo lution is bloody\, but America is in a unique position. She's the only cou ntry in history in the position actually to become involved in a bloodless revolution. All she's got to do is give the Black man in this country eve rything that's due him. Everything." RESOURCES:http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?smtid=3&psid= 3624 RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ballot_or_the_Bullet END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Isaac Deutscher (1907 - 1967) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250403 DTEND:20250404T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Marxism,Birthdays,Fascism,Protests COMMENT:Isaac Deutscher\, born on this day in 1907\, was a Marxist author and activist who played an important role in the British New Left after be ing expelled from the Polish Communist Party for "exaggerating the danger of Nazism" in 1932. DESCRIPTION:Isaac Deutscher\, born on this day in 1907\, was a Marxist aut hor and activist who played an important role in the British New Left afte r being expelled from the Polish Communist Party (KPP) for "exaggerating t he danger of Nazism" in 1932. Deutscher is perhaps best known as a biograp her of Leon Trotsky and Joseph Stalin.\n\nDeutscher was born to a Jewish f amily in Chrzanów\, in modern day southern Poland\, then part of the Aust ro-Hungarian Empire. He first came to prominence as a poet\, publishing ve rse in both Yiddish and Polish\, concerned Jewish and Polish mysticism\, h istory and mythology.\n\nAround 1927\, Deutscher joined the outlawed Polis h Communist Party and very soon became the chief editor of the clandestine and semi-clandestine communist press.\n\nDeutscher co-founded the first a nti-Stalin group in the KPP\, protesting the party view that social democr ats were "social fascists". In an article "The Danger of Barbarism over Eu rope"\, Deutscher urged the formation of a united front against Nazism.\n\ nDeutscher was expelled from the Party in 1932\, officially for "exaggerat ing the danger of Nazism and spreading panic in the communist ranks." The Nazis would invade Poland on September 1st\, 1939.\n\nIsaac had left Polan d for London in April earlier that year to serve as a correspondent for a Polish-Jewish paper. After war broke out\, he joined the Polish Army in Sc otland\, but most of his time in the Army was spent in the punitive camps as a "dangerous and subversive element" for protesting against institution al anti-Semitism.\n\nIn 1949\, Deutscher published his first major work\, "Stalin\, A Political Biography". Following this\, Isaac published his mag num opus\, a three-volume biography of Leon Trotsky: "The Prophet Armed" ( 1954)\, "The Prophet Unarmed" (1959) and "The Prophet Outcast" (1963).\n\n "Socialism does not aim at the perpetuation of the national state\; its ai m is international society. It is based not on national self-centredness a nd self-sufficiency\, but on international division of labour and on coope ration. This almost forgotten truth is the very ABC of Marxism."\n\n- Isaa c Deutscher\, in a 1958 interview with KS Karol\, linked below RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/archive/deutscher/1958/polish-tragedy.h tm RESOURCES:https://spartacus-educational.com/RUSdeutscher.htm RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Deutscher END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Jeju Uprising (1948 - 1949) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250403 DTEND:20250404T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Labor,Colonialism COMMENT:On this day in 1948\, the Korean Jeju Uprising began when 3\,500 c ommunists attacked police stations in Jeju\, beginning a war with the US a nd Korean collaborators that resulted in ~15k civilians killed\, almost al l by state security forces. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1948\, the Korean Jeju Uprising began when 3\,3 50 communists attacked police stations in Jeju\, beginning a war with the US government and Korean collaborators that resulted in approximately 15\, 000 civilians killed\, almost all by state security forces.\n\nThe uprisin g took place following the 1945 surrender of Japan in World War II\, endin g 35 years of Japanese colonial rule in Korea. In the period following thi s surrender\, "People's Committees" formed throughout Korea\, localized au tonomous councils tasked with coordinating the transition towards Korean i ndependence.\n\nWhen the American military government\, the United States Army Military Government in Korea (USAMGIK)\, arrived on Jeju in late 1945 \, the Jeju People's Council was the only existing government on the islan d. In 1946\, USAMGIK dissolved the provisional People's Republic of Korea and their associated People's Committees on the mainland\, escalating tens ions on Jeju.\n\nIn February 1948\, a general strike broke out in oppositi on to upcoming elections. Participants attacked government installations a nd fought with police. On March 1st\, police fired on a protest\, killing six civilians\, including a six-year old child.\n\nOn April 3rd\, 1948\, 5 00 members of the banned communist Workers' Party of South Korea (WPSK)\, along with 3\,000 sympathizers\, attacked eleven police stations\, targeti ng police who had previously collaborated with Japanese colonizers. They a lso attacked positions held by the Northwest Youth League\, a far-right pa ramilitary which had previously committed violence against workers.\n\nThi s incident is generally regarded as the official beginning of the "Jeju Up rising"\, fought between the WPSK and the right-wing alliance of the Unite d States\, South Korean collaborators\, and the Northwest Youth League. Th e Jeju Uprising lasted until May of 1949\, however communist resistance co ntinued into the Korean War (1950 - 1953).\n\nThe conflict was characteriz ed by brutal violence and mass deaths\, in particular from state repressio n. 14\,373 civilians were killed\, 86%-90% of whom victims of soldiers and police. Right-wing death squads committed war crimes with impunity\, exte rminating entire villages\, gangraping women\, and executing children.\n\n Lower estimates of the total killed are 30\,000 people\, about 10% of the island's total population. The governor of Jeju at the time privately repo rted the death toll to be around 60\,000.\n\nRebels fought back by tactica lly retreating to bases in mountainous forests and caves. On April 29th\, the Korean\, non-military\, governor of Jeju province defected to the guer rillas\, and many police followed. In response\, U.S. military provincial governor William F. Dean ordered a purge of WPSK sympathizers from the ran ks of the Korean police\, and three sergeants were summarily executed.\n\n In March 1949\, Republic of Korea (ROK) forces launched a final eradicatio n campaign\, killing 2\,345 guerrillas and 1\,668 civilians\, marking an e nd to the rebellion. After the Korean War between North and South broke ou t the following year\, the South Korean government rounded up and summaril y executed suspected leftists on the island. RESOURCES:https://www.radicalhistoryreview.org/abusablepast/forum-5-4-earl y-cold-war-genocide-the-jeju-4-3-massacre-and-u-s-responsibility/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeju_uprising END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Abdullah Öcalan (1947 - ) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250404 DTEND:20250405T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays COMMENT:Abdullah Öcalan\, born on this day in 1947\, is a socialist theor ist\, feminist\, political prisoner\, and one of the founders of the Kurdi stan Workers' Party (PKK). His concept of "democratic confederalism" has b een influential in Rojava. DESCRIPTION:*Although some records claim Öcalan was born on April 4th\, Öcalan himself claims to not know the exact date of his birth other than knowing it was between 1946-1947.\n\nAbdullah Öcalan\, born on this day i n 1947\, is a socialist theorist\, feminist\, political prisoner\, and one of the founders of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). His concept of "de mocratic confederalism" has been influential in Rojava.\n\nÖcalan helped found the PKK in 1978\, and led it into the Kurdish-Turkish conflict in 19 84. For most of his leadership\, he was based in Syria\, which provided sa nctuary to the PKK until the late 1990s.\n\nAfter being forced to leave Sy ria\, Öcalan was abducted in Nairobi in 1999 by the Turkish National Inte lligence Agency (MIT) (with the support of the CIA) and taken to Turkey\, where he was sentenced to death under Article 125 of the Turkish Penal Cod e\, which concerns the formation of armed organizations.\n\nFrom prison\, Öcalan has published several books\, including "Prison Writings: The Root s of Civilisation"\, "Prison Writings Volume II: The PKK and the Kurdish Q uestion in the 21st Century"\, and "Democratic Confederalism". Öcalan als o advocates for a form of feminism known as "Jineology".\n\nÖcalan's phil osophy of democratic confederalism\, which draws heavily from Murray Bookc hin's concept of "communalism"\, is a strong influence on the political st ructures of Rojava\, an autonomous polity formed in Syria in 2011.\n\n"Wit hout an analysis of women's status in the hierarchical system and the cond itions under which she was enslaved\, neither the state nor the class-base d system that it rests upon can be understood."\n\n- Abdullah Öcalan RESOURCES:https://web.archive.org/web/20131017171527/http://www.chris-kuts chera.com/A/Ocalan%20Last%20Interview.htm RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdullah_%C3%96calan RESOURCES:https://ocalanbooks.com/#/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:MLK Jr. Assassinated (1968) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250404 DTEND:20250405T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Assassinations COMMENT:On this day in 1968\, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated at t he age of 39 while supporting striking sanitation workers in Memphis\, Ten nessee. "A man who won't die for something is not fit to live." DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1968\, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated at the age of 39 while supporting striking sanitation workers in Memphis\, Tennessee. Although James Earl Rey was convicted for the murder\, but spe culation of government involvement has persisted for decades after his dea th.\n\nAlthough he is lionized today fo his activism\, at the time he was was the target of multiple assassination attempts\, arrested 23 times\, an d surveilled and harassed by the government.\n\nIn particular\, FBI Direct or J. Edgar Hoover harmed Dr. King by making him a target of COINTELPRO\, a secret program where FBI agents spied on\, infiltrated\, attempted to di scredit\, and even assassinated members of "subversive" political movement s\, black liberation movements in particular.\n\nKing was killed just a mo nth before the Poor People's Campaign of 1968\, which he had been helping organize with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). The mar ch was carried out in May and June\, under the leadership of Ralph Abernat hy.\n\n"Well\, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn't matter with me now\, because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind."\n\n- MLK Jr.\, April 3rd\, 1968 RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King_Jr. RESOURCES:https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/assassination-ma rtin-luther-king-jr END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Marvel Cooke (1903 - 2000) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250404 DTEND:20250405T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays COMMENT:Marvel Cooke\, born on this day in 1903\, was an American journali st and civil rights activist who collaborated with WEB Du Bois and Angela Davis. She exposed poor working conditions of domestic workers in her work "The Bronx Slave Market". DESCRIPTION:Marvel Jackson Cooke\, born on this day in 1903\, was an Ameri can journalist and civil rights activist who collaborated with WEB Du Bois and Angela Davis. She exposed poor working conditions of domestic workers in her work "The Bronx Slave Market". She was also the first black woman to work at a mainstream\, white-owned newspaper.\n\nCooke got her start wh en she was offered a job as assistant to W.E.B. Du Bois\, then editor of t he NAACP magazine "The Crisis". Du Bois had chosen her for this role on re cognition of her writing talent alone - she had no prior experience or edu cation in journalism. In 1926 moved to New York City\, settling in Harlem during the Harlem Renaissance.\n\nTo highlight the exploitation of black d omestic workers in white homes\, Cooke went undercover and got hired in th e industry\, alongside others who sought domestic work on a day to day bas is. She described her experiences in a widely read series for the Daily Co mpass entitled "The Bronx Slave Market"\, in which she goes into explicit detail about the exploitation of black domestic workers.\n\nLater in life\ , Cooke was an ardent advocate of Angela Davis. She began working with the Angela Davis Defense Committee in 1969 and volunteered as national legal defense secretary of the Angela Davis Defense Fund in 1971. She also coord inated committee activities in New York and raised money for Angela Davis' s defense by organizing a rally at Madison Square Gardens attended by over 16\,000 people.\n\n"As I stood there waiting to be bought\, I lived throu gh a century of indignity...'I've always picked nice girls\,' she said. 'I knew you were nice the minute I laid eyes on you.' That pat on the back w as worse in a way than a kick in the teeth."\n\n- Marvel Cooke\, in part f our of "The Bronx Slave Market" RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvel_Cooke RESOURCES:https://www.peoplesworld.org/article/the-extraordinary-life-of-m arvel-cooke/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Rainbow Coalition Founded (1969) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250404 DTEND:20250405T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Assassinations COMMENT:The Rainbow Coalition was a multicultural movement of cross-racial class solidarity\, founded on this day in 1969\, in Chicago\, Illinois wi th the coming together of the Black Panther Party\, the Young Lords\, and the Young Patriots. DESCRIPTION:The Rainbow Coalition was a multicultural movement of cross-ra cial class solidarity\, founded on this day in 1969\, in Chicago\, Illinoi s with the coming together of the Black Panther Party\, the Young Lords\, and the Young Patriots.\n\nThese organizations were under the leadership o f Fred Hampton\, Jose Cha Cha Jiménez\, and William "Preacherman" Fesperm an\, respectively. It was the first of several 20th century Black-led orga nizations to use the "rainbow coalition" concept.\n\nThe Rainbow Coalition expanded quickly\, including various radical political groups like the Li ncoln Park Poor People's Coalition\, Students for a Democratic Society ("S DS")\, the American Indian Movement (AIM)\, and the Red Guard Party.\n\nTh e Coalition brokered treaties to end crime and gang violence and organized to establish class solidarity across racial lines. On December 3rd\, Fred Hampton was assassinated by the Chicago Police Department and the FBI\, a nd the Rainbow Coalition effectively dissolved. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow_Coalition_(Fred_Hampton) RESOURCES:https://www.teenvogue.com/story/fred-hampton-black-panthers-rain bow-coalition-poor-americans END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Wesleyan Sit-In For Janitor Pay (2000) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250404 DTEND:20250405T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Civil Rights COMMENT:On this day in 2000\, 24 members of the United Student Labor-Actio n Coalition at Wesleyan (USLAC) occupied the Admissions Office\, demanding President Doug Bennet pay for wage increases and benefits for contracted university workers. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 2000\, 24 members of the United Student Labor-A ction Coalition at Wesleyan (USLAC) occupied the Admissions Office\, deman ding President Doug Bennet pay for wage increases and benefits for contrac ted university workers. Initial\, the contractor used by Wesleyan to emplo y janitors\, had declined to provide these benefits in previous negotation s and earlier student petitions had failed to achieve any change in policy .\n\nThirty-three hours after the building occupation began\, President Be nnet contacted Initial\, the contractor used by Wesleyan to employ janitor s\, and offered to pay for a wage increase as well as paid vacations for t he school's cleaning staff. Initial agreed and USLAC\, declaring victory\, ended the sit-in.\n\nThe episode took place in a larger wave of economic justice activism on U.S. college campuses\, spurred in large part by the g lobal justice movement's spotlighting of corporate malfeasance in the Unit ed States and especially in the Global South. Some students in this period chose to campaign for living wages\, unionization\, and expanded benefits for their campuses' workers\, who were often paid significantly less than other university staff. RESOURCES:https://nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu/content/wesleyan-student-labor -coalition-wins-living-wages-and-unionization-campus-janitors-1999-200 RESOURCES:https://wesuslac.org/about/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Colonial Building Riot (1932) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250405 DTEND:20250406T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Colonialism,Riots,Protests COMMENT:The Colonial Building Riot began on this day in 1932\, in St. John 's\, Newfoundland\, when protests during the Great Depression turned viole nt\, nearly causing the death of the Prime Minister\, who promptly resigne d and fled. DESCRIPTION:The Colonial Building Riot began on this day in 1932\, in St. John's\, Newfoundland\, when protests during the Great Depression turned v iolent\, nearly causing the death of the Prime Minister\, who promptly res igned and fled.\n\nThe protests were prompted by both the economic depress ion and corruption in the government of John Squires\, the Newfoundland Pr ime Minister at that time.\n\nThe 10\,000 protesters demanded a petition t o investigate Squires for corruption\, becoming unruly when no response wa s given. Some members of the crowd beat down the doors to the Colonial Bui lding\, and\, when entering it\, battled with police\, both inside and out side the building.\n\nIn response\, protesters began throwing objects thro ugh windows and attempted to set the Colonial Building on fire. Prime Mini ster Squires exited the building\, but was found by the crowd\, who assaul ted him and forced him to take shelter at a private residence.\n\nSquires immediately resigned - while the riot was still going on - and called for new elections. His party\, the Liberal Party\, won only two seats\, with t he vast majority going to the United Newfoundland Party. Regardless\, this government was dissolved in 1934 and replaced by the Commission of Govern ment\, a non-democratic body with representatives chosen directly by the B ritish Government. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1932_Colonial_Building_riot RESOURCES:https://www.heritage.nf.ca/articles/politics/riot-april-05-1932. php END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:JVP Revolt (1971) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250405 DTEND:20250406T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Assassinations COMMENT:The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) Revolt began on this day in 19 71\, the first armed uprising by the communist JVP against the Government of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka)\, under Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike. DESCRIPTION:The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) Revolt began on this day i n 1971\, the first armed uprising by the communist JVP against the Governm ent of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka)\, under Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike .\n\nThe JVP was initiated by Rohana Wijeweera (shown)\, a former medical student ex-functionary of the Maoist Ceylon Communist Party. The group was explicitly revolutionary\, eschewing electoralism\, and drew recruits fro m economically alienated youth. In 1970\, Wijeweera was arrested following unruly anti-Vietnam War protests in front of the U.S. embassy\, and JVP l aunched the 1971 armed rebellion shortly afterward\, while its founder was still imprisoned.\n\nThe revolt began on April 5th\, 1971 and lasted unti l June of that year. The insurgents were able to capture and hold several towns and rural areas for several weeks until they were recaptured by the armed forces.\n\nThe official death toll was listed as 1\,200\, however ot her accounts estimate the deaths to be around 4\,000 - 5\,000 people. The rebellion led to Ceylon severing ties with North Korea\, which it accused of supporting the JVP.\n\nIn 1987\, the JVP launched another armed rebelli on\, this one sustained for three years and involving guerrilla warfare an d political assassinations.\n\nAccording to Dr. Rohan Gunaratna's research \, in this second rebellion\, the JVP killed approximately 200 people\, in cluding politicians\, academics\, and military officers\, between 1987 and 1990. In contrast\, the total death toll of 35\,000 - 60\,000 is mostly d ue to violence perpetrated by state-sponsored death squads. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1971_JVP_insurrection RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/ceylon-jvp-uprising-april-1971 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Northumberland and Durham Miners' Strike (1844) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250405 DTEND:20250406T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:On this day in 1844\, a mass meeting of 40\,000 miners in Northumb erland and Durham refused to renew contracts with their employers until th eir grievances had been met\, going on the largest strike in United Kingdo m history at that time. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1844\, a mass meeting of 40\,000 miners in Nort humberland and Durham refused to renew contracts with their employers unti l their grievances had been met\, going on the largest strike in United Ki ngdom history at that time.\n\nIn particular\, the workers did not care fo r the "bond system"\, monthly or annual contracts that stipulated labor co nditions that they found unfavorable. The strike carried on for approximat ely 20 weeks\, when workers\, worn down by mass company town evictions and widespread poverty\, returned to work on their employers' unaltered terms . Union activists were blacklisted and could not find work at any pit in e ither county. RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/great-strike-northumberland-durham-co alfield-1844-derrik-scott RESOURCES:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK513201/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Bavarian Soviet Republic Declared (1919) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250406 DTEND:20250407T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Assassinations,Anarchism COMMENT:On this day in 1919\, socialists declared a new Bavarian Soviet Re public during the German Revolution of 1918-19. Revolutionaries formed a R ed Army and expropriated factories for the workers and luxury apartments f or the homeless. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1919\, socialists declared a new Bavarian Sovie t Republic during the German Revolution of 1918-19. Revolutionaries formed a Red Army and expropriated factories for the workers and luxury apartmen ts for the homeless.\n\nThe movement to create this Republic came after th e assassination of left-wing revolutionary Kurt Eisner\, who had led a "Pe ople's State of Bavaria"\, founded a few months earlier. Energized by news of the Hungarian Soviet Republic\, Bavarian communists and anarchists dec lared their own soviet government\, with left-wing playwright Ernst Toller as chief of state.\n\nToller was quickly ousted\, however\, by German Bol sheviks led by Eugen Leviné. These communists received a blessing from Le nin to make Bavaria a Bolshevik-aligned state (some leftists\, such as Kur t Eisner\, were deliberately distant from the Bolshevik movement).\n\nThe new communist leadership formed a Red Army from factory workers\, seized c ash\, food supplies\, and privately owned guns\, expropriated luxurious ap artments and gave them to the homeless\, and arrested members of the arist ocracy.\n\nThe Bavarian Soviet Republic was short-lived\, however\, as the German Freikorps succeeded in violently crushing the revolution by force on May 6th. 600 people were killed in the fighting\, half of whom were civ ilians. More than 1\,200 anarchists and communists were put on trial and s everal\, including Eugen Leviné\, were executed.\n\nLeviné himself had o pposed the declaration of the Republic initially\, thinking that the actio n was premature and that the revolution would be betrayed by social democr ats. Florian Keller\, of In Defense of Marxism\, quotes him explaining his vote to oppose declaring the Bavarian Soviet Republic:\n\n"We Communists harbour the greatest mistrust against a Soviet Republic whose sponsors are the Social Democratic Ministers Schneppenhorst and Dürr\, who at all tim es fought the idea of councils with every possible means. We can only expl ain this as an attempt by the bankrupt leaders to join the masses through apparently revolutionary action\, or as a deliberate provocation.\n\nWe kn ow from examples in northern Germany that the majority socialists [then co mmon name for the SPD] often endeavoured to bring about premature action i n order to stifle them all the more successfully. The whole of your approa ch calls for the greatest vigilance. A Soviet Republic is not being procla imed by an armchair decision\, it is the result of serious struggles by th e proletariat and its victory.\n\n...We are preparing for [the Soviet Repu blic] and we have time. At the present time\, the proclamation of a Soviet Republic is extremely unfavourable...After the first rush\, the following would happen: the majority socialists would withdraw under the first good pretext and consciously betray the proletariat. The USPD [Independent Soc ial Democratic Party] would join in\, then give way\, begin to vacillate\, negotiate\, and thereby become unconscious traitors. And we Communists wo uld pay for your deeds with the blood of our best." RESOURCES:https://spartacus-educational.com/GERbavarian.htm RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bavarian_Soviet_Republic RESOURCES:https://www.marxist.com/when-the-communists-ruled-in-bavaria.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Erich Mühsam (1878 - 1934) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250406 DTEND:20250407T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Anarchism,Fascism COMMENT:Erich Mühsam\, born on this day in 1878\, was a Jewish anarchist essayist\, poet\, and playwright who condemned Nazism and satirized Hitler . In 1934\, Mühsam was murdered in the Oranienburg concentration camp. DESCRIPTION:Erich Mühsam\, born on this day in 1878\, was a Jewish anarch ist essayist\, poet\, and playwright who condemned Nazism and satirized Hi tler. In 1934\, Mühsam was murdered in the Oranienburg concentration camp .\n\nIn 1911\, Mühsam founded the newspaper\, "Kain" as a forum for anarc ho-communist politics\, stating that it would "be a personal organ for wha tever the editor\, as a poet\, as a citizen of the world\, and as a fellow man had on his mind." The paper opposed capital punishment and government censorship of theater.\n\nAfter World War I\, Mühsam was sentenced to fi fteen years in prison for playing a leading role in the Bavarian Revolutio n. He was freed as part of the same general amnesty for political prisoner s under the Weimar Republic that released Adolf Hitler.\n\nAs a cabaret pe rformer and writer during this time\, he achieved international prominence \, promoting works which condemned Nazism and personally satirized Adolf H itler.\n\nIn 1933\, Mühsam was arrested\, with propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels labeling him as one of "those Jewish subversives."\n\nWhile impr isoned\, he was brutally tortured\, however his spirit remained unbroken. When his captors tried to force him to sing the "Horst-Wessel-Lied" (the N azi's anthem)\, he sung the Internationale\, instead.\n\nOn July 11th\, 19 34\, Mühsam was murdered in the Oranienburg concentration camp. RESOURCES:https://spartacus-educational.com/GERmuhsam.htm RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/library/erich-m%C3%BChsam-his-life-his-work-h is-martyrdom-%E2%80%93-augustin-souchy RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erich_M%C3%BChsam RESOURCES:https://theanarchistlibrary.org/category/author/erich-muhsam END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Rose Schneiderman (1882 - 1972) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250406 DTEND:20250407T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Birthdays COMMENT:Rose Schneiderman\, born on this day in 1882\, was a Polish-Americ an socialist and feminist of Jewish heritage\, and one of the most promine nt female labor union leaders of her day. She is credited with coining the phrase "Bread and Roses". DESCRIPTION:Rose Schneiderman\, born on this day in 1882\, was a Polish-Am erican socialist and feminist of Jewish heritage\, and one of the most pro minent female labor union leaders of her day.\n\nAs a member of the New Yo rk Women's Trade Union League\, she drew attention to unsafe workplace con ditions following the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire of 1911. As a suffr agist she helped to pass the New York state referendum of 1917 that gave w omen the right to vote.\n\nSchneiderman was also a founding member of the American Civil Liberties Union and served on the National Recovery Adminis tration's Labor Advisory Board under President Franklin D. Roosevelt. She is credited with coining the phrase "Bread and Roses" to indicate a worker 's right to something higher than subsistence living.\n\n"What the woman w ho labors wants is the right to live\, not simply exist — the right to l ife as the rich woman has the right to life\, and the sun and music and ar t. You have nothing that the humblest worker has not a right to have also. The worker must have bread\, but she must have roses\, too. Help\, you wo men of privilege\, give her the ballot to fight with."\n\n- Rose Schneider man RESOURCES:https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/schneiderman-rose RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rose_Schneiderman END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Daniel Ellsberg (1931 - ) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250407 DTEND:20250408T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays COMMENT:Daniel Ellsberg\, born on this day in 1931\, is an economist and f ormer U.S. military analyst known for leaking the Pentagon Papers\, which detailed secret bombing campaigns of Cambodia and Laos and other lies by t he Johnson Administration. DESCRIPTION:Daniel Ellsberg\, born on this day in 1931\, is an American ec onomist and former U.S. military analyst known for leaking the Pentagon Pa pers\, which detailed secret bombing campaigns of Cambodia and Laos and ot her lies by the Johnson Administration.\n\nThe Pentagon Papers were a top- secret Pentagon study of the U.S. government decision-making in relation t o the Vietnam War. Ellsberg leaked these documents in 1971\, while employe d by the RAND Corporation\, causing a national political controversy.\n\nO n January 3rd\, 1973\, Ellsberg was charged under the Espionage Act of 191 7\, along with other charges of theft and conspiracy\, carrying a total ma ximum sentence of 115 years. Due to government misconduct and illegal evid ence-gathering\, he was dismissed of all charges on May 11th\, 1973. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Ellsberg RESOURCES:https://www.npr.org/2018/01/19/579101965/daniel-ellsberg-explain s-why-he-leaked-the-pentagon-papers END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Edward S. Herman (1925 - 2017) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250407 DTEND:20250408T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays COMMENT:Edward Samuel Herman\, born on this day in 1925\, was an American economist\, media scholar\, and social critic who has co-authored several works with Noam Chomsky\, including Manufacturing Consent (1988). DESCRIPTION:Edward Samuel Herman\, born on this day in 1925\, was an Ameri can economist\, media scholar\, and social critic who has co-authored seve ral works with Noam Chomsky\, including Manufacturing Consent (1988).\n\nH erman is known for his media criticism\, in particular the propaganda mode l hypothesis he developed with Noam Chomsky in "Manufacturing Consent". In the book\, Herman and Chomsky argue that mass media of the U.S. effective ly act as a massive propaganda campaign without overt coercion.\n\nAlthoug h that is their most famous co-authored work\, they also authored "Counter -Revolutionary Violence" together in 1973. In it\, they critique U.S. fore ign policy in Indochina\, with a significant focus on the Vietnam War. The book was heavily repressed domestically and led to the publisher\, Warner Modular\, being shuttered.\n\n"The steady advance and cultural power of m arketing and advertising has caused the displacement of a political public sphere by a depoliticized consumer culture."\n\n- Edward S. Herman\, in M anufacturing Consent RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_S._Herman RESOURCES:https://monthlyreview.org/author/edwardsherman/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Gustave Landauer (1870 - 1919) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250407 DTEND:20250408T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Anarchism COMMENT:Gustave Landauer\, born on this day in 1870\, was an anarchist pac ifist who helped found the Bavarian Soviet Republic in 1919. The newly for med Republic was crushed by the right-wing Freikorps\, and Landauer was ar rested and murdered in prison. DESCRIPTION:Gustave Landauer\, born on this day in 1870\, was an anarchist pacifist who helped found the Bavarian Soviet Republic in 1919. The newly formed Republic was crushed by the right-wing Freikorps\, and Landauer wa s arrested and murdered in prison.\n\nLandauer briefly served as the Repub lic's commissioner for "Enlightenment and Public Instruction"\, but resign ed after the German Communist Party (KPD) came into power.\n\nAccording to anarchist author James Horrox\, the German Social Democratic Party (SPD)' s Minister of Defence\, Gustav Noske\, ordered soldiers from the right-win g Freikorps militia into Munich to undermine the Republic.\n\nFreikorps fo rces broke through Munich defenses on May 1st\, 1919\, and many left-wing revolutionaries were arrested\, including Landauer\, Eugene Leviné\, and Ernst Toller.\n\nThe following day\, Landauer was brought to Stadelheim Pr ison\, where he was beaten by several soldiers and then brutally murdered as described by an eyewitness:\n\n"An officer struck him in the face\, the men shouted: 'Dirty Bolshie! Let’s finish him off!' and a rain of blows from rifle-butts drove him out into the yard. He said to the soldiers rou nd him: 'I’ve not betrayed you. You don’t know yourselves how terribly you’ve been betrayed.'"\n\nThe eyewitness describes Landauer being shot repeatedly and trampled. His murderers then stripped the corpse and threw it into the washhouse.\n\nIn 1925\, German anarcho-syndicalists built a m emorial for Landauer at the Münchner Waldfriedhof\, destroyed by Nazis on ly a few years later. A new one was constructed in 2017. \n\nLandauer's gr ave can now be found on the Neuer Israelitischer Friedhof in Munich. It is shared with the social democrat Kurt Eisner\, who had served as President of the People's State of Bavaria\, a predecessor to the Bavarian Soviet R epublic.\n\n"Now is the time to bring forth a martyr of a different kind\, not heroic\, but a quiet\, unpretentious martyr who will provide an examp le for the proper life."\n\n- Gustav Landauer RESOURCES:https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/james-horrox-gustav-land auer-1870-1919 RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustav_Landauer RESOURCES:http://dwardmac.pitzer.edu/Anarchist_Archives/bright/landauer/la ndbio.html RESOURCES:https://files.libcom.org/files/landauer-POC.pdf RESOURCES:https://files.libcom.org/files/Landauer_Revolution_and_Other_Wri tings.pdf END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Marie Equi (1872 - 1952) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250407 DTEND:20250408T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Anarchism,Queer COMMENT:Marie Equi\, born on this day in 1872\, was a radical medical doct or\, gay rights advocate\, Wobbly\, and anarchist convicted of sedition fo r speaking out against American involvement in World War I. DESCRIPTION:Marie Equi\, born on this day in 1872\, was a radical medical doctor\, gay rights advocate\, Wobbly\, and anarchist convicted of seditio n for speaking out against American involvement in World War I.\n\nProvidi ng care for poor and working-class patients\, she also regularly provided birth control information and abortions at a time when both were illegal. As a political activist\, she was a vocal opponent of World War I and advo cated civic and economic reforms\, including the women's right to vote and an eight-hour workday.\n\nAfter witnessing first-hand the brutality of po lice repression of a cannery workers' strike\, Equi aligned herself with a narchists and the radical labor movement. While participating in the strik e\, she was clubbed by a policeman after becoming enraged at watching a pr egnant women be dragged away by police.\n\nEqui was also a lesbian who mai ntained a primary relationship with Harriet Frances Speckart (1883 - 1927) for more than a decade. The two women adopted an infant and raised the ch ild in an early U.S. example of a same-sex family.\n\nIn 1918\, Equi was c onvicted under the Sedition Act for speaking out against U.S. involvement in World War I. She was sentenced to a three-year term at San Quentin Stat e Prison\, but was released after ten months.\n\n"Prepare to die\, working men\, JP Morgan & Co. want preparedness for profit."\n\n- a banner held by Marie Equi during a "patriotic" parade in 1917 RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Equi RESOURCES:https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/equi_marie_1872_1952 _/#.X5Ip_IhKiM8 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Socialist Party of America WWI Convention (1917) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250407 DTEND:20250408T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Socialism COMMENT:On this day in 1917\, members of the Socialist Party of America in St. Louis\, Missouri for an emergency meeting regarding the U.S.'s entry to WWI. Their chosen measures of resistance would soon be declared illegal by the Espionage Act. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1917\, members of the Socialist Party of Americ a (SPA) in St. Louis\, Missouri for an emergency meeting regarding the U.S .'s entry to WWI. Their chosen measures of resistance would soon be declar ed illegal by the Espionage Act.\n\nThe gathering was called by the govern ing National Executive Committee of the SPA to make clear the Socialist Pa rty's position on American entry into World War I\, although it was contro versial whether or not the committee had the authority to do this within t he party.\n\nRegardless\, the emergency convention ratified the "St. Louis Resolution on War and Militarism"\, a lengthy and radical document\, whic h reaffirmed the SPA's "unalterable opposition to the war just declared by the government of the United States"\, branding American entry "a crime a gainst the people of the United States and against the nations of the worl d."\n\nThe resolution pledged the Socialist Party to "continuous\, active\ , and public opposition to the war\, through demonstrations\, mass petitio ns\, and all other means within our power" and promised to conduct "consis tent propaganda against military training" and "vigorous resistance" to "a ll reactionary measures"\, such as conscription\, postal and press censors hip\, and restrictions upon free speech and freedom of assembly. These mea sures would soon be made illegal with the 1917 Espionage Act\, passed late r that year. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialist_Party_of_Missouri#Emerge ncy_National_Convention RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/parties/spusa/1917/0407-hil lquit-convkeynote.pdf END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:William Monroe Trotter (1872 - 1934) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250407 DTEND:20250408T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays COMMENT:William Monroe Trotter\, born on this day in 1872\, was a newspape r editor and civil rights activist based in Boston\, Massachusetts who co- founded the Niagara Movement with WEB Du Bois. DESCRIPTION:William Monroe Trotter\, born on this day in 1872\, was a news paper editor and civil rights activist based in Boston\, Massachusetts who co-founded the Niagara Movement with WEB Du Bois.\n\nTrotter was an early opponent of the accommodationist race policies of Booker T. Washington\, and in 1901 founded the Boston Guardian\, an independent African-American newspaper he used to express that opposition.\n\nTrotter was a key foundin g member of the "Niagara Movement" with W.E.B. Du Bois and contributed to the formation of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored P eople (NAACP)\, although he never participated in the group due to a bitte r split with Du Bois.\n\n"My vocation has been to wage a crusade against l ynching\, disenfranchisement\, peonage\, public segregation\, injustice\, denial of service in public places for color\, in war time and peace."\n\n - William Monroe Trotter RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Monroe_Trotter RESOURCES:https://trotter.umich.edu/article/timeline-william-monroe-trotte rs-life END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Ghassan Kanafani (1936 - 1972) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250408 DTEND:20250409T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Marxism,Birthdays,Massacre COMMENT:Ghassan Kanafani\, born on this day in 1936\, was a Palestinian au thor and leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP ) who was assassinated by Israeli forces after the Lod Airport Massacre\, claimed by the PLFP. DESCRIPTION:Ghassan Kanafani\, born on this day in 1936\, was a Palestinia n author and leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine ( PFLP) who was assassinated by Israeli forces after the Lod Airport Massacr e\, claimed by the PLFP.\n\nIn May\, when the outbreak of hostilities in t he 1948 Arab–Israeli War spilled over into the city of Acre\, Kanafani a nd his family were forced into exile while he was still a child. After fle eing eleven miles north to Lebanon\, they settled in Damascus\, Syria as P alestinian refugees.\n\nIn 1969\, after establishing himself as an author and journalist\, he joined The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palesti ne and\, resigned from his post as editor for the magazine Al-Anwar to edi t the PFLP's weekly magazine\, al-Hadaf ("The Goal"). He drafted a PFLP pr ogram in which the movement officially took up Marxism-Leninism\, a notabl e departure from pan-Arab nationalist ideology.\n\nOn July 8th\, 1972\, at the age of 36\, Kanafani was assassinated via car bomb by the Israeli int elligence agency Mossad for his role in the PLFP\, which claimed responsib ility for the Lod Airport Massacre.\n\nThe massacre\, committed by three m embers of the Japanese Red Army recruited by the PLFP\, killed 26 people\, injuring 80 others.\n\nGhassan Kanafani was an influential author\, whose literary works have been translated into as many at least 17 languages an d published in 20 countries. He began writing short stories when working a s a teacher in refugee camps. Often written through the eyes of children\, his stories were designed to help his students contextualize their surrou ndings.\n\n"Everything in this world can be robbed and stolen\, except one thing\; this one thing is the love that emanates from a human being towar ds a solid commitment to a conviction or cause."\n\n- Ghassan Kanafani RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghassan_Kanafani RESOURCES:https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190714-profile-ghassan-kanaf ani-1936-1972/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Ramón Emeterio Betances (1827 - 1898) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250408 DTEND:20250409T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Abolitionism,Independence COMMENT:Ramón Emeterio Betances\, born on this day in 1827\, was a Puerto Rican abolitionist\, revolutionary\, and medical doctor who helped instig ate the "Grito de Lares". "And what's wrong with Puerto Ricans that they h aven't yet rebelled?" DESCRIPTION:Ramón Emeterio Betances\, born on this day in 1827\, was a Pu erto Rican abolitionist\, revolutionary\, and medical doctor who helped in stigate the "Grito de Lares". Betances is considered to be the father of t he Puerto Rican independence movement.\n\nBecause of his abolitionist beli efs\, Betances began organizing a series of secret anti-slavery organizati ons in 1856. Some of these societies sought the freedom and free passage o f African descended peoples from Puerto Rico to countries without slavery\ , while other societies sought to liberate as many of the enslaved as poss ible by buying their freedom (this included freeing thousands of slaves as infants and baptizing them at the Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria).\n\nW hile exiled from Puerto Rico\, Betances and others formed the "Revolutiona ry Committee of Puerto Rico" and began agitating for armed insurrection to establish Puerto Rican independence. The most famous attempt of these was the "Grito de Lares"\, however it was forcibly put down by the local mili tia.\n\nBetances was known for stating "Nadie puede dar lo que no tiene" ( English: "No one can give others what they don't have for themselves") in reference to Spain's unwillingness to grant Puerto Rico or Cuba any reform s.\n\nDays before his death\, the U.S. annexed Puerto Rico in the aftermat h of the Spanish-American War. Frustrated by the ostensible unwillingness of Puerto Ricans to demand their independence from the United States\, he wrote "And what's wrong with Puerto Ricans that they haven't yet rebelled? " RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ram%C3%B3n_Emeterio_Betances RESOURCES:https://www.loc.gov/rr/hispanic/1898/betances.html END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Deir Yassin Massacre (1948) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250409 DTEND:20250410T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Massacre COMMENT:On this day in 1948\, far-right Zionist paramilitaries indiscrimin ately slaughtered 107-254 villagers of Deir Yassin\, orphaning at least 55 children (2 shown). Israel has kept documentation of the massacre sealed\ , citing security concerns. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1948\, far-right Zionist paramilitaries indiscr iminately slaughtered 107-254 villagers of Deir Yassin\, orphaning at leas t 55 children (2 shown). Israel has kept documentation of the massacre sea led\, citing security concerns.\n\nThe massacre took place during the 1947 -1948 civil war in Mandatory Palestine. In the months leading up to the at tack\, forces led by the Palestinian Arab nationalist Mohammad Amin al-Hus ayni laid siege to Jerusalem\, cutting off the city from military aid.\n\n Although war had broken out\, the fighting was relatively contained. Accor ding to an Arab League general - "Despite the fact that skirmishes and bat tles have begun\, the Jews at this stage are still trying to contain the f ighting to as narrow a sphere as possible...the Jews have not so far attac ked Arab villages unless the inhabitants of those villages attacked them o r provoked them first."\n\nDeir Yassin was a Palestinian Arab village near Jerusalem\, with several hundred residents (all Muslim)\, living in 144 h ouses. Multiple accounts suggest villagers lived in peace with their Jewis h neighbors\, particularly those in Givat Shaul\, some of whom reportedly tried to help the villagers during the massacre.\n\nOn April 9th\, 1948\, more than one hundred members of the underground\, far-right Zionist param ilitary groups Irgun and Lehi attacked Deir Yassin. The operation took pla ce despite knowledge that villagers had signed a non-aggression pact.\n\nZ ionist soldiers expected residents to flee rather than fight back. When th ey encountered armed resistance\, soldiers resorted to blowing up houses w ith explosives and indiscriminately slaughtering all inside. According to eye-witness accounts\, the attackers systemically murdered the village pop ulation\, executing children and reportedly raping women.\n\nZionists para ded captured adult men in the streets of West Jerusalem before returning t o the village and executing them. Money\, silver\, and gold were taken fro m the victims. In total\, estimates of those killed range from 107 to 254\ , and at least 55 children were orphaned.\n\nThe massacre was internationa lly condemned\, including by Jewish intellectuals such as Albert Einstein. The attack inspired a revenge attack four days after the Deir Yassin mass acre - on April 13th\, Arabs attacked the Hadassah medical convoy in Jerus alem\, killing seventy-eight\, most of whom were medical staff.\n\nIn 1969 \, the Israeli Foreign Ministry published an English pamphlet "Background Notes on Current Themes: Deir Yassin"\, falsely denying that there had bee n a massacre at Deir Yassin\, claiming that the village was the home of an Iraqi garrison\, and calling the massacre story "part of a package of fai ry tales\, for export and home consumption".\n\nThe attack caused many Pal estinians in the area to flee\, and escalated tensions in the civil war. I n 1951\, an Israeli psychiatric hospital was built on the village itself\, using some of the village's abandoned buildings.\n\n"They are angry with me that I said these things. Let them first be angry at themselves...I was there\, I saw the massacre with my own eyes. Why didn't [Israeli military historian Uri Milstein] ever question me about the things I experienced t here?"\n\n- Meir Pa'il\, an intelligence officer who provided an eyewitnes s account to the Deir Yassin Massacre RESOURCES:https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/MAGAZINE-testimonies-from-th e-censored-massacre-at-deir-yassin-1.5494094 RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deir_Yassin_massacre END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Paul Robeson (1898 - 1976) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250409 DTEND:20250410T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Civil Rights,Birthdays COMMENT:Paul Robeson\, born on this day in 1898\, was a concert artist\, a ctor\, and communist activist who was blacklisted and denied the ability t o travel by the U.S. government. "I will always speak for peace\, and no o ne can silence me in this." DESCRIPTION:Paul Leroy Robeson\, born on this day in 1898\, was an America n concert artist\, actor\, and communist activist who was blacklisted and denied the ability to travel by the U.S. government.\n\nHis political acti vities began while studying in London\, where he became involved with unem ployed workers and anti-imperialist student activists. Robeson also suppor ted the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War\, was a committed anti-fascis t\, and a member of the Civil Rights Congress\, an early civil rights orga nization listed as subversive by the U.S. Attorney General.\n\nDue to Robe son's sympathies for the Soviet Union\, leftist politics\, and his critici sm of the United States government\, he was blacklisted during the McCarth y era.\n\n"As an artist I come to sing\, but as a citizen\, I will always speak for peace\, and no one can silence me in this."\n\n- Paul Robeson RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Robeson RESOURCES:https://www.robesongallerypeekskill.org/about-paul-robeson/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Chris Hani Assassinated (1993) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250410 DTEND:20250411T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Socialism,Assassinations COMMENT:Chris Hani\, assassinated by an anti-communist on this day in 1993 \, was the leader of the South African Communist Party and chief of staff of the armed wing of the African National Congress (ANC). DESCRIPTION:Chris Hani\, assassinated by an anti-communist on this day in 1993\, was the leader of the South African Communist Party and chief of st aff of the armed wing of the African National Congress (ANC).\n\nHani rece ived military training in the Soviet Union and served in campaigns in the Zimbabwean War of Liberation\, also known as the Rhodesian Bush War.\n\nHa ni was a fierce opponent of the apartheid government\, but supported the s uspension of the ANC's armed struggle in favor of negotiations after becom ing head of the party in 1991. He was assassinated by Janusz Walus\, an an ti-communist Polish immigrant\, on April 10th\, 1993.\n\nClive Derby-Lewis \, along with other members of the Conservative Party\, had conspired to a ssassinate Hani in an attempt to start a race war shortly before the 1994 elections in which all races could vote. In particular\, Lewis had given W alus the murder weapon directly.\n\nLewis was released in 2015 shortly bef ore dying of lung cancer. Walus was granted parole by Justice Minister Ron ald Lamola in December 2022.\n\n"Socialism is not about big concepts and h eavy theory. Socialism is about decent shelter for those who are homeless. It is about water for those who have no safe drinking water. It is about health care\, it is about a life of dignity for the old...As long as the e conomy is dominated by an unelected\, privileged few\, the case for social ism will exist."\n\n- Chris Hani RESOURCES:https://www.sahistory.org.za/people/chris-hani RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Hani RESOURCES:https://web.archive.org/web/20170225112546/http://www.sacp.org.z a/main.php?ID=2294 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Emiliano Zapata Assassinated (1919) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250410 DTEND:20250411T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Assassinations COMMENT:Emiliano Zapata\, assassinated on this day in 1919\, was a leader of peasant uprisings in Mexico and the inspiration for the name of the rev olutionary Zapatista movement. "I want to die a slave to principles. Not t o men." DESCRIPTION:Emiliano Zapata\, assassinated on this day in 1919\, was a lea der of peasant uprisings in Mexico and the inspiration for the name of the revolutionary Zapatista movement.\n\nZapata was born in the rural village of Anenecuilco in Morelos State\, where peasant communities were under in creasing pressure from a small landowning class\, supported by dictator Po rfirio Díaz\, who monopolized land and water resources for sugar cane pro duction.\n\nEarly on\, Zapata participated in political movements against Diaz and the landowning hacendados\, and when revolution broke out in 1910 \, he was positioned as a central leader of the peasant revolt in Morelos. Zapata was responsible for defeating and ousting various invading armies from Morelos on multiple occasions.\n\nOn April 10th\, 1919\, Jesús Guaja rdo invited Zapata to a meeting\, intimating that he intended to defect to the revolutionaries. When Zapata arrived at the meeting\, however\, Guaja rdo's men riddled him with bullets instead.\n\n"I want to die a slave to p rinciples. Not to men."\n\n- Emiliano Zapata RESOURCES:https://www.jstor.org/stable/2518332 RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emiliano_Zapata END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Johnnie Tillmon (1926 - 1995) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250410 DTEND:20250411T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Feminism,Birthdays COMMENT:Johnnie Tillmon\, born on this day in 1926\, was a welfare rights activist who founded Aid to Needy Children Mothers Anonymous (ANC) and ser ved as executive director of the National Welfare Rights Organization in 1 972. DESCRIPTION:Johnnie Tillmon\, born on this day in 1926\, was a welfare rig hts activist who founded Aid to Needy Children Mothers Anonymous (ANC) and served as executive director of the National Welfare Rights Organization in 1972.\n\nIn 1963\, Tillmon became ill and was encouraged to begin recei ving welfare\, having six children to feed as a single mother. Seeing how people on welfare were treated\, she organized those on welfare in the hou sing project\, and in 1963\, she founded the ANC\, which was one of the fi rst grassroots welfare mothers' organizations in the country.\n\nThis orga nization later became part of the National Welfare Rights Organization (NW RO)\, with Tillmon becoming the first chair of the NWRO. In 1972\, she bec ame its executive director when George Wiley resigned. Wiley had been tryi ng to mobilize the working poor\, whereas Tillmon tried to align with the feminist movement.\n\nTillmon's 1972 essay\, "Welfare Is a Woman's Issue"\ , which was published in the women's magazine "Ms."\, emphasized women's r ight to adequate income\, regardless of whether they worked in a factory o r at home raising children. The National Union of the Homeless used what w as called a "Johnnie Tillmon model" of organizing\, named after her.\n\n"F or a lot of middle-class women in this country\, Women's Liberation is a m atter of concern. For women on welfare\, it's a matter of survival."\n\n- Johnnie Tillmon RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnnie_Tillmon RESOURCES:https://www.rapereliefshelter.bc.ca/learn/resources/welfare-wome ns-issue-johnnie-tillmon END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Pavlos Fyssas (1979 - 2013) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250410 DTEND:20250411T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Fascism,Protests COMMENT:Pavlos Fyssas\, born on this day in 1979\, was a Greek anti-fascis t rapper who was killed by members of the fascist group Golden Dawn. "Let them come and find me at the mountain top\, I'm waiting for them and I wil l not bother with fear." DESCRIPTION:Pavlos Fyssas\, born on this day in 1979\, was a Greek anti-fa scist rapper who was killed by members of the fascist group Golden Dawn.\n \nFyssas\, also known as "Killah P" ("Killer of the Past")\, came from a w orking class family. He and his father were both members of the Piraeus me tal union. Pavlos had been active hip hop since 1997 and is well-known for his left-wing\, anti-fascist lyrics.\n\nOn September 17th\, 2013\, Fyssas was fatally stabbed by Giorgios Roupakias\, a member and employee of the neo-fascist party Golden Dawn. Following his death\, there were a series o f protests and rallies against Golden Dawn throughout Europe.\n\nDuring on e protest in Athens\, attended by 2\,500-10\,000 people\, anti-fascists ma rched towards Golden Dawn's central offices and were arrested and beaten b y police. On November 1st\, 2013\, a shooting took place at the Golden Daw n's Neo Irakleio offices in Athens\, killing two members.\n\nIn October 20 20\, sixty-eight members of Golden Dawn were declared part of a criminal o rganization\, and fifteen were convicted in charges relating to Pavlos' mu rder.\n\nWhen asked about Pavlos' character by Al Jazeera\, his mother sta ted "You're asking a mother about what kind of a person her son was. He wa s a free man."\n\n"The world has become a big prison\n\nand I'm looking fo r a way to break the chains.\n\n...\n\nLet them come and find me at the mo untain top\, I'm waiting for them and I will not bother with fear."\n\n- P avlos Fyssas RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pavlos_Fyssas RESOURCES:https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2017/9/15/greece-mourns-slain -anti-fascist-rapper-pavlos-fyssas END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Luís Cabral (1942 - 2009) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250411 DTEND:20250412T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Colonialism,Independence COMMENT:Luís Cabral\, born on this day in 1942\, was a Bissau-Guinean rev olutionary who served as the first President of Guinea-Bissau after the co untry won its independence from Portuguese colonizers in 1974. DESCRIPTION:Luís Cabral\, born on this day in 1942\, was a Bissau-Guinean revolutionary who served as the first President of Guinea-Bissau after th e country won its independence from Portuguese colonizers in 1974.\n\nLuí s Cabral was also a half-brother of noted pan-African revolutionary Amílc ar Cabral\, with whom he co-founded the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC) in 1956.\n\nPAIGC was one of the primary agitators for freedom against Portuguese colonial rule\, and fought the G uinea-Bissau War of Independence against Portugal\, winning the country's independence in 1974. Luís Cabral became the leader of the party in 1973 after Amílcar was assassinated that year.\n\nCabral served as president o f Guinea-Bissau from 1974 to 1980\, when a military coup d'état led by Jo ão Bernardo Vieira deposed him. After losing power\, Cabral was exiled to Portugal\, where he died in 2009. RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/people-global-a frican-history/luis-cabral-1931-2009/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lu%C3%ADs_Cabral RESOURCES:https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/jun/08/luis-cabral-obitua ry END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Raymond Bonner (1942 - ) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250411 DTEND:20250412T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Massacre,Journalism COMMENT:Raymond Bonner\, born on this day in 1942\, is one of two journali sts who\, alongside Alma Guillermoprieto\, broke the story of the El Mozot e Massacre. The NYT removed Bonner from covering El Salvador\, and he was later spied on by the FBI. DESCRIPTION:Raymond Bonner\, born on this day in 1942\, is one of two jour nalists who\, alongside Alma Guillermoprieto\, broke the story of the El M ozote Massacre. The NYT removed Bonner from covering El Salvador\, and he was later spied on by the FBI.\n\nThe El Mozote Massacre was an incident i n which approximately 900 villagers\, mostly women\, children\, and elderl y\, were slaughtered in El Salvador by a unit of the Salvadoran Army in 19 81. The U.S. government supported this state campaign of terror\, providin g aid\, suppressing information about its crimes\, and training some of th e soldiers responsible.\n\nAfter Bonner reported the El Mozote Massacre\, his employer\, the New York Times\, removed him from covering El Salvador\ , assigning him to the financial desk instead. He eventually resigned.\n\n In 2008\, the Washington Post reported that Bonner had been one of four jo urnalists whose telephone call records had been illegally obtained by the FBI between 2002 and 2006. During that time\, Bonner had been based in Jak arta\, Indonesia\, filing reports on detainee abuse and illegal surveillan ce. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raymond_Bonner RESOURCES:https://www.theatlantic.com/author/raymond-bonner/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Rudi Dutschke Shot (1968) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250411 DTEND:20250412T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Socialism,Labor,Assassinations,Fascism,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1968\, Rudi Dutschke\, a key figure in the extra-pa rliamentary left opposition movement in West Germany\, was shot by neo-Naz i Josef Bachman. Although Dutschke survived the shooting\, he died from co mplications due to his injuries. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1968\, Rudi Dutschke\, a key figure in the extr a-parliamentary left opposition movement in West Germany\, was shot by neo -Nazi Josef Bachman. Although Dutschke survived the shooting\, he died fro m complications due to his injuries.\n\nBorn in 1940\, Rudi Dutschke grew up in post-war East Germany. As a youth\, he became involved with the Evan gelical Church in East Germany and would later claim religious inspiration for his socialism\, tying the idea of spiritual transcendence with societ al transcendence.\n\nDutschke's views on socialism\, influenced by worker councils during the Hungarian Uprising of 1956\, put him in conflict with GDR authorities\, and he defected to West Germany shortly before construct ion of the Berlin Wall began in 1961.\n\nDutschke became influenced by ide as of social provocation proposed by the Situationist International\, and joined the Situationist group Subversive Action in 1963. He edited their n ewspaper and wrote about revolutionary developments in the Third World.\n\ nSubversive Action would later join the German Socialist Students' Union\, which had formerly been the student wing of the social democratic SPD bef ore being expelled due to being well to the left of its parent organizatio n. After being elected to the political council of the West Berlin SDS in 1965\, Dutschke became a major leader calling for student resistance in We st Germany\, focusing on the Vietnam War in particular.\n\nAs the movement grew\, Dutschke's visibility made him a figure of attack from right-wing politicians and press\, such as those owned by Axel Springer\, which contr olled around 67% of West Germany's press market at the time. His family wa s forced to leave their apartment after it was attacked with smoke bombs\, excrement\, and threatening graffiti.\n\nIn 1967\, Dutschke famously advo cated for a "long march through the institutions"\, to join political and media establishments to build power for leftist movements from within.\n\n On April 11th\, 1968\, while attempting to collect a prescription for his infant son\, Dutschke was shot by Josef Bachmann\, a young laborer with ti es to neo-Nazi groups. Bachmann shouted "you dirty\, communist pig!" and s hot him three times.\n\nBachman claimed to have been inspired by the assas sination of MLK Jr.\, which had taken place just a week prior. The assassi nation attempt spawned another wave of attacks on Springer Press facilitie s by protestors\, and the shooting was viewed as a major factor in the ris e of the militant Red Army Faction (RAF).\n\nWhile Dutschke survived\, he suffered from significant memory and speech issues along with epileptic se izures\, and was soon forced to step down from his political roles. He mov ed with his family to England in 1969\, only to be accused by the Conserva tive Party-controlled UK Home Office of engaging in political activity in 1971 and expelled\, before taking up a teaching role at the University of Aarhus in Denmark.\n\nDutschke would later maintain limited political invo lvement during the 1970s\, supporting East German dissidents. His thoughts on the Red Army Faction during this time remain controversial\; when RAF member Holger Meins died on hunger strike\, he commented at his grave\; "t he struggle continues". However\, he grew critical of their actions which risked harm to civilians and people rather than infrastructure and objects .\n\nIn December 1978\, Dutschke wrote\, "Every small citizens' initiative \, every political and social youth\, women\, unemployed\, pensioner and c lass struggle movement is a hundred times more valuable and qualitatively different than the most spectacular action of individual terror".\n\nDutsc hke died on December 24th\, 1979 after suffering an epileptic seizure whil e taking a bath at his home in Denmark\, causing him to drown. Thousands g athered at his funeral\, where Protestant theologian Helmut Gollwitzer des cribed him as someone "fought passionately\, but not fanatically\, for a m ore humane world". RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudi_Dutschke RESOURCES: RESOURCES:https://www.dw.com/en/interview-remembering-student-movement-fir ebrand-rudi-dutschke/a-5031510 RESOURCES:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wS82Z2zSHPU&ab_channel=criminals andcrimefighters END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Hosea Hudson (1898 - 1988) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250412 DTEND:20250413T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Labor,Birthdays COMMENT:Hosea Hudson\, born on this day in 1898\, was a communist labor le ader active in Wilkes County\, Georgia and Birmingham\, Alabama who was ex pelled from a union council he founded and blacklisted for his political b eliefs. DESCRIPTION:Hosea Hudson\, born on this day in 1898\, was a communist labo r leader active in Wilkes County\, Georgia and Birmingham\, Alabama who wa s expelled from a union council he founded and blacklisted for his politic al beliefs.\n\nBorn in Wilkes County\, Hosea worked as a sharecropper in w hat was then known as the "Black Belt" of Georgia. Later\, Hudson worked a s a steel-mill worker and a local union official in Birmingham while maint aining an active membership in the Communist Party. Through his work\, Hud son was often referred to as a militant fighter against racist oppression and economic exploitation.\n\nDuring the Red Scares of the post-World War II period\, Hudson was expelled from the Birmingham Industrial Union Counc il. In 1947\, he was fired from his job\, removed from his offices in Loca l 2815 (which he had founded)\, and blacklisted as a communist.\n\nIn 1972 \, Hudson authored his autobiography\, "Black Worker in the Deep South: A Personal Record". RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/hudson-hosea- 1898-1988/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hosea_Hudson END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Shanghai Massacre (1927) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250412 DTEND:20250413T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Labor,Massacre COMMENT:On this day in 1927\, conservative forces led by Chiang Kai-shek c arried out the Shanghai Massacre\, attacking and disarming workers' militi as by force\, resulting in more than 300 people being killed or wounded. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1927\, conservative forces led by Chiang Kai-sh ek carried out the Shanghai Massacre\, attacking and disarming workers' mi litias by force\, resulting in more than 300 people being killed or wounde d.\n\nThis incident marked the beginning of a campaign of violent suppress ion of Chinese communists by conservative factions in the Kuomintang\, kil ling 300\,000 people over the course of three years.\n\nThe Shanghai Massa cre began before dawn\, when nationalist troops began to attack district o ffices controlled by the union workers. Under an emergency decree\, Chiang then ordered the 26th Army to disarm the workers' militias.\n\nThe union workers organized a mass meeting denouncing Chiang Kai-shek the next day\, and thousands of workers and students went to the headquarters of the 2nd Division of the 26th Army to protest. Soldiers opened fire\, killing 100 and wounding many more.\n\nThis incident marked the beginning of a prolong ed purge of communists from the Wuhan province\, and the ensuing violence killed over 300\,000 people in less than three years. Stalin offered his s upport\, sending a telegram to the Chinese communists on June 1st\, urging them to take up arms against the state. RESOURCES:https://www.socialistalternative.org/2017/04/12/china-90-years-c hiang-kai-sheks-shanghai-massacre/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanghai_massacre END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:William Swann Arrested (1888) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250412 DTEND:20250413T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Queer COMMENT:On this day in 1888\, D.C. police raided a drag ball held for Will iam Dorsey Swann's 30th birthday. While most fled\, Swann\, the queen of t he ball\, confronted police while wearing a satin dress\, attempting to pr event them from entering. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1888\, D.C. police raided a drag ball held for William Dorsey Swann's 30th birthday. While most fled\, Swann\, the queen of the ball\, confronted police while wearing a satin dress\, attempting t o prevent them from entering.\n\nSwann\, enslaved at birth but emancipated after the Civil War\, was an early queer liberation activist who was the first American to lead a queer resistance group\, to take legal and politi cal action in defense of queer rights (in the form of demanding a Presiden tial pardon in 1896)\, and the first known person to self-identify as a "q ueen of drag".\n\nOn April 12th\, 1888\, Washington D.C. police raided a d rag queen ball held in honor of Swann's thirtieth birthday. Many of the gu ests fled\, even jumping from second story windows to escape police.\n\nSw ann\, however\, confronted the police in what was later described as "a go rgeous dress of cream-colored satin"\, vainly hoping to prevent the cops f rom entering the residence. Author Adriana Hill claims that this incident "marked one of the earliest documented instances of resistance in the name of queer rights."\n\nIn total\, thirteen men\, including Swann\, were arr ested and "charged with being suspicious characters"\, according to queer journalist and historian Channing Joseph.\n\nYears later\, when William Sw ann stopped organizing and participating in drag events\, his brother cont inued to make costumes for the drag community. Swann died in 1925 in Hanco ck\, Maryland. After his death\, local officials burned his home. RESOURCES:https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-black-drag-queens-who-foug ht-before-stonewall/ RESOURCES:https://fashionandrace.org/database/william-dorsey-swann/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Amy Goodman (1957 - ) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250413 DTEND:20250414T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Riots,Journalism,Protests COMMENT:Amy Goodman\, born on this day in 1957\, is an American journalist \, investigative reporter\, and author who co-founded the news program Dem ocracy Now!\, which does not accept corporate funding. "Go to where the si lence is and say something." DESCRIPTION:Amy Goodman\, born on this day in 1957\, is an American journa list\, investigative reporter\, and author who co-founded the news program Democracy Now!\, which does not accept corporate funding.\n\nGoodman's in vestigative journalism work is international in scope\, including coverage of the East Timor independence movement and Chevron Corporation's complic ity in violence in Nigeria\; Chevron assisted the Nigerian Army in a viole nt conflict with villagers who had seized oil rigs to protest environmenta l pollution.\n\nGoodman has also been arrested when covering anti-war prot ests at the RNC and charged with rioting for her coverage on attacks of Da kota Pipeline Access protesters. Goodman and her team captured footage tha t showed security personnel pepper-spraying and siccing attack dogs on dem onstrators.\n\nAfter the footage aired\, North Dakota state prosecutor Lad d Erickson charged her with criminal trespass and\, later\, rioting. Both charges were dismissed in court.\n\nSince 1996\, Goodman has been the main host of Democracy Now!\, a progressive global news program broadcast dail y on radio\, television and the internet. She is the recipient of numerous awards\, including the Thomas Merton Award in 2004\, a Right Livelihood A ward in 2008\, and an Izzy Award in 2009 for "special achievement in indep endent media".\n\n"Go to where the silence is and say something."\n\n- Amy Goodman RESOURCES:https://www.britannica.com/biography/Amy-Goodman RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amy_Goodman RESOURCES:https://www.democracynow.org/2017/5/22/watch_tavis_smiley_interv iews_amy_goodman END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Julius Nyerere (1922 - 1999) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250413 DTEND:20250414T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Pan-Africanism,Birthdays COMMENT:Julius Nyerere\, born on this day in 1922\, was a socialist and an ti-colonial Tanzanian politician who promoted a Pan-Africanist ideology kn own as Ujamaa\, which means "extended family" or "brotherhood" in Swahili. DESCRIPTION:Julius Nyerere\, born on this day in 1922\, was a socialist an d anti-colonial Tanzanian politician who promoted a Pan-Africanist ideolog y known as Ujamaa\, which means "extended family" or "brotherhood" in Swah ili.\n\nIn 1962\, Nyerere was elected the first president of Tanganyika\, a predecessor to modern Tanzania and a newly independent republic. His adm inistration emphasized decolonizing society and the state\, also unsuccess fully pursuing a Pan-Africanist East African Federation with Uganda and Ke nya.\n\nIn 1967\, Nyerere issued the "Arusha Declaration"\, forbidding gov ernment leaders from owning shares or holding directorates in private comp anies\, receiving more than one salary\, or owning any houses that they re nted to others. In compliance with this declaration\, Nyerere sold his sec ond home and his wife donated her poultry farm to a local co-operative.\n\ nNyerere's government also aided in liberation struggles elsewhere in Afri ca\, training and aiding anti-apartheid South African groups and helping t o depose Ugandan ruler Idi Amin. In 1985\, Nyerere stepped down as Preside nt and was succeeded by Ali Hassan Mwinyi in a notably peaceful and stable transition of power.\n\n"Unity will not make us rich\, but it can make it difficult for Africa and the African peoples to be disregarded and humili ated."\n\n- Julius Nyerere RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_Nyerere RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/subject/africa/nyerere/biography.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Project MKUltra Begins (1953) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250413 DTEND:20250414T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1953\, the CIA's Project MKUltra began. MKUltra is the code name given to a secret CIA program of mind control experiments\, sometimes involuntary and involving the unethical use of hallucinogens\, o n test subjects. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1953\, the CIA's Project MKUltra began. MKUltra is the code name given to a secret CIA program of mind control experiment s\, sometimes involuntary and involving the unethical use of hallucinogens \, on test subjects.\n\nThese experiments were intended to identify and de velop drugs and procedures to be used in interrogations in order to weaken the individual and force confessions through mind control\, and often ran without the test subject's consent or knowledge.\n\nUnder MKUltra\, the C IA created secret detention camps in international areas under American co ntrol so experiments could be done on prisoners without being prosecuted\, hired British psychiatrist Donald Ewen Cameron to conduct experiments on patient\, including dosing them with LSD and putting them in drug induced comas for weeks at a time\, and secretly dosed Dr. Frank Olson with LSD af ter he asked to resign from the CIA\, resulting in his suicide.\n\nIn 1973 \, amid a government-wide panic caused by Watergate\, CIA Director Richard Helms ordered all MKUltra files destroyed. Most CIA documentation of the project was destroyed\, however 20\,000 documents survived because they ha d been incorrectly stored in a financial records building.\n\nWe only know about MKUltra today because of this misplaced cache and a Freedom of Info rmation Request filed in 1977. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_MKUltra RESOURCES:https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/what-we-know-about-cia s-midcentury-mind-control-project-180962836/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Bussa's Rebellion Begins (1816) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250414 DTEND:20250415T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1816\, the largest slave revolt in Barbadian histor y\, known as "Bussa's Rebellion"\, began when a group of slaves burned can e fields in the St. Philip parish\, a signal to the rest of the island to begin the revolt. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1816\, the largest slave revolt in Barbadian hi story\, known as "Bussa's Rebellion"\, began when a group of slaves burned cane fields in the St. Philip parish\, a signal to the rest of the island to begin the revolt.\n\nThe Bussa Rebellion was the first of the three ma jor slave uprisings that took place in the British West Indies between the U.S. abolition of the slave trade in 1807 and general emancipation by the British in 1838. The two other rebellions occurred in the Crown colony of Demerara-Essequibo (now part of Guyana) in 1823 and Jamaica in 1831.\n\nT he uprising was led by the African-born slave named Bussa who was born a f ree West African man\, but captured by slave traders and shipped to Barbad os. Bussa and his collaborators began to plan the rebellion when the Barba dian House of Assembly was debating a measure to create a registry for all slaves on the island.\n\nThe uprising began on April 14th\, 1816 when sla ves burned cane fields in the St. Philip parish\, a signal to the rest of the island to began the revolt. Over 70 estates were affected\, and white people fled en masse to the capital for shelter.\n\nThe next day\, martial law was declared\, and the rebellion was quickly put down by local militi a and British imperial troops. In total\, 214 people were executed\, 170 w ere deported\, and many others were subjected to flogging throughout the e ntire 80 days martial law was in effect. RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/bussa-rebellion -1816/ RESOURCES:https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/bussas-r ebellion/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:First U.S. Abolitionist Organization (1775) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250414 DTEND:20250415T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Abolitionism COMMENT:On this day in 1775\, Philadelphia Quakers formed the first abolit ionist organization in the U.S.\, the "Society for the Relief of Free Negr oes Unlawfully Held in Bondage". Although they won reforms\, they never su cceeded in abolishing slavery. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1775\, Philadelphia Quakers formed the first ab olitionist organization in the U.S.\, the "Society for the Relief of Free Negroes Unlawfully Held in Bondage". Although they won reforms\, they neve r succeeded in abolishing slavery.\n\nAlthough there are records of Quaker s condemning the "traffic of Men-body" as early 1688\, this group (predomi nantly but not exclusively Quaker) was the first official organization to work for the abolition of slavery.\n\nThe organization was re-formed in 17 84\, renamed the "Pennsylvania Abolition Society" (PAS). This version of t he group began to grow more influential\, broadening its membership to pro minent figures as Benjamin Franklin and Benjamin Rush\, who both helped wr ite the Society's new constitution.\n\nIn 1787\, the PAS unsuccessfully pe titioned the Constitutional Convention to institute a ban on slavery. The following year\, they successfully lobbied the Pennsylvania legislature to amend the gradual abolition act of 1780\, winning reforms like the bannin g of transporting enslaved children and pregnant women out of Pennsylvania and the sending of slave ships from the city.\n\nThe amended act also imp osed heavier fines for kidnapping the enslaved\, and made it illegal to se parate enslaved families by more than ten miles.\n\nThe group's influence waned in the decades leading up the Civil War amid economic crises and an increasing anti-black sentiment in the region. Despite their efforts at gr adual abolition\, chattel slavery was not abolished in the United States u ntil 1865. RESOURCES:https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part3/3p249.html RESOURCES:https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/first-american-aboli tion-society-founded-in-philadelphia END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Limerick Soviet Forms (1919) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250414 DTEND:20250415T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,General Strikes COMMENT:On this day in 1919\, the Limerick Soviet (Irish: Sóibhéid Luimn igh) formed during a general strike\, one of a number of self-declared Iri sh workers' soviets that were formed between 1919 and 1923. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1919\, the Limerick Soviet (Irish: Sóibhéid L uimnigh) formed during a general strike\, one of a number of self-declared Irish workers' soviets that were formed between 1919 and 1923.\n\nThe sov iet was formed in the context of the Irish War of Independence\, fought be tween the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and the British government\, and was sustained for a period of about two weeks.\n\nThe workers' rebellion bega n in response to British Army Brigadier Griffin declaring the city to be a "Special Military Area"\, with permits required for all wanting to enter and leave the city and British Army troops and armored vehicles deployed t o the area. On April 11th\, a meeting of the United Trades and Labour Coun cil took place where a representative from the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union (ITGWU)\, Sean Dowling\, proposed that the trade unions ta ke over Town Hall and have meetings there.\n\nAfter a twelve-hour discussi on and lobbying of the delegates by workers\, a general strike was called on April 13th\, by the city's United Trades and Labour Council. A special strike committee was set up to print their own money\, control food prices \, and publish newspapers\, and these actions had support from many worker s outside the city.\n\nAfter two weeks\, the Sinn Féin Lord Mayor of Lime rick and the Catholic Bishop Denis Hallinan called for the strike to end. The Strike Committee capitulated\, issuing a proclamation on April 27th\, stating that the strike was over. RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/library/1919-story-limerick-soviet RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limerick_Soviet END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Valeriano Orobón Fernández (1901 - 1936) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250414 DTEND:20250415T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Birthdays,Anarchism COMMENT:Valeriano Orobón Fernández\, born on this day in 1901\, was a Sp anish anarcho-syndicalist theoretician\, trade union activist\, translator \, and poet who wrote the lyrics of the revolutionary song "A Las Barricad as". DESCRIPTION:Valeriano Orobón Fernández\, born on this day in 1901\, was a Spanish anarcho-syndicalist theoretician\, trade union activist\, transl ator\, and poet who wrote the lyrics of the revolutionary song "A Las Barr icadas".\n\nOrobón believed in the organizational power of unions\, belie ve that they would have a major role in reorganizing society in a more lib ertarian fashion. Orobón was also strongly opposed to the communist (i.e. \, Soviet) ideas in Spain during the Spanish Civil War.\n\nShortly before his untimely death from tuberculosis\, Orobón wrote the words of "A Las B arricadas" to the tune of "Warszawianka 1905 roku"\, itself a well-known P olish revolutionary song. The anti-fascist tune became the anthem of the C onfederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT)\, and one of the most popular son gs of the Spanish anarchists during the Civil War. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valeriano_Orob%C3%B3n_Fern%C3%A1nd ez RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/orob%C3%B3n-fern%C3%A1ndez-workers-al liance-%E2%80%93-ram%C3%B3n-%C3%A1lvarez-palomo END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:A. Philip Randolph (1889 - 1979) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250415 DTEND:20250416T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Birthdays COMMENT:A. Philip Randolph\, born on this day in 1889\, was a labor organi zer\, civil rights activist\, and socialist politician who founded and led The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. "Make wars unprofitable and you make them impossible." DESCRIPTION:A. Philip Randolph\, born on this day in 1889\, was an America n labor organizer\, civil rights activist\, and socialist politician who f ounded and led The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters (BSCP).\n\nRandolph 's activism was instrumental in pressuring both Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry Truman to end segregation in defense industries and armed services\, respectively. In 1963\, he also masterminded and led the "March on Washin gton"\, at which MLK Jr. delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech.\n\nAs a la bor organizer\, his greatest success came with the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters\, who elected him President in 1925. This group would become one the first predominantly black labor unions. Because porters were not u nionized\, most suffered poor working conditions and were underpaid\, desp ite the industry booming at the time.\n\nAfter years of bitter struggle\, the Pullman Company finally began to negotiate with the Brotherhood in 193 5\, and agreed to a contract with them in 1937. Employees gained $2\,000\, 000 in pay increases\, a shorter workweek\, and overtime pay.\n\n"Make war s unprofitable and you make them impossible."\n\n- A. Phillip Randolph RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._Philip_Randolph RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/randolph-asa- philip-1889-1979/ RESOURCES:https://www.discoverlbj.org/item/oh-randolpha-19681029-1-72-15 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Harold Washington (1922 - 1987) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250415 DTEND:20250416T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays COMMENT:Harold Washington\, born on this day in 1922\, was a U.S. lawyer a nd politician who\, with the help of the Young Lords\, became the first bl ack mayor of Chicago\, overcoming a slew of racist fear-mongering and unde rhanded political tactics. DESCRIPTION:Harold Washington\, born on this day in 1922\, was a U.S. lawy er and politician who\, with the help of the Young Lords\, became the firs t black mayor of Chicago\, overcoming a slew of racist fear-mongering and underhanded political tactics.\n\nWashington was elected as mayor of Chica go after a coalition of black-brown unity\, including the Young Lords of R ainbow Coalition fame\, organized in support of his election\, leading to an upset over establishment candidate Richard J. Daley. Due to that coalit ion's efforts\, over 100\,000 new voters participated in the mayoral prima ry.\n\nAfter winning the primary\, Washington faced widespread racist para noia about his possible tenure as mayor\, and prominent Democratic Party e stablishment politicians (such as alderman Edward Vrdolyak) endorsed his R epublican opponent Bernard Epton.\n\nAfter winning the general election\, Washington promised to be "fairer than fair" in regards to the allocation of municipal services\, which had traditionally gone to service wealthy wh ite neighborhoods more than poor\, inner city communities. He served as ma yor from 1983 until his death from a heart attack in 1987. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Washington RESOURCES:https://www.thisamericanlife.org/84/harold END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Pacifica Radio 1st Broadcast (1949) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250415 DTEND:20250416T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1949\, the Pacifica Network - which maintains the o ldest listener-supported radio stations in the U.S. and broadcasts shows s uch as Democracy Now and Free Speech Radio News - gave its first broadcast . DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1949\, the Pacifica Network - which maintains t he oldest listener-supported radio stations in the U.S. and broadcasts sho ws such as Democracy Now and Free Speech Radio News - gave its first broad cast.\n\nThe network is operated by the Pacifica Foundation\, a non-profit based out of Berkeley\, California which owns five independently operated \, non-commercial\, listener-supported radio stations.\n\nPacifica Network was the first public radio network in the United States and it is the wor ld's oldest listener-funded radio network. The Pacifica Radio Archives\, h oused at station KPFK in Los Angeles\, is also the oldest public radio arc hive in the United States\, documenting more than five decades of grassroo ts political\, cultural\, and performing arts history\, including intervie ws with John Coltrane\, James Baldwin\, and Langston Hughes. RESOURCES:https://pacifica.org/about_history.php RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacifica_Foundation END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Vietnam Veterans Against the War (1967) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250415 DTEND:20250416T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Imperialism COMMENT:Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW)\, founded on this day in 1 967\, is an American non-profit organization whose goal is to oppose U.S. policy and participation in the Vietnam War. DESCRIPTION:Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW)\, founded on this day in 1967\, is an American non-profit organization whose goal is to oppose U .S. policy and participation in the Vietnam War.\n\nToday\, the VVAW is a national veterans' organization that campaigns for peace\, justice\, and t he rights of all United States military veterans. The VVAW is considered t o be among the most influential anti-war organizations of the American Vie tnam War era.\n\nIn January 1971\, the VVAW sponsored the Winter Soldier I nvestigation to gather and present testimony from soldiers about war crime s being committed in Southeast Asia\, intending to demonstrate that these resulted from American war policies.\n\nThe event was boycotted by most ma instream media\, although the Detroit Free Press covered it daily. Later\, the VVAW released "Winter Soldier"\, a 16mm black-and-white documentary f ilm showing participants giving testimony at the 1971 hearing. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_Veterans_Against_the_War RESOURCES:http://www.vvaw.org/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Compensated Emancipation Act (1862) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250416 DTEND:20250417T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:Passed on this day in 1862\, the Compensated Emancipation Act ende d slavery in the District of Columbia. The law offered slavers $300 per en slaved person forfeited\, while offering freedmen $100 on condition they m ove to Haiti or Liberia. DESCRIPTION:Passed on this day in 1862\, the Compensated Emancipation Act ended slavery in the District of Columbia. The law offered slavers $300 pe r enslaved person forfeited\, while offering freedmen $100 on condition th ey move to Haiti or Liberia.\n\nThe Act was signed into law by President A braham Lincoln\, who was keen on offering slave owners compensation for fo rfeiting their "property" as a means to not alienate border states in the Civil War. Although it was the only time the U.S. federal government gave direct aid to slaveowners\, many state governments took the initiative to do so as well.\n\nThe law offered $300 per slave forfeited and $100 to any freed slave\, on condition that they move to Haiti or Liberia. Later Linc oln signed a second compensation act into law that allowed former slaves t o petition for reimbursement for their own value\, but only if their forme r masters had not already been compensated.\n\nDr. John Rock\, a black phy sician in Boston\, said this of the law's passage:\n\n"Why talk about comp ensating masters? Compensate them for what? What do you owe them? What doe s the slave owe them? What does society owe them? Compensate the master?.. .It is the slave who ought to be compensated. The property of the South is by right the property of the slave..."\n\n3\,185 slaves were freed as a d irect result of the Compensated Emancipation Act\, and the anniversary of its passing is still recognized as the holiday "Emancipation Day" in Washi ngton D.C. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/District_of_Columbia_Compensated_E mancipation_Act RESOURCES:https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/16/opinion/when-slaveowners-got- reparations.html END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Creole Slave Revolt Succeeds (1842) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250416 DTEND:20250417T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1842\, participants of the Creole Slave Revolt\, on e of the most successful slave revolts in American history\, won their fre edom after the Admiralty Court in Nassau of the West Indies declared mutin eering slaves to be free. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1842\, participants of the Creole Slave Revolt\ , one of the most successful slave revolts in American history\, won their freedom after the Admiralty Court in Nassau of the West Indies declared m utineering slaves to be free.\n\nThe revolt aboard the slave ship Creole b egan on November 7th\, 1841 and resulted in 128 enslaved people winning th eir freedom. On that day\, 19 slaves aboard the ship mutinied and took con trol of the deck of the ship\, killing one slave trader in the process. Th e rebels then demanded to be sailed to Liberia\, but settled on the Britis h West Indies instead\, as the African coast was too far away.\n\nThe muti neers reached Nassau\, a major port city in the West Indies two days later . They were detained and the British government considered charging the en slaved with piracy for liberating themselves.\n\nThe Admiralty Court in Na ssau differed\, however\, and ordered the last mutineers to be released on April 16th\, 1842\, granting the participants of the revolt their freedom . RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/creole-case-1 841/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creole_case END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Sierra Leone AML Strike (2012) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250416 DTEND:20250417T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 2012\, workers at the London-based African Minerals Limited (AML) company went on strike in Bumbuna\, Sierra Leone. The next day\, protesters were fired upon and arrested in what was later described as a "war zone". DESCRIPTION:On this day in 2012\, workers at the London-based African Mine rals Limited (AML) company went on strike in Bumbuna\, Sierra Leone. The n ext day\, protesters were fired upon and arrested in what was later descri bed as a "war zone".\n\nAccording to Human Rights Watch\, AML is the large st private employer in Sierra Leone\, with a $2 billion direct investment in the country's economy. Human Rights Watch also cites Sierra Leone gover nment officials who claim that AML's company operations are close to doubl e the country's gross domestic product.\n\nOn April 16th\, 2012\, AML work ers in the northern town of Bumbuna struck in protest of bad working condi tions\, workplace discrimination\, and the inability to form their own uni on. Striking workers convinced contracted workers to join them and attempt ed to prevent AML vehicles from refueling.\n\nBumbuna's local police force called for reinforcements\, and an estimated 200 police officers descende d upon the town the next day. During a protest\, police opened fire on the market and town center\, killing a 24-year-old woman and wounding eight o thers.\n\nPolice arrested at least 29 people who were held for a day befor e being released without charge\, and many alleged they were beaten during their arrest. Three police officers were also injured. Sierra Leone's Hum an Rights Commission described the incident as resembling a "war zone". RESOURCES:https://www.hrw.org/report/2014/02/19/whose-development/human-ri ghts-abuses-sierra-leones-mining-boom# RESOURCES:https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/oct/26/minin g-company-accused-deadly-police-crackdown-sierra-leone-tonkolili-iron-ore- ltd END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:"A Peace Appeal to Labor" Published (1898) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250417 DTEND:20250418T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Imperialism COMMENT:On this day in 1898\, Bolton Hall\, the treasurer of the American Longshoremen's Union\, wrote "A Peace Appeal to Labor"\, urging workers to oppose American imperialism in the Spanish-American War on a class basis. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1898\, Bolton Hall\, the treasurer of the Ameri can Longshoremen's Union\, wrote "A Peace Appeal to Labor"\, urging worker s to oppose American imperialism in the Spanish-American War on a class ba sis.\n\nThe piece was written and published at height of yellow journalism and war fever in the U.S.\, which was pushing for U.S. interference in th e Cuban struggle for independence against Spain\, and pleaded for the work ing class to not support the coming war. Here is a short excerpt from Hall 's piece:\n\n"If there is a war\, you will furnish the corpses and the tax es\, and others will get the glory. Speculators will make money out of it -- that is\, out of you.\n\nMen will get high prices for inferior supplies \, leaky boats\, for shoddy clothes and pasteboard shoes\, and you will ha ve to pay the bill\, and the only satisfaction you will get is the privile ge of hating your Spanish fellow-workmen\, who are really your brothers an d who have had as little to do with the wrongs of Cuba as you have." RESOURCES:https://books.google.com/books?id=s9r9FqjoX7MC&pg=PA89&lpg=PA89& dq=a+peace+appeal+to+labor+longshoremens&source=bl&ots=PpfTz3OrIu&sig=ACfU 3U1PXJo4EYtxZDUm5DNaZNHJF9QO3Q&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjK0b71zcHqAhVXK80KHRA 0Ca4Q6AEwAnoECAYQAQ#v=onepage&q=a%20peace%20appeal%20to%20labor%20longshor emens&f=false RESOURCES:https://www.historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/zinnempire12.html END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Bay of Pigs Invasion (1961) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250417 DTEND:20250418T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Imperialism,Communism COMMENT:On this day in 1961\, the Bay of Pigs invasion took place when a f orce of 1400 Cuban exiles\, funded and led by the U.S.\, landed on the sou thwest coast of Cuba in a failed attempt at overthrowing the revolutionary Cuban government. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1961\, the Bay of Pigs invasion took place when a force of 1400 Cuban exiles\, funded and led by the U.S.\, landed on the southwest coast of Cuba in a failed attempt at overthrowing the revolutio nary Cuban government.\n\nCovertly financed and directed by the U.S. gover nment\, the operation took place at the height of the Cold War and its fai lure led to major shifts in international relations between Cuba\, the Uni ted States\, and the Soviet Union.\n\nThe coup attempt came after the Cuba n government expropriated property from American capitalists. U.S. Preside nt Dwight D. Eisenhower allocated $13.1 million to the Central Intelligenc e Agency (CIA) in March 1960 for use against Castro's government. With the aid of Cuban counter-revolutionaries\, the CIA proceeded to organize an i nvasion.\n\nOn April 14th\, 1961\, a squadron of U.S. B-26 bombers camoufl aged with Cuban insignias begin a two-day bombing campaign of Cuban airpor ts\, destroying a large portion of the Cuban air force.\n\nOn the night of April 17th\, an invasion force of approximately 1400 Cuban exiles and CIA officers landed on the beach at Playa Girón in the Bay of Pigs. After a few days\, the insurgents became overwhelmed by the Cuban army. President Kennedy refused to provide air support for the operation.\n\nThe invasion' s defeat solidified Castro's role as a national hero and strengthened Cuba -Soviet relations. Several Cuban exiles and two Americans were executed up on capture. Over 1\,000 prisoners were exchanged for humanitarian aid from the U.S. government. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bay_of_Pigs_Invasion RESOURCES:https://www.npr.org/2011/04/17/135444482/50-years-later-learning -from-the-bay-of-pigs RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/history/cuba/subject/bay-of-pigs/index. htm RESOURCES:https://www.britannica.com/event/Bay-of-Pigs-invasion END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Bejamin Tucker (1854 - 1939) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250417 DTEND:20250418T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Socialism,Birthdays,Anarchism COMMENT:Benjamin R. Tucker\, born on this day in 1854\, was an American an archist\, member of the First International\, and author who edited and pu blished the individualist anarchist periodical "Liberty" from 1881 - 1908. DESCRIPTION:Benjamin R. Tucker\, born on this day in 1854\, was an America n anarchist\, member of the First International\, and author who edited an d published the individualist anarchist periodical "Liberty" from 1881 - 1 908.\n\nTucker opposed state socialism and supported libertarian socialist schools of thought such as mutualism. His legacy influenced subsequent ge nerations of anarchist thinkers\, such as Murray Bookchin\, Émile Armand\ , Kevin A. Carson\, and Lev Chernyi.\n\n"The two principles referred to ar e Authority and Liberty\, and the names of the two schools of Socialistic thought which fully and unreservedly represent one or the other of them ar e\, respectively\, State Socialism and Anarchism."\n\n- Benjamin Tucker RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Tucker RESOURCES:https://theanarchistlibrary.org/category/author/benjamin-tucker END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Lenin's "April Theses" Published (1917) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250417 DTEND:20250418T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Marxism,Communism COMMENT:On this day in 1917\, six months before the October Revolution\, V ladimir Lenin's "April Theses" was published in Pravda. In the text\, Leni n called for the abolition of the Provisional Government and power to be g iven to workers' soviets. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1917\, six months before the October Revolution \, Vladimir Lenin's "April Theses" was published in Pravda. In the text\, Lenin called for the abolition of the Provisional Government and power to be given to workers' soviets.\n\nLenin had arrived in Petrograd the night prior\, and had previously delivered the content of the April Theses in tw o speeches - once to a meeting of Bolsheviks and once to a meeting of both Bolsheviks and Mensheviks - before they were prepared in writing and publ ished in Pravda on April 17th\, 1917.\n\nThe text contains ten directives\ , mostly directed at fellow Bolsheviks. In the April Theses\, Lenin calls for opposition to World War I\, total non-support for the Provisional Gove rnment\, a new government comprised of workers' soviets\, the nationalizat ion of land and banks\, and establishing a new communist international opp osed to "social chauvinists" (such as the German Social Democratic Party). \n\nLenin also offers analysis of the revolutionary situation in Russia at the time\, stating that "the country is passing from the first stage of t he revolution - which\, owing to the insufficient class-consciousness and organisation of the proletariat\, placed power in the hands of the bourgeo isie - to its second stage\, which must place power in the hands of the pr oletariat and the poorest sections of the peasants."\n\nThe April Theses p rovided much of the ideological groundwork that led to the October Revolut ion\, which took place six months later when the Bolsheviks initiated a mi litary uprising and seized the Winter Palace. The full text to this short work is provided below. RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1917/apr/04.htm RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_Theses END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Harvard Living Wage Sit-In (2001) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250418 DTEND:20250419T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Civil Rights,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 2001\, 46 demonstrators at Harvard University\, car rying sleeping bags\, computers\, and a week's supply of food\, occupied M assachusetts Hall\, refusing to budge until the school agreed to pay its w orkers a "living wage". DESCRIPTION:On this day in 2001\, 46 demonstrators at Harvard University\, carrying sleeping bags\, computers\, and a week's supply of food\, occupi ed Massachusetts Hall\, refusing to budge until the school agreed to pay i ts workers a "living wage".\n\nThe protest was a culmination of years of a ctivism at Harvard to try and get the richest university in the world to p ay all of its workers a living wage.\n\nThe sit-in ended after 21 days (th e longest in Harvard history) when Harvard President Neil L. Rudenstine an nounced the formation of a University-wide committee to investigate the "p rinciples and policies" regarding low paid and contract university workers .\n\nNo non-unionized or non-management workers served on the committee\, however\, and the workers that did were outnumbered 3-1 by faculty and stu dents. RESOURCES:https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2001/05/05/harva rd-sit-in-for-living-wage-divides-campus/8a5ede05-73d9-47ed-abae-ddd446585 07f/ RESOURCES:https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2011/12/1/2001-occupy/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Paint Creek Mine War (1912) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250418 DTEND:20250419T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:On this day in 1912\, the Paint Creek Mine War began when West Vir ginia miners struck\, demanding formal union recognition and fairer labor practices. The incident quickly escalated into one of the worst labor conf licts in U.S. history. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1912\, the Paint Creek Mine War began when West Virginia miners struck\, demanding formal union recognition and fairer la bor practices. The incident quickly escalated into one of the worst labor conflicts in U.S. history.\n\nThe event\, also known as the Paint Creek-Ca bin Creek Strike\, centered on the area enclosed by two streams\, Paint Cr eek and Cabin Creek. It is considered part of the "Coal Wars"\, a series o f armed conflicts between workers and coal companies from the 1890s - 1930 s in the United States.\n\nThe strike lasted for fourteen months\, and ove r 5\,000 workers participated. Notable labor organizer Mother Jones (shown ) came to West Virginia to support the workers\, organizing a secret march of 3\,000 armed miners to the steps of the state capitol in Charleston to read a declaration of war to Governor William E. Glasscock.\n\nThe confro ntation directly caused approximately fifty violent deaths from armed conf licts between miners and strike-breaking forces\, as well as many more dea ths indirectly caused by starvation and malnutrition among the striking mi ners. In terms of casualties\, it was among the worst conflicts in America n labor history. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paint_Creek%E2%80%93Cabin_Creek_st rike_of_1912 RESOURCES:https://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/1798 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Looby House Bombing (1960) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250419 DTEND:20250420T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Civil Rights,Assassinations,Terrorism COMMENT:On this day in 1960\, the home of famous Nashville politician and civil rights attorney Z. Alexander Looby was bombed by white supremacists\ , leading to 3\,000 people marching on City Hall. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1960\, the home of famous Nashville politician and civil rights attorney Z. Alexander Looby was bombed by white supremaci sts\, leading to 3\,000 people marching on City Hall.\n\nLooby had achieve d national notoriety for his defense of twenty-five black men charged with murder as part of the 1946 Columbia Race Riots\, as well as his support o f the students participating in the Nashville Sit-ins of 1960.\n\nOn April 19th\, 1960\, a bundle of dynamite was lobbed towards the front of his ho me\, rolling onto its concrete foundation before detonating. The blast des troyed the front of the house\, however Looby survived the assassination a ttempt.\n\nThe bombing was the catalyst for a march held later that day\, in which approximately 3\,000 people marched to City Hall in total silence .\n\nOnce the crowd converged on City Hall\, they were met on the steps of the plaza by Mayor Ben West\, who admitted to the demonstrators that he s upported desegregating the lunch counters. By May of that year\, lunch cou nters in Nashville were desegregated. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z._Alexander_Looby RESOURCES:https://www.nashvillescene.com/news/coverstory/who-bombed-z-alex ander-looby-s-north-nashville-home/article_d8bc0bc5-132f-5bd8-9153-274c43a 94190.html RESOURCES:https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/site-of-the-looby-house-bomb ing END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Operation Dewey Canyon III (1971) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250419 DTEND:20250420T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1971\, Operation Dewey Canyon III was initiated by Vietnam Veterans Against the War\, who dubbed the planned protests "a limi ted incursion into the country of Congress"\, mocking similar rhetoric fro m the U.S. government. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1971\, Operation Dewey Canyon III was initiated by Vietnam Veterans Against the War\, who dubbed the planned protests "a limited incursion into the country of Congress"\, mocking similar rhetoric from the U.S. government.\n\nThe protest began with more than 1\,100 vete rans led by Gold Star Mothers (mothers of soldiers killed in war) marching to the Arlington Cemetery gate\, just beneath the Tomb of the Unknown Sol dier. Reverend Jackson H. Day\, who had a few days earlier resigned his mi litary chaplainship\, conducted a memorial service for their fellows.\n\nO ver the next four days\, fifty soldiers attempted to turn themselves in as war criminals at the Pentagon\, police defied orders to arrest protesters camping on the National Mall\, and more than 800 soldiers threw their med als\, ribbons\, discharge papers\, and other war mementos on the steps of the U.S. Capitol as a symbolic rejection of the war. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_Veterans_Against_the_War RESOURCES:https://publish.illinois.edu/samalthaus/2016/10/14/the-throwing- of-the-medals-operation-dewey-canyon-iii-historical-protest-project/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Sarah Bagley (1806 - 1889) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250419 DTEND:20250420T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Birthdays COMMENT:Sarah Bagley (shown left)\, born on this day in 1806\, was a U.S. labor leader and author who played a key role in organizing the Lowell Mil l Girls in the 1840s. After working as an organizer\, she established a sl iding-scale medical clinic. DESCRIPTION:Sarah George Bagley (shown left)\, born on this day in 1806\, was a U.S. labor leader and author who played a key role in organizing the Lowell Mill Girls in the 1840s. After working as an organizer\, she estab lished a sliding-scale medical clinic.\n\nBagley advocated for shorter wor kdays for factory workers and mechanics and campaigned to make ten hours o f labor per day the maximum in Massachusetts. She also opposed the Mexican -American War\, demanded prison reform\, and later in life established a s liding-scale medical practice in Albany\, New York.\n\n"When our rights ar e trampled upon and we appeal in vain to our legislators\, what are we to do? Shall not our voice be heard?"\n\n- Sarah Bagley RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Bagley RESOURCES:http://projects.leadr.msu.edu/youngamerica/exhibits/show/sarahba gley/bagley END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Warsaw Ghetto Uprising (1943) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250419 DTEND:20250420T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Fascism COMMENT:On this day in 1943\, the largest Jewish revolt during WWII began when Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto attacked Nazis attempting to deport them to death camps. Nazis razed the entire ghetto block by block\, killing more than 7\,000 and deporting 42\,000. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1943\, the largest Jewish revolt during WWII be gan when Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto attacked Nazis attempting to deport the m to death camps. Nazis razed the entire ghetto block by block\, killing m ore than 7\,000 and deporting 42\,000.\n\nThe Warsaw Ghetto was the larges t Jewish ghetto in German-occupied Europe\, housing approximately 400\,000 Jews in 1940. In 1942\, Nazi police and military carried out mass deporta tions\, in total around 265\,000 Jews\, from the Warsaw Ghetto to the Treb linka killing center. By early 1943\, the Warsaw Ghetto's population was d own to 70\,000 - 80\,000.\n\nIn 1942\, it was abundantly clear to the resi dents of the Warsaw Ghetto that deportation was a death sentence. Two arme d resistance groups were formed that year - the left-wing Jewish Combat Or ganization (Żydowska Organizacja Bojowa\; ŻOB) and the Zionist Jewish Mi litary Union (Żydowski Związek Wojskowy\; ŻZW).\n\nOn April 19th\, 1943 \, the eve of Passover\, Nazis attempted another mass deportation. ŻOB ha d received advance notice\, however\, and 700 young Jewish fighters met th e Nazi police with resistance.\n\nThe rebels lacked formal military traini ng and were poorly equipped\, but had the advantage of waging a guerilla w ar\, retreating to the safety of ghetto buildings and tunnels after attack ing. Non-armed residents also resisted by refusing to cooperate with polic e by refusing to assemble at collection points.\n\nIn response\, the Nazi forces\, armed with artillery and tanks\, began razing the ghetto block by block. According to Benjamin Meed\, a Jew hiding in the "Aryan" part of W arsaw at the time\, the entire sky was red from the ghetto's destruction.\ n\nResistance lasted for approximately a month. On May 8th\, 1943\, German forces succeeded in seizing ŻOB headquarters\, and many of the group's c ommanders are thought to have committed suicide to avoid capture.\n\nAppro ximately 7\,000 Jews while fighting or hiding during the uprising. Police deported approximately 42\,000 survivors who were captured during the revo lt\, most of whom were shot to death in the Nazi "Operation Harvest Festiv al" (Erntefest). Many Jews (one estimate suggests 20\,000) evaded capture and continued to hide in the ruins of the Warsaw Ghetto.\n\nResisters knew that the uprising was likely doomed\, but chose to fight anyway. Marek Ed elman\, the only surviving ŻOB commander\, stated that the inspiration to fight back was "not to allow the Germans alone to pick the time and place of our deaths". RESOURCES:https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/warsaw-ghetto- uprising RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsaw_Ghetto_Uprising END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Ludlow Massacre (1914) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250420 DTEND:20250421T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Massacre COMMENT:On this day in 1914\, the Ludlow Massacre occurred when the Colora do National Guard and a private security force attacked 1\,200 striking co al miners\, killing 21 people\, including women and children. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1914\, the Ludlow Massacre occurred when the Co lorado National Guard and a private security force attacked 1\,200 strikin g coal miners\, killing 21 people\, including women and children. The even t took place during the Colorado Coalfield War\, a period of violent labor unrest in Colorado from 1913-1914.\n\nThe massacre was the culmination of months of labor strife in Ludlow\, Colorado. The massacre began with a me eting between an anti-union militia and the labor leader (and former strik ebreaker) Louis Tikas. Although Tikas discouraged violence\, the strikers\ , who had noticed machine guns placed above the Ludlow colony\, took cover in ad hoc fire positions.\n\nAccounts differ as to who shot first\, but a battle commenced between the armed factions\, leading to nearly a dozen d eaths\, including one twelve-year old boy who was shot in the head. After the violence subdued\, Tikas and other strikers were also found shot in th e back.\n\nThe chief owner of the mine\, John D. Rockefeller\, Jr.\, was w idely condemned for having orchestrated the massacre. In retaliation\, arm ed miners attacked dozens of anti-union establishments over the next ten d ays\, destroying property and engaging in several skirmishes with the Colo rado National Guard in a 40-mile front from Trinidad to Walsenburg.\n\nAn estimated 69 to 199 deaths occurred total during the strike. Historian Tho mas G. Andrews has called it the "deadliest strike in the history of the U nited States".\n\nAlthough the strikers' demands were not met\, the event electrified national discussions of labor and had a positive impact on lab or rights in the long run. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludlow_Massacre RESOURCES:https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/ludlow-massacre/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Maria Silva Cruz (1915 - 1936) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250420 DTEND:20250421T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Birthdays,Anarchism,Fascism COMMENT:Maria Silva Cruz\, born on this day in 1915\, was a Spanish anarch ist and hero of the Casas Viejas Uprising\, executed by fascists at age 21 . Despite the efforts of her son\, 1 at the time her death\, Cruz's remain s were never identified. DESCRIPTION:Maria Silva Cruz\, born on this day in 1915\, was a Spanish an archist and hero of the Casas Viejas Uprising\, executed by fascists at ag e 21. Despite the efforts of her son\, who was 1 year old at the time her death\, Cruz's remains were never identified.\n\nMaria Silva Cruz was born to day laborers on April 20th\, 1915\, and her father and uncle were memb ers of the anarchist union Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT).\n\nI n January 1933\, the CNT initiated the anti-government Casas Viejas Uprisi ng\, which Silva Cruz and her friends participated in. When Civil Guard tr oops were sent to put down the uprising\, many of the villagers fled.\n\nS ome anarchists attempted to hide in the house of Silva Cruz's grandfather\ , which was set on fire by the guard\, killing all but Cruz and her young cousin\, who she carried outside the burning building to safety. Cruz was later arrested.\n\nWhen the fascists occupied the town of Ronda in July 19 36\, her husband Perez Cordon fled to the mountains\, while Silva Cruz sta yed with her one year old son at home. She was arrested by the Civil Guard and her son was taken from her.\n\nOn August 23rd\, 1936\, she was execut ed at dawn. Silva Cruz's remains were never identified despite the efforts of her son\, who grew up with Silva Cruz's aunt. He sought to find his mo ther's remains in order to bury them and plant flowers for her. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Silva_Cruz RESOURCES:https://dbe.rah.es/biografias/51598/maria-silva-cruz END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Walter Reuther Assassination Attempt (1948) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250420 DTEND:20250421T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Civil Rights,Assassinations COMMENT:On this day in 1948\, social democratic labor organizer Walter Reu ther was shot and nearly killed in his home. This was the second attempt t o assassinate Reuther\, who was a politically outspoken leader of the UAW. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1948\, social democratic labor organizer Walter Reuther was shot and nearly killed in his home. This was the second attem pt to assassinate Reuther\, who was a politically outspoken leader of the UAW.\n\nWalter Reuther was an American labor leader and civil rights activ ist who helped turn the United Automobile Workers (UAW) into one of the mo st progressive labor unions in U.S. history. Reuther saw labor movements n ot as narrow special interest groups but as political vehicles to advance social justice and human rights.\n\nReuther leveraged the UAW's resources and influence to advocate for workers' rights\, civil rights\, women's rig hts\, universal health care\, public education\, affordable housing\, envi ronmental stewardship\, and nuclear nonproliferation around the world.\n\n Reuther survived two attempted assassinations and at least one beating fro m anti-union forces at Henry Ford's factory. On April 20th\, 1948\, Reuthe r was struck by a 12-gauge shotgun blast fired through his kitchen window\ , which nearly killed him. While being treated by his neighbor\, he cried "Those dirty sons of bitches! They have to shoot a man in the back. They w on't come out in the open and fight.'"\n\nReuther's right arm was shattere d into 150 bones\, and a slug pierced his stomach. Upon receiving blood tr ansfusions\, he came down with both malaria and hepatitis. When Attorney G eneral Tom Clark requested J. Edgar Hoover to get the FBI to investigate t he shooting\, Hoover refused\, stating "I'm not going to send in the FBI e very time some nigger woman gets raped."\n\nThirteen months later\, Walter 's brother Victor was shot and nearly killed\, losing his right eye in a s imilar attack. Neither shooting was ever solved. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Reuther RESOURCES:https://spartacus-educational.com/USAreuther.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Anaconda Road Massacre (1920) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250421 DTEND:20250422T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:IWW,Labor,Massacre COMMENT:On this day in 1920\, an anti-labor posse\, deputized by police\, gunned down striking miners in Butte\, Montana\, shooting 15-16 men in the back\, killing one. Workers had gone on strike to demand higher wages and an end to anti-union discrimination. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1920\, an anti-labor posse\, deputized by polic e\, gunned down striking miners in Butte\, Montana\, shooting 15-16 men in the back\, killing one. Workers had gone on strike to demand higher wages and an end to anti-union discrimination.\n\nAuthor Richard Gibson writes that\, in a Sunday night meeting\, April 18th\, 1920\, the Industrial Work ers of the World (IWW) and the Metal Mine Workers Union called for a strik e to improve wages and end the hated rustling card system\, a process wher eby employers could blacklist union organizers and members.\n\nPickets spr ead along the Anaconda Road on April 19th to enforce the strike\, and some trolley cars were attacked\, with strikers turning men bound for work awa y from the mines.\n\nOn April 21st\, the Silver Bow County Sheriff deputiz ed Anaconda mine guards to suppress workers. As nearly 400 unarmed miners marched up the Anaconda Road\, they were confronted near the Neversweat Mi ne by the sheriff\, Anaconda Copper Mining (ACM) Company officials\, and a rmed guards. Shots rang out\, and armed Company agents shot 15 or 16 unarm ed miners\, all in the back. One\, Tom Manning\, a 25-year-old Irish immig rant\, died four days later.\n\nAnti-labor press claimed\, without evidenc e\, that workers shot first. Despite a massive inquest\, no one was ever c harged with the murder of Tom Manning. The inquest report included the com plete Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx\, entered as evidence against IWW m embers and others involved in the events of April 21st.\n\nIn the wake of the Anaconda Road shootings\, federal troops were called to Butte\, arrivi ng on April 22-25 as Tom Manning died. Troops were billeted at the Florenc e Hotel in the 200 block of East Broadway and elsewhere. They did not depa rt from Butte until the following January.\n\nThe strike and massacre were the last major labor conflict in the area until the 1934 passage of the N ational Recovery Act allowed outside support to help rebuild the weakened Butte Miners Union.\n\n"The overlords of Butte will not permit their right to exploit to be challenged. Drunk with unbridled power and the countless millions profiteered during the war\, with lying phrases of 'law and orde r' on their lips\, the blood of workingmen dripping from their hands\, and the gold of the government bursting their coffers\, they face the nation unreprimanded and unashamed — reaction militant\, capitalism at its wors t. The copper trust can murder its slaves in broad daylight on any occasio n and under any pretext. There is no law to call a halt. In the confines o f this greed-ruled city\, the gunman has replaced the Constitution. Butte is a law unto itself."\n\n- Ralph Chaplin\, poet and member of the IWW RESOURCES:https://mtstandard.com/centennial-of-infamous-anaconda-road-shoo tings-approaches/article_d6a80523-6625-5881-a03c-6c58384868a7.html RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anaconda_Road_massacre END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Spanish-American War Begins (1898) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250421 DTEND:20250422T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Imperialism,Independence COMMENT:On this day in 1898\, the Spanish-American War began\, greatly exp anding the scope of American imperialism\, granting the U.S. sovereignty o ver the Philippines\, Guam\, and Puerto Rico\, as well as de facto control of the Cuban economy. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1898\, the Spanish-American War began\, greatly expanding the scope of American imperialism\, granting the U.S. sovereign ty over the Philippines\, Guam\, and Puerto Rico\, as well as de facto con trol of the Cuban economy.\n\nThe war began with an American naval blockad e of Cuba\, which was fighting a war for independence from Spain\, and onl y lasted three months. The U.S. intervened in the Cuban War of Independenc e after the internal explosion of the U.S.S. Maine\, despite there being n o evidence of Spanish involvement in the explosion.\n\nThe outcome of the war resulted in U.S. acquisition of Puerto Rico\, Cuba\, and the Philippin es\, and signaled a new era of American expansionism and colonialism in th e 20th century.\n\nFrom 1899-1901\, the U.S. had to brutally suppress the Filipino movement for independence\, killing between 200\,000 and 1\,000\, 000 civilians in the Philippine-American War. In 1901\, the American gover nment also refused to withdraw troops from Cuba unless their Constitutiona l Convention signed the Platt Amendment\, which gave the U.S. government a nd capitalists de facto hegemony over the newly "independent" Cuba. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish%E2%80%93American_War RESOURCES:https://www.thenation.com/article/world/south-china-sea-military / END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Vladimir Lenin (1870 - 1924) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250422 DTEND:20250423T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Marxism,Birthdays,Imperialism COMMENT:Vladimir Lenin\, born on this day in 1870\, was a revolutionary Ma rxist theorist who played a leading role in the October Revolution. "Freed om in capitalist society is no different than in the ancient Greek republi cs: freedom for slave owners." DESCRIPTION:Vladimir Lenin\, born on this day in 1870\, was a revolutionar y Marxist theorist who played a leading role in the October Revolution.\n\ nBorn into a prosperous family\, Lenin was radicalized at least in part af ter his older brother Alexander was executed in 1887 for conspiring to ass assinate Alexander III. He was subsequently expelled from Kazan Imperial U niversity for participating in protests against the Russian Empire's Tsari st government and later arrested for sedition\, exiled to Siberia in 1897. \n\nOver the next two decades\, Lenin remained committed to revolutionary activity\, authoring influential texts such as "What is to Be Done?" (1901 -2)\, "One Step Forward\, Two Steps Back" (1904)\, "Imperialism\, the Hig hest Stage of Capitalism" (1916)\, and "The State and Revolution" (1917). During this time period\, Lenin and his wife\, fellow revolutionary Nadezh da Krupskaya\, moved frequently\, living both in Russia and abroad.\n\nAft er the February Revolution of 1917 ousted the Tsar and established a Provi sional Government\, Lenin returned to Russia from Switzerland and played a leading role in the October Revolution\, in which the Bolsheviks overthre w the new State Duma government.\n\nA civil war of significant political c omplexity subsequently broke out\, in which the Bolsheviks defeated conser vative\, social democratic\, and anarchist forces to consolidate its own p ower. Lenin served as Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of th e Russian SFSR from 1917 to 1924. In 1918\, he survived two separate assas sination attempts.\n\nLenin's ideas are foundational to the political trad ition of Marxism-Leninism\, a political tradition which emphasizes the cre ation of a dictatorship of the proletariat by means of a revolutionary van guard party and democratic centralism\, in which political decisions reach ed through free discussion are binding upon all members of the political p arty.\n\n"Freedom in capitalist society always remains about the same as i t was in ancient Greek republics: Freedom for slave owners."\n\n- Vladimir Lenin RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/cw/index.htm RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Lenin RESOURCES:https://www.revolutionarydemocracy.org/archive/zetlen.htm RESOURCES:https://spartacus-educational.com/RUSlenin.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Barbara Johns Student Walkout (1951) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250423 DTEND:20250424T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1951\, 16-year-old Barbara Johns led her classmates in a student strike protesting of the substandard conditions at her schoo l\, resulting in a lawsuit that helped segregation be declared unconstitut ional. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1951\, 16-year-old Barbara Johns led her classm ates in a student strike protesting of the substandard conditions at her s chool\, resulting in a lawsuit that helped segregation be declared unconst itutional.\n\nBarbara\, along with a few classmates\, had been quietly org anizing the student body at Robert Russa Moton High School. On April 23rd\ , the principal was lured off campus\, the students convinced the teachers to leave\, and\, in the school auditorium\, the students agreed to stage a walk-out. This act led to a lawsuit which was one of five cases consider ed in Brown v. Board of Education (1954)\, which resulted in segregation b eing declared unconstitutional.\n\nAfter the ruling\, rather than desegreg ate\, the Prince Edward County Board of Supervisors refused to appropriate money from the county school board to the public schools. This refusal\, which continued for five years\, was part of the "Massive Resistance Movem ent"\, a Virginia state government policy to block the desegregation of pu blic schools. The school - Robert Russa Moton High School - is now a civil rights museum. RESOURCES:https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/barbara-johns-leads-stud ent-protest/ RESOURCES:https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/08/obituaries/barbara-johns-over looked.html END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Battle of Wood Green (1977) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250423 DTEND:20250424T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Fascism COMMENT:On this day in 1977\, 3\,000 anti-fascist demonstrators harassed a nd attacked National Front fascists who were attempting to march through t he North London borough of Haringey\, an event known as the Battle of Wood Green. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1977\, 3\,000 anti-fascist demonstrators harass ed and attacked National Front fascists who were attempting to march throu gh the North London borough of Haringey\, an event known as the Battle of Wood Green.\n\nThe National Front was an electoral force comprised of unif ied factions among the far right. It was led by AK Chesterton\, who was a former member of Oswald Mosley's British Union of Fascists (BUF). The Nati onal Front was known to engage in racist violence in years prior.\n\nHisto rian David Renton describes the opposition to the march as containing both peaceful and radical elements: "Communists and churchmen addressed a rall y at one end of Duckett's Common\, [while] a contingent composed of more r adical elements in the crowd broke away and subjected the NF column to a b arrage of smoke bombs\, eggs and rotten fruit."\n\nNotably\, Jeremy Corbyn \, then a local councillor who supported a militant response to the fascis t demonstration\, was quoted in the Hornsey Journal: "Why did the police a llow the National Front to march through the busiest shopping area of Nort h London\, an area populated by several of London's largest immigrant comm unities?...How much longer must it be before fascism is banned from our st reets?" RESOURCES:https://socialistworker.co.uk/art/44458/Taking+the+fight+to+the+ Nazis+in+Wood+Green RESOURCES:https://www.jacobinmag.com/2019/04/battle-wood-green-british-fas cism-corbyn END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Irish Conscription Crisis Strike (1918) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250423 DTEND:20250424T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1918\, in protest of conscription laws\, a one-day "complete and entire" general strike was held in Dublin\, stopping work at railways\, docks\, mills\, theatres\, public services\, shipyards\, shops \, and munitions factories. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1918\, in protest of conscription laws\, a one- day "complete and entire" general strike was held in Dublin\, stopping wor k at railways\, docks\, mills\, theatres\, public services\, shipyards\, s hops\, and munitions factories.\n\nThe strike took place in the Conscripti on Crisis of 1918\, which began when a coalition of Irishmen\, including u nions\, nationalist\, and the Catholic Church\, resisted attempts by the B ritish government to impose conscription (military draft) on Ireland durin g the WWI.\n\nOn April 18th\, an Anti-Conscription Committee\, representin g a variety of political factions\, met to plan resistance. The same day\, Roman Catholic bishops declared conscription unjust and called on the Chu rch's adherents to resist "by the most effective means at our disposal".\n \nIn the weeks following the April 23rd strike\, anti-conscription rallies were held nationwide\, with 15\,000 people attending a meeting in County Roscommon at the start of May. Despite the conscription law's passage\, it was never put in effect - no one in Ireland was drafted into the British Army. RESOURCES:https://www.theirishstory.com/2018/04/24/a-declaration-of-war-on -the-irish-people-the-conscription-crisis-of-1918/#.X7XnkmhKiM8 RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conscription_Crisis_of_1918 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Vietnam Veterans Throw Medals Back (1971) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250423 DTEND:20250424T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1971\, more than 800 veterans collectively tossed t heir medals\, ribbons\, discharge papers\, and other war mementos on the s teps of the U.S. Capitol as part of a multi-day demonstration against the Vietnam War. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1971\, more than 800 veterans collectively toss ed their medals\, ribbons\, discharge papers\, and other war mementos on t he steps of the U.S. Capitol as part of a multi-day demonstration against the Vietnam War. The protest\, titled "Operation Dewey Canyon III" was org anized by Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW)\, one of the most influe ntial anti-war organizations in the U.S. at that time.\n\nThe event began on April 19th with a march led by Gold Star Mothers (mothers of soldiers k illed in war)\, more than 1\,100 veterans marched across the Lincoln Memor ial Bridge to the Arlington Cemetery gate. On April 22nd\, John Kerry\, as VVAW spokesman\, testified against the war for two hours in front of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.\n\nThe event ended on April 23rd\, 197 1\, with more than 800 veterans throwing their combat ribbons\, helmets\, and uniforms on the Capitol steps\, along with toy weapons. RESOURCES:https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/vietnam-veterans-aga inst-the-war-demonstrate RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_Veterans_Against_the_War#D ewey_Canyon_III_%E2%80%93_Washington\,_D.C.\,_April_1971 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Easter Rising (1916) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250424 DTEND:20250425T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1916\, revolutionary Irish Republicans initiated th e Easter Rising\, proclaiming an Irish Republic independent of British rul e and battling with the British Army for six days. Sixteen Rising leaders were executed. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1916\, revolutionary Irish Republicans initiate d the Easter Rising\, proclaiming an Irish Republic independent of British rule and battling with the British Army for six days. Sixteen Rising lead ers were executed.\n\nThe rebellion was a collaboration of multiple milita nt Irish organizations\, including the Irish Volunteers\, the Irish Citize n Army (ICA)\, and Cumann na mBan\, and an Irish women's paramilitary forc e. Notable leaders include schoolmaster and Irish language activist Patric k Pearse and socialist James Connolly\, who served as head of the ICA.\n\n Together\, this coalition seized strategically important buildings in Dubl in. Britain responded militarily\, sending thousands of troops and artille ry to clash with the Irish revolutionaries.\n\nThe resistance lasted six d ays before surrendering to the better equipped British Army\, and artiller y shelling and street fighting left many parts of Dublin in ruin. 3\,500 p eople were captured\, 1\,800 of them sent to internment camps. 485 people were killed\, and more than 2\,600 were wounded. Pearse and Connolly\, alo ng with 14 others\, were executed for their role in the rebellion.\n\nThe Rising was the first armed conflict of a revolutionary period of unrest th at began in the early 20th century. In the "Proclamation of the Irish Repu blic"\, the revolutionaries linked their cause to centuries of struggle:\n \n"We declare the right of the people of Ireland to the ownership of Irela nd and to the unfettered control of Irish destinies\, to be sovereign and indefeasible. The long usurpation of that right by a foreign people and go vernment has not extinguished the right\, nor can it ever be extinguished except by the destruction of the Irish people.\n\nIn every generation the Irish people have asserted their right to national freedom and sovereignty \; six times during the past three hundred years they have asserted it in arms. Standing on that fundamental right and again asserting it in arms in the face of the world\, we hereby proclaim the Irish Republic as a Sovere ign Independent State\, and we pledge our lives and the lives of our comra des in arms to the cause of its freedom\, of its welfare\, and of its exal tation among the nations." RESOURCES:http://www.easter1916.net/ RESOURCES:https://www.theirishstory.com/2011/04/22/the-easter-rising-%E2%8 0%93-a-brief-overview/#.ZEaJRHbMJPY RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter_Rising RESOURCES:https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-35873316 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Elizabeth Flynn Statement to the Court (1952) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250424 DTEND:20250425T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Labor,IWW COMMENT:On this day in 1952\, communist labor leader and feminist Elizabet h Gurley Flynn\, who had been arrested under the Smith Act\, issued a stat ement to the court\, denouncing anti-communist hysteria and pleading for a fair trial. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1952\, communist labor leader and feminist Eliz abeth Gurley Flynn\, who had been arrested under the Smith Act\, issued a statement to the court\, denouncing anti-communist hysteria and pleading f or a fair trial.\n\nFlynn (1890 - 1964) was a radical political activist w ho helped found the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)\, proponent of a woman's right to birth control and the vote\, co-founded the American Civ il Liberties Union (ACLU)\, and served as chairwoman of the Communist Part y USA (CPUSA).\n\nIn 1951\, Flynn was arrested and prosecuted under the an ti-communist Smith Act\, along with sixteen other Communist Party members. On this day in 1952\, Flynn issued a statement to the court\, demanding a fair trial and condemning the anti-communist hysteria regarding her arres t. Here is an excerpt:\n\n"We will prove to you that we are not conspirato rs\, but that we are animated and united by common ideals and aspirations\ , with courage to affirm our beliefs\, faith in the people and the future\ , and a willingness to sacrifice for a better world\, which we are confide nt is in birth...\n\nWe expect to convince you that we are within our esta blished constitutional rights to advocate change and progress\, to advocat e Socialism\, which we are convinced will guarantee to all our people in o ur great and beautiful country the rights of life\, liberty\, and the purs uit of happiness."\n\nDespite her statement\, Flynn was found guilty and s erved two years in prison. Undeterred\, she continued her work with CPUSA after her release. RESOURCES:https://awpc.cattcenter.iastate.edu/2017/03/21/statement-at-the- smith-act-trial-april-24-1952/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Gurley_Flynn END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Johanna Kirchner (1889 - 1944) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250424 DTEND:20250425T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Marxism,Birthdays,Fascism COMMENT:Johanna Kirchner\, born on this day in 1889\, was a German anti-fa scist and Social Democrat who was executed by the Nazis for having "treaso nably rooted herself in the evilest Marxist high-treason propaganda". DESCRIPTION:Johanna Kirchner\, born on this day in 1889\, was a German ant i-fascist and Social Democrat who was executed by the Nazis for having "tr easonably rooted herself in the evilest Marxist high-treason propaganda".\ n\nKirchner was born into a family with social-democratic traditions\, and Kirchner herself joined the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) at t he age of eighteen.\n\nWhen the Second World War broke out in 1939\, Kirch ner\, a known anti-fascist and opponent of the Nazis\, fled to France. Whi le there\, she collaborated with Eleonore Wolf\, organizing the emigration of many officials of the workers' movement out of the Third Reich.\n\nIn 1942\, Kirchner was arrested by the Vichy Régime and handed over to the G estapo. Although she was initially sentenced to ten years' hard labor for treason\, her case was brought back before the Volksgerichtshof in 1944\, and she was sentenced to death for "treasonably rooted herself in the evil est Marxist high-treason propaganda" and "treasonably gathering cultural\, economic\, political\, and military intelligence and communicating" Marxi sm.\n\nOn the day of her death\, she wrote to her children in her diary: " Keep Goethe's words in mind\, 'Die and become'. Don't cry for me. I believ e in a better future for you." RESOURCES:https://www.gdw-berlin.de/en/recess/biographies/index_of_persons /biographie/view-bio/johanna-kirchner/?no_cache=1 RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johanna_Kirchner END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Mumia Abu-Jamal (1954 - ) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250424 DTEND:20250425T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Journalism COMMENT:Mumia Abu-Jamal\, born on this day in 1954\, is a radical politica l activist and prison journalist who was targeted by COINTELPRO and senten ced to death in a widely condemned 1982 trial. His work can be found on Pr ison Radio. DESCRIPTION:Mumia Abu-Jamal\, born on this day in 1954\, is a radical poli tical activist and prison journalist who was targeted by COINTELPRO and se ntenced to death in a widely condemned 1982 trial. His work can be found o n Prison Radio.\n\nMumia's trial generated a storm of international protes t - Amnesty International issued a statement in 2000\, saying "the proceed ings used to convict and sentence Mumia Abu-Jamal to death were in violati on of minimum international standards that govern fair trial procedures an d the use of the death penalty".\n\nPrior to his conviction\, Mumia was de eply involved with the Black Panther Party and illegally surveilled by the FBI as part of the COINTELPRO program. In the 1970s\, he provided sympath etic coverage to the anarchist MOVE organization in Philadelphia\, later j oining the organization.\n\nFollowing his conviction\, while on death row\ , Abu-Jamal became noteworthy for his writings and critical commentary on the criminal justice system in the United States. After numerous appeals\, his death penalty was overturned by a federal court\, reduced to a senten ce of life imprisonment without parole. As of 2021\, Abu-Jamal has served 37 years in prison.\n\n"Elie Wiesel says that the greatest evil in the wor ld is not anger or hatred\, but indifference. If that is true\, then the o pposite is also true: that the greatest love we can show our children is t he attention we pay them\, the time we take for them. Maybe we serve child ren the best simply by noticing them."\n\n- Mumia Abu-Jamal RESOURCES:https://www.democracynow.org/2016/10/7/mumia_abu_jamal_on_mass_i ncarceration RESOURCES:https://www.prisonradio.org/correspondent/mumia-abu-jamal/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Rana Plaza Collapse (2013) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250424 DTEND:20250425T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 2013\, the Rana Plaza\, an eight-story building in Dhaka\, Bangladesh containing multiple garment factories\, collapsed\, kil ling 1\,134 people in the deadliest garment factory disaster in history. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 2013\, the Rana Plaza\, an eight-story building in Dhaka\, Bangladesh containing multiple garment factories\, collapsed\, killing 1\,134 people in the deadliest garment factory disaster in histor y. In addition to textile factories\, the complex hosted several shops and a bank.\n\nThe previous day\, several cracks were discovered and reported \, and other facilities in the building were closed. However\, the factori es were kept open\, and the building owner\, Sohel Rana\, threatened to wi thhold pay to workers who did not come to work the following day.\n\nThe n ext morning\, at around 8:57 am\, the building completely collapsed. In ad dition to the 1\,134 killed\, over 2\,500 were injured\, most of whom were women and children.\n\nMany survivors were trapped for days underneath ru bble\, and one woman was rescued 17 days after the collapse. The incident drew international attention\, and Rana was sentenced to three years in pr ison for failing to declare personal wealth.\n\nRana and 37 others\, inclu ding government officials\, have been charged with murder and could receiv e the death penalty if they are found responsible for the complex's collap se. As of January 2021\, only Rana is in custody\, and their trial is stil l pending. RESOURCES:https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/fashion/rana-plaza-fact ory-disaster-anniversary-what-happened-fashion-a9478126.html RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Dhaka_garment_factory_collaps e END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Carnation Revolution (1974) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250425 DTEND:20250426T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Socialism,Colonialism COMMENT:On this day in 1974\, the Carnation Revolution took place when a b loodless\, anti-colonial military coup in Lisbon overthrew the Portuguese Estado Novo regime\, which had been waging unpopular wars to maintain its African colonies. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1974\, the Carnation Revolution took place when a bloodless\, anti-colonial military coup in Lisbon overthrew the Portugu ese Estado Novo regime which had been waging unpopular wars to maintain it s African colonies.\n\nThe revolution began as a coup organized by the Arm ed Forces Movement (MFA)\, composed of military officers who opposed the r egime\, but it was soon coupled with an unanticipated\, mass civil resista nce campaign. The name "Carnation Revolution" comes from the fact that car nations were placed in the muzzles of guns and on the soldiers' uniforms.\ n\nThe revolution toppled the Estado Novo government and ended the unpopul ar Portuguese Colonial War (leading to independence for Guinea-Bissau\, Ca pe Verde\, Angola\, among others)\, also starting a political process that would result in a more democratic Portugal.\n\nAfter the coup\, power was held by the National Salvation Junta (a military junta)\, and Portugal ex perienced a period of political turmoil as conflicting communist\, sociali st\, and right-wing forces competed with each other for power.\n\nPortugal 's first free election took place on the one-year anniversary of the Carna tion Revolution with the purpose of writing a new constitution. Another el ection was held in 1976 and the first constitutional government\, led by c enter-left socialist Mário Soares\, took office. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnation_Revolution RESOURCES:https://www.jacobinmag.com/2019/04/portugal-carnation-revolution -national-liberation-april END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Louis Allen (1919 - 1964) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250425 DTEND:20250426T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Civil Rights,Birthdays COMMENT:Louis Allen\, born on this day in 1919\, was a black businessman i n Liberty\, Mississippi who was shot and killed on his own land after witn essing a white Mississippi state legislator murder Herbert Lee\, a civil r ights activist. DESCRIPTION:Louis Allen\, born on this day in 1919\, was a black businessm an in Liberty\, Mississippi who was shot and killed on his own land after witnessing a white Mississippi state legislator murder Herbert Lee\, a civ il rights activist.\n\nLee had also previously tried to register to vote a nd talked to federal officials after witnessing the 1961 murder of Lee\, a lthough\, fearing for his life\, repeated the false\, "official" version o f events which exonerated the legislator.\n\nAllen had watched as E.H. Hur st assassinated Lee with a single gunshot to the head in broad daylight\, and was forced by local police to falsely testify in court that Hurst acte d in self-defense (Hurst claimed Lee attacked him a tire iron).\n\nAfter g iven this coerced testimony\, Allen then talked to the FBI and the United States Commission on Civil Rights in Jackson\, asking for protection if he testified about his forced testimony. The Justice Department said they co uld not offer him protection\, and so Allen declined to speak out.\n\nDesp ite this\, on the day before Allen planned to move out of state\, he was a ssassinated on his own property. In 2011\, the CBS program "60 Minutes" co nducted a special on his murder which suggested that Allen was killed by A mite County Sheriff Daniel Jones. No one has been prosecuted for his murde r. RESOURCES:https://snccdigital.org/events/louis-allen-murdered/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Allen RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/lee-herbert-1 912-1961/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Manal al-Sharif (1979 - ) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250425 DTEND:20250426T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Feminism COMMENT:Manal al-Sharif\, born on this day in 1979\, is a women's rights a ctivist in Saudi Arabia known for co-founding and leading the #Women2Drive movement\, a direct action challenge to the ban on women driving in her c ountry. DESCRIPTION:Manal al-Sharif\, born on this day in 1979\, is a women's righ ts activist in Saudi Arabia known for co-founding and leading the #Women2D rive movement\, a direct action challenge to the ban on women driving in h er country. Wajeha al-Huwaider filmed al-Sharif driving a car as part of t he campaign.\n\nAl-Sharif was arrested in 2011 and detained for a week\, o nly released on the conditions of returning for questioning if asked\, not driving\, and not talking to the media. The New York Times and Associated Press associated the women's driving campaign with the Arab Spring.\n\n"I nside my mind\, there was a growing sense of contradiction between what I heard in sermons and what I saw all around me."\n\n- Manal al-Sharif RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manal_al-Sharif RESOURCES:https://www.manal-alsharif.com/about END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Mexican-American War Begins (1845) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250425 DTEND:20250426T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1845\, the Mexican-American War began after the U.S . seized Texas from the Mexican government\, fulfilling President Polk's i mperialist campaign promise of annexing both Texas and California. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1845\, the Mexican-American War began after the U.S. seized Texas from the Mexican government\, fulfilling President Polk 's imperialist campaign promise of annexing both Texas and California.\n\n Tensions between either government had already been increasing\, but the a ct that initiated the war was Polk ordering troops to occupy contested lan d between the Nueces River and Rio Grande. On this day in 1846\, a 2\,000- man Mexican cavalry detachment attacked a 70-man U.S. patrol under the com mand of Captain Seth Thornton in the contested land.\n\nPolk asserted that American blood had been shed on American soil (which Abraham Lincoln call ed "a bold falsification of history")\, and a formal declaration of war fr om the U.S. government soon followed.\n\nThe outcome of the war resulted i n the U.S. acquiring control over Texas\, California\, and large parts of New Mexico\, Arizona\, Colorado\, Utah\, and Nevada in the Treaty of Guada lupe Hidalgo. An "All-Mexico Movement" in the U.S. opposed the treaty\, de manding that the country annex the entire country of Mexico. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican%E2%80%93American_War RESOURCES:https://socialistworker.org/2019/03/05/a-page-out-of-the-empires -playbook END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Ruby Smith-Robinson (1942 - 1967) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250425 DTEND:20250426T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Civil Rights,Birthdays COMMENT:Ruby Doris Smith-Robinson\, born on this day in 1942\, was a civil rights activist who worked with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Commi ttee (SNCC) from its earliest days in 1960 until her early death in Octobe r 1967. DESCRIPTION:Ruby Doris Smith-Robinson\, born on this day in 1942\, was a c ivil rights activist who worked with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating C ommittee (SNCC) from its earliest days in 1960 until her early death in Oc tober 1967.\n\nSmith-Robinson served the organization both as an on the gr ound organizer and as an administrator in the Atlanta central office. She eventually succeeded James Forman as SNCC's executive secretary and was th e only woman ever to serve in this capacity.\n\nRobinson achieved renown f or her willingness to fight rather than politely acquiesce to power. Fello w activist Julian Bond has stated that\, when a delegation of SNCC staff w as told that their African-bound plane was overbooked and told they needed to be delayed\, she\, without consulting the rest of the group\, sat down in the jetway and refused to move. The delegation were given seats on tha t flight.\n\nIn January 1967\, Ruby's health began to decline precipitousl y around the same time as the splintering of SNCC\, and she was admitted t o a hospital. She suffered for ten months from a rare blood disease and in April of that year she was diagnosed with terminal cancer. She died on Oc tober 7th\, 1967\, aged 25. RESOURCES:https://snccdigital.org/people/ruby-doris-smith-robinson/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruby_Doris_Smith-Robinson END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:1st Recognized U.S. Fast Food Union (2016) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250426 DTEND:20250427T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,IWW COMMENT:On this day in 2016\, the Burgerville Workers Union (BVWU) formed with the help of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)\, eventually be coming the first formally recognized fast food union in the United States. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 2016\, the Burgerville Workers Union (BVWU) for med with the help of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)\, eventuall y becoming the first formally recognized fast food union in the United Sta tes.\n\nThe fight for formal recognition took more than two years of worke r-led organizing and strikes at multiple stores. In 2018\, BVWU successful ly applied for National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) election.\n\nOn Septe mber 18th\, 2018\, National Cheeseburger Day\, Burgerville workers went on strike\, staging a picket in front of the Montavilla Burgerville location due to issues in bargaining and conflict over a ban on workers wearing Bl ack Lives Matter and Abolish ICE buttons at work.\n\n"We hope to lead a li ke a torchlight so that someone can say 'well\, Burgerville did it\, why c an't we?'" said Alexander\, one of the workers. "We hope to start the snow ball effect." RESOURCES:https://archive.thinkprogress.org/burgerville-oregon-fast-food-l abor-union-0253164c533a/ RESOURCES:https://portlandiww.org/tag/burgerville/ RESOURCES:https://www.portlandoccupier.org/2018/04/25/burgerville-workers- union-becomes-first-formally-recognized-us-fast-food-union-boycott-to-cont inue-until-fair-contract-is-signed/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:April Revolution Succeeds (1960) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250426 DTEND:20250427T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1960\, illegitimate South Korean President Syngman Rhee was forced to resign and flee the country after weeks of sustained na tionwide protests against his regime known as the April Revolution\, or Ap ril 19th Movement. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1960\, illegitimate South Korean President Syng man Rhee was forced to resign and flee the country after weeks of sustaine d nationwide protests against his regime known as the April Revolution\, o r April 19th Movement.\n\nProtests opposing Rhee were started by student a nd labor groups in the southeastern port city of Masan on April 11th after the discovery of the body of a local high school student who had been kil led by police during demonstrations against President Rhee's rigged electi ons that March.\n\nOn April 18th\, the protests spread to the capital\, Se oul\, where students from Korea University demanded new elections at a non -violent protest at the National Assembly against police violence and dema nding new elections.\n\nOn April 19th (called "Bloody Tuesday")\, more tha n 100\,000 protesters\, many of which were students\, gathered at Blue Hou se\, the official residence for the South Korean head of state. When they arrived and demanded Rhee's resignation\, police opened fire on protesters killing approximately 180 and wounding thousands. A week later\, professo rs joined students and citizens in large-scale protests in which police re fused to attack the protesters.\n\nThe next day\, Rhee resigned and fled t he country and found asylum in Hawaii. On May 16th\, 1961\, following mont hs of political instability\, General Park Chung-hee launched a coup d'ét at overthrowing the short-lived Second Republic of South Korea and replaci ng it with a military junta and later the autocratic Third Republic of Sou th Korea. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_Revolution RESOURCES:https://www.jstor.org/stable/23263427?seq=1 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Bradford 12 Trial (1982) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250426 DTEND:20250427T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Fascism,Civil Rights COMMENT:On this day in 1982\, twelve members of the Trotskyist United Blac k Youth League (UBYL) were put on trial for conspiracy for possessing weap ons of self-defense against fascists and police. All twelve were acquitted . DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1982\, twelve members of the Trotskyist United Black Youth League (UBYL) were put on trial for conspiracy for possessing weapons of self-defense against fascists and police. All twelve were acqui tted.\n\nThe United Black Youth League (UBYL) was a militant Trotskyist or ganization that emphasized self-defense and anti-racism. It was based in B radford\, West Yorkshire\, and primarily made up of South Asian and West I ndian-descended young people.\n\nOn June 30th\, 1981\, twelve members of t he league were arrested in Bradford after a police raid found them in poss ession of thirty eight milk bottles filled with petrol. The members claime d that they were a preemptive self-defense measure against the possibility of attacks from white power skinhead gangs and National Front members\, h owever they were charged with a conspiracy to attack the police.\n\nDuring the trial\, the prosecution argued that "there was no threat in the black community from fascists"\, however this assertion was debunked during the proceedings with documented evidence of racist attacks. All twelve UBYL m embers were acquitted\, and the ruling established a precedent that margin alized communities could arm themselves in self-defense. RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/bradford-12-self-defence-no-offence RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Black_Youth_League RESOURCES:https://www.examinerlive.co.uk/news/history/bombshell-trial-brad ford-12-racism-20456033 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Danish General Strike (1998) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250427 DTEND:20250428T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,General Strikes COMMENT:On this day in 1998\, more than 500\,000 Danish workers\, one fift h of the entire workforce\, walked off the job in a general strike\, deman ding a 35-hour work-week\, an extra week of paid holiday\, and a 6% wage i ncrease. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1998\, more than 500\,000 Danish workers\, one fifth of the entire workforce\, walked off the job in a general strike\, d emanding a 35-hour work-week\, an extra week of paid holiday\, and a 6% wa ge increase. The strike action came after a big economic boom in Denmark t hat left workers feeling left out from the increased profits of their empl oyers.\n\nThe strike affected a wide variety of industries\, from schools to manufacturing to airports to food and petrol stations. Workers in Swede n exhibited solidarity by refusing to load planes heading for Denmark.\n\n May Day marked the fifth day of the strike\, and a gigantic demonstration of more than 500\,000 people took place in Copenhagen. The government inte rvened\, ordering everyone back to work on May 11th and announcing that an y strikes by the affected workers before March 2000 would be illegal.\n\nA compromise deal was accepted by union leadership\, and the majority of st rikers returned to work\, however some spontaneous walk-outs occurred in t he following days - in 96 workplaces\, 6\,200 workers walked out for a one -day strike. Baggage handlers at Copenhagen International Airport stopped making their contributions to the Social Democratic Party\, which led the government throughout the labor action. RESOURCES:http://libcom.org/history/1998-danish-private-sector-strike RESOURCES:https://nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu/content/danish-workers-general -strike-six-weeks-paid-vacation-1998-0 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Operation Red Dog (1981) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250427 DTEND:20250428T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Fascism COMMENT:On this day in 1981\, nine white supremacists\, including Stormfro nt founder Don Black and Canadian neo-Nazi Wolfgang Droege\, were arrested by federal agents as they attempted to initiate an armed coup on the isla nd country Dominica. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1981\, nine white supremacists\, including Stor mfront founder Don Black and Canadian neo-nazi Wolfgang Droege\, were arre sted by federal agents as they attempted to initiate an armed coup on the island country Dominica.\n\nThe plan was to restore former Dominican Prime Minister Patrick John back to power and profit from capitalist enterprise in the country. The conspirators were arrested in New Orleans as they pre pared to board a boat with automatic weapons\, shotguns\, rifles\, handgun s\, dynamite\, ammunition\, and a black and white Nazi flag.\n\nThe plan w as titled "Operation Red Dog"\, however the incident was mocked in the pre ss as the "Bayou of Pigs". Mike Perdue and six other men pled guilty to vi olation of the Neutrality Act while two others were found guilty by a jury . The men received three-year prison sentences. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Red_Dog RESOURCES:https://web.archive.org/web/20030519071411/http://www.canadianco ntent.ca/articles/031401reddog.html END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Santiago FOCH Massacre (1934) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250427 DTEND:20250428T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1934\, the Chilean Workers' Federation (FOCH) headq uarters in Santiago was attacked by the police and armed vigilantes known as the "White Guards" - 7 workers and a child were murdered and 200 more w ere badly injured. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1934\, the Chilean Workers' Federation (FOCH) h eadquarters in Santiago was attacked by the police and armed vigilantes kn own as the "White Guards" - 7 workers and a child were murdered and 200 mo re were badly injured.\n\nThe FOCH was founded in 1909\, and functioned as a kind of trade union center with socialist leanings. FOCH was suppressed \, facing the closure of premises\, banning of newspapers\, and the arrest of its leaders. It officially dissolved on December 26th\, 1936\, going o n to form the Confederation of Chile (CTCH). RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/articles/anarchism-in-chile RESOURCES:https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federaci%C3%B3n_Obrera_de_Chile RESOURCES:https://www.memoriachilena.gob.cl/602/w3-article-3392.html#prese ntacion END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Waldeck-Rousseau Mutiny (1920) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250427 DTEND:20250428T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Mutinies COMMENT:On this day in 1919\, as part of the larger Black Sea Mutiny\, Fre nch sailors mutinied\, demanding better food\, demobilization of reservist s\, and an immediate return home. "It's not our job to defend the millions of French capitalists!" DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1919\, as part of the larger Black Sea Mutiny\, French sailors on the Ukraine-stationed cruiser Waldeck-Rousseau mutinied \, demanding better food\, demobilization of reservists\, and an immediate return home. The Black Sea Mutiny was a set of revolts by sailors who had been dispatched to the Black Sea as part of the French\, pro-White Army i ntervention in southern Russia.\n\nAlthough some of the crew already had r adical politics\, the impetus for outright rebellion came when the sailors learned that André Marty\, a communist prisoner from another ship\, had been brought on board. A crew-led revolutionary action committee aimed bot h to free Marty and to take the ship into the port of Odessa\, Ukraine.\n\ nWhen the ship's captain appealed to the "national interest" as a means of quelling the revolt\, the soldiers replied "No and never. It's not our jo b to defend the millions of French capitalists!" The mutineers threatened to give the ship over to the Bolsheviks if they were not returned to Franc e immediately.\n\nIn the aftermath of the Black Sea Mutiny\, which include d several ships besides the Waldeck-Rousseau\, about 100 sailors were sent enced by French military tribunals\, although the majority were rapidly re prieved. For his part\, Marty to 20 years forced labor\, however he became a leading and successful figure in the French Communist Party (PCF) for n early thirty years\, joining the National Assembly in 1924. RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/history/etol/revhist/backiss/vol8/no2/b lacksea.html RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Sea_mutiny END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Benito Mussolini Executed (1945) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250428 DTEND:20250429T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Fascism COMMENT:On this day in 1945\, Italian fascist Benito Mussolini was summari ly executed\, likely by communist partisan Walter Audisio\, and then his c orpse was hung upside down in the Piazzale Loreto\, where it was beaten an d shot by angry crowds. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1945\, Italian fascist Benito Mussolini was sum marily executed\, likely by communist partisan Walter Audisio\, and then h is corpse was hung upside down in the Piazzale Loreto\, where it was beate n and shot by angry crowds.\n\nBenito Mussolini (1883 - 1945) was the foun der and leader of the National Fascist Party who inspired numerous fascist leaders\, such as Adolf Hitler\, Francisco Franco\, and António de Olive ira Salazar\, ruling Italy as "Il Duce" since 1925.\n\nMussolini's grip on power had begun slipping as the Allies pressed into Italian territory dur ing World War II. On April 25th\, 1945\, Mussolini attempted to flee Milan for Switzerland after the Comitato di Liberazione Nazionale Alta Italia ( Committee of National Liberation for Northern Italy) seized control of the city. Two days later\, Mussolini\, along with other fascist leaders\, wer e arrested traveling in a German convoy near the village of Dongo.\n\nAcco unts vary on how exactly Mussolini was killed\, but the most commonly acce pted version of the events suggest communist partisan Walter Audisio was t he person who pulled the trigger. Following World War II\, Audisio would b e elected to serve in the Italian Chamber of Deputies.\n\nIn any case\, th e evening of April 28th\, 1945\, the bodies of Mussolini\, his mistress\, and other executed fascists were loaded onto a van and dumped in Piazzale Loreto\, a town square where fifteen partisans had previously been execute d by fascists and their bodies left on public display. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Benito_Mussolini RESOURCES:https://www.history.com/news/mussolinis-final-hours END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Etta Federn-Kohlaas (1883 - 1951) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250428 DTEND:20250429T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Anarchism,Fascism COMMENT:Etta Federn-Kohlhaas\, born on this day in 1883\, was an anarchist writer\, translator\, educator\, and member of the Mujeres Libres. Kohlha as\, a Jewish woman\, survived participating in the anti-fascist resistanc e in both Spain and France. DESCRIPTION:Etta Federn-Kohlhaas\, born on this day in 1883\, was an anarc hist writer\, translator\, educator\, and member of the Mujeres Libres. Ko hlhaas\, a Jewish woman\, survived participating in the anti-fascist resis tance in both Spain and France.\n\nWhen the Nazis came to power\, Federn w as an established writer in Berlin\, Germany\, working as a literary criti c\, translator\, novelist\, and biographer. In 1932\, she fled to Barcelon a\, Spain\, joining the anarchist-feminist group Mujeres Libres.\n\nIn 193 8\, towards the end of the Spanish Civil War\, Federn again fled\, this ti me to France. There\, she was hunted by the Gestapo as both a Jew and supp orter of the French Resistance. Her son\, active in the Resistance\, was m urdered by French collaborators in 1944\, however she survived the war.\n\ nFedern was a strong supporter of literacy for women\, birth control\, and sexual freedom. She wrote: "Educated mothers relate their own experiences and sufferings to their children\; they intuitively understand their feel ings and expressions. They are good educators\, as they are also friends o f the children they educate." RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etta_Federn RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/federn-marietta-etta-1883-1951 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:U.S. Invades the Dominican Republic (1965) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250428 DTEND:20250429T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Assassinations COMMENT:On this day in 1965\, the U.S. invaded the Dominican Republic with more than 22\,000 troops in order to prevent a "communist dictatorship" f rom forming there. The military action was supported by the Organization o f American States (OAS). DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1965\, the U.S. invaded the Dominican Republic with more than 22\,000 troops in order to prevent a "communist dictatorshi p" from forming there. The military action was supported by the Organizati on of American States (OAS).\n\nThe Dominican Republic had been fraught wi th political instability since the assassination of dictator Rafael Trujil lo in 1961. Although Trujillo brutally suppressed the population\, his ant i-communism made him a natural ally of the U.S. government. After his deat h\, liberal reformer Juan Bosch became president\, but he was deposed in a coup after less than a year in power.\n\nIn the ensuing power struggle\, the U.S. was committed to preventing "another Cuba" (i.e.\, a communist re volution) from taking place. On April 28th\, 1965\, President Lyndon B. Jo hnson declared that he had taken action to forestall the establishment of a "communist dictatorship" in the country\, providing reporters with lists of suspected communists there as evidence. These lists\, however\, contai ned people who were not communists or were in fact deceased.\n\nThe milita ry action was supported by the Organization of American States (OAS). Over the next few weeks\, they established a conservative\, non-military gover nment\, which held fraudulent elections in June 1966. 69% of American peop le approved of the decision to send in troops at the time.\n\nAccording to Rory Fanning of Jacobin: "Upon taking power\, U.S.-backed leader Joaquín Balaguer began funneling nearly all of Dominican Republic's minerals and sugar into the warehouses of U.S. businesses. His three-decade rule was ma rked by corruption and fraud. Wages plummeted\, unions were dismantled\, i nflation soared\, and unemployment hovered around 30 percent." RESOURCES:https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/u-s-troops-land-in-t he-dominican-republic RESOURCES:https://www.jacobinmag.com/2015/04/dominican-republic-occupation -united-states-1965/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Bristol Bus Boycott (1963) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250429 DTEND:20250430T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Civil Rights COMMENT:The Bristol Bus Boycott\, announced on this day in 1963\, arose fr om the refusal of the Bristol Omnibus Company to employ black or Asian bus crews in the city of Bristol\, England. It succeeded in ending the "colou r bar" after four months. DESCRIPTION:The Bristol Bus Boycott\, announced on this day in 1963\, aros e from the refusal of the Bristol Omnibus Company to employ black or Asian bus crews in the city of Bristol\, England. It succeeded in ending the "c olour bar" after four months.\n\nThe action was led by four young West Ind ian men\, Roy Hackett\, Owen Henry\, Audley Evans and Prince Brown\, who f ormed an action group later known as the "West Indian Development Council" . Unhappy with the lack of progress in fighting discrimination by the West Indian Association and inspired by Montgomery Bus Boycott in the United S tates\, the activists decided on a bus boycott in Bristol to win their rig hts.\n\nThe boycott drew national attention to racial discrimination in Br itain and continued for several months. The boycott was finally resolved o n August 27th\, 1963\, when a mass meeting of 500 bus workers agreed to of ficially put an end to the "colour bar". On September 17th\, Raghbir Singh \, a Sikh\, became Bristol's first non-white bus conductor.\n\nThe Bristol Bus Boycott was influential in the passing of the Race Relations Act of 1 965 which banned "racial discrimination in public places" and the Race Rel ations Act 1968\, which extended those provisions to employment and housin g. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristol_Bus_Boycott RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/black-white-buses-1963-colour-bar-dis pute-bristol END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Coeur d'Alene Uprising (1899) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250429 DTEND:20250430T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:On this day in 1899\, 1\,000 striking miners seized a train in Bur ke\, Idaho\, drove it to the Bunker Hill Mine in Wardner\, destroyed the m ine with dynamite\, and burned down both the company office and the home o f the mine manager. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1899\, 1\,000 striking miners seized a train in Burke\, Idaho\, drove it to the Bunker Hill Mine in Wardner\, destroyed t he mine with dynamite\, and burned down both the company office and the ho me of the mine manager.\n\nIn April of 1899\, in Coeur d'Alene\, Idaho\, t he Western Federation of Miners (WFM) was launching an organizing drive of the few mines in the area that had not yet unionized. The superintendent Albert Burch declared that the company would rather "shut down and remain closed twenty years" than to recognize the union. He then fired seventeen workers he believed to be union members and demanded that all other union men collect their back pay and quit.\n\nOn this day in 1899\, 250 union me mbers seized a train in Burke\, northeast of Wallace\, and began making th eir way to the Bunker Hill mine in Wardner\, valued around $250\,000. At e ach stop through Burke Canyon\, more miners climbed aboard\, eventually nu mbering over 1\,000 strong.\n\nUpon arriving at the mine\, the men carried 3\,000 pounds (1\,400 kg) of dynamite into the mill and detonated it\, co mpletely destroying the mill. The group also burned down the company offic e\, the boarding house\, and the home of the mine manager. The miners re-b oarded the "Dynamite Express" and returned the way they came.\n\nState aut horities used federal troops to commit mass arrests - over 1\,000 men were rounded up and put into a "bullpen"\, including some elected officials an d at least one sheriff. Most were released within two weeks\, although som e were held until December. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1899_Coeur_d%27Alene_labor_confron tation RESOURCES:https://www.britannica.com/event/Coeur-dAlene-riots END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Boston City Workers Block Traffic (1981) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250430 DTEND:20250501T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1981\, several hundred demonstrators\, many of them off-duty and laid-off firemen\, took part in a rush-hour blockade of majo r roadways in Boston\, protesting cuts to social spending. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1981\, several hundred demonstrators\, many of them off-duty and laid-off firemen\, took part in a rush-hour blockade of major roadways in Boston\, protesting cuts to social spending.\n\nSeveral dozen protesters marched arm-in-arm down the middle of the Southeast Expre ssway\, the major highway for commuters from the city's southern suburbs.\ n\nAt the time\, the city's school system was "penniless"\, according to t he New York Times\, but forced to remain open due to a court order\, and B oston was projected to become insolvent by July 1st. According to historia n Howard Zinn\, these protests continued for fifty-five nights\, blocking major thoroughfares and the Sumner Tunnel during rush hour. Quoting the Bo ston Globe\, Zinn wrote:\n\n"The demonstrators in East Boston were mostly middle-aged\, middle or working-class people who said they had never prote sted anything before." RESOURCES:https://www.nytimes.com/1981/04/30/us/boston-s-rush-hour-traffic -blocked-in-protest-of-police-and-fire-l-ayoffs.html RESOURCES:https://www.historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/zinnunrepo22.html END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Coxey's Army Marches on D.C. (1894) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250430 DTEND:20250501T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1894\, "Coxey's Army"\, thousands of unemployed wor kers led by businessman Jacob Coxey\, marched on the U.S. capital to prote st unemployment and present a proposal for a $500 million jobs bill during an economic depression. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1894\, "Coxey's Army"\, thousands of unemployed workers led by businessman Jacob Coxey\, marched on the U.S. capital to p rotest unemployment and present a proposal for a $500 million jobs bill du ring an economic depression. The march marked one of the first popular pro tests to take place at the capital.\n\nCoxey's Army marched to Washington D.C. from Ohio. Enjoying national popularity\, other "Coxey's Armies" form ed around the country\, particularly among unemployed rail workers. One gr oup in Oregon even commandeered a train to facilitate their westward trave l.\n\nUpon arriving at the capital\, Coxey and Carl Browne\, his second in command\, were greeted by 1\,000 police officers\, beaten\, and arrested. Coxey later organized another march on D.C. in 1914. Although his jobs bi ll was rejected\, similar legislation became federal policy decades later\ , under President Roosevelt's New Deal. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coxey%27s_Army RESOURCES:https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/how-ragta g-band-reformers-organized-first-protest-march-washington-dc-180951270/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Max Nettlau (1865 - 1944) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250430 DTEND:20250501T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Anarchism COMMENT:Max Nettlau\, born on this day in 1865\, was an anarchist historia n whose biographical subjects included Bakunin\, Malatesta\, and Élisée Reclus. His enormous collection of primary materials is held by the Intern ational Institute of Social History. DESCRIPTION:Max Nettlau\, born on this day in 1865\, was an anarchist hist orian whose biographical subjects included Bakunin\, Malatesta\, and Élis ée Reclus. His enormous collection of primary materials is held by the In ternational Institute of Social History.\n\nMax Nettlau was born in Neuwal degg (Austria) to an affluent family. Nettlau's skepticism of state author ity began at a young age\; his memoirs state that\, even as a child\, he ' somehow considered the supporter of any government system as a seriously d efective person'.\n\nFormally\, Nettlau studied linguistics\, authoring hi s doctoral thesis on the Welsh language. While a student in London\, he be came a member of the Socialist League\, the only organization he was ever to join according to the International Institute of Social History (IISG). \n\nAs an anarchist activist\, Nettlau wrote articles for John Most's Frei heit and befriended famous anarchists such as Peter Kropotkin\, Elisée Re clus\, and Errico Malatesta.\n\nNettlau was an avid collector of materials of social movements. Not just manuscripts by anarchist authors (although original texts by Bakunin became a part of his collection)\, but the actua l pamphlets\, bulletins\, and papers of social movements themselves.\n\nAm ong Nettlau's works as an author are the first major biography of Michael Bakunin\, biographies of anarchists Elisée Reclus and Errico Malatesta\, and a seven volume work on the history of anarchism. A significantly short er\, one volume version is available in English as "A Short History of Ana rchism".\n\nIn 1935\, Nettlau sold his archive (described by the IISH as " enormous") to the newly found International Institute of Social History\, where it remains to this day.\n\nNettlau died 1944 from stomach cancer in Amsterdam\, having fled his native Austria follow the country's "Anschluss " to Nazi Germany in 1938.\n\n"Do I want to propose my own system? Not at all! I am an advocate of all systems\, i.e. of all forms of government tha t find followers."\n\n- Max Nettlau in "PANARCHY. A Forgotten Idea of 1860 " (1905) RESOURCES:https://iisg.amsterdam/en/about/history/max-nettlau RESOURCES:https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Nettlau RESOURCES:https://library.fes.de/pdf-files/adsd/06730/06730-34.pdf RESOURCES:https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/max-nettlau-a-short-hist ory-of-anarchism END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:May Day (1889) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250501 DTEND:20250502T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Protests,Communism,Anarchism COMMENT:International Workers' Day\, also known as Labor Day or May Day\, is an annual celebration of the working class celebrated on this day\, est ablished by the 2nd International to commemorate the 8 hour day strike tha t caused the Haymarket Affair. DESCRIPTION:International Workers' Day\, also known as Labor Day or May Da y\, is an annual celebration of the working class celebrated on this day\, established by the 2nd International to commemorate the 8 hour day strike that caused the Haymarket Affair.\n\nThe Haymarket Affair began in Chicag o\, Illinois with a general strike to demand an eight-hour working day. On May 4th\, the police attempted to disperse a public gathering in support of the strike and an unidentified person threw a bomb into the police line \, killing several officers.\n\nThe police responded by firing on the crow d of protesters. The ensuing violence led to the deaths of seven police of ficers\, four to eight civilians\, and wounded approximately one hundred p eople on either side.\n\nIn a hysterical crackdown\, hundreds of labor lea ders and sympathizers were detained\, many being guilty of nothing more th an having political sympathies for labor. Four of them\, George Engel\, Al bert Parsons\, August Spies\, and Adolph Fischer\, were executed by hangin g after conviction in a trial widely perceived as a miscarriage of justice . The following day\, in Milwaukee\, Wisconsin\, state militia fired on a crowd of strikers killing seven\, including a schoolboy and a man feeding chickens in his yard.\n\nMay Day has been frequently chosen by labor activ ists across the world as a day to initiate strikes\, boycotts\, and other forms of protest. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Workers%27_Day RESOURCES:https://archive.iww.org/history/library/misc/origins_of_mayday/ RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/subject/mayday/articles/tracht.html END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Memphis Massacre (1866) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250501 DTEND:20250502T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Massacre COMMENT:On this day in 1866\, Memphis\, Tennessee police were dispatched t o break up a block party of black union veterans and their families. When veterans refused to disperse\, a scuffle broke out that led to a city-wide race riot. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1866\, Memphis\, Tennessee police were dispatch ed to break up a block party of black union veterans and their families. W hen veterans refused to disperse\, a scuffle broke out that led to a city- wide race riot. The violence continued for two days\, killing nearly 50 pe ople and more than 75 more.\n\nThe Memphis Massacre began when a large gro up of black union veterans\, women\, and children gathered in the street\, forming an impromptu street party. Police were sent to disperse the crowd \, and\, after the ex-soldiers refused to disperse\, the four officers ret reated and called for reinforcements. The soldiers gave chase and gunfire broke out\, killing one officer.\n\nThis led to mobs of white residents\, including policemen\, firefighters\, and city officials\, rampaging throug h black neighborhoods and the houses of freedmen\, attacking\, raping\, an d killing black soldiers and civilians.\n\nFamilies were burned alive as t heir houses were set on fire and the mob prevented them from fleeing. In t otal\, 46 black and 2 white people were killed\, 75 persons injured (mostl y black)\, over 100 robbed\, and 5 black women testified they were raped. RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/memphis-riot- 1866/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memphis_riots_of_1866 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Pilbara Strike (1946) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250501 DTEND:20250502T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Indigenous COMMENT:On this day in 1946\, ~800 Aboriginal agricultural workers initiat ed the Pilbara Strike. The strike lasted for more than 3 years before impr oved working conditions were won\, becoming one the longest strikes in Aus tralian history. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1946\, 800 Aboriginal agricultural workers init iated the Pilbara Strike. The strike lasted for more than 3 years before i mproved working conditions were won\, becoming one the longest strikes in Australian history. Today\, the strike is considered a major event in the Aboriginal land rights movement.\n\nThe Pilbara Strike took place in the c ontext of slave-like conditions - workers were denied cash wages\, paid in supplies of tobacco\, flour and other necessities\, and those who attempt ed to escape were whipped and hunted down by police.\n\nOn May 1st\, 1946\ , approximately 800 agricultural workers walked off their pastoral station s in the Pilbara region of Western Australia\, setting up strike camps. Th e date of May 1st was chosen not only because it was International Workers ' Day but also because it was the first day of the shearing season.\n\nThe strike lasted for more than 3 years\, and spread beyond the Pilbara regio n. Strikers faced severe police repression\, with leaders such as Dooley B in Bin\, Clancy McKenna\, Jacob Oberdoo\, and Don McLeod being arrested on multiple occasions. Aboriginal women played a vital role in the strike\, both as workers and in establishing strikers' camps. Daisy Bindi\, a Nyang umarta woman\, personally led a walk-off of 96 workers at Roy Hill Station .\n\nThe strikers sustained themselves with their traditional bush skills\ , hunting kangaroos and goats for meat and skins. They also developed some cottage industry which brought cash payment\, such as selling buffel gras s seed in Sydney\, the sale of pearl shell\, and in surface mining.\n\nBy August 1949\, the Seamen's Union had agreed to blackban wool from stations in the Pilbara onto ships for export. On the third day after the ban had been applied\, McLeod was told by a government representative that the str ikers' demands would be met if the ban was lifted. Weeks after the strike ended and the ban lifted\, the government denied making any such agreement .\n\nAfter the strike concluded\, many Aboriginal people refused to go bac k to working in their old roles in the pastoral industry. Some were able t o pool their funds from surface mining and other cottage industry to buy o r lease stations\, including some they had formerly worked on\, running th em as cooperatives.\n\nJacob Oberdoo was later awarded the British Empire Medal\, but declined to accept it. In 2010\, four streets in the Canberra suburb of Bonner were named after strike leaders: Clancy McKenna Crescent\ , Dooley Bin Bin Street\, Peter Coppin Street\, and Don McLeod Lane. RESOURCES:https://pilbarastrike.org/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1946_Pilbara_strike END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Armed Panthers Protest Mulford Act (1967) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250502 DTEND:20250503T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Journalism,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1967\, 30 armed Black Panthers entered the Californ ia State Capitol building while openly carrying firearms in protest of the Mulford Act\, bipartisan-supported legislation designed to end Panther pa trols of Oakland neighborhoods. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1967\, 30 armed Black Panthers entered the Cali fornia State Capitol building while openly carrying firearms in protest of the Mulford Act\, bipartisan-supported legislation designed to end Panthe r patrols of Oakland neighborhoods.\n\nInitially\, no one attempted to sto p the protesters - they entered the building with their guns pointed at th e ceiling and a large group of journalists following them in. When six Pan thers entered the assembly chamber\, where the lawmakers were in session\, some legislators reportedly took cover under desks. Police then ordered t he Panthers to leave the premises\, and they peacefully complied while ins isting they were within their legal right to carry.\n\nOutside\, Bobby Sea le spoke to a crowd of reporters. Here is an excerpt of what he said:\n\n" Black people have begged\, prayed\, petitioned\, demonstrated\, and everyt hing else to get the racist power structure of America to right the wrongs which have historically been perpetuated against black people. All of the se efforts have been answered by more repression\, deceit and hypocrisy. A s the aggression of the racist American government escalates in Vietnam\, the police agencies of America escalate the oppression of black people thr oughout the ghettoes of America."\n\nShortly after Seale finished speaking \, police arrested the group on felony charges of conspiracy to disrupt a legislative session\, although the protesters would later plead down to va rious misdemeanors instead.\n\nAmong those arrested was the teenager Bobby Hutton\, the first recruit and first treasurer of the Black Panther Party . Hutton would be shot and killed by Oakland Police less than a year later \, on April 6th\, 1968. RESOURCES:https://www.huffpost.com/entry/black-panthers-california-1967_n_ 568accfce4b014efe0db2f40 RESOURCES:https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/history/article148667224.html RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mulford_Act RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/hutton-bobby- 1950-1968/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Dodge Wildcat Strike - DRUM Forms (1968) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250502 DTEND:20250503T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1968\, 4\,000 black and white workers at a Dodge pl ant in Hamtramck\, Michigan went on a wildcat strike to protest working co nditions\, leading to the formation of the Dodge Revolutionary Union Movem ent (DRUM). DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1968\, 4\,000 black and white workers at a Dodg e plant in Hamtramck\, Michigan went on a wildcat strike to protest workin g conditions\, leading to the formation of the Dodge Revolutionary Union M ovement (DRUM).\n\nThe strike began as a multi-racial protest against work ing conditions and a speedup in the production lines. Punishment for the s trike fell disproportionately on black workers\, with five of the seven fi red workers being black despite whites participating in the labor action.\ n\nIn response to this and discrimination within the plant - black workers were kept in the lowest-paying and most dangerous jobs\, passed over for promotion\, and the United Auto Workers union (UAW) would not help them co mbat discrimination - DRUM was formed to organize the black workers at the company.\n\nIn July\, DRUM called for another shutdown of the plant and\, this time\, more than 3\,000 black workers participated in the strike\, k eeping it closed for over two days. Their success inspired the formation o f other Revolutionary Union Movements in other Michigan auto plants and in dustries\, such as FRUM (Ford)\, CADRUM (GM's Cadillac plant)\, and GRUM ( the larger GM caucus)\, healthcare workers (HRUM)\, and UPS workers (UPRUM ).\n\nFrom these organizations\, seven activists organized the various -RU Ms into one umbrella organization with a socialist bent - the League of Re volutionary Black Workers (LRBW). The LRBW sought to transform the UAW fro m within\, eventually compelling the UAW to hire black people into leaders hip positions. RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/dodge-revolut ionary-union-movement-1968-1971/ RESOURCES:https://projects.lib.wayne.edu/12thstreetdetroit/exhibits/show/a ftermathofunrest/drum END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Gustave Landauer Murdered (1919) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250502 DTEND:20250503T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Anarchism COMMENT:On this day in 1919\, anarchist pacifist Gustav Landauer was murde red in prison by counterrevolutionaries in Munich. He had been arrested as the right-wing Freikorps\, on orders from the Social Democrat Party\, cru shed the Bavarian Soviet Republic. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1919\, anarchist pacifist Gustav Landauer was m urdered in prison by counterrevolutionaries in Munich. He had been arreste d as the right-wing Freikorps\, on orders from the Social Democrat Party\, crushed the Bavarian Soviet Republic.\n\nGustav Landauer (1870 - 1919) wa s a German anarchist and pacifist who played a major role in the creation of the Bavarian Soviet Republic during the German Revolution of 1918-1919. He briefly served as its commissioner for "Enlightenment and Public Instr uction"\, but resigned after the German Communist Party (KPD) took power i n the Republic.\n\nAccording to anarchist author James Horrox\, the German Social Democratic Party (SPD)'s Minister of Defence\, Gustav Noske\, orde red soldiers from the right-wing Freikorps militia into Munich to undermin e the Republic.\n\nFreikorps forces broke through Munich defenses on May 1 st\, 1919\, and many left-wing revolutionaries were arrested\, including L andauer\, Eugene Leviné\, and Ernst Toller.\n\nThe following day\, Landau er was brought to Stadelheim Prison\, where he was beaten by several soldi ers and then brutally murdered as described by an eyewitness:\n\n"An offic er struck him in the face\, the men shouted: 'Dirty Bolshie! Let’s finis h him off!' and a rain of blows from rifle-butts drove him out into the ya rd. He said to the soldiers round him: 'I’ve not betrayed you. You don ’t know yourselves how terribly you’ve been betrayed.'"\n\nThe eyewitn ess describes Landauer being shot repeatedly and trampled. His murderers t hen stripped the corpse and threw it into the washhouse.\n\nIn 1925\, Germ an anarcho-syndicalists built a memorial for Landauer at the Münchner Wal dfriedhof\, destroyed by Nazis only a few years later. A new one was const ructed in 2017. \n\nLandauer's grave can now be found on the Neuer Israeli tischer Friedhof in Munich. It is shared with the social democrat Kurt Eis ner\, who had served as President of the People's State of Bavaria\, a pre decessor to the Bavarian Soviet Republic.\n\n"Now is the time to bring for th a martyr of a different kind\, not heroic\, but a quiet\, unpretentious martyr who will provide an example for the proper life."\n\n- Gustav Land auer RESOURCES:https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/james-horrox-gustav-land auer-1870-1919 RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustav_Landauer RESOURCES:http://dwardmac.pitzer.edu/Anarchist_Archives/bright/landauer/la ndbio.html RESOURCES:https://files.libcom.org/files/landauer-POC.pdf RESOURCES:https://files.libcom.org/files/Landauer_Revolution_and_Other_Wri tings.pdf END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:May 68 Rebellion (1968) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250502 DTEND:20250503T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,General Strikes,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1968\, the May 68 Rebellion\, the largest general s trike in French history\, began when school officials shut down the Univer sity of Paris after months of student protests\, escalating to nationwide unrest. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1968\, the May 68 Rebellion\, the largest gener al strike in French history\, began when school officials shut down the Un iversity of Paris after months of student protests\, escalating to nationw ide unrest.\n\nIn mid-March\, leftist students had occupied an administrat ion building there\, although they left peacefully after their demands wer e published. On May 6th\, more than 20\,000 students\, teachers\, and supp orters engaged in a protest march. The march was attacked by police and de volved into a riot.\n\nThe state repression of protesters caused two major left union federations\, the Confédération Générale du Travail (CGT) and the Force Ouvrière (CGT-FO)\, to call a one-day general strike on May 13th. More than one million people demonstrated that day.\n\nBy the middl e of May\, demonstrations had extended to factories\, though their demands were different from the students'. Across France\, students occupied univ ersity structures and up to one-third of the country's workforce was on st rike.\n\nThe protests were so widespread and energetic that many political leaders feared civil war or revolution. President Charles de Gaulle secre tly fled France to Germany at one point\, and the national government at t imes ceased to function.\n\nRevolution was averted when de Gaulle dissolve d the National Assembly and scheduled an election that the left dissidents agreed to participate in. Revolutionary fervor subsided and the governmen t banned a number of leftist organizations in the following months.\n\nIn the election\, de Gaulle's party won the greatest victory in French parlia mentary history\, taking 353 of 486 seats versus the Communists' 34 and th e Socialists' 57. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_68 RESOURCES:https://jacobinmag.com/2018/05/how-beautiful-it-was/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Andrea Salsedo's Body Found (1920) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250503 DTEND:20250504T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Anarchism COMMENT:Andrea Salsedo (1881 - 1920) was an Italian anarchist and associat e of influential anarchist Luigi Galleani who died on this day in 1920\, a fter falling 14 stories from a government building while being detained by police. DESCRIPTION:Andrea Salsedo (1881 - 1920) was an Italian anarchist and asso ciate of influential anarchist Luigi Galleani who died on this day in 1920 \, after falling 14 stories from a government building while being detaine d by police.\n\nA committed anarchist since his youth\, Salsedo became inv olved in local politics and was part of the anarchist club Circolo Sociale founded by Galleani\,who was living in exile at that time. There\, he met Galleani and supported him in the creation\, distribution of\, and writin g for his magazine "Cronaca Sovversiva".\n\nAll associates of Galleani wer e put under surveillance by the U.S. government because of suspected bombi ngs by anarchists\, typically targeting wealthy capitalists or building as sociated with them.\n\nOn February 25th\, 1920\, Salsedo was arrested\, he ld without any allowed communication or trial for eight weeks\, and beaten . On May 3rd\, 1920\, his body was discovered on the ground outside the of fice where he was held\, presumably having fallen 14 stories. The cause of his death\, suicide or homicide\, remains disputed. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrea_Salsedo RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/andrea-salsedo-pantelleria END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Dorr's Rebellion Parade (1842) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250503 DTEND:20250504T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1842\, "Dorrites"\, members of a working class move ment that sought reforms in Rhode Island\, held an inauguration parade for their leader Thomas Dorr\, convening a "People's Legislature" and attacki ng a state arsenal. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1842\, "Dorrites"\, members of a working class movement that sought reforms in Rhode Island\, held an inauguration parade for their leader Thomas Dorr\, convening a "People's Legislature" and att acking a state arsenal.\n\nThe Dorr Rebellion (1841 - 1842) was an attempt by white working class residents to force broader democracy in the U.S. s tate of Rhode Island\, where a small rural elite was in control of governm ent - owning land was a qualification to vote. It was led by affluent lawy er Thomas Wilson Dorr\, who mobilized the disenfranchised to demand change s to the state's electoral rules.\n\nIn 1841\, the movement held a "People 's Convention"\, where they created their own state constitution\, ratifyi ng it and electing Dorr for governor the following year. Although Dorr him self supported giving black men the right to vote\, the constitution only enfranchised white men.\n\nOn this day in 1842\, members of this movement held an inauguration parade for the Dorr and attempted to create the new g overnment. A "People's Legislature" (elected earlier) convened\, and Dorr himself led a failed attack on the state arsenal\, quickly fleeing the sta te to avoid arrest.\n\nEventually\, Dorr returned to the state and was con victed of treason. Dorrites made a case to the Supreme Court that the "Peo ple's Convention" constitution was the legitimate one for Rhode Island\, b ut lost the case in "Luther v. Borden". This case set a long standing prec edent that the Court would not interfere in "political" questions\, which it would leave to the executive and legislative branches. RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/dorr-rebellion-1833-1849 RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorr_Rebellion END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:May Day Mass Arrests (1971) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250503 DTEND:20250504T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Imperialism,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1971\, President Nixon executed "Operation Garden P lot"\, deploying 10\,000 federal troops in Washington D.C. to suppress Vie tnam War protests\, leading to the largest mass arrest in U.S. history - 1 2\,614 people in total. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1971\, President Nixon executed "Operation Gard en Plot"\, deploying 10\,000 federal troops in Washington D.C. to suppress Vietnam War protests\, leading to the largest mass arrest in U.S. history - 12\,614 people in total.\n\nThe 1971 May Day Protests were a series of large-scale civil disobedience actions in Washington D.C. in protest again st the Vietnam War. They began on May Day of that year and continued with similar intensity into the morning of May 3rd.\n\nThe protest began when 3 5\,000 people camped out in West Potomac Park near the Washington Monument park to plan for the coming protest. The next day\, the Nixon administrat ion canceled the protesters' permit and police\, dressed in riot gear\, ra ided the encampment\, firing tear gas and knocking down tents.\n\nOn May 3 rd\, President Nixon executed "Operation Garden Plot" (a plan developed du ring the 1960s to combat major civil disorders)\, deploying 10\,000 federa l troops to various locations in the Washington D.C. area.\n\nWhile the tr oops secured the major intersections and bridges\, police roamed through t he city\, making massive arrest sweeps and using tear gas. By eight in the morning\, police had detained over 7\,000 people\, arresting anyone who l ooked like a demonstrator\, including construction workers who had come ou t to support the government.\n\nOver the course of several days\, the city arrested 12\,614 people\, making it the largest mass arrest in U.S. histo ry. Members of the Nixon administration would come to view the events as d amaging\, because the government's mass arrests of protesters were perceiv ed by the public as violating citizens' civil rights. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1971_May_Day_protests RESOURCES:https://nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu/content/washington-dc-protests -against-war-vietnam-mayday-1971 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Salford General Strike (1926) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250503 DTEND:20250504T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,General Strikes COMMENT:On this day in 1926\, a general strike in England involving approx imately 1.7 million workers was initiated by the Trades Union Congress (TU C) in response to coal mine owners proposing reductions in pay for miners the previous year. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1926\, a general strike in England involving ap proximately 1.7 million workers was initiated by the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in response to coal mine owners proposing reductions in pay for min ers the previous year.\n\nThe general strike was broad in scope\, includin g workers from mines\, shipyards\, mills\, and engineers.\n\nStriking dock workers firmly refused to allow any movement of goods on the docks\, caus ing a bread shortage. In response\, the government tried to forcibly move flour and grain to bakeries\, but were prevented from doing so by the mill workers and dockers.\n\nDuring the strike\, there were clashes between po lice and crowds in many areas and at least 4\,000 workers were arrested. T here were attacks on busses and trains\, including the derailing of the Fl ying Scotsman.\n\nThe strike was called off by the TUC on May 12th with no guarantees of fair treatment for the miners\, whose strike was defeated i n October later that year. The following year\, the 1927 Trades Disputes a nd Trade Unions Act was passed\, forbidding sympathetic strikes and mass p icketing. Civil Service unions were also forbidden to affiliate with the T UC. RESOURCES:http://www.salfordstar.com/article.asp?id=100 RESOURCES:https://www.wcml.org.uk/our-collections/protest-politics-and-cam paigning-for-change/general-strikes/general-strike-of-1926/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Spanish May Days (1937) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250503 DTEND:20250504T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Marxism,Anarchism COMMENT:The May Days\, a series of street battles fought between Republica n factions of the Spanish Civil War\, began on this day in 1937 when 200 p olice officers attempted to seize control of an anarchist press building. DESCRIPTION:The May Days\, a series of street battles fought between Repub lican factions of the Spanish Civil War\, began on this day in 1937 when 2 00 police officers attempted to seize control of an anarchist press buildi ng. The May Day conflicts were the culmination of strife between various l eft factions within the Spanish Civil War.\n\nOn May 3rd\, a body of 200 p olice officers went to the Telefónica central exchange and confronted the censorship department on the second floor\, intending to take control of the building.\n\nThe anarchists\, who were occupying the building legally\ , opened fire from the second floor of the building. Eventually\, they sur rendered with a cease fire agreement. A crowd gathered\, at first believin g that the anarchists had captured the head of the police.\n\nThe Workers' Party of Marxist Unification (POUM)\, Friends of Durruti Group\, Bolshevi k-Leninists\, and Libertarian Youth all took firing positions and began ta king out previously hidden weapons and building barricades. From this skir mish\, battles began in different parts of the city.\n\nSeveral hundred ba rricades were built. Police units occupied roofs and church towers. The fi ghting continued for several days and Assault Guards (state police and par amilitary units) in Barcelona and many other towns proceeded to disarm and arrest members of the CNT\, FAI\, Libertarian Youth\, and POUM that had t aken part in the riots.\n\nContemporary press estimated the casualties at 500 dead and 1\,000 injured. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_Days RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/library/part-4-0 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:First Freedom Ride (1961) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250504 DTEND:20250505T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Civil Rights COMMENT:On this day in 1961\, the first Freedom Ride\, a form of civil dis obedience that defied a de facto ban on segregation in the American South\ , left Washington D.C.\, headed for New Orleans\, Louisiana. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1961\, the first Freedom Ride\, a form of civil disobedience that defied a de facto ban on segregation in the American So uth\, left Washington D.C.\, headed for New Orleans\, Louisiana.\n\nFreedo m Riders rode interstate busses into the segregated Southern United States starting in 1961 to challenge the Southern non-enforcement of the United States Supreme Court decisions Morgan v. Virginia (1946) and Boynton v. Vi rginia (1960)\, which ruled that segregated public busses were unconstitut ional.\n\nParticipants\, women and men both black and white\, journeyed in to the deep south\, testing segregated bus terminals. The riders were ofte n met with severe violence. In Anniston\, Alabama\, one of the busses was fire-bombed and passengers were beaten by a white mob. White mobs also att acked Freedom Riders in Birmingham and Montgomery.\n\nThese violent incide nts garnered national attention\, sparking a summer of similar rides by CO RE\, SNCC and other civil rights organizations\, among thousands of ordina ry citizens. RESOURCES:https://snccdigital.org/events/freedom-rides/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_Riders RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/freedom-rides -1961/#:~:text=The%20Freedom%20Riders%20left%20Washington\,a%20%E2%80%9Cwh ites%20only%E2%80%9D%20restroom. RESOURCES:https://www.britannica.com/place/United-States/The-civil-rights- movement END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Hu Yepin (1903 - 1931) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250504 DTEND:20250505T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays COMMENT:Hu Yepin\, born on this day in 1903\, was a leftist Chinese writer \, poet\, playwright\, and prominent member of the League of Left-Wing Wri ters who was assassinated by the Kuomintang government. Hu was also the hu sband of author Ding Ling. DESCRIPTION:Hu Yepin\, born on this day in 1903\, was a leftist Chinese wr iter\, poet\, playwright\, and prominent member of the League of Left-Wing Writers who was assassinated by the Kuomintang government. Hu Yepin was o ne of the "Five Martyrs" from the Left League executed in February 1931 by this regime.\n\nHu was the first husband of the celebrated writer Ding Li ng\, who was also a member of the League of Left-Wing Writers\, and a clos e friend of the writer Shen Congwen. His works include "Where to Go"\, "A Pearl in the Brain"\, "To Moscow"\, and\, authored shortly before his deat h\, "A Bright Future". RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hu_Yepin RESOURCES:https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ding-Ling END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Kent State Massacre (1970) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250504 DTEND:20250505T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Massacre,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1970\, the Kent State Massacre took place when the National Guard fired on unarmed Kent State University protesters\, causing 13 casualties. Just 10 days later\, 2 students were killed by police at J ackson State University. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1970\, the Kent State Massacre took place when the National Guard fired on unarmed Kent State University protesters\, cau sing 13 casualties. Just 10 days later\, 2 students were killed by police at Jackson State University.\n\nThe killings took place during a peace ral ly against the expanding involvement of the Vietnam War into neutral Cambo dia by U.S. forces\, as well as the National Guard presence on campus.\n\n On May 4th\, an estimated 2\,000 people gathered on the university's Commo ns\, near Taylor Hall. After the National Guard attempted to disperse the crowd\, armed guardsmen began firing on the protesters. Four students were killed and nine were wounded\, nearly all more than two hundred feet away from the guardsmen.\n\nThe Kent State Massacre marked the first time that a student had been slain in an anti-war gathering in U.S. history. Just t en days after the Kent State shootings\, however\, two student protesters were killed (and 12 wounded) by police at Jackson State University in Miss issippi. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kent_State_shootings RESOURCES:https://www.kent.edu/may-4-historical-accuracy END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:May 4th Movement (1919) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250504 DTEND:20250505T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Protests COMMENT:The May 4th Movement was a Chinese anti-imperialist and nationalis t movement that began on this day in 1919 when more than 4\,000 unversity students took to the streets in protest of the Treaty of Versailles. DESCRIPTION:The May 4th Movement was a Chinese anti-imperialist and nation alist movement that began on this day in 1919 when more than 4\,000 unvers ity students took to the streets in protest of the Treaty of Versailles. T hese protests became a national and cultural movement that served as an in spiration for later left-wing movements.\n\nOn the afternoon of May 4th\, over 4\,000 students of Yenching University\, Peking University\, and othe r schools marched from many points to gather in front of Tiananmen. They s houted slogans as "struggle for the sovereignty externally\, get rid of th e national traitors at home"\, "do away with the Twenty-One Demands"\, and "don't sign the Versailles Treaty".\n\nThe next day\, students in Beijing as a whole went on strike and in the larger cities across China. Students \, merchants\, and workers joined the protests. The demonstrators appealed to the newspapers and sent representatives to carry the word across the c ountry. In Shanghai\, a general strike of merchants and workers took place \, negatively impacting the economy.\n\nIn the years that followed\, many Chinese political thinkers turned to leftist politics in the wake of the p olitical upheaval of the May 4th Movement. In 1939\, Mao Zedong claimed th at the May Fourth Movement was a stage leading toward the fulfillment of h is own communist revolution. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_Fourth_Movement RESOURCES:https://www.britannica.com/event/May-Fourth-Movement END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Ruth First (1925 - 1982) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250504 DTEND:20250505T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Civil Rights,Birthdays COMMENT:Ruth First\, born on this day in 1925\, was a South African anti-a partheid activist and scholar who was assassinated by the South African po lice while living in exile in Mozambique. DESCRIPTION:Ruth First\, born on this day in 1925\, was a South African an ti-apartheid activist and scholar who was assassinated by the South Africa n police while living in exile in Mozambique.\n\nAs an anti-apartheid acti vist\, First had been harassed for years by the South African government. In 1956\, First\, alongside 155 other activists\, were all charged and acq uitted of treason in the country's infamous "Treason Trial".\n\nAfter the state of emergency declared after the Sharpeville Massacre in 1960\, First was banned from political participation. She could not attend meetings\, publish\, or even be quoted in print. In 1963\, she was imprisoned and hel d in isolation without charge for 117 days under the Ninety-Day Detention Law\, the first white woman to be detained under this law.\n\nIn August of 1982\, First was assassinated by South African police in Mozambique\, whe re she was working in exile. South Africa's "Truth and Reconciliation Comm ission" later granted amnesty to Craig Williamson and Roger Raven\, two of the men responsible for her death.\n\n"Poverty and the rule of race that is called apartheid drive the Transkeian migrant from security on the land to work in the cities\, and then back again."\n\n- Ruth First RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth_First RESOURCES:https://www.sahistory.org.za/people/ruth-heloise-first END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:The Haymarket Affair (1886) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250504 DTEND:20250505T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Anarchism,Riots,Protests COMMENT:The Haymarket Affair (also known as the Haymarket massacre) was th e bloody aftermath of a bombing that took place on this day in 1886 during a radical labor demonstration demanding an 8 hour day in Chicago\, Illino is. DESCRIPTION:The Haymarket Affair (also known as the Haymarket massacre) wa s the bloody aftermath of a bombing that took place on this day in 1886 du ring a radical labor demonstration demanding an 8 hour day in Chicago\, Il linois.\n\nThe strike began as a peaceful rally in support of workers stri king for an eight-hour work day. After police began trying to disperse a M ay 4th rally associated with the strike\, an unknown person threw a dynami te bomb at the police. The bomb blast and ensuing gunfire resulted in the deaths of seven police officers\, four to eight civilians\, and wounded ap proximately one hundred people on either side.\n\nIn the internationally p ublicized legal proceedings that followed\, eight anarchists were convicte d of conspiracy. Seven were sentenced to death and one to a term of 15 yea rs in prison. Illinois Governor Richard J. Oglesby commuted two of the sen tences to terms of life in prison\; another committed suicide in jail rath er than face the gallows. The other four were hanged on November 11th\, 18 87.\n\nThe trial\, widely believed to be a farce\, was condemned internati onally. The Haymarket Affair\, and working class struggle more broadly\, i s commemorated annually on May 1st as "May Day" or "International Workers' Day". RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haymarket_affair RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/library/haymarket-tragedy-paul-avrich RESOURCES:https://theanarchistlibrary.org/category/topic/haymarket END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Battle of Evarts (1931) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250505 DTEND:20250506T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:On this day in 1931\, the Battle of Evarts began in Harlan\, Kentu cky when armed\, striking miners stopped a motorcade of supplies being del ivered to scabs\, killing four people and leading to an occupation by the National Guard. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1931\, the Battle of Evarts began in Harlan\, K entucky when armed\, striking miners stopped a motorcade of supplies being delivered to scabs\, killing four people and leading to an occupation by the National Guard.\n\nThe incident was part of a series of labor conflict s known as the Harlan County Wars. The coal miners had gone out on strike for improved working conditions\, higher wages\, and more housing options for their families.\n\nThe fighting began when armed miners confronted a m otorcade of supplies being delivered to scabs. Although the shooting only lasted 15 minutes\, the volleys of gunfire killed four people\, including Jim Daniels\, one of the most hated anti-union deputies in the county\, wo unding several more.\n\nThe strike ended in defeat for the workers when th e Kentucky National Guard was called in to put an end to the violence\, co upled with starvation conditions among workers. Eight miners received life in jail for conspiracy to murder for the events of May 5th. RESOURCES:https://parallelnarratives.com/remembering-bloody-harlan/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Evarts END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Camillo Berneri Assassinated (1937) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250505 DTEND:20250506T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Assassinations,Anarchism COMMENT:Camillo Berneri was a militant anarchist professor of philosophy w ho was assassinated in Barcelona on this day in 1937. Berneri had joined t he Spanish resistance and organized the first column of Italian volunteers in the Aragon front. DESCRIPTION:Camillo Berneri was a militant anarchist professor of philosop hy who was assassinated in Barcelona on this day in 1937. Berneri had join ed the Spanish resistance and organized the first column of Italian volunt eers in the Aragon front.\n\nBorn in northern Italy\, Berneri joined the I talian anarchist movement at a young age. When fascists seized power in It aly\, Camillo was a militant dissenter\, active with the Union of Italian Anarchists. In May 1926\, Berneri became a political refugee\, fleeing to France with his family.\n\nWhen the Spanish Civil War broke out\, Berneri rushed to Catalonia\, the center of a revolution spearheaded by the Confed eración Nacional del Trabajo (CNT). Together with Carlo Rosselli\, he org anized the first column of Italian volunteers to fight on the Aragon front \, which were incorporated into the militia column of Joaquín Ascaso.\n\n On this day in 1937\, Camillo Berneri and his anarchist friend Francesco B arbieri were taken out of their apartment by a dozen plainclothes men with red armbands and policemen. The corpses of the two Italian anarchists wer e later found riddled with bullets.\n\nSome anarchists have speculated tha t the Soviet Union\, which suppressed anarchist movements in Spain\, was r esponsible for the killings. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camillo_Berneri RESOURCES:https://theanarchistlibrary.org/category/author/camillo-berneri END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Farabundo Martí (1893 - 1931) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250505 DTEND:20250506T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Indigenous,Massacre COMMENT:Farabundo Martí\, born on this day in 1893\, was a communist revo lutionary who led a guerrilla revolt of indigenous farmers in El Salvador that was to be crushed in the peasant massacre known as "La Matanza". DESCRIPTION:Farabundo Martí\, born on this day in 1893\, was a communist revolutionary who led a guerrilla revolt of indigenous farmers in El Salva dor that was to be crushed in the peasant massacre known as "La Matanza".\ n\nMartí is also known for co-founding of the Communist Party of Central America\, as well as helping lead a communist alternative to the Red Cross known as "International Red Aid".\n\nIn 1931\, Martí returned to El Salv ador and helped start a guerrilla revolt of indigenous farmers. The Commun ist-led peasant uprising against dictator Maximiliano Hernández Martínez \, fomented by collapsing coffee prices\, enjoyed some initial success\, b ut was soon drowned in a bloodbath\, crushed by the Salvadoran military te n days after it had begun. Over 30\,000 indigenous people were killed at w hat was to be a "peaceful meeting" in 1932\; this became known as "La Mata nza" ("The Slaughter").\n\nFor his role in the uprising\, Martí was execu ted by Salvadoran President Hernández Martínez. Martí is the namesake o f the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front\, a revolutionary organiz ation during the Salvadoran Civil War and contemporary political party in the country.\n\n"When history cannot be written with a pen\, then it shoul d be written with a rifle."\n\n- Farabundo Martí RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farabundo_Mart%C3%AD RESOURCES:https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/la-matanza RESOURCES:https://www.telesurenglish.net/analysis/Salvadoran-Revolutionary -Farabundo-Marti-Born-122-Years-Ago-20150505-0017.html END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Karl Marx (1818 - 1883) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250505 DTEND:20250506T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Marxism,Birthdays,Communism,Journalism COMMENT:Karl Marx\, born on this day in 1818\, was a foundational politica l theorist and journalist associated with the philosophy of Marxism. "The philosophers have only interpreted the world in various ways. The point\, however\, is to change it." DESCRIPTION:Karl Marx\, born on this day in 1818\, was a foundational poli tical theorist and journalist associated with the philosophy of Marxism. \ n\nAmong Marx's best-known texts are the "The Communist Manifesto" and the three-volume "Das Kapital"\, in which he set out to define and explain th e behavior of the capitalist mode of production.\n\nMarx's political and p hilosophical thought have had enormous influence on subsequent intellectua l\, economic and political history\, and his name has been used as an adje ctive\, a noun\, and a school of social theory.\n\nMarx's critical theorie s about society\, economics and politics - collectively understood as Marx ism - hold that human societies develop through class conflict. In capital ism\, this manifests itself in the conflict between the ruling classes (kn own as the bourgeoisie) that control the means of production\, and the wor king classes (known as the proletariat) that enable these means by selling their labor power in return for wages.\n\nEmploying a critical approach k nown as historical materialism\, Marx concluded that\, like previous socio -economic systems\, capitalism produced internal tensions which would lead to its self-destruction and replacement by a new system known as socialis m.\n\n"The philosophers have only interpreted the world in various ways. T he point\, however\, is to change it."\n\n- Karl Marx RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Marx RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/sw/index.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Sands Dies From Hunger Strike (1981) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250505 DTEND:20250506T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Protests COMMENT:Bobby Sands was a militant Irish revolutionary who died from a hun ger strike at 27 on this day in 1981\, just one month after winning the el ection to serve as MP to Fermanagh and South Tyrone while imprisoned. DESCRIPTION:Bobby Sands (Irish: Roibeárd Gearóid Ó Seachnasaigh\, 1954 - 1981) was a militant Irish revolutionary who died from a hunger strike a t 27 on this day in 1981\, just one month after winning the election to se rve as MP to Fermanagh and South Tyrone while imprisoned.\n\nSands grew up in North Belfast\, a member of the Catholic minority and in a majority Pr otestant area. After being threatened at gunpoint and called "Fenian scum" by his co-workers at the age of 15\, Sands became dedicated to militant p olitics. In 1972\, he attended his first Provisional IRA meeting.\n\nJust a few months later\, Sands was arrested and charged in October 1972 with p ossession of four handguns found in the house where he was living. After b eing released in 1976\, he continued his work with the IRA.\n\nIn 1976\, S ands and fellow IRA member Joe McDonnell bombed the Balmoral Furniture Com pany in Dunmurry and engaged in a shootout with police. Sands was captured and sentenced to 14 years in prison.\n\nUndeterred\, Sands continued his resistance in prison. He refused to wear a prison uniform\, and was kept i n his cell naked without access to bedding for 13 hours a day. While in pr ison\, Sands authored poems and songs\, published by Republican magazines. \n\nOn March 1st\, 1981\, Sands initiated a hunger strike in collaboration with other inmates. The demands of the hunger strike included the right t o not have to do prison work\, the right to not wear a prison uniform\, an d full restoration of remission lost through protest.\n\nSands narrowly wo n a special election to serve as MP of Fermanagh and South Tyrone on April 9th\, 1981\, more than a month into the hunger strike. In response\, the British government introduced the "Representation of the People Act"\, whi ch prevents prisoners serving jail terms of more than one year in the UK f rom being nominated as candidates in British elections.\n\nLess than a mon th after winning this election\, Sands died in prison at the age of 27. Mo re than 100\,000 people lined the route of Sands' funeral\, and he was bur ied in the New Republican Plot\, alongside 76 others.\n\n"They have nothin g in their whole imperial arsenal that can break the spirit of one Irishma n who doesn't want to be broken."\n\n- Bobby Sands RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Sands RESOURCES:https://www.bobbysandstrust.com/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Angelo Herndon (1913 - 1997) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250506 DTEND:20250507T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Labor,Birthdays COMMENT:Angelo Herndon\, born on this day in 1913\, was a black labor orga nizer arrested and convicted of insurrection after attempting to organize black and white industrial workers in 1932 in Atlanta\, Georgia. DESCRIPTION:Angelo Herndon\, born on this day in 1913\, was a black labor organizer arrested and convicted of insurrection after attempting to organ ize black and white industrial workers in 1932 in Atlanta\, Georgia. The p rosecution case rested heavily on Herndon's possession of "communist liter ature"\, which police found in his hotel room.\n\nHerndon was defended by the International Labor Defense\, the legal arm of the Communist Party. Ov er a five-year period\, Herndon's case twice reached the United States Sup reme Court\, which ruled that Georgia's insurrection law was unconstitutio nal\, as it violated First Amendment rights of free speech and assembly.\n \nHerndon became nationally prominent because of his case and his defense attorney\, Benjamin Davis\, was radicalized because of it. He is also reme mbered for his essay entitled "You Cannot Kill the Working Class". By the end of the 1940s\, he left the Communist Party and moved to the Midwest\, living there in peace.\n\n"You may succeed in killing one\, two\, even a s core of working-class organizers. But you cannot kill the working class."\ n\n- Angelo Herndon RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angelo_Herndon RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/herndon-angel o-1913/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Théophile Ferré (1845 - 1871) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250506 DTEND:20250507T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays COMMENT:Théophile Ferré\, born on this day in 1845\, was a revolutionary leader of the Paris Commune. Ferré personally authorized the execution o f the archbishop of Paris and was later sentenced to death\, the first of 25 Communards to be executed. DESCRIPTION:Théophile Ferré\, born on this day in 1845\, was a revolutio nary leader of the Paris Commune. Ferré personally authorized the executi on of the archbishop of Paris and was later sentenced to death\, the first of 25 Communards to be executed.\n\nLittle is known about Ferré's early life\, before his participation in the Paris Commune. After Paris was seiz ed by revolutionaries in March 1871\, Ferré served on the Commune's Commi ttee of Public Safety\, a body given extensive powers to hunt down enemies of the Commune.\n\nOn April 5th\, the Commune passed a decree that author ized the arrest of any person thought to be loyal to the French government in Versailles\, to be held as hostages. Prominent figures arrested includ ed a Catholic priest Georges Darboy and the archbishop of Paris. The Commu ne hoped to exchange their hostages for Louis-Auguste Blanqui\, a revoluti onary and honorary President of the Commune\, imprisoned by the state.\n\n Following the events of the "Bloody Week"\, in which the French government summarily executed many suspected Communards\, Ferré authorized the exec ution of several hostages\, including Darboy and the archbishop.\n\nAfter the resistance of the Commune collapsed\, Ferré was captured by the army\ , tried by a military court\, and sentenced to death. On November 28th\, 1 871\, he was shot at Satory\, an army camp southwest of Versailles. He was the first of twenty-five Communards to be executed for their role in the Paris Commune. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Th%C3%A9ophile_Ferr%C3%A9 RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/history/france/archive/lissagaray/index .htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:NYC Waiters' Strike (1912) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250507 DTEND:20250508T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,IWW COMMENT:On this day in 1912\, the first industry-wide strike of restaurant and hotel workers in New York City history began when 150 hotel workers\, organized by the IWW\, walked out to protest their poor working condition s. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1912\, the first industry-wide strike of restau rant and hotel workers in New York City history began when 150 hotel worke rs\, organized by the IWW\, walked out to protest their poor working condi tions.\n\nAt the height of the strike\, there were 54 hotels and 30 restau rants and other establishments without their staff\, amounting to approxim ately 2\,500 waiters\, 1\,000 cooks\, and 3\,000 other striking hotel work ers.\n\nThe strike was organized directly by Joe Ettor and Elizabeth Gurle y Flynn of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). Before the IWW\, the only union in place for hotel workers only had about 2\,000 members and p rohibitively high membership dues.\n\nThe workers demanded at least one da y off a week\, a higher minimum wage\, and a prohibition of discrimination for being in a union. The strike continued through the rest of May but fa ced repression from the police. The strike officially ended on June 25th\, 1912 without legal recognition for the IWW created Hotel Workers' Interna tional Union. Despite this failure\, hotel workers would go on strike agai n in 1913\, 1918\, 1929\, and 1934. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1912_New_York_City_waiters%27_stri ke RESOURCES:https://hotelworkers.org/about/history/the-story-of-the-first-co ntract END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:ACLU Expels Elizabeth Flynn (1940) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250508 DTEND:20250509T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Labor,IWW COMMENT:On this day in 1940\, the leadership of the American Civil Liberti es Union (ACLU)\, voted to expel labor radical and founding member Elizabe th Gurley Flynn for her Communist Party membership. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1940\, the leadership of the American Civil Lib erties Union (ACLU)\, voted to expel labor radical and founding member Eli zabeth Gurley Flynn for her Communist Party membership.\n\nFlynn was a rad ical labor activist who prominently organized with the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). She had a long history of labor organizing\, playing a leading role in the Paterson Silk Strike of 1913 and a free speech fight in Spokane\, Washington\, where she chained herself to a lamppost to delay her inevitable arrest. She was also a member of the Communist Party of th e United States of America\, joining in 1936.\n\nIn February 1940\, the AC LU board adopted a controversial resolution that effectively barred commun ists from serving. For her part\, Elizabeth Gurley Flynn refused to leave\ , forcing the organization to vote to remove her.\n\nLater\, the ACLU woul d also fail to come to the defense of W.E.B. Du Bois\, a prominent communi st activist and co-founder of the NAACP\, while he was facing trial for ga thering signatures for a global nuclear non-proliferation treaty in 1951. RESOURCES:https://jacobinmag.com/2020/05/aclu-elizabeth-gurley-flynn-red-b aiting RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Gurley_Flynn END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Sétif and Guelma Massacres (1945) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250508 DTEND:20250509T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Colonialism,Massacre COMMENT:On this day in 1945\, French colonial authorities in the Algerian city of Sétif fired on marchers celebrating the surrender of Nazi Germany . In response\, Algerians initiated an uprising against the colonizers tha t was brutally suppressed. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1945\, French colonial authorities in the Alger ian city of Sétif fired on marchers celebrating the surrender of Nazi Ger many. In response\, Algerians initiated an uprising against the colonizers that was brutally suppressed.\n\nAnti-colonial Algerians attacked French settlements in rural Sétif\, killing approximately 100 people of European origin. There were also attacks in the district of Guelma that lasted unt il June 1945.\n\nIn response\, French colonial forces slaughtered slaughte red many thousands of Algerians (the total number is unknown\, estimates v ary from 6\,000 to 30\,000). The French summarily executed Muslim civilian s\, and there were mass graves. Villages were bombed and shelled by French aircraft and ships.\n\nThe Sétif uprising and the repression that follow ed marked a turning point in relations between France and the Muslim popul ation\, which had been subjugated since 1830. Nine years later\, a general uprising began in Algeria\, leading to independence from France in March 1962 with the signing of the Évian Accords. RESOURCES:https://jacobinmag.com/2020/05/ve-day-victory-europe-algeria-fra nce-setif-guelma-kherrata RESOURCES:https://www.sciencespo.fr/mass-violence-war-massacre-resistance/ fr/document/le-cas-de-sa-tif-kherrata-guelma-mai-1945 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:John Brown (1800 - 1859) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250509 DTEND:20250510T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Abolitionism COMMENT:John Brown\, born on this day in 1800\, was a militant abolitionis t who advocated for and practiced armed insurrection to overthrow the syst em of slavery in the U.S. He became the first American executed for treaso n after raiding Harpers Ferry. DESCRIPTION:John Brown\, born on this day in 1800\, was a militant aboliti onist who advocated for and practiced armed insurrection to overthrow the system of slavery in the U.S. He became the first American executed for tr eason after raiding Harpers Ferry.\n\nBrown first gained national attentio n when he led small groups of volunteers during the Bleeding Kansas crisis of 1856. He was dissatisfied with the pacifism of the organized abolition ist movement\, stating "These men are all talk. What we need is action - a ction!"\n\nIn October 1859\, Brown led a raid on the federal armory at Har pers Ferry\, Virginia (modern day West Virginia)\, intending to start a li beration movement that would spread south through the mountainous regions of Virginia and North Carolina.\n\nAlthough Brown's group successfully sei zed the armory at first\, his raid was defeated by a combination of volunt eer militia and state forces led by Robert E. Lee\, who later commanded th e Confederate States Army. Seven people were killed\, two of whom were Bro wn's sons Oliver and Watson\, and at least ten more were injured.\n\nBrown had intended to arm enslaved people with weapons from the armory\, but on ly a small number of locals were willing to join him\, possibly due to an unfamiliarity with firearms. Within 36 hours\, those of Brown's men who ha d not fled were killed or captured by local farmers\, militiamen\, or U.S. Marines.\n\nBrown was hastily tried for treason against the Commonwealth of Virginia\, the murder of five men\, and inciting a slave insurrection. He was found guilty on all counts and was hanged\, becoming the first pers on executed for treason in the history of the United States.\n\n"I\, John Brown\, am now quite certain that the crimes of this guilty land can never be purged away but with blood. I had\, as I now think\, vainly flattered myself that without very much bloodshed\, it might be done."\n\n- John Bro wn RESOURCES:https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/brown-john-1800-1859/ RESOURCES:https://www.kshs.org/p/john-brown-papers-1826-1948/13993 RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Brown_(abolitionist) END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Peter Maurin (1877 - 1949) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250509 DTEND:20250510T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays COMMENT:Peter Maurin\, born on this day in 1877\, was a French Catholic so cial activist\, theologian\, and De La Salle Brother who founded the anarc hist Catholic Worker Movement in 1933 with Dorothy Day. DESCRIPTION:Peter Maurin\, born on this day in 1877\, was a French Catholi c social activist\, theologian\, and De La Salle Brother who founded the a narchist Catholic Worker Movement in 1933 with Dorothy Day.\n\nAside from his writings in the publication "Catholic Worker"\, Maurin expressed his p hilosophy through short pieces of verse that became known as his "Easy Ess ays".\n\n"The scholars must become workers so the workers may be scholars. "\n\n- Peter Maurin RESOURCES:https://www.catholicworker.org/petermaurin/pm-biography.html RESOURCES:https://catholicworker.org/easy-essays-html/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Maurin END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:West Coast Waterfront Strike (1934) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250509 DTEND:20250510T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,General Strikes COMMENT:On this day in 1934\, the West Coast Waterfront strike began\, las ting 83 days. The labor action involved more than 130\,000 workers and cos t waterfront employers approximately $45 million in lost revenue. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1934\, the West Coast Waterfront strike began\, lasting 83 days. The labor action involved more than 130\,000 workers and cost waterfront employers approximately $45 million in lost revenue.\n\nT he strike began with 12\,000 longshoremen on the West Coast of the United States going out on strike from their waterfront jobs\, demanding more con trol in the hiring process and improved working conditions. The ranks of l ongshoremen were soon strengthened by the other craft workers in the marin e industries\, including sailors\, engineers\, firemen\, and other workers .\n\nAt its height\, almost 35\,000 West Coast maritime workers participat ed in the strike\, and\, for four days in July\, 130\,000 workers in San F rancisco held a general strike in solidarity with the maritime workers.\n\ nThe strike lasted until October of 1934\, and labor unions were granted s ignificantly more power over the hiring and working conditions of the dock s. During the striking months\, nine people were killed\, hundreds were ar rested\, and the clampdown on shipping cost the waterfront employers an es timated $45 million.\n\nThe ILWU continues to recognize "Bloody Thursday" (July 5th\, when police officers shot into a crowd of strikers) by shuttin g down all West Coast ports in honor of all the workers killed by police d uring the strike. RESOURCES:https://depts.washington.edu/dock/34strikehistory_intro.shtml RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1934_West_Coast_waterfront_strike END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Albert Goodwin (1887 - 1918) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250510 DTEND:20250511T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Socialism,Labor,General Strikes,Birthdays,Protests COMMENT:Albert "Ginger" Goodwin\, born on this day in 1887 and nicknamed f or his bright red hair\, was a Canadian socialist and labor activist whose murder by police while protesting conscription led to the first general s trike in Canada. DESCRIPTION:Albert "Ginger" Goodwin\, born on this day in 1887 and nicknam ed for his bright red hair\, was a Canadian socialist and labor activist w hose murder by police while protesting conscription led to the first gener al strike in Canada.\n\nBorn in Yorkshire\, England on May 10th\, 1887\, G oodwin immigrated to Canada in 1909\, at the age of 19\, working as a coal miner in Nova Scotia.\n\nIn Canada\, he organized with the Socialist Part y of Canada and became a notable labor leade during the 1912–1914 Coal M iner's Strike against Canadian Collieries. Following the strike\, he was b lacklisted and was forced to move away from Cumberland to find work.\n\nIn 1916\, he joined the Mining and Smelter workers Union and was elected as Secretary for the Trail chapter. Following his involvement with trade unio ns\, Goodwin entered politics running as a candidate for the Socialist Par ty of Canada in the 1916 British Columbian election\, although he did not win.\n\nAs World War I broke out\, Goodwin became an outspoken advocate ag ainst the draft\, initially refusing to sign up. Eventually\, he was compe lled to be drafted\, and\, after exhausting multiple appeals against his c onscription\, he fled into the hills of Cumberland\, British Columbia.\n\n On July 27th (some sources say July 26th)\, Goodwin was shot and killed by a member of the Dominion Police\, who had ventured into the hills surroun ding Comox Lake to locate men evading the draft and arrest them for their evasion. The officer who killed Goodwin successfully claimed self-defense in court\, although it is unknown how the two actually encountered each ot her.\n\nIn protest to his murder\, the first general strike in Canada\, th e Vancouver General Strike\, took place on August 2nd\, 1918. In 2015\, a film about his life titled "Goodwin's Way" was released.\n\n"War is simply part of the process of Capitalism. Big financial interests are playing th e game. They'll reap the victory\, no matter how the war ends."\n\n- Alber t Goodwin RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Goodwin RESOURCES:https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/albert-goodwin RESOURCES:https://minersmemorial.ca/ginger-goodwin/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:American Labor Union Founded (1898) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250510 DTEND:20250511T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,IWW COMMENT:The American Labor Union (ALU) was a radical labor organization es tablished by the Western Federation of Miners (WFM) on this day in 1898\, a group which would go on to help found the Industrial Workers of the Worl d (IWW). DESCRIPTION:The American Labor Union (ALU) was a radical labor organizatio n established by the Western Federation of Miners (WFM) on this day in 189 8\, a group which would go on to help found the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW).\n\nThe organization was founded by the WFM in an effort to bu ild a federation of trade unions in the aftermath of the failed Leadville Miners' Strike of 1896. The strike's defeat had marked a turning point for the WFM\, which abandoned the American Federation of Labor's craft unioni sm in favor of more militant tactics.\n\nAt its peak\, the ALU had about 4 3\,000 members\, 27\,000 of which were members of the WFM. The ALU was an important precursor to the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)\, which i t helped found in 1905 and was effectively absorbed into. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Labor_Union RESOURCES:https://books.google.com/books?id=gL6Jo33Y-YMC&pg=PA124&lpg=PA12 4&dq=wlu+salt+lake+city+1898&source=bl&ots=4EPov6fapO&sig=ACfU3U30hqswrbeh QbgIkbu4Q0TFmYAz_A&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwim1fD-_8LqAhVEOs0KHepDDSYQ6AEwCXo ECAkQAQ#v=onepage&q=wlu%20salt%20lake%20city%201898&f=false END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Astor Place Riot (1849) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250510 DTEND:20250511T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Riots COMMENT:On this day in 1849\, a riot broke out at the Astor Opera House in Manhattan\, leaving dozens dead and more than 120 injured. Poor workers s houted "Burn the damn den of the aristocracy" as they attempted to burn th e House down. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1849\, a riot broke out at the now-demolished A stor Opera House in Manhattan\, leaving dozens dead and more than 120 inju red. Poor workers shouted "Burn the damn den of the aristocracy" as they a ttempted to burn the House down. At the time\, it was the deadliest "civic disturbance" in Manhattan's history.\n\nAlthough the underlying cause of the riot was class conflict\, this was expressed in preference over two fa mous actors performing Shakespeare at the opera house - one\, William Macr eady\, was British\, and the other\, Edwin Forrest\, was an American star. \n\nWith the British and American talents serving as proxies for aristocra tic and working class sensibilities respectively\, the riot began during a performance of Macready's.\n\nShouting "Burn the damn den of the aristocr acy"\, the crowd (mostly American-born workers and Irish immigrants) threw stones at the building\, battled with police\, and attempted to set fire to the opera house. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astor_Place_Riot RESOURCES:https://allthatsinteresting.com/astor-place-riot RESOURCES:https://www.thoughtco.com/astor-place-riot-1773778 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Eugen Leviné (1883 - 1919) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250510 DTEND:20250511T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Birthdays COMMENT:Eugen Leviné\, born on this day in 1883\, was a German revolution ary communist who briefly led the Bavarian Council Republic\, formed durin g the German Revolution\, and was executed for his role in it after the Re public fell in 1919. DESCRIPTION:Eugen Leviné\, born on this day in 1883\, was a German revolu tionary communist who briefly led the Bavarian Council Republic\, formed d uring the German Revolution\, and was executed for his role in it after th e Republic fell in 1919.\n\nEugen Levine was born to wealthy Jewish parent s in St Petersberg\, Russia\, and became exposed to radical politics after moving to Heidelberg\, Germany at a young age. In 1905\, Leviné returned to Russia to participate in the failed revolution of 1905 against the Tsa r and was arrested and exiled to Siberia.\n\nAfter World War I ended\, Lev iné joined the Communist Party of Germany and helped to create a socialis t republic in Bavaria. Leviné eventually rose to power as the communists assumed control of the government.\n\nHe attempted to pass many reforms\, such as giving the more luxurious flats to the homeless and giving workers control and ownership of factories. Leviné also planned reforms for the education system and to abolish paper money\, but did not get the chance t o complete either.\n\nThe German Army\, assisted by the right-wing Freikor ps paramilitary invaded and quickly conquered Munich on May 3rd\, 1919. Le viné himself was arrested and shot by firing squad in Stadelheim Prison.\ n\nEx-Soviet agent Whitaker Chambers cited Leviné as an inspirational fig ure\, writing "During the Bavarian Council Republic in 1919\, Leviné was the organiser of the Workers' and Soldiers' Soviets. When the Bavarian Cou ncil Republic was crushed\, Leviné was captured and court-martialed. The court-martial told him: "You are under sentence of death." Leviné answere d: 'We Communists are always under sentence of death.'" RESOURCES:https://spartacus-educational.com/GERlevine.htm RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugen_Levin%C3%A9 RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/subject/germany-1918-23/levine/last-wor ds.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Madeleine Albright Berkeley Protest (2000) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250510 DTEND:20250511T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Protests,Imperialism COMMENT:On this day in 2000\, activists disrupted the commencement speech of then Secretary of State Madeleine Albright in protest of U.S. sanctions against Iraq\, leading Albright to flee the building after she finished s peaking. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 2000\, activists disrupted the commencement spe ech of then Secretary of State Madeleine Albright in protest of U.S. sanct ions against Iraq\, leading Albright to flee the building after she finish ed speaking.\n\nIn a recent interview\, Albright had stated that the hundr eds of thousands of Iraqi children predicted to die from the policy was "w orth it" to advance U.S. policy in the region.\n\nPalestinian Fadia Rafeed ie was initially scheduled to speak before Albright\, however Albright's s peech was moved first and she immediately left the building following her speech.\n\nWhen it was Rafeedie's time to speak\, she put aside her prepar ed remarks and spoke out against U.S. policy towards Iraq and the devastat ion it was causing on the population there. She ended her speech by saying this:\n\n"I want to end my speech with a slogan that hangs over my bed in Arabic. It says\, 'La tastaw Hishu tareeq el-Haq\, min qilit es-sa'ireen fihi' and that translates into\, 'Fear not the path of truth for the lack of people walking on it.' I think our future is going to be the future of truth\, and we're going to walk on that path\, and we're going to fill it with travelers. Thank you very much." RESOURCES:https://www.berkeley.edu/news/features/2000/05/11_fadia.html RESOURCES:https://www.sfgate.com/opinion/openforum/article/What-I-Wanted-t o-Convey-To-My-Fellow-Cal-Graduates-3240360.php END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Ellsberg Espionage Charges Dropped (1973) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250511 DTEND:20250512T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Journalism COMMENT:On this day in 1973\, the charges of espionage\, theft\, and consp iracy levied against Daniel Ellsberg\, the whistleblower responsible for l eaking the Pentagon Papers\, were dropped due to state misconduct\, includ ing the FBI tapping his phone. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1973\, the charges of espionage\, theft\, and c onspiracy levied against Daniel Ellsberg\, the whistleblower responsible f or leaking the Pentagon Papers\, were dropped due to state misconduct\, in cluding the FBI tapping his phone.\n\nDaniel Ellsberg is an American econo mist\, activist and former United States military analyst who\, while empl oyed by the RAND Corporation\, caused a national political controversy in 1971 when he released the Pentagon Papers\, a top-secret Pentagon study of the U.S. government decision-making in relation to the Vietnam War.\n\nOn January 3rd\, 1973\, Ellsberg was charged under the Espionage Act of 1917 along with other charges of theft and conspiracy\, carrying a total maxim um sentence of 115 years.\n\nDue to governmental misconduct and illegal ev idence-gathering all charges against Daniel Ellsberg were dropped on May 1 1th\, 1973. This misconduct included\, but was not limited to\, White Hous e operatives burglarizing the office of Ellsberg's psychiatrist and the FB I secretly tapping his phone. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Ellsberg RESOURCES:https://www.npr.org/2018/01/19/579101965/daniel-ellsberg-explain s-why-he-leaked-the-pentagon-papers END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Pullman Strike (1894) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250511 DTEND:20250512T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,IWW COMMENT:On this day in 1894\, the Pullman Strike\, a national railroad str ike led by Eugene V. Debs\, began\, leading to Debs' arrest\, 30 strikers' killed\, $80 million of property damage\, and the creation of the America n version of Labor Day. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1894\, the Pullman Strike\, a national railroad strike led by Eugene V. Debs\, began\, leading to Debs' arrest\, 30 strik ers' killed\, $80 million of property damage\, and the creation of the Ame rican version of Labor Day.\n\nThe strike pitted the American Railway Unio n (ARU) against the Pullman Company\, the main railroads\, and the United States government under President Grover Cleveland.\n\nThe conflict began in Pullman\, Chicago when nearly 4\,000 factory employees of the Pullman C ompany began a wildcat strike in response to recent reductions in wages. A fter a federal injunction to stop the strike was ignored\, 12\,000 troops were sent in to forcibly break the strike. All in all\, 30 strikers were k illed\, 57 were wounded\, and property damage exceeded $80 million.\n\nThe Pullman Strike was a watershed moment in American labor history - Eugene V. Debs\, who led the strike\, was arrested and imprisoned\, radicalizing his politics and setting him on the path to become a prominent socialist l eader and co-founder of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW).\n\nAfte r the strike was over\, President Cleveland declared the national holiday "Labor Day" in an effort to appease organized labor. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pullman_Strike RESOURCES:https://www.britannica.com/event/Pullman-Strike END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Panther 21 Acquitted (1971) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250512 DTEND:20250513T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1971\, the Panther 21 were acquitted of more than 1 56 charges after two years of legal proceedings. Afeni Shakur\, facing 300 years in prison while pregnant with her son Tupac\, successfully defended herself in court. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1971\, the Panther 21 were acquitted of more th an 156 charges after two years of legal proceedings. Afeni Shakur\, facing 300 years in prison while pregnant with her son Tupac\, successfully defe nded herself in court.\n\nOn April 2nd\, 1969\, 21 members of the Harlem C hapter of the Black Panther Party were formally indicted and charged with 156 counts of "conspiracy" to blow up subway and police stations\, five lo cal department stores\, six railroads and the Bronx-based New York Botanic al Garden.\n\nEach member of the 21 was held on $100\,000 bail\, $2.1 mill ion in total. 22-year old Alice Faye Williams\, better known as Afeni Shak ur\, was the first to make bail in January 1970.\n\nThe Panther 21 Trial b ecame the longest and most expensive trial New York state history\, spanni ng over eight months. During the court proceedings\, it was revealed that the FBI had planted undercover infiltrators. These infiltrators admitted t heir role as provocateurs under oath.\n\nAfeni represented herself in the trial\, facing 300 years in prison and pregnant with her second son\, Tupa c Shakur. On May 12th\, 1971\, after two years of legal proceedings and ju st 45 minutes of jury deliberation\, the Panther 21 were acquitted on all 156 charges of conspiracy. RESOURCES:https://www.workers.org/2016/05/25321/ RESOURCES:https://jacobinmag.com/2021/11/afeni-shakur-took-on-the-state-an d-won END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Poor People's March (1968) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250512 DTEND:20250513T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Protests COMMENT:The Poor People's Campaign was a march on Washington D.C. to gain economic justice for poor people in the United States that began on this d ay in 1968\, just one month after the assassination of one of its key orga nizers\, MLK Jr. DESCRIPTION:The Poor People's Campaign was a march on Washington D.C. to g ain economic justice for poor people in the United States that began on th is day in 1968\, just one month after the assassination of one of its key organizers\, MLK Jr.\n\nThe protest was also organized by Southern Christi an Leadership Conference (SCLC) and carried out under the leadership of Ra lph Abernathy in the wake of King's assassination.\n\nAfter presenting an organized set of demands to Congress and executive agencies\, participants set up a 3\,000-person protest camp on the Washington Mall\, where they s tayed for six weeks in the spring of 1968.\n\nAmong those demands was a pr oposal for an "economic bill of rights" that included a commitment to full employment\, a guaranteed annual income measure\, and more low-income hou sing for poor Americans of all races.\n\n"I think it is necessary for us t o realize that we have moved from the era of civil rights to the era of hu man rights…\n\nWhen we see that there must be a radical redistribution o f economic and political power\, then we see that for the last twelve year s we have been in a reform movement…\n\nThat after Selma and the Voting Rights Bill\, we moved into a new era\, which must be an era of revolution …"\n\n- MLK Jr.\, in a 1967 planning meeting RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poor_People%27s_Campaign RESOURCES:https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/04/mlk-last-ma rch/555953/ RESOURCES:https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/poor-peoples-campaign-be gan/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:MOVE Bombing (1985) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250513 DTEND:20250514T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Terrorism COMMENT:On this day in 1985\, Philadelphia police bombed a home occupied b y the black liberation group MOVE and let the fire burn out of control - " let the fire burn" - killing five children and six adults\, and destroying 65 homes. No charges were filed. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1985\, Philadelphia police bombed a home occupi ed by the black liberation group MOVE and let the fire burn out of control - "let the fire burn" - killing five children and six adults\, and destro ying 65 homes. No charges were filed.\n\nThe standoff with MOVE\, a black liberation organization\, was initiated by the police in an attempt to ser ve an eviction notice. Eleven people\, including five children\, died in t he fire.\n\nEyewitnesses claimed that the victims were prevented from flee ing the fire by police gunfire upon escape. Police Commissioner Sambor inf amously ordered the fire department to "let the fire burn"\, destroying 65 nearby homes comprising two city blocks.\n\nAlthough an investigation fou nd that the law enforcement and fire department actions were negligent\, n o criminal charges were filed.\n\nIn October 2013\, a documentary about th e stand-off and bombing titled "Let the Fire Burn" was released by Zeitgei st Films. RESOURCES:https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/may/10/move-1985-bombin g-reconciliation-philadelphia RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1985_MOVE_bombing RESOURCES:https://picturingblackhistory.org/bombing-move/ RESOURCES:https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/move-bombing/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Segundo Ruiz Belvis (1829 - 1867) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250513 DTEND:20250514T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Abolitionism,Independence COMMENT:Ruiz Belvis\, born on this day in 1829\, was an abolitionist who f ought for Puerto Rico's independence from Spain\, helping organize the rev olutionary rebellion "Grito de Lares". Belvis died while raising funds for the rebellion in Chile. DESCRIPTION:Ruiz Belvis\, born on this day in 1829\, was an abolitionist w ho fought for Puerto Rico's independence from Spain\, helping organize the revolutionary rebellion "Grito de Lares". Belvis died while raising funds for the rebellion in Chile.\n\nAfter studying abroad\, Ruiz Belvis return ed to Puerto Rico in 1859 and befriended Ramón Emeterio Betances\, joinin g his group "The Secret Abolitionist Society". The society baptized and em ancipated thousands of black slave children in an event known as the "agua s de libertad" (waters of liberty).\n\nIn 1866\, Ruiz Belvis exiled in New York where\, with Betances and others\, he formed the "Comité Revolucion ario de Puerto Rico" (Revolutionary Committee of Puerto Rico) to organize for the independence of the island.\n\nThey developed a plan to send an ar med expedition to Puerto Rico\, later known as the "Grito de Lares". Befor e the insurrection could happen\, however\, Belvis died of illness while o n a diplomatic mission in Chile to raise funds for the rebellion. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Segundo_Ruiz_Belvis RESOURCES:https://www.biografiasyvidas.com/biografia/r/ruiz_segundo.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Jackson State Killings (1970) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250514 DTEND:20250515T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1970\, a confrontation began between Jackson State University students and local police\, leading to the police opening fire on the crowd\, firing more than 460 shots\, killing two youths and woundin g a dozen more. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1970\, a confrontation began between Jackson St ate University students and local police\, leading to the police opening f ire on the crowd\, firing more than 460 shots\, killing two youths and wou nding a dozen more. The murders took place just ten days after the Kent St ate Massacre.\n\nOn the evening of May 14th\, over 100 students had gather ed on Lynch Street (named after Reconstruction era legislator John Lynch) and were reportedly pelting rocks at white motorists. Tensions increased w hen a false rumor spread that Charles Evers\, older brother of Medgar Ever s and a civil rights activist in his own right\, had been killed.\n\nThe p olice responded in force\; at least 75 Jackson police units from the city of Jackson and the Mississippi Highway Patrol attempted to control the cro wd\, while firemen extinguished fires that had been set. After the firefig hters had left the scene\, the police moved to disperse the crowd that had gathered in front of Alexander Hall\, a women's dormitory.\n\nJust after midnight\, the police opened fire on the building. The gunfire lasted for 30 seconds and more than 460 shots were fired. Every window on the narrow side of the building facing Lynch Street was shattered and two people were killed\, one a seventeen year old at a nearby high school. Twelve more we re wounded. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackson_State_killings RESOURCES:https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126426361 RESOURCES:https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/jackson-state-killings/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Jesse Gray (1923 - 1988) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250514 DTEND:20250515T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Tenant,Protests COMMENT:Jesse Gray\, born on this day in 1923\, was an activist in Harlem who organized tenants against NYC slumlords. In 1963\, Gray and tenants br ought rats\, both dead and alive\, from their housing directly to the Manh attan Civil Court. They won. DESCRIPTION:Jesse Gray\, born on this day in 1923\, was an activist in Har lem who organized tenants against NYC slumlords. In 1963\, Gray and tenant s brought rats\, both dead and alive\, from their housing directly to the Manhattan Civil Court. They won.\n\nJesse Gray was born in Junica\, outsid e Baton Rouge\, Louisiana. As a worker\, he became a leader with the Natio nal Maritime Union (NMU). While working as a NMU organizer\, his global tr avels introduced him to many social justice movements\, including Scotland 's Tenant Movement.\n\nGray settled in New York City in the early 1950s an d began to organize local protests with groups such as the Harlem Tenants Council and the Harlem Tenant and Welfare Council. Gray was not deterred f rom his activism despite being arrested and beaten by police.\n\nIn 1963\, Gray led one of the most famous of the tenant strikes in Harlem\, New Yor k\, in protest of "sub-human" living conditions. Beginning in November\, t hirteen families living in slum housing on 117th street withheld rent.\n\n On December 30th\, 1963\, these tenants were expected to appear in Manhatt an Civil Court to defend themselves against the landlords who ordered thei r evictions. With news media looking on\, they brought rats\, both dead an d alive\, to the court to demonstrate terrible living conditions that the property owners subjected them to.\n\nThese tenants also presented evidenc e that the heat\, electricity\, working plumbing\, and rodent exterminatio n were routinely denied to them. Their cases were dismissed and the tenant s' plight was prominently broadcast on news media.\n\nIn 1969\, Gray decid ed to quit his work as a tenant activist and pursue elected office as a De mocrat. He was elected to the State Assembly in 1972 and was defeated in 1 974. RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/gray-jesse-19 23-1988/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_Gray END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Kurt Eisner (1867 - 1919) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250514 DTEND:20250515T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Socialism,Birthdays,Journalism COMMENT:Kurt Eisner\, born on this day in 1867\, was a German socialist re volutionary and radical journalist who was assassinated by a far-right nat ionalist while serving as head of the People's State of Bavaria. DESCRIPTION:Kurt Eisner\, born on this day in 1867\, was a German socialis t revolutionary and radical journalist who was assassinated by a far-right nationalist while serving as head of the People's State of Bavaria.\n\nKu rt Eisner\, born to a Jewish family in Berlin\, was a revolutionary German socialist\, radical journalist\, and theater critic. Before leading the P eople's State of Bavaria\, he worked as a journalist in Marburg\, Nurember g\, and Munich. In the early 1890s\, Eisner served nine months in prison f or writing an article that attacked Kaiser Wilhelm II.\n\nIn 1918\, Eisner was convicted of treason for his role in inciting a strike of munitions w orkers. He spent nine months in Cell 70 of Stadelheim Prison\, but was rel eased during the General Amnesty in October of that year.\n\nFollowing his release from prison\, Eisner helped organize the revolution that overthre w the Bavarian monarchy\, declaring Bavaria to be a free state and republi c. Despite Eisner's socialist politics\, he explicitly distanced the movem ent from the Bolsheviks and promised to uphold property rights.\n\nOn Febr uary 21st\, 1919\, while on his way to deliver his resignation to Parliame nt\, Eisner was assassinated in Munich by a far-right German nationalist. Eisner's murder made him a martyr for left-wing causes\, and a period of l awlessness in Bavaria followed his death.\n\nOn the night of April 6th-7th \, 1919\, communists\, encouraged by the news of the communist revolution in Hungary\, declared a Soviet Republic\, with Ernst Toller as chief of st ate. The Bavarian Soviet Republic was crushed by the right-wing German Fre ikorps.\n\nSome of the military leaders of the Freikorps\, including Rudol f Hess and Franz Ritter von Epp\, would go on to become powerful figures i n the Nazi Party. Ironically\, Adolf Hitler himself marched in the funeral procession for Eisner\, a Jew\, wearing a red armband as a display of sym pathy.\n\n"Truth is the greatest of all national possessions. A state\, a people\, a system which suppresses the truth or fears to publish it\, dese rves to collapse."\n\n- Kurt Eisner RESOURCES:https://spartacus-educational.com/GEReisner.htm RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_Eisner END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Magnus Hirschfeld (1868 - 1935) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250514 DTEND:20250515T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Queer,Fascism COMMENT:Magnus Hirschfeld\, born on this day in 1868\, was a German physic ian\, sexologist\, and feminist whose books were burned by the Nazis. His work was among the earliest advocacy for homosexual and transgender rights in the modern period. DESCRIPTION:Magnus Hirschfeld\, born on this day in 1868\, was a German ph ysician\, sexologist\, and feminist whose books were burned by the Nazis. His work was among the earliest advocacy for homosexual and transgender ri ghts in the modern period\, according to historian Dustin Goltz.\n\nHirsch feld was born to a Jewish family in Kolberg\, Poland on May 14th\, 1868. A fter completing his studies\, Hirschfeld lived in the United States for ei ght months.\n\nWhile in Chicago\, Hirschfeld\, himself a homosexual\, note d a strong similarity between the gay subculture between that city and Ber lin\, leading him to a theory of universality of homosexuality in the huma n condition.\n\nHirschfeld became interested in gay rights because many of his gay patients took their own lives. He was struck by the number of his gay patients who had "Suizidalnarben" (scars left by suicide attempts)\, and often found himself trying to give his patients a reason to live.\n\nD uring the Harden-Eulenburg affair of 1906-09\, a prominent sex scandal in Imperial Germany\, Hirschfeld testified "homosexuality was part of the pla n of nature and creation just like normal love"\, causing a national scand al.\n\nHirschfeld developed a system which categorized 64 possible types o f sexual intermediary\, including those he described under the term "trans vestite"\, which he coined in 1910\, and those he described under the term "transsexuals"\, a term he coined in 1923. Hirschfeld and the Institute f or Sexual Sciences issued a number of transvestite passes to trans people in order to prevent them from being harassed by the police.\n\nHirschfeld co-wrote and acted in the 1919 film "Anders als die Andern" (English: "Dif ferent From the Others")\, in which Conrad Veidt played one of the first h omosexual characters ever written for cinema. The film had a specific gay rights law reform agenda\; after Veidt's character is blackmailed by a mal e prostitute\, he eventually comes out rather than continuing to make the blackmail payments. His career is destroyed and he is driven to suicide.\n \nLess than four months after the Nazis took power in 1933\, Hirschfeld's Institute was sacked. On the morning of May 6th\, a group of university st udents who belonged to the National Socialist Student League stormed the i nstitution\, shouting "Burn Hirschfeld!" and began to beat up its staff an d smash up the premises.\n\nThe state seized the Institution's library and held a book burning event four days later. Berlin police arrived at the i nstitution and announced that it was closed forever. Hirschfeld\, out of t he country at the time\, became a political exile and never returned to Ge rmany.\n\nIn 1896\, one of Hirschfeld's patients\, a young army officer st ruggling with his homosexuality\, killed himself. In his suicide note\, th e officer stated: "The thought that you [Hirschfeld] could contribute a fu ture when the German fatherland will think of us in more just terms sweete ns the hour of my death." RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnus_Hirschfeld RESOURCES:https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/magnus-hirschf eld-2 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Charles Horman (1942 - 1973) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250515 DTEND:20250516T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Marxism,Birthdays,Journalism,Fascism,Protests COMMENT:Charles Horman\, born on this day in 1942\, was an American journa list\, anti-war activist\, and documentary filmmaker who was executed by C hilean fascists in 1973 following the CIA-backed coup against socialist Pr esident Salvador Allende. DESCRIPTION:Charles Horman\, born on this day in 1942\, was an American jo urnalist\, anti-war activist\, and documentary filmmaker who was executed by Chilean fascists in 1973 following the CIA-backed coup against socialis t President Salvador Allende.\n\nHorman was born in New York City on May 1 5th\, 1942\, graduating from Phillips Exeter Academy in 1960 and Harvard i n 1964. He was an active anti-war protester\, present at the 1968 DNC prot ests and producing an award winning documentary titled "Napalm". He also w orked as an investigative journalist for publications such as The Nation a nd The Christian Science Monitor.\n\nIn December 1971\, Charles and his wi fe Joyce left the U.S. for Latin America\, eventually settling down in San tiago\, Chile\, where he worked as a freelance writer.\n\nOn September 11t h\, 1973\, fascists led by Augusto Pinochet and the CIA ousted democratica lly elected Marxist President Salvador Allende. In the following weeks\, m any prominent left-wing activists\, such as Flora Sanhueza\, Victor Jara\, and Frank Teruggi\, were arrested and killed.\n\nHorman himself was arres ted on September 16th\, seized from his home by Chilean soldiers and taken to the National Stadium\, which had been turned into a de facto concentra tion camp following the coup. There\, Horman was executed on September 19t h (some sources say 18th)\, 1973.\n\nDocuments declassified by the Clinton administration in 1999 indicate the U.S. knew of Horman's plight but init ially obfuscated investigations into his death. They also indicated that i t was unlikely Horman would have been killed without the knowledge and per mission of the CIA.\n\nIn June 2014\, a Chilean court ruled that US author ities had played a "fundamental" role in Horman's murder. In January 2015\ , two former Chilean intelligence officials were sentenced to jail in Chil e for the murders of Charles Horman and Frank Teruggi\, another American a ctivist who was also arrested\, executed the following day. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Horman RESOURCES:http://www.derechos.org/nizkor/chile/libros/reporter/capII15.htm l END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Nairobi General Strike (1950) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250515 DTEND:20250516T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,General Strikes COMMENT:On this day in 1950\, a general strike in Nairobi\, Kenya began af ter two trade union leaders were arrested\, paralyzing airport travel and public services and leading to the state arresting labor organizers en mas se. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1950\, a general strike in Nairobi\, Kenya bega n after two trade union leaders were arrested\, paralyzing airport travel and public services and leading to the state arresting labor organizers en masse.\n\nThe Nairobi General Strike was the culmination of Kenya's post war strike wave and urban upheaval\, also coming on the heels of a general strike in Mombasa in 1947\, led by the African Workers Federation (AWF).\ n\nIn the decade leading up to the strike\, Nairobi's population more than doubled to at least 100\,000\, mostly attributable to wartime migration i nto the city. This was fueled by serious problems of landlessness in the K ikuyu reserves\, which were pushing out increasing numbers of ahoi. The la nd litigation cases that followed\, especially in Kiambu\, saw the losers becoming either workers in their former lands\, now owned by the growing e lite of commercial farmers\, or simply leaving for Nairobi.\n\nOn the morn ing of May 15th\, Fred Kubai and Makhan Singh\, leaders in the East Africa n Trades Union Congress (EATCU)\, were arrested by and charged with being officers of an unregistered trade union refusing to dissolve within the th ree month notification period.\n\nLater the same day\, members of the EATC U declared a general strike to begin on the 16th\, but by evening a genera l strike was already in effect all over Nairobi.\n\nThe strike paralyzed a irport travel\, public services\, and greatly limited commercial business. Strike leadership called off the action after a week's worth of protest\, disseminating a return-to-work order for May 25th.\n\nIn the aftermath of the strike\, the power of trade unions was diminished with the government arresting thousands of their members. Despite this setback\, the labor mo vement in Kenya was not broken and continued to gain momentum in the follo wing decade. RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/library/nairobi-general-strike-1950-protest-i nsurgency RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1950_Nairobi_general_strike END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Nakba Day (1948) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250515 DTEND:20250516T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:The Nakba\, commemorated annually on this day as "Nakba Day"\, was the destruction of Palestinian society and homeland in 1948 following Isr ael's creation. Nakba Day protests take place around the world and have be en attacked by Israel. DESCRIPTION:The Nakba\, commemorated annually on this day as "Nakba Day"\, was the destruction of Palestinian society and homeland in 1948 following Israel's creation. Nakba Day protests take place around the world and hav e been attacked by Israel.\n\nThe foundational events of the Nakba took pl ace during and shortly after the 1947-1949 Palestine war\, including 78% o f Mandatory Palestine being declared as Israel\, the exodus of 700\,000 Pa lestinians\, the depopulation and destruction of over 500 Palestinian vill ages and subsequent geographical erasure\, the denial of the Palestinian r ight of return\, and the creation of permanent\, stateless Palestinian ref ugees.\n\nAlthough May 15th had been used as an unofficial commemoration o f the Nakba since 1949\, Nakba Day was formalized in 1998 after Yasser Ara fat proposed that Palestinians should mark the 50th anniversary of the Nak ba during the First Intifada.\n\nThe Nakba was a key event in the developm ent of Palestinian culture and is a foundational symbol of Palestinian ide ntity\, along with "Handala"\, a ten-year old cartoon character developed by Naji al-Ali\; the keffiyeh\, a checkered black and white scarf worn aro und the head\; and the "symbolic key" (many Palestinian refugees have kept the keys to the homes they were forced to flee).\n\nOn Nakba Day 2011\, P alestinians and other Arabs from the West Bank\, the Gaza Strip\, Lebanon\ , and Syria marched towards their respective borders\, or ceasefire lines and checkpoints in Israeli-occupied territories\, to mark the event. At le ast twelve Palestinians and supporters were killed and hundreds wounded as a result of shootings by the Israeli Army.\n\n"In resisting the Nakba\, t he Palestinians have struck at the heart of the Zionist project that insis ts that the Nakba be seen as a past event. In resisting Israel\, Palestini ans have forced the world to witness the Nakba as present action\; one tha t\, contrary to Zionist wisdom\, is indeed reversible." - Palestinian scho lar Joseph Massad RESOURCES:https://www.palquest.org/en/highlight/160/nakba RESOURCES:https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/5/15/nakba-day-for-palestini ans-not-just-an-historical-event RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nakba END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Sid Hatfield (1891 - 1921) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250515 DTEND:20250516T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays COMMENT:William "Sid" Hatfield\, born on this day in 1891\, was a police c hief of Matewan\, West Virginia who helped organizing miners resist the un ion-busting Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency. For this\, Hatfield was assass inated in 1921. DESCRIPTION:William "Sid" Hatfield\, born on this day in 1891\, was a poli ce chief of Matewan\, West Virginia who helped organizing miners resist th e union-busting Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency. For this\, Hatfield was as sassinated in 1921.\n\nHatfield is most known for his role in "The Battle of Matewan"\, a shootout between Hatfield\, armed miners\, and Baldwin-Fel ts agents that killed ten people. The shootout occurred when Hatfield and Albert Felts (of the Detective Agency) tried to arrest each other\, which culminated in Hatfield killing Felts.\n\nHatfield and another defendant\, Ed Chambers\, were later assassinated by Baldwin-Felts agents while standi ng trial for murder\, which increased the tensions between coal miners and company owners. The agents were acquitted on the basis of self-defense de spite the fact that both Hatfield and Chambers were unarmed. RESOURCES:https://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/1576 RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sid_Hatfield END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:U.S. Occupation of the Dominican Republic (1916) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250515 DTEND:20250516T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1916\, the first U.S. invasion of the Dominican Rep ublic began when Marines landed in Santo Domingo. U.S. forces withdrew in 1924 on condition that the U.S. government could manage subsequent electio ns in the country. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1916\, the first U.S. invasion of the Dominican Republic began when Marines landed in Santo Domingo. U.S. forces withdrew in 1924 on condition that the U.S. government could manage subsequent ele ctions in the country.\n\nThe marines arrived with the goal of offering pr otection to the U.S. Legation and the U.S. Consulate\, and to occupy the F ort San Geronimo. Within hours\, these two companies were reinforced with seven additional companies.\n\nTwo days later\, the President of the Domin ican Republic\, Juan Isidro Jimenes\, resigned. The U.S. took control of t he country and began imposing military rule on November 29th\, 1916.\n\nA guerrilla movement\, known as the "gavilleros"\, with leaders such as Gene ral Ramón Natera\, enjoyed considerable support from the population in th e eastern provinces of El Seibo and San Pedro de Macorís. Having knowledg e of the local terrain\, they fought against the occupation from 1917 to 1 921.\n\nDominican control of the island returned in 1924\, when the U.S. g overnment agreed to withdraw on condition of holding elections with Americ an oversight and the acceptance of American officers into the Dominican Na tional Guard.\n\nSoon after\, dictator Rafael Trujillo would begin his fir st eight year reign over the country\, waging a brutal and violent suppres sion of the domestic population and promoting a form of prejudice against Haitians known as "Antihaitianismo". RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_occupation_of_the_Do minican_Republic_(1916%E2%80%931924) RESOURCES:https://www.thoughtco.com/us-occupation-of-the-dominican-republi c-2136380 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Western Federation of Miners Founded (1893) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250515 DTEND:20250516T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,IWW COMMENT:On this day in 1893\, the Western Federation of Miners (WFM) was f ounded\, becoming a radical labor union that produced labor leaders such a s Vincent St. John and "Big Bill" Haywood. The WFM later played a key role in founding the IWW. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1893\, the Western Federation of Miners (WFM) w as founded\, becoming a radical labor union that produced labor leaders su ch as Vincent St. John and "Big Bill" Haywood. The WFM later played a key role in founding the IWW.\n\nIts efforts to organize both hard rock miners and smelter workers brought it into militant conflicts - often pitched ba ttles - with both employers and state authorities. The WFM was one of the key factions in the Colorado Coal Wars.\n\nAlthough the WFM was always mil itant\, it did not adopt an explicitly socialist platform until 1901. "Big Bill" Haywood\, who had joined the WFM as a secretary\, was a prominent m ember during this period.\n\nThe WFM played a role in founding the Industr ial Workers of the World (IWW) in 1905\, however the split between revolut ionaries and reformists led to the WFM withdrawing from the organization s everal years later and joining the American Federation of Labor (AFL).\n\n Because of this\, Haywood and notable labor leader Vincent St. John quit t he WFM and began channeling their efforts through the IWW instead. RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/glossary/orgs/w/e.htm RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Federation_of_Miners RESOURCES:https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/western-federation-mine rs RESOURCES:https://progressive.org/latest/Cripple-Creek-1894-Mining-strike- 180209/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Adrienne Rich (1929 - 2012) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250516 DTEND:20250517T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Queer COMMENT:Adrienne Cecile Rich\, born on this day in 1929\, was a queer Amer ican poet\, essayist\, and feminist. "False history gets made all day\, an y day\, the truth of the new is never on the news." DESCRIPTION:Adrienne Cecile Rich\, born on this day in 1929\, was a queer American poet\, essayist and feminist. She was called "one of America's fo remost public intellectuals" by the Poetry Foundation and is credited with bringing "the oppression of women and lesbians to the forefront of poetic discourse" by the New York Times.\n\nRich criticized rigid forms of femin ist identities\, and valorized what she coined the "lesbian continuum"\, w hich is a female continuum of solidarity and creativity that impacts and f ills women's lives. Notable works by Rich include "On Lies\, Secrets\, and Silence" (1979)\, "Blood\, Bread\, and Poetry: Selected Prose" (1986)\, a nd "The Dream of a Common Language" (1978).\n\n"False history gets made al l day\, any day\, the truth of the new is never on the news."\n\n- Adrienn e Rich RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrienne_Rich RESOURCES:https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/mar/29/adrienne-rich-poet -essayist-dies END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Battle of Alamance (1771) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250516 DTEND:20250517T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Colonialism COMMENT:On this day in 1771\, the North Carolina "Regulator" movement\, a poor peasant uprising in colonial America\, was crushed by the North Carol ina militia in a clash known as the Battle of Alamance. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1771\, the North Carolina "Regulator" movement\ , a poor peasant uprising in colonial America\, was crushed by the North C arolina militia in a clash known as the Battle of Alamance.\n\nThe War of the Regulation was an uprising in British America's Carolina colonies\, la sting from about 1765 to 1771\, in which citizens took up arms against col onial officials\, whom they viewed as corrupt\, saying that "their highest study is the promotion of their wealth".\n\nHistorian Howard Zinn has arg ued that the Regulator Movement was a form of class conflict\, as the Regu lators described themselves as poor peasants\, oppressed by the wealthier classes.\n\nThe battle was fought by more than 2\,000 rebels and 1\,000 mi litiamen\, resulting in the deaths of at least 35 people and defeat for th e Regulators.\n\nAfter the battle\, state militia traveled through Regulat or territory\, compelling Regulators and their sympathizers to sign loyalt y oaths and destroying property of the most active members. RESOURCES:https://www.historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/zinntyr4.html RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulator_Movement END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Catonsville Nine (1968) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250517 DTEND:20250518T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:The Catonsville Nine were a group of Catholic activists who\, on t his day in 1968\, seized 378 draft files from a local draft board\, dumped them in the parking lot\, burned them with homemade napalm\, and were pro mptly arrested by police. DESCRIPTION:The Catonsville Nine were a group of Catholic activists who\, on this day in 1968\, seized 378 draft files from a local draft board\, du mped them in the parking lot\, burned them with homemade napalm\, and were promptly arrested by police.\n\nThey were found guilty of destruction of U.S. property\, destruction of Selective Service files\, and interference with the Selective Service Act of 1967. The group was sentenced to a colle ctive 18 years in jail and a fine of $22\,000.\n\nSeveral of the nine - Ma ry Moylan\, Phil Berrigan\, Dan Berrigan and George Mische - fled before t heir prison sentence\, forcing the FBI to hunt them down. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catonsville_Nine RESOURCES:http://www.catonsville9.org/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Theresa Garnett (1888 - 1966) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250517 DTEND:20250518T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Feminism,Birthdays,Protests COMMENT:Theresa Garnett\, born on this day in 1888\, was a militant Britis h suffragette whose acts of feminist rebellion included assaulting Winston Churchill with a whip\, shouting "Take that in the name of the insulted w omen of England!" DESCRIPTION:Theresa Garnett\, born on this day in 1888\, was a militant Br itish suffragette whose acts of feminist rebellion included assaulting Win ston Churchill with a whip\, shouting "Take that in the name of the insult ed women of England!"\n\nGarnett was born in Leeds on May 17th\, 1888. In 1907\, she joined the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) after bein g inspired by a speech given by the feminist and later co-founder of the A ustralian Communist Party Adela Pankhurst.\n\nThe WSPU fought for women's suffrage in the United Kingdom and was noted for its use of direct action. Its members heckled politicians\, held demonstrations and marches\, broke the law to force arrests\, broke windows in prominent buildings\, set fir e to post boxes\, committed night-time arson of unoccupied houses and chur ches\, and\, when imprisoned\, went on hunger strike and endured physicall y traumatizing force-feeding.\n\nGarnett participated in several of these actions as a young adult\, chaining herself in 1909\, along with four othe r activists\, to a statue in Parliament in protest of a law meant to prohi bit disorderly conduct while Parliament was in session.\n\nOn November 14t h\, 1909\, Garnett assaulted Winston Churchill\, who instituted policies o f force feeding suffragettes in prison\, with a whip\, striking him severa l times while shouting "Take that in the name of the insulted women of Eng land!" RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theresa_Garnett RESOURCES:https://spartacus-educational.com/WgarnettT.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Uchiyama Gudō (1874 - 1911) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250517 DTEND:20250518T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Socialism,Birthdays COMMENT:Uchiyama Gudō\, born on this day in 1874\, was a socialist Buddhi st priest who opposed Japanese imperialism\, oligarchic land ownership\, a nd the rule of the Emperor. He was executed by the state in 1911 during th e "High Treason Incident". DESCRIPTION:Uchiyama Gudō\, born on this day in 1874\, was a socialist Bu ddhist priest who opposed Japanese imperialism\, oligarchic land ownership \, and the rule of the Emperor. He was executed by the state in 1911 durin g the "High Treason Incident".\n\nGudō was ordained as a Soto Zen priest in 1897. In 1904\, he became the abbot of Rinsenji temple in a poor area o f a rural region of the Hakone Mountains. Village tradition states that ev ery autumn Gudō would invite poor villagers to divide the harvest from th e temple's only two trees equally among themselves.\n\nGudō was a self-id entified socialist and outspoken advocate for redistributive land reform\, overturning the Meiji emperor system\, encouraging conscripts to desert e n masse\, and advancing democratic rights for all. He also criticized Zen leaders who claimed that low social position was justified by karma.\n\nOn e of Gudō's most widely read and circulated works was a scathing denuncia tion of the Imperial Japanese government. Contradicting official state doc trine\, he argued that the Emperors of the Imperial family were neither di vine nor the destined rulers of Japan\, and that their ancestors "came for th from a corner of Kyushu\, killing and robbing people as they did. They then destroyed their fellow thieves."\n\nDue to the popularity of Gudō's subversive publications\, he was arrested in May 1909 and charged with vio lating press and publication laws. When police uncovered an alleged social ist plot to assassinate the Emperor (known as the "High Treason Incident") \, Gudō was accused of being a co-conspirator.\n\nIn 1911\, he\, along wi th eleven other socialists\, were convicted and executed. In July 1909\, b efore Gudō's conviction\, officials of the Sōtō Zen sect revoked Gudō' sabbotship.\n\n"When I began reading the Heimin Shimbun at that time [1904 ]\, I realized that its principles were identical with my own and therefor e I became an anarcho-socialist."\n\n- Uchiyama Gudō RESOURCES:https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/daizen-uchiyama-gudo RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uchiyama_Gud%C5%8D END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Augusto Sandino (1895 - 1934) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250518 DTEND:20250519T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:Augusto César Sandino\, born on this day in 1895\, was a Nicaragu an revolutionary and leader of a working class rebellion against the U.S. military occupation of Nicaragua between 1927 and 1933. DESCRIPTION:Augusto César Sandino\, born on this day in 1895\, was a Nica raguan revolutionary and leader of a working class rebellion against the U .S. military occupation of Nicaragua between 1927 and 1933. Despite U.S. M arines attempting to find Sandino for years\, he was never captured by U.S . forces.\n\nOn February 21th\, 1934\, Sandino attended a round of talks w ith Sacasa\, the newly elected Nicaraguan President. Upon leaving Sacasa's Presidential Palace\, Sandino and five others were stopped in their car a t the main gate by local National Guardsmen and were ordered to leave thei r car.\n\nThe National Guardsmen\, acting on orders from future Nicaraguan dictator Anastasio Somoza García\, took Sandino\, his brother Socrates\, and his two generals to a crossroads section in Larreynaga and executed t hem.\n\nAlthough Sandino was called a "bandit" by the United States govern ment\, his guerilla style warfare against U.S. forces made him a hero thro ughout much of Latin America\, where he became a symbol of resistance to U nited States imperialism.\n\nSandino's life served as an inspiration to bo th Che Guevara and Fidel Castro\, and the Sandinista National Liberation F ront\, a revolutionary socialist party that overthrew the Somoza dynasty i n 1979\, is named in his honor. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augusto_C%C3%A9sar_Sandino RESOURCES:https://www.nicaragua.com/blog/nicaragua-augusto-sandino-nationa l-hero/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Cincinnati Time Store Opens (1827) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250518 DTEND:20250519T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Anarchism COMMENT:On this day in 1827\, anarchist polymath Josiah Warren opened the Cincinnati Time Store\, a store whose products could be purchased directly with labor power\, one of the first practical applications of mutualist e conomic concepts. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1827\, anarchist polymath Josiah Warren opened the Cincinnati Time Store\, a store whose products could be purchased dire ctly with labor power\, one of the first practical applications of mutuali st economic concepts.\n\nJosiah Warren (1798 - 1874) was an American indiv idualist anarchist\, inventor\, musician\, printer\, and author. Although he never used the term anarchism himself\, Warren is sometimes credited as being the first American anarchist.\n\nWarren's Cincinnati Time Store use d "labor notes"\, where the customer purchased a good by agreeing to repro duce the amount of labor time it took to create it\, plus a small increase to accommodate the overhead of the store.\n\nAlthough the store was succe ssful\, Warren closed it after three years to create two communities based on the same mutualist foundation: Utopia\, Ohio\, and Modern Times\, New York. Warren's concepts were influential on later anarchists\, such as Ben jamin Tucker and Émile Armand. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cincinnati_Time_Store RESOURCES:https://www.scribd.com/document/32919811/The-Cincinnati-Time-Sto re-As-An-Historical-Precedent-For-Societal-Change END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Gwangju Uprising (1980) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250518 DTEND:20250519T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1980\, the Gwangju Uprising began when 200 South Ko rean students clashed with the army\, a protest that quickly escalated int o more than 10\,000 citizens battling with state forces and seizing the ci ty of Gwangju. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1980\, the Gwangju Uprising began when 200 Sout h Korean students clashed with the army\, a protest that quickly escalated into more than 10\,000 citizens battling with state forces and seizing th e city of Gwangju.\n\nThe uprising took place in the context of anti-democ ratic repression by the government of Chun Doo-hwan\, who had declared an extensive martial law\, closing universities\, banning political activitie s\, and heavily censoring the press. On May 18th\, two hundred students ga thered at the gate of Chonnam National University in defiance of its closi ng\, clashing with thirty paratroopers.\n\nThe protest was violently subdu ed\, and the first fatality of the repression was a 29-year old deaf man w ho had simply been passing by. In response\, the population rebelled en ma sse\, with more than 10\,000 protesters joining the students over the next few days.\n\nAs the protests grew\, so did state repression and an increa singly militant civilian response to it. By May 21st\, civilian militias w ere engaging in full-blown battles with the army. After the civilian milit ias acquired and began using light machine guns\, the army retreated and p rotesters temporarily gained control of Gwangju.\n\nThe rebellion was sust ained until being defeated by force on May 27th. There is no official deat h toll for the uprising\; figures vary from the low hundreds to more than two thousand dead. Regardless\, the recorded deaths in the month of May we re 2\,300 higher than average. Nearly 1\,400 were arrested for involvement in the Gwangju incident\, and 427 were indicted.\n\nIn May 2020\, 40 year s after the uprising\, the independent "May 18 Democratization Movement Tr uth Commission" was launched to investigate the crackdown and use of milit ary force. Under legislation passed in 2018\, it would operate for two yea rs\, with a one-year extension allowed if necessary. RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/1980-the-kwangju-uprising RESOURCES:https://roarmag.org/magazine/katsiaficas-paris-commune-gwangju-u prising/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Boston Bread Riot (1713) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250519 DTEND:20250520T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Riots COMMENT:On this day in 1713\, two hundred people rioted on the Boston Comm on\, attacking the ships and warehouses of Andrew Belcher\, a wealthy capi talist who had been exporting grain to the Caribbean during a domestic foo d shortage. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1713\, two hundred people rioted on the Boston Common\, attacking the ships and warehouses of Andrew Belcher\, a wealthy capitalist who had been exporting grain to the Caribbean during a domestic food shortage. When the lieutenant governor tried to intervene\, the crow d shot him.\n\nBelcher had been exporting grain to the Caribbean for years because the profit was greater there. The 1713 riot was one of three brea d riots in Boston between 1710 - 1713\, when poor and hungry people would raid and attack the stores of grain to be exported. RESOURCES:https://www.historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/zinnvil3.html RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Bread_riot END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Daniel Guerin (1904 - 1988) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250519 DTEND:20250520T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Socialism,Labor,Marxism,Anarchism,Queer,Fascism COMMENT:Daniel Guerin\, born on this day in 1904\, was a French libertaria n communist author\, opponent of colonialism\, and pioneering activist for queer liberation. DESCRIPTION:Daniel Guerin\, born on this day in 1904\, was a French libert arian communist and pioneering activist for queer liberation.\n\nBorn to a wealthy liberal Parisian family\, Guerin worked as a bookseller in Syria and Lebanon in the late 1920s\, where he began to develop leftist sympathi es after witnessing the brutalities of French colonialism.\n\nAs a young m an\, Guerin also traveled across French Indochina\, visiting present-day V ietnam\, Cambodia\, and Laos. On the journey over\, he studied works by so cialist theorists\, including Marx\, Proudhon\, and Lenin.\n\nAfter return ing to France in 1930\, Guerin moved into a working class neighborhood and began writing for and directly involving himself with syndicalist and rev olutionary socialist groups. \n\nWhile initially drawn to Lenin and Trotsk y\, he soon came to reject vanguardism in favor of a more libertarian appr oach\, writing "I concluded…that socialism must rid itself of the fake n otion of the 'dictatorship of the proletariat' in order to rediscover its libertarian authenticity".\n\nGuerin was also a committed anti-fascist. In his 1936 text "Fascism and Big Business"\, Guerin explores the connection s between the fascist regimes in Italy and Germany\, and their ties to loc al capitalist classes.\n\nIn 1940\, Guerin was detained by occupying Nazi forces in Oslo. Upon release\, he managed to return to France in 1942.\n\n In the late 1940s\, Guerin spent some time residing in the United States\, continuing his writing there. He wrote of the American labor movement and the black liberation struggle more broadly.\n\nAlthough Guerin would ofte n directly relate his radicalization to his sexuality\, he lived much of h is life at a time when the workers' movement\, like society at large\, ten ded towards homophobic attitudes.\n\nIn 1955\, Guerin wrote a text on the studies of American sexologist Alfred Kinsey where he began to openly argu e for change\, stating: "The vicious circle will only be broken when progr essive workers adopt both a more scientific and a more humane attitude tow ards homosexuality". \n\nFor this stance\, Guerin was attacked by many por tions of the left\, including the Communist Party of France (PCF). In 1965 \, in rejection of his detractors\, Guerin came out\, becoming one of the first openly gay communist figures in France.\n\nGuerin's politics continu ed to evolve\, and he would variously describe himself as either an anarch ist or a Libertarian Marxist. From 1955\, he was a member of the group Nou velle Gauche\, which would go throw a series of mergers before becoming pa rt of the Unified Socialist Party in 1960.\n\nIn 1963\, Guerin presented a report on workers' self-management to Ahmed Ben Bella\, the first Preside nt of Algeria following successful war for independence against France. He later opposed the military junta that overthrew Ben Bella in 1965.\n\nGue rin was an active participant of the May 68 uprising in France. Aside from the event's obvious broader political and revolutionary significance\, th is period marked an opening for significant changes in social attitudes - including towards homosexuality. On May 68\, Guerin wrote "in contesting c lass society more broadly\, they’re [homosexuals] led to unmask their se xuality against the ‘hetero-police’ at the same time as they fight for the Revolution".\n\nAmong Guerin's works are Anarchism: From Theory to Pr actice\, No Gods No Masters: An Anthology of Anarchism\, Autobiography of Youth\, and Fire in the Blood.\n\nGuerin continued writing and political a ctivity in later years\, joining the Union des Travailleurs Communistes Li bertaires. He remained a member until his death in 1988.\n\n"The fact that I am married\, a father\, a grandfather\, bisexual\, homosexual\, this ex plosive whole\, it seems to me that this is what I must leave behind as th e final expression of my life as a writer and as a man."\n\n- Daniel Gueri n RESOURCES:https://autonomies.org/2017/10/for-daniel-guerin/ RESOURCES:https://www.danielguerin.info/tiki-index.php?page=EN+Against+all +forms+of+oppression RESOURCES:https://files.libcom.org/files/4799.pdf RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Gu%C3%A9rin END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Hồ Chí Minh (1890 - 1969) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250519 DTEND:20250520T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Birthdays,Independence COMMENT:Hồ Chí Minh\, born on this day in 1890\, was a communist revolu tionary who Việt Minh independence leader\, serving as President of Nort h Vietnam from 1945-1969. "To reap a return in 10 years\, plant trees. To reap one in 100\, cultivate the people." DESCRIPTION:Hồ Chí Minh\, born on this day in 1890\, was a communist re volutionary and author who led the Việt Minh independence movement\, ser ving as President of North Vietnam from 1945 to 1969. He also served as Ch airman and First Secretary of the Workers' Party of Vietnam.\n\nBecause he spent 30 years traveling the world in his youth\, Hồ could speak fluent ly as well as read and write in Vietnamese\, French\, English\, Russian\, Cantonese\, and Mandarin.\n\nIn the 1920s\, he was bureau chief/editor of many newspapers which he established to criticize French Colonial Governme nt of Indochina and promote communist propaganda. Publications included "L e Paria" (The Pariah)\, published in Paris\, and "Thanh Nien" (Youth).\n\n Hồ Chí Minh led the Việt Minh independence movement from 1941 onward\ , establishing the Communist-ruled Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North V ietnam) in 1945\, and defeating the French Union in 1954 at the Battle of Điện Biên Phủ\, ending the First Indochina War.\n\nHe was a key figu re in the People's Army of Vietnam and the Việt Cộng during the Vietna m War\, which lasted from 1955 to 1975. North Vietnam was victorious and w as reunified with the Republic of South Vietnam (South Vietnam) a few year s after Hồ's death\, in 1976.\n\n"To reap a return in 10 years\, plant t rees. To reap a return in 100\, cultivate the people."\n\n- Hồ Chí Minh RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ho_Chi_Minh RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/ho-chi-minh/index.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Malcolm X (1925 - 1965) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250519 DTEND:20250520T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays COMMENT:Malcolm X\, born on this day in 1925\, was a revolutionary civil r ights leader who advocated for black liberation by "any means necessary". "Nobody can give you freedom. Nobody can give you equality or justice. If you're a man you take it." DESCRIPTION:Malcolm X\, born on this day in 1925\, was a revolutionary civ il rights leader who advocated for black liberation by "any means necessar y".\n\nBorn Malcolm Little\, he spent his youth living in a series of fost er homes and engaging in petty crime\, eventually serving six years in pri son for larceny and breaking and entering.\n\nWhile in prison\, Malcolm jo ined the Nation of Islam (NOI) and adopted the surname "X" to acknowledge his unknown African ancestral name. Malcolm quickly became a leader with t he NOI and was paroled in 1952\, beginning a period of radical advocacy fo r black liberation.\n\nIn the 1960s\, Malcolm X broke with the Nation of I slam\, growing disillusioned with its leader Elijah Muhammed. During his 1 964 pilgrimage to Mecca\, he witnessed Muslims of "all colors\, from blue- eyed blonds to black-skinned Africans" treat each other as equals in worsh ip. Because of this\, Malcolm X became convinced that Islam could be used as a means to achieve racial equality.\n\nOn February 21st\, 1965\, Malcol m was assassinated in New York City. Three Nation members were charged wit h the murder and given indeterminate life sentences. Two of these men\, Mu hammed Abdul Aziz and Khalil Islam\, were exonerated in 2021 after a 22-mo nth investigation by the Manhattan District Attorney found that evidence o f their innocence\, including FBI documents\, was withheld at trial.\n\nTh e Shabazz family are among those who have accused Louis Farrakhan of invol vement in Malcolm X's assassination. In 1994\, Betty Shabazz was asked if she thought Farrakhan had anything to do with her late husband's death. Sh e replied "Of course\, yes. Nobody kept it a secret. It was a badge of hon or. Everybody talked about it\, yes."\n\nIn the wake of his assassination\ , capitalist press vilified Malcolm X\, while media in Africa\, China\, an d Cuba lauded him as a hero and a martyr. The New York Times wrote that Ma lcolm X was "an extraordinary and twisted man" who "turn[ed] many true gif ts to evil purpose"\, while Time magazine condemned him "an unashamed dema gogue" whose "creed was violence."\n\nIn contrast\, The Ghanaian Times ide ntified Malcolm X as among "a host of Africans and Americans who were mart yred in freedom's cause." In China\, the People's Daily described him as a martyr killed by "ruling circles and racists" whose death illustrated tha t "in dealing with imperialist oppressors\, violence must be met with viol ence."\n\nIn 2023\, The Guardian reported that the Shabazz family announce d their plans to sue the FBI\, New York Police\, and other agencies over M alcom X's death. Ilyasah Shabazz\, the third daughter of Malcolm X and Bet ty Shabazz\, announced that new information indicates federal and state ag encies “conspired to and executed their plan to assassinate”. Ilyasah added "For years\, our family has fought for the truth to come to light co ncerning his murder and we’d like our father to receive the justice that he deserves."\n\n"Nobody can give you freedom. Nobody can give you equali ty or justice or anything. If you're a man\, you take it."\n\n- Malcolm X RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malcolm_X RESOURCES:https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/17/us/malcolm-x-killing-men-exonerat ed/index.html RESOURCES:https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/feb/22/malcolm-x-sue-fb i-nypd-assassination RESOURCES:https://edisciplinas.usp.br/pluginfile.php/531360/mod_resource/c ontent/1/Malcolm_X_Speaks.pdf RESOURCES:https://antilogicalism.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/malcom-x.p df END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Mark Ashton (1960 - 1987) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250519 DTEND:20250520T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Birthdays,Queer COMMENT:Mark Ashton\, born on this day in 1960\, was a British communist\, gay rights activist\, and co-founder of the Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners (LGSM) group. He passed away from an AIDS-related illness at the a ge of 26. DESCRIPTION:Mark Ashton\, born on this day in 1960\, was a British communi st\, gay rights activist\, and co-founder of the Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners (LGSM) group. He passed away from an AIDS-related illness at t he age of 26.\n\nAshton was born on May 19th\, 1960 and grew up in Portrus h\, County Antrim\, Northern Ireland. In 1982\, he began volunteering with the London Lesbian and Gay Switchboard\, supported the Campaign for Nucle ar Disarmament\, and joined the Young Communist League\, later serving as its general secretary.\n\nIn 1984\, with his friend Mike Jackson\, Ashton co-founded the Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners (LGSM) support group a fter the two men collected donations for striking miners at the London Les bian and Gay Pride march that year.\n\nDiagnosed with HIV/AIDS\, Ashton wa s admitted to Guy's Hospital on January 30th\, 1987 and died 12 days later of Pneumocystis pneumonia. His death prompted a significant response from the gay community\, in both writing and attendance of his funeral at Lamb eth Cemetery.\n\nThe LGSM's activities were dramatized in the 2014 film "P ride"\, however the film completely omitted Ashton's participation in the Communist Party.\n\n"I had to question the morals and the ideas that socie ty had put there for me to follow. What they wanted me to be was a little straight boy\, getting married\, settling down\, having kids...If that's w hat they say about sexuality\, then what about the rest of life? And I sta rted to see that basically the whole country is not geared for the people. It's geared for the few people who're making money out of it."\n\n- Mark Ashton RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Ashton RESOURCES:https://lgbtlawyers.co.uk/2021/02/23/mark-ashton-life-and-legacy / END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:The Battle of Matewan (1920) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250519 DTEND:20250520T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Assassinations COMMENT:On this day in 1920\, Baldwin-Felts agents were met with armed res istance from local miners after serving eviction notices in Matewan\, West Virginia\, leading to the "Battle of Matewan"\, in which seven of the age nts were killed. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1920\, Baldwin-Felts agents were met with armed resistance from local miners after serving eviction notices in Matewan\, West Virginia\, leading to the "Battle of Matewan"\, in which seven of the agents were killed.\n\nThe Baldwin-Felts agents had arrived that morning to evict several families from their company homes. When the agents attemp ted to leave town that evening\, they were stopped by Matewan Police Chief Sid Hatfield\, who claimed to have arrest warrants from the county sherif f.\n\nThe agents then produced their own warrant for Sid Hatfield's arrest \, however the Matewan Mayor Cabell Testerman declared it fake upon inspec tion. While this discussion was happening\, the group was quietly surround ed by armed miners\, who were watching while hidden in buildings along the street.\n\nGunfire broke out (it is unknown which group fired first)\, an d ten people were killed in the subsequent fighting. Seven of the agents a nd the Mayor Cabell were killed. Hatfield\, however\, survived and was imm ediately regarded as a hero by the coal miners.\n\nHatfield was later assa ssinated while standing trial for murder by other Baldwin-Felts agents\, w ho successfully claimed self-defense\, despite the fact he was unarmed whi le gunned down on the courthouse steps.\n\nThe incident inflamed tensions between either side. Six months after Hatfield's assassination\, the Battl e of Blair Mountain took place when more than 10\,000 miners took up arms against the state. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Matewan RESOURCES:https://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/1576 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Earl Browder (1891 - 1973) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250520 DTEND:20250521T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Birthdays,Fascism COMMENT:Earl Russell Browder\, born on this day in 1891\, was an American political activist\, author\, and leader within the Communist Party USA (C PUSA)\, serving as its General Secretary from 1930 to 1945. DESCRIPTION:Earl Russell Browder\, born on this day in 1891\, was an Ameri can political activist\, author\, and leader within the Communist Party US A (CPUSA)\, serving as its General Secretary from 1930 to 1945.\n\nBrowder 's primary political rival within the Party was William Z. Foster\; the tw o sharply disagreed on what the organization's stance towards the Roosevel t administration should be. Foster was the more radical of the two\, while Browder endorsed Roosevelt's "New Deal"\, offering critical support to hi s administration.\n\nBrowder was the chairman of CPUSA when the Molotov-Ri bbentrop Pact (an agreement of non-aggression between the Soviet and Nazi governments)\, and the Party quickly changed from being militantly anti-fa scist to only engaging in moderate criticism of Germany. CPUSA's membershi p declined by 15% in the following year.\n\nBrowder was an advocate for a cooperative relationship between the Soviet Union and the United States af ter World War II\, and was sharply criticized for this by the French Commu nist Party\, later revealed to have done so on orders from Moscow in the " Duclos Letter".\n\nDue to the domestic Red Scare in the U.S. and Browder's ambitions clashing with the Soviet agenda\, Browder was expelled from the Communist Party on February 5th\, 1946. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earl_Browder RESOURCES:https://www.britannica.com/biography/Earl-Browder RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/archive/browder/index.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Marcelino Dos Santos (1929 - 2020) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250520 DTEND:20250521T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays COMMENT:Marcelino dos Santos\, born on this day in 1929\, was a Mozambican poet\, revolutionary\, and politician who co-founded the Frente de Libert ação de Moçambique (FRELIMO-Mozambican Liberation Front) in 1962. DESCRIPTION:Marcelino dos Santos\, born on this day in 1929\, was a Mozamb ican poet\, revolutionary\, and politician who co-founded the Frente de Li bertação de Moçambique (FRELIMO-Mozambican Liberation Front) in 1962. S antos served as the party's deputy president from 1969 to 1977.\n\nAfter M ozambique won its independence\, Santos served in its government in a vari ety of capacities over the next several decades: as Minister of Economic D evelopment\, Chairman of the country's parliament\, the Assembly of the Re public\, and\, towards the end of his life\, a member of the Frelimo Centr al Committee.\n\nUnder the pseudonyms Kalungano and Lilinho Micaia\, he pu blished his early poems in "O Brado Africano". Under his real name\, the A ssociação dos Escritores Moçambicanos (Mozambican Writers' Association) published his work "Canto do Amor Natural". RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcelino_dos_Santos RESOURCES:http://www.thepresidency.gov.za/national-orders/recipient/marcel ino-dos-santos-1929 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Toussaint Louverture (1743 - 1803) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250520 DTEND:20250521T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Independence COMMENT:Toussaint Louverture\, born on this day in 1743\, was a general an d leader of the Haitian Revolution. "This gun is liberty\; hold for certai n that the day when you no more have it\, you will be returned to slavery. " DESCRIPTION:François-Dominique Toussaint Louverture\, born on this day in 1743\, was a Haitian general and leader of the Haitian Revolution\, the f irst successful slave revolution in the Americas. Haiti was the first coun try in the region to outlaw slavery.\n\nLouverture's participation in the war was complex\, first fighting for the Spanish against the French\; then for France against Spain and Great Britain\; and finally\, he fought on b ehalf of independence for Saint-Domingue against the French.\n\nInitially\ , Louverture was only supportive of fighting for better living conditions for the enslaved\, but\, after committing to the full abolition of slavery in 1791\, he issued a proclamation at Camp Turel of St. Domingue: "Brothe rs and friends\, I am Toussaint Louverture\; perhaps my name has made itse lf known to you. I have undertaken vengeance. I want Liberty and Equality to reign in St Domingue. I am working to make that happen. Unite yourselve s to us\, brothers and fight with us for the same cause."\n\nAs a revoluti onary leader\, Louverture's military and political acumen helped transform the fledgling slave rebellion into a revolutionary movement. He governed Saint-Domingue with varying degrees of power for several years\, proclaimi ng an autonomous constitution for the colony in 1801 that declared himself its governor for life.\n\nLouverture was eventually tricked into being ar rested by Brunet\, a French General\, and deported to France\, where he di ed of unknown causes while imprisoned. Shortly thereafter\, the colony fin ally achieved independence under the leadership of Jean-Jacques Dessalines .\n\n"This gun is liberty\; hold for certain that the day when you no more have it\, you will be returned to slavery."\n\n- Toussaint Louverture RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toussaint_Louverture RESOURCES:https://www.britannica.com/biography/Toussaint-Louverture RESOURCES:https://politicaleducation.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/CLR_Ja mes_The_Black_Jacobins.pdf END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Paris Commune Dissolves (1871) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250521 DTEND:20250522T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Marxism COMMENT:On this day in 1871\, the Paris Commune\, a hotbed of radical work ing class politics and watershed moment in revolutionary anti-capitalist h istory\, was crushed by the French National Army. 20\,000 people were kill ed and 44\,000 arrested. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1871\, the Paris Commune\, a hotbed of radical working class politics and watershed moment in revolutionary anti-capitali st history\, was crushed by the French National Army. 20\,000 people were killed and 44\,000 arrested.\n\nThe Paris Commune was a radical socialist government that had formed in Paris a few months earlier\, on March 18th\, 1871. The Commune developed a set of progressive\, secular\, and social d emocratic policies\, although its existence was too brief to implement all of them.\n\nAmong these policies were the separation of church and state\ , abolition of child labor\, abolishment of interest on some forms of debt \, as well as the right of employees to take over and run an enterprise if it was deserted by its original owner.\n\nThe Commune was attacked by the French National Army on May 21st\, 1871\, beginning the so-called "Bloody Week" which defeated the revolutionary movement. After crushing the rebel lion\, the French government imprisoned approximately 44\,000 people for t heir role in the uprising. Estimated deaths from the fighting are around 2 0\,000.\n\nThe Paris Commune was analyzed by many communist thinkers\, inc luding Karl Marx\, who identified it as a dictatorship of the proletariat. Vladimir Lenin danced in the snow when the newly formed Bolshevik governm ent lasted longer than the Paris Commune.\n\nThe episode inspired similar revolutionary attempts around the world\, including in Moscow (1905)\, Pet rograd (1917)\, and Shanghai (1927 and 1967). RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_Commune RESOURCES:https://www.jacobinmag.com/2015/05/kristin-ross-communal-luxury- paris-commune/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:White Night Riots (1979) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250521 DTEND:20250522T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Assassinations,Riots,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1979\, the "White Night Riots" began in San Francis co after Harvey Milk's assassin was convicted of voluntary manslaughter\, the most lenient sentence possible. More than 160 people were hospitalized \, including 60 cops. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1979\, the "White Night Riots" began in San Fra ncisco after Harvey Milk's assassin was convicted of voluntary manslaughte r\, the most lenient sentence possible. More than 160 people were hospital ized\, including 60 cops.\n\nHarvey Milk was one of the first openly gay p oliticians in the U.S.\, and had been elected to serve as a city superviso r in San Francisco in 1977. On November 28th\, 1978\, Milk\, along with Ma yor George Moscone\, were assassinated by former police officer and disgru ntled ex-supervisor Dan White.\n\nOn May 21st\, 1979\, Dan White was convi cted of voluntary manslaughter\, widely perceived to be the lightest possi ble sentence for his actions. His lawyers successfully argued that White w as depressed\, citing how much junk food he consumed. This was pejorativel y dubbed the "Twinkie Defense".\n\nFollowing the announcement of White's c onviction\, members of San Francisco's gay community began marching in pro test\, starting at Castro Street and ending with more than 5\,000 arriving at City Hall. Protesters shouted "Kill Dan White!" and "Dump Dianne!"\, a reference to then Mayor Dianne Feinstein.\n\nSome protesters began breaki ng City Hall windows\, and the crowd was attacked by officers with night s ticks. Protesters began setting police cruisers on fire. As one man ignite d a cop car\, he shouted to a reporter "Make sure you put in the paper tha t I ate too many Twinkies!" Sixty officers were injured and about two doze n arrests were made.\n\nLater that evening\, the police raided the predomi nantly gay Castro neighborhood\, invading the Elephant Walk bar and brutal izing its occupants. Police entered the bar yelling slurs\, shattering bar windows\, and attacking patrons. Other officers outside indiscriminately attacked gays on the street.\n\nThe following day\, Supervisor Harry Britt \, who had replaced Milk\, refused to apologize for the riot: "Harvey Milk 's people do not have anything to apologize for. Now the society is going to have to deal with us not as nice little fairies who have hairdressing s alons\, but as people capable of violence. We're not going to put up with Dan Whites anymore."\n\nJust a few months after the White Night Riots\, Di anne Feinstein was elected to a full term as San Francisco Mayor with some support from the gay community. One of her first actions in office was to appoint a new Chief of Police who oversaw the hiring of a more diverse po lice force. By 1980\, one in seven new police recruits was queer.\n\n"If a bullet should enter my brain\, let that bullet destroy every closet door. "\n\n- Harvey Milk RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Night_riots RESOURCES:https://www.foundsf.org/index.php?title=White_Night_Riot:_May_21 \,_1979 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Dawoud al-Marhoon Arrested (2012) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250522 DTEND:20250523T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Protests COMMENT:On this day in 2012\, Dawoud Al Marhoon (1995 - )\, was arrested a nd indefinitely detained by the Saudi Arabian government after refusing to spy on anti-state protesters during the Arab Spring. After 10 years in pr ison\, he was released in 2022. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 2012\, Dawoud Al Marhoon (1995 - )\, was arrest ed and indefinitely detained by the Saudi Arabian government after refusin g to spy on anti-state protesters during the Arab Spring. After 10 years i n prison\, he was released in 2022.\n\nAfter being arrested for participat ing in the Arab Spring protests\, the Saudi authorities tortured him for w eeks and refused to allow him to communicate with anyone on the outside wo rld. For two weeks\, Dawoud's family had no idea where Saudi authorities w ere holding him\, and he was prevented from speaking to a lawyer.\n\nIn Se ptember of 2015\, al-Marhoon was sentenced to death\, to be carried out by beheading and crucifixion. Secrecy surrounding Saudi's execution practice s prevented the family or the prisoner from receiving prior notification o n when the execution would have been carried out.\n\nAccording to the Midd le East Monitor\, al-Marhoon was released on February 2nd\, 2022\, having served nearly ten years in prison. RESOURCES:https://reprieve.org/cases/dawoud-al-marhoon/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dawoud_al-Marhoon RESOURCES:https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20220203-saudi-arabia-releases -shia-minor-after-commuting-his-death-sentence/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Giacomo Matteotti (1885 - 1924) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250522 DTEND:20250523T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Socialism,Birthdays,Fascism COMMENT:Giacomo Matteotti\, born on this day in 1885\, was an anti-fascist Italian socialist politician. After publicly denouncing Mussolini in 1924 \, he said "now start composing your oration for my funeral" and was assas sinated eleven days later. DESCRIPTION:Giacomo Matteotti\, born on this day in 1885\, was an anti-fas cist Italian socialist politician. After publicly denouncing Mussolini in 1924\, he said "now start composing your oration for my funeral" and was a ssassinated eleven days later.\n\nAs a young adult\, Matteotti was active in the socialist movement and the Italian Socialist Party. He was imprison ed in Sicily for opposing Italy's entry into World War I (and was interned in Sicily during the conflict for this reason).\n\nMatteotti spoke openly against Italian Fascism and Benito Mussolini\, and for a time was leader of the opposition to the National Fascist Party (NFP). In 1921\, he denoun ced fascist violence in a pamphlet titled "Inchiesta socialista sulle gest a dei fascisti in Italia" ("Socialist enquiry on the deeds of the fascists in Italy").\n\nOn May 30th\, 1924\, speaking in the Italian Parliament\, he alleged that the Fascists committed fraud in the recently held election s and denounced the violence that they used to gain votes. Eleven days lat er\, he was kidnapped and killed by fascists.\n\nAfter Matteotti's body wa s discovered\, Mussolini took full responsibility for the murder as head o f the Fascist party (although whether he gave a direct order for the murde r remains uncertain) and dared his critics to prosecute him for the crime. \n\nThis challenge went unaccepted. After the Second World War ended\, Ita lian fascists Amerigo Dumini\, Giuseppe Viola\, and Amleto Poveromo were s entenced to thirty years in prison for their involvement in Matteotti's mu rder.\n\n"Now start composing your oration for my funeral."\n\n- Giacomo M atteotti\, to his friend after denouncing Mussolini in 1924\, eleven days before his death RESOURCES:https://www.britannica.com/biography/Giacomo-Matteotti RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giacomo_Matteotti RESOURCES:https://primolevicenter.org/printed-matter/the-matteotti-murder- and-the-origins-of-mussolinis-totalitarian-fascist-regime-in-italy/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Harvey Milk (1930 - 1978) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250522 DTEND:20250523T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays COMMENT:Harvey Milk\, born on this day in 1930\, the first openly gay elec ted official in the history of California\, serving on the San Francisco B oard of Supervisors. "If a bullet should enter my brain\, let that bullet destroy every closet door." DESCRIPTION:Harvey Milk\, born on this day in 1930\, the first openly gay elected official in the history of California\, serving on the San Francis co Board of Supervisors. "If a bullet should enter my brain\, let that bul let destroy every closet door."\n\nAlthough Milk was among the most pro-LG BT American politicians at the time\, politics was something he came to la ter in life\, after his experiences in the counterculture movement of the 1960s.\n\nIn 1972\, Milk moved from New York City to the Castro District o f San Francisco and took advantage of the growing political and economic p ower of the neighborhood to promote his activism. Milk unsuccessfully ran for office three times\, but finally won a seat as a city supervisor in 19 77.\n\nMilk was assassinated after only eleven months in office by Dan Whi te\, a disgruntled ex-supervisor and former police officer. During Milk's short time in office\, he sponsored a bill banning discrimination in publi c accommodations\, housing\, and employment on the basis of sexual orienta tion. After his death\, Milk became an icon in San Francisco and a martyr for the gay community.\n\n"If a bullet should enter my brain\, let that bu llet destroy every closet door."\n\n- Harvey Milk RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvey_Milk RESOURCES:http://milkfoundation.org/about/harvey-milk-biography/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Richard Oakes (1942 - 1972) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250522 DTEND:20250523T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Indigenous COMMENT:Richard Oakes\, born on this day in 1942\, was a Mohawk indigenous activist and leader within the Red Power movement\, playing a prominent r ole in the 19-month occupation of Alcatraz Island from 1969 - 1971. DESCRIPTION:Richard Oakes\, born on this day in 1942\, was a Mohawk indige nous activist and leader within the Red Power movement\, playing a promine nt role in the 19-month occupation of Alcatraz Island from 1969 - 1971.\n\ nOakes promoted Native American studies in university curricula and is cre dited for helping to change U.S. federal government "Termination" policies (policies regarding assimilation of indigenous people into the culture of the colonizer) of Native American peoples and culture.\n\nIn 1969\, Oakes led a 19-month occupation of Alcatraz Island with LaNada Means\, approxim ately 50 California State University students\, and 37 others. On January 5th\, 1970\, Oakes' 12-year-old daughter\, Yvonne\, fell to her death from concrete steps. After her funeral\, Oakes left the island.\n\nIn 1972\, O akes was shot and killed in Sonoma\, California\, by Michael Morgan\, a YM CA camp manager. Allegedly\, Oakes violently confronted Morgan\, and Morga n responded by drawing a handgun and fatally shooting Oakes.\n\nOakes was unarmed when he was shot. Morgan claimed he acted in self-defense\, and wa s acquitted on charges of voluntary manslaughter.\n\n"We do not fear your threat to charge us with crimes on our land. We and all other oppressed pe oples would welcome spectacle of proof before the world of your title by g enocide. Nevertheless\, we seek peace."\n\n- Richard Oakes RESOURCES:https://indiancountrytoday.com/news/richard-oakes-legacy-alcatra x-is-not-an-island-its RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Oakes_(activist) RESOURCES:https://sites.middlebury.edu/amst0204erd/2015/12/16/richard-oake s-alcatraz-proclamation/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Joe Slovo (1926 - 1995) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250523 DTEND:20250524T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Marxism,Civil Rights,Birthdays COMMENT:Joe Slovo\, born on this day in 1926\, was a South African communi st and militant opponent of apartheid whose wife was assassinated by polic e. "No matter what vision one has of SA\, the first thing that must be don e is to destroy racism." DESCRIPTION:Joe Slovo\, born on this day in 1926\, was a South African com munist politician and miliant opponent of the apartheid system whose wife\ , Ruth First\, was assassinated by the South African police.\n\nA Marxist- Leninist\, Slovo was a long-time leader and theorist in the South African Communist Party (SACP)\, a leading member of the African National Congress (ANC)\, and a commander of the ANC's military wing Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) .\n\nSlovo was married to Ruth First\, another prominent South African ant i-apartheid activist who was assassinated by state police via bomb. He\, a long with First\, was arrested and detained for two months during the Trea son Trial of 1956\, and lived in exile from 1963 to 1990\, conducting oper ations against the apartheid regime from the United Kingdom\, Angola\, Moz ambique\, and Zambia.\n\n"No matter what vision one has of South Africa\, the first thing that must be done is to destroy racism."\n\n - Joe Slovo RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Slovo RESOURCES:https://www.sahistory.org.za/people/joe-slovo RESOURCES:https://www.sahistory.org.za/collections/9082 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Margaret Fuller (1810 - 1850) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250523 DTEND:20250524T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Journalism COMMENT:Margaret Fuller\, born on this day in 1810\, was an American femin ist journalist associated with the American transcendentalism movement. He r work "Woman in the Nineteenth Century" was one of the first major femini st works in the U.S. DESCRIPTION:Margaret Fuller\, born on this day in 1810\, was an American f eminist journalist associated with the American transcendentalism movement . Her work "Woman in the Nineteenth Century" was one of the first major fe minist works in the U.S.\n\nFuller also worked as an editor\, translator\, critic\, and journalist. She became the first American female war corresp ondent\, writing for Horace Greeley's New-York Tribune.\n\nFuller's book " Woman in the Nineteenth Century" is considered the first major feminist wo rk in the United States\, and later feminists like Susan B. Anthony cited her as an inspiration. Fuller was also an advocate of abolishing slavery a nd prison reform.\n\n"Male and female represent the two sides of the great radical dualism. But in fact they are perpetually passing into one anothe r. Fluid hardens to solid\, solid rushes to fluid. There is no wholly masc uline man\, no purely feminine woman."\n\n- Margaret Fuller RESOURCES:https://www.biography.com/writer/margaret-fuller RESOURCES:https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/fuller-margaret/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Fuller END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Drumheller Coal Strike (1919) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250524 DTEND:20250525T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,IWW COMMENT:On this day in 1919\, under the banner of the One Big Union (OBU)\ , approximately 6\,500 miners in Alberta\, Canada walked off the job durin g a dispute over wages\, the cost of living allowance\, and working condit ions. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1919\, under the banner of the One Big Union (O BU)\, approximately 6\,500 miners in Alberta\, Canada walked off the job d uring a dispute over wages\, the cost of living allowance\, and working co nditions. The strike took place in the context of federal repression of la bor movements\; a few years earlier\, Canada had banned the similar Indust rial Workers of the World (IWW).\n\nAccordingly\, the striking workers fac ed violent repression from both the government and the coal operators. Aft er the walk-out continued more than a month\, coal operators received perm ission from the Northwest Mounted Police to hire "special constables" - in practice unemployed World War I veterans who were paid $10 a day\, plied with free liquor\, and armed with brass knuckles and crowbars - to break u p the strike.\n\nStriking workers were attacked in their homes\, and worke rs who refused to act as scabs were driven 65-km out of town\, beaten\, an d left there. Strikers responded by forming self-defense militias that det erred constables form attacking them. The labor action was finally broken after the federal government declared the OBU illegal and two strike leade rs were beaten\, tied to telephone poles\, and tarred and feathered in Aug ust of that year.\n\nDespite the immediate defeat\, the mere threat of mil itant industrial action allowed coal miners in Alberta to achieve massive gains: the miners' day rate rose from $5.70 to $7.50 between 1919 and 1920 and\, even after the strike had collapsed\, and the rate remained well ab ove inflation for a few years. These gains were eroded by 1924-25\, when s alaries were reduced back to the pre-strike levels. RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/drumheller-coal-mining-strike-1919 RESOURCES:https://briarpatchmagazine.com/articles/view/remembering-the-191 9-drumheller-strike END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Earth First Car Bombing (1990) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250524 DTEND:20250525T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Assassinations,Terrorism,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1990\, in Oakland\, California\, an assassination a ttempt was made against environmental activists and political radicals Jud i Bari and Darryl Cherney when a car bomb beneath Judi's seat exploded\; b oth survived. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1990\, in Oakland\, California\, an assassinati on attempt was made against environmental activists and political radicals Judi Bari and Darryl Cherney when a car bomb beneath Judi's seat exploded \; both survived.\n\nBari was severely injured by the blast\, while Cherne y suffered minor injuries. The bombing took place in the context of the Re dwood Summer protests organized by Earth First!\, the culmination of years of labor organizing and environmental activism in California by Bari.\n\n FBI bomb investigators were present on the scene of the bombing almost imm ediately\, leading some to speculate that the FBI either knew of the bombi ng or was directly involved in it. Bari was arrested for transporting expl osives while she was still in critical condition with a fractured pelvis a nd other major injuries. In 2002\, a federal jury found the FBI had violat ed Bari and Cherney's civil rights in the case\, and the pair was later aw arded a $4.4 million payout\, although Bari had died five years earlier.\n \nFBI analysis of the explosion dismissed the idea that the bomb was desig ned by Bari or Cherney. The identity of the bomber is still unknown. As fo r the protests\, subsequent attendance was lower than organizers had hoped \, and in November the pro-environment ballot initiative Proposition 130 w as defeated by California voters. RESOURCES:http://www.judibari.org/who-bombed-judi-bari.html RESOURCES:https://www.northcoastjournal.com/NewsBlog/archives/2015/05/19/w ho-bombed-judi-bari-25-years-later-we-may-find-an-answer END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:George Floyd Murdered (2020) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250525 DTEND:20250526T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Protests COMMENT:On this day in 2020\, a Minneapolis cop murdered George Floyd by k neeling on his neck for more than nine minutes. Floyd's death became the c atalyst for protests around the world\; by July\, more than 14\,000 were a rrested in the U.S. alone. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 2020\, a Minneapolis cop murdered George Floyd by kneeling on his neck for more than nine minutes. Floyd's death became t he catalyst for protests around the world\; by July\, more than 14\,000 we re arrested in the U.S. alone.\n\nFloyd\, a 46-year old black man\, had be en arrested on suspicion of using a counterfeit $20 bill. The cop\, 44-yea r old white man Derek Chauvin\, knelt on Floyd's neck for nine minutes and twenty-nine seconds while he was handcuffed and lying face-down in a stre et. Floyd was dead before Chauvin's knee left his neck.\n\nThe following d ay\, after videos made by witnesses and security cameras became public\, a ll four officers involed were fired. Floyd's state murder became the catal yst for worldwide Black Lives Matter protests against police brutality\, w hich took place on every continent except Antartica.\n\nThe scope of civil unrest within the U.S. was nearly unprecedented. Author Malik Simba write s: "the protests have involved more than 26 million Americans in 2\,000 ci ties and towns in every state in the U.S.\, making [them] the most widespr ead protests around one issue in the history of the nation. By the end of June alone\, one month into the protests\, 14\,000 people had been arreste d."\n\nInitially\, the local District Attorney's Office only harged Chauvi n with third-degree manslaughter\, but this charge was later increased to second degree murder\, following mass protests. On April 20th\, 2021\, Cha uvin was convicted and sentenced to 22.5 years in prison. The other three officers were also later convicted of violating Floyd's civil rights.\n\nF loyd's murder was witnessed by several people\, including children. On the incident\, seventeen year old Danella Frazier stated "When I look at Geor ge Floyd\, I look at my dad\, I look at my brother\, I look at my cousin a nd my uncle." Her nine year old cousin\, also an eyewitness\, testified in court: "I was sad and kind of mad and it felt like [Chauvin's knee] was s topping him from breathing and it was hurting him." RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/nine-minutes- in-may-how-george-floyds-death-shook-the-world/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_George_Floyd END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Symon Petliura Assassinated for Pogroms (1926) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250525 DTEND:20250526T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Assassinations,Anarchism COMMENT:On this day in 1926\, Jewish anarchist Sholem Schwarzbard assassin ated Symon Petliura\, President of the Ukrainian People's Republic and lea der of its army\, for his role in Jewish pogroms\, stating "I have killed a great assassin". DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1926\, Jewish anarchist Sholem Schwarzbard assa ssinated Symon Petliura\, President of the Ukrainian People's Republic and leader of its army\, for his role in Jewish pogroms\, stating "I have kil led a great assassin".\n\nAccording to Jewish historian Peter Kenez\, "bef ore the advent of Hitler\, the greatest mass murder of Jews occurs in the Ukraine in the course of the Civil War. All participants in the conflict w ere guilty of murdering Jews\, even the Bolsheviks\; however the Volunteer Army had the largest number of victims."\n\nThe number of Jews killed dur ing the period is estimated to be between 35\,000 and 50\,000. A total of 1\,236 violent attacks on Jews had been recorded between 1918 and 1921 in Ukraine.\n\nThe role of Petliura in those pogroms is controversial. While Petliura actively sought to halt anti-Jewish violence on numerous occasion s\, including the punishment capital punishment for the crime of pogroming \, it is also documented that he was afraid to punish officers and soldier s engaged in crimes against Jews for fear of losing their support.\n\nSchw arzbard was a Jewish anarchist living in Paris\, becoming acquainted with other anarchist activists who had emigrated from Russia and Ukraine\, incl uding figures such as Volin\, Alexander Berkman\, Emma Goldman\, and Nesto r Makhno.\n\nAt the same time\, Petliura was living in Paris in exile. On May 25th\, 1926\, Schwarzbard approached Petliura and asked him in Ukraini an\, "Are you Mr. Petliura?" Petliura did not answer but raised his cane i n response.\n\nSchwartzbard pulled out a gun\, shooting him seven times. A t the trial\, survivors of the pogroms testified that they were brutalized by soldiers who claimed to be acting on orders from Petliura. After eight days\, Schwarzbard was acquitted. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sholem_Schwarzbard RESOURCES:https://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/handle/1/9830349/Johnson_gsas .harvard_0084L_10644.pdf END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:House Committee on Un-American Activities Founded (1938) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250526 DTEND:20250527T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism COMMENT:On this day in 1938\, the House Committee on Un-American Activitie s was established to investigate suspected communist sympathies among priv ate citizens and organizations\, leading to the blacklisting of hundreds o f artists and academics. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1938\, the House Committee on Un-American Activ ities was established to investigate suspected communist sympathies among private citizens and organizations\, leading to the blacklisting of hundre ds of artists and academics. The committee became permanent in 1948 and wa s terminated in 1975.\n\nThe HUAC is notable for causing de facto media ce nsorship among artists suspected of having communist sympathies. Their inv estigations resulted in a Hollywood blacklist of over 300 actors\, directo rs\, and others.\n\nArists whose careers were damaged by the committee inc luded Charlie Chaplin\, Orson Welles\, Alan Lomax\, Paul Robeson\, Aaron C opland\, and Yip Harburg. When one Senator asked Robeson why he didn't rem ain in the Soviet Union\, he replied "Because my father was a slave and my people died to build this country\, and I am going to stay here and have a part of it just like you. And no Fascist-minded people will drive me fro m it. Is that clear?"\n\nIn 1960\, William Mandel\, an expert on Soviet af fairs who had lost his position as a fellow at Stanford University's Hoove r Institution due to anti-communist repression\, was called to testify in front of the HUAC. When asked "Are you now or have you ever been a member of the Communist Party?"\, Mandel responded:\n\n"Honorable beaters of chil dren\, sadists\, uniformed and in plain clothes\, distinguished Dixiecrat wearing the clothing of a gentleman\, eminent Republican who opposes an ac commodation with the one country with which we must live at peace in order for us and all our children to survive...\n\nIf you think that I am going to cooperate with this collection of Judases\, of men who sit there in vi olation of the United States Constitution\, if you think I will cooperate with you in any way\, you are insane!" RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_Un-American_Activities_Commi ttee RESOURCES:https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/815/house-un-americ an-activities-committee END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Lyuh Woon-hyung (1886 - 1947) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250526 DTEND:20250527T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Independence COMMENT:Lyuh Woon-hyung\, born on this day in 1886\, was a socialist polit ician who argued that Korean independence was essential to world peace. Ly un was assassinated in 1947 by a right-wing nationalist refugee from the n orth. DESCRIPTION:Lyuh Woon-hyung\, born on this day in 1886\, was a socialist p olitician who argued that Korean independence was essential to world peace . Lyun was assassinated in 1947 by a right-wing nationalist refugee from t he north. He is also known by the name Yo Un-hyung or the pen-name "Mongya ng".\n\nLyuh was born in Yangpyeong\, Gyeonggi Province\, the son of a loc al yangban magnate. In 1910\, Lyuh parted from Korean tradition by freeing his household's slaves\, giving them enough land and money to become self -sufficient.\n\nLike many in the Korean independence movement\, Lyuh sough t aid from both right and left. In 1920\, he joined the Koryǒ Communist P arty\, later meeting Leon Trotsky and Vladimir Lenin. In 1924\, he also jo ined Sun Yat-sen's Chinese Nationalist Party to facilitate Sino-Korean coo peration.\n\nIn September 1945\, Lyuh proclaimed the establishment of the People's Republic of Korea and became its vice-premier. When the United St ates occupied the Korean Peninsula\, it did not recognize the People's Rep ublic of Korea\, and in October he was forced to step down under pressure from the U.S. military government.\n\nIn 1946\, Lyuh represented the cente r-left politically as part of an effort to unify right and left-wing indep endence struggles\, however this strategy earned ire from both sides. On J uly 19th\, 1947\, Lyuh was assassinated in Seoul by a 19-year-old North Ko rean refugee who was an active member of a nationalist right-wing organiza tion.\n\nHis pen-name was Mongyang\, the Hanja for "dream" and "the sun". Lyuh Woon-hyung is one of the few politicians celebrated in both North and South Korea. RESOURCES:https://web.archive.org/web/20091022204807/http://www.asianresea rch.org/articles/1853.html RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyuh_Woon-hyung END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Amelia Bloomer (1818 - 1894) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250527 DTEND:20250528T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays COMMENT:Amelia Bloomer\, born on this day in 1818\, was an early American feminist associated with the "bloomers" clothing style. She was also the f irst American woman to own\, edit\, and operate a newspaper for women. DESCRIPTION:Amelia Bloomer\, born on this day in 1818\, was an early Ameri can feminist associated with the "bloomers" clothing style. She was also t he first American woman to own\, edit\, and operate a newspaper for women. \n\nEven though Amelia did not create the "bloomers" clothing style\, a co mfortable alternative to the heavy\, constricting dresses women were expec ted to wear\, her name became associated with the style because of her ear ly and strong advocacy for them.\n\nBy publishing the magazine the "Lily"\ , Bloomer became the first woman to own\, operate and edit a newspaper for women. The scholarly journal American Journalism described the magazine l ike this: "The issues addressed in the Lily—marital relations\, politica l representation\, property ownership\, education and work opportunities\, fair wages\, fashion customs\, women’s health\, religion\, and gendered social norms—reflected a broad-based agenda for feminism that is famili ar today. At the same time\, the journal’s privileging of middle-class w hite womanhood exposed fissures and blind spots related to race and class that would reverberate for generations."\n\nAs an early advocate of women' s rights\, Bloomer was also responsible for introducing Susan B. Anthony a nd Elizabeth Cady Stanton to each other.\n\n"It will not do to say that it is out of woman's sphere to assist in making laws\, for if that were so\, then it should be also out of her sphere to submit to them."\n\n- Amelia Bloomer RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amelia_Bloomer RESOURCES:https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/am elia-bloomer RESOURCES:https://www.american-journalism.org/author-interview-amelia-bloo mer/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Gezi Park Occupation (2013) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250527 DTEND:20250528T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 2013\, Turkish protesters began occupying Gezi Park to oppose its demolition\, an act with led to widespread protests and str ikes with approximately 3\,500\,000 participants\, 22 deaths\, and more th an 8\,000 injuries. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 2013\, Turkish protesters began occupying Gezi Park to oppose its demolition\, an act with led to widespread protests and strikes with approximately 3\,500\,000 participants\, 22 deaths\, and mor e than 8\,000 injuries.\n\nThe wave of civil unrest across Turkey began af ter the park occupation was violently evicted by police\, who used to tear gas\, pepper spray\, and water cannons to try and break up the protests\, injuring more than one hundred people and hospitalizing a journalist.\n\n The protest quickly grew in size - by May 31st\, 10\,000 gathered in Istik lal Avenue. In June\, the protests became national in scope and transcende d any particular demographic or political ideology. Among the wide range o f concerns brought by protesters were issues of freedom of the press\, exp ression\, and assembly\, as well as the alleged political Islamist governm ent's erosion of Turkey's secularism.\n\nMillions of Turkish football fans \, normally divided by intense sports rivalry\, marched in unity against t he government. Protesters displayed symbols the environmentalist movement\ , rainbow banners\, depictions of Che Guevara\, different trade unions\, a nd the PKK and its leader Abdullah Öcalan.\n\nOn June 4th\, Taksim Dayan ışması (Taksim Solidarity) issued a set of demands that included the pr eservation of Gezi Park\, an end to police violence\, the right to freedom of assembly\, and an end to the privatization of public spaces. Deputy Pr ime Minister Bülent Arınç met the group on June 5th and rejected these demands.\n\nErdoğan blamed the protests on "internal traitors and externa l collaborators"\, demonizing his political opposition as the former. Desp ite the popular mobilization\, Erdoğan remained in power and no major con cessions were won from the government. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gezi_Park_protests RESOURCES:http://libcom.org/blog/istanbul-taksim-gezi-park-has-nothing-do- trees-30052013 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:In re Debs (1895) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250527 DTEND:20250528T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:In re Debs (Latin: "In the matter of Debs") was a U.S. Supreme Cou rt case that\, on this day in 1895\, unanimously upheld the government's u se of injunctions against labor strikes\, specifically the Pullman Strike of the preceding year. DESCRIPTION:In re Debs (Latin: "In the matter of Debs") was a U.S. Supreme Court case that\, on this day in 1895\, unanimously upheld the government 's use of injunctions against labor strikes\, specifically the Pullman Str ike of the preceding year.\n\nThe Pullman Strike was a large national rail road strike led by the American Railway Union (ARU)\, involving around 250 \,000 workers in 27 states. The federal government obtained an injunction against the union\, Eugene V. Debs\, and other boycott leaders\, ordering them to stop interfering with trains that carried mail cars. After the str ikers refused\, President Grover Cleveland forcibly ended the strike with military force.\n\nDebs and four other ARU leaders were arrested and charg ed with violating the injunction. After the Supreme Court sided with the g overnment\, Debs was sentenced to prison and the ARU dissolved.\n\nIn re D ebs contributed to a widely held belief that the Supreme Court was simply a tool of the wealthy and big business - for the next 40 years business in terests hostile to labor unions found the courts willing partners in suppr essing strikes through injunction. This practice ended in 1932 with the No rris-La Guardia Act. RESOURCES:https://www.britannica.com/topic/In-re-Debs RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pullman_Strike END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Indian Removal Act (1830) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250528 DTEND:20250529T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Indigenous COMMENT:The Indian Removal Act\, signed into law on this day in 1830\, pro vided the legal authority for the president to force indigenous peoples we st of the Mississippi River\, leading to the "Trail of Tears"\, which kill ed more than 10\,000. DESCRIPTION:The Indian Removal Act\, signed into law on this day in 1830\, provided the legal authority for the president to force indigenous people s west of the Mississippi River\, leading to the "Trail of Tears"\, which killed more than 10\,000.\n\nThe law is an example of the systematic genoc ide brought against indigenous peoples by the U.S. government because it d iscriminated against them in such a way as to effectively guarantee the de ath of vast numbers of their population. The Act was signed into law by An drew Jackson and was strongly enforced by his and his successors' administ rations.\n\nThe enforcement of the Indian Removal Act directly led to the "Trail of Tears"\, which killed over 10\,000 indigenous peoples. Although some tribes left peacefully\, others fought back\, leading to the Second S eminole War of 1835. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Removal_Act RESOURCES:https://www.britannica.com/topic/Indian-Removal-Act END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Mariola Sirakova Assassinated (1925) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250528 DTEND:20250529T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Assassinations,Anarchism COMMENT:Mariola Sirakova\, assassinated by state police at age 20 on this day in 1925\, was a Bulgarian actress who organized with anarchists and hi d wanted revolutionaries such as Vassil Popov and Valko Shankov from the a uthorities. DESCRIPTION:Mariola Sirakova\, assassinated by state police at age 20 on t his day in 1925\, was a Bulgarian actress who organized with anarchists an d hid wanted revolutionaries such as Vassil Popov and Valko Shankov from t he authorities. Sirakova came from a wealthy family\, but broke from this upbringing after attending a girl's high school in 1919.\n\nIn 1923\, a mi litary coup led to the killing of 35\,000 workers and peasants\, leading t o a campaign of armed resistance against the state known as the "September Uprising". A massive wave of repression was undertaken by the fascists an d military against the revolutionary movement. Mariola was arrested by the police\, raped\, and brutally beaten.\n\nAfter Sirakova's release\, she g ave support to the Kilifarevo cheta (an armed guerilla unit)\, bringing th em food\, medicine\, and clothes\, and caring for the wounded. Mariola Sir akova and fellow anarchist Gueorgui Cheitanov were caught in an ambush and arrested.\n\nOn this day in 1925\, they were taken to Belovo railway stat ion and summarily executed with 12 other prisoners. Mariola was twenty yea rs old. RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/sirakova-mariola-1904-1925 RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_Uprising END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:"Ain't I a Woman" Speech (1851) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250529 DTEND:20250530T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Feminism COMMENT:On this day in 1851\, Sojourner Truth gave what is now known as th e Ain't I a Woman speech\, delivered to the Women's Convention in Akron\, Ohio: "I have plowed and reaped and husked and chopped and mowed\, and can any man do more than that?" DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1851\, Sojourner Truth gave what is now known a s the Ain't I a Woman speech\, delivered to the Women's Convention in Akro n\, Ohio: "I have plowed and reaped and husked and chopped and mowed\, and can any man do more than that?"\n\nSojourner Truth was an American abolit ionist and women's rights activist. Truth was born into slavery in Swartek ill\, New York\, but escaped with her infant daughter to freedom in 1826. After going to court to recover her son in 1828\, she became the first bla ck woman to win such a case against a white man.\n\nOn this day in 1851\, Sojourner Truth gave what is now known as the "Ain't I a Woman" speech\, d elivered to the Women's Convention in Akron\, Ohio. Here is a short excerp t of the speech\, from Marius Robinson's transcription:\n\n"I want to say a few words about this matter. I am a woman's rights. [sic] I have as much muscle as any man\, and can do as much work as any man. I have plowed and reaped and husked and chopped and mowed\, and can any man do more than th at? I have heard much about the sexes being equal. I can carry as much as any man\, and can eat as much too\, if I can get it. I am as strong as any man that is now.\n\nAs for intellect\, all I can say is\, if a woman have a pint\, and a man a quart - why can't she have her little pint full? You need not be afraid to give us our rights for fear we will take too much\, - for we can't take more than our pint'll hold." RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ain%27t_I_a_Woman%3F RESOURCES:https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/so journer-truth END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Cordobazo Uprising (1969) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250529 DTEND:20250530T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,General Strikes,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1969\, the Cordobazo Uprising began in the city of Córdoba\, Argentina as a general strike\, with workers seizing the city\, burning the corporate headquarters of Citroën and Xerox\, and clashing w ith the army. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1969\, the Cordobazo Uprising began in the city of Córdoba\, Argentina as a general strike\, with workers seizing the ci ty\, burning the corporate headquarters of Citroën and Xerox\, and clashi ng with the army.\n\nThe rebellion took place under the military dictators hip of General Juan Carlos Onganía\, who had seized power in a coup in 19 66. Onganía's government had suspended the right to strike\, froze worker s' wages\, suppressed communist movements\, and extended the age of retire ment.\n\nIn the wake of widespread violent state repression against protes ters\, the labor union "CGT de los Argentinos"\, led by Agustín Tosco\, c alled for national strike on May 30th\, 1969. In Cordoba\, the general str ike and protests began one day earlier.\n\nOn the first day of the protest s\, police opened fire on thousands of protesters\, killing a worker named Maximo Mena\, causing the strike to escalate into a citywide revolt\, lea ding to widespread destruction of property and seizing of city spaces. Ong anía crushed the rebellion with the military\, and Agustín Tosco was arr ested for his role in the rebellion. RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/library/working-class-protest-popular-revolt- urban-insurrection-argentina-1969-cordobazo RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cordobazo END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Louise Michel (1830 - 1905) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250529 DTEND:20250530T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Anarchism COMMENT:Louise Michel\, born on this day in 1830\, was a French anarchist\ , feminist\, and militant leader of the Paris Commune. At trial\, she said "It seems that every heart that beats for freedom has no right than a bit of lead\, so I claim mine!" DESCRIPTION:Louise Michel\, born on this day in 1830\, was a French anarch ist\, feminist\, educator\, author\, and militant leader of the Paris Comm une.\n\nBorn in 1830 as an illegitimate daughter and raised by her grandpa rents\, Louise Michel worked as a schoolteacher before revolution came to Paris\, and\, in 1865\, opened a school dedicated to methods of progressiv e education.\n\nThere\, Michel came into contact with radical thinkers suc h as Jules Vallès and Auguste Blanqui\, and was concerned about the impov erishment of those on the margins of French society. In 1869\, she was one of the founding members of the "Society for the Demand of Civil Rights fo r Women"\, focused on improving girls' education.\n\nIn 1870\, war broke o ut between France and the Empire of Prussia. The war quickly ended in defe at for France\, and\, the following March\, discontented members of the Na tional Guard mutinied against the new national government in Paris\, marki ng the beginning of the working class uprising known as the Paris Commune. \n\nMichel joined the rebellion and was elected head of the Montmartre Wom en's Vigilance Committee\, playing an important role in the provisional re volutionary administration. She had a romantic relationship with Théophil e Ferré\, a senior member of the Commune's Committee of Public Safety.\n\ nMichel personally fought on the front lines at the barricades\, also orga nizing ambulance stations to transport the wounded. She expressed a willin gness to sacrifice herself for the sake of revolution\, stating "I like th e smell of gunpowder\, grapeshot flying through the air\, but above all\, I'm devoted to the Revolution."\n\nMichel survived the fall of the Commune and was brought to trial in December 1871. She dared the judges to senten ce her to death\, saying "It seems that every heart that beats for freedom has no other right than a bit of lead\, so I claim mine!"\n\nUnlike Ferr é\, who was executed\, she was instead punished by deportation to a penal settlement in the French colony of New Caledonia in the Pacific Ocean.\n\ nIn New Caledonia\, she became acquainted with the indigenous Kanak people \, and took an interest in their culture and language\, later supporting t hem during an 1878 revolt against French rule.\n\nMichel also befriended N athalie Lemel\, another exiled figure from the Commune\, and became an exp licit anarchist under her influence. In 1880\, amnesty was granted to form er Communards\, and Michel returned to Paris\, where she was greeted as a hero by the downtrodden of the city and resumed her revolutionary activity .\n\nMichel later moved to London for five years\, where she ran a school for children of political refugees\, and became a famed speaker across Eur ope\, meeting figures such as the Pankhurst sisters\, Peter Kropotkin\, an d Emma Goldman.\n\nIn 1904\, Michel embarked on an anti-colonial speaking tour in French Algeria\, before falling ill shortly after. She died in Mar seille on January 9th\, 1905 at the age of 74. Her funeral was attended by over 100\,000 people\, receiving delegations from socialist and anarchist groups all across Europe.\n\nToday\, Michel remains one of the most famou s icons of the Paris Commune and is regarded as a pioneer of anarcha-femin ism. RESOURCES:https://www.rfi.fr/en/france/20210318-louise-michel-a-leading-li ght-and-feminist-figure-in-the-paris-commune RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/history/france/paris-commune/michel-lou ise/index.htm RESOURCES:https://www.counterfire.org/articles/history/22143-louise-michel -the-revolutionary-woman-who-led-the-paris-commune RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_Michel END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Maurice Bishop (1944 - 1983) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250529 DTEND:20250530T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Marxism,Birthdays COMMENT:Maurice Bishop\, born on this day in 1944\, was a Grenadian revolu tionary and leader of the New Jewel Movement\, which seized power in 1979 and instituted widespread reforms of food\, healthcare\, education\, and w orkers' rights. DESCRIPTION:Maurice Bishop\, born on this day in 1944\, was a Grenadian re volutionary and leader of the New Jewel Movement\, which seized power in 1 979 and instituted widespread reforms of food\, healthcare\, education\, a nd workers' rights.\n\nBishop headed the People's Revolutionary Government of Grenada from 1979 to 1983\, when he was dismissed from his post and sh ot in a coup\, leading to civil unrest and a U.S. invasion of the country. \n\nAlthough Bishop grew up in Grenada\, he left to study in London as a y oung adult. While there\, Bishop acquired a law degree and studied the wor ks of Lenin\, Mao Zedong\, and Julius Nyerere.\n\nIn 1970\, Bishop returne d to Grenada and was active politically\, representing striking nurses in court and leading the New Jewel Movement (NJM)\, a Marxist-Leninist vangua rd party. In 1979\, the NJM successfully led a coup against Eric Gairy and made Bishop the Prime Minister of Grenada.\n\nAmong Bishop's core princip les were workers' rights\, women's rights\, and the struggle against racis m and apartheid. Women were given equal pay and paid maternity leave. Sex discrimination was made illegal. Organizations for education\, health care \, youth affairs\, and literacy were also established. Due to his governme nt's efforts\, illiteracy and unemployment greatly declined.\n\nIn 1983\, disputes within the party culminated in Bishop\, along with seven members of his cabinet\, being captured and executed. After his assassination\, th e Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) and Grenada's governor-g eneral Paul Scoon appealed to the United States to resolve the political s ituation. Within a few weeks\, U.S. President Ronald Reagan launched an in vasion of Grenada. RESOURCES:https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/grenada-revolution/ RESOURCES:https://www.bannedthought.net/Grenada/MauriceBishop/InNobody'sBa ckyard-MauriceBishop'sSpeeches-1979-1983-NoOCR.pdf RESOURCES:https://www.peoplesworld.org/article/remembering-maurice-bishop- and-the-revolution-in-grenada/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Bishop END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Robert L. Allen (1942 - ) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250529 DTEND:20250530T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays COMMENT:Robert Allen\, born on this day in 1942\, is an American professor \, activist\, and author who composed "Black Awakening in Capitalist Ameri ca" (1969)\, a seminal text in the field of Internal Colonialism Theory. DESCRIPTION:Robert Allen\, born on this day in 1942\, is an American profe ssor\, activist\, and author who composed "Black Awakening in Capitalist A merica" (1969)\, a seminal text in the field of Internal Colonialism Theor y.\n\nAllen is Professor of African-American Studies and Ethnic Studies at the University of California\, Berkeley\, and was Senior Editor of "The B lack Scholar: Journal of Black Studies and Research"\, published quarterly in Oakland\, California since 1969 by the Black World Foundation.\n\nIn t he "Black Awakening in Capitalist America"\, Allen details how corporate i nterests and white-led power structures co-opted and de-radicalized black power and black nationalism\, also criticizing the concept of "black capit alism" as a means of achieving social change.\n\n"This reformist or bourge ois nationalism - through its chosen vehicle of black capitalism - may lin e the pockets and boost the social status of the black middle class and bl ack intelligentsia\, but it will not ease the oppression of the ordinary g hetto dweller."\n\n- Robert L. Allen RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Awakening_in_Capitalist_Amer ica RESOURCES:https://items.ssrc.org/reading-racial-conflict/black-and-woke-in -capitalist-america-revisiting-robert-allens-black-awakening-for-new-times -sake/ RESOURCES:https://archive.org/details/blackawakeningincapitalistamerica END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:James Chaney (1943 - 1964) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250530 DTEND:20250531T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Civil Rights,Birthdays COMMENT:James Earl Chaney\, born on this day in 1943\, was a young member of the Congress of Racial Equity (CORE) who\, along with Michael Schwerner and Andrew Goodman\, was assassinated by white supremacists for his activ ism in Mississippi. DESCRIPTION:James Earl Chaney\, born on this day in 1943\, was a young mem ber of the Congress of Racial Equity (CORE) who\, along with Michael Schwe rner and Andrew Goodman\, was assassinated by white supremacists for his a ctivism in Mississippi.\n\nIn 1962\, Chaney participated in a Freedom Ride from Tennessee to Greenville\, Mississippi\, and in another from Greenvil le to Meridian. Chaney started volunteering in late 1963\, joining the Con gress of Racial Equality (CORE) in Meridian. He organized voter education classes\, introduced CORE workers to local church leaders\, and helped COR E workers get around the counties.\n\nChaney and fellow civil rights worke rs Michael Schwerner and Andrew Goodman were killed near the town of Phila delphia\, Mississippi while investigating the burning of Mt. Zion Methodis t Church\, which had been a site for a CORE Freedom School.\n\nArrested by the local sheriff\, the trio was released that evening without being allo wed to contact anyone. On the road\, they were stopped by patrol lights an d two carloads of KKK members\, kidnapped\, tortured\, and killed.\n\nThe sheriff\, along with six others\, were indicted and convicted for deprivin g the three men of their civil rights. No one was held accountable for Cha ney's murder until 2005\, when outspoken white supremacist Edgar Ray Kille n was convicted on three counts of manslaughter. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Chaney RESOURCES:http://www.core-online.org/History/chaney.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Memorial Day Massacre (1937) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250530 DTEND:20250531T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Riots,Massacre COMMENT:On this day in 1937\, Chicago police attacked a Memorial Day gathe ring of unarmed\, striking steelworkers and their families\, killing ten i n the "Memorial Day Massacre". Chicago PD banned local screening of film f ootage of the massacre. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1937\, Chicago police attacked a Memorial Day g athering of unarmed\, striking steelworkers and their families\, killing t en in the "Memorial Day Massacre". Chicago PD banned local screening of fi lm footage of the massacre.\n\nHundreds of sympathizers to striking steel workers had gathered at Sam's Place\, a former tavern that served as the h eadquarters of the Steel Workers Organizing Committee (SWOC). As the crowd marched across the prairie towards the Republic Steel mill\, a line of Ch icago policemen blocked their path. The police fired on and beat the crowd \, including many women and children.\n\nAccording to Dorothy Day\, a Cath olic labor activist who was present that day\, "50 people were shot\, of w hom 10 later died\; 100 others were beaten with clubs." A Coroner's Jury d eclared the killings to be "justifiable homicide".\n\nMany in the press ca lled it a labor riot or "red riot". In the wake of the massacre\, film foo tage of the event was suppressed for fear of creating\, in the words of an official at Paramount News agency\, "mass hysteria."\n\nAt the time\, the Daily Boston Globe reported that this footage was banned from being shown in Chicago by the city's Police Department. The footage of this worker ma ssacre have been preserved by the Illinois Labor Society and is publicly a vailable today. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorial_Day_massacre_of_1937 RESOURCES:https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/memorial-day-massacre/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Merthyr Rising (1831) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250530 DTEND:20250531T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1831\, workers in the Welsh mining town of Merthyr Tydfil initiated an uprising against the capitalist class\, reclaiming goo ds seized by debtors\, striking\, and flying the red flag as working class symbol for the first time. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1831\, workers in the Welsh mining town of Mert hyr Tydfil initiated an uprising against the capitalist class\, reclaiming goods seized by debtors\, striking\, and flying the red flag as working c lass symbol for the first time.\n\nThe town of Merthyr Tydfil started beco ming a major industrial hub as early as the 18th century\, developing a cl ass of bourgeois "ironmasters"\, while the poor suffered from pollution\, disease\, and work-related injuries. As economic crises in the late 1820s worsened living conditions\, the people of Merthyr began to agitate for po litical change.\n\nReform-minded ironmaster William Crawshay co-founded th e "Political Union of Merthyr" in 1830 to fight for "democratic and humani tarian reforms"\, such as universal suffrage and parliamentary reform. Cra wshay also tried to keep his worker's wages high and produce a higher amou nt of iron than what the market demanded to expand his workforce.\n\nIn th e midst of an enduring economic crisis\, Crawshay began cutting wages in M arch 1831. In response\, workers abandoned the reformist Political Union a nd protesting en masse. In Merthyr\, huge crowds burned effigies of promin ent Tories in the streets\, called for opponents of Reform to be hanged\, and known Tories found their windows smashed and their businesses looted.\ n\nOn May 23rd\, dozens of miners and "puddlers" (those known for particip ating in political agitation) received new\, deeper wage cuts\, and 84 wer e dismissed altogether.\n\nA week later\, on May 30th\, 1831\, workers ass embled at Waum Common\, where they made speeches\, carried banners and for mulated demands\, marking the beginning of the Rising. Despite the spontan eous and leaderless character of the protests\, a four-point program emerg ed: abolition of the Court of Requests\, the abolition of debt imprisonmen t\, new laws against price gouging\, and no hiring of new miners on lower wages than their predecessors.\n\nThe following day\, workers reclaimed go ods that had been seized by debtors. Protestors marched to the mines\, whe re they convinced those still working to join the resistance. A general st rike broke out\, and workers effectively seized control of Merthyr Tydfil\ , a key engine of British industrial production.\n\nWith Crawshay's help\, the army was soon dispatched in order to restore state control\, but\, fi nding themselves outnumbered by an armed citizenry\, soldiers were forced to fall back. Rebels defeated successive military units before the rebelli on was finally put down on April 7th. RESOURCES:https://www.socialist.net/the-merthyr-rising-1831-rage-rebellion -and-the-red-flag.htm RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/library/1831-merthyr-tydfil-uprising END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Mikhail Bakunin (1814 - 1876) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250530 DTEND:20250531T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Socialism,Marxism,Birthdays,Anarchism COMMENT:Mikhail Bakunin\, born on this day in 1814\, was a revolutionary a narchist philosopher and contemporary of Karl Marx. "Freedom without socia lism is privilege and injustice\; socialism without freedom is slavery and brutality." DESCRIPTION:Mikhail Bakunin\, born on this day in 1814\, was a Russian rev olutionary\, foundational thinker of collectivist anarchism\, and contempo rary political rival of Karl Marx within the First International.\n\nBakun in is considered to be among the most influential figures of anarchism and a major founder within the social anarchist tradition. Bakunin's prestige as an activist also made him one of the most famous ideologues in Europe\ , gaining substantial influence among radicals throughout the continent.\n \nBakunin is also notable as a vehement opponent of Marxism\, especially o f the dictatorship of the proletariat\, predicting that Marxist government s would become one-party dictatorships over the proletariat\, not by the p roletariat. On this matter\, he stated "Either one destroys the State or o ne must accept the vilest and most fearful lie of our century: the red bur eaucracy."\n\nBakunin also espoused anti-Semitic views in some of his work s\, writing "...and where there is centralization of the state\, there mus t necessarily be a central bank\, and where such a bank exists\, the paras itic Jewish nation\, speculating with the labor of the people\, will be fo und."\n\nBakunin biographer Mark Leier wrote that "Bakunin had a significa nt influence on later thinkers\, ranging from Peter Kropotkin and Errico M alatesta to the Wobblies and Spanish anarchists in the Civil War to Herber t Marcuse\, E.P. Thompson\, Neil Postman\, and A.S. Neill\, down to the an archists gathered these days under the banner of 'anti-globalization.'"\n\ n"Freedom without socialism is privilege and injustice\, and socialism wit hout freedom is slavery and brutality."\n\n- Mikhail Bakunin RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikhail_Bakunin RESOURCES:https://theanarchistlibrary.org/category/author/mikhail-bakunin RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/bakunin/bio/ RESOURCES:https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/zoe-baker-bakunin-was-a- racist END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Peasants' Revolt Begins (1381) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250530 DTEND:20250531T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1381\, the Peasants' Revolt in England began\, a pe riod of open rebellion in which peasants\, demanding less taxes and an end to serfdom\, opened the prisons\, executed government officials\, and des troyed the Savoy Palace. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1381\, the Peasants' Revolt in England began\, leading to a period of open rebellion in which peasants\, demanding less t axes and an end to serfdom\, opened the prisons\, executed government offi cials\, and destroyed the Savoy Palace.\n\nAlthough the revolt had many ca uses\, it began when John Bampton\, a royal official\, attempted to collec t unpaid poll taxes in Essex on May 30th\, 1381. He was met with violent r esistance\, which rapidly spread across the southeast of the country.\n\nI nspired by the sermons of the radical cleric John Ball\, an army of rebels led by Wat Tyler marched on London. There\, they were joined by many loca ls\, and together they attacked gaols\, executed government officials\, an d destroyed government property.\n\nOn June 14th\, King Richard II met wit h the rebels\, submitting to most of their demands\, including the aboliti on of serfdom. The following day\, however\, he took back these concession s and killed Wat Tyler.\n\nUnrest continued for weeks afterward\, but the rebels were crushed by state forces. Most of the rebel leaders were tracke d down and executed. By November\, at least 1\,500 rebels had been killed. The revolt heavily influenced the course of the Hundred Years' War\, by d eterring later Parliaments from raising additional taxes to pay for milita ry campaigns in France. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peasants%27_Revolt RESOURCES:https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/z2c2pv4/revision/1 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Randolph Bourne (1886 - 1918) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250530 DTEND:20250531T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays COMMENT:Randolph Silliman Bourne\, born on this day in 1886\, was a progre ssive writer\, disability advocate\, and pacifist from Bloomfield\, New Je rsey who coined the phrase "war is the health of the state". DESCRIPTION:Randolph Silliman Bourne\, born on this day in 1886\, was a pr ogressive writer\, disability advocate\, and pacifist from Bloomfield\, Ne w Jersey who coined the phrase "war is the health of the state".\n\nBourne is considered to be a spokesman for the young radical voices during World War I. He is best known for his essays\, especially his unfinished work " The State"\, which was discovered after his death.\n\nIn this essay\, Bour ne coined the well-known phrase "war is the health of the state"\, by whic h Bourne was lamenting governments' success at arrogating authority and re sources during military conflicts.\n\nBourne was also disfigured from a di fficult birth and suffered from tuberculosis of the spine at a young age\, resulting in stunted growth and a hunched back.\n\nBourne chronicled thes e life experiences in his essay "The Handicapped - by one of them"\, now c onsidered a foundational work in disability studies. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randolph_Bourne RESOURCES:http://c250.columbia.edu/c250_celebrates/remarkable_columbians/r andolph_bourne.html END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:The New York Conspiracy Panic (1741) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250530 DTEND:20250531T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:On this day in 1741\, the first two victims of the New York Conspi racy Panic\, a wave of hysteria about the possibility of slaves and poor w hites collaborating to burn the city to the ground\, were executed after a series of farcical trials. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1741\, the first two victims of the New York Co nspiracy Panic\, a wave of hysteria about the possibility of slaves and po or whites collaborating to burn the city to the ground\, were executed aft er a series of farcical trials.\n\nThe Conspiracy of 1741\, also known as the Negro Plot of 1741 or the Slave Insurrection of 1741\, was a purported plot by enslaved blacks and poor whites in the British colony of New York to revolt and level New York City with a series of fires. Historians disa gree as to whether such a plot existed and\, if there was one\, its scale. \n\nDespite the lack of hard evidence for such a conspiracy\, affluent whi tes in New York City were hysterical with paranoia over poor whites and th e enslaved collaborating to burn the city down. During a series of court c ases brought against alleged members of this conspiracy\, the prosecution repeatedly changed the grounds of accusation and ignored the alibis proffe red by slaveowners for their slaves' non-involvement.\n\nAt its height\, o ver half of the city's enslaved males over the age of 16 were implicated i n the plot and jailed. On this day in 1741\, the first two victims\, two m en named Kofi and Quaco\, were hanged.\n\nAfter the hysteria ended\, eight een enslaved people were hanged\, thirteen burned alive\, four whites were executed\, and dozens of people had been deported out of the city. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Conspiracy_of_1741 RESOURCES:https://www.britannica.com/event/New-York-slave-rebellion-of-174 1 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Morral Affair (1906) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250531 DTEND:20250601T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Assassinations,Anarchism COMMENT:On this day in 1906\, revolutionary anarchist Mateu Morral attempt ed to assassinate Spanish King Alfonso XIII and his bride via bomb. The at tack failed\, killing 24 bystanders\, and caused state persecution of othe r anarchists. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1906\, revolutionary anarchist Mateu Morral att empted to assassinate Spanish King Alfonso XIII and his bride via bomb. Th e attack failed\, killing 24 bystanders\, and caused state persecution of other anarchists.\n\nMateu Morral was a young\, wealthy anarchist who had recently worked at Escuela Moderna\, an anarchist school in Barcelona\, Sp ain\, founded and ran by Francisco Ferrer. In the weeks leading up to the attack\, Mateu took a leave of absence from the school\, citing illness.\n \nOn May 31st\, 1906\, Mateu Morral threw a bomb\, obscured in a bouquet o f flowers\, from a hotel balcony at King Alfonso XIII's car as he returned with his bridge Victoria Eugenie from their wedding in Madrid. While the King and Queen were unscathed\, 24 bystanders and soldiers were killed\, a nd over 100 more wounded.\n\nMorral fled the scene and sought refuge from Republican (although explicitly anti-anarchist) journalist José Nakens. N akens reluctantly gave Morral shelter\, but Mateu grew mistrustful the sam e night and fled. A few days later\, he was discovered at a Madrid railway station and killed a police officer and himself rather than be taken into custody.\n\nAuthorities used the 1906 regicide attempt as a pretext to su ppress Ferrer and his educational work. Ferrer was arrested within a week of the attack and charged with both its organization and recruiting of Mor ral. He was imprisoned for a year while prosecutors pursued evidence for h is trial\, and was ultimately acquitted.\n\nModern historians disagree to the extent of Ferrer's involvement. Historian of anarchism Paul Avrich has stated "Barring the discovery of conclusive evidence\, Ferrer's role in t he Morral affair must remain an open question."\n\nFerrer was executed by the Spanish government three years later\, after a farcical trial convicte d him of orchestrating a period of insurrection known as Barcelona's "Trag ic Week". RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morral_affair RESOURCES:https://books.google.com/books?id=X6X_AwAAQBAJ&pg=PA28#v=onepage &q&f=false END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Tulsa Race Massacre (1921) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250531 DTEND:20250601T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Massacre COMMENT:On this day in 1921\, the Tulsa Race Massacre began when mobs of w hite people attacked residents and businesses of the Greenwood District\, known as "Black Wall Street"\, killing hundreds and rendering 10\,000 blac k families homeless. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1921\, the Tulsa Race Massacre began when mobs of white people attacked residents and businesses of the Greenwood Distric t\, known as "Black Wall Street"\, killing hundreds and rendering 10\,000 black families homeless.\n\nHistorian Scott Ellsworth called it "the singl e worst incident of racial violence in American history"\, with estimates ranging from 75-300 people killed\, 800 wounded\, and 10\,000 black famili es made homeless from the destruction of property.\n\nThe massacre began o ver Memorial Day weekend after 19-year-old Dick Rowland\, a black shoeshin er\, was accused of assaulting Sarah Page\, the 17-year-old white elevator operator of the nearby Drexel Building. When a lynch mob formed at the ja il\, an armed group of black men showed up to counter it.\n\nShots rang ou t when a white person tried to disarm one of the black men. The initial vi olence left ten people dead\, and a mob of enraged white people stormed bl ack neighborhoods\, indiscriminately killing families\, setting fires\, an d destroying property.\n\nAs crews from the Tulsa Fire Department arrived to put out fires\, they were turned away at gunpoint. One account stated " It would mean a fireman's life to turn a stream of water on one of those n egro buildings. They shot at us all morning when we were trying to do some thing but none of my men was hit. There is not a chance in the world to ge t through that mob into the negro district."\n\nSeveral eyewitnesses descr ibed airplanes carrying white assailants\, who fired rifles and dropped fi rebombs on buildings\, homes\, and fleeing families. The privately owned a ircraft had been dispatched from the nearby Curtiss-Southwest Field outsid e Tulsa. Law enforcement officials later claimed that the planes were to p rovide reconnaissance and protect against a "Negro uprising".\n\nMultiple eyewitness accounts said that on the morning of June 1st\, at least a doze n planes circled the neighborhood and dropped "burning turpentine balls" o n an office\, a hotel\, a filling station\, and other buildings.\n\nFor 75 years (until 1996)\, the massacre was almost totally omitted from local\, state\, and national histories. It was not recognized in the Tulsa Tribun e feature of "Fifteen Years Ago Today" or "Twenty-Five Years Ago Today". A 2017 report detailing the history of the Tulsa Fire Department from 1897 until the date of publication made no mention of the 1921 mass arson.\n\nI n 2015\, a previously unknown written eyewitness account of the Tulsa Race Massacre from attorney Buck Colbert Franklin was discovered. Franklin wro te: "The sidewalks were literally covered with burning turpentine balls. I knew all too well where they came from\, and I knew all too well why ever y burning building first caught fire from the top...I paused and waited fo r an opportune time to escape. 'Where oh where is our splendid fire depart ment with its half dozen stations?' I asked myself\, 'Is the city in consp iracy with the mob?'" RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulsa_race_massacre RESOURCES:https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/long-lost -manuscript-contains-searing-eyewitness-account-tulsa-race-massacre-1921-1 80959251/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Burning of Jaffna Public Library (1981) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250601 DTEND:20250602T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1981\, a Sinhalese mob burned Jaffna Public Library in Sri Lanka\, one of the worst examples of ethnic book burning in the 20 th century. The library was one of the biggest in Asia\, containing over 9 7k books and manuscripts. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1981\, a Sinhalese mob burned Jaffna Public Lib rary in Sri Lanka\, one of the worst examples of ethnic book burning in th e 20th century. The library was one of the biggest in Asia\, containing ov er 97k books and manuscripts.\n\nThe attack on Jaffna was part of a multi- day\, anti-Tamil pogrom by Sri Lankan state forces\, following a rally hel d by the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF). Many business establishment s\, a local Hindu temple\, and a newspaper office were also destroyed\, an d statues of Tamil cultural and religious figures were defaced.\n\nAt the time of the Library's destruction\, it contained irreplaceable documents o f great importance to Tamil culture\, items such as the only existing copy of a history of Jaffna written by Tamil poet Mayilvagana Pulavar in 1736. According to author Kumarathasan Rasingam\, the Library also served as a cultural hub for the Tamil community.\n\nIn 1998\, under president Chandri ka Kumaratunga\, the government began the process to rebuild the Jaffna Pu blic Library with contributions from Sri Lankans and foreign governments\, and it was re-opened to the public several years later. RESOURCES:https://countercurrents.org/2022/05/remembering-the-burning-of-j affna-public-library-41-years-on/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burning_of_Jaffna_Public_Library END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Cananea Riot (1906) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250601 DTEND:20250602T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Riots,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1906\, Mexican employees of the US-owned Cananea Co pper Company went on strike\, demanding an end to pay discrimination and a n eight-hour day. The strike's repression was a key precursor to the Mexic an Revolution of 1910. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1906\, Mexican employees of the US-owned Canane a Copper Company went on strike\, demanding an end to pay discrimination a nd an eight-hour day. The strike's repression was a key precursor to the M exican Revolution of 1910.\n\nThe Cananea Consolidated Copper Company (CCC C) was owned by American Colonel William Greene\, whose capitalist enterpr ise was greatly aided by the corrupt Mexican government of Porfirio Díaz. CCCC employed both American and Mexican workers\, however senior position s could only be held by Americans and Mexicans were paid 3.5 pesos a day t o the Americans' 5.\n\nCananea was a company town in which workers were fo rced to live in company housing and buy necessities at the company store. Despite this\, the wages offered to Mexican workers were among the highest in the region\, making the jobs competitive.\n\nOn June 1st\, 1906\, near ly all of the Mexican employees of CCCC went on strike. Among their demand s were an end to pay discrimination\, an eight hour day (down from ten)\, and a guaranteed representation of Mexicans in the workforce. One slogan w as "Ocho horas! cinco pesos!" (eight hours\, five pesos).\n\nThe company f latly rejected all of the workers' demands\, and thousands of laborers beg an to march in protest. Upon arriving at the company's lumber yard\, prote sters were hosed down by armed management. Violence broke out\, and three workers and both managers were killed\, the latter stabbed to death with m ining implements. Workers then set fire to the lumber yard\, causing ~$100 \,000 in damages.\n\nThe strike devolved into a de facto war after deputiz ed company men fired on workers approaching the local bank\, jail\, and co mpany store. The crowd\, mostly unarmed\, raided local pawnshops for weapo ns and proceeded to engage in firefights with a combined force of Mexican Federal Troops\, 275 volunteers from Arizona\, and CCCC forces.\n\nEstimat es of casualties vary\, but at least 23 were killed and more than 50 were arrested before the workers were defeated. Green blamed the uprising on "a Socialistic organization that has been formed by malcontents opposed to t he Díaz government."\; literature of the pro-labor Partido Liberal Mexica no (PLM) was found in the workers' settlements.\n\nThe Cananea Riot became linked with the Río Blanco Strike of January 1907 as symbols of Díaz's corruption and subservience to foreign capital. According to historian Les lie Bethell\, both became "household words for hundreds of thousands of Me xicans". Díaz would be forced to resign in 1911.\n\nThe mine in Cananea c urrently continues to be worked for copper and was subject to a miners' st rike as recently as 2008. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cananea_strike RESOURCES:https://www.jstor.org/stable/40168090?read-now=1&refreqid=excels ior%3A4da0bfecc9cbdaa2b32a2c05158f58d0&seq=1 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Stand for Children Rally (1996) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250601 DTEND:20250602T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:On this day in 1996\, the largest pro-children rally in U.S. histo ry\, more than 300k strong\, began in D.C.\, leading to the founding of "S tand for Children". SFC would later accept money from American oligarchs a nd fight teachers' unions. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1996\, the largest pro-children rally in U.S. h istory\, more than 300k strong\, began in D.C.\, leading to the founding o f "Stand for Children". SFC would later accept money from American oligarc hs and fight teachers' unions.\n\nOrganized by Marian Wright Edelman of th e Children's Defense Fund\, the rally had many speakers of note\, includin g Rosa Parks\, who quipped "If I can sit down for justice\, you can stand up for children." Following their work at the rally\, Jonah Edelman and El iza Leighton founded SFC as a vehicle to advocate for the nation's childre n.\n\nThe organization has faced criticism for its ultra-wealthy donors\, including the Walton Family and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundations\, and boa rd members\, such as the daughter of billionaire Michael Bloomberg and Ste ve Jobs' wife. The SFC has also worked to undermine the Chicago Teachers U nion.\n\nSusan Barrett\, a former volunteer co-leader of a SFC team in Por tland\, Oregon\, resigned from her position with SCF due to concerns along these lines. In a blog post published by the Washington Post\, Barrett cr iticizes the group for allowing corporate influence to corrupt the popular roots of the organization. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stand_for_Children RESOURCES:https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/volunteer -why-i-stopped-helping-stand-for-children/2011/07/13/gIQAQxLMDI_blog.html END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Adelaide Casely-Hayford (1868 - 1960) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250602 DTEND:20250603T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Pan-Africanism,Birthdays COMMENT:Adelaide Casely-Hayford\, born on this day in 1868\, was a Sierra Leone Creole Pan-African feminist\, educator\, and author. Hayford establi shed a vocational school for young girls in Sierra Leone that emphasized r acial and cultural pride. DESCRIPTION:Adelaide Casely-Hayford\, born on this day in 1868\, was a Sie rra Leone Creole Pan-African feminist\, educator\, and author. Hayford est ablished a vocational school for young girls in Sierra Leone that emphasiz ed racial and cultural pride.\n\nHayford was born into an elite Sierra Leo ne family in Freetown\, British Sierra Leone. She spent much of her youth in England and studying throughout the West\, also studying music in Germa ny at the age of 17.\n\nWhile in England\, Adelaide married West African a uthor and Pan-Africanist J. E. Casely Hayford (also known as Ekra-Agiman). Their marriage may have influenced her transformation into a cultural nat ionalist.\n\nIn May 1914\, Hayford returned to Sierra Leone\, dedicating t he rest of her life to educating African girls. In October 1923\, she esta blished the Girls' Vocational School\, one of the first educational instit utions in Sierra Leone to provide young girls with an African-centered edu cation\, according to historian Keisha N. Blain.\n\nHayford frequently tra veled throughout the world\, giving a speaking tour in the United States o n misconceptions about Africa. Author Brittany Rogers notes that these tra vels also exposed her to the exploitation of black female labor throughout the world.\n\nAlthough her educational concept for young girls had a Vict orian-influenced\, middle class domesticity in mind\, Rogers writes that t hese travels led Hayford to begin writing and speaking on matters of labor as well. Hayford died in her hometown of Freetown\, Sierra Leone in 1960. \n\n"Instantly my eyes were opened to the fact that the education meted ou t to [African people] had...taught us to despise ourselves. Our immediate need was an education which would instill into us a love of country\, a pr ide of race\, an enthusiasm for the black man's capabilities\, and a genui ne admiration for Africa's wonderful art work." RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/hayford-adelaid e-smith-casely-1868-1960/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adelaide_Casely-Hayford END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Cornel West (1953 - ) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250602 DTEND:20250603T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Socialism,Marxism,Birthdays COMMENT:Cornel West\, born on this day in 1953\, is a philosopher\, social ist activist\, educator\, and public intellectual whose works include "Rac e Matters" and "The Rich and the Rest of Us: A Poverty Manifesto"\, co-aut hored with Tavis Smiley. DESCRIPTION:Cornel West\, born on this day in 1953\, is a philosopher\, so cialist activist\, educator\, and public intellectual whose works include "Race Matters" and "The Rich and the Rest of Us: A Poverty Manifesto"\, co -authored with Tavis Smiley.\n\nThe son of a Baptist minister\, West's pol itical thought focuses on the role of race\, gender\, and class in America n society. A radical democrat and advocate for social democracy\, West dra ws intellectual contributions from multiple traditions\, including the bla ck Christian church\, Marxism (although he identifies as a non-Marxist soc ialist\, believing the Christian faith and Marxism to be irreconcilable)\, and transcendentalism.\n\nAmong West's works are "Race Matters" (1994)\, "Democracy Matters" (2004)\, and "The Rich and the Rest of Us: A Poverty M anifesto" (2012)\, co-authored with Tavis Smiley. In this last work\, Smil ey and West provide a broad\, multi-racial look at the history and experie nce of poverty in the United States\, concluding with a twelve-point progr am to address this poverty.\n\nWest has served as honorary chair of the De mocratic Socialists of America (DSA)\, which he has described as "the firs t multiracial\, socialist organization close enough to my politics that I could join". He has also described himself as a "radical democrat\, suspic ious of all forms of authority" in the Matrix-themed documentary "The Burl y Man Chronicles".\n\nWest was arrested on October 13th\, 2014\, while pro testing against the shooting of Michael Brown and participating in "Fergus on October"\, and again on August 10th\, 2015\, while demonstrating outsid e a courthouse in St. Louis on the one-year anniversary of Brown's death.\ n\n"To be an intellectual really means to speak a truth that allows suffer ing to speak. That is\, it creates a vision of the world that puts into th e limelight the social misery that is usually hidden or concealed by the d ominant viewpoints of a society. 'Intellectual' in that sense simply means those who are willing to reflect critically upon themselves as well as up on the larger society and to ascertain whether there is some possibility o f amelioration and betterment."\n\n- Cornel West RESOURCES:http://www.cornelwest.com/articles.html#.XyIbeShKiM8 RESOURCES:https://mirror.explodie.org/race-matters-cornel-west.pdf RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornel_West END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Khartoum Massacre (2019) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250603 DTEND:20250604T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Civil Rights,Massacre,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 2019\, the Khartoum massacre took place when Sudane se troops attacked sit-in protesters at Khartoum military headquarters wit h heavy gunfire and teargas\, killing at least 100 people and throwing the ir bodies into the Nile. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 2019\, the Khartoum massacre took place when Su danese troops attacked sit-in protesters at Khartoum military headquarters with heavy gunfire and teargas\, killing at least 100 people and throwing their bodies into the Nile.\n\nMore than 70 men and women were raped\, an d several hundred civilians were injured. The internet in Sudan was blacke d out for days following the massacre.\n\nThe sit-in took place in the con text of the Sudanese revolution\, beginning with mass anti-government prot ests in December 2018. On April 11th\, the military removed President Omar al-Bashir from power in a coup d'état\, creating a Transitional Military Council (TMC). Protesters supported by the Sudanese Professionals Associa tion (SPA) and various democratic opposition groups engaged in street demo nstrations\, demanding the TMC turn over power to a civilian-led transitio nal government.\n\nIn the days following the massacre\, anti-TMC protests became even more intense\, and a general strike involving 60-100% of worke rs broke out across the country. Roads were blocked and almost all formal and informal businesses were closed\, including banks\, public transport a nd Khartoum International Airport. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khartoum_massacre RESOURCES:http://libcom.org/news/sudan-behind-massacre-khartoum-19062019 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:U.S. Disallows Women's Soccer Strike (2016) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250603 DTEND:20250604T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 2016\, a U.S. federal judge sided with U.S. Soccer\ , ruling that the national women's soccer team would not be allowed to str ike\, despite their no-strike collective bargaining agreement expiring fou r years prior. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 2016\, a U.S. federal judge sided with U.S. Soc cer\, ruling that the national women's soccer team would not be allowed to strike\, despite their no-strike collective bargaining agreement expiring four years prior.\n\nThe women's team was scheduled to perform in that ye ar's summer Olympics\, and the ruling prevented the possibility of using t he opportunity to strike.\n\nThe mere possibility of this work stoppage le d U.S. Soccer to file a complaint in early February\, seeking a court orde r to prevent a potential strike. As a result of the ruling\, the players w ere compelled to work under the terms of a collective bargaining agreement that dated back to 2005. RESOURCES:https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/06/03/480647427/u-s -women-s-soccer-team-cannot-go-on-strike-court-rules RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/blog/what-we-can-learn-us-womens-soccer-team- 07062016 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Zoot Suit Riots (1943) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250603 DTEND:20250604T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Riots COMMENT:On this day in 1943\, the Zoot Suit Riots began when thousands of white American servicemen in California began indiscriminately attacking p eople (mostly Latinos) wearing Zoot Suits\, which were seen as unpatriotic . DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1943\, the Zoot Suit Riots began when thousands of white American servicemen in California began indiscriminately attacki ng people (mostly Latinos) wearing Zoot Suits\, which were seen as unpatri otic. The suits were ostensibly seen as unpatriotic due to wartime rations \, although they were also racialized\, with L.A. Councilman Norris Nelson stating "the zoot suit has become a badge of hoodlumism".\n\nThe riots be gan on the night of June 3rd when ~12 sailors and a group of young Mexican s in zoot suits began fighting. The LAPD responded to the incident "seekin g to clean up Main Street from what they viewed as the loathsome influence of pachuco gangs"\, according to historian Luis Alvarez. The police arres ted the sailors and not the Mexicans.\n\nThe next day\, 200 sailors headed for East Los Angeles\, a Mexican-American part of town\, and attacked and stripped everyone they came across who were wearing zoot suits. Local pre ss heralded the violence as cleaning up the town\, and soon thousands of s ailors joined the riot. Journalist Carey McWilliams described what happene d like this:\n\n"Marching through the streets of downtown Los Angeles\, a mob of several thousand soldiers\, sailors\, and civilians\, proceeded to beat up every zoot suiter they could find. Pushing its way into the import ant motion picture theaters\, the mob ordered the management to turn on th e house lights and then ran up and down the aisles dragging Mexicans out o f their seats. Streetcars were halted while Mexicans\, and some Filipinos and Negroes\, were jerked from their seats\, pushed into the streets and b eaten with a sadistic frenzy."\n\nThe L.A. City Council approved a resolut ion criminalizing zoot suits\, although the ordinance was not signed into law. The Navy and Marine Corps Staff prohibited sailors from traveling to L.A. in an effort to curb the violence\, however they officially maintaine d that the men were acting in self-defense. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoot_Suit_Riots RESOURCES:http://libcom.org/history/zoot-suit-rebellion END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Gurdip Singh Chaggar Murdered (1976) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250604 DTEND:20250605T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Fascism,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1976\, Gurdip Singh Chaggar\, an 18-year old engine ering student\, was stabbed to death by fascists in Southall\, London\, le ading to mass protests and the formation of the anti-fascist Southall Yout h Movement (SYM). DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1976\, Gurdip Singh Chaggar\, an 18-year old en gineering student\, was stabbed to death by fascists in Southall\, London\ , leading to mass protests and the formation of the anti-fascist Southall Youth Movement (SYM).\n\nThe murder was unprovoked and committed by a gang of white youths. The following day\, thousands of protesters surrounded t he police station and gave speeches\, leading to the formation of the SYM. \n\nAccording to historian Benjamin Bland\, "the SYM would go on to be cru cial\, both in defending Southall's Asian population against the threat of racism and in helping to inspire the foundation of other Asian youth orga nisations across the UK".\n\nThe SYM was also an explicitly anti-fascist o rganization\, clashing with the fascist National Front (NF). After the mur der of Chaggar\, John Kingsley Read\, a former chairman of the NF\, stated "one down\, a million to go".\n\nThese tensions came to a climax when the NF attempted to hold a rally in Southall in 1979\, leading to Blair Peach \, a socialist schoolteacher\, being killed by injuries sustained from pol ice. RESOURCES:https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2019/4/23/the-british-asians- who-fought-fascism-in-the-seventies RESOURCES:https://archive.discoversociety.org/2019/04/03/gurdip-singh-chag gar-the-southall-youth-movement-and-the-background-to-april-1979/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Teresa Claramunt (1862 - 1931) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250604 DTEND:20250605T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Anarchism COMMENT:Teresa Claramunt\, born on this day in 1862\, was a Catalan anarch o-syndicalist\, feminist\, and labor organizer who helped publish the infl uential radical magazine "El Productor". DESCRIPTION:Teresa Claramunt\, born on this day in 1862\, was a Catalan an archo-syndicalist\, feminist\, and labor organizer who helped publish the influential radical magazine "El Productor".\n\nClaramunt played an active role in Spanish workers' movements\, participating in a 1902 general stri ke in Barcelona and giving multiple speeches during the Tragic Week of 190 9.\n\nHer radicalization began as a textile employee\, and she founded an anarchist group in Sabadell which participated in a seven-week strike in 1 883. She also authored a text\, "La mujer\, Consideraciones generales sobr e su estado ante las prerrogativas del hombre" (English: The woman\, Gener al considerations about her state before the prerogatives of the man)\, ad dressing the plight of the woman worker. RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/claramunt-teresa-1862-1931 RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teresa_Claramunt_Creus END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Eugen Leviné (1883 - 1919) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250605 DTEND:20250606T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Assassinations COMMENT:Eugen Leviné\, assassinated on this day in 1919\, was a German re volutionary communist who briefly led the Bavarian Council Republic\, givi ng luxury apartments to the homeless and factories to the workers during h is short reign in power. DESCRIPTION:Eugen Leviné\, assassinated on this day in 1919\, was a Germa n revolutionary communist who briefly led the Bavarian Council Republic\, giving luxury apartments to the homeless and factories to the workers duri ng his short reign in power.\n\nEugen Levine was born to wealthy Jewish pa rents in St Petersberg\, Russia\, and became exposed to radical politics a fter moving to Heidelberg\, Germany at a young age. In 1905\, Leviné retu rned to Russia to participate in the failed revolution of 1905 against the Tsar and was arrested and exiled to Siberia.\n\nAfter World War I ended\, Leviné joined the Communist Party of Germany and helped to create a soci alist republic in Bavaria. Leviné eventually rose to power as the communi sts assumed control of the government.\n\nHe attempted to pass many reform s\, such as giving the more luxurious flats to the homeless and giving wor kers control and ownership of factories. Leviné also planned reforms for the education system and to abolish paper money\, but did not get the chan ce to complete either.\n\nThe German Army\, assisted by the right-wing Fre ikorps paramilitary invaded and quickly conquered Munich on May 3rd\, 1919 . Leviné himself was arrested and shot by firing squad in Stadelheim Pris on.\n\nEx-Soviet agent Whitaker Chambers cited Leviné as an inspirational figure\, writing "During the Bavarian Council Republic in 1919\, Leviné was the organiser of the Workers' and Soldiers' Soviets. When the Bavarian Council Republic was crushed\, Leviné was captured and court-martialed. The court-martial told him: "You are under sentence of death." Leviné ans wered: 'We Communists are always under sentence of death.'" RESOURCES:https://spartacus-educational.com/GERlevine.htm RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugen_Levin%C3%A9 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:James Connolly (1868 - 1916) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250605 DTEND:20250606T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Socialism,Birthdays,IWW COMMENT:James Connolly\, born on this day in 1868\, was an Irish socialist revolutionary\, founder of the Irish Citizen Army (ICA)\, and leader of t he Easter Rising rebellion\, for which he was executed by the British gove rnment. DESCRIPTION:James Connolly\, born on this day in 1868\, was an Irish socia list revolutionary\, founder of the Irish Citizen Army (ICA)\, and leader of the Easter Rising rebellion\, for which he was executed by the British government.\n\nConnolly was born in a poor Edinburgh neighborhood and spok e with a Scottish accent. He joined the British Army at age 14 to escape p overty and developed a hatred for the institution from firsthand experienc e. He deserted when his regiment was set to deploy to India.\n\nHe was als o member of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) and founder of the I rish Socialist Republican Party. With labor radical James Larkin\, he was centrally involved in the Dublin lock-out of 1913\, after which the two me n formed the Irish Citizen Army (ICA) the same year.\n\nConnolly was oppos ed to British rule in Ireland and played a leading role in the Easter Risi ng of 1916\, signing the "Proclamation of the Irish Republic" and serving as Commandant of the Dublin Brigade\, the regiment that played the most su bstantial role in the Rising. Connolly was executed by firing squad follow ing the Rising's defeat.\n\n"If you remove the English army tomorrow and h oist the green flag over Dublin Castle\, unless you set about the organiza tion of the Socialist Republic your efforts would be in vain. England woul d still rule you. She would rule you through her capitalists\, through her landlords\, through her financiers\, through the whole array of commercia l and individualist institutions she has planted in this country and water ed with the tears of our mothers and the blood of our martyrs."\n\n- James Connolly RESOURCES:https://www.dib.ie/biography/connolly-james-a1953 RESOURCES:https://archive.iww.org/history/biography/JamesConolly/1/ RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/archive/connolly/index.htm RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Connolly END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Marian Wright Edelman (1939 - ) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250606 DTEND:20250607T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Civil Rights,Birthdays COMMENT:Marian Wright Edelman\, born on this day in 1939\, is an American children's rights activist who became the first black woman admitted to th e Mississippi Bar and founded the Children's Defense Fund in 1973. DESCRIPTION:Marian Wright Edelman\, born on this day in 1939\, is an Ameri can children's rights activist who became the first black woman admitted t o the Mississippi Bar and founded the Children's Defense Fund in 1973.\n\n The Children's Defense Fund\, a group which lobbies to overhaul foster car e\, support adoption\, improve child care and protect children who are dis abled\, homeless\, abused or neglected.\n\nEdelman was active in the civil rights movement\, contributing to the organization of the Poor People's C ampaign in 1968 and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. She also participated in sit-ins\, getting arrested along with fourteen other stud ents at one of the largest sit-ins at the Atlanta City Hall in 1960.\n\n"S ervice is the rent we pay for being. It is the very purpose of life\, and not something you do in your spare time."\n\n- Marian Wright Edelman RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marian_Wright_Edelman RESOURCES:https://www.childrensdefense.org/staff/marian-wright-edelman/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Philadelphia General Strike (1835) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250606 DTEND:20250607T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,General Strikes COMMENT:On this day in 1835\, the first recorded general strike in North A merica broke out in Philadelphia when striking Irish dock workers were joi ned by city workers. A wave of successful strikes followed\, standardizing the 10 hour day. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1835\, the first recorded general strike in Nor th America broke out in Philadelphia when striking Irish dock workers were joined by city workers. A wave of successful strikes followed\, standardi zing the 10 hour day.\n\nThe strike involved around 20\,000 workers\, dema nding a ten-hour workday and increased wages. The strike ended in complete victory for the workers.\n\nInfluenced by labor agitation in Boston\, the Philadelphia General Strike began with unskilled Irish workers on the Sch uylkill River coal wharves going out on strike for a ten-hour day. The doc k workers patrolled the picket line with swords\, threatening any scab who attempted to unload coal from the 75 vessels waiting in the water.\n\nThe coal heavers were soon joined by workers from many other trades\, includi ng leather dressers\, printers\, carpenters\, bricklayers\, masons\, house painters\, bakers\, and city employees.\n\nOn June 6th\, a mass meeting o f workers\, lawyers\, doctors\, and a few businessmen\, was held in the St ate House courtyard. The meeting unanimously adopted a set of resolutions giving full support to the workers' demand for wage increases and a shorte r workday\, as well as increased wages for women workers and a boycott of any coal merchant who worked his men more than ten hours.\n\nThe strike qu ickly came to a close after city public works employees joined the labor a ction. The Philadelphia city government announced that the "hours of labor of the working men employed under the authority of the city corporation w ould be from 'six to six' during the summers season\, allowing one hour fo r breakfast\, and one for dinner."\n\nOn June 22nd\, three weeks after the coal heavers initially struck\, the ten-hour system and an increase in wa ges for piece-workers was adopted in the city. A wave of successful strike s across the United States followed this victory. By the end of 1835\, the ten-hour day had become the standard for most day city laborers. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1835_Philadelphia_general_strike RESOURCES:https://journals.psu.edu/pmhb/article/view/30723/30478 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Union of Journeymen Tailors Found Guilty (1836) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250606 DTEND:20250607T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1836\, 27\,000 people gathered at New York City Hal l Park to protest a verdict against the Union Society of Journeymen Tailor s for a "conspiracy to injure trade"\, a result which undermined the legal ity of trade unions. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1836\, 27\,000 people gathered at New York City Hall Park to protest a verdict against the Union Society of Journeymen Ta ilors for a "conspiracy to injure trade"\, a result which undermined the l egality of trade unions. In the early 19th century United States\, the leg ality of trade unions was frequently called into question. Some courts cal led them "conspiracies to restrain trade"\, and therefore illegal.\n\nIn 1 836\, twenty-five members of the Union Society of Journeymen Tailors were found guilty of "conspiracy to injure trade\, riot\, assault\, and battery " in the state of New York. On June 6th\, 27\,000 people gathered in City Hall Park to protest the court decision.\n\nA radical pamphlet circulated\ , titled "The Rich Against the Poor"\, denouncing the judge who issued the decision as a "tool of aristocracy". The protesters established a "Commit tee of Correspondence" that comprised of people working in trades\, which went on to found the working class Equal Rights party. RESOURCES:https://www.historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/zinnother10.html RESOURCES:https://books.google.com/books?id=ipw1joa9xMoC&pg=PA324&lpg=PA32 4&dq=judge+edwards+tool+of+aristocracy&source=bl&ots=nBZtPHzrD4&sig=ACfU3U 3PnRA5HTG-kVWu839Mlrf70pwo2Q&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi7rfqb-K_qAhWFU80KHYg3A VgQ6AEwAHoECAcQAQ#v=onepage&q=judge%20edwards%20tool%20of%20aristocracy&f= false END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Israeli West Bank Occupation Begins (1967) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250607 DTEND:20250608T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Colonialism COMMENT:On this day in 1967\, the Israeli Army occupied the West Bank and Gaza Strip\, claiming emergency powers with a military decree that greatly restricts the rights of the occupied. The ongoing occupation is the longe st in the modern era. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1967\, the Israeli Army occupied the West Bank and Gaza Strip\, claiming emergency powers with a military decree that gre atly restricts the rights of the occupied. The ongoing occupation is the l ongest in the modern era.\n\nThe Israeli Army action took place in the con text of the Six Day War\, fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab st ates. The status of the West Bank as a militarily occupied territory has b een affirmed by the International Court of Justice and\, with the exceptio n of East Jerusalem\, by the Israeli Supreme Court.\n\nAccording to Human Rights Watch (HRW)\, the military proclamation issued by the Israeli Army on June 7th\, 1967 permitted the application of the Defense (Emergency) Re gulations of 1945.\n\nThese regulations empowered\, and continue to empowe r\, authorities to declare as an "unlawful association" groups that advoca te for "bringing into hatred or contempt\, or the exciting of disaffection against" the authorities\, and criminalize membership in or possession of material belonging to or affiliated\, even indirectly\, with these groups .\n\nHRW goes on to state that these and other broad restrictions on the o ccupied population violate international law: "The Israeli army has for ov er 50 years used broadly worded military orders to arrest Palestinian jour nalists\, activists and others for their speech and activities - much of i t non-violent - protesting\, criticizing or opposing Israeli policies. The se orders are written so broadly that they violate the obligation of state s under international human rights law to clearly spell out conduct that c ould result in criminal sanction."\n\nFollowing the military occupation of the West Bank\, Israel began expropriating the land and facilitating Isra eli settlements in the area\, broadly considered a violation of internatio nal law. While Israelis in the West Bank are subject to Israeli law and gi ven representation in the Israeli Knesset\, Palestinian civilians\, mostly confined to scattered enclaves\, are subject to martial law and are not p ermitted to vote in Israel's national elections.\n\nThis two-tiered system has inspired comparisons to apartheid\, likening the dense disconnected p ockets that Palestinians are relegated to with the segregated Bantustans t hat previously existed in South Africa when the country was still under wh ite supremacist rule. RESOURCES:https://www.hrw.org/report/2019/12/17/born-without-civil-rights/ israels-use-draconian-military-orders-repress RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli_occupation_of_the_West_Ban k RESOURCES:https://rac.org/blog/core-matter-borders-and-settlements END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Women Ford Machinists Strike (1968) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250607 DTEND:20250608T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:On this day in 1968\, all 187 women employees working at a Ford fa ctory in Dagenham\, East London went on strike to demand equal pay for equ al work\, eventually leading to the Equal Pay Act of 1970. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1968\, all 187 women employees working at a For d factory in Dagenham\, East London went on strike to demand equal pay for equal work\, eventually leading to the Equal Pay Act of 1970.\n\nAt the f actory\, female workers were classified as unskilled workers (Category B)\ , paid both less than "skilled" (Category C) workers and Category B male w orkers. Even teenage boys sweeping the floors were paid more than the wome n working there.\n\nIn response to this\, all 187 women went on strike on June 7th\, demanding equal pay for equal work. Despite their labor being c lassified as unskilled\, car production halted within a week. The factory was forced to come to a complete standstill\, eventually costing the compa ny over $8 million. Despite this\, Ford refused to negotiate.\n\nThe strik e ended after Barbara Castle\, the Secretary of State for Employment and P roductivity\, intervened\, beginning a set of negotiations at which men we re not allowed. The strike ended with an immediate increase of their rate of pay to 8% below that of men\, rising to the full Category B rate the fo llowing year. In 1984\, following an additional strike\, the women were ca tegorized as Category C.\n\nThe labor action is considered key to the pass ing of the Equal Pay Act 1970 prohibited inequality of treatment between m en and women in Britain in terms of pay and conditions of employment. In 1 978\, despite its passage\, women's relative position in the UK was still worse than in Italy\, France\, Germany\, or the Benelux countries in 1972. RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/1968-ford-female-employees-win-strike -equal-pay-dagenham RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_sewing_machinists_strike_of_1 968 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Battle of Menstad (1931) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250608 DTEND:20250609T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1931\, the Battle of Menstad began near Skien\, Nor way when 2\,000 striking workers fought and overwhelmed a group of police officers protecting scabs at Norsk Hydro's Menstad plant. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1931\, the Battle of Menstad began near Skien\, Norway when 2\,000 striking workers fought and overwhelmed a group of pol ice officers protecting scabs at Norsk Hydro's Menstad plant. The battle t ook place in the context of drastic pay cuts during the Great Depression.\ n\nHistorian Knut Dørum has written that Norway's biggest industrial disp utes ever took place that year\, beginning with a six month lock-out in th e iron industry\, involving up to 86\,000 workers and causing a loss of 13 million working days.\n\nAt Menstad\, Norsk Hydro and Union & Co hired st rike-breakers to replace the striking workers. The workers responded by ch asing away the strike-breakers in the days before the battle. The strikers returned on June 8th with police protection that was quickly overwhelmed by protesting workers. In response to the violence\, the government deploy ed troops and ships from to the area.\n\nAfterward\, 28 strikers were arre sted and put on trial\, 20 of whom were sentenced to prison. Most of those arrested were members of the Norwegian Communist Party and the Norwegian Labour Party. Worker organization did not prevent mass unemployment during the Great Depression\; in the winter of 1932–1933\, up to 40% of the tr ade unionists were unemployed. RESOURCES:https://snl.no/Menstadslaget RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menstad_conflict END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Freedom Riders Arrested (1961) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250608 DTEND:20250609T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1961\, Freedom Riders protesting segregation\, incl uding Kwame Ture\, Gwendolyn Green\, and Joan Trumpauer Mulholland (shown) \, were arrested in Jackson\, Mississippi and taken to Parchman Prison. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1961\, Freedom Riders protesting segregation\, including Kwame Ture\, Gwendolyn Green\, and Joan Trumpauer Mulholland (sh own)\, were arrested in Jackson\, Mississippi and taken to Parchman Prison . Others arrested included Jan Triggs\, Rev. Robert Wesby\, Helen Wilson\, Teri Perlman\, Jane Rosett\, and Travis Britt.\n\nThe Freedom Rides were a series of protests in response to Boynton vs. Virginia\, a Supreme Court ruling that declared that busses and trains should be desegregated. Despi te segregation being illegal\, many southern states still maintained segre gated public transit systems. Protesters challenged this by joining togeth er in multi-racial groups and traveling on the busses. RESOURCES:https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/freedom-riders-arrested/ RESOURCES:https://snccdigital.org/events/freedom-rides/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Johanna Kirchner Assassinated (1944) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250609 DTEND:20250610T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Marxism,Assassinations,Fascism COMMENT:Johanna Kirchner was a German anti-fascist and Social Democrat who was executed by the Nazis on this day in 1944 for having "treasonably roo ted herself in the evilest Marxist high-treason propaganda". DESCRIPTION:Johanna Kirchner was a German anti-fascist and Social Democrat who was executed by the Nazis on this day in 1944 for having "treasonably rooted herself in the evilest Marxist high-treason propaganda".\n\nKirchn er was born into a family with social-democratic traditions\, and Kirchner herself joined the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) at the age of eighteen.\n\nWhen the Second World War broke out in 1939\, Kirchner\, a k nown anti-fascist and opponent of the Nazis\, fled to France. While there\ , she collaborated with Eleonore Wolf\, organizing the emigration of many officials of the workers' movement out of the Third Reich.\n\nIn 1942\, Ki rchner was arrested by the Vichy Régime and handed over to the Gestapo. A lthough she was initially sentenced to ten years' hard labor for treason\, her case was brought back before the Volksgerichtshof in 1944\, and she w as sentenced to death for "treasonably rooted herself in the evilest Marxi st high-treason propaganda" and "treasonably gathering cultural\, economic \, political\, and military intelligence and communicating" Marxism.\n\nOn the day of her death\, she wrote to her children in her diary: "Keep Goet he's words in mind\, 'Die and become'. Don't cry for me. I believe in a be tter future for you." RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johanna_Kirchner RESOURCES:https://www.gdw-berlin.de/en/recess/biographies/index_of_persons /biographie/view-bio/johanna-kirchner/?no_cache=1 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Gerrit van der Veen Assassinated (1944) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250610 DTEND:20250611T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Assassinations,Fascism COMMENT:Gerrit van der Veen was a Dutch anti-fascist sculptor who was assa ssinated by the Nazis on this day in 1944\, following a failed attempt to free his comrades from prison. Van der Veen helped forge more than 80\,000 ethnic identity papers. DESCRIPTION:Gerrit van der Veen (1902 - 1944) was a Dutch anti-fascist scu lptor who was assassinated by the Nazis on this day in 1944\, following a failed attempt to free his comrades from prison. Van der Veen helped forge more than 80\,000 ethnic identity papers.\n\nDutch historian Robert-Jan v an Pelt has written the following about van der Veen:\n\n"In 1940\, after the German occupation\, van der Veen was one of the few who refused to sig n the so-called "Arierverklaring"\, the Declaration of Aryan Ancestry. In the years that followed\, he tried to help Jews both in practical and symb olic ways.\n\nTogether with the musician Jan van Gilse and the (openly hom osexual) artist\, art historian\, and critic Willem Arondeus\, van der Vee n established the underground organization De Vrije Kunstenaar (The Free A rtist).\n\nVan der Veen and the other artists published a newsletter calli ng for resistance against the occupation. When the Germans introduced iden tity documents (Persoonsbewijzen) that distinguished between Jews and non- Jews\, van der Veen\, Arondeus and the printer Frans Duwaer produced some 80\,000 false identity papers."\n\nVan der Veen tried to escape his comrad es from prison in May 1944\, but the attempt failed and van der Veen was p aralyzed after being shot. He was arrested a few weeks later and then exec uted on June 10th\, 1944. In May 1946\, he was awarded the Dutch Cross of Resistance. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrit_van_der_Veen RESOURCES:https://gerritvdveen.nl/school/school-verzetsheld/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Giacomo Matteotti Assassinated (1924) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250610 DTEND:20250611T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Socialism,Assassinations,Fascism COMMENT:Giacomo Matteotti was an anti-fascist Italian socialist politician . After publicly denouncing Mussolini in 1924\, he said "now start composi ng your oration for my funeral" and was assassinated by fascists on this d ay in 1924. DESCRIPTION:Giacomo Matteotti was an anti-fascist Italian socialist politi cian. After publicly denouncing Mussolini in 1924\, he said "now start com posing your oration for my funeral" and was assassinated by fascists on th is day in 1924.\n\nAs a young adult\, Matteotti was active in the socialis t movement and the Italian Socialist Party. He was imprisoned in Sicily fo r opposing Italy's entry into World War I (and was interned in Sicily duri ng the conflict for this reason).\n\nMatteotti spoke openly against Italia n Fascism and Benito Mussolini\, and for a time was leader of the oppositi on to the National Fascist Party (NFP). In 1921\, he denounced fascist vio lence in a pamphlet titled "Inchiesta socialista sulle gesta dei fascisti in Italia" ("Socialist enquiry on the deeds of the fascists in Italy").\n\ nOn May 30th\, 1924\, speaking in the Italian Parliament\, he alleged that the Fascists committed fraud in the recently held elections and denounced the violence that they used to gain votes. On this day that year\, Matteo tti was kidnapped and killed by fascists.\n\nAfter Matteotti's body was di scovered\, Mussolini took full responsibility for the murder as head of th e Fascist party (although whether he gave a direct order for the murder re mains uncertain) and dared his critics to prosecute him for the crime. Thi s challenge went unaccepted.\n\nAfter the Second World War ended\, Italian fascists Amerigo Dumini\, Giuseppe Viola\, and Amleto Poveromo were sente nced to thirty years in prison for their involvement in Matteotti's murder . RESOURCES:https://primolevicenter.org/printed-matter/the-matteotti-murder- and-the-origins-of-mussolinis-totalitarian-fascist-regime-in-italy/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giacomo_Matteotti RESOURCES:https://www.britannica.com/biography/Giacomo-Matteotti END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Davis Day (1925) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250611 DTEND:20250612T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Protests COMMENT:Davis Day\, also known as Miners' Memorial Day\, is a day of remem brance observed annually on this day in Nova Scotia coal mining communitie s\, recognizing all miners killed in the province's coal mines. DESCRIPTION:Davis Day\, also known as Miners' Memorial Day\, is a day of r emembrance observed annually on this day in Nova Scotia coal mining commun ities\, recognizing all miners killed in the province's coal mines.\n\nDav is Day was initiated by the United Mine Workers of America in memory of Wi lliam Davis\, a coal miner who was killed when company police hired by the British Empire Steel Corporation fired on a crowd of protesting coal mine rs during a long strike near the town of New Waterford.\n\nWhen the strike began in March 1925\, the corporation cut off credit at the company store s. Coal miners were able to survive on relief payments and donations from supporters as far away as Boston and Winnipeg. After three months of a wor k stoppage\, the corporation planned to resume operations without any sett lement with workers.\n\nTo maintain the shutdown\, coal miners seized and shut down the power plant that served both the company's mines and the cit y of New Waterford in early June. The shortage of water and power affected New Waterford citizens\, but the miners drew on local wells and set up a volunteer service to deliver water to the hospital.\n\nOn June 11th\, a fo rce of company police recaptured the power plant. Hundreds of coal miners\ , possibly more than 2\,000 in number\, marched to Waterford Lake in prote st. It was there that the company police fired on the crowd\, killing 38 y ear old William Davis.\n\nThis annual commemoration to all miners killed i n labor struggle and industrial accidents became official in Nova Scotia i n 2008\, officially recognized as William Davis Miners' Memorial Day. RESOURCES:https://museumofindustry.novascotia.ca/nova-scotia-industry/coal -mining/miners-memorial-day-davis-day RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Davis_Miners%27_Memorial_D ay END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Thích Quảng Đức Self-Immolation (1963) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250611 DTEND:20250612T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Assassinations COMMENT:Thích Quảng Đức was a Vietnamese Mahayana Buddhist monk who\ , on this day in 1963\, burned himself to death at a busy Saigon road inte rsection to protest the persecution of Buddhists by the West-backed dictat orship of Ngô Đình Diệm. DESCRIPTION:Thích Quảng Đức was a Vietnamese Mahayana Buddhist monk who\, on this day in 1963\, burned himself to death at a busy Saigon road intersection to protest the persecution of Buddhists by the West-backed di ctatorship of Ngô Đình Diệm.\n\nDiệm was a Catholic ruling over a m ajority Buddhist country\, and his government favored Catholics in public service\, military promotions\, and the allocation of land\, business\, an d tax concessions.\n\nPhotographs of Thích Quảng Đức self-immolation were circulated widely around the world and brought attention to the oppr essive policies of the Diệm government. Quảng Đức's act increased i nternational pressure on Diệm and led him to announce reforms in an atte mpt to appease the Buddhists.\n\nThe promised reforms were not implemented \, however\, leading to inflamed tensions and Diệm's eventual assassinat ion on November 2nd\, 1963.\n\nQuảng Đức's body was re-cremated durin g the funeral\, but his heart was kept intact and not burned. Some Buddhis ts considered the heart to be holy and had it placed in a glass chalice at Xá Lợi Pagoda\, regarding it as a symbol of compassion. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Th%C3%ADch_Qu%E1%BA%A3ng_%C4%90%E1 %BB%A9c RESOURCES:https://time.com/3791176/malcolm-browne-the-story-behind-the-bur ning-monk/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Medgar Evers Assassinated (1963) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250612 DTEND:20250613T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Civil Rights,Assassinations COMMENT:Medgar Evers was an American civil rights leader who achieved nati onal prominence for his efforts in fighting racial oppression in Mississip pi\, work for which he was assassinated by white supremacists on this day in 1963. DESCRIPTION:Medgar Evers was an American civil rights leader who achieved national prominence for his efforts in fighting racial oppression in Missi ssippi\, work for which he was assassinated by white supremacists on this day in 1963.\n\nEvers led boycotts against businesses that discriminated a gainst black people\, worked to overturn segregation at the University of Mississippi\, and fought for fair enforcement of the right to vote. He als o played a key role in securing the involvement of the NAACP in the murder of Emmett Till\, helping publicize the events and secretly secure witness es for the case.\n\nEvers was assassinated on June 12th\, 1963 by Byron De La Beckwith\, a member of the White Citizens' Council in Jackson\, Missis sippi. His murder and the resulting trials inspired a wave of civil rights protests\; his life inspired numerous works of art\, music\, and film.\n\ nAll-white juries failed to reach verdicts in the first two trials of Beck with in the 1960s. He was convicted in 1994 in a state trial based on new evidence.\n\n"I love my children and I love my wife with all my heart. And I would die\, die gladly\, if that would make a better life for them."\n\ n- Medgar Evers RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/evers-medgar- 1925-1963/ RESOURCES:https://web.archive.org/web/20130611071827/http://mememorial.org /medgar-w-evers-civil-rights-activist/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medgar_Evers END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:NYC Anti-Nuclear Protests (1982) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250612 DTEND:20250613T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1982\, hundreds of thousands of peaceful demonstrat ors held a huge rally and parade in Central Park and midtown Manhattan to oppose nuclear armament\, one of the largest political demonstrations in U .S. history. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1982\, hundreds of thousands of peaceful demons trators held a huge rally and parade in Central Park and midtown Manhattan to oppose nuclear armament\, one of the largest political demonstrations in U.S. history.\n\nThe parade and rally was a multi-racial and political coalition across a wide demographic\, bringing together liberal pacifists\ , anarchists\, children and Buddhist monks\, Roman Catholic bishops and Co mmunist Party leaders\, university students\, and union members\, all toge ther in the name of nuclear disarmament. The parade was over three miles l ong and had signs in dozens of languages.\n\nThe event was very peaceful\, with no mention of violence or arrests reported by the New York Times. De spite the show of force\, U.S. nuclear weapons programs were not limited u ntil after the end of the Cold War\, several years later. RESOURCES:https://www.nytimes.com/1982/06/13/world/throngs-fill-manhattan- to-protest-nuclear-weapons.html RESOURCES:https://www.wnyc.org/story/wnyc-covers-great-anti-nuclear-march- and-rally-central-park-june-12-1982/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Ratification of the Platt Amendment (1901) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250612 DTEND:20250613T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Imperialism COMMENT:On this day in 1901\, under duress of occupation by the United Sta tes military\, the newly independent Cuban government ratified the Platt A mendment\, giving the U.S. legal control over the Cuban state and economy. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1901\, under duress of occupation by the United States military\, the newly independent Cuban government ratified the Pla tt Amendment\, giving the U.S. legal control over the Cuban state and econ omy.\n\nThe occupying force had remained in Cuba following the conclusion of the Spanish-American War\, and the U.S. government refused to withdraw occupying troops from Cuba until the seven conditions of the Platt Amendme nt were ratified in the new Cuban constitution.\n\nThese conditions define d the terms of Cuban-U.S. relations to be an unequal one of U.S. dominance over Cuba\, both politically and economically. Among these provisions wer e the government of Cuba consenting to the right of the United States to " intervene for the preservation of Cuban independence\, the maintenance of a government adequate for the protection of life\, property\, and individu al liberty".\n\nFollowing acceptance of the amendment\, the United States ratified a tariff that gave Cuban sugar preference in the U.S. market and protection to select U.S. products in the Cuban market. Over $200 million was spent by American companies on Cuban sugar between 1903 and 1913\, and this investment into sugar led to land being concentrated into the hands of the largest sugar mills\, with estimates that 20% of all Cuban land was owned by these mills. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platt_Amendment RESOURCES:https://www.historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/zinnempire12.html END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Pentagon Papers Released (1971) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250613 DTEND:20250614T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Journalism COMMENT:On this day in 1971\, the Pentagon Papers\, leaked by Daniel Ellsb erg\, were published by the New York Times\, detailing secret information about the history of and disinformation about U.S. involvement in Vietnam from 1945 to 1967. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1971\, the Pentagon Papers\, leaked by Daniel E llsberg\, were published by the New York Times\, detailing secret informat ion about the history of and disinformation about U.S. involvement in Viet nam from 1945 to 1967. The Pentagon Papers were the result of a study cond ucted by the Department of Defense which Ellsberg had contributed to.\n\nT he study revealed that the U.S. had secretly enlarged the scope of its act ions in the Vietnam War with coastal raids on North Vietnam and Marine Cor ps attacks\, and that the Johnson administration had routinely lied to bot h Congress and the American public about involvement in Vietnam.\n\nFor hi s disclosure of the Pentagon Papers\, Ellsberg was initially charged with conspiracy\, espionage\, and theft of government property. These charges w ere later dismissed after prosecutors investigating the Watergate scandal discovered that the staff members in the Nixon White House had ordered the so-called "White House Plumbers" to engage in unlawful efforts to discred it Ellsberg.\n\nOn January 3rd\, 1973\, Ellsberg was charged under the Esp ionage Act of 1917 along with other charges of theft and conspiracy\, carr ying a total maximum sentence of 115 years. Due to governmental misconduct and illegal evidence-gathering\, he was dismissed of all charges on May 1 1th\, 1973.\n\nThe Pentagon Papers were only fully declassified in June 20 11. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentagon_Papers RESOURCES:https://www.nytimes.com/1971/06/13/archives/vietnam-archive-pent agon-study-traces-3-decades-of-growing-u-s.html RESOURCES:https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/nation/specialreports/pent agon-papers/index.html END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Walter Rodney Assassinated (1980) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250613 DTEND:20250614T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Marxism,Assassinations COMMENT:Walter Rodney was a Guyanese public intellectual and Pan-African M arxist who was assassinated by the state on this day in 1980\, at 38 years old. "If there is to be any proving of our humanity it must be through re volutionary means." DESCRIPTION:Walter Rodney was a Guyanese historian\, educator\, public int ellectual\, and Pan-African Marxist who was assassinated by the state on t his day in 1980\, at 38 years old.\n\nRodney attended the University Colle ge of the West Indies in 1960 and was awarded a first class honors degree in History in 1963. He later earned a PhD in African History in 1966 at th e School of Oriental and African Studies in London\, England\, at the age of 24.\n\nRodney traveled extensively and became well-known as an activist \, scholar\, and formidable orator. He taught at the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania from 1966-67 and 1969-1974\, and in 1968 at his alma ma ter University of the West Indies.\n\nOn October 15th\, 1968\, the governm ent of Jamaica declared Rodney a "persona non grata" and banned him from t he country. Following his dismissal by the University of the West Indies\, students and poor people in West Kingston protested\, leading to the "Rod ney Riots"\, which caused six deaths and millions of dollars in damages.\n \nOn June 13th\, 1980\, Rodney was killed in Georgetown\, Guyana via a bom b given to him by Gregory Smith\, a sergeant in the Guyana Defence Force\, one month after returning Zimbabwe. In 2015\, a "Commission of Inquiry" i n Guyana that the country's then president\, Linden Forbes Burnham\, was c omplicit in his murder.\n\n"If there is to be any proving of our humanity it must be through revolutionary means."\n\n- Walter Rodney RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/rodney-walter-1 942-1979/ RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/subject/africa/rodney-walter/index.htm RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Rodney END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Che Guevara (1928 - 1967) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250614 DTEND:20250615T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Birthdays COMMENT:Che Guevara was an Argentine communist revolutionary born on this day in 1928. "Let me say that the true revolutionary is guided by a great feeling of love. It is impossible to think of a genuine revolutionary lack ing this quality." DESCRIPTION:Ernesto "Che" Guevara\, born on this day in 1928\, was an Arge ntine communist revolutionary\, physician\, military leader\, and author w ho fought in the guerilla war against Fulgencio Batista and helped lead th e new communist government.\n\nErnesto was born to an upper-class Argentin e family of pre-independence Spanish (i.e. Basque and Cantabrian) and Iris h ancestry. Referring to Che's restless nature\, his father noted "the fir st thing to note is that in my son's veins flowed the blood of the Irish r ebels".\n\nIn 1950 and 1951\, he embarked on two continent-wide motorcycle journeys throughout South and Central America\, observing poverty and poo r working conditions that left a deep impression on his worldview. He late r published a memoir of these experiences called "The Motorcycle Diaries"\ , dubbed by Verso Books as "Das Kapital meets Easy Rider".\n\nIn 1956\, Ch e Guevara sailed to Cuba to aid in the struggle against Batista\, narrowly surviving an attack by Batista's forces after they landed on the island. He became a major figure of the Cuban Revolution\, promoted by Fidel Castr o to Comandante of a second army column.\n\nFollowing the Cuban Revolution 's success\, Guevara performed a number of key roles in the new government . These included reviewing the appeals and firing squads for those convict ed as war criminals during the revolutionary tribunals\, instituting agrar ian land reform\, helping spearhead a successful nationwide literacy campa ign\, serving as both national bank president and instructional director f or Cuba's armed forces\, and traversing the globe as a diplomat on behalf of Cuban socialism.\n\nGuevara left Cuba in 1965 to foment revolution abro ad\, first unsuccessfully in Congo-Kinshasa and later in Bolivia\, where h e was captured by CIA-assisted Bolivian forces and summarily executed.\n\n "At the risk of seeming ridiculous\, let me say that the true revolutionar y is guided by a great feeling of love. It is impossible to think of a gen uine revolutionary lacking this quality."\n\n- Che Guevara RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Che_Guevara RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/glossary/people/g/u.htm#guevara-che END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:David Barsamian (1945 - ) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250614 DTEND:20250615T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays COMMENT:David Barsamian\, born on this day in 1945\, is an Armenian-Americ an radio broadcaster\, writer\, and the founder of Alternative Radio\, a C olorado-based syndicated weekly public affairs program heard on ~250 radio stations worldwide. DESCRIPTION:David Barsamian\, born on this day in 1945\, is an Armenian-Am erican radio broadcaster\, writer\, and the founder of Alternative Radio\, a Colorado-based syndicated weekly public affairs program heard on ~250 r adio stations worldwide.\n\nBarsamian has interviewed and edited the works of many important leftist thinkers\, including Noam Chomsky\, Howard Zinn \, Richard Wolff\, Eqbal Ahmad\, and Edward Said.\n\n"I'm using dissonance in a musical sense...we're given this harmonic construction [by the media ] 'The world is good\; America is great.' I want to trouble that harmonic construction with some dissonant notes."\n\n- David Barsamian RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Barsamian RESOURCES:https://www.alternativeradio.org/barsamian/about-barsamian/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Grenfell Tower Fire (2017) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250614 DTEND:20250615T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Tenant COMMENT:On this day in 2017\, the deadliest UK residential fire since WWII began in Grenfell Tower\, West London. 72 people\, including children as young as six months old\, were killed. As of 2022\, no one has been charge d for the residents' deaths. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 2017\, the deadliest UK residential fire since WWII began in Grenfell Tower\, West London. 72 people\, including children as young as six months old\, were killed. As of 2022\, no one has been ch arged for the residents' deaths. More than 70 others were injured and 223 people escaped.\n\nThe high rise apartment complex\, managed by Kensington and Chelsea TMO (KCTMO) was home to working class residents\, many of the m immigrants. Grenfell Tower was 24 stories tall and 120 flats in total.\n \nIn the years leading up to the fire\, residents and neighborhood groups made multiple complaints about the unsafe state of the complex. In 2016\, Grenfell Action Group (GAG) warned that people might be trapped in the bui lding if a fire broke out. Later that year\, they stated "only a catastrop hic event will expose the ineptitude and incompetence of [KCTMO]...They ca n't say that they haven't been warned!"\n\nTwo women living in Grenfell To wer\, Mariem Elgwahry and Nadia Choucair\, were threatened with legal acti on by KCTMO after they campaigned for improved fire safety. Both later die d in the fire\, at the ages of 27 and 33\, respectively.\n\nEarly on June 14th\, 2017\, the Grenfell Tower Fire began with a malfunctioning freezer on the fourth floor. Because the building did not meet safety regulations\ , fire spread rapidly up the building's exterior\, bringing fire and smoke to all residential floors.\n\nEyewitnesses reported seeing some people ju mping to their deaths. Some of these deaths were classed as suicides despi te being a direct consequence of the fire. Frequent explosions from gas li nes (which residents claimed were unsafely exposed just months earlier) in the building were reported.\n\nA public inquiry\, ordered by then Prime M inister Theresa May\, is ongoing as of June 14th\, 2022. Despite a 2017 st atement from British police stating that they had "reasonable grounds" to suspect corporate manslaughter "may have been committed"\, no criminal cha rges have been filed.\n\nWhile justice for Grenfell Tower residents has be en delayed\, the British government has found the means to charge at least twenty-one people with fraud relating to damage claims regarding the fire .\n\nEdward Daffam\, a member of GAG\, has stated: "They didn't give a stu ff about us. We were the carcass and they were the vultures. North Kensing ton was like a goldmine\, only they didn't have to dig for the gold. All t hey had to do was to marginalise the people who were living here\, and tha t's what they were doing." RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grenfell_Tower_fire RESOURCES:https://socialistworker.co.uk/tag/grenfell-fire/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811 - 1896) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250614 DTEND:20250615T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Feminism,Birthdays,Abolitionism COMMENT:Harriet Beecher Stowe\, born on this day in 1811\, was an American abolitionist and author\, best known for her anti-slavery novel "Uncle To m's Cabin"\, published in 1852. DESCRIPTION:Harriet Beecher Stowe\, born on this day in 1811\, was an Amer ican abolitionist and author\, best known for her anti-slavery novel "Uncl e Tom's Cabin"\, published in 1852.\n\nStowe was born in Litchfield\, Conn ecticut to a large and deeply religious family that produced other notable theologians and abolitionists\, such as Henry Ward Beecher\, Charles Beec her\, and Edward Beecher.\n\nHarriet's own politics were influenced by dir ect experiences with black people terrorized by race riots in the 1820s an d 1830s\, as well as the Lane Debates on Slavery\, which led to the foundi ng of Oberlin College after a mass exodus of students from Lane Theologica l Seminary.\n\nLater in life\, she was an outspoken critic of slavery and supported the Underground Railroad\, temporarily housing several fugitive slaves in her home. It was during this period\, in the decade before the C ivil War\, that she authored "Uncle Tom's Cabin". Within a year of its pub lication\, the book sold an unprecedented 300\,000 copies and was widely r ead in both the United States and Great Britain.\n\nHarriet Stowe was also an early feminist thinker\, connecting the struggle for black liberation to the struggle for women's liberation more broadly\, writing in 1869 that "the position of a married woman...is\, in many respects\, precisely simi lar to that of the negro slave. She can make no contract and hold no prope rty\; whatever she inherits or earns becomes at that moment the property o f her husband...Though he acquired a fortune through her\, or though she e arned a fortune through her talents\, he is the sole master of it\, and sh e cannot draw a penny". RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harriet_Beecher_Stowe RESOURCES:https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/ha rriet-beecher-stowe END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Espionage Act (1917) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250615 DTEND:20250616T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:IWW,Anarchism COMMENT:The Espionage Act\, passed on this day in 1917\, is a federal U.S. law which has been used to suppress labor and political activism from Ame rican dissidents such as Eugene V. Debs\, Emma Goldman\, Daniel Ellsberg\, and Edward Snowden. DESCRIPTION:The Espionage Act\, passed on this day in 1917\, is a federal U.S. law which has been used to suppress labor and political activism from American dissidents such as Eugene V. Debs\, Emma Goldman\, Daniel Ellsbe rg\, and Edward Snowden.\n\nWithin a month of the law's passing\, the Depa rtment of Justice used it as a justification to raid Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) headquarters\, seizing property and arresting over one hu ndred members on various charges.\n\nAmong those charged with offenses und er the Act are Victor L. Berger\, Eugene V. Debs\, Emma Goldman\, Alexande r Berkman\, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg\, Daniel Ellsberg\, Chelsea Manning \, Julian Assange\, and Edward Snowden.\n\nA 2015 study by the PEN America n Center found that almost all of the non-government representatives they interviewed\, including activists\, lawyers\, journalists and whistleblowe rs\, "thought the Espionage Act had been used inappropriately in leak case s that have a public interest component."\n\nPEN wrote "experts described it as 'too blunt an instrument\,' 'aggressive\, broad and suppressive\,' a 'tool of intimidation\,' 'chilling of free speech\,' and a 'poor vehicle for prosecuting leakers and whistleblowers.'" RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Espionage_Act_of_1917 RESOURCES:https://pen.org/sites/default/files/Secret%20Sources%20report.pd f END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Justice for Janitors Strikers Attacked (1990) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250615 DTEND:20250616T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1990\, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) att acked immigrant janitors who were striking for the right to organize in Ce ntury City\, making two women miscarry\, hospitalizing dozens\, and jailin g sixty more. DESCRIPTION:Justice for Janitors (JfJ) is a social movement that fights fo r the rights of janitors (caretakers and cleaners) across the US and Canad a. Justice for Janitors includes more than 225\,000 janitors in at least 2 9 cities in the United States and at least four cities in Canada. Members fight for better wages\, better conditions\, improved health-care\, and fu ll-time opportunities.\n\nOn this day in 1990\, the Los Angeles Police Dep artment (LAPD) attacked immigrant janitors who were striking for the right to organize in Century City\, making two women miscarry\, hospitalizing d ozens\, and jailing sixty more. Police initially claimed to be defending t hemselves\, however TV footage was aired that undermined this claim.\n\nDe spite the violence\, workers voted unanimously to return to the scene of t he attack and continue their protest. Janitors eventually won the right to form a union\, doubling their pay and benefits. This victory gave signifi cant momentum to the JfJ movement and led to successful protests by and or ganizing of janitors around the country. RESOURCES:https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/25-years-later-lessons -from-the-organizers-of-justice-for-janitors/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justice_for_Janitors END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Michael Prysner (1983 - ) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250615 DTEND:20250616T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays COMMENT:Michael Prysner\, born on this day in 1983\, is an American vetera n and anti-war activist who produces and co-writes The Empire Files with A bby Martin and co-hosted "Eyes Left" with Afghanistan War veteran Spenser Rapone. DESCRIPTION:Michael Prysner\, born on this day in 1983\, is an American ve teran and anti-war activist who produces and co-writes The Empire Files wi th Abby Martin and co-hosted "Eyes Left" with Afghanistan War veteran Spen ser Rapone.\n\nPrysner served in Iraq as a corporal and cites his duties t here\, including ground surveillance\, home raids\, and the interrogation of prisoners\, as leading him to take an anti-war stance.\n\nPrysner has a lso co-founded "March Forward!"\, an organization of active-duty members o f the U.S. military and veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars that enc ourages current active-duty service personnel to resist deployment.\n\nIn 2011\, Prysner gave a speech now known as the "Our Real Enemies" address\, in which he argued that domestic enemies pose a greater threat to the ave rage U.S. resident than foreign ones. An excerpt reads:\n\n"We need to wak e up and realize that our real enemies are not in some distant land...The enemy is a system that wages war when it's profitable. The enemy is CEOs w ho lay us off our jobs when it's profitable. It's the insurance companies who deny us health care when it's profitable. It's the banks who take away our homes when it's profitable. Our enemies are not five thousand miles a way. They are right here at home." RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Prysner RESOURCES:https://soundcloud.com/eyesleft END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:East German Uprising (1953) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250616 DTEND:20250617T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Protests,Labor COMMENT:On this day in 1953\, in what became an uprising of more than one million people\, 300 East German construction workers protested at governm ent buildings\, demanding the reversal of a 10% increase in work quotas. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1953\, in what became an uprising of more than one million people\, 300 East German construction workers protested at gov ernment buildings\, demanding the reversal of a 10% increase in work quota s.\n\nDue to an economic slump\, the East German government had increased worker quotas (called "norms") by 10% across all state-owned factories. At the same time\, the prices of food\, health care\, and public transportat ion had all significantly increased\, leading to an effective monthly wage cut of 33%\, according to historian Corey Ross.\n\nAlthough the governmen t quickly conceded on the matter of work quotas\, the protests took on an anti-government character and spread quickly throughout all of East German y. News of the initial strike had spread both through word of mouth and th e Western "Radio in the American Sector" (RIAS)\, which provided sympathet ic coverage of the protests.\n\nSoviet troops and tanks entered East Berli n on the morning of June 17th and violently clashed with the protesters\, who had stormed government headquarters. The East German Stasi engaged in mass arrests of thousands of people.\n\nAccording to historian Richard Mil lington\, around 39 people were killed during the uprising\, the vast majo rity of them demonstrators. Seven Berlin victims were given an official st ate funeral in West Berlin on June 23rd\, 1953.\n\nFollowing the uprising' s successful repression\, many workers lost faith in East Germany's social ist state. According to historian Gareth Pritchard\, there was a widesprea d refusal by workers to pay their trade union dues and support the ruling party.\n\nIn response to the incident\, the East German state expanded its surveillance of workers to more closely monitor discontent\, creating wha t journalist Chris Hedges called "the most efficient security and surveill ance state" of its time. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_German_uprising_of_1953 RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/library/1953-working-class-uprising-east-germ any-cajo-brendel END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Soweto Uprising (1976) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250616 DTEND:20250617T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Civil Rights,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1976\, the Soweto Uprising began in South Africa af ter the government mandated that Afrikaans be taught in school\, leading t o demonstrations by more than 20\,000 black schoolchildren\, hundreds of w hom were killed by police. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1976\, the Soweto Uprising began in South Afric a after the government mandated that Afrikaans be taught in school\, leadi ng to demonstrations by more than 20\,000 black schoolchildren\, hundreds of whom were killed by police.\n\nThe Afrikaans Medium Decree of 1974 mand ated all black schools to use Afrikaans and English in equal amounts as la nguages of instruction. Afrikaans was strongly associated with apartheid ( prominent anti-apartheid activist Desmond Tutu called it "the language of the oppressor")\, and this decree was widely resented.\n\nAt first\, resis tance to the measure was scattered - on April 30th\, the students of Orlan do West Junior School went on strike\, and other schools began to follow s uit. Students eventually formed an Action Committee\, later known as the S oweto Students' Representative Council\, which organized a mass meeting on June 13th to develop a cohesive strategy of protest.\n\nOn the morning on June 16th\, 10\,000-20\,000 students walked out of their schools to a mas s rally\, carrying signs reading "Down with Afrikaans"\, "Viva Azania"\, a nd "If we must do Afrikaans\, Vorster must do Zulu".\n\nThe protest turned violent after students killed a trained dog that the police had sicced on them\, causing the police to open fire. Among the first students to be mu rdered were the 15-year-old Hastings Ndlovu and the 12-year-old Hector Pie terson (shown\, photo by Sam Nzima).\n\nSocial reformer Dr. Melville Edels tein was beaten to death by the mob\, a sign around his neck proclaiming\, "Beware Afrikaans is the most dangerous drug for our future". 23 people d ied on the first day in Soweto\, and hundreds more were killed in the foll owing weeks.\n\nEmergency clinics were swamped with injured and bloody chi ldren. Police requested for the hospital to provide a list of all victims with bullet wounds\, however the doctors refused\, recording bullet wounds as abscesses.\n\nThe violence led to widespread riots and sympathy protes ts throughout South Africa\, including white students from the University of the Witwatersrand. In remembrance of these events\, June 16th is now a public holiday in South Africa known as Youth Day. RESOURCES:https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/june-16-soweto-youth-uprisi ng RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soweto_uprising END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Angelo Sbardellotto Executed (1932) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250617 DTEND:20250618T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Assassinations,Anarchism,Fascism COMMENT:Angelo Sbardellotto was an Italian anarchist executed by the state on this day in 1932 for plotting to assassinate Benito Mussolini. He refu sed to beg for clemency\, instead telling the court he regretted not succe eding in his plan. DESCRIPTION:Angelo Sbardellotto was an Italian anarchist executed by the s tate on this day in 1932 for plotting to assassinate Benito Mussolini. He refused to beg for clemency\, instead telling the court he regretted not s ucceeding in his plan.\n\nSbardellotto was born into a poor family who was compelled to emigrate to find work. Angelo and his father left Italy in O ctober 1924\, living in France\, Luxembourg\, and Belgium\, where Angelo w orked as a miner and a machine hand.\n\nWhile working as a miner\, he join ed the anarchist committee of Liege\, and was active in the activities to bring about the general strike in Belgium in solidarity with framed Italia n-American anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti.\n\nAlready under surveillance as a suspected communist subversive\, Sbardellotto was stopped by police in Piazza Venezia\, Rome in 1932\, found armed with two rudimentary bombs and a pistol\, as well as possession of a Swiss passport.\n\nAdmitting to hav ing entered Italy clandestinely with the intent of avenging socialist Mich ael Schirru by killing Mussolini (Schirru himself had attempted to assassi nate Mussolini)\, Sbardellotto was interrogated and likely tortured by pol ice before his trial a week later on June 11th.\n\nWhen Sbardellotto's law yer requested that he write to Mussolini directly to ask for his life to b e spared\, he refused\, stating that he was only sorry that he had not car ried out the attempt on Mussolini.\n\nOn June 17th\, 1932\, at twenty-four years old\, he was put in front of the firing squad at the Bretta Fort. H e refused last rites from a priest. Angelo's last words before being shot were "Long live anarchy!" RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/sbardellotto-angelo-pellegrino-1907-1 932 RESOURCES:https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angelo_Pellegrino_Sbardellotto END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Charleston Church Massacre (2015) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250617 DTEND:20250618T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Massacre COMMENT:On this day in 2015\, the Charleston Church Massacre took place in Charleston\, South Carolina when a white supremacist entered Emanuel Afri can Methodist Episcopal Church and shot twelve people\, killing nine (show n). DESCRIPTION:On this day in 2015\, the Charleston Church Massacre took plac e in Charleston\, South Carolina when a white supremacist entered Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church and shot twelve people\, killing nine ( shown). The shooter targeted the church in part due to its stature\; Emanu el AME is one of the oldest black churches in the United States and has lo ng been a center for organizing events for civil rights campaigns.\n\nIn 2 016\, he was convicted of 33 federal hate crime and murder charges and lat er sentenced to death. The Charleston massacre was tied with a 1991 attack at a Buddhist temple in Waddell\, Arizona for the deadliest mass shooting at a U.S. place of worship.\n\nSince then\, however\, two deadlier shooti ngs have occurred at places of worship: the Sutherland Springs church shoo ting in 2017 and the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting in 2018. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charleston_church_shooting RESOURCES:https://www.npr.org/2020/06/17/878828088/5-years-after-charlesto n-church-massacre-what-have-we-learned END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Battle of Orgreave (1984) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250618 DTEND:20250619T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:On this day in 1984\, the Battle of Orgreave took place in Rotherh am\, England when 6\,000 cops attacked 5\,000 picketing miners during the UK Miners' Strike (1984-85)\, leading to one of the most violent clashes i n British industrial history. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1984\, the Battle of Orgreave took place in Rot herham\, England when 6\,000 cops attacked 5\,000 picketing miners during the UK Miners' Strike (1984-85)\, leading to one of the most violent clash es in British industrial history.\n\nMedia reports at the time depicted th e battle as "an act of self-defence by police who had come under attack"\, however the South Yorkshire Police (SYP) had to pay £425\,000 in compens ation to 39 miners for assault\, wrongful arrest\, unlawful detention\, an d malicious prosecution in 1991.\n\nWhile the striking workers were dresse d casually in t-shirts and not armed\, the police came dressed in riot gea r and were well-armed: they brought 42 horses\, whose mounted officers wor e helmets and carried staves twice as long as truncheons\, and police with dogs were stationed at the side of the long field in front of the plant.\ n\nMounted police charged and attacked the picketers\, and footage of the event contradicted the official police narrative regarding the level of fo rce involved. 95 people were arrested and more than 100 were injured.\n\nJ ournalist Alastair Stewart characterized the Battle of Orgreave as "a defi ning and ghastly moment" that "changed\, forever\, the conduct of industri al relations and how this country functions as an economy and as a democra cy". RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Orgreave RESOURCES:https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/may/18/scandal-of-orgr eave-miners-strike-hillsborough-theresa-may END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:George Thompson (1804 - 1878) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250618 DTEND:20250619T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Abolitionism COMMENT:George Donisthorpe Thompson\, born on this day in 1804\, was a pro minent British anti-slavery orator and liberal reformer who gave lecturing tours and worked for abolitionist legislation while serving as a member o f Parliament. DESCRIPTION:George Donisthorpe Thompson\, born on this day in 1804\, was a prominent British anti-slavery orator and activist who gave lecturing tou rs and worked for abolitionist legislation while serving as a member of Pa rliament.\n\nThompson grew up in a household that directly profited from t he slave trade. His father worked on ships that transported enslaved Afric ans to the Caribbean and the Americas\, and stories connected to this expe rience convinced him slavery had to be abolished.\n\nThompson became one o f the most prominent and influential abolitionists and human rights lectur ers in the United Kingdom and the United States. He was friends with Frede rick Douglass and met with Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War. On one vi sit to the United States\, Thompson had to flee the country due to threats of violence from pro-slavery parties.\n\nThompson was also an advocate of free trade\, Chartism\, nonresistance\, the peace movement\, and East Ind ian reform\, helping form the British India Society in 1839. RESOURCES:http://frederickdouglassinbritain.com/abolitionists/GeorgeThomps on/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Thompson_(abolitionist) END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Mariya Kislyak Executed (1943) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250618 DTEND:20250619T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Fascism COMMENT:Mariya Kislyak was a Soviet partisan and leader of a Kharkov under ground Komsomol cell\, where she seduced and killed Nazi officers\, action s for which she was executed by the Gestapo on this day in 1943 at the age of seventeen. DESCRIPTION:Mariya Kislyak was a Soviet partisan and leader of a Kharkov u nderground Komsomol cell\, where she seduced and killed Nazi officers\, ac tions for which she was executed by the Gestapo on this day in 1943 at the age of seventeen.\n\nKislyak was born to a Ukrainian peasant family in th e village of Lednoe. She graduated from medical training for paramedics an d housewives the day before the German invasion of the Soviet Union. Durin g fighting in her hometown\, a wounded Soviet soldier she had been taking care of asked her why the city didn't have a strong partisan movement.\n\n When the soldier recovered\, Kislyak contacted several partisans hiding ou t in a nearby forest and asked if she could join their cause\, recruiting several acquaintances into the movement. With this organization\, she help ed kill Nazi officers\, sometimes flirting with them to lure them into an isolated area where they could be killed out of sight.\n\nWhen she receive d word that a Gestapo agent nicknamed "the Butcher" would be coming to Kha rkiv\, she and her partisan unit spent two days planning his capture. Kisl yak rented a room right next to his at the farm he was staying at.\n\nAfte r courting him for a few days she lured him to a riverbank\, where her con spirators captured him. After interrogating the officer\, the group summar ily executed him with a crowbar.\n\nIn response\, more than one hundred vi llagers\, including Mariya\, were collectively arrested by the Gestapo and told they would be killed by a firing squad if the SS man wasn't found al ive soon. After the plot became known\, Mariya and two others were brutall y tortured and interrogated for weeks.\n\nOn June 18th\, the group of thre e was hanged and their bodies put on public display. On May 8th\, 1965 she was posthumously awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariya_Kislyak RESOURCES:http://www.warheroes.ru/hero/hero.asp?Hero_id=1974 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Adela Pankhurst (1885 - 1961) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250619 DTEND:20250620T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Socialism,Feminism,Birthdays,Fascism COMMENT:Adela Pankhurst\, born on this day in 1885\, was a British suffrag ette and pacifist who advocated for class-conscious feminism. Pankhurst fo unded the Communist Party of Australia and\, decades later\, the fascist " Australia First" movement. DESCRIPTION:Adela Pankhurst\, born on this day in 1885\, was a British suf fragette and pacifist who advocated for class-conscious feminism. Pankhurs t founded the Communist Party of Australia and\, decades later\, the fasci st "Australia First" movement.\n\nAdela was born into a left-wing family - her father was socialist Richard Pankhurst and her mother was militant su ffragette Emmeline Pankhurst. Her sisters Sylvia and Christabel also becam e leaders of the British suffrage movement.\n\nAs a teenager\, Adela becam e involved in the militant Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU)\, fou nded by her mother and sisters. She was arrested after interrupting Winsto n Churchill during a protest and slapping a policeman who was trying to ev ict her from the building.\n\nBoth Sylvia and Adela were socialists\, whil e Emmeline and Christabel were more focused on winning the vote for afflue nt women. After Sylvia was ejected from the WSPU\, Christabel is quoted by author Jeff Sparrow as telling her "I would not care if you were multipli ed by a hundred\, but one of Adela is too many."\n\nIn 1914\, Adela emigra ted to Australia and advocated for peace during World War I. In 1920\, Pan khurst co-founded the Australian Communist Party\, although she was later expelled.\n\nDespite organizing on behalf of working class women\, Adela g rew disillusioned with socialist movements and co-founded two nationalist\ , anti-communist organizations\, the Australian Women's Guild of Empire an d the fascist "Australia First" movement. Pankhurst also expressed sympath ies for both fascist Germany and Japan during World War II\, for which she was imprisoned.\n\nIn 1949\, Pankhurst stated the following on her disill usionment with communism: "So long did I warn my supporters that co-operat ion with Russia\, and all those who supported the Bolsheviks\, was the way to disaster and I was ruined and interned for my pains...Communism has no t brought home the bacon...Taken on achievement\, Fascism did very much be tter while it lasted." RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adela_Pankhurst RESOURCES:https://spartacus-educational.com/WpankhurstA.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Harriette Moore (1902 - 1951) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250619 DTEND:20250620T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Civil Rights,Birthdays COMMENT:Harriette Moore\, born on this day in 1902\, was a school teacher and civil rights activist who\, along with her husband\, was murdered by w hite supremacists after their home was bombed on their 25th wedding annive rsary\, December 25th\, 1951. DESCRIPTION:Harriette Moore\, born on this day in 1902\, was a school teac her and civil rights activist who\, along with her husband\, was murdered by white supremacists after their home was bombed on their 25th wedding an niversary\, December 25th\, 1951.\n\nHarriette's husband\, Harry Moore\, w as also a civil rights activist\, and together they founded the Florida st ate chapter of the NAACP. In 1946\, they were both fired by the Brevard Co unty public school system and blacklisted due to their political activitie s.\n\nOn their 25th wedding anniversary (December 25th\, 1951)\, the Moore home in Mims\, Florida was bombed by white supremacists. The local hospit al would not treat black people\, and Harry died on the way to the nearest one that would\, 30 miles away in Sanford\, Florida.\n\nHarriette died fr om her wounds nine days later\, on January 3rd\, 1952\, at the same hospit al. Their deaths were two of the earliest assassinations in the civil righ ts movement.\n\nAlthough the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) investi gated their murders\, no one was ever prosecuted. A state investigation an d forensic work in 2005 identified four Ku Klux Klan members who likely co mmitted the bombing\, however they had all been dead for many years. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harriette_Moore RESOURCES:https://www.naacp.org/naacp-history-harry-t-and-harriette-moore/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Jack Ryan (1938 - ) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250619 DTEND:20250620T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays COMMENT:Jack Ryan\, born on this day in 1938\, is a former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent and police officer who was fired in 1987 afte r refusing to spy on non-violent political activists. DESCRIPTION:Jack Ryan\, born on this day in 1938\, is a former Federal Bur eau of Investigation (FBI) agent and police officer who was fired in 1987 after refusing to spy on non-violent political activists.\n\nRyan had been an FBI agent since 1966\, but was fired for this act of protest in Septem ber of 1987\, ten months short of becoming eligible for a $300\,000 pensio n and retirement.\n\nIn a report by the LA Times\, Ryan stated his belief that the Bureau could reinstate him to a position which would not conflict with his personal beliefs\, however this did not occur. Ryan also stated that U.S. involvement in Central America is "violent\, illegal and immoral "\, and was openly critical of the FBI's COINTELPRO program. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Ryan_(FBI_agent) RESOURCES:https://books.google.com/books?id=NOcDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA16#v=onepage &q&f=false END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Juneteenth (1865) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250619 DTEND:20250620T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:Juneteenth is a U.S. holiday commemorating black emanicipation and power that originates from Galveston\, Texas\, where\, on this day in 186 5\, Union General Gordon Granger proclaimed all slaves in Texas\, more tha n 250\,000 people\, to be free. DESCRIPTION:Juneteenth is a U.S. holiday commemorating black emanicipation and power that originates from Galveston\, Texas\, where\, on this day in 1865\, Union General Gordon Granger proclaimed all slaves in Texas\, more than 250\,000 people\, to be free.\n\nJuneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of slave abolition in the United States. RESOURCES:https://nmaahc.si.edu/blog-post/historical-legacy-juneteenth RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juneteenth END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Leadville Miners' Strike (1896) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250619 DTEND:20250620T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,IWW COMMENT:On this day in 1896\, nearly 1\,000 miners of the Western Federati on of Miners (WFM) walked off the job for higher wages\, causing a lockout that shut down all mines in the district and the WFM to turn to revolutio nary socialist politics. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1896\, nearly 1\,000 miners of the Western Fede ration of Miners (WFM) walked off the job for higher wages\, causing a loc kout that shut down all mines in the district and the WFM to turn to revol utionary socialist politics.\n\nThe Leadville miners' strike was initiated by the Cloud City Miners' Union\, the Leadville\, Colorado local of the W estern Federation of Miners (WFM)\, against those silver mines paying thei r workers less than $3.00 per day\, approximately $32 in 2021 American cur rency. The action was taken after a near unanimous vote from more than 1\, 000 miners the same day.\n\nOn June 22nd\, mine owners in the area banded together\, agreeing to a district-wide worker lockout and signing a secret agreement to maintain a unified front against the union: none of them wou ld recognize the union or negotiate with it\, and that no participant woul d agree to any concessions except by majority vote of the owners.\n\nLeadv ille mine owner John Campion hired labor spies from both the Thiel Detecti ve Agency and the Pinkerton Agency to spy on the union. Campion hired addi tional spies to report on activities of replacement workers imported from Missouri. The owners used their spies to develop a blacklist and exploit d ivisions among the striking workers.\n\nAt the time the WFM was associated with the American Federation of Labor (AFL)\, a more moderate union. Othe r WFM locals\, particularly the Butte\, Montana local\, sent financial sup port to the strikers\, but the AFL refused to provide both financial suppo rt and to call other union locals out in sympathy strikes.\n\nOn September 21st\, a group of approximately 50 armed strikers began a series of pre-m editated attacks on mines in the area\, attempting to destroy them with bo mbs and a homemade cannon. Four miners\, all found to be members of the WF M\, were killed\, along with one fireman. This led to widespread arrests o f WFM members and the arrival of the National Guard to the area.\n\nThe st rike was defeated on March 9th\, 1897. The failure of the strike to succee d caused the WFM to leave the American Federation of Labor (AFL) and turn towards more radical anti-capitalist politics. The WFM would go on to play a key role in founding the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) in 1905. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leadville_miners%27_strike RESOURCES:https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/leadville-strike-1896%E 2%80%9397 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Subcomandante Marcos (1957 - ) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250619 DTEND:20250620T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays COMMENT:Rafael Vicente\, also known as "Subcomandante Marcos"\, is a Mexic an insurgent\, former military leader\, and spokesman for the Zapatista Ar my of National Liberation (EZLN) who was born on this day in 1957. DESCRIPTION:Rafael Vicente\, also known as "Subcomandante Marcos"\, is a M exican insurgent\, former military leader\, and spokesman for the Zapatist a Army of National Liberation (EZLN) who was born on this day in 1957. Bef ore joining the EZLN\, Vicente was a college professor at the Metropolitan Autonomous University in Mexico.\n\nThe EZLN was founded in the Lacandon Jungle in 1983\, initially functioning as a self-defense unit dedicated to protecting Chiapas' Mayan people from evictions and capitalist encroachme nt on their land. While not Mayan himself\, Marcos has often served as the group's spokesman.\n\nMarcos led the EZLN during the 1994 revolt and the subsequent peace negotiations\, during a counter-offensive by the Mexican Army in 1995\, and throughout the decades that followed. In 2001\, he led a group of Zapatista leaders into Mexico City to meet with President Vicen te Fox\, attracting widespread public and media attention.\n\n"In the caba ret of globalization\, the state shows itself as a table dancer that strip s off everything until it is left with only the minimum indispensable garm ents: the repressive force."\n\n- Subcomandante Marcos RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subcomandante_Marcos RESOURCES:https://books.google.com/books?id=iPaZ-CIHOxUC&pg=PR11#v=onepage &q&f=false END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Albert Parsons (1848 - 1887) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250620 DTEND:20250621T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Birthdays,IWW,Riots COMMENT:Albert Parsons\, born on this day in 1848\, was an American anarch ist newspaper editor\, labor activist\, and husband to radical Lucy Parson s. In 1887\, Parsons\, with three others\, was executed by the state durin g the Haymarket Affair. DESCRIPTION:Albert Parsons\, born on this day in 1848\, was an American an archist newspaper editor\, labor activist\, and husband to radical Lucy Pa rsons. In 1887\, Parsons\, with three others\, was executed by the state d uring the Haymarket Affair.\n\nLucy Parsons was a well-known radical labor activist in her own right\, dubbed by the Chicago Police Department as "m ore dangerous than a thousand rioters".\n\nAfter fighting in the Civil War \, Albert settled in Texas and became an activist for the rights of former slaves\, later serving a Republican official during reconstruction. With Lucy\, he moved to Chicago in 1873\, working for radical newspapers and en gaging in labor organizing.\n\nIn 1879\, Parsons withdrew from all partici pation in electoral politics. In his memoirs\, Albert writes "In 1879 I wi thdrew from all active participation in the political Labor Party\, having been convinced that the number of hours per day that the wage-workers are compelled to work\, together with the low wages they received\, amounted to their practical disfranchisement as voters...\n\n"...My experience in t he Labor Party had also taught me that bribery\, intimidation\, duplicity\ , corruption\, and bulldozing grew out of the conditions which made the wo rking people poor and the idlers rich\, and that consequently the ballot-b ox could not be made an index to record the popular will until the existin g debasing\, impoverishing\, and enslaving industrial conditions were firs t altered."\n\nIn 1887\, Parsons became one of four Chicago labor leaders convicted of conspiracy and hanged following the Haymarket affair\, in whi ch a workers' rally for the eight hour day devolved into a riot and anti-w orker hysteria.\n\nParsons' final words on the gallows were "Will I be all owed to speak\, oh men of America? Let me speak\, Sheriff Matson! Let the voice of the people be heard! O-"\, but his words were cut short by the op ening of the trap door.\n\nLucy Parsons continued her activism after his d eath\, going on to help found the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW).\n \n"Formerly the master selected the slave\; today the slave selects his ma ster\, and he has got to find one or else he is carried down here to my fr iend\, the gaoler."\n\n- Albert Parsons RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Parsons RESOURCES:https://blackrosefed.org/albert-parsons-anarchist-and-labor-mart yr/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Eduardo Mondlane (1920 - 1969) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250620 DTEND:20250621T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays COMMENT:Eduardo Mondlane\, born on this day in 1920\, was a Mozambican ant hropologist and professor at Syracuse University who resigned his post to serve as the President of the Mozambican Liberation Front from 1962 until his assassination in 1969. DESCRIPTION:Eduardo Mondlane\, born on this day in 1920\, was a Mozambican anthropologist and professor at Syracuse University who resigned his post to serve as the President of the Mozambican Liberation Front from 1962 un til his assassination in 1969.\n\nMondlane was born in "N'wajahani"\, a di strict of Mandlakazi in the province of Gaza\, Portuguese East Africa (mod ern day Mozambique). In 1948\, he enrolled in Witwatersrand University in Johannesburg\, South Africa but was expelled after one year there\, follow ing the rise of the Apartheid government.\n\nMondlane eventually came to t he United States\, enrolling at Oberlin College in Ohio at the age of 31 u nder a Phelps Stokes scholarship\, graduating in 1953 with a degree in ant hropology and sociology.\n\nMondlane later became an Assistant Professor o f Anthropology at Syracuse University and helped develop the East African Studies Program there. In 1963\, he resigned from his post at Syracuse to move to Tanzania\, co-founding the Mozambican Liberation Front (FRELIMO) t o fully engage in armed liberation struggle\, receiving aid from both the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China.\n\nIn 1969\, Mondlane was assassinated by a bomb planted in a book\, sent to him at the FRELIMO Hea dquarters in Dar es Salaam\, Tanzania. The killing remains unsolved to thi s day\, although former Portuguese agent Oscar Cardoso claims that fellow agent Casimiro Monteiro planted the bomb.\n\nFRELIMO went on to successful ly win power and an independent Mozambique in 1975. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eduardo_Mondlane RESOURCES:https://isis2.cc.oberlin.edu/alummag/oampast/oam_spring98/Alum_n _n/eduardo.html END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Ezeiza Massacre (1973) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250620 DTEND:20250621T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Massacre COMMENT:On this day in 1973\, anti-communist snipers fired on a huge crowd of Peronists gathered at Ezeiza International Airport to witness the retu rn of Juan Perón. At least thirteen were killed\, and left-wing alliances to Peronism were severed. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1973\, anti-communist snipers fired on a huge c rowd of Peronists gathered at Ezeiza International Airport to witness the return of Juan Perón. At least thirteen were killed\, and left-wing allia nces to Peronism were severed.\n\nPeronism is an Argentine political movem ent based on the ideas and legacy of Argentine military general and politi cian Juan Perón (1895 - 1974) and his wife Eva. Peronism was a popular th ird positionist political movement that had elements of left and right-win g political ideas.\n\nOn June 20th\, 1973\, Juan Perón was returning to A rgentina after eighteen years of political exile in fascist Spain. A large crowd gathered to witness his return at Ezeiza International Airport\; po lice estimated three and a half million people total were present.\n\nAt t he time\, an alliance of right-wing and left-wing movements existed within Peronism\, with the Peronist Youth and the Montoneros exhibiting anti-cap italist politics. While the crowd was gathered at the airport\, right-wing snipers began firing on the crowd\, targeting the Peronist Youth and Mont oneros\, killing at least 13 people and injuring 365 more.\n\nThe Ezeiza m assacre marked the end of the alliance of the left and right-wing Peronist s which Perón had managed to forge. According to Hugo Moreno\, "If [the g eneral strike on] October 17th\, 1945 may be considered as the founding ac t of Peronism...the June 20th\, 1973 massacre marked the entrance on the s cene of the late right-wing Peronism." RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ezeiza_massacre RESOURCES:https://www.lanacion.com.ar/politica/hace-25-anos-la-masacre-de- ezeiza-enlutaba-a-la-argentina-nid100886/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Speckled Snake Speaks (1829) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250620 DTEND:20250621T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Indigenous COMMENT:On this day in 1829\, Speckled Snake\, an indigenous man more than a century old\, gave a speech to a council of chiefs on the genocidal nat ure of U.S. policy of indigenous removal\, then led by President Andrew Ja ckson. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1829\, Speckled Snake\, an indigenous man more than a century old\, gave a speech to a council of chiefs on the genocidal nature of U.S. policy of indigenous removal\, then led by President Andre w Jackson. Here is a short excerpt from his statement:\n\n"...But when the white man had warmed himself before the Indians' fire and filled himself with their hominy\, he became very large. With a step he bestrode the moun tains\, and his feet covered the plains and the valleys. His hand grasped the eastern and the western sea\, and his head rested on the moon.\n\nThen he became our Great Father. He loved his red children\, and he said\, 'Ge t a little further\, lest I tread on thee.'\n\nBrothers! I have listened t o a great many talks from our great father. But they always began and ende d in this - 'Get a little further\; you are too near me.'" RESOURCES:https://www.historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/zinnasl7.html RESOURCES:http://peelersplace.weebly.com/uploads/1/6/5/8/16589814/chief_sp eckled_snake_speech.pdf END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Edward Snowden (1983 - ) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250621 DTEND:20250622T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays COMMENT:Edward Snowden\, born on this day in 1983\, is an American whistle blower who leaked highly classified information from the NSA in 2013 when he was working as a CIA employee\, exposing multiple governments' widespre ad surveillance programs. DESCRIPTION:Edward Snowden\, born on this day in 1983\, is an American whi stleblower who leaked highly classified information from the NSA in 2013 w hen he was working as a CIA employee\, exposing multiple governments' wide spread surveillance programs.\n\nSnowden's disclosures revealed numerous g lobal surveillance programs\, many run by the NSA and the Five Eyes Intell igence Alliance with the cooperation of telecommunication companies and Eu ropean governments\, prompting a cultural discussion about national securi ty and individual privacy.\n\nIn 2013\, the United States Department of Ju stice unsealed charges against Snowden of two counts of violating the Espi onage Act of 1917 and theft of government property\, revoking his passport . Two days later\, he flew into a Moscow Airport\, where Russian authoriti es noted that his U.S. passport had been canceled\, and he could not leave the airport terminal for over one month.\n\nRussia later granted Snowden the right of asylum with an initial visa for residence for one year\, and he continues to reside there on extension today.\n\n"Being called a traito r by Dick Cheney is the highest honor you can give to an American."\n\n- E dward Snowden RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden RESOURCES:https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2019/sep/13/e dward-snowden-interview-whistleblowing-russia-ai-permanent-record END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Freedom Summer Murders (1964) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250621 DTEND:20250622T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Civil Rights,Assassinations COMMENT:On this day in 1964\, civil rights activists James Chaney\, Andrew Goodman\, and Michael Schwerner were assassinated by white supremacists i n Philadelphia\, Mississippi. No one was held accountable for the Freedom Summer Murders until 2005. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1964\, civil rights activists James Chaney\, An drew Goodman\, and Michael Schwerner were assassinated by white supremacis ts in Philadelphia\, Mississippi. No one was held accountable for the Free dom Summer Murders until 2005.\n\nAll three activists were associated with the Council of Federated Organizations (COFO) and its member organization \, the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). They had been working with the Freedom Summer campaign by attempting to register black people in Mississi ppi to vote.\n\nThe trio were arrested by Sheriff Cecil Price near the tow n of Philadelphia\, Mississippi while investigating the burning of Mt. Zio n Methodist Church\, which had been the site of a CORE Freedom School.\n\n The group was released that evening without being allowed to contact anyon e. While traveling back to Meridian\, Mississippi\, they were stopped by p atrol lights and two carloads of KKK members\, kidnapped\, tortured\, and killed.\n\nThe sheriff\, along with six others\, were indicted and convict ed for depriving the three men of their civil rights. No one was held acco untable for their murders\, however\, until 2005\, when outspoken white su premacist Edgar Ray Killen was convicted on three counts of manslaughter. Killen died in prison in 2018\, at the age of 92. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murders_of_Chaney\,_Goodman\,_and_ Schwerner RESOURCES:https://mscivilrightsproject.org/neshoba/event-neshoba/the-murde r-of-chaney-goodman-and-schwerner/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Herrin Massacre (1922) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250621 DTEND:20250622T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Massacre COMMENT:The Herrin Massacre began on this day in 1922 in Illinois when str iking coal miners looted ammunition and guns from a hardware store and lai d siege to their mine\, filled with strikebreakers\, killing twenty-three people. DESCRIPTION:The Herrin Massacre began on this day in 1922 in Illinois when striking coal miners looted ammunition and guns from a hardware store and laid siege to their mine\, filled with strikebreakers\, killing twenty-th ree people. Depiction of the massacre shown is by Paul Cadmus.\n\nThe viol ence took place in a coal mining area during a nationwide strike called mo nths prior by the United Mineworkers of America (UMWA). The owner of the l ocal Illinois mine\, W.J. Lester\, negotiated with the union to allow his mine to remain open and for miners to go back to work\, as long as no coal was shipped out.\n\nBy June\, over 60\,000 tons of coal had been dug up a nd Lester decided to break his agreement and attempted to sell the coal. E arly in the morning of June 21st\, a truck carrying Lester's guards and st rikebreakers was ambushed near Carbondale\, Illinois on its way to the min e. The union miners marched into Herrin\, looted the hardware store of its firearms and ammunition\, and laid siege to the mine.\n\nThe strikebreake rs working in the mine surrendered to the union workers firing on them and were captured as prisoners. Despite promises of safety\, they were brutal ly tortured and massacred by the union miners.\n\nSix strikebreakers were ordered to remove their shirts and shoes and told to crawl to Herrin Cemet ery. A large crowd watched as the scabs were roped together\, and union me n took turns beating\, shooting them\, and urinating on them.\n\nIn total\ , twenty-three workers were killed\, most of whom were members of the stri kebreaking group. W.J. Lester\, the owner of the mine\, made a significant sum from selling his mine after the massacre occurred. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herrin_massacre RESOURCES:https://www.npr.org/1997/08/31/1007484/the-herrin-massacre END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Molly Maguires Executed (1877) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250621 DTEND:20250622T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:On this day in 1877\, ten members of the Molly Maguires\, a secret ive Irish-American society associated with militant labor struggle\, were executed in Pennsylvania on the basis of dubious evidence from an undercov er Pinkerton agent. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1877\, ten members of the Molly Maguires\, a se cretive Irish-American society associated with militant labor struggle\, w ere executed in Pennsylvania on the basis of dubious evidence from an unde rcover Pinkerton agent.\n\nAfter the Great Panic of 1873\, Pennsylvania mi ne owners imposed a new contract on the workforce which lowered pay rates by 10-20%. This led to the Long Strike of 1875\, which lasted seven months and compelled the governor order in troops to the region.\n\nWhen the Lon g Strike failed\, some Irish-American miners turned to tactics that had be en employed in Ireland in the late 17th and 18th centuries\, using oath bo und societies\, anonymous threats and in some cases violent retribution on those deemed hostile to their community. The Molly Maguires emerged from this historical backdrop.\n\nIn 1876-77\, twenty suspected Molly Maguires were convicted of murder and other crimes on the basis of dubious evidence (mostly testimony from notorious Pinkerton Agent James McParland).\n\nOn June 21st\, 1877\, six of the convicted men were hanged in the prison at P ottsville\, and four at Mauch Chunk\, Carbon County (modern day Jim Thorpe \, Pennsylvania). American labor historian Philip Foner concluded that the men were likely framed due to their labor activism. RESOURCES:https://www.theirishstory.com/2013/07/09/the-molly-maguires/#.Xw Ir9ShKiM8 RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molly_Maguires END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Southern Homestead Act (1866) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250621 DTEND:20250622T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1866\, the U.S. government put up approximately 46 million acres of public land for sale in southern states\, with government officials de facto excluding black people from the process so that whites could homestead it first. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1866\, the U.S. government put up approximately 46 million acres of public land for sale in southern states\, with govern ment officials de facto excluding black people from the process so that wh ites could homestead it first.\n\nThe sale came via the passage of the Sou thern Homestead Act and made land available in Alabama\, Arkansas\, Florid a\, Louisiana\, and Mississippi. Until January 1st\, 1867\, the bill speci fied\, only free black people and loyal white people would be allowed acce ss to these lands. Homesteaders were required to occupy and improve the la nd for five years before acquiring full ownership.\n\nSouthern bureaucrats often obstructed or violated the law\, not informing black people of thei r right to land (thus delaying and allowing Confederates to be eligible\, from 1867 onwards). It was also difficult for freed slaves to take advanta ge of the opportunity\, often lacking seed\, animals\, and farm tools.\n\n Despite this\, free black people entered about 6\,500 claims to homesteads \, 1\,000 of which eventually resulted in property certificates. The law w as repealed a decade later as part of a growing cooperation between Northe rn and Southern capitalists. This cooperation became more explicit with th e Compromise of 1877\, which resulted in the end of Reconstruction and fed eral troops withdrawing from Southern states. RESOURCES:https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/southern-homestead-act/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Homestead_Act_of_1866 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:James Maxton (1885 - 1946) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250622 DTEND:20250623T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Socialism,Labor,Birthdays COMMENT:James Maxton\, born on this day in 1885\, was a socialist Scottish politician\, pacifist\, and leader of the Independent Labour Party\, a di ssident working class party to the left of the Labour Party of its day. DESCRIPTION:James Maxton\, born on this day in 1885\, was a socialist Scot tish politician\, pacifist\, and leader of the Independent Labour Party\, a dissident working class party to the left of the Labour Party of its day . He was also a prominent supporter of Home Rule for Scotland.\n\nMaxton w as born in the burgh of Pollokshaws (modern day Glasgow)\, the son of two schoolteachers. He would later become a teacher himself\, joining the soci alist movement after witnessing firsthand the poverty of the schoolchildre n he taught.\n\nMaxton was also a pacifist who opposed both World Wars. Du ring World War I\, he was a conscientious objector who refused conscriptio n\, and was instead given work on the barges. While there\, he became invo lved in organizing strikes in the shipyards as part of the Clyde Workers' Committee. In 1916\, Maxton was convicted of sedition and served a year in prison.\n\nInitially serving as an MP with the Labour Party\, he broke wi th the party under its leadership of Ramsay MacDonald\, joining the Indepe ndent Labour Party (ILP) instead\, later becoming its leader.\n\nOne of th e best known members of the ILP\, Maxton remained a prominent dissident in Parliament for the rest of his life\, the only person out of 465 members of the House of Commons to vote against a Motion of Confidence in Winston Churchill's wartime government. Maxton died in 1946\, still serving as MP for Bridgeton.\n\n"In the interests of economy they condemned hundreds of children to death and I call it murder."\n\n- James Maxton RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Maxton RESOURCES:https://spartacus-educational.com/TUmaxton.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Nigerian General Strike (1945) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250622 DTEND:20250623T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,General Strikes,Colonialism COMMENT:On this day in 1945\, a general strike involving 42\,000 - 200\,00 0 workers began in Nigeria\, starting with railway workers\, later spreadi ng to other nationalized industries and enjoying solidarity from private s ector workers. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1945\, a general strike involving 42\,000 - 200 \,000 workers began in Nigeria\, starting with railway workers\, later spr eading to other nationalized industries and enjoying solidarity from priva te sector workers.\n\nThe labor action was one of the largest strikes in c olonial African history at the time\, and took place in the context of an inflationary crisis and a callous colonial government\, who issued a state ment blaming the public for their own grievances:\n\n"Unless the public is willing to do without\, or reduce the consumption of commodities which ar e scarce\, or to substitute other commodities for them\, instead of taking the least line of resistance and buying (regardless of value and price co ntrol) in the black market\, no benefit will result from increasing cost o f living allowance."\n\nIn response\, a worker's communiqué stated "the s ituation can no longer be sustained...not later than Thursday\, June 21st\ , 1945\, the workers of Nigeria shall proceed to seek their own remedy wit h due regard to law and order on the one hand and starvation on the other" .\n\nThe general strike took off on June 22nd and continued for 45 days. N igerian labor leader Michael Imoudu (shown) played a key role in initiatin g the strike. RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/library/1945-nigerian-general-strike RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Imoudu END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Sanrizuka Struggle Begins (1966) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250622 DTEND:20250623T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1966\, the Japanese government announced the constr uction of an airport on farmland in rural Sanrizuka\, without permission o f displaced locals. The plans led to decades of resistance from locals in alliance with leftist groups. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1966\, the Japanese government announced the co nstruction of an airport on farmland in rural Sanrizuka\, without permissi on of displaced locals. The plans led to decades of resistance from locals in alliance with leftist groups.\n\nThe area around Sanrizuka had been fa rmland since the Middle Ages\, and\, prior to the 1940s\, much of the land had been privately owned by the Japanese Imperial Household.\n\nMany loca ls were economically reliant on the Imperial estate at Goryō Farm\, and l ocal farmers had a strong economic and emotional attachment to the land. A fter Japan's defeat in World War II\, large tracts of royal land were sold off and subsequently settled by poor rural laborers.\n\nIn the 1960s\, th e Japanese government planned to build a second airport in the Tokyo area to support Japan's rapid economic development. After meeting resistance fr om locals on the site's first chosen location\, the rural town of Tomisato \, the government was donated remaining land in Sanrizuka by the Imperial Family.\n\nLocals in Sanrizuka were outraged when the government announced its plans. The Sanrizuka-Shibayama United Opposition League Against the C onstruction of Narita Airport (or Hantai Dōmei) was formed in 1966\, and began to engage in a variety of tactics of resistance\, including legal bu y-ups\, sit-ins\, and occupations.\n\nMeanwhile\, the Japanese radical stu dent movement was growing\, and the League soon formed an alliance with ac tive New Left groups\; one major factor drawing the groups the together wa s that\, under the US-Japan Security Treaty\, the US military had free acc ess to Japanese air facilities. As a result\, it was likely the airport wo uld be used for transporting troops and arms in the Vietnam War.\n\nThe de monstrators built huts and watchtowers along proposed construction sites. On October 10th\, 1967\, the government attempted to conduct a land survey \, backed by over 2000 riot police. Clashes quickly broke out\, and Hantai Domei leader Issaku Tomura was photographed being brutalized by police\, further inflaming anti-airport sentiment.\n\nProtests further grew and int ensified over the next few years as the state pressed on with attempts to build the airport. Protestors would dig into the ground\, build fortificat ions\, and arm themselves against police. Construction was delayed by year s\, and the conflict would cost the government billions of yen. \n\nOn Sep tember 16th\, 1971\, three police officers were killed during an eminent d omain expropriation. Four days later\, police forcibly removed and destroy ed the house of an elderly woman\, an incident that became yet another sym bol of state oppression to the opposition. \n\nOne student committed suici de\, saying in his suicide note that "I detest those who brought the airpo rt to this land". In 1972\, the protestors built a 60 meter-high steel tow er near the runway in order to disrupt flight tests. Conflict continued th rough much of the 1970s.\n\nIn 1977\, the government announced plans to op en the airport within the year. In May\, police destroyed the tower while demonstrators attempted to cling on to it\, provoking a new wave of widesp read conflict. One protestor was killed after being struck in the head by a tear gas canister. In March 1978\, the first runway was set to open\, bu t a few days prior\, a group of saboteurs burrowed into the main control t ower\, barricaded themselves inside\, and proceeded to lay waste to the to wer's equipment and infrastructure\, delaying the opening yet again to May 20th\, 1978.\n\nResistance continued after the airport was opened. Althou gh many locals began to accept the airport and leave the land\, the focus of Hantai Dōmei shifted to opposing plans for additional terminals and ru nways\, as the airport's current size still only reflected a fraction of i nitial plans.\n\nClashes continued through the 1980s - on October 20th\, 1 985\, members of the communist New Left group Chukaku-ha broke though poli ce lines with logs and flagpoles\, successfully attacking infrastructure i n one of the last large-scale battles of the resistance campaign. Guerilla actions and bombings continued as late as the 1990s.\n\nAlthough this cam paign of resistance has largely shifted out of public attention in Japan\, its presence is still felt: until 2015\, all visitors were required to pr esent ID cards for security reasons\, and the airport still remains only a third of its initially-planned size. The Sanrizuka Struggle has never com pletely ended\, and the Opposition League still exists and holds rallies. RESOURCES:https://throwoutyourbooks.wordpress.com/2014/02/11/narita-airpor t-protest-movement-sanrizuka/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanrizuka_Struggle RESOURCES:https://zen-foto.jp/en/exhibition/takashi-hamaguchi-horror-of-na rita-airport END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:June Days Uprising Begins (1848) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250623 DTEND:20250624T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1848\, more than 40\,000 French workers initiated t he June Days Uprising after the state closed National Workshops that provi ded work to the unemployed\, causing 10\,000 casualties and 4\,000 workers to be deported to Algeria. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1848\, more than 40\,000 French workers initiat ed the June Days Uprising after the state closed National Workshops that p rovided work to the unemployed\, causing 10\,000 casualties and 4\,000 wor kers to be deported to Algeria.\n\nThe National Workshops had only been fo rmed a few months earlier\, when\, on February 25th\, a group of armed wor kers interrupted a session of the provisional government to demand "the or ganization of labor" and "the right to work".\n\nIn late June\, the Second Republic began planning to close the workshops\, leading to a national up rising. In sections of the city\, hundreds of barricades were thrown up. T he National Guard was sent in to quell the rebellion\, and workers seized weapons from local armories to fight back.\n\nThe violence\, which lasted just three days\, resulted in more than 10\,000 casualties and 4\,000 part icipants to be deported to Algeria. Among the dead was Denis Auguste Affre \, Archbishop of Paris\, killed while trying to negotiate peace with an an gry crowd.\n\nThe rebellion was successfully crushed\, and the episode put a hold on revolutionary ambitions of radical Republicans at the time. In its aftermath\, the French Constitution of 1848 was adopted\, mandating th at executive power be wielded by a democratically elected president.\n\nTh e first president under this framework was Napoleon Bonaparte\, who dissol ved the constitution during his first term in office. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_Days_uprising RESOURCES:https://www.britannica.com/event/June-Days END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Taft-Hartley Act (1947) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250623 DTEND:20250624T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:On this day in 1947\, the Taft-Hartley Act became U.S. law after a heavily bipartisan vote\, greatly restricting the legal rights of organiz ing workers during an unprecedented wave of strikes after World War II. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1947\, the Taft-Hartley Act became U.S. law aft er a heavily bipartisan vote\, greatly restricting the legal rights of org anizing workers during an unprecedented wave of strikes after World War II .\n\nThe Labor Management Relations Act of 1947\, better known as the Taft -Hartley Act\, was enacted despite the veto of President Harry S. Truman\, with many Democrats defecting from the party line to support the union-bu sting measure.\n\nThe Act was introduced in the aftermath of a major\, unp recedented wave of strikes in the aftermath of World War II\, from 1945-19 46. Strikes were strongly repressed during World War II to not hamper the war effect. When the wartime restrictions ended\, millions of workers acro ss the country went on strike.\n\nThe Taft-Hartley Act prohibits unions fr om engaging in "unfair labor practices." Among the practices prohibited by the act are jurisdictional strikes\, wildcat strikes\, solidarity or poli tical strikes\, secondary boycotts\, secondary and mass picketing\, closed shops\, and monetary donations by unions to federal political campaigns. The Act also allowed states to pass right-to-work laws banning union shops .\n\nA pamphlet supporting a third\, progressive party\, published in 1948 \, had this to say on the vote:\n\n"Every scheme of the lobbyists to fleec e the public became law in the 80th Congress. And every constructive propo sal to benefit the common people gathered dust in committee pigeonholes. T he bi-partisan bloc\, the Republocratic cabal which ruled Congress and mad e a mockery of President Roosevelt's economic bill of rights\, also wrecke d the Roosevelt foreign policy. A new foreign policy was developed. This p olicy was still gilded with the good words of democracy. But its Holy Grai l was oil...\n\nThe Democratic administration carries the ball for Wall St reet's foreign policy. And the Republican party carries the ball for Wall Street's domestic policy. Of course the roles are sometimes interchangeabl e...\n\nOn occasion President Truman still likes to lay an occasional verb al wreath on the grave of the New Deal. But the hard facts of roll call vo tes show that Democrats are voting more and more like Republicans. If the Republican Taft-Hartley bill became law over the President's veto\, it was because many of the Democrats allied themselves to the Republicans." RESOURCES:https://jacobinmag.com/2017/12/taft-hartley-unions-right-to-work RESOURCES:https://www.counterpunch.org/2004/09/06/how-many-democrats-voted -for-taft-hartley/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Carl Braden (1914 - 1975) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250624 DTEND:20250625T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays COMMENT:Carl Braden\, born on this day in 1914\, was a left-wing trade uni onist\, journalist\, and activist who was charged with sedition by the sta te of Kentucky after purchasing a home in an all-white neighborhood on beh alf of a black family. DESCRIPTION:Carl Braden\, born on this day in 1914\, was a left-wing trade unionist\, journalist\, and activist who was charged with sedition by the state of Kentucky after purchasing a home in an all-white neighborhood on behalf of a black family. He was married to Anne Braden\, a prominent civ il rights activist in her own right.\n\nIn 1954\, to sidestep the resident ial race segregation in Louisville\, Kentucky\, the Bradens purchased a ho use in an all-white neighborhood and deeded it over to the Wades\, an Afri can-American family who had been unsuccessfully seeking a suburban residen ce. White segregationists responded by burning a cross in the yard\, shoot ing into the home\, and eventually destroying the building entirely with d ynamite.\n\nFor his role in the affair\, Carl Braden was charged with sedi tion\, his work for racial integration being interpreted as an act of comm unist subversion. He was convicted on December 13th\, 1954 and sentenced t o fifteen years in prison.\n\nImmediately upon his conviction\, Carl Brade n was fired from his job and blacklisted from local employment. He served seven months of his sentence before he was released on a $40\,000 bond\, t he highest bond ever set in Kentucky up to that time.\n\nOn appeal\, Carl' s case made it to the Supreme Court (Braden v. United States\, 1961)\, whi ch ruled that Braden's conviction was constitutional\, although this was l ater overturned.\n\nIn 1967\, the Bradens were again charged with sedition for protesting the practice of strip-mining in Pike County\, Kentucky. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Braden RESOURCES:https://snccdigital.org/people/anne-carl-braden/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Radom Riots (1976) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250624 DTEND:20250625T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Riots,Protests COMMENT:The Radom Riots began in Poland on this day in 1976 when tens of t housands of people began protesting and rioting in response to government increases in the price of food\, chanting "We want bread and freedom" and fighting with police. DESCRIPTION:The Radom Riots began in Poland on this day in 1976 when tens of thousands of people began protesting and rioting in response to governm ent increases in the price of food\, chanting "We want bread and freedom" and fighting with police. This uprising took place in the context of socia l unrest throughout the country.\n\nThat morning\, workers at multiple fac tories across Radom went on strike. By 11 am\, thousands of protesters sur rounded an administrative building in the city.\n\nAfter waiting for an of ficial decision on the issue of food increases for several hours\, the cro wd broke into the building\, which had been evacuated\, looting and settin g it on fire and barricading the surrounding streets.\n\nBecause the state did not plan on Radom having an uprising of this size\, police forces wer e initially overwhelmed and reinforcements did not arrive until later that afternoon.\n\nApproximately 20\,000 people battled with police forces. 19 8 people were wounded\, 634 arrested\, and several were killed. A few week s after the uprising\, a Roman Catholic priest died after being beaten by police\, having joined the rioters and criticized the government in his se rmons.\n\nDespite the government crackdown\, the price raises were reverse d within 24 hours. The 1976 workers' protest against official economic pol icy was a watershed moment in dissent against the Polish People's Republic . RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/library/poznan-1956-radom-1976 RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_1976_protests END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Battle of Little Bighorn (1876) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250625 DTEND:20250626T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Indigenous COMMENT:On this day in 1876\, the Battle of Little Bighorn took place\, a major defeat of the U.S. Army by the combined forces of the Lakota\, North ern Cheyenne\, and Arapaho that caused the death of Colonel George Custer. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1876\, the Battle of Little Bighorn took place\ , a major defeat of the U.S. Army by the combined forces of the Lakota\, N orthern Cheyenne\, and Arapaho that caused the death of Colonel George Cus ter. The event\, also known as the Battle of the Greasy Grass\, was one of the most significant military actions in the Great Sioux War.\n\nThe batt le began on the morning of June 25th when Colonel Custer led an attack on an encampment of combined tribes. His strategy was to seize as many "non-c ombatants" as possible (i.e.\, women\, the disabled\, and children)\, and force the men to surrender to protect their families.\n\nCuster drasticall y underestimated the amount of indigenous people present\, however\, and n o member of his attacking battalion survived their charge on the camp. Des pite the victory\, the seizure of indigenous lands continued unabated. Day s after the battle\, Crazy Horse (a leader in the Sioux resistance) surren dered to the government and died in state custody.\n\nAs a result of the B attle of Little Bighorn\, the U.S. government threatened to withhold all f ood aid to reservations if the Sioux did not cease hostilities and cede So uth Dakota land. Threatened with starvation\, they complied in 1877. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn RESOURCES:https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/battle-little-big-horn/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Crystal Eastman (1881 - 1928) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250625 DTEND:20250626T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays COMMENT:Crystal Eastman\, born on this day in 1881\, was a socialist lawye r\, journalist\, anti-militarist\, and feminist who co-founded "The Libera tor" and the ACLU. "The last thing a man becomes progressive about is the activities of his own wife." DESCRIPTION:Crystal Catherine Eastman\, born on this day in 1881\, was a s ocialist lawyer\, journalist\, anti-militarist\, and feminist who co-found ed "The Liberator" and the American Civil Liberties Union.\n\nCrystal and her brother\, Max Eastman\, were influenced by the Second Great Awakening\ , a Protestant religious festival with humanitarian values. The siblings l ived together for several years on 11th Street in Greenwich Village among other radical activists\, such as Ida Rauh\, Inez Milholland\, and Floyd D ell.\n\nWhen the United States entered World War I\, Eastman\, along with Roger Baldwin and Norman Thomas\, organized the National Civil Liberties B ureau to protect conscientious objectors\, in her words "to maintain somet hing over here that will be worth coming back to when the weary war is ove r". The NCLB later grew into the ACLU\, with Baldwin at the head and Eastm an functioning as attorney-in-charge.\n\n"The last thing a man becomes pro gressive about is the activities of his own wife."\n\n- Crystal Eastman RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystal_Eastman RESOURCES:https://www.aclu.org/other/crystal-eastman END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:George Orwell (1903 - 1950) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250625 DTEND:20250626T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Socialism,Labor,Birthdays,Anarchism COMMENT:George Orwell\, born on this day in 1903\, was an English democrat ic socialist author. His experiences in the Spanish Civil War led him to r abidly oppose Soviet communism\, views expounded upon in Animal Farm and H omage to Catalonia. DESCRIPTION:George Orwell\, born on this day in 1903\, was an English demo cratic socialist author. His experiences in the Spanish Civil War led him to rabidly oppose Soviet communism\, views expounded upon in Animal Farm a nd Homage to Catalonia.\n\nOrwell's work is characterized by polished pros e\, social criticism\, opposition to what Orwell called "totalitarianism"\ , and support for democratic socialism.\n\nAs a writer\, Orwell produced l iterary criticism\, poetry\, fiction\, and polemical journalism. Among his most famous works are his allegory for the Soviet Union "Animal Farm" (19 45) and the dystopian novel "Nineteen Eighty-Four" (1949). Orwell is also noted for his first hand-account of the Spanish Civil War\, "Homage to Cat alonia" (1938).\n\nIn "Homage to Catalonia"\, Orwell writes about fighting for the Republican faction\, describing in detail the ways in which the a narchist movement re-structured their economy and military to be more egal itarian. He was shot in the throat but survived\, declared unfit for servi ce\, and returned to England to recover.\n\nOrwell's experiences with anar chist and Bolshevik movements in Catalonia made him a vehement anti-commun ist later in life. In 1949\, shortly before he died\, Orwell prepared a li st of notable people he considered unsuitable as possible writers for the anti-communist propaganda activities of the British government.\n\nThe act ion drew widespread criticism from other left-wing figures\; Scottish jour nalist Alexander Cockburn referred to the notebook as "a snitch list" and noted Orwell's homophobia and racist comments on various individuals on th e list as demonstrative of his bigotry.\n\nDespite his vehement opposition to the Soviet Union and associated communist movements\, Orwell continued to identify as a democratic socialist and authored essays such as "The Li on and the Unicorn: Socialism and the English Genius" (1940) that advocate d for socialism\, as Orwell understood it\, in the United Kingdom. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Orwell RESOURCES:https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2013/02/18/1984-an-interview-wi th-george-orwell/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:James Meredith (1933 - ) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250625 DTEND:20250626T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Civil Rights,Birthdays,Protests COMMENT:James Meredith\, born on this day in 1933\, is a civil rights acti vist who became the first black student admitted to the University of Miss issippi. He was shot on the second day of his "March Against Fear" against voter discrimination. DESCRIPTION:James Meredith\, born on this day in 1933\, is a civil rights activist who became the first black student admitted to the University of Mississippi. He was shot on the second day of his "March Against Fear" aga inst voter discrimination.\n\nIn 1962\, Meredith became the first black st udent admitted to the segregated University of Mississippi after a violent protest against his admission\, known as the "Ole Miss Riot"\, was quelle d by the federal government.\n\nInspired by President John F. Kennedy's in augural address\, Meredith decided to exercise his constitutional rights a nd apply to the University of Mississippi\, hoping to put pressure on the Kennedy administration to enforce civil rights for African Americans.\n\nI n 1966\, Meredith planned a solo 220-mile March Against Fear from Memphis\ , Tennessee\, to Jackson\, Mississippi\, in protest of racial discriminati on in voter registration. The second day\, he was shot by a white sniper. Leaders of civil rights organizations and unions\, including Martin Luther King Jr. and Walter Reuther\, vowed to complete the march in his name aft er he was taken to the hospital.\n\nWhile Meredith was recovering\, more p eople from across the country became involved as marchers. When the estima ted 15\,000 marchers reached Jackson\, Mississippi\, with Meredith on its front lines\, it became the largest civil rights march in Mississippi hist ory. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Meredith RESOURCES:https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/18/opinions/i-am-george-floyd-meredi th-doyle/index.html END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Korean War Begins (1950) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250625 DTEND:20250626T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Imperialism,Terrorism COMMENT:On this day in 1950\, the northern Korean People's Army crossed th e 38th parallel in an offensive to crush the Republic of Korea\, an imperi alist puppet state established by the U.S.\, marking the beginning of the Korean War. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1950\, the northern Korean People's Army crosse d the 38th parallel in an offensive to crush the Republic of Korea\, an im perialist puppet state established by the U.S.\, marking the beginning of the Korean War.\n\nAlthough June 25th\, 1950 is where the beginning of the Korean War is traditionally marked\, other interpretations of the conflic t exist.\n\nHistorian Stephen Gowans\, author of "Patriots\, Traitors and Empires: The Story of Korea's Struggle for Freedom"\, notes that some anal ysts\, including a member of the U.S. State Department\, consider the Kore an War to have begun with the creation of the U.S.-imposed Republic of Kor ea on August 15th\, 1948\, and some consider the conflict of 1950-53 an ex tension of a civil war that began in 1932\, when Kim Il-sung formed his fi rst guerrilla unit to fight Japanese colonizers.\n\nIn any case\, the Kore an War of 1950-53 was fought between two states that both lay claim to all of the Korean Peninsula\, the northern Democratic People's Republic of Ko rea (DPRK) and the southern Republic of Korea (ROK).\n\nThe ROK had been e stablished by the occupying U.S. military government in 1948. In 1945\, th e same military government had banned the left-leaning People's Republic o f Korea\, which was based on a network of worker's committees whose progra m consisted of pro-labor reforms\, such as the abolition of child labor an d the eight hour day.\n\nOn June 25th\, 1950\, the DPRK People's Army cros sed the 38th Parallel into ROK territory\, intending to crush the state of U.S.-collaborationists. Two days later\, the United Nations Security Coun cil\, then boycotted by the Soviet Union for not acknowledging the People' s Republic of China (PRC)\, recommended member states provide military ass istance to the Republic of Korea.\n\nThe conflict became a proxy war betwe en global superpowers\, with the DPRK supported by the Soviet Union and PR C and the ROK supported by the U.S. On July 27th\, 1953 the Korean Armisti ce Agreement was signed\, creating the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) to separate North and South Korea. Despite this\, no peace treaty was ever si gned and the two governments remain at war to this day.\n\nThe Korean War was among the most destructive conflicts of the modern era\, with approxim ately 3 million war fatalities\, 10% of the total Korean population\, a la rger proportional civilian death toll than both World War II and the Vietn am War according to historian Charles Armstrong.\n\nThe U.S. led a massive \, scorched earth bombing campaign against North Korea\, making North Kore a one of the most heavily bombed countries in human history. Armstrong wri tes "U.S. planes dropped 635\,000 tons of bombs on Korea - that is\, essen tially on North Korea - including 32\,557 tons of napalm\, compared to 503 \,000 tons of bombs dropped in the entire Pacific theatre of World War II. It incurred the destruction of virtually all of Korea's major cities."\n\ nThis campaign of destruction was essential to the success of U.S. interve ntion: American General Matthew Ridgway stated that\, except for air power \, "the war would have been over in 60 days with all Korea in Communist ha nds". RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_War RESOURCES:https://www.kfausa.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Patriots-Trait ors-and-Empires-Stephen-Gowans.pdf END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Lois Gibbs (1951 - ) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250625 DTEND:20250626T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays COMMENT:Lois Marie Gibbs\, born on this day in 1951\, is an environmental activist whose advocacy began after discovering that her 5-year-old son's elementary school and neighborhood in Niagara Falls\, New York was built o n a toxic waste dump. DESCRIPTION:Lois Marie Gibbs\, born on this day in 1951\, is an environmen tal activist whose advocacy began after discovering that her 5-year-old so n's elementary school and neighborhood in Niagara Falls\, New York was bui lt on a toxic waste dump.\n\nAfter this revelation\, she formed the Love C anal Homeowner's Association\, and began fighting at the local\, state\, a nd federal level for action\, framing the issue as one of children's healt h. After years of struggle\, the waste finally began to be cleaned up\, an d 833 families were eventually evacuated.\n\nShe continues to work with th e organization\, now renamed the Center for Health\, Environment\, and Jus tice (CHEJ). RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lois_Gibbs RESOURCES:https://www.goldmanprize.org/recipient/lois-gibbs/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Olive Morris (1952 - 1979) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250626 DTEND:20250627T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays COMMENT:Olive Morris\, born on this day in 1952\, was a Jamaican Black Pan ther\, squatter's rights activist\, and founder of the Brixton Black Women 's Group who died prematurely from illness at the age of 27. DESCRIPTION:Olive Morris\, born on this day in 1952\, was a Jamaican Black Panther\, squatter's rights activist\, and founder of the Brixton Black W omen's Group who died prematurely from illness at the age of 27. When Morr is was nine years old\, she and her brother\, Basil\, left their maternal grandmother in Jamaica and joined her parents in Lavender Hill\, South Lon don.\n\nOn November 15th\, 1969\, Morris was beaten and sexually harassed by London police for interfering when they were beating Nigerian diplomat Clement Gomwalk for existing while black outside "Desmond's Hip City"\, Br ixton's first black records store. Basil described her injuries from the i ncident\, saying that he "could hardly recognize her face\, they beat her so badly".\n\nOlive later became a member of the youth section of the Brit ish Black Panther Movement (later called the Black Workers Movement)\, alo ng with activists such as Linton Kwesi Johnson\, Clovis Reid and Farrukh D hondy. Olive was also a founding member of the Brixton Black Women's Group .\n\nMorris also squatted at 121 Railton Road\, Brixton in 1973. This squa t became a hub of political activism and hosted community groups such as B lack People Against State Harassment. The building was also the site of th e Sabarr Bookshop\, one of the first black community bookshops in the area . The site subsequently became an anarchist project\, known as the 121 Cen tre\, which existed until its eviction in 1999.\n\nIn 1979\, Morris died p rematurely from non-Hodgkinson's lymphoma at the age of 27. RESOURCES:http://libcom.org/history/morris-olive-elaine-1952-1979 RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olive_Morris END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Pine Ridge Shootout (1975) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250626 DTEND:20250627T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Indigenous COMMENT:On this day in 1975\, a shootout occurred at Pine Ridge Reservatio n between two FBI agents and members of the American Indian Movement (AIM) \, leading to the conviction of activist Leonard Peltier for murder in a d ubious trial. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1975\, a shootout occurred at Pine Ridge Reserv ation between two FBI agents and members of the American Indian Movement ( AIM)\, leading to the conviction of activist Leonard Peltier for murder in a dubious trial.\n\nThe shootout began when FBI agents Ronald A. Williams and Jack R. Coler\, driving two separate unmarked cars\, began following a red pick-up truck that matched the description of an indigenous man want ed as a suspect in a recent assault and robbery of two local ranch hands.\ n\nAfter tailing the vehicle\, Williams reported that they were under fire from its occupants and would be killed if reinforcements did not swiftly arrive. Their next radio dispatch said that both men had been shot.\n\nAft er being wounded\, the agents appeared have been shot execution-style. One member of AIM\, Joseph Stuntz\, was also fatally shot.\n\nAfter being ext radited from Canada through a witness statement later revealed to be false \, indigenous rights activist Leonard Peltier was convicted for murder in a highly contentious 1977 trial\, involving contradictory statements from the FBI and recanted witness statements. Peltier was sentenced to two cons ecutive terms of life imprisonment. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonard_Peltier#Shootout_at_Pine_R idge RESOURCES:https://montanapioneer.com/an-interview-with-leonard-peltier/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Salvador Allende (1908 - 1973) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250626 DTEND:20250627T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Marxism,Birthdays COMMENT:Salvador Allende\, born on this day in 1908\, was a Chilean physic ian and politician who became the first Marxist leader to be elected presi dent in a Latin American liberal democracy. He was ousted by CIA-assisted fascists in 1973. DESCRIPTION:Salvador Allende\, born on this day in 1908\, was a Chilean ph ysician and politician who became the first Marxist leader to be elected p resident in a Latin American liberal democracy. He was ousted by CIA-assis ted fascists in 1973.\n\nAllende\, whose political career spanned nearly f our decades\, achieved the presidency as the candidate of the Popular Unit y coalition\, serving from 1970 to 1973.\n\nAs president\, Allende sought to nationalize major industries\, expand education and improve the living standards of the working class. His administration gave educational grants to indigenous children\, implemented literacy programs in impoverished ar eas\, and established a minimum wage for workers of all ages.\n\nOn Septem ber 11th\, 1973\, the military ousted Allende in a coup d'état assisted b y Henry Kissinger and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).\n\nAs troops surrounded La Moneda Palace\, Allende gave his final speech to the public\ , vowing not to resign. Later that day\, Allende died of a gunshot wound\, concluded to be a suicide by an investigation conducted by a Chilean cour t with the assistance of international experts in 2011.\n\n"Placed in a hi storic transition\, I will pay for loyalty to the people with my life. And I say to them that I am certain that the seed which we have planted in th e good conscience of thousands and thousands of Chileans will not be shriv eled forever. They have strength and will be able to dominate us\, but soc ial processes can be arrested neither by crime nor force. History is ours\ , and people make history."\n\n- Salvador Allende\, September 11th\, 1973 RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvador_Allende RESOURCES:https://jacobinmag.com/2019/09/salvador-allende-chile-revolucion -democratica-frente-amplio END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Bodo League Massacre Begins (1950) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250627 DTEND:20250628T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Massacre COMMENT:On this day in 1950\, U.S.-backed South Korean President Syngman R hee ordered the mass murder of suspected communists following the outbreak of the Korean War\, resulting in the summary executions of 60\,000 - 200\ ,000 Koreans. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1950\, U.S.-backed South Korean President Syngm an Rhee ordered the mass murder of suspected communists following the outb reak of the Korean War\, resulting in the summary executions of 60\,000 - 200\,000 Koreans.\n\nTwo days prior\, the North Korean People's Army had c rossed the 38th parallel to liberate South Korea from the U.S. collaborati onist Republic of Korea (ROK). The ROK was established by the occupying U. S. military government in 1948\, following the conclusion of World War II. \n\nOn June 27th\, 1950\, ROK President Syngman Rhee ordered the mass exec utions of people associated with the National Bodo League\, a state-run re -education program for suspected communists\, and the South Korean Worker' s Party (WPSK).\n\nOver the following weeks\, ROK officials executed many thousands of Koreans. Estimates of the total killed vary widely\, from 60\ ,000 to 200\,000. Official U.S. documents show that American officers witn essed and photographed the massacre\, and in at least one case\, an Americ an lieutenant colonel approved of one episode of mass executions.\n\nThe S outh Korean government falsely blamed the murders on communists led by Kim Il-sung and suppressed public knowledge of the massacre for decades after ward. Beginning in the 1990s\, several corpses were excavated from mass gr aves\, raising public awareness of the massacre.\n\nIn 2009\, the National Archives in Washington D.C. released declassified photographs of U.S. sol diers at execution sites\, confirming that the American military knew and did nothing to stop the mass killing. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodo_League_massacre RESOURCES:https://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/88448 3.html END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Emma Goldman (1869 - 1940) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250627 DTEND:20250628T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Birthdays,Anarchism COMMENT:Emma Goldman\, born on this day in 1869\, was an anarchist writer and activist in the United States whose works\, including "My Disillusionm ent in Russia" and her journal Mother Earth\, influenced anarchist movemen ts all over the world. DESCRIPTION:Emma Goldman\, born on this day in 1869\, was an anarchist wri ter and activist in the United States whose works\, including "My Disillus ionment in Russia" and her journal Mother Earth\, influenced anarchist mov ements all over the world.\n\nAttracted to anarchism after the Haymarket a ffair\, Goldman became a renowned writer and lecturer. She and anarchist w riter Alexander Berkman\, her lover and lifelong friend\, planned to assas sinate industrialist and financier Henry Clay Frick as an act of "propagan da of the deed".\n\nFrick survived the attempt on his life\, and Berkman w as sentenced to 22 years in prison. Goldman was imprisoned several times i n the years that followed for "inciting to riot" and illegally distributin g information about birth control.\n\nAfter their release from prison\, Go ldman and Berkman were again arrested and deported to Russia. Initially su pportive of the October Revolution that brought the Bolsheviks to power\, Goldman changed her opinion in the wake of the Kronstadt rebellion\, denou ncing the Soviet Union for its repression of political dissent. She left t he Soviet Union and\, in 1923\, published a book about her experiences\, " My Disillusionment in Russia".\n\nGoldman was an extremely well-known anar chist in her lifetime\, with a reputation as a powerful orator. Her writin g and lectures spanned a wide variety of issues\, including prisons\, athe ism\, freedom of speech\, militarism\, capitalism\, free love\, and homose xuality.\n\n"If I can't dance\, I don't want to be part of your revolution ."\n\n- Emma Goldman RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emma_Goldman RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/goldman/index.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Founding of the IWW (1905) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250627 DTEND:20250628T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Socialism,Labor,IWW COMMENT:The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)\, founded on this day in 1905 in Chicago\, Illinois\, is an anti-capitalist and internationalist l abor union whose slogan says "An injury to one is an injury to all!" DESCRIPTION:The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)\, founded on this da y in 1905 in Chicago\, Illinois\, is an anti-capitalist and internationali st labor union whose slogan says "An injury to one is an injury to all!"\n \nThe IWW promotes the concept of "One Big Union"\, and contends that all workers should be united as a social class to supplant capitalism and wage labor with industrial democracy.\n\nThe IWW was officially founded in Chi cago\, Illinois on June 27th\, 1905. A convention was held of 200 socialis ts and radical trade unionists from all over the United States who opposed the policies and politics of the more moderate American Federation of Lab or (AFL). In particular\, the IWW opposed the American Federation of Labor 's acceptance of capitalism and its refusal to include unskilled workers i n craft unions.\n\nThe IWW's founders included many historically important labor activists and socialist thinkers\, including "Big Bill" Haywood\, J ames Connolly\, Daniel De Leon\, Eugene V. Debs\, Thomas Hagerty\, Lucy Pa rsons\, Mary Harris "Mother" Jones\, Frank Bohn\, William Trautmann\, Vinc ent Saint John\, Ralph Chaplin\, and many others. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_Workers_of_the_World RESOURCES:https://iww.org/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Guatemalan Coup d'État (1954) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250627 DTEND:20250628T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1954\, Jacobo Árbenz\, the democratically elected President of Guatemala who had been redistributing land owned by U.S. capi talists\, was forced to resign in a coup led by the CIA and supported by t he United Fruit Company. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1954\, Jacobo Árbenz\, the democratically elec ted President of Guatemala who had been redistributing land owned by U.S. capitalists\, was forced to resign in a coup led by the CIA and supported by the United Fruit Company.\n\nÁrbenz was a major figure in the ten-year Guatemalan Revolution\, which represented some of the few years of repres entative democracy in Guatemalan history. His agrarian reform\, which uncu ltivated portions of large land-holdings were expropriated in return for c ompensation and redistributed to poverty-stricken agricultural laborers be nefited approximately 500\,000 people\, most of them indigenous\, whose an cestors had been dispossessed after the Spanish invasion.\n\nThis land ref orm alienated the powerful United Fruit Company\, the largest land owner i n Guatemala at the time\, which lobbied the U.S. government to have him ov erthrown. The U.S.\, also concerned by the presence of communists in the G uatemalan government\, began planning a coup\, to be led by the Central In telligence Agency (CIA).\n\nThe CIA armed\, funded\, and trained a force o f 480 men led by Carlos Castillo Armas. Castillo Armas' force invaded Guat emala on June 18th and was backed by a heavy campaign of psychological war fare\, which included a radio station which broadcast anti-government prop aganda and a version of military events favorable to the rebellion\, claim ing to be genuine news.\n\nAlthough the invasion force's military actions fared poorly\, the psychological warfare and fear of a U.S. invasion intim idated the Guatemalan army\, which eventually refused to fight. Árbenz br iefly and unsuccessfully attempted to arm civilians to resist the invasion \, before resigning on this day in 1954. He was succeeded in power by Carl os Castillo Armas\, the same man who led the invading force. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1954_Guatemalan_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat RESOURCES:https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/jacobo-arbenz-guzman-dep osed/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Helen Keller (1880 - 1968) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250627 DTEND:20250628T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Socialism,Birthdays COMMENT:Helen Keller\, born on this day in 1880\, was an American socialis t author and disability rights advocate who became the first deaf-blind pe rson to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree. Keller was subject to FBI surveill ance for most of her life. DESCRIPTION:Helen Keller\, born on this day in 1880\, was an American soci alist author and disability rights advocate who became the first deaf-blin d person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree. Keller was subject to FBI surv eillance for most of her life.\n\nIn 1909\, Keller joined the American Soc ialist Party and campaigned for its candidates\, including Eugene V. Debs\ , the SP leader who ran for U.S. president from his prison cell in 1920.\n \nKeller supported striking workers\, including those murdered in the 1914 Colorado Ludlow Massacre\, calling owner John D. Rockefeller a "monster o f capitalism." She defined herself as a "militant suffragist"\, campaignin g for women's right to vote because she believed this was linked to the st ruggle for socialism.\n\nContemporary critics either lambasted Keller for her radical politics or attempted to neutralize her as a "wonder woman". I n a 1924 letter to a U.S. Senator\, Keller wrote "So long as I confine my activities to social service and the blind\, they compliment me extravagan tly\, calling me 'arch priestess of the sightless\,' 'wonder woman\,' and a 'modern miracle.' But when it comes to a discussion of poverty\, and I m aintain that it is the result of wrong economics - that the industrial sys tem under which we live is at the root of much of the physical deafness an d blindness in the world - that is a different matter!"\n\nBy the time Kel ler died in 1968\, at the age of 87\, she had been under FBI surveillance for most of her adult life. RESOURCES:https://www.workers.org/2016/03/24250/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Keller END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Marielle Franco (1979 - 2018) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250627 DTEND:20250628T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Socialism,Birthdays,Queer,Fascism COMMENT:Marielle Franco\, born on this day in 1979\, was a queer feminist and socialist politician in Brazil associated with the Socialism and Liber ty Party (PSOL). While serving in office\, Franco was assassinated by ex-m ilitary police in 2018. DESCRIPTION:Marielle Franco\, born on this day in 1979\, was a queer femin ist and socialist politician in Brazil associated with the Socialism and L iberty Party (PSOL). While serving in office\, Franco was assassinated by ex-military police in 2018. The day before her death\, she tweeted "How ma ny others will have to die for this war [with police] to end?"\n\nMarielle Franco was raised in Maré\, a slum in northern Rio de Janeiro\, where sh e also resided for most of her life. Franco began working to support her f amily at eleven years old and raised her daughter while working as a presc hool teacher for minimum wage.\n\nAs an adult\, Franco earned a master's d egree in public administration from the Fluminense Federal University. Her master's thesis was titled "UPP: The Reduction of the Favela to Three Let ters"\, and dealt with a law enforcement program to retake control of Rio' s favelas from gangs.\n\nIn 2016\, Franco ran for Rio de Janeiro City Coun cil and won her seat with more than 46\,500 votes. As a city council membe r\, Franco fought against violence against women\, for reproductive and ga y rights\, and for the rights of favela residents.\n\nOn March 14th\, 2018 \, Franco attended a round-table discussion titled "Young Black Women Movi ng [Power] Structures" (Portuguese: Jovens Negras Movendo Estruturas). Two hours after leaving the talk\, Franco and her driver were assassinated by two men driving another car. Franco had been planning to marry her partne r Mônica Benício that September.\n\nTwo former members of the military p olice were arrested for the murders in March 2019. All presidential candid ates in Brazil during the 2018 political season condemned the crime except for now President Jair Bolsonaro\, who repeatedly refused to condemn the assassination.\n\n"Though we may earn lower salaries\, be relegated to low er positions\, work triple workdays\, be judged for our clothing\, be subj ected to sexual\, physical\, psychological violence\, killed daily by our partners\, we will not be silenced: our lives matter!"\n\n- Marielle Franc o\, from a speech she was preparing to give days after her assassination RESOURCES:https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/democraciaabierta/life-and-batt les-marielle-franco/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marielle_Franco END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Chris Hani (1942 - 1993) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250628 DTEND:20250629T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Socialism,Civil Rights,Birthdays COMMENT:Chris Hani\, born on this day in 1942\, was a leader of the South African Communist Party and chief of staff of "uMkhonto we Sizwe"\, the ar med wing of the African National Congress (ANC). DESCRIPTION:Chris Hani\, born on this day in 1942\, was a leader of the So uth African Communist Party and chief of staff of "uMkhonto we Sizwe"\, th e armed wing of the African National Congress (ANC).\n\nHani was passionat e about fighting apartheid even as a child - when he was 12 years old\, af ter hearing his father's explanations about apartheid and the African Nati onal Congress\, he wished to join the ANC but was still too young to be ac cepted. He joined the organization three years later.\n\nHani received mil itary training in the Soviet Union and served in campaigns during the Zimb abwean War of Liberation\, also known as the Rhodesian Bush War.\n\nDespit e Hani's extensive experience with armed struggle\, he supported the suspe nsion of the ANC's armed resistance against apartheid in favor of peaceful negotiations after becoming head of the party in 1991.\n\nHani was assass inated by Janusz Walus\, an anti-communist Polish immigrant\, on April 10t h\, 1993. Walus was aided in the killing by the South African Conservative Party. The first democratic elections of South Africa took place just a y ear later\, on April 27th\, 1994.\n\n"Socialism is not about big concepts and heavy theory. Socialism is about decent shelter for those who are home less. It is about water for those who have no safe drinking water. It is a bout health care\, it is about a life of dignity for the old. It is about overcoming the huge divide between urban and rural areas.\n\nIt is about a decent education for all our people. Socialism is about rolling back the tyranny of the market. As long as the economy is dominated by an unelected \, privileged few\, the case for socialism will exist."\n\n- Chris Hani RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Hani RESOURCES:https://web.archive.org/web/20170225112546/http://www.sacp.org.z a/main.php?ID=2294 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Mark Clark (1947 - 1969) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250628 DTEND:20250629T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays COMMENT:Mark Clark\, born on this day in 1947\, was a member of the Black Panther Party (BPP) who was assassinated by the Chicago Police Department alongside Fred Hampton in 1969. DESCRIPTION:Mark Clark\, born on this day in 1947\, was a member of the Bl ack Panther Party (BPP) who was assassinated by the Chicago Police Departm ent alongside Fred Hampton in 1969.\n\nClark decided to join the Black Pan ther Party after reading their literature and the Ten Point Program\, late r organizing a local chapter in Peoria\, Illinois.\n\nAt the age of 22\, C lark and Hampton were assassinated by the Chicago Police Department when t hey raided Hampton's apartment. Clark was shot in the heart and died insta ntly. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Clark_(activist) RESOURCES:https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2019/12/04/police-raid-th at-left-two-black-panthers-dead-shook-chicago-changed-nation/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Poznan Revolt (1956) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250628 DTEND:20250629T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Protests COMMENT:The Poznan Revolt began on this day in 1956 with a metalworkers' s trike\, growing to a crowd of 100\,000 protesters outside the Imperial Cas tle in Poznan\, Poland\, demanding lower food prices\, wage increases\, an d better working conditions. DESCRIPTION:The Poznan Revolt began on this day in 1956 with a metalworker s' strike\, growing to a crowd of 100\,000 protesters outside the Imperial Castle in Poznan\, Poland\, demanding lower food prices\, wage increases\ , and better working conditions.\n\nThe strike and protest took place in t he context of political uncertainty and instability following Joseph Stali n's death in 1953. As Nikita Kruschev was pushing "de-Stalinization" refor ms\, there were growing debates in Poland about the country's political fu ture.\n\nWorkers in the largest factory of Poznan\, Cegielski's Metal Indu stries\, were disgruntled\, wanting lower taxes and work quotas. When the government reneged on promises made to these workers on June 26th\, 80% of the factory workers walked out on the morning on June 28th.\n\nThe strike quickly grew into a massive protest\, with more than 100\,000 protesters surrounding the Imperial Castle in Poznan. The demonstrators demanded lowe r food prices\, wage increases\, better working conditions\, and to meet w ith Polish Prime Minister Józef Cyrankiewicz. Some police officers joined the crowd.\n\nThe protest escalated into a full-blown riot as workers sto rmed a local prison and arms depot. The crowd clashed with state forces an d ransacked many government buildings\, including the local Communist Part y headquarters\, the office of the Ministry of Public Security\, courthous e\, prosecutor's office\, and multiple police stations.\n\nThe rebellion w as crushed by the Polish Army occupying Poznan with more than 10\,000 troo ps\, tanks\, armored cars\, and field guns. Several hundred people were ar rested in the following weeks\, many of whom were workers. At least fifty (some estimates say more than seventy) people were killed\, including a th irteen year old boy. Several hundred more were wounded.\n\nThe uprising co ntributed to the Polish October (or "Gomułka Thaw")\, in which Poland's g overnment temporarily liberalized and won more autonomy from Soviet contro l. In 1980\, Solidarity\, a Polish labor movement aided by the CIA\, decid ed to raise a monument in memory of the Poznan Revolt.\n\nOn June 21st\, 2 006\, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the events\, the Polish parli ament declared June 28th to be a national holiday in Poland - the "Day of Remembrance". RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/library/poznan-1956-radom-1976 RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pozna%C5%84_protests_of_1956 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Samar Badawi (1981 - ) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250628 DTEND:20250629T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Feminism COMMENT:Samar Badawi\, born on this day in 1981\, is a Saudi Arabian femin ist activist who participated in the driving campaigns of 2011-12\, sued t he government for the right to vote\, and was imprisoned by the state for her activism. DESCRIPTION:Samar Badawi\, born on this day in 1981\, is a Saudi Arabian f eminist activist who participated in the driving campaigns of 2011-12\, su ed the government for the right to vote\, and was imprisoned by the state for her activism. Her brother\, Raif Badawi\, is also a civil rights activ ist who was imprisoned by the government\, released on March 11th\, 2022.\ n\nIn 2011\, Samar filed suit against the Saudi Arabian government for the right to vote\, making her the first person to file a lawsuit for women's suffrage in the country.\n\nSamar has been arrested multiple times for he r activism and non-compliance with laws that restrict rights for women. Th is includes participating in a women's driving campaign\, violating the la w that prohibits women from driving\, a law that was repealed in 2018.\n\n After Badawi missed several trial dates relating to charges of disobedienc e under the Saudi Arabian male guardianship system (brought by her father\ , who physically abused her)\, she served six months in jail.\n\nIn 2018\, Badawi and several other feminist activists were arrested by the Saudi au thorities\, sparking a major diplomatic dispute between Canada and Saudi A rabia when the former demanded Badawi's immediate release. In June 2021\, Badawi was released from prison. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samar_Badawi RESOURCES:https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2018/11/saudi-arabia-repo rts-of-torture-and-sexual-harassment-of-detained-activists/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Smith Act (1940) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250628 DTEND:20250629T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism COMMENT:The Smith Act\, passed on this day in 1940\, is a federal U.S. law that was used to repress left-wing speech and activism. It banned advocat ing for the overthrowing the state by force and required all non-citizens to register with the govt. DESCRIPTION:The Smith Act\, passed on this day in 1940\, is a federal U.S. law that was used to repress left-wing speech and activism. It banned adv ocating for the overthrowing the state by force and required all non-citiz ens to register with the govt.\n\nThe law\, also known as the Alien Regist ration Act\, led to 4.7 million non-citizens registering with the federal government between August 1940 and January 1941 alone. After the U.S. ente red World War II\, federal authorities used data gathered from alien regis trations to identify citizens of enemy nations and take 2\,971 them into c ustody by the end of the year.\n\nApproximately 215 people were indicted u nder the legislation\, including alleged communists\, anarchists\, and fas cists. One of the most infamous cases involving the Smith Act was a ten-mo nth trial of eleven communist leaders in 1949\, ten of whom\, including Be njamin Davis\, were sentenced to multiple years in prison.\n\nProsecutions under the Smith Act continued until a series of U.S. Supreme Court decisi ons in 1957 reversed a number of convictions under the Act\, deeming them unconstitutional. The law has also been amended several times\, but is sti ll in effect today. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smith_Act RESOURCES:https://depts.washington.edu/labhist/cpproject/SmithAct.shtml END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Stonewall Uprising (1969) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250628 DTEND:20250629T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Queer COMMENT:On this day in 1969\, the Stonewall Uprising began when NYC Police raided the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village. As cops arrested homosexua ls and drag queens\, the crowd fought them\, trapping police inside and li ghting the Inn on fire. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1969\, the Stonewall Uprising began when NYC Po lice raided the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village. As cops arrested homos exuals and drag queens\, the crowd fought them\, trapping police inside an d lighting the Inn on fire.\n\nIn the 1960s\, New York City Robert Wagner Jr. initiated an anti-gay campaign in preparation for the 1964 World's Fai r. The city revoked the liquor licenses of gay bars and undercover police officers worked to entrap as many homosexual men as possible.\n\nThe Stone wall Inn is a prominent gay bar in Greenwich Village\, New York City\, the n owned by the Genovese crime family and lacking a liquor license. The nig ht of the Stonewall Uprising\, approximately 200 patrons were in the bar\, and four undercover cops were present before the raid was initiated.\n\nA s cops shut the bar down and began arresting patrons\, a crowd began to ga ther outside. A scuffle broke out when a butch woman in handcuffs (thought by many to be Stormé DeLarverie but accounts differ) fought with police for ten minutes as they attempted to arrest her.\n\nAfter she shouted to b ystanders "Why don't you guys do something?"\, an officer picked her up an d heaved her into the back of the wagon and the crowd turned violent\, att empting to overturn police cars and slashing their tires\, and throwing de bris at the cops\, some of whom became trapped in the Inn.\n\nSome members of the mob lit garbage on fire and stuffed it through the broken windows\ , setting the bar on fire with police and some detainees inside. A tactica l police force was deployed to free the officers\, beating the crowd as th ey mocked police with impromptu kick lines and ironic chants.\n\nWhen the violence broke out\, women and transmasculine people being held down the s treet at The Women's House of Detention joined in by chanting\, setting fi re to their belongings\, tossing them into the street below\, and chanting "gay rights".\n\nThe uprisings continued for several nights afterward\, w ith thousands showing up outside the bar. Black drag queen and radical que er rights activist Marsha P. Johnson was seen climbing a lamppost and drop ping a heavy bag onto the hood of a police car\, shattering the windshield .\n\nMembers of the Mattachine Society\, a gay rights organization which h ad taken to respectability politics\, were embarrassed by the behavior at Stonewall. Randy Wicker\, who had marched in the first gay picket lines be fore the White House in 1965\, said "screaming queens forming chorus lines and kicking went against everything that I wanted people to think about h omosexuals...that we were a bunch of drag queens in the Village acting dis orderly and tacky and cheap." Others were glad to see the closing of Stone wall Inn\, perceived as a "sleaze joint".\n\nDespite this backlash\, some participants of the annual Mattachine Society picket on July 4th were embo ldened. Several same-sex couples held hands as they marched despite protes ts from lead organizers of the picket\, generating more press attention fo r the event than usual.\n\nThe Stonewall Uprising was a watershed moment i n the history of queer liberation\, to the extent that some studies of LGB T history in the U.S. are divided into pre- and post-Stonewall analyses.\n \n"It was a rebellion\, it was an uprising\, it was a civil rights disobed ience - it wasn't no damn riot."\n\n- Stormé DeLarverie RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stonewall_riots RESOURCES:https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/stonewall-riots/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Walter Audisio (1909 - 1973) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250628 DTEND:20250629T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Birthdays,Fascism COMMENT:Walter Audisio\, born on this day in 1909\, was an Italian partisa n and politician who was the person most likely to have executed Benito Mu ssolini. After World War II\, Audisio served in Parliament as a member of the Communist Party. DESCRIPTION:Walter Audisio\, born on this day in 1909\, was an Italian par tisan and politician who was the person most likely to have executed Benit o Mussolini. After World War II\, Audisio served in Parliament as a member of the Communist Party.\n\nAudisio was a prodigious students and worked f or some years as an accountant before joining a clandestine anti-fascist g roup in 1931. When the group was discovered by the fascist secret police\, ORVA\, Audisio was sentenced to five years confinement on the island of P onza.\n\nReleased during World War II\, he continued to resist the Mussoli ni's fascist government and\, in September 1943\, he started to organize t he first bands of partisans in Casale Monferrato.\n\nBy January 1945\, he had become a leading figure of the Italian resistance movement in Milan an d began using the pseudonym "Colonnello Valerio"\, a name possibly also us ed by Luigi Longo.\n\nIt was as an official of the National Liberation Com mittee that he received the order to execute Mussolini and his mistress\, who had been captured the day before.\n\nAlthough it is not known with cer tainty who pulled the trigger (various figures\, including Audisio\, have claimed to have executed Mussolini)\, the version of events with Audisio b eing directly responsible are generally considered the most credible.\n\nA fter the war\, Audisio was elected to parliament for the Italian Communist Party\, where he served for 20 years. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Audisio RESOURCES:https://www.nytimes.com/1973/10/13/archives/walter-audisio-dies- in-italy-partisan-executed-mussolini-rendered.html END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Henry Gerber (1892 - 1972) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250629 DTEND:20250630T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Queer COMMENT:Henry Gerber\, born on this day in 1892\, was a German-American qu eer rights activist who\, in 1924\, founded the first American pro-homosex ual organization\, known as the "Society for Human Rights" (SHR). DESCRIPTION:Henry Gerber\, born on this day in 1892\, was a German-America n queer rights activist who\, in 1924\, founded the first American pro-hom osexual organization\, known as the "Society for Human Rights" (SHR).\n\nG erber was in Passau\, Bavaria\, moving to the United States in 1913. In 19 17\, Gerber was briefly committed to a mental institution because of his h omosexuality.\n\nWhen the U.S. declared war on Germany\, Gerber was forced to choose between becoming interned as an enemy alien or enlist in the Ar my. Gerber chose the latter and served in the Army for approximately three years.\n\nDuring his time in Germany\, Gerber learned about the sexologis t Magnus Hirschfeld's advocacy to decriminalize and normalize homosexualit y. He also traveled to Berlin\, which had a thriving gay subculture.\n\nIn spired by Hirschfeld's work\, on December 10th\, 1924\, Gerber founded the Society for Human Rights\, the first pro-gay organization in the United S tates. A black clergyman named John T. Graves signed on as the organizatio n's first president while Gerber and six others were listed as directors.\ n\nGerber set out to expand the Society's membership beyond the original s even\, but had difficulty interesting anyone other than working class quee r people in joining. More affluent members of Chicago's gay community refu sed to join his society\, not wanting to ruin their reputations by being a ssociated with homosexuality.\n\nThe Society was only a chartered organiza tion for a few months before police arrested Gerber and several other memb ers. Gerber was subjected to three highly publicized trials\, and his defe nse\, while ultimately successful\, cost him his life savings.\n\nUnable t o continue funding the Society\, the group dismantled\, and Gerber left fo r New York City\, embittered that the more affluent gays of Chicago had no t come to his aid for a cause he believed was designed to advance the comm on good.\n\n"Is not the psychiatrist again putting the cart before the hor se in saying that homosexuality is a symptom of the neurotic style of life ? Would it not sound more natural to say that the homosexual is made neuro tic because his style of life is beset by thousands of dangers?"\n\n- Henr y Gerber RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Gerber RESOURCES:https://www.nps.gov/articles/henry-gerber-house-national-histori c-landmark.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Kwame Ture (1941 - 1998) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250629 DTEND:20250630T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Pan-Africanism,Civil Rights,Birthdays COMMENT:Kwame Ture\, born on this day in 1941 as Stokely Carmichael\, was a prominent civil rights activist\, serving as "Honorary Prime Minister" o f the Black Panther Party and later organizing with the global Pan-African movement. DESCRIPTION:Kwame Ture\, born on this day in 1941 as Stokely Carmichael\, was a prominent civil rights activist\, serving as "Honorary Prime Ministe r" of the Black Panther Party and later organizing with the global Pan-Afr ican movement.\n\nTure was a key leader in the development of the Black Po wer movement\, first while leading the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Com mittee (SNCC)\, later serving as the "Honorary Prime Minister" of the Blac k Panther Party (BPP)\, and then as a leader of the All-African People's R evolutionary Party (A-APRP).\n\nTure was one of the original SNCC freedom riders of 1961 under the leadership of Diane Nash. He became a prominent v oting rights activist in Mississippi and Alabama after being mentored by E lla Baker and Bob Moses.\n\nThe FBI harassed and slandered him through the COINTELPRO program\, leading Ture to flee to Africa in 1968. While there\ , the U.S. government continued its surveillance of him via the Central In telligence Agency (CIA).\n\nWhile in Africa\, he adopted the name "Kwame T ure" to honor Sékou Touré and Kwame Nkrumah\, who he began collaborating with. Three months after his arrival in Guinea\, Ture published a formal rejection of the Black Panthers\, condemning them for not being separatist enough and for their "dogmatic party line favoring alliances with white r adicals".\n\nTure spent the last thirty years of his life campaigning inte rnationally for revolutionary socialist Pan-Africanism via the All-African People's Revolutionary Party (A-APRP). In 1998\, Ture died of prostate ca ncer at the age of 57\, cancer he claimed was deliberately given to him as a means of assassination.\n\n"If a white man wants to lynch me\, that's h is problem. If he's got the power to lynch me\, that's my problem. Racism is not a question of attitude\; it's a question of power. Racism gets its power from capitalism. Thus\, if you're anti-racist\, whether you know it or not\, you must be anti-capitalist."\n\n- Kwame Ture RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stokely_Carmichael RESOURCES:https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2014/03/10/287320160/sto kely-carmichael-a-philosopher-behind-the-black-power-movement END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Congo Crisis (1960) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250630 DTEND:20250701T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Colonialism,Independence COMMENT:On this day in 1960\, the Republic of the Congo became independent from Belgian colonizers\, beginning a four year period of civil war which killed approximately 100\,000 people\, including the country's first Prim e Minister\, Patrice Lumumba. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1960\, the Republic of the Congo became indepen dent from Belgian colonizers\, beginning a four year period of civil war w hich killed approximately 100\,000 people\, including the country's first Prime Minister\, Patrice Lumumba. The complex period of political strife i s known as the "Congo Crisis".\n\nThe Congo had been colonized by Belgium since the late 19th century\, a process initiated by King Leopold II of Be lgium\, who was frustrated by Belgium's lack of international power and pr estige.\n\nA nationalist movement within the Belgian Congo began to gain m omentum in the 1950s\, consisting of rival factions such as the Mouvement National Congolais (MNC)\, of which Patrice Lumumba (shown) was a leading figure\, and Alliance des Bakongo (ABAKO)\, led by Joseph Kasa-Vubu.\n\nFo llowing major riots in Stanleyville and Léopoldville in 1959\, a Round Ta ble Conference in Brussels was held in January 1960\, with leaders from al l the major Congolese parties in attendance.\n\nCongolese leaders were suc cessful in negotiating their independence to be granted within months\, fo rmally winning their independence from Belgium in late June. Within days\, violence between white and black communities broke out\, and the country descended into a civil war between rival political factions. Some factions \, supported by powerful mining interests\, began seceding from the newly founded Republic of Congo.\n\nThe United Nations sent in peacekeeping troo ps\, which were initially welcomed by Lumumba and the central government w ith the idea that the UN would help suppress the secessionist states. View ing the secessions as an internal political matter\, the UN refused to use its troops to assist the central Congolese government against them.\n\nLu mumba also sought the assistance of the U.S. government\, led by Dwight D. Eisenhower\, who refused to provide meaningful military aid. He then turn ed to the Soviet Union\, which agreed to provide weapons\, logistical and material support\, which the state promptly used against the secessionists .\n\nDespite Lumumba's public proclamations that he was not a communist\, the United States viewed the acceptance of aid with alarm\, and Lumumba be came a target of Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) surveillance. Lumumba w as captured and\, on January 17th\, 1961\, executed by Belgian-assisted fo rces.\n\nThe factional conflict continued in the wake of Lumumba's death\, with fighting and intervention coming from Western states\, the United Na tions\, and various political groups inside the Congo.\n\nIn 1964\, a grou p known as the Simbas initiated a rebellion based on egalitarian ideals an d witchcraft. In November 1964\, the Simbas rounded up the remaining white population of Stanleyville\, holding them hostage in the Victoria Hotel t o use as bargaining tools with the Armée Nationale Congolaise (ANC).\n\nT o recover the hostages\, Belgian parachute troops were flown to the Congo in American aircraft. More than 70 hostages and 1\,000 Congolese civilians were killed in the rescue mission\, but the vast majority of hostages wer e evacuated.\n\nFollowing chaotic elections in 1964\, Joseph-Désiré Mobu tu took power in a military coup\, assuming sweeping powers and institutin g widespread political repression. Mobutu\, who had played a key role in L umumba's execution\, ruled until 1997\, enjoying support from the United S tates\, France\, Belgium\, and China. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congo_Crisis RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/congo-civil-war -1960-1964/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Lambing Flat Riots (1860 - 1861) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250630 DTEND:20250701T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Riots COMMENT:On this day in 1861\, the worst violence of the Australian Lambing Flat Riots occurred when a mob of 3\,000 white people attacked 2\,000 Chi nese miners and drove them off the Lambing Flat\, destroying and looting t heir encampments. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1861\, the worst violence of the Australian Lam bing Flat Riots occurred when a mob of 3\,000 white people attacked 2\,000 Chinese miners and drove them off the Lambing Flat\, destroying and looti ng their encampments.\n\nThe race riot came out of more than a decade of e thnic tensions between Chinese and European-born miners in Australia\, ten sions that became systematic violence the previous few years.\n\nThe viole nce was in part triggered in part by the Australian government rejecting a proposed restriction on Chinese immigration\, as well as a false rumor th at a new group of 1\,500 Chinese people were en route to the area.\n\nDesp ite the government's initial reject of an anti-Chinese immigration bill\, the Lambing Flat Riots led the New South Wales government to pass the Chin ese Immigration Act in November 1861\, severely limiting the flow of Chine se people into the colony. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lambing_Flat_riots RESOURCES:https://www.britannica.com/event/Lambing-Flat-Riots END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Boston Anti-War Parade (1917) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250701 DTEND:20250702T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:On this day in 1917\, approximately 8\,000 anti-war activists orga nized a parade in Boston opposing World War I\, conscription\, and America n imperialism. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1917\, approximately 8\,000 anti-war activists organized a parade in Boston opposing World War I\, conscription\, and Ame rican imperialism. They carried banners that read:\n\nIS THIS A POPULAR WA R\, WHY CONSCRIPTION?\n\nWHO STOLE PANAMA? WHO CRUSHED HAITI?\n\nWE DEMAND PEACE.\n\nAccording to the New York Call\, 8\,000 people marched\, includ ing "4000 members of the Central Labor Union\, 2000 members of the Leftist Socialist Organizations\, 1500 Lithuanians\, Jewish members of cloak trad es\, and other branches of the party." The parade was attacked by soldiers and sailors\, on orders from their officers. RESOURCES:https://www.historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/zinnwarhea14.html RESOURCES:https://depts.washington.edu/antiwar/WW1_reds.shtml END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Homestead Strike Begins (1892) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250701 DTEND:20250702T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Anarchism COMMENT:The Homestead Strike was an industrial lockout and strike which be gan on this day in 1892\, culminating in a battle between the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers and private security forces of the C arnegie Steel Company. DESCRIPTION:The Homestead Strike was an industrial lockout and strike whic h began on this day in 1892\, culminating in a battle between the Amalgama ted Association of Iron and Steel Workers and private security forces of t he Carnegie Steel Company.\n\nUnlike earlier strikes in U.S. history\, suc h as the Great Railroad Strike of 1877\, the Homestead Strike was organize d and purposeful\, a sign of how labor agitation would develop in the mode rn era.\n\nIn order to break the union at the Carnegie Steel Factory\, Hen ry Clay Frick locked union workers out of the factory on June 28th. On Jul y 1st\, thousands of workers\, skilled and non-skilled\, went on strike.\n \nFrick hired the Pinkerton Agency to guard strikebreakers brought in via barge (the factory was on a river)\, but strikers patrolled a ten-mile str etch of the river to prevent them from making it to the factory.\n\nOn Jul y 6th\, the Pinkertons attempted to land under cover of darkness around fo ur in the morning\, however thousands of striking workers and sympathizers were waiting for them on the riverbank. When the agents tried to land\, g unfire erupted\, killing four people and injuring twenty-three on both sid es. The Pinkertons surrendered\, and many were beaten unconscious after le aving the boat.\n\nThe strike was forcibly put down by state militia\, res ulting in a defeat for the workers. The Amalgamated Association of Iron an d Steel Workers collapsed\, and its workers returned in August.\n\nFor his role in breaking the union\, anarchists Alexander Berkman and Emma Goldma n unsuccessfully attempted to assassinate Henry Clay Frick. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homestead_strike RESOURCES:https://aflcio.org/about/history/labor-history-events/1892-homes tead-strike END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Leper War on Kaua'i (1893) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250701 DTEND:20250702T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Colonialism COMMENT:On this day in 1893\, the Leper War on Kaua'i\, also known as the Battle of Kalalau\, began when members of the new colonial government arri ved at Kalalau Valley to enforce a deportation order for an isolated lepro sy colony there. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1893\, the Leper War on Kaua'i\, also known as the Battle of Kalalau\, began when members of the new colonial government arrived at Kalalau Valley to enforce a deportation order for an isolated l eprosy colony there.\n\nFollowing the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii\, the colonizers began enforcing the 1865 "Act to Prevent the Spread of Lep rosy"\, which involved deporting or forcibly relocating anyone who had the disease to the Kalaupapa Leprosy Colony of Kalawao\, on the island of Mol okai.\n\nOn June 26th\, a group led by deputy sheriff Louis Stoltz venture d deep into the Kalalau Valley to enforce this order. After they establish ed an encampment\, a band of lepers led by indigenous Hawaiian man Ko'olau (shown\, with his family) seized the camp\, and chased the lawmen back to the coast. The following day Ko'olau shot Stoltz dead while he was attemp ting to arrest a man named Paoa.\n\nOn July 1st\, 1893\, fifteen soldiers landed in Kalalau Valley\, initally without incident. Over the next two we eks\, Ko'olau\, along with his wife Pi'ilani\, led a campaign of guerilla warfare against state forces\, compelling them to give up due to their ina bility to Ko'olau or evade his group's attacks.\n\nTwenty seven lepers wer e captured and sent to Kalawao\, while the remaining lepers were never har assed again. The leper community dissolved\, living in individual househol ds.\n\nKo'olau and his family remained unharmed\, but hid in the valley fo r the remainder of his life. After Ko'olau's death\, his wife Pi'ilani lef t the valley to share their story\, which was published in 1906 as Ka Mool elo oiaio o Kaluaikoolau ("The True Story of Kaluaikoolau"). RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leper_War_on_Kaua%CA%BBi RESOURCES:https://evols.library.manoa.hawaii.edu/handle/10524/532 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:St. Louis Race Massacre (1917) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250701 DTEND:20250702T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Riots COMMENT:On this day in 1917\, white mobs in East St. Louis began indiscrim inately killing black people\, burning down homes with the families trappe d inside\, killing more than a hundred people in one of the bloodiest race riots of the 20th century. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1917\, white mobs in East St. Louis began indis criminately killing black people\, burning down homes with the families tr apped inside\, killing more than a hundred people in one of the bloodiest race riots of the 20th century.\n\nRacial tensions had begun to increase i n February\, when 470 black workers were hired to replace white workers wh o had gone on strike against the Aluminum Ore Company. The use of all-whit e workforces and using non-white strikebreakers was an often used tactic t o break working class solidarity.\n\nAt a city council meeting\, angry whi te workers lodged formal complaints to the mayor of East St. Louis about b lack migration to the city. After the meeting ended\, rumors of an attempt ed robbery of a white man by an armed black man began to circulate through the city.\n\nIn response\, white mobs formed and rampaged through downtow n\, assaulting any black people they could find. The mobs also stopped tro lleys and streetcars\, pulling black passengers out and beating them on th e streets and sidewalks.\n\nOn this day in 1917\, the racial violence resu med at a fever pitch\, with white mobs gunning down men\, women\, and chil dren and burning down the homes of black families with them trapped inside . More than one hundred people were killed.\n\nA year after the violence t ook place\, a federal investigation of the conduct of the city government concluded that police officers fled the scenes of arson and murder\, aband oning their posts and refusing to answer calls for help. Less than a dozen white people were sentenced to prison for crimes related to the riot. RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/east-st-louis -race-riot-1917/ RESOURCES:https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/east-st-l ouis-race-riot-left-dozens-dead-devastating-community-on-the-rise-18096388 5 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Willem Arondeus Executed (1943) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250701 DTEND:20250702T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Queer,Fascism COMMENT:Willem Arondeus was an openly gay Dutch artist and anti-fascist wh o\, after destroying a Nazi surveillance office\, was executed on this day in 1943\, stating as his last words "Tell the people that homosexuals can be brave!" DESCRIPTION:Willem Arondeus was an openly gay Dutch artist and anti-fascis t who\, after destroying a Nazi surveillance office\, was executed on this day in 1943\, stating as his last words "Tell the people that homosexuals can be brave!"\n\nBefore the war\, Arondeus was a visual artist\, illustr ating poems and painting murals. He later became an author\, publishing tw o novels with his own illustrations and publishing a biography of the pain ter Matthijs Maris.\n\nArondeus was active in the anti-Nazi resistance\, h elping forge documents to protect persecuted groups. A major obstacle to t he success of this forgery was the Municipal Office for Population Registr ation\, an Amsterdam office that contained millions of identifying records for Jews and others wanted by the Gestapo.\n\nArondeus and other members of the resistance bombed the office on March 27th\, 1943\, subduing the gu ards via injection\, and succeeding in destroying approximately 800\,000 d ocuments. Arondeus was arrested on April 1st.\n\nAlthough he refused to gi ve up the rest of his team\, his notebook was found and a majority of the group were also arrested. On June 18th\, Arondeus and fourteen others were tried and sentenced to death. Ardoneus pleaded guilty and took the full b lame\, which may have contributed to two members receiving clemency.\n\nBe fore his execution\, Arondeus made a point of ensuring the public would be aware that he and two other men in the group were gay\, asking an acquain tance to "Tell the people that homosexuals can be brave!" Sometimes\, this quote is translated as "The people would know that gays are no cowards!" or "Tell the people that homosexuals are not by definition weak". RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willem_Arondeus RESOURCES:https://legacyprojectchicago.org/person/willem-arondeus END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Medgar Evers (1925 - 1963) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250702 DTEND:20250703T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Civil Rights,Birthdays COMMENT:Medgar Evers\, born on this day in 1925\, was an American civil ri ghts leader who achieved national prominence for his efforts in fighting r acial oppression in Mississippi\, work for which he assassinated by white supremacists. DESCRIPTION:Medgar Evers\, born on this day in 1925\, was an American civi l rights leader who achieved national prominence for his efforts in fighti ng racial oppression in Mississippi\, work for which he assassinated by wh ite supremacists.\n\nEvers led boycotts against businesses that discrimina ted against black people\, worked to overturn segregation at the Universit y of Mississippi\, and fought for fair enforcement of the right to vote. H e also played a key role in securing the involvement of the NAACP in the m urder of Emmett Till\, helping publicize the events and secretly secure wi tnesses for the case.\n\nEvers was assassinated on June 12th\, 1963 by Byr on De La Beckwith\, a member of the White Citizens' Council in Jackson\, M ississippi. His murder and the resulting trials inspired a wave of civil r ights protests\; his life inspired numerous works of art\, music\, and fil m.\n\nAll-white juries failed to reach verdicts in the first two trials of Beckwith in the 1960s. He was convicted in 1994 in a state trial based on new evidence.\n\n"I love my children and I love my wife with all my heart . And I would die\, die gladly\, if that would make a better life for them ."\n\n- Medgar Evers RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medgar_Evers RESOURCES:https://web.archive.org/web/20130611071827/http://mememorial.org /medgar-w-evers-civil-rights-activist/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Patrice Lumumba (1925 - 1961) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250702 DTEND:20250703T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Colonialism COMMENT:Patrice Lumumba\, born on this day in 1925\, was a Congolese anti- colonial revolutionary who served as the first Prime Minister of the indep endent Democratic Republic of the Congo from June until shortly before his assassination in 1961. DESCRIPTION:Patrice Lumumba\, born on this day in 1925\, was a Congolese a nti-colonial revolutionary who served as the first Prime Minister of the i ndependent Democratic Republic of the Congo from June until shortly before his assassination in 1961.\n\nLumumba played a significant role in the tr ansformation of the Congo from a colony of Belgium into an independent rep ublic. Ideologically an African nationalist and pan-Africanist\, he led th e Congolese National Movement (MNC) party from 1958 until his assassinatio n on January 17th\, 1961 in a coup by Joseph-Désiré Mobutu\, backed by B elgian colonizers.\n\nLumumba did not express a pro-capitalist or pro-comm unist ideology\, attempting to remain neutral in Cold War politics. He sou ght assistance in stabilizing the new Congolese Republic from both the Uni ted States and the Soviet Union\, accepting military aid from the latter a fter the U.S. refused to help him.\n\nOn Lumumba's legacy\, his friend and colleague Thomas Kanza wrote "he lived as a free man\, and an independent thinker. Everything he wrote\, said and did was the product of someone wh o knew his vocation to be that of a liberator\, and he represents for the Congo what Castro does for Cuba\, Nasser for Egypt\, Nkrumah for Ghana\, M ao Tse-tung for China\, and Lenin for Russia." RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrice_Lumumba RESOURCES:https://www.sahistory.org.za/people/patrice-emery-lumumba END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Sylvia Rivera (1951 - 2002) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250702 DTEND:20250703T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays COMMENT:Sylvia Rivera\, born on this day in 1951\, was a Latina American q ueer rights activist\, member of the Gay Liberation Front\, and community worker from the state of New York. DESCRIPTION:Sylvia Rivera\, born on this day in 1951\, was a Latina Americ an queer rights activist\, member of the Gay Liberation Front\, and commun ity worker from the state of New York.\n\nRivera\, who identified as a "ha lf-sister"\, participated in demonstrations with the Gay Liberation Front. With her close friend Marsha P. Johnson\, Rivera co-founded the Street Tr ansvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR)\, a socialist group dedicated to helping homeless young drag queens\, gay youth\, and trans women.\n\nAt di fferent times in her life\, Rivera battled substance abuse and lived on th e streets\, largely in the gay homeless community at the Christopher Stree t docks. Her experiences made her more focused on advocacy for those who\, in her view\, mainstream society and the assimilationist factions of the LGBT community were leaving behind.\n\nRivera died during the dawn hours o f February 19th\, 2002\, at St. Vincent's Hospital\, of complications from liver cancer. Activist Riki Wilchins said this of her: "In many ways\, Sy lvia was the Rosa Parks of the modern transgender movement\, a term that w as not even coined until two decades after Stonewall". RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sylvia_Rivera RESOURCES:https://www.workers.org/2006/us/lavender-red-73/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860 - 1935) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250703 DTEND:20250704T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays COMMENT:Charlotte Perkins Gilman\, born on this day in 1860\, was a promin ent American humanist\, author\, socialist\, and feminist\, probably best known today for her loosely autobiographical short story "The Yellow Wallp aper". DESCRIPTION:Charlotte Perkins Gilman\, born on this day in 1860\, was a pr ominent American humanist\, author\, socialist\, and feminist\, probably b est known today for her loosely autobiographical short story "The Yellow W allpaper".\n\nGilman served as a role model for future generations of femi nists due to her unorthodox concepts and lifestyle\, such as leaving her h usband (rare for the era) and living with another woman in what was possib ly\, though unconfirmed\, a romantic relationship.\n\nGilman is possibly b est known today for her semi-autobiographical short story "The Yellow Wall paper"\, authored after a severe bout of postpartum psychosis. The story d epicts the way in which sick women are maligned in a sexist society.\n\nSh e was also an advocate for assisted suicide for the chronically ill\, and died from a self-inflicted chloroform overdose in 1935 after a struggle wi th breast cancer.\n\n"To attain happiness in another world we need only to believe something\, while to secure it in this world we must do something ."\n\n- Charlotte Gilman RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlotte_Perkins_Gilman RESOURCES:https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1952/1952-h/1952-h.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Paterson Textile Strike (1835) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250703 DTEND:20250704T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1835\, 2\,000 workers\, most of them children\, fro m more than twenty textile mills in Paterson\, New Jersey went on strike t o demand working hours be reduced from their standard six day\, seventy-ei ght hour work week. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1835\, 2\,000 workers\, most of them children\, from more than twenty textile mills in Paterson\, New Jersey went on stri ke to demand working hours be reduced from their standard six day\, sevent y-eight hour work week.\n\nIn response to the strike\, employers reduced h ours to twelve on weekdays and nine on Saturday. This reduction broke the strike\, and most of the workers returned to the mills.\n\nDespite this co ncession\, strike leaders and their families were permanently barred from employment in Paterson\, blacklisted by the mill owners. RESOURCES:https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/paterson-silkworkers-str ike/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1835_Paterson_textile_strike END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Anti-Rent Movement Begins (1839) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250704 DTEND:20250705T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Tenant,Independence COMMENT:On this day in 1839\, tenant farmers on New York's oldest estate a ssembled in Albany County to adopt a declaration of independence from thei r landlord\, initiating the longest rent strike in U.S. history\, the "Ant i-Rent War". DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1839\, tenant farmers on New York's oldest esta te assembled in Albany County to adopt a declaration of independence from their landlord\, initiating the longest rent strike in U.S. history\, the "Anti-Rent War".\n\nTheir previous landlord\, Stephen van Rensselaer III\, who owned all 726\,000 acres of the effectively feudal estate of Renssela erwyck\, had passed away a few months prior.\n\nIn their declaration of in dependence\, the farmers stated "We will take up the ball of the Revolutio n where our fathers stopped it and roll it to the final consummation of fr eedom and independence of the masses."\n\nThis began a six year rebellion known as the Anti-Rent War\, the longest rent strike in U.S. history.\n\nI n those six years\, the farmers fought off attempts to collect rent by for ce\, repelling a 500-man posse led by the Albany County sheriff in Decembe r 1839.\n\nIn 1844\, the movement formed a prominent political party\, kno wn as the "Antirenter" party. In 1846\, provisions for tenants' rights - a bolishing feudal tenures and outlawing leases lasting longer than twelve y ears - were added to the New York Constitution. RESOURCES:http://alloveralbany.com/archive/2014/11/21/the-anti-rent-war RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Rent_War END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Immigration Act of 1864 DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250704 DTEND:20250705T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:Passed on this day in 1864\, the Immigration Act legalized wage-ba sed indentured servitude to encourage immigration to the United States\, a llowing immigrants to forgo a year's wages to pay for their passage into t he country. DESCRIPTION:Passed on this day in 1864\, the Immigration Act legalized wag e-based indentured servitude to encourage immigration to the United States \, allowing immigrants to forgo a year's wages to pay for their passage in to the country.\n\nEmployers\, such as railroad and mining companies\, wou ld contract an immigrant workers to come to the United States under guidel ines established by the federal government and withhold their wages accord ingly.\n\nThis law provided corporations with cheap labor that could and w ould be used to break strikes by domestic workers. After years of rigorous opposition by labor organizations\, Congress repealed the law in 1868. RESOURCES:https://immigrationhistory.org/item/immigration-act-of-1864/ RESOURCES:https://www.historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/zinnother10.html END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Operation PBHistory (1954) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250704 DTEND:20250705T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Labor COMMENT:Operation PBHistory was a covert CIA operation that began on this day in 1954\, following their ousting of Guatemalan President Jacobo Árbe nz\, seeking to damage his reputation\, disseminate propaganda\, and spy o n Latin American communists. DESCRIPTION:Operation PBHistory was a covert CIA operation that began on t his day in 1954\, following their ousting of Guatemalan President Jacobo Árbenz\, seeking to damage his reputation\, disseminate propaganda\, and spy on Latin American communists.\n\nPBHistory followed Operation PBSucces s\, which led to the overthrow of Guatemalan President Jacobo Árbenz in J une 1954 and ended the Guatemalan Revolution\, a decade long period of soc ial reforms and representative democracy.\n\nPBHistory seized documents (m ore than 500\,000 in total) left behind by Árbenz's government and organi zations related to the communist Guatemalan Party of Labor\, attempting to use them to promote propaganda that Guatemala was under the control of th e Soviet Union and obtain intelligence that would be useful in undermining left-wing movements in Latin America. One consequence of this intelligenc e was the CIA beginning to track Che Guevara\, who was then only known to the Agency as a physician.\n\nOperation PBHistory also helped set up the G uatemalan National Committee of Defense Against Communism\, which was cove rtly funded by the CIA and responsible for mass repression of the populati on.\n\nDespite successfully obtaining intelligence and collaborating with the new government of Castillo Armas (a vehement anti-communist on the CIA payroll who led the coup against Árbenz)\, the psy-op was not successful in undermining Árbenz's reputation or fostering pro-U.S. sentiment throu ghout Latin America. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_PBHistory RESOURCES:https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/DOC_0000920013.pdf END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Clara Zetkin (1857 - 1933) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250705 DTEND:20250706T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Socialism,Marxism,Feminism,Birthdays,Fascism COMMENT:Clara Zetkin\, born on this day in 1857\, was a German Marxist the orist\, activist\, and feminist\, active in the revolutionary Spartacist L eague and the Communist Party of Germany (KPD). DESCRIPTION:Clara Zetkin\, born on this day in 1857\, was a German Marxist theorist\, activist\, and feminist\, active in the revolutionary Spartaci st League and the Communist Party of Germany (KPD).\n\nClara Zetkin was bo rn in Wiederau\, a peasant village in Saxony\, now part of the municipalit y Königshain-Wiederau. Because of the ban placed on socialist activity in Germany by Bismarck in 1878\, Zetkin left for Zurich in 1882 then went in to exile in Paris\, where she studied to be a journalist and a translator. \n\nZetkin was very interested in women's politics\, including the fight f or equal opportunities and women's suffrage\, though always through a soci alist paradigm. She helped to develop the social-democratic women's moveme nt in Germany\; from 1891 to 1917 she edited the Social Democratic Party ( SPD) women's newspaper Die Gleichheit (Equality). She also contributed to International Women's Day (IWD).\n\nAround 1898\, Zetkin formed a friendsh ip with the younger Rosa Luxemburg that lasted 20 years. Despite Luxemburg 's indifference to the women's movement\, they became staunch political al lies on the far left of the SPD. Luxemburg once suggested that their joint epitaph would be "Here lie the last two men of German Social Democracy."\ n\nIn August 1932\, despite having recently fallen gravely ill in Moscow\, she returned to Berlin to preside over the opening of the newly elected R eichstag. There\, she gave a speech urging Germany to reject fascism\, sta ting "all those who feel themselves threatened\, all those who suffer and all those who long for liberation must belong to the United Front against fascism and its representatives in government".\n\nWhen Hitler seized powe r the following year\, Zetkin once again fled Germany\, dying in Moscow in 1933 at the age of 76.\n\n"The working women\, who aspire to social equal ity\, expect nothing for their emancipation from the bourgeois women's mov ement\, which allegedly fights for the rights of women. That edifice is bu ilt on sand and has no real basis. Working women are absolutely convinced that the question of the emancipation of women is not an isolated question which exists in itself\, but part of the great social question."\n\n- Cla ra Zetkin RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clara_Zetkin RESOURCES:https://spartacus-educational.com/GERzetkin.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Douglass's 4th of July Speech (1852) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250705 DTEND:20250706T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1852\, Frederick Douglass addressed an anti-slavery society\, calling July 4th "a day that reveals to [the slave]\, more than all other days in the year\, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim." DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1852\, Frederick Douglass addressed an anti-sla very society\, calling July 4th "a day that reveals to [the slave]\, more than all other days in the year\, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim."\n\nDouglass delivered the speech\, later give n the title "What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July" in Corinthian Hall\, Rochester\, New York\, speaking to the Rochester Ladies' Anti-Slavery Soc iety. The speech is perhaps the most widely known of all of Frederick Doug lass' writings save his autobiographies.\n\nHere is a brief excerpt:\n\n"W hat\, to the American slave\, is your 4th of July? I answer: a day that re veals to him\, more than all other days in the year\, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim.\n\nTo him\, your celebrati on is a sham\; your boasted liberty\, an unholy license\; your national gr eatness\, swelling vanity\; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartle ss\; your denunciations of tyrants\, brass fronted impudence\; your shouts of liberty and equality\, hollow mockery\; your prayers and hymns\, your sermons and thanksgivings\, with all your religious parade\, and solemnity \, are\, to him\, mere bombast\, fraud\, deception\, impiety\, and hypocri sy - a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savag es.\n\nThere is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices\, more shock ing and bloody\, than are the people of these United States\, at this very hour." RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_to_the_Slave_Is_the_Fourth_of _July%3F RESOURCES:https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/what-slave-fourth-july -frederick-douglass/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Lee Han-yeol Killed (1987) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250705 DTEND:20250706T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1987\, 22 year old student Lee Han-yeol died after being struck by a tear gas canister during anti-government protests agains t right-wing South Korean military leader Chun Doo-hwan. 1.6 million peopl e attended his funeral. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1987\, 22 year old student Lee Han-yeol died af ter being struck by a tear gas canister during anti-government protests ag ainst right-wing South Korean military leader Chun Doo-hwan. 1.6 million p eople attended his funeral.\n\nLee's death took place in the context of wi despread uprisings against the right-wing military government\, a movement known as the June Democratic Struggle. At the time\, South Korea was rule d by the unelected\, anti-democratic\, and anti-communist military leader Chun Doo-hwan.\n\nIn the 1980s\, many student activists in universities in itiated democratic struggles against Chun Doo-hwan's dictatorship\, partic ularly after the Gwangju Massacre\, in which local\, armed citizens clashe d with soldiers and police of the South Korean government\, for which Chun Doo-hwan was later sentenced to death.\n\nOn June 10th\, 1987\, Chun Doo- hwan's government announced its choice of Roh Tae-woo as South Korea's pre sident\, triggering massive protests from the population.\n\nLee had been fatally struck by the canister the day prior\, when students in Yonsei Uni versity demonstrated against the state on June 9th. The photograph of Lee being carried away quickly became a symbol of the subsequent protests\, an d he languished in critical condition over the following month.\n\nWhen Le e finally died of his wounds on July 5th\, after the government had capitu lated to the people's demands\, more than 1.6 million people participated in his national funeral on July 9th.\n\nToday\, Lee's memory is honored by the Lee Han Yeol Memorial Museum in Seoul. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_Struggle#Death_of_Lee_Han-yeo l RESOURCES:https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-07-06-mn-1311-story .html END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Frida Kahlo (1907 - 1954) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250706 DTEND:20250707T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Birthdays COMMENT:Frida Kahlo\, born on this day in 1907\, was a Mexican artist and revolutionary communist known for her folk-art inspired style paintings\, touching on themes on gender\, race\, class\, self-perception\, indigenous culture\, and chronic pain. DESCRIPTION:Frida Kahlo\, born on this day in 1907\, was a Mexican artist and revolutionary communist known for her folk-art inspired style painting s\, touching on themes on gender\, race\, class\, self-perception\, indige nous culture\, and chronic pain.\n\nAlthough she had always sketched as a hobby\, she did not consider visual art as a career until a severe bus acc ident at the age of eighteen left her bedridden for three months and with a lifetime of chronic pain. Confined to her bed\, Kahlo's mother provided her with a specially-made easel\, which enabled her to paint while lying d own.\n\nWith a mirror placed such so that she could see herself\, Kahlo be gan to paint self-portraits\, stating "I paint myself because I am often a lone and I am the subject I know best".\n\nInspired by Mexico's popular cu lture\, she employed an accessible\, folk art style. In 1943\, Kahlo accep ted a teaching position at the Escuela Nacional de Pintura\, Escultura y G rabado\, the "La Esmeralda." She encouraged her students to treat her in a n informal and non-hierarchical way and taught them to appreciate Mexican popular culture and folk art\, and to derive their subjects from the stree t.\n\nFrida Kahlo was a member of the Mexican Communist Party and committe d to radical anti-capitalism throughout her entire adult life. In 1951\, s he stated:\n\n"I have a great restlessness about my paintings. Mainly beca use I want to make it useful to the revolutionary communist movement...unt il now I have managed simply an honest expression of my own self...I must struggle with all my strength to ensure that the little positive my health allows me to do also benefits the Revolution\, the only real reason to li ve." RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frida_Kahlo RESOURCES:https://www.fridakahlo.org/frida-kahlo-biography.jsp END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Wagner Act (1935) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250706 DTEND:20250707T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:The National Labor Relations Act is a U.S. labor law that became e ffective on this day in 1935\, guaranteeing the right of private sector em ployees to organize trade unions\, engage in collective bargaining\, and s trike. DESCRIPTION:The National Labor Relations Act (also known as the Wagner Act ) is a U.S. labor law that became effective on this day in 1935\, guarante eing the right of private sector employees to organize trade unions\, enga ge in collective bargaining\, and strike.\n\nThe Act also set up a permane nt three-member National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) with the power to he ar and resolve labor disputes through quasi-judicial proceedings and banne d employers from refusing to negotiate with any union ratified by this boa rd.\n\nThe Act does not apply to certain workers\, including agricultural employees\, domestic workers\, government employees\, and independent cont ractors. Despite demands by the NAACP and National Urban League\, the Act was written without the inclusion of an anti-discrimination clause\, allow ing both employers and racist labor unions such as the AFL and CIO to main tain white supremacist labor practices.\n\nCorporate interest was heavily against the NLRA\, and\, when it was challenged in court\, the U.S. Suprem e Court was compelled to uphold (5-4) the constitutionality of the Wagner Act in "National Labor Relations Board v. Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp".\n\ nThe Wagner Act would later be partially repealed and amended with the str ongly anti-union Taft-Hartley Act of 1947\, granting states the power to p ass so-called "right-to-work" laws. RESOURCES:https://www.nlrb.gov/about-nlrb/who-we-are/our-history/1935-pass age-of-the-wagner-act RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Labor_Relations_Act_of_19 35 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Grabow Riot (1912) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250707 DTEND:20250708T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,IWW,Riots COMMENT:On this day in 1912\, a riot broke out in Grabow\, Louisiana when gunfire was exchanged between organizing lumber workers and private gunmen hired by the Galloway Lumber Company\, just one event in the Louisiana-Te xas Lumber War. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1912\, a riot broke out in Grabow\, Louisiana w hen gunfire was exchanged between organizing lumber workers and private gu nmen hired by the Galloway Lumber Company\, just one event in the Louisian a-Texas Lumber War. The clash left three union workers and one company gun man dead\, wounding an estimated fifty more.\n\nThe event took place in th e context of workers in the sawmill town of Grabow joining the Brotherhood of Timber Workers (shown)\, a branch of the Lumber Workers Industrial Uni on (LWIU)\, itself affiliated with the Industrial Workers of the World (IW W).\n\nOn July 7th\, 1912\, the union workers held a series of rallies at several different company towns\, including Bon Ami and Carson\, alongside Grabow.\n\nThe group that went to Grabow\, around 200 people\, spontaneou sly decided to hold a rally with several speeches - labor leader Arthur L. Emerson spoke on top of a wagon to roughly 25 non-union men\, plus the ad ditional union men who had come with him.\n\nShots began between these wor kers and a group of four others\, including Galloway Lumber owner John Gal loway\, in the local mill office\, all of whom had later been found to be drinking before the incident. It is not known for certain which group fire d first. Three union men were killed alongside one member of the private c ompany security force. Approximately 50 more were wounded.\n\nOver the nex t few days\, more than more than 60 workers were taken into custody by pol ice. Although the mill owner himself was arrested\, he was released withou t charges soon afterward. Sixty-five of the timber workers' group were bro ught up on charges ranging from inciting a riot to murder.\n\nThe IWW work ed to aid the incarcerated workers\, with "Big Bill" Haywood fundraising f or their legal fund. The trial lasted until November 8th\, and its jury re turned a not guilty verdict for all of the union men. All of those arreste d were set free.\n\nAlthough they had limited success in Louisiana\, the L WIU successfully organized later\, winning an eight-hour day and vastly im proved working conditions in the Pacific Northwest after a 1917 strike. To day\, there is a historical marker at the site of the riot\, located on wh at is now the property of DeRidder Airport\, Louisiana. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grabow_riot RESOURCES:https://www.jstor.org/stable/4231438?read-now=1&seq=20#page_scan _tab_contents END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:March of the Mill Children (1903) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250707 DTEND:20250708T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:The March of the Mill Children was a three-week trek from Philadel phia to New York by striking child and adult textile workers\, led by Moth er Jones\, launched on this day in 1903. DESCRIPTION:The March of the Mill Children was a three-week trek from Phil adelphia to New York by striking child and adult textile workers\, led by Mother Jones\, launched on this day in 1903. At the time\, approximately o ne out of six children under the age of sixteen were employed\, according to the 1900 census.\n\nThe march began when Mother Jones tried to get news papers to report on the conditions of child workers and they informed her that they would not run the stories about child labor because of the mill owners holding stock in the papers. Jones replied "Well\, I've got stock i n these little children and I'll arrange a little publicity."\n\nThe march successfully won that publicity\, bringing national attention to the plig ht of working children. On July 29th\, Jones and fellow marchers arrived a t Roosevelt's Sagamore Hill summer home\, where he refused to meet with th em.\n\nAlthough the strike was initially a failure\, it galvanized support for anti-child labor laws to be passed on the national level\, which fina lly occurred with the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. RESOURCES:https://philadelphiaencyclopedia.org/archive/march-of-the-mill-c hildren/ RESOURCES:https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/mother-jones-march-mill- children/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Norwegian Workers Association Raid (1851) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250707 DTEND:20250708T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:On this day in 1851\, police raided the Norwegian Workers Associat ion\, seizing documents\, suppressing their newspaper\, and arresting five board members\, including founder Marcus Thrane\, who served seven years in prison. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1851\, police raided the Norwegian Workers Asso ciation\, seizing documents\, suppressing their newspaper\, and arresting five board members\, including founder Marcus Thrane\, who served seven ye ars in prison. Between this and other anti-labor crackdowns\, approximatel y 200 members were arrested.\n\nThis suppression took place in the context of a broader political struggle against the state which was spearheaded b y the union. A year earlier\, the Norwegian Workers Association had delive red a petition\, signed by more than 13\,000 people\, to King Oscar II of Sweden\, demanding equality before the law\, military conscription to be e xtended to property owners\, and universal suffrage. When the government d ismissed the petition\, the union began agitating for revolution.\n\nThe W orkers Association was one of the first major labor movements in Norway. I t was founded by Marcus Thrane in 1848\, who was inspired by the ongoing r evolution in France. The association grew rapidly through 1849 and 1850.\n \nAt its peak\, the group boasted 273 chapters and 25\,000-30\,000 members . Following the crackdown and Thrane's imprisonment\, the movement collaps ed. RESOURCES:https://nbl.snl.no/Marcus_Thrane RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Thrane RESOURCES:https://www.britannica.com/biography/Marcus-Moller-Thrane END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Tappan Riot (1834) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250707 DTEND:20250708T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Riots,Abolitionism COMMENT:On this day in 1834\, New York City was rocked by a huge anti-abol itionist riot (known as the Farren or Tappan Riot) that lasted for nearly a week until it was put down by military occupation. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1834\, New York City was rocked by a huge anti- abolitionist riot (known as the Farren or Tappan Riot) that lasted for nea rly a week until it was put down by military occupation.\n\nThe riot arose from tensions in the city as abolitionists became more politically active \, black people demanded more dignity and freedom for themselves\, and the city experienced a large immigration of Irish people.\n\nWhite mobs\, tho usands strong\, destroyed the homes and churches of black people and white abolitionists. At times\, the rioters controlled whole sections of the ci ty. The uprising was forcibly put down by the New York National Guard. RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/events-africa n-american-history/the-anti-abolition-riots-1834/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_anti-abolitionist_riots_( 1834) END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Birmingham Coal Workers' Strike (1908) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250708 DTEND:20250709T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:After years of escalating tensions over pay\, 4\,000 miners\, orga nized across racial lines\, in Birmingham\, Alabama began striking on this day in 1908\, quickly growing to more than 10\,000 in strength and clashi ng with police. DESCRIPTION:After years of escalating tensions over pay\, 4\,000 miners\, organized across racial lines\, in Birmingham\, Alabama began striking on this day in 1908\, quickly growing to more than 10\,000 in strength and cl ashing with police.\n\nThe strike was declared by United Mine Workers (UMW ) District 20\, which had more than 20\,000 members\, against U.S. Steel\, which had just purchased the Tennessee Coal\, Iron and Rail Company (TCI) and instituted sharp pay cuts. More than 4\,000 miners stayed off the job \, but soon the protest grew to more than 10\,000 people.\n\nMine owners r esponded to the strike by increasing their use of slave prison labor\, dep utizing hundreds of armed men to confront workers\, and urging Governor Br axton Bragg Comer to declare martial law and dispatch state troops into th e coalfields\, a request he eventually granted.\n\nEvicted from company ho using\, thousands of workers were forced to live in tent cities\, which we re later attacked by state troops.\n\nThe strike was also notable for the union's ability to unite miners across the racial divide\, a development t hat was unusual for the United States in this period. A parade of striking black and white miners through the streets of Jasper angered members of B irmingham's business community\, who denounced the UMW's interracial workf orce as an insult to southern traditions and called for armed state interv ention against the racially mixed strikers.\n\nIn mid-August\, black UMW m ember William Millin was snatched from his jail cell and lynched by two mi ne deputies.\n\nThe strike was effectively put down after state troops des troyed the miners' tent cities on August 26th\, and was officially called off by the union four days later. One year afterward\, the mines' producti on had returned to normal. RESOURCES:http://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1478 RESOURCES:https://alabamanewscenter.com/2018/07/08/day-alabama-history-jul y-8/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:DRUM Wildcat Strike (1968) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250708 DTEND:20250709T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1968\, in defiance of union leadership\, thousands of black workers from the Dodge Revolutionary Union Movement (DRUM) initia ted a three-day wildcat strike to protest racist policies from both Chrysl er and the UAW. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1968\, in defiance of union leadership\, thousa nds of black workers from the Dodge Revolutionary Union Movement (DRUM) in itiated a three-day wildcat strike to protest racist policies from both Ch rysler and the UAW.\n\nFounded just nine weeks prior to this strike\, DRUM was a radical black labor organization formed in Chrysler Corporation's D odge Main assembly plant in Detroit\, Michigan. DRUM had sister organizati ons at other auto companies - FRUM (Ford Revolutionary Union Movement) and ELRUM (Eldon Avenue Revolutionary Union Movement). In June 1969\, these c ame together in the League of Revolutionary Black Workers.\n\nBefore the w ildcat strike began\, DRUM had circulated a newsletter with fifteen demand s\, including a major increase of black representation in skilled plant po sitions\, for all Black workers to immediately stop paying union dues\, an d an end to racial pay discrimination inside Chrysler's South African plan ts.\n\nOn July 7th\, 1968\, DRUM held a rally outside the Chrysler plant a nd marched\, with a conga band in tow\, to the UAW Local 3 headquarters tw o blocks away.\n\nThere\, DRUM's leaders confronted the executive board of the United Auto Workers (UAW) union\, issued their demands\, and\, dissat isfied with the response of union leadership\, stated they would shut down the Dodge Main plant in defiance of union contract.\n\nThe following morn ing\, July 8th\, 3\,000 DRUM workers began picketing the plant. Despite th e majority of white workers crossing the picket line\, plant production al most entirely stopped\, costing the company the production of 1\,900 cars over the duration of the strike.\n\nPolice\, equipped with gas masks\, bro ke up the picket as well as a subsequent protest at Chrysler headquarters in Highland Park. The wildcat lasted for three days and no one was fired. According to author A. Muhammad Ahmad\, DRUM leadership considered the str ike in overwhelming success. RESOURCES:http://www.historyisaweapon.org/defcon1/rbwstudy.html RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodge_Revolutionary_Union_Movement END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Freedom House Bombing (1964) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250708 DTEND:20250709T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Civil Rights,Terrorism COMMENT:On this day in 1964\, a Freedom House\, buildings used by civil ri ghts activists as organizing hubs\, in McComb\, Mississippi was bombed\, t he fourth one to be bombed in the city since Freedom Summer volunteers had arrived two weeks earlier. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1964\, a Freedom House\, buildings used by civi l rights activists as organizing hubs\, in McComb\, Mississippi was bombed \, the fourth one to be bombed in the city since Freedom Summer volunteers had arrived two weeks earlier.\n\nThe building shown is the Society Hill Missionary Baptist Church in McComb\, bombed and destroyed on September 20 th of the same year.\n\nNo one was injured by the blast on July 8th. Undet erred\, the SNCC moved the Freedom School classes outdoors. RESOURCES:http://cdm15932.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p15932coll 2/id/30684 RESOURCES:https://www.crmvet.org/images/imgfs.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Ghassan Kanafani Assassinated (1972) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250708 DTEND:20250709T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Marxism,Assassinations,Massacre COMMENT:Ghassan Kanafani was a Palestinian author and leader of the Popula r Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)\, assassinated on this day in 1972 by Israeli forces in retaliation for the Lod Airport Massacre\, cl aimed by the PLFP. DESCRIPTION:Ghassan Kanafani was a Palestinian author and leader of the Po pular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)\, assassinated on this day in 1972 by Israeli forces in retaliation for the Lod Airport Massacre\ , claimed by the PLFP.\n\nIn May\, when the outbreak of hostilities in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War spilled over into the city of Acre\, Kanafani and his family were forced into exile while he was still a child. After fleei ng ~eleven miles north to Lebanon\, they settled in Damascus\, Syria as Pa lestinian refugees.\n\nIn 1969\, after establishing himself as an author a nd journalist\, he joined The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestin e and\, resigned from his post as editor for the magazine Al-Anwar to edit the PFLP's weekly magazine\, al-Hadaf ("The Goal"). He drafted a PFLP pro gram in which the movement officially took up Marxism-Leninism\, a notable departure from pan-Arab nationalist ideology.\n\nOn July 8th\, 1972\, at the age of 36\, Kanafani was assassinated via car bomb by the Israeli inte lligence agency Mossad for his role in the PLFP\, which claimed responsibi lity for the Lod Airport Massacre.\n\nThe massacre\, committed by three me mbers of the Japanese Red Army recruited by the PLFP\, killed 26 people\, injuring 80 others.\n\nGhassan Kanafani was an influential author\, whose literary works have been translated into at least 17 languages and publish ed in 20 countries. He began writing short stories when working as a teach er in refugee camps. Often written through the eyes of children\, his stor ies were designed to help his students contextualize their surroundings.\n \n"Everything in this world can be robbed and stolen\, except one thing\; this one thing is the love that emanates from a human being towards a soli d commitment to a conviction or cause."\n\n- Ghassan Kanafani RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghassan_Kanafani RESOURCES:https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190714-profile-ghassan-kanaf ani-1936-1972/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:C. E. Ruthenberg (1882 - 1927) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250709 DTEND:20250710T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Socialism,Labor,Marxism,Birthdays COMMENT:Charles E. Ruthenberg\, born on this day in 1882\, was an American Marxist politician and co-founder of the Communist Party USA\, an influen tial exponent of communism in the early 20th century United States. DESCRIPTION:Charles E. Ruthenberg\, born on this day in 1882\, was an Amer ican Marxist politician and co-founder of the Communist Party USA\, an inf luential exponent of communism in the early 20th century United States.\n\ nRuthenberg also contributed material to the official organ of the Sociali st Party of Ohio\, The Ohio Socialist\, and edited various socialist newsp apers. During the 1910s\, Ruthenberg traveled to many cities throughout th e American Northeast and Midwest\, speaking to labor groups\, trade union organizations\, and anti-war groups\, building a network of contacts.\n\nA fter the U.S. entered World War I\, Ruthenberg publicly condemned the war as imperialist\, as well as America's participation in it. In connection w ith a speech he gave at a May 17th\, 1917 rally\, Ruthenberg was accused o f obstructing the draft and sentenced to time in prison under the Espionag e Act.\n\nShortly after his release from prison\, he participated in the 1 919 Cleveland May Day march\, attended by over 20\,000 people. The police attacked the protesters\, killing two and injuring hundreds.\n\n"Bolshevis m — what fear and anger the word arouses in the minds of the rulers of s ociety!"\n\n- C. E. Ruthenberg RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._E._Ruthenberg RESOURCES:https://www.peoplesworld.org/article/charles-e-ruthenberg-the-fi rst-leader-of-the-communist-party-usa/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Govan Mbeki (1910 - 2001) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250709 DTEND:20250710T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Marxism,Civil Rights,Birthdays COMMENT:Govan Mbeki\, born on this day in 1901\, was a communist journalis t and South African revolutionary. He was imprisoned by the apartheid gove rnment for more than 24 years\, and served in the post-apartheid governmen t from 1994 to 1999. DESCRIPTION:Govan Mbeki\, born on this day in 1910\, was a communist journ alist and South African revolutionary. He was imprisoned by the apartheid government for more than 24 years\, and served in the post-apartheid gover nment from 1994 to 1999.\n\nGovan Mbeki was born in the Nqamakwe district of the Transkei region of South Africa\, and was a member of the Xhosa eth nic group. As a teenager\, Mbeki worked as a newsboy and messenger in the cities\, where he witnessed urban black poverty and police repression.\n\n Starting in the 1930s\, Mbeki began to serve in a variety of radical organ izations - the South African Communist Party\, the African National Congre ss (ANC)\, and worked as the editor of the black-owned newspaper Inkundla Ya Bantu.\n\nMbeki left journalism in 1944 and became a government-nominat ed member of the Transkei Territorial Authorities General Council\, servin g until 1950. Mbeki disparagingly referred to the council as a "toy teleph one"\, stating "You can say what you like\, but your words have no effect because the wires are not connected to an exchange".\n\nIn 1960\, the apar theid state banned the ANC. In response\, the ANC and the already-banned C ommunist Party formed a paramilitary\, Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK). Mbeki was i nvolved with MK and helped the group build explosives.\n\nIn July 1963\, M beki was arrested along with several other MK leaders\, including Walter S isulu. After the subsequent "Rivonia Trial"\, Mbeki began a 24-year prison sentence Robben Island\, during which he managed to run education classes with prisoners and author several texts\, including The Peasants Revolt\, "a major historical study of peasant struggles in Pondoland and Sekhukhun eland" according to South African History Online.\n\nOn November 5th\, 198 7\, Mbeki was released from prison. He went on to serve in South Africa's post-apartheid Senate from 1994 to 1997 as Deputy President of the Senate\ , and then the Senate's successor\, the National Council of Provinces\, fr om 1997 to 1999.\n\n"Our experience over the last 20 years has shown that indeed people must themselves become their own liberators. You cannot wait for somebody else to come and rescue you."\n\n- Govan Mbeki RESOURCES:https://aaregistry.org/story/govan-mbeki-activist-and-politician -born/ RESOURCES:https://www.sahistory.org.za/people/govan-mbeki END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:June Jordan (1936 - 2002) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250709 DTEND:20250710T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays COMMENT:June Jordan\, born on this day in 1936\, was a queer Jamaican-Amer ican author\, feminist\, and educator whose works include Some of Us Did N ot Die and Report From the Bahamas. "Poetry is a political act because it involves telling the truth." DESCRIPTION:June Jordan\, born on this day in 1936\, was a queer Jamaican- American author\, feminist\, and educator whose works include Some of Us D id Not Die and Report From the Bahamas. "Poetry is a political act because it involves telling the truth."\n\nIn her writing\, Jordan explores issue s of gender\, race\, capitalism\, privilege\, immigration\, and representa tion. Jordan was passionate about using Black English in both her writing and her classroom\, teaching her students to treat Black English as its ow n language and as an important outlet for expressing Black culture.\n\nAs a professor at Berkeley\, Jordan founded the "Poetry for the People" progr am in 1991. Its aim was to inspire and empower students to use poetry as a means of artistic expression.\n\nAlthough not widely recognized when firs t published in 1982\, Jordan's essay "Report from the Bahamas"\, has since become an important work in gender studies\, sociology\, and anthropology .\n\n"Poetry is a political act because it involves telling the truth."\n\ n- June Jordan RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_Jordan RESOURCES:https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/june-jordan END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Phoenix Program Founded (1967) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250709 DTEND:20250710T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Assassinations COMMENT:The Phoenix Program\, founded on this day in 1967 via the MACV Dir ective\, was a CIA program implemented to destroy the Viet Cong (VC) via i nfiltration\, torture\, interrogation\, and assassination\, explicitly tar geting non-combatants. DESCRIPTION:The Phoenix Program\, founded on this day in 1967 via the MACV Directive\, was a CIA program implemented to destroy the Viet Cong (VC) v ia infiltration\, torture\, interrogation\, and assassination\, explicitly targeting non-combatants. These non-combatants were described as "politic al infrastructure" for the VC.\n\nThe Phoenix Program "neutralized" 81\,74 0 people suspected of VC membership\, of whom 26\,369 were killed\, the re st either surrendered or captured. The program was controversial even with the U.S. security state\, with one former U.S. military intelligence offi cer describing it as a "sterile depersonalized murder program".\n\nThere w ere widespread reports of torture and murder of prisoners and\, because th e program targeted apparent civilians\, many innocent people were killed. In some cases\, Vietnamese people would report their enemies as Viet Cong in order to get U.S. troops to kill them.\n\nAfter the program's abuses be gan receiving negative publicity\, it was officially shut down in 1971\, a lthough the program continued under the name "Plan F-6"\, with the governm ent of South Vietnam placed in control. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenix_Program RESOURCES:http://www.hoosier84.com/phx.pdf END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Mary McLeod Bethune (1875 - 1955) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250710 DTEND:20250711T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays COMMENT:Mary Bethune\, born on this day in 1875\, was a U.S. educator and civil rights activist. "The drums of Africa still beat in my heart. They w ill not let me rest while there is a single Negro child without a chance t o prove their worth." DESCRIPTION:Mary Bethune\, born on this day in 1875\, was a U.S. educator and civil rights activist.\n\nBorn in South Carolina to parents who had be en enslaved\, Bethune started working in fields with her family at age fiv e. She took an early interest in becoming educated\, and later became a bi g exponent of education within the black community. She started a school f or young black girls that later\, after merging with a boys' school\, beca me known as the "Bethune-Cookman School"\, with Bethune serving as its pre sident on multiple occasions.\n\nBethune founded the National Council for Negro Women in 1935\, established the organization's flagship journal "Afr american Women's Journal"\, and resided as president or leader for a myria d of black women's organizations. She also was appointed as a national adv iser to President Franklin D. Roosevelt\, whom she worked with to create t he Federal Council on Negro Affairs\, also known as the "Black Cabinet."\n \nAccording to Dr. Herb Ruffin of BlackPast.org\, Bethune’s friendship w ith First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt led to Bethune becoming the Director of t he National Youth Administration’s (NYA) Division of Negro Affairs\, a p ost she held from 1936 to 1943. As director\, she led an organization that trained tens of thousands of black youth for skilled positions that event ually became available in defense plants during World War II.\n\nFor her l ifetime of activism\, Bethune was deemed "First Lady of Negro America" by Ebony magazine in 1949 and was dubbed by the press as the "female Booker T . Washington". Journalist Louis E. Martin stated that "She gave out faith and hope as if they were pills and she some sort of doctor."\n\n"The drums of Africa still beat in my heart. They will not let me rest while there i s a single Negro boy or girl without a chance to prove his worth."\n\n- Ma ry Bethune RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/bethune-mary- jane-mcleod-1875-1955/ RESOURCES:https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/ma ry-mcleod-bethune RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_McLeod_Bethune END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Sinking of the Rainbow Warrior (1985) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250710 DTEND:20250711T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Terrorism,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1985\, the French government\, in an act of state-s ponsored terror\, bombed the Greenpeace-operated boat Rainbow Warrior\, wh ich was en route to protest a nuclear weapons test planned by the French s tate. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1985\, the French government\, in an act of sta te-sponsored terror\, bombed the Greenpeace-operated boat Rainbow Warrior\ , which was en route to protest a nuclear weapons test planned by the Fren ch state. The bombing\, later found to be personally ordered by French Pre sident François Mitterrand\, killed a freelance photographer on board nam ed Fernando Pereira.\n\nFrance had been testing nuclear weapons on the Mur uroa Atoll in French Polynesia since 1966. In 1985 eight South Pacific cou ntries\, including New Zealand and Australia\, signed a treaty declaring t he region a nuclear-free zone.\n\nSince being acquired by Greenpeace in 19 77\, Rainbow Warrior was active in supporting a number of anti-nuclear tes ting campaigns during the late 1970s and early 1980s\, including relocatin g 300 Marshall Islanders from Rongelap Atoll\, which had been polluted by radioactive fallout by past American nuclear tests.\n\nFor the 1985 tests\ , Greenpeace intended to monitor the impact of nuclear tests and place pro testers on the island to observe the blasts. Three undercover French agent s were on board\, however\, and they attached two limpet mines to Rainbow Warrior and detonated them ten minutes apart\, sinking the ship.\n\nFrance initially denied responsibility\, but two of the French agents were captu red by New Zealand Police and charged with arson\, conspiracy to commit ar son\, willful damage\, and murder.\n\nThe resulting scandal led to the res ignation of the French Defence Minister Charles Hernu\, while the two agen ts pleaded guilty to manslaughter and were sentenced to ten years in priso n. They spent a little over two years confined to the French island of Hao before being freed by the French government.\n\nIn 1987\, after internati onal pressure\, France paid $8.16m to Greenpeace in damages\, which helped finance another ship. It also paid compensation to the Pereira family\, m aking reparation payments of 650\,000 francs to Pereira's wife\, 1.5 milli on francs to his two children\, and 75\,000 francs to each of his parents. RESOURCES:https://www.greenpeace.org/aotearoa/about/our-history/bombing-of -the-rainbow-warrior/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinking_of_the_Rainbow_Warrior RESOURCES:https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/rainbow-warrior/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Stuart Christie (1946 - 2020) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250710 DTEND:20250711T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Anarchism,Fascism COMMENT:Stuart Christie\, born on this day in 1946\, was a Scottish anarch ist activist\, writer\, and publisher. At the age of eighteen\, Christie a ttempted to assassinate Spanish fascist Francisco Franco\, serving three y ears in prison before being released. DESCRIPTION:Stuart Christie\, born on this day in 1946\, was a Scottish an archist activist\, writer\, and publisher. At the age of eighteen\, Christ ie attempted to assassinate Spanish fascist Francisco Franco\, serving thr ee years in prison before being released.\n\nEncouraged by local radicals in the United Kingdom\, Christie left for Spain at the age of eighteen to assassinate Franco. Upon arriving\, Christie was arrested while carrying e xplosives. Charged with "banditry and terrorism"\, he served three years o f a twenty year sentence before international pressure won him an early re lease.\n\nChristie would go on to found the Cienfuegos Press publishing ho use\, serve as the first editor of the anarchist newspaper Black Flag\, an d establish the online Anarchist Film Channel\, which hosts films and docu mentaries with anarchist and libertarian socialist themes. In 2004\, an up dated Christie autobiography was released\, titled "Granny Made Me an Anar chist".\n\n RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuart_Christie RESOURCES:https://tahriricn.wordpress.com/2013/05/03/interview-with-anarch ist-stuart-christie/ RESOURCES:https://theanarchistlibrary.org/category/author/stuart-christie END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Coeur d'Alene Strike (1892) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250711 DTEND:20250712T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:On this day in 1892\, violence broke out between strikers and scab s during the Coeur d'Alene Strike when union leaders discovered they had b een infiltrated by a Pinkerton agent who had been providing information to the mine owners. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1892\, violence broke out between strikers and scabs during the Coeur d'Alene Strike when union leaders discovered they h ad been infiltrated by a Pinkerton agent who had been providing informatio n to the mine owners.\n\nThe miners had gone on strike to demand that a li ving wage of $3.50 per day be paid to every man working underground\, both skilled and unskilled. This solidarity between unskilled and skilled labo r (a principle known as industrial unionism) was notable for the era.\n\nO n the morning of July 11th\, gunfire erupted between striking workers and scabs working in the mines. The "battle" was won by the striking miners af ter they dynamited one of the mills\, destroying the building and crushing one non-union worker inside. The rest of the strikebreakers promptly surr endered and were taken prisoner.\n\nLater that evening\, striking workers placed explosives beneath an ore mill and gave its manager the choice betw een firing the strikebreakers or having his mill destroyed. He chose the f ormer. Before the day was over\, six people were killed and dozens were wo unded.\n\nFollowing this violence\, martial law was declared in Coeur d'Al ene and the town was under military rule by the Idaho National Guard for f our months.\n\nHundreds of miners were illegally detained without hearings or formal charges. The event was disastrous for the local miners' union. In an effort to reorganize the workforce\, the Western Federation of Miner s (WFM) was founded the following year. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1892_Coeur_d%27Alene_labor_strike RESOURCES:https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/coeur-dalene-idaho-miner s-strike/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Erich Mühsam (1934) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250711 DTEND:20250712T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Anarchism,Fascism,Assassinations COMMENT:Erich Mühsam\, murdered by Nazis on this day in 1934\, was a Jewi sh anarchist author who openly condemned Nazism and satirized Hitler befor e being arrested by the Nazi regime in 1933. DESCRIPTION:Erich Mühsam\, murdered by Nazis on this day in 1934\, was a Jewish anarchist author who openly condemned Nazism and satirized Hitler b efore being arrested by the Nazi regime in 1933.\n\nIn 1911\, Mühsam foun ded the newspaper\, "Kain" as a forum for anarcho-communist politics\, sta ting that it would "be a personal organ for whatever the editor\, as a poe t\, as a citizen of the world\, and as a fellow man had on his mind." The paper opposed capital punishment and government censorship of theater.\n\n After World War I\, Mühsam was sentenced to fifteen years in prison for p laying a leading role in the Bavarian Revolution. He was freed as part of the same general amnesty for political prisoners under the Weimar Republic that released Adolf Hitler.\n\nAs a cabaret performer and writer during t his time\, he achieved international prominence\, promoting works which co ndemned Nazism and personally satirized Adolf Hitler.\n\nIn 1933\, Mühsam was arrested\, with propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels labeling him as o ne of "those Jewish subversives."\n\nWhile imprisoned\, he was brutally to rtured\, however his spirit remained unbroken. When his captors tried to f orce him to sing the "Horst-Wessel-Lied" (the Nazi's anthem)\, Mühsam sun g The Internationale\, instead.\n\nAccording to the U.S. Holocaust Memoria l Museum\, Mühsam was murdered in the Oranienburg concentration camp on J uly 11th\, 1934. RESOURCES:https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/photo/erich-muehsam RESOURCES:https://theanarchistlibrary.org/category/author/erich-muhsam RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/library/erich-m%C3%BChsam-his-life-his-work-h is-martyrdom-%E2%80%93-augustin-souchy RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erich_M%C3%BChsam END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:ILWU Longshoreman Occupy Terminal (2011) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250711 DTEND:20250712T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:On this day in 2011\, members of the International Longshore and W arehouse Union (ILWU) and other dock workers were arrested for occupying t he Port of Longview's new\, highly automated terminal that was about to op en with non-union labor. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 2011\, members of the International Longshore a nd Warehouse Union (ILWU) and other dock workers were arrested for occupyi ng the Port of Longview's new\, highly automated terminal that was about t o open with non-union labor. This was just one use of direct action by lon gshoremen in Longview\, Washington that year.\n\nSheriff's deputies and ci ty cops from Longview and neighboring city Kelso arrested the protesters\, who did not resist. "We have worked this dock for 70 years"\, said Dan Co ffman\, President of ILWU Local 21\, "and to have a big rich company come in and say\, 'We don't want you' is a problem. We're all together. We're g oing to jail as a union."\n\nThree days later\, six hundred dock workers a nd supporters seized the railroad tracks that serve the Port. At 1:30 am\, they stopped a train\, 107 cars hauling corn\, originating in Split Rock\ , Minnesota\, headed for the Longview elevators.\n\nOn September 7th\, 201 1\, a massive picket line of some 700 longshoremen and their supporters bl ocked another train from entering EGT's (a large shipping conglomerate) te rminal. When cops started pepper spraying\, the picketers pushed back.\n\n The next day\, longshoremen from the major Northwest ports\, Seattle\, Tac oma and Portland\, seeing images of the ILWU president being manhandled by cops\, stopped work and began destroying EGT property.\n\nAccording to ne ws reports\, the cyclone fence was torn down\, grain was dumped from the t rain cars\, and the terminal was briefly occupied by angry longshore worke rs. Millions of dollars were lost in shipping\, warning employers how far ILWU members were willing to go to protect their jobs. RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/library/ilwu-longshore-struggle-longview-beyo nd-class-struggle-critique RESOURCES:https://www.counterpunch.org/2012/07/25/victory-in-longview-a-ye ar-on/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Massacre at Summit Springs (1869) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250711 DTEND:20250712T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Indigenous,Massacre COMMENT:On this day in 1869\, the U.S. Army\, aided by fifty Pawnee Scouts \, attacked an encampment of Cheyenne people in retaliation for raids by t heir Dog Soldiers (modern version shown)\, indiscriminately slaughtering m en\, women\, and children. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1869\, the U.S. Army\, aided by fifty Pawnee Sc outs\, attacked an encampment of Cheyenne people in retaliation for raids by their Dog Soldiers (modern version shown)\, indiscriminately slaughteri ng men\, women\, and children. The conflict happened south of Sterling\, C olorado.\n\nThe U.S. Army attacked the Cheyenne encampment from three side s at once\, aided by scouts from the Pawnee tribe\, hired by the United St ates to facilitate their suppression of Cheyenne and Sioux resistance to c olonization.\n\nArmed only with bows and arrows\, the Cheyenne kept their attackers at bay until their arrows ran out. Approximately three dozen Che yenne were killed\, including some elderly\, women\, and children.\n\nOne U.S. soldier later recalled the murder of a fifteen year old boy\, who die d fighting the colonizers while the women and children attempted to escape .\n\nThe attack was a decisive victory for the United States and effective ly put an end to the Dog Soldier raids. For their part\, the Pawnee Scouts would later go on to play role in the Great Sioux War\, fighting again as mercenaries for the U.S. The Scouts permanently disbanded after that war' s conclusion. RESOURCES:http://plainshumanities.unl.edu/encyclopedia/doc/egp.war.047 RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Summit_Springs END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Niagara Movement Founded (1905) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250711 DTEND:20250712T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Civil Rights COMMENT:The Niagara Movement\, founded on this day in 1905\, was a civil r ights organization led by WEB Du Bois and William Trotter whose "Declarati on of Principles" demanded universal suffrage\, free education\, and an en d to prison labor. DESCRIPTION:The Niagara Movement\, founded on this day in 1905\, was a civ il rights organization led by WEB Du Bois and William Trotter whose "Decla ration of Principles" demanded universal suffrage\, free education\, and a n end to prison labor.\n\nThe movement was named for the "mighty current" of change the group wanted to effect and Niagara Falls\, near Fort Erie\, Ontario\, where the first meeting took place\, on July 11th\, 1905. It is considered a precursor to the NAACP\, which was founded by many of the sam e activists.\n\nThe Niagara Movement was organized in opposition to racial segregation and disenfranchisement\, as well as the perceived conciliator y policies promoted by activists like Booker T. Washington.\n\nDuring the three day meeting\, Monroe and Du Bois co-authored a "Declaration of Princ iples"\, which defined the group's philosophy and demands. These demands i ncluded an end to the "convict lease" system (prison labor)\, equal punish ment for crimes regardless of race\, and universal free education\, statin g "either the United States will destroy ignorance\, or ignorance will des troy the United States". RESOURCES:https://glc.yale.edu/niagaras-declaration-principles-1905 RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/niagara-movem ent-1905-1909/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niagara_Movement END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Bisbee Deportation (1917) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250712 DTEND:20250713T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,IWW COMMENT:On this day in 1917\, a deputized posse in Bisbee\, Arizona kidnap ped more than 1\,300 striking miners\, their supporters\, and bystanders\, deporting them to New Mexico\, more than 200 miles away. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1917\, a deputized posse in Bisbee\, Arizona ki dnapped more than 1\,300 striking miners\, their supporters\, and bystande rs\, deporting them to New Mexico\, more than 200 miles away. The miners w ere organized by the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)\, and had been on strike since June 26th.\n\nThe action was orchestrated by Phelps Dodge\ , the major mining company in the area\, which provided lists of workers a nd others who were to be arrested to the Cochise County sheriff\, Harry C. Wheeler.\n\nThe 16-hour journey was through desert without food and with little water. Once unloaded\, the deportees\, most without money or transp ortation\, were warned against returning to Bisbee. The U.S. government so on brought in members of the US Army to assist with relocating the deporte es to Columbus\, New Mexico.\n\nPhelps Dodge\, in collusion with the sheri ff\, had closed down access to outside communications\, so the story was n ot well reported at the time.\n\nAlthough a federal commission concluded t he kidnapping was done "wholly illegal and without authority in law\, eith er State or Federal" and the U.S. Department of Justice ordered the arrest of 21 Phelps Dodge executives\, no individual\, company\, or agency was e ver convicted in connection with the deportations. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bisbee_Deportation RESOURCES:https://azlibrary.gov/dazl/learners/research-topics/bisbee-depor tation END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Cantonal Rebellion (1873) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250712 DTEND:20250713T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:The Cantonal Rebellion was a Spanish insurrection that began on th is day in 1873\, initiated by Republicans who wanted to establish a federa tion from the bottom up\, without waiting for the national legislature to draft a constitution. DESCRIPTION:The Cantonal Rebellion was a Spanish insurrection that began o n this day in 1873\, initiated by Republicans who wanted to establish a fe deration from the bottom up\, without waiting for the national legislature to draft a constitution.\n\nThe rebellion began in Cartagena\, Spain unde r the First Spanish Republic\, and spread in the following days through th e regions of Valencia\, Murcia and Andalusia. In these areas\, cantons wer e formed\, whose federation would constitute the base of the Spanish Feder al Republic. Although the federalists defied the authority of the Cortes\, some historians do not consider the movement separatist in character.\n\n The Cantonal Rebellion was put down by force from the First Spanish Republ ic\, which justified its actions as maintaining the rule of law. When the last canton\, Cartagena\, surrendered\, thousands of people were deported to the Philippines\, Cuba\, and the Marianas Islands on charges of being a federalist. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cantonal_rebellion RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/anarchism-history-libertarian-ideas-m ovements-george-woodcock END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:E.D. Nixon (1899 - 1987) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250712 DTEND:20250713T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Civil Rights,Birthdays COMMENT:E.D. Nixon\, born on this day in 1899\, was a civil rights leader and union organizer who played a crucial role in organizing the landmark 1 955 Montgomery Bus Boycott in Alabama. DESCRIPTION:Edgar Daniel Nixon\, born on this day in 1899\, was a civil ri ghts leader and union organizer who played a crucial role in organizing th e landmark 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott in Alabama.\n\nThe boycott highligh ted the issues of segregation in the South\, was upheld for more than a ye ar by black residents\, and nearly brought the city-owned bus system to ba nkruptcy.\n\nTo organize and sustain the boycott\, Nixon helped launch the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA). MLK Jr. was elected to lead the boycott as president\, Nixon was elected treasurer. When some participant s suggested forming a secret organization\, Nixon stated "Am I to tell our people that you are cowards?"\n\nIn 1957\, after the boycott's success\, Nixon left the MIA to protest his own treatment as a newcomer\, and what h e perceived as the domination of the MIA by middle class leaders who refus ed to share power with low income black people\, according to Joelle Jacks on of BlackPast.org. RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/nixon-e-d-nix on-1899-1987/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._D._Nixon END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Malala Yousafzai (1997 - ) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250712 DTEND:20250713T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays COMMENT:Malala Yousafzai\, born on this day in 1997\, is a Pakistani femin ist and socialist activist who survived an attempted assassination by the Taliban at fifteen years old. "We realize the importance of our voices onl y when we are silenced." DESCRIPTION:Malala Yousafzai\, born on this day in 1997\, is a Pakistani f eminist and socialist activist who survived an attempted assassination by the Taliban at fifteen years old.\n\nAs a teen\, Yousafzai began to achiev e international prominence for her activism in favor of female education. She blogged for the BBC\, appeared in a documentary by request of a New Yo rk Times reporter\, made multiple media appearances\, and was awarded Paki stan's first National Youth Peace Prize.\n\nIn a meeting held in the summe r of 2012\, Taliban leaders unanimously agreed to kill her. On October 9th that year\, a Taliban gunman shot Yousafzai in the face\, along with two other girls\, as she rode home on a bus after taking an exam in Pakistan's Swat Valley. She survived.\n\nIn 2014\, she was the co-recipient of the 2 014 Nobel Peace Prize\, along with Kailash Satyarthi of India. Aged 17 at the time\, she was the youngest-ever Nobel Prize laureate. In 2020\, Malal a graduated from Oxford University.\n\n"We realize the importance of our v oices only when we are silenced."\n\n- Malala Yousafzai RESOURCES:https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/ma lala-yousafzai RESOURCES:http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/12/23/-hold-malala-ob amasocialismnobellaureatespoliticalviewscomplex.html RESOURCES:https://socialistworker.org/2014/10/15/the-malala-you-wont-hear- about RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malala_Yousafzai END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Bombardment of Greytown (1854) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250713 DTEND:20250714T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:The Bombardment of Greytown was a naval bombing and invasion by th e U.S. warship USS Cyane on this day in 1854 against the town of Greytown in the Miskito Kingdom (modern day Nicaragua)\, razing the city to the gro und. DESCRIPTION:The Bombardment of Greytown was a naval bombing and invasion b y the U.S. warship USS Cyane on this day in 1854 against the town of Greyt own in the Miskito Kingdom (modern day Nicaragua)\, razing the city to the ground.\n\nThe town was completely destroyed by massive fires set by mari nes who came ashore\, rather than the bombardment itself. The attack was i n response to attempts by the British government to charge taxes on ships that used the town as a port\, among other grievances.\n\nIn response to i nternational outrage\, President Franklin Pierce issued a statement acknow ledging that\, while it would have been more satisfactory if the Cyane's m ission could have been completed without the use of force\, "the arrogant contumacy of the offenders rendered it impossible to avoid the alternative either to break up their establishment or to leave them impressed with th e idea that they might persevere with impunity in a career of insolence an d plunder." RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombardment_of_Greytown RESOURCES:https://www.lawfareblog.com/remembering-bombardment-greytown END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:NYC Draft Riots (1863) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250713 DTEND:20250714T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Riots COMMENT:The NYC Draft Riots began on this day in 1863\, the culmination of racist white anger and working-class discontent over new conscription law s\, passed to bolster the ongoing Civil War. The riots were suppressed by the U.S. Army. DESCRIPTION:The NYC Draft Riots began on this day in 1863\, the culminatio n of racist white anger and working-class discontent over new conscription laws\, passed to bolster the ongoing Civil War. The riots were suppressed by the U.S. Army.\n\nThe rioters were overwhelmingly white working-class men\, mostly Irish immigrants or of Irish descent\, who feared free black people competing for work. They also resented that the wealthy\, who could afford to pay a $300 (equivalent to $6\,200 in 2019) commutation fee to h ire a substitute and avoid the draft.\n\nAlthough the event ostensibly beg an as anger against conscription\, the disorder quickly devolved into a ra ce riot. The exact death toll during the New York draft riots is unknown\, but historian James M. McPherson has estimated that around 120 people wer e killed. Most of those killed were Irish\, who were the majority of the r ioters.\n\nEleven black people were lynched. The event lasted three days a nd was suppressed by the U.S. Army on orders from President Lincoln. The r ace riot remains one of the largest of its kind in U.S. history. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City_draft_riots RESOURCES:https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/the-new-york-draf t-riots-of-1863/2013/04/26/a1aacf52-a620-11e2-a8e2-5b98cb59187f_story.html END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Vale Miners' Strike (2009-10) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250713 DTEND:20250714T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:On this day in 2009\, one of the longest strikes in Canadian histo ry began when miners at the Brazilian company Vale went on strike\, beginn ing a bitter\, year-long labor action marked by the use of scabs\, surveil lance\, and illegal firings. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 2009\, one of the longest strikes in Canadian h istory began when miners at the Brazilian company Vale went on strike\, be ginning a bitter\, year-long labor action marked by the use of scabs\, sur veillance\, and illegal firings. The strike took place at the nickel mine in Sudbury\, Ontario\, Canada\, which accounts for a large share of the wo rld's nickel supply.\n\nAfter the miners walked out\, the United Steelwork ers (USW) permitted 56 skilled members from the USW Local 2020 to scab on the strike\, allowing Vale to restart minimal mine operations.\n\nVale als o hired a "security firm"\, AFI\, to spy on and harass striking workers. T his included the deployment of cameras and parabolic listening devices aro und picket shacks.\n\nInformation gathered in this eavesdropping operation was used to illegally fire nine workers\, who had to wait two years befor e they were exonerated.\n\nThe strike ended just short of a year later\, o n July 8th\, 2010. Workers won significant raises and a back-to-work bonus \, but also received less desirable pension plans. As part of the agreemen t\, Vale received permission to fire 113 employees.\n\nThe strike was the longest such labor action in Canadian history\, beating the previous recor d\, set at the same nickel mine (then owned by Inco) in 1978. Workers at V ale again went out on strike in June 2021. One of those strikers\, Mark La mbovitch\, had participated in the 2009-10 strike\, and had this to say:\n \n"I don't want to do that again\, and I'm sure no one does\, but we have to stand up for ourselves. Otherwise\, we will just keep losing. This comp any makes billions of dollars\, and they just can't give us a fair deal? I f you come underground\, do the work we do and see the conditions\, we're not being greedy." RESOURCES:https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2021/06/07/vale-j07.html RESOURCES:https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/vale-sudbury-workers-ok-n ew-deal-1.909562 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Van Spronsen Attacks ICE Compound (2019) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250713 DTEND:20250714T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Anarchism COMMENT:On this day in 2019\, anarchist anti-fascist Willem van Spronsen w as shot dead by police after firebombing a U.S. Immigration and Customs En forcement (ICE) compound in Tacoma\, Washington. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 2019\, anarchist anti-fascist Willem van Sprons en was shot dead by police after firebombing a U.S. Immigration and Custom s Enforcement (ICE) compound in Tacoma\, Washington.\n\nWillem van Spronse n\, who sometimes went by the pseudonym "Emma Durutti"\, a combination of the names of Emma Goldman and Buenaventura Durruti\, was a Dutch immigrant \, musician\, member of the Puget Sound John Brown Gun Club\, and father o f two.\n\nIn 2018\, Van Spronsen was one of ten people arrested at a prote st outside the detention center\, according to the New Tribune. While ther e\, he allegedly fought a police officer while attempting to free a 17-yea r-old activist who was being detained.\n\nOn July 13th\, 2019\, after auth oring a manifesto justifying his attack and farewell letters to his friend s\, Van Spronsen entered the ICE compound in Tacoma\, Washington. Armed wi th molotov cocktails\, he set his car on fire and began trying to ignite a propane tank. He was quickly shot dead by police.\n\n"detention camps are an abomination. i'm not standing by. i really shouldn't have to say any m ore than this."\n\n- Willem Van Spronsen RESOURCES:https://www.npr.org/2020/07/23/893533916/i-am-antifa-one-activis t-s-violent-death-became-a-symbol-for-the-right-and-left RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_Tacoma_attack END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Buenaventura Durruti (1896 - 1936) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250714 DTEND:20250715T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Socialism,Birthdays,Anarchism COMMENT:Buenaventura Durruti\, born on this day in 1896\, was a prominent anarchist revolutionary who organized socialist resistance in Spain\, part icipating in general strikes and leading the Durruti Column during the Spa nish Civil War. DESCRIPTION:Buenaventura Durruti\, born on this day in 1896\, was a promin ent anarchist revolutionary who organized socialist resistance in Spain\, participating in general strikes and leading the Durruti Column during the Spanish Civil War.\n\nAt age fourteen\, Durruti left school to become a t rainee mechanic in the railway yard in León. Like his father\, he joined the socialist Unión General de Trabajadores (UGT).\n\nHe later took an ac tive part in a 1917 strike that was brutally repressed by the Spanish Army . Seventy people were killed\, five hundred were injured\, and at least 2\ ,000 of the strikers were imprisoned without trial or legal process. Altho ugh Durruti managed to escape to France\, the violence of state repression left a strong impression on a young Durruti.\n\nWith Juan García Oliver\ , Francisco Ascaso\, Miguel Garcia Vivancos\, Alfonso Miguel\, Ricardo San z\, and Aurelio Hernandez\, he founded Los Solidarios ("The Solidarity")\, a notable "grupo de afinidad" implicated in the assassination of Cardinal Juan Soldevilla y Romero.\n\nWorking with the CNT-FAI\, Durruti helped co ordinate armed resistance to the military rising of the Nationalist factio n during the Spanish Civil War\, an effort which was to prove vital in pre venting General Goded's attempt to seize control of Barcelona. On July 24t h\, 1936 Durruti led over 3\,000 armed anarchists (later known as the Durr uti Column) from Barcelona to Zaragoza.\n\nHe was mortally shot under disp uted circumstances on November 19th\, dying the next day. A few hours afte r Durruti's death\, CNT-FAI troops massacred 52 policemen\, who had been h eld captive in a monastery in Calle de Santa Engracia\, in reprisal.\n\n"I t is we who built these palaces and cities\, here in Spain and in America and everywhere. We\, the workers. We can build others to take their place. And better ones! We are not in the least afraid of ruins. We are going to inherit the earth. There is not the slightest doubt about that. The bourg eoisie might blast and ruin its own world before it leaves the stage of hi story. We carry a new world here\, in our hearts...That world is growing i n this minute."\n\n- Buenaventura Durruti RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buenaventura_Durruti RESOURCES:https://spartacus-educational.com/SPdurruti.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Great Railroad Strike of 1877 DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250714 DTEND:20250715T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:On this day in 1877\, the Great Railroad Strike began after the Ba ltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) cut wages for the third time in a year\, a labor uprising that led to the first major American employer to offer a p ension plan in 1884. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1877\, the Great Railroad Strike began after th e Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) cut wages for the third time in a year \, a labor uprising that led to the first major American employer to offer a pension plan in 1884.Although the strike began in Martinsburg\, West Vi rginia\, it quickly spread throughout the United States.\n\nStriking worke rs would not allow any trains\, mainly freight\, to roll until the third w age cut was revoked. West Virginia Governor Henry M. Mathews sent in Natio nal Guard units to restore train service. When the soldiers refused to fir e on the workers\, he appealed for federal troops.\n\nBecause of economic problems and pressure on wages by the railroads\, workers in numerous othe r states\, including New York\, Pennsylvania\, Maryland\, Illinois\, and M issouri\, also went out on strike. At its height\, the labor action was su pported by approximately 100\,000 workers nationwide.\n\nThe strike finall y ended about 69 days later\, forcibly put down by a combination of unoffi cial militias\, the National Guard\, and federal troops. An estimated 100 people were killed across the country and more than one hundred million do llars worth of property was damaged\, in part from workers destroying the railroad's buildings\, engines\, and railroad cars.\n\nDue to this unrest and other\, later labor efforts\, the B&O became the first major employer in the United States to offer a pension plan in 1884. RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/1877-the-great-railroad-strike RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Railroad_Strike_of_1877 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:HRUM Occupies Lincoln Hospital (1970) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250714 DTEND:20250715T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1970\, the Health Revolutionary Unity Movement (HRU M)\, a group of Puerto Rican and black medical workers whose membership st rongly overlapped with the Young Lords\, occupied Lincoln Hospital in New York City. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1970\, the Health Revolutionary Unity Movement (HRUM)\, a group of Puerto Rican and black medical workers whose membershi p strongly overlapped with the Young Lords\, occupied Lincoln Hospital in New York City. The occupation came after a young Puerto Rican woman died f rom negligent care after a minor surgical procedure.\n\nThe Young Lords ma de seven demands (shown)\, including "no cutbacks in services or jobs\, fr ee food and a day care center for patients and their kids who wait hours t o be attended\, and the immediate formation of a community-worker board to control the policies and practices of the hospitals". HRUM also demanded "total self determination of all health services through a community-worke r board to operate Lincoln Hospital."\n\nAs a result of their takeover\, o ver a hundred news articles reported the controversies over the hospital's conditions\, eventually leading to the passage of anti-lead poisoning leg islation. The Young Lords later launched the People's Program at Lincoln H ospital\, which was a methadone detoxification program run entirely by vol unteers. RESOURCES:https://blogs.baruch.cuny.edu/histmed3450/?p=127 RESOURCES:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3020214/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Rohana Wijeweera (1943 - 1989) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250714 DTEND:20250715T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Marxism,Birthdays COMMENT:Rohana Wijeweera\, born on this day in 1943\, was a Sri Lankan Mar xist revolutionary and the founding leader of Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (J VP\, English: "People's Liberation Front"). He was assassinated by the Sri Lankan government in 1989. DESCRIPTION:Rohana Wijeweera\, born on this day in 1943\, was a Sri Lankan Marxist revolutionary and the founding leader of Janatha Vimukthi Peramun a (JVP\, English: "People's Liberation Front"). He was assassinated by the Sri Lankan government in 1989.\n\nBorn on Bastille Day to a father active in the Ceylon Communist Party\, Wijeweera was raised in an environment of radical politics. In 1960\, he began studying in the Soviet Union\, learn ing Russian.\n\nWith the revolutionary party JVP\, Wijeweera led two unsuc cessful insurrections in Sri Lanka - the first in 1971 and the second from 1987 to 1989. Both insurrections featured revolutionary violence that was matched by brutal state repression\; tens of thousands of JVP members wer e killed.\n\nIn 1989\, during the second JVP insurrection\, the Sri Lankan state launched "Operation Combine" to suppress the movement and assassina ted Wijeweera on November 13th\, 1989. In 2019\, a biographical film of Wi jeweera's life was released\, titled "Ginnen Upan Seethala".\n\n"I\, a Bol shevik\, am in no way a terrorist. As a proletarian revolutionary\, howeve r\, I must emphatically state that I am committed to the overthrow of the prevailing capitalist system and its replacement by a socialist system."\n \n- Rohana Wijeweera\, speaking before the Ceylon Criminal Justice Commiss ion in 1974 RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rohana_Wijeweera RESOURCES:https://www.jvpsrilanka.com/english/about-us/brief-history/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Second International Founded (1889) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250714 DTEND:20250715T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Anarchism COMMENT:On this day in 1889\, delegations from twenty countries met togeth er in Paris to launch the Second International\, a socialist group whose m embers included Vladimir Lenin\, Rosa Luxemburg\, Karl Kautsky\, and Jean Jaurès. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1889\, delegations from twenty countries met to gether in Paris to launch the Second International\, a socialist group who se members included Vladimir Lenin\, Rosa Luxemburg\, Karl Kautsky\, and J ean Jaurès.\n\nThe Second International continued the work of the dissolv ed First International\, though it excluded many anarchists and trade unio ns\, including the powerful anarcho-syndicalist movement.\n\nAmong the Sec ond International's notable actions were its declaration of May 1st as Int ernational Workers' Day and March 8th as International Women's Day. The gr oup also initiated an international campaign for the eight-hour working da y. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_International RESOURCES:https://www.jacobinmag.com/2017/07/second-international-bernstei n-rosa-luxemburg-unions-world-war END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Storming of the Bastille (1789) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250714 DTEND:20250715T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1789\, a crowd of nearly one thousand protesters st ormed the Bastille in Paris\, France\, a major event in the French Revolut ion\, commemorated annually as "Bastille Day". DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1789\, a crowd of nearly one thousand protester s stormed the Bastille in Paris\, France\, a major event in the French Rev olution\, commemorated annually as "Bastille Day".\n\nIn the months runnin g up to the uprising\, the people of France were facing a dire economic cr isis\, food shortage\, and increased militarization of Paris on orders of King Louis XVI. The Bastille was an armory and prison\, perceived by many as a symbol of royal authority in the city.\n\nOn the morning of July 14th \, a crowd of approximately one thousand people surrounded the Bastille\, calling for the surrender of the prison\, the removal of its cannon\, and the release of the arms and gunpowder stored there.\n\nAfter negotiations stalled\, the crowd surged into the courtyard of the Bastille and were fir ed upon by troops in the garrison. In the carnage that followed\, ninety-e ight protesters and one defender of the Bastille were killed.\n\nGovernor Marquis de Launay\, fearing his troops could not hold out\, capitulated to the crowd and opened up the Bastille doors. He was captured and dragged t owards the Hôtel de Ville in a storm of abuse. While the crowd debated hi s fate\, the badly beaten Launay shouted "Enough! Let me die!"\, kicked a pastry cook in the groin\, and was then promptly stabbed to death.\n\nAs n ews of the successful seizure of the Bastille spread throughout the countr y\, revolutionaries established parallel structures of power for governmen t and militias for civic protection\, burned deeds of property\, and in so me cases attacked wealthy landlords.\n\nKing Louis XVI first learned of th e storming the next morning through the Duke of La Rochefoucauld. "Is it a revolt?" asked the King. The duke replied: "No sire\, it's not a revolt\; it's a revolution." RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storming_of_the_Bastille RESOURCES:https://www.socialist.net/1789-fall-of-the-bastille.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Vesey's Uprising (1822) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250714 DTEND:20250715T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1822\, revolutionary Denmark Vesey planned a slave revolt to take place in South Carolina\, intending for thousands of slaves to kill their masters and sail to Haiti\; instead\, he was betrayed by sl aves and executed. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1822\, revolutionary Denmark Vesey planned a sl ave revolt to take place in South Carolina\, intending for thousands of sl aves to kill their masters and sail to Haiti\; instead\, he was betrayed b y slaves and executed.\n\nDenmark Vesey (c. 1767 - 1822) was a literate\, skilled carpenter and community leader among in Charleston\, South Carolin a. Likely born into slavery in St. Thomas\, Vesey was enslaved by Captain Joseph Vesey in Bermuda.\n\nAt the age of 32\, he won a lottery and bought his freedom\, but was unable to buy the freedom of his wife and children. In 1818 he co-founded an African Methodist Episcopal (AME) congregation i n the city\, which enjoyed the support of local white clergy. The church a ttracted 1\,848 members\, making it the second-largest AME congregation in the nation.\n\nVesey reportedly began planning the insurrection to take p lace on Bastille Day\, July 14th\, 1822\, a date notable for its associati on with the French Revolution\, whose victors had abolished slavery in Sai nt-Domingue.\n\nNews of the plan was said to be spread among thousands of black people throughout Charleston and for tens of miles through plantatio ns along the Carolina coast. Two slaves opposed to Vesey's scheme\, George Wilson and Joe LaRoche\, gave the first specific testimony about a coming uprising to Charleston officials\, saying an uprising was planned for Jul y 14th.\n\nIn June\, Vesey was formally accused of being the leader in "th e rising". He was convicted and quickly executed on July 2nd.\n\nIn the af termath of Vesey's and others' convictions\, authorities blamed "black rel igion" for contributing to the uprising\, noting Vesey's role in the AME c hurch.\n\nThe reverend of the church was driven out of the state. Charlest on officials ordered the large congregation to be dispersed and the church building to be razed. No black church officially met in Charleston until after the Civil War. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denmark_Vesey RESOURCES:https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1861/06/denmark-ves ey/396239/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Woody Guthrie (1912 - 1967) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250714 DTEND:20250715T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Birthdays,Fascism COMMENT:Woody Guthrie\, born on this day in 1912\, was a socialist singer- songwriter whose output includes songs such as "This Land Is Your Land" an d "Tear the Fascists Down". DESCRIPTION:Woody Guthrie\, born on this day in 1912\, was a socialist sin ger-songwriter whose output includes songs such as "This Land Is Your Land " and "Tear the Fascists Down".\n\nGuthrie was raised by affluent parents in Okemah\, Oklahoma and Pampa\, Texas. When the Dust Bowl period began in the 1930s\, he left his wife and three children to join thousands of Okla homans migrating to California looking for work.\n\nThere\, he worked at L os Angeles radio station KFVD\, achieving some fame from playing hillbilly music. He also became friends with Will Geer and John Steinbeck and wrote a column for the communist newspaper People's World from May 1939 to Janu ary 1940.\n\nAfter Hitler's invasion of the Soviet Union\, he wrote anti-f ascist songs with the folk protest group the Almanac Singers and frequentl y performed with the slogan "This machine kills fascists" displayed on his guitar.\n\nAlthough Guthrie did not consistently organize with any left p arty\, he was associated with anti-capitalist movements throughout his lif e\, stating "the best thing that I did in 1936 was to sign up with the Com munist Party." RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woody_Guthrie RESOURCES:https://woodyguthrie.org/biography/biography1.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Jean-Bertrand Aristide (1953 - ) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250715 DTEND:20250716T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays COMMENT:Jean-Bertrand Aristide\, born on this day in 1953\, is a liberatio n theologian who became Haiti's first democratically elected president in 1990\, serving off and on as the country's president until the 2004 coup d 'état. DESCRIPTION:Jean-Bertrand Aristide\, born on this day in 1953\, is a liber ation theologian who became Haiti's first democratically elected president in 1990\, serving off and on as the country's president until the 2004 co up d'état.\n\nA proponent of liberation theology\, Aristide was appointed to a Roman Catholic parish in Port-au-Prince in 1982 after completing his studies to become a priest of the Salesian order.\n\nBefore coming into p olitical power\, Aristide was a prominent political dissident who survived several assassination attempts\, one of the most notable being the St. Je an Bosco Massacre\, when pro-government forces stormed his church during m ass and killed more than a dozen people.\n\nAfter winning the 1990 Haitian elections\, Aristide was president for eight months before being deposed in a military coup\, committed by military and police figures who received military training in the U.S. and were associated with the CIA.\n\nAristi de fled the country after the coup\, but then became president again from 1994 to 1996 and from 2001 to 2004.\n\nIn 2003\, Aristide requested that F rance pay Haiti over $21 billion in reparations for the 90 million gold fr ancs Haiti was forced to pay France after winning its independence.\n\nIn 2004\, Aristide was ousted in another coup after right-wing ex-army parami litaries invaded the country from across the Dominican border\, and fled t o South Africa. Aristide was flown out of Haiti by U.S. forces under dispu ted circumstances - he claims he was kidnapped and did not resign\, while the U.S. maintains he entered the plane and resigned willingly.\n\nAristid e finally returned to Haiti in 2011\, after seven years in exile.\n\n"If w e wish to maintain peace\, then we cannot accept that impunity be provided to these international criminals and drug dealers."\n\n- Jean-Bertrand Ar istide RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Bertrand_Aristide RESOURCES:https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jean-Bertrand-Aristide END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Lebanon Crisis (1958) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250715 DTEND:20250716T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Imperialism COMMENT:On this day in 1958\, the U.S. invaded Lebanon with 54\,000 troops in the name of anti-communism\, occupying the Port of Beirut and Beirut I nternational Airport\, its first overt military action in the Middle East. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1958\, the U.S. invaded Lebanon with 54\,000 tr oops in the name of anti-communism\, occupying the Port of Beirut and Beir ut International Airport\, its first overt military action in the Middle E ast.\n\nThe pro-Western president of Lebanon\, Camille Chamoun\, had asked for U.S. assistance after armed groups in Lebanon began rebelling against his administration. While not overtly communist in character\, the rebels had burned down a U.S. propaganda outlet and were generally aligned with Gamal Nasser and the United Arab Republic (UAR).\n\nUsing the anti-communi st "Eisenhower Doctrine" as justification\, on July 15th\, President Eisen hower authorized "Operation Blue Bat"\, a military occupation of Lebanon w ith more than 14\,000 footsoldiers\, supported by a fleet of 70 ships and 40\,000 sailors\, to keep Chamoun in power.\n\nOccupying the Port of Beiru t and Beirut International Airport\, the forces remained in Lebanon until October 25th\, when President Chamoun completed his term as president of L ebanon.\n\nAccording to historian Maurice Labelle\, "this was the first ov ert U.S. military intervention in the region"\, demonstrating the U.S.'s w illingness to act as an imperialist power in the Middle East\, willing to commit to overt military action to manage its interests in the region. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1958_Lebanon_crisis RESOURCES:https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2013/07/2013714111605 25538.html END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Assata Shakur (1947 - ) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250716 DTEND:20250717T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Civil Rights,Birthdays COMMENT:Assata Shakur\, born on this day in 1947\, is a revolutionary soci alist and former member of the Black Liberation Army (BLA) who became the first woman to be added to the FBI's Most Wanted Terrorists list in 2013. DESCRIPTION:Assata Shakur\, born on this day in 1947\, is a revolutionary socialist and former member of the Black Liberation Army (BLA) who became the first woman to be added to the FBI's Most Wanted Terrorists list in 20 13.\n\nShakur grew up in New York City and Wilmington\, North Carolina. Sh e became involved in political activism at Borough of Manhattan Community College and City College of New York\, participating in sit-ins and civil rights protests.\n\nAfter graduating from college\, Shakur briefly joined the Black Panther Party\, leading its Harlem chapter. She left the Panther s and joined the Black Liberation Army\, a black power group that was insp ired by the Viet Cong and Algerian resistance movements and waged guerrill a warfare against the U.S. government from 1970 to 1981. Shakur was one of the targets of the FBI's COINTELPRO program.\n\nAfter being involved in a shootout with New Jersey police officers\, Shakur was convicted on multip le counts of assault and murder and sentenced to life in prison. In 1979\, BLA members freed her in a bloodless prison escape.\n\nShakur successfull y sought political asylum in Cuba\, where she still lives today.\n\n"I did n't know what a fool they had made out of me until I grew up and started t o read real history."\n\n- Assata Shakur RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assata_Shakur RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/assata-olugba la-shakur-1947/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Harlem Riot (1964) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250716 DTEND:20250717T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Riots,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1964\, a New York City cop shot and killed a fiftee n year old boy\, James Powell\, leading to riots across Harlem in which re sidents protested\, clashed with police\, and caused approximately $1 mill ion in property damage. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1964\, a New York City cop shot and killed a fi fteen year old boy\, James Powell\, leading to riots across Harlem in whic h residents protested\, clashed with police\, and caused approximately $1 million in property damage.\n\nThe rebellion began after Police Lieutenant Thomas Gilligan shot Powell three times in front of his friends and about a dozen other witnesses. Powell had entered the home of Patrick Lynch\, a superintendent of three apartment houses in Yorkville\, to confront him a fter he hosed down black students for allegedly hanging out on his buildin g's stoops.\n\nGilligan\, then off-duty\, shot Powell while he was leaving Lynch's building. Although Gilligan claims Powell lunged at him with a kn ife\, witnesses did not corroborate this account\; some stated he raised h is right hand in a defensive gesture before being killed.\n\nImmediately a fter Powell's killing\, a group of student protesters clashed with police securing the crime scene. The second day\, the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) joined the protests.\n\nOn July 18th\, the protests became an outr ight rebellion after Powell's funeral\, monitored closely by barricaded po lice. After the funeral ended and most of the press left\, the crowd and c ops began to fight. Residents took to the rooftops\, throwing bricks\, bot tles\, and mortar at the police below. When one officer shouted "Go home\, go home!" at the crowd\, a reply was heard: "We are home\, Baby."\n\nThe unrest lasted until July 22nd\, and included a mix of moderate factions fr om the NAACP as well as black nationalists. When prominent civil rights ac tivist Bayard Rustin tried to discourage rioting\, the crowd booed and cha nted "Tom\, Uncle Tom". When an NAACP representative addressed the crowd\, stating Bedford-Stuyvesant was a "community of law" and discouraging riot ing\, his van was rocked until he lost control of his microphone.\n\nAt th e end of the conflict\, reports counted one dead rioter\, 118 injured\, an d 465 arrested. In September\, Gilligan was cleared of any wrongdoing by a grand jury and charges were dropped. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harlem_riot_of_1964 RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/harlem-race-r iot-1964/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Ida B. Wells (1862 - 1931) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250716 DTEND:20250717T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Birthdays COMMENT:Ida B. Wells\, born on this day in 1862\, was a radical journalist and civil rights activist. "If labor is withdrawn capital will not remain ...The white man's dollar is his god\, and to stop this will be to stop ou trages in many localities." DESCRIPTION:Ida B. Wells\, born on this day in 1862\, was a radical journa list and civil rights activist. "If labor is withdrawn capital will not re main...The white man's dollar is his god\, and to stop this will be to sto p outrages in many localities."\n\nBorn into slavery on July 16th\, 1862\, Wells was freed by the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863. After moving to Memphis\, Tennessee\, Wells began working as a teacher and wrote for the Memphis Free Speech and Headlight newspaper\, which she also co-owned. Her reporting covered incidents of racial injustice.\n\nIn the 1890s\, Wells documented lynching in her works "Horrors" and "The Red Record". Her docum entation undermined the white supremacist claim that lynching was somethin g only done to criminals\, and her analysis exposed lynching as a means of killing and intimidating black people whose competition was threatening w hite power.\n\nWells' work was carried nationally in black-owned newspaper s\, gaining prominence and earning the ire of white supremacists. On May 2 1st\, 1892\, Wells published an editorial in the Free Speech refuting what she called "that old threadbare lie that Negro men rape White women. If S outhern men are not careful\, a conclusion might be reached which will be very damaging to the moral reputation of their women."\n\nFollowing this s tatement\, Wells was denounced as a "Black scoundrel" in the press and an angry white mob burned down the Free Speech offices while she was out of t own. A group of local white businessmen located Rev. Nightingale\, the fou nder of the Free Speech\, assaulted him and forced him at gunpoint to sign a letter retracting Wells' editorial. Wells never returned to Memphis.\n\ nWells was also active in the women's suffrage movement\, however her unre lenting advocacy for racial justice clashed with contemporary\, predominan tly white suffrage organizations.\n\nIn 1893\, Wells and Frances Willard\, President of the white Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU)\, were t raveling separately to Britain on lecture tours. Wells publicly criticized Willard for remaining silent on the issue of lynching and blaming black p eople for a lack of success with her reform campaign in the American South .\n\nIn 1909\, Wells co-founded The National Association for the Advanceme nt of Colored People (NAACP) along with figures such as W.E.B. Du Bois and Mary White Ovington.\n\nIn the late 1920s\, Wells began writing her autob iography but didn't finish the book before dying of kidney failure in 1931 at age 68. The text was posthumously edited and published by her daughter Alfreda Barnett Duster as "Crusade for Justice: The Autobiography of Ida B. Wells."\n\n"If labor is withdrawn capital will not remain. The Afro-Ame rican is thus the backbone of the South. The white man's dollar is his god \, and to stop this will be to stop outrages in many localities."\n\n- Ida B. Wells RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assata_Shakur RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/assata-olugba la-shakur-1947/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:July Days (1917) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250716 DTEND:20250717T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Marxism,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1917\, the "July Days" began in Petrograd\, Russia when soldiers\, sailors\, and workers took up arms against the Russian Pro visional Government\, chanting "All Power to the Soviets" and holding Vikt or Chernov hostage. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1917\, the "July Days" began in Petrograd\, Rus sia when soldiers\, sailors\, and workers took up arms against the Russian Provisional Government\, chanting "All Power to the Soviets" and holding Viktor Chernov hostage.\n\nThe July Days took place in the context of grow ing discontent against the Provisional Government and increasing support f or the Bolsheviks. A few months earlier\, Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin gave his "April Theses"\, coming out in support of an armed\, proletarian insurrection. By July\, rank-and-file Bolsheviks were advocating overthrow ing the Provisional Government.\n\nOn the morning of July 16th\, after a d isastrous offensive on World War I's Eastern Front\, armed soldiers and wo rkers marched through the streets of Petrograd\, to the Tauride Palace. Th ese demonstrators marched under the slogan "All Power to the Soviets"\, fi ring their rifles into the air and commandeering vehicles.\n\nThe followin g day at Tauride Palace\, the crowd demanded to see a government official\ , and the Soviet Leaders sent out Viktor Chernov\, a prominent member of t he Socialist-Revolutionary Party. When he tried to calm the crowd\, they s eized him instead\, with one protester famously shouting\, "Take power\, y ou son of a bitch\, when it is handed to you!" He was released upon the ur ging on Leon Trotsky.\n\nThe military authorities sent troops against the demonstrators\, leading to many arrests and deaths. The government disarme d workers\, disbanded revolutionary military units\, destroyed the headqua rters of the Bolshevik Central Committee were destroyed\, and ordered the arrest of Lenin\, Trotsky\, and other Bolshevik leaders.\n\nLenin was able to flee to Finland\, while Trotsky was arrested alongside Anatoly Lunacha rsky and Lev Kamenev. Although the Bolshevik Party's power was temporarily limited in the crackdown\, they came to power in the October Revolution j ust a few months later. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_Days RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/history/ussr/events/timeline/1917.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Eric Garner Murdered by NYPD (2014) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250717 DTEND:20250718T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Protests COMMENT:On this day in 2014\, Eric Garner was murdered by the NYPD\, choke d to death after police suspected him of selling loose cigarettes. Garner said "I can't breathe" 11 times before dying. The man who filmed his death was poisoned in prison. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 2014\, Eric Garner was murdered by the NYPD\, c hoked to death after police suspected him of selling loose cigarettes. Gar ner said "I can't breathe" 11 times before dying. The man who filmed his d eath was poisoned in prison.\n\nEric Garner (1970 - 2014) was a former hor ticulturist at the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation\, fath er of six\, and grandfather of three. On July 17th\, 2014\, was approached by Justin D'Amico\, a plainclothes officer\, in front of a beauty supply store in Tompkinsville\, Staten Island. D'Amico suspected Garner of sellin g loose cigarettes.\n\nGarner stated "Every time you see me\, you want to mess with me. I'm tired of it. It stops today...I'm minding my business\, officer\, I'm minding my business. Please just leave me alone. I told you the last time\, please just leave me alone."\n\nAfter refusing to be handc uffed\, 29-year old officer Daniel Pantaleo put Garner in an ultimately fa tal chokehold. Despite Garner stating "I can't breathe" eleven times befor e losing consciousness\, the several officers on scene did not come to his aid.\n\nRamsey Orta\, a member of Copwatch\, filmed the incident. Followi ng a campaign of police harassment after the video went viral\, he was arr ested on weapons charges.\n\nBefore being imprisoned in Rikers\, Orta clai ms a cop told him he'd be better off killing himself before being jailed. While in prison\, Orta was poisoned by prison staff and at one point only ate food that his wife brought him. In May 2020\, Orta was released from G roveland Correctional Facility.\n\nGarner's death was protested internatio nally and became one of many police killings protested within the Black Li ves Matter movement. Some perpetrators of violence against police have cit ed Garner's murder as a motive.\n\nA grand jury elected to not indict Pant aleo on December 3rd\, 2014. After the decision\, Garner's widow was asked whether she accepted Pantaleo's condolences. She replied: "Hell\, no! The time for remorse would have been when my husband was yelling to breathe.. .No\, I don't accept his apology. No\, I could care less about his condole nces...He's still working. He's still getting a paycheck. He's still feedi ng his kids\, when my husband is six feet under and I'm looking for a way to feed my kids now."\n\nAn NYPD disciplinary hearing regarding Pantaleo's treatment of Garner was held in the summer of 2019\, and Pantaleo was fir ed on August 19th\, more than five years after the murder took place. RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/garner-eric-1 970-2014/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_of_Eric_Garner RESOURCES:https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2021/08/political-powerhouse-gwe n-carr-is-a-force-to-be-reckoned-with END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Port Chicago Disaster and Mutiny (1944) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250717 DTEND:20250718T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Mutinies COMMENT:The Port Chicago disaster was a deadly munitions explosion that oc curred on this day in 1944 at the Port Chicago Naval Magazine in Californi a\, leading black sailors to mutiny to protest dangerous working condition s. DESCRIPTION:The Port Chicago disaster was a deadly munitions explosion tha t occurred on this day in 1944 at the Port Chicago Naval Magazine in Calif ornia\, leading black sailors to mutiny to protest dangerous working condi tions.\n\nThe munitions detonated while being loaded onto a cargo vessel b ound for the Pacific Theater of Operations\, killing 320 sailors and civil ians and injuring 390 others. Most of the dead\, injured\, and those assig ned to clean up the wreckage were enlisted African American sailors.\n\nAc cording to historian Erika Doss\, "just a few weeks after the disaster\, a nd with no discussion of why the horrific explosion of July 17th had occur red or how to prevent such a disaster from happening again\, the black sai lors were ordered back to work loading ordnance at the Mare Island Navy Ya rd in Vallejo. Over 250 of the men refused..." This refusal came to be kno wn as the "Port Chicago Mutiny".\n\nFifty men‍\, known as the "Port Chic ago 50"\, ‌were convicted of mutiny and sentenced to 15 years of prison and hard labor\, as well as a dishonorable discharge. A young Thurgood Mar shall undertook a formidable legal campaign\, appealing their convictions\ , and\, due to his efforts and popular pressure\, the Navy eventually rele ased 47 of the 50 mutineers.\n\nThe incident highlighted racial inequality within the Navy and was one of several incidents that led to it ending it s practice of segregation in 1946. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Chicago_disaster RESOURCES:https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/port-chicago-distaster/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Suppression of Communism Act (1950) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250717 DTEND:20250718T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Civil Rights,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1950\, the Suppression of Communism Act became law in South Africa\, banning the anti-apartheid Communist Party and later pla ying a key role in the arrests of activists like Nelson Mandela and Walter Sisulu. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1950\, the Suppression of Communism Act became law in South Africa\, banning the anti-apartheid Communist Party and later playing a key role in the arrests of activists like Nelson Mandela and Wa lter Sisulu.\n\nThe law took place in the context of increasing organizati on against apartheid by the African National Congress (ANC). The ANC Youth League\, founded in 1944 by Anton Lembede\, brought in a new generation c ommitted to direct action and civil disobedience. In 1946\, the ANC had al so allied with the South African Communist Party in assisting in the forma tion of the South African Mine Workers' Union.\n\nThe Suppression of Commu nism Act was protested\; more than 20\,000 black\, Indian\, and coloured S outh Africans gathered in Durban on May 28th\, 1950 to protest the bill (s hown).\n\nAlthough the act ostensibly banned "communism"\, the law defined communism so broadly that it could effectively be used against anyone who opposed government policy\, apartheid in particular. Defendants prosecute d under the law were frequently convicted of "statutory communism"\, somet hing Justice Frans Rumpff\, presiding in a trial of ANC leaders\, noted ha s "nothing to do with communism as it is commonly known."\n\nOne notable e xample of political suppression using this law was the 1956 "Treason Trial " in Johannesburg\, in which 156 people\, including Nelson Mandela\, were arrested and accused of treason.\n\nAlthough all defendants of the Treason Trial were found not guilty\, Mandela himself\, along with figures such a s Walter Sisulu and Govan Mbek\, was sentenced to life in prison in the Ri vonia Trial of 1963. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suppression_of_Communism_Act\,_195 0 RESOURCES:http://psimg.jstor.org/fsi/img/pdf/t0/10.5555/al.sff.document.nu un1972_07_final.pdf END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Maceo Snipes Shot After Voting (1946) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250718 DTEND:20250719T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Terrorism,Assassinations,Civil Rights COMMENT:On this day in 1946\, Maceo Snipes\, the first black person to vot e in Georgia's Taylor County\, was shot by white supremacists\, dying afte r doctors refused to give him a blood transfusion due to segregation. The violence outraged a teenage MLK Jr. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1946\, Maceo Snipes\, the first black person to vote in Georgia's Taylor County\, was shot by white supremacists\, dying after doctors refused to give him a blood transfusion due to segregation. The violence outraged a teenage MLK Jr.\n\nSnipes was a World War II veter an who had returned to his hometown of Butler\, Georgia. In 1946\, a provo cative campaign issue was whether or not black people should be allowed to vote in primary elections. Georgia's Jim Crow government had been enforci ng whites-only primary elections\, but this had been struck down by the Su preme Court earlier that year.\n\nDespite threats from the Ku Klux Klan\, Snipes cast his vote in the primary election on July 17th that year\, beco ming the first black person to vote in Taylor County\, according to the Ge orgia Civil Rights Cold Cases Project. The following day\, four white supr emacists showed up to Maceo's house\, interrupting dinner with his wife\, and shot him in the back. The man who shot him\, Edward Williamson\, was a lso a World War II veteran.\n\nSnipes was taken to the hospital\, where he waited for several hours before the doctors would perform the surgery to remove the bullets. A white doctor told his family that Maceo needed a tra nsfusion\, but refused to give him one\, citing a lack of "black blood" in the hospital. Without a transfusion\, Snipes died two days later. Snipes' funeral was held in the middle of the night due to death threats for anyo ne who dared attend. \n\nIn court\, Maceo's killers falsely pleaded self-d efense\, claiming that Snipes owed them money and attacked them with a kni fe. Both the coroner and jury determined their actions to be justified. Sn ipes was one of five black people lynched following the 1946 elections - t wo couples\, Roger and Dorothy Malcom and George and Mae Murray Dorsey - w ere kidnapped\, beaten\, and shot. Mae was seven months pregnant at the ti me.\n\nThis outbreak of white supremacist violence\, and the hypocrisy sur rounding it\, outraged a teenage Martin Luther King Jr.\, then a student a t Morehouse College. He wrote a letter to the editor of "The Atlanta Const itution"\, stating:\n\n"I often find when decent treatment for the Negro i s urged\, a certain class of people hurry to raise the scarecrow of social mingling and intermarriage. These questions have nothing to do with the c ase. And most people who kick up this kind of dust know that it is simple dust to obscure the real question of rights and opportunities. It is fair to remember that almost the total of race mixture in America has come\, no t at Negro initiative\, but by the acts of those very white men who talk l oudest of race purity. We aren’t eager to marry white girls\, and we wou ld like to have our own girls left alone by both white toughs and white ar istocrats." RESOURCES:https://coldcases.emory.edu/maceo-snipes/ RESOURCES:https://calendar.eji.org/racial-injustice/jul/18 RESOURCES:https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/murder-of-maceo-snipes/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Nelson Mandela (1918 - 2013) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250718 DTEND:20250719T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Civil Rights,Birthdays COMMENT:Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela\, born on this day in 1918\, was a South African anti-apartheid revolutionary who served as President the African National Congress (ANC) from 1991 to 1997 and of South Africa itself from 1994 to 1999. DESCRIPTION:Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela\, born on this day in 1918\, was a S outh African anti-apartheid revolutionary who served as President the Afri can National Congress (ANC) from 1991 to 1997 and of South Africa itself f rom 1994 to 1999. He was the country's first black head of state and the f irst elected in an election in which South Africans of all races could par ticipate.\n\nWhile working as a clerk for a law firm as a young man\, Mand ela befriended two communists - Gaur Radebe\, a Hlubi member of the ANC an d Communist Party\, and Nat Bregman\, a Jewish communist who became his fi rst white friend. Mandela attended Communist Party meetings and\, while im pressed that people of all races were able to meet as equals\, he did not join the party because its atheism conflicted with his own Christianity\, and because he saw the South African struggle as being based in race rathe r than class.\n\nMandela joined the ANC a few years later\, quickly rising through its ranks. Although initially committed to non-violent protest\, he co-founded the militant Umkhonto we Sizwe in 1961 and led a sabotage ca mpaign against the apartheid government.\n\nOn August 5th\, 1962\, Mandela was captured by South African police\, informed by the American Central I ntelligence Agency (CIA) of his location. In the subsequent legal proceedi ngs\, known as the "Rivonia Trial"\, he was sentenced to life in prison.\n \nAmid growing domestic and international pressure\, and with fears of a r acial civil war\, President F. W. de Klerk released him in 1990 and began negotiating a peaceable end to apartheid with him. In 1994\, he became the first legitimately elected President of South Africa.\n\nMandela saw nati onal reconciliation as the primary task of his presidency\, and hoped to a void the damage other post-colonial African economies faced by the departu re of white elites.\n\nMandela worked to reassure South Africa's white pop ulation that they were protected and represented in the so-called "the Rai nbow Nation" and embraced liberal reforms\, drawing criticism from more hi s more radical supporters.\n\n"Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies."\n\n- Nelson Mandela RESOURCES:https://www.nelsonmandela.org/content/page/biography RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/mandela-nelson- rolihlahla-1918/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelson_Mandela END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Lyuh Woon-hyung Assassinated (1947) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250719 DTEND:20250720T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Assassinations,Independence COMMENT:Lyuh Woon-hyung\, also known as Yo Un-hyung\, was a leftist politi cian who argued that Korean independence was essential to world peace. He was assassinated on this day in 1947 by a right-wing nationalist refugee f rom North Korea. DESCRIPTION:Lyuh Woon-hyung\, also known as Yo Un-hyung\, was a leftist po litician who argued that Korean independence was essential to world peace. He was assassinated on this day in 1947 by a right-wing nationalist refug ee from North Korea.\n\nLyuh was born in Yangpyeong\, Gyeonggi Province\, the son of a local yangban magnate. In 1910\, Lyuh parted from Korean trad ition by freeing his household's slaves\, giving them enough land and mone y to become self-sufficient.\n\nLike many in the Korean independence movem ent\, Lyuh sought aid from both right and left-wing political movements. I n 1920\, he joined the Koryǒ Communist Party\, later meeting Leon Trotsky and Vladimir Lenin. In 1924\, he also joined Sun Yat-sen's Chinese Nation alist Party to facilitate Sino-Korean cooperation.\n\nIn September 1945\, Lyuh proclaimed the establishment of the People's Republic of Korea and be came its vice-premier. When the United States occupied the Korean Peninsul a\, it did not recognize the People's Republic of Korea\, and in October h e was forced to step down under pressure from the U.S. military government .\n\nIn 1946\, Lyuh represented the center-left politically as part of an effort to unify right and left-wing independence struggles\, however this strategy earned ire from both sides. On July 19th\, 1947\, Lyuh was assass inated in Seoul by a 19-year-old North Korean refugee who was an active me mber of a nationalist right-wing organization.\n\nHis pen-name was Mongyan g\, the Hanja for "dream" and "the sun". RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyuh_Woon-hyung RESOURCES:https://web.archive.org/web/20091022204807/http://www.asianresea rch.org/articles/1853.html END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Pittsburgh Railway Strike (1877) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250719 DTEND:20250720T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Riots COMMENT:The Pittsburgh Railway Strike began on this day in 1877 when more than 1\,400 workers seized control of approximately 1\,5000 of their compa ny's train cars\, a labor action part of the national Great Railroad Strik e of 1877. DESCRIPTION:The Pittsburgh Railway Strike began on this day in 1877 when m ore than 1\,400 workers seized control of approximately 1\,5000 of their c ompany's train cars\, a labor action part of the national Great Railroad S trike of 1877.\n\nThe strike was in direct response to the company announc ing on July 19th that it would implement the practice of "double heading"\ , joining two trains' worth of cars into one train with two engines\, for all trains moving through Pittsburgh\, a policy that would reduce the numb er of jobs that were available\, require more work\, and increase the like lihood of accidents.\n\nThe same day one crew\, led by Conductor Ryan\, se nt word that they would not take out their train. Striking workers refused to cede control of the trains to the company\, and by midnight up to 1\,4 00 strikers had gathered in the Pennsylvania Railroad rail yards\, stoppin g the movement of some 1\,500 cars.\n\nBy the morning of the 21st\, it had become clear that many of the Pittsburgh police and local militia had sid ed with the strikers and were refusing to take action against them.\n\nThe Pennsylvania National Guard were sent in to forcibly quell the rebellion\ , and the protest turned into a riot after troops shot into a crowd of peo ple for ten minutes\, killing women and children. Rioters began looting\, setting fire to the train cars and the Union Depot (shown). They also exch anged fire with the National Guard soldiers.\n\nIn total\, an estimated 53 civilians were killed and 109 were injured. Eight soldiers were killed in the clashes\, another fifteen wounded. This was one of many incidents of strikes\, labor unrest and violence in cities across the United States as part of the Great Railroad Strike of 1877. RESOURCES:https://www.heinzhistorycenter.org/blog/western-pennsylvania-his tory/picturing-protest-great-railroad-strike-1877 RESOURCES:https://explorepahistory.com/hmarker.php?markerId=1-A-1C1 RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pittsburgh_railroad_strike_of_1877 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Seneca Falls Convention (1848) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250719 DTEND:20250720T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Feminism COMMENT:On this day in 1848\, the first women's rights convention in the U nited States began in Seneca Falls\, New York\, advertised as "a conventio n to discuss the social\, civil\, and religious condition and rights of Wo man". DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1848\, the first women's rights convention in t he United States began in Seneca Falls\, New York\, advertised as "a conve ntion to discuss the social\, civil\, and religious condition and rights o f Woman".\n\nHeld in the Wesleyan Chapel of the town of Seneca Falls\, New York\, it spanned two days and became a national\, annual event in 1850 ( held in Worcester\, Massachusetts).\n\nNotable speakers at the convention included Lucretia Mott\, Elizabeth Cady Stanton\, and Frederick Douglass\, who was the meeting's only black member. At its conclusion\, the conventi on issued a "Declaration of Sentiments"\, which became "the single most im portant factor in spreading news of the women's rights movement around the country in 1848 and into the future"\, according to historian Judith Well man. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declaration_of_Sentiments RESOURCES:https://www.history.com/topics/womens-rights/seneca-falls-conven tion RESOURCES:https://www.rochester.edu/sba/suffrage-history/womens-rights-con vention-in-seneca-falls-ny/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Spanish Revolution (1936) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250719 DTEND:20250720T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Socialism,Labor,General Strikes,Marxism,Assassinations,Anarchis m,Fascism COMMENT:On this day in 1936\, the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT ) and Unión General de Trabajadores (UGT)\, together more than 3 million members\, called a general strike\, beginning the workers' revolution duri ng the Spanish Civil War. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1936\, the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT) and Unión General de Trabajadores (UGT)\, together more than 3 mill ion members\, called a general strike\, beginning the workers' revolution during the Spanish Civil War.\n\nThe strike\, revolutionary and anti-capit alist in character\, was called in response to a fascist military coup tha t had taken place on July 17th. During the general strike\, civilians acqu ired weapons by raiding state weapons depots.\n\nOn July 24th\, the first voluntary militia\, known as the Durriti Column\, named after libertarian communist Buenaventura Durriti\, left Barcelona for the region of Aragon. Other regiments formed\, such as the anarchist Iron Column and the CNT-aff iliated Red and Black Column.\n\nOver the next three years\, revolutionary Republicans began reorganizing society and production on anarchist princi ples and battled with the Nationalist forces\, led by the fascist Francisc o Franco.\n\nThe Republicans were aided and joined by anti-fascists and so cialists from all over the world - George Orwell\, a British writer\, join ed the fight and later authored a memoir based on his experiences. 3\,000 American volunteers also joined the fight as the Abraham Lincoln Brigade.\ n\nThe Soviet Union provided the largest amount of foreign aid to the Repu blic\, supplying artillery\, aircraft\, tanks\, guns\, troops\, and milita ry advisors. People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (NKVD) agents also assassinated anti-Soviet leftists in the movement\, figures like founder of the Workers' Party of Marxist Unification (POUM) Andreu Nin. Many liber tarian socialists who survived the war would later denounce the Soviet Uni on.\n\nThe Republicans were defeated in 1939 and General Francisco Franco came into power\, ruling Spain until his death in 1975. Many Spanish revol utionaries sought political asylum in the United States\, and they would p roduce the paper "Espana Libre" to connect the scattered community of Span ish exiles until Franco's death. Other anti-fascists would work to undermi ne Franco's government from outside the country.\n\n"Don't you see why I'l l continue fighting as long as these social injustices exist?"\n\n- Buenav entura Durruti RESOURCES:https://www.writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis/88/spain-overview.html RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/article/1936-1939-spanish-civil-war-and-revol ution RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Revolution_of_1936 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Anne Hutchinson (1591 - 1643) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250720 DTEND:20250721T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays COMMENT:Anne Hutchinson\, born on this day in 1591\, was a Puritan spiritu al advisor\, religious reformer\, and a key participant in the "Antinomian Controversy"\, which shook the infant Massachusetts Bay Colony from 1636 to 1638. DESCRIPTION:Anne Hutchinson\, born on this day in 1591\, was a Puritan spi ritual advisor\, religious reformer\, and a key participant in the "Antino mian Controversy"\, which shook the infant Massachusetts Bay Colony from 1 636 to 1638.\n\nHutchinson was known for being a powerful orator who insis ted on the ability of women to read the bible for themselves\, among other "unauthorized" interpretations of the gospel.\n\nOn November 7th\, 1637\, Hutchinson was brought to trial\, where she was called a heretic and an i nstrument of the devil\, and was exiled from the Puritan community for her beliefs. Thirty-five families who were supporters Hutchinson followed her to settle in Long Island.\n\nHutchinson is an important figure in the his tory of religious freedom in England's American colonies and the history o f women in ministry\, challenging the authority of the ministers. She has been called "the most famous - or infamous - English woman in colonial Ame rican history". RESOURCES:https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/an ne-hutchinson RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Hutchinson RESOURCES:https://www.historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/zinnint6.html END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Bloody Friday (Minneapolis\, 1934) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250720 DTEND:20250721T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,General Strikes COMMENT:On this day in 1934\, police shot into a crowd of workers particip ating in the Minneapolis General Strike\, killing two and wounding sixty-s even in an event known as "Bloody Friday". DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1934\, police shot into a crowd of workers part icipating in the Minneapolis General Strike\, killing two and wounding six ty-seven in an event known as "Bloody Friday".\n\nThe Minneapolis General Strike of 1934 grew out of a Teamsters strike against most of the trucking companies operating in Minneapolis\, Minnesota. The strike began on May 1 6th in the Market District (now called the Warehouse District)\, and led t o widespread unionizing throughout the city of Minneapolis.\n\nIts worst s ingle day of violence was July 20th\, 1934\, known as "Bloody Friday". It occurred when police shot at strikers who were blocking off the delivery o f company merchandise\, killing two people and injuring sixty-seven. Four days later\, 100\,000 people lined the streets of the funeral procession r oute for one of the workers and demanded the resignation of the Minneapoli s Police Chief.\n\nIn response\, Governor Olson first ordered that the uni on headquarters be raided. A few days later\, he ordered a raid on the ant i-union organization the Citizen Alliance as well. Violence continued peri odically throughout the summer before the strike was formally ended on Aug ust 22nd\, with most of the union demands being met. RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/minneapolis-teamsters-strike-1934-jer emy-brecher RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloody_Friday_(Minneapolis) END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:El Mahdaoui Arrested (2017) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250720 DTEND:20250721T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Journalism,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 2017\, Moroccan journalist and political activist H amid El Mahdaoui was arrested on dubious charges in Al Hoceima\, Morocco\, the day after publicly criticizing the government's decision to ban a Jul y 20th protest. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 2017\, Moroccan journalist and political activi st Hamid El Mahdaoui was arrested on dubious charges in Al Hoceima\, Moroc co\, the day after publicly criticizing the government's decision to ban a July 20th protest.\n\nEl Mahdaoui is a Moroccan journalist who founded Ba dil.info in 2014\, becoming a popular figure in the country through politi cal commentary on social media and interviews of public figures. He had pr eviously been convicted for disseminating "false news" in cases involving the head of the national police\, although the sentence was suspended.\n\n El Mahdaoui was part of a political group that had been organizing anti-go vernment protests since October 2016 over perceived government neglect of northern Morocco's Rif region.\n\nThe government had banned a protest plan ned for July 20th\, 2017\, and on July 19th\, El Mahdaoui publicly condemn ed the ban. El Mahdaoui was arrested and\, along with 53 other Hirak activ ists\, forced to participate in a mass trial lasting almost one year.\n\nO n July 20th\, 2020\, El Mahdaoui was released from prison\, returning to h is family. His website\, badil.info\, remains active. RESOURCES:https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/07/18/morocco-journalist-convicted -dubious-charge RESOURCES:https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2020/07/311055/moroccan-journal ist-hamid-el-mahdaoui-leaves-prison-after-3-years END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Frantz Fanon (1925 - 1961) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250720 DTEND:20250721T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Birthdays,Colonialism,Fascism COMMENT:Frantz Fanon\, born on this day in 1925\, was a West Indian Pan-Af ricanist philosopher and Algerian revolutionary most known for his text Th e Wretched of the Earth. "In the World through which I travel\, I am endle ssly creating myself." DESCRIPTION:Frantz Fanon\, born on this day in 1925\, was a West Indian Pa n-Africanist philosopher and Algerian revolutionary most known for his tex t The Wretched of the Earth.\n\nFanon was born to an affluent family on th e Caribbean island of Martinique\, then a French colony which is still und er French control today. As a teenager\, he was taught by communist anti-c olonial thinker Aimé Césaire (1913 - 2008).\n\nFanon was exposed to much European racism during World War II. After France fell to the Nazis in 19 40\, a Nazi government was set up in Martinique by French collaborators\, who he described as taking off their masks and behaving like "authentic ra cists".\n\nFighting for the Allied forces\, Fanon also observed European w omen liberated by black soldiers preferring to dance with fascist Italian prisoners rather than fraternize with their liberators.\n\nWhile completin g a residency in psychiatry in France completing\, Fanon wrote and publish ed his first book\, "Black Skin\, White Masks" (1952)\, an analysis of the negative psychological effects of colonial subjugation upon black people. \n\nFollowing the outbreak of the Algerian revolution in November 1954\, F anon joined the Front de Libération Nationale\, a nationalist Algerian pa rty. Working at a French hospital in Algeria\, Fanon became responsible fo r treating the psychological distress of the French troops who carried out torture to suppress anti-colonial resistance\, as well as their Algerian victims.\n\nWhile organizing for Algerian independence in Ghana\, Fanon wa s diagnosed with the leukemia that would ultimately kill him. He spent the last year of his life writing his most famous work\, "The Wretched of the Earth" (French: Les Damnés de la Terre). The text provides a psychiatric analysis of the dehumanizing effects of colonization and examines the pos sibilities of anti-colonial liberation.\n\nFollowing a trip to the Soviet Union to treat his leukemia\, Fanon came to the U.S. in 1961 for further t reatment in a visit arranged by the CIA. Fanon died in Bethesda\, Maryland on December 6th\, 1961 under the name of "Ibrahim Fanon"\, a Libyan nom d e guerre he had assumed in order to enter a hospital after being wounded d uring a mission for the Algerian National Liberation Front.\n\n"In the Wor ld through which I travel\, I am endlessly creating myself."\n\n- Frantz F anon RESOURCES:https://iep.utm.edu/fanon/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frantz_Fanon END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Newsboy Strike (1899) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250720 DTEND:20250721T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:On this day in 1899\, thousands of New York City "newsies"\, child ren who sold newspapers on city streets\, went on strike to protest a ten cent increase in the cost of their papers\, overturning distribution wagon s and attacking scabs. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1899\, thousands of New York City "newsies"\, c hildren who sold newspapers on city streets\, went on strike to protest a ten cent increase in the cost of their papers\, overturning distribution w agons and attacking scabs.\n\nThe newsboys collectively boycotted the New York Journal and the New York World\, which had raised the cost of their n ewspapers from 50 cents to 60 cents\, making the papers harder to sell. Th e boys organized under charismatic child leaders\, meeting with the paper owners and holding meetings as large as 5\,000 people.\n\nThe boys also ri oted and used direct action: upon declaring the strike\, they turned over a distribution wagon for the New York Journal\, and any boy or adult caugh t hocking either paper would be attacked by a mob of striking children\, w ho would seize and destroy the papers they were selling.\n\nIn the end\, w holesale price remained at 60 cents\, however the newspaper owners agreed to begin refunding boys for unsold papers.\n\n"Ain't that ten cents worth as much to us as it is to Hearst and Pulitzer who are millionaires? Well\, I guess it is. If they can't spare it\, how can we?...I'm trying to figur e out how ten cents on a hundred papers can mean more to a millionaire tha n it does to newsboys\, an' I can't see it."\n\n- Kid Blink\, 1899 RESOURCES:https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/newsboys-strike/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newsboys%27_strike_of_1899 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Armando Diaz School Raid (2001) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250721 DTEND:20250722T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Journalism,Fascism,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 2001\, Italian police raided a school occupied by a nti-globalization protesters and journalists\, beating and torturing hundr eds of protesters. No officer served time in prison. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 2001\, Italian police raided a school occupied by anti-globalization protesters and journalists\, beating and torturing h undreds of protesters. No officer served time in prison.\n\nThe school was the temporary headquarters of the anti-capitalist Genoa Social Forum\, le d by Vittorio Agnoletto\, set up during the 27th G8 meeting in Genoa. A ne arby building\, housing the anti-globalization organization Indymedia and lawyers affiliated with the Genoa Social Forum\, was also raided.\n\nOn Ju ly 21st\, just before midnight\, Italian cops raided the school\, brutally beating and torturing all present. The police officers fabricated evidenc e of weapons and assault to justify their brutality\, planting molotov coc ktails and slashing their own bulletproof vests to justify the violence.\n \nBefore officers entered the school\, British journalist Mark Covell conf ronted them outside\, attempting to tell them he was a journalist. Several officers responded by beating him into a coma\, breaking his hand\, damag ing his spine\, and breaking six of his ribs. The police then used an armo red police van to break through the school gates and 150 policemen\, weari ng crash helmets and carrying truncheons and shields\, entered the school compound.\n\nPolice beat and tortured everyone they found. Several people were beaten unconscious\, sexually harassed\, had hair cut from their head \, and thrown down the stairs. At least one person needed surgery to stop a bleed in their brain.\n\nSome arrested were taken back to a temporary de tention facility in Bolzaneto. There\, they were tortured and forced to pr aise fascists such as Mussolini and Pinochet in song. One man testified th at\, after he refused to sign fabricated statements about what happened\, police broke three of his ribs.\n\nAlthough fifteen Italian police officer s and doctors were sentenced to jail for the mistreatment of the detainees at Bolzaneto\, none served time in prison due to a statute of limitations on their crimes. The British government supported the Italian government in the violence's aftermath\; the spokesman for Prime Minister Tony Blair stated "The Italian police had a difficult job to do. The prime minister b elieves that they did that job." RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/blog/genova-2001-11-years-later-bitter-senten ce-17072012 RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001_Raid_on_Armando_Diaz END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Irish Laundry Workers Strike (1945) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250721 DTEND:20250722T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,IWW COMMENT:On this day in 1945\, laundry workers of the Irish Women Workers' Union (IWWU) went on strike to demand more holidays and better hours\, ear ning two week's of annual holiday for all Irish workers after striking for fourteen weeks. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1945\, laundry workers of the Irish Women Worke rs' Union (IWWU) went on strike to demand more holidays and better hours\, earning two week's of annual holiday for all Irish workers after striking for fourteen weeks. The work stoppage affected many of Dublin's most famo us hotels\, while hospital laundries were exempted from the action.\n\nThe strike enjoyed considerable support from the public and other unions. The National Secretary of the United Stationary Engine Drivers stated "We wil l support your union in every possible way\; the people on strike are figh ting our fight"\, and butchers helped fund relief efforts as the strike wo re on for months.\n\nThe press was less sympathetic. In a letter to The Ir ish Times\, the IWWU criticized its reporting:\n\n"We read your paper some times pasted up in those Fleet Street windows\, and we see it full of news about foreign countries and pictures of people no-one ever saw in Dublin. ..And you had nearly a page of a letter from New York telling how the girl s there do their hair. But for all that you only have two lines or so for 1\,500 Dublin women on strike and no word at all about the sort of work th ey had to do."\n\nThe strike was won at the end of October. RESOURCES:https://womenworkersunion.ie/history/the-1945-laundry-strike/ RESOURCES:https://www.rte.ie/archives/exhibitions/1861-strikes-pickets-and -protests/469703-blue-rinse-and-starch/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Pentonville Five Arrested (1972) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250721 DTEND:20250722T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,General Strikes COMMENT:On this day in 1972\, five docker shop stewards were arrested for refusing to stop picketing at the Midland Cold Storage Company in East Lon don\, leading the Trades Union Congress to call a one-day general strike o n July 31st. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1972\, five docker shop stewards were arrested for refusing to stop picketing at the Midland Cold Storage Company in East London\, leading the Trades Union Congress to call a one-day general stri ke on July 31st. The National Industrial Relations Court had issued an inj unction\, mandating an end to the picketing.\n\nThe Pentonville Five had b een taking part in a national campaign\, organized by local shop stewards committees\, against the threat posed to dockers' jobs by the "containeris ation" of transported goods. Their arrest prompted a wave of labor activis m that culminated in a general strike in which 250\,000 workers participat ed.\n\nAs part of the work stoppage\, thousands of striking workers marche d through North London to Pentonville Prison. The Five were released on We dnesday\, July 26th\, however the labor activism provoked by their arrests continued unabated.\n\nThe radical film group Cinema Action made a docume ntary about the event titled "Arise Ye Workers"\, released in 1973. RESOURCES:https://warwick.ac.uk/services/library/mrc/archives_online/speak ingarchives/pentonville/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentonville_Five END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Wildcat Postal Workers' Strike (1978) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250721 DTEND:20250722T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:On this day in 1978\, thousands of New Jersey postal workers walke d off the job after their work contract expired to protest mandatory overt ime\, forced speedup\, lack of support from union leadership\, and unsafe working conditions. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1978\, thousands of New Jersey postal workers w alked off the job after their work contract expired to protest mandatory o vertime\, forced speedup\, lack of support from union leadership\, and uns afe working conditions. The strike eventually grew to including nearly 5\, 000 postal workers nationwide\, becoming the largest strike of U.S. federa l employees between 1970 and 1981.\n\nThe previous contract\, which set th e terms of employment for U.S. postal workers\, had just expired at midnig ht on July 20th. Postal management\, the national union leadership\, and t he Carter Administration\, had created a new collective agreement which ig nored most rank and file postal workers' concerns.\n\nIn Jersey City\, New Jersey\, workers at the Bulk and Foreign Mail Center formed the Good Cont ract Committee (GCC) to organize a set of demands for the new contract tha t reflected the interests of the working class. These activists launched a newspaper called P.O.W. (Post Office Worker) and distributed 75\,000 leaf lets at local postal facilities.\n\nThe Bulk Jersey City wildcat strike la sted for four days in an attempt to nullify the tentative national contrac t agreement. It shut down the NJ plant as well as another bulk center in R ichmond\, California.\n\nAfter the strike was broken\, 125 workers were fi red\, 130 were temporarily suspended\, 2\,500 received letters of warning\ , and leaders of the walkout were blacklisted. The union did not ratify th e proposed work contract\, and an arbitrated contract settlement was impos ed. RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/1978-postal-wildcat RESOURCES:https://www.workers.org/2013/07/9885/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Butler R. Wilson (1861 - 1939) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250722 DTEND:20250723T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays COMMENT:Butler R. Wilson\, born on this day in 1861\, was an attorney and civil rights activist based in Boston\, Massachusetts who organized with t he NAACP and became the first black person admitted to the American Bar As sociation. DESCRIPTION:Butler R. Wilson\, born on this day in 1861\, was an attorney and civil rights activist based in Boston\, Massachusetts who organized wi th the NAACP and became the first black person admitted to the American Ba r Association.\n\nWilson was born in Greensboro\, Georgia free people of c olor who were prominent members of their community. Wilson attended Atlant a University\, a historically black college\, and moved to Boston for law school after graduating.\n\nAfter being admitted to the Massachusetts Stat e Bar in 1884\, Wilson built a successful practice serving clients of all races\, and became a respected attorney in New England.\n\nIn 1911\, the A merican Bar Association (ABA) unknowingly admitted three black men\, one o f whom was Wilson\, to the organization\, as applicants did not have to st ate their race. Once their race became known\, the ABA rescinded all three memberships\, prompting national outrage and resignations in protest. Des pite this\, the ABA did not re-instate the men and continued their discrim inatory practices for several decades afterward.\n\nWilson\, who was still a member of the Massachusetts State Bar\, would go on to fight racial dis crimination in legal arenas for the next several decades. He was also a fo unding member and president of the Boston branch of the NAACP and particip ated in W.E.B. Du Bois's Niagara Movement. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butler_R._Wilson RESOURCES:https://www.baystatebanner.com/2012/09/26/butler-roland-wilson-h umanitarian-and-civil-rights-advocate/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:St. Louis General Strike (1877) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250722 DTEND:20250723T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,General Strikes,Marxism COMMENT:On this day in 1877\, the demand of train workers in East St. Loui s\, Illinois for higher wages was rejected\, marking the beginning of a ge neral strike in which workers seized and destroyed property\, dismantling over forty factories. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1877\, the demand of train workers in East St. Louis\, Illinois for higher wages was rejected\, marking the beginning of a general strike in which workers seized and destroyed property\, dismantl ing over forty factories.\n\nThe 1877 St. Louis General Strike was one of the first general strikes in the United States\, growing out of the Great Railroad Strike of 1877\, a national period of strikes and rioting due to economic depression. The St. Louis strike was largely organized by the Kni ghts of Labor and the Marxist-leaning Workingmen's Party\, the main radica l political party of the era.\n\nOn this day in 1877\, in East St. Louis\, Illinois\, train workers held a secret meeting\, resolving to call for an increase in wages and to strike if their demands were not met. The demand was made and rejected that same night\, and so\, effective at midnight\, the strike began.\n\nWithin hours\, strikers virtually controlled the city . Although the strike was mostly bloodless\, the protesters seized the cit y's Union Depot\, stopped freight and some passenger trains from passing t hrough the city.\n\nWorkers attacked productive capital\, including flour mills and sugar refineries\, dismantling over forty factories in total. Th e strike ended when the National Guard and U.S. Marshals began to break up demonstrations by force five days later. RESOURCES:https://jacobin.com/2021/07/st-louis-commune-great-railroad-stri ke-1877-us-labor-history RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1877_St._Louis_general_strike RESOURCES:https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/st-louis-rail-strikers/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Detroit Riot (1967) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250723 DTEND:20250724T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Riots COMMENT:On this day in 1967\, the deadliest race riot of the "Long\, Hot S ummer of 1967" began when Detroit police raided an unlicensed drinking clu b that was celebrating the return of two veterans\, arresting everyone pre sent. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1967\, the deadliest race riot of the "Long\, H ot Summer of 1967" began when Detroit police raided an unlicensed drinking club that was celebrating the return of two veterans\, arresting everyone present. The Long\, Hot Summer of 1967 refers to just a few short months in which more than a hundred riots took place across the United States.\n\ nIn the early hours of July 23rd\, Detroit Police Department (DPD) officer s raided an unlicensed weekend drinking club in the office of the United C ommunity League for Civic Action. Expecting a few revelers inside\, they i nstead found a party of 82 people celebrating the return of two local GIs from the Vietnam War. The police decided to arrest everyone present.\n\nAf ter the DPD left\, a crowd of onlookers began looting an adjacent clothing store. Shortly thereafter\, full-scale looting began throughout the neigh borhood. This looting escalated into a city-wide uprising that involved sh ootouts between rioters and police officers.\n\nThe violence escalated thr oughout the next day\, resulting in some 483 fires and 1\,800 arrests. Tho usands of guns were stolen from stores. Firefighters attempting to put out fires were shot at\, police brutality was rampant. Even when thousands of federal troops were sent to occupy Detroit\, the rioting could not be que lled until July 28th.\n\n43 people were killed in total\, most of whom wer e black. Among the dead was a four year old girl named Tanya Blanding\, sh ot and killed by Sgt. Mortimer J. LeBlanc after he fired indiscriminately into her mother's apartment. LeBlanc was exonerated by the state.\n\nThe s cale of the riot was the worst in the United States since the 1863 New Yor k City draft riots during the American Civil War and was not surpassed unt il the 1992 Los Angeles riots 25 years later. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1967_Detroit_riot RESOURCES:https://detroithistorical.org/learn/encyclopedia-of-detroit/upri sing-1967 RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/detroit-race- riot-1967/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Scranton General Strike (1877) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250723 DTEND:20250724T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:General Strikes,Riots COMMENT:On this day in 1877\, as part of the Great Railroad Strike\, a gen eral strike broke out in Scranton\, Pennsylvania when railroad workers wal ked off the job\, quickly joined by thousands more from a variety of indus tries. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1877\, as part of the Great Railroad Strike\, a general strike broke out in Scranton\, Pennsylvania when railroad workers walked off the job\, quickly joined by thousands more from a variety of i ndustries.\n\nThe strike began on July 23rd when railroad workers walked o ff the job in protest of recent wage cuts\, a strike that continued into m id-November. By July 26th\, it grew to include thousands of workers from a variety of industries\, including brakemen\, firemen\, mill workers\, and miners.\n\nViolence erupted on August 1st after thousands of angry strike rs rioted\, looting stores\, assaulting the mayor\, and clashing with a lo cal pro-business militia. The militia shot into the crowd (depicted above) \, leaving four dead and many more wounded.\n\nThe next day\, National Gua rd arrived to Scranton and imposed martial law\, later aided by federal tr oops. Comparatively minor acts of violence continued throughout the strike and associated riots. The occupying military forces left the area at the end of October\, signaling an end to the uprising. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scranton_general_strike RESOURCES:https://www.nytimes.com/1877/07/25/archives/a-general-strike-at- scranton-the-employes-of-the-lackawanna-iron.html RESOURCES:https://libraries.psu.edu/about/collections/pinkertons-national- detective-agency-reports-scranton-pa-riots-1877 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Arvida Strike (1941) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250724 DTEND:20250725T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1941\, 700 workers from the aluminium company Alcan in Arvida\, Québec went on a wildcat strike - more than 4\,500 workers i llegally occupied the factory the next day and had to be forced out with f ederal troops. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1941\, 700 workers from the aluminium company A lcan in Arvida\, Québec went on a wildcat strike - more than 4\,500 worke rs illegally occupied the factory the next day and had to be forced out wi th federal troops.\n\nThe catalyst for the strike were cuts from pay envel opes the previous day\, as well as a stifling heat wave. Since the industr y had been classified as essential to the war effort\, the strike was ille gal under federal law.\n\nWhen the Minister of Munitions and Supply told t he press that 300 men had seized the factory and "enemy sabotage" was susp ected\, two companies of soldiers were sent to Arvida to "protect" the fac tory.\n\nWork resumed four days later\, with negotiations taking place wit h the union acting as an intermediary. The company made amends several day s later by giving a slight increase in salaries and cost-of-living bonuses . RESOURCES:https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/arvida-strike RESOURCES:https://www.utpjournals.press/doi/abs/10.3138/CHR/86.4.619 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Blas Roca Calderio (1908 - 1987) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250724 DTEND:20250725T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Labor,General Strikes,Birthdays COMMENT:Blas Roca Calederio\, born on this day in 1908\, was a leading Cub an communist revolutionary and radical journalist. Roca helped lead the 19 33 general strike that ousted Gerardo Machado and served in Fidel Castro's revolutionary government. DESCRIPTION:Blas Roca Calederio\, born on this day in 1908\, was a Cuban c ommunist revolutionary and radical journalist. Roca helped lead the 1933 g eneral strike that ousted Gerardo Machado\, and served in Fidel Castro's r evolutionary government.\n\nBorn into a poor family\, Roca began working a t age eleven\, shining shoes. According to Castro\, Roca was already a pro minent communist organizer in the province of Oriente at 21 years old.\n\n At age 25\, Roca helped lead a two week general strike that ousted dictato r Gerardo Machado. By 1936\, he was head of the Cuban Communist Party and began serving as a politican\, helping author the 1940 Cuban Constitution. \n\nUnder Roca's leadership\, Cuban communists were instrumental in provid ing an organizational and ideological structure for Castro's revolution\, as well as playing a pivotal role using the party's long-standing ties wit h the Soviet Union to promote increasingly closer ties during the early da ys of the revolution.\n\nIn 1961\, Blas Roca\, leading a party delegation\ , presented a Cuban flag to Nikita Khrushchev during a meeting of the Comm unist Party of the Soviet Union. Roca served on the first central committe e and politburo of the new Communist Party of Cuba\, founded in 1965. RESOURCES:https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blas_Roca RESOURCES:https://www-cuba-cu.translate.goog/gobierno/discursos/1987/esp/f 260487e.html?_x_tr_sch=http&_x_tr_sl=es&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto= sc END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Chinese Steel Workers Riot (2009) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250724 DTEND:20250725T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Riots COMMENT:On this day in 2009\, a group of Chinese steel workers at Tonghua Iron and Steel Group rioted and beat their general manager to death after being informed that 25\,000 workers would lose their jobs in a private tak eover of the company. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 2009\, a group of Chinese steel workers at Tong hua Iron and Steel Group rioted and beat their general manager to death af ter being informed that 25\,000 workers would lose their jobs in a private takeover of the company.\n\nThe private takeover was to be done by the Be ijing-based Jianlong Steel\, one of the country's largest private producer s of steel. After steel prices increased\, Jianlong sought to acquire a ma jority stake in Tonghua.\n\nThe amount of workers involved in the riot is anywhere from 1\,000 - 30\,000 (depending on the source)\, but\, in any ca se\, enraged workers beat Jianlong general manager Chen Guojun to death af ter he informed them of the takeover. Workers also blocked first responder s from reaching the scene.\n\nThe violence took place in the context of a larger protest in which workers had rushed into the factory and halted pro duction. RESOURCES:https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/jul/27/china-steel-worker s-boss-beaten RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/article/chinese-workers-beat-capitalist-death END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Nikolay Chernyshevsky (1828 - 1889) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250724 DTEND:20250725T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Marxism,Birthdays COMMENT:Nikolay Chernyshevsky\, born on this day in 1828\, was a Russian j ournalist\, novelist\, and socialist philosopher who authored the influent ial novel "What Is to Be Done?"\, an inspiration for the pamphlet by Vladi mir Lenin. DESCRIPTION:Nikolay Chernyshevsky\, born on this day in 1828\, was a Russi an journalist\, novelist\, and socialist philosopher who authored the infl uential novel "What Is to Be Done?"\, an inspiration for the pamphlet by V ladimir Lenin.\n\nWhile attending Saint Petersburg University\, Chernyshev sky became politically radicalized\, developing revolutionary\, democratic \, and materialist views. As a young man\, he sympathized with the 1848 re volutions throughout Europe.\n\nFrom 1851 to 1853\, he taught Russian lang uage and literature at the Saratov Gymnasium and openly expressed his beli efs to students\, some of whom later became revolutionaries.\n\nIn 1862\, he was arrested and confined in the Fortress of St. Peter and Paul\, where he wrote his widely influential novel "What Is to Be Done?" The novel was an inspiration to many later Russian revolutionaries\, who sought to emul ate the novel's hero Rakhmetov\, who was wholly dedicated to the revolutio n\, ascetic in his habits\, and highly disciplined.\n\nFyodor Dostoyevsky was so bothered by the political and psychological ideas expressed in the book that he wrote his "Notes from Underground" as a critical reaction aga inst them.\n\nChernyshevsky was a dominant intellectual figure of the 1860 s revolutionary democratic movement in Russia despite spending much of his later life in exile to Siberia\, and was later praised by figures such as Karl Marx\, Georgi Plekhanov\, and Vladimir Lenin.\n\n"But does it really help if a person doesn't realize what he lacks\, or\, if he does\, he ins ists that he doesn't need it at all? That's an illusion\, a fantasy. Human nature is stifled by reason\, circumstances\, and pride. It keeps silent and doesn't make itself known to one's consciousness\, all the while silen tly doing its work of undermining life."\n\n- Nikolay Chernyshevsky RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolay_Chernyshevsky RESOURCES:https://spartacus-educational.com/RUSchernyshevsky.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Emmett Till (1941 - 1955) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250725 DTEND:20250726T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Civil Rights,Birthdays COMMENT:Emmett Till\, born on this day in 1941\, was a black child torture d and lynched by white supremacists in Mississippi at 14 years old. His ki llers sold the story of how they murdered him for $4\,000 after being acqu itted by an all-white jury. DESCRIPTION:Emmett Till\, born on this day in 1941\, was a black child tor tured and lynched by white supremacists in Mississippi at 14 years old. Hi s killers sold the story of how they murdered him for $4\,000 after being acquitted by an all-white jury.\n\nEmmett was born in Chicago to Mamie Car than\, a working class woman from Tallahatchie County\, Mississippi\, wher e the average annual income for a black family was $462 (equivalent to $4\ ,700 in 2016 dollars). In 1955\, Till's great-uncle visited the family in Chicago and told Emmett stories about the Mississippi Delta\, leading Emme tt to plan a visit.\n\nTill arrived in Money\, Mississippi\, on August 21s t\, 1955. On the 24th\, Till and his friends visited a store owned by a wh ite couple. Till was accused of whistling at and approaching the wife\, Ca rolyn Bryant\, while at the store.\n\nFacts of Till's interaction with Bry ant are disputed\, however many of the accusations - that Till put his han ds on Bryant\, that he made lewd comments at her\, or that he bragged to h is friends about having had sex with a white woman - have been withdrawn b y the people who initially made them. Till's mother has also stated that s he taught Emmett to whistle to help with his stutter\, which he developed after a bout with polio.\n\nAfter word broke out that an interaction had t aken place between Till and Bryant\, Carolyn's husband\, Roy Bryant\, and his half-brother\, J.W. Milam abducted Emmett\, tortured him\, shot him\, and threw his corpse into the Tallahatchie River. Following Till's disappe arance\, civil rights activists Medgar Evers and Amzie Moore went undercov er as cotton pickers to try and locate him.\n\nThree days after his abduct ion and murder\, Till's swollen and disfigured body was found by two boys who were fishing in the Tallahatchie River. His head was very badly mutila ted\, he had been shot above the right ear\, an eye was dislodged from the socket\, there was evidence that he had been beaten on the back and the h ips\, and his body weighted by a fan blade\, which was fastened around his neck with barbed wire.\n\nMamie decided to have an open-casket funeral\, saying: "There was just no way I could describe what was in that box. No w ay. And I just wanted the world to see." Tens of thousands of people lined the street outside the mortuary to view Till's body\, and days later thou sands more attended his funeral at Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ. \n\nIn the lead-up to Bryant and Milam's trial\, local newspapers falsely reported that there were riots at Till's funeral\, and depicted both men s miling in military uniforms. On September 23rd\, 1955\, an all-white\, all -male jury (both women and blacks had been explicitly banned) acquitted Br yant and Milam after a 67-minute deliberation. One juror said "If we hadn' t stopped to drink pop\, it wouldn't have taken that long."\n\nProtected a gainst double jeopardy\, Bryant and Milam quickly struck a deal with "Look " magazine in 1956 to tell their story for approximately $4\,000 ($35\,000 in 2016 dollars).\n\nEmmett Till's murder became a flashpoint in the Amer ican civil rights movement\; the Montgomery Bus Boycott began in December later that year after Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat for a white p erson. Parks stated "I thought of Emmett Till and I just couldn't go back. "\n\nMyrlie Evers\, the widow of Medgar Evers\, said in 1985 that Till's c ase resonated so strongly because it "shook the foundations of Mississippi - both black and white\, because...with the white community...it had beco me nationally publicized...with us as blacks...it said\, even a child was not safe from racism and bigotry and death." RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/till-emmett-1 941-1955/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmett_Till END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Kate Austin (1864 - 1902) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250725 DTEND:20250726T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Anarchism COMMENT:Kate Austin\, born on this day in 1864\, was an American journalis t and anarchist feminist known for her essay "Woman"\, which disparaged sc ientific efforts to prove women's inferiority to men and urged society to abandon sexist customs. DESCRIPTION:Kate Austin\, born on this day in 1864\, was an American journ alist and anarchist feminist known for her essay "Woman"\, which disparage d scientific efforts to prove women's inferiority to men and urged society to abandon sexist customs.\n\nBorn in LaSalle County\, Illinois\, Austin lived in the American Midwest for most of her life. In 1883\, her father d iscovered Lucifer\, an anarchist/free love journal published by the femini st Moses Harman. This influence coupled with the Haymarket Riot of 1886 po litically radicalized Austin\, bringing her to call herself an anarchist a nd a feminist.\n\nAustin joined the American Press Writers Association\, a nd her work increased as she came in contact with many well known radical writers and lecturers of her time\, keeping her busy reading and writing. She contributed to the magazine Lucifer\, as well as The Firebrand\, Free Society\, Discontent\, and The Demonstrator.\n\n"As for intelligence\, my sex has already experimented with that ingredient\, and found it like moth er Eve's forbidden fruit: Very Good."\n\n- Kate Austin RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kate_Austin RESOURCES:https://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/w9gk7h END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Tuskegee Experiments Leak Published (1972) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250725 DTEND:20250726T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1972\, whistleblower Peter Buxtun\, a social worker and epidemiologist\, leaked the story of the Tuskegee Experiments to the Washington Star\, leading to a national scandal and the study's quick term ination. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1972\, whistleblower Peter Buxtun\, a social wo rker and epidemiologist\, leaked the story of the Tuskegee Experiments to the Washington Star\, leading to a national scandal and the study's quick termination.\n\nThe "Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Mal e"\, more commonly known as the Tuskegee Experiments\, was an unethical st udy done by United States Public Health Service (PHS) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)\, where black study participants were not told of their syphilitic condition\, given toxic treatments\, and fal sely told they were receiving free healthcare from the federal government. Lasting from 1932 until 1972\, all of its participants were poor\, rural black men with very limited access to health information.\n\nIn November 1 966\, Buxtun had filed an official protest on ethical grounds with the PHS 's "Division of Venereal Diseases" and another protest in November 1968\, however his concerns were dismissed both times. In 1968\, black statistici an and PHS employee William Carter Jenkins also called for an end to the s tudy in his magazine The Drum.\n\nIt wasn't until Buxtun leaked the story to the Washington Star that the study became public knowledge and a nation al scandal. In 1974\, as part of the settlement of a class action lawsuit filed by the NAACP on behalf of study participants and their descendants\, the U.S. government paid $10 million ($51.8 million in 2019) and agreed t o provide free medical treatment to surviving participants and surviving f amily members infected as a consequence of the study.\n\nThe Tuskegee Expe riments were not the only syphilis experiments performed by the U.S. gover nment against non-white people - from 1946 to 1948\, the U.S. conducted a similar study in Guatemala in which doctors infected soldiers\, prostitute s\, prisoners and mental patients with syphilis and other sexually transmi tted diseases\, without the informed consent of the subjects\, leading to at least 83 deaths.\n\nThe Guatemalan experiments were led by physician Jo hn Charles Cutler\, who also participated in the late stages of the Tuskeg ee syphilis experiment. Cutler never faced criminal charges for his action s. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuskegee_Syphilis_Study RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/tuskegee-syph ilis-experiment-1932-1972/ RESOURCES:https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2017/05/16/you ve-got-bad-blood-the-horror-of-the-tuskegee-syphilis-experiment/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Battle of the Viaduct (1877) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250726 DTEND:20250727T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Riots,Protests COMMENT:The Chicago Railroad Strike was a series of work stoppages and civ il unrest in Illinois which culminated in a crowd of more than 10\,000 pro testers battling with federal troops on this day in 1877. Dozens were kill ed. DESCRIPTION:The Chicago Railroad Strike of 1877 was a series of work stopp ages and civil unrest in Illinois which culminated in a crowd of more than 10\,000 protesters battling with federal troops on this day that year. Th e episode of labor unrest was part of the broader\, national strikes and r ioting of the Great Railroad Strike of 1877.\n\nOn July 24th and 25th\, va rious industries began to go on strike\, and Chicago's local government pr epared for unrest as other cities across the nation grappled with general strikes and rioting.\n\nLarge crowds\, up to 25\,000 people\, began to gat her and demand various labor reforms. On July 26th\, 1877\, violent clashe s between protesters and police reached a fever pitch in the "Battle of th e Viaduct"\, where cops and members of the crowd exchanged gunfire.\n\nBy that evening\, the police had successfully dispersed crowds throughout the city. 14 to 30 rioters were dead or dying\, while between 35 to 100 civil ians and 9 to 13 policemen were wounded. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_railroad_strike_of_1877 RESOURCES:http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/1037.html END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Bolsheviks Adopt Democratic Centralism (1917) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250726 DTEND:20250727T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Marxism COMMENT:On this day in 1917\, the "Sixth Party Congress of the Russian Soc ial-Democratic Labour Party" began in Petrograd\, wherein the Bolshevik mo vement formally defined and adopted the Leninist concept of democratic cen tralism. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1917\, the "Sixth Party Congress of the Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party" began in Petrograd\, wherein the Bolshevi k movement formally defined and adopted the Leninist concept of democratic centralism.\n\nAlthough the idea of democratic centralism was originally outlined in Vladimir Lenin's "What is To Be Done?" 1902 political pamphlet \, it was at this meeting the concept was officially defined and adopted b y the Bolsheviks.\n\nThe Congress defined democratic centralism as follows :\n\n- That all directing bodies of the Party\, from top to bottom\, shall be elected.\n\n- That Party bodies shall give periodical accounts of thei r activities to their respective Party organizations.\n\n- That there shal l be strict Party discipline and the subordination of the minority to the majority.\n\n- That all decisions of higher bodies shall be absolutely bin ding on lower bodies and on all Party members.\n\nThe concept is sometimes briefly surmised as "freedom of discussion\, unity of action"\, and was i ntended to prevent factions forming within the party. When the Bolsheviks consolidated power following the Russian Civil War\, Lenin and other Bolsh evik leaders instituted a ban on factions in the party during the 10th Par ty Congress of 1921.\n\nThe concept was widely influential in other commun ist movements\; for example\, it was adopted in Article 3 of the Constitut ion of the People's Republic of China.\n\nLibertarian socialists have been critical of the practice\, with anarchist writer Scott Nappolas calling d emocratic centralism "the organizational theory of a rising ruling class". RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_centralism RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1901/witbd/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Carlos Castillo Armas (1914 - 1957) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250726 DTEND:20250727T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Assassinations COMMENT:On this day in 1957\, anti-communist Guatemalan leader Carlos Cast illo Armas was assassinated by a leftist member of the Presidential Guard\ , causing instability that led to the Guatemalan Civil War\, killing ~200\ ,000 civilians. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1957\, anti-communist Guatemalan leader Carlos Castillo Armas was assassinated by a leftist member of the Presidential Gu ard\, causing instability that led to the Guatemalan Civil War\, killing ~ 200\,000 civilians.\n\nArmas had seized power with the aid of the U.S. Cen tral Intelligence Agency (CIA) in a 1954 coup against democratically elect ed leader Jacobo Árbenz\, ending an almost ten year period of representat ive democracy in the country.\n\nÁrbenz was a social reformer whose gover nment had instituted\, among many other reforms\, land redistribution\, ea rning the ire of the United Fruit Company (UFCO) and the U.S. government.\ n\nAfter Armas consolidated his power in an October 1954 election in which he was the only candidate\, Árbenz's popular agricultural reform was lar gely rolled back\, with land confiscated from small farmers and returned t o large landowners.\n\nHe also created a National Committee of Defense Aga inst Communism\, which investigated over 70\,000 people and added 10% of t he population to a list of suspected communists. Armas cracked down on uni ons and peasant organizations\, arresting and killing thousands\, often ju stifying the repression in the name of anti-communism.\n\nOn July 26th\, 1 957\, Armas was assassinated by Romeo Vásquez Sánchez\, a member of the presidential guard. After killing Armas\, Sánchez fled into a different r oom and committed suicide.\n\nFollowing Armas's death\, a period of violen t political instability followed\, with the U.S. backing state forces whil e leftist insurgents waged guerilla warfare against the state during the G uatemalan Civil War (1960 - 1996).\n\nThe Civil War killed more than 200\, 000 civilians. Though crimes against civilians were committed by both side s\, 93% of these atrocities were committed by the U.S.-backed military\, i ncluding a genocidal scorched-earth campaign against the indigenous Maya p opulation during the 1980s. Historians have attributed the violence of the civil war to the 1954 coup and the "anti-communist paranoia" that it gene rated. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Castillo_Armas RESOURCES:https://dspace.calstate.edu/bitstream/handle/10211.9/1455/Thesis FinalDraftFormated.pdf?sequence=1 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Castro Leads July 26th Attack (1953) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250726 DTEND:20250727T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Marxism COMMENT:On this day in 1953\, the Cuban Revolution began when approximatel y 150 revolutionaries\, led by Fidel and Raúl Castro\, attacked two Cuban military installations\, a battle that became the namesake of the "July 2 6th Movement". DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1953\, the Cuban Revolution began when approxim ately 150 revolutionaries\, led by Fidel and Raúl Castro\, attacked two C uban military installations\, a battle that became the namesake of the "Ju ly 26th Movement".\n\nThe rebels were decisively defeated: nine died in th e fighting\, fifty-six were executed\, and Fidel himself was captured (sho wn) and sentenced to fifteen years in prison.\n\nIn his subsequent trial\, Fidel gave what is now known as his "History Will Absolve Me" speech\, ne arly four hours long\, ending with the words "Condemn me\, it does not mat ter. History will absolve me." Both Fidel and Raúl were later released as a part of general amnesty for political prisoners.\n\nThe surviving revol utionaries fled to Mexico and began organizing to overthrow the Batista go vernment. Several years later\, they succeeded\, finally ousting Batista o n December 31st\, 1958\, replacing his government with a revolutionary soc ialist state. Castro's 26th of July Movement later reformed along Marxist- Leninist lines\, becoming the Communist Party in October of 1965.\n\nThe C uban Revolution had powerful domestic and international repercussions. In particular\, it made Cuba's relationship with the United States\, which ha d been dominating the island's economy since 1901\, significantly more ant agonistic.\n\nImmediately following the revolution\, Castro's government i nitiated sweeping nationalization and social welfare campaigns\, transform ing Cuba's economy and civil society. Castro's government also highly prio ritized international aid\, providing more medical personnel to the develo ping world than all the G8 countries combined\, according to authors Rober t Huish and John M. Kirk.\n\nToday is celebrated in Cuba as the Day of the Revolution ("Dia de la Revolución"). RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuban_Revolution RESOURCES:https://www.jacobinmag.com/2015/06/cuban-revolution-fidel-che-ra ul-castro/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:International Conference to Assist Spanish Republicans (1936) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250726 DTEND:20250727T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Fascism COMMENT:On this day in 1936\, an international conference was held in Prag ue to arrange assistance for revolutionary Spanish Republicans\, leading t o the formation of volunteer anti-fascist troops such as the Lincoln Batta lion (shown). DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1936\, an international conference was held in Prague to arrange assistance for revolutionary Spanish Republicans\, leadi ng to the formation of volunteer anti-fascist troops such as the Lincoln B attalion (shown).\n\nThe conference decided to raise an international brig ade of 5\,000 men and a fund of 1 billion francs. The Communist Internatio nal immediately reinforced its activity sending to Spain its leader Georgi Dimitrov\, as well as Palmiro Togliti\, the chief of the Communist Party of Italy.\n\nFrom August onward\, aid was sent from Russia: more than one ship a day arrived at Spain's Mediterranean ports carrying munitions\, rif les\, machine guns\, hand grenades\, artillery\, trucks\, and Soviet agent s and technicians.\n\nThe conference led to the formation of international brigades of volunteer forces\, including the American Lincoln Battalion ( shown). Similar groups included the George Washington Battalion and the Jo hn Brown Battery (both American)\, while Latin American and Irish troops f ormed the Centuria Guttieras and the Connolly Column\, respectively.\n\nAl though the politics of the Lincoln Battalion skewed to the left\, the one unifying trait of those who joined was a hatred for fascism. They were als o inexperienced and not well trained\, suffering heavy casualties during t he war.\n\nAmerican Canute Frankson explained his decision to join in a le tter written on July 6th\, 1937:\n\n"I'm sure that by this time you are st ill waiting for a detailed explanation of what has this international stru ggle to do with my being here. Since this is a war between whites who for centuries have held us in slavery\, and have heaped every kind of insult a nd abuse upon us\, segregated and Jim-Crowed us\; why I\, a Negro who have fought through these years for the rights of my people\, am here in Spain today?\n\n...Because if we crush Fascism here we'll save our people in Am erica\, and in other parts of the world from the vicious persecution\, who lesale imprisonment\, and slaughter which the Jewish people suffered and a re suffering under Hitler's Fascist heels.\n\n...We will build us a new so ciety - a society of peace and plenty. There will be no color line\, no ji m-crow trains\, no lynching. That is why\, my dear\, I’m here in Spain." RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_Battalion RESOURCES:https://spartacus-educational.com/SPlincoln.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Tragic Week (1909) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250726 DTEND:20250727T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:General Strikes,Colonialism COMMENT:On this day in 1909\, a general strike broke out in Catalonia to p rotest conscription imposed by the Spanish government. The government decl ared a state of war and put down the rebellion with the Army\, killing mor e than 100 civilians. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1909\, a general strike broke out in Catalonia to protest conscription imposed by the Spanish government. The government declared a state of war and put down the rebellion with the Army\, killing more than 100 civilians. The series of clashes between working class radi cals and government forces is known as the "Tragic Week".\n\nThe uprising' s immediate cause was Premier Antonio Maura attempting to bring out reserv e troops as reinforcements to bolster Spanish military-colonial activity i n Morocco. Many of these reservists were the only breadwinners for their f amilies\, while the wealthy were able to hire substitutes.\n\nThese action s\, coupled with anarchist\, anti-militarist\, and anti-colonial philosoph ies shared by many in the city\, resulted in the calling of a general stri ke against Maura's attempt at conscription. By the next day\, workers had occupied much of central Barcelona\, halting troop trains and overturning trams. Just a few days later\, there was street fighting\, with a general eruption of riots\, strikes\, and the burning of convents.\n\nThe Spanish government declared a "state of war" and used the national army to put dow n the rebellion by force. Over one hundred civilians were killed and more than 1\,700 individuals were indicted in military courts for "armed rebell ion". RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragic_Week_(Spain) RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/files/The%20tragic%20week\,%20Spain%201909.pd f END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Albert Goodwin Murdered (1918) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250727 DTEND:20250728T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Socialism,Labor,General Strikes COMMENT:On this day in 1918\, Canadian socialist and labor activist Albert "Ginger" Goodwin was murdered by police while avoiding his draft into Wor ld War I by hiding out in the hills of Cumberland\, British Columbia. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1918\, Canadian socialist and labor activist Al bert "Ginger" Goodwin was murdered by police while avoiding his draft into World War I by hiding out in the hills of Cumberland\, British Columbia.\ n\nBorn in Yorkshire\, England on May 10th\, 1887\, Goodwin immigrated to Canada in 1909\, at the age of 19\, working as a coal miner in Nova Scotia .\n\nIn Canada\, he organized with the Socialist Party of Canada and becam e a notable labor leader during the 1912–1914 Coal Miner's Strike agains t Canadian Collieries. Following the strike\, he was blacklisted and was f orced to move away from Cumberland to find work.\n\nIn 1916\, he joined th e Mining and Smelter workers Union and was elected as Secretary for the Tr ail chapter. Following his involvement with trade unions\, Goodwin entered politics running as a candidate for the Socialist Party of Canada in the 1916 British Columbian election\, although he did not win.\n\nAs World War I broke out\, Goodwin became an outspoken advocate against the draft\, in itially refusing to sign up. Eventually\, he was compelled to be drafted\, and\, after exhausting multiple appeals against his conscription\, he fle d into the hills of Cumberland\, British Columbia.\n\nOn July 27th (some s ources say July 26th)\, Goodwin was shot and killed by a member of the Dom inion Police\, who had ventured into the hills surrounding Comox Lake to l ocate men evading the draft and arrest them for their evasion. The officer who killed Goodwin successfully claimed self-defense in court\, although it is unknown how the two actually encountered each other.\n\nIn protest t o his murder\, the first general strike in Canada\, the Vancouver General Strike\, took place on August 2nd\, 1918. In 2015\, a film about his life titled "Goodwin's Way" was released.\n\n"War is simply part of the process of Capitalism. Big financial interests are playing the game. They'll reap the victory\, no matter how the war ends."\n\n- Albert Goodwin RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Goodwin RESOURCES:https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/albert-goodwin END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Battle of Negro Fort (1816) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250727 DTEND:20250728T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1816\, American forces\, along with their Creek all ies\, destroyed the "Negro Fort"\, an abandoned British military fort mann ed by free black men\, fugitive slaves\, and Seminole warriors\, killing h undreds. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1816\, American forces\, along with their Creek allies\, destroyed the "Negro Fort"\, an abandoned British military fort manned by free black men\, fugitive slaves\, and Seminole warriors\, killi ng hundreds.\n\nWhen withdrawing at the end of the War of 1812\, the Briti sh Commander Edward Nicolls intentionally left the fully-armed fort in the hands of troops that were largely free black men and fugitive slaves. Als o at the Fort were Creek and Choctaw allies who had served alongside the B ritish during the war.\n\nAs Nicolls hoped\, the fort\, near the Southern border of the United States\, became a center and symbol of resistance to American slavery. The "Negro Fort" was the largest instance before the Ame rican Civil War in which fugitive slaves took up arms against the U.S. gov ernment that sought to enslave them.\n\nOn July 27th\, American forces act ing on orders from General Andrew Jackson committed to an all-out attack a gainst the fort. From a boat on the river\, the American forces used red-h ot shot\, trying to start a fire. A shot landed in the powder magazine\, w hich ignited\, blowing up the fort and killing over 270 people instantly.\ n\nCaptured black survivors were re-enslaved in Georgia. The largest group of survivors took refuge further south\, in Angola\, Florida. Others foun ded Nicholls Town in the Bahamas.\n\nSecretary of State John Quincy Adams later justified the attack and subsequent seizure of Spanish Florida by An drew Jackson as national "self-defense". Seminole anger at the U.S. for th e fort's destruction contributed to the breakout of the First Seminole War a year later. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negro_Fort RESOURCES:https://arthurashe.ucla.edu/2016/07/27/massacre-unveiled-remembe ring-the-negro-fort/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Cuban General Strike (1933) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250727 DTEND:20250728T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,General Strikes,Assassinations,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1933\, Havana bus drivers went on strike for better working conditions\, a labor action that quickly grew into an anti-govern ment general strike throughout Cuba\, ousting dictator Gerardo Machado two weeks later. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1933\, Havana bus drivers went on strike for be tter working conditions\, a labor action that quickly grew into an anti-go vernment general strike throughout Cuba\, ousting dictator Gerardo Machado two weeks later.\n\nThe uprising took place in the context of the violent resistance to the government of Gerardo Machado. For two years prior to t his campaign there was a militant struggle to oust him which included gun battles\, bombings\, and political assassinations.\n\nTwo days after Havan a bus drivers went on strike\, they were joined by inter-city drivers who struck in solidarity. Soldiers fired on demonstrators in Havana on August 1st\, killing two\, and\, on the same day in Santa Clara\, shops and theat ers closed.\n\nWhen police attacked a group of striking teachers\, more tr ansportation workers went on strike\, soon joined by workers from a variet y of industries. By early August\, railway workers\, hotel and restaurant workers\, physicians\, bakers\, cigarmakers\, and state utility workers we re all striking in protest of the state.\n\nWhen an underground radio stat ion controlled by an anti-Machado resistance group falsely claimed that Ma chado had resigned and called for a huge public demonstration\, a mob marc hed on the Presidential Palace.\n\nPolice began to fire on the crowd befor e the marchers could reach the palace\, killing twenty protesters. Seeing the public support against Machado\, the military decided to switch sides\ , placing Havana under military control on August 9th. Machado resigned an d fled the country two days later. RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/1933-cuban-general-strike RESOURCES:https://nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu/content/cubans-general-strike- overthrow-president-1933 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:McAlester Prison Riot (1973) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250727 DTEND:20250728T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Riots COMMENT:On this day in 1973\, prisoners at the underfunded and overcrowded Oklahoma State Prison in McAlester seized control of the facility\, takin g 21 hostages and demanding amnesty\, press coverage\, and meetings with l awyers from the ACLU. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1973\, prisoners at the underfunded and overcro wded Oklahoma State Prison in McAlester seized control of the facility\, t aking 21 hostages and demanding amnesty\, press coverage\, and meetings wi th lawyers from the ACLU. The McAlester Riot is considered by many to be o ne of the worst prison riots in U.S. history.\n\nConditions at the prison were terrible: more than 2\,200 people were crowded into the prison (nearl y ten times recommended by a post-riot investigation) and correctional off icers were generally underpaid and poorly trained.\n\nThe crowding issue w as made worse by Oklahoma governor David Hall's refusal to sign parole rec ommendations for drug offenders and individuals convicted of violent crime s.\n\nOn July 27th\, 1973\, inmates in the mess hall attacked several pris on officials and took approximately twenty-one prison officials were held hostage. By that evening\, the inmates had seized the hospital and set the prison on fire.\n\nPrisoners released the hostages 24 hours after the upr ising began\, but retained control of the facility until August 4th. When the riot was over\, three inmates had been killed and more than $20 millio n in damage had been done to twenty-four buildings. Despite the violence\, conditions at the prison were not sufficiently improved to prevent more r iots - another riot occurred at the Oklahoma State Prison in December 1985 . RESOURCES:https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=MC002 RESOURCES:https://oklahomawatch.org/2013/07/25/three-days-of-mayhem-the-mc alester-prison-riot/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Anne Braden (1924 - 2006) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250728 DTEND:20250729T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays COMMENT:Anne Braden\, born on this day in 1924\, was an American civil rig hts activist and educator who\, along with her husband Carl\, was arrested several times for breaking the law in the name of racial equality. DESCRIPTION:Anne Braden\, born on this day in 1924\, was an American civil rights activist and educator who\, along with her husband Carl\, was arre sted several times for breaking the law in the name of racial equality.\n\ nRaised in the rigidly segregated Anniston\, Alabama\, Braden grew up in a white\, middle-class family that accepted southern racism\, later experie ncing a "a conversion of almost religious intensity" and becoming an anti- racist activist.\n\nIn 1954\, Andrew and Charlotte Wade\, a black couple w ho knew Anne and her husband Carl Braden\, approached them with a proposal to buy a house on their behalf in a suburb in which they couldn't purchas e a home due to Jim Crow laws.\n\nThe Bradens agreed to the deal\, and\, o n the Wades' first night in the new suburbs\, angry residents burned a cro ss in their yard and shot out the windows to the house. Six weeks later\, the Wades' new house was dynamited one evening while they were out.\n\nAft er a sensationalized trial\, her husband Carl Braden - the perceived ringl eader - was convicted of sedition and sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment\ , although the Supreme Court ruled the laws on which he was convicted unco nstitutional and he was freed after eight months.\n\nLater in life\, Anne Braden joined Jesse Jackson's "Rainbow/PUSH Coalition" and continued her s ocial activism. In 2005\, a year before her death\, she joined Louisville antiwar demonstrations in a wheelchair. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Braden RESOURCES:https://snccdigital.org/people/anne-carl-braden/ RESOURCES:https://crossculturalsolidarity.com/the-life-of-anne-braden-part -one-finding-her-way-to-the-movement/ RESOURCES:https://www.zinnedproject.org/materials/anne-braden-southern-pat riot END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Bonus Army Evicted (1932) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250728 DTEND:20250729T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1932\, Washington D.C. police and the U.S. Army bat tled with WWI veterans camped out at the capitol who were demanding early payment of their service bonus\, killing three people and wounding fifty-f ive more. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1932\, Washington D.C. police and the U.S. Army battled with WWI veterans camped out at the capitol who were demanding ea rly payment of their service bonus\, killing three people and wounding fif ty-five more.\n\nThe so-called "Bonus Army" was a group of 43\,000 demonst rators\, made up of 17\,000 U.S. World War I veterans\, together with thei r families and affiliated groups\, who gathered in Washington\, D.C. in mi d-1932 to demand early cash redemption of their service certificates.\n\nM ost of the Bonus Army camped in a "Hooverville" on the Anacostia Flats\, a swampy\, muddy area across the Anacostia River from the federal core of W ashington (now Section C of Anacostia Park). Approximately 10\,000 veteran s\, women and children lived in the shelters\, built from materials dragge d out of a junk pile nearby\, including old lumber\, packing boxes\, and s crap tin\, which covered roofs of thatched straw.\n\nOn this day in 1932\, President Hoover ordered the Secretary of War to disperse the protesters. When the veterans returned after being pushed out the first time\, police fired on them\, killing two. Federal troops were called in and\, armed wi th bayonets and tear gas\, they moved to evict the Bonus Army by force.\n\ nIn the mayhem that followed\, 55 veterans were injured\, 135 were arreste d\, and one three month old baby died. The incident was politically disast rous for President Hoover\, who lost the election that year to Franklin De lano Roosevelt.\n\nIn 1933\, another Bonus Army marched on Washington D.C. \, but FDR\, perhaps learning from his predecessor's mistakes\, created a camp for the soldiers and fed them. He offered the veterans jobs with the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)\, and those who chose not to work for th e CCC were given transportation home. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonus_Army RESOURCES:https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/bonus-army-attacked/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Hugo Chávez (1954 - 2013) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250728 DTEND:20250729T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Marxism,Birthdays COMMENT:Hugo Chávez\, born on this day in 1954\, was a socialist leader o f Venezuela\, serving as the country's President from 1999 to 2013. Over t hat period\, Chávez's government abolished illiteracy and codified health care as a human right. DESCRIPTION:Hugo Chávez\, born on this day in 1954\, was a socialist lead er of Venezuela\, serving as the country's President from 1999 - 2013. Dur ing that period\, Chávez's government abolished illiteracy and codified h ealthcare as a human right.\n\nChávez was born to schoolteachers in the r ural village of Sabaneta. While serving in the Venezuelan military as a yo ung man\, Chávez began reading Marxist literature which had been left beh ind by leftist insurgents his unit had been tasked with dispatching. By ag e 21\, he came to recognize the need for a leftist government in Venezuela .\n\nIn 1982\, while still active in the military\, Chávez founded the Re volutionary Bolivarian Movement-200 (EBR-200)\, inspired by Latin American revolutionaries Ezequiel Zamora\, Simón Bolívar\, and Simón Rodríguez .\n\nIn 1992\, EBR-200 attempted a coup to oust President Carlos Andrés P érez\, who had reneged on campaign promises and begun instituting economi c policies of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The coup attempt fail ed\, killing fourteen people. Although Chávez was imprisoned\, this incid ent helped him become a symbol of anti-corruption for working class Venezu elans.\n\nIn 1994\, Chávez was pardoned by President Rafael Caldera and w ent on a 100-day speaking tour\, promoting the Bolivarian cause of social revolution. He visited Argentina\, Uruguay\, Chile\, Colombia\, and Cuba\, befriending Fidel Castro.\n\nIn 1998\, Chávez won an election for the Ve nezuelan Presidency with 56% of the vote\, promising widespread social and economic reforms. He would go on to serve as President from 1999 until hi s death from cancer in 2013 at age 58.\n\nIn 2002\, Chávez fired executiv es of the state-run oil company Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA). Foll owing violent protests between anti- and pro- government forces\, the Vene zuelan military attempted a coup\, kidnapping Chávez. This was met with a massive pro-Chávez uprising from the public\, and he was re-instated to power after just 47 hours.\n\nChávez's government succeeded in abolishing illiteracy\, expanding access to social services such as healthcare and e ducation\, and established rights that protected indigenous cultural pract ices.\n\nChávez was subjected to particularly vehement criticism from lib eral institutions and intellectuals. British Trotskyist Alan Woods wrote t hat the "media campaign of vilification against Chávez had no precedent i n modern history". Some of this criticism comes from institutions such as the "Freedom House"\, a majority U.S. government funded think tank based o ut of Washington D.C.\, and "Bloomberg"\, a newspaper named after and majo rity controlled by American oligarch Michael Bloomberg.\n\n"The capitalist model\, the developed model\, the consumer model which comes from the Nor th\, which it has forced on the world\, is falling apart on Earth\, and th ere is no planet nearby that we can emigrate to."\n\n- Hugo Chávez RESOURCES:https://www.marxist.com/five-years-on-the-revolutionary-legacy-o f-hugo-chavez.htm RESOURCES:https://thetricontinental.org/dossier-61-chavez/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Ch%C3%A1vez END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Lucy Burns (1879 - 1966) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250728 DTEND:20250729T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Feminism,Birthdays COMMENT:Lucy Burns\, born on this day in 1879\, was an American suffragist and women's rights advocate who was arrested and force-fed multiple times as part of a campaign of direct action in the United Kingdom and United S tates. DESCRIPTION:Lucy Burns\, born on this day in 1879\, was an American suffra gist and women's rights advocate who was arrested and force-fed multiple t imes as part of a campaign of direct action in the United Kingdom and Unit ed States.\n\nShe was born on July 28th\, 1879\, to an affluent Irish Cath olic family in New York. Burns was a prodigious student who studied at the universities of Yale and Columbia in the United States\, Oxford in the Un ited Kingdom\, and Bonn and Berlin in Germany.\n\nBurns became involved in suffragette activism while traveling in Britain\, becoming employed by an d organizing with the Women's Social and Political Union.\n\nWorking with her friend Alice Paul\, Burns engaged in multiple acts of rebellion while in Britain\, getting arrested and force-fed when attempting to hunger stri ke. When Burns refused to open her mouth\, the feeding tube was inserted u p her nostril\, causing severe nosebleeds.\n\nOne incident involving Burns and Paul that led to such treatment was crashing the London Lord Mayor's Ball\, mingling with guests before approaching Winston Churchill with a hi dden banner shouting "How can you dine here while women are starving in pr ison?"\n\nBurns and other suffrage activists in the U.S. successfully got Congress to vote on a women's suffrage amendment in 1918\, however it narr owly failed in the Senate. It was later passed and officially ratified on August 18th\, 1920.\n\nAfter achieving this goal\, Burns stated "I don't w ant to do anything more. I think we have done all this for women\, and we have sacrificed everything we possessed for them\, and now let them fight for it now. I am not going to fight anymore" and retired from public life. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucy_Burns RESOURCES:https://www.loc.gov/collections/women-of-protest/articles-and-es says/selected-leaders-of-the-national-womans-party/visionaries/ RESOURCES:https://suffragistmemorial.org/lucy-burns-1879-1966/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Mulford Act (1967) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250728 DTEND:20250729T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1967\, the Mulford Act became law in California wit h bipartisan support\, banning the public carrying of firearms after the B lack Panthers began conducting armed patrols of Oakland communities to def end them from police. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1967\, the Mulford Act became law in California with bipartisan support\, banning the public carrying of firearms after t he Black Panthers began conducting armed patrols of Oakland communities to defend them from police.\n\nPrior to this law\, it was legal in the state of California to bear arms in public. The Panthers used this to their adv antage when "copwatching" in their communities - armed Panthers would patr ol the neighborhood and swarm on scene to arrests shortly after they began \, informing the arrestee of their constitutional rights.\n\nThe Mulford A ct\, dubbed the "Panther Bill" by the media\, enjoyed bipartisan support f rom both Republicans and Democrats. Before the law was passed\, armed Pant hers occupied the California capitol building to protest it on May 2nd (sh own). The group was arrested on felony charges of conspiracy to disrupt a legislative session\, but were able to plea down to various misdemeanors.\ n\nThe Act was signed into law by then governor Ronald Reagan\, and is sti ll in effect today as California penal code 25850.\n\n"The Mulford Act [wi ll] work no hardship on the honest citizen."\n\n- Ronald Reagan RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mulford_Act RESOURCES:https://www.pbs.org/hueypnewton/actions/actions_capitolmarch.htm l END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:U.S. Occupies Haiti (1915) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250728 DTEND:20250729T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Assassinations,Imperialism COMMENT:On this day in 1915\, the U.S. occupation of Haiti began when\, on orders from President Woodrow Wilson\, 330 Marines landed at Port-au-Prin ce after the country's leader was assassinated. The imperialist occupation lasted until 1934. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1915\, the U.S. occupation of Haiti began when\ , on orders from President Woodrow Wilson\, 330 Marines landed at Port-au- Prince after the country's leader was assassinated. The imperialist occupa tion lasted until 1934.\n\nHaiti had already been suffering from U.S. impe rialism and political turmoil prior to the invasion. In 1914\, U.S. Marine s stole $500\,000 in gold from the country's National Bank. Haiti's leader \, President Vilbrun Guillaume Sam\, had also recently been killed by insu rgents angered by state-sanctioned murders of his political opposition.\n\ nPresident Wilson ordered the invasion to "protect American and foreign" i nterests and also wanted to rewrite the Haitian constitution\, which banne d foreign ownership of land\, and replace it with one that guaranteed Amer ican financial control. To avoid public criticism\, Wilson claimed the occ upation was a mission to "re-establish peace and order...and has nothing t o do with any diplomatic negotiations of the past or the future".\n\nWhen the Haitian legislature refused to ratify a new constitution that allowed foreigners to own land there\, the U.S.-backed President Dartiguenave diss olved the legislature and the constitution became law. U.S. occupiers also re-instituted a system of slavery known as civil conscription ("impressed labor")\, in which Haitian civilians were captured and forced to work on public projects and established the National Guard.\n\nThe U.S. military o ccupation of Haiti continued until August 15th\, 1934. According to the U. S. State Department's Office of the Historian\, the invasion's result was this: "The United States gained complete control over Haitian finances\, a nd the right to intervene in Haiti whenever the U.S. Government deemed nec essary." RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_occupation_of_Haiti RESOURCES:https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/07/30/100 -years-ago-the-u-s-invaded-and-occupied-this-country-can-you-name-it/ RESOURCES:https://www.studysmarter.co.uk/explanations/history/us-history/u s-occupation-of-haiti/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Dr. John Britton Murdered (1994) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250729 DTEND:20250730T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Assassinations,Civil Rights,Feminism COMMENT:On this day in 1994\, Dr. John Britton was murdered by a far-right anti-abortionist in Pensacola\, Florida. Britton\, who had replaced Dr. D avid Gunn after he was murdered the previous year\, had armed himself afte r receiving death threats. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1994\, Dr. John Britton was murdered by a far-r ight anti-abortionist in Pensacola\, Florida. Britton\, who had replaced D r. David Gunn after he was murdered the previous year\, had armed himself after receiving death threats.\n\nAfter Gunn's assassination by an anti-ab ortionist\, Dr. Britton began flying across the state of Florida to Pensac ola weekly in order to perform abortions at the Pensacola Ladies' Center. He continued to provide abortions even after receiving harassment and deat h threats\, and began wearing a homemade bulletproof vest\, carrying a .35 7 Magnum\, and enlisted volunteer bodyguards to protect himself.\n\nAs Bri tton arrived at the clinic on July 29th\, 1994\, an anti-abortionist shot him dead with a twelve-gauge shotgun. The assassin also killed Britton's b odyguard\, retired Air Force lieutenant colonel James Barrett (aged 74)\, and wounded Barrett's wife\, June\, a retired nurse.\n\nBritton's killer b ecame the first American executed for assassinating a doctor who was provi ding abortion services. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Britton_(doctor) RESOURCES:https://rarehistoricalphotos.com/doctor-john-britton-1993/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Tavio Amorin Assassinated (1992) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250729 DTEND:20250730T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Socialism,Pan-Africanism,Assassinations COMMENT:Tavio Amorin was a Togolese socialist politician\, Pan-Africanist\ , and human rights activist who was likely assassinated by state police on this day in 1992. DESCRIPTION:Tavio Amorin was a Togolese socialist politician\, Pan-African ist\, and human rights activist who was likely assassinated by Togolese st ate police on this day in 1992. Amorin organized with the Togolese Pan-Afr ican Socialist Party\, a movement associated with figures like Kwame Ture\ , Julius Nyerere\, and Marcus Garvey.\n\nIn the 1980s\, Amorin studied eng ineering in France. In 1991\, after increasingly strong pressure from the Togolese public\, President Eyadéma decided to legalize political parties .\n\nShortly afterward\, the "Haut Conseil de la République" (English: Hi gh Council of the Republic\, HCR) was formed\, which Tavio participated in after his return to Togo. There\, he became an outspoken critic of the go vernment. In his role as the Chair of Political Affairs\, Human Rights\, a nd Liberties Commission\, he worked to expose the human rights abuses comm itted by the Togolese state\, and sought systemic reforms.\n\nOn July 29th \, 1992\, Amorin died of gunshot wounds sustained on the 23rd\, when he wa s visiting a relative. He died at the age of 34\, leaving behind a wife an d a one year old child.\n\n"I am fighting against all forms of tribalism a nd make no distinction between the north and south of Togo."\n\n- Tavio Am orin RESOURCES:https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/140000/afr570201999en .pdf RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tavio_Amorin END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Arizona Copper Mine Strike (1983) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250730 DTEND:20250731T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:On this day in 1983\, workers of the copper-producing Phelps Dodge Corporation in Arizona went on strike\, beginning a bitter strike that la sted three years\, defeated in the biggest mass de-certification of unions in U.S. history. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1983\, workers of the copper-producing Phelps D odge Corporation in Arizona went on strike\, beginning a bitter strike tha t lasted three years\, defeated in the biggest mass de-certification of un ions in U.S. history.\n\nThe Arizona Copper Mine Strike of 1983 took place in the context of a global drop in copper prices\, and began after negoti ations between Phelps Dodge and their workers fell through.\n\nThe labor a ction lasted nearly three years and was a major turning point in U.S. labo r history - Phelps Dodge managed to keep copper production going during th e strike\, most of the striking workers were permanently replaced\, and 35 locals of 13 different unions representing Phelps Dodge workers were dece rtified in Arizona\, New Mexico\, and Texas\, the largest mass de-certific ation in U.S. history.\n\nAlthough there had been no fatalities during the strike\, various acts and threats of violence increased the political pre ssure on Democratic Governor Bruce Babbitt to intervene. Despite having st ated "Phelps Dodge has the worst record in labor relations of any company that has ever operated in Arizona"\, Babbitt sent 750 National Guard and s tate police officers to the area to protect business operations.\n\nAfter a crowd of 1\,000 armed protesters shut down the copper plant on threat of violence\, ten strikers were arrested in Ajo and charged with rioting\, f urther weakening the strike. The strike officially ended on February 19th\ , 1986\, when the National Labor Relations Board rejected appeals from the unions attempting to halt decertification. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arizona_copper_mine_strike_of_1983 RESOURCES:https://uapress.arizona.edu/2018/08/on-the-great-arizona-copper- strike-1983-1986 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:C.T. Vivian (1924 - 2020) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250730 DTEND:20250731T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Civil Rights,Birthdays COMMENT:Cordy Tindell Vivian\, born on this day in 1924\, was an American minister\, author\, and close friend and lieutenant of Martin Luther King\ , helping organizing the first Nashville sit-ins and participating in the 1961 Freedom Rides. DESCRIPTION:Cordy Tindell Vivian\, born on this day in 1924\, was an Ameri can minister\, author\, and close friend and lieutenant of Martin Luther K ing\, helping organizing the first Nashville sit-ins and participating in the 1961 Freedom Rides.\n\nVivian also helped found the Nashville Christia n Leadership Conference and worked alongside Martin Luther King Jr. as the national director of affiliates for the Southern Christian Leadership Con ference (SCLC).\n\nDuring the summer following the Selma Voting Rights Mov ement\, Vivian conceived and directed an educational program "Vision"\, an d put 702 Alabama students in college with scholarships\, a program later became "Upward Bound".\n\nVivian died from natural causes on July 17th\, 2 020\, two weeks before his 96th birthday and on the same day that his frie nd and fellow civil rights activist John Lewis died.\n\n"People do not cho ose rebellion\, it is forced upon them. Revolution is always an act of sel f- defense."\n\n- C.T. Vivian RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._T._Vivian RESOURCES:https://www.npr.org/2020/07/17/892393102/rev-ct-vivian-a-civil-r ights-pioneer-dies-at-95 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Jacob Joseph Funeral Riot (1902) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250730 DTEND:20250731T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Riots COMMENT:On this day in 1902\, a massive funeral procession for Rabbi Jacob Joseph in New York City\, attended by more than 50\,000 Jews\, was attack ed by a group of factory workers and police. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1902\, a massive funeral procession for Rabbi J acob Joseph in New York City\, attended by more than 50\,000 Jews\, was at tacked by a group of factory workers and police.\n\nThe procession descend ed into chaos as funeral-goers passed by a factory\, whose workers began t o chuck debris at the procession from above. Jews threw the missiles back and\, when some entered the factory to try and get the abuse to stop\, the police were called and they were hosed down in an attempt to get them to leave.\n\nAs the melee escalated into a full-scale riot\, hundreds of New York City policemen arrived and proceeded to pummel and arrest the mourner s rather than the instigators. Factory workers poured out into the streets and joined the police in beating Jewish mourners.\n\nAlthough historians have cited this anti-Semitic riot as a vivid example of Catholic Irish ant i-Semitism\, noting that both the workers and policemen were "predominantl y Irish"\, recent historical research shows that the factory workers were mostly German\, not Irish. RESOURCES:https://www.jstor.org/stable/25144476?seq=1 RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_Joseph#Death END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Marie-Louise Giraud Executed (1943) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250730 DTEND:20250731T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Fascism COMMENT:Marie-Louis Giraud was a working class French woman who was execut ed on this day 1943 for providing abortions during the reign of the Nazi V ichy Regime. In 1988\, a film based on her life was released - "Story of W omen". DESCRIPTION:Marie-Louis Giraud was a working class French woman who was ex ecuted on this day 1943 for providing abortions during the reign of the Na zi Vichy Regime. In 1988\, a film based on her life was released - "Story of Women".\n\nGiraud was born on July 30th\, 1903 to a poor family and set tled in the port city of Cherbourg. She cleaned houses and worked as a lau ndress to support her family.\n\nIn 1939\, the French government increased the criminal penalties for abortion\, as World War II had caused a signif icant decline in the birth rate. Along these lines\, the Vichy Regime (for med in 1940) created propaganda posters stating "The Family is the Foundat ion of Society".\n\nWhen the Nazis occupied Cherbourg in June 1940\, there was an influx of prostitutes to the area and Giraud rented rooms out to t hem. She performed abortions on 27 women\, including one who died in Janua ry 1942. An anonymous letter detailing Giraud's activities written in Octo ber 1942 led to her arrest.\n\nSuch was the prominence of Giraud's trial t hat the head of the Vichy Regime\, Philippe Pétain\, called her an immora l woman himself She was guillotined on July 30th\, 1943\, the last woman t o be executed by the Nazi French government.\n\nGiraud's story was dramati zed in the 1988 film Story of Women\, directed by Claude Chabrol. The film premiered at the 45th Venice International Film Festival\, in which Isabe lle Huppert was awarded the prize for best actress. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie-Louise_Giraud RESOURCES:https://historycollection.com/last-woman-guillotined-world-war-i i-concentration-camp-survivor-lead-legalization-abortion-france/2/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:New Orleans Massacre (1866) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250730 DTEND:20250731T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Massacre COMMENT:On this day in 1866\, the New Orleans Massacre took place when a d elegation of 130 black city residents marching with the U.S. flag were att acked by a white lynch mob\, including police\, led by ex-Confederate Mayo r John T. Monroe. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1866\, the New Orleans Massacre took place when a delegation of 130 black city residents marching with the U.S. flag were attacked by a white lynch mob\, including police\, led by ex-Confederate Mayor John T. Monroe.\n\nWhile the violence was typical of numerous racial conflicts during Southern Reconstruction\, this incident took on special significance\, galvanizing national opposition to the moderate Reconstruct ion policies of President Andrew Johnson and ushering in the much more swe eping Congressional Reconstruction in 1867.\n\nThe riot took place outside the Mechanics Institute in New Orleans as black and white delegates atten ded the Louisiana Constitutional Convention. As a delegation of 130 black New Orleans residents marched behind the U.S. flag toward the Mechanics In stitute\, Mayor John T. Monroe (who had supported the Confederacy) organiz ed and led a mob of ex-Confederates and members of the New Orleans Police force to the Institute to block their way.\n\nOnce the marchers reached th e Institute\, the police and white mob members attacked them\, beating som e of the marchers while others rushed inside the building for safety. As t he firing continued\, some delegates attempted to flee or surrender.\n\nSo me of those who surrendered\, mostly black people\, were killed on the spo t. Those who ran were chased\, and the killing spread over several blocks around the Institute. Altogether\, 238 people were killed and 46 were woun ded\, including 200 black Union veterans. RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/new-orleans-m assacre-1866/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Orleans_massacre_of_1866 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Sadah and Badawi Arrested (2018) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250730 DTEND:20250731T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Feminism COMMENT:On this day in 2018\, Saudi Arabian women's rights activists Nassi ma al-Sadah and Samar Badawi were arrested in a government crackdown of po litical activists\, serving three years in prison. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 2018\, Saudi Arabian women's rights activists N assima al-Sadah and Samar Badawi were arrested in a government crackdown o f political activists\, serving three years in prison. Both were released in June 2021.\n\nNassima al-Sadah is a Shia human rights writer and activi st from Qatif\, Saudi Arabia. She has campaigned for civil and political r ights\, women's rights and the rights of the Shi'a minority. In 2012\, she \, along with other prominent Saudi Arabian activists Samar Badawi and Man al al-Sharif\, filed a lawsuit against the Saudi Arabian government for th e right of women to drive.\n\nOn July 30th\, 2018\, Sadah and Badawi were arrested by Saudi authorities in a government crackdown on "activists\, cl erics and journalists"\, including many of those involved in the Saudi ant i male-guardianship campaign. In June 2021\, Sadah and Badawi were release d after serving nearly three years in prison. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nassima_al-Sadah RESOURCES:https://www.omct.org/human-rights-defenders/urgent-interventions /saudi-arabia/2020/03/d25746/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Smedley Butler (1881 - 1940) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250730 DTEND:20250731T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Imperialism COMMENT:General Smedley Butler\, born on this day in 1881 and one of the m ost decorated Marines in U.S. history\, was a prominent critic of American imperialism\, stating that he was a "gangster for capitalism" in his text "War is a Racket". DESCRIPTION:General Smedley Butler\, born on this day in 1881 and one of t he most decorated Marines in U.S. history\, was a prominent critic of Amer ican imperialism\, stating that he was a "gangster for capitalism" in his text "War is a Racket".\n\nDuring his 34-year career as a Marine\, Butler participated in military actions in the Philippines\, China\, Central Amer ica and the Caribbean during the Banana Wars\, and France in World War I.\ n\nIn 1933\, Butler revealed the "Business Plot"\, testifying to Congress that a group of wealthy industrialists were planning a military coup to ov erthrow President Franklin D. Roosevelt\, with Butler selected to lead a m arch of veterans and become dictator.\n\nAlthough the accused individuals denied the existence of a plot\, a final report by a special House of Repr esentatives Committee confirmed some of Butler's testimony.\n\nToday\, But ler is most remembered for his text "War is a Racket" and associated anti- imperialist speeches in which he vehemently condemned U.S. military action s. Of his service\, he wrote the following:\n\n"I spent thirty-three years and four months in active military service as a member of this country's most agile military force\, the Marine Corps...And during that period\, I spent most of my time being a high class muscle-man for Big Business\, for Wall Street and for the Bankers. In short\, I was a racketeer\, a gangste r for capitalism." RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smedley_Butler RESOURCES:https://ratical.org/ratville/CAH/warisaracket.html RESOURCES:https://newrepublic.com/article/164825/smedley-butler-marine-cri tic-american-empire END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Jean Jaurès Assassinated (1914) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250731 DTEND:20250801T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Socialism,Assassinations COMMENT:On this day in 1914\, prominent French socialist Jean Jaurès was assassinated by a nationalist at the outbreak of World War I after returni ng from a diplomatic meeting in Brussels where he had advocated against th e coming war. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1914\, prominent French socialist Jean Jaurès was assassinated by a nationalist at the outbreak of World War I after ret urning from a diplomatic meeting in Brussels where he had advocated agains t the coming war.\n\nInitially a moderate republican\, Jaurès was later o ne of the first social democrats\, eventually becoming the leader of the F rench Socialist Party\, which opposed Jules Guesde's revolutionary Sociali st Party of France. The two parties merged in 1905 in the French Section o f the Workers' International (SFIO).\n\nToday\, a key aspect of his legacy is his anti-militarism. Jaurès was an early opponent of the draft and de sperately tried to prevent war between France and Germany before World War I\, going so far as to try and organize a general strike in both countrie s to force their leaders to negotiate diplomatically.\n\nIn 1914\, Jaurès returned to Paris from a diplomatic meeting in Brussels to advocate again st the coming war. He was assassinated by a French nationalist at the outb reak of World War I\, and remains a key figure in the history of the Frenc h Left.\n\n"Tradition does not mean to look after the ash\, but to keep th e flame alive."\n\n- Jean Jaurès RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Jaur%C3%A8s RESOURCES:https://spartacus-educational.com/FWWjaures.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Maji Maji Rebellion Begins (1905) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250731 DTEND:20250801T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Colonialism COMMENT:On this day in 1905\, Matumbi tribesmen in colonial German East Af rica (modern Tanzania) destroyed cotton crops and a trading post in the ci ty of Samanga\, beginning the Maji Maji Rebellion. German repression kille d 250\,000-300\,000 people. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1905\, Matumbi tribesmen in colonial German Eas t Africa (modern Tanzania) destroyed cotton crops and a trading post in th e city of Samanga\, beginning the Maji Maji Rebellion. German repression k illed 250\,000-300\,000 people.\n\nThe Maji Maji Rebellion (Swahili: "Vita vya Maji Maji")\, was an armed rebellion of Islamic and Animist Africans against German colonial rule\, triggered by a colonial policy designed to force the indigenous population to grow cotton for export.\n\nIn the days leading up to the rebellion\, a spirit medium named Kinjikitile Ngwale dev eloped a belief that the people of German East Africa had been called upon to eliminate the Germans. After the Matumbi tribesmen attacked Samanga\, Kinjikitile was arrested. Before being executed\, he stated that he had al ready spread the "medicine of rebellion" throughout the region.\n\nThe res ulting war lasted two years\, with the Germans successfully putting the re bellion down by force. As a means to weaken the rebellion\, German soldier s deliberately orchestrated a famine by destroying available food sources\ , devastating the region and killing hundreds of thousands of people.\n\nS uch was the scale of this destruction that\, in 1953\, journalist John Gun ther noted "even today the Southern Province of Tanganyika\, the 'Cinderel la Province\,' has not fully recovered from the German terror half a centu ry ago. The economy of the region has never been successfully rebuilt".\n\ nAlthough Tanzania demanded reparations from Germany for these atrocities in 2017\, the German government has not paid them as of July 2021. RESOURCES:https://scholarblogs.emory.edu/violenceinafrica/sample-page/the- maji-maji-rebellion-2/ RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/maji-maji-upris ing-1905-1907/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maji_Maji_Rebellion END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Washington Navy Yard Strike (1835) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250731 DTEND:20250801T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Riots COMMENT:On this day in 1835\, the first strike of federal civilian employe es in the U.S. began when workers at the Washington Navy Yard went on stri ke for a ten-hour day\; the strike devolved into a race riot and failed to achieve its demands. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1835\, the first strike of federal civilian emp loyees in the U.S. began when workers at the Washington Navy Yard went on strike for a ten-hour day\; the strike devolved into a race riot and faile d to achieve its demands.\n\nThe strike\, known as the Washington Navy Yar d Strike\, lasted just over two weeks and was part of the ten-hour day mov ement. Workers also demanded a redress of grievances such as newly imposed lunch hour regulations.\n\nThe striking workforce was all-white and took out its frustrations on nearby black communities. On August 12th\, workers formed a lynch mob and rioted in the nation's capital\, terrorizing the f ree black community there for days\, until President Andrew Jackson ended the race riot by force.\n\nIn what is now known as the "Snow Riot"\, white workers attacked establishments run by free black people\, such as school s\, churches\, and businesses. The riot caused public support for the stri ke to wane\, and the black community received no compensation and little p ublic sympathy for the violence they suffered.\n\nFive years later\, in 18 40\, all public workers finally received a ten hour day by order of Presid ent Martin Van Buren. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1835_Washington_Navy_Yard_labor_st rike RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_Riot RESOURCES:https://www.riotacts.org/stories/snowriot.html RESOURCES:https://blackandeducation.org/stories/2017/8/7/the-riot-of-1835- washington-dc END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Whitney Young Jr. (1921 - 1971) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250731 DTEND:20250801T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Civil Rights,Birthdays COMMENT:Whitney Young Jr.\, born on this day in 1921\, was a civil rights leader known for his aggressive organizing with the National Urban League and proposal of a "domestic Marshall Plan" to alleviate poverty in black c ommunities. DESCRIPTION:Whitney Young Jr.\, born on this day in 1921\, was a civil rig hts leader known for his aggressive organizing with the National Urban Lea gue and proposal of a "domestic Marshall Plan" to alleviate poverty in bla ck communities.\n\nYoung spent most of his career working to end employmen t discrimination in the United States and turning the National Urban Leagu e from a relatively cautious and passive civil rights organization into on e that more aggressively lobbied the U.S. government and business leaders to provide equitable access to socioeconomic opportunity.\n\n"The hardest work in the world is being out of work."\n\n- Whitney Young Jr. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitney_Young RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/young-jr-whit ney-m-1921-1971/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Angelo Sbardellotto (1907 - 1932) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250801 DTEND:20250802T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Anarchism,Fascism COMMENT:Angelo Sbardellotto\, born on this day in 1907\, was an Italian an archist executed by the state for plotting to assassinate Benito Mussolini \; he refused to ask for clemency\, instead telling the court he regretted not succeeding in his plan. DESCRIPTION:Angelo Sbardellotto\, born on this day in 1907\, was an Italia n anarchist executed by the state for plotting to assassinate Benito Musso lini\; he refused to ask for clemency\, instead telling the court he regre tted not succeeding in his plan.\n\nSbardellotto was born into a poor fami ly who was compelled to emigrate to find work. Angelo and his father also left Italy in October 1924\, living in France\, Luxembourg\, and Belgium\, where Angelo worked as a miner and a machine hand.\n\nWhile working as a miner\, he joined the anarchist committee of Liege\, and was active in the activities to bring about the general strike in Belgium in solidarity wit h framed Italian-American anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti.\n\nAlready under surveillance as a suspected communist subversive\, Sbardellotto was stoppe d by police in Piazza Venezia\, Rome in 1932 and was found to be armed wit h two rudimentary bombs and a pistol\, as well as possession of a Swiss pa ssport.\n\nAdmitting to having entered Italy clandestinely with the intent of avenging socialist Michael Schirru by killing Mussolini (Schirru himse lf had attempted to assassinate Mussolini)\, he was interrogated and likel y tortured by police before his trial a week later on June 11th.\n\nWhen S bardellotto's lawyer requested that he write to Mussolini directly to ask for his life to be spared\, he refused\, stating that he was only sorry th at he had not carried out the attempt on Mussolini. On June 17th\, 1932\, at twenty-four years old\, he was put in front of the firing squad at the Bretta Fort. He refused last rites from a priest. His last words before be ing shot were "Long live anarchy!" RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/sbardellotto-angelo-pellegrino-1907-1 932 RESOURCES:https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angelo_Pellegrino_Sbardellotto END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Denise Oliver-Velez (1947 - ) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250801 DTEND:20250802T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays COMMENT:Denise Oliver-Velez\, born on this day in 1947\, is a former membe r of both the Young Lords and Black Panthers\, as well as an American prof essor\, activist\, and community organizer. DESCRIPTION:Denise Oliver-Velez\, born on this day in 1947\, is a former m ember of both the Young Lords and Black Panthers\, as well as an American professor\, activist\, and community organizer. Oliver-Velez is an adjunct Professor of Anthropology and Women's Studies at State University of New York (SUNY) New Paltz.\n\nOliver-Velez was a member of both the Young Lord s and the Black Panther Party (BPP)\, and fought to make the Young Lords a n organization more conscious of women's liberation\, stating "Machismo wi ll never be fucking revolutionary". In 1970\, Oliver-Velez was appointed a s Minister of Economic Development\, becoming the highest ranking woman in the Young Lords.\n\nIn addition to her activism with the Young Lords\, Ol iver-Velez was also an AIDS movement activist\, publishing ethnographic re search as part of HIV/AIDS intervention projects. She has also worked in p ublic broadcasting and community media for many years\, becoming a program director and co-founder of WPFW-FM in Washington\, D.C.\, Pacifica Radio' s first minority-controlled station.\n\nOliver-Velez is featured in the fe minist history film "She's Beautiful When She's Angry". RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denise_Oliver-Velez RESOURCES:http://www.shesbeautifulwhenshesangry.com/denise-oliver-velez RESOURCES:https://www.blackwomenradicals.com/blog-feed/machismo-will-never -be-fucking-revolutionary-on-the-radical-rebelliousness-of-denise-oliver-v elez END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Frank Little Lynched (1917) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250801 DTEND:20250802T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:IWW COMMENT:Frank H. Little was an American labor leader and organizer with th e IWW who\, on this day in 1917\, was sprung from jail and lynched in Butt e\, Montana. 10\,000 workers lined the route of his funeral procession. DESCRIPTION:Frank H. Little was an American labor leader and organizer wit h the IWW who\, on this day in 1917\, was sprung from jail and lynched in Butte\, Montana. 10\,000 workers lined the route of his funeral procession .\n\nIn the months before Little's death\, he had been helping organize co pper workers in a strike against the Anaconda Copper Company and speaking out against World War I\, calling it a "rich man's war and a poor man's fi ght".\n\nIn the early hours of August 1st\, six masked men broke into the boardinghouse where Little was staying and beat\, kidnapped\, and lynched him by tying him to the back of a speeding car. No one was apprehended for his murder\, although IWW members alleged members of the local police wer e involved\, noting that Butte's chief of detectives\, Ed Morrissey\, took a three week leave of absence after Little's death.\n\nAn estimated 10\,0 00 workers lined the route of Frank Little's funeral procession\, which wa s followed by 3\,500 more people. His funeral is still the largest ever in Butte history. RESOURCES:https://archive.iww.org/history/biography/FrankLittle/1/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Little_(unionist) END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Mother Jones (1837 - 1930) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250801 DTEND:20250802T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,IWW COMMENT:Mary "Mother" Jones\, baptized on this day in 1837\, was an Irish- born American schoolteacher and dressmaker who became a prominent and mili tant union organizer in American labor movement. "I'm not a humanitarian\, I'm a hell-raiser." DESCRIPTION:Mary "Mother" Jones\, baptized on this day in 1837\, was an Ir ish-born American schoolteacher and dressmaker who became a prominent and militant union organizer in American labor movement. "I'm not a humanitari an\, I'm a hell-raiser." Jones helped coordinate major strikes and co-foun ded the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW).\n\nFighting to abolish chil d labor was one of Jones' flagship issues. In 1903\, Jones organized child ren who were working in mills and mines to participate in a "Children's Cr usade"\, a march from Kensington\, Philadelphia to Oyster Bay\, New York\, the hometown of President Theodore Roosevelt with banners demanding "We w ant to go to school and not the mines!"\n\nMother Jones was present during the Paint Creek-Cabin Creek strike of 1912 in West Virginia\, speaking an d organizing there despite a shooting war between United Mine Workers memb ers and the private army of the mine owners.\n\nJones was arrested on Febr uary 13th\, 1913\, brought before a military court\, and accused of conspi ring to commit murder among other charges. She was sentenced to twenty yea rs in the state penitentiary\, but released after eighty-five days.\n\n"I' m not a humanitarian\, I'm a hell-raiser."\n\n- Mother Jones RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother_Jones RESOURCES:https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/ma ry-harris-jones END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Philadelphia Transit Strike (1944) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250801 DTEND:20250802T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Protests COMMENT:The Philadelphia Transit Strike of 1944 was a sickout strike by wh ite transit workers in Philadelphia that began on this day that year\, in protest of black employees being allowed to hold non-menial jobs during a wartime labor shortage. DESCRIPTION:The Philadelphia Transit Strike of 1944 was a sickout strike b y white transit workers in Philadelphia that began on this day that year\, in protest of black employees being allowed to hold non-menial jobs durin g a wartime labor shortage.\n\nThe strike was triggered by the decision of the Philadelphia Transportation Company (PTC)\, made under prolonged pres sure from the federal government\, to allow black employees to hold non-me nial jobs that were previously reserved for white workers only.\n\nThe str ike was widely unpopular with the public\, and paralyzed the public transp ort system in Philadelphia for several days\, bringing the city to a stand still and crippling its war production.\n\nInvoking the authority of the S mith-Connally Act\, President Roosevelt sent 8\,000 United States Army tro ops to the city to seize and operate the transit system\, and threatened t o draft any PRTEU member who did not return to the job within 48 hours.\n\ nThis act broke the strike\, and black workers were allowed to work in non -menial roles on the transit system. Historian Malcolm Ross later characte rized the strike as "the most expensive racial dispute of World War II". RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphia_transit_strike_of_194 4 RESOURCES:http://northerncity.library.temple.edu/exhibits/show/civil-right s-in-a-northern-cit/collections/philadelphia-transit-strike-of/what--the-p hiladelphia-transit END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Sid Hatfield Assassinated (1921) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250801 DTEND:20250802T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Assassinations COMMENT:William "Sid" Hatfield was a police chief of Matewan\, West Virgin ia who was supportive of coal miners' attempts to unionize\, for which he was assassinated on this day in 1921 by anti-labor Baldwin-Felts agents. DESCRIPTION:William "Sid" Hatfield was a police chief of Matewan\, West Vi rginia who was supportive of coal miners' attempts to unionize\, for which he was assassinated on this day in 1921 by anti-labor Baldwin-Felts agent s.\n\nAs a police officer in Matewan\, he had helped coal miners and their families resist the Baldwin-Felts agency\, which was an anti-union force who evicted working families from their homes and harassed strikers.\n\nHe is most known for his role in "The Battle of Matewan"\, a shootout betwee n Hatfield\, armed miners\, and Baldwin-Felts agents that killed ten peopl e. The shootout occurred when Hatfield and Albert Felts tried to arrest ea ch other\, which culminated in Hatfield killing Felts.\n\nHatfield was lat er assassinated by Baldwin-Felts agents while standing trial for murder\, which increased the tensions between coal miners and company owners. Altho ugh Hatfield was unarmed when he was gunned down by the agents\, his assas sins successfully avoided any conviction for their crime on the basis of s elf-defense. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sid_Hatfield RESOURCES:https://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/1576 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Gulf of Tonkin Incident (1964) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250802 DTEND:20250803T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1964\, the Gulf of Tonkin Incident occurred when th e American destroyer Maddox was damaged in North Vietnamese waters\, an ev ent the U.S. government lied about in order to justify military action aga inst Vietnam. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1964\, the Gulf of Tonkin Incident occurred whe n the American destroyer Maddox was damaged in North Vietnamese waters\, a n event the U.S. government lied about in order to justify military action against Vietnam.\n\nThe incident began when three North Vietnamese torped o boats were surveilling the American destroyer USS Maddox as it performed intelligence operations in North Vietnamese waters. The Maddox initiated the incident by opening fire\, shooting off three "warning" shots\; the No rth Vietnamese boats replied with torpedoes and machine gun fire.\n\nThe e xchange caused ten North Vietnamese casualties and damaged one U.S. helico pter\; there were no American casualties.\n\nIn response\, the U.S. Congre ss passed a "Gulf of Tonkin Resolution"\, which granted U.S. President Lyn don B. Johnson the authority to assist any Southeast Asian country whose g overnment was considered to be jeopardized by "communist aggression". The resolution served as Johnson's legal justification for deploying U.S. conv entional forces and the commencement of open warfare against North Vietnam .\n\nOn television\, President Johnson made misleading statements about th e incident and portrayed U.S. military escalation as an act of defense. Si nce then\, the Pentagon Papers\, the memoirs of Robert McNamara\, and NSA publications from 2005 have proven that the U.S. government lied about the nature of the incident to justify a war against Vietnam. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_of_Tonkin_incident RESOURCES:https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2014/08/07/tonk-a07.html END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Ilinden-Preobrazhenie Uprising (1903) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250802 DTEND:20250803T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Imperialism COMMENT:On this day in 1903\, 800 Bulgarian rebels associated with the Int ernal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO) seized the North Macedo nian town of Kruševo\, beginning the Ilinden–Preobrazhenie Uprising aga inst the Ottomon Empire. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1903\, 800 Bulgarian rebels associated with the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO) seized the North Ma cedonian town of Kruševo\, beginning the Ilinden–Preobrazhenie Uprising against the Ottomon Empire.\n\nThe name of the uprising refers to Ilinden \, another name for Elijah's Day (a Catholic commemoration of biblical pro phet Elijah)\, and to Preobrazhenie which means "Transfiguration".\n\nOrga nized by IMRO\, a revolutionary organization dedicated to achieving autono my for the regions of Macedonia and Adrianople from the Ottoman Empire\, t he revolt lasted from the beginning of August until the end of October\, c overing a vast territory from the eastern Black Sea to the shores of Lake Ohrid.\n\nAlthough the rebellion was successfully planned in secret\, taki ng the Ottomans by surprise\, many of its potential leaders had already be en arrested or killed by the Empire. The revolution was crushed by overwhe lming military force\, and Turkish forces slaughtered the civilian populat ion. Anarchist historian Georgi Khadziev wrote that 201 villages and 12\,4 00 houses were burned\, 4\,694 people killed\, and approximately 30\,000 r efugees fled to Bulgaria.\n\nThe survivors waged a guerrilla campaign for a few years\, but the greater effect of the rebellion was the creation of the Mürzsteg reforms\, which provided for foreign policing of the Macedon ia region\, financial compensation for victims of the violence\, and estab lishment of ethnic boundaries in the region. These reforms\, however\, did little to solve the crisis\, and the Empire lost nearly all of its Europe an territory in the Balkan Wars of 1912-13.\n\nToday\, August 2nd is a nat ional holiday in North Macedonia\, known as "Day of the Republic". There a re towns named after the rebellion's leaders in both Bulgaria and North Ma cedonia.\n\nWhen the uprising began\, IMRO issued a statement on its revol utionary aims. Here is a short excerpt:\n\n"We are taking up arms against tyranny and inhumanity\; we are fighting for freedom and humanity\; our ca use is thus higher than any national or ethnic differences. Therefore we e xpress our solidarity with all others who suffer in the Sultan's dark Empi re.\n\nToday it is not only the whole Christian population which suffers\, but ordinary Turkish villagers as well. Our only enemies are the Turkish authorities\, those who use arms against us\, betray us\, or who carry out acts of retaliation against helpless old people\, women and children rath er than against us\, the rebels. We will fight these enemies and avenge al l wrongs!" RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilinden%E2%80%93Preobrazhenie_Upri sing RESOURCES:http://www.savanne.ch/tusovka/en/will-firth/bulgaria.html END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:James Baldwin (1924 - 1987) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250802 DTEND:20250803T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Civil Rights COMMENT:James Baldwin\, born on this day in 1924\, was an American novelis t\, essayist\, poet\, and civil rights activist. "Not everything that is f aced can be changed\, but nothing can be changed until it is faced." DESCRIPTION:James Baldwin\, born on this day in 1924\, was an American nov elist\, essayist\, poet\, and civil rights activist. "Not everything that is faced can be changed\, but nothing can be changed until it is faced."\n \nBaldwin is known for\, among many other works\, his first novel "Go Tell It on the Mountain" (1953)\, the non-fiction text "The Fire Next Time" (1 963)\, and the unfinished manuscript "Remember This House"\, later adapted into the film "I Am Not Your Negro" by Raoul Peck.\n\nIn 1963\, Baldwin c onducted a lecture tour of the South for the Congress of Racial Equality ( CORE)\, traveling to places like Durham and Greensboro in North Carolina\, and New Orleans\, Louisiana.\n\nDuring the tour\, Baldwin lectured to stu dents\, white liberals\, and others about his thinking on matters of race\ , an ideological position between the "muscular approach" of Malcolm X and the non-violent program of Martin Luther King\, Jr according to Baldwin b iographer David Leeming.\n\nIn 1965\, Baldwin debated and defeated conserv ative William F. Buckley at Cambridge University on the motion of "Has the American Dream been achieved at the expense of the American Negro?"\, sta ting "I am stating this very seriously\, and this is not an overstatement - I picked the cotton\, and I carried it to market\, and I built the railr oads\, under someone else's whip\, for nothing. For nothing."\n\nBaldwin w as also an anti-capitalist who expressed hope that socialism would take ro ot in the United States. In 1972\, when asked "Do you think socialism will ever come to the U.S.A.?"\, Baldwin replied:\n\n"I would think so. I don' t see any other way for it to go. But then you have to be very careful wha t you mean by socialism. When I use the word I'm not thinking about Lenin for example...Bobby Seale talks about a Yankee Doodle-type socialism...So that a socialism achieved in America\, if and when we do...will be a socia lism very unlike the Chinese socialism or the Cuban socialism...\n\n...the price of any real socialism here is the eradication of what we call the r ace problem...Racism is crucial to the system to keep blacks and whites at a division so both were and are a source of cheap labor."\n\nAfter the as sassination of Dr. Martin Luther King\, Baldwin moved to Europe permanentl y\, passing away in France on December 1st\, 1987.\n\n"Not everything that is faced can be changed\, but nothing can be changed until it is faced."\ n\n- James Baldwin RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/baldwin-james -1924-1987/ RESOURCES:https://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/2994/the-art-of-fictio n-no-78-james-baldwin RESOURCES:https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/1982 RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Baldwin END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:PATCO Strike (1981) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250803 DTEND:20250804T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:On this day in 1981\, the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Org anization (PATCO) declared a strike\, seeking better working conditions\, better pay\, and less hours\, resulting in their mass firing and union dec ertification. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1981\, the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) declared a strike\, seeking better working condition s\, better pay\, and less hours\, resulting in their mass firing and union decertification.\n\nBy striking\, the union violated the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute\, which prohibits strikes by federal go vernment employees.\n\nDespite supporting PATCO in his 1980 campaign\, Ron ald Reagan declared their strike a "peril to national safety" and ordered them back to work under the terms of the Taft-Hartley Act. Reagan demanded those remaining on strike return to work within 48 hours or officially fo rfeit their positions.\n\nOnly 1\,300 of the nearly 13\,000 controllers re turned to their jobs\, with the remaining disobeying a federal court injun ction ordering an end to the strike.\n\nOn August 5th\, Reagan fired 11\,3 45 striking air traffic controllers who had ignored the order and banned t hem from federal service for life. PATCO was also decertified by the Feder al Labor Relations Authority a few months later. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professional_Air_Traffic_Controlle rs_Organization_(1968)#August_1981_strike RESOURCES:https://socialistworker.org/2011/02/25/lessons-of-the-patco-stri ke END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Pidjiguiti Massacre (1959) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250803 DTEND:20250804T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Colonialism,Massacre,Independence COMMENT:On this day in 1959\, the Pidjiguiti Massacre occurred when Portug uese police (PIDE) fired on striking dock workers in Bissau\, Portuguese G uinea\, killing 50 people. The incident led anti-colonial activists (PAIGC ) to abandon non-violence. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1959\, the Pidjiguiti Massacre occurred when Po rtuguese police (PIDE) fired on striking dock workers in Bissau\, Portugue se Guinea\, killing 50 people. The incident led anti-colonial activists (P AIGC) to abandon non-violence.\n\nWhen dock workers went on strike to seek higher pay\, their manager called the Portuguese state police (PIDE) to t he scene\, who fired into the crowd\, killing at least 50 people.\n\nThe g overnment blamed the anti-colonial group "Partido Africano para a Independ ência da Guiné e Cabo Verde" (PAIGC) for the labor unrest\, arresting se veral of its members. The incident caused PAIGC to abandon their campaign of non-violent resistance\, leading to the Guinea-Bissau War of Independen ce in 1963\, which culminated in independence for Cape Verde and all of Po rtuguese Africa.\n\nToday\, near the Pidjiguiti docks\, there is a large b lack fist known as the "Hand of Timba"\, which commemorates those killed t hat day. RESOURCES:https://www.dw.com/pt-002/carlos-correia-a-testemunha-do-massacr e-de-pidjiguiti/a-17656283 RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/history/etol/writers/newsinger/1981/xx/ africa.html END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Roger Casement Executed (1916) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250803 DTEND:20250804T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:Roger Casement was a human rights journalist and Irish revolutiona ry who was executed on this day in 1916 by the British state for treason a fter trying to acquire military aid for Irish Republicans before the Easte r Rising. DESCRIPTION:Roger Casement was a human rights journalist and Irish revolut ionary who was executed on this day in 1916 by the British state for treas on after trying to acquire military aid for Irish Republicans before the E aster Rising. Casement's work in the first decade of the 20th century expo sed imperialist atrocities in the Congo and Peru.\n\nCasement began his ca reer working for Henry Morton Stanley and the African International Associ ation\, a front for King Leopold II of Belgium in his efforts to colonize the Congo.\n\nIn 1890\, Casement met author Joseph Conrad\, who had come t o the Congo to pilot a merchant ship. According to author Liesl Schillinge r\, both were inspired by the idea that "European colonisation would bring moral and social progress to the continent and free its inhabitants 'from slavery\, paganism and other barbarities.' Each would soon learn the grav ity of his error."\n\nIn 1904\, Casement published the "Casement Report"\, which\, via interviews with workers\, overseers\, and mercenaries\, expos ed the enslavement\, mutilation\, and torture of natives on the rubber pla ntations. The report caused an international scandal and led to the creati on of various reform organizations in the West.\n\nA few years later\, Cas ement traveled to the Putumayo District in South America\, where rubber wa s being harvested in the Amazon Basin\, and exposed the treatment of indig enous people in Peru. Finding conditions just as inhumane as what he witne ssed in the Congo\, Casement interviewed both the Putumayo and men who had abused them\, publishing his findings in a first-person narrative that ag ain caused an international scandal.\n\nIn November\, 1914 Casement helped form the Irish Volunteers. He traveled to both the United States and Germ any to both promote the Irish nationalist cause and acquire aid for it.\n\ nIn 1916\, Casement was captured by the British government and charged wit h high treason after he attempted to acquire military aid from Germany to aid the Irish nationalist cause. During trial proceedings\, the government secretly circulated alleged excerpts from Casement's journals\, the "Blac k Diaries"\, which detailed sexual acts with other men. The authenticity o f these documents is still debated today.\n\nCasement was hanged at Penton ville Prison on August 3rd\, 1916 at 51 years old.\n\n"Self government is our right\, a thing born to us at birth a thing no more to be doled out to us by another people then the right to life itself then the right to feel the sun or smell the flowers or to love our kind."\n\n- Roger Casement RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Casement RESOURCES:https://www.rte.ie/centuryireland/index.php/articles/the-life-an d-death-of-roger-casement END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:British Communists Arrested (1925) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250804 DTEND:20250805T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism COMMENT:On this day in 1925\, twelve organizers with the Communist Party o f Great Britain (CPGB) were arrested and charged with violating the Mutiny Act of 1797. Six served time in prison after refusing to renounce communi sm. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1925\, twelve organizers with the Communist Par ty of Great Britain (CPGB) were arrested and charged with violating the Mu tiny Act of 1797. Six served time in prison after refusing to renounce com munism.\n\nThe names of the twelve arrested were John Ross Campbell\, Jack Murphy\, Wal Hannington\, Ernie Cant\, Tom Wintringham\, Harry Pollitt\, Hubert Inkpin\, Arthur McManus\, William Rust\, Robin Page Arnot\, William Gallacher\, and Tom Bell.\n\nMany of those arrested were Party leaders. T he CPGB elected to be silent on the arrests\, for fear of the next set of leaders being arrested like the first.\n\nThe arrested communists were sub jected to a highly politicized trial that lasted for eight days. Five of t he group were sentenced to a year in prison for "members of an illegal par ty carrying on illegal work in this country".\n\nTo the remaining seven\, the conservative judge offered an ultimatum: "Those of you who will promis e me that you will have nothing more to do with this association or the do ctrine it preaches\, I will bind over to be of good behaviour in the futur e. Those of you who do not promise will go to prison." All but one refused . RESOURCES:https://spartacus-educational.com/Pcommunist.htm RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communist_Party_of_Great_Britain END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Calixto García (1836 - 1898) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250804 DTEND:20250805T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Protests COMMENT:Calixto García Íñiguez\, born on this day in 1836\, was a gener al in three separate Cuban uprisings for independence - the Ten Years' War \, the Little War\, and the War of 1895\, which bled into the Spanish-Amer ican War. DESCRIPTION:Calixto García Íñiguez\, born on this day in 1836\, was a g eneral in three separate Cuban uprisings for independence - the Ten Years' War\, the Little War\, and the War of 1895\, which bled into the Spanish- American War.\n\nGarcía joined the Ten Years' War at the age of 18. Five years later\, when surrounded by Spanish troops\, he shot himself under th e chin with a .45 caliber pistol to not give them the satisfaction of capt uring him. Although the bullet went out of his forehead and knocked him un conscious\, he survived. The wound left a great scar and gave him headache s for the rest of his life.\n\nGarcía played a key role in the ultimately successful War of 1895 and protested the subsequent lack of Cuban autonom y in the conclusion of the war (no Cuban was allowed to sign the terms of surrender and the Spanish leaders in Cuba were allowed to keep their posts in Santiago).\n\nAfter American military commander William Shafter exclud ed Cubans from negotiations for the surrender of Santiago\, declined to in vite García to the surrender ceremonies\, and let Spanish authorities rem ain in control of Santiago until the U.S. could establish a military gover nment\, García resigned from the rebel army in protest on July 17th\, 189 8.\n\nGarcía died of pneumonia on December 11th\, 1898 while on a diploma tic mission in Washington\, D.C. Today\, his portrait is on the 50 Cuban p eso banknote. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calixto_Garc%C3%ADa RESOURCES:https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/educational-magazines/calix to-garcial END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Paul Avrich (1931 - 2006) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250804 DTEND:20250805T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Birthdays,Anarchism COMMENT:Paul Avrich\, born on this day in 1931\, was a historian of anarch ism whose works address topics such as the Kronstadt Rebellion\, the Hayma rket Affair\, and the case of Sacco and Vanzetti. "Every good person deep down is an anarchist." DESCRIPTION:Paul Avrich\, born on this day in 1931\, was a historian of an archism whose works address topics such as the Kronstadt Rebellion\, the H aymarket Affair\, and the case of Sacco and Vanzetti. "Every good person d eep down is an anarchist."\n\nBorn in Brooklyn\, New York on August 4th\, 1931\, Avrich served in the Korean War and received a prodigious formal ed ucation\, studying at both Cornell University and Columbia University. His doctoral thesis addressed the labor movement during the Russian Revolutio n and was also one of the first American exchange students to study in the Soviet Union.\n\nAvrich became a key figure as an exponent of anarchism i n the United States through his scholarship\, which undermined the notion of anarchists as amoral and violent.\n\nAvrich was also important in devel oping formal scholarship of the history of anarchism\, interviewing Soviet exiles and\, in his last book\, "Anarchist Voices: An Oral History of Ana rchism in America" (1995)\, compiling thirty years of interviews of variou s anarchist figures.\n\n"Every good person deep down is an anarchist."\n\n - Paul Avrich RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Avrich RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/tags/paul-avrich END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Sheldon Wolin (1922 - 2015) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250804 DTEND:20250805T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays COMMENT:Sheldon Wolin\, born on this day in 1922\, was a political theoris t notable for coining the term "inverted totalitarianism" in his landmark 2008 text "Democracy Incorporated: Managed Democracy and the Specter of In verted Totalitarianism". DESCRIPTION:Sheldon Wolin\, born on this day in 1922\, was a political the orist notable for coining the term "inverted totalitarianism" in his landm ark 2008 text "Democracy Incorporated: Managed Democracy and the Specter o f Inverted Totalitarianism".\n\nA political theorist for fifty years\, Wol in became Professor of Politics\, Emeritus\, at Princeton University\, whe re he taught from 1973 to 1987. Wolin also taught at the University of Cal ifornia\, Berkeley\, University of California\, Santa Cruz\, Oberlin Colle ge\, Oxford University\, Cornell University\, and University of California \, Los Angeles.\n\nWolin's political thought is particularly concerned wit h the fate of democracy at the hands of bureaucratic imperatives\, elitism \, and managerial principles and practices. His concepts of "inverted tota litarianism" and "fugitive democracy" are a particularly important legacy of his work.\n\n"Mussolini\, Stalin\, and Hitler did not just invent their personae\; they literally built the organizations of their respective dic tatorships. Each system was inseparable from its Führer\, or Duce. Invert ed totalitarianism follows an entirely different course: the leader is not the architect of the system but its product."\n\n- Sheldon Wolin RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheldon_Wolin RESOURCES:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGc8DMHMyi8 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:UPS Strike (1997) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250804 DTEND:20250805T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1997\, United Parcel Service (UPS) workers\, organi zed with the Teamsters\, went on a massive strike that lasted 16 days and cost UPS ~$600 million\, winning more full-time positions and significantl y higher wages. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1997\, United Parcel Service (UPS) workers\, or ganized with the Teamsters\, went on a massive strike that lasted 16 days and cost UPS ~$600 million\, winning more full-time positions and signific antly higher wages.\n\nThe UPS strike\, led by International Brotherhood o f Teamsters (IBT) President Ron Carey\, involved over 185\,000 teamsters a nd effectively shut down UPS operations for 16 days. UPS stated their loss es during the strike were approximately $600 million\, and the Teamsters t ook out a loan to pay $10 million to strikers manning picket lines.\n\nGri evances centered around UPS's use of part-time workers\, which were paid l ess than full-time workers and constituted over 2/3rds of the workforce. S logans of the campaign included "Half a Job is Not Enough" and "Part-time American Won't Work!".\n\nThe strike ended in victory for the union\, resu lting in a new contract that increased their wages\, secured their existin g benefits\, and gave increased job security. RESOURCES:https://www.labornotes.org/2017/08/1997-ups-strike-beating-big-b usiness-business-unionism RESOURCES:https://www.rankandfile.ca/weekend-video-1997-ups-strike/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Bolton Hall (1854 - 1938) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250805 DTEND:20250806T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Marxism,Birthdays COMMENT:Bolton Hall\, born on this day in 1854\, was an American lawyer\, author\, and Georgist activist who worked on behalf of the poor and helped start the back-to-the-land movement in the United States at the beginning of the 20th century. DESCRIPTION:Bolton Hall\, born on this day in 1854\, was an American lawye r\, author\, and Georgist activist who worked on behalf of the poor and he lped start the back-to-the-land movement in the United States at the begin ning of the 20th century.\n\nHe was very sympathetic with libertarian soci alist thinkers\, such as Pierre-Joseph Proudhon and Benjamin Tucker\, but remained a committed anti-Marxist throughout his life.\n\nHall is perhaps most remembered today for his widely circulated plea for the working class to oppose the Spanish-American War\, titled "A Peace Appeal to Labor" (18 98). He also helped create a still-existing Georgist commune known as "Fre e Acres" in New Jersey by deeding 68 acres of land to the project in 1910. Hall was also arrested with Ida Rauh for handing out pamphlets on birth c ontrol in 1916.\n\n"If there is a war\, you will furnish the corpses and t he taxes\, and others will get the glory. Speculators will make money out of it -- that is\, out of you.\n\nMen will get high prices for inferior su pplies\, leaky boats\, for shoddy clothes and pasteboard shoes\, and you w ill have to pay the bill\, and the only satisfaction you will get is the p rivilege of hating your Spanish fellow-workmen\, who are really your broth ers and who have had as little to do with the wrongs of Cuba as you have." \n\n- Bolton Hall RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolton_Hall_(activist) RESOURCES:https://peoplepill.com/people/bolton-hall/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:James Cone (1938 - 2018) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250805 DTEND:20250806T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays COMMENT:James Hal Cone\, born on this day in 1938\, was an American theolo gian known for his advocacy of black liberation theology\, authoring texts such as "The Cross and the Lynching Tree" (2011) and "God of the Oppresse d" (1975). DESCRIPTION:James Hal Cone\, born on this day in 1938\, was an American th eologian known for his advocacy of black liberation theology\, authoring t exts such as "The Cross and the Lynching Tree" (2011) and "God of the Oppr essed" (1975).\n\nHis 1969 work "Black Theology and Black Power" provided a new way to comprehensively define the distinctiveness of theology in the black church.\n\nOn the text\, Cone stated "This book was my initial atte mpt to identify liberation as the heart of the Christian gospel and blackn ess as the primary mode of God’s presence. I wanted to speak on behalf o f the voiceless black masses in the name of Jesus whose gospel I believed had been greatly distorted by the preaching and the theology of white chur ches."\n\nAfter receiving his doctorate\, Cone taught theology and religio n at Philander Smith College and Adrian College. He later taught at Union Theological Seminary in New York City\, which had not accepted a black stu dent into its doctoral program since its founding in 1836. Cone supervised over 40 black doctoral students while teaching there.\n\n"Until we can se e the cross and the lynching tree together\, until we can identify Christ with a 'recrucified' black body hanging from a lynching tree\, there can b e no genuine understanding of Christian identity in America\, and no deliv erance from the brutal legacy of slavery and white supremacy."\n\n- James Cone RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/james-hal-con e-1938/ RESOURCES:https://archive.org/details/TheBlackChurchAndMarxismWhatDoTheyHa veToSayToEachOther/mode/2up RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_H._Cone END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Maleconazo Uprising (1994) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250805 DTEND:20250806T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Riots,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1994\, an uprising known as the "Maleconazo" took p lace during Cuba's "special period"\, an economic crisis following the col lapse of the Soviet Union\, leading to a mass exodus of tens of thousands from the island. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1994\, an uprising known as the "Maleconazo" to ok place during Cuba's "special period"\, an economic crisis following the collapse of the Soviet Union\, leading to a mass exodus of tens of thousa nds from the island. The protest was the first major uprising in Cuba foll owing the Cuban Revolution of 1959\, which had brought Fidel Castro and th e communist movement into power.\n\nThe uprising took place in a time of e xtended economic crisis known as the "special period"\, characterized by s hortages of petroleum derived prices\, rations on food\, decreased use of automobiles\, and\, by necessity\, organic innovations to agricultural pra ctice.\n\nOn August 5th\, 1994\, riots broke out on the Malecón\, an 8km roadway and seawall that runs along the coast in Havana. Rioters looted st ores\, chanted political slogans\, and damaged hotels. One group unsuccess fully attempted to hijack a boat.\n\nIn the middle of the afternoon\, Fide l Castro arrived at the scene\, by which time 370 arrests had taken place and around 30 people were injured\, 11 of them policemen.\n\nA week later\ , on August 11th\, Castro gave the order for border guards to not suppress illegal exits of the country\; an estimated 33\,000 people fled\, leading to the 1994 Cuban Rafter Crisis.\n\nMany of these exiles successfully sou ght refuge in the United States\, with then President Bill Clinton adoptin g the "Wet feet\, dry feet policy"\, effectively allowing any Cuban who ma de it to U.S. land to stay\, while Cubans intercepted in U.S. waters would be either returned to Cuba or deported elsewhere. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maleconazo RESOURCES:https://elcomercio.pe/mundo/latinoamerica/protestas-en-cuba-como -fue-el-maleconazo-de-1994-la-unica-protesta-masiva-contra-fidel-castro-tr as-la-revolucion-cubana-miguel-diaz-canel-noticia/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Wisconsin Sikh Temple Shooting (2012) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250805 DTEND:20250806T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 2012\, an American white supremacist committed a ma ss shooting at the gurdwara (a Sikh temple) in Oak Creek\, Wisconsin\, kil ling seven people and wounding four more. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 2012\, an American white supremacist committed a mass shooting at the gurdwara (a Sikh temple) in Oak Creek\, Wisconsin\, killing seven people and wounding four more.\n\nThe temple was preparing langar\, a Sikh communal meal\, for later in the day. Witnesses suggested that women and children would have been at the temple preparing for the me al at the time of the incident\, as children's classes were scheduled to b egin around the same time.\n\nDespite this\, no children were wounded in t he shooting. Seven adults\, along with the shooter himself\, were killed. A Sikh priest\, Baba Punjab Singh\, was shot in the head and paralyzed for seven years before passing away.\n\nThe perpetrator was a white supremaci st and U.S. Army veteran who worked in psychological operations. A former friend described him as a "loner" and said he had talked about an "impendi ng racial holy war"\, and racist tattoos adorned his chest\, arms\, and ha nds.\n\nDespite this\, Oak Creek Police Chief John Edwards declined to spe culate on possible motives\, stating "I don't know why\, and I don't know that we'll ever know\, because when he died\, that died with him\, what hi s motive was or what he was thinking." Similarly\, the owner of the gun sh op where the shooter purchased a weapon in cash said that his presence "ra ised no eyebrows whatsoever". RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wisconsin_Sikh_temple_shooting RESOURCES:https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2013/08/05/209097979/rem embering-6-shooting-deaths-at-wis-sikh-temple END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:England Riots (2011) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250806 DTEND:20250807T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Riots,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 2011\, the worst English riots in decades began aft er a peaceful march demanded justice for the police killing of 29-year old Mark Duggan\, beginning an uprising that led to 2\,987 arrests and ~£100 m of property damage. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 2011\, the worst English riots in decades began after a peaceful march demanded justice for the police killing of 29-year old Mark Duggan\, beginning an uprising that led to 2\,987 arrests and ~ £100m of property damage.\n\nMark Duggan\, a young black man\, had been s hot and killed by police in Tottenham\, North London two days earlier\, on August 4th. On August 6th\, a protest organized by friends and relatives of Duggan marched on the Tottenham Police Department\, demanding to speak with senior leadership.\n\nThat evening\, violence broke out\, marking the beginning of a wave of riots that lasted for weeks. The uprising\, which spread all throughout England\, was characterized by spontaneous acts of v iolence\, the looting of shops\, widespread arson (Times Magazine claimed London had not been this on fire since the Blitz)\, and clashes with polic e.\n\nOne protester\, asked by a journalist if rioting was really the best way to accomplish their objectives\, responded: "Yes\, because if we were n't rioting\, you wouldn't be talking to us." RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/library/intakes-communities-commodities-class -august-2011-riots-aufheben RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_England_riots END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Tompkins Square Riot (1988) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250806 DTEND:20250807T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Riots,Journalism,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1988\, New York City police attacked an anti-curfew and anti-gentrification rally in Tompkins Square\, Manhattan\, indiscrimi nately attacking activists\, reporters\, and bystanders\, injuring thirty- eight people. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1988\, New York City police attacked an anti-cu rfew and anti-gentrification rally in Tompkins Square\, Manhattan\, indisc riminately attacking activists\, reporters\, and bystanders\, injuring thi rty-eight people.\n\nThe violent clash took place in the context of the ci ty attempting to remove homeless people and squatters from the park by enf orcing a curfew on what was previously a 24-hour public space. The park ha d previously been used as a spot for rallies in protest of this policy.\n\ nOn August 6th\, 1988\, activists attempted to hold another rally in the p ark and were met by a strong police presence. Protesters held banners proc laiming "Gentrification is Class War" (shown).\n\nAlthough police accused protesters of throwing bricks and bottles at police\, eyewitnesses agreed that the cops initiated the violence by charging the crowd. Police indiscr iminately attacked and harassed all present\, including the activists\, re porters\, and bystanders. One reporter\, a black woman\, was called a raci al slur and attacked\, the aftermath of which was caught on film.\n\nIn to tal\, 38 were injured\, including several police officers\, and 9 were arr ested. More than 100 formal complaints about police brutality were filed. When questioned about it\, Captain McNamara\, a commander at the scene\, s aid "Obviously tempers flared. But all these allegations will be investiga ted." No cops were charged with any crime related to the event.\n\nThe Tom pkins Square Park Riot figured prominently in the local arts community. Po et Allen Ginsburg was an eyewitness to the police riot\, and various artis ts have alluded to it in their work\, including Lou Reed\, the industrial anarchist band Missing Foundation\, and Jonathan Larson\, in his musical " Rent".\n\nOn November 7th\, 2004\, about 1\,000 people gathered in Tompkin s Square Park to attend a concert held there in a yearly ritual commemorat ing the 1988 riot. According to the NYPD\, when officers attempted an arre st for an open container of alcohol\, concertgoers "surrounded and assault ed" the officers. Six arrests were made on charges including assault and i nciting to riot. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1988_Tompkins_Square_Park_riot RESOURCES:http://libcom.org/history/1988-tompkins-square-riot END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:U.S. Nukes Hiroshima (1945) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250806 DTEND:20250807T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Terrorism COMMENT:On this day in 1945\, the U.S. military dropped a nuclear bomb on Hiroshima\, instantly killing at least 80\,000 people - mostly civilians - and tens of thousands more over the following weeks. The U.S. censored im ages of the bombing until 1952. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1945\, the U.S. military dropped a nuclear bomb on Hiroshima\, instantly killing at least 80\,000 people - mostly civilia ns - and tens of thousands more over the following weeks. The U.S. censore d images of the bombing until 1952.\n\nEye-witness accounts of the bombing 's aftermath depicted a kind of apocalyptic horror: Father Wilhelm Kleinso rge\, a German Jesuit priest\, encountered a group of soldiers whose "face s were wholly burned\, their eye-sockets were hollow\, the fluid from thei r melted eyes had run down their cheeks... Their mouths were mere swollen\ , pus-covered wounds\, which they could not bear to stretch enough to admi t the spout of the teapot."\n\nDr. Michihiko Hachiya\, a survivor\, spoke of "streetcars were standing and inside were dozens of bodies\, blackened beyond recognition. I saw fire reservoirs filled to the brim with dead bod ies who looked as they had been boiled alive".\n\nPresident Harry Truman m ade the case to the public that the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki as a necessary and humanitarian means of forcing Japan's surrender. This view was not held\, however\, by military commanders or leftist American dissi dents.\n\nOnce American forces had Japan under military control\, they imp osed censorship on many images related to the U.S. bombing campaign. Among the images banned was a picture of a partially incinerated Nagasaki child \, taken by Japanese photographer Yōsuke Yamahata. These restrictions wer e not lifted until 1952.\n\nAmong the first Americans to denounce the bomb ing were socialists such as the Trotskyist James P. Cannon\, who publicly denounced the use of nuclear weapons as "an unspeakable atrocity".\n\nThe dissent of military commanders was not public\, however. In 1950\, Admiral William Leahy\, Truman's chief of staff\, wrote: "The use of this barbaro us weapon at Hiroshima and Nagasaki was of no material assistance in our w ar against Japan". In his memoirs\, President Eisenhower\, then General of the Army\, confessed that "dropping the bomb was completely unnecessary". RESOURCES:https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/08/06/pers-a06.html RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_bombings_of_Hiroshima_and_N agasaki RESOURCES:http://www.dukeeastasianexus.com/a-veiled-truth-the-us-censorshi p-of-the-atomic-bomb.html#:~:text=The%20government's%20apathetic%20attitud e%20towards\,army%20base%E2%80%9D%20without%20any%20mention END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Elizabeth Gurley Flynn (1890 - 1964) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250807 DTEND:20250808T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Labor,Birthdays,IWW COMMENT:Elizabeth Gurley Flynn\, born on this day in 1890\, was a communis t activst and feminist who played a leading role in the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)\, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)\, and the Communist Party USA (CPUSA). DESCRIPTION:Elizabeth Gurley Flynn\, born on this day in 1890\, was a comm unist activst and feminist who played a leading role in the Industrial Wor kers of the World (IWW)\, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)\, and the Communist Party USA (CPUSA).\n\nFlynn was a vigorous proponent of wome n's rights\, birth control\, and women's suffrage. She joined the Communis t Party USA (CPUSA) in 1936 and late in life\, in 1961\, became its chairw oman.\n\nFlynn was also a founding member of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)\, but was expelled in 1940 during an institution-wide purge o f all communists from ACLU leadership. This decision was reversed twelve y ears after her death\, in 1976.\n\nIn 1948\, Flynn was arrested\, along wi th eleven other prominent members of the Communist Party\, for violating t he Smith Act. She served two years in prison\, and continued her political activism after her release.\n\nFlynn died during a visit to the Soviet Un ion\, where she was accorded a state funeral with processions in the Red S quare attended by over 25\,000 people.\n\n"I fell in love with my country - its rivers\, prairies\, forests\, mountains\, cities and people. No one can take my love of country away from me! I felt then\, as I do now\, it's a rich\, fertile\, beautiful land\, capable of satisfying all the needs o f its people. It could be a paradise on earth if it belonged to the people \, not to a small owning class."\n\n- Elizabeth Gurley Flynn RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Gurley_Flynn RESOURCES:https://socialistworker.org/2012/08/07/the-story-of-the-rebel-gi rl END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Jourdon Anderson Letter (1865) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250807 DTEND:20250808T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:On this day in 1865\, freedman Jourdon Anderson (1825 - 1907) wrot e a humorous and pointed response to decline the request of his former mas ter to return to the plantation\, which had fallen into disrepair after th e Civil War. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1865\, freedman Jourdon Anderson (1825 - 1907) wrote a humorous and pointed response to decline the request of his former master to return to the plantation\, which had fallen into disrepair afte r the Civil War.\n\nThe letter's dry wit has been compared to the style of Mark Twain\, and it became an immediate sensation\, becoming published in the press a few weeks later.\n\nJourdon had been enslaved since he was a child in Wilson County\, Tennessee\, working the plantation of the Anderso n family. In 1864\, Union Army soldiers camped on the Anderson plantation and freed him. Subsequently\, he moved to Dayton\, Ohio with his family\, finding work as a sexton with the Wesleyan Methodist Church.\n\nIn 1865\, he received a letter from Colonel P.H. Anderson\, his former master\, who requested that Jourdon return to the plantation in a last-ditch to save th e farm\, which had fallen into disrepair after the Civil War.\n\nOn August 7th\, 1865\, Jourdon dictated his response. Here are some excerpts (the l etter in full is linked below):\n\n"I got your letter\, and was glad to fi nd that you had not forgotten Jourdon\, and that you wanted me to come bac k and live with you again\, promising to do better for me than anybody els e can. I have often felt uneasy about you. I thought the Yankees would hav e hung you long before this\, for harboring Rebs they found at your house. \n\n...[My wife and I] have concluded to test your sincerity by asking you to send us our wages for the time we served you...I served you faithfully for thirty-two years\, and Mandy twenty years. At twenty-five dollars a m onth for me\, and two dollars a week for Mandy\, our earnings would amount to eleven thousand six hundred and eighty dollars.\n\nAdd to this the int erest for the time our wages have been kept back\, and deduct what you pai d for our clothing\, and three doctor's visits to me\, and pulling a tooth for Mandy\, and the balance will show what we are in justice entitled to. Please send the money by Adams's Express\, in care of V. Winters\, Esq.\, Dayton\, Ohio. If you fail to pay us for faithful labors in the past\, we can have little faith in your promises in the future.\n\n...P.S.—Say ho wdy to George Carter\, and thank him for taking the pistol from you when y ou were shooting at me."\n\nJourdon's offer was declined\, and he continue d to live in Dayton\, dying there at the age of 81 in 1907. Colonel Anders on\, having failed to attract his former slaves back\, sold the land for a pittance to try to get out of debt\, dying two years later.\n\nPrior to 2 006\, historian Raymond Winbush tracked down the living relatives of the C olonel Anderson\, reporting that they "are still angry at Jordan for not c oming back"\, knowing that the plantation was in serious disrepair after t he war. RESOURCES:https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/free-mans-1865-letter- his-former-slave-owner-180957278/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jordan_Anderson END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:8888 Uprising (1988) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250808 DTEND:20250809T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Riots,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1988\, a general strike began in Myanmar (Burma) as part of the 8888 Uprising\, with mass anti-government demonstrations thro ughout the country demanding multi-party democracy from the ruling one-par ty state. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1988\, a general strike began in Myanmar (Burma ) as part of the 8888 Uprising\, with mass anti-government demonstrations throughout the country demanding multi-party democracy from the ruling one -party state. Over the following days\, the mass demonstrations devolved i nto violent riots as the military fired into crowds of protesters.\n\nThe 8888 Uprising\, also known as the People Power Uprising\, took place in th e context of an economic crisis in the country\, governed as a one-party s tate by the Burma Socialist Programme Party\, led by General Ne Win. Stude nts and farmers had been engaging in protest and campaigns of rebellion ag ainst various state economic policies since 1985.\n\nOn August 8th\, 1988 (thus the uprising's name) mass anti-government demonstrations took place throughout the country. Participants came from a wide variety of demograph ics - Buddhists\, Christians\, Muslims\, students\, workers\, young and ol d participated.\n\nThe protests began relatively peacefully\, with only on e casualty reported on the first day\, the result of a frightened traffic cop who fired into the crowd and fled. Over the next few days\, the protes ts devolved into violent riots as the military and police fired on the pro testers\, at one point even shooting doctors and nurses tending to the wou nded.\n\nProtesters responded by throwing Molotov cocktails\, swords\, kni ves\, rocks\, poisoned darts and bicycle spokes. In one incident\, rioters burned a police station and killed four fleeing police officers.\n\nOn Au gust 26th\, Aung San Suu Kyi\, the daughter of anti-imperialist revolution ary Aung San\, addressed half a million people at Shwedagon Pagoda\, becom ing an international figure in the uprising\, supported by the West. Her p arty would later go on to win elections in 1990\, however these results we re ignored by the military government and she was arrested.\n\nOn Septembe r 18th\, the military retook power in the country\, with General Saw Maung repealing the 1974 constitution and imposing martial law. The demonstrati ons were violently suppressed and\, by the end of September\, at least 3\, 000 people were killed\, however estimates of casualties vary widely.\n\nM any of the student leaders of the uprising became lifelong activists\, als o playing a role in the 2007 Saffron Revolution nineteen years later. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/8888_Uprising RESOURCES:https://www.npr.org/2013/08/08/210233784/timeline-myanmars-8-8-8 8-uprising RESOURCES:https://www.marxist.com/myanmar-a-balance-sheet-of-the-1988-upri sing.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Emiliano Zapata (1879 - 1919) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250808 DTEND:20250809T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays COMMENT:Emiliano Zapata Salazar\, born on this day in 1879\, was a leading figure in the Mexican Revolution\, the main leader of the peasant revolut ion in the state of Morelos\, and the inspiration for the name of the mode rn Zapatista movement. DESCRIPTION:Emiliano Zapata Salazar\, born on this day in 1879\, was a lea ding figure in the Mexican Revolution\, the main leader of the peasant rev olution in the state of Morelos\, and the inspiration for the name of the modern Zapatista movement.\n\nZapata was born in the rural village of Anen ecuilco in Morelos State\, where peasant communities were under increasing pressure from the small landowning class who had monopolized land and wat er resources for sugar cane production with the support of dictator Porfir io Díaz.\n\nEarly on\, Zapata participated in political movements against Díaz and the landowning hacendados. When revolution broke out in 1910\, he was positioned as a central leader of the peasant revolt in Morelos. Za pata was responsible for defeating and ousting various invading armies fro m Morelos on multiple occasions.\n\nOn April 10th\, 1919\, Zapata was assa ssinated\, double-crossed by a member of the Mexican Army who had pretende d to switch sides. When Zapata attempted to meet with the would-be defecto r\, he was ambushed and shot to death.\n\n"It is better to die on your fee t than to live on your knees."\n\n- Emiliano Zapata RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emiliano_Zapata RESOURCES:https://www.thoughtco.com/biography-of-emiliano-zapata-2136690 RESOURCES:https://www.leftvoice.org/from-emiliano-zapata-to-the-ezln-land- and-autonomy/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:José Cha Cha Jiménez (1948 - ) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250808 DTEND:20250809T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays COMMENT:José Cha Cha Jiménez\, born on this day in 1948\, is the founder of the "Young Lords"\, a national human rights movement with an emphasis on liberation for Puerto Ricans and other colonized people. DESCRIPTION:José Cha Cha Jiménez\, born on this day in 1948\, is the fou nder of the "Young Lords"\, a national human rights movement with an empha sis on liberation for Puerto Ricans and other colonized people. The group was founded in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago\, Illinois on Sept ember 23rd\, 1968\, one hundred years after the Grito de Lares uprising. J iménez was born to jíbaro parents in Caguas\, Puerto Rico\, but spent hi s formative years in Chicago.\n\nIn the summer of 1968\, he was picked up for a possession of heroin charge and given a 60-day sentence at Cook Coun ty Jail. While in jail\, he read "The Seven Story Mountain" by Thomas Mert on\, and became politically radicalized\, also reading texts from radicals such as MLK Jr. and Malcolm X.\n\nAfter his release\, Jiménez transforme d the Young Lords from a street gang into a human rights organization\, en tering into the "Rainbow Coalition" with Fred Hampton\, head of the BPP's Chicago chapter. After Hampton's assassination by the Chicago Police and F BI\, and the Coalition's dissolution\, Jiménez continued his activism\, r unning for a Chicago Alderman position in 1975\, and helping organize a vo ter registration drive to support Harold Washington's 1982-83 mayoral camp aign.\n\nWhen asked in a 2018 interview what happened to the Young Lords\, Jiménez responded:\n\n"The question is what happened to the white left\, who decided to abandon the Black Panthers and Young Lords when things got hot\, as if these groups who risked everything were just\, some kind of a fad or that their movement was just some kind of entertainment...\n\n...W e will always be reminded of how COINTELPRO and others have worked to spli t our movement so that we cannot organize together to free our nation of P uerto Rico. We will always work for unity. 'Unidos venceremos' or 'United will win!' It is not just a saying for us. It is a goal."\n\n"If the Peopl e of El Salvador can ask for self-determination\, if the People of Nicarag ua can ask for self-determination\, if the People of Ireland can ask for s elf-determination\, if the People of Poland can ask for self-determination \, if Black People in America can stand up and demand self-determination\, then Puerto Ricans demand self-determination." \n\n- José Cha Cha Jimén ez RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jose_Cha_Cha_Jimenez RESOURCES:http://www.fightbacknews.org/2018/9/20/interview-50-years-young- lords-founder-jose-cha-cha-jimenez RESOURCES:https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/document/24559 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Ballymurphy Massacre (1971) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250809 DTEND:20250810T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Massacre COMMENT:On this day in 1971\, more than 600 British soldiers entered the B allymurphy area of Belfast in a military operation meant to "stun the civi lian population"\, killing eleven innocent people in what is now called th e Ballymurphy Massacre. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1971\, more than 600 British soldiers entered t he Ballymurphy area of Belfast in a military operation meant to "stun the civilian population"\, killing eleven innocent people in what is now calle d the Ballymurphy Massacre.\n\nThe violence was part of the British Operat ion Demetrius\, which explicitly allowed for internment without trial and targeted Irish Republicans/nationalist factions of the population.\n\nThe massacre began when the 1st Battalion\, Parachute Regiment of the British Army entered Ballymurphy the evening of August 9th\, 1971. Six civilians w ere killed that day\, including Father Hugh Mullan\, who notified the Army that he was entering the area to help a wounded man\, and was shot to dea th while brandishing a white flag.\n\nAnother person killed was Joseph Mur phy\, who was shot as he stood opposite the Army Base. He was taken into c ustody\, where he was beaten and shot again before being released and expi ring.\n\nThe violence continued for two more days\, killing eleven people in total. A 2021 coroner's report found that all those killed had been inn ocent and that the killings were "without justification".\n\nThe same batt alion that committed this massacre later shot twenty-six unarmed civilians during a protest march in Derry against the internment without trial poli cy.\n\nThe Ballymurphy Massacre is the subject of the August 2018 document ary "The Ballymurphy Precedent"\, directed by Callum Macrae and made in as sociation with Channel 4. RESOURCES:http://www.ballymurphymassacre.com/cms/massacre/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballymurphy_massacre END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Moses Mauane Kotane (1905 - 1978) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250809 DTEND:20250810T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Labor,Civil Rights COMMENT:On this day in 1905\, communist trade unionist and anti-apartheid activist Moses Mauane Kotane was born\, going on to lead the South African Communist Party (SACP) as General Secretary from 1939 until his death in 1978. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1905\, communist trade unionist and anti-aparth eid activist Moses Mauane Kotane was born\, going on to lead the South Afr ican Communist Party (SACP) as General Secretary from 1939 until his death in 1978.\n\nBorn to a peasant family in Transvaal\, Kotane became involve d in trade unionism and left-wing activism in his early adolescence. In 19 28\, he joined the African National Congress (ANC)\, but soon left\, findi ng it ineffectual.\n\nThe following year\, he joined the SACP\, quickly wo rking his way up the party ladder and becoming a member of its Politburo. In 1939\, he was elected General Secretary.\n\nRemaining close to the ANC\ , he was elected to its National Executive Committee in 1946. Under Kotane 's leadership\, the SACP\, together with the ANC\, organized various anti- apartheid demonstrations and labor strikes\, and his high profile in both organizations made him a major target of the South African government's po litical repression.\n\nIn 1963\, he left South Africa to lead the SACP in- exile from Tanzania.\n\nHe died in 1978 after suffering a stroke at the ag e of 72. Moses was survived by his wife Rebecca Kotane\, who went on to be came the last living elder of the anti-apartheid struggle\, as old as the African National Congress (ANC) itself\, dying in 2021 at the age of 108.\ n\n"My first suggestion is that the party becomes Africanised\, that the C PSA must pay special attention to South Africa and study the conditions in this country and concretise the demands of the masses from first-hand inf ormation\, that we must speak the language of the native masses and must k now their demands\, that while it must not lose its international allegian ce\, the Party must be Bolshevised and become South African not only theor etically but in reality."\n\n- Moses Maunane Kotane\, 1934 RESOURCES:https://sacp.org.za/docs/history/dadoo-23.html RESOURCES:https://www.sahistory.org.za/people/moses-mauane-kotane RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moses_Kotane END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Treaty of Fort Jackson (1814) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250809 DTEND:20250810T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Indigenous COMMENT:On this day in 1814\, in the aftermath of the Battle of Horseshoe Bend\, the largest single indigenous cession of southern land took place w ith the signing of the Treaty of Fort Jackson - around 23 million acres in total. DESCRIPTION:The Treaty of Fort Jackson (also known as the Treaty with the Creeks) was signed on this day in 1814 at Fort Jackson in Alabama. The tre aty was agreed upon in the aftermath of the defeat of Red Stick (Upper Cre ek) resistance by U.S. forces at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend.\n\nThe trea ty was the "largest single Indian cession of southern American land"\, acc ording to historian Michael Rogin - around 23 million acres in Alabama and Georgia. The U.S. forces won with the battle with the help of allied Cher okee and Lower Creek forces friendly to the American side.\n\nThe terms of various treaties with the Creek nation would go on to be consistently vio lated by Americans colonizing the south. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Fort_Jackson RESOURCES:https://www.nps.gov/articles/treaty-of-fort-jackson.htm RESOURCES:https://www.firstpeople.us/FP-Html-Treaties/TreatyWithTheCreeks1 814.html END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Pueblo Revolt (1680) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250810 DTEND:20250811T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Colonialism,Indigenous COMMENT:On this day in 1680\, indigenous Pueblo peoples of present-day New Mexico rose in rebellion against Spanish colonizers in what is now called the "Pueblo Revolt"\, driving Spanish settlers out of the area for twelve years. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1680\, indigenous Pueblo peoples of present-day New Mexico rose in rebellion against Spanish colonizers in what is now ca lled the "Pueblo Revolt"\, driving Spanish settlers out of the area for tw elve years.\n\nAccording to the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center\, the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 was the only successful Native uprising against a colonizi ng power in North America.\n\nSpain first claimed the region in the 16th c entury\, subjecting Puebloans to episodes of colonial violence and displac ement. The Spanish demanded payment of heavy tribute from indigenous commu nities and destroyed ceremonial buildings in an attempt to eradicate indig enous beliefs and impose Christianity.\n\nDuring the 1670s\, conflict inte nsified as famine put the communities there in direct competition for scar ce resources. In one incident\, 47 Pueblo medicine men were arrested by Sp anish forces in 1675 under charges of "sorcery".\n\nBy 1680\, one of the a rrested men\, Po’Pay\, had met with several Pueblo leaders and formed a military alliance. Although Po’Pay is often cited as the leader of the r ebellion\, it is likely there were several other instrumental organizers w ho played an important role in its fruition.\n\nThe date of a cross-Pueblo revolt was set for August 11th\, with time being kept at each Pueblo by u ntying a knot from a cord everyday until all the knots had been untied. Sp anish forces\, however\, learned of the revolt on August 9th after capturi ng two messengers from Tesuque. As a result\, Po’Pay ordered military ac tion a day early\, on August 10th.\n\nPueblo rebels quickly succeeding in sealing off roads\, destroying colonial settlements\, and laying siege to the regional capital of Santa Fe.\n\nIn total\, Puebloans killed 400 Spani ards and drove the remaining 2\,000 settlers out of the area. On August 21 st\, New Mexico governor Antonio de Otermín fled\, leading a southward re treat out of the region.\n\nWith the Spanish gone\, Po’Pay traveled the region\, promoting the revival of indigenous beliefs and destroying church es and other symbols of Catholicism in the region. Pueblos largely returne d to communal self-governance after the flight of the Spanish.\n\nSpanish colonizers attempted to retake the Pueblos in 1681\, 1688\, and 1689\, fin ally succeeding in 1692. RESOURCES:https://indianpueblo.org/a-brief-history-of-the-pueblo-revolt/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pueblo_Revolt RESOURCES:https://www.thoughtco.com/the-great-pueblo-revolt-4102478 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Tombs Prison Uprising (1970) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250810 DTEND:20250811T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Riots COMMENT:On this day in 1970\, more than 900 inmates at Tombs Prison in Man hattan took over the facility\, holding several officers hostage to demand better living conditions. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1970\, more than 900 inmates at Tombs Prison in Manhattan\, New York City took over the prison after multiple warnings ab out falling budgets\, aging facilities\, and rising prison populations wer e ignored by the city.\n\nThe situation was so dire that union correctiona l officers had initiated an informational picket of City Hall to protest t he living conditions. Overcrowding was so severe that more than 2\,000 peo ple were being held in space meant for less than a 1\,000.\n\nOn August 10 th\, 1970\, prisoners seized control of the entire ninth floor of the faci lity\, taking several officers hostage for eight hours\, until state offic ials agreed to hear prisoner grievances and take no punitive action agains t the rioters.\n\nDespite that promise\, Mayor John Lindsay had the leader s behind the action shipped upstate to the state's Attica Correctional Fac ility\, possibly contributing to the Attica Prison riot about a year later .\n\nThe August uprising preceded another rebellion in Tombs Prison in Oct ober later that year. Inmates again seized staff as hostages and made dema nds to improve their living conditions\, such as more education\, lower ba il\, and an "inmate council" to mediate prisoner complaints.\n\nAfter the October uprising\, NYC Commissioner of Correction George McGrath fired two black guards at the Tombs\, both of whom had reported abuse of inmates by other guards and expressed sympathy for the prisoners' cause.\n\nFollowin g the August uprising\, the New York City Legal Aid Society filed a class action suit on behalf of pre-trial detainees held in the Tombs. The city d ecided to close the facility on December 20th\, 1974 after years of litiga tion and a federal judge declaring that the prison's conditions were bad e nough to be considered unconstitutional. RESOURCES:https://www.gothamcenter.org/blog/traitors-in-our-midst-race-cor rections-and-the-1970-tombs-uprising RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tombs RESOURCES:https://www.nytimes.com/1970/10/05/archives/tombs-prisoners-free -17-as-mayor-warns-of-force-two-other-jails.html END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Franco Assassination Attempt (1964) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250811 DTEND:20250812T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Assassinations,Anarchism,Fascism COMMENT:On this day in 1964\, eighteen year old Scottish anarchist Stuart Christie was arrested while carrying explosives he intended to use to assa ssinate the Spanish fascist Francisco Franco. DESCRIPTION:Stuart Christie (1946 - 2020) was a Scottish anarchist writer and publisher.\n\nOn this day in 1964\, an eighteen year old Christie was arrested while carrying explosives to assassinate the Spanish dictator\, G eneral Francisco Franco. Christie had become interested in the Spanish res istance to Franco after meeting Spanish anarchists living in London\, in e xile.\n\nIn Paris\, he met members of the Defensa Interior organization an d was assigned to bring plastic explosives to Madrid. The Defensa Interior had been infiltrated by government spies\, however\, and after arriving i n Madrid Christie was promptly arrested by undercover police.\n\nChristie was freed after serving three years in prison. He went on to found the Cie nfuegos Press publishing house and in 2008 the online Anarchist Film Chann el\, which hosts films and documentaries with anarchist and libertarian so cialist themes. RESOURCES:https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/18667465.goodbye-pal-stuart- christie-scotlands-famous-anarchist/ RESOURCES:https://www.permanentculturenow.com/interview-with-stuart-christ ie/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuart_Christie END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Watts Riots (1965) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250811 DTEND:20250812T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Riots COMMENT:On this day in 1965\, the Watts Riots began in Los Angeles after p olice beat a black family whose son they had pulled over. Until 1992\, the uprising was the largest in city history\, with 3\,438 arrests and $40 mi llion in property damage. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1965\, the Watts Riots began in Los Angeles aft er police beat Marquette Fry and his family after he was pulled over for d runk driving. The uprising was the largest in city history until the Rodne y King riots of 1992\, with 34 deaths and $40 million in property damage a cross a 46 square mile (119 square km) stretch of L.A.\n\nThe uprising too k place in the context of a highly racialized city\, with severely discrim inatory housing\, educational\, and economic practices. The community of W atts was predominantly black and regularly suffered brutality at the hands of police.\n\nAfter Marquette\, along with his brother and mother\, were beaten and arrested by police\, an angry mob formed and riots broke out. F or the next six days\, rioters clashed with police and armed National Guar dsmen\, who had been sent by the thousands to suppress the uprising.\n\nLo s Angeles Chief of Police William Parker (incidentally\, Parker also coine d the phrase "thin blue line" around this time) compared the rioters to th e Viet Cong\, promising a "paramilitary" response to the disorder. One off icer later stated "The streets of Watts resembled an all-out war zone in s ome far-off foreign country\, it bore no resemblance to the United States of America."\n\nBetween 31\,000 and 35\,000 people participated in the rio ts\, while 70\,000 people were "sympathetic\, but not active" according to John H. Barnhill. Over the six days of rioting\, there were 34 deaths (23 of which were the result of police shootings)\, 1\,032 injuries\, 3\,438 arrests\, and over $40 million in property damage.\n\nFollowing the uprisi ng's suppression\, a wave of white flight occurred in surrounding areas\, leading to significant demographic changes in areas such as Compton and Hu ntington Park.\n\nA government committee known as the McCone Commission co ncluded that the cause of the riots was primarily socio-economic\, and rec ommended reforms along these lines. Most of these recommendations were not adopted.\n\n"The whole point of the outbreak in Watts was that it marked the first major rebellion of Negroes against their own masochism and was c arried on with the express purpose of asserting that they would no longer quietly submit to the deprivation of slum life."\n\n- Bayard Rustin RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/watts-los-ang eles-1903/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watts_riots END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Luigi Galleani (1861 - 1931) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250812 DTEND:20250813T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays COMMENT:Luigi Galleani\, born on this day in 1861\, was an anarchist known for his advocacy of "propaganda of the deed". Galleani and his followers were responsible for multiple campaigns of anti-capitalist violence throug hout the U.S. and Italy. DESCRIPTION:Luigi Galleani\, born on this day in 1861\, was an Italian ana rchist active in the United States from 1901 to 1919. He is best known for his enthusiastic advocacy of "propaganda of the deed"\, the use of violen ce to eliminate those he viewed as tyrants and oppressors and to act as a catalyst to the overthrow of existing government institutions.\n\nFrom 191 4 to 1932\, Galleani's followers in the United States (known as i Galleani sti) carried out a series of bombings and assassination attempts against i nstitutions and persons they viewed as class enemies. After Galleani was d eported from the United States to Italy in June 1919\, his colleagues are alleged to have carried out the Wall Street bombing of 1920\, causing the deaths of 38 people.\n\n"Everything must belong to everybody and must pres ent the hypothesis of a world without god\, without king\, without governm ent\, without masters."\n\n- Luigi Galleani RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luigi_Galleani RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/article/seething-ideal-galleanisti-and-class- struggle-late-19th-century-and-early-20th-century-usa RESOURCES:https://theanarchistlibrary.org/category/author/luigi-galleani END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Mario Santucho (1936 - 1976) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250812 DTEND:20250813T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Marxism,Birthdays COMMENT:Mario Roberto Santucho\, born on this day in 1936\, was an Argenti ne revolutionary\, guerrilla combatant\, and founder of the Partido Revolu cionario de los Trabajadores (Workers' Revolutionary Party\, PRT). DESCRIPTION:Mario Roberto Santucho\, born on this day in 1936\, was an Arg entine revolutionary\, guerrilla combatant\, and founder of the Partido Re volucionario de los Trabajadores (Workers' Revolutionary Party\, PRT). He was also leader of Argentina's largest Marxist guerrilla group\, the Ejér cito Revolucionario del Pueblo (People's Revolutionary Army\, ERP).\n\nSan tucho and a significant part of the PRT leadership were killed on July 19t h\, 1976 as part of a covert ambush carried out by a paramilitary task for ce connected to the Argentine Armed Forces. His and his wife's remains wer e never found.\n\nThis attack was part of the "Dirty War" perpetrated by t he US-backed Argentinian dictatorship against left-wing dissidents (includ ing students\, guerrilla fighters\, labor activists\, and journalists). It is estimated that around 30\,000 people were murdered due to this persecu tion. RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/espanol/santucho/index.htm RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mario_Roberto_Santucho RESOURCES:https://vault.fbi.gov/argentina-declassification-project/mario-r oberto-santucho-part-01-of-01/view RESOURCES:https://www.britannica.com/event/Dirty-War END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:South Africa Miners Strike (1946) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250812 DTEND:20250813T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1946\, nearly 100\,000 black South African miners o f the Witwatersrand went on strike to demand higher wages. They faced sava ge police brutality\, suffering more than 1\,300 casualties in just one we ek of protest. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1946\, nearly 100\,000 black South African mine workers of the Witwatersrand went on strike in support of a demand for hi gher wages - 10 shillings a day. They continued the strike for a week in t he face of the most savage police terror\, in which officially 1\,248 work ers were wounded and a large number - officially only 9 - were killed.\n\n Lawless police and army violence broke the strike. The resources of the ra cist state were mobilized in war-like fashion against unarmed workers. A p rofound result of the strike was the effect it had on the thinking of the national liberation movement - almost immediately it shifted significantly from a policy of concession to more dynamic and militant forms of struggl e. RESOURCES:https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/1946-african-mineworkers-st rike RESOURCES:https://nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu/content/south-african-miners-s trike-higher-wages-1946 RESOURCES:https://www.saha.org.za/workers/workers_at_war_cnetu_and_the_194 6_african_mineworkers_strike_3.htm RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1946_African_Mine_Workers%27_Union _strike END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:U.S. Annexes Hawaii (1898) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250812 DTEND:20250813T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Imperialism COMMENT:On this day in 1898\, a formal ceremony was held at Iolani Palace to commemorate the annexation of Hawaii by the United States. The event wa s boycotted by nearly 40\,000 native Hawaiians on the island. DESCRIPTION:On January 17th\, 1893\, Queen Liliʻuokalani was overthrown b y a group of predominantly foreign insurgents who sought American annexati on of the Hawaiian islands. They successfully requested assistance from th e U.S. government\, who sent 162 sailors to occupy Oahu.\n\nOn this day in 1898\, a formal ceremony was held at Iolani Palace to commemorate the ann exation. Most of the 40\,000 native Hawaiians\, including the deposed Lili ʻuokalani and the royal family\, shuttered themselves in their homes\, pr otesting against the occupation.\n\nHawaiian scholar Dr. Keanu Sai has wri tten about the illegality of the U.S. occupation and annexation\, citing a n 1893 Executive Agreement between President Grover Cleveland and Queen Li li'uokalani. On June 1st\, 2010\, Sai filed a lawsuit against President Ob ama on this basis\, demanding the restoration of the Hawaiian Kingdom gove rnment. RESOURCES:https://www.nea.org/advocating-for-change/new-from-nea/illegal-o verthrow-hawaiian-kingdom-government RESOURCES:https://hawaiiankingdom.org/blog/an-act-of-war-of-aggression-uni ted-states-invasion-of-the-hawaiian-kingdom-on-august-12-1898/ RESOURCES:https://hawaiiankingdom.org/sai-obama.shtml RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overthrow_of_the_Hawaiian_Kingdom RESOURCES:https://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/17/jan-17-1893-hawaii an-monarchy-overthrown-by-america-backed-businessmen/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Daoxian Massacre (1967) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250813 DTEND:20250814T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Massacre COMMENT:On this day in 1967\, violence broke out in Dao County\, Hunan aga inst alleged counter-revolutionaries\, killing more than 7\,000 people ove r 2 months. In 1986\, the government denounced the massacre and imprisoned some of its participants. DESCRIPTION:Note: most of the following entry comes from the scholarship o f Song Yongyi\, a Chinese-American historian who specializes in the study of Chinese Cultural Revolution\, currently employed by California State Un iversity in Los Angeles.\n\nOn this day in 1967\, violence broke out in Da o County\, Hunan Province\, China against alleged counter-revolutionaries during the Cultural Revolution. The violence\, now known as the Daoxian Ma ssacre\, killed 4\,519 people over 2 months\, hundreds of whom were forced to commit suicide.\n\nApproximately 90% of the victims were alleged membe rs of the "Black Five Categories"\, a term used by the state to label enem ies of the communist revolution - landlords\, rich peasants\, counter-revo lutionaries\, "bad elements"\, and right-wingers. Family members were also targeted\, with the youngest recorded death being a 10-day-old infant.\n\ nDuring the "Boluan Fanzheng" period following Mao Zedong's death\, the Ch inese government opened an investigation into the massacre\, which it conc luded in 1986 by denouncing the violence and imprisoning some of its parti cipants. In Dao County\, 43 people who involved in the massacre were punis hed\, with only 11 being prosecuted\, receiving between 3 to 10 years in p rison. RESOURCES:https://www.sciencespo.fr/mass-violence-war-massacre-resistance/ en/document/dao-county-massacre-1967 RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daoxian_massacre END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Fidel Castro (1926 - 2016) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250813 DTEND:20250814T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Marxism,Birthdays COMMENT:Fidel Castro\, born on this day in 1926\, was a Cuban revolutionar y and politician who served as Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 an d its President from 1976 to 2008. "Condemn me. It does not matter. Histor y will absolve me." DESCRIPTION:Fidel Castro\, born on this day in 1926\, was a Cuban revoluti onary and politician who served as Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 197 6 and its President from 1976 to 2008.\n\nCastro came into power in early 1959 after years of revolutionary struggle against the U.S.-backed regime of Fulgencio Batista (1901 - 1973). Ideologically a Marxist-Leninist and C uban nationalist\, he also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from 1961 until 2011.\n\nWith Castro as Prime Minister\, the Cuban government nationalized and expanded healthcare and education\, red istributed land to the peasant class\, and implemented rent controls.\n\nU nder Castro's leadership\, Cuba also exported aid abroad\, sending troops and doctors to assist Agostinho Neto and the left-wing MPLA during the Ang olan Civil War\, and establishing a significant program of medical interna tionalism in the Global South. In 2007\, Robert Huish and John M. Kirk wro te that Cuba was providing more medical personnel to the developing world than all G8 countries combined.\n\n"The fact is\, when men carry the same ideals in their hearts\, nothing can isolate them - neither prison walls n or the sod of cemeteries. For a single memory\, a single spirit\, a single idea\, a single conscience\, a single dignity will sustain them all."\n\n - Fidel Castro RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fidel_Castro RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/history/cuba/archive/castro/index.htm RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/tags/fidel-castro RESOURCES:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwN3i56Wzas&t=227s&ab_channel=Af roMarxist END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Joycelyn Elders (1933 - ) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250813 DTEND:20250814T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays COMMENT:Dr. Joycelyn Elders\, born on this day in 1933\, is an American pe diatrician who became the first black Surgeon General of the U.S. in 1993. She was fired by President Clinton after advocating for sex positive educ ation. DESCRIPTION:Dr. Joycelyn Elders\, born on this day in 1933\, is an America n pediatrician and public health administrator who served as Surgeon Gener al of the United States from 1993 to 1994. Elders was the first African Am erican to serve as Surgeon General and is best known for her frank discuss ion of her views on controversial issues such as drug legalization\, mastu rbation\, and distributing contraception in schools.\n\nAlthough she faced censure from the Clinton administration for advocating the legalization o f drugs\, it was her sex positive view on masturbation that led to her rem oval from office. After stating "I think that [masturbation] is part of hu man sexuality\, and perhaps it should be taught"\, Clinton forced her to r esign as Surgeon General in December of 1994. She is currently a professor emerita of pediatrics at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. \n\n"If you can't control your reproduction\, you can't control your life. "\n\n- Dr. Joycelyn Elders RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joycelyn_Elders RESOURCES:https://cfmedicine.nlm.nih.gov/physicians/biography_98.html RESOURCES:https://pryorcenter.uark.edu/interview.php?thisProject=Arkansas% 20Memories&thisProfileURL=ELDERS-Joycelyn&displayName=&thisInterviewee=202 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Karl Liebknecht (1871 - 1919) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250813 DTEND:20250814T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Socialism,Birthdays,Imperialism COMMENT:Karl Liebknecht\, born on this day in 1871\, was a German revoluti onary socialist and political theorist known for his collaboration with Ro sa Luxemburg\, co-founding the revolutionary Spartacus League together in 1914. DESCRIPTION:Karl Liebknecht\, born on this day in 1871\, was a German soci alist politician and theorist. Originally associated with the Social Democ ratic Party of Germany (SPD)\, Liebknecht later became a co-founder with R osa Luxemburg of both the Spartacus League and the Communist Party of Germ any (KPD). Liebknecht is also known for his outspoken opposition to World War I.\n\nIn January 1919\, the Spartacus League played a leading role in the Spartacist Uprising\, a general strike and armed rebellion in Berlin. The uprising was crushed by the SPD government and the Freikorps (paramili tary units composed of World War I veterans). For their role in the uprisi ng\, Liebknecht and Luxemburg were both kidnapped\, tortured\, and murdere d on January 15th\, 1919.\n\nTheir contributions to European socialism are commemorated annually in Germany during the second weekend of January\, a n event known as the Liebknecht-Luxemburg Demonstration\, or "LL-Demo" for short.\n\n"The main enemy of the German people is in Germany: German impe rialism\, the German war party\, German secret diplomacy. This enemy at ho me must be fought by the German people in a political struggle\, cooperati ng with the proletariat of other countries whose struggle is against their own imperialists."\n\n- Karl Liebknecht RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Liebknecht RESOURCES:https://spartacus-educational.com/GERliebknecht.htm RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/archive/liebknecht-k/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Michael Brooks (1983 - 2020) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250813 DTEND:20250814T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Socialism,Birthdays COMMENT:Michael Jamal Brooks\, born on this day in 1983\, was an American talk show host\, writer\, and socialist political commentator\, interviewi ng figures such as Noam Chomsky\, Cornel West\, and Adolph Reed on The Mic hael Brooks Show. DESCRIPTION:*the source for this birthday date is a tweet by Brooks and ne eds further confirmation\n\nMichael Jamal Brooks\, born on this day in 198 3\, was an American talk show host\, writer\, and democratic socialist pol itical commentator. He launched "The Michael Brooks Show" in August 2017\, interviewing figures such as Noam Chomsky\, Cornel West\, Adolph Reed\, a nd Slavoj Žižek.\n\nBrooks was a self-identified progressive and democra tic socialist. One of his last publications was a book titled "Against the Web: A Cosmopolitan Answer to the New Right"\, which offered a critique o f the popular figures associated with the intellectual dark web (IDW) and argued that a focus on de-platforming has harmed the left's ability to org anize.\n\n"Be ruthless with systems\, be kind with people."\n\n- Michael B rooks RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Brooks_(political_commenta tor) RESOURCES:https://jacobinmag.com/2020/07/remembering-our-friend-and-comrad e-michael-brooks END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:London Dock Strike (1889) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250814 DTEND:20250815T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:The London Dock Strike was a massive industrial dispute involving more than 100\,000 workers in the Port of London\, beginning on this day i n 1889. Workers established strong trade unions and won better working con ditions. DESCRIPTION:The London Dock Strike was a massive industrial dispute involv ing more than 100\,000 workers in the Port of London\, beginning on this d ay in 1889. Workers established strong trade unions and won better working conditions.\n\nBefore the strike began\, workers were paid extremely poor ly and did not have regular hours. Instead\, they would show up en masse t o work and a handful would be selected - the rest would be sent home witho ut payment. In this way\, their employers could only pay for exactly the l abor needed for the day.\n\nOn August 14th\, led by socialist union organi zer Ben Tillet\, the men in the West India Dock struck immediately and sta rted persuading other dockers to join them. The support they needed came w hen the Amalgamated Stevedores Union (whose workers were essential the ope ration of the dock)\, under Tom McCarthy\, joined the strike.\n\nThe labor action became so large (one estimation was 130\,000 workers)\, that it co uld possibly be considered a general strike. A newspaper reported "Dockmen \, lightermen\, bargemen\, cement workers\, carmen\, ironworkers and even factory girls are coming out."\n\nThe London Dock Strike resulted in a vic tory for the 100\,000 strikers and established strong trade unions amongst London dockers\, one of which became the nationally important "Dock\, Wha rf\, Riverside and General Labourers' Union".\n\nThe success of the Docker s' Strike was a turning point in the history of trade unionism\, with unsk illed workers in particular gaining confidence to organize and engage in c ollective action. From 750\,000 workers in 1888\, trade union membership g rew to more than 2 million by 1899. RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/1889-the-great-london-dock-strike RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_dock_strike\,_1889 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Mariola Sirakova (1904 - 1925) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250814 DTEND:20250815T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Anarchism COMMENT:Mariola Sirakova\, born on this day in 1904\, was a wealthy Bulgar ian actress who organized with the revolutionary anarchist movement in Bul garia\, sheltering wanted anarchists from the state before being executed at the age of 20. DESCRIPTION:Mariola Sirakova\, born on this day in 1904\, was a wealthy Bu lgarian actress who organized with the revolutionary anarchist movement in Bulgaria\, sheltering wanted anarchists from the state.\n\nIn 1923\, a mi litary coup led to the butchery of 35\,000 workers and peasants\, leading to a campaign of armed resistance against the state (the "September Rising "). A massive wave of repression was undertaken by the fascists and milita ry against the revolutionary movement\, and Mariola was arrested by the po lice\, raped\, and brutally beaten.\n\nAfter her release\, she gave suppor t to the Kilifarevo cheta (an armed guerilla unit)\, bringing them food\, medicine\, and clothes\, and caring for the wounded. Mariola Sirakova and fellow anarchist Gueorgui Cheitanov were subsequently caught in an ambush and arrested. On May 28th\, 1925\, they were taken to Belovo railway stati on and summarily executed with 12 other prisoners. Mariola was twenty year s old. RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/sirakova-mariola-1904-1925 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Food Not Bombs First Arrests (1988) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250815 DTEND:20250816T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1988\, members of Food Not Bombs (including one of the founders\, Keith McHenry\, shown)\, were arrested for the first time i n San Francisco\, California\, for handing out free food and literature in Golden Gate Park. DESCRIPTION:Food Not Bombs is a loose-knit group of independent collective s\, sharing free vegan and vegetarian food with others. Food Not Bombs' id eology is that corporate and government priorities are skewed to allow hun ger to persist in the midst of abundance.\n\nAs evidence of this\, a large amount of the food served by the group is surplus food from grocery store s\, bakeries\, and markets that would otherwise go to waste (or\, occasion ally\, has already been thrown away).\n\nOn this day in 1988\, members of Food Not Bombs (including one of the founders\, Keith McHenry\, shown)\, w ere arrested for the first time in San Francisco\, California\, for handin g out free food and literature in Golden Gate Park. These were the first o f many arrests of Food Not Bombs activists for giving away free food. RESOURCES:https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/food-not-bombs RESOURCES:http://foodnotbombs.net/fnb_time_line.html END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Joan Little Acquitted (1975) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250815 DTEND:20250816T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1975\, Joan Little became the first woman in U.S. h istory to be acquitted for defending herself from sexual assault with dead ly force after she killed a jailer who had been using his position of powe r to rape female inmates. DESCRIPTION:Joan Little (pronounced "Jo Ann"\, 1953 - ) is a black woman w hose trial for the 1974 murder of Clarence Alligood\, a white prison guard at Beaufort County Jail in Washington\, North Carolina\, became a cause c élèbre of the civil rights\, feminist\, and anti-death penalty movements .\n\nOn this day in 1975\, Little became the first woman in United States history to be acquitted using the defense that she used deadly force to re sist sexual assault. Her case was also a pioneering instance of the applic ation of scientific jury selection.\n\nOn August 27th\, 1974\, a police of ficer at the Beaufort County jail discovered the body of jailer Clarence A lligood on Joan Little's bunk\, naked from the waist down and semen on his leg\, with stab wounds to his head and heart areas. Alligood had suffered stab wounds to the temple and the heart area from an icepick. Little had also escaped.\n\nLittle turned herself in a week later and was charged wit h first degree murder\, which\, if convicted\, would result in the death p enalty. During her trial\, other women came forward to testify about Allig ood's history of sexual assault in prison\, and Little was acquitted by a racially-mixed jury of six white and six black people. RESOURCES:https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/joan-little-acquitted/ RESOURCES:https://www.aaihs.org/free-joan-little/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_Little END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:London Women Transport Workers Strike (1918) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250816 DTEND:20250817T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:On this day in 1918\, a meeting of women at Willesden bus garage d ecided to go on strike without informing their bosses or unions\, beginnin g the London Women Transport Workers' Strike\, in which they demanded equa l pay for equal work. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1918\, a meeting of women at Willesden bus gara ge decided to go on strike without informing their bosses or unions\, begi nning the London Women Transport Workers' Strike\, in which they demanded equal pay for equal work.\n\nIn August 1918\, female tram conductors in Wi llesden\, London started a wildcat strike which quickly spread around the country and to other sectors of public transport. Earlier that year\, male workers were given a 5 shilling per week wartime bonus to help cope with the increased cost of living\, but women workers were not.\n\nOn August 16 th\, 1918\, a meeting of women at Willesden bus garage decided to go on st rike the following day\, without informing their bosses or unions. Initial ly demanding the same war bonus that had been given to men\, their demands morphed into equal pay\, more than forty years before the Equal Pay Act. The slogan of the strike was "Same Work - Same Pay".\n\nThe strike spread throughout the city - an estimated 18\,000 out of a total 27\,000 women wo rking in the public transport industry participated.\n\nThe strike was set tled on the 25th of August. The women won the 5 shilling war bonus\, but n ot equal pay. According to historian Dr. Cathy Hunt\, this labor action wa s "an important step along the way to full gender equality". RESOURCES:https://cathyhunthistorian.com/2018/07/24/the-weather-was-hot-th e-way-was-long-the-1918-strike-for-equal-pay/ RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/london-transport-women-workers-strike -1918 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Marikana Massacre (2012) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250816 DTEND:20250817T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Massacre COMMENT:On this day in 2012\, the Marikana Massacre took place when South African police fired on striking workers\, killing 34 and injuring 76 in t he most lethal use of force by the state in half a century. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 2012\, the Marikana Massacre took place when So uth African police fired on striking workers\, killing 34 and injuring 76 in the most lethal use of force by the state in half a century.\n\nThe sho otings have been compared to the infamous Sharpeville Massacre in 1960\, w hen police fired on a crowd of anti-Pass Law protesters\, killing 69 peopl e\, including 10 children. The Marikana Massacre took place on the 25-year anniversary of a nationwide strike by over 300\,000 South African workers .\n\nOn August 10th\, miners had initiated a wildcat strike at a site owne d by Lonmin in the Marikana area\, close to Rustenburg\, South Africa. Alt hough ten people (mostly workers) had been killed before August 16th\, it was on that day that an elite force from the South African Police Service fired into a crowd of strikers with rifles\, killing 34 and injuring 76.\n \nAfter surveying the aftermath of the violence\, photojournalist Greg Mar inovich concluded that "[it is clear] that heavily armed police hunted dow n and killed the miners in cold blood."\n\nFollowing the massacre\, a mass ive wave of strikes occurred across the South African mining sector - in e arly October\, analysts estimated that approximately 75\,000 miners were o n strike from various gold and platinum mines and companies across South A frica\, most of them doing so illegally.\n\nA year after the Marikana Mass acre\, author Benjamin Fogel wrote "Perhaps the most important lesson of M arikana is that the state can gun down dozens of black workers with little or no backlash from 'civil society'\, the judicial system or from within the institutions that supposedly form the bedrock of democracy." RESOURCES:https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/marikana-massacre-16-august -2012 RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marikana_massacre RESOURCES:https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/may/19/marikana-massacre- untold-story-strike-leader-died-workers-rights END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Peterloo Massacre (1819) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250816 DTEND:20250817T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Massacre,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1819\, the Peterloo Massacre took place when Britis h cavalry charged a crowd of ~60\,000 protesters gathered in Manchester\, Lancashire\, England to demand democratic reforms\, killing 18 people and wounding hundreds more. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1819\, the Peterloo Massacre took place when Br itish cavalry charged a crowd of ~60\,000 protesters gathered in St. Peter 's Field in Manchester\, England to demand democratic reforms\, killing 18 people and wounding hundreds more.\n\nThe protest took place in the conte xt of an economic crisis and harvest failure following the end of the Napo leonic Wars in 1815. At the time\, only approximately 11% of adult males c ould vote\, very few of them in the industrial north\, which was the worst hit by the crises.\n\nReformers\, led by figures such as the radical orat or Henry Hunt and social reformer Samuel Bamford\, identified democratic a nd parliamentary reforms as a way to mobilize the masses\, acquiring three -quarters of a million signatures in 1817\, a proposal flatly rejected by the House of Commons.\n\nOn August 16th\, 1819\, a mass rally of democrati c reformers gathered in St. Peter's Field in Manchester. The meeting's aim s were explicitly peaceful and legal\; organizers stated the protest's pur pose was "to consider the propriety of adopting the most LEGAL and EFFECTU AL means of obtaining a reform in the Common House of Parliament" and did not allow participants to bear arms.\n\nDespite this\, members of the Brit ish Cavalry attempted to arrest leaders of the protest. When their horses became stuck in the crowd\, officers panicked and began indiscriminately a ttacking the meeting's participants. Exact numbers are difficult to calcul ate\, but modern estimates are that 18 people were killed and approximatel y 600 more were injured.\n\nAmong those killed was a two year old boy\, kn ocked from his mother's arms by a charging horse. John Lees\, a working cl ass veteran of Waterloo who later died of wounds sustained at the Peterloo Massacre\, stated "At Waterloo there was man to man but there it was down right murder".\n\nThe British government supported the military's actions and\, as a result of the disorder\, passed the "Six Acts"\, legislation to suppress radical meetings and publications. By the end of 1820\, every si gnificant working-class radical reformer was in jail.\n\nOn the political situation after Peterloo\, historian Robert Reid wrote "it is not fanciful to compare the restricted freedoms of the British worker in the post-Pete rloo period in the early nineteenth century with those of the black South African in the post-Sharpeville period of the late twentieth century." RESOURCES:http://www.peterloomassacre.org/history.html RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peterloo_Massacre END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Marcus Garvey (1887 - 1940) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250817 DTEND:20250818T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Pan-Africanism,Birthdays COMMENT:Marcus Garvey\, born on this day in 1887\, was a Jamaican politica l activist\, author\, and orator who became one of the most influential bl ack nationalist and Pan-Africanist leaders of the 20th century. DESCRIPTION:Marcus Garvey\, born on this day in 1887\, was a Jamaican poli tical activist\, author\, and orator who became one of the most influentia l black nationalist and Pan-Africanist leaders of the 20th century.\n\nGar vey was born to a moderately prosperous Afro-Jamaican family in Saint Ann' s Bay\, Jamaica\, and apprenticed into the print trade as a teenager. Work ing in Kingston\, he became involved in trade unionism before living brief ly in Costa Rica\, Panama\, and England.\n\nGreatly influenced by Booker T . Washington's autobiography "Up From Slavery"\, Garvey began to support e conomic separatism and social segregation. In 1914\, he founded the Univer sal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA-ACL \, commonly known as UNIA)\, through which he declared himself Provisional President of Africa. Ideologically a black nationalist and Pan-Africanist \, his ideas came to be known as "Garveyism".\n\nGarvey launched various b usinesses in the U.S.\, including the Negro Factories Corporation and Negr o World newspaper. In 1919\, he became President of the Black Star Line sh ipping and passenger company\, designed to forge a link between North Amer ica and Africa and facilitate African-American migration to Liberia.\n\nIn 1923\, Garvey was convicted of mail fraud for selling the company's stock and imprisoned in the U.S. Penitentiary Atlanta for nearly two years. Gar vey blamed Jewish people for his sentence\, claiming that they were prejud iced against him because of his links to the Ku Klux Klan\, whom he had co llaborated with on the basis of their shared goal of racial separatism.\n\ nGarvey's influence has been repeatedly emphasized by black intellectuals - Kwame Nkrumah cited "The Philosophy and Opinions of Marcus Garvey" as th e text that most inspired him\, American writer Ta-Nehisi Coates described Garvey as the "patron saint" of the black nationalist movement\, and scho lar Molefi Kete Asante included Garvey on his list of 100 Greatest African Americans.\n\nThose who dissented from this view include W.E.B. Du Bois\, who\, after hearing of Garvey's meeting with the KKK\, called him the gre atest enemy of the Negro race\, and radical labor organizer A. Philip Rand olph\, who stated that Garvey and Garveyism should be purged from American soil.\n\nGarvey spent his last years in Jamaica trying to revive his poli tical fortunes. He died in London\, England in 1940.\n\n"A people without the knowledge of their past history\, origin and culture is like a tree wi thout roots."\n\n- Marcus Garvey RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/garvey-marcus-1 887-1940/ RESOURCES:https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/garvey-biog raphy/ RESOURCES:https://www.jpanafrican.org/ebooks/eBook%20Phil%20and%20Opinions .pdf RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Garvey END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Ruth First Assassinated (1982) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250817 DTEND:20250818T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Civil Rights,Assassinations COMMENT:Ruth First was a South African anti-apartheid activist\, journalis t\, and scholar who was assassinated by South African police via mail-bomb on this day in 1982. DESCRIPTION:Ruth First was a South African anti-apartheid activist\, journ alist\, and scholar who was assassinated by South African police via mail- bomb on this day in 1982.\n\nAs an anti-apartheid activist\, First had bee n harassed for years by the South African government. In 1956\, First\, al ongside 155 other activists\, were all charged and acquitted of treason in the country's infamous "Treason Trial".\n\nAfter the state of emergency t hat followed the Sharpeville Massacre in 1960\, she was banned from politi cal participation. First could not attend meetings\, publish\, and or be q uoted. In 1963\, she was imprisoned and held in isolation without charge f or 117 days under the Ninety-Day Detention Law\, the first white woman to be detained under this law.\n\nIn August of 1982\, First was assassinated by South African police in Mozambique\, where she was working in exile. He r funeral in Maputo was attended by presidents\, members of parliament and envoys from 34 countries.\n\nThe Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC )\, established in 1996 following the fall of apartheid\, granted amnesty to Craig Williamson and Roger Raven\, two of the men responsible for killi ng First. RESOURCES:https://www.sahistory.org.za/people/ruth-heloise-first RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth_First RESOURCES:https://www.ruthfirstpapers.org.uk/browse END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Amelia Boynton Robinson (1911 - 2015) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250818 DTEND:20250819T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Civil Rights,Birthdays COMMENT:Amelia Robinson\, born on this day in 1911\, was an American civil rights activist who played a key role in the 1965 Selma to Montgomery mar ches. "I was brought up by people who loved others. I love people...We had no feeling that we hate anyone." DESCRIPTION:Amelia Boynton Robinson\, born on this day in 1911\, was an Am erican civil rights activist who played a key role in the 1965 Selma to Mo ntgomery marches.\n\nIn 1964 and 1965\, Boynton worked with Martin Luther King\, Diane Nash\, James Bevel\, and others of the Southern Christian Lea dership Conference (SCLC) to plan civil rights demonstrations. During the infamous "Bloody Sunday" attack on the Selma to Montgomery marchers\, Boyn ton suffered throat burns from tear gas and was beaten unconscious by poli ce on horseback.\n\nDespite suffering this violence\, Boynton participated in the next two marches. The third was successful\, and reached Montgomer y on March 24th with more than 25\,000 participants.\n\n"I was brought up by people who loved others. I love people. We had no animosity. We had no feeling that we hate anyone."\n\n- Amelia Boynton Robinson RESOURCES:https://snccdigital.org/people/amelia-boynton/ RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/amelia-boynto n-robinson-1911-2015/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amelia_Boynton_Robinson END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Demerara Rebellion (1823) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250818 DTEND:20250819T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Colonialism COMMENT:On this day in 1823\, more than 10\,000 enslaved Guyanese people r ose up against their oppressors. Rebels held whites hostage to make demand s\, but generally abhorred violence. The state declared martial law\, kill ing hundreds of people. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1823\, more than 10\,000 enslaved Guyanese peop le rose up against their oppressors. Rebels held whites hostage to make de mands\, but generally abhorred violence. The state declared martial law\, killing hundreds of people and displaying their corpses as a warning to th e survivors.\n\nThe revolt took place in modern day Guyana\, then the Brit ish colony of Demerara-Essequibo. The colony's primary export was sugar\, and enslaved black people drastically outnumbered other groups on the isla nd. The year of the uprising\, the population consisted of approximately 2 \,500 whites\, 2\,500 freed black people\, and 77\,000 slaves.\n\nThe rebe llion was linked to the church of John Smith\, a British missionary. One o f the leaders of the uprising was Jack Gladstone\, a cooper on the plantat ion where the rebellion started and the son of Quamina\, a prominent membe r of Smith's church.\n\nUpon learning of his son's plans\, Quamina opposed the revolt\, urging the planners to initiate a strike instead\, and to no t use violence. Quamina also informed John Smith of the plans\, which Smit h declined to disclose to the authorities.\n\nOn August 18th\, 1823\, more than 10\,000 enslaved people rose up against their masters to demand bett er treatment. Rebels generally abhorred violence\, choosing instead to hol d whites hostage in their homes and stockades as leverage with which to ma ke their demands. Despite the large scale of the revolt\, some of the ensl aved stayed loyal to their masters and defended their plantations.\n\nThe Governor immediately declared martial law\, and\, when a crowd of 2\,000 r ebels refused to disperse on order of a colonial militia\, soldiers fired into the crowd\, killing hundreds of people. Within two days\, the rebelli on was suppressed.\n\nIn the weeks following the suppression of uprising\, the colonizers executed dozens of slaves\, displaying the dismembered hea ds of those killed as a means of intimidation.\n\nJack Gladstone was sold and deported to St. Lucia\, while Quamina was hunted down and killed on Se ptember 23rd. John Smith was arrested for not informing the government of the plans of rebellion and died in prison. Smith's death made him a martyr within the British abolitionist movement.\n\nUnder pressure from London\, the Demerara Court of Policy passed various reforms for slave labor in 18 25\, institutionalizing working hours and some civil rights for the enslav ed.\n\nIn 1833\, the British government passed the Slavery Abolition Act\, beginning a process of gradual abolition throughout its colonies. RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/demerara-rebell ion-1823/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demerara_rebellion_of_1823 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Ernst Thälmann Executed (1944) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250818 DTEND:20250819T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Fascism COMMENT:Ernst Thälmann was a German communist leader executed by the Nazi s on this day in 1944\, killed in the Buchenwald concentration camp after being subjected to more than a decade of solitary confinement and physical torture. DESCRIPTION:Ernst Thälmann was a German communist leader executed by the Nazis on this day in 1944\, killed in the Buchenwald concentration camp af ter being subjected to more than a decade of solitary confinement and phys ical torture.\n\nHe served as the leader of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) from 1925 to 1933. A committed supporter of Stalin\, Thälmann play ed a major role during the political instability of the Weimar Republic\, especially in its final years when the KPD explicitly sought the overthrow of the liberal democracy.\n\nAfter the Reichstag Fire took place on Febru ary 27th\, 1933\, the Nazi Party launched a new wave of violence and arres ts against members of the KPD and other left-wing opponents of the regime. This included Thälmann\, who was arrested\, tortured\, and imprisoned on March 3rd of that year.\n\nHe was kept in solitary confinement for the ne xt eleven years before finally being executed at the Buchenwald concentrat ion camp in 1944.\n\n"I have been and I am being tortured! Greet the worke rs of the Saar from me as I would greet them!"\n\n- Ernst Thälmann\, bidd ing farewell to workers visiting him in prison RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernst_Th%C3%A4lmann RESOURCES:https://spartacus-educational.com/GERthalmann.htm RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/archive/pieck/1936/07/thaelmann.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Marianne Baum Executed (1942) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250818 DTEND:20250819T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Fascism COMMENT:Marianne Baum was a German communist who was executed by the Nazis on this day in 1942\, after the Baum Gruppe (co-founded by her husband\, Herbert\, shown) attacked an anti-communist propaganda exhibition in Berli n. DESCRIPTION:Marianne Baum was a German communist and Jewish member of the anti-fascist resistance to the Nazis\, executed by the Third Reich on this day in 1942 after the Baum Gruppe (co-founded by her husband\, Herbert\, shown) attacked an anti-communist propaganda exhibition in Berlin.\n\nMari anne Baum\, was born Marianne Cohen on February 9th\, 1912\, in Saarburg\, Germany\, later moving to Berlin. She was active in left-wing political g roups as a teen\, joining a communist youth organization in 1931.\n\nAlong side her husband Herbert Baum\, she co-founded the anti-fascist Baum Grupp e in 1938-39. The organization\, almost entirely composed of young Jewish people\, produced anti-Nazi propaganda and sometimes engaged in direct act ion against the Third Reich.\n\nOn May 18th\, 1942\, the group set fire to an anti-communist exhibition held in Berlin\, temporarily closing it. The high profile attack caught the attention of senior Nazi officials and man y Baum Gruppe members\, including Marianne and Herbert\, were arrested in the following days.\n\nOn August 18th\, 1942\, Marianne was executed via g uillotine by the Nazi state. Her husband Herbert had died a few months ear lier\, tortured to death in Moabit Prison on June 11th\, 1942. Today\, the re is a plaque in the Weißensee Cemetery in Berlin commemorating the Baum Gruppe. RESOURCES:https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/baum-gruppe-jewish-women RESOURCES:https://files.libcom.org/files/TheHerbertBaumGroupBlog.pdf RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marianne_Baum END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Iran coup d'état (1953) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250819 DTEND:20250820T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Riots COMMENT:On this day in 1953\, the U.S. and British governments initiated a coup d'état against the democratically elected Prime Minister of Iran\, Mohammad Mosaddegh. Mosaddegh had been preparing to nationalize Iran's Bri tish-owned oil fields. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1953\, the U.S. and British governments initiat ed a coup d'état against the democratically elected Prime Minister of Ira n\, Mohammad Mosaddegh. Mosaddegh had been preparing to nationalize Iran's British-owned oil fields.\n\nMosaddegh had sought to audit the documents of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC)\, later re-named British Petroleum \, and to limit the company's control over Iranian oil reserves. When the AIOC refused to cooperate with the Iranian government\, the parliament vot ed to nationalize Iran's oil industry and to expel foreign corporate repre sentatives from the country.\n\nIn response\, the British began a worldwid e boycott of Iranian oil to pressure Iran economically and engaged in subt erfuge to undermine Mosaddegh's government.\n\nJudging Mosaddegh to be unr eliable and fearing a communist takeover\, Winston Churchill and the Eisen hower administration overthrew Iran's government. The coup action was also supported by the Iranian clergy\, who opposed Mosaddegh's secularism.\n\n The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) hired mobsters to stage pro-Shah rio ts and paid people to travel to Tehran and take over the streets of the ci ty. Between 200 and 300 people were killed in the ensuing mayhem.\n\nMosad degh was arrested\, tried\, and convicted of treason by the Shah's militar y court. Many of his supporters were imprisoned\, several received the dea th penalty. Mosaddegh himself lived the rest of his life under house arres t\, dying in 1967.\n\nAfter the coup\, the Shah ruled as a monarch for the next 26 years until he was overthrown in the Iranian Revolution in 1979. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1953_Iranian_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/iranian-coup-1953 RESOURCES:https://www.democracynow.org/2003/8/25/50_years_after_the_cias_f irst RESOURCES:https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB435/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Anarchist Bank Robbery (1915) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250820 DTEND:20250821T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Anarchism COMMENT:On this day in 1915\, three anarcho-communists entered the Home Sa vings Bank in San Francisco and committed an armed robbery\, taking more t han $2\,400\, reportedly to help the revolutionary movement in Russia. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1915\, three anarcho-communists entered the Hom e Savings Bank in San Francisco and committed an armed robbery\, taking mo re than $2\,400\, reportedly to help the revolutionary movement in Russia. During the robbery\, a gun battle ensued and one of the robbers was shot\ , however all three still managed to escape.\n\nThe three men - Gregory Ch esalkin\, Charles Boutoff (later thought to be an alias for Vladimir Osoki n)\, and William Juber (shown) - were members of the Union of Russian Work ers of the United States and Canada (UORW)\, an anarcho-communist federati on founded in New York in 1908 that promoted armed warfare against the cap italist state.\n\nOn September 11th\, police arrested William Juber after he sought treatment for a wound and were able to find Chesalkin's location . When they attempted to arrest him\, Chesalkin initiated a shootout and d ied. Juber was sentenced to 35 years in prison.\n\nBoutoff was never found \, although evidence later surfaced that this may have been an alias for V ladimir Osokin\, a Russian anarchist who was shot and killed by San Franci sco police after he engaged in a shootout to resist arrest for passing cou nterfeit money.\n\nWhile dying from his wounds\, Osokin wrote an apologeti c letter to his mother\, as well as another statement that ended with "I a m not a bandit\, but an anarchist communist." RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/home-saving-bank-robbery-1915 RESOURCES:https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SFC19150915.2.58&e=-------en--20--1- -txt-txIN--------1 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Grunwick Dispute (1976) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250820 DTEND:20250821T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1976\, mail worker Devshi Bhudia was fired\, trigge ring the Grunwick Dispute. The mostly women immigrant strikers enjoyed bro ad support from rank-and-file labor\, but the strike failed after labor le adership declined to support them. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1976\, mail worker Devshi Bhudia was fired\, tr iggering the Grunwick Dispute. The mostly women immigrant strikers enjoyed broad support from rank-and-file labor\, but the strike failed after labo r leadership declined to support them.\n\nThe Grunwick Dispute was one of the first black and migrant worker struggles that won broad support from t he labor movement. According to Socialist Appeal\, this was in sharp contr ast to a 1974 dispute in Leicester\, where lay union officials were hostil e to the Asian workers. These officials actively colluded to create pay in equity for white and non-white workers. \n\nThe Grunwick firm relied almos t exclusively on the labor of immigrant women\, who were paid poorly and f orced to work long hours. Of the company's 440 employees\, 80% were of Asi an origin and 10% of Afro-Caribbean origin\, and application forms for emp loyment at Grunwick asked for passport numbers and "date of arrival in the UK."\n\nThe racist basis for these working conditions was explained by th e strikers: "Imagine how humiliating it was for us\, particularly for olde r women\, to be working and to overhear the employer saying to a younger\, English girl 'you don't want to come and work here\, love\, we won't be a ble to pay the sort of wages that'll keep you here' – while we had to wo rk there because we were trapped."\n\nThe strike was sparked by the dismis sal of Devshi Bhudia on August 20th\, 1976. Three other workers\, Chandrak ant Patel\, Bharat Patel and Suresh Ruparelia\, walked out in solidarity.\ n\nBy August 23rd\, six workers began picketing outside Grunwick offices. Soon\, postal workers began to refuse crossing the picket line to deliver mail\, and the size of the pickets began to grow as workers from other ind ustries joined the protest in solidarity. In this fashion\, the Grunwick D ispute became the first labor struggle where majority non-white strikers r eceived widespread support from the labor movement (similar\, previous dis putes did not enjoy solidarity from white workers and racist unions).\n\nM eanwhile\, Grunwick raised pay by 15% for non-striking workers on the cond ition that they would not join the union. In June and July of 1977\, worke rs from across London began trying to prevent scabs from showing up to wor k\, leading to violent conflicts with police and widespread media coverage .\n\nThe dispute was reported nightly on the national television\, often s howing violent clashes between strikers and the paramilitary Metropolitan Police's Special Patrol Group. More than 500 people were arrested\, the mo st since the general strike of 1926.\n\nThe incumbent Labour government co mmissioned the "Scarman Inquiry"\, which recommended both union recognitio n and re-instatement of the workers\, but the employer\, backed by the rig ht-wing National Association For Freedom (NAFF) and the Conservative Party \, successfully rejected these recommendations.\n\nThe Trades Union Congre ss (TUC) subsequently withdrew their support\, and the workers' strike com mittee announced the end of the dispute in June 1978. The strike's defeat was a major victory for the British right-wing\, which began to successful ly undermine the power of labor under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher\ , who became Prime Minister in 1979.\n\nOn the strike\, one of its leaders \, Jayaben Desai\, stated: "The strike is not so much about pay\, it is a strike about human dignity." RESOURCES:https://www.socialist.net/the-grunwick-struggle-40-years-on-we-a re-the-lions.htm RESOURCES:https://www.bl.uk/womens-rights/articles/remembering-the-grunwic k-dispute RESOURCES:https://www.striking-women.org/module/striking-out/grunwick-disp ute RESOURCES:http://isj.org.uk/muslim-working-class-struggles/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grunwick_dispute END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Tyke the Elephant Escapes (1994) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250820 DTEND:20250821T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1994\, Tyke\, an abused circus elephant\, killed he r trainer and escaped into the streets of Honolulu\, Hawaii. She died afte r being shot 86-87 times by police and subsequently became an internationa l symbol for animal rights. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1994\, Tyke\, an abused circus elephant\, kille d her trainer and seriously injured her groomer during a performance\, esc aping into the streets of Honolulu\, Hawaii. After thirty minutes of being pursued by police\, she died after being shot 86-87 times and subsequentl y became an international symbol for animal rights.\n\nTyke had been captu red as a baby in Mozambique in 1973 and was shipped to the United States t o be used as a circus animal. She had been involved in had escaped twice p rior to her killing on August 20th.\n\nOn August 20th\, 1994\, during a pe rformance at Circus International in Honolulu\, Hawaii\, Tyke trampled and critically injured her groomer\, Dallas Beckwith\, throwing him around nu merous times in the process. She also killed her trainer\, Allen Campbell\ , when he attempted to save Beckwith\, knocking him to the ground and crus hing him to death under her trunk.\n\nTyke then escaped and police pursued her for a half an hour\, riddling her with bullets. After being shot 86-8 7 times\, Tyke finally collapsed from nerve damage and brain hemorrhages.\ n\nFollowing the incident\, Tyke became a symbol for animal rights. Lawsui ts were filed against the City of Honolulu\, the State of Hawaii\, the cir cus\, and Tyke's owner\, John Cuneo Jr. These suits were settled out of co urt.\n\nAlthough no official ban on animal acts materialized at the arena where the incident occurred\, no circus featuring exotic animals has perfo rmed at the Blaisdell Arena since Tyke's killing. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyke_(elephant) RESOURCES:https://www.huffpost.com/entry/tyke-elephant-honolulu-circus_n_5 689932 RESOURCES:https://tykeelephantoutlaw.com/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Warsaw Pact Invasion of Czechoslovakia (1968) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250820 DTEND:20250821T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1968\, four Warsaw Pact countries - the Soviet Unio n\, Poland\, Bulgaria\, and Hungary - invaded Czechoslovakia with ~200\,00 0 troops to stop the "Prague Spring"\, liberal reforms promoted by the gov ernment of Alexander Dubček. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1968\, four Warsaw Pact countries - the Soviet Union\, Poland\, Bulgaria\, and Hungary - invaded Czechoslovakia with ~200 \,000 troops to stop the "Prague Spring"\, liberal reforms promoted by the government of Alexander Dubček. Romania and Albania declined to particip ate in the attack\, the latter of which left the Warsaw Pact a month later .\n\nThe invasion took place in the context of liberal reforms promoted by the communist government of Alexander Dubček\, known as the "Prague Spri ng". The reforms included a decentralization of administrative authority\, loosening of restrictions on the media\, speech and travel\, and the deci sion to split into two countries\, the Czech and Slovak Republics.\n\nThe reforms were not received well by the Soviets\, who\, after failed negotia tions\, sent ~200\,000 Warsaw Pact troops and tanks to occupy the country. 137 civilians were killed and 500 seriously wounded during the occupation .\n\nDubček and the Chairman of the National Assembly Josef Smrkovsky wer e arrested and taken to Moscow. They were allowed to return after adopting the "Moscow Protocol"\, which effectively reversed the liberalization of the Prague Spring.\n\nThe occupation was met with widespread\, mostly non- violent resistance. Civilians purposely gave wrong directions to invading soldiers and painted over direction-giving signs. On January 19th\, 1969\, student Jan Palach set himself on fire in Prague to protest the renewed s uppression of free speech. On September 8th\, 1968\, Polish accountant Rys zard Siwiec immolated himself in Warsaw during a harvest festival in prote st of the invasion.\n\nThe invasion caused major fractures in communist mo vements worldwide\, both inside and outside the Soviet bloc. Several KGB/G RU defectors and spies such as Oleg Gordievsky\, Vasili Mitrokhin\, and Dm itri Polyakov cited the 1968 invasion as their motivation for cooperating with the Western Intelligence agencies.\n\nInternationally\, the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) suffered a major split over the internal disputes o ver the Prague Spring\, while Albania left the Warsaw Pact following the i nvasion. The People's Republic of China strongly condemned the military ac tion\; on August 23rd\, 1968\, at the Beijing Romanian Embassy\, Chinese P remier Zhou Enlai denounced the Soviet Union for "fascist politics\, great power chauvinism\, national egoism\, and social imperialism".\n\nMeanwhil e\, the Portuguese Communist Party\, the South African Communist Party\, a nd the Communist Party USA all supported the Soviet position. RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/czechoslovakia-1968-what-socialism-wh at-human-face-petr-cerny RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/subject/czech/index.htm RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsaw_Pact_invasion_of_Czechoslov akia RESOURCES:https://digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org/document/113289 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Zanzibar City General Strike (1948) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250820 DTEND:20250821T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,General Strikes COMMENT:On this day in 1948\, workers of the British-owned African Wharfag e Company (AWC) began a work stoppage that turned into a general strike\, paralyzing the city for weeks and leading the government to declare a stat e of emergency. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1948\, workers of the British-owned African Wha rfage Company (AWC) began a work stoppage that turned into a general strik e\, paralyzing the city for weeks and leading the government to declare a state of emergency.\n\nPart of the power of this strike came from the fact that the AWC held a monopoly on cargo shipping in the port of Zanzibar Ci ty - when their workers struck\, supplies across the region were affected. One example of this is when\, on August 26th\, an Italian cruise liner ar rived in Zanzibar seeking water supplies\, but could not get it due to the dockworkers' strike.\n\nThe labor action did not begin as a general strik e. Abbas Othman\, an AWC worker and strike leader\, had attempted to invol ve other labor groups\, but they initially declined.\n\nAs food shortages began to occur\, Zanzibar President Glenday ordered that all weapons were to be delivered to the police station and banned all meetings not approved by the Chief of Police. A few days later\, he declared sweeping emergency powers that gave the government control over food and movement of people. \n\nDespite this repression\, the general strike succeeded\, both in the s hort term and the long. By December 1st\, 1948\, the AWC had increased all of their laborers' wage rates. Higher wages and better conditions were al so put in place for workers involved in the packing of produce for export\ , the bakery trade\, the soap and oil factories\, government\, and coconut husking. A Port Labour Advisory Committee was also formed to advise the g overnment of labor conditions for port workers. RESOURCES:https://nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu/content/zanzibar-workers-gener al-strike-zanzibar-city-tanzania-1948 RESOURCES:https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/bbf5/4c0435715c8b9506b8fb605066 9cc10813a2.pdf RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/article/1948-zanzibar-general-strike END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Camden 28 Raids Draft Office (1971) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250821 DTEND:20250822T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1971\, the Camden 28\, a group of Christian anti-wa r activists\, broke into a draft board office and proceeded to destroy and bag up thousands of draft documents. The group had been infiltrated by th e FBI and all were arrested. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1971\, the Camden 28\, a group of Christian ant i-war activists\, broke into a draft board office and proceeded to destroy and bag up thousands of draft documents. The group had been infiltrated b y the FBI and all were arrested.\n\nThe raid resulted in a high-profile cr iminal trial of the activists that was seen by many as a referendum on the Vietnam War and a successful use of jury nullification.\n\nOn August 21st \, 1971\, the activists broke into the draft board office and began destro ying and bagging thousands of draft-related documents. A member of their g roup had become a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) informant\, howeve r\, and the FBI monitored the break-in\, arresting everybody involved.\n\n The 28 chose to be tried together\, refusing an offered plea bargain for a single misdemeanor if the rest of the charges were dropped. Activist hist orian Howard Zinn testified at the trial as an expert on civil disobedienc e and recommended jury nullification.\n\nOn May 20th\, 1973\, the jury ret urned "not guilty" verdicts for all counts against all 28 defendants\, acq uitting them. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Camden_28 RESOURCES:https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/anti-war-protesters-raid -offices/ RESOURCES:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcdWk74LQdw&ab_channel=kuruantig enic END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:El Calabozo Massacre (1982) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250821 DTEND:20250822T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Massacre COMMENT:On this day in 1982\, the Atlacatl Battalion of the Salvadoran Arm y\, trained at the U.S. "School of the Americas"\, slaughtered more than 2 00 unarmed peasants that they had trapped along the "El Calabozo" region o f the Amatitan river. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1982\, soldiers from the Atlacatl Battalion of the Salvadoran Army\, trained at the infamous U.S. "School of the Americas "\, slaughtered more than 200 unarmed peasants that they had trapped along the "El Calabozo" area of the Amatitan river.\n\nThe massacre took place in the context of the Salvadoran Civil War\, a conflict between left-wing rebel groups and U.S.-backed state forces in which an estimated 75\,000 pe ople were killed. Worried about the spread of communism during the Cold Wa r\, President Reagan's administration gave billions of dollars to the righ t-wing Salvadoran government.\n\nIn August 1982\, the Salvadoran military launched an operation in San Vicente\, a rural area that was a guerrilla s tronghold at the time. The army sent about 6\,000 troops to rid the area o f rebel presence\, including the elite Atlacatl Battalion\, trained at the infamous "School of the Americas" and previously responsible for the El M ozote Massacre\, in which several hundred captured civilians were killed.\ n\nOn the night of August 21st\, a group of internally displaced people wa s overtaken beside the Amatitán river state troops. At a spot called "El Calabozo" ("The Dungeon")\, the battalion surrounded the IDPs and opened f ire at close range. Survivors allege that the soldiers then threw many of the bodies into the river and threw acid on some corpses\, making an accur ate count of the violence difficult.\n\nJoaquin Portillo\, a survivor whos e family was killed\, played dead after being shot. His testimony helped i dentify the bodies years later. Interviewed by Al Jazeera\, he stated "[A burial service for remains returned 38 years later] is a reminder so that we don't forget... They were people who were unarmed\, including kids\, an d [the soldiers] didn't have to do that." RESOURCES:https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/1/24/el-calabozo-massacre-re mains-of-six-returned-38-years-later RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Calabozo_massacre END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:George Jackson Escape Attempt (1971) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250821 DTEND:20250822T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Marxism COMMENT:On this day in 1971\, revolutionary George Jackson was shot dead w hile attempting to escape prison with a smuggled-in handgun. He alluded to the writing of Ho Chi Minh as he freed other prisoners: "Gentleman\, the dragon has come!" DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1971\, revolutionary George Jackson was shot de ad while attempting to escape prison with a smuggled-in handgun. He allude d to the writing of Ho Chi Minh as he freed other prisoners: "Gentleman\, the dragon has come!"\n\nWhile serving a sentence for armed robbery in 196 1\, Jackson (1941 - 1971) became politically radicalized\, stating "I met Marx\, Lenin\, Trotsky\, Engels\, and Mao when I entered prison and they r edeemed me". He also co-founded the Marxist-Leninist Black Guerrilla Famil y with W.L. Nolen.\n\nJackson authored two texts while incarcerated - "Sol edad Brother: The Prison Letters of George Jackson" (1970) and "Blood in M y Eye" (1971).\n\nOn August 21st\, 1971\, Jackson attempted to escape pris on. With a smuggled handgun\, he took hostages and freed twenty-six prison ers at gunpoint. Before releasing them from their cells\, he alluded to th e writings of Ho Chi Minh\, stating "This is it\, gentleman\, the dragon h as come".\n\nThree guards and two prisoners were murdered in the escape at tempt\, and Jackson himself was shot dead while attempting to leave the bu ilding. Two weeks after his escape attempt\, the notorious Attica Prison R iots began.\n\n"Settle your quarrels\, come together\, understand the real ity of our situation\, understand that fascism is already here\, that peop le are already dying who could be saved\, that generations more will live poor butchered half-lives if you fail to act. Do what must be done\, disco ver your humanity and your love in revolution."\n\n- George Jackson RESOURCES:https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/EXIT-THE-DRAGON-It-s-been -30-years-since-George-2888071.php RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Jackson_(activist) RESOURCES:https://files.libcom.org/files/soledad-brother-the-prison-letter s-of-george-jackson.pdf RESOURCES:https://redyouthnwa.files.wordpress.com/2018/05/george_l-_jackso n_blood_in_my_eyebook4you-org.pdf END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Leon Trotsky Assassinated (1940) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250821 DTEND:20250822T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Marxism,Assassinations COMMENT:Leon Trotsky was a revolutionary Soviet politician and Marxist the orist who was assassinated by an NKVD (Soviet secret police) agent on this day in 1940 in Mexico City\, where he had been writing and organizing in exile. DESCRIPTION:Leon Trotsky was a revolutionary Soviet politician and Marxist theorist who was assassinated by an NKVD (Soviet secret police) agent on this day in 1940 in Mexico City\, where he had been writing and organizing in exile.\n\nKey characteristics of Trotskyist thought include the concep ts of "Permanent Revolution" and the "United Front" of revolutionaries and reformers against common enemies.\n\nTrotsky joined the Bolshevik Party i n the fall of 1917 and quickly became a leader within it\, thus also playi ng a key role in the October Revolution. In the following years\, Trotsky served as the leader of the Red Army and became one of the seven members o f the first Bolshevik Politburo in 1919.\n\nAfter the rise of Joseph Stali n\, Trotsky was removed from his positions and eventually expelled from th e Soviet Union in February 1929. He spent the rest of his life in exile\, authoring works such as "The Revolution Betrayed" (1936) and organizing wi th American Trotskyists such as James P. Cannon.\n\nOn August 21st\, 1940\ , Trotsky was assassinated in Mexico City by Ramón Mercader\, a Soviet NK VD agent. He was one of the few Soviet political personalities that Khrush chev's government did not rehabilitate in the 1950s.\n\n"In a country wher e the sole employer is the State\, opposition means death by slow starvati on. The old principle: who does not work shall not eat\, has been replaced by a new one: who does not obey shall not eat."\n\n- Leon Trotsky RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leon_Trotsky RESOURCES:https://spartacus-educational.com/RUStrotsky.htm RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Nat Turner's Rebellion (1831) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250821 DTEND:20250822T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1831\, Nat Turner\, a preacher in Southampton Count y\, Virginia\, initiated a rebellion in which groups of slaves went house to house in the area\, liberating the enslaved and killing their masters. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1831\, Nat Turner\, a preacher in Southampton C ounty\, Virginia\, initiated a rebellion in which groups of slaves went ho use to house in the area\, liberating the enslaved and killing their maste rs.\n\nTurner (1800 - 1831) was born and raised in Southampton County\, Vi rginia\, an area where black people outnumbered whites. He learned how to read and write at a young age and was deeply religious\, eventually becomi ng an influential preacher in the area.\n\nIn early 1831\, on the basis of religious visions\, Nat Turner began preparing an insurrection. It began on August 21st\, 1831\, and rebels traveled from house to house\, freeing slaves and killing many of the white people that they encountered.\n\nAt l east 55 whites were killed\, among them men\, women\, and children. The gr oup spared a few homes "because Turner believed the poor white inhabitants 'thought no better of themselves than they did of negroes'"\, according t o historian Stephen Oates.\n\nThe rebellion was put down by a combined for ce of local militia and three companies of artillery. The state executed 5 6 black people\, and militias killed at least 100 more\, some of whom were not involved in the rebellion.\n\nTurner went on the run\, eluding captur e for six weeks. On October 30th\, 1831\, a white farmer discovered him hi dden among the local Nottoway people in a depression in the earth\, create d by a large\, fallen tree that was covered with fence rails.\n\nAfter bei ng tried and convicted for "conspiring to rebel and making insurrection"\, Turner was asked if he regretted what he had done. He responded "Was Chri st not crucified?"\n\nTurner was hanged by the government on November 11th \, 1831. His body was dissected and flayed\, with his bones and skin being used to create trophies and souvenirs\, such as purses.\n\nAfter Turner's execution\, state legislatures passed new laws prohibiting education of b oth enslaved and free black people\, restricting rights of assembly and ot her civil liberties for free black people\, and requiring white ministers to be present at all worship services. RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/turner-nat-18 00-1831/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nat_Turner%27s_slave_rebellion RESOURCES:https://www.jacobinmag.com/2016/10/birth-of-a-nation-nat-turner- nate-parker END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Alexander Bogdanov (1873 - 1928) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250822 DTEND:20250823T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Socialism,Marxism,Birthdays COMMENT:Alexander Bogdanov\, born on this day in 1873\, was a Russian scie ntist\, philosopher\, author\, and socialist revolutionary who co-founded the Bolshevik faction of the Social Democratic Labor Party when it split w ith the Mensheviks in 1903. DESCRIPTION:Alexander Bogdanov\, born on this day in 1873\, was a Russian scientist\, philosopher\, science fiction author\, and socialist revolutio nary who co-founded the Bolshevik faction of the Social Democratic Labor P arty when it split with the Mensheviks in 1903.\n\nBogdanov was born as Al eksandr Malinovsky in Sokółka\, modern day Poland\, to a rural teacher's family. Expelled from Moscow State University\, Bogdanov eventually gradu ated from the University of Kharkiv as a qualified medical doctor.\n\nArou nd the same time\, Bogdanov became a political prisoner and was arrested b y the Tsar's police\, spent six months in prison\, and then exiled to Volo gda. In 1903\, Bogdanov played a key role in the formation and organizatio n of the Bolshevik faction of the Russian Social Democratic Party.\n\nIn t he following years\, Bogdanov became a political rival of Vladimir Lenin. In 1909\, Lenin published a scathing book of criticism of Bognadov's ideas (Materialism and Empiriocriticism)\, accusing him of philosophical ideali sm. Later that year\, Bognadov was defeated in a Paris party conference an d expelled from the Bolsheviks.\n\nAfter the October Revolution\, Bogdanov refused invitations to rejoin the party. In 1923\, he was arrested by the GPU (Soviet secret police) for suspicion of involvement in the socialist opposition group "Workers' Truth"\, although he was released without charg e.\n\nBognadov contributed to a wide variety of fields\, including philoso phy\, creative writing\, political economy\, and a precursor to systems th eory he called "tektology".\n\nIn 1928\, Bogdanov died suddenly after taki ng an experimental blood transfusion from a student suffering from malaria and tuberculosis. RESOURCES:https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Alexander_Bogdanov RESOURCES:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10611967.2019.17240 43 RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/archive/bogdanov/index.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Haitian Revolution Begins (1791) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250822 DTEND:20250823T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Independence COMMENT:On this day in 1791\, a group of enslaved people in the French col ony of Saint Domingue\, led by Toussaint Louverture\, rebelled against the ir oppressors\, beginning the Haitian Revolution. By 1792\, rebels control led a third of the island. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1791\, a group of enslaved people in the French colony of Saint Domingue\, led by Toussaint Louverture\, rebelled against their oppressors\, beginning the Haitian Revolution. By 1792\, rebels con trolled a third of the island.\n\nThe Haitian Revolution was a successful insurrection by people enslaved by French colonizers in Saint-Domingue\, n ow the sovereign state of Haiti. Some sources also list the rebellion as b eginning August 21st.\n\nHaiti would go on to achieve independence from Fr ance in 1804\, 13 years later. The Haitian Revolution was the only slave u prising that led to the founding of a state which was both free from slave ry and ruled by its former captives\, according to historian Franklin W. K night.\n\nToussaint Louverture went on to become a military leader of the revolution\, but died shortly before independence was won. His former lieu tenant\, Jean-Jacques Dessalines\, became the first leader of the newly in dependent nation in 1804.\n\nBetween 100\,000 - 200\,000 black people (out of 500\,000 total) died in the time between the initial uprising and inde pendence thirteen years later. 24\,000 of the 40\,000 white people on the island were killed.\n\nIn 1825\, French King Charles X surrounded Haiti wi th warships and coerced the government into agreeing to pay a debt of 150 million gold francs in reparations to French slavers\, a debt that immiser ated the new country's economy.\n\n"We have dared to be free. Let us dare to be so by ourselves and for ourselves."\n\n- Jean-Jacques Dessalines RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/haitian-revolut ion-1791-1804/ RESOURCES:https://eji.org/news/haitis-forced-payments-to-enslavers-cost-ec onomy-21-billion-the-new-york-times-found/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haitian_Revolution RESOURCES:https://politicaleducation.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/CLR_Ja mes_The_Black_Jacobins.pdf END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Pressed Steel Car Strikers Battle Police (1909) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250822 DTEND:20250823T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,IWW COMMENT:On this day in 1909\, a bloody battle between strikers\, private s ecurity agents\, and the Pennsylvania State Police took place during the P ressed Steel Car Strike\, bringing national attention to the labor dispute . DESCRIPTION:The Pressed Steel Car Strike of 1909 was an American labor dis pute which ran from July to September in Pittsburgh\, Pennsylvania. The st rike was triggered on July 10th\, a payday on which many workers were shor ted by the Pressed Steel Car Company.\n\nThe strike began on July 13th\, a nd grew to include more than 8\,000 workers\, 3\,000 of whom were also fro m the Standard Steel Car Company. By the next day\, 500 cops began working to protect strikebreakers and evict strikers from company houses. The New York Times called the immigrant workforce "savages" and "illiterate forei gners".\n\nManagement refused to speak with the workers' representatives a nd James Rider\, manager of the Pressed Steel Car Company\, responded to t heir strike by hiring Pearl Bergoff\, a notorious owner of a strike-breaki ng paramilitary force.\n\nThe workers were joined by members of the Indust rial Workers of the World (IWW)\, including founders William Trautmann and "Big Bill" Haywood\, as well as "Smiling Joe" Ettor.\n\nThe walkout drew national attention when\, on this day in 1909\, a bloody battle took place between strikers\, private security agents\, and the Pennsylvania State P olice. The violence began after strikers boarded a trolley to search for s cabs and they were confronted by an armed deputy\, who opened fire. In the fighting that followed\, between 12 and 26 people were killed.\n\nThe str ike was settled on September 8th when Pressed Steel Car agreed to a wage i ncrease\, the posting of wage rates\, and ended abuses in company housing practices. This labor dispute would be a precursor to the Great Steel Stri ke of 1919. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pressed_Steel_Car_strike_of_1909 RESOURCES:https://www.post-gazette.com/business/businessnews/2009/08/16/Pr essed-Steel-Car-strike-in-McKees-Rocks-reaches-centennial-anniversary/stor ies/200908160200 RESOURCES:http://explorepahistory.com/hmarker.php?markerId=1-A-1AA END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Sandinistas Capture National Palace (1978) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250822 DTEND:20250823T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1978\, the FSLN captured the National Palace while the legislature was in session\, holding more than 1\,000 people hostage t o demand the release of political prisoners and a "a means of publicizing the Sandinista cause". DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1978\, the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) staged a massive kidnapping operation where they captured the Nati onal Palace and held more than 1\,000 people hostage in exchange for money \, the release of political prisoners\, and the ability to publicize their cause.\n\nIn the 1970s\, Nicaragua was rocked by political turmoil\, with widespread riots and multiple anti-government general strikes\, occurring in 1978. A revolutionary campaign to overthrow the government by the Sand inista National Liberation Front (FSLN) was also underway. Despite these e fforts\, the leader of Nicaragua\, Anastasio Somoza\, remained in power.\n \nOn August 22nd\, 1978\, with just 26 participants\, the FSLN staged a ma ssive kidnapping operation where they captured the National Palace.\n\nMan y of the rebels were quite young - Columbian socialist author Gabriel Garc ía Márquez wrote that\, excluding the experienced guerilla leader Éden Pastora\, the average age of the group was twenty. Three were just eightee n years old.\n\nLed by Pastora\, the Sandinistan forces captured the Palac e while the legislature was in session\, taking more than 1\,000 hostages. The rebels demanded money\, the release of Sandinistan prisoners\, and\, "a means of publicizing the Sandinista cause".\n\nAfter two days\, the gov ernment agreed to pay $500\,000 and release certain prisoners\, marking a major victory for the FSLN. Somoza was finally ousted by the FSLN in 1979. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicaraguan_Revolution#Overthrow_of _the_Somoza_regime RESOURCES:https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1979/08/23/sandi nistas-commemorate-palace-seizure/d18ba11d-26b2-451d-af16-206eb33fd659/ RESOURCES:https://newleftreview.org/issues/i111/articles/gabriel-garcia-ma rquez-sandinistas-seize-the-national-palace.pdf END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Willem Arondeus (1894 - 1943) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250822 DTEND:20250823T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Queer,Fascism COMMENT:Willem Arondeus\, born on this day in 1894\, was an openly gay Dut ch artist and anti-fascist who\, after destroying a Nazi office\, was exec uted in 1943\, stating as his last words "Tell the people that homosexuals can be brave!" DESCRIPTION:Willem Arondeus\, born on this day in 1894\, was an openly gay Dutch artist and anti-fascist who\, after destroying a Nazi office\, was executed in 1943\, stating as his last words "Tell the people that homosex uals can be brave!"\n\nBefore the war\, Arondeus was a visual artist\, ill ustrating poems and painting murals. He later became an author\, publishin g two novels with his own illustrations and a biography of the painter Mat thijs Maris.\n\nArondeus was active in the anti-Nazi resistance\, helping forge documents to protect persecuted groups. A major obstacle to the succ ess of this forgery was the Municipal Office for Population Registration\, an Amsterdam office that contained millions of identifying records for Je ws and others wanted by the Gestapo.\n\nArondeus and other members of the resistance bombed the office on March 27th\, 1943\, subduing the guards vi a injection\, and succeeding in destroying approximately 800\,000 document s. Arondeus was arrested on April 1st.\n\nAlthough he refused to give up t he rest of his team\, his notebook was found and a majority of the group w as also arrested. On June 18th\, Arondeus and fourteen others were tried a nd sentenced to death. Ardoneus pleaded guilty and took the full blame\, w hich may have contributed to two members receiving clemency.\n\nBefore his execution\, Arondeus made a point of ensuring the public would be aware t hat he and two other men in the group were gay\, asking an acquaintance to "Tell the people that homosexuals can be brave!" Sometimes this quote is also translated as "The people would know that gays are no cowards!" or "T ell the people that homosexuals are not by definition weak". RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willem_Arondeus RESOURCES:https://legacyprojectchicago.org/person/willem-arondeus END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Camp Logan Mutiny (1917) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250823 DTEND:20250824T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Riots,Mutinies COMMENT:On this day in 1917\, 156 black U.S. soldiers mutinied\, marching into Houston\, Texas\, shooting at civilians and battling with police\, ca using 21 deaths. The riot took place in the context of severe police bruta lity and discrimination. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1917\, 156 black U.S. soldiers mutinied\, march ing into Houston\, Texas\, shooting at civilians and battling with police\ , causing 21 deaths. The riot took place in the context of severe police b rutality and racial discrimination.\n\nAround noon on August 23rd\, 1917\, Lee Sparks and Rufus Daniels\, two Houston police officers\, disrupted a street gathering in Houston's predominantly-black San Felipe district by f iring warning shots and then dragged and beat a woman dressed in her night gown from her home.\n\nThey were then approached by Private Alonzo Edwards \, who offered to take the woman into custody\, however the police pistol- whipped and arrested him. When Corporal Charles Baltimore later asked the officers about the condition of Edwards\, he was also pistol-whipped\, sho t at while fleeing\, and then captured and beaten.\n\nWhen rumors of the b rutality made it back to Camp Logan\, 156 soldiers of the Third Battalion of the all-black Twenty-fourth U.S. Infantry Regiment mutinied and took up arms and marched into Houston\, Texas. Police\, thinking the black men co uldn't arm themselves\, only sent six officers out to meet the group\, two of whom were killed immediately.\n\nBy the time the firing ceased\, 17 pe ople were dead: four police officers\, nine civilians\, and two soldiers. The next morning\, Houston was placed under martial law. The remaining sol diers in the Twenty-fourth's camp were disarmed\, and a house-to-house sea rch uncovered a number of soldiers hiding within the San Felipe district. Soldiers in local jails were turned over to the Army\, and the Third Batta lion was sent by rail back to New Mexico.\n\nThe soldiers were tried at th ree courts-martial for mutiny. 19 were executed and 63 were sentenced to l ife imprisonment. Two white officers faced court-martial\, but they were r eleased. No white civilians were brought to trial.\n\nIn 1991\, historian Calvin C. Smith noted that many of the sentenced were not conclusively ide ntified as having even participated in the riot\, despite repeated pledges of fair trials and absolute transparency from various political officials \, including white supremacist U.S. President Woodrow Wilson. RESOURCES:https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/black-soldiers-executed/ RESOURCES:https://www.pvamu.edu/tiphc/research-projects/the-1917-houston-r iotscamp-logan-mutiny/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houston_riot_of_1917 RESOURCES:https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/houston-riot-of-1917 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:King Michael's Coup (1944) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250823 DTEND:20250824T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Fascism COMMENT:On this day in 1944 the fascist government of Romania was overthro wn in a coup led by King Michael I (shown)\, backed by the National Democr atic Bloc\, a coalition of anti-fascists including communists\, social dem ocrats\, and liberals. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1944 the fascist government of Romania was over thrown in a coup led by King Michael I (shown)\, backed by the National De mocratic Bloc\, a coalition of anti-fascists including communists\, social democrats\, and liberals.\n\nIn June of 1943\, members of the Romanian Co mmunist Party reached out to King Michael I to plan a coup that would oust the Nazi collaborator Ion Antonescu from power. Michael I was chosen to l ead the coup due to his high-profile position as monarch\, and he was plan ned on being used as a figurehead rather than being given substantive powe r.\n\nOn August 23rd\, Michael I summoned Antonescu to the royal palace in Bucharest\, where he was promptly arrested. The Romanian military subsequ ently arrested other fascist government officials and joined in the Soviet Army's advance into Germany.\n\nAntonescu was tried and executed in 1946. The same year\, general elections were held and the communist-led Bloc of Democratic Parties (BPD)\, primarily made up of organizers of the coup\, won overwhelmingly\, subsequently abolishing the monarchy and establishing the Romanian People's Republic. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Michael%27s_Coup RESOURCES:https://www.britannica.com/biography/Michael-king-of-Romania END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Maria Silva Cruz Executed (1936) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250823 DTEND:20250824T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Anarchism,Fascism COMMENT:On this day in 1936\, anarchist and hero of the Casas Viejas Upris ing Maria Silva Cruz was executed by Spanish fascists at age 21. Despite t he efforts of her son\, who was 1 at the time her death\, Cruz's remains w ere never identified. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1936\, anarchist and hero of the Casas Viejas U prising Maria Silva Cruz was executed by Spanish fascists at age 21. Despi te the efforts of her son\, who was 1 year old at the time her death\, Cru z's remains were never identified.\n\nMaria Silva Cruz was born to day lab orers on April 20th\, 1915\, and her father and uncle were members of the anarchist union Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT).\n\nIn January 1 933\, the CNT initiated the anti-government Casas Viejas Uprising\, which Silva Cruz and her friends participated in. When Civil Guard troops were s ent to put down the uprising\, many of the villagers fled.\n\nSome anarchi sts attempted to hide in the house of Silva Cruz's grandfather\, which was set on fire by the guard\, killing all except Cruz and her young cousin\, who she carried outside the burning building to safety. Cruz was later ar rested.\n\nWhen the fascists occupied the town of Ronda in July 1936\, her husband Perez Cordon fled to the mountains\, while Silva Cruz stayed with her one year old son at home. She was arrested by the Civil Guard and her son was taken from her.\n\nOn August 23rd\, 1936\, Silva Cruz was execute d at dawn. Her remains were never identified despite the efforts of her so n\, who grew up with Silva Cruz's aunt. He sought to find his mother's rem ains in order to bury them and plant flowers for her. RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/article/silva-cruz-maria-1915-1936 RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Silva_Cruz RESOURCES:https://dbe.rah.es/biografias/51598/maria-silva-cruz END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Nottingham Race Riots (1958) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250823 DTEND:20250824T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Riots COMMENT:On this day in 1958\, a race riot began in Nottingham\, England af ter a West Indian man was seen chatting with a blonde woman in a pub\, cau sing the racially mixed community to erupt in hours of violence which sent eight to the hospital. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1958\, a race riot began in Nottingham\, Englan d after a West Indian man was seen chatting with a blonde woman in a pub\, causing the racially mixed community to erupt in hours of violence which sent eight to the hospital.\n\nThe area had seen increased West Indian and Asian migration\, leading to an increased and racialized competition for available jobs. As the post-World War II economic boom in Nottingham began to subside\, anti-immigrant sentiment increased.\n\nEyewitness accounts o n the exact trigger of the violence differ\, but nearly all cite a West In dian man being seen enjoying a drink with a blonde British woman. The youn g man was assaulted\, and soon a crowd of over 1\,000 had gathered in the area.\n\nThe racial violence lasted for many hours\, with white attackers being identified as "Teddy Boys". Eight people were taken to the hospital\ , with one man requiring 37 stitches following a wound to the throat.\n\nD espite the racial character of the violence\, government officials downpla yed any role racism could have played in the incident. Chief Constable Ath elstan Popkess dismissed claims that the rioting was caused by prejudice a t the time\, and a 1989 report from the Nottingham Constabulary blamed the violence on generic hooliganism. RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/nottingham-riot s-1958/ RESOURCES:https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-45207246 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Sacco and Vanzetti Executed (1927) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250823 DTEND:20250824T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Anarchism,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1927\, Italian immigrant anarchists Nicola Sacco an d Bartolomeo Vanzetti were executed by the U.S. government after they were dubiously convicted of murder\, leading to international episodes of prot est and violence. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1927\, Italian immigrant anarchists Nicola Sacc o and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were executed by the U.S. government after they were dubiously convicted of murder\, leading to international episodes of protest and violence.\n\nSacco\, born in 1891\, was a shoemaker and a nigh t watchman\, who migrated to the United States at the age of seventeen. Va nzetti was a fishmonger born on June 11th\, 1888. Two men met at a strike in 1917.\n\nAfter a deadly shoe store robbery in 1919\, both Sacco and Van zetti were arrested. When searched by police\, both denied owning any guns \, but were found to be holding loaded pistols. Sacco was found to have an Italian passport\, anarchist literature\, and a loaded .32 Colt Model 190 3 automatic pistol. Vanzetti had four 12-gauge shotgun shells and a five-s hot nickel-plated .38-caliber Harrington & Richardson revolver. Despite th is\, both Sacco and Vanzetti had solid alibis for where they were during t he murder.\n\nAnti-Italian and anti-anarchist sentiments played a signific ant role in their trial. Presiding Judge Thayer was an avowed enemy of ana rchists. When giving his final statement in 1927\, Vanzetti said "I am suf fering because I am a radical and indeed I am a radical\; I have suffered because I am an Italian and indeed I am an Italian...if you could execute me two times\, and if I could be reborn two other times\, I would live aga in to do what I have done already."\n\nSacco and Vanzetti's arrest\, trial \, conviction\, and execution became an international incident that caused an outrage among people of all political persuasions\, not just anarchist s. Among their advocates were Harvard law professor and future Supreme Cou rt Justice Felix Frankfurter\, who wrote that Judge Thayer's statement was "a farrago of misquotations\, misrepresentations\, suppressions\, and mut ilations"\,\n\nDespite international advocacy on their behalf\, including rallies\, sympathy strikes\, and pleas for a re-trial\, Sacco and Vanzetti 's death sentences were not commuted. Vanzetti\, in his final moments\, sh ook hands with guards and thanked them for their kind treatment\, read a s tatement proclaiming his innocence\, and finally said\, "I wish to forgive some people for what they are now doing to me." Sacco was next and walked quietly to the electric chair\, then shouted "Farewell\, mother."\n\nFoll owing their execution\, some radicals\, including Italian anarchist Severi no Di Giovanni\, began a series of bombing campaigns\, targeting Judge Tha yer\, a juror involved in the trial\, Wall Street banks\, and the American Embassy in Buenos Aires.\n\nOn the 50th anniversary of the executions\, M assachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis issued a proclamation that Sacco and Vanzetti had been unfairly tried and convicted and that "any disgrace sho uld be forever removed from their names". RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacco_and_Vanzetti RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/1916-1927-the-execution-of-sacco-and- vanzetti RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/goldman/works/1929/sa cco-vanzetti.htm RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/archive/weisbord/SaccoVanzetti.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Salad Bowl Strike (1970) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250823 DTEND:20250824T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:On this day in 1970\, the largest U.S. farm worker strike in histo ry\, the "Salad Bowl Strike"\, began when field workers\, organized with t he United Farm Workers\, struck\, doubling the price of lettuce and costin g sellers $500\,000 a day. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1970\, the largest U.S. farm worker strike in h istory\, known as the "Salad Bowl Strike"\, began when field workers\, org anized with César Chávez and the United Farm Workers (UFW)\, struck\, do ubling the price of lettuce and costing sellers $500\,000 a day.\n\nThe UF W had just won the Delano Grape Strike\, which had lasted an astonishing f ive years\, winning contracts with dozens of grape growers that were the f irst of their kind in agricultural history.\n\nThe origins of the Salad Bo wl Strike lay in a jurisdictional dispute with the International Brotherho od of Teamsters\, which had won the right to organize field workers after concluding a successful strike of drivers and packers in the lettuce produ cing sector in July.\n\nThe UFW strongly contested this claim\, and\, afte r negotiations broke down\, between 5\,000-7\,000 field workers went on st rike. The labor action was not just a strike\, but also included mass pick ets\, boycotts\, and secondary boycotts by the participants.\n\nThe price of lettuce almost doubled immediately\, and the interruption to work cost lettuce growers approximately $500\,000 a day. The strike was a bitter dis pute which suffered violence and state repression. César Chávez\, a lead ing labor organizer\, was jailed after refusing to stop the picketing on c ourt order. On November 4th\, 1970 a UFW regional office was bombed.\n\nTh e strike ended on March 26th\, 1971 when the Teamsters and UFW signed a ne w jurisdictional agreement reaffirming the UFW's right to organize field w orkers\, however jurisdictional disputes between the UFW and Teamsters con tinued for years afterward. In 1975\, the California Agricultural Labor Re lations Act (CALRA) became law\, establishing the right to collective barg aining for farmworkers in that state\, a first in U.S. history. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salad_Bowl_strike RESOURCES:https://libraries.ucsd.edu/farmworkermovement/essays/essays/REV. %20JOHN%20BANK%20ARTICLE.pdf RESOURCES:https://www.colorado.edu/libraries/2018/03/31/archives-lettuce-s trike-1973 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Howard Zinn (1922 - 2010) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250824 DTEND:20250825T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Socialism,Labor,Civil Rights,Birthdays COMMENT:Howard Zinn\, born on this day in 1922\, was an American historian \, playwright\, civil rights activist\, and socialist thinker most known f or his work "A People's History of the United States"\, originally publish ed in 1980. DESCRIPTION:Howard Zinn\, born on this day in 1922\, was an American histo rian\, playwright\, civil rights activist\, and socialist thinker most kno wn for his work "A People's History of the United States"\, originally pub lished in 1980.\n\nZinn was chair of the history and social sciences depar tment at Spelman College\, and a political science professor at Boston Uni versity. He wrote over 20 books\, including his best-selling and influenti al text "A People's History of the United States"\, the inspiration for th is project.\n\nThe Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) created a file on Zinn in 1949 due to his participation in organized labor. In the 1960s\, as a result of Zinn's campaigning against the Vietnam War and his influenc e on Martin Luther King Jr.\, the FBI designated him a high security risk to the country by adding him to the Security Index\, a list of American ci tizens who could be summarily arrested if a state of emergency was declare d.\n\nFBI memos\, released in 2010 after a Freedom of Information Act (FOI A) request\, also show that they were concerned with Zinn's repeated criti cism of the FBI for failing to protect black people against white mob viol ence. Zinn's daughter said she was not surprised by the files - "He always knew they had a file on him."\n\nZinn described himself as "something of an anarchist\, something of a socialist. Maybe a democratic socialist." He wrote extensively about the Civil Rights Movement\, the anti-war movement and labor history of the United States. His memoir\, "You Can't Be Neutra l on a Moving Train" (Beacon Press\, 2002)\, was also the title of a 2004 documentary about Zinn's life and work. Zinn died of a heart attack in 201 0\, at age 87.\n\n"There is no flag large enough to cover the shame of kil ling innocent people."\n\n- Howard Zinn RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Zinn RESOURCES:https://www.howardzinn.org/about/biography/ RESOURCES:https://progressive.org/latest/fbi-s-file-howard-zinn/ RESOURCES:https://www.historyisaweapon.com/zinnapeopleshistory.html RESOURCES:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwuJjWE-XrA&ab_channel=SF END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:John MacLean (1879 - 1923) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250824 DTEND:20250825T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Socialism,Marxism,Birthdays,Independence COMMENT:John Maclean\, born on this day in 1879\, was a revolutionary Scot tish socialist and schoolteacher\, sometimes called "Scotland's Lenin". "I am not here as the accused\; I am here as the accuser of capitalism dripp ing with blood from head to foot." DESCRIPTION:John Maclean\, born on this day in 1879\, was a revolutionary Scottish socialist and schoolteacher\, sometimes called "Scotland's Lenin" .\n\nMaclean's revolutionary politics were well-known\, and in 1915\, he w as arrested under the Defence of the Realm Act and fired from his job as a primary school teacher. As a consequence\, he became a full-time Marxist lecturer and organizer\, educating other Glaswegian workers in Marxist the ory.\n\nMaclean was also noted for his outspoken opposition to World War I \, and\, in 1918\, he was arrested for sedition. During the trial\, Maclea n gave the now legendary "speech from the dock"\, expounding on his positi on. He was sentenced to five years' penal servitude\, but was released aft er the November armistice.\n\nMaclean supported Irish independence on an a nti-imperialist basis\, describing the Irish War of Independence as "The I rish fight for freedom" and even condoning the assassination of a magistra te\, Alan Bell.\n\nMaclean saw the war in Ireland as strengthening the Bol shevik revolution in Russia\, arguing that "Irish Sinn Féiners\, who make no profession of socialism or communism...are doing more to help Russia a nd the revolution than all we professed Marxian Bolsheviks in Britain".\n\ nIn captivity\, Maclean had been on hunger strike\, and prolonged force-fe eding permanently affected his health. In 1923\, he collapsed during a spe ech and died of pneumonia\, aged forty-four.\n\n"I have taken up unconstit utional action at this time because of the abnormal circumstances and beca use precedent has been given by the British government. I am a socialist\, and have been fighting and will fight for an absolute reconstruction of s ociety for the benefit of all. I am proud of my conduct. I have squared my conduct with my intellect\, and if everyone had done so this war would no t have taken place...\n\n...I appeal exclusively to [the working class] be cause they and they only can bring about the time when the whole world wil l be in one brotherhood\, on a sound economic foundation. That\, and that alone\, can be the means of bringing about a re-organisation of society. T hat can only be obtained when the people of the world get the world\, and retain the world."\n\n- John MacLean\, from the "Dock Speech" RESOURCES:https://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/usbiography/mac/johnmacle an.html RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Maclean_(Scottish_socialist) RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/archive/maclean/index.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Marsha P. Johnson (1945 - 1992) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250824 DTEND:20250825T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays COMMENT:Marsha P. Johnson\, born on this day in 1945\, was a civil rights activist\, founding member of the Gay Liberation Front and the Street Tran svestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR)\, and participant in the Stonewall Uprising of 1969. DESCRIPTION:Marsha P. Johnson\, born on this day in 1945\, was a civil rig hts activist\, founding member of the Gay Liberation Front and the Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (S.T.A.R.)\, and participant in the St onewall Uprising of 1969.\n\nJohnson was one of the first drag queens to g o to the Stonewall Inn after they began allowing women and drag queens ins ide\; it was previously a bar for only gay men.\n\nOn the early morning ho urs of June 28th\, 1969\, the Stonewall uprising occurred. While the first two nights of rioting were the most intense\, the clashes with police wou ld result in a series of spontaneous demonstrations and marches through th e gay neighborhoods of Greenwich Village for roughly a week afterwards.\n\ nAccording to the New-York Historical Society\, "While there are many conf licting stories about the uprising’s start\, it is clear that Marsha was on the front lines. In one account\, she started the uprising by throwing a shot glass at a mirror. In another\, she climbed a lamppost and dropped a heavy purse onto a police car\, shattering the windshield." After Stone wall\, Johnson became more involved in activism\, helping found the Gay Li beration Front.\n\nTo help provide a home for vulnerable trans youth\, Mar sha and her friend Sylvia Rivera together formed the Street Transvestite A ctivist Revolutionaries (STAR). The first STAR House was in the back of a seemingly abandoned truck in Greenwich Village\, housing nearly 24 people. \n\nOne morning\, they returned to the truck just as its driver was pullin g away with STAR residents sleeping inside\, who were then forced to jump from a moving vehicle. Marsha and Sylvia then rented and fixed up a dilapi dated building to house STAR residents for eight months before being evict ed.\n\nShortly after a pride parade in 1992\, Johnson's body was discovere d floating in the Hudson River. Police ruled the death a suicide\, but Joh nson's friends and other members of the local community insisted Johnson w as not suicidal and noted that the back of Johnson's head had a massive wo und.\n\nJohnson was cremated and\, following a funeral at a local church\, friends released her ashes over the river.\n\nThe 2012 documentary "Pay I t No Mind – The Life and Times of Marsha P. Johnson" heavily features se gments from a 1992 interview with Johnson\, filmed shortly before her deat h.\n\n"Darling\, I want my gay rights now"\n\n- Marsha P. Johnson RESOURCES:https://wams.nyhistory.org/growth-and-turmoil/growing-tensions/m arsha-p-johnson/ RESOURCES:https://www.gnof.org/trailblazer-of-pride-series-marsha-p-johnso n/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marsha_P._Johnson RESOURCES:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bo0nYv9QIj4&ab_channel=Frameline RESOURCES:https://marshap.org/about-mpji/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Battle of Blair Mountain (1921) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250825 DTEND:20250826T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:On this day in 1921\, the first skirmishes of the Battle of Blair Mountain took place. More than 10\,000 armed workers battled with state fo rces\, making it the largest post-Civil War uprising and the largest labor uprising in U.S. history. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1921\, the first skirmishes of the Battle of Bl air Mountain took place. Involving more than 10\,000 armed workers battlin g with state and strikebreaking forces\, it was the largest post-Civil War uprising and the largest labor uprising in U.S. history.\n\nThe conflict occurred in Logan County\, West Virginia as part of the "Coal Wars"\, a se ries of early 20th-century labor disputes in Appalachia.\n\nFor five days\ , from late August to early September 1921\, some 10\,000 armed coal miner s confronted 3\,000 lawmen and strikebreakers who were backed by coal mine operators during the miners' attempt to unionize the southwestern West Vi rginia coalfields.\n\nSometimes the Battle's anniversary is marked as Augu st 31st\, when the miners' army clashed with armed forces marshaled by the county sheriff\, coal companies\, and state police in Logan County.\n\nTh e battle ended on September 4th after approximately one million rounds had been fired\, aerial bombardment of the miners\, and the U.S. Army's inter vention\, acting on orders from President Harding.\n\nUp to 100 people wer e killed throughout the uprising. 985 miners were indicted for murder\, co nspiracy to commit murder\, accessory to murder\, and treason against the state of West Virginia. Though some were acquitted by sympathetic juries\, others were imprisoned for several years.\n\nAccording to the Cultural La ndscape Foundation\, there has never been a complete archaeological survey of the battlefield. The West Virginia Mine Wars Museum is raising funds t o sponsor a LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) scan of the Nomination Are a in order to identify the major zones of historical significance and prom ote the site's value as a historical park. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Blair_Mountain RESOURCES:https://tclf.org/battle-blair-mountain-still-being-waged RESOURCES:https://socialistrevolution.org/battle-of-blair-mountain/ RESOURCES:https://revolutionaryleftradio.libsyn.com/blair-mt END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Chicago Bus Strike (1968) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250825 DTEND:20250826T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:On this day in 1968\, black bus drivers of the Chicago Transit Aut hority (CTA) began a two week strike that shut down nearly half of the cit y's bus routes\, effectively paralyzing the south and west sides of the ci ty. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1968\, black bus drivers in Chicago turned off the lights on their vehicles and headed back to the Chicago Transit Author ity (CTA) bus barns\, beginning a two-week strike that shut down 52 of the city's 128 bus routes and effectively paralyzed the south and west sides of the city. More than half of the CTA's bus drivers were African-American and for weeks they had been fighting unfair union representation.\n\nLike many other protest movements in the 50s and 60s\, the drivers took as the ir model the Montgomery bus boycott\, organizing car pools and CTW "courte sy cars" to meet the transportation shortfall in some neighborhoods.\n\nAc cording to Standish Willis\, one of the striking drivers who later wrote a college thesis on the incident: "Black drivers were being arrested while trying to close down the white stations\, and we were losing what little m oney we had bailing them out of jail...White drivers at black stations res pected the picket lines. The white drivers at the white ones did not."\n\n According to Willis\, the strike's failure was due to the collective effor t of establishment political powers working against the strike: "With the police arresting our guys\, the judges putting guys in jail and holding th em for contempt\, and the union threatening to kick our leaders out\, it w as a pretty concerted attack. And we certainly didn't have enough money to get people out of jail at the rate they were putting them in." RESOURCES:https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/seizing-the-wheel/Content? oid=895461 RESOURCES:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcBRrmmU828&ab_channel=LaborBeat RESOURCES:https://presidentlincoln.illinois.gov/Blog/Posts/8/African-Ameri can-History/2020/7/When-Chicago-stood-still-the-CTW-strike-of-1968/blog-po st/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Philadelphia Welfare Protests (1996) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250825 DTEND:20250826T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1996\, in response to state-wide welfare cuts\, poo r Philadelphians\, organized through the Kensington Welfare Rights Union ( KWRU)\, began a 140-mile march from Philadelphia to Harrisburg\, the capit al of Pennsylvania. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1996\, in response to state-wide welfare cuts\, poor Philadelphians\, organized through the Kensington Welfare Rights Uni on (KWRU)\, began a 140-mile march from Philadelphia to Harrisburg\, the c apital of Pennsylvania.\n\nOn May 16th\, 1996\, Governor Tom Ridge of Penn sylvania signed a series of welfare reforms into law\, including cuts to m edical assistance\, a requirement that childless people between ages 21 an d 58 work 100 hours a month to receive medical assistance benefits\, and a condition that anyone making more than $5100 a year did not qualify for m edical assistance. When implemented\, this legislation would cut 250\,000 people off of medical assistance.\n\nIn response to this\, on August 25th\ , 1996\, Philadelphians living in poverty and homelessness organized throu gh the Kensington Welfare Rights Union (KWRU) began a 140-mile march from Philadelphia to Harrisburg\, the capital of Pennsylvania. On August 31st\, they arrived and occupied the front lawn of the Pennsylvania Capitol buil ding\, holding a rally there the next day.\n\nIn late September\, a federa l judge ordered the protesters to leave\, however they defied the order\, staying until they were forcibly removed by the police on October 3rd. Alt hough the activists were able to speak with Governor Ridge\, they were not successful in reversing the welfare reforms.\n\nThe KWRU continued to org anize protests\, holding that economic rights and the right to housing\, e ducation\, food\, and a living wage are human rights. RESOURCES:http://libcom.org/history/1996-7-philadelphians-campaign-against -welfare-cuts RESOURCES:https://www.mdrc.org/sites/default/files/full_606.pdf RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheri_Honkala#Kensington_Welfare_R ights_Union END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Dublin Lock-Out Begins (1913) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250826 DTEND:20250827T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:On this day in 1913\, the Dublin Lock-Out began as tram workers we nt out on strike\, growing into a huge industrial dispute that involved ~2 0\,000 workers and led to the founding of the Irish Citizen Army (ICA) to protect striking workers. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1913\, the Dublin Lock-Out began as hundreds of tram workers went out on strike\, growing into one of most significant in dustrial disputes in Irish history. It involved ~20\,000 workers and 300 c olluding employers\, and led to the founding of the Irish Citizen Army (IC A) to protect worker demonstrations.\n\nIn the years leading up to the str ike\, the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union (ITGWU) had been seek ing to unionize and radicalize the Irish workforce. Founded by socialist r evolutionary James Larkin in 1908\, the ITGWU was one of the first Irish u nions that catered to both skilled and unskilled workers.\n\nIn July 1913\ , three hundred businesses (led by capitalist William Martin Murphy) agree d to not allow the ITGWU to unionize the Dublin workforce. Murphy dismisse d hundreds of workers of suspected of union membership soon after.\n\nMany employers in Dublin then locked out their own employees\, affecting tens of thousands of Irish workers\, many of whom were already the poorest in t he United Kingdom.\n\nAfter outbreaks of violence between striking workers and strike-breakers occurred\, James Connolly\, Larkin and ex-British Arm y Captain Jack White formed a worker's militia\, the Irish Citizen Army\, to protect workers' demonstrations.\n\nThe lock-out concluded in early 191 4\, when the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in Britain rejected Larkin and Co nnolly's request for a sympathetic strike. Most workers\, many of whom wer e on the brink of starvation\, went back to work and signed pledges not to join the ITGWU\, which was further weakened when Larkin fled to the Unite d States and James Connolly was executed following the 1916 Easter Rising. \n\nMany of the blacklisted workers joined the British Army\, having no ot her source of pay to support their families\, and quickly found themselves in the trenches of World War I. ITGWU eventually recovered and gained str ength after WWI\; by 1920 the ITGWU was Ireland's largest union with 120\, 000 members\, compared with its pre-war peak of 24\,135 at the start of Ja nuary 1913. RESOURCES:https://www.historyireland.com/20th-century-contemporary-history /the-dublin-1913-lockout/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dublin_lock-out END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Fannie Sellins Murdered (1919) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250826 DTEND:20250827T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:Fannie Sellins was an American union organizer who was murdered by deputies policing a picket line on this day in 1919\, while working for t he United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) in Pennsylvania. DESCRIPTION:Fannie Sellins was an American union organizer who was murdere d by deputies policing a picket line on this day in 1919\, while working f or the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) in Pennsylvania.\n\nSellins c ame to the attention of United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) after helpin g organize a local chapter of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' U nion in St. Louis\, negotiating a worker lockout at a garment factory. The UMWA hired Sellins and\, in 1919\, sent her to the Allegheny River Valley district to direct picketing by striking miners at Allegheny Coal and Cok e Company.\n\nOn August 26th\, she witnessed guards attacking Joseph Starz eleski\, a picketing miner who was being beaten to death. When Sellins int ervened\, deputies shot and killed her with four bullets and used a cudgel to fracture her skull.\n\nOthers said that she was attempting to protect miners' children that were on scene. Three deputies were indicted for the killings\, but a 1923 trial ended in acquittal for the two men accused of her murder. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fannie_Sellins RESOURCES:https://battleofhomestead.org/bhf/tragedy-in-1919-fannie-sellins / RESOURCES:https://m.usw.org/news/media-center/articles/2019/slain-labor-ac tivist-fannie-sellins-commemorated-in-pennsylvania END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Negro Matapacos Passes Away (2017) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250826 DTEND:20250827T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Riots COMMENT:Negro Matapacos ("Black Cop-Killer") was a famous stray dog from t he streets of Santiago\, Chile\, known for attending various student prote sts across the city and fighting with police. He died from old age on this day in 2017. DESCRIPTION:Negro Matapacos ("Black Cop-Killer") was a famous stray dog fr om the streets of Santiago who joined student protests across the city in the 2010s\, the 2011 movement for free education in particular.\n\nNegro M atapacos was seen regularly at demonstrations\, defying tear gas and water cannons\, and always barking at or attacking only the riot police\, never any students or rioters.\n\nMatapacos died from old age on this day in 20 17. RESOURCES:https://workingclasshistory.com/2019/08/26/negro-matapacos-chile s-riot-dog/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negro_Matapacos END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:South African Striking Troops Attacked (2009) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250826 DTEND:20250827T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:On this day in 2009\, approximately 3\,000 military personnel clas hed with the police on the streets of Pretoria\, South Africa during demon strations over pay and working conditions. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 2009\, approximately 3\,000 military personnel clashed with the police on the streets of Pretoria\, South Africa during d emonstrations over pay and working conditions.\n\nThe troops had marched t o union buildings\, insisting that President Jacob Zuma to give them a 30% pay raise. Police used rubber bullets and teargas to disperse the marcher s\, who reportedly became unruly and attacked police cars.\n\nThe governme nt claimed the protest was illegal and fired 697 soldiers in response to t he strike. RESOURCES:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8230793.stm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Women's Strike for Equality (1970) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250826 DTEND:20250827T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Feminism,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1970\, on the 50th anniversary of the 19th amendmen t\, nearly 60\,000 feminists marched throughout the United States in the " Women's Strike for Equality"\, demanding free abortion\, equal work opport unities\, and free childcare. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1970\, on the 50th anniversary of the 19th amen dment\, nearly 60\,000 feminists marched throughout the United States in t he "Women's Strike for Equality"\, demanding free abortion\, equal work op portunities\, and free childcare. At that time\, the protest was the large st on behalf of women in the U.S. history.\n\nThe rally was sponsored by t he National Organization for Women (NOW). The strike primarily took place in New York City\, where 50\,000 women gathered in protest. Thousands more protested in solidarity throughout the country\, including in Boston\, St . Louis\, Minneapolis\, Washington D.C.\, and San Francisco.\n\nA key orga nizer of the protest was Betty Friedan\, noted second wave feminist and th en-president of NOW. The event had three primary goals: free abortion on d emand\, equal opportunity in the workforce\, and free childcare. At the ti me\, women made $.59 cents to every dollar a male counterpart made and man y elite colleges did not yet admit women as students.\n\nAlthough the stri ke did not directly win any concessions\, Congress declared August 26th "W omen's Equality Day" the following year with the support of President Rich ard Nixon. The protest was a successful consciousness-raising event\, with some feminist scholars claiming that the strike was a significant spark f or second wave feminism. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_Strike_for_Equality RESOURCES:https://www.thoughtco.com/the-womens-strike-for-equality-3528989 RESOURCES:https://wams.nyhistory.org/growth-and-turmoil/feminism-and-the-b acklash/women-strike-for-equality/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Black Hawk Surrenders (1832) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250827 DTEND:20250828T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Indigenous,Massacre COMMENT:Black Hawk was an indigenous leader who fought to reoccupy lands s eized by the U.S. On this day in 1832\, he surrendered following an Army m assacre of hundreds of warriors and their families after they had attempte d to surrender on August 2nd. DESCRIPTION:Black Hawk was an indigenous leader who fought to reoccupy lan ds seized by the U.S. On this day in 1832\, he surrendered following an Ar my massacre of hundreds of warriors and their families after they had atte mpted to surrender on August 2nd.\n\nBlack Hawk and his followers had cont ested the seizure of 50 million acres (20 million hectares) of territory t hat had that the U.S. government claimed following the 1804 Treaty of St. Louis. Black Hawk openly defied the U.S. government and attempted to reocc upy tribal lands along the Rock River in Illinois.\n\nOn August 2nd\, the Massacre at Bad Axe (sometimes called the "Battle of Bad Axe") occurred wh en Sauk people attempted to surrender. Instead of accepting the surrender\ , American soldiers gunned them down indiscriminately.\n\nWomen carrying c hildren on their backs attempted to swim across the Mississippi River to s afety were shot at by soldiers. Many of those not shot to death drowned in the Mississippi waters.\n\nAlthough Black Hawk successfully fled the mass acre\, it was on this day in 1832 that he surrendered to the American gove rnment and was imprisoned.\n\nWhile detained by American forces\, Black Ha wk dictated his autobiography\, published as "Autobiography of Ma-Ka-Tai-M e-She-Kia-Kiak\, or Black Hawk". This was one of the first Native American autobiographies published in the U.S. RESOURCES:https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/pdfs/lessons/EDU-Account-BlackH awk-BattleofBadAxe.pdf RESOURCES:https://www.britannica.com/event/Black-Hawk-War/The-Battle-of-Wi sconsin-Heights#ref1224532 RESOURCES:https://www.britannica.com/biography/Black-Hawk-Sauk-and-Fox-lea der RESOURCES:https://digital.lib.niu.edu/islandora/object/niu-lincoln%3A38215 RESOURCES:https://www.gutenberg.org/files/7097/7097-h/7097-h.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:London Tailors' Strike Begins (1889) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250827 DTEND:20250828T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:The London Tailors' Strike\, conducted by Jewish immigrants workin g in small tailoring workshops in Whitechapel\, began on this day in 1889. By September\, more than 10\,000 workers were participating in the strike . DESCRIPTION:The London Tailors' Strike\, conducted by Jewish immigrants wo rking in small tailoring workshops in Whitechapel\, began on this day in 1 889. The strike was called by the Amalgamated Society of Tailors and two s maller pressers' and machinists' unions. The striking workers demanded a t en and a half hour day and a limit on overtime hours.\n\nBy September\, 10 \,000 workers were on strike. Although the strike was on the brink of fail ure four weeks in because of the workers' impoverished conditions\, the Do cks Strike Committee (who were largely of Irish Catholic heritage\, had li ttle contact with Jews\, and were led by an anti-Semitic bigot who had onc e called Jews "dregs and scum of the continent") donated £100 to the tail ors\, allowing them to continue striking.\n\nIn early October\, the employ ers finally caved to the workers' demands\, granting a shorter workday and a limit on overtime hours. RESOURCES:http://www.unionhistory.info/timeline/Tl_Display.php?irn=78 RESOURCES:https://www.thejc.com/culture/books/the-rebels-who-brought-londo n-to-a-standstill-1.65742 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Salinas Lettuce Strike (1934) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250827 DTEND:20250828T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:On this day in 1934\, lettuce cutters went on strike in Salinas Va lley\, California\, demanding official union recognition and a wage increa se\, leading to the creation of one of the first Filipino unions in the Un ited States. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1934\, lettuce cutters went on strike in Salina s Valley\, California\, demanding official union recognition and a wage in crease\, leading to the creation of one of the first Filipino unions in th e United States.\n\nOf the approximately 7\,000 workers who became involve d in the strike\, almost half were Filipinos. The Filipino Labor Union (FL U) was the main organizing force behind the labor action.\n\nIn response t o picketing workers\, Filipinos were targeted and attacked by anti-strike vigilantes and the police. After Rufo Canete was appointed president of th e FLU and formed a new strike committee\, a large mob of vigilantes burned down Canete's labor camp\, an organizational center for the FLU and home to hundreds of Filipino workers\, and drove hundreds of Filipinos out of S alinas Valley at gunpoint.\n\nThe strike ended on September 24th\, 1934\, with workers winning official FLU recognition and a wage increase. RESOURCES:https://www.peoplesworld.org/article/today-in-labor-history-1934 -filipino-lettuce-cutters-strike/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salinas_Lettuce_strike_of_1934 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:"I Have a Dream" Speech (1963) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250828 DTEND:20250829T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Civil Rights COMMENT:On this day in 1963\, Martin Luther King Jr. gave the "I Have a Dr eam" speech to over 250\,000 civil rights protesters from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in W ashington D.C. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1963\, Martin Luther King Jr. gave the "I Have a Dream" speech to over 250\,000 civil rights supporters from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in Washington D.C.\n\nThe speech was a defining moment of the civil rights movement and among the most iconic speeches in American history. Here is a brief excerpt:\n\n"In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence\, they were signin g a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note wa s a promise that all men\, yes\, black men as well as white men\, would be guaranteed the 'unalienable Rights' of 'Life\, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.'\n\nIt is obvious today that America has defaulted on this pro missory note\, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation\, America has given the Negro people a bad check\, a check which has come back marked 'insufficient funds.'" RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Have_a_Dream RESOURCES:https://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:C. Wright Mills (1916 - 1962) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250828 DTEND:20250829T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Birthdays COMMENT:C. Wright Mills\, born on this day in 1916\, was an American socio logist who coined the term "New Left" and authored influential texts on so cial inequality and the ruling class such as "The Power Elite" (1956). DESCRIPTION:Charles Wright Mills\, born on this day in 1916\, was an Ameri can sociologist whose work focused on subjects of social inequality and th e ruling class\, authoring influential texts such as "The Power Elite" (19 56) and "The Sociological Imagination" (1950). He is also remembered for c oining the term "New Left" in a 1960 open letter.\n\nMills was an influent ial academic\, teaching sociology at the universities of Columbia\, Chicag o\, and Copenhagen. His work was also published widely in both popular and intellectual journals.\n\nMills had a reputation for being contentious an d acerbic (on one occasion\, he called a fellow professor "a real fool"). When\, during a visit to the Soviet Union\, he was invited to speak as a m ajor critic of American society\, he criticized state censorship by toasti ng to an early Soviet leader who was "purged and murdered by the Stalinist "\, stating "To the day when the complete works of Leon Trotsky are publis hed in the Soviet Union!"\n\nAmong Mill's texts are "The Sociological Imag ination" (1950)\, "New Men of Power" (1948)\, "White Collar" (1951)\, and "The Power Elite" (1956). In 1960\, he traveled to Cuba\, interviewing Fid el Castro\, who claimed to have read The Power Elite.\n\nMills died two ye ars later from a heart attack at the age of 42.\n\n"Neither the life of an individual nor the history of a society can be understood without underst anding both."\n\n- C. Wright Mills RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._Wright_Mills RESOURCES:https://www.thoughtco.com/c-wright-mills-3026486 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:DNC Convention "Police Riot" (1968) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250828 DTEND:20250829T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Riots,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1968\, six days of protests at the Chicago Democrat ic National Convention climaxed in a police riot characterized by a local paper as "a 17-minute melee". Footage was broadcast internationally\, more than 600 were arrested. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1968\, six days of continuous protests at the C hicago Democratic National Convention climaxed in a police riot characteri zed by the Chicago Sun-Times as "a 17-minute melee in front of the Conrad Hilton". Footage of the violence\, as well as disruptions on the conventio n floor\, was broadcast internationally\, and more than 600 people were ar rested.\n\nIn 1967\, counterculture and anti-Vietnam War protest groups ha d been promising to come to Chicago and disrupt the Democratic Nation Conv ention (DNC)\, while the city was promising to maintain law and order.\n\n For eight days\, the protesters were met by the Chicago Police Department (CPD) in the streets and parks of Chicago while the Democrats held the con vention in the International Amphitheater. The protests climaxed in what a major report later called a "police riot" on August 28th\, 1968.\n\nIn de fiance of explicit orders by the police\, thousands of protesters attempte d to march on the streets of Chicago. When they did so\, they were "attack ed blitzkrieg fashion by busloads of club-swinging cops" and beaten and ar rested en masse. According to the New York Times\, "onlookers joined the p rotesters in booing the police. Rolls of toilet paper\, bars of soap\, and water glasses were thrown at the police from [Hilton] hotel windows\, alo ng with a number of rocks\, bottles and cherry bombs".\n\nMore than 600 pe ople were arrested\, and more than 100 protesters and cops were treated wi th injuries that night. So much tear gas was thrown that it could smelled from the hotel suite of Hubert Humphrey\, who went on to win the president ial nomination that night.\n\nOn the convention floor\, several delegates made statements against Mayor Daley and the CPD\, like Senator Abraham Rib icoff who denounced the use of "Gestapo tactics on the streets of Chicago" in his speech nominating George McGovern. Subsequently\, the "Walker Repo rt to the National Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence" as signed blame for the violence on the police force\, calling the incident a "police riot". RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1968_Democratic_National_Conventio n_protest_activity RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/chicago-1968 RESOURCES:https://www.theguardian.com/world/gallery/2008/aug/25/1968theyea rofrevolt.democrats2008 RESOURCES:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XzdltsTfvE&ab_channel=Democracy Now%21 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Emmett Till (1955) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250828 DTEND:20250829T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Civil Rights COMMENT:Emmett Till was a black child tortured and lynched by white suprem acists in Mississippi on this day in 1955\, at 14 years old. His killers s old the story of how they murdered him for $4\,000 after being acquitted b y an all-white jury. DESCRIPTION:Emmett Till was a black child tortured and lynched by white su premacists in Mississippi on this day in 1955\, at 14 years old. His kille rs sold the story of how they murdered him for $4\,000 after being acquitt ed by an all-white jury.\n\nEmmett was born in Chicago to Mamie Carthan\, a working class woman from Tallahatchie County\, Mississippi\, where the a verage annual income for a black family was $462 (equivalent to $4\,700 in 2016 dollars). In 1955\, Till's great-uncle visited the family in Chicago and told Emmett stories about the Mississippi Delta\, leading Emmett to p lan a visit.\n\nTill arrived in Money\, Mississippi\, on August 21st\, 195 5. On the 24th\, Till and his friends visited a store owned by a white cou ple. Till was accused of whistling at and approaching the wife\, Carolyn B ryant\, while at the store.\n\nFacts of Till's interaction with Bryant are disputed\, however many of the accusations - that Till put his hands on B ryant\, that he made lewd comments at her\, or that he bragged to his frie nds about having had sex with a white woman - have been withdrawn by the p eople who initially made them. Till's mother has also stated that she taug ht Emmett to whistle to help with his stutter\, which he developed after a bout with polio.\n\nAfter word broke out that an interaction had taken pl ace between Till and Bryant\, Carolyn's husband\, Roy Bryant\, and his hal f-brother\, J.W. Milam abducted Emmett\, tortured him\, shot him\, and thr ew his corpse into the Tallahatchie River. Following Till's disappearance\ , civil rights activists Medgar Evers and Amzie Moore went undercover as c otton pickers to try and locate him.\n\nThree days after his abduction and murder\, Till's swollen and disfigured body was found by two boys who wer e fishing in the Tallahatchie River. His head was very badly mutilated\, h e had been shot above the right ear\, an eye was dislodged from the socket \, there was evidence that he had been beaten on the back and the hips\, a nd his body weighted by a fan blade\, which was fastened around his neck w ith barbed wire.\n\nMamie decided to have an open-casket funeral\, saying: "There was just no way I could describe what was in that box. No way. And I just wanted the world to see." Tens of thousands of people lined the st reet outside the mortuary to view Till's body\, and days later thousands m ore attended his funeral at Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ.\n\nIn the lead-up to Bryant and Milam's trial\, local newspapers falsely reporte d that there were riots at Till's funeral\, and depicted both men smiling in military uniforms. On September 23rd\, 1955\, an all-white\, all-male j ury (both women and blacks had been explicitly banned) acquitted Bryant an d Milam after a 67-minute deliberation. One juror said "If we hadn't stopp ed to drink pop\, it wouldn't have taken that long."\n\nProtected against double jeopardy\, Bryant and Milam quickly struck a deal with "Look" magaz ine in 1956 to tell their story for approximately $4\,000 ($35\,000 in 201 6 dollars).\n\nEmmett Till's murder became a flashpoint in the American ci vil rights movement\; the Montgomery Bus Boycott began in December later t hat year after Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat for a white person. Parks stated "I thought of Emmett Till and I just couldn't go back."\n\nMy rlie Evers\, the widow of Medgar Evers\, said in 1985 that Till's case res onated so strongly because it "shook the foundations of Mississippi—both black and white\, because ... with the white community ... it had become nationally publicized ... with us as blacks ... it said\, even a child was not safe from racism and bigotry and death." RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/till-emmett-1 941-1955/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmett_Till END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Karl Ulrichs (1825 - 1895) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250828 DTEND:20250829T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Queer COMMENT:Karl Heinrich Ulrichs\, born on this day in 1825\, was a German la wyer\, journalist\, political activist\, and pioneering sexologist who sca ndalously came out publicly as gay in mid-19th century Germany. DESCRIPTION:Karl Heinrich Ulrichs\, born on this day in 1825\, was a Germa n lawyer\, journalist\, political activist\, and pioneering sexologist who scandalously came out publicly as gay in mid-19th century Germany.\n\nIn 1857\, Ulrichs was fired from his job as an administrative lawyer for the district court of Hildesheim when his homosexuality was discovered. A few years later\, he began publishing under his real name (sometimes cited as the first public "coming out" in modern Western society) and wrote a state ment of legal and moral support for a man arrested for homosexual offenses .\n\nOn August 29th\, 1867 Ulrichs became the first homosexual to speak ou t publicly in defense of homosexuality when he pleaded at the Congress of German Jurists in Munich for a resolution urging the repeal of anti-homose xual laws. Although he was shouted down and no reform was passed\, two yea rs later the Austrian writer Karl-Maria Kertbeny coined the word "homosexu al"\, and from the 1870s the subject of sexual orientation in the modern s ense began to be widely discussed.\n\nIn Ulrichs' memory\, the Internation al Lesbian and Gay Law Association presents a Karl Heinrich Ulrichs Award for distinguished contributions to the advancement of sexual equality.\n\n "Until my dying day I will look back with pride that I found the courage t o come face to face in battle against the spectre which for time immemoria l has been injecting poison into me and into men of my nature. Many have b een driven to suicide because all their happiness in life was tainted. Ind eed\, I am proud that I found the courage to deal the initial blow to the hydra of public contempt."\n\n- Karl Ulrichs RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Heinrich_Ulrichs RESOURCES:https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/01/obituaries/karl-heinrich-ulri chs-overlooked.html END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Swing Riots Begin (1830) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250828 DTEND:20250829T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Riots COMMENT:On this day in 1830\, the Swing Riots began\, a widespread uprisin g initiated by English agricultural workers in protest of harsh working co nditions and mechanization that was decreasing the number and quality of a vailable jobs. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1830\, the Swing Riots began\, a widespread upr ising initiated by English agricultural workers in protest of harsh workin g conditions and mechanization that was decreasing the number and quality of available jobs.\n\nThe riots began with the destruction of threshing ma chines in the Elham Valley area of East Kent in the summer of 1830\, and b y early December had spread through the whole of southern England and East Anglia\, also destroying workhouses\, tithe barns\, ricks (hay bales)\, a nd maiming cows.\n\nHistorian J. F. C. Harrison concluded that the riots w ere overwhelmingly the result of the progressive impoverishment and dispos session of the English agricultural workforce over the previous fifty year s.\n\nThe name "Swing Riots" was derived from the pseudonym "Captain Swing "\, often signed to the threatening letters sent to farmers\, magistrates\ , parsons\, and others. The term "swing" was apparently a reference to the swinging stick of the flail used in hand threshing\, and Captain Swing wa s regarded as the mythical figurehead of the rebellion.\n\nThe Swing Riots were a major influence on the Whig Government and\, as a part of a wider chain of social unrest\, helped pressure the government to pass the Reform Act 1832\, the "Poor Law Amendment Act" of 1834\, which ended "outdoor re lief" in cash or kind\, and the setting up of a chain of workhouses coveri ng larger areas across the country\, to which the poor had to go if they w anted help. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swing_Riots RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/captain-swing-was-here RESOURCES:https://ageofrevolution.org/captain-swing-and-the-last-great-ris ing-of-agricultural-labourers/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Long Binh Jail Uprising (1968) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250829 DTEND:20250830T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Riots COMMENT:On this day in 1968\, a group of black inmates attacked the guards of the administration building of the Long Binh Jail\, a U.S. military st ockade in Vietnam\, seizing control of the prison and then lighting it on fire. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1968\, a group of black inmates attacked the gu ards of the administration building of the Long Binh Jail\, a U.S. militar y stockade in Vietnam\, seizing control of the prison and then lighting it on fire.\n\nLong Binh Jail was a U.S. military stockade located at Long B inh Post\, in Đồng Nai Province\, South Vietnam during the Vietnam War. Originally built to house 400 inmates\, in August of 1968\, LBJ was cramm ed with 719 men. Despite representing 11% of the troops in Vietnam\, more than 50% of the men incarcerated at the stockade were black.\n\nOn August 29th\, 1968\, just before midnight\, a group of black inmates approached t he administration building and attacked the guards there. Chaos erupted as other inmates joined the riot.\n\nSoldiers began to set fire to buildings using kerosene stolen from the prison supply\, burning the mess hall\, th e barber shop\, latrine\, administration\, and finance buildings. The riot ers assaulted white inmates as well as guards. Despite the violence\, only four inmates escaped and one prisoner was killed.\n\nOn the effect of the riot and his detention in it\, veteran Jimmie Childress told National Pub lic Radio "I'm still angry about the way the military treated its own citi zens. I still feel that something hand [sic] to be done...I guess I was ju st trying to prove that I was a human being. I'm over it now\, but it took a long time. It took a long time." RESOURCES:https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2018/08/29/642617106/the -forgotten-history-of-a-prison-uprising-in-vietnam RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_B%C3%ACnh_Jail END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Lusty Lady Strippers Unionize (1997) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250829 DTEND:20250830T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:On this day in 1997\, employees of the San Francisco strip club Lu sty Lady voted to unionize\, organizing with the Exotic Dancers Union. In 2003\, workers bought out the company and began running it as a worker co- operative. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1997\, employees of the San Francisco strip clu b Lusty Lady voted to unionize\, organizing with the Exotic Dancers Union. In 2003\, workers bought out the company and began running it as a worker co-operative.\n\nThe Lusty Lady is a pair of now defunct peep show establ ishments\, one in downtown Seattle and one in the North Beach district of San Francisco.\n\nOn August 29th\, 1997\, the San Francisco workers voted to unionize and were subsequently organized by the Exotic Dancers Union\, an affiliate of Service Employees International Union\, then a member of A FL-CIO. \n\nWorkers at Pacer's\, a strip club in San Diego\, had unionized earlier\, but were eventually decertified because of an "open shop" claus e in their contract\, allowing workers to become employed without joining the union.\n\nIn 2003\, the workers bought the club for $400\,000 with mon ey borrowed from the old owners. After the change in ownership\, the union was retained\, but some changes in management were instituted. While danc ers had been regularly evaluated by managers before\, now a peer review pr ocess was established wherein dancers evaluate each other. The team leader s were elected from among the dancers for six month terms.\n\nLusty Lady c losed in 2013 due to a failure to negotiate rent prices with their landlor d\, Roger Forbes (of Deja Vu Consulting Inc.\, which owned many clubs in S an Francisco). RESOURCES:https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/08/what-it-was -like-to-work-at-the-lusty-lady-a-unionized-strip-club/279236/ RESOURCES:https://workingclasshistory.com/2019/03/13/e20-the-exotic-dancer s-union/ RESOURCES:https://www.sfgate.com/performance/article/Lusty-Lady-becomes-fi rst-worker-owned-strip-club-2567731.php#photo-2710163 RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lusty_Lady END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:RFSL Occupies Health and Welfare Office (1979) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250829 DTEND:20250830T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Queer,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1979\, approximately forty activists with the Swedi sh Federation for Lesbian\, Gay\, Bisexual and Transgender Rights (RFSL) o ccupied a government office to protest homosexuality being classified as a mental disorder. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1979\, approximately forty activists with the S wedish Federation for Lesbian\, Gay\, Bisexual and Transgender Rights (RFS L) occupied a government office to protest homosexuality being classified as a mental disorder.\n\nRFSL planned the action during Gay Liberation Wee k in August 1979\, occupying the offices of the National Board of Health a nd Welfare\, the government agency responsible for classifying diseases.\n \nThe protesters were prepared to occupy the offices for a week. Some call ed in sick to work to allow for this\, leading one worker to get sick pay on the basis of being gay.\n\nDespite this preparation\, the protesters we re quickly met by the new director-general of Social Security\, Barbro Wes terholm\, who indicated she agreed with protesters and was willing to help with their cause.\n\nBy October 19th\, 1979\, the agency agreed to change their diagnosis registry and remove homosexuality from the list of illnes ses. RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/occupation-swedish-national-board-hea lth-welfare-1979-steven-johns RESOURCES:https://www.rfsl.se/en/about-us/history/ RESOURCES:https://slate.com/human-interest/2013/09/calling-in-gay-did-70s- swedes-really-get-paid-sick-leave-for-being-homosexual.html END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Shay's Rebellion (1786) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250829 DTEND:20250830T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1786\, Shay's Rebellion began in Massachusetts when \, during an economic crisis\, more than one thousand armed protesters gat hered in Northampton\, Massachusetts and successfully prevented the county court from sitting. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1786\, Shay's Rebellion began in Massachusetts when\, during an economic crisis\, more than one thousand armed protesters gathered in Northampton\, Massachusetts and successfully prevented the co unty court from sitting. The rebellion was in response to a debt crisis am ong the citizenry\, as well as the state government's increased efforts to collect taxes both on individuals and their trades.\n\nThe court shut-dow ns continued for months\, with Massachusetts politician James Warren writi ng to John Adams on October 22nd: "We are now in a state of Anarchy and Co nfusion bordering on Civil War." The organized resistance was ended by a p rivate army\, formed with funds solicited by former Continental Army Gener al Benjamin Lincoln.\n\nShay's Rebellion also stoked some anti-democratic sentiment during the 1787 Constitutional Convention\, which was dominated by strong-government advocates. Delegate Oliver Ellsworth of Connecticut a rgued that\, because the people could not be trusted (as exemplified by Sh ays' Rebellion)\, the members of the House of Representatives should be ch osen by state legislatures\, not by popular vote. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shays%27_Rebellion RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/shays-rebellion-1786 RESOURCES:https://socialistrevolution.org/shays-rebellion-and-the-american -revolution/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Slovak National Uprising (1944) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250829 DTEND:20250830T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Fascism COMMENT:On this day in 1944\, a united front of anti-fascists launched an armed insurrection against Nazi and collaborationist forces in Slovakia. A t least 12\,000 were killed\, but guerilla warfare continued until the cou ntry was liberated in 1945. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1944\, a united front of anti-fascists launched an armed insurrection against Nazi and collaborationist forces in Slovaki a. At least 12\,000 were killed\, but guerilla warfare continued until the country was liberated in 1945.\n\nAlthough various parties (Czech communi sts\, Slovakian ultranationalists) later tried to take credit for the resi stance movement\, the participants and supporters of the uprising represen ted every religion\, class\, age\, and anti-Nazi political faction of the country\, according to historian Stanislav Mičev.\n\nAlthough the resista nce was largely defeated by German forces\, guerrilla operations continued until the Soviet Army\, Czechoslovak Army\, and Romanian Army liberated F ascist Slovakia in 1945. In total\, at least 12\,000 members of the Slovak ian anti-fascist resistance lost their lives in the fighting.\n\nThe colla borationist government also executed Slovak people suspected of aiding the rebels\, particularly Jews and Roma people - at least 211 mass graves wer e found after the war. The Slovak National Uprising is now commemorated as an annual holiday on August 29th in Slovakia. RESOURCES:https://www.warhistoryonline.com/instant-articles/slovak-nationa l-uprising.html RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slovak_National_Uprising END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Truus Oversteegen (1923 - 2016) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250829 DTEND:20250830T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Fascism COMMENT:Truus Menger-Oversteegen\, born on this day in 1923 (shown in the middle\, with her sister Freddie left)\, was a Dutch artist and anti-fasci st who\, with her sister\, lured and killed Nazis and their Dutch collabor ators. DESCRIPTION:Truus Menger-Oversteegen (shown in the middle\, with her siste r Freddie left) was a Dutch artist and anti-fascist freedom fighter born o n this day in 1923. Oversteegen joined the Dutch anti-Nazi resistance at f ourteen years old and quickly became an armed assassin of Nazi soldiers al ong with her sister Freddie Oversteegen and another young woman named Hann ie Schaft. Together\, the trio lured (on at least one occasion\, seduced)\ , ambushed\, and killed German Nazis and their Dutch collaborators.\n\nThe ir other duties in the Haarlem Resistance Group included "bringing Jewish [refugees] to a new hiding place\, working in the emergency hospital in En schede… [and] blowing up the railway line between Ijmuiden and Haarlem"\ , according to Ellis Jonker\, an anthropologist who interviewed the sister s. In 1945\, Hannie Schaft was arrested and killed by Nazi forces. Truus a nd Freddie Oversteegen went on to live long lives\, however\, both dying a t the age of 92. RESOURCES:https://www.history.com/news/dutch-resistance-teenager-killed-na zis-freddie-oversteegen RESOURCES:https://jacobin.com/2016/07/truus-menger-oversteegen-nazi-resist ance-dutch-communist-partisans/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truus_Menger-Oversteegen END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Fred Hampton (1948 - 1969) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250830 DTEND:20250831T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays COMMENT:Fred Hampton\, born on this day in 1948\, was a revolutionary soci alist and chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panthers. He forme d a class-based alliance known as the Rainbow Coalition before being assas sinated by the Chicago PD. DESCRIPTION:Fred Hampton\, born on this day in 1948\, was a revolutionary socialist and chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party\ , forming a class-based alliance known as the Rainbow Coalition before bei ng assassinated by the Chicago PD.\n\nThe "Rainbow Coalition" included gro ups such as the Black Panther Party\, the Young Patriots\, the Young Lords \, and worked together to organize against capital and broker peace treati es and alliances among Chicago street gangs.\n\nIn 1967\, Hampton was iden tified by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as a radical threat. T he FBI tried to subvert his activities in Chicago\, sowing disinformation among these groups and placing a counterintelligence operative in the loca l Panthers.\n\nIn December 1969\, Hampton was assassinated during a predaw n raid at his Chicago apartment by the Chicago Police Department. During t he raid\, Panther Mark Clark was also killed.\n\nAt a press conference the next day\, the police announced the arrest team had been attacked by the "violent" and "extremely vicious" Panthers\, and had defended themselves a ccordingly. In another press conference\, police leadership praised the as sault team for their "remarkable restraint" and "professional discipline" in not killing all the Panthers present.\n\nPhotographic evidence was pres ented of bullet holes allegedly made by shots fired by the Panthers\, but this was soon challenged. Later\, it was found that all but one of nearly one hundred shots were fired by the police. RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/hampton-fred- 1948-1969/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Hampton RESOURCES:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-RxvgIMfX4&ab_channel=TheBlacke stPanther END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Jean Seberg Commits Suicide (1979) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250830 DTEND:20250831T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1979\, actress Jean Seberg committed suicide after years of harassment\, intimidation\, and defamation by the FBI after she g ave several donations to the Black Panther Party. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1979\, actress Jean Seberg committed suicide af ter years of harassment\, intimidation\, and defamation by the FBI after s he gave several donations to the Black Panther Party.\n\nJean Dorothy Sebe rg (1938 - 1979) was an American actress\, supporter of the Black Panther Party (BPP)\, and target of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) "C OINTELPRO" program.\n\nIn the late 1960s\, Seberg provided financial suppo rt to various groups supporting civil rights\, including the NAACP as well as Native American school groups such as the Meskwaki Bucks at the Tama s ettlement near her home town.\n\nThe FBI became aware of several gifts Seb erg had made to the BPP\, totaling just over $10k in contributions. The FB I operation against Seberg\, directly overseen by J. Edgar Hoover\, began to harass\, intimidate\, defame\, and discredit her.\n\nThe FBI's stated g oal was an unspecified "neutralization" of Seberg with a subsidiary object ive to "cause her embarrassment and serve to cheapen her image with the pu blic"\, while taking the "usual precautions to avoid identification of the Bureau". The FBI spread a false rumor about her pregnancy\, claiming she was bearing the child of a BPP member\, which was repeated frequently in t he press. She was also effectively blacklisted from Hollywood films at thi s time.\n\nOn August 30th\, 1979\, Seberg committed suicide\, writing "For give me. I can no longer live with my nerves". Romain Gary\, Seberg's husb and\, called a press conference shortly after Seberg's death\, publicly bl aming the FBI's campaign against her for her deteriorating mental health. RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/library/jean-seberg-screen-icon-black-panther -supporter RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Seberg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Notting Hill Race Riots (1958) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250830 DTEND:20250831T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Riots COMMENT:On this day in 1958\, an ad-hoc community militia led by Baker Bar on\, a British-Jamaican veteran\, drove off a lynch mob with guns and molo tov cocktails during the Notting Hill Race Riots. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1958\, an ad-hoc community militia led by Baker Baron\, a British-Jamaican veteran\, drove off a lynch mob with guns and molotov cocktails during the Notting Hill Race Riots.\n\nThe Notting Hill race riots were a series of racially motivated riots that took place in No tting Hill\, England between August 23rd and September 5th\, 1958.\n\nAlth ough the racial uprising was initially sporadic\, one of the primary trigg ers is often thought to be an assault against Majbritt Morrison\, a white Swedish woman who came to the attention of local white supremacists while arguing with her Jamaican husband\, Raymond Morrison.\n\nFollowing this in cident\, a white mob several hundred strong formed (associated with the ra cist "Teddy Boys" movement) and began to terrorize people of color in the area.\n\nOne resident\, Baker Baron\, born in Jamaica and a veteran of the Royal Air Force (RAF)\, decided to organize violent resistance to the mob violence. On this day in 1958\, his force drove off a lynch mob with molo tov cocktails. Here is what happened in Baron's own words:\n\n"When they t old us that they were coming to attack that night I went around and told a ll the people that was living in the area to withdraw that night. The wome n I told them to keep pots\, kettles of hot water boiling\, get some caust ic soda and if anyone tried to break down the door and come in\, to just l ash out with them.\n\nThe men\, well we were armed...Make no mistake\, the re were iron bars\, there were machetes\, there were all kinds of arms\, w eapons\, we had guns. We made preparations at the headquarters for the att ack. We had men on the housetop waiting for them...'Let's burn the niggers \, let's lynch the niggers.' That's the time I gave the order for the gate s to open...I says\, 'Start bombing them.' When they saw the Molotov cockt ails coming and they start to panic and run.\n\n...I knew one thing\, the following morning we walked the streets free because they knew we were not going to stand for that type of behaviour." RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/library/1958-beating-back-mosley-in-notting-h ill RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1958_Notting_Hill_race_riots RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/notting-hill-ri ots-1958/ RESOURCES:https://warwick.ac.uk/services/library/mrc/studying/docs/racism/ riots/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Chicago Crowd Storms Unemployment Office (1931) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250831 DTEND:20250901T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Riots COMMENT:On this day in 1931\, a crowd of more than 1500 people rioted at t he United Charities offices in Chicago in protest of living conditions and lack of welfare during the Great Depression. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1931\, a crowd of more than 1500 people rioted at the United Charities offices in Chicago in protest of living conditions and lack of welfare during the Great Depression.\n\nDuring the Great Depr ession\, poor people sometimes demanded welfare with direct action - crowd s of the unemployed would descend on relief offices\, taking them over unt il their demands were met and money or goods were distributed.\n\nHistoria ns Harold Lasswell and Dorothy Blumenstock described one such episode that happened on this day in 1931\, in Chicago\, Illinois:\n\n"On the afternoo n of August 31\, 1931\, a group of 400 persons began to march on the Unite d Charities offices located at 4500 Prairie Avenue.\n\nBy the time they re ached the relief station\, the number had grown to fifteen or sixteen hund red. A speaker addressed them in front of the station\, and the tension gr ew so high that when Joel Hunter\, Chief Administrator of the Charities\, asked for the selection of a committee to present the grievances of the cr owd\, there was a move to storm the station. A police squad arrived\, and a general riot ensued." RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/1930-1939-unemployed-workers-movement END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Hull Prisoners' Revolt (1976) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250831 DTEND:20250901T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1976\, inmates at the HMP Hull prison in England re belled\, destroying property and gaining control of 2/3rds of the facility . They surrendered peacefully after their demands were agreed to\, however abuse continued afterward. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1976\, inmates at the HMP Hull prison in Englan d rebelled\, destroying property and gaining control of 2/3rds of the faci lity. They surrendered peacefully after their demands were agreed to\, how ever abuse continued afterward.\n\nThe HMP Hull is a Category B men's loca l prison located in Kingston upon Hull in the East Riding of Yorkshire\, E ngland.\n\nOn August 31st\, 1976\, the first reports of what evolved into a prison-wide revolt emerged when a group of prisoners assembled\, demandi ng to see a fellow inmate who was in the segregation unit. Claiming the ma n had been assaulted\, the group staged a passive sit-in and blocked a pri son officer from locking a door.\n\nThe protest escalated into destruction of prison property and outright rebellion. By the next day\, inmates had control of two-thirds of the jail. Over the next four days\, they caused £4m worth of damage.\n\nThe rebelling prisoners made three demands: one\, that the deputy regional director of prisons and chairman of the board of visitors and his deputy would be present at the surrender\; two\, that Ir ish prisoners would not be singled out for special treatment\, they would all be treated the same as other prisoners\; three\, that prisoners wanted to be received by their own officers from Hull.\n\nThese demands\, along with a promise to end brutality from guards\, led to the prisoners' peacef ul surrender on September 3rd. Upon re-entering the prison\, however\, man y of the prisoners were severely beaten. Hull prison itself remained close d for a year\, so extensive was the damage done to it. RESOURCES:https://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/news/history/hull-prison-riots-t errifying-damage-3000686 RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/hull-prisoners-revolt-1976-red-menace END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Luxembourgish General Strike (1942) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250831 DTEND:20250901T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:General Strikes,Fascism COMMENT:On this day in 1942\, a general strike broke out in Nazi-occupied Luxembourg after the government announced that young men were to be conscr ipted into the Wehrmacht. Hundreds\, including children\, were arrested an d 20 strikers were executed. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1942\, a general strike broke out in Nazi-occup ied Luxembourg after the government announced that young men were to be co nscripted into the Wehrmacht. Hundreds of people\, including student child ren\, were arrested. Twenty strike leaders were executed.\n\nThe day prior \, the leader of the Nazi Luxembourg government\, Gustav Simon\, announced that all Luxembourger males born between 1920 and 1927 were to be conscri pted into the Wehrmacht to fight against the Allies.\n\nOn August 31st\, 1 942\, work was virtually at a stand-still as rumors that strikes had broke n out in the steel-works in the industrial south and the town of Wiltz wer e began to spread. By September 1st\, enough of the country had gone on st rike that the occupying Nazi government declared a national state of emerg ency.\n\nWithin hours\, the strike leaders were rounded up and interrogate d by the Gestapo. Twenty strike leaders were summarily tried by a special tribunal\, sentenced to death\, transferred to the Hinzert concentration c amp\, and executed.\n\nTwo thousand Luxembourgers were arrested\, 83 were tried by the special tribunal and transferred to the Gestapo. 290 high sch ool children\, boys and girls\, were arrested and sent to re-education cam ps in Germany. RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/library/1942-luxembourg-post-office-strike RESOURCES:https://nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu/content/luxembourgers-general- strike-against-nazi-occupation-1942 RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1942_Luxembourgish_general_strike END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Poland "Solidarity" Union Recognized (1980) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250831 DTEND:20250901T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Labor COMMENT:On this day in 1980\, the Polish Union "Solidarity" was officially recognized by the state. The union\, which led the largest strike in the Soviet bloc and accepted money from the CIA and AFL-CIO\, played a key rol e in liberalizing Poland. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1980\, the Polish Union "Solidarity" was offici ally recognized by the state after the Gdańsk Agreement was signed. The u nion\, which boasted millions of members and led the largest strike in the Soviet bloc\, accepted money from the CIA and AFL-CIO\, and played a key role in liberalizing Poland.\n\nWorkers at the Gdańsk Shipyard had gone o n strike in mid-August\, following the firing of Anna Walentynowicz\, a co -founder of Solidarity. Participants formed an Interfactory Strike Committ ee (MKS)\, issuing 21 demands\, including the acceptance of free trade uni ons independent of the Communist Party. These demands were agreed to by th e state on August 31st in the Gdańsk Agreement.\n\nSolidarity's membershi p peaked at 10 million in September 1981\, representing one-third of the c ountry's working-age population. The union organized the largest strike ev er in the Soviet Bloc the same year\, the "Warning Strike" - a four-hour g eneral strike on March 27th involving millions of workers.\n\nSolidarity e njoyed considerable support from various anti-communist groups\, including the CIA\, the AFL-CIO\, and even the U.S. Congress directly\, which autho rized the National Endowment for Democracy in 1983\, allocating $10 millio n to the organization.\n\nSolidarity played a key role in Poland's liberal ization. 1989 round table talks between the government and the Solidarity- led opposition produced an agreement for the 1989 legislative elections.\n \nBy the end of August\, a Solidarity-led coalition government had formed and\, in December 1990\, Solidarity co-founder Lech Wałęsa was elected P resident of Poland and began privatizing the country's economy. He also pu shed for Poland's entry into the North American Trade Organization (NATO) and the European Union\, which occurred in 1999 and 2004\, respectively. RESOURCES:https://jacobinmag.com/2020/08/poland-solidarity-communism-solid arnosc RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solidarity_(Polish_trade_union) END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:"All God's Dangers" Published (1974) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250901 DTEND:20250902T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:On this day in 1974\, the life story of Ned Cobb\, a radical black worker in the American South who served more than 13 years in prison to k eep his farm\, was published under the title "All God's Dangers: The Life of Nate Shaw". DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1974\, the life story of Ned Cobb\, a radical b lack worker in the American South who served more than 13 years in prison to keep his farm\, was published under the title "All God's Dangers: The L ife of Nate Shaw".\n\nIn 1969\, author Theodore Rosengarten came to Alabam a to search for and interview surviving members of the Sharecroppers Union \, a radical union that helped both poor black and poor white farmers figh t back against an exploitative system of agri-business. When Rosengarten s at down to interview Ned Cobb\, then 84 years old\, for this purpose\, his memories became the book "All God's Dangers: The Life of Nate Shaw".\n\nC obb was the fourth of more than twenty children of a father who had been e nslaved. Ned left his father's house to begin sharecropping on his own at the age of 19. Realizing that the men needed help\, he joined the Alabama Sharecroppers' Union in 1931.\n\nIn 1931\, when the Communist Party arrive d in Alabama\, Cobb was impressed with them because he was saw the Party d efending the Scottsboro Boys\, nine young black men accused of raping two white women.\n\nIn December 1932\, a sheriff tried to take the home and li vestock of one of Cobb's friends. Cobb defended his friend and in turn was involved in a shootout in which he was wounded and arrested. Cobb was sen tenced to thirteen years in jail.\n\nCobb was offered parole if he would a gree to give up his farm and relocate to Birmingham. Instead\, he served h is full sentence and\, after release in 1945\, returned to his farm.\n\nCo bb was one of the most successful black men in the highly Jim Crow-ed coun ty and lived to the age of 89. He was also one of few former sharecroppers to be able to pass on property and a means of making a living to his prog eny. RESOURCES:https://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/19/books/all-gods-dangers-a-forg otten-autobiography.html RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ned_Cobb END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Aunt Molly Jackson Passes (1960) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250901 DTEND:20250902T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:Aunt Molly Jackson was an American folk singer and a union activis t who died on this day in 1960. Arrested at age ten for her family's union activities\, she grew up to author songs such as "I Am a Union Woman" and "Poor Miner's Farewell". DESCRIPTION:Aunt Molly Jackson (Mary Magdalene Garland Stewart Jackson Sta mos\, 1880 - 1960) was an American folk singer and a union activist who di ed on this day in 1960. Aunt Molly Jackson was an American folk singer and a union activist who died on this day in 1960. Arrested at age ten for he r family's union activities\, she grew up to author songs such as "I Am a Union Woman" and "Poor Miner's Farewell".\n\nBorn into a poor\, mining fam ily\, Jackson was involved in labor unions from a young age. She became a member of the United Mine Workers (UMW) and began writing protest songs li ke "I Am A Union Woman"\, "Kentucky Miner's Wife"\, and "Poor Miner's Fare well". When Jackson was jailed because of her unionizing activities\, her husband was forced to divorce her in order to keep his mining job.\n\nIn D ecember 1931\, Jackson traveled to New York City to support and raise mone y for striking Harlan coal miners\, at one point appearing before an estim ated crowd of 21\,000 at the Bronx Coliseum. In the mid-1930s\, she perfor med in New York City together with Woody Guthrie\, Pete Seeger\, Earl Robi nson\, and others. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aunt_Molly_Jackson RESOURCES:https://lomaxky.omeka.net/exhibits/show/artistprofiles/auntmolly jackson RESOURCES:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=db_E_Jqxroo&t=66s&ab_channel=Ala nLomaxArchive END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Communist Party USA Founded (1919) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250901 DTEND:20250902T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Labor,Fascism COMMENT:The Communist Party of the United States of America was establishe d on this day in 1919. CPUSA provided legal aid to the Scottsboro Boys\, h elped poor Southern farmers form sharecropper unions\, and promoted commun ist ideas within the U.S. DESCRIPTION:The Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA) wa s established on this day in 1919. CPUSA provided legal aid to the Scottsb oro Boys\, helped poor Southern farmers form sharecropper unions\, and pro moted communist ideas within the U.S.\n\nThe party was established after a split in the Socialist Party of America following the Russian Revolution\ , and initially operated underground due to the Palmer Raids\, a series of anti-immigrant\, anti-labor\, and anti-communist raids conducted by Attor ney General A. Mitchell Palmer.\n\nCPUSA was an early opponent of segregat ion and racial discrimination\, giving legal aid to the Scottsboro Boys an d helping poor black farmers in the South organize sharecropper unions. Be cause of this\, the party had a strong presence in Alabama in the 1930s. T his history is detailed in "Hammer and Hoe: Alabama Communists during the Great Depression" by historian Robin D.G. Kelley.\n\nDuring World War II\, CPUSA's unwavering support for the Soviet Union alienated other factions of the American left\, leading to a decline in membership. CPUSA membershi p was around 66\,000 in 1939\, and nearly 20\,000 members left the party o ver the next four years\, in part due to the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact bet ween the Soviets and Nazi Germany\, which compelled the party to back off militant anti-fascist rhetoric.\n\nIn 2008\, CPUSA called the election of Barack Obama a "transformative triumph of a labor-led all peoples' movemen t". Although CPUSA does not run candidates under its own banner\, its memb ers do run for office - in 2019\, CPUSA member Wahsayah Whitebird won a se at on the city council of Ashland\, WI. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communist_Party_USA RESOURCES:https://www.cpusa.org/about-us/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Italian Factory Occupations (1920) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250901 DTEND:20250902T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:On this day in 1920\, the first of many worker occupations and sei zures of factories in Italy began\, a movement that more than half a milli on workers participated in. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1920\, the first of many worker occupations and seizures of factories in Italy began\, a movement that more than half a m illion workers participated in.\n\nDuring the month of September 1920\, a widespread occupation of Italian factories by their workers took place. Al though originating in the auto factories\, steel mills\, and machine tool plants of the metal sector\, the occupation/revolt spread to cotton mills and hosiery firms\, lignite mines\, tire factories\, breweries and distill eries\, and steamships and warehouses in port towns. At its height\, more than 600\,000 workers were involved.\n\nThe worker rebellion was the culmi nation of years of labor strife - weeks before the occupations\, the Itali an Federation of Metallurgical Workers (FIOM)\, the Italian Socialist Part y (PSI)\, and the General Confederation of Labor (CGL) called for "obstruc tionism" (essentially\, a work slowdown) to be applied in all the engineer ing factories and shipyards starting on August 21st.\n\nBy the 24th\, prod uction at the Romeo factory in Milan had come to a complete standstill. A week later\, production at the FIAT-Centro plant was reduced by 60%. On th e morning of the 30th\, the 2000 workers of the Romeo plant found the gate s locked and the factory surrounded by troops. The FIOM responded by calli ng on its members to occupy the 300 engineering factories in Milan. Histor ian Lynn Williams describes what happened next:\n\n"Between the 1st and 4t h of September metal workers occupied factories throughout the Italian pen insula...the occupations rolled forward not only in the industrial heartla nd around Milan\, Turin and Genoa but in Rome\, Florence\, Naples and Pale rmo\, in a forest of red and black flags and a fanfare of workers bands... Within three days 400\,000 workers were in occupation. As the movement spr ead to other sectors\, the total rose to over half a million."\n\nAlthough some radical elements within the workers' movement (Antonio Gramsci\, the Italian Syndicalist Union) called for revolution\, referring to the occup ations as "an expropriating general strike" and demanding total socializat ion of the economy\, more moderate forces (the CGL) prevailed\, using the pressure of the rebellion to cut a deal with employers\, granting better c onditions to the workers on the condition of returning to work. RESOURCES:http://www.workerscontrol.net/theorists/italian-factory-occupati ons-1920 RESOURCES:https://www.marxist.com/italy-lost-revolution091002.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Roger Casement (1864 - 1916) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250901 DTEND:20250902T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays COMMENT:Roger Casement\, born on this day in 1864\, was a human rights jou rnalist and Irish revolutionary who exposed imperialist atrocities in the Congo and Peru. He was executed by the British for trying to raise militar y aid for the 1916 Easter Rising. DESCRIPTION:Roger Casement\, born on this day in 1864\, was a human rights journalist and Irish revolutionary who exposed imperialist atrocities in the Congo and Peru. He was executed by the British for trying to raise mil itary aid for the 1916 Easter Rising.\n\nCasement began his career working for Henry Morton Stanley and the African International Association\, a fr ont for King Leopold II of Belgium in his colonization of the Congo.\n\nIn 1890\, Casement met Joseph Conrad\, who had come to the Congo to pilot a merchant ship. According to author Liesl Schillinger\, both were inspired by the idea that "European colonisation would bring moral and social progr ess to the continent and free its inhabitants 'from slavery\, paganism and other barbarities.' Each would soon learn the gravity of his error."\n\nI n 1904\, he published the "Casement Report"\, which\, via direct interview s with workers\, overseers\, and mercenaries\, exposed the enslavement\, m utilation\, and torture of natives on the rubber plantations. The report c aused an international scandal and led to various reform organizations in the West.\n\nA few years later\, Casement traveled to the Putumayo Distric t in South America\, where the rubber was harvested deep in the Amazon Bas in\, and exposed the treatment of indigenous people in Peru. Finding condi tions just as inhumane as what he witnessed in the Congo\, Casement interv iewed both the Putumayo and men who had abused them\, publishing his findi ngs in a first-person narrative that again caused an international scandal .\n\nIn November\, 1914 Casement helped form the Irish Volunteers. He trav eled to both the United States and Germany to promote the Irish nationalis t cause and acquire aid for it.\n\nIn 1916\, he was captured by the Britis h government and charged with high treason. During trial proceedings\, the government secretly circulated alleged excerpts from Casement's journals\ , exposing him as a homosexual. The authenticity of these documents is sti ll debated today.\n\nCasement was hanged at Pentonville Prison on August 3 rd\, 1916 at 51 years old.\n\n"Self government is our right\, a thing born to us at birth a thing no more to be doled out to us by another people th en the right to life itself then the right to feel the sun or smell the fl owers or to love our kind."\n\n- Roger Casement RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Casement RESOURCES:https://www.rte.ie/centuryireland/index.php/articles/the-life-an d-death-of-roger-casement END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Walter Reuther (1907 - 1970) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250901 DTEND:20250902T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Civil Rights,Birthdays COMMENT:Walter Reuther\, born on this day in 1907\, was an American leader of organized labor and civil rights activist who helped build the United Automobile Workers (UAW) into a politically progressive labor union. DESCRIPTION:Walter Reuther\, born on this day in 1907\, was an American le ader of organized labor and civil rights activist who helped build the Uni ted Automobile Workers (UAW) into a politically progressive labor union.\n \nReuther saw labor movements not as narrow special interest groups but as instruments to advance the causes of social justice and human rights.\n\n Reuther leveraged the UAW's resources and influence to advocate for worker s' rights\, civil rights\, women's rights\, universal health care\, public education\, affordable housing\, environmental stewardship and nuclear no nproliferation around the world. Reuther survived two attempted assassinat ions\, including one at home where he was struck by a 12-gauge shotgun bla st fired through his kitchen window.\n\nReuther was an ally of MLK Jr. and César Chavez\, marching with the former on several occasions. A lifetime environmentalist\, Reuther also played a critical role in funding and org anizing the first Earth Day on April 22nd\, 1970.\n\nDespite Reuther's adv ocacy for social justice\, he did not seek systemic change. Socialist auto worker Beatrice Hansen had this to say of Reuther in 1955:\n\n"Yes\, Reuth er\, like the capitalists\, is satisfied to live with things substantially as they are\, instead of fighting to change things fundamentally\, the wa y [Eugene V. ] Debs did. Reuther shrugged his shoulders after the Ford set tlement and said\, 'You never get everything.'\n\nWhat a far cry that is f rom Eugene Debs\, whose mission it was to educate the workers so that they would not stop fighting and would not be satisfied until they had succeed ed in forever wiping the system of wage exploitation from the face of the earth!"\n\nReuther died in plane crash on May 9th\, 1970\, and when an ins pection revealed that parts of the plane were installed incorrectly\, some speculated he had been assassinated. Public intellectual Michael Parenti wrote "Reuther's demise appears as part of a truncation of liberal and rad ical leadership that included the deaths of four national figures: Preside nt John Kennedy\, Malcolm X\, Martin Luther King\, and Senator Robert Kenn edy."\n\n"There is no greater calling than to serve your fellow man. There is no greater contribution than to help the weak. There is no greater sat isfaction than to have done it well."\n\n- Walter Reuther RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Reuther RESOURCES:https://aflcio.org/about/history/labor-history-people/walter-reu ther RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/history/etol/document/swp-us/misc-1/han onreuth.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Henry George (1839 - 1897) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250902 DTEND:20250903T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Marxism,Birthdays COMMENT:Henry George\, born on this day in 1839\, was an American politica l economist and journalist known for his widely influential text "Progress and Poverty" and advocacy of the "single tax"\, also known as the Land Va lue Tax. DESCRIPTION:Henry George\, born on this day in 1839\, was an American poli tical economist and journalist known for his widely influential text "Prog ress and Poverty" and advocacy of the "single tax"\, also known as the Lan d Value Tax.\n\nGeorge also inspired the economic philosophy known as "Geo rgism"\, based on the belief that\, although people should own the value t hey produce themselves\, economic value derived from land and other natura l resources should belong equally to all members of society.\n\nGeorge and Karl Marx were aware of each other and feuded over conflicting ideas abou t the nature of capitalism. Marx called Georgism "capitalism's last ditch" and wrote "theoretically [Henry George] is utterly backward!…His fundam ental dogma is that everything would be all right if ground rent were paid to the state."\n\nGeorge's writing was immensely popular in 19th century America. His most famous work\, "Progress and Poverty" (1879)\, sold milli ons of copies worldwide\, possibly more than any other American book befor e that time.\n\nThe text investigates the paradox of increasing inequality and poverty amid economic and technological progress\, the cyclic nature of industrialized economies\, and the use of rent capture such as land val ue tax and other anti-monopoly reforms as a remedy for these and other soc ial problems.\n\n"The great cause of inequality in the distribution of wea lth is inequality in the ownership of land. The ownership of land is the g reat fundamental fact which ultimately determines the social\, the politic al\, and consequently the intellectual and moral condition of a people."\n \n- Henry George RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_George RESOURCES:https://www.henrygeorge.org/bob/ RESOURCES:https://merionwest.com/2019/06/02/through-letters-the-gap-betwee n-henry-george-and-karl-marx/ RESOURCES:https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/55308 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Henry Glover Murdered by NOPD (2005) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250902 DTEND:20250903T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:Henry Glover (1974 - 2005) was a resident of Louisiana who was mur dered by New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) officer David Warren on this day in 2005. Officers attempted to cover up the murder by burning his cor pse and car. DESCRIPTION:Henry Glover (1974 - 2005) was a resident of Louisiana who was murdered by New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) officer David Warren on this day in 2005. Officers attempted to cover up the murder by burning his corpse and car.\n\nGlover was shot from a second story window by Warren w hen he was approaching a strip mall to acquire some baby clothing. His nei ghbor William Tanner drove the wounded Glover and his brother Edward King to nearby Habans Elementary School\, which had been commandeered by police officers\, where they were subsequently detained and beaten. Glover did n ot receive medical care and died in the back of the car.\n\nNew Orleans Po lice Officer Greg McRae took Tanner's car keys\, got into his car\, and dr ove away with Glover's body still inside. McRae drove the vehicle about a mile away to a Mississippi River levee\, left the car running\, and set it on fire.\n\nFour other NOPD officers were charged in connection with even ts following Glover's death\, including the burning of the body. RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/glover-henry- 1974-2005/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting_of_Henry_Glover RESOURCES:https://www.nola.com/news/crime_police/article_00899523-43c9-55b e-9ac1-9de7b932da24.html END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Rock Springs Massacre (1885) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250902 DTEND:20250903T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Riots,Massacre COMMENT:On this day in 1885\, white immigrant miners in Rock Springs\, Wyo ming initiated an anti-Chinese race riot\, killing more than 28 Chinese wo rkers\, injuring 15\, and razing 78 homes\, causing most of the Chinese po pulation to flee the area. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1885\, white immigrant miners in Rock Springs\, Wyoming initiated an anti-Chinese race riot\, killing more than 28 Chines e workers\, injuring 15\, and razing 78 homes\, causing most of the Chines e population to flee the area.\n\nThe riot\, and resulting massacre of imm igrant Chinese miners by white immigrant miners\, was the result of racial prejudice toward the Chinese miners\, who were in competition for employm ent with their white counterparts.\n\nThe Union Pacific Coal Department fo und it economically beneficial to give preference in hiring to Chinese min ers\, who were willing to work for lower wages than whites\, angering whit e miners.\n\nWhen the rioting ended\, at least 28 Chinese miners were dead and 15 were injured. Rioters burned 78 Chinese homes\, causing approximat ely $150\,000 in property damage.\n\nMost of the Chinese population fled R ock Springs after this incident. RESOURCES:https://www.wyohistory.org/encyclopedia/rock-springs-massacre RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_Springs_massacre RESOURCES:https://guides.loc.gov/chronicling-america-rock-springs-massacre END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Vietnam Declares Independence (1945) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250902 DTEND:20250903T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Independence COMMENT:On this day in 1945\, Hồ Chí Minh announced the Proclamation of Independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam to a crowd of thousand s at the Ba Đình flower garden (now Ba Đình Square). DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1945\, Hồ Chí Minh announced the Proclamatio n of Independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam to a crowd of thou sands at the Ba Đình flower garden (now Ba Đình Square).\n\nThe Procla mation led directly to war with France\, which concluded in the country be ing divided between French and self-rule at the 17th parallel. Vietnam wou ld not achieve a unified\, independent rule until 1976.\n\nThe Proclamatio n quoted heavily from the American Declaration of Independence and was veh emently critical of French rule. An excerpt reads:\n\n"'All men are create d equal. They are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights \, among them are Life\, Liberty\, and the pursuit of Happiness.' This imm ortal statement was made in the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America in 1776. In a broader sense\, this means: All the people s on the earth are equal from birth\, all the peoples have a right to live \, to be happy and free.\n\n...Nevertheless\, for more than eighty years\, the French imperialists\, abusing the standard of Liberty\, Equality\, an d Fraternity\, have violated our Fatherland and oppressed our fellow-citiz ens. They have acted contrary to the ideals of humanity and justice. In th e field of politics\, they have deprived our people of every democratic li berty...They have built more prisons than schools. They have mercilessly s lain our patriots\; they have drowned our uprisings in rivers of blood...T hey have robbed us of our rice fields\, our mines\, our forests\, and our raw materials.\n\nFor these reasons\, we\, members of the Provisional Gove rnment of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam\, solemnly declare to the wor ld that Vietnam has the right to be a free and independent country - and i n fact is so already. The entire Vietnamese people are determined to mobil ize all their physical and mental strength\, to sacrifice their lives and property in order to safeguard their independence and liberty." RESOURCES:https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/vietnam-independence -proclaimed RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proclamation_of_Independence_of_th e_Democratic_Republic_of_Vietnam RESOURCES:http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5139/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Dakota Access Protesters Mauled (2016) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250903 DTEND:20250904T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Indigenous,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 2016\, water protectors stormed a Dakota Access Pip eline construction site to stop the use of bulldozers to dig up land that contained indigenous artifacts. They were attacked with dogs and pepper sp ray by a private security team. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 2016\, water protectors stormed a Dakota Access Pipeline construction site to stop the use of bulldozers to dig up land t hat contained indigenous artifacts. They were attacked with dogs and peppe r spray by a private security team.\n\nThe Dakota Access Pipeline protests were grassroots movements that began in early 2016 in opposition to the a pproved construction of Energy Transfer Partners' Dakota Access Pipeline i n the northern United States.\n\nMany in the Standing Rock tribe and surro unding communities considered the pipeline and its intended crossing benea th the Missouri River to constitute a threat to the region's drinking and irrigation water\, as well as to cultural sites of historic importance.\n\ nOn September 3rd\, 2016\, the Dakota Access Pipeline company used bulldoz ers to dig up part of the pipeline route that contained possible Native gr aves and burial artifacts\; the land was subject to a pending legal injunc tion.\n\nProtesters stormed the land and were attacked by a private securi ty firm\, armed with attack dogs and pepper spray.\n\nAmy Goodman\, a jour nalist with Democracy Now!\, followed the protesters and recorded them bei ng attacked by the firm. Goodman was later charged with participating in a "riot" and issued an arrest warrant by a North Dakota state prosecutor\, however the charges against her were rejected by a state judge. RESOURCES:https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/oct/26/north-dakota-pip eline-protest-guard-dogs-charges RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dakota_Access_Pipeline_protests#Se curity_firm_use_of_dogs_and_pepper_spray_against_protesters RESOURCES:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kuZcx2zEo4k RESOURCES:https://guides.lib.berkeley.edu/c.php?g=585158&p=4043354 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Eduardo Galeano (1940 - 2015) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250903 DTEND:20250904T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Marxism,Birthdays,Journalism COMMENT:Eduardo Galeano\, born on this day in 1940\, was a Uruguayan write r known for\, among other texts\, his work "Open Veins of Latin America"\, which one review called "the finest description of the primary accumulati on of capital since Marx". DESCRIPTION:Eduardo Galeano\, born on this day in 1940\, was a Uruguayan j ournalist and author known for\, among other texts\, his work "Open Veins of Latin America"\, which the editors of Monthly Review Press called "perh aps the finest description of the primary accumulation of capital since Ma rx".\n\nGaleano began his career as a political cartoonist and journalist - at fourteen\, he was contributing political cartoons to the socialist ne wspaper "El Sol". At 20\, he was the managing director of "Marcha"\, a sto ried weekly in Uruguay.\n\nSome of his high profile work as a journalist i ncludes an interview with Juan Perón\, a laudatory profile of Che Guevara \, and a portrait of Pu Yi\, the last emperor of China\, who had just comp leted his Maoist re-education in a nondescript building on the outskirts o f Beijing.\n\nGaleano is perhaps best known for his book "Open Veins of La tin America"\, which details how\, through five centuries of plunder by Eu ropean conquistadors and American corporations\, the region's abundant nat ural resources had been extracted to enrich a few local elites and many fo reign interests.\n\nThe editors of Monthly Review Press\, which published the U.S. edition\, described the book as "perhaps the finest description o f the primary accumulation of capital since Marx." President Hugo Chávez gave a Spanish-language copy of Open Veins to President Barack Obama on hi s first diplomatic visit to the region.\n\n"The human murder by poverty in Latin America is secret: every year\, without making a sound\, three Hiro shima bombs explode over communities that have become accustomed to suffer ing with clenched teeth."\n\n- Eduardo Galeano RESOURCES:https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/the-pan-american/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eduardo_Galeano RESOURCES:https://library.uniteddiversity.coop/More_Books_and_Reports/Open _Veins_of_Latin_America.pdf END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Jean Jaurès (1859 - 1914) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250903 DTEND:20250904T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Socialism,Birthdays COMMENT:Jean Jaurès\, born on this day in 1859\, was a French socialist p olitician and outspoken critic of WWI. He was assassinated by a nationalis t at the war's outbreak. "Tradition does not mean to look after the ash\, but to keep the flame alive." DESCRIPTION:Jean Jaurès\, born on this day in 1859\, was a leading French Socialist politician and outspoken critic of World War I. He was assassin ated by a French nationalist at the war's outbreak.\n\nInitially a moderat e republican\, Jaurès later became one of the first social democrats\, ev entually leading the French Socialist Party\, which opposed Jules Guesde's revolutionary Socialist Party of France. The two parties merged in 1905 i n the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO).\n\nToday\, a ke y aspect Jaurès' legacy is his antimilitarism. Jaurès was an early oppon ent of the draft and desperately tried to prevent war between France and G ermany before World War I\, going so far as to try and organize a general strike in both countries to force their leaders to negotiate diplomaticall y.\n\nIn 1914\, Jaurès returned to Paris from a diplomatic meeting in Bru ssels to advocate against the coming war. He was assassinated by a French nationalist at the outbreak of World War I\, and remains a key historical figure of the French Left.\n\n"Tradition does not mean to look after the a sh\, but to keep the flame alive."\n\n- Jean Jaurès RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Jaur%C3%A8s RESOURCES:https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jean-Jaures RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/archive/jaures/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Original 33 Expelled (1868) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250903 DTEND:20250904T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1868\, Georgia state legislators voted to expel all black members of the General Assembly during Southern Reconstruction. A 2 5 mile march in protest\, led by Phillip Joiner\, was attacked by a white lynch mob. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1868\, Georgia state legislators voted to expel all black members of the General Assembly during Southern Reconstruction. A 25 mile march in protest\, led by Phillip Joiner\, was attacked by a wh ite lynch mob.\n\nThe "Original 33" were the first 33 African-American mem bers of the Georgia General Assembly who were elected to office in 1868\, during the Reconstruction era. They were among the first black state legis lators in the United States. 24 of the members were ministers.\n\nAfter mo st of the legislators voted for losing candidates in the legislature's ele ctions for the U.S. Senate\, the white majority conspired to remove the bl ack and mixed-ethnicity members from the Assembly.\n\nOn September 3rd\, 1 868\, the Georgia legislators voted to expel all black members of the Gene ral Assembly (4 of the 33 were allowed to stay due to being 1/8 or less bl ack).\n\nThe expelled members appealed to the federal government and state courts. In protest of the expulsion\, former representative Phillip Joine r led a 25 mile march to Camilla\, the county seat on September 19th.\n\nT here\, the march was attacked by an armed white lynch mob\, and approximat ely a dozen marchers were killed. The Camilla Massacre marked a new era of de facto voting discrimination and political disenfranchisement of the bl ack population in Georgia. RESOURCES:https://www.georgiapol.com/2018/02/01/original-33-georgia-genera l-assembly/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Original_33 RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/events-africa n-american-history/the-camilla-massacre-1868/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:South Africa Miners Strike (2013) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250903 DTEND:20250904T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:On this day in 2013\, an estimated 80\,000 - 90\,000 gold miners w ent on strike in South Africa\, demanding a 60% wage increase to $775 per month. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 2013\, an estimated 80\,000 - 90\,000 gold mine rs went on strike in South Africa\, demanding a 60% wage increase to $775 per month.\n\nMine workers in South Africa have had a long and difficult l abor struggle\, from colonizing forces maintaining brutal working conditio ns in the early 20th century to the government using live ammunition to ma ssacre 34 striking miners just a year prior to this strike.\n\nLesiba Sesh oka\, a spokesperson for the National Union of Mineworkers said this about the strike action: "The NUM has noted government's wishes that industrial action be avoided and dares the state to explain which side it is on. The union is aware of the devastating impact industrial action would have on the economy\, which is largely a white man's economy with no benefits for poor black mineworkers."\n\n2013 was called "The Year of the Strike" by So uth African reporter Alec Hogg\, with tens of thousands of auto manufactur ing\, agricultural\, and construction workers also going on strike in the same year. RESOURCES:https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/03/south-africa-gold- miners-strike RESOURCES:https://theweek.com/articles/460495/everything-need-know-about-s outh-african-gold-miners-strike END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Textile Workers' Strike (1934) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250903 DTEND:20250904T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:On this day in 1934\, a strike involving 400\,000 textile workers from all across the U.S. began\, the largest strike in U.S. history at the time. Striking workers faced violence from the state\, private guards\, a nd deputized vigilantes. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1934\, a strike involving 400\,000 textile work ers from all across the U.S. began\, the largest strike in U.S. history at the time. Striking workers faced violence from the state\, private guards \, and deputized vigilantes.\n\nThe strike was national in scope - textile workers from New England\, the Mid-Atlantic states\, and the U.S. Souther n states\, all participated in the Textile Strike of 1934\, which lasted t wenty-two days.\n\nIn part due to the labor reforms of the Roosevelt admin istration\, union membership had grown greatly in the months leading up to the strike. In February 1933\, the United Textile Workers (UTW) had no mo re than 15\,000 members. By June 1934\, they had grown to 250\,000 members \, half of whom were cotton mill workers.\n\nOn September 3rd\, thousands of workers took the streets in Gastonia\, North Carolina to form a parade celebrating Labor Day. The next day\, approximately 20\,000 out of the 25\ ,000 textile workers in the county were out on strike. Hundreds of thousan ds of textile workers across the country soon followed suit.\n\nStrikers f aced violence from state police\, private citizens\, and private guards fo r the mills. South Carolina Governor Ibra Blackwood announced that he woul d deputize the state's "mayors\, sheriffs\, peace officers and every good citizen" to maintain order. Accordingly\, dozens of protesting workers wer e killed as martial law was declared and private guards fired into crowds across the country.\n\nResults of the strike were mixed\, but workers in t he South fared particularly badly. Thousands of striking mill workers did not return to the mills and many were blacklisted. Some union officials cl aimed victory despite worker demands not being met.\n\nSouthern mill worke rs in particular were extremely bitter at the union and its officials for calling off the strike and putting their faith in government boards\, when the employers had yet to concede anything. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Textile_workers_strike_(1934) RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/us-national-textile-workers-strike-19 34-jeremy-brecher END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:BLSP Labor Dispute (1961) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250904 DTEND:20250905T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:On this day in 1961\, steel workers in London began a wildcat stri ke\, causing their plant to lose over 27\,000 man hours. The strike was de feated and all participants fired\, a failure one worker account blamed on union management. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1961\, steel workers in London began a wildcat strike\, causing their plant to lose over 27\,000 man hours. The strike wa s defeated and all participants fired\, a failure one worker account blame d on union management.\n\nBritish Light Steel Pressings (BLSP) was a compa ny at Warple Way\, Acton\, London producing bodies for the vehicle industr y.\n\nA spate of 82 mainly unofficial strikes (i.e.\, "wildcat" strikes\, taking place without union authorization) in 1961 caused the loss of over 27\,000 man hours at the BLSP plant\, which in turn caused the loss of 17\ ,000 man hours at other plants owned by the BLSP parent company\, "Rootes" . The strike was chronicled by labor historian Ken Weller\, who authored a pamphlet discussing the strike in detail\, titled "The B.L.S.P Dispute".\ n\nAccording to Weller\, workers were unable to get union management to ad dress their concerns about suspected upcoming layoffs. On September 4th\, 1961\, workers began a wildcat strike\, walking off the job without union authorization.\n\nWeller states that the strike failed\, undermined by the workers' own unions. Ultimately\, all participating workers were fired\, and the strike was broken. RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/blsp-dispute-story-strike-ken-weller RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Light_Steel_Pressings END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Danziger Bridge Shootings (2005) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250904 DTEND:20250905T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 2005\, police shot six unarmed civilians\, all of t hem black\, at the Danziger Bridge in New Orleans\, six days after Hurrica ne Katrina. The NOPD attempted to cover up the crime\, falsely claiming th ey were fired upon. DESCRIPTION:The Danziger Bridge Shootings were murders that took place on this day in 2005 at the Danziger Bridge in New Orleans\, six days after Hu rricane Katrina struck the city.\n\nThe killings happened when members of the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD)\, allegedly responding to a call of an officer under fire\, shot and killed two civilians - 17-year-old Jam es Brissette and 40-year-old Ronald Madison. Four other civilians were als o wounded. All of the victims were black and unarmed\, and one\, Ronald Ma dison\, was mentally handicapped and shot in the back five times.\n\nThe N OPD attempted to cover-up the murders\, falsely reporting that seven polic e officers responded to a police dispatch reporting an officer down\, and that at least four suspects were firing weapons at the officers upon their arrival.\n\nAn attorney for the Justice Department described the case as "the most significant police misconduct prosecution [in the U.S.] since th e Rodney King beating case". On April 20th\, 2016\, the five former office rs pleaded guilty to various charges related to the shooting\, and in retu rn received reduced sentences ranging from three to twelve years. Three of the officers are white and two are black. RESOURCES:https://www.nola.com/news/crime_police/article_00bb8d39-aa35-595 9-b613-873905a4e734.html RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danziger_Bridge_shootings RESOURCES:https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6063982 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Mobile Bread Riot (1863) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250904 DTEND:20250905T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Riots COMMENT:On this day in 1863\, hundreds of rioters took to the streets in M obile\, Alabama during the American Civil War\, chanting "Bread or blood!" \, looting stores\, and destroying property. Confederate soldiers refused to intervene. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1863\, hundreds of rioters took to the streets in Mobile\, Alabama during the American Civil War\, chanting "Bread or blo od!"\, looting stores\, and destroying property. Confederate soldiers refu sed to intervene.\n\nThe Mobile Bread Riot was one of several bread riots that took place in the South during the Civil War. The uprising was a culm ination of rising prices and food shortages caused by the Union's naval bl ockade of Mobile Bay and Confederate general John C. Pemberton's order to not let any corn leave the state of Mississippi.\n\nThe scale of inflation was staggering - molasses\, which before the war sold for less than $.30 per gallon\, rose to $7.00 per gallon\; the cost of a barrel of flour rose from $44.00 to more than $400.00. On this day\, hundreds of rioters took to the streets\, chanting "Bread or blood!"\, looting stores and destroyin g property.\n\nConfederate General Dabney H. Maury dispatched the Seventee nth Alabama Regiment to quell the riot\, but the soldiers refused to inter vene. RESOURCES:http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-3536 RESOURCES:https://www.nytimes.com/1863/10/01/archives/the-bread-riot-in-mo bile-two-outbreaks-in-one-day-arrivals-in-the.html RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_bread_riots END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Victorine Brocher (1839 - 1921) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250904 DTEND:20250905T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Anarchism COMMENT:Victorine Brocher\, born on this day on 1839\, was an anarchist Pa risian Communard and writer who served as a delegate to the 1881 London An archist Congress and First International\, where she was a member of the B akunist faction. DESCRIPTION:Victorine Brocher\, born on this day on 1839\, was an anarchis t Parisian Communard and writer who served as a delegate to the 1881 Londo n Anarchist Congress and First International\, where she was a member of t he Bakunist faction.\n\nDuring the Paris Commune uprising\, Victorine was arrested and sentenced to death for setting the Court of Auditors on fire. She subsequently absconded to Geneva\, remaining in hiding for over a yea r.\n\nBrocher was initially considered dead when her mother mistakenly ide ntified her among the remains of those shot dead at Versailles. She later wrote a memoir detailing her experience participating in the Commune.\n\nB rocher was also a delegate to the 1881 London Anarchist Congress and the F irst International\, where she was a member of the Bakunist faction. Broch er was a lifelong contributor to anarchist periodicals\, and co-founded an d taught at Louise Michel's international school. RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/brocher-rouchy-victorine-1838-1921 RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victorine_Brocher END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Xiang Jingyu (1895 - 1928) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250904 DTEND:20250905T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Feminism,Birthdays COMMENT:Xiang Jingyu\, born on this day in 1895\, was a labor organizer\, one of the earliest female members of the Communist Party of China (CPC) a nd a pioneer of the women's movement of China. She was executed by Guomind ang police on May 1st\, 1928. DESCRIPTION:Xiang Jingyu\, born on this day in 1895\, was one of the earli est female members of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and a pioneer of the women's movement of China. She was executed by Guomindang police on Ma y 1st\, 1928.\n\nXiang Jingyu was politically radicalized when she attende d the Montargis Women's University in France. While studying there\, Jingy u read many of Marx's works and became a communist.\n\nIn 1923\, Xiang bec ame editor of a weekly supplement to The Republican Daily\, a Guomindang n ewspaper. The same year Xiang Jingyu was also elected as a Central Committ ee member and became the first secretary of the "Women's Movement Committe e".\n\nIn 1924\, Xiang led a strike involving about ten thousand female wo rkers from silk factories. Then\, she founded the "Committee of Women's Li beration" and trained many female cadres\, who then became a force against feudalism and imperialism.\n\nXiang Jingyu was arrested in the French Con cession Sandeli in Wuhan on March 20th\, 1928. French officials turned her over to the Guomindang in April. On May 1st\, 1928 she was executed. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xiang_Jingyu RESOURCES:https://books.google.com/books?id=EFI7tr9XK6EC&lpg=RA3-PA449&dq= Xiang%20Jingyu%20(1895-1928)&pg=RA3-PA449#v=onepage&q&f=false END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Children's Strikes Begin (1911) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250905 DTEND:20250906T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1911\, a wave of children's strikes swept across Br itain when students from England\, Wales\, and Scotland initiated a series of walk-outs and protests to demand better learning conditions and paymen t for school monitors. DESCRIPTION:The Children's Strikes of 1911\, which began on this day that year\, were a series of walk-outs and protests by children across England\ , Wales\, and Scotland.\n\nThe first strike occurred on the morning of Sep tember 5th\, 1911\, when children left their classrooms of Bigyn School\, Llanelli\, protesting at the physical punishment of one of their classmate s. During the next three weeks\, school strikes spread in a rapidly accele rating wave\, affecting at least 62 town and cities\, stretching as far no rth as Montrose in Scotland and as far south as Portsmouth\, involving tho usands of children.\n\nReasons for striking ranged from a desire to abolis h the cane\, less school work\, more holidays\, and payment for school mon itors. Widespread school strikes are very rare events\, with the exception of similar strikes in 1889\, the scale of the 1911 strike represents a un ique example of collective action by mainly working class school children. RESOURCES:http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.836.665 &rep=rep1&type=pdf RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/childrens-strikes-1911 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Claudette Colvin (1939 - ) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250905 DTEND:20250906T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Civil Rights,Birthdays COMMENT:Claudette Colvin\, born on this day in 1939\, is a retired America n nurse who was a pioneer of the 1950s civil rights movement\, refusing to give up her bus seat to a white woman at age 15\, nine months before Rosa Parks did the same. DESCRIPTION:Claudette Colvin\, born on this day in 1939\, is a retired Ame rican nurse who was a pioneer of the 1950s civil rights movement\, refusin g to give up her bus seat to a white woman at age 15\, nine months before Rosa Parks did the same.\n\nOn March 2nd\, 1955\, she was arrested at the age of fifteen in Montgomery\, Alabama for refusing to give up her seat to a white woman on a crowded\, segregated bus. This occurred nine months be fore the more widely known incident in which Rosa Parks\, secretary of the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)\, helped spark the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott.\n\nFor many years\, Montgomery's black leaders did not publicize Colvin's pioneering effort. She was an unmarried teenager at the time\, and was reportedly imp regnated by a married man. It is widely accepted that Colvin was not accre dited by the civil rights campaigners at the time due to her pregnancy sho rtly after the incident\, with even Rosa Parks saying "If the white press got ahold of that information\, they would have [had] a field day. They'd call her a bad girl\, and her case wouldn't have a chance."\n\nColvin left Montgomery for New York City in 1958\, because she had difficulty finding and keeping work following her participation in the federal court case th at overturned bus segregation (similarly\, Rosa Parks left Montgomery for Detroit in 1957). Colvin stated she was branded a troublemaker by many in her community. She withdrew from college and went on to become a nurse in Manhattan.\n\n"My head was just too full of black history\, you know\, the oppression that we went through. It felt like Sojourner Truth was on one side pushing me down\, and Harriet Tubman was on the other side of me push ing me down. I couldn't get up."\n\n- Claudette Colvin RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claudette_Colvin RESOURCES:https://www.npr.org/2009/03/15/101719889/before-rosa-parks-there -was-claudette-colvin RESOURCES:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ykqfJvtnHM&ab_channel=BryanKnig ht END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Federico Borrell García Dies (1936) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250905 DTEND:20250906T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Fascism COMMENT:On this day in 1936\, Republican militiaman Federico García was s hot dead during the Spanish Civil War. His death was claimed to be depicte d in the photo "The Falling Soldier" (shown)\, but doubts have been raised about the photo's authenticity. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1936\, Republican militiaman Federico García w as shot dead during the Spanish Civil War. His death was claimed to be dep icted in the photo "The Falling Soldier" (shown)\, but doubts have been ra ised about the photo's authenticity.\n\nFederico Borrell García was born in Benilloba\, Spain\, and founded a local branch of the anarchist "Iberia n Federation of Libertarian Youth" (FIJL). When the Civil War broke out\, García joined the local Loyalist militia\, the Columna Alcoiana\, and fou ght to defend the Spanish Republic against the Spanish Nationalist forces of Francisco Franco.\n\nOn September 5th\, 1936\, Borrell was one of about fifty men who arrived at Cerro Muriano in Córdoba to reinforce the milit ia against Francoist forces commanded by General José Enrique Varela.\n\n Borrell was fatally shot around five o'clock on or near the hill known as La Loma de las Malagueñas. He was identified as the man in the photo by h is brother\, corroborated by the fact that Spanish government records stat e he was the only member of the Columna Alcoiana to die in the fighting th at day.\n\nThe claim that García is the man in the photo has been dispute d\, with at least one documentary\, "La Sombra del Iceberg" (2007)\, claim ing that the picture was staged and that García is not the individual in the picture. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federico_Borrell_Garc%C3%ADa RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/borrell-federico-1936 RESOURCES:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fv_3Hik0cDE&ab_channel=%C3%81rea Visual END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:IWW Headquarters Raided (1917) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250905 DTEND:20250906T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,IWW COMMENT:Using the newly passed Espionage Act as a justification\, on this day in 1917 the Department of Justice began a series of raids on 48 IWW me eting halls\, arresting 165 people\, including "Big Bill" Haywood. DESCRIPTION:Using the newly passed Espionage Act as a justification\, on t his day in 1917 the Department of Justice began a series of raids on 48 IW W meeting halls\, arresting 165 people\, including "Big Bill" Haywood.\n\n The Department of Justice\, with the approval of President Woodrow Wilson\ , then proceeded to arrest 165 Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) membe rs for "conspiring to hinder the draft\, encourage desertion\, and intimid ate others in connection with labor disputes".\n\nOf the 165 arrested\, on ly 101 actually stood trial. The trial was unusual in the way that the pro secution did not try to demonstrate the guilt of individuals\, but rather to indict the IWW as a whole\, reading inflammatory passages from seized d ocuments. Accordingly\, the defense testified about the plight of the work ing man and the evils of capitalism.\n\nAll defendants were found guilty o n all charges brought by the prosecution\, and many IWW members served sev eral years in prison. Among those convicted was "Big Bill" Haywood\, a wel l-known leader of the IWW\, however he skipped bail before his sentencing and fled to the Soviet Union\, where he would spend the rest of his life. RESOURCES:https://depts.washington.edu/iww/justice_dept.shtml RESOURCES:https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/raids-on-iww RESOURCES:https://www.nytimes.com/1918/04/01/archives/iww-trial-starts-tod ay-fate-of-syndicalist-movement-in-america.html END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:RAF Kidnaps Schleyer (1977) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250905 DTEND:20250906T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1977\, the revolutionary Red Army Faction (RAF) kid napped Hanns Martin Schleyer\, a German capitalist and ex-member of the SS \, to use as collateral to negotiate the release of RAF members from priso n. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1977\, the revolutionary Red Army Faction (RAF) kidnapped Hanns Martin Schleyer (1915 - 1977)\, a German capitalist and e x-member of the SS\, to use as collateral to negotiate the release of RAF members from prison.\n\nSchleyer's conservative anti-communist views\, ant i-union activities\, and his past as a former SS officer made him a target for radical elements of the German student movement in the 1970s.\n\nOn S eptember 5th\, 1977\, the RAF (a militant West German\, far-left organizat ion) kidnapped Schleyer in an attempt to force the West German government to release Andreas Baader and three other RAF members.\n\nThe government s teadfastly refused to negotiate with the RAF\, and\, after discovering tha t three RAF members were killed in prison\, his kidnappers executed Schley er in a car en route to France on October 18th\, 1977. RESOURCES:https://www.dw.com/en/germany-terror-casualty-hanns-martin-schle yer-sacrificed-by-the-state/a-40340024 RESOURCES:https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schleyer-Entf%C3%BChrung END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Cork Harbour Soviet (1921) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250906 DTEND:20250907T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:On this day in 1921\, the Cork Transport Workers' Union took posse ssion of the Harbour Board's offices and assumed complete control of the l ocal port\, forming a workers' soviet until negotiations could be resolved . DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1921\, the Cork Transport Workers' Union took p ossession of the Harbour Board's offices and assumed complete control of t he local port\, forming a workers' soviet until negotiations could be reso lved.\n\nThe Cork Harbour Strike was a labor dispute that lasted from Sept ember 2nd to September 7th\, 1921. It was the result of the refusal of the Cork Harbor Board to increase the wages of its workers to a minimum of 70 s a week.\n\nOn September 6th\, 1921\, the Cork Transport Workers' Union t ook possession of the Harbour Board's offices and assumed complete control of the port.\n\nAccording to the New York Times\, "when the strikers took possession of the Harbour Board offices\, they hoisted a red flag as a to ken of Soviet control and the strikers' leaders announced their intention of collecting dues from shipping agents and using them to pay members of t he union."\n\nThe rebellion was short-lived\, however\, as negotiations be tween the Harbour Board and the strikers were reopened soon after\, which came to a successful resolution. The revolt was not well-taken in the pres s.\n\nThe Irish Times wrote "To-day Irish Labour is permeated with a spiri t of revolt against all the principles and conventions of ordered society. The country's lawless state in recent months is partly responsible for th is sinister development\, and the wild teachings of the Russian Revolution have fallen on willing ears." RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/cork-harbour-strike RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_soviets END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Nada Dimić (1923 - 1942) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250906 DTEND:20250907T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays COMMENT:Nada Dimić\, born on this day in 1923\, was a Yugoslav communist who was tortured by the Ustaša and murdered in a concentration camp durin g World War II at 18 years old. She was later proclaimed a People's Hero o f Yugoslavia. DESCRIPTION:Nada Dimić\, born on this day in 1923\, was a Yugoslav commun ist who was tortured by the Ustaša and killed in the Stara Gradiška conc entration camp\, posthumously proclaimed a People's Hero of Yugoslavia.\n\ nWhen Yugoslavia was invaded in June 1941\, she joined the 1st Sisak Parti san Detachment\, the first Partisan unit in Croatia. The same year\, the U stasha police arrested her in Sisak\, but as they transferred her to the p rison in Zagreb\, she swallowed poison in order to avoid interrogation.\n\ nDimić survived the poisoning and was later rescued. She was eventually c aught working as a spy by the Italians\, who surrendered her to the Ustaš a police on December 3rd\, 1941\, who then tortured her.\n\nShe refused to give them any information and was sent to the Stara Gradiška concentrati on camp in February 1942. Nada Dimić was murdered there a month later\, a ged eighteen. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nada_Dimi%C4%87 RESOURCES:https://snv.hr/eng/famous-serbs-in-croatia/nada-dimic END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:President McKinley Assassinated (1901) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250906 DTEND:20250907T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Assassinations,Anarchism COMMENT:On this day in 1901\, President William McKinley was fatally shot on the grounds of the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo\, New York by ana rchist Leon Czolgosz\, leading to a nationwide crackdown on left-wing move ments in the U.S. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1901\, President William McKinley was shot on t he grounds of the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo\, New York by anarchi st Leon Czolgosz.\n\nCzolgosz became an anarchist after losing his job dur ing the Panic of 1893. He regarded McKinley as a symbol of oppression and was convinced that it was his duty as an anarchist to kill him.\n\nMcKinle y died eight days later of gangrene caused by the wounds\, succeeded by Th eodore Roosevelt in office. Czolgosz was tried and found guilty just over a month later. Before his execution\, Czolgosz explained "I killed the Pre sident because he was the enemy of the good people - the good working peop le...I am not sorry for my crime".\n\nThe aftermath of the assassination s aw a backlash against anarchist movements. Several anarchists\, including Emma Goldman\, were arrested on suspicion of involvement in the attack\, a nd vigilantes attacked anarchist colonies and newspapers.\n\nFear of the m ovement also led to government surveillance programs of anarchists\, which were eventually consolidated on a federal level when the Bureau of Invest igation (BOI\, later to become the FBI) was formed in 1908. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_William_McKinley RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/1901-assassination-president-william- mckinley-Leon-Czolgosz RESOURCES:https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/emma-goldman-the-tragedy -at-buffalo END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Prime Minister Verwoerd Stabbed (1966) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250906 DTEND:20250907T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Civil Rights,Assassinations COMMENT:On this day in 1966\, anti-apartheid activist Dimitri Tsafendas st abbed Prime Minister Verwoerd four times on the Parliament floor. The gove rnment declared him not guilty by reason of insanity and imprisoned him fo r life on these grounds. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1966\, anti-apartheid activist Dimitri Tsafenda s stabbed Prime Minister Verwoerd four times on the Parliament floor. The government declared him not guilty by reason of insanity and imprisoned hi m for life on these grounds.\n\nIn July 1966\, at the age of forty-eight\, anti-apartheid activist Dimitri Tsafendas (1918 - 1999) obtained a tempor ary position as a parliamentary messenger in the House of Assembly in Cape Town.\n\nWhen Tsafendas first decided to take action against Prime Minist er Hendrik Verwoerd (1901 - 1966)\, he planned to only kidnap him. His fel low activists did not want to do anything risky\, however\, so Tsafendas d ecided to kill Verwoerd instead\, viewing him as the "brains" behind the p olicy of apartheid.\n\nOn September 6th\, 1966\, Tsafendas approached Prim e Minister Verwoerd as he was approaching his seat in Parliament\, drew a concealed sheath knife from his belt\, and stabbed him about four times in the torso before he was pulled away by other members of parliament.\n\nTs afendas was taken into police custody\, where he was severely beaten\, and then moved to a hospital where he was treated for his injuries and interv iewed by a psychiatrist. Throughout his time in custody\, Tsafendas was su bjected to severe torture from beatings\, electric shocks\, mock hangings\ , and pretended defenestrations.\n\nAt his trial\, he was declared not gui lty of murder by reason of insanity. His political motivations were concea led from the proceedings. The court ordered for him to be detained "at the pleasure of the State President"\, which meant that only the State Presid ent (later President) had the authority to order his release.\n\nHe was ne ver discharged and tortured in custody\, dying at the age of eighty-one wh ile still in prison. Less than ten people attended his funeral. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dimitri_Tsafendas RESOURCES:https://www.newframe.com/tsafendas-setting-record-straight/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Arvid and Mildred Fish-Harnack Arrested (1942) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250907 DTEND:20250908T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Marxism COMMENT:On this day in 1942\, anti-fascists Arvid and Mildred Harnack were arrested while on a weekend outing\, leading to their imprisonment and ex ecutions soon after. Mildred was the only American woman executed on Adolf Hitler's orders. DESCRIPTION:Mildred Elizabeth Fish-Harnack was an American literary histor ian\, translator\, and Resistance fighter in Nazi Germany. Her husband\, A rvid Fish-Harnack\, was a German jurist and Marxist economist.\n\nTogether \, they formed a discussion circle which debated political perspectives on the time after the expected downfall of the National Socialists. From the se meetings arose what the Gestapo called the "Red Orchestra" resistance g roup.\n\nBeginning in 1940\, the group was in contact with Soviet agents\, trying to thwart the forthcoming German attack upon the Soviet Union. Fis h-Harnack even sent the Soviets information about the forthcoming Operatio n Barbarossa.\n\nThe Gestapo broke the code of the group's messages and\, on this day in 1942\, Arvid Harnack and Mildred Fish-Harnack were arrested while on a weekend outing. Arvid was executed that December and Mildred w as executed February the following year.\n\nMildred's last words were purp orted to have been: "Ich habe Deutschland auch so geliebt" ("I loved Germa ny so much as well"). Mildred is the only member of the Red Orchestra whos e burial site is known\, as well as the only American woman executed on th e direct orders of Adolf Hitler. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mildred_Harnack RESOURCES:https://news.wisc.edu/mildred-fish-harnack-honored-as-hero-of-re sistance-to-nazi-regime/ RESOURCES:https://www.pbs.org/video/wpt-documentaries-arvids-farewell-lett er-to-mildred/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:BART Strike (1997) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250907 DTEND:20250908T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:On this day in 1997\, 2\,600 public transportation workers from th e Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) District went on strike\, demanding higher pay while causing massive transportation difficulties throughout the city . They won after six days. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1997\, 2\,600 public transportation workers fro m the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) District went on strike\, demanding hi gher pay. The strike earned the ire of both the news media and the public - for six days\, it was significantly more difficult to get around in the city of San Francisco.\n\nMayor Willie Brown mediated the negotiations by holding informal talks between management and union reps in his office. Th e strike lasted six days and was successful\, with the workers achieving a lump sum payment of $3\,000 per worker immediately and 4% annual raises o ver the next three years. RESOURCES:https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-sep-14-mn-32224-sto ry.html RESOURCES:https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/BART-strike-in-97-quelled -with-Willie-Brown-s-aid-4641824.php RESOURCES:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MaJ264vxspU&ab_channel=KRON4 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:ILWU Longshoreman Stop Train (2011) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250907 DTEND:20250908T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:On this day in 2011\, a picket line of approximately 700 longshore men and their supporters blocked a grain train from entering EGT's (a larg e shipping conglomerate) terminal to oppose the company's union-busting ef forts. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 2011\, a picket line of approximately 700 longs horemen and their supporters blocked a grain train from entering EGT's (a large shipping conglomerate) terminal to oppose the company's union-bustin g efforts.\n\n2011 was a tumultuous year of labor struggle for longshorema n in Longview\, Washington\, an industrial town on the Columbia River. The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) engaged in direct acti on multiple times to fight for their rights as workers.\n\nOn July 11th\, 2011\, leaders of the ILWU (alongside other dock workers) were arrested fo r occupying the Port of Longview's huge new\, ultra-automated grain termin al\, a $200 million dollar facility that was scheduled to soon begin testi ng operations with non-union labor.\n\nOn September 7th\, 2011\, a massive picket line of some 700 longshoremen and their supporters blocked a grain train from entering EGT's (a large shipping conglomerate) terminal. When cops started pepper spraying\, the picketers pushed back. ILWU McEllrath s tepped forward amidst the chaos and was immediately arrested\, although he was soon released after hundreds of workers surrounded police officers.\n \nLongshoremen from the major Northwest ports\, Seattle\, Tacoma and Portl and\, seeing images of the ILWU president being manhandled by cops\, stopp ed work and began destroying EGT property. According to news reports\, the cyclone fence was torn down\, grain was dumped from the train cars\, and the terminal was briefly occupied by angry longshore workers. RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/library/ilwu-longshore-struggle-longview-beyo nd-class-struggle-critique RESOURCES:https://www.counterpunch.org/2012/07/25/victory-in-longview-a-ye ar-on/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Michael Imoudu (1902 - 2005) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250907 DTEND:20250908T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,General Strikes,Birthdays COMMENT:Michael Athokhamien Imoudu\, born on this day in 1902\, was a mili tant Nigerian labor union leader who led a historically important general strike in the country in 1945. DESCRIPTION:Michael Athokhamien Imoudu\, born on this day in 1902\, was a militant Nigerian labor union leader who led a historically important gene ral strike in the country in 1945.\n\nImoudu started labor union activitie s as a member of the Railway Workers Union (RWU)\, which became one of the most militant unions in the country during the colonial period. The union was formed in 1931 at a time where many trade organizations were more sim ilar to social undertakings than an industrial movement.\n\nImoudu was rel eased from prison by the government in 1945\, presumably as a means to de- escalate labor tensions. A large rally was held to welcome him back to Lag os\, however\, and\, on the 21st and 22nd of June 1945\, Imoudu led a radi cal wing of the RWU to organize a general strike that became a historicall y important in Nigeria. RESOURCES:https://guardian.ng/sunday-magazine/pa-michael-imoudu-a-selfless -labour-leader/ RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/library/1945-nigerian-general-strike RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Imoudu END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Miss America Protest (1968) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250907 DTEND:20250908T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Feminism,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1968\, a feminist protest was simultaneously held a longside the Miss America contest\, becoming a widely publicized event in which women threw their bras\, hairspray\, and makeup into a symbolic "Fre edom Trash Can". DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1968\, a feminist protest was simultaneously he ld alongside the Miss America contest\, becoming a widely publicized event in which women threw their bras\, hairspray\, and makeup into a symbolic "Freedom Trash Can".\n\nThe event was organized by "New York Radical Women "\, and included putting symbolic feminine products - including bras\, hai rspray\, makeup\, girdles\, corsets\, false eyelashes\, and mops - into a "Freedom Trash Can" on the Atlantic City boardwalk.\n\nProtesters also cro wned a live sheep\, comparing the beauty pageant to livestock competitions at county fairs\, including an illustration of a woman's figure marked up like a side of beef.\n\nAccording to author Beth Kreydatus\, the protest "'marked the end of the movement's obscurity' and made both 'women's liber ation' and beauty standards topics for national discussion". RESOURCES:https://time.com/5387623/miss-america-protest/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miss_America_protest RESOURCES:https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/fifty-years-ago-protestor s-took-on-miss-america-pageant-electrified-feminist-movement-180967504/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Workers Destroy Harig India Factory (1977) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250907 DTEND:20250908T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1977\, workers at Harig India Pvt Limited embarked on a massive protest in Ghaziabad\, near the capital city\, New Delhi\, bu rning down the company factory after security guards fired on protesters. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1977\, workers at Harig India Pvt Limited (a ma chine production company) embarked on a massive protest in Ghaziabad\, nea r the capital city\, New Delhi. The protest began after factory security g uards opened fire at unarmed workers protesting against the suspension of seven workers and unpaid wages.\n\nIn response to the firing and attack by the company thugs\, the workers burned down the factory. The Central Indi an Trade Union (CITU) and workers from near-by factories launched protests in solidarity with the workers of Harig India and condemned the rampant e xploitation and attacks against working class. RESOURCES:https://peoplesdispatch.org/2019/09/11/massive-workers-protest-a t-harig-india-pvt-ltd/ RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/cycle-struggle-1973-1979-india END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Ben Gold (1898 - 1985) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250908 DTEND:20250909T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Labor,Birthdays COMMENT:Benjamin Gold\, born on this day in 1898\, was an American labor l eader and Communist Party member who was president of the International Fu r and Leather Workers Union (IFLWU) from 1937 to 1955. DESCRIPTION:Benjamin Gold\, born on this day in 1898\, was an American lab or leader and Communist Party member who was president of the Internationa l Fur and Leather Workers Union (IFLWU) from 1937 to 1955.\n\nIn 1926\, Go ld led a fur worker's strike in New York City that included all 12\,000 wo rkers in the industry. His leadership style was aggressive\, and the relat ively moderate American Federation of Labor (AFL) sought to undermine his influence in the strike\, although their efforts failed due to worker loya lty to Gold.\n\nAlthough the strike was ultimately successful due to Gold' s efforts\, the AFL expelled him\, accusing Gold and other strike leaders of debauchery\, wasting union money\, bribery\, forcing workers to join th e Communist Party\, among other grievances. Despite this\, he remained a p owerful figure within the organized labor of the fur industry\, often comp eting directly with AFL-backed unions for influence among workers.\n\nGold was also a victim of anti-communist purges on many occasions. In 1950\, G old resigned from the Communist Party and signed an anti-communist oath re lated to the Taft-Hartley Act. The Justice Department argued that Gold had not really resigned\, and indicted him for perjury in August 1953 one day before the statute of limitations ran out.\n\nAlthough he was successfull y convicted\, Gold managed to get the conviction overturned on appeal to t he U.S. Supreme Court (Gold v. United States) and all charges were dropped . RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Gold RESOURCES:https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-tra nscripts-and-maps/gold-benjamin END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Benjamin J. Davis (1903 - 1964) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250908 DTEND:20250909T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Birthdays COMMENT:Benjamin J. Davis\, born on this day in 1903\, was American commun ist lawyer who was elected in 1943 to the New York City Council\, represen ting Harlem. Davis was persecuted by the state via the anti-communist Smit h and McCarran Acts. DESCRIPTION:Benjamin J. Davis\, born on this day in 1903\, was American la wyer and communist who was elected in 1943 to the New York City Council\, representing Harlem. Davis was persecuted by the state via the anti-commun ist Smith and McCarran Acts.\n\nDavis became radicalized through his role as defense attorney in the 1933 trial of Angelo Herndon\, a 19-year-old bl ack communist who had been charged "attempting to incite insurrection" bec ause he tried to organize a farm workers' union.\n\nIn 1949\, Davis was am ong a number of communist leaders prosecuted for violating the Smith Act. He was convicted and sentenced to five years in prison. In 1962 Davis was charged with violating the Internal Security Act (also known as the McCarr an Act)\, but died before the case could come to trial.\n\n"Whether one ag rees with the Communist Party or not\, one must at least know the truth ab out it. One must not permit his ideas to be shaped by the hysteria which n ow passes as a 'crusade against Communism'... For example\, the canard tha t every Communist has his pockets lined with 'Moscow gold.' If that were t rue\, one could be sure that there would scarcely be any room in our party for workers. The capitalists\, to whom gold is god of the universe\, woul d crowd them out."\n\n- Benjamin J. Davis RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_J._Davis_Jr. RESOURCES:https://www.cpusa.org/article/benjamin-j-davis-the-communist-cou ncilman-from-harlem/ RESOURCES:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RPeTV-O_lc&ab_channel=AfroMarxi st END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Black Friday (Iran\, 1978) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250908 DTEND:20250909T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:General Strikes,Massacre,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1978\, the Iranian military attacked a crowd of pro testers\, killing ~88 and injuring between 205-8\,000. The violence increa sed the unrest\, leading to a general strike and the Shah fleeing the coun try in January 1979. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1978\, the Iranian military attacked a crowd of protesters\, killing ~88 and injuring between 205-8\,000. The violence in creased the unrest\, leading to a general strike and the Shah fleeing the country in January 1979.\n\nThe massacre\, known as Black Friday\, began w hen thousands of protesters gathered in Tehran's Jaleh Square for a religi ous demonstration\, unaware that the government had declared martial law a day earlier due to widespread political unrest.\n\nSome sources estimate that 4\,000 people were shot down by tanks\, guns\, and military helicopte rs. The deaths were described as the pivotal event in the Iranian Revoluti on that ended any "hope for compromise" between the protest movement and r egime of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.\n\nThe massacre led to widespread pro tests\, and a general strike in October shut down the petroleum industry t hat was essential to the administration's survival. The Shah fled Iran in January 1979\, clearing the way for the Iranian Revolution\, led by Ayatol lah Ruhollah Khomeini. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Friday_(1978) RESOURCES:https://english.khamenei.ir/news/7020/Black-Friday-a-bloody-day- which-led-to-the-victory-of-the-Islamic RESOURCES:https://www.leftvoice.org/black-friday-the-massacre-that-ignited -a-revolution-in-iran/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Delano Grape Strike Begins (1965) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250908 DTEND:20250909T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:On this day in 1965\, the Delano Grape Strike began\, lasting an a stonishing five years before finally succeeding in 1970. During the strike \, various labor groups involved merged to form the landmark United Farm W orkers (UFW). DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1965\, the Delano Grape Strike began\, lasting an astonishing five years before finally succeeding in 1970. During the st rike\, labor groups involved merged to form the landmark United Farm Worke rs (UFW).\n\nThe Delano Grape Strike was organized by the Agricultural Wor kers Organizing Committee (AWOC)\, a predominantly Filipino and AFL-CIO-sp onsored labor organization\, against table grape growers in Delano\, Calif ornia to fight against the exploitation of farm workers.\n\nThe strike beg an on September 8th\, 1965 and was soon joined by the National Farmworkers Association (NFWA). The labor action lasted for an astonishing five years and was characterized by its grassroots tactics - consumer boycotts\, mar ches\, community organizing and nonviolent resistance - which achieved nat ional attention.\n\nFilipino strike leader Andy Imutan noted that growers used race as a means to divide workers\, writing: "The struggle became a l ot harder when Mexican workers started crossing our picket lines. There wa s no unity between the Mexicans and the Filipinos. The growers were very s uccessful in dividing us and creating conflict between the two races...So Larry Itliong and I decided to take action by seeing Cesar Chavez\, the le ader of the National Farm Workers Association...It took several discussion s and a lot of faith\, but finally the Filipinos and Mexicans joined as on e on September 16th to picket the Delano growers."\n\nIn July 1970\, strik ers finally achieved a collective bargaining agreement with major table gr ape growers\, affecting more than 10\,000 farm workers. In August 1966\, t he AWOC and the NFWA merged to create the United Farm Workers (UFW) Organi zing Committee.\n\nThe Delano Grape Strike is notable for the effective im plementation and adaptation of boycotts\, the unprecedented partnership be tween Filipino and Mexican farm workers to unionize farm labor\, and the c reation of the UFW labor union\, all of which revolutionized the farm labo r movement in America. RESOURCES:https://ufw.org/1965-1970-delano-grape-strike-boycott/ RESOURCES:https://ufw.org/research/history/mexicans-filipinos-joined-toget her/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delano_grape_strike END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Lela Karagianni Executed (1944) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250908 DTEND:20250909T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Fascism COMMENT:Eleni "Lela" Karagianni was a Greek anti-fascist leader during Wor ld War II\, executed in the Haidari concentration camp on this day in 1944 . Today\, a central Athens street that runs close to her home is named in her honor. DESCRIPTION:Eleni "Lela" Karagianni was a Greek anti-fascist leader during World War II\, executed in the Haidari concentration camp on this day in 1944. Today\, a central Athens street that runs close to her home is named in her honor.\n\nThe wife of an Attican pharmacist and the mother of seve n children\, Karagianni worked to coordinate Greek resistance cells and th eir activities against the occupying Axis forces.\n\nKaragianni formed her own cell within the wider movement\, code-named "Bouboulina" in reference to Laskarina Bouboulina\, a female Greek captain who had fought against t he Ottoman Empire during the Greek War of Independence.\n\nThe cell operat ed out of her husband's pharmacy\, distributing information to other cells \, smuggling wanted individuals into areas controlled by Greek partisan fo rces\, forging documents\, and coordinating with British military intellig ence to disrupt the Axis occupation.\n\nIn July\, 1944 Karagianni was capt ured by Nazi forces and sent to Haidari concentration camp\, where she con tinued to organize a resistance against the Germans before being executed on September 8th that year.\n\nHer name has been given to a street in cent ral Athens (Lelas Karagianni St.\, formerly Limnou St.)\, close to her hou se\, which is now a protected monument. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lela_Karagianni RESOURCES:https://www.greeknewsonline.com/heroine-of-the-underground-lela- karagianni/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Norwegian Milk Strike Begins (1941) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250908 DTEND:20250909T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,General Strikes,Fascism,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1941\, a spontaneous\, anti-fascist general strike broke out in Norway\, initially from shipyard workers in protest of milk r ationing. Involving ~30\,000 workers\, Nazis declared martial law\, arrest ing and executing its leaders. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1941\, a spontaneous\, anti-fascist general str ike broke out in Norway\, initially from shipyard workers in protest of mi lk rationing. Involving ~30\,000 workers\, Nazis declared martial law\, ar resting and executing its leaders.\n\nThe uprising\, known as the Norwegia n Milk Strike\, began at the shipyard Akers mekaniske verksted and the ind ustry site Christiania Spigerverk.\n\nFollowing the loss of milk rations\, protests quickly spread to other companies. By the following day between 20\,000 - 30\,000 workers from multiple industries were on strike.\n\nOn S eptember 10th\, the would-be second day of a general strike\, the German R eichskommissar Josef Terboven declared martial law in Oslo and the neighbo ring municipality Aker and executed two union leaders\, Viggo Hansteen (sh own left) and Rolf Wickstrøm (shown right).\n\nThree others\, Ludvik Bula nd\, Harry Vestli and Josef Larsson were also sentenced to death\, but the ir convictions were changed to imprisonment for life in German jails. Acco rding to one eye-witness account\, nearly three hundred were arrested.\n\n After the milk strike\, the Norwegian Confederation of Unions underwent "N azification"\, with members of the Fascist party "Nasjonal Samling" instal led as leaders. The Nazification also applied to other parts of a civil so ciety - the Oslo police chief\, the future Prime Minister\, and many unive rsity staff were also arrested in the aftermath of the strike.\n\nThe exec utions of Hansteen and Wickstrøm became lasting symbols of the Norwegian anti-fascist resistance. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milk_strike RESOURCES:https://www.workersliberty.org/story/2017-07-26/eyewitness-accou nt-norways-general-strike-against-nazis END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Attica Prison Uprising (1971) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250909 DTEND:20250910T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1971\, 1\,281 out of ~2\,200 inmates at the Attica Correctional Facility in New York took control of the prison\, taking 42 s taff hostage\, beginning the bloodiest prison uprising in U.S. history\, w ith 43 people killed. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1971\, 1\,281 out of ~2\,200 inmates at the Att ica Correctional Facility in New York rioted and took control of the priso n\, taking 42 staff hostage. The subsequent four-day standoff became the b loodiest prison uprising in U.S. history\, with 43 people killed and nearl y 100 wounded.\n\nBased upon prisoners' demands for better living conditio ns and political rights\, the uprising was one of the most well-known and significant flashpoints of the Prisoners' Rights Movement.\n\nThe rebellio n began two weeks after the killing of imprisoned revolutionary George Jac kson at San Quentin State Prison. The conditions of the prison were extrem ely overcrowded\, with the population around 2\,243 - more than double of the facility's designed limit of 1\,200.\n\nHistorian Howard Zinn describe d the conditions at the prison this way: "Prisoners spent 14 to 16 hours a day in their cells\, their mail was read\, their reading material restric ted\, their visits from families conducted through a mesh screen\, their m edical care disgraceful\, their parole system inequitable\, racism everywh ere."\n\nOn the morning of September 9th\, 1971\, fighting broke out betwe en inmates and prison officers\, leading to ~1\,200 prisoners to control a bout half of the facility by noon. One officer involved died of his injuri es two days later\, and inmates took 42 hostages and began drafting a set of demands to be met before they would surrender.\n\nPrisoners met with th e press\, and a 21-year old speaker\, Elliot "L.D." Barkley\, delivered a "Declaration to the People of America" the same day inmates seized control of the prison.\n\nAfter four days of fruitless negotiations and escalatin g tensions between prisoners and police\, Gov. Nelson Rockefeller (who ref used to come to the scene in person) ordered that the prison be retaken by force. 39 people\, mostly inmates\, were killed in a 15-minute assault by state police\, including Barkley.\n\n"We are men! We are not beasts and w e do not intend to be beaten or driven as such. The entire prison populace \, that means each and every one of us here\, have set forth to change for ever the ruthless brutalization and disregard for the lives of the prisone rs here and throughout the United States. What has happened here is but th e sound before the fury of those who are oppressed. We will not compromise on any terms except those terms that are agreeable to us. We've called up on all the conscientious citizens of America to assist us in putting an en d to this situation that threatens the lives of not only us\, but of each and every one of you\, as well."\n\n- Declaration to the People of America \, Read by Elliott James "L.D." Barkley\, September 9th\, 1971 RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attica_Prison_riot RESOURCES:https://www.zinnedproject.org/materials/attica-prison-uprising/ RESOURCES:https://www.socialistalternative.org/sound-fury-oppressed/attica -prison-uprising-40/ RESOURCES:https://www.workers.org/2021/02/54535/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Col. Stone Johnson (1918 - 2012) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250909 DTEND:20250910T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Civil Rights,Birthdays COMMENT:Col. Stone Johnson\, born on this day in 1918\, was a bodyguard wh o protected figures involved in the civil rights movement. When asked how he could protect others as a non-violent bodyguard\, he replied "With my n on-violent .38 special." DESCRIPTION:Colonel Stone Johnson\, born on this day in 1918\, was a black worker in the civil rights movement who served as a bodyguard for homes\, businesses\, and people involved in the movement.\n\nA railway worker and union representative by trade\, he got involved in the civil rights movem ent in Birmingham\, Alabama in the mid 1950s\, working with Fred Shuttlesw orth. He started a civil rights organization called the Civil Rights Guard s that protected homes and business involved in the movement\, usually whi le armed.\n\nAmong Johnson's notable acts was helping carry a Ku Klux Klan bomb away from Bethel Baptist Church in Birmingham\, AL and serving as a bodyguard to Martin Luther King Jr. He also provided armed protection to n on-violent activists in Anniston\, Alabama during the 1961 Freedom Rides\, rescuing them from a segregationist mob.\n\nAn oft-repeated remark of Joh nson\, when asked how he managed to protect civil rights leaders\, given h is commitment to non-violence\, Johnson replied\, "With my non-violent .38 special." RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonel_Stone_Johnson RESOURCES:https://www.al.com/spotnews/2012/01/birmingham_civil_rights_acti vi.html END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Elena Quinteros (1945 - 1976) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250909 DTEND:20250910T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Anarchism COMMENT:Elena Quinteros\, born on this day in 1945\, was an anarchist Urug uayan school teacher arrested and killed in 1976\, during the rule of a U. S.-backed military dictatorship. Her death led to Venezuela severing diplo matic relations with the country. DESCRIPTION:Elena Quinteros\, born on this day in 1945\, was an anarchist Uruguayan school teacher arrested and killed in 1976\, during the rule of a U.S.-backed military dictatorship. Her death led to Venezuela severing d iplomatic relations with the country.\n\nAfter receiving training to becom e a teacher\, Quinteros joined the Uruguayan Anarchist Federation (FAU)\, as well as the Student-worker Resistance (ROE)\, becoming active in the la tter. Her activities were in the trade union field and she was part of the Socio-pedagogical Missions\, an initiative launched by the lecturers from the Co-operative Rural Education Institute.\n\nIn 1976\, Quinteros was ar rested by the military dictatorship. While being escorted by her captors\, Quinteros suddenly jumped over the wall of the Venezuelan Embassy\, calli ng out her name and asking for sanctuary. The embassy staff attempted to h elp her\, but her captors managed to thwart the escape.\n\nA few days late r\, she was tortured and killed. Her kidnapping and murder grew into a maj or diplomatic incident that eventually culminated in Venezuela cutting off diplomatic relations with Uruguay.\n\nIn October 2002\, Judge Eduardo Cav alli found former minister Juan Carlos Blanco primarily responsible for th e disappearance of Elena Quinteros and had him arraigned on charges of dep rivation of liberty. RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/elena-quinteros-1945-1976 RESOURCES:http://www.memoria.org.uy/imagenes/ RESOURCES:https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elena_Quinteros END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Plowshares Movement Begins (1980) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250909 DTEND:20250910T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1980\, the radical Christian anti-war "Plowshares M ovement" committed their first act of protest when eight activists entered a private weapons factory\, damaged missiles with hammers\, and prayed fo r peace. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1980\, the radical Christian anti-war "Plowshar es Movement" committed their first act of protest when eight activists ent ered a private weapons factory\, damaged missiles with hammers\, and praye d for peace.\n\nThe Plowshares Movement is an anti-nuclear weapons and Chr istian pacifist movement that advocates active resistance to war. The grou p often practices a form of symbolic protest that involves the damaging of weapons and military property\, taking its name from the idea of beating swords to plowshares (converting means of violence into peaceful tools) fr om the Book of Isaiah.\n\nThe movement's first act happened on September 9 th\, 1980\, when eight activists entered the General Electric Re-entry Div ision building (where missiles and military vehicles were made)\, smashed the cones of two warheads with hammers\, poured their own blood on documen ts\, and prayed for peace.\n\nKnown as the "Plowshare Eight"\, they were a rrested and charged with more than ten different felony and misdemeanor co unts. Plowshare acts of civil disobedience continue into the modern day\, with a widow of one of the original eight\, Elizabeth McAlister\, getting arrested in 2018 for direct action at Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base. RESOURCES:https://wagingnonviolence.org/2010/09/the-plowshares-8-thirty-ye ars-on/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plowshares_movement END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Stono Slave Rebellion (1739) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250909 DTEND:20250910T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1739\, the largest slave uprising in the British ma inland colonies began in South Carolina when 22 enslaved Africans looted a store at the Stono River Bridge\, killing two storekeepers and seizing we apons and ammunition. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1739\, the largest slave uprising in the Britis h mainland colonies began in South Carolina when 22 enslaved Africans loot ed a store at the Stono River Bridge\, killing two storekeepers and seizin g weapons and ammunition. In total\, 25 colonists and 35 to 50 Africans we re killed.\n\nAfter seizing weapons and ammunition\, the self-liberators m arched south\, to Spanish Florida\, a well-known refuge for the enslaved.\ n\nAs the group made their way south\, they recruited others into their ca use\, burning plantations and killing white people as they went\, approxim ately two dozen in total.\n\nThe rebellion was defeated when the group was confronted by a well-armed colonial militia. Around 50 slaves and 25 mili tiamen were killed in the fighting.\n\nThe Stono Rebellion was directly re sponsible for the "Negro Act of 1740"\, which required a ratio of one whit e person to ten black on any plantation\, also prohibiting slaves from gro wing their own food\, assembling in groups\, earning money\, and learning to read. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stono_Rebellion RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/stono-rebelli on-1739/ RESOURCES:https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/oct/24/stono-rebellion- slave-uprising-commemoration-monuments-confederate END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Étaples Mutiny (1917) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250909 DTEND:20250910T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Mutinies COMMENT:The Étaples Mutiny was an uprising that began on this day in 1917 \, committed by British Army and Imperial soldiers in the Northern French coastal port of Étaples during World War I. DESCRIPTION:The Étaples Mutiny was an uprising that began on this day in 1917\, committed by British Army and Imperial soldiers in the Northern Fre nch coastal port of Étaples during World War I.\n\nThe soldiers were enro lled in a training camp there. On the other side of the river was the beac h resort known officially as "Le Touquet-Paris-Plage". Le Touquet was\, in effect\, officers' territory\, and pickets were stationed on the bridge o ver the Canche to enforce this.\n\nOn September 9th\, 1917\, Gunner A. J. Healy\, who had been walking along the river at low tide\, attempted to re turn across the bridge. He was apprehended by the guards and accused of be ing a deserter.\n\nUpon hearing this\, soldiers from the camp formed an an gry mob and moved towards the town\, failing to disperse even after being told that Healy had been released. His arrest had become the catalyst for open rebellion after years of soldiers' discontent.\n\nThe soldiers clashe d with police\, who shot openly into the crowd\, killing one soldier and w ounding a French bystander. Open mutiny continued for days before being pu t down by force and mass arrests on September 12th.\n\nCorporal Jesse Shor t was convicted of attempted mutiny and executed by firing squad. Many oth er soldiers received lesser punishments\, ranging from demotion in rank an d fines to as many as ten years in prison.\n\nAccording to freelance autho r David Lamb\, the Étaples Mutiny was part of a rising tide of British mu tinies which continued throughout 1918\, reaching a peak in the winter of 1918 - 1919. Military police fired on strikers and mutineers\, killing at least 27 in the month of September 1917 alone. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89taples_mutiny RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/1917-the-etaples-mutiny END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Battle of Stockton (1933) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250910 DTEND:20250911T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Fascism,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1933\, the Battle of Stockton took place at the Hig h Street of Stockton-on-Tees\, England when hundreds of fascists were conf ronted by thousands of anti-fascists in a street melee that successfully b roke up the fascist rally. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1933\, the Battle of Stockton took place at the High Street of Stockton-on-Tees\, England when hundreds of fascists were confronted by thousands of anti-fascists in a street melee that successful ly broke up the fascist rally.\n\nThe battle was a clash between members o f the British Union of Fascists (BUF) and anti-fascist demonstrators\, inc luding local communists and supporters of the Labour Party.\n\nThe BUF mee ting included just a few hundred fascists\, and was met by some 2\,000-3\, 000 counter-protesters. Both sides fought\, armed with staves\, sticks\, a nd pickaxe handles. The anti-fascists also used various missiles\, includi ng stones\, half-bricks\, knuckledusters\, and potatoes with razor blades inserted into them.\n\nPolice made no arrests that day. The march was an e arly and unsuccessful attempt by the BUF to rally support in economically depressed areas. The Battle of Stockton is remembered today as a precursor to the more famous Battle of Cable Street. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Stockton RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/battle-stockton-1933 RESOURCES:https://heritage.stockton.gov.uk/articles/stories/the-battle-of- stockton-1933/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Dublin McDonald's Strike Wins (1979) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250910 DTEND:20250911T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:On this day in 1979\, McDonald's workers on strike in Dublin\, Ire land won\, achieving a 24% pay increase and an agreement to follow Labour Court recommendations\, which ultimately resulted in a recognized union in their store. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1979\, McDonald's workers on strike in Dublin\, Ireland won\, achieving a 24% pay increase and an agreement to follow Lab our Court recommendations\, which ultimately resulted in a recognized unio n in their store.\n\nOn March 16th\, 1979\, workers at two McDonald's loca tions in Dublin\, Ireland walked off the job after management failed to re cognize the union that they had formed\, demanding higher pay and formal u nion recognition.\n\nThe workers had joined up with ITGWU (Irish Transport and General Workers' Union) in their attempts to organize a few weeks pri or to the walk-out. McDonald's responded to the strike by offering free fr ies for customers who crossed the picket line and raising the hourly rate from 85p to £1.\n\nOn September 10th\, 1979\, the strike succeeded\, with a 24% pay increase and an agreement to follow Labour Court recommendation s\, which ultimately resulted in a recognized union for McDonald's workers . The victory was not perfect however - hours were cut back from 40 to 35 hours a week\, at least one striker was not allowed to return to work\, an d union members were harassed on the job. RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/dublin-mcdonalds-strike-1979 RESOURCES:https://www.mcspotlight.org/campaigns/tactics/unionall.html END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Lattimer Massacre (1897) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250910 DTEND:20250911T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Massacre COMMENT:On this day in 1897\, the Lattimer Massacre occurred when a Sherif f's posse fired into a crowd of unarmed\, striking miners\, killing 19. Mi ners\, mostly Eastern European immigrants\, had been protesting for better pay and union recognition. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1897\, the Lattimer Massacre occurred near Haze lton\, Pennsylvania when a Sheriff's posse fired into a crowd of unarmed\, striking miners\, killing 19. Miners\, mostly Eastern European immigrants \, had been protesting for better pay and union recognition.\n\nA week pri or\, over 3\,000 miners had gone on strike\, demanding better pay and an e nd to the forced use of the company store. On the morning of September 10t h\, approximately 400 miners peacefully marched to a newly opened coal min e in Lattimer to support a new United Mine Workers (UMW) union there.\n\nA fter refusing an order to disperse by a Luzerne County sheriff's posse\, t he posse fired into the crowd. Nineteen miners were killed and several doz en were wounded.\n\nDespite the fact that sheriffs had been overhead jokin g about how many strikers they would kill that morning\, as well as medica l evidence that demonstrated miners were mostly shot in the back\, the she riff and seventy-three deputies were acquitted at trial\, insisting that t hey were charged by the crowd.\n\nThe massacre was a turning point in the history of the United Mine Workers (UMW)\, who received more than 10\,000 new members in the aftermath of the massacre. RESOURCES:https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/lattimer-massacre/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lattimer_massacre RESOURCES:https://explorepahistory.com/hmarker.php?markerId=1-A-3BA END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Lee Kyung-Hae Anti-WTO Suicide (2003) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250910 DTEND:20250911T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Protests COMMENT:On this day in 2003\, at a major protest demonstration near the WT O conference in Cancún\, South Korean farmer Lee Kyung-Hae fatally stabbe d himself while wearing a sign that declared "WTO KILLS FARMERS". DESCRIPTION:On this day in 2003\, at a major protest demonstration near th e WTO conference in Cancún\, South Korean farmer Lee Kyung-Hae fatally st abbed himself while wearing a sign that declared "WTO KILLS FARMERS".\n\nL ee Kyung Hae (1947 - 2003) was a South Korean farmer and activist who oppo sed neo-liberal globalization and protested for the local farmers and fish ermen of his home country whose jobs were threatened. He was president of the Federation of Farmers and Fishermen of Korea.\n\nIn February and March 2003\, Lee led a hunger strike at WTO headquarters in Geneva and issued c ontinued statements about the effects of rapidly dropping crop prices on K orean farmers to the press. In Cancún\, Mexico\, Lee joined a march of ov er 15\,000 other farmers and indigenous people from around the world and c arried a sandwich board that stated\, "WTO Kills Farmers."\n\nOn September 10th\, 2003\, Lee stood on top of a police barricade at a major protest d emonstration near the WTO conference in Cancún and\, while wearing a sign that declared "WTO KILLS FARMERS" in front of television cameras\, fatall y stabbed himself.\n\nAlthough he was rushed to a local hospital\, Lee die d during surgery. Lee is seen by many as a martyr to the anti-globalizatio n movement. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Kyung-hae RESOURCES:https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/sep/16/northkorea.wto END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Flour City Strikers Killed (1935) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250911 DTEND:20250912T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:On this day in 1935\, ~5\,000 striking workers in Minneapolis clas hed with police in the "Battle for Seward". By the end of the night\, two people were killed by police. Workers later won a 40 hour week\, higher wa ges\, and overtime pay. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1935\, two people were killed and twenty-eight injured in a clash between ~5\,000 workers and Minneapolis police near the working class neighborhood Seward's Hub of Hell at 26th Avenue and 26th S treet. The violence took place in the context of labor strife\, with both workers and capitalists organizing against each other\, the latter forming the "Citizen's Alliance".\n\nThe owner of Flour City Ornamental Iron Work s\, Walter Tetzlaff\, was an active member of the Citizen's Alliance. He w as vehemently opposed to the unionization of his staff\, who were being or ganized by the International Association of Machinists. Workers at Tetzlaf f's factory went on strike he refused their demands for a minimum wage\, t he guarantee of an eight-hour day\, and time-and-a half pay for overtime.\ n\nOn September 11th\, 1935\, 300 pickets were outside the factory in the evening. More than 100 officers arrived on the scene in squad cars\, motor cycles\, and armored cars. Though there were 1\,200 men working at the fac tory\, by the end of the night 5\,000 workers and nonworkers were facing o ff with police.\n\nPolice and protesters clashed\, and the cops gassed and shot into the crowd. The clouds of gas were so thick that nearby bars had to close and streetcars refused to travel through it. By the end of the n ight\, two people were killed and twenty-eight were injured.\n\nFaced with the possibility of losing a lucrative government contract\, Tetzlaff capi tulated to the demands of a 40 hour work week\, 25 cents per hour wage\, a nd overtime pay to the workers\, although he still refused to recognize th e union. RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/1935-flour-city-ornamental-iron-works -strike-drew-shonka RESOURCES:http://historyapolis.com/blog/2014/09/11/battle-seward/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Hazelton General Strike (1934) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250911 DTEND:20250912T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,General Strikes COMMENT:On this day in 1934\, as part of a national textile strike\, 25\,0 00 workers initiated a general strike in Hazelton\, PA. Despite worker dem ands not being met\, anti-communist union leadership declared victory and called off the strike. DESCRIPTION:*Some sources list the strike as taking place on September 12t h\n\nOn this day in 1934\, as part of a larger national textile strike\, 2 5\,000 workers went on a general strike in Hazelton\, Pennsylvania.\n\nAme rican Federation of Labor (AFL) leaders joined business interests in denou ncing the strikers. Rhode Island union leader Frank Gorman blamed the viol ence on communists and refused to sanction the flying pickets.\n\nAfter th ree weeks\, the union leadership declared the strike a "victory" and worke rs were sent back into the mills\, with nothing gained.\n\n"We are in a fi ght to the death now\, and we will put on this demonstration Wednesday in a manner that will impress this community that the workers are organized." \n\n- United Mine Workers organizer Michael J. Hartneady\, September 10th\ , 1934 RESOURCES:https://socialistworker.org/2009/10/06/lessons-of-1934 RESOURCES:https://journals.psu.edu/pmhb/article/view/45055/44776 RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/article/us-national-textile-workers-strike-19 34-jeremy-brecher END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Maruja Lara (1917 - 2012) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250911 DTEND:20250912T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Anarchism,Fascism COMMENT:Angustias Lara Sanchez\, also known as "Maruja Lara"\, was an anar chist author and member of the Mujeres Libres\, born on this day in 1917 i n Granada\, Spain. DESCRIPTION:Angustias Lara Sanchez\, also known as "Maruja Lara"\, was an anarchist author and member of the Mujeres Libres\, born on this day in 19 17 in Granada\, Spain.\n\nIn Valencia\, Lara became branch treasurer of th e Mujeres Libres (Free Women) and got to know militants such as Lucia Sán chez Saornil\, Suceso Portales\, Isabel Mesa\, and others. When the war en ded in March 1939\, she and Mesa got on to a truck for Almeria to catch a ship for Algeria\, but was imprisoned in the infamous Francoist concentrat ion camp of Albatera\, where 25\,000 people were murdered by the Francoist s and thrown into mass graves.\n\nAfter escaping Albatera\, along with Isa bel Mesa\, she set up a newspaper kiosk in Valencia which secretly distrib uted the anarchist press. In 1942 with Isabel and others\, she set up the underground group the Union of Democratic Women (UMD) to help prisoners an d their families.\n\nIn 1955\, Sanchez was arrested because of her anarchi st activities. After the death of Franco\, she was actively involved in th e reconstruction of the CNT and supported the creation of the free radio s tation Radio Klara. In 1997\, she also contributed to the anarchist journa l "El Chico". RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/lara-maruja-aka-angustias-lara-sanche z-1913-2012 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Mary Elizabeth Lease (1850 - 1933) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250911 DTEND:20250912T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays COMMENT:Mary Elizabeth Lease\, born on this day in 1850\, was an orator\, author\, and activist associated with the "People's Party". Of the governm ent\, she said "Our laws are the output of a system which clothes rascals in robes and honesty in rags". DESCRIPTION:Mary Elizabeth Lease\, born on this day in 1850\, was an orato r\, author\, and activist associated with the "People's Party". Of the gov ernment\, she said "Our laws are the output of a system which clothes rasc als in robes and honesty in rags".\n\nLease was also a Georgist and an adv ocate of the suffrage movement\, but was perhaps best known for her work w ith the People's Party (Populists\, associated with the Farmers' Alliance) .\n\nLease was a renowned speaker within the Populist movement and a polar izing political figure. While popular with the working class\, she was sla ndered with misogynist rhetoric in the press. One newspaper described her "a miserable character of womanhood and hideously ugly of features and fou l of tongue" and another called her "an old harpy".\n\nOne of Lease's most famous speeches began like this:\n\n"Wall Street owns the country. It is no longer a government of the people\, by the people\, and for the people\ , but a government of Wall Street\, by Wall Street\, and for Wall Street.. .Our laws are the output of a system which clothes rascals in robes and ho nesty in rags..." RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Elizabeth_Lease RESOURCES:https://www.historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/marylease.html RESOURCES:https://www.kshs.org/kansapedia/mary-elizabeth-lease/12128 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Salvador Allende Ousted (1973) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250911 DTEND:20250912T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Socialism,Marxism COMMENT:On this day in 1973\, democratically elected socialist Chilean pre sident Salvador Allende was ousted in a fascist\, U.S.-backed coup led by Augusto Pinochet. He died the same day of a gunshot wound to the head\, la ter ruled a suicide. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1973\, democratically elected socialist Chilean president Salvador Allende was ousted in a fascist\, U.S.-backed coup led by Augusto Pinochet. He died the same day of a gunshot wound to the head\ , later ruled a suicide.\n\nAllende was a Chilean socialist politician and physician\, President of Chile from 1970 until 1973\, and head of the Pop ular Unity political coalition government\; he was Latin America's first e ver Marxist to be elected president in a liberal democracy.\n\nAs presiden t\, Allende sought to nationalize major industries\, expand education and improve the living standards of the working class. He clashed with the rig ht-wing parties that controlled Congress and with the judiciary.\n\nOn Sep tember 11th\, 1973\, the military moved to oust Allende in a coup d'état assisted by the Henry Kissinger and the CIA. As troops surrounded La Moned a Palace\, he gave his last speech vowing not to resign. Later that day\, Allende died of a gunshot wound\, which the new government claimed was sel f-inflicted. Although this conclusion was supported by later investigation s\, speculations of Allende being murdered continue to this day.\n\nFollow ing Allende's death\, General Augusto Pinochet refused to return authority to a civilian government\, and Chile would be ruled by a military junta u ntil 1990. This junta dissolved the Congress of Chile\, suspended the Cons titution\, and began a persecution of alleged dissidents\, in which at lea st 3\,095 civilians disappeared or were killed. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvador_Allende RESOURCES:https://www.jacobinmag.com/2016/09/chile-coup-santiago-allende-s ocial-democracy-september-11-2 RESOURCES:https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB8/nsaebb8i.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:St. Jean Bosco Massacre (1988) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250911 DTEND:20250912T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Massacre COMMENT:On this day in 1988\, armed supporters of the Haitian government a ttacked and burned down the Saint-Jean Bosco church\, the parish of libera tion theologian Jean-Bertrand Aristide\, killing between 13 and 50 people\ , wounding ~80 more. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1988\, the St. Jean Bosco Massacre took place w hen armed supporters of the Haitian government attacked and burned down th e Saint-Jean Bosco church in a three hour assault that killed between thir teen and fifty people\, wounding approximately eighty more. On the day of the attack\, over one thousand people were attending the Sunday mass.\n\nT he church was the parish of future President Jean-Bertrand Aristide (1953 - )\, then a liberation theology Roman Catholic priest of the Salesians of Don Bosco order. Aristide had already survived six previous attempts on h is life due to a fiery 1985 Mass had helped spark the unrest which eventua lly led to the 1986 overthrow of the dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier.\n\nThe massacre contributed to the September 1988 Haitian coup d'état against t he Henri Namphy regime a week later\, putting Prosper Avril in power.\n\nA ristide became president of Haiti in a 1990 election\, but was deposed in a coup by military officials (who received military training in the U.S. a nd had ties to the CIA) just eight months later. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Jean_Bosco_massacre RESOURCES:https://haitiliberte.com/september-11-a-fateful-date/ RESOURCES:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cb0LiIlsqlA&ab_channel=AFPNewsAg ency END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Vinoba Bhave (1895 - 1982) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250911 DTEND:20250912T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays COMMENT:Vinayak "Vinoba" Bhave\, born on this day in 1895\, was an Indian human rights advocate associated with the Bhoodan Movement\, which attempt ed to persuade wealthy landowners to give a percentage of their land to la ndless people. DESCRIPTION:Vinayak "Vinoba" Bhave\, born on this day in 1895\, was an Ind ian advocate of non-violence and human rights. Often called "Acharya" (San skrit for "teacher")\, he is best known for initiating the Bhoodan Movemen t\, which attempted to persuade wealthy landowners to voluntarily give a p ercentage of their land to landless people.\n\nThe initial objective of th e movement was to secure voluntary donations and distribute it to the land less\, but it soon came to demand 1/6 of all private land.\n\nIt was also a part of a comprehensive movement for the establishment of a Sarvodaya So ciety (Sarvodaya is a Sanskrit term meaning 'universal uplift' or 'progres s of all')\, both in and outside India.\n\n"All revolutions are spiritual at the source. All my activities have the sole purpose of achieving a unio n of hearts."\n\n- Vinoba Bhave RESOURCES:https://www.culturalindia.net/reformers/acharya-vinoba-bhave.htm l RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinoba_Bhave RESOURCES:https://www.britannica.com/biography/Vinoba-Bhave END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:AFA Battle of Waterloo (1992) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250912 DTEND:20250913T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Fascism COMMENT:On this day in 1992\, members of the activist group British Anti-F ascist Action (AFA) clashed with 100 neo-nazis from the group Blood and Ho nour in what is now known as the "Battle of Waterloo". DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1992\, members of the activist group British An ti-Fascist Action (AFA) clashed with 100 neo-nazis from the group Blood an d Honour in what is now known as the "Battle of Waterloo". The name comes from the fact that AFA members took action by disrupting their redirection point at Waterloo station.\n\nScuffles broke out between police and membe rs of the AFA. As some protesters chanted 'police protect Nazi scum'\, the neo-fascists were divided into groups of twenty and escorted out of the a rea. While they waited for their busses the anti-fascists threw rocks\, st ones and bottles at them. As the police moved in with batons and riot shie lds\, both sides jeered and spat on the officers.\n\nThe event was cancele d\, according to police\, "to protect the public". Thirty-six people were arrested and an unknown amount were injured. RESOURCES:https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/station-closed-in-skinhead -battle-1551122.html RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/article/15-waterloo-blood-and-honour-gig-lond on-1992 RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/library/bash-the-fash-anti-fascist-recollecti ons-1984-1993/15-waterloo-blood-and-honour-gig-london-1992 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Amílcar Cabral (1924 - 1973) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250912 DTEND:20250913T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Socialism,Birthdays,Independence COMMENT:Amílcar Cabral\, born on this day in 1924\, was a Bissau-Guinean and Cape Verdean agricultural engineer\, intellectual\, theoretician\, and communist revolutionary who led a campaign of guerilla warfare against Po rtuguese colonizers. DESCRIPTION:Amílcar Lopes da Costa Cabral\, born on this day in 1924\, wa s a Bissau-Guinean and Cape Verdean agricultural engineer\, intellectual\, theoretician\, revolutionary\, political organizer\, nationalist\, and di plomat. He was one of Africa's foremost anti-colonial leaders\, leading th e nationalist movement of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde Islands and the ens uing war of independence in Guinea-Bissau.\n\nFrom 1963 until his death\, Cabral led the Partido Africano da Independência da Guiné e Cabo Verde ( PAIGC) guerrilla movement against the Portuguese government\, which evolve d into one of the most successful wars of independence in modern African h istory. The goal of the conflict was to attain independence for both Portu guese Guinea and Cape Verde.\n\nCabral was assassinated on January 20th\, 1973 (likely by a Portugal-backed assassin) about eight months before Guin ea-Bissau's unilateral declaration of independence. Cabral's pan-Africanis m and revolutionary socialism continues to be an inspiration for socialist s and national independence movements worldwide.\n\n"We must practice revo lutionary democracy in every aspect of our Party life. Every responsible m ember must have the courage of his responsibilities\, exacting from others a proper respect for his work and properly respecting the work of others. Hide nothing from the masses of our people. Tell no lies. Expose lies whe never they are told. Mask no difficulties\, mistakes\, failures. Claim no easy victories..."\n\n- Amílcar Cabral RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Am%C3%ADlcar_Cabral RESOURCES:https://www.jacobinmag.com/2019/10/amilcar-cabral-portuguese-col onialism-biography RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/subject/africa/cabral/index.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:First Gay Liberation Front Protest (1969) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250912 DTEND:20250913T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Queer,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1969\, the U.S. Gay Liberation Front held their fir st protest\, demanding a meeting with Village Voice publishers who refused to publish their ads\, claiming the word "gay" was profane. After being c onfronted\, the ads were ran. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1969\, the U.S. Gay Liberation Front held their first protest\, demanding a meeting with Village Voice publishers who ref used to publish their ads\, claiming the word "gay" was profane. After bei ng confronted\, the ads were ran.\n\nThe U.S. Gay Liberation Front (GLF) w as formed in the aftermath of the Stonewall Uprising\, a landmark event in the American queer liberation struggle. The Stonewall Uprising received h omophobic coverage from the Village Voice\, whose authors referred to the protesters with language like "blatant queens"\, "limp wristed"\, and dubb ing the event "the Great Faggot Rebellion".\n\nA little over two months af ter the riot\, the newly formed GLF tried to place two small ads in the Vo ice\, however the Voice refused to run them\, and claimed the word "gay" w as profane. On September 12th\, 1969\, the GLF held their first protest\, demanding a meeting with publisher Ed Fancher. The protest went on all day as Fancher stubbornly refused to meet with the group\, however he eventua lly conceded to meet.\n\nIn the meeting\, Fancher conceded the matter of t he ads\, and allowed the words "homosexual" and "gay" to appear in the pap er - the activists won. RESOURCES:http://www.back2stonewall.com/2019/09/gay-history-september-12-1 969-gay-liberation-front-protests-the-village-voice.html RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gay_Liberation_Front END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Hull Student Strike (1911) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250912 DTEND:20250913T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:On this day in 1911\, a student strike in Hull\, England began whe n a dozen older boys at St. Mary's Roman Catholic school walked out during morning lessons. By that afternoon\, the whole school was outside on stri ke. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1911\, a student strike in Hull\, England began when a dozen older boys at St. Mary's Roman Catholic school walked out du ring morning lessons. By that afternoon\, the whole school was outside on strike.\n\nStriking students formed a crowd at the school gates\, denounci ng "too much work" and shouting "blackleg" at pupils still in class.\n\nTh e Hull Daily News reported the following day that "for weeks there has bee n a feeling of anxiety...first the sailors and dockers\; then the millers\ , cement workers\, timber workers\, railway men\, news boys\, factory girl s and now the school-boys".\n\nThe strike soon spread to schools nearby wh ich\, according to the Hull Daily News\, made local tradesmen "anxious abo ut the whereabouts of their errand boys".\n\nAccording to historian Clive Bloom\, most of these children had to go to work after school to help feed their families. A lone policeman riding through the poor dock area of Hul l made at least one attempt to cow the crowd into submission when he charg ed at them on his bicycle. RESOURCES:https://www.historyextra.com/period/20th-century/the-1911-school children-strikes RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/childrens-strikes-1911 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Leonard Peltier (1944 - ) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250912 DTEND:20250913T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays COMMENT:Leonard Peltier\, born on this day in 1944\, is an indigenous righ ts activist of Lakota descent who has been imprisoned by the U.S. since 19 77\, convicted of first-degree murder following the killing of two FBI age nts. DESCRIPTION:Leonard Peltier\, born on this day in 1944\, is an indigenous rights activist of Lakota descent who has been imprisoned by the U.S. sinc e 1977\, convicted of first-degree murder following the killing of two FBI agents.\n\nAfter being extradited from Canada through a false witness sta tement\, Peltier was convicted in a controversial 1977 trial and sentenced to two consecutive terms of life imprisonment for the murder of two Feder al Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents in a shooting on the Pine Ridge In dian Reservation in South Dakota.\n\nAs detailed by "In the Spirit of Craz y Horse"\, Peltier's trials and conviction are considered highly controver sial\, and groups such as Amnesty International have raised concerns about their fairness.\n\nOn January 18th\, 2017\, the Office of the Pardon Atto rney announced that President Barack Obama had denied Peltier's applicatio n for clemency.\n\n"You must understand...I am ordinary. Painfully ordinar y. This isn't modesty. This is fact. Maybe you're ordinary\, too. If so\, I honor your ordinariness\, your humanness\, your spirituality. I hope you will honor mine. That ordinariness is our bond\, you and I. We are ordina ry. We are human. The Creator made us this way. Imperfect. Inadequate. Ord inary."\n\n- Leonard Peltier RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonard_Peltier RESOURCES:https://montanapioneer.com/an-interview-with-leonard-peltier/ RESOURCES:https://www.independent.com/2017/01/05/let-leonard-peltier-go-fr ee/ RESOURCES:https://www.democracynow.org/2022/5/13/imprisoned_native_america n_activist_leonard_peltier END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:People's Republic of Korea Formed (1945) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250912 DTEND:20250913T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:The People's Republic of Korea (PRK) was a provisional government formed on this day in 1945. Based on people's committees\, it presented a radical pro-working class program before being outlawed by the U.S. later that year. DESCRIPTION:The People's Republic of Korea (PRK) was a provisional governm ent formed on this day in 1945. Based on people's committees\, it presente d a radical pro-working class program before being outlawed by the U.S. la ter that year.\n\nAt the time of the PRK's formation\, Korea was being div ided into two occupation zones\, with the Soviet Union occupying the north and the United States occupying the south.\n\nBased on a network of peopl e's committees\, the PRK presented a program of radical social change\, in cluding seizing Japanese-owned land and redistributing it to peasants\, un iversal suffrage\, female equality\, an eight-hour work day\, and abolitio n of child labor.\n\nThe government was short-lived however - in the south \, the US military government outlawed the PRK on December 12th\, 1945\, w hile in the north\, Soviet authorities "recognized these committees as our \nlocal provisional government"\, according to a northern government offic ial\, as quoted by historian Stephen Gowans in "Patriots\, Traitors\, and Empires". RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%27s_Republic_of_Korea RESOURCES:https://www.kfausa.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Patriots-Trait ors-and-Empires-Stephen-Gowans.pdf END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Annie Kenney (1879 - 1953) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250913 DTEND:20250914T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays COMMENT:Annie Kenney\, born on this day in 1879\, was an English working-c lass\, socialist suffragette who became a leading figure in the Women's So cial and Political Union (WSPU). She co-founded its first branch in London with Minnie Baldock. DESCRIPTION:Annie Kenney\, born on this day in 1879\, was an English worki ng-class\, socialist suffragette who became a leading figure in the Women' s Social and Political Union (WSPU). She co-founded its first branch in Lo ndon with Minnie Baldock.\n\nKenney attracted the attention of the press a nd public in 1905 when she and Christabel Pankhurst were imprisoned for se veral days for assault and obstruction after disrupting a Liberal rally at tended by Winston Churchill and Sir Edward Grey\, demanding women's suffra ge.\n\nThe incident was credited with inaugurating a new phase in the stru ggle for women's suffrage in the UK\, with the adoption of militant tactic s. Emmeline Pankhurst wrote in her autobiography that "this was the beginn ing of a campaign the like of which was never known in England\, or for th at matter in any other country...we interrupted a great many meetings...an d we were violently thrown out and insulted. Often we were painfully bruis ed and hurt..." RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annie_Kenney RESOURCES:https://spartacus-educational.com/Wkenney.htm RESOURCES:https://www.wcml.org.uk/our-collections/activists/annie-kenney/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Geronimo Pratt (1947 - 2011) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250913 DTEND:20250914T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays COMMENT:Elmer "Geronimo" Pratt\, born on this day in 1947\, was a decorate d military veteran and a high-ranking associate of the Black Panther Party in the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s. DESCRIPTION:Elmer "Geronimo" Pratt\, born on this day in 1947\, was a deco rated military veteran and a high-ranking associate of the Black Panther P arty in the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s.\n\nIn Los Ang eles\, Pratt studied at UCLA under the GI Bill and began working with the Black Panther Party. Pratt was also a target of the FBI's COINTEL program\ , which sought to subvert black power movements.\n\nIn 1972\, Pratt was wr ongfully convicted for murder and served 27 years in prison\, eight of whi ch were in solitary confinement. Pratt was freed in 1997 when his convicti on was vacated due to the prosecution concealing wiretaps that proved he w as not at the scene of the murder.\n\n"I considered myself chopped off the game plan when I was arrested. But it was incumbent upon me to free mysel f and continue to struggle again. You can't look back twenty-seven years a nd say it was [lost time]. I'm still living. I run about five miles every morning\, and I can still bench press 300 pounds ten times. I can give you ten reps. Also I hope I'm a little more intelligent and I'm not crazy. It 's a hell of a gain that I survived."\n\n- Geronimo Pratt RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geronimo_Pratt RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/pratt-geronim o-1947-2011/ RESOURCES:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GCvWo26JBI&ab_channel=kersplebe deb END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Tavis Smiley (1964 - ) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250913 DTEND:20250914T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays COMMENT:Tavis Smiley\, born on this day in 1964\, is an American talk show host and author who collaborated with Cornel West to produce the text "Th e Rich and the Rest of Us: A Poverty Manifesto" in 2014. DESCRIPTION:Tavis Smiley\, born on this day in 1964\, is an American talk show host and author. Smiley was born in Gulfport\, Mississippi\, and grew up in Bunker Hill\, Indiana. From 2010 to 2013\, Smiley and Cornel West w orked together to host their own radio talk show\, Smiley & West.\n\nIn 20 12\, Smiley participated in a "Poverty Tour" with Princeton University pro fessor Cornel West to promote their book "The Rich and the Rest of Us: A P overty Manifesto". The stated aim of the tour was to highlight the plight of the impoverished population of the United States prior to the 2012 pres idential election\, whose candidates Smiley and West stated had ignored th e plight of the poor.\n\nIn 2017\, PBS indefinitely suspended Smiley after a law firm "uncovered multiple\, credible allegations of conduct that is inconsistent with the values and standards of PBS." The publication Variet y reported that Smiley was let go due to multiple sexual relationships wit h subordinates\, some of whom felt the relationship was connected to their employment.\n\nSmiley has stated "To be clear\, I have never groped\, coe rced or exposed myself inappropriately to any workplace colleague in my en tire broadcast career\, covering six networks over 30 years".\n\n"All he c ould think of was how all people require attention. All people require res pect. All people require acknowledgment. All people require love."\n\n- Ta vis Smiley RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tavis_Smiley RESOURCES:https://pnhp.org/news/smiley-and-west-the-rich-and-the-rest-of-u s/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Detroit Teachers Strike (1982) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250914 DTEND:20250915T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:On this day in 1982\, 10\,000 teachers in Detroit walked off the j ob despite a law banning public employee strikes. The labor action affecte d 201\,000 schoolchildren and was in protest of a Board of Education deman d to cut pay by 8%. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1982\, 10\,000 teachers in Detroit walked off t he job over a Board of Education demand for pay cuts of 8%\, leaving 201\, 000 schoolchildren with the prospect of several days off. The teachers did this despite a Michigan law prohibiting public employees from striking.\n \nThe Detroit teacher's strike was the largest of a number of school labor disputes marring the back-to-school season around the country that year\, when social spending cuts were hitting schools and teachers particularly hard.\n\nAround the same time\, more than 7\,500 other teachers were on st rike elsewhere in Michigan and in Pennsylvania\, Illinois\, and Ohio. RESOURCES:https://www.nytimes.com/1982/09/14/us/detroit-teachers-strike-ov er-pay-cut.html RESOURCES:https://www.historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/zinnunrepo22.html END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Jacobo Árbenz (1913 - 1971) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250914 DTEND:20250915T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Independence COMMENT:Jacobo Árbenz\, born on this day in 1913\, was a Guatemalan Presi dent who earned the ire of the United Fruit Company\, the largest private landowner in the country\, by instituting widespread land reforms. He was ousted in a U.S-backed coup in 1954. DESCRIPTION:Jacobo Árbenz\, born on this day in 1913\, was a Guatemalan P resident who earned the ire of the United Fruit Company\, the largest priv ate landowner in the country\, by instituting widespread land reforms. He was ousted in a U.S-backed coup in 1954.\n\nÁrbenz served as the Minister of National Defense from 1944 to 1951 and the second democratically elect ed President of Guatemala from 1951 to 1954. He was a major figure in the ten-year Guatemalan Revolution\, which represented some of the few years o f representative democracy in Guatemalan history.\n\nÁrbenz instituted ma ny popular reforms\, including an expanded right to vote\, the right of wo rkers to organize\, legitimizing political parties\, and allowing public d ebate.\n\nThe centerpiece of Árbenz' policy was an agrarian reform law\, under which uncultivated portions of large land-holdings were expropriated in return for compensation and redistributed to poverty-stricken agricult ural laborers. Approximately 500\,000 people benefited from the decree\, t he majority of them indigenous people whose forebears had been dispossesse d after the Spanish invasion.\n\nOpposition to these policies led the Unit ed Fruit Company to lobby the U.S. government to have him overthrown. The U.S. was also concerned by the presence of communists in the Guatemalan go vernment\, and Árbenz was ousted in a coup d'état engineered by the U.S. government on June 27th\, 1954.\n\n"Our only crime consisted of decreeing our own laws and applying them to all without exception. Our crime is hav ing enacted an agrarian reform which effected the interests of the United Fruit Company. Our crime is wanting to have our own route to the Atlantic\ , our own electric power and our own docks and ports. Our crime is our pat riotic wish to advance\, to progress\, to win economic independence to mat ch our political independence. We are condemned because we have given our peasant population land and rights."\n\n- Jacobo Árbenz RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacobo_%C3%81rbenz RESOURCES:https://spartacus-educational.com/JFKarbenz.htm RESOURCES:https://ufcguatemala.voices.wooster.edu/documents/document-8/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Margaret Sanger (1879 - 1966) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250914 DTEND:20250915T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays COMMENT:Margaret Sanger\, born on this day in 1879\, was an American birth control activist\, sex educator\, writer\, and nurse. The organizations s he established later evolved into the Planned Parenthood Federation of Ame rica. DESCRIPTION:Margaret Sanger\, born on this day in 1879\, was an American b irth control activist\, sex educator\, writer\, and nurse. Sanger populari zed the term "birth control"\, opened the first birth control clinic in th e United States\, and established organizations that evolved into the Plan ned Parenthood Federation of America.\n\nSanger also worked with African-A merican leaders who saw a need for birth control in their communities. In 1930\, she opened a clinic in Harlem\, staffed with black doctors\, by sec uring funding from the Julius Rosenwald Fund.\n\nSanger did not tolerate b igotry among her staff\, nor would she tolerate any refusal to work within interracial projects. The clinic was publicized in the African-American p ress and churches\, and it received approval from W.E.B. Du Bois. Sanger's efforts were also later lauded by MLK Jr.\n\nAlthough Sanger rejected rac ist bigotry\, she did endorse the ableism of the then-popular eugenics mov ement\, writing in 1921 that "the most urgent problem today is how to limi t and discourage the over-fertility of the mentally and physically defecti ve".\n\n"Birth control is the first important step woman must take toward the goal of her freedom. It is the first step she must take to be man's eq ual. It is the first step they must both take toward human emancipation."\ n\n- Margaret Sanger RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Sanger RESOURCES:https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/ma rgaret-sanger RESOURCES:https://time.com/4081760/margaret-sanger-history-eugenics/ RESOURCES:https://www.plannedparenthood.org/files/9214/7612/8734/Sanger_Fa ct_Sheet_Oct_2016.pdf END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:16th Street Baptist Church Bombing (1963) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250915 DTEND:20250916T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Terrorism COMMENT:On this day in 1963\, white supremacists bombed the 16th Street Ba ptist Church in Birmingham\, Alabama\, killing 4 girls\, aged 11-14\, woun ding 20 more. Charges were not brought against any of the perpetrators unt il more than a decade later. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1963\, white supremacists bombed the 16th Stree t Baptist Church in Birmingham\, Alabama\, killing 4 girls\, aged 11-14\, wounding 20 more. Charges were not brought against any of the perpetrators until more than a decade later.\n\nThe terrorist attack was committed by four members of a local Ku Klux Klan chapter who had planted at least 15 s ticks of dynamite attached to a timing device beneath the steps located on the east side of the church.\n\nAt 10:22 am\, the dynamite was detonated\ , blowing a hole measuring seven feet (2.1 m) in diameter in the church's rear wall\, blowing a passing motorist out of his car\, and destroying sev eral cars nearby. Four girls\, Addie Mae Collins (age 14)\; Carol Denise M cNair (age 11)\; Carole Robertson (age 14)\; and Cynthia Wesley (age 14)\, were killed in the attack. Approximately 20 more people were wounded.\n\n On May 13th\, 1965\, local investigators and the FBI formally named Blanto n\, Cash\, Chambliss\, and Cherry as the perpetrators of the bombing\, wit h Robert Chambliss the likely ringleader of the four\, however\, they did not bring charges against any of them.\n\nChambliss was the first to be ch arged for murder\, finally convicted of first degree murder in 1977. In 20 01 and 2002\, respectively\, Blanton and Cherry were sentenced to life in prison. RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/sixteenth-str eet-baptist-church-bombing-1963/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/16th_Street_Baptist_Church_bombing RESOURCES:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXXS7knc_Uo END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Allegheny Strike (1845) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250915 DTEND:20250916T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1845\, the Allegheny Textile Strike began in Pennsy lvania in demand of a 10 hour day\, down from the typical 12. The strike\, led by women and children\, was unsuccessful\, but organizers later won l abor reform in 1848. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1845\, the Allegheny Textile Strike began in Pi ttsburgh\, Pennsylvania in demand of a ten hour day. The strike was led by women and children\, and part of a series of strikes that took place betw een 1845 - 1848.\n\nMore than 400 textile workers struck to push for a 10 hour day without a pay cut from their typical 12 hour day. In October\, so me workers began flinging mud and destroying factory fences with axes\, pr esumably to scare off some scabs that had replaced them. This behavior sca ndalized the strike and damaged some public support of it.\n\nThe strike w as initially unsuccessful\, but\, following a similar strike in 1848\, a l aw was passed limiting the working day to 10 hours. This achievement was u ndercut by an amendment that allowed workers to sign a contract to increas e the workday back to 12 hours. RESOURCES:https://uawd.org/historian-erik-loomis-on-allegheny-textile-stri ke-of-1845/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allegheny_Textile_Strikes_of_1845_ and_1848 RESOURCES:https://explorepahistory.com/hmarker.php?markerId=1-A-BD END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Anne Moody (1940 - 2015) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250915 DTEND:20250916T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Civil Rights,Birthdays,Protests COMMENT:Anne Moody\, born on this day in 1940\, was an American civil righ ts activist who participated in the NAACP\, Congress of Racial Equality\, and Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. Her 1968 memoirs are titled "Coming of Age in Mississippi".\n DESCRIPTION:Anne Moody\, born on this day in 1940\, was an American civil rights activist who participated in the NAACP\, Congress of Racial Equalit y\, and Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. Her 1968 memoirs are ti tled "Coming of Age in Mississippi".\n\nAfter graduating from Tougaloo Col lege\, Moody became a full-time worker in the civil rights movement\, part icipating in a variety of different protests such as marches and sit-ins. Moody was attacked by a mob while participating in a sit-in at a Woolworth 's lunch counter in Jackson\, Mississippi.\n\nMoody was also arrested in J ackson for attempting to protest inside of a post office with 13 other pro testers\, including Joan Trumpauer\, Doris Erskine\, Jeanette King\, and L ois Chaffee.\n\nShortly after this\, Moody moved to New York and wrote her autobiography\, "Coming of Age in Mississippi"\, published in 1968.\n\n"' We shall overcome\, We shall overcome / We shall overcome some day.' I WON DER. I really WONDER."\n\n- Anne Moody RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/anne-moody-19 40-2015/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Moody RESOURCES:https://www.wnyc.org/story/anne-moody/ RESOURCES:http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/maai3/protest/text7/mood ycomingofage.pdf END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Curacao General Strike (2016) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250915 DTEND:20250916T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,General Strikes COMMENT:On this day in 2016\, a general strike on the island of Curacao to ok place in support of striking contract workers at the oil refinery Isla. The strike caused massive power outages\, affecting 80% of the island\; w orkers won by the next day. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 2016\, a general strike on the island of Curaca o took place in support of striking contract workers at the oil refinery I sla. The strike caused massive power outages\, affecting 80% of the island \; workers won by the next day.\n\nRefinery workers had been striking unsu ccessfully for more than a week\, demanding a lump sum of 3\,000 guilders (USD $1500) as compensation for the years in which the employers did not c ompensate their pay for inflation.\n\nOn September 13th\, seventeen unions and two trade union federations wrote a letter to the Governor in support the strikes\, including the demand of the lump sum. That afternoon\, form er minister and union leader Errol Cova announced a general strike that wo uld begin on September 15th.\n\nOn that day\, the general strike began\, c ausing massive power outages that affected up to 80% of the island. The la ck of air conditioning in the hot climate was frustrating for both locals and tourists.\n\nBy the next day\, the workers won their demands\, includi ng the lump sum\, in total 1.8 million guilders for union members. Despite the widespread labor action\, there were no reports of rioting or violenc e according to the Curacao Chronicle. RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/blog/general-strike-starting-refinery-workers -caribbean-island-curacao-awaiting-new-masters-chin RESOURCES:https://curacaochronicle.com/fs/general-strike-ends-contract-wor kers-celebrate/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:INCO Strike (1978) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250915 DTEND:20250916T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:On this day in 1978\, United Steelworkers union workers in Sudbury \, Ontario voted to go on strike to fight proposed layoffs and pay cuts. T he strike was the longest in Canadian history until the record was broken by Sudbury workers in 2009. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1978\, United Steelworkers union workers in Sud bury\, Ontario voted to go on strike to fight proposed layoffs and pay cut s. The strike was the longest in Canadian history until the record was bro ken by Sudbury workers in 2009.\n\nThe layoffs and cuts to pay and benefit s were at the multi-national company Inco\, which cited low nickel prices as a justification.\n\nAccording to filmmaker Martin Duckworth\, workers v oted to strike against the advice of the United Steelworkers hierarchy\, a nd the strike enjoyed national support because Inco was a known polluter a nd one of the biggest multi-nationals in Canada.\n\nAround 11\,600 workers were involved in the strike\, which affected the wages sustaining 43\,000 people\, or about 26% of the population of metropolitan Sudbury. By the e nd of the strike\, nine months later\, the company had been deprived of ov er twenty-two million hours of labor.\n\nThe workers won small wage increa se and a pension package\, however thousands of workers lost their homes a nd cars because of the length of the strike. According to journalist Amy M iller\, since 1979\, INCO has fired 20\,000 employees from their staff and now have more people receiving payments from the pension roll than pay ro ll.\n\nThe role of women in the community during the strike was profiled i n the 1980 documentary film A Wives' Tale (Une histoire de femmes). RESOURCES:http://www.ejumpcut.org/archive/onlinessays/JC26folder/IntOnWive sTale.html RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1978_INCO_strike RESOURCES:http://www.dominionpaper.ca/articles/2131 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Invergordon Mutiny (1931) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250915 DTEND:20250916T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Mutinies COMMENT:On this day in 1931\, the Invergordon Mutiny began when 1\,000 sai lors of the British Atlantic Fleet rebelled in response to widespread pay cuts. The mutiny caused an economic panic which forced the government off the Gold Standard. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1931\, the Invergordon Mutiny began when 1\,000 sailors of the British Atlantic Fleet rebelled in response to widespread pay cuts. The mutiny caused an economic panic which forced the government off the Gold Standard.\n\nThe widespread pay cuts were brought by the Brit ish government as part of its attempts to deal with the Great Depression. In the Navy\, these cuts manifested as a 10% pay cut for officers and seni or ratings and a 25% cut for ratings below petty officer who had joined be fore 1925.\n\nOn the morning of September 15th\, sailors on four capital s hips due to sail had began disobeying orders. On the Hood and the Nelson\, crews carried out the ordinary harbor routine\, refusing to put to sea (l eave land for a voyage)\; on the Valiant and the Rodney\, crews carried ou t only essential duties\, including the provision of safety patrols and fi re guards\, and did so without any recourse to their officers.\n\nBy the s econd day\, the government began walking the pay cut policies back\, with the lower ranked members now only receiving a 10% pay cut. A number of the strike organizers were jailed and 397 sailors were discharged from the Na vy in the uprising's aftermath.\n\nThe mutiny inspired widespread working class resistance. Socialist Review magazine notes that\, in the wake of th e Invergordon uprising\, massive demonstrations against wage cuts and unem ployment took place. On September 21st\, the British government walked bac k pay cuts for teachers and policemen following a massive domestic demonst ration.\n\nOn October 7th\, the National Unemployed Workers' Movement led a riot of 50\,000 unemployed in Glasgow. The next day\, 30\,000 did likewi se in Manchester\, followed by another demonstration of 60\,000 in Glasgow . The offices of the Communist Party's Daily Worker were raided and and st aff arrested after they expressed support to the mutineers.\n\nThe mutiny caused a panic on the London Stock Exchange and a run on the pound\, bring ing Britain's economic troubles to a head and forcing it off the Gold Stan dard. RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/1931-invergordon-mutiny RESOURCES:http://pubs.socialistreviewindex.org.uk/sr244/sherry.htm RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invergordon_Mutiny RESOURCES:https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/conte nt/view/F4B348A206FD0CBAD481522615A89CDD/S0020859000006027a.pdf/the-inverg ordon-mutiny-1931-long-term-causes-organisation-and-leadership.pdf END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Max Hoelz Drowns (1933) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250915 DTEND:20250916T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Assassinations,Fascism COMMENT:On this day in 1933\, Max Hoelz\, known for his role as a "Communi st Bandit" in the Vogtland region during a period of right-wing German rul e\, died in a boating accident\, which at least one historian has claimed was an NKVD assassination. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1933\, Max Hoelz\, known for his role as a "Com munist Bandit" in the Vogtland region during a period of right-wing German rule\, died in a boating accident\, which at least one historian has clai med was an NKVD assassination.\n\nMax Hoelz (1889 - 1933) became political ly radicalized by the 1917 October Revolution in Russia and by contact wit h Georg Schumann\, a member of the socialist Spartakusbund. Schumann was l ater to be executed by the Nazis in 1945.\n\nIn 1920\, after the right-win g Kapp Putsch\, Hoelz organized workers from Falkenstein and Oelsnitz in a Red Guard\, leading armed bands against the police\, the army\, and the f ar-right paramilitary Freikorps. In this role\, he became Robin Hood-like figure\, raising money from employers under threat of reprisals\, liberati ng prisoners\, destroying property deeds and police archives\, and burning villas of the rich.\n\nLater in life\, after the Nazis began to come into power\, Hoelz moved to Soviet Russia\, however he became a dissident\, cr itical of bad working conditions. On September 15th\, 1933\, he died in a boating accident\, which anarchist historian Nick Heath claimed was actual ly an NKVD assassination. RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/articles/1889-1933-max-hoelz RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Hoelz END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Morgan Testifies to SACB (1954) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250915 DTEND:20250916T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Fascism COMMENT:On this day in 1954\, Crawford Morgan\, a member of Veterans of th e Abraham Lincoln Brigade\, a group of American volunteers that fought aga inst Francoist fascists\, testified before the anti-communist "Subversive Activities Control Board". DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1954\, Crawford Morgan\, a member of Veterans o f the Abraham Lincoln Brigade\, a group of American volunteers that fought against Francoist fascists\, testified before the anti-communist "Subvers ive Activities Control Board".\n\nIn September 1954\, the VALB were brough t before the Subversive Activities Control Board (SACB)\, a United States government committee to investigate Communist infiltration of American soc iety during the 1950s Red Scare\, founded after the passage of the McCarra n Act.\n\nOn September 15th\, 1954\, Crawford Morgan\, a black member of V ALB\, testified before the SACB. Here is an excerpt of his testimony:\n\nS ACB: "Did you have any understanding\, Mr. Morgan\, before you went to Spa in\, of what the issues were connected to that war?"\n\nMorgan: "I felt th at I had a pretty good idea of what fascism was and most of its ramificati ons. Being aware of what the Fascist Italian government did to the Ethiopi ans\, and also the way that I and all the rest of the Negroes in this coun try have been treated ever since slavery\, I figured I had a pretty good i dea of what fascism was..."\n\nSACB: "Mr. Morgan\, were those thoughts in your mind before you went to Spain?"\n\nMorgan: "Ever since I have been bi g enough to understand things I have rebelled. As a small child of three o r four years old I would rebel at human injustice in the way I understood it at that age. And as long as I have been able to remember\, up until now \, the government and a lot of people have treated me as a second-class ci tizen. I am 43 years old\, and all my life I have been treated as a second -class citizen\, and naturally if you always have been treated like one yo u start feeling it at a very tender age.\n\nWith Hitler on the march\, and fascism starting the fight in Spain\, I felt that it could serve two purp oses: I felt that if we cold lick the Fascists in Spain\, I felt that in t he trend of things it would offset a bloodbath later. I felt that if we di dn't lick Franco and stop fascism there\, it would spread over lots of the world. And it is bad enough for white people to live under fascism\, thos e of the white people that like freedom and democracy. But Negroes couldn' t live under it. They would be wiped out." RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/excerpts-congressional-testimony-craw ford-morgan RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subversive_Activities_Control_Boar d END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Hannie Schaft (1920 - 1945) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250916 DTEND:20250917T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Birthdays,Fascism COMMENT:Johanna "Hannie" Schaft\, born on this day in 1920\, was a renowne d Dutch communist resistance fighter during World War II. A member of the Nazi's "Most Wanted" list\, she was arrested in 1945 and executed three we eks before the war ended. DESCRIPTION:Johanna "Hannie" Schaft\, born on this day in 1920\, was a ren owned Dutch communist resistance fighter during World War II. A member of the Nazi's "Most Wanted" list\, she was arrested in 1945 and executed thre e weeks before the war ended.\n\nAs a member of the anti-Nazi resistance\, Hannie carried out attacks on Germans\, Dutch Nazis\, collaborators\, and traitors. She learned to speak German fluently and sometimes became invol ved with German soldiers. Such was her notoriety that "the girl with the r ed hair" was added to the Nazi's most-wanted list\, and she dyed her hair black to continue acts of espionage unimpeded.\n\nSchaft was eventually ar rested at a military checkpoint in Haarlem on March 21st\, 1945 while dist ributing the illegal communist newspaper "de Waarheid" (literally "The Tru th"). She was shot dead three weeks before the end of the war in the dunes of Bloemendaal. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannie_Schaft RESOURCES:https://seducingandkillingnazis.com/about/ RESOURCES:https://nypost.com/2019/12/14/meet-the-dutch-girls-who-seduced-n azis-and-lured-them-to-their-deaths/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Itō Noe Assassinated (1923) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250916 DTEND:20250917T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Assassinations,Anarchism COMMENT:Itō Noe was a Japanese anarchist\, social critic\, author\, and f eminist who\, alongside her partner and his six year old nephew\, was assa ssinated by state police on this day in 1923. DESCRIPTION:Itō Noe was a Japanese anarchist\, social critic\, author\, a nd feminist who\, alongside her partner and his six year old nephew\, was assassinated by state police on this day in 1923.\n\nItō was the editor-i n-chief of the feminist magazine "Seitō"\, although the magazine eventual ly folded due to lack of funds because the government would not let distri butors carry it.\n\nBeginning in 1916\, Itō lived and worked with her par tner and fellow anarchist Sakae Ōsugi\, and continued to gain prominence as a feminist and anarchist writer. She was highly critical of the existin g political system in Japan\, which led her to call for an anarchism to ex ist in "everyday practice"\, namely that people should in various small wa ys seek routinely to undermine the kokutai (a sense of national body polit ic). Itō also translated anarchist writings into Japanese\, including wor ks of Emma Goldman.\n\nOn September 16th\, 1923\, Itō\, Ōsugi\, and his 6-year-old nephew Munekazu were arrested\, strangled to death\, and thrown into an abandoned well by a squad of military police known as the "Kenpei tai".\n\nThe killing of such high-profile anarchists\, together with a you ng child\, became a national controversy known as the "Amakasu Incident" ( named after the leader of the squad). Lt. Amakasu was arrested and sentenc ed to ten years in prison for the murders\, however he was released after serving only three years. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%C5%8D_Noe RESOURCES:https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/david-g-nelson-ito-noe-1 895-1923 RESOURCES:https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/ito-noe-the-facts-of-ana rchy END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Maria Nikiforova Executed (1919) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250916 DTEND:20250917T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Anarchism COMMENT:Maria Nikiforova was a Ukrainian anarchist partisan leader who\, a longside her husband\, was court martialed and executed by the White Army on this day in 1919. DESCRIPTION:Maria Nikiforova was a Ukrainian anarchist partisan leader who \, alongside her husband\, was court martialed and executed by the White A rmy on this day in 1919.\n\nA self-described terrorist from the age of 16\ , Nikiforova was known widely by her nickname "Marusya".\n\nThrough her re volutionary efforts\, Nikiforova became a renowned figure in the anarchist movement of 1918–1919 in Ukraine during Russian Civil War. She was alli ed with and influenced Nestor Makhno\, and they worked together\, pooling resources to fight off other forces in the civil war.\n\nOn August 11th\, 1919\, Marusya was recognized on the street in Sevastopol and she and her husband were arrested by the Whites. Marusya's arrest was a great victory for White counter-intelligence\, and a month was spent gathering evidence for the case against her.\n\nNikiforova's "trial"\, actually a field court -martial\, was held September 16th\, 1919. Nikiforova and her husband were both found guilty of various acts of violence against counter-revolutiona ry forces in Ukraine (her husband just by association)\, and they were bot h swiftly executed. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Nikiforova RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/atamansha-life-marusya-nikiforova END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Mildred Fish-Harnack (1902 - 1943) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250916 DTEND:20250917T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Labor,Birthdays,Fascism COMMENT:Mildred Elizabeth Fish-Harnack\, born on this day in 1902\, was an American literary historian\, translator\, and anti-fascist organizer in Nazi Germany. She was the only American woman executed on direct orders fr om Adolf Hitler. DESCRIPTION:Mildred Elizabeth Fish-Harnack\, born on this day in 1902\, wa s an American literary historian\, translator\, and anti-fascist organizer in Nazi Germany. She was the only American woman executed on direct order s from Adolf Hitler.\n\nBorn in the United States\, Fish-Harnack moved wit h her husband Arvid to Germany to continue her studies\, eventually ended up at the University of Berlin. During her time there\, Fish-Harnack becam e interested in the Soviet Union and communist thought.\n\nIn her lectures \, Fish-Harnack encouraged her students to use Karl Marx as a "practical s olution to the evils of the present". Amid financial difficulties at Berli n University and the rising Nazi movement\, Mildred was let go from her te aching position in 1932.\n\nTogether with her husband\, in 1932 Fish-Harna ck formed a left-wing group that regularly met to discuss and debate conte mporary political ideas. From these meetings arose a key part of the "Red Orchestra"\, a loose collective of anti-fascists committed to resisting th e Nazi government during World War II.\n\nBeginning in 1940\, the group wa s in contact with Soviet agents in an attempt to thwart the forthcoming Ge rman attack upon the Soviet Union. Mildred herself even sent the Soviets i nformation about the planned invasion\, codenamed Operation Barbarossa.\n\ nFollowing the capture of German communist and Soviet collaborator Johann Wenzel\, Nazi police were able to decipher Red Orchestra messages. On Sept ember 7th\, Arvid and Mildred Fish-Harnack were arrested while on a weeken d outing. Both were executed in custody.\n\nMildred's last words were purp orted to have been: "Ich habe Deutschland auch so geliebt" ("I loved Germa ny so much as well"). She was the only American woman executed on the orde rs of Adolf Hitler. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mildred_Harnack RESOURCES:https://news.wisc.edu/mildred-fish-harnack-honored-as-hero-of-re sistance-to-nazi-regime/ RESOURCES:https://womeninwisconsin.org/profile/mildred-fish-harnack/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Ricardo Flores Magón (1873 - 1922) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250916 DTEND:20250917T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,IWW,Anarchism COMMENT:Ricardo Flores Magón\, born on this day in 1873\, was an influent ial Mexican anarchist activist whose followers were known as "Magonistas". In 1922\, Magón died in a U.S. prison\, arrested for violating the Espio nage Act. DESCRIPTION:*sources provide conflicting birth years - the one listed is p rovided by Encyclopedia Britannica\n\nRicardo Flores Magón\, born on this day in 1873\, was a noted Mexican anarchist and social reform activist. F ollowers of the Flores Magón brothers (including Enrique and Jesus) were known as Magonistas. In 1911\, the Magonistas controlled Tijuana and Mexic ali for about six months as part of the "Magonista Uprising" against the s tate.\n\nDrawing upon the influences of early anarchist writers\, such as Kropotkin\, Bakunin\, Goldman\, and others\, Ricardo was one of the major thinkers of the Mexican Revolution and the Mexican revolutionary movement in the Partido Liberal Mexicano.\n\nFlores Magón organized with the Indus trial Workers of the World (IWW) and edited the Mexican anarchist newspape r "Regeneración". He has been considered an important participant in the social movement that sparked the Mexican Revolution.\n\nAfter his works we re banned in Mexico\, Ricardo fled to the United States\, where he would r emain for the rest of his life. Arrested multiple times\, his final arrest came he was charged and convicted with sedition under the Espionage Act o f 1917\, and he was sentenced to twenty years for "obstructing the war eff ort"\, a violation of the Act.\n\nMagón died at Leavenworth Penitentiary in Kansas\, and speculation remains today about whether he died of natural causes or was murdered by prison guards. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ricardo_Flores_Mag%C3%B3n RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/magon-ricardo-flores-1873-1922 RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/subject/anarchism/ricardo-flores-magon/ index.html RESOURCES:https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ricardo-Flores-Magon END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:The Wall Street Bombing (1920) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250916 DTEND:20250917T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Anarchism,Terrorism COMMENT:On this day in 1920\, American anarchists bombed Wall Street in th e Financial District of Manhattan\, New York City\, killing 38 people and seriously injuring at least 143 more. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1920\, American anarchists bombed Wall Street i n the Financial District of Manhattan\, New York City\, killing 38 people and seriously injuring at least 143 more.\n\nThe Wall Street Bombing of 19 20 was the deadliest act of terrorism on U.S. soil at that point\, with 18 1 severe casualties and hundreds more sustaining mild injuries.\n\nAlthoug h the perpetrators of the bombing were never found\, investigators and his torians believe it was carried out by Galleanists (Italian anarchists)\, a group responsible for multiple episodes of political violence in the U.S. \n\nThe following day\, authorities released the contents of flyers found in a post office box in the Wall Street area just before the explosion. Pr inted in red ink on white paper\, they said: "Remember\, we will not toler ate any longer. Free the political prisoners\, or it will be sure death fo r all of you." At the bottom\, the flyers were signed "American Anarchist Fighters". RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wall_Street_bombing RESOURCES:https://www.britannica.com/event/Wall-Street-bombing-of-1920 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Víctor Jara Assassinated (1973) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250916 DTEND:20250917T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Assassinations,Protests COMMENT:Víctor Jara was a Chilean teacher\, theater director\, poet\, sin ger-songwriter\, and communist political activist murdered by fascist forc es on this day in 1973\, following the U.S.-backed coup that established P inochet's military dictatorship. DESCRIPTION:Víctor Jara was a Chilean teacher\, theater director\, poet\, singer-songwriter\, and communist political activist murdered by fascist forces on this day in 1973\, following the U.S.-backed coup that establish ed Pinochet's military dictatorship.\n\nJara developed Chilean theater by directing a broad array of works\, ranging from locally produced plays to world classics\, as well as the experimental work of playwrights such as A nn Jellicoe.\n\nJara also played a pivotal role among neo-folkloric musici ans who established the Nueva Canción Chilena (New Chilean Song) movement . This led to an uprising of new sounds in popular music during the admini stration of President Salvador Allende.\n\nJust a few days after the U.S.- backed coup that ousted Allende from power\, Jara was arrested\, tortured\ , and killed by the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. Guards smashed his f ingers and mockingly asked him to play guitar\; Jara responded by singing "Venceremos"\, which begins:\n\nFrom the deep crucible of the homeland\n\n The people's voice rises up\n\nThe new day comes over the horizon\n\nAll C hile breaks out in song.\n\nJara is one of many "desaparecidos" - people w ho vanished under the Pinochet government and were most likely tortured an d killed.\n\nThirty-six years after his first burial\, Jara received a ful l funeral on December 3rd\, 2009 in Santiago. On July 3rd\, 2018\, eight r etired Chilean military officers were sentenced to 15 years in prison for Jara's murder\, as well as the killing of his communist associate and form er Chilean prison director Littre Quiroga Carvajal.\n\nIn 1969\, Jara stat ed: "The cultural invasion is like a leafy tree which prevents us from see ing our own sun\, sky and stars. Therefore in order to be able to see the sky above our heads\, our task is to cut this tree off at the roots. US im perialism understands very well the magic of communication through music a nd persists in filling our young people with all sorts of commercial tripe . With professional expertise they have taken certain measures: first\, th e commercialization of the so-called 'protest music'\; second\, the creati on of 'idols' of protest music who obey the same rules and suffer from the same constraints as the other idols of the consumer music industry – th ey last a little while and then disappear. Meanwhile they are useful in ne utralizing the innate spirit of rebellion of young people. The term 'prote st song' is no longer valid because it is ambiguous and has been misused. I prefer the term 'revolutionary song'." RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V%C3%ADctor_Jara RESOURCES:https://socialistworker.org/2014/10/20/introducing-victor-jara RESOURCES:https://www.britannica.com/biography/Victor-Jara RESOURCES:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSg53srhQyQ&ab_channel=VictorJar a-M%C3%BAsica END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Agostinho Neto (1922 - 1979) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250917 DTEND:20250918T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Marxism,Birthdays,Colonialism COMMENT:Agostinho Neto\, born on this day in 1922\, was an Angolan poet\, revolutionary\, and Marxist politician\, elected President of the newly in dependent People's Republic of Angola in 1975. DESCRIPTION:Agostinho Neto\, born on this day in 1922\, was an Angolan poe t\, revolutionary\, and Marxist politician\, elected President of the newl y independent People's Republic of Angola in 1975.\n\nDuring his youth\, N eto was active in several anti-colonial movements in Angola\, then a Portu guese colony. In 1947\, he moved to Portugal to study\, where he would be arrested for participating in political demonstrations. Following protests demanding his release\, he was placed under house arrest\, which he escap ed.\n\nFrom 1962 to 1974\, Neto would move across the world\, covertly dir ecting the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola's (MPLA) guerilla war against the Portuguese colonizers. Following the Carnation Revolution in Portugal\, Angola was granted independence\, to be led by a coalition of different anti-colonial groups. This coalition quickly fell apart\, wit h Angola erupting into a civil war in 1975.\n\nDeclaring a Marxist-Leninis t state\, Neto was elected President of the People's Republic of Angola at the MPLA's first party congress in 1975. He died while undergoing surgery for liver cancer in 1979 at the age of 57.\n\n"Our contribution has to be given not only for the liquidation of the colonial system but also for th e liquidation of ignorance\, disease and primitive forms of social organiz ation."\n\n- Agostinho Neto RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agostinho_Neto RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/agostinho-neto- 1922-1979/ RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/portugues/neto/index.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Harriet Tubman Escapes (1849) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250917 DTEND:20250918T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1849\, Harriet Tubman escaped from slavery. She mad e more than dozen missions to rescue upwards of seventy enslaved people\, including family and friends\, using the resistance network known as the " Underground Railroad". DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1849\, Harriet Tubman escaped from slavery. She made more than dozen missions to rescue upwards of seventy enslaved peopl e\, including family and friends\, using the resistance network known as t he "Underground Railroad".\n\nDuring the American Civil War\, Tubman serve d as an armed scout and spy for the Union Army. In later years\, she was a n activist in the struggle for women's suffrage. She was friends with both John Brown and Frederick Douglass\, and enjoyed renown for her heroism wh ile still alive.\n\nIn 1911\, two years before she died\, Tubman attended a meeting of the suffrage club in Geneva\, New York\, where a white woman asked her: "Do you really believe that women should vote?" Tubman reported ly replied\, "I suffered enough to believe it."\n\nTubman died of pneumoni a on March 10th\, 1913 in Auburn\, New York\, at approximately 92 years ol d. RESOURCES:http://www.harriettubmanbiography.com/harriet-tubman-s-flight-to -freedom.html RESOURCES:https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/ha rriet-tubman RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/tubman-harrie t-ross-c-1821-1913/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Occupy Wall Street Begins (2011) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250917 DTEND:20250918T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Protests COMMENT:Occupy Wall Street (OWS) was a protest movement against economic i nequality that began on this day in Zuccotti Park\, located in New York Ci ty's Wall Street financial district\, in 2011. DESCRIPTION:Occupy Wall Street (OWS) was a protest movement against econom ic inequality that began on this day in Zuccotti Park\, located in New Yor k City's Wall Street financial district\, in 2011. It gave rise to the wid er Occupy movement in the United States and other countries.\n\nThe OWS sl ogan\, "We are the 99%"\, refers to income and wealth inequality in the U. S. between the wealthiest 1% and the rest of the population. To achieve th eir goals\, protesters acted on consensus-based decisions made in general assemblies which emphasized redress through direct action. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupy_Wall_Street RESOURCES:https://www.rferl.org/a/what_does_the_occupy_wall_street_movemen t_want/24356295.html RESOURCES:https://www.occupy.com/article/founders-and-keepers-occupy-wall- street#sthash.0H5RU2ax.dpbs END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Teachers Strike in Philippines (1988) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250917 DTEND:20250918T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Labor COMMENT:On this day in 1988\, thousands of school teachers in the Philippi nes went on strike\, leading to mass firings and suspensions by the govern ment. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1988\, thousands of school teachers in the Phil ippines went on strike\, leading to mass firings and suspensions by the go vernment.\n\nThe following account of the strike is quoted verbatim from a history of trade unionism by the International Communist Current\, a left communist organization headquartered in Paris\, France:\n\n"In September 17-21\, 1988 thousands of school teachers led by Association of Concerned Teachers (ACT) and Manila Public School Teachers Association (MPSTA) went on strike due to unpaid allowances. Classes were completely paralyzed\, pr ompting Education Secretary Cariño to dismiss and suspend 3\,000 teachers . This struggle was "led" by the CPP [Communist Party of the Philippines]. Instead of generalizing the struggle of the teachers\, CPP isolated it\, leading to its failure. This took place as the workers' movement in genera l was on the wane.\n\n...The years 1987-1988 were the last expression of t he generalization of workers' struggles. Attempts of the militant workers to generalize their struggles were marred by union sabotage of sectoral an d industry by industry struggles of the unions." RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/history-trade-unionism-philippines END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Chris Hedges (1956 - ) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250918 DTEND:20250919T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Fascism COMMENT:Chris Hedges\, born on this day in 1956\, is an American journalis t\, activist\, and professor\, known for his texts such as "Death of the L iberal Class"\, "Days of Descrution\, Days of Revolt"\, and "America: The Farewell Tour". DESCRIPTION:Chris Hedges\, born on this day in 1956\, is a Pulitzer Prize- winning American journalist\, activist\, and visiting Princeton University lecturer.\n\nAmong Hedge's works are "War Is a Force That Gives Us Meanin g" (2002)\, "Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Sp ectacle" (2009)\, "Death of the Liberal Class" (2010)\, "Days of Destructi on\, Days of Revolt" (2012)\, "Wages of Rebellion: The Moral Imperative of Revolt" (2015)\, and "America: The Farewell Tour (2018)".\n\nHedges was a n early critic of the Iraq War. In May 2003\, he delivered a commencement address at Rockford College in Rockford\, Illinois\, saying: "We are embar king on an occupation that\, if history is any guide\, will be as damaging to our souls as it will be to our prestige and power and security."\n\nTh ese remarks were booed and Hedges' microphone was shut off three minutes a fter he began speaking. The New York Times\, his then-employer\, criticize d his statements and issued him a formal reprimand for "public remarks tha t could undermine public trust in the paper's impartiality".\n\nShortly af ter the incident\, Hedges left The New York Times to become a senior fello w at The Nation Institute and a columnist at Truthdig\, in addition to wri ting books and teaching inmates at a New Jersey correctional institution.\ n\nHedges has taught college credit courses for several years in New Jerse y prisons. He teaches a course through Princeton University in which the c lass is composed of half prisoners and half Princeton undergraduates. He h as described himself as a socialist identifying with Catholic activist Dor othy Day in particular.\n\n"I do not fight fascists because I will win. I fight fascists because they are fascists."\n\n- Chris Hedges RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Hedges RESOURCES:http://www.lausti.com/articles/hedgescont.html END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Eugene V. Debs Sentencing (1918) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250918 DTEND:20250919T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Socialism COMMENT:On this day in 1918\, American socialist labor organizer Eugene V. Debs was sentenced to prison for violating the Espionage Act after he urg ed resistance to the WWI draft. From prison\, Debs ran for President\, rec eiving 919\,799 votes (~3.4%). DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1918\, American socialist labor organizer Eugen e V. Debs was sentenced to prison for violating the Espionage Act after he urged resistance to the WWI draft. From prison\, Debs ran for President\, receiving 919\,799 votes (~3.4%).\n\nDebs' speeches critical of the Woodr ow Wilson administration and the war earned the enmity of President Wilson \, who called Debs a "traitor to his country".\n\nOn June 16th\, 1918\, De bs made a speech in Canton\, Ohio urging resistance to the military draft of World War I. He was arrested on June 30th and charged with ten counts o f sedition.\n\nDebs was found guilty on September 12th. At his sentencing hearing on the 18th\, Debs gave a speech to the court that is now a classi c of socialist literature. Here is a short excerpt:\n\n"Your Honor\, years ago I recognized my kinship with all living beings\, and I made up my min d that I was not one bit better than the meanest on earth. I said then\, a nd I say now\, that while there is a lower class\, I am in it\, and while there is a criminal element I am of it\, and while there is a soul in pris on\, I am not free." RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/archive/debs/works/1918/court.htm RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_V._Debs END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Flora Sanhueza Murdered (1973) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250918 DTEND:20250919T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Socialism,Fascism COMMENT:Flora Sanhueza was a Chilean socialist\, anti-fascist soldier\, an d teacher who died on this day in 1973 as a result of torture and sexual a ssault inflicted in the Pisagua concentration camp\, by the new fascist re gime of Augusto Pinochet. DESCRIPTION:Flora Sanhueza was a Chilean socialist\, anti-fascist soldier\ , and teacher who died on this day in 1973 as a result of torture and sexu al assault inflicted in the Pisagua concentration camp\, by the new fascis t regime of Augusto Pinochet.\n\nBorn into an anarchist family\, Sanhueza was a dedicated anti-fascist who fought against the Francoists during the Spanish Civil War. Upon returning home\, she founded a school to educate w orking class women called "Luisa Michel Libertarian Athenaeum".\n\nOn the day of the Chilean September 11th coup (which ousted socialist president S alvador Allende and brought Augusto Pinochet into power)\, Flora and her s on were arrested and later transferred to the Pisagua concentration camp.\ n\nThere\, Flora was brutally tortured and sexually assaulted. From the wo unds caused by this treatment\, she died on this day in 1973\, one of the many victims of the violent political repression of the Pinochet regime. RESOURCES:https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flora_Sanhueza RESOURCES:https://prensaopal.cl/2020/03/07/flora-sanhueza-resistencia-femi nista-de-clase/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Fugitive Slave Act (1850) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250918 DTEND:20250919T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1850\, the Fugitive Slave Act was passed by the U.S . Congress as part of the Compromise of 1850\, compelling all in free stat es to return fugitive slaves to their would-be masters and banning suspect ed slaves from legal appeal. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1850\, the Fugitive Slave Act was passed by the U.S. Congress as part of the Compromise of 1850\, compelling all in free states to return fugitive slaves to their would-be masters and banning sus pected slaves from legal appeal.\n\nThe Compromise of 1850 was brokered be tween Southern slavers and Northern Free-Soilers. This law greatly expande d on the racialized terror of the previous Fugitive Slave Act of 1793\, wr itten with the intent to enforce Article 4\, Section 2\, Clause 3 of the C onstitution\, which required the return of runaway enslaved people.\n\nThe Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 compelled all authorities in free states to re turn fugitives of enslavement to their masters\, penalizing officials who did not arrest an alleged runaway slave\, prevented suspected slaves from asking for a jury trial or testifying on their own behalf\, and subjected any person aiding a fugitive slave by providing food or shelter with six m onths' imprisonment and a $1\,000 fine.\n\nThe Act was one of the most con troversial elements of the 1850 compromise\; abolitionists nicknamed it th e "Bloodhound Bill". The political fallout from its passage is considered by some historians to be one of the causes of the Civil War. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fugitive_Slave_Act_of_1850 RESOURCES:https://socialwelfare.library.vcu.edu/federal/fugitive-slave-act -of-1850/ RESOURCES:https://www.britannica.com/event/Fugitive-Slave-Acts END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Georgian Prison Reform Protests (2012) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250918 DTEND:20250919T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Protests COMMENT:On this day in 2012\, footage of penitentiary guards torturing det ainees at Gldani Prison in Tbilisi\, Georgia's capital city\, were broadca st on television\, leading to weeks of revolutionary protests and widespre ad prison reform. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 2012\, footage of penitentiary guards torturing detainees at Gldani Prison in Tbilisi\, Georgia's capital city\, were bro adcast on television\, leading to weeks of revolutionary protests and wide spread prison reform.\n\nOne video showed a group of uniformed officials b rutally beating a prisoner to the ground as other inmates waited\, heads b owed in line. Another video showed multiple guards sodomizing a prisoner w ith police batons and a broomstick.\n\nThat evening\, thousands of Georgia ns took to the streets in protest of the abuse. The protests went on for w eeks and took on an anti-government character\, supporting the political o pposition\, the Georgian Dream Coalition.\n\nOn October 1st\, 2012\, the g overning United National Movement suffered a landslide defeat to the Dream Coalition in the parliamentary elections. The new administration promised to improve the penal system and prison conditions.\n\nIn 2013\, over the span of three months\, the newly elected government granted large-scale pr ison amnesty reducing Georgia's 24\,000-person strong prison population by half. RESOURCES:http://libcom.org/history/2012 RESOURCES:https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/sep/21/georgia-protesters -demand-prison-prosecutions END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Pavlos Fyssas Assassinated (2013) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250918 DTEND:20250919T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Assassinations,Fascism,Protests COMMENT:Pavlos Fyssas was a Greek anti-fascist rapper who was killed by me mbers of the fascist group Golden Dawn on this day in 2013. "Let them come and find me at the mountain top\, I'm waiting for them and I will not bot her with fear." DESCRIPTION:Pavlos Fyssas was a Greek anti-fascist rapper who was killed b y members of the fascist group Golden Dawn on this day in 2013.\n\nFyssas\ , also known as "Killah P" ("Killer of the Past")\, came from a working cl ass family. He and his father were both members of the Piraeus metal union . Pavlos had been active hip hop since 1997 and is well-known for his left -wing\, anti-fascist lyrics.\n\nOn September 18th\, 2013\, Fyssas was fata lly stabbed by Giorgios Roupakias\, a member and employee of the neo-fasci st party Golden Dawn. Following his death\, there were a series of protest s and rallies against Golden Dawn throughout Europe.\n\nDuring one protest in Athens\, attended by 2\,500-10\,000 people\, anti-fascists began march ing towards Golden Dawn's central offices and were arrested and beaten by police. On November 1st\, 2013\, a shooting took place at the Golden Dawn' s Neo Irakleio offices in Athens\, killing two members.\n\nIn October 2020 \, sixty-eight members of Golden Dawn were declared part of a criminal org anization\, and fifteen were convicted in charges relating to Pavlos' murd er.\n\nWhen asked about Pavlos' character by Al Jazeera\, his mother state d "You're asking a mother about what kind of a person her son was. He was a free man."\n\n"The world has become a big prison\n\nand I'm looking for a way to break the chains\n\n...\n\nLet them come and find me at the mount ain top\, I'm waiting for them and I will not bother with fear."\n\n- Pavl os Fyssas RESOURCES:https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2017/9/15/greece-mourns-slain -anti-fascist-rapper-pavlos-fyssas RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pavlos_Fyssas RESOURCES:https://roarmag.org/essays/pavlos-fyssas-killah-p-lyrics/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Alexander Berkman Sentencing (1892) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250919 DTEND:20250920T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Assassinations,Anarchism COMMENT:On this day in 1892\, across the span of just four hours\, America n anarchist Alexander Berkman was tried\, convicted\, and sentenced to 21 years in prison for attempting to assassinate capitalist Henry Clay Frick. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1892\, across the span of just four hours\, Ame rican anarchist Alexander Berkman was tried\, convicted\, and sentenced to 21 years in prison for attempting to assassinate capitalist Henry Clay Fr ick.\n\nAlexander Berkman (1870 - 1936) was a leading member of the anarch ist movement in the early 20th century\, famous for both his political act ivism and his writing. He was also the partner of Emma Goldman\, another l eading figure of the anarchist movement.\n\nIn 1892\, Berkamn\, Goldman\, and his cousin Modest Aronstam conspired to assassinate Henry Clay Frick\, an anti-union factory manager and antagonist of the Homestead Strike. Ber kman's plan was to assassinate Frick and then kill himself\; Goldman was t o explain Berkman's motives after his death\; Aronstam was to follow Berkm an in the event that he failed in his mission.\n\nThe mission failed and B erkman was arrested. On September 19th\, 1892\, across the span of just fo ur hours\, Berkman was tried\, convicted\, and sentenced to 21 years in pr ison\, of which he served 14. His experiences in prison were the basis of his first book\, "Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist"\, a staple of anarchist literature today. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Berkman RESOURCES:https://spartacus-educational.com/USAberkman.htm RESOURCES:https://theanarchistlibrary.org/category/author/alexander-berkma n RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/library/alexander-berkman-prison-memoirs-anar chist END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Camilla Massacre (1868) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250919 DTEND:20250920T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Massacre,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1868\, the Camilla Massacre took place when a march led by former representative Phillip Joiner in protest of the expulsion o f black members from the Georgia General Assembly was viciously attacked b y white supremacists. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1868\, the Camilla Massacre took place when a m arch led by former representative Phillip Joiner in protest of the expulsi on of black members from the Georgia General Assembly was viciously attack ed by white supremacists.\n\nThe "Original 33" were the first 33 African-A merican members of the Georgia General Assembly who were elected to office in 1868\, during the Reconstruction era. \n\nThey were among the first Af rican-American state legislators in the United States\, and were expelled by the white members of the General Assembly\, who claimed black people co uld not hold office in Georgia.\n\nThe expelled members appealed to the fe deral government and state courts. In protest of the expulsion\, former re presentative Phillip Joiner led a 25 mile march to Camilla\, the county se at\, on this day in 1868.\n\nThere\, they were attacked by an armed white mob - approximately a dozen marchers were killed and 30-40 wounded. The Ca milla Massacre began the era of de facto voting discrimination and politic al disenfranchisement of the black population in Georgia.\n\nAlthough the expelled legislators eventually won a case in the Georgia Supreme Court (W hite v. Clements) that gave them the right to hold office\, voter intimida tion and de facto voting discrimination heightened to such a degree that G eorgia went almost sixty years without having a single black legislator in its state congress\, although they were legally allowed to do so. RESOURCES:https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/camilla-massacre/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camilla_massacre END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Charles Horman Executed (1973) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250919 DTEND:20250920T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Marxism,Journalism,Fascism,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1973\, following the fascist coup against Chilean P resident Salvador Allende\, American journalist and documentary filmmaker Charles Horman was executed in the National Stadium concentration camp in Santiago. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1973\, following the fascist coup against Chile an President Salvador Allende\, American journalist and documentary filmma ker Charles Horman was executed in the National Stadium concentration camp in Santiago.\n\nHorman was born in New York City on May 15th\, 1942\, gra duating from Phillips Exeter Academy in 1960 and Harvard in 1964. He was a n active anti-war protester\, present at the 1968 DNC protests and produci ng an award winning documentary titled "Napalm". He also worked as an inve stigative journalist for publications such as The Nation and The Christian Science Monitor.\n\nIn December 1971\, Charles and his wife Joyce left th e U.S. for Latin America\, eventually settling down in Santiago\, Chile\, where he worked as a freelance writer.\n\nOn September 11th\, 1973\, fasci sts led by Augusto Pinochet and the CIA ousted democratically elected Marx ist President Salvador Allende. In the following weeks\, many prominent le ft-wing activists\, such as Flora Sanhueza\, Victor Jara\, and Frank Terug gi\, were arrested and killed.\n\nHorman himself was arrested on September 16th\, seized from his home by Chilean soldiers and taken to the National Stadium\, which had been turned into a de facto concentration camp follow ing the coup. There\, Horman was executed on September 19th\, 1973.\n\nDoc uments declassified by the Clinton administration in 1999 indicate the U.S . knew of Horman's plight but initially obfuscated investigations into his death. They also indicated that it was unlikely Horman would have been ki lled without the knowledge and permission of the CIA.\n\nIn June 2014\, a Chilean court ruled that U.S. authorities had played a "fundamental" role in Horman's murder. In January 2015\, two former Chilean intelligence offi cials were sentenced to jail in Chile for the murders of Charles Horman an d Frank Teruggi\, another American activist who was also arrested\, execut ed the following day. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Horman RESOURCES:http://www.derechos.org/nizkor/chile/libros/reporter/capII15.htm l RESOURCES:https://www.nytimes.com/2000/02/13/world/us-victims-of-chile-s-c oup-the-uncensored-file.html END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Curaçao Slave Revolt Defeated (1795) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250919 DTEND:20250920T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1795\, revolutionaries Tula and Karpata\, who had b een engaging in guerilla warfare with colonizers in Curaçao\, were betray ed and captured\, effectively ending their campaign of liberation. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1795\, revolutionaries Tula and Karpata\, who h ad been engaging in guerilla warfare with colonizers in Curaçao\, were be trayed and captured\, effectively ending their campaign of liberation.\n\n The Curaçao Slave Revolt had begun in August of 1795 and was led by Tula\ , an enslaved man. On the morning of August 17th\, at the Knip plantation of slave master Caspar Lodewijk van Utrecht at Bandabou\, Curaçao\, the r evolt began when Tula and the others slaves gathered and informed van Utre cht they would no longer be his slaves.\n\nThe rebels then left for Lagun\ , where they freed 22 slaves from jail and went from farm to farm\, libera ting people as they went. After being defeated in open battle\, rebels beg an a guerrilla campaign\, poisoning wells and stealing food.\n\nOn Septemb er 19th\, 1795\, Tula and Karpata were betrayed by a fellow slave. They we re taken prisoner\, and the war was effectively over. After Tula was captu red\, he was publicly tortured to death on October 3rd that year.\n\nThe e nslaved population was granted more freedom on the island as a result of t he uprising\, although the system of slavery was not formally abolished un til 1863. \n\nToday\, August 17th is celebrated in Curaçao to commemorate the beginning of the liberation struggle. The uprising was dramatized in the 2013 Dutch film "Tula: The Revolt". RESOURCES:https://www.curacaohistory.com/detail/1795-tula RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cura%C3%A7ao_Slave_Revolt_of_1795 RESOURCES:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5TIUbo6aag&ab_channel=gloweism END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Mabel Vernon (1883 - 1975) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250919 DTEND:20250920T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Protests COMMENT:Mabel Vernon\, born on this day in 1883\, was an American suffragi st\, pacifist\, and teacher who was a leader within the Congressional Unio n for Women Suffrage (CUWS)\, organizing two years of daily picketing outs ide the White House. DESCRIPTION:Mabel Vernon\, born on this day in 1883\, was an American suff ragist\, pacifist\, and teacher who was a leader within the Congressional Union for Women Suffrage (CUWS). Vernon is also known for organizing campa igns of daily picketing outside Woodrow Wilson's White House\; participant s were known as the "Silent Sentinels".\n\nVernon's suffragist organizing began in 1912\, when she worked at the National American Woman Suffrage As sociation convention as an usher. Active in pro-suffrage campaigns in the following years\, she took on a role as a leader\, along with Alice Paul\, in organizing the Silent Sentinels campaign in 1917.\n\nThe Silent Sentin els\, also known as the "Sentinels of Liberty"\, were a group of women who protested in front of the White House constantly for two and a half years \, holding signs that said "Mr. President\, how long must women wait for l iberty?" and "Kaiser Wilson\, have you forgotten your sympathy with the po or Germans because they were not self-governed? 20\,000\,000 American wome n are not self-governed. Take the beam out of your own eye."\n\nThroughout the years of protest\, many of the approximately 2\,000 women who pickete d were harassed\, arrested\, and unjustly treated by local and federal aut horities\, including the torture and abuse inflicted during the November 1 4th\, 1917 "Night of Terror". In total\, nearly 500 women were arrested\, and 168\, including Mabel Vernon\, served jail time.\n\nFollowing the pass age of the Nineteenth Amendment\, enfranchising 26 million women\, Vernon supported women political candidates and feminist legislation. She also ea rned a Master's Degree in Political Science from Columbia University in 19 24.\n\n"If our pickets had not done anything more than stand there that fi rst day\, they would have accomplished much for the Federal Amendment\, be cause through the press millions and millions of people were reached on th at one day and made to think of national woman suffrage."\n\n- Mabel Verno n RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mabel_Vernon RESOURCES:https://awpc.cattcenter.iastate.edu/directory/mabel-vernon/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:New Zealand Women's Suffrage (1893) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250919 DTEND:20250920T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1893\, after two decades of campaigning by suffrage ttes such as Kate Sheppard (shown)\, New Zealand became the first country with a Western-style parliament that allowed women to vote in its election s. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1893\, New Zealand became the first country wit h a Western-style parliament that allowed women to vote in its elections. Women's suffrage was granted after about two decades of campaigning throug hout New Zealand\, led by women such as Kate Sheppard (shown) and Mary Ann Müller.\n\nThe activists delivered a series of petitions to Parliament - over 9\,000 signatures were delivered in 1891\, followed by a petition of almost 20\,000 signatures in 1892\, and finally in 1893 nearly 32\,000 si gnatures were presented\, almost a quarter of the adult European female po pulation of New Zealand. Through this popular pressure\, a bill was passed that granted women the right to vote.\n\nSome historians have noted that colonialism was regressive for women's rights in New Zealand. Writing for The Guardian\, Emma Espiner stated:\n\n"The settler scholars who transmute d our oral language into a written one reframed our myths and legends so t hat our female deities were subservient to the male. These same 'historian s' assumed that our chiefs were all men and wrote them into the histories as such.\n\nOur pronouns and many of our names were gender-neutral long be fore the concept became a source of anxiety for conservative columnists\, so it was straightforward for ethnographers to assign a male gender to the chiefs named in our oral tradition. Māori women leaders simply disappear ed." RESOURCES:https://nzhistory.govt.nz/politics/womens-suffrage/brief-history RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_suffrage_in_New_Zealand RESOURCES:https://www.waikato.ac.nz/law/research/waikato_law_review/pubs/v olume_2_1994/7 RESOURCES:https://www.theguardian.com/world/commentisfree/2020/feb/05/the- treaty-of-waitangi-was-forged-to-exclude-maori-women-we-must-right-that-wr ong END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:PAIGC Founded (1956) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250919 DTEND:20250920T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Marxism,Massacre,Independence COMMENT:On this day in 1956\, the African Party for the Independence of Gu inea and Cape Verde (PAIGC) was founded. Initially committed to peaceful c hange\, PAIGC turned to armed struggle following the Pidjiguiti Massacre. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1956\, the African Party for the Independence o f Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC) was founded. Initially committed to peacef ul change\, PAIGC turned to armed struggle following the Pidjiguiti Massac re. PAIGC had six founding members\, including Amílcar Cabral and his hal f-brother Luís.\n\nOriginally formed to peacefully campaign for independe nce from Portugal\, the party turned to armed conflict after the Pidjiguit i Massacre in 1956\, where police fired into a crowd of striking workers\, killing dozens.\n\nPAIGC was one of the belligerents in the Guinea-Bissau War of Independence\, fought against Portugal. Towards the end of the war \, the party established a Marxist-Leninist one-party state\, which remain ed intact until multi-party democracy was introduced in the early 1990s. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Party_for_the_Independence _of_Guinea_and_Cape_Verde RESOURCES:https://uca.edu/politicalscience/dadm-project/sub-saharan-africa -region/portuguese-guinea-1951-1974/ RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/subject/africa/cabral/index.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Paulo Freire (1921 - 1997) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250919 DTEND:20250920T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays COMMENT:Paulo Freire\, born on this day in 1921\, was a Brazilian philosop her and radical pedagogue most known for his 1968 work Pedagogy of the Opp ressed. "Language is never neutral." DESCRIPTION:Paulo Freire\, born on this day in 1921\, was a Brazilian phil osopher and radical pedagogue most known for his 1968 work Pedagogy of the Oppressed. "Language is never neutral."\n\nPaulo was born in Recife\, the capital of the northeastern Brazilian state of Pernambuco. Initially affl uent\, his family experienced hardship during the Great Depression of the 1930s\, and Freire's education suffered due to his own experiences with po verty and hunger.\n\nFreire began working as a schoolteacher in the 1940s\ , beginning to serve as the director of the Pernambuco Department of Educa tion and Culture in 1946. Due to the 1964 Brazilian coup d'état\, where a military dictatorship was put in place with the support of the United Sta tes\, Paulo Freire was exiled from his home country\, an exile that lasted 16 years.\n\nFreire then worked in Chile\, until April 1969 when he accep ted a temporary position at Harvard University. It was during this period\ , in 1968\, that Freire published his most famous work\, "Pedagogy of the Oppressed".\n\nIn this text\, Freire criticizes what he calls the "banking method" of education\, wherein a teacher "deposits" knowledge into an emp ty vessel\, the student\, or "bank". Instead\, Freire calls upon teacher t o engage in a more dialog-centric or creative education\, one in which the suppressed experiences of the oppressed help create knowledge\, fostering a social reality in which the marginalized are humanized.\n\nPedagogy of the Oppressed has since become the third most cited book in the social sci ences\, according to Elliott D. Green. As of 2000\, the book had sold over 750\,000 copies worldwide.\n\n"Manipulation\, sloganizing\, depositing\, regimentation\, and prescription cannot be components of revolutionary pra xis\, precisely because they are the components of the praxis of dominatio n."\n\n- Paulo Freire RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paulo_Freire RESOURCES:https://www.freire.org/paulo-freire RESOURCES:https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2021/10/16/frei-o16.html RESOURCES:https://envs.ucsc.edu/internships/internship-readings/freire-ped agogy-of-the-oppressed.pdf END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Solidarity Day March (1981) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250919 DTEND:20250920T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:On this day in 1981\, a large rally known as the "Solidarity Day M arch" took place in Washington D.C. in support of striking air traffic con troller workers fired by President Ronald Reagan. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1981\, a large rally known as the "Solidarity D ay March" took place in Washington D.C. in support of striking air traffic controller workers fired by President Ronald Reagan.\n\nThe March was org anized and sponsored by the AFL-CIO\, and came a few weeks into the Profes sional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) strike.\n\nIt was the first major demonstration organized in decades by the AFL-CIO. Ultimately\ , the rally's show of support was ineffectual\; PATCO was de-certified as a union and the striking ATC workers did not get their jobs back.\n\nA 2nd Solidarity March was held near the 10 year anniversary of the original So lidary Day March. Union members\, in the wake of the Gulf War\, called on the federal government to turn its attention away from foreign affairs and to focus on domestic issues like improving health care and education and supporting workers' rights. Approximately 250\,000-500\,000 people took pa rt in either event. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solidarity_Day_march RESOURCES:https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1981/09/20/25000 0-march-to-protest-reagans-policies/680f4df6-905b-443a-859f-10d8fd3c6a04/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Frank Teruggi Kidnapped (1973) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250920 DTEND:20250921T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:IWW,Journalism COMMENT:On this day in 1973\, just nine days after the fascist coup in Chi le\, Frank Teruggi\, a U.S. journalist and Wobbly\, was seized in his Sant iago home and disappeared at the National Stadium\, used by Pinochet's sta te as a concentration camp. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1973\, just nine days after the fascist coup in Chile\, Frank Teruggi\, a U.S. journalist and Wobbly\, was seized in his Santiago home and disappeared at the National Stadium\, used by Pinochet's state as a concentration camp.\n\nFrank Teruggi Jr. (1949 - 1973) was an American student\, journalist\, and member of the Industrial Workers of th e World (IWW) from Chicago\, Illinois.\n\nOn September 20th\, 1973\, Terug gi was seized at his home and taken to the National Stadium in Santiago\, which had been turned into an ad hoc concentration camp where prisoners we re interrogated\, tortured and executed.\n\nIn Costa-Gavras's film "Missin g"\, Teruggi is depicted as a contributor for a small newspaper and friend of journalist Charles Horman\, who had spoken with several U.S. operative s that assisted the Chilean military government. The film alleges that Hor man's discovery of U.S. complicity in the coup led to his secret arrest\, disappearance\, and execution.\n\nState documents declassified during the Clinton Administration mention Teruggi as one of the Chilean military exec utions and showed that\, initially U.S. embassy officials in Santiago rele ased false information that he had returned to the United States.\n\nIn 20 11\, Chilean judge Jorge Zepeda indicted Ray E. Davis\, commander of the U .S. Military Group in Chile during the time of the coup\, along with Pedro Espinoza\, a Chilean general\, and Rafael González Verdugo\, a member of Chilean army intelligence\, in the murders of Frank Teruggi and Charles H orman. Teruggi and Horman were merely two among 40\,000 people held at the Stadium. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Teruggi RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/library/killers-iww-member-frank-teruggi-sent enced-chile END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Gabriela Silang Executed (1763) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250920 DTEND:20250921T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Assassinations,Colonialism COMMENT:Gabriela Silang was a Filipina anti-colonial revolutionary who led Ilocano rebels for 4 months after her husband's assassination. On this da y in 1763\, she was captured and executed by the colonial government of th e Spanish East Indies. DESCRIPTION:Gabriela Silang was a Filipina anti-colonial revolutionary who led Ilocano rebels for 4 months after her husband's assassination. On thi s day in 1763\, she was captured and executed by the colonial government o f the Spanish East Indies.\n\nIlocanos are the third largest Filipino ethn olinguistic group that mostly reside within the Ilocos Region in northwest ern Philippines.\n\nAfter the capture of Manila by the British\, Gabriela' s husband Diego Silang sought to initiate an armed struggle to overthrow t he Spanish functionaries in Ilocos and replace them with native-born offic ials. They cooperated with the British in this effort\, who appointed Dieg o governor of the Ilocos region on their behalf.\n\nGabriela took over the reins of her husband's revolutionary movement after his assassination\, l eading the Ilocano rebels for four months before being captured and execut ed by the colonial government of the Spanish East Indies on September 20th \, 1763. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabriela_Silang RESOURCES:https://liberationschool.org/07-04-27-gabriela-silang-anticoloni al-f-html/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Havana General Strike (1899) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250920 DTEND:20250921T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,General Strikes COMMENT:On this day in 1899\, the Los Angeles Herald reported on a general strike in Havana\, stating "It is now estimated that there are 32\,000 st riking [workers]\, and if\, as is threatened...within the next few days th ere will be another 4000..." DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1899\, the Los Angeles Herald reported on a gen eral strike in Havana\, stating "It is now estimated that there are 32\,00 0 striking [workers]\, and if\, as is threatened...within the next few day s there will be another 4000..."\n\nIn the aftermath of the U.S. military occupation of Cuba\, a gathering of thousands of workers in Havana launche d a general strike for the eight-hour day in September 1899.\n\nThe striki ng workers issued a statement\, saying "...we have determined to promote t he struggle between the worker and the capitalist. For the workers of Cuba will no longer tolerate remaining in total subjection." The American Gene ral William Ludlow ordered the mayor of Havana to arrest eleven strike lea ders\, and U.S. troops occupied railroad stations and docks.\n\nOn Septemb er 20th\, 1899\, the Los Angeles Herald reported "The strike has assumed s erious proportions. It is now estimated that there are 32\,000 striking ma sons\, painters\, carpenters\, cartmen and laundry workers\, and if\, as i s threatened\, the hackmen\, stevedores and strike\, within the next few d ays there will be another 4000..." RESOURCES:https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=LAH18990921.2.97&e=----- --en--20--1--txt-txIN--------1 RESOURCES:https://www.historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/zinnempire12.html END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Jean-Jacques Dessalines (1758 - 1806) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250920 DTEND:20250921T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays COMMENT:Jean-Jacques Dessalines\, born on this day in 1758\, was a leader of the Haitian Revolution and the first ruler of an independent Haiti unde r the 1805 constitution. Dessalines was assassinated by rebels in 1806\, l eading directly to civil war. DESCRIPTION:Jean-Jacques Dessalines\, born on this day in 1758\, was a lea der of the Haitian Revolution and the first ruler of an independent Haiti under the 1805 constitution. Dessalines was assassinated by rebels in 1806 \, leading directly to civil war.\n\nDessalines was born to an enslaved Co ngolese family in 1758. He adopted the name Dessalines after escaping from a free black landowner who had purchased him.\n\nIn 1794\, Dessalines's m ilitary skill and leadership were vital to L'Overture's success in capturi ng the Spanish-controlled eastern half of the island\, and in return\, L'O verture made him governor of the south.\n\nAfter L'Overture's betrayal and death in 1802-03\, Dessalines became a key leader of the Haitian Revoluti on\, helping the colony achieve the new nation's independence in 1804.\n\n In 1804\, Dessalines appointed himself emperor for life and ordered mass k illings of all the French colonizers remaining on the island\, leading to the deaths of 3000-5000 French people of all ages and sexes. He declared " I have saved my country. I have avenged America."\n\nThe 1805 Constitution established by Dessalines' government made Haiti the first country in his tory to abolish slavery. The Constitution also guaranteed equality under t he law\, freedom of religion\, and protected property rights\, with an exc eption - "No whiteman of whatever nation he may be\, shall put his foot on this territory with the title of master or proprietor\, neither shall he in future acquire any property therein".\n\nIn 1806\, Dessalines was assas sinated by rebels outside Port-au-Prince\, leading directly to civil war o n the island. RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/dessalines-jean -jacques-1758-1806/ RESOURCES:https://haitidoi.com/2015/03/31/jean-jacques-dessalines-c-1758-1 806/ RESOURCES:https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-34787-haiti-social-263rd-anni versary-of-the-birth-of-emperor-jean-jacques-dessalines.html RESOURCES:http://faculty.webster.edu/corbetre/haiti/history/earlyhaiti/180 5-const.htm RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Jacques_Dessalines END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:New Zealand Censors the IWW (1915) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250920 DTEND:20250921T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:IWW COMMENT:On this day in 1915\, during World War I\, the New Zealand governm ent banned all Industrial Workers of the World literature. IWW members wer e subject to arrests and surveillance for years following the conclusion o f the War. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1915\, during World War I\, the New Zealand gov ernment banned all Industrial Workers of the World literature. IWW members were subject to arrests and surveillance for years following the conclusi on of the War.\n\nOn September 20th\, 1915\, the government prohibited the "importation into New Zealand of the newspapers called Direct Action and Solidarity\, and all other printed matter published by or on behalf of the society known as 'The Industrial Workers of the World'."\n\nAccording to author Jared Davidson\, Direct Action was "a lively newspaper published by the Australian IWW that found its way to New Zealand via seamen crossing the Tasman\, or by mail."\n\nIn the following years\, members of the IWW\, labor activists\, and political radicals such as Charles Johnson\, Philip Josephs\, and William Bell were imprisoned. Surveillance of the IWW conti nued for several years after the conclusion of World War I. RESOURCES:http://libcom.org/history/reds-wobblies-working-class-radicalism -state-new-zealand-1915-1925 RESOURCES:http://libcom.org/history/country-considered-be-free END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Richard Oakes Murdered (1972) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250920 DTEND:20250921T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Indigenous COMMENT:On this day in 1972\, Red Power activist Richard Oakes was shot an d killed in Sonoma\, California by Michael Morgan\, a white YMCA camp mana ger. Morgan claimed self-defense and was acquitted on voluntary manslaught er charges by an all-white jury. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1972\, Red Power activist Richard Oakes was sho t and killed in Sonoma\, California by Michael Morgan\, a white YMCA camp manager. Morgan claimed self-defense and was acquitted on voluntary mansla ughter charges by an all-white jury.\n\nRichard Oakes was a Mohawk indigen ous activist. He spurred Native American studies in university curricula a nd is credited for helping to change U.S. federal government termination p olicies of indigenous peoples and culture.\n\nOakes played a leading role in a 19-month occupation of Alcatraz Island alongside LaNada Means\, John Trudell\, approximately 50 California State University students\, and 37 o thers. The protest group chose the name Indians of All Tribes (IOAT) for t hemselves and claimed the island under the Treaty of Fort Laramie.\n\nOn S eptember 20th\, 1972\, Oakes was shot and killed in Sonoma\, California\, by Michael Morgan\, a YMCA camp manager. Oakes allegedly violently confron ted him\, and Morgan responded by drawing a handgun and fatally shooting O akes.\n\nOakes was unarmed when he was shot. Morgan claimed he acted in se lf-defense and was acquitted on charges of voluntary manslaughter by an al l-white jury. RESOURCES:https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/news/man-who-shot-killed-u narmed-native-american-activist-acquitted-by-all-whit/ RESOURCES:https://sfsustudentcenter.com/richard-oakes-native-american-acti vist/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Oakes_(activist) RESOURCES:https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/05/22/529504340/ric hard-oakes-who-occupied-alcatraz-for-native-rights-gets-a-birthday-honor END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Thomas Bell (1882 - 1944) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250920 DTEND:20250921T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Socialism,Labor,Marxism,Birthdays COMMENT:Thomas Bell\, born on this day in 1882\, was a Scottish socialist politician\, trade unionist\, and a founding member of the Communist Party of Great Britain. He said: "The Communist Party is nothing if it is not a party of realism". DESCRIPTION:Thomas Bell\, born on this day in 1882\, was a Scottish social ist politician\, trade unionist\, and a founding member of the Communist P arty of Great Britain. He said: "The Communist Party is nothing if it is n ot a party of realism".\n\nBell also worked as an editor for the Communist Party's magazine "Communist Review" and co-founded the Socialist Labour P arty.\n\nThomas Bell was born in Parkhead\, Glasgow to an irregularly empl oyed stonemason and a mother who worked at home spinning cotton and silk. While working at a bottling shop\, Bell became interested in atheism and l abor politics\, reading rationalist works by Ernst Haeckel and Thomas Huxl ey\, as well as texts on evolution by Charles Darwin.\n\nBell joined the I ndependent Labour Party (ILP) in 1900\, but would participate in more radi cal parties as his politics matured\, including the Marxist Social Democra tic Party and\, later\, the Socialist Labour Party.\n\nIn 1919\, Bell was elected President of the Associated Ironmoulders\, Secretary of the SLP an d editor of its newspaper\, "The Socialist". He sat on a unity committee\, intending to negotiate for a single communist party with leaders of the B ritish Socialist Party\, Workers Socialist Federation and other socialist groups\, but their proposals were repudiated by the SLP.\n\nResigning as S ecretary\, Bell helped found the Communist Unity Group\, which became an o riginal constituent of the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB).\n\n"Th e theory of getting a Labour government in order to get communism is as st ilted as the Kautskyan idea that Russia should go through period of capita list development under the democratic bourgeois institutions in preference to the Workers'\, Peasants' and Soldiers' dictatorship."\n\n- Thomas Bell RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Bell_(politician) RESOURCES:https://spartacus-educational.com/CRIbellT.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Upton Sinclair (1878 - 1968) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250920 DTEND:20250921T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Birthdays COMMENT:Upton Sinclair Jr.\, born on this day in 1878\, was an American wr iter and journalist who wrote nearly 100 books across multiple genres\, mo st notably "The Jungle"\, which exposed brutal working conditions in the C hicago meatpacking industry. DESCRIPTION:Upton Sinclair Jr.\, born on this day in 1878\, was an America n writer and journalist who wrote nearly 100 books across multiple genres\ , most notably "The Jungle"\, which exposed brutal working conditions in t he Chicago meatpacking industry.\n\nSinclair was an outspoken socialist\, and his books depicted difficult working conditions of the laboring class\ , scandalizing them with the broader public.\n\nSinclair was inspired to w rite "The Jungle" after spending six months researching the Chicago meatpa cking industry. His descriptions of the unsanitary and inhumane conditions that workers suffered shocked and galvanized its readers to such a degree that domestic and foreign purchases of American meat to fall by half and federal regulations of the meat industry increased.\n\nSinclair also discr iminated against people of color and Jewish people. With income from "The Jungle"\, he founded a utopian community called "Helicon Home Colony" in E nglewood\, New Jersey\, explicitly excluding both black and Jewish people. The colony burned down under suspicious circumstances within a year.\n\nI n the 1920s\, Sinclair moved to Monrovia\, California (near Los Angeles)\, where he founded the state's chapter of the American Civil Liberties Unio n (ACLU). In 1934\, Sinclair ran in the California gubernatorial election as a Democrat.\n\nSinclair's platform\, known as the End Poverty in Califo rnia movement (EPIC)\, galvanized the support of the Democratic Party. Sin clair gained its nomination\, but was defeated by the incumbent Frank Merr iam.\n\n"It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his sal ary depends upon his not understanding it."\n\n- Upton Sinclair RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upton_Sinclair RESOURCES:https://www.britannica.com/biography/Upton-Sinclair RESOURCES:https://spartacus-educational.com/Jupton.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Kwame Nkrumah (1909 - 1972) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250921 DTEND:20250922T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Pan-Africanism,Birthdays COMMENT:Kwame Nkrumah\, born on this day in 1909\, was a Ghanaian politici an and pan-African socialist revolutionary. "I am not African because I wa s born in Africa but because Africa was born in me." DESCRIPTION:Kwame Nkrumah\, born on this day in 1909\, was a Ghanaian poli tician and pan-African socialist revolutionary. "I am not African because I was born in Africa but because Africa was born in me."\n\nNkrumah served as the first Prime Minister and President of Ghana\, having led the Gold Coast to independence from Britain in 1957.\n\nAn influential advocate of pan-Africanism\, Nkrumah was a founding member of the Organization of Afri can Unity and winner of the Lenin Peace Prize from the Soviet Union in 196 2.\n\nIn 1960\, Ghanaians approved a new constitution and elected Nkrumah President. His administration funded national industrial and energy projec ts\, developed a strong national education system and promoted a pan-Afric anist culture. Under Nkrumah\, Ghana played a leading role in African inte rnational relations during the decolonization period.\n\nIn 1964\, a const itutional amendment made Ghana a one-party state\, with Nkrumah as preside nt for life of both the nation and its party. Nkrumah was deposed in 1966 by the National Liberation Council\, which\, under the supervision of inte rnational financial institutions\, privatized many of the country's state corporations.\n\nJohn Stockwell\, a former CIA agent\, wrote that the CIA was intimately involved in the coup that ousted him from power. Nkrumah li ved the rest of his life in Guinea\, of which he was named honorary co-pre sident.\n\n"I am not African because I was born in Africa but because Afri ca was born in me."\n\n- Kwame Nkrumah RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/nkrumah-kwame-1 909-1972/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kwame_Nkrumah RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/tags/kwame-nkrumah END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Lev Chernyi Assassinated (1921) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250921 DTEND:20250922T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Assassinations,Anarchism,Terrorism COMMENT:Lev Chernyi was a Russian individualist anarchist theorist\, poet\ , and leading figure of anti-Bolshevik rebellions who was executed without trial on this day in 1921. He had been detained after anarchists bombed B olshevik headquarters in 1919. DESCRIPTION:Lev Chernyi was a Russian individualist anarchist theorist\, p oet\, and leading figure of anti-Bolshevik rebellions who was executed wit hout trial on this day in 1921. He had been detained after anarchists bomb ed Bolshevik headquarters in 1919.\n\nChernyi advocated a Nietzschean over throw of the values of bourgeois Russian society and rejected the voluntar y communes of anarcho-communist Peter Kropotkin as a threat to the freedom of the individual.\n\nAfter he published anarchist literature\, Chernyi w as imprisoned in Siberia under the Russian Czarist regime for revolutionar y activities. In 1917\, Chernyi was released from prison by the Imperial R ussian regime and became a leading anarchist figure in Russia.\n\nChernyi strongly denounced the Bolshevik government and joined the underground ana rchist resistance movements against it. On September 25th\, 1919\, the "Un derground Anarchists" bombed the headquarters of the Moscow Committee of t he Communist Party during a plenary meeting\, causing 67 casualties.\n\nFo llowing this bombing\, a wave of repression against the anarchist movement took place. Chernyi was among those detained\, charged with counterfeitin g\, although\, according to anarchist historian Paul Avrich\, there is no evidence he personally played a role in the bombing.\n\nOn September 21st\ , 1921\, the Cheka executed Lev Chernyi without trial. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lev_Chernyi RESOURCES:https://web.archive.org/web/20080211173334/http://recollectionbo oks.com/bleed/Encyclopedia/ChernyiLev.htm RESOURCES:https://theanarchistlibrary.org/category/author/lev-chernyi RESOURCES:https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/paul-avrich-the-russian- anarchists-en END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Orlando Letelier Assassinated (1976) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250921 DTEND:20250922T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Assassinations,Fascism COMMENT:Orlando Letelier was a Chilean economist\, politician\, and diplom at under Salvador Allende who was assassinated by fascists via car bomb on this day in 1976\, in Washington D.C. Despite personally ordering the kil ling\, Pinochet was never charged. DESCRIPTION:Orlando Letelier was a Chilean economist\, politician\, and di plomat under Salvador Allende who was assassinated by fascists via car bom b on this day in 1976\, in Washington D.C. Despite personally ordering the killing\, Pinochet was never charged.\n\nIn 1973\, after President Allend e was ousted in a CIA-backed coup and fascist Augusto Pinochet came into p ower\, Letelier (1932 - 1976) fled to the U.S. and accepted various academ ic positions in Washington D.C.\n\nIn 1976\, agents of Dirección de Intel igencia Nacional (DINA)\, the secret police of the Pinochet government\, a ssassinated Letelier and his colleague Ronni Moffitt in Washington D.C. wi th a car bomb. These agents had been working in collaboration with members of the Coordination of United Revolutionary Organizations\, a U.S.-sponso red anti-Castro militant group.\n\nAccording to John Dinges\, author of "T he Condor Years"\, documents released in 2015 revealed a 1978 CIA report t hat proved they had knowledge Pinochet ordered the murders. A State Depart ment document also refers to eight separate CIA reports from around the sa me date. Pinochet\, who died in 2006\, was never charged for these crimes. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Orlando_Letelier RESOURCES:https://www.jacobinmag.com/2016/09/orlando-letelier-pinochet-nix on-kissinger RESOURCES:https://theintercept.com/2016/09/21/the-assassination-of-orlando -letelier-and-the-politics-of-silence/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Strike Bike Co-Op (2007) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250921 DTEND:20250922T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:On this day in 2007\, bike factory workers who were occupying thei r workplace in Nordhausen\, Germany announced their plan to begin producin g a limited edition "Strike Bike"\, bought as a pre-order to help initiate production. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 2007\, bike factory workers who were occupying their workplace in Nordhausen\, Germany announced their plan to begin prod ucing a limited edition "Strike Bike"\, bought as a pre-order to help init iate production.\n\nWhen a bike factory's closing was announced in Nordhau sen\, Germany\, striking workers there occupied the factory in protest in July 2007. Although the owners of the factory attempted to evict the worke rs\, courts ruled in favor of the workers when they claimed that they were simply holding a lengthy staff meeting.\n\nWhen news of the occupation sp read\, some leftists traveled to Nordhausen and suggested beginning worker -managed production of bicycles. Although the striking workers were skepti cal initially\, this suggestion was eventually adopted.\n\nOn September 21 st\, 2007\, striking workers announced their plan to begin producing a lim ited edition "Strike Bike". Bought as a pre-order to help initiate product ion\, the Strike Bike quickly sold out and production was set to begin on October 22nd. RESOURCES:https://www.workerscontrol.net/geographical/strike-bike-occupied -factory-germany RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/occupied-bike-factory-germany-2007 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Teresa Rebull (1919 - 2015) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250921 DTEND:20250922T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Marxism,Birthdays COMMENT:Teresa Soler i Pi\, better known by her stage name\, "Teresa Rebul l"\, was a Marxist\, feminist\, and singer-songwriter born on this day in 1919. DESCRIPTION:Teresa Soler i Pi\, better known by her stage name\, "Teresa R ebull"\, was a Marxist\, feminist\, and singer-songwriter born on this day in 1919.\n\nShe joined the Partido Obrero de Unificación Marxista (POUM) in 1936 and worked as a volunteer nurse in the premises of her party duri ng the Spanish Civil War.\n\nAfter Francisco Franco came into power\, Rebu ll fled to France\, where she continued her work with POUM and had a caree r as a musician. RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/teresa-rebull-dead-age-30-%E2%80%93-p epe-guti%C3%A9rrez RESOURCES:https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u=https://es. wikipedia.org/wiki/Teresa_Rebull&prev=search&pto=aue END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:"Winter of Discontent" Begins (1978) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250922 DTEND:20250923T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:On this day in 1978\, one of the first strikes of the British "Win ter of Discontent" began when 15\,000 Ford workers\, mostly from the Trans port and General Workers Union (TGWU)\, began an unofficial strike. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1978\, one of the first strikes of the British "Winter of Discontent" began when 15\,000 Ford workers\, mostly from the T ransport and General Workers Union (TGWU)\, began an unofficial strike.\n\ nThe Winter of Discontent took place during 1978-79 in the United Kingdom\ , characterized by widespread strikes from both private and public sector trade unions. Some of these industrial disputes caused great public inconv enience\, exacerbated by the coldest winter in 16 years in which severe st orms isolated many remote areas of the country.\n\nOn September 22nd\, 197 8\, one of the first strikes of the "Winter of Discontent" began when 15\, 000 Ford workers\, mostly from the Transport and General Workers Union (TG WU)\, began an unofficial strike.\n\nThe number of participants later grew to 57\,000. As the months progressed\, workers from multiple industries w ent on strike\, including lorry drivers\, garbage collectors\, and gravedi ggers. It was the largest UK labor stoppage since 1926.\n\nThe Winter was a disaster for the incumbent Labour Party. The magazine Socialist Worker q uoted one council worker as saying "We had to strike because Labour betray ed us".\n\nThe Labour Party was swept out of power in the 1979 election\, leading to the premiership of Margaret Thatcher. RESOURCES:https://socialistworker.co.uk/features/winter-of-discontent-1978 -9-we-struck-because-labour-betrayed-us/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_of_Discontent RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/1978-1979-winter-of-discontent END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Bulgarian Soldiers Mutiny (1918) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250922 DTEND:20250923T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:After suffering a disastrous defeat at the Battle of Dobro Pole\, soldiers in the Bulgarian Army began to defect on this day in 1918\, march ing towards the capital with the intent of abolishing the monarchy and est ablishing a Republic. DESCRIPTION:After suffering a disastrous defeat at the Battle of Dobro Pol e\, soldiers in the Bulgarian Army began to defect on this day in 1918\, m arching towards the capital with the intent of abolishing the monarchy and establishing a Republic.\n\nOver the course of five days\, the uprising i nvolved every unit stationed in the Vardar plain up to the Bitolia region. Although some of the rebels returned to their villages\, a force more tha n ten thousand strong began to march towards the capital\, intent on aboli shing the monarchy and establishing a republic.\n\nIn Radomir\, the rebels proclaimed the new "Republic in Radomir" on September 27th\, 1918\, and s tormed the capital Sofia the next day.\n\nThe revolutionaries were overwhe lmed by government forces\, however\, and they were militarily defeated wi thin a matter of days (although it took more than a month to "pacify" the country).\n\nDespite this military defeat\, King Ferdinand was forced to a bdicate the throne and Bulgaria formally withdrew from World War I the nex t year in the Treaty of Neuilly. RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/revolt-radomir-tico-jossifort RESOURCES:https://www.jacobinmag.com/2019/01/world-war-bulgaria-army-soldi ers-revolt RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/history/etol/revhist/backiss/vol8/no2/j ossifort.html END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Great Steel Strike (1919) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250922 DTEND:20250923T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1919\, following the end of WWI\, the "Great Steel Strike" began\, shutting down half the steel industry in the U.S. The stri ke\, subjected to Red Scare tactics\, failed in January and led to the col lapse of its organizing union. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1919\, following the end of WWI\, the "Great St eel Strike" began\, shutting down half the steel industry in the U.S. The strike\, subjected to Red Scare tactics\, failed in January and led to the collapse of its organizing union.\n\nThe massive strike\, organized by th e Amalgamated Association of Iron\, Steel and Tin Workers (AA)\, shut down almost all mills in Pueblo\, Colorado\; Chicago\, Illinois\; Wheeling\, W est Virginia\; Johnstown\, Pennsylvania\; Cleveland\, Ohio\; Lackawanna\, New York\; and Youngstown\, Ohio.\n\nPublic opinion was generally against the strike. Factory owners claimed that the steelworker strike was being m asterminded by communist revolutionaries (the October Revolution had occur red less than two years prior)\, and played on nativist xenophobia by noti ng that a large number of steelworkers were immigrants.\n\nThe Great Steel Strike collapsed on January 8th\, 1920\, and the AA was decimated in the aftermath of its failure. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steel_strike_of_1919 RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/us-national-steel-strike-1919-jeremy- brecher RESOURCES:https://explorepahistory.com/hmarker.php?markerId=1-A-242 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:James Lawson (1928 - ) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250922 DTEND:20250923T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Civil Rights,Birthdays COMMENT:James Lawson\, Jr.\, born on this day in 1928\, is an American act ivist and university professor who was expelled from Vanderbilt University for organizing acts of non-violent protest with the civil rights movement . DESCRIPTION:James Lawson\, Jr.\, born on this day in 1928\, is an American activist and university professor who was expelled from Vanderbilt Univer sity for organizing acts of non-violent protest with the civil rights move ment.\n\nLawson was a leading theoretician and tactician of non-violence w ithin the civil rights movement. During the 1960s\, he served as a mentor to the Nashville Student Movement and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).\n\nOn his commitment to non-violent tactics\, Lawson sta ted "I had my first racial insult hurled at me as a child. I struck out at that child and fought the child physically. Mom was in the kitchen workin g. In telling her the story she\, without turning to me\, said\, 'Jimmy\, what good did that do?' And she did a long soliloquy then about our lives and who we were and the love of God and the love of Jesus in our home\, in our congregation. And her last sentence was\, 'Jimmy\, there must be a be tter way.' In many ways that's the pivotal event of my life."\n\nLawson wa s expelled from Vanderbilt University for his role in organizing the Nashv ille Sit-ins in 1960. He later served as a pastor in Los Angeles\, Califor nia\, for 25 years.\n\n"Our country is a country trapped\, embedded\, addi cted to the mythology of violence."\n\n- James Lawson RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Lawson_(activist) RESOURCES:http://repository.wustl.edu/concern/videos/mp48sf472 RESOURCES:https://www.bu.edu/sth/oral-history-interview-with-james-lawson/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Police Storm Council Houses (1960) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250922 DTEND:20250923T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Tenant COMMENT:On this day in 1960\, bailiffs supported by about 800 police attac ked both Silverdale and Kennistoun House in St Pancras\, London in an effo rt to evict organized tenants who had been on a rent strike since January 4th. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1960\, bailiffs supported by about 800 police a ttacked both Silverdale and Kennistoun House in St Prancas\, London in an effort to evict organized tenants who had been on a rent strike since Janu ary 4th.\n\nThe evening prior to the attack\, a demonstration of about 500 tenants took place outside the St Pancras Town Hall\, where a housing com mittee was being held\, despite the police having banned demonstrations th ere. Police arrested eleven people\, and there were reports of young child ren being charged at by mounted officers.\n\nThe attack on September 22nd began early the next day\, at five in the morning. At Kennistoun House\, t he pickets put up a two-hour defense against the bailiffs and the police\, pouring oil on them as they tried to get up the stairs\, to the entrance to Don Cook's (one of the organizers) flat on the top floor\, however they were not successful in stopping his or fellow organizer Arthur Rowe's evi ctions that day. RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/rent-strike-st-pancras-1960 RESOURCES:https://www.worldsocialism.org/spgb/socialist-standard/2010s/201 8/no-1366-june-2018/book-review-rent-strike-st-pancras-1960/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:George Jackson (1941 - 1971) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250923 DTEND:20250924T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Marxism,Birthdays COMMENT:George Jackson\, born on this day in 1941\, was the revolutionary author of "Soledad Brother: The Prison Letters of George Jackson" and co-f ounder of the Marxist-Leninist Black Guerilla Family. DESCRIPTION:George Jackson\, born on this day in 1941\, was the revolution ary author of "Soledad Brother: The Prison Letters of George Jackson" and co-founder of the Marxist-Leninist Black Guerilla Family.\n\nIn 1970\, Jac kson was charged\, along with two other Soledad Brothers\, with the murder of prison guard John Vincent Mills in the aftermath of a prison fight. Th e same year\, he published "Soledad Brother: The Prison Letters of George Jackson"\, a combination of autobiography and manifesto addressed to a bla ck American audience. The book became a bestseller and earned Jackson pers onal fame.\n\nJackson was killed during an attempted prison escape on Augu st 21st\, 1971. Quoting communist revolutionary Ho Chi Minh\, Jackson free d twenty-six prisoners and took hostages at gunpoint. Jackson and five oth er men were killed.\n\nFay Stender\, George Jackson's former lawyer\, was shot and paralyzed for her alleged betrayal of Jackson by Black Guerilla F amily member Edward Glenn Brooks. Brooks entered her home\, tied up her fa mily\, and forced Stender to say "I\, Fay Stender\, admit I betrayed Georg e Jackson and the prison movement when they needed me most" before shootin g her several times. Left paralyzed and in chronic pain\, Stender testifie d against Brooks and committed suicide a year later.\n\n"Settle your quarr els\, come together\, understand the reality of our situation\, understand that fascism is already here\, that people are already dying who could be saved\, that generations more will live poor butchered half-lives if you fail to act. Do what must be done\, discover your humanity and your love i n revolution."\n\n- George Jackson RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Jackson_(activist) RESOURCES:https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/EXIT-THE-DRAGON-It-s-been -30-years-since-George-2888071.php RESOURCES:https://files.libcom.org/files/soledad-brother-the-prison-letter s-of-george-jackson.pdf RESOURCES:https://redyouthnwa.files.wordpress.com/2018/05/george_l-_jackso n_blood_in_my_eyebook4you-org.pdf END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Grito de Lares (1868) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250923 DTEND:20250924T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1868\, the first major revolt against Spanish rule in Puerto Rico\, known as the "Grito de Lares" (Cry of Lares)\, began when several hundred rebels looted stores\, seized City Hall\, and imprisoned Spanish-born merchants. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1868\, the first major revolt against Spanish r ule in Puerto Rico\, known as the "Grito de Lares" (Cry of Lares)\, began when several hundred rebels looted stores\, seized City Hall\, and impriso ned Spanish-born merchants.\n\nThe revolutionary uprising had been planned months in advance by a group known as the "Revolutionary Committee of Pue rto Rico"\, led by Dr. Ramón Emeterio Betances and Segundo Ruiz Belvis. T he Committee issued several widely circulated "Proclamas"\, statements att acking the exploitation of the Puerto Ricans by the Spanish and calling fo r an anti-colonial insurrection.\n\nOn September 23rd\, 1868\, the Grito d e Lares began when several hundred rebels arrived at the town of Lares\, l ooting stores\, seizing City Hall\, imprisoning Spanish-born merchants\, a nd flying the revolutionary flag of Lares at the town's church. The Republ ic of Puerto Rico was proclaimed and revolutionaries offered freedom to an y enslaved people who joined them.\n\nThe insurrection ended the next day when the Puerto Rican militia\, significantly better armed than the rebels \, put down the rebellion by force. Although all revolutionaries were init ially sentenced to death by a military court\, political pressure led the Spanish President to declare a general amnesty and free all prisoners\, al though the leaders of the uprising were still exiled. RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/history/erol/ncm-8/ol-grito.htm RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grito_de_Lares RESOURCES:https://www.loc.gov/collections/puerto-rico-books-and-pamphlets/ articles-and-essays/nineteenth-century-puerto-rico/rebellion-of-1868/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Internal Security Act (1950) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250923 DTEND:20250924T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism COMMENT:On this day in 1950\, the Internal Security Act became effective f ederal U.S. law\, compelling communists to register with the state\, barri ng them from state employment\, and excluding tens of thousands of immigra nts on a political basis. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1950\, the Internal Security Act became effecti ve federal U.S. law\, compelling communists to register with the state\, b arring them from state employment\, and excluding tens of thousands of imm igrants on a political basis.\n\nThe Internal Security Act\, also known as the "McCarran Act" or the "Concentration Camp Law"\, required communist o rganizations to register with the Attorney General\, banned communists fro m working for the government or obtaining a passport\, and established the Subversive Activities Control Board to investigate persons suspected of e ngaging in subversive activities or otherwise promoting the establishment of a "totalitarian dictatorship"\, fascist or communist.\n\nThe law also t ightened alien exclusion and deportation laws and allowed for the detentio n of dangerous\, disloyal\, or subversive persons in times of war or "inte rnal security emergency"\, which had a profound affect on immigration.\n\n By March 1st\, 1951\, the Act had excluded 54\,000 people of German ethnic origin and 12\,000 displaced Russian persons from entering the United Sta tes.\n\nAlthough the Act is still in effect today\, many of its most contr oversial provisions have been directly repealed or ruled unconstitutional\ , such as laws regarding detention of political dissidents\, banning commu nists from working for the government\, and having to register with the go vernment.\n\nOne provision still legal\, however\, allows the military to "regulate" weapons held by private citizens (50 U.S.C. § 797). RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McCarran_Internal_Security_Act RESOURCES:https://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/the-interna l-security-act/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Libertad Rodenas (1893 - 1970) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250923 DTEND:20250924T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Anarchism COMMENT:Libertad Rodenas Dominguez\, born on this day in 1893\, was a mili tant Spanish labor organizer\, anarchist\, and member of the Mujeres Libre s. DESCRIPTION:*some sources list her birth year as 1891 or 1892 as well.\n\n Libertad Rodenas Dominguez\, born on this day in 1893\, was a militant Spa nish labor organizer\, anarchist\, and member of the Mujeres Libres.\n\nRo denas' home in Barcelona was a center for meetings of anarchist militants\ , refuge for those persecuted by the authorities\, and hiding place for ar ms for the anarchist movement. Despite being arrested in 1920\, Rodenas re fused to renounce her militant politics.\n\nIn 1937\, Rodenas joined the l ibertarian women's organization Mujeres Libres and contributed to its pape r. She also involved herself in literacy campaigns\, especially in the act ivities of the "House of The Working Women"\, where hundreds of women were taught to read and write.\n\nAfter the collapse of the Spanish Republican government\, Rodenas fled the country\, eventually settling in Mexico\, T here\, she remained active with the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (C NT) in exile. RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/rodenas-libertad-1893-1970 RESOURCES:https://www.portaloaca.com/historia/biografias/5751-libertad-rod enas-y-rosario-dulcet-biografia-de-dos-mujeres-anarquistas.html END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Pedro Chamorro (1924 - 1978) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250923 DTEND:20250924T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Birthdays COMMENT:Pedro Chamorro\, born on this day in 1924\, was prominent critic o f the Nicaraguan Somoza regime and democratic activist. His 1978 assassina tion contributed to a popular uprising which successfully ousted Anastasio Somoza in 1979. DESCRIPTION:Pedro Chamorro\, born on this day in 1924\, was prominent crit ic of the Nicaraguan Somoza regime and democratic activist. His 1978 assas sination contributed to a popular uprising which successfully ousted Anast asio Somoza in 1979.\n\nPedro Joaquín Chamorro Cardenal served as editor of "La Prensa"\, the only significant opposition newspaper to the rule of the Somoza family\, which had ruled the country since 1937. Chamorro also an activist who founded the Democratic Union of Liberation (UDEL).\n\nAcco rding to his widow\, Violeta\, Chamorro remained a staunch critic of the g overnment despite being arrested\, tortured\, and being made aware of plan s of his own assassination. In 1975\, Chamorro wrote to Somoza\, stating " I am waiting\, with a clear conscience\, and a soul at peace\, for the blo w you are to deliver."\n\nOn January 10th\, 1978\, at 53 years old\, Chamo rro was shot 18 times by three men in a car who forced his auto to the cur b. In the aftermath of his death\, tens of thousands of Nicaraguans took t o the streets in anti-government protests. A general strike broke out in t he capital Managua\, paralyzing the city.\n\nThe following year\, the deca des long rule of the Somoza regime finally came to an end when Anastasio S omoza was ousted\, fleeing to Miami. The anti-capitalist Sandinista Nation al Liberation Front (FSLN) came into power\, making significant gains in l iteracy\, health care\, education\, childcare\, unions\, and land reform.\ n\nIn 1990\, Pedro's widow Violeta Charmorro became the first and only fem ale President of Nicaragua\, serving until 1997. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedro_Joaqu%C3%ADn_Chamorro_Carden al RESOURCES:https://www.nytimes.com/1978/01/11/archives/prizewinning-editor- is-shot-dead-in-nicaragua-he-opposed-somoza.html RESOURCES:https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1978/01/17/who-k illed-pedro-chamorro/3304ce22-5c79-4b2d-8732-f399b2e18fcb/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Saigon Commune (1945) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250923 DTEND:20250924T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Marxism COMMENT:On this day in 1945\, spontaneous communist revolution broke out i n Saigon\, Vietnam in response to French troops occupying various police s tations\, the Post Office\, the Central Bank\, and the Town Hall in the ci ty. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1945\, spontaneous communist revolution broke o ut in Saigon\, Vietnam in response to French troops occupying various poli ce stations\, the Post Office\, the Central Bank\, and the Town Hall in th e city.\n\nAlthough French soldiers met no resistance initially\, news of the occupation set off open rebellion in the working class districts of Sa igon - civic buildings were set on fire\, revolutionary groups paraded in the street\, and guerilla warfare was undertaken against the colonizing fo rces.\n\nUnder the slogan "Land to the Peasants! Factories to the workers! "\, the International Communist League (ICL) called on the population to a rm themselves and organize in councils\, establishing a Popular Revolution ary Committee whose delegates issued "a declaration in which they affirmed their independence from the political parties and resolutely condemned an y attempt to restrict the autonomy of the decisions taken by workers and p easants".\n\nAccording to Ngô Văn Xuyế\, the Trotskyist character of t he uprising was at odds with the Marxist-Leninist Vietminh\, however\, and the revolutionary movement was caught in the crossfire between French occ upiers and the opposition of the Vietminh communists. The movement was suc cessfully suppressed\, and its leaders either killed or exiled. RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/articles/saigon-commune-1945 RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trotskyism_in_Vietnam RESOURCES:https://www.leftvoice.org/the-saigon-commune-against-imperialism -and-stalinism/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Young Lords Founded (1968) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250923 DTEND:20250924T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:The Young Lords is a civil and human rights organization transform ed by the leadership of José "Cha Cha" Jiménez from a Chicago turf-gang on this day in 1968\, 100 years to the day after the "Grito de Lares" upri sing. DESCRIPTION:The Young Lords is a civil and human rights organization trans formed by the leadership of José "Cha Cha" Jiménez from a Chicago turf-g ang on this day in 1968\, 100 years after the Grito de Lares uprising.\n\n The group aims to fight for neighborhood empowerment and self-determinatio n for Puerto Rico\, Latinos\, and colonized ("Third World") people.\n\nTac tics used by the Young Lords include mass education\, canvassing\, communi ty programs\, occupations\, and direct confrontation. The Young Lords were a significant group within Fred Hampton's "Rainbow Coalition" and became targets of the United States FBI's COINTELPRO program. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young_Lords RESOURCES:http://www.fightbacknews.org/2019/7/1/interview-jose-cha-cha-jim enez-original-rainbow-coalition RESOURCES:https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/document/24559 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Alice S. Rossi (1922 - 2009) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250924 DTEND:20250925T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays COMMENT:Alice S. Rossi\, born on this day in 1922\, was a pioneering femin ist and sociologist who co-founded the "National Organization of Women" (N OW). "Demands for equality for women are threats to men's self-esteem and sense of sexual turf." DESCRIPTION:Alice S. Rossi\, born on this day in 1922\, was a pioneering f eminist and sociologist who co-founded the "National Organization of Women " (NOW).\n\nOne of Rossi's most influential articles was "Equality Between the Sexes: An Immodest Proposal"\, first presented as a talk in 1963. In the piece\, Professor Rossi argued that for most women motherhood had beco me a full-time occupation\, a state of affairs that hurt not only women bu t also the larger society in which they lived. For the well-being of both the women and the culture\, she argued\, parity of the sexes is essential. \n\nThe year "Equality Between the Sexes" was published coincided with the publication of "The Feminine Mystique" by Betty Friedan\, a fellow femini st author and activist. Professor Rossi's argument was considered subversi ve at the time\, and in later interviews she recalled being called a monst er\, an unnatural woman\, and an unfit mother.\n\nIn 1966\, Rossi\, along with Betty Friedan and others\, founded the National Organization for Wome n (NOW).\n\n"Demands for equality for women are threats to men's self-este em and sense of sexual turf."\n\n- Alice S. Rossi RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_S._Rossi RESOURCES:https://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/08/us/08rossi.html END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Anti-Water Charges Strike (1994) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250924 DTEND:20250925T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1994\, in opposition to water bill increases\, work ing class Irish activists began a campaign of resistance\, refusing to pay water bills and engaging in direct action to prevent peoples' water suppl ies from being shut off. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1994\, in opposition to water bill increases\, working class Irish activists began a campaign of resistance\, refusing to pay water bills and engaging in direct action to prevent peoples' water s upplies from being shut off.\n\nTo facilitate this campaign\, activists fo rmed the Federation of Dublin Anti-Water Charges Campaigns (FDAWCC).\n\nA protest march five hundred strong took place in the city center in Novembe r\, and\, over the course of late 1994/early 1995. nearly every house in F ingal and South Dublin had received a leaflet from the campaign.\n\nIn res ponse to the water bill strike\, the city declared that\, if people didn't pay their outstanding bills within a certain number of days\, they would begin cutting off peoples' water supply. In response\, the community follo wed and spied on water inspectors in order to prevent them from shutting o ff the water supply to various homes.\n\nLegal action escalated\, and some residents were called into court over unpaid water charges. Despite this\ , very few people were actually issued disconnections\, and more than 50% of houses were not paying their water bills. Finally\, on December 19th\, 1996 the Minister for the Environment announced that the water charge woul d be done away with. RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/articles/dublin-water-charge-campaign -1996 RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_supply_and_sanitation_in_the _Republic_of_Ireland#Development_of_water_charges END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Canada Bans IWW (1918) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250924 DTEND:20250925T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,IWW COMMENT:On this day in 1918\, Canada declared the Industrial Workers of th e World (IWW)\, along with 13 other organizations\, to be unlawful while t he state was engaged in war. Penalty for membership was set at 5 years in an interment camp. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1918\, Canada declared the Industrial Workers o f the World (IWW)\, along with 13 other organizations\, to be unlawful whi le the state was engaged in war. Penalty for membership was set at 5 years in an interment camp.\n\nThe same government order also banned meetings c onducted in the language of any enemy country (German\, Bulgarian\, Hungar ian\, Turkish\, etc.) or in Russian\, Ukrainian or Finnish (except for rel igious services).\n\nAn organization in Western Canada called the One Big Union (OBU) was formed in 1919\, and its philosophy of industrial unionism was closely aligned with that of the IWW. RESOURCES:https://canadianlabour.ca/industrial-workers-of-the-world-iww-de clared-illegal-in-canada/ RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/library/iww-canada-g-jewell END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Israeli Pilots Refuse to Fly (2003) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250924 DTEND:20250925T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Assassinations COMMENT:On this day in 2003\, twenty-seven Israeli pilots refused to fly a ssassination missions\, referring to them in an open letter as "illegal an d immoral". DESCRIPTION:On this day in 2003\, 27 Israeli pilots refused to fly assassi nation missions\, referring to them as "illegal and immoral".\n\nThis was declared in an open letter\, and in opposition of Israel's policy of assas sinating activists of Hamas\, Islamic Jihad\, and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Bri gade.\n\nSince August 19th of that year\, Israel's air force had killed 12 Hamas members and four bystanders. Over the past two years\, Israel's "ta rgeted assassinations" had killed dozens of bystanders\, using bombs weigh ing up to one ton in densely populated areas of the Gaza Strip. RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/library/israel-pilots-refuse-assassination-mi ssions RESOURCES:http://archive.boston.com/news/world/articles/2003/09/25/27_isra eli_pilots_refuse_raid_duty/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Milwaukee Fourteen (1968) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250924 DTEND:20250925T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Imperialism,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1968\, a group of peace activists known as the "The Milwaukee Fourteen" burned more than 10\,000 Selective Service records wi th homemade napalm to protest the Vietnam War. They were each found guilty of theft and arson. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1968\, a group of peace activists known as the "The Milwaukee Fourteen" burned more than 10\,000 Selective Service record s with homemade napalm to protest the Vietnam War. They were each found gu ilty of theft and arson.\n\nAs a group\, protesters entered a building tha t held documents of nine draft boards\, gathered up 10\,000 files\, carrie d them to an open public space\, and set them on fire with homemade napalm .\n\nThe fourteen then remained at the site\, singing and reading from the gospels of John and Luke as Milwaukee firemen and police officers arrived .\n\nSimilar acts of rebellion took place in protest of the Vietnam War dr aft. Earlier in 1968\, the Catonsville Nine burned 378 draft files. In 197 1\, the Camden 28 attempted a similar protest\, however the FBI had infilt rated their group and arrested them mid-break-in.\n\nActivist historian Ho ward Zinn testified in support of the Milwaukee Fourteen at their trial\, however he was cut off from speaking by the judge. After eleven days\, the defendants were each found guilty of theft\, arson\, and burglary. RESOURCES:https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/milwaukee-14-burn-draft- cards/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milwaukee_Fourteen END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Anarchists Bomb Bolshevik HQ (1919) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250925 DTEND:20250926T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Anarchism,Terrorism COMMENT:On this day in 1919\, a group known as the "Underground Anarchists " in Russia bombed Bolshevik headquarters in Moscow during a plenary meeti ng\, killing twelve and wounding fifty-five more\, including Pravda editor Nikolai Bukharin. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1919\, a group known as the "Underground Anarch ists" in Russia bombed Bolshevik headquarters in Moscow during a plenary m eeting\, killing twelve and wounding fifty-five more\, including Pravda ed itor Nikolai Bukharin. The amount killed and wounded in the bombing comes from anarchist historian Paul Avrich\, in his text "The Russian Anarchists ".\n\nAccording to Alexander Berkman:\n\n"The Anarchist organisations of M oscow\, not considering terrorism a solution of the difficulties\, publicl y expressed disapproval of the tactics of the underground group. The gover nment\, however\, replied with repressions against all Anarchists. Many me mbers of the underground group were executed\, a number of Moscow Anarchis ts were arrested\, and in the provinces every expression of the Anarchist movement was suppressed." RESOURCES:http://dwardmac.pitzer.edu/Anarchist_archives/bright/berkman/iis h/rusrev/russianrevandcp.html RESOURCES:https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/paul-avrich-the-russian- anarchists-en END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Gabriel Prosser Captured (1800) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250925 DTEND:20250926T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:Gabriel Prosser (1775 - 1800) was the leader of an unsuccessful sl ave revolt in Richmond\, captured on this day in 1800. Prosser planned to kill local whites\, excepting Quakers\, Methodists\, and the French\, and establish a "Kingdom of Virginia". DESCRIPTION:Gabriel Prosser (1775 - 1800) was the leader of an unsuccessfu l slave revolt in Richmond\, captured on this day in 1800. Prosser planned to kill local whites\, excepting Quakers\, Methodists\, and the French\, and establish a "Kingdom of Virginia".\n\nLittle is known of Prosser's lif e before the revolt. Gabriel's two brothers\, Solomon and Martin\, and his wife\, Nanny\, were all enslaved by Thomas Prosser. All of them participa ted in the insurrection.\n\nAt the time of the uprising\, Gabriel Prosser was twenty-four years old\, six feet two inches\, literate\, and a blacksm ith by trade. He was described by a contemporary as "a fellow of courage a nd intellect above his rank in life."\n\nWith the help of other enslaved p eople\, Prosser devised a plan to seize control of Richmond by killing off the white population (excepting the Methodists\, Quakers\, and Frenchmen) and establishing a Kingdom of Virginia with himself as monarch.\n\nProsse r was betrayed twice - first by others enslaved by Thomas Prosser who told him about the plan\, and then by slaves in Norfolk\, who turned a fleeing Prosser in to the authorities for a bounty.\n\nOn September 25th\, 1800\, Prosser was captured. He was executed along with two of his brothers and 23 other enslaved people a few weeks later\, on October 6th. RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/prosser-gabri el-1775-1800/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabriel_Prosser END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Herbert Lee Murdered (1961) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250925 DTEND:20250926T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Civil Rights COMMENT:On this day in 1961\, civil rights activist Herbert Lee was murder ed by Mississippi state representative E. H. Hurst (1908 - 1990) in broad daylight while delivering cotton near Liberty. Hurst was acquitted after c laiming self-defense. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1961\, civil rights activist Herbert Lee was mu rdered by Mississippi state representative E. H. Hurst (1908 - 1990) in br oad daylight while delivering cotton near Liberty. Hurst was acquitted aft er claiming self-defense.\n\nHerbert Lee was an American civil rights acti vist remembered as a proponent of voting rights for African Americans in M ississippi\, who had been disenfranchised since 1890.\n\nLee was a charter member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in Amite County and sought to enfranchise black Americans by encou raging voter registration.\n\nIn 1961\, Lee assisted Bob Moses\, a field s ecretary with Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)\, in his ef forts to persuade locals to register. His activities were met with threats of reprisal by the white community\, and Lee became one of the movement's earliest victims to white violence.\n\nOn September 25th\, 1961\, Lee was murdered by Mississippi state representative E. H. Hurst (1908 - 1990) in broad daylight at the cotton gin while delivering cotton near Liberty.\n\ nHurst killed Lee with a single shot to the head\, but later claimed in co urt that he was defending himself after Lee attacked him with a tire iron. An all-white jury ruled that the killing was a justifiable homicide. In 1 964\, civil rights activist Louis Allen was killed after he informed feder al investigators that his testimony in the case was forced on threat of vi olence. RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/lee-herbert-1 912-1961/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbert_Lee_(activist) RESOURCES:https://snccdigital.org/people/herbert-lee/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Mozambique War for Independence (1964) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250925 DTEND:20250926T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Marxism,Colonialism,Independence COMMENT:On this day in 1964\, the Mozambican Liberation Front (FRELIMO) la unched a war against their Portuguese colonizers\, winning independence af ter a decade of fighting. Communist revolutionary Samora Machel served the country's first President. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1964\, the Mozambican Liberation Front (FRELIMO ) launched a war against their Portuguese colonizers\, winning independenc e after a decade of fighting. Communist revolutionary Samora Machel served the country's first President.\n\nIdeologically Marxist-Leninist\, FRELIM O was able to expel the Portuguese from significant regions of the colony. The Portuguese military\, largely ineffectual in combat against guerrilla tactics\, responded with extreme suppression of suspected leftists and FR ELIMO-sympathizers among the native citizenry.\n\nIn April of 1974\, a mil itary junta seized power in Portugal in a coup known as the "Carnation Rev olution". In the following months\, FRELIMO was able to negotiate a ceasef ire with the new government\, ending the war and officially winning their independence.\n\n"FRELIMO TODAY SOLEMNLY PROCLAIMS THE GENERAL ARMED INSUR RECTION OF THE MOZAMBICAN PEOPLE AGAINST PORTUGUESE COLONIALISM FOR THE AT TAINMENT OF THE COMPLETE INDEPENDENCE OF MOZAMBIQUE. Our fight must not ce ase before the total liquidation of Portuguese colonialism..."\n\n- FRELIM O\, September 25th\, 1964 RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/subject/africa/machel/introduction.htm RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozambican_War_of_Independence RESOURCES:https://projects.kora.matrix.msu.edu/files/210-808-413/acoamakon desmall.pdf RESOURCES:https://www.britannica.com/place/Mozambique/Mozambique-under-the -New-State-regime RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/subject/africa/machel/index.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Athens General Strike (2012) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250926 DTEND:20250927T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,General Strikes,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 2012\, 100k-200k protesters took to the streets in Athens\, Greece\, as workers carried out a 24-hour general strike to prote st against the policy of austerity. At the time\, unemployment was ~25% an d minimum wage cut by 22%. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 2012\, 100k-200k protesters took to the streets in Athens\, Greece\, as workers carried out a 24-hour general strike to p rotest against the policy of austerity. At the time\, unemployment was ~25 % and minimum wage cut by 22%.\n\nAt the time\, the conservative coalition in government was calling for a $15 billion cut to pensions and salaries. Official unemployment in the country was around 25% and the minimum wage had been cut by 22% that year. Those Greeks still working would labor six days a week under the new plan.\n\nWhen some protesters hurled molotov coc ktails at the finance ministry and parliament\, police responded with tear gas. The strike was called by the country's two biggest unions\, which to gether represented half of the workforce. The general strike was just one of several that had taken place in Greece since 2010. RESOURCES:https://labornotes.org/2012/09/general-strike-greece-says-we-won t-submit RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/article/general-strike-athens RESOURCES:https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/sep/26/greece-violence-ge neral-strike-austerity RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-austerity_movement_in_Greece END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike Assassinated (1959) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250926 DTEND:20250927T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Assassinations COMMENT:On this day in 1959\, social reformer and founder of the Sri Lanka n Freedom Party S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike was assassinated by a Buddhist monk. After his death\, his widow Sirima became the world's first female Prime Minister. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1959\, social reformer and founder of the Sri L ankan Freedom Party S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike was assassinated by a Buddhist m onk. After his death\, his widow Sirima became the world's first female Pr ime Minister.\n\nSolomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike (1899 - 1959)\, c ommonly referred to by his initials as S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike\, was the fou rth Prime Minister of the Dominion of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka)\, founder of the left-wing and Sinhalese nationalist Sri Lankan Freedom Party\, and soc ial reformer.\n\nBandaranaike's administration implemented left-wing refor ms in Ceylon\, increasing wages\, nationalizing public transport\, fightin g caste-based discrimination\, and making May Day a national holiday. His government also removed British air bases from the country and established relations with the People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union.\n\nOn September 25th\, 1959\, Bandaranaike was fatally shot by a Buddhist monk\ , who avoided being checked for weapons by posing as a member of the clerg y. He died from his wounds the next day\, and was succeeded in power by hi s widow Sirima Bandaranaike\, who became the world's first female Prime Mi nister.\n\n"Today\, we are living in one of the most important periods of human history\, at a period when a great world civilisation is crumbling a nd we are faced with the task of building a new civilisation to take its p lace.\n\nI generally accept the principle of the dialectic of a thesis\, a nd antithesis out of which there would emerge a synthesis. There again\, t his is not the whole truth for there may be more than one antithesis to an y given thesis\, and therefore\, the possibility of more than one synthesi s would arise: the discovery of the correct synthesis is the problem that faces us all today."\n\n- S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S._W._R._D._Bandaranaike RESOURCES:http://www.swrdbandaranaike.lk/his_life.html END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Battle of Holbeck Moor (1936) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250927 DTEND:20250928T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Labor,Fascism,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1936\, the Battle of Holbeck Moor took place in Lee ds\, England when 30\,000 anti-fascist demonstrators disrupted a rally hel d by the British Union of Fascists (BUF)\, led by Oswald Mosley. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1936\, the Battle of Holbeck Moor took place in Leeds\, England when anti-fascist demonstrators disrupted a rally held by the British Union of Fascists (BUF)\, led by Oswald Mosley.\n\nThe 1\,000 fascist demonstrators were greeted by approximately 30\,000 locals in a p rotest organized by the Communist Party. Due to political differences with the Communist Party\, the Labour Party did not attend.\n\nWhen Mosley att empted to give a speech from atop a van\, the protesters surrounded the va n and sang "The Red Flag" in order to drown out Mosley's speech. Many thre w stones at the Fascists\, with at least one hitting Mosley in the temple. Outnumbered and facing violence\, the BUF members dispersed.\n\nThe Battl e of Holbeck Moor happened just a week prior to the more well-known Battle of Cable Street\, in which a BUF rally led by Oswald Mosley was again for cibly dispersed by anti-fascist demonstrators. RESOURCES:https://secretlibraryleeds.net/2019/06/14/oswald-mosley-and-leed s-the-battle-of-holbeck-moor-27th-september-1936/ RESOURCES:https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/dark-day-fascists-marched-l eeds-598877 RESOURCES:https://tribunemag.co.uk/2020/09/remembering-the-battle-of-holbe ck-moor/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Bhagat Singh (1907 - 1931) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250927 DTEND:20250928T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Marxism,Birthdays COMMENT:Bhagat Singh\, born on this day in 1907\, was an Indian socialist revolutionary whose acts of violence resistance against the British and ex ecution at 23 years old made him a folk hero of the Indian independence mo vement. DESCRIPTION:*Singh's birthday is disputed. Although Encyclopedia Britannic a lists his birth date as Sept. 27th\, other sources say Sept. 28th\, and various biographers have suggested Oct. 19th of the same year\n\nBhagat Si ngh\, born on this day in 1907\, was an Indian socialist revolutionary who se acts of violence resistance against the British and execution at 23 yea rs old made him a folk hero of the Indian independence movement.\n\nSingh was an avid reader of Bakunin\, Marx\, Lenin\, and Trotsky. He was also op enly critical of Mahatma Gandhi\, having become disillusioned with his non -violent tactics after Gandhi called off the non-cooperation movement.\n\n In December 1928\, Bhagat Singh and an associate fatally shot a 21-year-ol d British police officer\, John Saunders\, in retaliation for the death of Lala Lajpat Rai\, a popular Indian nationalist leader who died after bein g attacked by police. On the run from the police\, Singh was arrested when he\, along with Batukeshwar Dutt\, exploded two improvised bombs inside t he Central Legislative Assembly in Delhi\, showered leaflets onto the legi slators below\, and allowed the authorities to arrest them.\n\nAwaiting tr ial\, Singh gained public sympathy after he joined fellow defendant Jatin Das in a hunger strike\, demanding better prison conditions for Indian pri soners. Das died from starvation in September 1929. Singh was convicted an d hanged in March\, 1931. Four days before his execution\, Singh refused t o sign a letter drafted for him that would appeal for clemency.\n\n"Non-vi olence is backed by the theory of soul-force in which suffering is courted in the hope of ultimately winning over the opponent. But what happens whe n such an attempt fail to achieve the object? It is here that soul-force h as to be combined with physical force so as not to remain at the mercy of tyrannical and ruthless enemy."\n\n- Bhagat Singh RESOURCES:https://www.britannica.com/biography/Bhagat-Singh RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhagat_Singh RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/archive/bhagat-singh/index.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Chicago Garment Workers Strike (1915) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250927 DTEND:20250928T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:On this day in 1915\, 5\,000 garment workers in Chicago walked out on strike\, demanding a 48 hour work-week\, overtime pay\, union recognit ion\, a wage increase\, and an end to blacklisting. By the 29th\, more tha n 25\,000 workers were striking. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1915\, 5\,000 garment workers in Chicago walked out on strike\, demanding a 48 hour work-week\, overtime pay\, union reco gnition\, a wage increase\, and an end to blacklisting. By the 29th\, more than 25\,000 workers were striking.\n\nOn September 14th\, a meeting of a pproximately 5\,000 garment workers in Chicago agreed on a list of demands to send to their employers and to collectively go on strike on September 27th if their demands were not met.\n\nThe demands included a 48 hour work -week\, overtime pay\, union recognition\, a wage increase\, and an end to blacklisting practices. Management not only did not meet the demands\, th ey refused to negotiate with the workers entirely and pre-emptively reques ted police protection of their factories.\n\nOn September 27th\, as planne d\, 5\,000 garment workers walked out on strike. By September 29th\, the a mount of workers out had grown to 25\,000. The strike was plagued with vio lence and police brutality\, and multiple attempts by the city government to arbitrate the strike failed.\n\nThe labor action finally ended on Decem ber 12th\, 1915 and\, while the workers' union was not recognized\, they w on some of the demands from their employers. RESOURCES:https://books.google.com/books/reader?id=mJguAAAAMAAJ&printsec=f rontcover&output=reader&source=gbs_atb&pg=GBS.PP9#v=snippet&q=1915%20garme nt&f=false RESOURCES:https://www.newspapers.com/image/77858514/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:First International Syndicalist Congress (1913) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250927 DTEND:20250928T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1913\, the First International Syndicalist Congress met in Holborn Town Hall in London\, with 38 delegates representing 250\, 000 workers from more than a dozen countries across Europe and Latin Ameri ca. DESCRIPTION:The First International Syndicalist Congress was a meeting of European and Latin American syndicalist organizations at Holborn Town Hall in London that began on this day in 1913. The congress was attended by 38 delegates representing 65 organizations from Argentina\, Austria\, Belgiu m\, Brazil\, Cuba\, France\, Germany\, Italy\, the Netherlands\, Poland\, Spain\, Sweden\, and the United Kingdom\, with a total membership between 220\,000 and 250\,000.\n\nDespite being marked by heated disagreements ove r both tactics and principles\, the Congress succeeded in creating the Int ernational Syndicalist Information Bureau as a vehicle of exchange and sol idarity between the various organizations\, and the "Bulletin internationa l du mouvement syndicaliste" as a means of communication. It would be view ed as a success by almost all who participated. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_International_Syndicalist_Co ngress RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/archive/lozovsky/1922/first-congress.ht m END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Industrial Workers of Africa (1917) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250927 DTEND:20250928T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,IWW COMMENT:On this day in 1917\, racially mixed study groups in South Africa founded the Industrial Workers of Africa\, modeled on the Industrial Worke rs of the World (IWW). The group's slogan was "Sifuna Zonke!" ("We want ev erything!"). DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1917\, racially mixed study groups in South Afr ica founded the Industrial Workers of Africa\, modeled on the Industrial W orkers of the World (IWW). The group's slogan was "Sifuna Zonke!" ("We wan t everything!").\n\nThe IWA was one of the first trade unions for African workers ever formed in South Africa. After calling a general strike\, the South African government arrested and charged seven activists - three from the International Socialists League\, three from the Industrial Workers o f Africa\, and two from the Transvaal Native Congress - for "incitement to public violence."\n\nThis trial would be the first time white and black a ctivists are jointly charged for political activities in South Africa.\n\n An excerpt from the IWA manifesto reads:\n\n"There is only one way of deli verance for you Bantu workers. Unite as workers. Unite: forget the things which divide you. Let there be no longer any talk of Basuto\, Zulu\, or Sh angaan. You are all labourers\; let Labour be your common bond." RESOURCES:https://www.sahistory.org.za/archive/industrial-workers-africa-1 917-1921-bikisha-media-collective RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/articles/industrial-workers-africa-19 17-1921 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Brixton Riot (1985) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250928 DTEND:20250929T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Riots COMMENT:On this day in 1985\, a race riot broke out in Brixton after Londo n Metropolitan Police shot and paralyzed Jamaican immigrant Dorothy "Cherr y" Groce. She later won £500\,000 in compensation from the police with no admission of liability. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1985\, a race riot broke out in Brixton after L ondon Metropolitan Police shot and paralyzed Jamaican immigrant Dorothy "C herry" Groce. She later won £500\,000 in compensation from the police wit h no admission of liability.\n\nPolice shot Groce during a raid on her hom e\, in which police were looking for her son\, who was not there at the ti me.\n\nAs word of the shooting spread\, a group of more than 60 people for med outside Groce's house\, later moving to the local district police stat ion\, chanting anti-police slogans and demanding disciplinary action again st the officers involved.\n\nThere\, hostility between the largely black c rowd and the largely white police force quickly escalated to violence\, an d then rioting. Police lost control of the area for the next two days. Pol ice\, community residents\, and bypassers were all attacked\, leading to t he death of at least one person and injuring dozens.\n\nCherry Groce recei ved later received over £500\,000 in compensation from the Metropolitan P olice\, but with no admission of liability. In 2014 - three years after he r death - the police issued a formal apology for her shooting. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1985_Brixton_riot RESOURCES:http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/28/ne wsid_2540000/2540397.stm RESOURCES:https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/jul/10/dorothy-cherry-g roce-inquest-police-failures-contributed-death END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:David Walker's Appeal (1829) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250928 DTEND:20250929T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:David Walker was an American abolitionist and author who published "An Appeal to the Coloured Citizens of the World" on this day in 1829\, a seminal text that influenced later thinkers such as W.E.B. Du Bois and Ma lcolm X. DESCRIPTION:David Walker (1796 - 1830) was an American abolitionist and au thor who published "An Appeal to the Coloured Citizens of the World" on th is day in 1829. The piece was an early historical call for black unity in the fight against slavery.\n\nThe text was widely read at the time and has become regarded as one of the most important political documents of the 1 9th century\, influencing multiple generations of black leaders that came after it\, including Frederick Douglass\, W.E.B. Du Bois\, Martin Luther K ing\, and Malcolm X. Not surprisingly\, the text infuriated southern slave owners\; the state of Georgia offered a $10\,000 bounty for Walker alive a nd $1\,000 for him dead.\n\nWalker died the next year\, soon after publish ing the third edition of his Appeal. Although foul play was suspected\, hi storians consider it more likely he died of tuberculosis\, which his daugh ter had passed away from a week prior. David Walker's son\, Edward G. Walk er\, was an attorney and\, in 1866\, was one of the first two black men el ected to the Massachusetts State Legislature.\n\n"Now\, I ask you\, had yo u not rather be killed than to be a slave to a tyrant\, who takes the life of your mother\, wife\, and dear little children? Look upon your mother\, wife and children\, and answer God Almighty\; and believe this\, that it is no more harm for you to kill a man who is trying to kill you\, than it is for you to take a drink of water when thirsty."\n\n- David Walker RESOURCES:http://www.davidwalkermemorial.org/appeal RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Walker_(abolitionist) END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:First International Founded (1864) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250928 DTEND:20250929T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Marxism COMMENT:The International Workingmen's Association (IWA)\, commonly known as the First International\, was founded on this day in 1864. Among its me mbers were luminaries such as Karl Marx\, Mikhail Bakunin\, Pierre-Joseph Proudhon\, and Louis Blanqui. DESCRIPTION:The International Workingmen's Association (IWA)\, commonly kn own as the First International\, was an organization aimed at uniting diff erent left-wing ideologies founded on this day in 1864.\n\nNotable members of the IWA included Pierre-Joseph Proudhon\, Wilhelm Liebknecht\, Louis A uguste Blanqui\, Karl Marx\, and Mikhail Bakunin. The organization was pol arized on the issue of state power (followers of Bakunin and Proudhon cate gorically opposed state power and considered Marx's ideas inherently autho ritarian)\, and split on this basis after its Fifth Congress in 1872.\n\nO n hearing of the First International's split\, Otto von Bismarck remarked "crowned heads\, wealth and privilege may well tremble should ever again t he Black and Red unite!" RESOURCES:https://socialistworker.co.uk/socialist-review-archive/karl-marx -and-first-international/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Workingmen%27s_Assoc iation RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/archive/steklov/history-first-internati onal/index.htm RESOURCES:https://www.marxist.com/theory-first-international.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Shankar Guha Niyogi Assassinated (1991) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250928 DTEND:20250929T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Marxism,Assassinations COMMENT:Shankar Guha Niyogi was a Marxist Indian labor organizer who was a ssassinated on this day in 1991\, after organizing miners in the town of D alli Rajhara in the state of Chhattisgarh. DESCRIPTION:Shankar Guha Niyogi was a Marxist Indian labor organizer who w as assassinated on this day in 1991\, after organizing miners in the town of Dalli Rajhara in the state of Chhattisgarh.\n\nNiyogi founded "Chhattis garh Mukti Morcha"\, a miner union run in the town of Dalli Rajhara in Chh attisgarh. Because of his unionization efforts\, Niyogi was repeatedly arr ested\, harassed\, and threatened.\n\nOn September 28th\, 1991\, Niyogi wa s shot and killed in his sleep\, allegedly at the instance of some industr ialists who felt threatened by his labor organizing. His murder trial gene rated tremendous controversy\, as a lower court awarded strict punishments to all suspects\, but higher courts later convicted just one suspect and let off two capitalists implicated in the crime. RESOURCES:https://thewire.in/labour/shankar-guha-niyogi RESOURCES:https://web.archive.org/web/20080821041615/http://www.hinduonnet .com/fline/fl2205/stories/20050311001004400.htm# END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Missoula Free Speech Fight (1909) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250929 DTEND:20250930T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:IWW COMMENT:On this day in 1909\, a 19 year old Elizabeth Gurley Flynn\, alrea dy a prominent member of the IWW\, and her husband Jack Jones were arreste d for speaking on a street corner during a Free Speech Fight in Missoula\, Montana. DESCRIPTION:"Free Speech Fights" refers to to struggles over free speech i nvolving the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) in the early 20th centu ry. The IWW members\, along with other radical groups\, were often met wit h opposition (violent and otherwise) from local governments and especially business leaders\, in their attempts to exercise their right to free spee ch.\n\nOn this day in 1909\, a 19 year old Elizabeth Gurley Flynn\, alread y a prominent member of the IWW\, and her husband Jack Jones were arrested for speaking on a street corner in Missoula\, Montana. Flynn put out the word\, declaring\, "we need volunteers to go to jail".\n\nIWW poured in fr om the surrounding territory\, getting arrested and overwhelming the local jail facilities. Some were offered immediate release\, but they refused a nd insisted on a jury trial to remain in jail.\n\nEventually\, on October 8th\, the city had had enough with the IWW members and dropped all charges related to the exercise of speech\, allowing them to speak where they wis hed\, provided they didn't block the flow of traffic. RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/1909-missoula-free-speech-fight RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_speech_fights#Missoula_free_s peech_fight END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Samora Machel (1933 - 1986) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250929 DTEND:20250930T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Marxism,Birthdays,Colonialism COMMENT:Samora Machel\, born on this day in 1933\, was a Marxist-Leninist revolutionary who served as President of independent Mozambique in 1975. " Marxism is a shining path\, a sun of hope and certainty that never sets\, that is always at its zenith." DESCRIPTION:Samora Machel\, born on this day in 1933\, was a Marxist-Lenin ist revolutionary who served as President of independent Mozambique in 197 5. "Marxism is a shining path\, a sun of hope and certainty that never set s\, that is always at its zenith."\n\nBefore serving as president\, Machel had led the Mozambique Liberation Front (FRELIMO) against colonial forces from 1970 until the political aftermath of the Portuguese Carnation Revol ution ended the war four years later.\n\nOn June 25th\, 1975\, Mozambique became a formally independent nation with Machel serving as its first Pres ident. He stated the new nation would be "a state of People's Democracy\, in which\, under the leadership of the worker-peasant alliance\, all patri otic strata commit themselves to the destruction of the sequels of colonia lism\, and to annihilate the system of exploitation of man by man".\n\nOn October 19th\, 1986\, Machel attended a summit in Mbala\, Zambia\, called to put pressure on Zairean dictator Mobutu Sese Seko\, over his support fo r the Angolan opposition movement UNITA. On his return trip to Maputo (the capital of Mozambique)\, Machel's plane crashed near the Mozambican-South African border\, killing him and 33 others.\n\n"For the oppressed peoples and classes\, for the peoples and workers who have taken control of their destiny\, Marxism is a shining path\, a sun of hope and certainty that ne ver sets\, a sun that is always at its zenith."\n\n- Samora Machel RESOURCES:https://www.sahistory.org.za/people/samora-machel RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/subject/africa/machel/index.htm RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samora_Machel END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Michael Parenti (1933 - ) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250930 DTEND:20251001T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Marxism,Birthdays COMMENT:Michael Parenti\, born on this day in 1933\, is a Marxist American political scientist and cultural critic\, known for works such as "Invent ing Reality" and "Blackshirts & Reds: Rational Fascism and the Overthrow o f Communism". DESCRIPTION:Michael Parenti\, born on this day in 1933\, is a Marxist Amer ican political scientist and cultural critic. He has taught at American an d international universities and has been a guest lecturer before campus a nd community audiences.\n\nAmong Parenti's works are "Blackshirts & Reds: Rational Fascism and the Overthrow of Communism"\, which details political and living conditions in the Soviet Bloc\, as well as "To Kill a Nation: The Attack on Yugoslavia"\, which vehemently condemned the NATO bombing of that country.\n\n"No surprise then that the 'pure' socialists support eve ry revolution except for the ones that succeed."\n\n- Michael Parenti RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Parenti RESOURCES:http://www.michaelparenti.org/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Ole Miss Riot (1962) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250930 DTEND:20251001T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Riots COMMENT:On this day in 1962\, white supremacists protesting the enrollment of James Meredith at the University of Mississippi rioted\, killing 2 and injuring 300. On Oct. 1st\, Meredith became the first black student enrol led at the institution. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1962\, white supremacists protesting the enroll ment of James Meredith at the University of Mississippi rioted\, killing 2 and injuring 300. On Oct. 1st\, Meredith became the first black student e nrolled at the institution.\n\nTwo civilians\, one a French journalist\, w ere killed during the night\, and over 300 people were injured\, including one-third of the federal law enforcement personnel deployed.\n\nIn antici pation of violence\, Meredith was escorted by Federal Marshals and state p olice immediately after arriving in Oxford. Responding to the federal pres ence\, a crowd of a thousand\, mostly students⁠ - led by right-wing acti vist Edwin Walker⁠⁠⁠ - quickly crowded onto campus.\n\nAs the night went on\, the crowd swelled to 3\,000 and became increasingly violent. Ear ly the next morning\, a white mob attacked General Billingslea's staff car as it arrived at the university\, setting it on fire with the staff insid e.\n\nOn October 1st\, Meredith became the first black student to be enrol led at the University of Mississippi. With 24-hour military security\, he graduated from the university on August 18th\, 1963 with a degree in polit ical science. RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/ole-miss-riot -1962/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ole_Miss_riot_of_1962 RESOURCES:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRldEEztyjw&ab_channel=DillardUn iversity END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Autumn Uprising Begins (1946) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251001 DTEND:20251002T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1946\, months of spontaneous peasant uprisings bega n in Korea after rail workers struck in Daegu. Millions participated\, att acking Japanese and US collaborators and burning rice collection records a s the state imposed martial law. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1946\, months of spontaneous peasant uprisings began in Korea after rail workers struck in Daegu. Millions participated\, attacking Japanese and US collaborators and burning rice collection recor ds as the state imposed martial law.\n\nAccording to political sociologist Gi-Wook Shin\, the uprising began on October 1st\, 1946 when 300 railroad workers initiated a strike in the South Korean city of Taegu (also spelle d Daegu). The following morning\, thousands of workers carried the body of a striker murdered by police throughout the city and then raided the loca l police station\, capturing 50 policemen.\n\nBy October 6th\, 38 Taegu po licemen had been killed\, martial law was declared\, and American tanks we re patrolling the city. The uprising that began in Taegu had also expanded into rural areas\, transforming the urban strike into a major national up rising.\n\nParticipants of the 1946 uprisings targeted rice collection age ncies\, landlords\, and policemen and city officials who had collaborated with the Japanese and American occupiers. Rebels wrecked the homes of poli ce officers and burned records of grain and rice collections.\n\nGi-Wook S hin notes that\, by the end of 1946\, approximately 30% of South Korean co unties had bore witness to these peasant uprisings. While no accurate coun t of participants or casualties exists\, Shin provides estimates of 2.3 mi llion people participating in the uprising\, 30\,000 protesters arrested\, and 1\,000 protesters and 200 police officers killed in total.\n\nProfess or of Korea-Pacific Studies Stephan Haggard has noted the defeat of the up rising as a turning point for the power struggle in Korea\, as the PRK peo ple's committees and the National Council of Korean Labor Unions were weak ened by the suppression. RESOURCES:https://www.jstor.org/stable/2782585 RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autumn_Uprising_of_1946 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Indonesian Mass Killings Begin (1965) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251001 DTEND:20251002T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Assassinations,Massacre COMMENT:On this day in 1965\, the September 30th Movement assassinated six Indonesian Generals\, beginning a period of West-backed mass murder of al leged communists\, religious minorities\, and ethnic Chinese people. At le ast 500\,000 were killed. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1965\, the September 30th Movement assassinated six Indonesian Generals\, beginning a period of West-backed mass murder o f alleged communists\, religious minorities\, and ethnic Chinese people. A t least 500\,000 were killed.\n\nThe assassinations were blamed on the Com munist Party on Indonesia (KPI) by the army and various civic and religiou s groups\, and the resulting campaign of mass murder and arrests\, backed by several Western powers\, led to the ousting of Indonesian nationalist P resident Sukarno\, the deaths of anywhere from 500\,000 to 3 million peopl e\, and the installation of Suharto\, a brazenly corrupt anti-communist\, as President.\n\nBlaming the KPI for the assassination of the generals\, S uharto's forces began purging insitutions of alleged Sukarno and PKI loyal ists\, arresting and summarily executing many important PKI figures. As le ftists\, real or alleged\, were violently removed from civil and military institutions\, reactionaries began directing violence towards ordinary civ ilians.\n\nThe campaign of repression was both widespread and brutal\; vic tims were tortured\, impaled\, beheaded\, and rivers were left congested w ith masses of corpses. The most conservative estimates suggest 500\,000 pe ople were killed in total\, while higher estimates range from 2-3 million. \n\nWestern powers\, including the U.S.\, Britain\, Australia\, and Sweden \, both supported and directly aided the anti-communist pogroms. In 1962\, three years before the killings began\, both the U.S. and British governm ents that it would be necessary "to liquidate Sukarno".\n\nThe U.S. traine d more than 1\,200 anti-communist military officers\, providing them weapo ns and economic assistance. During the massacres\, the U.S. supported the Indonesian military's actions\, even providing the government with lists o f suspected communists to target.\n\nBritish Foreign Office documents decl assified in 2021 revealed that British propagandists secretly incited anti -communists\, including army generals\, to eliminate the PKI\, and used "b lack propaganda"\, propaganda intended to create the impression that it wa s created by those it is supposed to discredit\, due to Sukarno's hostilit y to the formation of former British colonies into the Malayan federation from 1963.\n\nWestern media and politicians repeated false propaganda from Suharto's Indonesian government downplaying the violence while also celeb rating the violent repression taking place. Australian Prime Minister Haro ld Holt wrote in the NY Times "With 500\,000 to 1 million Communist sympat hizers knocked off\, I think it is safe to assume a reorientation has take n place" The NY Times also published a racist article saying the murders w ere to be expected in "violent Asia\, where life is cheap".\n\nAmerican oi l tycoon H. L. Hunt called Sukarno's ousting the "greatest victory for fre edom since the last decisive battle of World War II." Time magazine descri bed the suppression of the KPI "The West's best news for years in Asia" an d praised Suharto as "scrupulously constitutional."\n\nThe politicide ende d in 1966. Sukarno died under house arrest in 1970. Suharto would rule as head of the Western-backed military "New Order" regime for over 30 years\, while amassing a personal fortune. The massacres continue to be downplaye d in the official Indonesian historiography.\n\nIn his 2020 book "The Jaka rta Method"\, journalist Vincent Bevins argues that the massacre provided the blueprint for American campaigns of suppression of leftist movements a round the world. To this day\, no Western government has apologized for th eir involvement in the Indonesian politicide. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indonesian_mass_killings_of_1965%E 2%80%9366 RESOURCES:https://jacobinmag.com/2018/06/killing-season-geoffrey-robinson- indonesia-communist-party-massacre RESOURCES:https://chomsky.info/199910__02/ RESOURCES:https://gsp.yale.edu/case-studies/indonesia END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:The "Jerry Rescue" (1851) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251001 DTEND:20251002T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Abolitionism COMMENT:On this day in 1851\, arrested fugitive slave William "Jerry" Henr y was broken out of jail by hundreds of abolitionists in Syracuse\, New Yo rk. Jerry and prominent members of the rescue fled to Canada afterward. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1851\, arrested fugitive slave William "Jerry" Henry was broken out of jail by hundreds of abolitionists in Syracuse\, Ne w York. Jerry and prominent members of the rescue fled to Canada afterward .\n\nEarlier that year\, the pro-slavery Secretary of State Daniel Webster had warned that the new Fugitive Slave Act (passed in 1850) would be enfo rced even "here in Syracuse in the midst of the next Anti-Slavery Conventi on." The arrest was considered a message that the locally-unpopular law wo uld be enforced by federal authorities.\n\nThe abolitionist Liberty Party was holding a state convention in Syracuse and\, when Jerry's arrest becam e known\, several hundred abolitionists broke into the city jail and freed him. The event came to be widely known as the "Jerry Rescue".\n\nJerry hi mself was hidden in Syracuse for several days\, then was taken to the Orso n Ames House in Mexico\, New York\, and from there to Oswego\, before cros sing Lake Ontario into freedom in Canada. Many of the prominent members of the jailbreak also fled to Canada\, including Reverend J.W. Loguen and Mi nister Samuel Ringgold Ward. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Rescue RESOURCES:http://www.nyhistory.com/gerritsmith/jerry.htm RESOURCES:https://www.cnyhistory.org/2014/10/jerry-rescue/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Trail of Tears (1838) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251001 DTEND:20251002T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Indigenous COMMENT:On this day in 1838\, the first major group of Cherokee\, more tha n 12\,000 people\, were forced out of Tennessee\, traveling westward from the town of Red Clay. A Choctaw leader called the forced deportations "a t rail of tears and death". DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1838\, the first major group of Cherokee\, more than 12\,000 people\, were forced out of Tennessee\, traveling westward f rom the town of Red Clay. A Choctaw leader called the forced deportations "a trail of tears and death".\n\nThe Trail of Tears was the cumulative res ult of a series of forced relocations of approximately 60\,000-100\,000 Na tive Americans in the United States from their ancestral homelands in the southeast to areas west of the Mississippi River that had been designated as "Indian Territory".\n\nIn 1837-38\, President Martin Van Buren allowed Georgia\, Tennessee\, North Carolina\, and Alabama\, using an armed force of 7\,000 people\, to relocate about 13\,000 Cherokees to Cleveland\, Tenn essee. On October 1st\, 1838\, the first major group of Cherokee\, more th an 12\,000 people in hundreds of covered wagons\, were forced out of Tenne ssee\, traveling westward from the town of Red Clay.\n\nTaking the journey through an unusually cold winter\, they suffered terribly from exposure\, disease\, and starvation\, killing several thousand people while en route to their new designated reserve. They were also attacked by locals and ec onomically exploited - starving Indians were charged a dollar a head\, equ al to $24.01 today\, to cross the Ohio River\, which typically charged twe lve cents\, equal to $2.88 today. RESOURCES:https://www.cherokeehistorical.org/learn-more-about-the-cherokee -indian-removal-and-the-tragic-trail-of-tears/ RESOURCES:https://georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu/thisday/gahistory/10/01/fina l-council-meeting-before-trail-of-tears RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trail_of_Tears END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Guinea Declares Independence (1958) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251002 DTEND:20251003T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Independence COMMENT:On this day in 1958\, Guinea achieved total and immediate independ ence from France\, the first sub-Saharan African nation to do so and the o nly former French colony to not join the "French Community". Sékou Touré served as its first President. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1958\, Guinea achieved total and immediate inde pendence from France\, the first sub-Saharan African nation to do so and t he only former French colony to not join the "French Community". Sékou To uré served as its first President.\n\nThis independence came just four da ys after a national constitutional referendum on whether or not to adopt a French-approved constitution\, which would have Guinea join the French Co mmunity (Communauté française)\, an economic and diplomatic association of former French territories.\n\nGuineans overwhelmingly voted against the constitution - the African Elections Database lists 95% voting against wi th an 85% turnout rate - aiming to sever all ties to France and declare im mediate independence.\n\nOn October 2nd 1958\, Pan-African socialist Ahmed Sékou Touré\, then Guinea's deputy to the French National Assembly\, pr oclaimed the Republic of Guinea\, serving as its first President.\n\nGuine a would be the first of France's sub-Saharan colonies to achieve independe nce\, and the only one to reject incorporation into the short-lived French Community.\n\n"We have told you bluntly\, Mr. President\, what the demand s of the people are...We have one prime and essential need: our dignity. B ut there is no dignity without freedom...We prefer freedom in poverty to o pulence in slavery."\n\n-Ahmed Sékou Touré to French President Charles D e Gaulle\, 1958 RESOURCES:https://www.webguinee.net/blogguinee/documents/guinea-problems-o f-independence-and-decolonization/ RESOURCES:https://www.nonviolent-conflict.org/guinea-1958-present/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1958_Guinean_constitutional_refere ndum END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Parsley Massacre (1937) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251002 DTEND:20251003T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Massacre COMMENT:The Parsley Massacre was a genocidal act of violence committed aga inst Haitians living in the northwestern Dominican Republic\, initiated on this day in 1937 by Rafael Trujillo. Tens of thousands were murdered at t he hands of Dominican troops. DESCRIPTION:The Parsley Massacre was a genocidal act of violence committed against Haitians living in the northwestern Dominican Republic\, initiate d on this day in 1937 by Rafael Trujillo. Tens of thousands were murdered at the hands of Dominican troops.\n\nEstimates of the amount of Haitians k illed in the massacre\, known as "kout kouto-a " in Creole ("the stabbing" ) and "El Corte" in Spanish ("the cutting")\, range from 12\,000-35\,000.\ n\nThe violence was carried out by the Dominican Army on the orders of Dom inican dictator Rafael Trujillo\, who initiated it with this statement\, g iven on October 2nd\, 1937:\n\n"To the Dominicans who were complaining of the depredations by Haitians living among them\, thefts of cattle\, provis ions\, fruits\, etc.\, and were thus prevented from enjoying in peace the products of their labor\, I have responded\, 'I will fix this.' And we hav e already begun to remedy the situation. Three hundred Haitians are now de ad in Bánica. This remedy will continue."\n\nIn the following week\, hund reds of Dominican troops poured into the region\, killing Haitians with ri fles\, machetes\, shovels\, knives\, and bayonets. Haitian children were t hrown in the air and caught by soldiers' bayonets\, then thrown on their m others' corpses. Others were drowned in the sea\, making identification an d counting of the dead impossible.\n\nThe term "Parsley Massacre" for the genocide came from the method that Dominican soldiers would use to determi ne whether or not those living on the border were native Dominicans or imm igrant Haitians - they would hold up a sprig of parsley to someone and ask them what it was.\n\nIf the person could pronounce it the Spanish way ("p erejil")\, the soldiers considered them Dominican and let them live\, howe ver if they pronounced it with a French or Creole accent\, they were consi dered Haitian and executed.\n\n"Before the massacre\, in the frontier\, th ere were always two sides\, the people were one\, united."\n\n- an anonymo us survivor of the Parsley Massacre RESOURCES:https://history.ucla.edu/sites/default/files/u184/derby/eyewitne ss.pdf RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parsley_massacre RESOURCES:https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2017/10/07/555871670/80-y ears-on-dominicans-and-haitians-revisit-painful-memories-of-parsley-massac re RESOURCES:https://clas.berkeley.edu/dominican-republic-bearing-witness-mod ern-genocide END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Tlatelolco Massacre (1968) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251002 DTEND:20251003T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Massacre,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1968\, ~10\,000 university and high school students gathered in the Plaza de las Tres Culturas of Tlatelolco\, Mexico City we re fired upon by the Mexican military\, killing hundreds. More than 1\,300 people were arrested. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1968\, ~10\,000 university and high school stud ents gathered in the Plaza de las Tres Culturas of Tlatelolco\, Mexico Cit y were fired upon by the Mexican military\, killing hundreds. More than 1\ ,300 people were arrested.\n\nThe crowd\, which also included non-students such as residential neighbors\, bystanders\, and children\, had gathered to protest the government's actions and listen peacefully to speeches.\n\n Although the Mexican government stated gunfire from the surrounding apartm ents prompted the army's attack\, multiple eyewitness accounts claim they saw a military flare go up as a sign to begin firing on the crowd. The gov ernment also had hidden soldiers with machine guns in the apartment buildi ngs they claimed they were fired upon from.\n\nEstimates of the total kill ed range from 300-400\, and over 1\,300 people were arrested. The event ra dicalized Subcomandante Marcos\, who later became a prominent member of th e Zapatistas\, an indigenous group that fights for liberation from the Mex ican government.\n\nThe massacre also led CIA agent Philip Agee\, an eyewi tness to the violence\, to resign from the organization in protest and aut hor "Inside the Company: CIA Diary"\, which detailed his work on behalf of American imperialism and caused him to be deported from the United Kingdo m. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tlatelolco_massacre RESOURCES:https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97546687 RESOURCES:https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/tlatelolco-massacre/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Belfast Outdoor Relief Strike (1932) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251003 DTEND:20251004T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Tenant,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1932\, 30\,000 protesters in Belfast\, Northern Ire land held a meeting on the Custom House steps to demand an increase in soc ial welfare. When negotiations fell through\, workers called a rent strike and battled with police. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1932\, 30\,000 protesters in Belfast\, Northern Ireland held a meeting on the Custom House steps to demand an increase in social welfare. When negotiations fell through\, workers called a rent st rike and battled with police.\n\nOn September 30th\, 1932\, 2\,000 relief workers organized by the socialist Revolutionary Workers Group (RWG) voted to go on strike if their demands weren't met. These demands included the abolition of "task work"\, an increase in relief payments\, all work schem es to be paid at trade union rates\, and adequate outdoor allowances for a ll single unemployed men and women who were not receiving unemployment ben efits.\n\nOn October 3rd\, 1932\, a crowd of 30\,000 protesters marched fr om Frederick Street Labour Exchange\, holding a mass meeting on the Custom House steps. Notably\, Catholics and Protestants set aside their differen ces to unite in class struggle.\n\nAfter negotiations with the relief work ers fell through\, they called a rent strike\, lit bonfires in working cla ss districts\, and speakers from the strike committee addressed thousands. Thousands of police were called in. Over the next several days\, proteste rs clashed in battles with police and many workers were killed and injured .\n\nWorkers won most of their demands\, including big cash increases in t heir relief pay. One of the main demands\, though\, was not conceded - the giving of relief to single persons. Geehan and the other RWG members who were on the strike committee were heavily criticized for ending the strike before winning this demand. RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/1932-belfast-outdoor-relief-strike RESOURCES:https://socialistworker.co.uk/art/29274/1932+outdoor+relief+stri ke%3A+when+the+North+of+Ireland+fought+as+one END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Filipino Army Strike (1983) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251003 DTEND:20251004T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1983\, 22\,000 Filipino workers\, paid less and giv en worse work than their American counterparts\, walked off the job in a s trike against the U.S.'s two largest foreign military bases\, Clark Air Ba se and Subic Bay Naval Base. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1983\, 22\,000 Filipino workers\, paid less and given worse work than their American counterparts\, walked off the job in a strike against the U.S.'s two largest foreign military bases\, Clark Ai r Base and Subic Bay Naval Base. The military bases were the home of the U .S. 13th Air Force and logistics center for the U.S. Seventh Fleet\, respe ctively.\n\nFilipinos were solely employed in maintenance and lower level positions\, paid in pesos\, and generally made less than their American co unterparts. Striking workers demanded a 10% pay raise\, and refused a coun ter-offer from the American government of a 4.6% increase. RESOURCES:https://www.upi.com/Archives/1983/10/03/Some-22000-Filipino-work ers-walked-off-the-job-Monday/6749434001600/ RESOURCES:https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1983/10/04/filip inos-strike-at-us-base/6a003fd0-acc3-423d-84d2-9a0d680b7e9e/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Battle of Cable Street (1936) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251004 DTEND:20251005T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Fascism,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1936\, 20\,000 anti-fascists turned out in East Lon don to drive out a rally of 2\,000-3\,000 fascists organized by Oswald Mos ley\, forcing them to flee through Hyde Park in what is now known as "The Battle of Cable Street". DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1936\, 20\,000 anti-fascists turned out in East London to drive out a rally of 2\,000-3\,000 fascists organized by Oswald Mosley\, forcing them to flee through Hyde Park in what is now known as " The Battle of Cable Street".\n\nThe fight included the Metropolitan Police \, sent to protect a march by members of the British Union of Fascists led by Oswald Mosley\, and various anti-fascist demonstrators\, including loc al anarchist\, communist\, Jewish and socialist groups.\n\nAfter it became known that the British Union of Fascists (BUF) were organizing a march to take place through the heart of the East End (an area which then had a la rge Jewish population)\, an estimated 100\,000 residents of the area petit ioned then Home Secretary John Simon to ban the march because of the stron g likelihood of violence. He refused\, and sent a police escort in an atte mpt to prevent anti-fascist protesters from disrupting the march.\n\nAnti- fascists built roadblocks in an attempt to prevent the march from happenin g\, and on Oct. 4th an estimated 20\,000 anti-fascist demonstrators turned out\, met by 6\,000–7\,000 policemen (including mounted police) and 2\, 000–3\,000 fascists. Demonstrators fought police with sticks\, rocks\, c hair legs and other improvised weapons. Rubbish\, rotten vegetables and th e contents of chamber pots were thrown at the police by women in houses al ong the street.\n\nThe leader of the BUF\, Oswald Mosley\, decided to aban don the march\, and fascists fled through Hyde Park while the anti-fascist s rioted with police. More than 150 demonstrators were arrested and approx imately 175 people\, including police\, women\, and children\, were injure d in the violence. RESOURCES:https://www.marxist.com/1936-the-battle-of-cable-street.htm RESOURCES:https://jewishmuseum.org.uk/2016/10/05/the-battle-of-cable-stree t/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cable_Street RESOURCES:https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2016/08/remembering-b attle-cable-street-160802072152633.html END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:General Levee Strike (1907) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251004 DTEND:20251005T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:On this day in 1907\, shipping lines in New Orleans locked out scr ewmen\, skilled dock workers\, for failing to meet employer bale quotas\, beginning a multi-racial\, industry-wide strike that shut down the port fo r three weeks. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1907\, shipping lines in New Orleans locked out screwmen\, skilled dock workers\, for failing to meet employer bale quota s\, beginning a multi-racial\, industry-wide strike that shut down the por t for three weeks.\n\nOn October 4th\, 1907\, all of the shipping lines lo cked out the screwmen\, black and white alike\, for failing to meet employ er bale quotas. 9\,000 dockworkers\, also both black and white\, then stru ck the New Orleans port that evening in a show of solidarity with the scre wmen. Freight handlers from the Southern Pacific line also struck\, ending any work on the port.\n\nDuring the second week of the strike\, employers attempted to break worker solidarity by intimidating black workers To thi s end\, they revived the "White League"\, a white supremacist paramilitary organization.\n\nDespite the attempts to break worker solidarity\, strike rs remained united\, with some unions noting that if the employers success fully played one racial group against the other\, they would all face star vation wages.\n\nThe strike lasted twenty days\, ending on October 24th\, with striking workers winning most of their demands. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Orleans_dock_workers_and_union ization#The_1907_General_Levee_Strike RESOURCES:http://nolaworkers.org/2018/12/17/the-1907-new-orleans-dockworke rs-general-strike/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Sankara U.N. Speech (1984) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251004 DTEND:20251005T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Marxism,Pan-Africanism COMMENT:On this day in 1984\, Pan-African socialist Thomas Sankara spoke a t the United Nations\, saying "I speak not only on behalf of Burkina Faso\ , my country which I love so much\, but also on behalf of all those who su ffer\, wherever they may be." DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1984\, Pan-African socialist Thomas Sankara spo ke at the United Nations\, saying "I speak not only on behalf of Burkina F aso\, my country which I love so much\, but also on behalf of all those wh o suffer\, wherever they may be."\n\nThomas Sankara (1949 - 1987) served a s President of Burkina Faso from 1983 to 1987. A Marxist-Leninist and Pan- Africanist\, he was viewed by supporters as a charismatic and iconic figur e of revolution\, sometimes referred to as "Africa's Che Guevara".\n\nOn O ctober 4th\, 1984\, Sankara spoke at the United Stations\, expressing inte rnational solidarity with oppressed peoples all over the world. Here is a short excerpt from the speech:\n\n"Let me say to those who are listening t o me now that I speak not only on behalf of Burkina Faso\, my country whic h I love so much\, but also on behalf of all those who suffer\, wherever t hey may be.\n\nI speak on behalf of those millions of human beings who are in ghettos because their skin is black\, or because they have a different kind of culture\, those whose status is hardly higher than that of an ani mal.\n\nI suffer\, too\, on behalf of those Indians who have been massacre d\, trampled on and humiliated and who\, for centuries\, have been confine d to reservations\, so that they do not have any aspirations to any rights whatsoever\, so that their culture cannot become enriched through contact with other cultures\, including that of the invader.\n\nI speak out on be half of those who are unemployed because of a structurally unjust system w hich has now been completely disrupted\, the unemployed who have been redu ced to seeing their lives as only the reflection of the lives of those who have more than themselves.\n\nI speak on behalf of women throughout the e ntire world who suffer from a system of exploitation imposed on them by me n". RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/archive/sankara/1984/october/04.htm RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Sankara END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Battle of the Thames (1813) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251005 DTEND:20251006T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Indigenous COMMENT:On this day in 1813\, Tecumseh was killed in the "Battle of the Th ames"\, fought during the War of 1812 between America and Tecumseh's Confe deracy. Tecumseh's death led to the dissolution of the alliances he forged . DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1813\, Tecumseh was killed in the "Battle of th e Thames"\, fought during the War of 1812 between America and Tecumseh's C onfederacy. Tecumseh's death led to the dissolution of the alliances he fo rged.\n\nTecumseh (1768 - 1813) was a Shawnee warrior and chief who became the primary leader of a large\, multi-tribal confederacy in the early 19t h century.\n\nGrowing up during the American Revolutionary War and the Nor thwest Indian War\, Tecumseh was exposed to warfare and envisioned the est ablishment of an independent Native American nation east of the Mississipp i River under British protection\, and established a confederacy of tribes to fight off colonization efforts.\n\nOn October 5th\, 1813\, Tecumseh an d his second in command Roundhead were killed in the "Battle of the Thames "\, fought as part of the War of 1812 between America and Tecumseh's Confe deracy and British allies.\n\nTecumseh's death resulted in the dissolution of his tribal alliances\, and led many indigenous peoples to begin moving west to escape colonization\, across the Mississippi River. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Thames RESOURCES:https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-the-Thames END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Philip Berrigan (1923 - 2002) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251005 DTEND:20251006T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Imperialism COMMENT:Philip Berrigan\, born on this day in 1923\, was a Christian peace activist frequently arrested while protesting the Vietnam War. "The poor tell us who we are\, the prophets tell us who we could be\, so we hide the poor and kill the prophets." DESCRIPTION:Philip Berrigan\, born on this day in 1923\, was a radical Chr istian peace activist who was ex-communicated by the Catholic Church and f requently arrested for his acts of civil disobedience during the Vietnam W ar.\n\nBerrigan engaged in nonviolent civil disobedience for the cause of peace and nuclear disarmament\, and was frequently arrested or on the run from police. He married a former nun who was also an activist\, Elizabeth McAlister\, in 1972. Both were both excommunicated by the Catholic church\ , and eleven years of their twenty-nine year marriage were separated by on e or both serving time in prison.\n\nBerrigan frequently engaged in civil disobedience to protest the Vietnam War. On May 17th\, while out on bail f rom a similar act six months prior\, Berrigan and eight other radical Chri stians walked into the offices of the local draft board in Catonsville\, M aryland\, removed 600 draft records\, doused them in napalm\, and burnt th em in a lot outside of the building.\n\nThe group issued a statement\, say ing "We confront the Roman Catholic Church\, other Christian bodies\, and the synagogues of America with their silence and cowardice in the face of our country's crimes. We are convinced that the religious bureaucracy in t his country is racist\, is an accomplice in this war\, and is hostile to t he poor." All nine were sentenced to three years in prison.\n\n"The poor t ell us who we are\, the prophets tell us who we could be\, so we hide the poor and kill the prophets."\n\n- Philip Berrigan RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Berrigan RESOURCES:https://www.americanswhotellthetruth.org/portraits/philip-berrig an RESOURCES:https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/catonsville-nine-files/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:"Smiling Joe" Ettor (1885 - 1948) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251006 DTEND:20251007T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,IWW COMMENT:"Smiling Joe" Ettor\, born on this day in 1885\, was an Italian-Am erican union organizer who\, in the 1910s\, was one of the leading public faces of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). DESCRIPTION:"Smiling Joe" Ettor\, born on this day in 1885\, was an Italia n-American union organizer who\, in the middle-1910s\, was one of the lead ing public faces of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW).\n\nAlthough Ettor is best remembered for his role in the Lawrence Textile Strike of 1 912\, he had been active in several strikes in the years leading up to it. Ettor also served on the governing General Executive Board of the IWW fro m 1908 to 1914.\n\nEttor was particularly useful for organizing immigrant workers because he could speak five languages\, and he used these skills a s a leader of the Lawrence Textile Strike. During the strike\, a worker wa s shot and killed\, and he and another IWW leader present\, Arturo Giovann itti\, were arrested on scarce evidence.\n\nBoth were eventually acquitted of charges of having been an accessory to the murder. Ettor was one of th e leaders of the Waiters Strike of 1912 in New York City\, and the Brookly n Barbers Strike of 1913.\n\n"If the workers of the world want to win\, al l they have to do is recognize their own solidarity. They have nothing to do but fold their arms and the world will stop. The workers are more power ful with their hands in their pockets than all the property of the capital ists."\n\n- Joe Ettor RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_James_Ettor RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/joseph-ettor-1885-1948 RESOURCES:https://archive.iww.org/history/library/Ettor/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Fannie Lou Hamer (1917 - 1977) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251006 DTEND:20251007T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Civil Rights,Birthdays COMMENT:Fannie Lou Hamer\, born on this day in 1917\, was a community orga nizer and leader within the civil rights movement. "I'm gonna be moving fo rward\, and if they shoot me\, I'm not going to fall back\, I'm going to f all 5 feet 4 inches forward." DESCRIPTION:Fannie Lou Hamer\, born on this day in 1917\, was a community organizer and leader within the civil rights movement. "I'm gonna be movin g forward\, and if they shoot me\, I'm not going to fall back\, I'm going to fall 5 feet 4 inches forward."\n\nHamer was the co-founder and vice-cha ir of the Freedom Democratic Party\, which she represented at the 1964 Dem ocratic National Convention. She was also a co-founder of the National Wom en's Political Caucus\, an organization created to recruit\, train\, and s upport women of all races who wish to seek election to government office.\ n\nWhile having surgery in 1961 to remove a tumor\, a 44-year-old Hamer wa s also given a hysterectomy without consent by a white doctor. Known as a "Mississippi appendectomy"\, this was a frequent occurrence under Mississi ppi's compulsory\, white supremacist sterilization plan to reduce the numb er of poor black people in the state.\n\nHamer was threatened\, harassed\, shot at\, and assaulted by white supremacists and police while trying to register for and exercise her right to vote.\n\nDuring a voter registratio n drive Hamer participated in\, police fined the group because their bus w as "too yellow". When she returned home\, her family's landlord told her t hat\, if didn’t withdraw her voter registration\, she would be fired fro m her job and forced to leave.\n\nOn her way back from a SNCC organizing m eeting\, Hamer was arrested and beaten in custody. She sustained lifelong injuries from the assault\, including a blood clot in her eye that left he r partially blind.\n\nHamer later helped and encouraged thousands of Afric an-Americans in Mississippi to become registered voters\, and helped hundr eds of disenfranchised people in her area through her work in programs lik e the Freedom Farm Cooperative\, formed to subvert state oppression of poo r black workers in the agricultural industry.\n\n"Nobody's free until ever ybody's free."\n\n- Fannie Lou Hamer RESOURCES:https://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip_28-bg2h70895r RESOURCES:https://www.rightsanddissent.org/news/fannie-lou-hamer/ RESOURCES:https://ccrjustice.org/home/blog/2021/02/01/black-liberation-arc hives-week-1-fannie-lou-hamer-taught-us RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fannie_Lou_Hamer END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Chilean Protests and Strikes (2019-20) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251007 DTEND:20251008T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Protests COMMENT:On this day in 2019\, protests and riots began throughout Chile in response to a raise in the Santiago Metro's subway fare\, the increased c ost of living\, privatization\, and inequality prevalent in the country. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 2019\, protests and riots began throughout Chil e in response to a raise in the Santiago Metro's subway fare\, the increas ed cost of living\, privatization\, and inequality prevalent in the countr y.\n\nThe protests have been called the "worst civil unrest" in Chile sinc e the end of Augusto Pinochet's military dictatorship due to the scale of damage to public infrastructure\, the number of protesters\, and the measu res taken by the government to put down the rebellion.\n\nOn the 25th of O ctober\, over a million people took to the streets throughout Chile to pro test against President Piñera\, demanding his resignation. As of December 29th\, 2019\, 29 people have died\, nearly 2\,500 have been injured\, and 2\,840 have been arrested.\n\nHuman rights organizations have received se veral reports of violations conducted against protesters by security force s\, including torture\, sexual abuse and sexual assault. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019%E2%80%932020_Chilean_protests RESOURCES:https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-50191746 RESOURCES:https://www.marxist.com/chile-what-was-the-october-rebellion-and -what-will-come-of-it-we-need-a-working-class-marxist-tendency.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Desmond Tutu (1931 - 2021) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251007 DTEND:20251008T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Civil Rights,Birthdays COMMENT:Desmond Tutu\, born on this day in 1931\, was a South African Angl ican cleric\, theologian\, and human rights activist who campaigned agains t apartheid. "My humanity is bound up in yours\, for we can only be human together." DESCRIPTION:Desmond Tutu\, born on this day in 1931\, was a South African Anglican cleric\, theologian\, and human rights activist who campaigned ag ainst apartheid. "My humanity is bound up in yours\, for we can only be hu man together."\n\nTutu was the Bishop of Johannesburg from 1985 to 1986 an d then the Archbishop of Cape Town from 1986 to 1996\, in both cases being the first black African to hold the position. Theologically\, he sought t o fuse ideas from black theology with African theology.\n\nTutu testified on behalf of a captured cell of Umkhonto we Sizwe\, an armed anti-aparthei d group linked to the African National Congress (ANC)\, banned at the time in South Africa. He stated that\, although he was committed to non-violen ce and censured those on all sides who used violence\, he could understand why black Africans would become violent when their non-violent tactics ha d failed to overturn apartheid.\n\nTutu also signed a petition calling for the release of ANC activist Nelson Mandela\, leading to a correspondence between the pair.\n\n"I am not interested in picking up crumbs of compassi on thrown from the table of someone who considers himself my master. I wan t the full menu of rights."\n\n- Desmond Tutu RESOURCES:https://www.sahistory.org.za/people/archbishop-emeritus-desmond- mpilo-tutu RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desmond_Tutu RESOURCES:https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/mandela/interview s/tutu.html END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Joe Hill (1879 - 1915) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251007 DTEND:20251008T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Birthdays,IWW COMMENT:Joe Hill\, born on this day in 1879\, was a Swedish-American labor organizer\, songwriter\, and member of the Industrial Workers of the Worl d (IWW). In 1915\, he was convicted of murder in a controversial trial and executed by the state. DESCRIPTION:Joe Hill\, born on this day in 1879\, was a Swedish-American l abor organizer\, songwriter\, and member of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). In 1915\, he was convicted of murder in a controversial trial and executed by the state.\n\nHill\, an immigrant worker frequently facin g unemployment and underemployment\, became a popular songwriter and carto onist for the union. His most famous songs include "The Preacher and the S lave"\, "There Is Power in a Union"\, and "Casey Jones - the Union Scab"\, which describes the harsh lives of itinerant workers and calls for them t o organize to improve their working conditions.\n\nIn 1914\, John G. Morri son\, a Salt Lake City area grocer and former policeman\, and his son were shot and killed by two men. The same evening\, Hill arrived at a doctor's office with a gunshot wound\, and briefly mentioned a fight over a woman. He refused to explain further\, even after he was accused of the grocery store murders on the basis of his injury.\n\nHill was convicted of the mur ders in a controversial trial and executed on November 19th\, despite wide spread calls for clemency\, including from President Woodrow Wilson and He len Keller.\n\n"I will die like a true-blue rebel. Don't waste any time in mourning - organize."\n\n- Joe Hill RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Hill RESOURCES:https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/joe-hill-executed/ RESOURCES:https://aflcio.org/about/history/labor-history-people/joe-hill RESOURCES:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8Kxq9uFDes&ab_channel=BackroomW indowPress END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Michelle Alexander (1967 - ) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251007 DTEND:20251008T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays COMMENT:Michelle Alexander\, born on this day in 1967\, is a civil rights advocate and visiting professor at Union Theological Seminary. In 2010\, s he published "The New Jim Crow"\, showing how the drug war helps maintain a white supremacist caste system. DESCRIPTION:Michelle Alexander\, born on this day in 1967\, is a civil rig hts advocate and visiting professor at Union Theological Seminary. In 2010 \, she published "The New Jim Crow"\, showing how the drug war helps maint ain a white supremacist caste system.\n\nIn The New Jim Crow\, Alexander d escribes how oppressed minorities are\, in the author's own words\, "subje ct to legalized discrimination in employment\, housing\, public benefits\, and jury service\, just as their parents\, grandparents\, and great-grand parents once were".\n\nAlexander's analysis shows how "people whose only c rime is drug addiction or possession of a small amount of drugs for recrea tional use" find themselves permanently locked out of mainstream society\, also illustrating how the legal system has shut out attempts to combat th e drug war's racist implementation.\n\n"The genius of the current caste sy stem\, and what most distinguishes it from its predecessors\, is that it a ppears voluntary. People choose to commit crimes\, and that's why they are locked up or locked out\, we are told."\n\n- Michelle Alexander RESOURCES:https://newjimcrow.com/about/excerpt-from-the-introduction RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelle_Alexander RESOURCES:https://www.americanswhotellthetruth.org/portraits/michelle-alex ander END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Antonio Soto (1897 - 1963) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251008 DTEND:20251009T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays COMMENT:Antonio Soto Canalejo (also known as "El Gallego Soto")\, born on this day in 1897\, was one of the principal anarcho-syndicalist leaders in the 1921 rural strikes of Argentine Patagonia. DESCRIPTION:Antonio Soto Canalejo (also known as "El Gallego Soto")\, born on this day in 1897\, was one of the principal anarcho-syndicalist leader s in the 1921 rural strikes of Argentine Patagonia.\n\nIn early 1921\, Pat agonic landowners were refusing to make concessions to an increasingly dis contented working class\, continuing with layoffs\, holding back pay\, and maintaining of poor working conditions. In response to this\, a general s trike was declared on March 25th.\n\nSoto and his comrades traveled along farms of the cordillera of the Andes recruiting rural workers of several l arge farms\, driving the southeast of Santa Cruz into an uprising. They re quisitioned arms and food for the campaign\, granting vouchers promising t o eventually return the goods and occasionally taking the landowners and m anagers hostage.\n\nIn the aftermath of the strike\, Soto fled the country and settled in Puntas Aras\, Chile. There\, he managed a small hotel whic h served as a meeting place of libertarians\, intellectuals\, and free-thi nkers and founded the "Centro Republicano Español". His tombstone can be found in the Cementerio Municipal de Punta Arenas. RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/soto-antonio-1897-1963 RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_Soto_(syndicalist) END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Bayonne Refinery Strike (1916) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251008 DTEND:20251009T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Journalism COMMENT:On this day in 1916\, thousands of Standard Oil workers went on st rike\, demanding higher wages. They faced fierce opposition from law enfor cement - over just ten days\, four people were killed and eighty-six were wounded. DESCRIPTION:*There is at least one government source that claims the strik e took place on October 3rd\, however this event entry uses the date provi ded by historian Tom McDonough\n\nOn this day in 1916\, thousands of Stand ard Oil workers went on strike\, demanding higher wages. They faced fierce opposition from law enforcement - over just ten days\, four people were k illed and eighty-six were wounded.\n\nThe Bayonne Refinery Strikes of 1915 -1916 were labor actions of refinery workers in Bayonne\, New Jersey\, mos tly Polish-Americans\, who struck against Rockefeller-owned Standard Oil a nd Tidewater Petroleum plants.\n\nOn October 8th\, 1916\, thousands of Sta ndard Oil workers went on strike\, demanding higher wages. The strikers fa ced fierce opposition from law enforcement\, and the labor action became v iolent. In the course of the ten-day strike\, 4 people were killed and 86 were wounded.\n\nAccording to communist journalist John Reed (an eyewitnes s to the strike action)\, this was the first time in an industrial dispute where police announced that their explicit objective was to break the str ike.\n\nMultiple journalists in Bayonne criticized mainstream press as por traying the strikers and protesters as more violent than they actually wer e\; according to Reed and others\, the violence was initiated by police th emselves. RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/bloodshed-bayonne RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayonne_refinery_strikes_of_1915%E 2%80%9316 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Socialist Rifle Association Founded (2018) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251008 DTEND:20251009T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Socialism COMMENT:The Socialist Rifle Association (SRA)\, incorporated in Kansas on this day in 2018\, is a firearm organization dedicated to "providing worki ng class people the information they need to be effectively armed for self and community defense". DESCRIPTION:The Socialist Rifle Association (SRA)\, incorporated in Kansas on this day in 2018\, is a firearm organization dedicated to "providing w orking class people the information they need to be effectively armed for self and community defense".\n\nThe SRA describes the mission of their org anization as "to provide an alternate to the mainstream\, toxic\, right-wi ng\, and non-inclusive gun culture that has dominated the firearms communi ty for decades. We seek to provide a safe\, inclusive\, and left-leaning p latform for talking about gun rights and self defense\, free from racist a nd reactionary prejudices\, while providing a platform for the working cla ss to obtain the skills necessary for all aspects of community defense". RESOURCES:https://socialistra.org/ RESOURCES:https://www.kansas.gov/bess/flow/main\;jsessionid=47D1D59872300B 89B8B4559E811CF52D.aptcs03-inst0?execution=e1s5 RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialist_Rifle_Association END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:West Coast Longshore Strike (1923) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251008 DTEND:20251009T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:On this day in 1923\, the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) in Vancouver struck for higher wages. With a force of 350 company g uards protecting the dock and scabs\, work continued until the strike's de feat in December. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1923\, the International Longshoremen's Associa tion (ILA) in Vancouver struck for higher wages. With a force of 350 compa ny guards protecting the dock and scabs\, work continued until the strike' s defeat in December.\n\nThe Shipping Federation imported strikebreakers\, housed in the CPR ship Empress of Japan\, while an armed group of 350 men guarded the waterfront from potential interference from striking workers. \n\nThe longshoremen gave up on December 10th\, and the Shipping Federatio n took over the dispatch of the work force\, formerly controlled by the un ion\, and set up a company union\, the "Vancouver and District Waterfront Workers Association".\n\nThis union would go on to lead the more well-know n West Coast Longshore Strike of 1935. RESOURCES:https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/west-coast-lon gshore-strikes-1923-and-1935 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Che Guevara Executed (1967) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251009 DTEND:20251010T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Marxism COMMENT:On this day in 1967\, communist revolutionary Che Guevara was exec uted by CIA-assisted forces in Bolivia\, where he had been attempting to f oment revolution. His last words were "Shoot\, you are only going to kill a man." DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1967\, communist revolutionary Che Guevara was executed by CIA-assisted forces in Bolivia\, where he had been attempting to foment revolution. His last words were "Shoot\, you are only going to k ill a man."\n\nErnesto "Che" Guevara was an Argentine Marxist revolutionar y\, physician\, author\, guerrilla leader\, diplomat\, and military theori st. A major figure of the Cuban Revolution\, his stylized visage has becom e a ubiquitous countercultural symbol of rebellion and global insignia in popular culture.\n\nAfter serving in Castro's government\, Guevara left Cu ba in 1965 to foment revolution abroad\, first unsuccessfully in Congo-Kin shasa and later in Bolivia. While agitating for communist revolution in Bo livia\, Guevara was captured by CIA-assisted state forces and summarily ex ecuted on this day in 1967.\n\nOn November 3rd\, 1966\, Guevara had secret ly arrived in La Paz on a flight from Montevideo under the false name Adol fo Mena González\, posing as a middle-aged Uruguayan businessman working for the Organization of American States (OAS). Once there\, Guevara had di fficulty getting cooperation from both local dissidents and the Bolivian C ommunist Party\, despite besting the Bolivian military in several skirmish es.\n\nTo help crush the resistance movement\, the Bolivian government and U.S. military relied on the expertise of fugitive Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie\, who had undermined the French Resistance and was responsible for the torture and murder of its leader\, Jean Moulin.\n\nSome of the inhabi tants willingly informed the Bolivian authorities and military about the g uerrillas and their movements in the area\, which contributed to Guevara's capture on October 7th\, 1967. He famously shouted "Do not shoot! I am Ch e Guevara and I am worth more to you alive than dead!"\, however he remain ed defiant in captivity.\n\nOn October 9th\, on orders from the Bolivian P resident René Barrientos\, Guevara was executed. In the documentary "My E nemy's Enemy"\, German journalist Kai Hermann alleged that Barbie devised the strategy that led to Guevara's capture.\n\n"The true revolutionary is guided by a great feeling of love. It is impossible to think of a genuine revolutionary lacking this quality."\n\n- Che Guevara RESOURCES:https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB5/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Che_Guevara RESOURCES:https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/the-death-of-che-gueva ra-declassified/ RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/archive/guevara/1967/04/16.htm RESOURCES:https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2007/dec/23/world.secondworldwar END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Kirkby Rent Strike (1972) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251009 DTEND:20251010T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Tenant COMMENT:The Kirkby Rent Strike was a 14-month long rent strike initiated b y 3\,000 tenants on this day in 1972 in the town of Kirkby (outside Liverp ool)\, against the Housing Finances Act. DESCRIPTION:The Kirkby Rent Strike was a 14-month long rent strike initiat ed by 3\,000 tenants on this day in 1972 in the town of Kirkby (outside Li verpool)\, against the Housing Finances Act.\n\nThe Act caused a £1 rent rise for residents of Tower Hill and brought grievances that had been bubb ling under the surface for years to a boiling point. The women who lived t here formed the Unfair Rents Action Group\, and responded to the rent rais e by organizing a 14-month long rent strike.\n\nMore than 3\,000 people pa rticipated in the strike\, and women from a tenant organization called Mer seyside Big Flame helped them organize. The rent strike was ultimately def eated on December 24th\, 1973. RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/blog/kirkby-rent-strike-1972-documentary-0804 2012 RESOURCES:https://bigflameuk.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/tower-all.pdf END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Little Falls Textile Strike (1912) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251009 DTEND:20251010T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,IWW COMMENT:On this day in 1912\, Phoenix Mill workers in Little Falls\, New Y ork spontaneously walked off their job to demand a wage increase and a 54- hour work week. With IWW assistance\, workers won their demands in January 1913. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1912\, Phoenix Mill workers in Little Falls\, N ew York spontaneously walked off their job to demand a wage increase and a 54-hour work week. The labor action is known as the Little Falls Strike.\ n\nThe Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) sent in organizers such as Ma tilda Rabinowitz\, Ben Legere\, Joe Ettor\, and "Big Bill" Haywood to assi st with the strike\, resulting in many of the striking workers voting to j oin the IWW.\n\nThe strike ended on January 3rd\, 1913 with the striking w orkers and IWW prevailing. The workers' demands were met\, including the 5 4-hour work week at the previous 60-hour pay. RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/november-we-remember-centennial-1912- little-falls-textile-strike-brendan-maslauskas-dunn RESOURCES:https://littlefallshistoricalsociety.org/museum-exhibit/1912-lit tle-falls-textile-strike/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Nikolai Bukharin (1888 - 1938) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251009 DTEND:20251010T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Socialism,Marxism,Birthdays,Imperialism COMMENT:Nikolai Bukharin\, born on this day in 1888\, was a Bolshevik revo lutionary and Marxist theorist who\, with Stalin\, helped oust Leon Trotsk y in 1927. His controversial trial and execution in 1938 alienated communi st sympathizers in the West. DESCRIPTION:Nikolai Bukharin\, born on this day in 1888\, was a Bolshevik revolutionary and Marxist theorist who\, with Stalin\, helped oust Leon Tr otsky in 1927. His controversial trial and execution in 1938 alienated com munist sympathizers in the West.\n\nAs a young man\, Bukharin joined the R ussian Social Democratic Labour Party in 1906\, becoming a member of the B olshevik faction. He served on a committee that was infiltrated by the Tsa rist secret police\, the Okhrana\, and was imprisoned and exiled in 1911.\ n\nIn 1911\, Bukharin escaped exile\, fleeing to Germany. During this peri od\, he met Vladimir Lenin for the first time and authored "Imperialism an d World Economy"\, a work that predated and influenced Lenin's "Imperialis m\, the Highest Stage of Capitalism".\n\nAfter Lenin's death in 1924\, Buk harin became a full member of the Politburo\, allying himself with Stalin in the power struggles of that period. Bukharin formulated the thesis of " Socialism in One Country" put forth by Stalin in 1924\, which argued that socialism could be developed in a single country\, even one as underdevelo ped as Russia.\n\nBukharin was aligned with the forces that defeated Leon Trotsky\, Lev Kamenev\, and Grigory Zinoviev in various power struggles wi thin the Communist Party. A supporter of the market-based New Economic Pol icy (NEP)\, Bukharin opposed Stalin's support of collectivization policies in the late 1920s. On this basis\, he was criticized and began politicall y conspiring against Stalin.\n\nAfter the trial and execution of Zinoviev\ , Kamenev\, and other "Old Bolsheviks" in 1936\, Bukharin was arrested in 1937 and charged with conspiring to overthrow the Soviet state. The follow ing trial was controversial and drew international criticism\, alienating some communist sympathizers abroad.\n\nFrench author Romain Rolland wrote to Stalin directly\, arguing that "an intellect like that of Bukharin is a treasure for his country" and drawing comparisons to the execution of che mist Antoine Lavoisier\, guillotined during the French Revolution: "We in France\, the most ardent revolutionaries...still profoundly grieve and reg ret what we did...I beg you to show clemency." Bukharin was executed by gu nshot on March 15th\, 1938\, at the Kommunarka shooting ground.\n\n"We see now that infringement of freedom is necessary with regard to the opponent s of the revolution. At a time of revolution we cannot allow freedom for t he enemies of the people and of the revolution. That is a surely clear\, i rrefutable conclusion."\n\n- Nikolai Bukharin RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/archive/bukharin/library.htm RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolai_Bukharin RESOURCES:https://spartacus-educational.com/RUSbukharin.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Ken Saro-Wiwa (1941 - 1995) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251010 DTEND:20251011T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays COMMENT:Ken Saro-Wiwa\, born on this day in 1941\, was a Nigerian writer\, television producer\, and environmental activist who fought polluting pet roleum interests. After being arrested on false charges\, he was executed by the state in 1995. DESCRIPTION:Ken Saro-Wiwa\, born on this day in 1941\, was a Nigerian writ er\, television producer\, and environmental activist who fought polluting petroleum interests. After being arrested on false charges\, he was execu ted by the state in 1995.\n\nSaro-Wiwa was a member of the Ogoni people\, an ethnic minority in Nigeria whose homeland\, Ogoniland\, in the Niger De lta has been targeted for crude oil extraction since the 1950s and suffere d extreme environmental damage from decades of indiscriminate petroleum wa ste dumping.\n\nInitially as spokesperson for (later as president of) the "Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People" (MOSOP)\, Saro-Wiwa led a nonviolent campaign against environmental degradation of the land and wate r of Ogoniland by the multinational petroleum industry\, especially the Ro yal Dutch Shell company.\n\nIn 1994\, Saro-Wiwa\, along with eight other l eaders of MOSOP (together known as the Ogoni Nine)\, were arrested on fals e charges and sentenced to death. At least two witnesses who testified aga inst Saro-Wiwa later recanted\, stating that they had been bribed with mon ey and offers of jobs with Shell to give false testimony in the presence o f Shell's lawyer.\n\nOn November 10th\, 1995\, the Ogoni nine were hanged by the military dictatorship of General Sani Abacha. Saro-Wiwa's execution provoked international outrage\, and resulted in Nigeria's suspension fro m the Commonwealth of Nations for over three years.\n\n"I'll tell you this \, I may be dead but my ideas will not die."\n\n- Ken Saro-Wiwa RESOURCES:https://www.sahistory.org.za/people/kenule-beeson-saro-wiwa RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Saro-Wiwa RESOURCES:https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2016/07/29/th e-complex-life-death-of-ken-saro-wiwa/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Panama City Tenants' Revolt (1925) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251010 DTEND:20251011T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Riots,Tenant,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1925\, striking tenants in Panama City held a massi ve\, illegal rally to protest high rent and bad living conditions. Riots b egan after police killed four demonstrators\, prompting a U.S. occupation that lasted until October 23rd. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1925\, striking tenants in Panama City held a m assive\, illegal rally to protest high rent and bad living conditions. Rio ts began after police killed four demonstrators\, prompting a U.S. occupat ion that lasted until October 23rd.\n\nIn the months preceding the uprisin g\, the "Liga de Inquilinos y Subsistencia" (English: Tenants' Subsistence League) had been organizing against rent increases and poor living condit ions. On the last day of September\, in response to the government of Pana ma repressing this organizing\, the League announced a rent strike to begi n October 1st. \n\nOn Saturday\, October 10th\, 1925\, the League organize d a massive rally in Panama City to protest increased rents and poor livin g conditions. This was held in defiance of a state ban on such a gathering .\n\nPanama City Mayor Mario Galindo had permitted the National Police to respond to any large gatherings with violent force. Accordingly\, at the O ctober 10th rally\, four tenants were shot dead by police following a conf rontation at Parque de Santa Ana\, and many more were injured.\n\nRiots br oke out following this violence. By Sunday\, October 11th\, the city distr ict of Santa Ana had come almost entirely under the control of the Tenants ' League. With the police ineffectual in stopping the revolt\, the governm ent of President Rodolfo Chiari requested the military intervention of the United States.\n\nWithin a few days (sources differ on the exact day\, ra nging from October 12th to October 15th)\, approximately 600 United States soldiers entered Panama City. Stationing themselves at Parque de Santa An a and Parque de Lesseps\, they conducted raids on the offices and apartmen ts of Tenants' League leaders\, quickly crushing the uprising by arresting its prime organizers.\n\nWhile the uprising was ongoing\, government offi cials met with tenant and landlord representatives in Panama City. Accordi ng to the Academy of American Franciscan History\, the government promised more public works projects\, a shake-up of the national police force\, an d to establish a rent claims commission that met daily to hear tenant grie vances.\n\nThe U.S. troops continued to occupy Panama City until October 2 4th\, by which point the protests had subsided. On October 30th\, the Leag ue and landlords signed an agreement to end the strike.\n\n"With rhythmic heels that oppressed the heart and clouded the eyes\, an army of soldiers in battle dress\, with helmets of the kind used in the European war\, ente red with a fixed bayonet\, sweaty\, their backpacks on their shoulders\, a nd their revolvers on their belts."\n\n- Revista Lotería\, October-Novemb er 1973 issue\, describing the American military presence RESOURCES:https://www.academia.edu/80574863/The_1925_Tenants_Strike_in_Pan ama_West_Indians_the_Left_and_the_Labor_Movement RESOURCES:https://publicandohistoria.com/articulos/el-movimiento-inquilina to-de-1925/ RESOURCES:https://www.panamaviejaescuela.com/movimiento-inquilinario-1925/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:West African Railway Strike (1947) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251010 DTEND:20251011T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:On this day in 1947\, the longest strike in African history at the time began\, stretching across all branches of railway in French West Afr ica\, the wharfs in Dahomey\, and the Ivory Coast. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1947\, the longest strike in African history at the time began\, stretching across all branches of railway in French West Africa\, the wharfs in Dahomey\, and the Ivory Coast.\n\nFor more than si x months\, 17\,000 railway workers and 2\,000 workers in the wharfs refuse d to work. The timing of the strike was crucial\, undermining new French e conomic goals for the railway.\n\nThe strike was organized by Ibrahima Sar r\, the Federal Secretary of the Railway Union. Workers demanded housing\, rights for temporary workers\, wages to follow regional differences in th e cost of living\, and clearer standards for promotions.\n\nThe government did not respond for three months\, assuming the strike would collapse due to economic pressure. Workers had prepared for this\, however\, taking up community collections\, the community exiling strikebreaking workers\, an d women of the household economically sustaining families while workers we re on strike.\n\nOn March 19th\, the workers' union accepted a set of prop osals favorable to their demands and returned to work. The strike ended wi th a long\, celebratory march into Thiès\, followed by meetings and danci ng. RESOURCES:https://nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu/content/french-west-african-ra ilway-workers-strike-greater-benefits-1947-1948 RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/library/french-west-african-rail-workers-stri ke-1947-48 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:D.C. Jail Uprising (1972) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251011 DTEND:20251012T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Journalism COMMENT:On this day in 1972\, inmates at a Washington\, D.C. jail seized c ontrol of part of the facility\, taking hostages and demanding to be relea sed. "We want you to understand one thing very clearly. This is not a riot \, it's a revolution." DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1972\, inmates at a Washington\, D.C. jail seiz ed control of part of their prison\, taking hostages and demanding to be r eleased.\n\nThe uprising began when an inmate pretending to have a seizure drew a loaded .38 pistol on the two officers that came to check on him. A fter subduing the officers\, they freed 50 other inmates and took control of the cellblock\, capturing several other guards as hostages in the proce ss.\n\nThe inmates demanded to speak to a prison reporter\, Washington Cla iborne. Inmates issued varying statements to him that indicated a revoluti onary fervor among prisoners:\n\n"We don't want nothin' but the sidewalk. What do you think we want\, better food? Bullshit. We want the sidewalk\, man."\n\n"We want you to understand one thing very clearly. This is not a riot\, it's a revolution."\n\n"We ain't bitches\, man. We don't mind dying for the fucking cause."\n\nPrison negotiators eventually got the inmates to back off of demanding release\, but only in exchange for the opportunit y to go before a federal judge to air their grievances about the jail and the promise of no reprisals for their actions. The inmates got their heari ng\, and a new facility was built.\n\nDespite the promise of no reprisals\ , all nine inmates who participated in the uprising were prosecuted and co nvicted on various charges. RESOURCES:https://boundarystones.weta.org/2018/10/15/hostage-standoff-dc-j ail-october-11-1972 RESOURCES:https://dccrimeandpunishment.wordpress.com/2013/10/11/crime-hist ory-oct-11-1972-inmates-at-d-c-jail-hold-corrections-officials-hostage/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:El Centro de la Raza Founded (1972) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251011 DTEND:20251012T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1972\, ESL staff from South Seattle Community Colle ge\, students\, and families occupied a vacant school building in the Beac on Hill neighborhood\, founding El Centro de la Raza ("The Center for the People of All Races"). DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1972\, ESL staff from South Seattle Community C ollege\, students\, and families occupied a vacant school building in the Beacon Hill neighborhood\, founding El Centro de la Raza ("The Center for the People of All Races").\n\nAfter three months of occupying the building and numerous rallies\, petitions and letters\, the Seattle City Council f inally agreed to hear the case of the occupiers. Although City Council app roved the lease\, Mayor Wes Uhlman vetoed the action\, causing supporters to occupy the mayor's office. A five-year lease signed January 20th\, 1973 \, at $1 rent annually.\n\nAccording to author David Wilma\, in 1997 the s chool district insisted on fair market rates\, causing rent for the proper ty to rise to $12\,000 a month. By 1999\, El Centro owed $150\,000 in back rent. Grants from the City of Seattle and from Washington state totaling $1 million finally allowed El Centro to buy the site from the school distr ict.\n\nToday\, El Centro de la Raza continues to function as an education al\, cultural\, and social service agency. It is considered a significant part of civil rights history in the Pacific Northwest.\n\nIn 2015\, El Cen tro de la Raza built more than one hundred moderately-priced apartments so uth of its main building. The apartments are designed for families making 30-60% of the average median annual income in Seattle\, or $24\,000 to $49 \,000. RESOURCES:http://www.elcentrodelaraza.org/history-evolution/ RESOURCES:https://www.historylink.org/File/2588 RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Centro_de_la_Raza END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Battle of Virden (1898) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251012 DTEND:20251013T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:On this day in 1898\, the Battle of Virden began when armed member s of the United Mine Workers of America (UMW) surrounded a train full of s trikebreakers and exchanged fire with company guards. 13 people were kille d\, dozens more wounded. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1898\, the Battle of Virden began when armed me mbers of the United Mine Workers of America (UMW) surrounded a train full of strikebreakers and exchanged fire with company guards. 13 people were k illed\, dozens more wounded.\n\nAfter a local chapter of the UMW began str iking at a mine in Virden\, Illinois\, the Chicago-Virden Coal Company hir ed black strikebreakers from Birmingham\, Alabama and shipped them to Vird en by train.\n\nThe company hired armed detectives or security guards to a ccompany the strikebreakers\, and an armed conflict broke out when armed m iners surrounded the train as it arrived in town. A total of four detectiv es and seven striking mine workers were killed\, with five guards\, thirty miners\, and an unrecorded number of strikebreakers wounded.\n\nAfter thi s incident\, Illinois Governor John Tanner ordered the National Guard to p revent any more strikebreakers from coming into the state by force. The ne xt month\, the Chicago-Virden Coal Company relented and allowed the unioni zation of its workers.\n\n"When the last call comes for me to take my fin al rest\, will the miners see that I get a resting place in the same clay that shelters the miners who gave up their lives on the hills of Virden\, Illinois...They are responsible for Illinois being the best organized labo r state in America."\n\n- Mother Jones RESOURCES:https://sangamoncountyhistory.org/wp/?p=9094 RESOURCES:https://www.motherjonesmuseummtolive.org/battle-of-virden RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Virden RESOURCES:https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/battle-of-virden/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Ding Ling (1904 - 1986) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251012 DTEND:20251013T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Labor,Marxism,Birthdays COMMENT:Ding Ling\, born on this day in 1904\, was a prominent Chinese Mar xist and feminist author. Despite being a member of the Communist Party\, she was imprisoned and sentenced to manual labor during the Cultural Revol ution. DESCRIPTION:Ding Ling\, born on this day in 1904\, was a prominent Chinese Marxist and feminist author. Despite being a member of the Communist Part y\, she was imprisoned and sentenced to manual labor during the Cultural R evolution.\n\nIn her early career\, Ding Ling wrote highly successful shor t stories centering on young\, unconventional Chinese women. Around 1930\, she became a major literary figure of the leftist literature.\n\nIn 1931\ , her husband\, communist poet Hu Yepin\, was executed in Shanghai by the right-wing Kuomintang government for his association with the Communists. Shortly thereafter\, Ding joined the Chinese Communist Party and her work reflected communist values.\n\nAccording to authors Glenn Kucha and Jennif er Llewellyn\, in 1957 Ding was denounced as a "rightist"\, purged from th e party\, imprisoned\, and her fiction and essays were banned.\n\nDing and her husband were then sent to the countryside and compelled to do manual labor for more than a decade. She was rehabilitated sometime in the years following Mao Zedong's death in 1976.\n\n"Happiness is to take up the stru ggle in the midst of the raging storm and not to pluck the lute in the moo nlight or recite poetry among the blossoms."\n\n- Ding Ling RESOURCES:https://alphahistory.com/chineserevolution/ding-ling/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ding_Ling END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Inejiro Asanuma Assassinated (1960) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251012 DTEND:20251013T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Socialism,Assassinations COMMENT:On this day in 1960\, Inejiro Asanuma\, the prominent leader of th e Japan Socialist Party\, was assassinated by a 17-year old\, right-wing n ationalist during a televised debate. His assassin later killed himself in police custody. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1960\, Inejiro Asanuma\, the prominent leader o f the Japan Socialist Party\, was assassinated by a 17-year old\, right-wi ng nationalist during a televised debate. His assassin later killed himsel f in police custody.\n\nAsanuma had been a forceful advocate of socialism in post-war Japan. He was noted for his support of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and controversial criticism of U.S.-Japanese relations\, calli ng the United States "the shared enemy of China and Japan".\n\nOn October 12th\, 160\, Asanuma was assassinated by 17-year-old ultranationalist Otoy a Yamaguchi during a televised political debate for the coming elections f or the House of Representatives.\n\nWhile Asanuma spoke from the lectern a t Tokyo's Hibiya Hall\, Yamaguchi rushed onstage and ran his yoroi-dōshi (a traditional samurai sword) through Asanuma's ribs on the left side\, ki lling him. Yamaguchi was later apprehended\, but killed himself in police custody. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inejiro_Asanuma RESOURCES:https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/oct/13/inejiro-asanuma-ja pan-politician-assassinated-1960 RESOURCES:https://books.google.com/books?id=F4-dAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA234&lpg=PA23 4&dq=Inejiro+Asanuma&source=bl&ots=upa72gzlSU&sig=ACfU3U2FbOKpRqGa9ANQ2jRL tbrqFGMvjQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiopIC-jZLrAhWUUs0KHfzPDYAQ6AEwA3oECBkQAQ# v=onepage&q=Inejiro%20Asanuma&f=false END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Dorothy Bolden (1923 - 2005) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251013 DTEND:20251014T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Birthdays COMMENT:Dorothy Lee Bolden\, born on this day in 1923\, was the founder of the National Domestic Worker's Union of America and civil rights activist who fought for women's rights and an end to segregation. DESCRIPTION:Dorothy Lee Bolden\, born on this day in 1923\, was the founde r of the National Domestic Worker's Union of America and civil rights acti vist who fought for women's rights and an end to segregation.\n\nBolden be gan working as a domestic worker at the age of nine and would eventually u tilize her past experiences to form the Domestic Worker's Union in Atlanta \, Georgia.\n\nThe Domestic Worker's Union had over 13\,000 women members throughout the United States and won better pay and working conditions for them. Bolden was also responsible for registering thousands of black Amer icans to vote.\n\n"I would say to [young people] that you have got to show yourself that you can be independent on your own. You don't have to follo w. Why do we have to follow Tom\, Dick and Harry to anything when we have the strength to be ourselves and be what we ought to be. What do you want to be? Ask yourself. Get in the mirror and look at yourself and say\, 'So what do I want to be\, what do I want to do? Where do I want to go and how do I get there?"\n\n- Dorothy Bolden RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/dorothy-lee-b olden-1924-2005/ RESOURCES:http://webapps.library.gsu.edu/ohms-viewer/viewer.php?cachefile= BoldenD_L1995-12_03.xml END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Francisco Ferrer Executed (1909) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251013 DTEND:20251014T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:Francisco Ferrer i Guàrdia (1859 - 1909) was a radical anarchist educator who was executed by the Spanish government on this day in 1909. H is death caused a storm of international protest across three continents. DESCRIPTION:Francisco Ferrer i Guàrdia (1859 - 1909) was a radical anarch ist educator who was executed by the Spanish government on this day in 190 9. His death caused a storm of international protest across three continen ts.\n\nFerrer was well-known for founding a network of secular and liberta rian schools in and around Barcelona. In 1901\, Ferrer founded the Barcelo na Modern School\, "Escuela Moderna"\, which sought to provide a secular\, libertarian curriculum as an alternative to the religious dogma and compu lsory lessons common within Spanish schools. His school eschewed punishmen ts and rewards\, and encouraged practical experience over academic study.\ n\nIn mid-1909\, Ferrer was arrested and accused of orchestrating a week o f insurrection known as Barcelona's "Tragic Week". He was convicted in a s how trial and executed by firing squad on October 13th\, 1909. His death t riggered international outcry\, and his life was prominently memorialized in writing\, monuments\, and demonstrations across three continents.\n\n"L et no more gods or exploiters be served. Let us learn rather to love one a nother."\n\n- Francisco Ferrer RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francisco_Ferrer RESOURCES:https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/francisco-ferrer-the-ori gin-and-ideals-of-the-modern-school END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Sid Mills Fish-in Arrest (1968) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251013 DTEND:20251014T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Indigenous,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1968\, while conducting a "Fish-in" protest on the Nisqually River in Washington state\, activist Sid Mills was arrested. Thi s was just one action from Mills' campaign of civil disobedience in demand of lawful fishing rights. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1968\, while conducting a "Fish-in" protest on the Nisqually River in Washington state\, activist Sid Mills was arrested. This was just one action from Mills' campaign of civil disobedience in de mand of lawful fishing rights.\n\nThe Fish Wars were a series of protests in the 1960s and '70s in which Native American tribes around the Puget Sou nd pressured the U.S. government to recognize fishing rights granted by th e Point No Point Treaty. The acts of protest often involved participants f ishing "illegally" on rivers that previous treaties\, then ignored\, had g ranted them rights to.\n\nOn this day in 1968\, while conducting a Fish-in protest at Frank's Landing on the Nisqually River\, activist Sid Mills wa s arrested. He issued a statement:\n\n"I am a Yakima and Cherokee Indian\, and a man...I served in combat in Vietnam-until critically wounded...I he reby renounce further obligation in service or duty to the United States A rmy.\n\nMy first obligation now lies with the Indian People fighting for t he lawful Treaty to fish in usual and accustomed water of the Nisqualiy\, Columbia and other rivers of the Pacific Northwest\, and in serving them i n this fight in any way possible.\n\n...My decision is influenced by the f act that we have already buried Indian fishermen returned dead from Vietna m\, while Indian fishermen live here without protection and under steady a ttack..." RESOURCES:https://www.historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/zinnsur19.html RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fish_Wars END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Marcus Thrane (1817 - 1890) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251014 DTEND:20251015T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Birthdays COMMENT:Marcus Thrane\, born on this day in 1817\, was a socialist labor a ctivist who founded the first organized workers' movement in Norway. After a union he founded petitioned the King for universal suffrage and legal e quality\, Thrane was imprisoned. DESCRIPTION:Marcus Thrane\, born on this day in 1817\, was a socialist lab or activist who founded the first organized workers' movement in Norway. A fter a union he founded petitioned the King for universal suffrage and leg al equality\, Thrane was imprisoned.\n\nBorn into a bourgeois family\, Thr ane was orphaned at the early age of 15 and spent the rest of his youth st udying abroad in Europe. He returned to Norway\, working as an educator.\n \nIn 1848\, Thrane began working as the editor of the local newspaper Dram mens Adresse. Inspired by the February Revolution in France\, Thrane expre ssed radical political opinions and was dismissed from the position after less than a year.\n\nAround this time\, Thrane founded the Drammens arbeid erforening (Drammen Labour Union) and began publishing the union's paper. Between 1849-50\, the trade union movement (also called the Thranite Movem ent) grew very quickly\, to approximately 30\,000 members.\n\nMembers of t he Thranite Movement were both urban and rural - both small farmers in the countryside and urban craftsmen participated.\n\nThis trade union movemen t is often associated with a petition presented to King Oscar I on May 19t h\, 1850. The petition\, backed by nearly 13\,000 signatures\, demanded un iversal suffrage\, abolition of protective tariffs\, reform of the public school\, and improvement of householders ' conditions.\n\nOver the followi ng years\, this growing labor movement was repressed by the state - its le adership\, including Thrane\, were surveilled\, arrested on false charges\ , and imprisoned. These tactics successfully broke the Thranite Movement\, and Thrane himself left Norway for the U.S. in 1863.\n\nIn 1890\, Thrane died in Wisconsin. His remains were returned to Norway in 1949\, and he is buried in the Æreslunden at Vår Frelser's cemetery in Oslo. RESOURCES:https://snl.no/Marcus_Thrane RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Thrane RESOURCES:https://www.britannica.com/biography/Marcus-Moller-Thrane END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Max Hoelz (1889 - 1933) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251014 DTEND:20251015T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Birthdays,Fascism COMMENT:Max Hoelz\, born on this day in 1889\, was a German Communist most known for his role as a "Communist Bandit" in the 1920s\, leading raids a gainst police\, releasing prisoners\, and destroying property deeds. DESCRIPTION:Max Hoelz\, born on this day in 1889\, was a German Communist most known for his role as a "Communist Bandit" in the 1920s\, leading rai ds against police\, releasing prisoners\, and destroying property deeds.\n \nHoelz was politically radicalized by the 1917 October Revolution in Russ ia\, and by contact with Georg Schumann\, a member of the socialist Sparta kusbund (Schumann was later to be executed by the Nazis in 1945).\n\nIn 19 20\, after the right-wing Kapp Putsch\, Hoelz organized workers from Falke nstein and Oelsnitz in a Red Guard\, leading armed bands against the polic e\, the army\, and the far-right paramilitary Freikorps. In this role\, he became a kind of "Robin Hood"\, raising money from employers under threat of reprisals\, liberating prisoners\, destroying property deeds and polic e archives\, and burning villas of the rich.\n\nLater in life\, after the Nazis began to come into power\, he moved to Soviet Russia. There\, howeve r\, he became a dissident\, criticizing bad working conditions in the coun try. On September 15th\, 1933\, he died in a "boating accident"\, which is speculated by anarchist historian Nick Heath to actually have been an NKV D assassination. RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/articles/1889-1933-max-hoelz RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Hoelz END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Black Panther Party Founded (1966) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251015 DTEND:20251016T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Riots COMMENT:On this day in 1966\, in the wake of spontaneous riots against pol ice brutality\, Bobby Seale and Huey Newton founded the Black Panther Part y in Oakland\, California. "We want power to determine our own destiny in our own Black community." DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1966\, in the wake of spontaneous riots against police brutality\, Bobby Seale and Huey Newton founded the Black Panther Party in Oakland\, California.\n\nIn an interview recorded for the 1990 do cumentary "Eyes on the Prize II"\, Seale described the founding of the BPP in his own words:\n\n"Black Panther Party\, 1966\, when Huey and I founde d that organization\, that particular year\, numerous acts of police bruta lity had sparked a lot of spontaneous riots\, something that Huey and I we re against\, the spontaneous riots.\n\nEven a year earlier\, in 1965\, in Watts\, you know\, sixty-five people were killed\, 200 wounded\, 5\,000 ar rested. And Huey and I began to try to figure out how could we organize 5\ ,000 youthful Black folks into some kind of political-electorial power mov ement.\n\nStokely Carmichael [Kwame Ture] was on the scene with Black Powe r. We were questioning\, Huey and I\, about the need for a functional defi nition of power and we came up with this\, that 'power is the ability to d efine phenomena then in turn make it act in a desired manner.'\n\nWith the phenomena of racism structured in the city council at that time\, Huey an d I working with the North Oakland Neighborhood Service Center\, the advis ory board\, we got 5\,000 signatures for them to go to the city council\, to get the city council to try to set up a police review board to deal wit h complaints of police brutality. Well\, the city council ignored them.\n\ nSo\, that phenomena was that the city council was just a racist structure which could care less about the forty-eight percent Black and Chicano peo ple who lived in the city of Oakland. So\, there we are trying to figure o ut what to do. We finally concluded through those months that we had to st art a new organization.\n\nAnd we sit down and began to write out this Ten -Point Platform and Program in the North Oakland Neighborhood Service Cent er in North Oakland\, California\, in the community where Huey and I lived . And we wrote out this program.\n\n'We want power to determine our own de stiny in our own Black community'\, alluding to the needs to be organized- political electoral power. Full employment\, decent housing\, decent educa tion that taught us about our true selves\, not to have to fight in Vietna m\, immediate end to police brutality and murder of back people was point number seven.\n\nThe right to have juries of our peers in the courts\, wha t have you. We summed it up. We wanted land\, bread\, housing\, education\ , clothing\, justice\, and peace. And\, in the tail end\, we stuck in two famous paragraphs: 'When in the course of human events it becomes necessar y for one people to separate themself from the political bondage' - that w as the emphasis\, the political bondage - 'which have connected them with another\, and to assume among the powers of the Earth the separate and equ al station to which the laws of nature and nature's God entitled them.'\n\ nI mean\, this was the kind of summarization we gave to our meaning. And w e summarized that Ten-Point Platform Program\, flipped a coin to see who w ould be chairman. I won chairman and we created the Black Panther Party." RESOURCES:http://repository.wustl.edu/concern/videos/7h149t72p RESOURCES:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yE39MFcyyUs&ab_channel=AfroMarxi st RESOURCES:https://www.britannica.com/topic/Black-Panther-Party RESOURCES:https://www.jacobinmag.com/2016/10/black-panther-party-fifty-yea r-anniversary-founding END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam (1967) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251015 DTEND:20251016T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Assassinations,Protests COMMENT:The Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam was a national series of protests and teach-ins against the Vietnam War that began on this day in 1 967. One politician noted it was the first time anti-war protests reached the level of a mass movement. DESCRIPTION:The Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam was a national series of protests and teach-ins against the Vietnam War that began on this day in 1967. One politician noted it was the first time anti-war protests reac hed the level of a mass movement.\n\nThis protest was followed a month lat er by a large Moratorium March in Washington\, D.C. Socialist politician F red Halstead wrote that it was "the first time [the anti-war movement] rea ched the level of a full-fledged mass movement."\n\nOver a quarter of mill ion people attended the Moratorium march in Washington\, D.C.\, where they marched down Pennsylvania Avenue in the evening bearing candles led by Co retta Scott King to the White House. Scott King told the marchers that it would have delighted her assassinated husband\, Martin Luther King Jr.\, t o have seen people of all races rallying together for the cause of peace.\ n\nRallies held in New York\, Detroit\, Boston (where about 100\,000 atten ded a speech by anti-war Senator George McGovern)\, and Miami were also we ll attended. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moratorium_to_End_the_War_in_Vietn am RESOURCES:http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/15/news id_2533000/2533131.stm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Thomas Sankara Assassinated (1987) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251015 DTEND:20251016T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Marxism,Assassinations COMMENT:Thomas Sankara was a Burkinabé revolutionary who expanded social welfare and nationalized natural resources in Burkina Faso. On this day in 1987\, Sankara was assassinated in a coup led by Blaise Compaoré\, who s ucceeded Sankara in power. DESCRIPTION:Thomas Sankara was a Burkinabé revolutionary who expanded soc ial welfare and nationalized natural resources in Burkina Faso. On this da y in 1987\, Sankara was assassinated in a coup led by Blaise Compaoré\, w ho succeeded Sankara in power.\n\nThomas Sankara was a Burkinabé revoluti onary and President of Burkina Faso\, assassinated on this day in 1987. A Marxist-Leninist and Pan-Africanist\, he was viewed by supporters as a cha rismatic and iconic figure of revolution and is sometimes referred to as " Africa's Che Guevara".\n\nSankara came into power when allies instigated a coup on his behalf in 1983. He immediately launched programs for social\, ecological and economic change and renamed the country from the French co lonial name Upper Volta to Burkina Faso ("Land of Incorruptible People")\, with its people being called Burkinabé ("upright people").\n\nSankara's administration refused foreign aid to remain politically independent\, wit h him stating "Imperialism often occurs in more subtle forms\, a loan\, fo od aid\, blackmail". He also began nationalizing land and mineral wealth a nd promoted literacy\, women's rights\, and public health.\n\nOn this day in 1987\, Sankara was assassinated by troops led by Blaise Compaoré\, who assumed leadership of the state shortly after having Sankara killed. A we ek before his murder\, Sankara had declared: "While revolutionaries as ind ividuals can be murdered\, you cannot kill ideas". RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Sankara RESOURCES:http://www.thomassankara.net/26-years-ago-thomas-sankara-was-ass assinated-circumstances-yet-to-be-clarified-but-an-ever-growing-popularity /?lang=en RESOURCES:https://jacobin.com/2022/04/thomas-sankara-blaise-compaore-sente nce-burkina-faso RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/archive/sankara/index.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Bu-Ma Democratic Protests (1979) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251016 DTEND:20251017T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Assassinations,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1979\, anti-government protests and riots began in Busan\, South Korea. President Park declared martial law and arrested more than 1\,000 people before being assassinated on Oct. 26th\, leading to th e dissolution of the state. DESCRIPTION:The Bu-Ma Democratic Protests against the South Korean Yushin regime began on this day in 1979\, starting in Busan and later spreading t o and Masan (now Changwon). The first to protest were students from Pusan National University\, who began calling for the abolition of the Yushin re gime in public demonstrations.\n\nThe protests quickly grew\, and\, just t wo days later\, they had spread to Masan\, resulted in the destruction of a tax collection office and burned police vehicles\, and President Park Ch ung-hee declared martial law\, arrested more than 1\,000 people. On Octobe r 26th\, President Park Chung-hee was assassinated\, leading to the eventu al dissolution of the Fourth Republic of South Korea.\n\nOn the 40th anniv ersary of the event\, President Moon Jae-in apologized for the previous ep isodes of political repression\, stating "As long as we have a history of great democratic protests\, no power can rule over the people". RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bu-Ma_Democratic_Protests RESOURCES:https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2019/10/356_277235.html END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Enver Hoxha (1908 - 1985) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251016 DTEND:20251017T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Labor,Feminism,Birthdays COMMENT:Enver Hoxha\, born on this day in 1908\, was the communist leader of Albania from 1946 to 1985. "Every departure from class struggle has fat al results for the destiny of socialism." DESCRIPTION:Enver Hoxha\, born on this day in 1908\, was the communist lea der of Albania from 1946 to 1985\, leaving behind a complex legacy of femi nism and greatly improved access to healthcare and education\, coupled wit h what critics perceive as a paranoid personality cult and brutal state re pression.\n\nHoxha is also known for having sharp ideological and politica l disagreements with the Soviet Union and communist Yugoslavia\, siding mo st strongly with and receiving aid from Maoist China.\n\nBefore coming int o power\, Hoxha was a French school teacher and librarian\, becoming a com munist partisan after fascist Italy invaded Albania in 1939. In March 1943 \, the first National Conference of the Communist Party elected Hoxha form ally as First Secretary.\n\nIt was in this position as First Secretary tha t Hoxha became head of state after the Albanian monarchy was abolished in 1946.\n\nIn the years after Stalin's death\, Hoxha grew increasingly distr essed by the policies of the Soviet leadership and of Khrushchev in partic ular. China was also disillusioned with Soviet behavior at this time\, and Hoxha found common ground with Mao Zedong's criticisms of Moscow. By 1961 \, Hoxha's attacks on the "revisionist" Soviet leadership had so infuriate d Khrushchev that he elected first to terminate Moscow's economic aid to A lbania and ultimately to sever diplomatic relations entirely.\n\nUnder Hox ha's leadership\, the Albanian literacy rate improved from 5-10% in rural areas to more 90%. Hoxha was also a proponent of women's rights\, stating "the entire party and country should hurl into the fire and break the neck of anyone who dared trample underfoot the sacred edict of the party on th e defense of women's rights". Accordingly\, more than 175 times as many wo men attended secondary schools in 1978 than had done so in 1938.\n\nCritic s of Hoxha point out that his reign had state repression of dissidents rem iniscent of the Soviet Union and what they perceived as a paranoid persona lity cult. The 1992 book "Albania: A Country Study"\, commissioned by the U.S. government\, alleged that one out of three Albanians had either been interrogated by the Sigurimi secret police or incarcerated in labor camps. \n\nHoxha died in 1985\, leading Ramiz Alia to succeed him as head of stat e. Although Albania was one of the poorest European nations at the time of his death\, the country was also economically self-sufficient\, carrying minimal foreign debt and boasting a trade surplus of $10 million.\n\n"Ever y departure from class struggle has fatal results for the destiny of socia lism."\n\n- Enver Hoxha RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enver_Hoxha RESOURCES:https://www.jacobinmag.com/2020/03/nexhmije-hoxha-albania-obitua ry END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Karl Kautsky (1854 - 1938) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251016 DTEND:20251017T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Marxism,Birthdays COMMENT:Karl Johann Kautsky\, born on this day in 1854\, was a Czech-Austr ian philosopher\, journalist\, and Marxist theoretician. An outspoken crit ic of the Bolsheviks\, Kautsky organized with various European social demo cratic parties. DESCRIPTION:Karl Johann Kautsky was a Czech-Austrian philosopher\, journal ist\, and Marxist theoretician born on this day in 1854. Kautsky was one o f the most authoritative proponents of Orthodox Marxism after the death of Friedrich Engels in 1895 until the outbreak of World War I in 1914\, incl uding during the Second International.\n\nKautsky founded the important so cialist journal "Neue Zeit". Following the war\, Kautsky was an outspoken critic of the Bolshevik Revolution\, engaging in polemics with Vladimir Le nin\, Leon Trotsky\, and Joseph Stalin on the nature of the Soviet state. Towards the end of his life\, he became close friends with Rosa Luxemburg. \n\nOf the USSR\, he famously wrote "Foreign tourists in Russia stand in s ilent amazement before the gigantic enterprises created there\, as they st and before the pyramids\, for example. Only seldom does the thought occur to them what enslavement\, what lowering of human self-esteem was connecte d with the construction of those gigantic establishments."\n\nFor his part \, Lenin excoriated Kautsky's interpretations of Marxist thought stating " Kautsky has beaten the world record in the liberal distortion of Marx." (s ee Lenin's essay "How Kautsky Turned Marx Into A Common Liberal").\n\nKaut sky is notable for\, in addition to his anti-Bolshevik polemics\, his edit ing and publication of Marx's Capital\, Volume IV (usually published as "T heories of Surplus Value"). RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Kautsky RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/archive/kautsky/index.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Mass Protest Against Prop 187 (1994) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251016 DTEND:20251017T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1994\, ~70\,000 demonstrators marched across L.A. i n opposition to Prop 187\, a ballot initiative that prevented undocumented immigrants (both children and parents) from accessing public school\, hea lthcare\, and universities. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1994\, an estimated 70\,000 demonstrators march ed across Los Angeles in opposition to Prop 187\, a ballot initiative that prevented any undocumented immigrant (both children and parents) from acc essing public school\, public healthcare\, and public universities. The de monstration against Prop 187\, known as the "Save Our State" initiative\, is one of the largest mass protests in Los Angeles' history.\n\nAlthough t he ballot initiative passed at first\, public and legal pressure from oppo nents of Prop 187 led to a federal court order preventing enforcement of t he measure. The law was finally killed in 1997\, when it was declared unco nstitutional. The political controversy surrounding the law led to widespr ead voter registration from the Latino population\, and is considered a ma jor factor in California's subsequent shift away from the Republican Party . RESOURCES:https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-10-17-mn-51339-stor y.html RESOURCES:https://laist.com/2019/11/06/proposition_187_what_you_need_to_kn ow.php END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Million Man March (1995) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251016 DTEND:20251017T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Civil Rights COMMENT:On this day in 1995\, a collaborative rally of various civil right s and black liberation groups known as the "Million Man March" took place in Washington\, D.C.\, boasting speakers such as Maya Angelou\, Betty Shab azz\, and Dr. Cornel West. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1995\, a collaborative rally of various civil r ights and black liberation groups known as the "Million Man March" took pl ace in Washington\, D.C. Hundreds of thousands strong\, the march included groups from across the political spectrum\, from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to the National of Islam (N OI)\, and its purpose was to "convey to the world a vastly different pictu re of the Black male".\n\nThe rally's events were broken down into several sessions on specific topics\, including "Sankofa: Lessons from the Past L inkages to the Future" and "Atonement and Reconciliation". Many prominent civil rights activists spoke at the event\, including Betty Shabazz (widow of Malcolm X)\, Dr. Cornel West\, Rosa Parks\, Maya Angelou\, Rev. Benjam in Chavis\, Jr.\, and Minister Louis Farrakhan.\n\nTwo years after the mar ch\, the Million Woman March was held in response to fears that the Millio n Man March had focused on black men to the exclusion of black women. Farr akhan held the 20th Anniversary of the "Million Man March: Justice or Else " on October 10th\, 2015\, in Washington\, D.C. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Million_Man_March RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/events-africa n-american-history/million-man-march-1995/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Raid on Harper's Ferry (1859) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251016 DTEND:20251017T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1859\, abolitionist John Brown initiated a raid on Harper's Ferry in an effort to start a revolt in the American South. The r aid was ultimately unsuccessful\, and he was convicted of treason and hang ed on December 2nd\, 1859. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1859\, abolitionist John Brown initiated a raid on Harper's Ferry to start a revolt in Southern states by taking over a U .S. arsenal in Virginia and arming slaves with the weapons there.\n\nBrown did not receive the support from slaves that he was counting on for the r aid to succeed. Many slaves did not trust the fact that a white man would be inciting them to rebel\, and knew little about how to work firearms bes ides that. Some believed they were actually about to be sold.\n\nBrown's r aid was defeated by a company of U.S. Marines\, killing two of his three s ons. He was convicted of treason and hanged on December 2nd\, 1859. Later\ , president of the Confederacy Jefferson Davis cited the attack as grounds for Southerners to leave the Union\, "even if it rushes us into a sea of blood". RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Brown%27s_raid_on_Harpers_Fer ry RESOURCES:https://www.britannica.com/event/Harpers-Ferry-Raid END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Empire Zinc Strike (1950) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251017 DTEND:20251018T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Imperialism,Protests COMMENT:The Empire Zinc Strike\, also known as the Salt of the Earth strik e\, was a 15-month-long miners' strike that began on this day in 1950\, ag ainst the Empire Zinc Company in protest of its discriminatory pay and com pany housing practices. DESCRIPTION:The Empire Zinc Strike\, also known as the Salt of the Earth s trike\, was a 15-month-long miners' strike that began on this day in 1950 in Silver City\, New Mexico\, against the Empire Zinc Company in protest o f its discriminatory pay and company housing practices. Later\, workers al so demanded indoor plumbing and hot water for Mexican-American homes as we ll.\n\nEmpire Zinc fought back by sending police to harass picketers\, pos ting eviction notices on company houses\, and cutting off credit to strike rs at the company grocery store. Labor activist Clinton Jencks\, who was t he union's business agent\, was arrested on strike and kept in solitary co nfinement for 16 months. After the company got a court injunction forbiddi ng picketers to return to the picket line\, the workers' wives and childre n took their place.\n\nAfter 15 months of protest\, the company came to an agreement with the striking workers on January 21st\, 1952\, giving the s trikers nearly everything they asked for. The strike drew national attenti on\, and\, after it was settled in 1952\, a movie entitled "Salt of the Ea rth" (1954) was released that offered a fictionalized version of events. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_Zinc_strike RESOURCES:https://www.pri.org/stories/2019-06-13/and-they-will-inherit-it END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Paris Massacre (1961) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251017 DTEND:20251018T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Massacre COMMENT:On this day in 1961\, French police\, led by Nazi collaborator Mau rice Papon\, attacked a rally of 30\,000 pro-Algerian protesters\, drownin g dozens of people in the Seine. The massacre was denied by the state for 37 years\, until 1998. DESCRIPTION:The Paris Massacre was a brutal instance of police repression against Algerians that occurred on this day in 1961\, during the Algerian War.\n\nThere were multiple episodes of violence between French police and the French Algerian community during the anti-colonial Algerian War: raci st French cops terrorized Algerians\, while pro-liberation groups targeted and killed police with bombing campaigns.\n\nIt was in this context that the head of the Parisian police\, Maurice Papon (a former Nazi collaborato r later convicted of crimes against humanity) ordered police to kill Alger ians\, promising that they would be protected from any consequences.\n\nUn der these orders\, the French National Police attacked a demonstration by 30\,000 pro-National Liberation Front (FLN) Algerians on October 17th\, be ating dozens to death and throwing people into the Seine river\, where man y drowned. After 37 years of denial and censorship of the press\, the Fren ch government finally acknowledged 40 deaths in 1998\, although there are estimates of 100 to 300 victims. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_massacre_of_1961 RESOURCES:https://www.france24.com/en/20121017-paris-massacre-algeria-octo ber-17-1961-51-years-anniversary-historian-einaudi END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Pérez Collado (1915 - 2014) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251017 DTEND:20251018T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Anarchism,Fascism COMMENT:Concha Pérez Collado\, born on this day in 1915\, was an anarchis t involved with the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT) and anti-fas cist soldier during the Spanish Civil War. DESCRIPTION:Concha Pérez Collado\, born on this day in 1915\, was an anar chist involved with the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT) and anti -fascist soldier during the Spanish Civil War.\n\nWhen the Civil War broke out\, Collado already had access to weapons and training because she was part of an anarchist group that were preparing for what they saw as an ine vitable military uprising. She saw action in Barcelona and Aragon\, attack ing prisons\, building barricades for her neighborhood\, and working in a munitions factory\, before eventually moving to a French refugee camp wher e she gave birth to her only son.\n\nPérez Collado returned to Spain unde r Francisco Franco's rule and ran a jewelry shop with her partner Maurici Palau which doubled as a secret meeting place for anarchists. From 1982 to 1984\, Collado participated in a series of interviews with Nick Rider abo ut anarchism in Spain during the 1930s. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concha_P%C3%A9rez_Collado RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/perez-concha-1915-2014 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Victoria Nurses Strike (1985) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251017 DTEND:20251018T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:On this day in 1985\, following a breakdown in negotiations with t he government\, thousands of nurses in Victoria\, Australia went on an ind efinite\, state-wide strike for the first time in the state's history. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1985\, thousands of nurses in Victoria\, Austra lia went on an indefinite\, state-wide strike for the first time in the st ate's history.\n\nThe strike was preceded by a breakdown in negotiations b etween the nurses' union\, which was demanding a pay increase\, and Health Minister David White. On October 11th\, nurses held a meeting where they agreed to go strike the following week indefinitely.\n\nOn October 17th\, they picketed hospitals\, handed out leaflets to people on the street\, an d collected money. Most of them had never been on strike before\, but they stood their ground in the face of widespread media criticism and outrage from government officials.\n\nThe strike ended after five days in only a p artial victory for the workers. The government agreed to cooperate on some demands regarding staffing\, but lower level nurses would get no wage inc reases - they would have to wait for arbitration. The following year\, tho usands of nurses in Victoria would go on strike on October 31st\, but this time for fifty days. RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/articles/victoria-nurses-strike-1985 RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/1986-victoria-nurses-strike END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Colorado Miners Strike (1927) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251018 DTEND:20251019T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,IWW COMMENT:On this day in 1927\, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) ca lled a strike of all mine workers\, leading to almost all mines in Colorad o closing. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1927\, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW ) called a strike of all mine workers\, which was quickly heeded in Colora do. Nearly all the mines in Colorado were closed\, and the dozen still ope n did so using imported scab labor. For the still-operating Columbine mine \, scab workers were housed in Serene\, which was fortified with barbed wi re on the fences and armed guards.\n\nMass rallies had been held by worker s outside the Columbine mine in Serene for several weeks and\, on the morn ing of November 21st\, miners and their families were fired upon by a mili tia of ex-police\, armed with machine guns and tear gas. Six people were k illed\, and the event became known as the "Columbine Massacre".\n\nThe own er of the Rocky Mountain Fuel Company\, Josephine Roche\, brought an end t o the strike several weeks after the incident at Columbine by declaring th at the company union was to be affiliated with the American Federation of Labor (AFL) and recognizing the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA). The backbone of IWW support in the Colorado mines was broken\, and the revolu tionary union went into decline. RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/1927-colorado-miners-strike-and-colum bine-mine-massacre RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbine_Mine_massacre END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Laureano Cerrada Assassinated (1975) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251018 DTEND:20251019T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Assassinations,Anarchism,Fascism COMMENT:Laureano Cerrada Santos was an anarchist activist and member of th e Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT) who was assassinated on this d ay in 1975 by a member of the Spanish secret police\, who escaped charges by fleeing to Canada. DESCRIPTION:Laureano Cerrada Santos was an anarchist activist and member o f the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT) who was assassinated on th is day in 1975.\n\nSantos fought in the Spanish Civil War\, helped found t he railway union of the CNT\, and ran a large forgery operation in France that helped bankroll anti-fascist activism in Francoist Spain.\n\nOn Janua ry 18th\, 1951\, an attempted robbery committed by Spanish anarchists went wrong\, killing at least three people and wounding eight innocent bystand ers.\n\nThe Francoist government used this episode to lead a widespread cr ackdown on the libertarian movement\, and France soon followed suit. Cerra da was exiled from the CNT for his association with these activities\, but continued his work after being released from prison.\n\nOn this day in 19 75\, Cerrada was murdered by Ramón Benicho Canuda\, a CNT infiltrator and French Mafioso who killed Cerrada to prevent his discovery. Canuda fled t o Canada after the murder\, and was never charged for the crime. Named as working for a foreign power while in Toronto\, Canuda subsequently disappe ared. RESOURCES:https://christiebooks.co.uk/2017/09/laureano-cerrada-santos-note s-from-pistoleros-the-chronicles-of-farquhar-mcharg-2-1919-1944-1954/?doin g_wp_cron=1600914944.3111619949340820312500 RESOURCES:https://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/z613wc END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Martin Schleyer Assassinated (1977) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251018 DTEND:20251019T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Assassinations COMMENT:Hanns Martin Schleyer was a German member of the SS\, business exe cutive\, and employer and industry representative who was assassinated by the Red Army Faction (RAF) on this day in 1977. DESCRIPTION:Hanns Martin Schleyer was a German member of the SS\, business executive\, and employer and industry representative who was assassinated by the Red Army Faction (RAF) on this day in 1977. Schleyer's conservativ e anti-communist views\, anti-union activities\, and his past as a former SS officer made him a target for radical elements of the German student mo vement in the 1970s.\n\nOn September 5th\, 1977\, the RAF (a West German\, far-left militant organization) kidnapped Schleyer in an attempt to force the West German government to release Andreas Baader and three other RAF members. The government steadfastly refused to negotiate with the RAF\, an d after discovering that three RAF members were killed in prison\, his kid nappers executed Schleyer in a car en route to France on October 18th\, 19 77. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kidnapping_and_murder_of_Hanns-Mar tin_Schleyer RESOURCES:https://www.dw.com/en/germany-terror-casualty-hanns-martin-schle yer-sacrificed-by-the-state/a-40340024 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Maurice Bishop Assassinated (1983) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251019 DTEND:20251020T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Assassinations COMMENT:Maurice Bishop was a Grenadian revolutionary and a leader of commu nist New Jewel Movement\, assassinated on this day in 1983. Following his death\, President Ronald Reagan invaded Grenada\, toppling the revolutiona ry government. DESCRIPTION:Maurice Bishop was a Grenadian revolutionary and a leader of c ommunist New Jewel Movement\, assassinated on this day in 1983. Following his death\, President Ronald Reagan invaded Grenada\, toppling the revolut ionary government.\n\nBishop headed the People's Revolutionary Government of Grenada from 1979 until 1983\, when he was dismissed from his post and shot in a coup\, leading to civil unrest and a U.S. invasion of the countr y.\n\nAlthough Bishop grew up in Grenada\, he left to study in London as a young adult. While there\, Bishop acquired a law degree and studied the w orks of Lenin\, Mao Zedong\, and Julius Nyerere.\n\nIn 1970\, he returned to Grenada and was active politically\, representing striking nurses in co urt and helping lead the "New Jewel Movement". The New Jewel Movement ulti mately put him in power when\, in 1979\, the movement successfully led a c oup against Eric Gairy and Bishop became the Prime Minister of Grenada.\n\ nAmong Bishop's core principles were workers' rights\, women's rights\, an d the struggle against racism and apartheid. Women were given equal pay an d paid maternity leave\, and sex discrimination was made illegal. Organiza tions to promote education\, health care\, youth affairs\, and literacy we re also established. Due to his administration's efforts\, illiteracy and unemployment greatly declined.\n\nIn 1983\, power struggles within the par ty culminated in Bishop and seven members of his cabinet being captured an d executed by forces led by Bernard Coard.\n\nAfter Bishop's murder\, the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) and Grenada's governor-gen eral Paul Scoon appealed to the United States for help. Within the month\, Ronald Reagan launched an invasion of Grenada.\n\n"The Grenadian Revoluti on is 'even worse' - I'm using their language - than the Cuban and Nicarag uan Revolutions because the people of Grenada and the leadership of Grenad a speak English and can communicate directly with the people of the United States.\n\n...The people of Grenada and the leadership of Grenada are pre dominantly black...And if we have 95% of predominantly African origin in o ur country\, we can have a dangerous appeal to 30 million black people in the United States."\n\n- Maurice Bishop\, discussing a secret U.S. State D epartment report on the Grenadian Revolution RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/history/grenada/index.htm RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/article/nobodys-backyard-maurice-bishops-spee ches-1979-1983-edited-chris-searle-introduction RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Bishop RESOURCES:https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/grenada-revolution/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Abel Santamaría (1927 - 1953) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251020 DTEND:20251021T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Marxism,Birthdays COMMENT:Abel Santamaría (shown right)\, born on this day in 1927\, was a Cuban communist\, 2nd in command to Fidel Castro's revolutionary movement. He was tortured to death after being captured following the rebels' seizu re of a hospital. DESCRIPTION:Abel Santamaría Cuadrado (shown right)\, born on this day in 1927\, was a Cuban communist\, second in command within Fidel Castro's rev olutionary movement. Abel was the brother of Haydée Santamaría Cuadrado (1922 - 1980)\, also a Cuban revolutionary communist and a founding member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC).\n\nIn 1947 \, Abel Santamaría moved to Havana and began reading Marxist texts. On Ma y 1st\, 1952\, he met Fidel Castro\, and they began organizing revolutiona ry activity together.\n\nAbel and Haydée participated in the Moncada barr acks assault on July 26th\, 1953 that was intended to start the revolution ary overthrow of Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista. Fidel Castro had assign ed Santamaria with the mission of taking the Saturnino Lora Hospital as pa rt of the assault\, taking on a more dangerous mission himself.\n\nSantama ría protested in a now often-quoted exchange\, saying: "You are going to the most dangerous spot and sacrificing yourself\, when you are most neede d by everyone." Castro responded\, "I am going to the garrison and you go to the hospital\, because you are the soul of this movement\, and if I die \, you will take my place."\n\nThe assault ultimately failed\, and both Ab el and Haydée were captured\, alongside many other revolutionaries. Abel was tortured to death while in captivity to find out where Fidel was\, and one of his eyes was reportedly presented to Haydée as a form of intimida tion. Neither Haydée nor Abel gave away Castro's location. RESOURCES:https://www.ecured.cu/Abel_Santamar%C3%ADa RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abel_Santamar%C3%ADa END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Romanian General Strike (1920) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251020 DTEND:20251021T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,General Strikes COMMENT:On this day in 1920\, a general strike involving ~400\,000 workers began in Romania in response to a call by the General Confederation of La bor. The strike was put down by force on October 28th. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1920\, a general strike took place in Romania i n response to a call by the General Confederation of Labor. The strike was caused by the Romanian government's refusal to satisfy workers' demands a s formulated by the General Council of the Socialist Party of Romania (SPR ).\n\nThese demands included observance of democratic freedoms\, recogniti on of workers' factory committees\, the abolition of the state of siege th en existing in Romania\, and the elimination of censorship.\n\nDespite rep risals by the authorities and the capitulation of right-wing leaders of bo th the SPR and the General Confederation of Labor\, who declared the strik e over on October 26th\, the strike grew to large proportions\, with about 400\,000 workers taking part in the protest. The strike was put down by f orce on October 28th. RESOURCES:https://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/October+General+Stri ke+of+1920 RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1920_Romanian_general_strike END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Giuseppe Pinelli (1928 - 1969) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251021 DTEND:20251022T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Anarchism,Fascism COMMENT:Giuseppe "Pino" Pinelli\, born on this day in 1928\, was a railroa d worker and anarchist organizer possibly murdered by Italian police follo wing fascist bombings in Milan. He died in 1969 by falling out of a window while in police custody. DESCRIPTION:Giuseppe "Pino" Pinelli\, born on this day in 1928\, was a rai lroad worker and anarchist organizer possibly murdered by Italian police f ollowing fascist bombings in Milan. He died in 1969 by falling out of a wi ndow while in police custody.\n\nPinelli was a member of the Milan-based a narchist association named "Ponte della Ghisolfa"\, and was also the secre tary of the Italian branch of the Anarchist Black Cross. He organized youn g anarchists in the "Gioventu Libertaria" (Libertarian Youth) in 1962 and helped found the "Sacco and Vanzetti anarchist association" in 1965.\n\nOn December 12th\, 1969\, Italian fascists from the "Ordine Nuovo" orchestra ted a bombing campaign in Milan\; one bomb in Piazza Fontana killed 17 peo ple and injured 88. The bombing was blamed on Italian anarchists\, and Pin elli was detained along with many other leftists\, including Pietro Valpre da\, who was falsely convicted and served eighteen years in prison.\n\nJus t before midnight on December 15th\, 1969\, Pinelli fell to his death from a fourth floor window of the Milan police station. Three police officers interrogating Pinelli\, including Commissioner Luigi Calabresi\, were put under investigation in 1971 for his death\, but legal proceedings conclude d it was due to accidental causes.\n\nCalabresi was later gunned down at h is home in 1972\, for which leftist Italian journalist Adriano Sofri was c onvicted in 1990. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giuseppe_Pinelli RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/pinelli-giuseppe-pino-1928-1969 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Osceola Captured (1837) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251021 DTEND:20251022T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1837\, in what has been described as "one of the mo st disgraceful acts in American military history"\, Seminole leader Osceol a was captured by U.S. forces after he was tricked into meeting for "peace talks". DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1837\, in what has been described as "one of th e most disgraceful acts in American military history"\, Seminole leader Os ceola was captured by U.S. forces after he was tricked into meeting for "p eace talks".\n\nOsceola (in Creek\, "Asi-yahola"\; 1804 - 1838) was an inf luential leader of the Seminole people in Florida\, in particular the Semi nole resistance against colonization. Although he was raised in the Creek tradition\, Osceola became part of what was known as the Seminole people a fter moving to Florida as a child.\n\nOsceola's successful attack on milit ary forces on December 28th\, 1835 served as a catalyst for beginning the Second Seminole War against the United States. Although the Seminole was v ictorious in some of the battles of the Second Seminole War\, it was on th is day in 1837 that General Joseph Hernández captured Osceola\, who had c ome to meet Hernández under the false promise of peace talks.\n\nGeneral Hernández had agreed to meet with Osceola under a white flag of truce\, b ut promptly arrested Osceola and 81 of his followers. Osceola died from il lness a few months after his capture\, on January 30th\, 1838. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osceola RESOURCES:https://www.historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/zinnasl7.html END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Bobby Seale (1936 - ) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251022 DTEND:20251023T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Riots COMMENT:Bobby Seale\, born on this day in 1936\, was\, with Huey Newton\, a founding member of the Black Panther Party. "The people have now come to realize that the only way to deal with the oppressor is to deal on our ow n terms and this was done." DESCRIPTION:Bobby Seale\, born on this day in 1936\, was\, with Huey Newto n\, a founding member of the Black Panther Party. "The people have now com e to realize that the only way to deal with the oppressor is to deal on ou r own terms and this was done."\n\nWhile studying at Merritt Community Col lege\, Seale joined the Afro-American Association (AAA)\, a group on the c ampus devoted to self-education about African and African-American history . Through the AAA group\, Seale met Huey Newton.\n\nIn an interview record ed for the 1990 documentary "Eyes on the Prize II"\, Seale described the f ounding of the BPP in his own words:\n\n"Black Panther Party\, 1966\, when Huey and I founded that organization\, that particular year\, numerous ac ts of police brutality had sparked a lot of spontaneous riots\, something that Huey and I were against\, the spontaneous riots.\n\n...\n\nAnd we sit down and began to write out this Ten-Point Platform and Program in the No rth Oakland Neighborhood Service Center in North Oakland\, California\, in the community where Huey and I lived. And we wrote out this program.\n\n' We want power to determine our own destiny in our own Black community'\, a lluding to the needs to be organized-political electoral power. Full emplo yment\, decent housing\, decent education that taught us about our true se lves\, not to have to fight in Vietnam\, immediate end to police brutality and murder of back people was point number seven.\n\nThe right to have ju ries of our peers in the courts\, what have you. We summed it up. We wante d land\, bread\, housing\, education\, clothing\, justice\, and peace. And \, in the tail end\, we stuck in two famous paragraphs: 'When in the cours e of human events it becomes necessary for one people to separate themself from the political bondage' - that was the emphasis\, the political bonda ge - 'which have connected them with another\, and to assume among the pow ers of the Earth the separate and equal station to which the laws of natur e and nature's God entitled them.'\n\nI mean\, this was the kind of summar ization we gave to our meaning. And we summarized that Ten-Point Platform Program\, flipped a coin to see who would be chairman. I won chairman and we created the Black Panther Party."\n\nBobby Seale was also one of the or iginal "Chicago Eight" defendants charged with conspiracy and inciting a r iot in the wake of protests during the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.\n\nDuring the trial\, Seale\, the only black member of the Ch icago Eight\, was repeatedly bound and gagged. Although he was ultimately not convicted\, Seale was sentenced to four years in prison for contempt o f court.\n\nIn 1973\, Seale ran for Mayor of Oakland\, California. He rece ived the second-most votes in a field of nine candidates\, but ultimately lost in a run-off with incumbent Mayor John Reading.\n\nAmong Seale's work s are Seize the Time: The Story of The Black Panther Party and Huey P. New ton (1970)\, A Lonely Rage: The Autobiography of Bobby Seale (1978)\, and Power to the People: The World of the Black Panthers (2016). RESOURCES:http://repository.wustl.edu/concern/videos/7h149t72p RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Seale RESOURCES:https://www.britannica.com/biography/Bobby-Seale END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Jack Reed (1887 - 1920) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251022 DTEND:20251023T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Marxism,Birthdays,Journalism COMMENT:John Reed\, born on this day in 1887\, was an American journalist\ , poet\, and communist activist. Reed served as a war correspondent\, cove red strikes\, interviewed Pancho Villa\, and was an eyewitness to the Octo ber Revolution. DESCRIPTION:John Reed\, born on this day in 1887\, was an American journal ist\, poet\, and communist activist. Reed served as a war correspondent\, covered strikes\, interviewed Pancho Villa\, and was an eyewitness to the October Revolution.\n\nReed first gained prominence as a war correspondent during the first World War\, and later became best known for his coverage of the October Revolution in Petrograd\, Russia\, which he wrote about in the book "Ten Days That Shook the World".\n\nAs the U.S. entered World Wa r I\, Reed was marginalized for his anti-war sentiments and set sail with his partner Bryant from New York to Europe. The pair were going as working journalists to report on the sensational developments taking place in the fledgling republic of Russia. They were in Petrograd for the October Revo lution. Reed was an enthusiastic supporter of the new revolutionary social ist government\, and met both Leon Trotsky and Lenin while there.\n\nReed subsequently made a trip back to the U.S.\, where he vehemently defended t he new Soviet Republic and was arrested three times\, the last for violati ng the Sedition Act. After being acquitted\, Reed returned to the USSR and again met with Lenin and Trotsky.\n\nReed died from spotted typhus while trying to return to the United States in 1920. He was given a state funera l and buried at the Kremlin Wall Necropolis. RESOURCES:https://www.rbth.com/arts/history/2017/06/28/laid-to-rest-in-the -kremlin-why-was-us-hack-john-reed-buried-in-moscow_791567 RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/archive/reed/index.htm RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Reed_(journalist) RESOURCES:https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Reed END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Long March Ends (1935) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251022 DTEND:20251023T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism COMMENT:The Long March was a famous military retreat undertaken by the Red Army of the Communist Party of China (CPC) that lasted 370 days\, ending on this day in 1935 in Shaanxi Province. DESCRIPTION:The Long March was a famous military retreat undertaken by the Red Army of the Communist Party of China (CPC) that lasted 370 days\, end ing on this day in 1935 in Shaanxi Province.\n\nThe Long March was an ardu ous journey - estimates are that the Long March took around 6000 miles\, a nd only 8\,000 of the original 100\,000 soldiers who began the march actua lly arrived in Shaanxi.\n\nThe Long March was also notable for causing Mao Zedong to take on leadership of the CPC\, and as well as galvanizing popu lar support for the communist movement. From their base in Shaanxi Provinc e\, the revolutionary army went on to defeat nationalist forces after the conclusion of World War II. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_March RESOURCES:https://www.britannica.com/event/Long-March END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Hungarian Revolution (1956) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251023 DTEND:20251024T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Marxism,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1956\, a rebellion broke out against the Soviet-ali gned Hungarian People's Republic. The event was a major political crisis f or the USSR\, which defeated the insurgents\, communists and anti-communis ts alike\, with military force. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1956\, a rebellion broke out in Budapest agains t the Soviet-aligned Hungarian People's Republic. The uprising was the fir st major threat to Soviet control since the Red Army drove Nazi Germany fr om its territory at the End of World War II in Europe.\n\nThe revolt began as a student protest\, which attracted thousands as they marched through central Budapest to the Hungarian Parliament building. Protesters were fir ed upon from within the building by the State Security Police\, killing mu ltiple students.\n\nAs news of the violence spread\, disorder and violence erupted throughout the capital\, including the lynching of communist orga nizers and release and arming of anti-communist political prisoners.\n\nAs the rebellion grew\, the government quickly collapsed. Thousands of peopl e organized militias\, battling state police and Soviet troops. Insurgents took control of workers' councils from the ruling Hungarian Working Peopl e's Party and demanded political reforms.\n\nOn November 4th\, a large Sov iet force invaded Budapest and other regions of the country. The Soviet go vernment justified the suppression by taking the position that the uprisin g was fascist in character\, although this claim has been disputed by hist orians such as Peter Fryer\, author of "Hungarian Tragedy" and eyewitness to the uprising.\n\nOver 2\,500 Hungarians and 700 Soviet troops were kill ed in the conflict\, and 200\,000 Hungarians fled as refugees. Mass arrest s and denunciations continued for months thereafter\, and suppression of t he revolution continued for decades afterward.\n\nThese Soviet actions\, w hile strengthening control over the Eastern Bloc\, alienated many Western Marxists\, leading to splits and/or considerable losses of membership for communist parties in capitalist states.\n\nImre Nagy\, a communist politic al leader during the crisis who embraced some of the insurgent's proposed reforms\, was secretly captured\, convicted of organizing the overthrow of the Hungarian People's Republic\, and executed.\n\nIn 1989\, Nagy was pol itically rehabilitated and re-buried. Approximately 200\,000 people attend ed the ceremony\, one of the events that marked an end to communism in Hun gary. At the inauguration of the Third Hungarian Republic in 1989\, Octobe r 23rd was declared a national holiday.\n\nThe uprising is celebrated by r ight-wing forces today\; in 2006\, President Bush sent George Pataki\, the governor of New York\, to Budapest to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution. RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/articles/hungary-56 RESOURCES:https://www.marxist.com/hungarian-revolution-1956.htm RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungarian_Revolution_of_1956 RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/archive/fryer/1956/dec/index.htm RESOURCES:https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2006/0 9/text/20060925-1.html END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Otto Rühle (1874 - 1943) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251023 DTEND:20251024T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Labor,Birthdays,Fascism COMMENT:Otto Rühle\, born on this day in 1874\, was a German left communi st educator and writer who participated in the Spartacus League alongside Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht. DESCRIPTION:Otto Rühle\, born on this day in 1874\, was a German left com munist educator and writer who participated in the Spartacus League (along with Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht). Rühle was also a vocal opponen t of both World War I and World War II.\n\nAlthough Liebknecht and Luxembu rg were murdered in 1919 for their involvement in the German Revolution\, Rühle lived on to participate in the left opposition of the German labor movement\, developing an early communist critique of both Bolshevism and f ascism.\n\nRühle saw the Soviet Union as a form of state capitalism that had much in common with the state-centered capitalism of the West as well as fascism.\n\n"This distinction between head and body\, between intellect uals and workers\, officers and privates\, corresponds to the duality of c lass society. One class is educated to rule\; the other to be ruled. Lenin 's organisation is only a replica of bourgeois society. His revolution is objectively determined by the forces that create a social order incorporat ing these class relations\, regardless of the subjective goals accompanyin g this process."\n\n- Otto Rühle RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_R%C3%BChle RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/library/otto-ruhle-and-the-german-labour-move ment-mattick END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Chinese Massacre of 1871 DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251024 DTEND:20251025T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Riots,Massacre COMMENT:On this day in 1871\, a mob of around 500 white and mestizo people entered Chinatown in Los Angeles and attacked\, robbed\, and murdered Chi nese residents in what one historian called "the largest mass lynching in American history". DESCRIPTION:The Chinese Massacre of 1871 was a race riot that occurred on this day in Los Angeles\, California when a mob of around 500 white and me stizo people entered Chinatown and attacked\, robbed\, and murdered Chines e residents.\n\nThe massacre took place on Calle de los Negros\, also know n as "Negro Alley". The mob gathered after hearing that a policeman had be en shot and a rancher killed by Chinese immigrants. Historian John Johnson described the ensuing violence as the "largest mass lynching in American history".\n\nAn estimated 17 to 20 Chinese immigrants were hanged by the m ob in the course of the riot\, but most had already been shot to death. At least one was mutilated when someone cut off a finger to get his diamond ring.\n\nTen members of the mob were prosecuted\, eight were convicted of manslaughter. The convictions were overturned on appeal due to various tec hnicalities. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_massacre_of_1871 RESOURCES:http://www.laweekly.com/how-los-angeles-covered-up-the-massacre- of-17-chinese/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Iceland Women's Strike (1975) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251024 DTEND:20251025T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Feminism COMMENT:On this day in 1975\, approximately 90% of Icelandic women struck for equality\, not attending jobs or doing any domestic work. Iceland pass ed an equal pay law the following year\, but the strike has been repeated several times since. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1975\, approximately 90% of Icelandic women str uck for equality\, not attending jobs or doing any domestic work. Iceland passed an equal pay law the following year\, but the strike has been repea ted on its anniversary several times since\, such as in the years 2005\, 2 010\, and 2016.\n\nThe strike was planned by "The Women's Congress"\, whic h had met on June 20th and 21st earlier that year. Among the reasons given for going on strike were pay inequality\, lack of women in union leadersh ip\, and a general lack of recognition for the value and skill of domestic labor.\n\nDuring the work stoppage\, also known as "Women's Day Off"\, 25 \,000 people gathered in Reykjavik\, Iceland's capital city\, for a rally. There\, women listened to speakers\, sang\, and talked to each other abou t what could be done to achieve gender equality in Iceland.\n\nWomen from many different backgrounds spoke\, including a housewife\, two members of parliament\, and a worker. The last speech of the day was by Aðalheiður Bjarnfreðsdóttir\, who "represented Sókn\, the trade union for the lowe st paid women in Iceland"\, according to The Guardian.\n\nIn 1976\, the Ic elandic government passed an equal pay law\, and the country elected its f irst female President\, Vigdís Finnbogadóttir\, five years later in 1980 .\n\nThe 1975 Women's Strike also helped inspire the 2016 "Black Monday" a nti-abortion ban protests in Poland\, as well as the "International Women' s Strike"\, single day work stoppages on March 8th\, 2017 and 2018. RESOURCES:https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/oct/18/gender.uk RESOURCES:https://kvennasogusafn.is/index.php?page=womens-day-off-1975 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Million Woman March (1997) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251025 DTEND:20251026T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:The Million Woman March was a protest march held on this day in 19 97 for the purpose of uplifting black women and community\, involving appr oximately 500\,000 people on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia \, Pennsylvania. DESCRIPTION:The Million Woman March was a protest march held on this day i n 1997\, involving approximately 500\,000 people on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia\, Pennsylvania.\n\nA major theme of the march was family unity and what it means to be a black woman in America. The women o f the march called for three things: repentance for the pain of black wome n caused by one another\, and the restoration and resurrection of black fa mily and community bonds.\n\nThe march\, which was organized by two Philad elphia grass roots activists\, Phile Chionesu and Asia Coney\, enjoyed sub stantial turnout despite short notice and bypassing traditional leaders an d organizations that had played an important role in organizing the Millio n Man March in 1995\, such as Rev. Jesse Jackson\, Louis Farrakhan\, and t he National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).\n\n Notable speakers at the event included Winnie Madikizela-Mandela\, Congres swoman Maxine Waters\, Sista Souljah\, Jada Pinkett Smith\, Attallah and I lyasah Shabazz\, the daughters of Malcolm X\, and Dr. Dorothy Height. A me ssage from Assata Shakur\, living in exile in Cuba\, was also read. RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/million-woman -march-1997/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Million_Woman_March END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:U.S. Invades Grenada (1983) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251025 DTEND:20251026T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Assassinations COMMENT:On this day in 1983\, the U.S. and six Caribbean nations invaded G renada following the assassination of Maurice Bishop\, overthrowing the le ft-wing government and killing dozens of civilians\, an act with drew inte rnational condemnation. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1983\, the U.S. and six Caribbean nations invad ed Grenada following the assassination of Maurice Bishop\, overthrowing th e left-wing government and killing dozens of civilians\, an act with drew international condemnation.\n\nThe invasion\, officially codenamed "Operat ion Urgent Fury"\, was made up of a coalition of forces from the United St ates and six Caribbean nations\, including Jamaica and Barbados.\n\nOperat ion Urgent Fury and the subsequent military occupation led to the dissolut ion of the military government established after the assassination of Maur ice Bishop\, ousting the New Jewel Movement from power. The operation also caused the deaths of at least twenty-four civilians\, eighteen of whom we re killed when the U.S. Navy bombed a mental hospital.\n\nPresident Reagan justified the invasion by claiming to be acting in the interests of 600 U .S. medical students on the island. Historian Howard Zinn has noted that t here was no evidence these students were in danger and that\, in the same period\, Reagan's administration was actively supporting the government of El Salvador\, which had already killed American citizens.\n\nThe invasion drew widespread condemnation. The United Nations General Assembly voted 1 08 to 9 in condemning the act as "a flagrant violation of international la w". Margaret Thatcher publicly supported the action\, but opposed it in pr ivate\, telling President Reagan directly:\n\n"This action will be seen as intervention by a Western country in the internal affairs of a small inde pendent nation\, however unattractive its regime. I ask you to consider th is in the context of our wider East/West relations and of the fact that we will be having in the next few days to present to our Parliament and peop le the siting of Cruise missiles in this country...You asked for my advice . I have set it out and hope that even at this late stage you will take it into account before events are irrevocable." RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_invasion_of_Grenada RESOURCES:http://libcom.org/history/1983-the-us-invasion-of-grenada END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Dolores Cacuango (1881 - 1971) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251026 DTEND:20251027T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Indigenous COMMENT:Dolores Cacuango\, also known as Mamá Doloreyuk\, was a leader in the fight for indigenous rights in Ecuador born on this day in 1881. She was active in the Glorious May Revolution of 1944 and co-founded the Indig enous Federation of Ecuador (FEI). DESCRIPTION:Dolores Cacuango\, also known as Mamá Doloreyuk\, was a leade r in the fight for indigenous rights in Ecuador born on this day in 1881. She was active in the Glorious May Revolution of 1944 and co-founded the I ndigenous Federation of Ecuador (FEI).\n\nCacuango was born to enslaved pe ople in San Pablourco who worked the Pesillo Hacienda near Cayambe without being paid. She had no access to education due to her lack of resources\, and learned Spanish while working as a housemaid.\n\nIn 1930\, Cacuango w as among the leaders of the historic workers' strike at the Pesillo hacien da in Cayambe\, which was a milestone for indigenous and peasant rights. D uring the Glorious May Revolution in Ecuador\, Cacuango personally led an assault on a government military base.\n\nThe same year\, with the help of Ecuador's Communist Party\, Cacuango co-founded the Indigenous Federation of Ecuador (FEI)\, an early group in the fight for indigenous rights. She also helped establish some of the first bilingual indigenous schools. RESOURCES:https://elpais.com/sociedad/2020-10-26/dolores-cacuango-la-rebel de-lider-indigena-ecuatoriana-que-lucho-por-la-educacion-y-la-tierra.html RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolores_Cacuango RESOURCES:https://www.womensactivism.nyc/stories/1997 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Hounslow Hospital Occupation Raided (1977) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251026 DTEND:20251027T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1977\, a district team of officers raided Hounslow hospital in West London\, cutting phone lines and removing patients from t he facility. Workers had been occupying the facility since March to preven t its closure. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1977\, a district team of officers raided Houns low hospital in West London\, cutting phone lines and removing patients fr om the facility. Workers had been occupying the facility since March to pr event its closure.\n\nHounslow Hospital was a small facility for geriatric and long-stay patients in an industrial area. The hospital was considered a home as well as a place for treatment. \n\nHounslow's closure was annou nced by the state in January 1977 and scheduled for August. A hospital sta ff occupation started as a "work-in" in March\, intent on exploiting a leg al loophole where\, if the hospital has patients\, the law mandates the ho spital be funded.\n\nManagement tried to transfer staff\, and threatened t hose who refused with sanctions and firing. The threats did not succeed\, and the work-in continued beyond the scheduled closing date.\n\nOn this da y in 1977\, a district team of officers raided Hounslow hospital to evict occupying workers\, cutting phone lines and removing patients from the fac ility. Beds and furniture were wrecked\, the floor strewn with food\, torn mattresses\, sheets\, and personal articles.\n\nIn this manner\, the hosp ital was closed by force. The raid provoked a public outcry and led direct ly a year-long occupation of the closed hospital. 2000 striking hospital w orkers picketed the Ealing\, Hammersmith\, and Hounslow Area Health Author ity (AHA) to protest the raid and demand that the hospital be reopened. Wh en the occupation ended\, work began on redesigning the facilities into a new community hospital/health center. RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/library/south-london-womens-hospital-occupati on-1984-85 RESOURCES:https://www.workersliberty.org/story/2012/11/28/occupy-stop-clos ures END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:José Ester Borrás (1913 - 1980) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251026 DTEND:20251027T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Birthdays,Anarchism,Fascism COMMENT:José Ester Borrás\, born on this day in 1913 in Barcelona\, Spai n\, was an anarchist active in the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CN T) and the Spanish Civil War. DESCRIPTION:José Ester Borrás\, born on this day in 1913 in Barcelona\, Spain\, was an anarchist active in the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT) and the Spanish Civil War.\n\nIn 1938\, Borrás was arrested by the communists for allegedly shooting a political commissar and held in priso n until Francisco Franco won the war. He fled to France\, where he took pa rt in the escape and evasion network led by anarcho-syndicalist Francisco Ponzán Vidal. While in France\, Borrás was arrested and deported to the concentration camp Mauthausen\, where he was part of the committee that pl anned prisoner revolts that successfully self-liberated the camp.\n\nAfter achieving his freedom\, Borrás returned to France in 1945 and founded FE DIP (Federación Española de Deportados e Internados Políticos)\, which campaigned for the release of both political prisoners in Franco's Spain a nd anti-fascists who were deported to labor camps in the Soviet Union. RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/jos-ester-borr-s RESOURCES:https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u=https://es. wikipedia.org/wiki/Josep_Ester_i_Borr%25C3%25A1s&prev=search&pto=aue END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Northwood and Pinner Hospital Occupation (1983) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251026 DTEND:20251027T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1983\, hospital workers at the Northwood and Pinner Hospital began occupying the building in protest of its planned closure b y the British government on October 31st. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1983\, hospital workers at the Northwood and Pi nner Hospital began occupying the building in protest of its planned closu re by the British government on October 31st. The following information co mes from Hayes People's History via libcom.org:\n\nThe local health author ity was proposing to close Northwood and Pinner hospital on October 31st\, 1983. The workers\, led by matron Jean Carey\, a member of health workers ' union COHSE (which later merged into Unison)\, occupied the hospital on October 26th to oppose the closure and began the work-in the next day.\n\n They ran the hospital themselves\, until eventually the authority caved an d agreed to keep the hospital open. The nearby Hayes Cottage hospital was also successfully occupied and saved from closure at the same time. RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/northwood-pinner-hospital-occupation- 1983 RESOURCES:https://ourhistory-hayes.blogspot.com/search/label/Northwood%20a nd%20Pinner%20Cottage%20Hospital%20Occupation END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Swadeshi Cotton Mill Workers' Siege (1977) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251026 DTEND:20251027T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:On this day in 1977\, 8\,000 workers at the Swadeshi Cotton Mill i n India surrounded the factory\, held management hostage\, and threatened to blow the factory up if their demands were not met. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1977\, 8\,000 workers at the Swadeshi Cotton Mi ll in India surrounded the factory\, held management hostage\, and threate ned to blow the factory up if their demands were not met.\n\nWages had not been paid for several weeks. The uprising was also directly antagonistic to the trade union\; leaders of the union were beaten. After 54 hours of s iege\, the workers' wages were paid.\n\nDespite winning their demands\, la bor strife continued - on the 6th of December around 1\,000 workers again surrounded the factory. Violence broke out between private security and wo rkers\, and police intervened by shooting into the crowd of workers. Altho ugh official numbers listed 11 dead workers\, workers claim more than 100 people died. RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/cycle-struggle-1973-1979-india RESOURCES:http://www.sacw.net/article2320.html END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:French Riots Begin (2005) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251027 DTEND:20251028T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Riots,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 2005\, weeks of riots erupted throughout France aft er two youths died from electrocution while hiding from the police in a po wer substation. President Chirac declared a state of emergency\, giving sw eeping powers to police. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 2005\, weeks of riots erupted throughout France after two youths died from electrocution while hiding from the police in a power substation. President Chirac declared a state of emergency\, givin g sweeping powers to police.\n\nAccording to a youth that survived the sub station incident\, they hid "to avoid the lengthy questioning that youths in the housing projects say they often face from the police. [He said] the y are required to present identity papers and can be held as long as four hours at the police station\, and sometimes their parents must come before the police will release them."\n\nThe deaths ignited pre-existing tension s in immigrant communities\, particularly those of African and Arab origin \, and protesters took to the street en masse. Initially confined to the P aris area\, the protests and riots quickly spread throughout the country. By November 4th\, thousands of vehicles had been burned\, three people had been killed\, and more than 2800 rioters were arrested.\n\nOn November 8t h\, President Jacques Chirac declared a state of emergency\, which was gra nted a three month extension a week later. Local authorities were allowed to impose curfews\, conduct house-to-house searches\, and ban public gathe rings to quell the riots. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_French_riots RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/recent-violence-french-suburbs-diffic ult-integrate-general-class-combat-2005 RESOURCES:https://socialistproject.ca/2005/11/b6/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Oliver Tambo (1917 - 1993) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251027 DTEND:20251028T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Civil Rights,Birthdays COMMENT:Oliver Tambo\, born on this day in 1917\, was a South African anti -apartheid politician and revolutionary who served as President of the Afr ican National Congress (ANC) from 1967 to 1991. DESCRIPTION:Oliver Tambo\, born on this day in 1917\, was a South African anti-apartheid politician and revolutionary who served as President of the African National Congress (ANC) from 1967 to 1991.\n\nIn 1943\, Tambo\, a long with Nelson Mandela and Walter Sisulu\, founded the ANC Youth League\ , with Tambo becoming its first National Secretary and a member of the Nat ional Executive in 1948. The Youth League proposed a change in the tactics of the anti-apartheid movement\, advocating boycotts\, civil disobedience \, strikes\, and non-collaboration.\n\nIn 1960\, Tambo fled South Africa d ue to political persecution\, living in exile in north London for thirty y ears. From London\, he supported and helped organize the ANC in the fight against apartheid from a distance. On December 13th\, 1990\, Tambo returne d to South Africa and was elected National Chairperson of the ANC. RESOURCES:https://www.sahistory.org.za/people/oliver-tambo RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Tambo RESOURCES:https://www.britannica.com/biography/Oliver-Tambo RESOURCES:https://web.archive.org/web/20130814095758/http://anc.org.za/sho w.php?id=125 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Emilienne Morin (1901 - 1991) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251028 DTEND:20251029T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Anarchism,Fascism COMMENT:Emilienne Morin\, born on this day in 1901\, was a French anarchis t and writer who was active in the Spanish Civil War and anti-fascist resi stance against Francisco Franco. DESCRIPTION:Emilienne Morin\, born on this day in 1901\, was a French anar chist and writer who was active in the Spanish Civil War and anti-fascist resistance against Francisco Franco.\n\nIn 1931\, Morin and her partner\, fellow anarchist Buenaventura Durruti\, moved to Spain. There\, Emilienne was active writing for the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT) press and took part in anarchist meetings and demonstrations.\n\nWith the outbr eak of the Spanish Revolution and Civil War\, Emilienne joined the Durruti Column on the Aragon Front and worked as secretary at its HQ\, where she was in charge of its press department. After the death of Durruti\, Morin returned to France to take part in solidarity campaigns for the Spanish an archists\, writing articles and addressing meetings. RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/morin-emilienne-leontine-1901-1991-ak a-mimi-aka-mimi-fai END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Huey Newton Clashes With Police (1967) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251028 DTEND:20251029T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1967\, Huey Newton was wounded in a fatal shootout with police after being pulled over by Oakland police officer John Frey. H is subsequent imprisonment led to the "Free Huey!" campaign\; Newton was f reed on August 5th\, 1970. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1967\, Huey Newton was wounded in a fatal shoot out with police after being pulled over by Oakland police officer John Fre y. His subsequent imprisonment led to the "Free Huey!" campaign\; Newton w as freed on August 5th\, 1970.\n\nHuey Newton was a revolutionary activist who\, along with fellow Merritt College student Bobby Seale\, co-founded the Black Panther Party (BPP). In the 1960s\, under their leadership\, the BPP founded over 60 community support programs\, including food banks\, f ree medical clinics\, legal advice seminars\, clothing banks\, housing co- ops\, and their own ambulance service.\n\nOn October 28th\, 1967\, Newton was wounded in a shootout with police. The incident occurred after he was pulled over by Oakland cop John Frey\, who called for backup after realizi ng who Newton was. When a second officer arrived\, shots rang out\; Frey w as killed\, while Newton and the other officer were wounded.\n\nThe "Free Huey!" campaign began in December\, the phrase originating out a coalition between the BPP and the Peace and Freedom Party. The trial\, which began on July 15th\, 1968\, quickly ascended beyond the scope of Newton himself. \n\nNewton was initially convicted of voluntary manslaughter in September 1968. In May 1970\, the California Appellate Court reversed the conviction and ordered a new trial. The charges were finally dismissed by the Alamed a County Superior Court\, and Huey was freed on August 5th\, 1970.\n\n"If you so much as touch a hair on Huey's pretty head\, you better give your s oul to the Lord because your ass belongs to the Black Panther Party."\n\n- Earl Anthony\, Spitting in the Wind\n\n"Yeah they freed Huey. Then Huey c ame out and they wanted Huey to free them and I keep trying to tell the pe ople\, I say people\, that's the true power of the people\, you freed me\, you freed Huey\, now why don't you all go ahead and free yourself?\n\nBut see\, they can't do that can they? They can't do that cause the people al ways have to create what they call a leader and a leader is everything tha t the people want to be but the leader is everything that the people can n ever be so then when the leader fails\, he's gonna fail\, he's just flesh and blood\, he's gonna fail\, when the leader fails then the whole constru ction of the concept of leadership fails and then it just becomes a matter of contempt.\n\nAnd that's when they assassinate you and then put your im age on a postage stamp so they can keep lickin' you in the grave."\n\n- Hu ey Newton RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huey_P._Newton RESOURCES:https://www.pbs.org/hueypnewton/actions/actions_freehuey.html RESOURCES:https://xroads.virginia.edu/~ug01/barillari/pantherchap2.html END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Luisa Capetillo (1879 - 1922) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251028 DTEND:20251029T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Birthdays COMMENT:Luisa Capetillo\, born on this day in 1879\, was a Puerto Rican la bor organizer\, feminist\, and Christian anarchist. Capetillo advocated fo r women's suffrage\, was arrested for wearing pants in public\, and helped raise the minimum wage. DESCRIPTION:Luisa Capetillo\, born on this day in 1879\, was a Puerto Rica n labor organizer\, feminist\, and Christian anarchist. Capetillo advocate d for women's suffrage\, was arrested for wearing pants in public\, and he lped raise the minimum wage.\n\nAs a labor activist\, Capetillo organized workers throughout the United States\, worked as a reporter for the FLT (A merican Federation of Labor)\, and traveled throughout Puerto Rico\, educa ting and organizing women. Her hometown\, Arecibo\, became the most unioni zed area of the country.\n\nCapetillo is considered to be one of Puerto Ri co's first suffragists. In 1908\, during the FLT convention\, Capetillo as ked the union to approve a policy for women's suffrage\, insisting that al l women should have the same right to vote as men. Along with other labor activists\, she also helped pass a minimum wage law in the Puerto Rican Le gislature.\n\nToday\, Capetillo is perhaps best known for being arrested f or wearing pants in public\, although the charges against her were later d ropped.\n\nIn 2014\, the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico honored Capet illo\, along with eleven other women\, with plaques in the "La Plaza en Ho nor a la Mujer Puertorriqueña" (Plaza in Honor of Puerto Rican Women). RESOURCES:https://documents.alexanderstreet.com/d/1010922313 RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luisa_Capetillo RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/biography-luisa-capetillo END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Leon Czolgosz Executed (1901) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251029 DTEND:20251030T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Assassinations,Anarchism COMMENT:Leon Czolgosz was an anarchist steelworker executed by the U.S. go vernment on this day in 1901 after assassinating President William McKinle y. The murder led to a widespread crackdown on left wing movements across the country. DESCRIPTION:Leon Czolgosz was an anarchist steelworker executed by the U.S . government on this day in 1901 after assassinating President William McK inley. The murder led to a widespread crackdown on left wing movements acr oss the country.\n\nCzolgosz (1873 - 1901) was a socialist from a young ag e\, working in factories and mills as a teenager and witnessing labor stri fe firsthand. He was greatly inspired by Emma Goldman\, and met her briefl y after a lecture she gave in Cleveland. Czolgosz's direct inspiration to assassinate a national leader possibly came from the assassination of King Umberto I of Italy by anarchist Gaetano Bresci in 1900.\n\nOn September 6 th\, 1901\, Czolgosz shot President William McKinley on the grounds of the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo\, New York. McKinley died eight days l ater of gangrene caused by the wounds and was succeeded by Theodore Roosev elt in office.\n\nCzolgosz was tried and found guilty just over a month la ter. Before his execution\, Czolgosz explained "I killed the President bec ause he was the enemy of the good people - the good working people...I am not sorry for my crime".\n\nIn the aftermath of the assassination\, there was a series of strong reprisals against the anarchist movement. Several a narchists\, including Emma Goldman\, were arrested on suspicion of involve ment in the attack\, and vigilantes attacked anarchist colonies and newspa pers.\n\nFear of the movement also led to government creating anarchist su rveillance programs\, which were eventually consolidated on a federal leve l when the Bureau of Investigation (BOI\, later to become the FBI) was for med in 1908. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leon_Czolgosz RESOURCES:https://www.britannica.com/biography/Leon-Czolgosz RESOURCES:https://jwa.org/media/article-by-goldman-about-leon-czolgoszs-as sassination-of-president-mckinley-and-use-of-violenc END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Louis Blanc (1811 - 1882) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251029 DTEND:20251030T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Socialism,Birthdays COMMENT:Louis Blanc\, born on this day in 1811\, was a French socialist po litician and historian. Blanc is sometimes credited as coining the word "c apitalism"\, defining it as "the appropriation of capital by some to the e xclusion of others". DESCRIPTION:Louis Blanc\, born on this day in 1811\, was a socialist Frenc h politician\, historian\, and advocate of worker co-operatives. A sociali st who favored reforms\, he called for the creation of cooperatives in ord er to guarantee employment for the urban poor. Although Blanc's ideas of t he workers' cooperatives were never realized\, his political and social id eas greatly contributed to the development of socialism in France.\n\nBlan c was a government official in the French Second Republic and key in the f ormation of its National Workshops\, which used land taxes to fund employm ent services for unemployed workers.\n\nBlanc is sometimes credited as bei ng the first person to use the word capitalism in its modern form\, defini ng the term in 1851 as "the appropriation of capital by some to the exclus ion of others". RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Blanc RESOURCES:https://www.britannica.com/biography/Louis-Blanc END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Nat Turner Captured (1831) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251030 DTEND:20251031T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1831\, Nat Turner\, a radical preacher on the run a fter initiating a slave rebellion\, was captured. After being sentenced to death\, Turner was asked if he regretted his actions. He responded "Was C hrist not crucified?" DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1831\, Nat Turner\, a radical preacher on the r un after initiating a slave rebellion\, was captured. After being sentence d to death\, Turner was asked if he regretted his actions. He responded "W as Christ not crucified?"\n\nTurner (1800 - 1831) was born and raised in S outhampton County\, Virginia\, an area where black people outnumbered whit es. He learned how to read and write at a young age and was deeply religio us\, eventually becoming an influential preacher in the area.\n\nIn early 1831\, on the basis of religious visions\, Nat Turner began preparing a sl ave insurrection. The rebellion began on August 21st\, and rebels traveled from house to house\, freeing slaves and killing many of the white people that they encountered.\n\nAt least 55 white people were killed\, and the slaves killed men\, women\, and children. The group spared a few homes "be cause Turner believed the poor white inhabitants 'thought no better of the mselves than they did of negroes'".\n\nThe rebellion was put down by a com bined force of local militia and three companies of artillery. The state e xecuted 56 black people\, and militias killed at least 100 more\, some of whom were not involved in the rebellion.\n\nTurner went on the run\, eludi ng capture for six weeks. On this day in 1831\, a white farmer discovered him hidden among the local Nottoway people in a depression in the earth\, created by a large\, fallen tree that was covered with fence rails. After being tried and convicted for "conspiring to rebel and making insurrection "\, he was asked if he regretted what he had done. Turner responded "Was C hrist not crucified?"\n\nTurner was hanged on November 11th\, 1831. His bo dy was dissected and flayed\, with his bones and skin being used to create trophies and souvenirs\, such as purses.\n\nAfter Turner's execution\, st ate legislatures passed new laws prohibiting education of slaves and free black people\, restricting rights of assembly and other civil liberties fo r free black people\, and requiring white ministers to be present at all w orship services. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nat_Turner%27s_slave_rebellion RESOURCES:https://www.jacobinmag.com/2016/10/birth-of-a-nation-nat-turner- nate-parker END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Stanleyville Riots (1959) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251030 DTEND:20251031T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Assassinations,Colonialism,Riots,Independence COMMENT:On this day in 1959\, Congolese residents of Stanleyville rebelled against Belgian colonizers\, demanding independence after a speech by Pat rice Lumumba. Police suppressed the riot\, killing ~70\, imposing martial law\, and arresting Lumumba. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1959\, Congolese residents of Stanleyville rebe lled against Belgian colonizers\, demanding independence after a speech by Patrice Lumumba. Police suppressed the riot\, killing ~70\, imposing mart ial law\, and arresting Lumumba.\n\nThe day prior\, Lumumba called for a n ationwide campaign of civil disobedience in a speech to the MNC congress\, also ordering Congolese people to not collaborate with the Belgian coloni al government and announcing that the party would not take part in the upc oming December elections.\n\nThe rebellion began on October 30th when the police arrived at the suburb of Mangoba to arrest Lumumba. The uprising wa s suppressed with military force\, including two companies of infantry.\n\ nIn total\, approximately 70 people were killed in the fighting\, and up t o 200 were wounded. Lumumba himself was arrested by police as the governme nt imposed martial law and banned gatherings of more than five people.\n\n Congo would achieve independence from Belgium on June 30th\, 1960\, with L umumba serving as its first Prime Minister. He was assassinated by Belgian forces and their collaborators on January 17th\, 1961. RESOURCES:https://www.theguardian.com/news/1959/nov/02/mainsection.fromthe archive RESOURCES:https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=DS19591031.2.5&e=-------en--20--1--t xt-txIN--------1 RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrice_Lumumba END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Coal Creek Strikers Free Prisoners (1891) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251031 DTEND:20251101T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:On this day in 1891\, armed Tennessee Coal Miners freed hundreds o f prisoners who were being used as strikebreaking convict labor. The raid took place in the context of the "Coal Creek War"\, a militant labor upris ing in the early 1890s. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1891\, armed Tennessee Coal Miners freed hundre ds of prisoners who were being used as strikebreaking convict labor. The r aid took place in the context of the "Coal Creek War"\, a militant labor u prising in the early 1890s.\n\nThe Coal Creek War took place primarily\, b ut not exclusively\, in Anderson County\, Tennessee. This labor conflict i gnited in 1891 when coal mine owners in the Coal Creek watershed began to remove and replace their company-employed\, private coal miners then on th e payroll with convict laborers leased out by the Tennessee state prison s ystem\, used in this case as strikebreakers.\n\nCoal workers at the Tennes see Coal Mining Company (TCMC) went on strike on April 1st\, 1891\, demand ing to be paid in cash\, not scrip (currency only usable at company stores ) and to be allowed to check the weight of their haul (they were paid by w eight\, but not allowed to check the company's measurement).\n\nWorkers in itiated a series of raids against the TCMC - on July 14th\, armed miners s urrounded the stockades where leased convicts were held and sent them by t rain out of the city. On October 31st\, 1891\, the miners burned company s tockades to the ground and freed hundreds of convicts being held there. On Nov. 2nd\, another band attacked stockades in a different location and fr eed those prisoners as well. From those two events alone\, at least 453 co nvicts were set free.\n\nThe strike was forcibly put down by state militia \, ending with the arrest of hundreds of miners. All but one were either a cquitted or merely fined. Tennessee ended its policy of leasing convict la bor\, using convicts to work in state-owned mines instead. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coal_Creek_War RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/files/stockade-stood-burning-rebellion-and-co nvict-lease-tennessees-coalfields-1891-1895-1.pdf END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:JJ Foods Strike (1995) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251031 DTEND:20251101T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:On this day in 1995\, workers at the JJ Fast Food Distribution pla nt in Tottenham\, London walked out to demand the reinstatement of their e lected shop steward\, beginning a several-month strike at the factory. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1995\, workers at the JJ Fast Food Distribution plant in Tottenham\, London walked out to demand the reinstatement of the ir elected shop steward\, beginning a several-month strike at the factory. \n\nThe workers were mostly Kurdish and Turkish immigrants\, as the food a nd textile industries were significant employers of immigrant workers.\n\n Working conditions at the plant were difficult - according to the anarchis t publication Black Flag\, workers were putting in 60-70 hours per week wi th no overtime\, sick\, or holiday pay. The day before the strike\, the fa ctory manager had fired the elected shop steward in response workers' atte mpts to organize through the Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU).\ n\nWhen arriving to work the next day\, workers refused to work\, demandin g the reinstatement of their elected representative. The boss then demande d union workers leave\, and then fighting broke out. The union members the n gathered outside the gate and were attacked by police.\n\nThe following day\, the sacked workers and around 100 supporters again gathered outside the warehouse\, attempting to block the access road and again clashing wit h police. The labor disputes continued for months. After two weeks\, an In dustrial Tribunal initiated by TGWU ruled that the workers had been sacked for union membership\, and ordered them to return to work February 26th.\ n\nDespite this apparent victory\, when 35 workers returned to their jobs\ , they were told that their union would not be recognized and that they be forced to work from 5 AM until midnight. This caused another strike\, how ever it was short-lived and ineffective. Only 12 out of the original 42 fi red JJ workers returned to work on March 18th. RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/up-against-the-odds RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/library/1995-the-jj-foods-strike END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Sikh Massacre (1984) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251031 DTEND:20251101T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Assassinations,Massacre COMMENT:On this day in 1984\, the Sikh Massacre began in India\, four days of state-assisted anti-Sikh pogroms that killed 3\,350 - 30\,000 people\, displacing tens of thousands more. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1984\, the Sikh Massacre began in India\, four days of state-assisted anti-Sikh pogroms that killed 8\,000 - 17\,000 peop le\, displacing tens of thousands more.\n\nThe massacre was in response to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi being assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards\, who had killed her in retaliation for military attacks on the Harmandir Sa hib complex in Amritsar\, Punjab\, a Sikh holy site.\n\nThe violence was p articularly sadistic: perpetrators carried iron rods\, knives\, clubs\, an d combustible material to burn Sikhs alive. Mobs entered Sikh neighborhood s\, killing Sikhs indiscriminately and destroying shops and houses.\n\nArm ed crowds stopped busses and trains in and near Delhi\, pulling off Sikh p assengers and burning them alive. Others were dragged from their homes and hacked to death while women were sexually assaulted. Acid attacks also to ok place.\n\nIn 2011\, Human Rights Watch claimed that the Indian governme nt had "yet to prosecute those responsible for the mass killings"\, and do cuments exposed by Wikileaks indicate that the U.S. government was convinc ed of Indian National Congress' complicity in the violence. As recently as 2011\, new mass graves were discovered in Haryana. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1984_anti-Sikh_riots RESOURCES:http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/witness/october/31/newsid_396 1000/3961851.stm RESOURCES:https://gulfnews.com/world/asia/india/anti-sikh-riots-what-happe ned-in-1984-and-after-1.60501721 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Smith Act Trial (1949) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251101 DTEND:20251102T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism COMMENT:On this day in 1949\, the first trial of communist leaders under t he Smith Act began in Manhattan. The trial spanned 10 months at the height of anti-communist hysteria. All 11 defendants were convicted\, and all 5 of their attorneys imprisoned. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1949\, the first trial of communist leaders und er the Smith Act began in Manhattan. The trial spanned 10 months at the he ight of anti-communist hysteria. All 11 defendants were convicted\, and al l 5 of their attorneys imprisoned.\n\nThe Alien Registration Act\, popular ly known as the Smith Act\, is a United States federal statute that was en acted on June 28th\, 1940.\n\nThe Act set criminal penalties for advocatin g the overthrow of the U.S. government by force or violence and required a ll non-citizen adult residents to register with the federal government. Ap proximately 215 people were indicted under the legislation\, including all eged communists\, anarchists\, and fascists.\n\nOn November 1st\, 1949\, t he first trial of communist leaders began in Manhattan\, New York. The tri al\, lasting ten months\, was one of the longest in United States history\ , and took place at a fever pitch of anti-communist hysteria - the USSR te sted its first nuke\, communists won the Chinese Civil War\, and the House of Un-American Activities Committee began its censorship in Hollywood\, a ll while the trial was underway.\n\nAll eleven defendants were convicted u nder the Smith Act\, and all five of their defense attorneys were imprison ed for contempt of court. Two were later disbarred. In the years following \, more than 100 additional Communist Party USA (CPUSA) officers were conv icted for violating the Smith Act\, decimating the leadership of the CPUSA .\n\nThe Supreme Court put an end to these types of convictions in Yates v . United States (1957)\, where it ruled that radical speech was protected under the 1st amendment. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smith_Act_trials_of_Communist_Part y_leaders RESOURCES:https://depts.washington.edu/labhist/cpproject/SmithAct.shtml END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:UMW Coal Strike (1919) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251101 DTEND:20251102T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:On this day in 1919\, the United Mine Workers (UMW) initiated a na tionwide strike of more than 400\,000 coal miners\, demanding better wages and a 30-hour week. The U.S. declared the strike illegal while the media smeared workers as communists. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1919\, the United Mine Workers (UMW) initiated a nationwide strike of more than 400\,000 coal miners\, demanding better w ages and a 30-hour week. The U.S. declared the strike illegal while the me dia smeared workers as communists.\n\nU.S. Attorney General\, A. Mitchell Palmer\, the same individual behind the infamous Palmer Raids\, declared t he strike illegal by invoking the Lever Act\, a wartime measure that made it a crime to interfere with the production or transportation of necessiti es.\n\nThe law had never been used against a union before\, and in fact Am erican Federation of Labor (AFL) founder Samuel Gompers had been promised by President Woodrow Wilson that the Lever Act would not be used to suppre ss labor actions.\n\nThe strike was subject to Red Scare propaganda: coal operators made false charges that Lenin and Trotsky had ordered the strike and were financing it\, and some of the press repeated those claims. Othe rs used words like "insurrection" and "Bolshevik revolution". Because of t his propaganda and the Attorney General's injunction against the strike\, the UMW called the strike off on November 8th.\n\nMany workers ignored thi s order\, however\, and the strike continued for over a month\, with a fin al agreement being reached on December 10th. Workers won a 14% wage increa se and the creation of an investigatory commission to mediate wage issues. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Mine_Workers_coal_strike_of _1919 RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/us-miners-strikes-1919-1922-jeremy-br echer END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Norman Morrison Self-Immolation (1965) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251102 DTEND:20251103T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Imperialism,Protests COMMENT:Norman Morrison (1933 - 1965) was a Baltimore Quaker committed sui cide via self-immolation in protest of the Vietnam War on this day in 1965 . Morrison was 31 and left behind a wife and three children. DESCRIPTION:Norman Morrison (1933 - 1965) was a Baltimore Quaker committed suicide via self-immolation in protest of the Vietnam War on this day in 1965. Morrison was 31 and left behind a wife and three children.\n\nThe ac t was a protest United States involvement in the Vietnam War\, and took pl ace directly below Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara's office at the Pe ntagon. Morrison was 31 and left behind a wife and three children.\n\nMorr ison's death was widely publicized and drew comparisons to Thích Quảng Đức and other Buddhist monks\, who burned themselves to death to protes t the repression committed by the South Vietnam government in years prior. In Vietnam\, Morrison became a folk hero to some\, his name rendered as " Mo Ri Xon". On May 9th\, 1967\, protesters held a vigil for Morrison befor e occupying the Pentagon for four days until being removed and arrested. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Morrison RESOURCES:https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2010/oct/16/norman-morr ison-vietnam-war-protest END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Plowshares Kitsap Break-in (2007) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251102 DTEND:20251103T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 2009\, five anti-nuclear weapons peace activists wh o were part of the Plowshares movement broke into the Naval Base Kitsap\, a nuclear-submarine base on Hood Canal northwest of Bremerton\, Washington . DESCRIPTION:On this day in 2009\, five anti-nuclear weapons peace activist s who were part of the Plowshares movement broke into the Naval Base Kitsa p\, a nuclear-submarine base on Hood Canal northwest of Bremerton\, Washin gton.\n\nThis "Disarm Now Plowshares" protest was a symbolic disarming of one of the largest nuclear-weapons stockpiles in the United States.\n\nThe five activists cut a hole through the perimeter fence surrounding the Ban gor submarine base and began walking toward the storage area for nuclear w eapons\, carrying hammers and vials of their own blood. After making it wi thin 10 yards of where the nukes were stored\, they were arrested by Marin es at gunpoint.\n\nAfter being charged with conspiracy\, trespass\, destru ction of property on a naval installation\, and depredation of government property\, the group was found guilty on December 13th\, 2010.\n\nAt sente ncing\, Judge Benjamin Settle considering releasing the defendants while t hey waited for their prison terms to begin\, however all individuals refus ed and\, while singing songs of peace\, federal marshals escorted them out of the courtroom and into federal detention. RESOURCES:https://www.historylink.org/File/20513 RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plowshares_movement END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Allende Assumes Office (1970) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251103 DTEND:20251104T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Socialism,Marxism COMMENT:On this day in 1970\, Salvador Allende became the first Marxist to serve as elected leader of a Latin American liberal democracy. "We are se eking to overcome [the bourgeois state]...Our objective is total\, scienti fic\, Marxist socialism." DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1970\, Salvador Allende became the first Marxis t to serve as elected leader of a Latin American liberal democracy. "We ar e seeking to overcome [the bourgeois state]...Our objective is total\, sci entific\, Marxist socialism."\n\nAs President\, Allende sought to national ize major industries\, expand education and improve the living standards o f the working class. Specific examples of his policies include giving educ ational grants to indigenous children\, literacy programs in impoverished areas\, and establishing a minimum wage for workers of all ages.\n\nOn Sep tember 11th\, 1973\, the military moved to oust Allende in a coup d'état assisted by the Henry Kissinger and the CIA. As troops surrounded La Moned a Palace\, he gave his last speech vowing not to resign. Later that day\, Allende died of suicide with a gun\, according to an investigation conduct ed by a Chilean court with the assistance of international experts in 2011 .\n\nFollowing Allende's death\, General Augusto Pinochet refused to retur n authority to a civilian government\, and Chile was later ruled by a mili tary junta that was in power up until 1990. This junta dissolved the Congr ess of Chile\, suspended the Constitution\, and began a persecution of all eged dissidents\, in which at least 3\,095 civilians disappeared or were k illed.\n\n"As for the bourgeois state\, at the present moment\, we are see king to overcome it\, to overthrow it.… Our objective is total\, scienti fic\, Marxist socialism."\n\n- Salvador Allende\, as quoted in Conversatio ns With Allende (1970) by French philosopher Régis Debray RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/archive/allende/index.htm RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvador_Allende RESOURCES:https://jacobinmag.com/2019/09/salvador-allende-chile-revolucion -democratica-frente-amplio END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Folsom Prison Strike and Manifesto (1970) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251103 DTEND:20251104T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Fascism COMMENT:On this day in 1970\, over 2\,400 prisoners published a prisoner's rights manifesto and began a 19-day strike at Folsom State Prison in Cali fornia. The manifesto called prisons "fascist concentration camps" and dem anded the right to join a union. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1970\, over 2\,400 prisoners published a prison er's rights manifesto and began a 19-day strike at Folsom State Prison in California. The manifesto called prisons "fascist concentration camps" and demanded the right to join a union.\n\nThe manifesto was overtly politica l\, seeking an "end to the injustice suffered by all prisoners\, regardles s of race\, creed\, or color." It also called the U.S. prison system "fasc ist concentration camps" and made a set of demands for prisoner's rights.\ n\nAmong those demands were "an end to political persecution\, racial pers ecution\, and the denial of prisoners\, to subscribe to political papers" and "that inmates be allowed to form or join labor unions". RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/blog/folsom-prison-strike-manifesto-bill-righ ts-1970-05012012 RESOURCES:https://www.freedomarchives.org/Documents/Finder/DOC510_scans/Fo lsom_Manifesto/510.folsom.manifesto.11.3.1970.pdf END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Panama Anti-American Riots (1959) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251103 DTEND:20251104T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Riots,Protests,Independence COMMENT:On this day in 1959\, during a celebration of Panamanian independe nce\, riots broke out as protesters clashed with U.S. soldiers and Canal Z one police. A U.S. flag was torn from the ambassador's residence and tramp led by the crowd. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1959\, during a celebration of Panamanian indep endence\, riots broke out as protesters clashed with U.S. soldiers and Can al Zone police. A U.S. flag was torn from the ambassador's residence and t rampled by the crowd.\n\nThe demonstrations were influenced by former fore ign minister Aquilino Boyd\, who threatened a "peaceful invasion" of the A merican-controlled Panama Canal Zone to raise the flag of the republic the re as tangible evidence of Panama's sovereignty over the territory\, which had been under the control of the United States since 1903.\n\nFearful th at Panamanian mobs might actually force entry into the Canal Zone\, the Un ited States government put troops on the ground. Several hundred Panamania ns crossed barbed-wire restraints and clashed with Canal Zone police and U .S. soldiers.\n\nExtensive and violent disorder followed. A mob smashed th e windows of the United States Information Agency library. The United Stat es flag was torn from the ambassador's residence and trampled\, and the U. S. embassy was attacked. Stones were thrown against the troops\, who were dispersed by tear gas.\n\nThese riots were a prequel to the deadlier and m ore prominent Flag Protest of 1964\, which led to the Torrijos-Carter Trea ties\, which granted independence to the Canal Zone. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1959_anti-American_riots_in_Panama RESOURCES:https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1958-60v05/d34 7 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:UK Postal Workers' Strike Ends (2003) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251103 DTEND:20251104T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:On this day in 2003\, a wildcat strike involving two-thirds of Roy al Mail workers in the United Kingdom (around 20\,000 people) ended in vic tory for the striking mail carriers. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 2003\, a wildcat strike involving two-thirds of Royal Mail workers in the United Kingdom (around 20\,000 people) ended in victory for the striking mail carriers.\n\nIn August of that year\, the C ommunication Workers Union (CWU) called for a national strike for higher w ages\, however the proposition we defeated in a close vote. A few months l ater\, in late October\, postal workers engaged in a wildcat strike of the ir own\, indicating a lack of trust between union rank-and-file and leader ship.\n\nThe strike began when a driver in Dartford\, London was sacked an d 400 co-workers engaged in a spontaneous work stoppage. Within eleven day s\, 20\,000 to 25\,000 workers were out\, mostly from London and the South East. More than 16 million letters per day were piling up and\, after a f ew days\, 10\,000 post boxes across London were sealed off.\n\nOn November 3rd\, after the management promised that there would be no repression\, s ackings or local deals\, the strike was resolved. On the aims of the worke rs and why the strike was successful\, one worker commented:\n\n"It was a defensive\, but successful strike. The issue is we broke the anti strike l egislation. In this case even the headquarters union official were not try ing very hard to enforce the law and the local union reps were actively wo rking against the law. We broke through the unions officials 'anti-strike' politics again\, and we were successful when we did." RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/2003-postal-workers-wildcat-strike RESOURCES:https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2003/oct/30/post END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:United Farm Workers Office Bombed (1970) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251104 DTEND:20251105T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Terrorism COMMENT:On this day in 1970\, a United Farm Workers (UFW) office was bombe d Salinas Valley\, California. The bombing took place during the Salad Bow l strike\, the largest farm workers strike in U.S. history\, which had beg un on August 23rd of that year. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1970\, a United Farm Workers (UFW) office was b ombed Salinas Valley\, California. The bombing took place during the Salad Bowl strike\, the largest farm workers strike in U.S. history\, which had begun on August 23rd of that year.\n\nThe Salad Bowl strike was in part a protest against the International Brotherhood of Teamsters winning legal jurisdiction over farm workers in California (the UFW had previously organ ized these workers). The Salad Bowl Strike caused the price of lettuce to double practically overnight\, and lettuce growers lost $500\,000 a day.\n \nDuring the strike UFW leader César Chávez was arrested and imprisoned. When he was visited by athlete Rafer Johnson and Ethel Kennedy\, widow of slain Senator Robert F. Kennedy\, Johnson and Kennedy were attacked by an anti-union mob on the steps of the jail and police had to suppress the qu arrel.\n\nAlthough the strike ended on March 26th\, 1971 when the Teamster s and UFW signed a new jurisdictional agreement reaffirming the UFW's righ t to organize field workers\, jurisdictional labor disputes (and associate d violence) would continue for years afterward. These tensions led directl y to the passage of the California Agricultural Labor Relations Act in 197 5. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salad_Bowl_strike RESOURCES:https://peoplesworld.org/article/today-in-labor-history-united-f arm-workers-launch-the-lettuce-boycott/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Cedric Robinson (1940 - 2016) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251105 DTEND:20251106T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Marxism,Birthdays COMMENT:Cedric Robinson\, born on this day in 1940\, was the author of "Bl ack Marxism: The Making of the Black Radical Tradition" and a professor of Black Studies and Political Science at the University of California\, San ta Barbara (UCSB). DESCRIPTION:Cedric Robinson\, born on this day in 1940\, was the author of "Black Marxism: The Making of the Black Radical Tradition" and a professo r of Black Studies and Political Science at the University of California\, Santa Barbara (UCSB).\n\nRobinson's areas of interest included political philosophy\, radical social theory in the African diaspora\, comparative p olitics\, and the relationships between and among media and politics.\n\nA ccording to Professor Robin D.G. Kelley\, "[Robinson's] monumental Black M arxism: The Making of the Black Radical Tradition (1983) takes Karl Marx t o task for failing to comprehend radical movements outside of Europe. He r ewrites the history of the West from ancient times to the mid-twentieth ce ntury\, scrutinizing the idea that Marx’s categories of class can be uni versally applied outside of Europe. Instead he characterized black rebelli ons as expressions of what he called the 'Black Radical Tradition'\, movem ents whose objectives and aspirations confounded Western social analysis. Marxism also failed to account for the racial character of capitalism."\n\ nIn a critical review of the work\, authors William I. Robinson\, Salvador Rangel and Hilbourne A. Watson state "Black Marxism has become a favored text with which to badger radical intellectuals and activists who place a premium on proletarian struggle. This has led some among left organizers t o fear they may be condemned as Eurocentric\, as 'class reductionists'\, a nd as 'ignoring race' should they place a premium on class analysis\, shou ld they insist that racism is an outcome of class exploitation\, and that its eradication involves a transnational and pan-ethnic proletarian strugg le against capitalism...At a time when global capital is on an all-out ram page against the global working and popular classes and when our very surv ival is under threat\, we need more than ever a transnational revolutionar y proletarian politics. We won’t find that in Black Marxism."\n\n"Racism \, I maintain\, was not simply a convention for ordering the relations of European to non-European peoples but has its genesis in the 'internal' rel ations of European peoples."\n\n- Cedric Robinson RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cedric_Robinson RESOURCES:https://files.libcom.org/files/Black%20Marxism-Cedric%20J.%20Rob inson.pdf RESOURCES:https://www.bostonreview.net/articles/robin-d-g-kelley-introduct ion-race-capitalism-justice/ RESOURCES:https://thephilosophicalsalon.com/the-cult-of-cedric-robinsons-b lack-marxism-a-proletarian-critique/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Eugene V. Debs (1855 - 1926) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251105 DTEND:20251106T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Socialism,Labor,Birthdays,IWW COMMENT:Eugene V. Debs\, born on this day in 1855\, was an American social ist\, trade unionist\, founding member of the Industrial Workers of the Wo rld (IWW)\, and five time presidential candidate of the Socialist Party of America. DESCRIPTION:Eugene V. Debs\, born on this day in 1855\, was an American so cialist\, trade unionist\, founding member of the Industrial Workers of th e World (IWW)\, and five time presidential candidate of the Socialist Part y of America.\n\nThrough his presidential candidacies and labor organizing \, Debs eventually became one of the best-known socialists living in the U nited States.\n\nWhile in prison for leading the Pullman Strike\, Debs rea d various works of socialist theory and emerged six months later as a comm itted adherent to the international socialist movement.\n\nDebs was a foun ding member of the Social Democracy of America (1897)\, the Social Democra tic Party of America (1898) and the Socialist Party of America (1901). Deb s ran as a Socialist candidate for President of the United States five tim es\, including 1900 (earning 0.6% of the popular vote)\, 1904 (3.0%)\, 190 8 (2.8%)\, 1912 (6.0%) and 1920 (3.4%)\, the last time from a prison cell. He was also a candidate for United States Congress from his native state Indiana in 1916.\n\nDebs was noted for his fiery oration. In 1918\, Debs w as arrested after giving a speech denouncing American participation in Wor ld War I. He was convicted under the Sedition Act of 1918 and sentenced to a term of 10 years. In his speech to the court\, Debs provided one of his most well-known quotes:\n\n"Your Honor\, years ago I recognized my kinshi p with all living beings\, and I made up my mind that I was not one bit be tter than the meanest on earth. I said then\, and I say now\, that while t here is a lower class\, I am in it\, and while there is a criminal element \, I am of it\, and while there is a soul in prison\, I am not free." RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_V._Debs RESOURCES:https://debsfoundation.org/index.php/landing/debs-biography/ RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/archive/debs/index.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Ida Tarbell (1857 - 1944) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251105 DTEND:20251106T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Journalism,Feminism COMMENT:Ida Tarbell\, born on this day in 1857\, was a pioneering American investigative journalist and feminist. "The quest of the truth had been b orn in me - the most tragic and incomplete\, as well as the most essential \, of man's quests." DESCRIPTION:Ida Tarbell\, born on this day in 1857\, was an American inves tigative journalist and feminist. "The quest of the truth had been born in me - the most tragic and incomplete\, as well as the most essential\, of man's quests."\n\nBorn in Pennsylvania at the onset of the oil boom\, Tarb ell is possibly best known for her 1904 book\, "The History of the Standar d Oil Company". Her expose on the practices of Rockefeller's Standard Oil was called a "masterpiece of investigative journalism"\, by historian J. N orth Conway\, as well as "the single most influential book on business eve r published in the United States" by historian Daniel Yergin.\n\nThe work would contribute to the dissolution of the Standard Oil monopoly and helpe d usher in multiple pieces of anti-trust reform\, including the Clayton An titrust Act and the creation of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).\n\n"Th e quest of the truth had been born in me - the most tragic and incomplete\ , as well as the most essential\, of man's quests."\n\n- Ida Tarbell RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ida_Tarbell RESOURCES:https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-woman-who-took-on-the -tycoon-651396/ RESOURCES:https://connecticuthistory.org/ida-tarbell-the-woman-who-took-on -standard-oil/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:The Everett Massacre (1916) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251105 DTEND:20251106T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,IWW,Massacre COMMENT:The Everett Massacre (also known as Bloody Sunday) was an armed co nfrontation in Everett\, Washington between local police\, a deputized mob \, and members of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) union that too k place on this day in 1916. DESCRIPTION:The Everett Massacre (also known as Bloody Sunday) was an arme d confrontation in Everett\, Washington between local police\, a deputized mob\, and members of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) union that took place on this day in 1916.\n\nThe Seattle IWW sent three hundred of its members up to Everett to demonstrate in solidarity with striking shing le workers there. Upon arriving at the dock\, however\, they were greeted by Snohomish County Sheriff McRae and two hundred "citizen deputies"\, who refused to let them land.\n\nGunfire was exchanged\, and at least seven p eople were killed and forty-three were wounded. Despite this violence\, st riking workers in Everett continued with their planned demonstration and w ere promptly taken to jail by McRae. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everett_massacre RESOURCES:https://depts.washington.edu/iww/everett_intro.shtml END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Hilde Radusch (1903 - 1994) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251106 DTEND:20251107T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Birthdays,Queer,Fascism COMMENT:Hilde Radusch\, born on this day in 1903\, was a German communist\ , anti-fascist\, and queer feminist author. Imprisoned by the Nazis\, Radu sch survived World War II and became a prominent lesbian writer and activi st. DESCRIPTION:Hilde Radusch\, born on this day in 1903\, was a German commun ist\, anti-fascist\, and queer feminist author. Imprisoned by the Nazis\, Radusch survived World War II and became a prominent lesbian writer and ac tivist.\n\nIn 1924\, Radusch became a member of the Communist Party\, and from 1929 until 1932 Radusch served as a Communist Party city councilor in Berlin.\n\nRadusch was arrested by the Nazi government on April 6th\, 193 3\, less than a month after returning from a political trip to the Soviet Union. After refusing to sign a contrived confession\, she ended up in the Barnim Street women's prison\, along with around two hundred other "polit icals"\, those identified by the Nazi government as political prisoners (d istinct from "criminals").\n\nReleased in September 1933\, she went on to run a restaurant with her partner Else "Eddy" Klopsch\, which served as a refuge for people wanted by the Nazi regime. After the war\, she became th e head of the Schöneberg office dedicated to "Victims of Fascism"\, howev er she lost the job after being denounced as "lesbian".\n\nRadusch was the editor of "Our Little Newspaper" ("Unserer Kleinen Zeitung")\, described by historian Ilona Scheidle as the first lesbian newspaper after World War II. In the 1970s\, Radusch co-founded "L74"\, a Berlin group of older les bians. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilde_Radusch RESOURCES:https://www.spd-fraktion-tempelhof-schoeneberg.de/ehrung-einer-l eidenschaftlichen-zeitgenoessin-hilde-radusch/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Michael Schwerner (1939 - 1964) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251106 DTEND:20251107T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Civil Rights,Birthdays COMMENT:Michael Schwerner\, born on this day in 1939\, was one of three Co ngress of Racial Equality (CORE) field/social workers killed in Philadelph ia\, Mississippi by members of the Ku Klux Klan. DESCRIPTION:Michael Schwerner\, born on this day in 1939\, was one of thre e Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) field/social workers killed in Philad elphia\, Mississippi by members of the Ku Klux Klan.\n\nIn the early 1960s Schwerner became active in working for civil rights for black people\; he led a local Congress of Racial Equality group on the Lower East Side of M anhattan\, called "Downtown CORE." He participated in a 1963 effort to des egregate Gwynn Oak Amusement Park in Maryland. As activism increased in th e South\, Schwerner and his wife Rita Schwerner Bender volunteered to work for National CORE in Mississippi\, helping black people exercise their ri ght to vote.\n\nMichael Scwerner and fellow civil rights workers James Cha ney and Andrew Goodman were killed near the town of Philadelphia\, Mississ ippi while investigating the burning of Mt. Zion Methodist Church\, which had been a site for a CORE Freedom School.\n\nArrested by the local sherif f\, the trio was released that evening without being allowed to contact an yone. On the road\, they were stopped by patrol lights and two carloads of KKK members\, kidnapped\, tortured\, and killed.\n\nThe sheriff\, along w ith six others\, were indicted and convicted for depriving the three men o f their civil rights. No one was held accountable for their murders until 2005\, when outspoken white supremacist Edgar Ray Killen was convicted on three counts of manslaughter. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Schwerner RESOURCES:https://mscivilrightsproject.org/neshoba/event-neshoba/the-murde r-of-chaney-goodman-and-schwerner/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Anne Hutchinson Trial (1637) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251107 DTEND:20251108T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1637\, religious reformer Anne Hutchinson was broug ht to trial in the Puritan Massachusetts Bay Colony\, where she was called a heretic and an instrument of the devil. She was later exiled from the c ommunity for her beliefs. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1637\, religious reformer Anne Hutchinson was b rought to trial in the Puritan Massachusetts Bay Colony\, where she was ca lled a heretic and an instrument of the devil. She was later exiled from t he community for her beliefs.\n\nAnne Hutchinson (1591 - 1643) was a Purit an spiritual advisor\, religious reformer\, and an important participant i n the Antinomian Controversy\, which shook the nascent Massachusetts Bay C olony from 1636 to 1638.\n\nHutchinson was known for being a powerful spea ker\, and insisted on the ability of women to read the bible for themselve s\, among other "unauthorized" interpretations of the gospel.\n\nOn Novemb er 7th\, 1637\, Hutchinson was brought to trial\, where she was called a h eretic and an instrument of the devil\, and was exiled from the Puritan co mmunity for her beliefs. Thirty-five families\, supporters of Hutchinson\, followed her to settle in modern-day Rhode Island. RESOURCES:https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/an ne-hutchinson RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Hutchinson#Civil_trial:_day_1 RESOURCES:https://www.historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/zinnint6.html END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Canada Limits War Industry Strikes (1939) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251107 DTEND:20251108T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1939\, Canada extended the Industrial Disputes Inve stigation Act (IDIA) to cover disputes between employers and employees eng aged in "war work"\, severely limiting the contexts in which a strike was legal to initiate. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1939\, Canada extended the Industrial Disputes Investigation Act (IDIA) to cover disputes between employers and employees engaged in "war work"\, severely limiting the contexts in which a strike was legal to initiate.\n\nThe IDIA\, first passed in 1907\, forbade strike s and lockouts in mines and certain public utility industries until a disp ute had first been dealt with by a board of conciliation. Before 1939\, on ly forty-one of one thousand applications actually made it to the strike s tage.\n\nWar work was defined as including "the construction\, execution\, production\, repair\, manufacture\, transportation\, storage or delivery of munitions of war or supplies" and "the construction\, remodelling\, rep air or demolition of defense projects." After the extension of the IDIA\, the applications to strike increased six-fold\, however only seven strikes (4% of the total) were allowed in the following year and a half. RESOURCES:https://archive.macleans.ca/article/1941/10/1/labor-and-the-war END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Jiangxi-Fujian Soviet Forms (1931) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251107 DTEND:20251108T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism COMMENT:On this day in 1931\, with the Soviet Union's help\, the "Chinese Soviet Republic" was founded by the Communist Party of China\, establishin g its own bank\, printing its own money\, and collecting its own taxes. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1931\, with the Soviet Union's help\, the "Chin ese Soviet Republic" was founded by the Communist Party of China\, establi shing its own bank\, printing its own money\, and collecting its own taxes .\n\nAt the time\, the majority of China was still under the control of th e Nationalist Government of the Republic of China. On November 7th\, commu nists held an open ceremony and military parade for the new country\, atte nded by Mao Zedong.\n\nCentral Revolutionary Base\, commonly called the Ji angxi-Fujian Soviet\, was the largest component territory of the Chinese S oviet Republic and served as the county seat and headquarters of the Chine se Soviet government.\n\nThe Jiangxi-Fujian base area was defended ably by the First Red Front Army\, but in 1934 it was finally overrun by the Kuom intang government's National Revolutionary Army in the Fifth of its Encirc lement Campaigns.\n\nThis last campaign in 1934-35 precipitated the most f amous of the communist army retreats\, known as the "Long March". RESOURCES:https://www.britannica.com/topic/Jiangxi-Soviet RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiangxi%E2%80%93Fujian_Soviet RESOURCES:https://digitalassets.lib.berkeley.edu/ieas/IEAS_10_0001.pdf END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Leon Trotsky (1879 - 1940) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251107 DTEND:20251108T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Marxism,Birthdays COMMENT:Leon Trotsky\, born on this day in 1879\, was a Marxist theorist\, revolutionary\, and politician. "Learning carries within itself certain d angers because out of necessity one has to learn from one's enemies." DESCRIPTION:Leon Trotsky\, born on this day in 1879\, was a Marxist theori st\, revolutionary\, and politician. "Learning carries within itself certa in dangers because out of necessity one has to learn from one's enemies."\ n\nTrotsky joined the Bolshevik Party a few weeks before the October Revol ution and immediately became a leader within the party\, thus also playing a key role in the October Revolution.\n\nTrotsky became more prominent fr om March 1918 to January 1925 as the leader of the Red Army in the post of Commissar for Military and Naval Affairs. He was also a vital leading fig ure in the Red victory in the Russian Civil War and one of the seven membe rs of the first Politburo.\n\nAfter the rise of Joseph Stalin\, Trotsky wa s removed from his positions and eventually expelled from the Soviet Union in February 1929. He spent the rest of his life in exile\, and was assass inated in 1940 in Mexico City by Ramón Mercader\, a Soviet agent.\n\nTrot sky was a prolific author whose works include History of the Russian Revol ution (1930) and The Revolution Betrayed (1936). Key characteristics of Tr otskyist thought include the concepts of "Permanent Revolution" and the "U nited Front" of revolutionaries and reformers against common enemies.\n\n" Learning carries within itself certain dangers because out of necessity on e has to learn from one's enemies."\n\n- Leon Trotsky RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leon_Trotsky RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/bio/index.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Nestor Makhno (1888 - 1934) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251107 DTEND:20251108T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Anarchism COMMENT:Nestor Makhno\, born on this day in 1888\, was a communist revolut ionary and the commander of an anarchist army in Ukraine from 1917-21. Aft er the anarchist movement was defeated by the Bolsheviks\, Makhno fled to Paris with his family. DESCRIPTION:Nestor Makhno\, born on this day in 1888\, was a communist rev olutionary and the commander of an anarchist army in Ukraine from 1917-21. After the anarchist movement was defeated by the Bolsheviks\, Makhno fled to Paris with his family.\n\nMakhno and his supporters attempted to reorg anize social and economic life along anarchist principles\, including the establishment of communes on former landed estates\, the requisition and e galitarian redistribution of land to the peasants\, and the organization o f free elections to local soviets (councils) and regional congresses.\n\nA lthough Makhno considered the Bolsheviks a threat to the development of an anarchist Free Territory within Ukraine\, he entered into formal military alliances twice with the Red Army to defeat the White Army. In the afterm ath of the White Army's defeat in Crimea in November 1920\, the Bolsheviks initiated a military campaign against Makhno. After an extended period of open resistance against the Red Army\, Makhno fled across the Romanian bo rder in August 1921.\n\nIn exile\, Makhno settled in Paris with his wife H alyna and daughter Yelena. While there\, Makhno wrote numerous memoirs and articles for radical newspapers before dying there at the age of 45 from tuberculosis-related causes.\n\n"I would still call on you\, reader and br other\, to take up the struggle for the ideal anarchism\, for only if you fight for this ideal and uphold it will you understand it properly."\n\n- Nestor Makhno RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nestor_Makhno RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/nestor-makhno-man-myth RESOURCES:https://theanarchistlibrary.org/category/author/nestor-makhno END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:October Revolution (1917) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251107 DTEND:20251108T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Socialism,Marxism COMMENT:On this day in 1917\, the October Revolution began in Russia when the Bolsheviks initiated an armed insurrection in Petrograd\, seizing the Winter Palace and dissolving the Provisional Government in a coup with min imal violence. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1917\, the October Revolution began in Russia w hen the Bolsheviks initiated an armed insurrection in Petrograd\, seizing the Winter Palace and dissolving the Provisional Government in a coup with minimal violence. The name "October Revolution" comes from the fact that the revolution began on October 25th in the dating convention of the time. \n\nLed by the Bolshevik Party\, the revolution took place through an arme d insurrection in Petrograd and was instrumental in the larger Russian Rev olution of 1917 - 1923. By November 8th\, the Winter Palace\, the seat of the Provisional government located in Petrograd\, then capital of Russia\, had been captured.\n\nElections were held on November 12th. In contrast t o their majority in the soviets (local council governments)\, the Bolshevi ks only won 175 seats in the 715-seat legislative body\, coming in second behind the Socialist Revolutionary Party\, which won 370 seats.\n\nOn its first and only day in session\, the Constituent Assembly came into conflic t with the soviets\, and it rejected soviet decrees on peace and land\, re sulting in the Constituent Assembly being dissolved by the Bolsheviks in J anuary.\n\nThe political situation devolved into a civil war between the B olsheviks\, Whites (counter-revolutionaries)\, Makhnovists\, independence movements\, and other socialist factions.\n\nThe Bolsheviks eventually def eated all rival parties and formed the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) in 1922. Their victory marked the beginning of Marxism-Leninism as a global force. RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/archive/reed/1919/10days/10days/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_Revolution RESOURCES:https://www.britannica.com/topic/October-Revolution-Russian-hist ory END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Palmer Raids Begin (1919) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251107 DTEND:20251108T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Labor,Anarchism COMMENT:On this day in 1919\, during the first Red Scare\, the U.S. Depart ment of Justice initiated a series of anti-communist and xenophobic operat ions known as the "Palmer Raids"\, arresting 650 people in New York City a nd deporting 43. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1919\, during the first Red Scare\, the U.S. De partment of Justice initiated a series of anti-communist and xenophobic op erations known as the "Palmer Raids"\, arresting 650 people in New York Ci ty and deporting 43.\n\nThe raids targeted suspected leftists and labor ac tivists\, mostly Italian and Eastern European immigrants\, especially if t hey were anarchists or communists\, and generally sought to deport them fr om the United States.\n\nThe raids and arrests occurred under the leadersh ip of Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer\, with more than 3\,000 arrested . Though 556 people were deported in total\, including many prominent left ist leaders like Emma Goldman\, Palmer's efforts were largely frustrated b y officials at the U.S. Department of Labor\, which had authority for depo rtations and objected to the methods used.\n\nDuring the first raid on Nov ember 7th\, agents of the Bureau of Investigation working with local polic e executed a series of well-publicized and violent raids against the Union of Russian Workers in twelve cities. Newspaper accounts reported some wer e "badly beaten" during the arrests.\n\nThe American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) was founded in direct response to this xenophobic and political pe rsecution. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palmer_Raids RESOURCES:https://immigrationhistory.org/item/the-palmer-raids/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Dorothy Day (1897 - 1980) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251108 DTEND:20251109T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Birthdays COMMENT:Dorothy Day\, born on this day in 1897\, was an anarchist activist who founded the Catholic Worker movement. "The greatest challenge of the day is: how to bring about a revolution of the heart\, a revolution which has to start with each one of us?" DESCRIPTION:Dorothy Day\, born on this day in 1897\, was an anarchist acti vist who founded the Catholic Worker movement. "The greatest challenge of the day is: how to bring about a revolution of the heart\, a revolution wh ich has to start with each one of us?"\n\nThe Catholic Worker movement\, f ounded by Day and her partner Peter Maurin\, started with the publication of the first issue of the Catholic Worker on May 1st\, 1933.\n\nThe paper was priced at one cent\, and published continuously since then. It was aim ed at those suffering the most in the depths of the Great Depression\, "th ose who think there is no hope for the future"\, and announced to them tha t "the Catholic Church has a social program...there are men of God who are working not only for their spiritual but for their material welfare." It accepted no advertising and did not pay its staff.\n\nLike many newspapers of the day\, including those for which Day had already been writing\, the Catholic Worker was an unapologetic example of advocacy journalism. It pr ovided coverage of strikes\, explored working conditions\, especially of w omen and black workers\, and explicated papal teaching on social issues.\n \nIts viewpoint was partisan and stories were designed to move its readers to take action locally\, for example\, by patronizing laundries recommend ed by the Laundry Workers' Union. Its advocacy of federal child labor laws put it at odds with the American Church hierarchy from its first issue.\n \nDay's activism continued throughout the rest of her life\, resulting in multiple arrests. In the summer of 1973\, she joined César Chávez in his campaign for farm laborers in the fields of California. She was also arre sted at the age of 75 for defying a ban on picketing\, spending ten days i n jail.\n\n"The Gospel takes away our right forever\, to discriminate betw een the deserving and the undeserving poor."\n\n- Dorothy Day RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothy_Day RESOURCES:https://sojo.net/magazine/december-1976/interview-dorothy-day RESOURCES:https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/04/13/dorothy-days-radic al-faith END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Ed Boyce (1862 - 1941) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251108 DTEND:20251109T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Birthdays COMMENT:Ed Boyce\, born on this day in 1862\, was a radical labor organize r who served as President of the Western Federation of Miners (WFM) and as a socialist Idaho State Representative. After just one term\, Boyce resig ned in disgust. DESCRIPTION:Ed Boyce\, born on this day in 1862\, was a radical labor orga nizer who served as President of the Western Federation of Miners (WFM) an d as a socialist Idaho State Representative. After just one term\, Boyce r esigned in disgust.\n\nBoyce was arrested for his role in the 1892 Coeur d 'Alene labor strike and inspired "Big Bill" Haywood (co-founder of the IWW ) to join his first union.\n\nIn 1894\, Boyce was elected to the Idaho sta te senate. There\, he battled for the eight-hour day for miners\, the esta blishment of an arbitration board to settle labor disputes\, an investigat ion of the 1892 mining war\, and the banning of "yellow-dog" contracts (co ntracts prohibiting workers from joining the union).\n\nBoyce was so disil lusioned by the political process that he resigned after one term. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Boyce RESOURCES:https://scholarworks.umt.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5727&co ntext=etd END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:New Orleans General Strike (1892) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251108 DTEND:20251109T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,General Strikes COMMENT:On this day in 1892\, a general strike across racial lines broke o ut in New Orleans\, a city-wide action of solidarity with three unions on strike. After white workers refused racial bribes\, workers won their dema nds in just three days. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1892\, a general strike across racial lines bro ke out in New Orleans\, a city-wide action of solidarity with three unions on strike. After white workers refused racial bribes\, workers won their demands in just three days.\n\nThe general strike grew out of a strike by three unions who had joined forces to go on strike the two weeks prior. Th e three unions\, collectively known as the "Triple Alliance"\, were an all iance of black and white workers. The New Orleans Board of Trade announced it would sign contracts agreeing to the terms - but only with the white u nions\, however this offer was steadfastly refused.\n\nEventually\, other union leaders in the city began calling for a strike in support of the Tri ple Alliance\, and\, on this day in 1892\, a multi-racial coalition of 25\ ,000 workers across the entire city went on strike. Efforts by the city to find strikebreaking workers\, both from within and outside of New Orleans \, failed.\n\nAfter just three days\, the Board of Trade agreed to binding arbitration to settle the strike\, with employers agreeing to sit down wi th both white and black union leaders. After 48 hours of negotiations\, th e employers agreed to the 10-hour day and overtime pay for the Triple Alli ance workers. Members of other unions also won reduced hours and higher pa y. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1892_New_Orleans_general_strike RESOURCES:https://neworleanshistorical.org/items/show/1406 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Kristallnacht (1938) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251109 DTEND:20251110T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Assassinations,Fascism COMMENT:Kristallnacht\, also known as the Night of Broken Glass\, was an a nti-Semitic pogrom against Jewish people that began on this day in 1938\, carried out by the Sturmabteilung\, Nazi paramilitary forces\, and civilia ns. DESCRIPTION:Kristallnacht\, also known as the Night of Broken Glass\, was an anti-Semitic pogrom against Jewish people that began on this day in 193 8\, carried out by the Sturmabteilung\, Nazi paramilitary forces\, and civ ilians.\n\nThe name Kristallnacht ("Crystal Night") comes from the shards of broken glass that littered the streets after the windows of Jewish-owne d stores\, buildings and synagogues were smashed.\n\nThe official pretext for the attacks was the assassination of the German diplomat Ernst vom Rat h by Herschel Grynszpan\, a 17-year-old German-born Polish Jew\, after Gry nszpan learned that his parents had been deported to the Polish frontier. Within hours of Rath's death\, the Kristallnacht was launched against Jewi sh communities in Germany.\n\nJewish homes\, hospitals\, and schools were ransacked as attackers demolished buildings with sledgehammers. Rioters de stroyed 267 synagogues throughout Germany\, Austria\, and the Sudetenland. Over 7\,000 Jewish businesses were damaged or destroyed\, and 30\,000 Jew ish men were arrested and incarcerated in concentration camps.\n\nEstimate s of the amount of people killed vary from 91 to as high as 638. Historian s view Kristallnacht as a prelude to the Final Solution and the murder of six million Jews during the Holocaust. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kristallnacht RESOURCES:https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/kristallnacht END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Striking CSN Workers Killed (1988) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251109 DTEND:20251110T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:On this day in 1988\, a conflict between soldiers and metallurgist s on strike at Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional (CSN) in Rio de Janeiro\, B razil led to the deaths of three workers\, with at least thirty-one more i njured. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1988\, a conflict between soldiers and metallur gists on strike at Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional (CSN) in Rio de Janeiro \, Brazil led to the deaths of three workers\, with at least thirty-one mo re injured.\n\nAccording to author Andrew Costa\, the city of Volta Redond a was engaged in a general strike for the implementation of a six-hour shi ft and the reinstatement of workers dismissed in an earlier 1987 strike. W omen in the local neighborhoods prevented CSN vans from picking up their h usbands to work with pickets on the street\, and the Residents Association s carried out barricades so that CSN busses and other transport could not run while the company was refusing to negotiate with workers.\n\nThe confl ict on November 9th began when about 600 state soldiers descended on Aveni da Independência\, in front of CSN\, throwing tear gas bombs at a crowd o f workers. The crowd responded with by attacking sticks and stones. Three people were killed\, and thirty-one were wounded. A monument dedicated to the victims of the violence was later partially destroyed with bombs.\n\nI n spite of this violence\, workers eventually prevailed\, winning their ri ght to six-hour shifts. RESOURCES:http://almanaque.folha.uol.com.br/cotidiano_10nov1988.htm RESOURCES:https://subverta.org/2017/10/25/1988-a-historica-greve-da-csn-em -volta-redonda/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Estado Novo (1937) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251110 DTEND:20251111T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1937\, a coup took place in Brazil when President G etúlio Vargas gave a national address declaring a state of emergency and abolishing the constitution. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1937\, a coup took place in Brazil when Preside nt Getúlio Vargas gave a national address declaring a state of emergency and abolishing the constitution. Vargas announced a new state - the "Estad o Novo" - based on contemporary fascist governments in Italy and Poland\, effectively giving himself autocratic powers.\n\nThe coup took place a few months before the end of Vargas's legal term in office and impending elec tions in 1938. A false rumor of a communist plot to take over the governme nt\, known as the "Cohen Plan"\, was also circulated through the media\, a lthough Vargas himself didn't acknowledge it.\n\nThe new government greatl y expanded the power of police\, persecuted political dissidents\, de fact o banned union activity\, and allowed Vargas to rule for the next eight ye ars under what amounted to martial law. Vargas was eventually deposed by t he military in a coup launched from his own War Ministry on October 29th\, 1945\, after the conclusion of World War II. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vargas_Era#Third_Brazilian_Republi c_(Estado_Novo) RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/organized-labor-brazil-1900-1937-anar chist-origins-government-control-colin-everett END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Gestapo Executes Ehrenfeld Anti-Fascists (1944) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251110 DTEND:20251111T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Fascism COMMENT:On this day in 1944\, the Gestapo publicly hanged 13 members of th e anti-fascist Ehrenfeld Group without trial near Cologne\, Germany. Sever al of the executed were teenagers who had engaged in direct action against the Third Reich. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1944\, the Gestapo publicly hanged 13 members o f the anti-Nazi Ehrenfeld Group without trial\, near Cologne\, Germany.\n\ nThe Ehrenfeld Group consisted of over one hundred people\, some of whom a lso participated in the local Edelweiss Pirates organization\, was led by Hans Steinbrück\, an escaped concentration camp prisoner. They engaged in many acts of rebellion against the Nazi regime\, including petty theft\, escaping prisoners\, and stealing and hiding weapons.\n\nAfter a botched a ttempt at stealing explosives\, on October 8th\, 1944\, the Gestapo began arresting members of the group\, eventually capturing 63 people\, includin g Steinbrück himself. Of those\, thirteen Germans\, including several tee nagers\, were executed without trial in a public hanging next to the Ehren feld train station on November 10th\, 1944. RESOURCES:http://www.executedtoday.com/2015/11/10/1944-thirteen-from-the-e hrenfeld-roup-and-the-edelweiss-pirates/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ehrenfeld_Group END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Hormel Sit-Down Strike (1933) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251110 DTEND:20251111T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,IWW COMMENT:On this day in 1933\, in one of the first sit-down strikes in U.S. history\, workers at a Hormel meatpacking plant in Austin\, Minnesota wen t on strike\, seizing control of the factory to keep out scabs. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1933\, in one of the first sit-down strikes in American history\, workers at a Hormel meatpacking plant in Austin\, Minne sota went on strike\, seizing control of the factory to keep out scabs.\n\ nWorkers at the plant had organized themselves under the banner of the Ind ependent Union of All Workers (IUAW)\, a newly formed union inspired by Fr ank Ellis (who had been agitating and radicalizing workers in Austin) and the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). They demanded recognition of th eir union\, higher wages\, equal pay for women\, and a safer workplace.\n\ nJust three days later\, on November 13th\, workers at the meatpacking pla nt ended their labor action\, winning some of their demands. Although the wage increase was not as high as strikers wanted\, the newly recognized un ion acquired prestige among workers in the plant.\n\nFrank Ellis recalled that\, following the decision of the Industrial Commission\, workers rushe d to join the union\, a boon to the new and unstable IUAW. RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/we-were-poor-people-hormel-strike-193 3-larry-d-engelmann RESOURCES:http://theraucousrooster.com/2013/11/13/hormel-workers-won-a-his toric-victory/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Ken Saro-Wiwa Executed (1995) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251110 DTEND:20251111T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1995\, Ken Saro-Wiwa\, a Nigerian environmental act ivist\, was executed by the state after being convicted of false charges. Two witnesses who testified against him later claimed that they had been i ndirectly bribed by Shell. DESCRIPTION:Kenule Beeson "Ken" Saro-Wiwa was a Nigerian writer\, televisi on producer\, and environmental activist executed by the Nigerian governme nt on this day in 1995.\n\nSaro-Wiwa was a member of the Ogoni people\, an ethnic minority in Nigeria whose homeland\, Ogoniland\, in the Niger Delt a has been targeted for crude oil extraction since the 1950s and suffered extreme environmental damage from decades of indiscriminate petroleum wast e dumping.\n\nInitially as spokesperson for (and later as president of) th e "Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People" (MOSOP)\, Saro-Wiwa led a nonviolent campaign against environmental degradation of the land and wa ters of Ogoniland by the operations of the multinational petroleum industr y\, especially the Royal Dutch Shell company.\n\nIn 1994\, Saro-Wiwa\, alo ng with eight other leaders of MOSOP (together known as the Ogoni Nine)\, were arrested on false charges and sentenced to death. At least two witnes ses who testified that Saro-Wiwa was guilty later recanted\, stating that they had been bribed with money and offers of jobs with Shell to give fals e testimony in the presence of Shell's lawyer.\n\nOn this day in 1995\, th e Ogoni nine were hanged by the military dictatorship of General Sani Abac ha. Saro-Wiwa's execution provoked international outrage\, and resulted in Nigeria's suspension from the Commonwealth of Nations for over three year s. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Saro-Wiwa RESOURCES:https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2016/07/29/th e-complex-life-death-of-ken-saro-wiwa/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:London Student Protest and Occupation (2010) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251110 DTEND:20251111T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Labor,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 2010\, ~50\,000 students protested the Conservative UK government's proposed raise of tuition caps from £3\,290 to £9\,000\ , with hundreds of protesters breaking into and occupying Conservative Par ty headquarters. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 2010\, between 30\,000 - 52\,000 students prote sted the Conservative UK government's proposed raise of tuition caps from £3\,290 to £9\,000.\n\nThe protest was organized by the National Union o f Students (NUS) and the University and College Union (UCU)\, and had part icipation from multiple organizations across the political left\, includin g the Labour Party\, Green Party\, Socialist Workers Party\, Young Communi st League\, and Revolutionary Communist Group.\n\nThe demonstrators marche d from Whitehall past Downing Street\, the home of the Prime Minister\, an d then past the Houses of Parliament. As protesters passed the Houses of P arliament and moved towards Tate Britain for the post-march rally\, severa l thousand people surrounded 30 Millbank in Westminster - campaign headqua rters of the Conservative Party.\n\nForcing their way past the limited pol ice presence\, approximately 200 people broke in and occupied the building \, while a thousand more cheered and supported them from outside. These pr otesters lit placards on fire\, smashed windows\, and vandalized the recep tion area. Staff working in the building were evacuated\, and protesters c lashed with riot police.\n\nFourteen people had to be hospitalized and fif ty-four were arrested\, the majority of them students. RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/news/battle-millbank-occupation-manchester-un iversity-14112010 RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_United_Kingdom_student_protes ts#10_November END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Centralia Massacre (1919) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251111 DTEND:20251112T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:IWW,Massacre COMMENT:The Centralia Massacre\, also known as the Armistice Day Riot\, wa s a violent incident between IWW and American Legion members in Centralia\ , Washington on this day in 1919\, during a parade celebrating the first a nniversary of Armistice Day. DESCRIPTION:The Centralia Massacre\, also known as the Armistice Day Riot\ , was a violent incident that occurred in Centralia\, Washington on this d ay in 1919\, during a parade celebrating the first anniversary of Armistic e Day. The conflict was an armed shootout between members of the local Ame rican Legion and Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) members.\n\nOn Armi stice Day\, celebrating the end of World War I\, American Legion members w ent on parade throughout the city. When they stopped in front of the IWW h all\, gunfire broke out\, killing two American Legion members immediately. The Legion members stormed the IWW hall\, and several more people shot in the ensuing mayhem.\n\nMany IWW members were arrested following the incid ent. Wesley Everest\, an IWW member who had shot multiple Legion members w hile fleeing the IWW hall\, was taken from the jail and lynched by an angr y mob. Seven IWW members were convicted on murder charges. In all\, five p eople were killed and three people were injured. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centralia_massacre_(Washington) RESOURCES:https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2019/11/11/why-massacre-c entralia-years-ago-is-critically-important-today/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Daisy Bates (1914 - 1999) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251111 DTEND:20251112T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays COMMENT:Daisy Bates\, born on this day in 1914\, was an American civil rig hts activist\, publisher\, journalist\, and lecturer who played a leading role in the Little Rock Integration Crisis of 1957. DESCRIPTION:Daisy Bates\, born on this day in 1914\, was an American civil rights activist\, publisher\, journalist\, and lecturer who played a lead ing role in the Little Rock Integration Crisis of 1957. Daisy's mother was raped and murdered by three white men\, who went unpunished.\n\nBates was active in the NAACP\, becoming head of the Arkansas state chapter in the 1950s. In this role\, she was essential in helping the Little Rock Nine en roll in a formerly all-white high school\, organizing their protection\, a dvising the families\, and using her own home as an official checkpoint fo r the students before and after school. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daisy_Bates_(activist) RESOURCES:https://docsouth.unc.edu/sohp/G-0009/G-0009.html END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Haymarket Anarchists Executed (1887) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251111 DTEND:20251112T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Anarchism COMMENT:On this day in 1887\, the U.S. executed four anarchists imprisoned after the Haymarket Affair. Before his death\, August Spies shouted "The time will come when our silence will be more powerful than the voices you strangle today." DESCRIPTION:The Haymarket Affair is the name given to the bloody aftermath of a bombing that took place at a labor demonstration on May 4th\, 1886\, at Haymarket Square in Chicago. It began as a peaceful rally in support o f workers striking for an eight-hour work day and turned into a massacre a fter an unknown person threw a dynamite bomb at the police.\n\nIn the inte rnationally publicized legal proceedings that followed\, eight anarchists were convicted of conspiracy. Seven were sentenced to death and one to a t erm of 15 years in prison. Illinois Governor Richard J. Oglesby commuted t wo of the sentences to terms of life in prison\; another committed suicide in jail rather than face the gallows.\n\nOn this day in 1887\, the remain ing four defendants\, George Engel\, Adolph Fischer\, Albert Parsons\, and August Spies\, were hanged. At the gallows\, they sang the "Marseillaise" \, then the anthem of the international revolutionary movement. Family mem bers who attempted to see them for the last time\, including notable anarc hist Lucy Parsons\, were arrested.\n\nAccording to witnesses\, in the mome nts before the men were hanged\, Spies shouted\, "The time will come when our silence will be more powerful than the voices you strangle today." Par sons then requested to speak\, but he was cut off when the signal was give n to open the trap door. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haymarket_affair RESOURCES:http://www.illinoislaborhistory.org/the-haymarket-affair END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Elizabeth Stanton (1815 - 1902) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251112 DTEND:20251113T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Feminism,Birthdays COMMENT:Elizabeth Cady Stanton\, born on this day in 1815\, was an America n suffragist\, social activist\, abolitionist\, and leading figure of the early women's rights movement. "Woman's degradation is in man's idea of hi s sexual rights." DESCRIPTION:Elizabeth Cady Stanton\, born on this day in 1815\, was an Ame rican suffragist\, social activist\, abolitionist\, and leading figure of the early women's rights movement. She was the driving force behind the 18 48 Seneca Falls Convention\, held in Seneca Falls\, New York\, and an earl y and controversial advocate of women's suffrage.\n\nHer "Declaration of S entiments"\, presented at the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention\, is often cred ited with initiating the first organized women's rights and women's suffra ge movements in the United States.\n\nAfter the Civil War\, Stanton and Su san B. Anthony were the organizers behind the American Equal Rights Associ ation\, which campaigned for equal rights for both women and black people. \n\nWhen the Fifteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was introduced\, which would provide suffrage for black men only\, they opposed it\, insis ting that suffrage should be extended to black men and women of all races at the same time.\n\n"Woman's degradation is in man's idea of his sexual r ights. Our religion\, laws\, customs\, are all founded on the belief that woman was made for man."\n\n- Elizabeth Stanton RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Cady_Stanton RESOURCES:https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/el izabeth-cady-stanton END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Missouri Anti-Nuclear Break-in (1984) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251112 DTEND:20251113T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1984\, peace activists broke into a Missouri missil e site and destroyed equipment. After his arrest\, one said "Governments n ever disarm. Ordinary people will have to do extraordinary things if this planet is to survive." DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1984\, four Plowshares peace activists broke in to a Minuteman missile site near Kansas City\, Missouri and smashed weapon s equipment. The four protesters were Larry Cloud-Morgan\, an indigenous r ights activist and Anishinabe spiritual leader\; Paul Kabat\, a Catholic P riest\; Carl Kabat\, also a Catholic Priest\; and Helen Woodson\, mother o f seven.\n\nThe group called themselves the "silo pruning hooks" in refere nce to the Biblical mandate to "beat swords into plowshares and spears int o pruning hooks"\, and used a compressor-driven\, 90-pound jack hammer to damage the weapons equipment.\n\nThe activists received sentences varying from 6 to 18 years. After his arrest\, Carl Kabat told United Press Intern ational "It is up to the people to disarm. Governments will never disarm. Ordinary people will have to do extraordinary things if this planet is to survive." RESOURCES:https://www.upi.com/Archives/1984/11/13/A-US-magistrate-said-Tue sday-four-anti-nuclear-protesters-who/2247469170000/ RESOURCES:https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1986/04/15/saga- of-an-american-dissenter/fe02f8f7-298d-4d35-b9dc-7b73cc201705/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Swiss General Strike (1918) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251112 DTEND:20251113T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Socialism,Labor,General Strikes COMMENT:On this day in 1918\, the Swiss "Landestreik" began\, a two day ge neral strike in which 250\,000 struck for a variety of social reforms\, in cluding a 48 hour week\, women's suffrage\, disability insurance\, and the formation of people's army. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1918\, the Swiss "Landestreik" began\, a two da y general strike in which 250\,000 struck for a variety of social reforms\ , including a 48 hour week\, women's suffrage\, disability insurance\, and the formation of people's army.\n\nThe strike took place in the context o f World War I and skyrocketing food prices that left many workers hungry. As bread prices doubled between 1914 and 1918\, the average industrial wag es sank by a quarter. The wage of conscripted soldiers was also often less the jobs those workers were forced to abandon.\n\nIn early November\, Zur ich's labor movement sought to celebrate the first anniversary of the Russ ian October Revolution. After news of the German November Revolution and t he toppling of the German emperor reached Zurich\, the military banned all public demonstrations\, dispersing one protest by attacking workers with saber-bearing cavalry.\n\nFollowing this incident\, leaders of the Swiss S ocialist Party (SPS)\, the country's labor unions\, and the socialist pres s\, banded together in an alliance called the Olten Action Committee (OAK) \, issued a proclamation of working class demands and a call for a general strike on November 12th\, 1918.\n\nThe demands included a 48 hour week\, women's suffrage\, disability insurance\, establishing a state monopoly on foreign trade\, new national council elections\, and the reorganization o f the military into a people's army.\n\nFacing pressure from the governmen t to end the strike and a hostile military\, OAK leadership quickly backpe daled and called off the strike just two days later\, on November 14th. De spite this\, some workers continued to strike for several days afterward.\ n\nA military court acted quickly and initiated legal proceedings against 35\,000 strikers\, and 21 of its leaders were tried for mutiny. In the sho rt term\, the strike's failure was a disaster for the labor movement\, how ever many of OAK's demands would later come to fruition - in 1919\, the 48 hour week was established for workers. RESOURCES:https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/1918-general-strike-_capitulation-b efore-revolution/44500640 RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1918_Swiss_general_strike END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Trotsky Expelled from Communist Party (1927) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251112 DTEND:20251113T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Labor,Assassinations COMMENT:On this day in 1927\, Leon Trotsky was ousted from the Communist P arty following an attempt to organize independent demonstrations commemora ting the 10th anniversary of the Bolshevik seizure of power. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1927\, Leon Trotsky was ousted from the Communi st Party following an attempt to organize independent demonstrations comme morating the 10th anniversary of the Bolshevik seizure of power.\n\nTrotsk y was an outspoken critic of Joseph Stalin's leadership\, and his politica l reputation had been gradually declining for several years. In 1924\, his ideas had been formally denounced as a "petty bourgeois deviation" in the XIIIth Party Conference\, and he\, along with his political ally Zinoviev \, had been expelled from the Central Committee in October 1927.\n\nTrotsk y was forced to leave the Soviet Union shortly after this incident\, in Ja nuary 1928. While in exile\, he wrote several key works\, including "Histo ry of the Russian Revolution" (1930) and "The Revolution Betrayed (1936)"\ , a critique of the Soviet Union under Stalin's leadership in which he arg ued that the Soviet state had become a "degenerated workers' state" contro lled by an undemocratic bureaucracy.\n\nHe eventually settled in Mexico Ci ty\, continuing to advocate for his ideas and against Stalin's power. Whil e there\, he was assassinated by Ramón Mercader\, an NKVD (Soviet) agent\ , with an ice pick. RESOURCES:http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/on-this-day/November/Trotsky -is-Expelled-from-Communist-Party.html RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leon_Trotsky END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Bloody Sunday (1887) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251113 DTEND:20251114T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1887\, thousands of marchers protesting unemploymen t and state repression clashed with the Metropolitan Police and British Ar my in Trafalgar Square\, Central London\, an event known as "Bloody Sunday ". DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1887\, thousands of marchers protesting unemplo yment and state repression clashed with the Metropolitan Police and Britis h Army in Trafalgar Square\, Central London. In the aftermath\, approximat ely four hundred people were arrested and seventy-five were badly injured\ , including many police officers. The event is known as "Bloody Sunday".\n \nThe demonstration was organized by the Social Democratic Federation\, Br itain's first formally socialist party\, and the Irish National League\, a n Irish nationalist organization.\n\nOn November 13th\, 1887\, at least 10 \,000 protesters marched in to Trafalgar Square from several different dir ections\, led by leaders of the Social Democratic Federation. Members of t he Fabian Society were also present\, including playwright George Bernard Shaw and Eleanor Marx.\n\n2\,000 police and 400 troops were deployed to ha lt the demonstration and protesters\, many armed with "iron bars\, knives\ , pokers and gas pipes"\, fought back. John Burns and Robert Cunninghame-G raham\, Social Democratic Federation leaders\, were arrested and imprisone d for six weeks. The following Sunday\, there was another demonstration an d more casualties. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloody_Sunday_(1887) RESOURCES:http://pubs.socialistreviewindex.org.uk/sr224/charlton.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Full Sutton Prison Strike (1995) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251113 DTEND:20251114T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:On this day in 1995\, four of Full Sutton Prison's six wings (all those not set aside for sex offenders) went on strike. The strike lasted t hree days before forcibly being broken up by officers in riot gear. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1995\, four of Full Sutton Prison's six wings ( all those not set aside for sex offenders) went on strike. Full Sutton pri son is located in the village of Full Sutton\, near Pocklington in the Eas t Riding of Yorkshire\, England.\n\nAfter breakfast\, inmates from four ou t of the six wings went on strike\, refusing to perform their duties\, inc luding meal preparation\, kitchen help\, carpentry\, textiles\, industrial cleaning\, and other trade jobs. Inmates sat in their cells and refused t o work.\n\nThe protest was mainly against the new 'Incentives and Earned P rivileges Scheme'\, as well as anger over a series of restrictions imposed on prisoners there over the previous months\, including restrictions on u se of phones\, on the amount of property inmates were allowed to keep\, an d a ban on them having property handed in by relatives and friends.\n\nThe strike lasted for at least three days\, ended by the authorities sending in officers in riot gear to break it up. Dozens of inmates (estimated betw een 20 and 60) were moved to other jails as a consequence. RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/full-sutton-prisoners-strike-1995 RESOURCES:https://nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu/content/british-prison-inmates -strike-oppose-new-system-control-full-sutton-prison-1995 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Rohana Wijeweera Assassinated (1989) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251113 DTEND:20251114T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Marxism,Assassinations COMMENT:Rohana Wijeweera was a Sri Lankan Marxist revolutionary and the fo unding leader of Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP\, English: "People's Liber ation Front"). He was assassinated by the Sri Lankan government on this da y in 1989. DESCRIPTION:Rohana Wijeweera (1943 - 1989) was a Sri Lankan Marxist revolu tionary and the founding leader of Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP\, Englis h: "People's Liberation Front"). He was assassinated by the Sri Lankan gov ernment on this day in 1989.\n\nBorn on Bastille Day to a father active in the Ceylon Communist Party\, Wijeweera was raised in an environment of ra dical politics. In 1960\, he began studying in the Soviet Union\, learning Russian.\n\nWith the revolutionary party JVP\, Wijeweera led two unsucces sful insurrections in Sri Lanka - the first in 1971 and the second from 19 87 to 1989. Both insurrections featured revolutionary violence that was ma tched by brutal state repression\; tens of thousands of JVP members were k illed.\n\nIn 1989\, during the second JVP insurrection\, the Sri Lankan st ate launched "Operation Combine" to suppress the movement and assassinated Wijeweera on November 13th\, 1989. In 2019\, a biographical film of Wijew eera's life was released\, titled "Ginnen Upan Seethala".\n\n"I\, a Bolshe vik\, am in no way a terrorist. As a proletarian revolutionary\, however\, I must emphatically state that I am committed to the overthrow of the pre vailing capitalist system and its replacement by a socialist system."\n\n- Rohana Wijeweera\, speaking before the Ceylon Criminal Justice Commission in 1974 RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rohana_Wijeweera RESOURCES:https://www.jvpsrilanka.com/english/about-us/brief-history/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Silkwood Dies in Mysterious Crash (1974) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251113 DTEND:20251114T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Assassinations COMMENT:Karen Silkwood was an American chemical technician and labor union activist who was possibly assassinated via car crash on this day in 1974\ , while en route to meet with a NYT journalist and union official. DESCRIPTION:Karen Gay Silkwood (1946 - 1974) was an American chemical tech nician and labor union activist who was possibly assassinated on this day in 1974. Silkwood is most known for raising concerns about corporate pract ices related to health and safety in the Kerr-McGee Cimarron Fuel Fabricat ion Site in Oklahoma.\n\nAs an employee of Kerr-Mcgee\, Silkwood made plut onium pellets and was the first woman on the union's negotiating team. Aft er investigating her workplace\, she found several health code violations and later testified to the Atomic Energy Commission about her concerns for the handling of radioactive materials at work. Shortly before her death\, Silkwood's body contained 400 times the legal limit of plutonium.\n\nOn t his day in 1974\, while en route to meet a New York Times journalist and u nion official\, Silkwood died in a crash where her car ran off the road. S he had just left a union meeting at the Hub cafe in Crescent and was seen with a binder full of documents. None of the documents were found at the s cene of the crash.\n\nAlthough foul play was not conclusively proven\, ski d marks from Silkwood's car were present on the road\, suggesting that she was trying to get back onto the road after being pushed from behind. Inve stigators also noted damage on the rear of Silkwood's vehicle that was not present before the accident\, and microscopic examination of the rear of Silkwood's car showed paint chips that could have come only from a rear im pact by another vehicle.\n\nSilkwood's family sued Kerr-McGee on grounds o f negligence\, and Kerr-McGee eventually settled out of court for $1.38 mi llion\, admitting no liability. Kerr-McGee closed its nuclear fuel plants in 1975. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_Silkwood RESOURCES:https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/reaction/interact /silkwood.html END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Suffragette Assaults Churchill (1909) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251113 DTEND:20251114T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Feminism COMMENT:On this day in 1909\, British suffragette Theresa Garnett (1888 - 1966) assaulted Winston Churchill with a whip\, striking him several times while shouting "Take that in the name of the insulted women of England!" DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1909\, British suffragette Theresa Garnett (188 8 - 1966) assaulted Winston Churchill with a whip\, striking him several t imes while shouting "Take that in the name of the insulted women of Englan d!"\n\nThe action came out of the militant suffragist group "Women's Socia l and Political Union"\, of which Garnett was a member. Set up in Manchest er\, its policy of "deeds not words" led to campaigns of direct action by women frustrated by the failure of more peaceful methods.\n\nMembers of th e group committed many illegal activities\, ranging from slapping policeme n to widespread arson attacks.\n\nAlthough Garnett was arrested for assaul ting Churchill\, she was only charged with disturbing the peace because Ch urchill did not want to appear in court. She served one month in Horfield Prison. RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/theresa-garnett-vs-winston-churchill RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theresa_Garnett END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Athens Polytechnic Uprising (1973) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251114 DTEND:20251115T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1973\, the Athens Polytechnic Uprising began with a massive student demonstration against the governing Greek military junta. Although the rebellion was crushed\, the following unrest led to the stat e collapsing in 1974. DESCRIPTION:The Athens Polytechnic Uprising began on this day in 1973 with a massive student demonstration against the governing Greek military junt a. An assembly formed during the protest elected to occupy the Polytechnic School\, which lasted for three days before being forcibly ended by a mil itary-scale attack by the government.\n\nThe uprising had popular support\ , with thousands of Athenians flooding into the streets to support their a nti-government protest. The occupying students demanded the restoration of democracy in Greece\, and were shot at by government snipers set up aroun d the building. On November 17th\, the state finally broke through erected barricades by sending a tank crashing through the gates of the Polytechni c.\n\nAlthough the state claimed no students were killed\, there were at l east 24 recorded deaths\, and many estimates are much higher. Although the rebellion was crushed at first\, it caused political instability that ult imately led to the regime's downfall in 1974. Greek schools commemorate th e uprising annually on November 17th. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athens_Polytechnic_uprising RESOURCES:https://greekcitytimes.com/2018/11/17/november-17-1973-uprising- of-the-polytechnic/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Berlin Squatters Battle Police (1990) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251114 DTEND:20251115T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Tenant COMMENT:On this day in 1990\, German squatters battled with approximately 1\,500 heavily armed police officers who were attempting to evict squatter s from a tenement neighborhood in eastern Berlin. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1990\, German squatters battled with approximat ely 1\,500 heavily armed police officers who were attempting to evict squa tters from a tenement neighborhood in eastern Berlin.\n\nThe officers went in with tear gas and water cannons and fought squatters for nearly six ho urs through a block-long stretch of Mainzer Strasse. Gangs of squatters on rooftops\, some masked\, bombarded police officers with cobblestones and gasoline bombs while the police retaliated with tear gas and water cannons .\n\nAccording to the NY Times\, the squatters\, mostly from western Berli n and western Germany\, had first fought with the police late Monday night \, then constructed a veritable fortress throughout the area\, digging dee p ditches with a stolen excavator\, stringing barbed wire and storing ston es\, gasoline bombs and railroad flares as weapons.\n\nOn the evening of N ovember 14th\, thousands of squatters and their supporters marched through Berlin to protest the action. The government claimed that at least 85 peo ple\, including 70 police officers\, were injured\, and 350 people were ta ken into custody. RESOURCES:https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1990/11/14/anarc hists-face-down-berlin-police/7b21ef2c-6501-42dc-8be9-63bf6e6ec2e0/ RESOURCES:https://www.nytimes.com/1990/11/15/world/evolution-in-europe-ber lin-is-rocked-by-a-squatters-war.html END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:First Recorded Strike in History (1159 BC) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251114 DTEND:20251115T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:On this day in 1159 BC\, the first recorded strike in history bega n when necropolis workers in Ancient Egypt refused to continue working aft er going 18 days without pay. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1159 BC\, the first recorded strike in history began when necropolis workers in Ancient Egypt refused to continue working after going 18 days without pay.\n\nThe workers were preparing for Pharao h Ramses III's thirty-year jubilee\, a lavish celebration in his honor\, y ears in advance.\n\nThe payment to the workers at Deir el-Medina (also kno wn as Set-Ma'at\, "The Place of Truth") was inconsistent before finally st opping altogether. After 18 days of non-payment\, workers laid down their tools and marched toward the city shouting "We are hungry!"\n\nAfter negot iations for back pay broke down\, the workers took over the southern gate of the Ramesseum\, the central storehouse of grain in Thebes. After winnin g their back pay\, wages continued to be paid inconsistently and workers a gain went on strike\, taking over and blocking all access to the Valley of the Kings\, which disrupted important religious ceremonies.\n\nThese labo r actions went on for three years\; the workers would not receive their pa y\, they would then go on strike\, the officials would find the means to p ay them\, and the same scenario would be repeated again the next month. RESOURCES:https://www.ancient.eu/article/1089/the-first-labor-strike-in-hi story/ RESOURCES:https://nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu/content/egyptian-laborers-stri ke-pay-1170-bce END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Night of Terror (1917) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251114 DTEND:20251115T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1917\, the "Night of Terror" began when the superin tendent of the Occoquan Workhouse prison ordered forty guards to brutalize suffragists who were imprisoned after picketing for the right to vote in the U.S. capital. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1917 the superintendent of the Occoquan Workhou se prison ordered forty guards to brutalize suffragists\, imprisoned for p icketing for the right to vote in the U.S. capital.\n\nBefore November 14t h\, some of the activists had initiated a hunger strike to protest the con ditions of the prison\, the prison doctors force-fed the women by putting tubes down their throats\, causing some women to vomit.\n\nOn the night of November 14th\, prison guards beat Lucy Burns and chained her hands to th e cell bars above her head for the entire night. They threw Dora Lewis int o a dark cell and beat her unconscious.\n\nLewis's cellmate\, Alice Cosu\, who believed her to be dead\, suffered a heart attack\, and was refused m edical treatment. Dorothy Day (famous for later founding Catholic Worker M ovement) was slammed repeatedly over the back of an iron bench. Guards gra bbed\, dragged\, beat\, choked\, pinched\, and kicked other women.\n\nThe suffragists dubbed the episode the "Night of Terror"\, and the brutality w as highly publicized\, garnering support for the movement to give women th e right to vote. On January 9th\, 1918\, President Woodrow Wilson (who had been specifically targeted by suffragette pickets) finally announced his support for the proposed women's suffrage amendment. RESOURCES:https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2017/11/10/nig ht-of-terror-the-suffragists-who-were-beaten-and-tortured-for-seeking-the- vote/ RESOURCES:https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/suffragists-beaten-and-t ortured/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_Sentinels#Occoquan_Workhous e_and_the_Night_of_Terror END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Berlin Conference (1884) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251115 DTEND:20251116T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1884\, the "Berlin Conference" began when delegatio ns from nearly every Western European country and the U.S. met in Germany to develop a set of protocols for the seizure and control of African resou rces. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1884\, the "Berlin Conference" began when deleg ations from nearly every Western European country and the U.S. met in Germ any to develop a set of protocols for the seizure and control of African r esources.\n\nThe conference\, which had no African representatives\, was t he first international conference ever on the subject of Africa\, and deal t almost soley with the matter of its exploitation.\n\nAt the time\, appro ximately 80% of African land and resources were under domestic control\; t he influence of Europeans was most strongly exerted on the coast. Followin g it\, colonial powers began seizing resources further inland.\n\nAs a res ult of the conference\, which continued into 1885\, a "General Act" was si gned and ratified by all but one of the 14 nations at the table\, the U.S. being the sole exception. The Act's main features were the establishment of a regime of free trade stretching across the middle of Africa\, the dev elopment of which became the rationale for the recognition of the short-li ved "Congo Free State"\, the abolition of the overland slave trade\, and t he principle of "effective occupation".\n\nThe Conference's rapacious inte ntions for Africa were noted by outsiders: socialist journalist Daniel De Leon described the conference as "an event unique in the history of politi cal science...Diplomatic in form\, it was economic in fact."\n\nBefore the Conference ended\, the Lagos Observer declared that "the world had\, perh aps\, never witnessed a robbery on so large a scale." Theodore Holly\, the first black Protestant Episcopal Bishop in the U.S.\, condemned the deleg ates as having "come together to enact into law\, national rapine\, robber y and murder". RESOURCES:https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2019/11/15/berlin-1884-rememb ering-the-conference-that-divided-africa RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_Conference END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Fred Beal Passes Away (1954) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251115 DTEND:20251116T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Labor COMMENT:Fred Beal (1896 - 1954) was an American labor organizer who played a leading role in the Loray Mill Strike of 1929 and a former communist wh o renounced his beliefs upon his exile to Soviet Russia. He died on this d ay in 1954. DESCRIPTION:Fred Beal (1896 - 1954) was an American labor organizer who pl ayed a leading role in the Loray Mill Strike of 1929 and a former communis t who renounced his beliefs upon his exile to Soviet Russia. He died on th is day in 1954.\n\nIn the Loray Mill Strike\, Fred Beal was a leading labo r organizer\, who\, along with six Loray Mill workers\, were indicted for the murder of a police chief that happened during the protests. Beal was c onvicted and skipped bail\, fleeing to the Soviet Union. There\, he became ambivalent about the state of the Bolshevik revolution and sought to retu rn to the United States.\n\nAfter successfully fleeing to his home country \, Beal changed his mind once more\, returning to the Soviet Union and wor king as a manager in a Ukrainian tractor factory. It was here that he beca me disillusioned for good with the communist system\, noting bitterly that he was still a labor organizer\, facing Soviet versions of the same issue s that had prompted the North Carolinians to strike\, only now he was urgi ng workers not to demand better conditions.\n\nUpon returning to the U.S.\ , he became an anti-communist critic\, publishing his experiences in a boo k titled "Proletarian Journey". According to author Matthew Disler\, much of "Proletarian Journey" is clearly embellished\, repeating dialogues from decades earlier\, frequently editorializing\, and mixing anecdotes from h is experiences with diatribes about his enemies within the Communist movem ent. Bisler also claims that these inconsistencies are even worse in Beal' s 1949 book\, "The Red Fraud".\n\nAfter serving four years in prison\, Bea l was paroled and began working at a textile mill\, participating in union activities there. He died on November 15th\, 1954 of a heart attack. RESOURCES:https://narratively.com/this-crusading-socialist-taught-americas -workers-to-fight-then-he-lost-his-faith/ RESOURCES:https://www.ncpedia.org/biography/beal-fred-erwin END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Guayaquil Strike Massacre (1922) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251115 DTEND:20251116T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,General Strikes,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1922\, Ecuadorian soldiers fired on a crowd of 20\, 000 demonstrators participating in a general strike in Guayaquil\, killing approximately 300 people. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1922\, soldiers fired on a crowd of 20\,000 dem onstrators\, killing approximately 300 people who were participating in a general strike in Guayaquil\, Ecuador.\n\nThe general strike took place in the context of an economic crisis related to the collapse of cocoa bean p rices. Trolley and public utility workers initiated the labor action\, ins pired by a successful railroad workers' strike in nearby Durán. Their dem ands were initially modest (safer working conditions\, more timely pay)\, but grew more ambitious as the strike war on (the creation of an artificia l exchange rate to manage severe currency inflation).\n\nThe strike became city-wide on November 13th\, and the Ecuadorian government called on the military to suppress it. On November 15th\, 1922\, more than 20\,000 demon strators gathered in downtown Guayaquil and marched towards the police sta tion. When they arrived\, they were fired upon by soldiers at the station. Approximately three hundred protesters died\, either by gunshot or from b eing stabbed by bayonets.\n\nFor most workers\, this incident was the end of the strike\, however many of their demands\, including an exchange rate moratorium and wage increases for trolley workers\, were conceded. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1922_Guayaquil_general_strike RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/news/ecuador-november-15-class-war-memory-war -%C3%A9quateur-15-novembre-guerre-de-classe-guerre-de-m%C3%A9 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Gavril Myasnikov Executed (1945) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251116 DTEND:20251117T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism COMMENT:Gavril Ilyich Myasnikov was a Russian Bolshevik revolutionary and later left communist dissident who was executed by the USSR on this day in 1945\, after accepting an invitation from the French Soviet embassy to re turn to the USSR. DESCRIPTION:Gavril Ilyich Myasnikov was a Russian Bolshevik revolutionary and later left communist dissident who was executed by the USSR on this da y in 1945. Myansikov participated in the Revolution of 1905 and became an underground Bolshevik activist in 1906. He was arrested by Tsarist police and spent over seven years at hard labor in Siberia.\n\nIn 1922\, along wi th former members of the Workers' Opposition (a dissident group with the B olsheviks)\, Myasnikov signed the "Letter of the Twenty-Two"\, sent to the Comintern in 1922\, protesting the Russian Communist Party leaders' suppr ession of dissent among proletarian members of the Communist Party. Shortl y thereafter\, Myasnikov was expelled from the Russian Communist Party\, a nd he formed an opposition faction called "Workers Group of the Russian Co mmunist Party" that opposed the New Economic Policy (NEP).\n\nMyasnikov wa s arrested by the Soviet state in 1923\, and served several years in priso n before being exiled to Armenia\, where he fled the country. In 1944\, he accepted an invitation by the Soviet embassy in France to return to the U SSR. Upon his arrival\, he was arrested by the Soviet secret police and la ter executed on November 16th\, 1945. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gavril_Myasnikov RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/archive/miasnikov/index.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Salvadoran Jesuits Murdered (1989) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251116 DTEND:20251117T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1989\, during the Salvadoran Civil War\, Salvadoran soldiers killed six Jesuits and two others on the campus of Central Ameri can University in San Salvador and attempted to frame the act on leftist r ebels. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1989\, during the Salvadoran Civil War\, Salvad oran soldiers killed six Jesuits and two others on the campus of Central A merican University in San Salvador and attempted to frame the act on rebel groups. The Jesuits were advocates of a negotiated settlement between the government of El Salvador and the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Fr ont (FMLN)\, and their murders prompted international outrage.\n\nThe Atla catl Battalion (trained at the U.S. "School of the Americas") was an elite unit of the Salvadoran Army responsible for the violence. The Jesuits wer e deemed "subversives" that needed to be eliminated\, and officers attempt ed to disguise the operation as a rebel attack\, using an AK-47 rifle that had been captured from the FMLN.\n\nAfter storming their residence and ki lling the priests\, soldiers also executed housekeeper Julia Elba Ramos an d her 16-year-old daughter\, Celina Mariceth Ramos. The murders increased international pressure for a cease-fire and became one of the key turning points that led toward a negotiated settlement to the war. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989_murders_of_Jesuits_in_El_Salv ador RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/1970-1990-the-war-of-counter-insurgen cy-in-el-salvador END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Australian Maritime Strike Begins (1878) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251117 DTEND:20251118T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:On this day in 1878\, the first intercolonial dispute in Australia began when maritime workers went on strike to prevent the Australasian St eam Navigation Company from replacing Australian seamen with Chinese worke rs. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1878\, the first intercolonial dispute in Austr alia began when maritime workers went on strike to prevent the Australasia n Steam Navigation Company from replacing Australian seamen with Chinese w orkers.\n\nChinese laborers were cheaper\; the company was paying Australi an seamen eight pounds per month\, but could hire Chinese seamen three pou nds per month.\n\nThe strike continued until January 2nd\, when the compan y gave in and agreed to discharge all their Chinese crews over the next tw o years and re-employ the Australian seamen who had been fired. The strike is an early example of how the forces of international capital\, labor\, and race intersect\, pitting members of the working class against one anot her. RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/articles/australia-maritime-strike-18 78 RESOURCES:https://nativistherald.com.au/2019/01/28/the-maritime-strike-of- 1878/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Elizabeth McAlister (1939 - ) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251117 DTEND:20251118T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays COMMENT:Elizabeth McAlister\, born on this day in 1939\, is a former nun o f the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary and peace activist associated with the direct action-oriented Plowshares Movement. DESCRIPTION:Elizabeth McAlister\, born on this day in 1939\, is a former n un of the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary and peace activist associa ted with the direct action-oriented Plowshares Movement.\n\nMcAlister was married to Philip Berrigan (1923 - 2002)\, a fellow Catholic activist\, an d both were excommunicated from the Catholic Church. Of her 29 years of ma rriage to Philip\, 11 of them were spent separated because one of them was in prison.\n\nOn April 4th\, 2018\, McAlister and six other people (known as the Kingsbay Plowshare Seven) entered the Kings Bay Naval Submarine Ba se in Georgia and performed symbolic acts of disarmament. On October 24th\ , 2019\, McAlister was convicted on four counts in federal court in Brunsw ick\, Georgia for entering and holding a symbolic disarming of the Trident submarine's nuclear weapons. In June 2020\, McAlister was sentenced to ti me served\, probation\, and restitution.\n\n"True! The jail is tomb-like. But there was life there of which - to judge from his remarks - the priest knew nothing. There was hope that women built together in that tomb\; the re was love that they shared in a thousand small and large ways to make "t he wilderness and dry land glad\, the deserts rejoice and blossom" (Isaiah 35:1)."\n\n- Elizabeth McAlister RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_McAlister RESOURCES:https://www.democracynow.org/2019/10/21/kingsbay_plowshares_seve n_activists_trial END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Knowles Riot (1747) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251117 DTEND:20251118T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Riots COMMENT:On this day in 1747\, an anti-draft riot began when workers in Bos ton\, later condemned as a "Tumultuous Assembly of Foreign Seamen\, Servan ts\, Negroes\, and Other Persons of Mean and Vile Condition"\, attacked po lice and state officials. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1747\, an anti-draft riot began when workers in Boston\, later condemned as a "Tumultuous Assembly of Foreign Seamen\, Se rvants\, Negroes\, and Other Persons of Mean and Vile Condition"\, attacke d police and state officials.\n\nThe Knowles Riot\, also known as the Impr essment Riot of 1747\, was a three-day riot in Boston that began on Novemb er 17th\, 1747. The uprising was in response to the impressment (conscript ion) of 46 Bostonians by Admiral Charles Knowles into the navy.\n\nHundred s of mostly working-class rioters rampaged through Boston\, surrounded the house of the governor\, assaulted the sheriff\, and imprisoned the deputy sheriff\, along with several naval officers. The governor ordered the mil itia to suppress the riot\, but they refused\, forcing him to flee the cit y.\n\nThe rioters were later condemned by a merchants' group as a "Riotous Tumultuous Assembly of Foreign Seamen\, Servants\, Negroes\, and Other Pe rsons of Mean and Vile Condition." RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knowles_Riot RESOURCES:https://www.newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/press-gangs-cause-bo ston-riot-1747-2/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Marie-Louise Giraud (1903 - 1943) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251117 DTEND:20251118T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Fascism COMMENT:Marie-Louis Giraud\, born on this day in 1903\, was a working clas s French woman who was executed in 1943 for providing abortions during the reign of the Nazi Vichy Regime. In 1988\, a film based on her life was re leased - "Story of Women". DESCRIPTION:Marie-Louis Giraud\, born on this day in 1903\, was a working class French woman who was executed in 1943 for providing abortions during the reign of the Nazi Vichy Regime. In 1988\, a film based on her life wa s released - "Story of Women".\n\nGiraud was born into a poor family in 19 03 and settled in the port city of Cherbourg. She cleaned houses and worke d as a laundress to support her family.\n\nIn 1939\, the French government increased the criminal penalties for abortion\, as World War II had cause d a significant decline in the birth rate. Along these lines\, the Vichy R egime (formed in 1940) created propaganda posters stating "The Family is t he Foundation of Society".\n\nWhen the Nazis occupied Cherbourg in June 19 40\, there was an influx of prostitutes to the area and Giraud rented room s out to them. She performed abortions on 27 women\, including one who die d in January 1942. An anonymous letter detailing Giraud's activities writt en in October 1942 led to her arrest.\n\nSuch was the prominence of Giraud 's trial that the head of the Vichy Regime\, Philippe Pétain\, called her an immoral woman himself. She was guillotined on July 30th\, 1943\, the l ast woman to be executed by the Nazi French government.\n\nGiraud's story was dramatized in the 1988 film Story of Women\, directed by Claude Chabro l. The film premiered at the 45th Venice International Film Festival\, in which Isabelle Huppert was awarded the prize for best actress. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie-Louise_Giraud RESOURCES:https://historycollection.com/last-woman-guillotined-world-war-i i-concentration-camp-survivor-lead-legalization-abortion-france/2/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Sammy Younge Jr. (1944 - 1966) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251117 DTEND:20251118T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Civil Rights,Birthdays,Imperialism,Protests COMMENT:Sammy Younge Jr.\, born on this day in 1944\, was an activist who was shot dead after he attempted to use a "whites only" restroom in Tuskeg ee\, Alabama. Younge was one of the first black college students killed in the civil rights movement. DESCRIPTION:Sammy Younge Jr.\, born on this day in 1944\, was an activist who was shot dead after he attempted to use a "whites only" restroom in Tu skegee\, Alabama. Younge was one of the first black college students kille d in the civil rights movement. After his murderer's acquittal by an all-w hite jury\, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) came out in opposition to the Vietnam War.\n\nYounge served in the U.S. Navy for tw o years before being medically discharged\, after which he began attending the Tuskegee Institute as a political science student.\n\nYounge became a civil rights activist after enrolling in college\, becoming active within the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and a leader with th e Tuskegee Institute Advancement League. He also participated in the Selma to Montgomery protest march in March 1965.\n\nIn September 1965\, Younge was arrested and jailed after attempting to drive a group of black people to get registered to vote in Lee County\, Alabama. Younge continued his ef forts to get blacks registered to vote in Macon County\, Alabama four mont hs after being released from jail\, up until his death.\n\nOn January 3rd\ , 1966\, Younge was shot and killed by a gas station clerk after trying to use a "whites only" bathroom in his hometown of Tuskegee. Earlier that da y\, Younge had brought 40 people to register to vote at Macon County Court house\, where he was threatened with a knife by a registrar.\n\nAt 21 year s of age\, Younge became the first black university student to be killed i n the civil rights movement. His murderer was quickly arrested\, indicted\ , and found not guilty by an all-white jury. This led to widespread protes ts in Tuskegee\, and for the SNCC to officially oppose the Vietnam War. Th e SNCC issued a statement on January 6th\, 1966\, saying:\n\n"We believe t he United States government has been deceptive in its claims of concern fo r the freedom of the Vietnamese people\, just as the government has been d eceptive in claiming concern for the freedom of colored people in such oth er countries as the Dominican Republic\, the Congo\, South Africa\, Rhodes ia\, and in the United States itself.\n\n...The murder of Samuel [Younge] in Tuskegee\, Alabama\, is no different than the murder of peasants in Vie tnam\, for both [Younge] and the Vietnamese sought\, and are seeking\, to secure the rights guaranteed them by law. In each case the United States g overnment bears a great part of the responsibility for these deaths. Samue l [Younge] was murdered because United States law is not being enforced. V ietnamese are murdered because the United States is pursuing an aggressive policy in violation of international law." RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sammy_Younge_Jr. RESOURCES:https://snccdigital.org/events/murder-of-sammy-younge-snccs-stat ement-on-vietnam/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Harry Moore (1905 - 1951) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251118 DTEND:20251119T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Civil Rights,Birthdays COMMENT:Harry Tyson Moore\, born on this day in 1905\, was a civil rights activist and NAACP Florida state president who\, alongside his wife Harrie tte\, was among the first people assassinated in the civil rights movement in 1951. DESCRIPTION:Harry Tyson Moore\, born on this day in 1905\, was a civil rig hts activist and NAACP Florida state president who\, alongside his wife Ha rriette\, was among the first people assassinated in the civil rights move ment in 1951. Harriette Moore was also a civil rights activist as well as an elementary school teacher.\n\nThrough his registration activities with the NAACP\, he greatly increased its number of members. Harry Moore also a dvocated for better housing and education\, as well as investigating lynch ings\, filing lawsuits against voter registration barriers\, and fighting for equal pay for black teachers in public schools. In 1946\, Harriette Mo ore and her husband were both fired by the Brevard County public school sy stem and blacklisted due to their political activities.\n\nOn their 25th w edding anniversary (December 25th\, 1951)\, their home in Mims\, Florida w as bombed. The local hospital would not treat black people\, and Harry die d on the way to the nearest one that would\, 30 miles away in Sanford\, Fl orida. Harriette died from her wounds nine days later\, on January 3rd\, 1 952\, at the same hospital. Their deaths were two of the earliest assassin ations in the civil rights movement.\n\nAlthough the Federal Bureau of Inv estigation investigated their murders\, no one was ever prosecuted. A stat e investigation and forensic work in 2005 identified four Ku Klux Klan mem bers who likely committed the bombing\, however they had all been dead for many years. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_T._Moore RESOURCES:https://www.naacp.org/naacp-history-harry-t-and-harriette-moore/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:School of Americas Protest (2007) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251118 DTEND:20251119T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Massacre,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 2007\, a protest against the U.S. Army's School of the Americas (SOA) began when more than 10\,000 demonstrators gathered out side the "School of Assassins" compound at Fort Benning in Georgia. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 2007\, a protest against the U.S. Army's School of the Americas (SOA) began when more than 10\,000 demonstrators gathered outside the military training center at Fort Benning in Georgia.\n\nThe S OA is notorious for providing military training to graduates that later go on to commit atrocities in Latin America - its graduates have played a ke y role in the El Mozote Massacre in El Salvador\, the St. Jean Bosco Massa cre in Haiti\, death squads in Honduras\, and more.\n\nProtesters carried coffins to symbolize what deaths at the hands of former graduates\, and el even people were arrested and charged with criminal trespass. The demonstr ation has been staged annually since 1990 to call for the closure of what participants call the "School of Assassins". RESOURCES:https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/thousands-demand-army- shutter-school/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Hemisphere_Institute_for_S ecurity_Cooperation END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:U.S. Occupies Nicaragua (1909) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251118 DTEND:20251119T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:On this day in 1909\, President Taft sent U.S. warships to oust de mocratically elected Nicaraguan President José Santos Zelaya\, the first time the U.S. had explicitly overthrown a foreign leader\, according to hi storian Stephen Kinzer. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1909\, President William Howard Taft sent U.S. warships to take position against the elected government of Nicaraguan Pre sident José Santos Zelaya. Taft's administration had close relations with U.S. corporations operating in Nicaragua. Those corporations were opposed to the way Zelaya defended the economic interests of his country and the region from exploitation by U.S. businesses.\n\nThe U.S. moved to remove P resident Zelaya after he executed two American citizens who had conspired to commit a revolution against the government. Despite the fact that Zelay a proposed a commission made up of Mexicans and Americans come to Nicaragu a to investigate the executions\, promising to resign if it found him guil ty of any wrongdoing\, President Taft ordered warships to approach both Ni caraguan coasts and marines to assemble in Panama.\n\nZelaya fled the coun try\, stating that he would "give no pretext" to American hostilities. His successor José Madríz was eventually forced to resign by the American f orces\, and followed Zelaya into exile. Historian Stephen Kinzer has writt en the following about the event:\n\n"This was the first time the United S tates government had explicitly orchestrated the overthrow of a foreign le ader. In Hawaii\, an American diplomat had managed the revolution\, but wi thout specific instructions from Washington. In Cuba\, Puerto Rico\, and t he Philippines\, American 'regime change' operations were part of a larger war. The overthrow of President Zelaya in Nicaragua was the first real Am erican coup." RESOURCES:https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/warships-nicaragua/ RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/us-orchestrated-overthrow-nicaraguan- government-1910 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:August Willich (1810 - 1878) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251119 DTEND:20251120T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Labor,Marxism,Birthdays COMMENT:August Willich\, born on this day in 1810\, was a German noblemen turned communist and military officer. Willich renounced his title of nobi lity\, joined the Communist League\, and later served in the American Unio n Army. DESCRIPTION:August Willich\, born on this day in 1810\, was a German noble men turned communist and military officer. Willich renounced his title of nobility\, joined the Communist League\, and later served in the American Union Army.\n\nWillich was born in Braunsberg\, Province of East Prussia\, and took part in the uprising of the German revolutions in 1848-1849. Con verted to republican politics\, Willich's resignation from the military wa s written such that\, instead of it being accepted\, he was arrested and t ried by a court-martial. Willich was eventually acquitted and was permitte d to resign.\n\nWillich joined the Communist League (other members include d Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels)\, but resigned after his suggestion to j oin forces with petit bourgeois democrats Marx and Engels had thrown out w as not implemented. A few days later\, Willich challenged Marx to a duel\, which was declined.\n\nIn the early 1850s\, Willich came to the United St ates and later served as a military officer in the Union Army during the A merican Civil War. Later in life\, he became known as one of the "Ohio Heg elians"\, along with John Bernhard Stallo\, Moncure Daniel Conway\, and Pe ter Kaufmann.\n\n"[Willich] squandered the generous proceeds of his office in visionary business schemes and on his friends\, and retired with very little. His intimate friends say of him that he would throw away a hundred thousand a year if he had it\, and that he could live on a hundred a year if he had to."\n\n- Cincinnati Commercial Tribune RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_Willich RESOURCES:https://www.cincinnatimagazine.com/article/the-baddest-of-all-ci ncinnati-badasses-general-august-willich/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Joe Hill (1879 - 1915) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251119 DTEND:20251120T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,IWW COMMENT:Joe Hill (1879 - 1915) was a Swedish-American labor activist\, son gwriter\, and member of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) who was executed by the state on this day in 1915. DESCRIPTION:Joe Hill (1879 - 1915) was a Swedish-American labor activist\, songwriter\, and member of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) who was executed by the state on this day in 1915. Hill\, an immigrant worker frequently facing unemployment and underemployment\, became a popular song writer and cartoonist for the union.\n\nHis most famous songs include "The Preacher and the Slave"\, "There Is Power in a Union"\, and "Casey Jones - the Union Scab"\, which describes the harsh lives itinerant workers\, an d call for them to organize to improve their working conditions.\n\nIn 191 4\, John G. Morrison\, a Salt Lake City area grocer and former policeman\, and his son were shot and killed by two men. The same evening\, Hill arri ved at a doctor's office with a gunshot wound\, and briefly mentioned a fi ght over a woman.\n\nHe refused to explain further\, even after he was acc used of the grocery store murders on the basis of his injury. Hill was con victed of the murders in a controversial trial and executed on this day in 1915\, despite widespread calls for clemency\, including from President W oodrow Wilson and Helen Keller.\n\nAfter his arrest\, Hill wrote the follo wing about his case: "Owing to the prominence of Mr. Morrison\, there had to be a 'goat' [scapegoat] and the undersigned being\, as they thought\, a friendless tramp\, a Swede\, and worst of all\, an IWW\, had no right to live anyway\, and was therefore duly selected to be 'the goat'." RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Hill RESOURCES:https://aflcio.org/about/history/labor-history-people/joe-hill END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Dr. Robert Hayling (1929 - 2015) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251120 DTEND:20251121T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Civil Rights,Birthdays COMMENT:Dr. Robert Hayling\, born on this day in 1929\, was a key figure i n the civil rights movement of St. Augustine\, Florida and staunch advocat e of armed self-defense within the black community. "We are not going to d ie like Medgar Evers." DESCRIPTION:Dr. Robert B. Hayling\, born on this day in 1929\, has been ha iled as the "father" of St. Augustine's civil rights movement and was a st aunch advocate of armed self-defense within the black community. He organi zed demonstrations and coordinated visiting activists\, including Dr. Mart in Luther King.\n\nDr. Hayling brought direct action to the local chapter of the NAACP by organizing young people into a youth council within the or ganization. At his dental office\, Dr. Hayling taught them methods of nonv iolent activism. He arranged picketing and sit-ins at white-only restauran ts\, and wade-ins at a white-only pool and beach\, and was arrested many t imes for his activism\, as well as being assaulted by the Ku Klux Klan.\n\ nAs he gained a reputation for militancy\, Hayling was threatened with the revocation of his local NAACP chapter's charter by Executive Secretary Ro y Wilkins. Hayling replied\, "I will mail you your charter"\, and vowed to continue his activities without the support of the NAACP.\n\nDr. Hayling is also remembered for this quote: "I and the others have armed. We will s hoot first and answer questions later. We are not going to die like Medgar Evers." Dr. Hayling died in 2015\, at the age of 86. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Hayling RESOURCES:https://www.visitstaugustine.com/history/black_history/dr_robert _hayling/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Norman Thomas (1884 - 1968) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251120 DTEND:20251121T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Socialism,Birthdays COMMENT:Norman Thomas\, born on this day in 1884\, was an American Presbyt erian minister who achieved fame as a socialist activist\, pacifist\, and six-time presidential candidate for the Socialist Party of America. DESCRIPTION:Norman Mattoon Thomas\, born on this day in 1884\, was an Amer ican Presbyterian minister who achieved fame as a socialist activist\, pac ifist\, and six-time presidential candidate for the Socialist Party of Ame rica. Despite being a socialist\, Thomas was a prominent member of the "an ti-Stalinist left" in the U.S.\, seeking to organize with other social dem ocrats such as Walter Reuther in promoting social reform.\n\nHe was prolif ic in his activism and political criticism: in the 1930s\, Thomas campaign ed against racial segregation\, environmental depletion\, anti-labor pract ices\, and in favor of accepting Jewish refugees from Nazi persecution. Wh en the ACLU supported Japanese-American concentration camps during World W ar II\, he accused the organization of "dereliction of duty". Later\, Thom as was also a vehement critic of Israel's policies towards Arabic people.\ n\nThomas wrote several books\, including a passionate defense of World Wa r I conscientious objectors "Is Conscience a Crime?" and a statement of th e 1960s social democratic consensus\, "Socialism Re-examined".\n\nMartin L uther King Jr. called Thomas "one of the bravest men I've ever met". For h is 80th birthday\, King wrote:\n\n"I can think of no man who has done more than you to inspire the vision of a society free of injustice and exploit ation...Your pursuit of racial and economic democracy at home\, and of san ity and peace in the world\, has been awesome in scope. It is with deep ad miration and indebtedness that I carry the inspiration of your life to Osl o." RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Thomas RESOURCES:https://popularresistance.org/the-bravest-man-i-ever-met-by-dr-m artin-luther-king-jr-1965/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Occupation of Alcatraz (1969 - 1971) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251120 DTEND:20251121T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Indigenous,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 1969\, a 19-month long occupation of Alcatraz Islan d began when 89 Native Americans and their supporters\, led by Richard Oak es and Grace Thorpe\, occupied and reclaimed the island as indigenous land . DESCRIPTION:The Occupation of Alcatraz was a 19-month long protest which b egan on this day in 1969\, when 89 Native Americans and their supporters o ccupied and reclaimed Alcatraz Island as indigenous land.\n\nThe protest w as led by Richard Oakes and Grace Thorpe. The group chose the name Indians of All Tribes (IOAT) for themselves and lived on the island together unti l the protest was forcibly ended by the U.S. government.\n\nIOAT claimed t hat\, under the Treaty of Fort Laramie between the U.S. and the Lakota tri be\, all retired\, abandoned\, or out-of-use federal land was returned to the Indians who once occupied it.\n\nBy late May of 1971\, the government had cut off all electrical power and all telephone service to the island. Left without power\, fresh water\, and in the face of diminishing public s upport and sympathy\, the number of occupiers began to dwindle. On June 11 th\, 1971\, a large force of federal officers removed the remaining 15 peo ple from the island. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupation_of_Alcatraz RESOURCES:https://www.kqed.org/news/11788540/a-look-back-at-the-occupation -of-alcatraz-50-years-later END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Alexander Berkman (1870 - 1936) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251121 DTEND:20251122T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Anarchism COMMENT:Alexander Berkman\, born on this day in 1870\, was a leading activ ist and author in the anarchist movement in the early 20th century. "No in telligent radical can fail to realize the need of the rational education o f the young." DESCRIPTION:Alexander Berkman\, born on this day in 1870\, was a leading m ember of the anarchist movement in the early 20th century\, famous for bot h his political activism and his writing. He was the lover and lifelong fr iend of anarchist Emma Goldman. In 1892\, undertaking an act of propaganda of the deed\, Berkman made an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate busines sman Henry Clay Frick\, for which he served 14 years in prison.\n\nBerkman and Goldman were later arrested for conspiring against the draft during W orld War I\, deported to Russia upon their release. Initially supportive o f the Bolshevik revolution\, they soon became disillusioned\, voicing thei r opposition to the Soviets' use of terror after seizing power and their r epression of fellow revolutionaries.\n\nAmong Berkman's most notable works are "Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist" (1912)\, an account of his 14 years in prison after attempting to assassinate Frick\; "The Bolshevik Myth" (19 25)\, describing his experiences in Bolshevist Russia from 1920 to 1922\; "Now and After: The ABC of Communist Anarchism" (1929)\, which anarchist S tuart Christie called "among the best introductions to the ideas of anarch ism in the English language".\n\n"No intelligent radical can fail to reali ze the need of the rational education of the young."\n\n- Alexander Berkma n RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Berkman RESOURCES:https://theanarchistlibrary.org/category/author/alexander-berkma n RESOURCES:http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/34406 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Columbine Massacre (1927) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251121 DTEND:20251122T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:IWW,Massacre COMMENT:On this day in 1927\, the Columbine Massacre took place when a cro wd of more than 500 miners and their supporters in Serene\, Colorado was f ired on by a militia of ex-police officers\, killing six workers. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1927\, the Columbine Massacre took place when a crowd of more than 500 miners and their supporters in Serene\, Colorado w as fired on by a militia of ex-police officers\, killing six workers.\n\nO n October 18th\, 1927\, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) called a strike of all mine workers\, a call which was quickly heeded in Colorado. Nearly all the mines in Colorado were closed\, and the dozen still open d id so using imported scab labor.\n\nFor the still-operating Columbine mine \, scab workers were housed in Serene\, which was fortified with barbed wi re on the fences and armed guards.\n\nMass rallies had been held by miners outside the Columbine mine in Serene for several weeks and\, on November 21st\, 1927\, a crowd of more than five hundred workers was fired on by an ex-cop militia. The militia was armed with machine pistols\, rifles\, rio t guns and tear gas grenades.\n\nThe workers were fired upon after a dispu te on whether or not they could enter the town of Serene. The event is kno wn as the Columbine Massacre. Six people were killed\, all miners. No memb er of the militia was ever held accountable for the violence of that day. RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/history/1927-colorado-miners-strike-and-colum bine-mine-massacre RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbine_Mine_massacre END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Antonio Guiteras (1906 - 1935) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251122 DTEND:20251123T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Birthdays,Anarchism COMMENT:Antonio Guiteras y Holmes\, born on this day in 1906\, was a revol utionary socialist in Cuba during the 1930s who came to prominence as an a ssociate of Julio Mella. Guiteras died in a firefight while attempting to flee the country in 1935. DESCRIPTION:Antonio Guiteras y Holmes\, born on this day in 1906\, was a r evolutionary socialist in Cuba during the 1930s.\n\nBorn in Bala Cynwyd\, Pennsylvania\, USA\, he participated in the radical government installed a fter the overthrow of the autocratic right wing Cuban President Gerardo Ma chado y Morales in 1933. He first became widely known as a student leader and associate of Julio Antonio Mella\, a Cuban Communist revolutionary.\n\ nIn his book "Cuba: A New History"\, the leftist historian Richard Gott wr ote the following about Guiteras:\n\n"Guiteras's views reflected an eclect ic mix of revolutionary influences\, from Auguste Blanqui to Jean Jacques Jaurès. He drew inspiration from the Mexican and the Russian revolutions\ , the struggle in Ireland and Sandino's guerrilla movement in Nicaragua. H e shared the anti-imperialist politics of the age and\, drawing on anarchi st roots\, advocated rural and urban armed struggle\, assaults on army bar racks and the assassination of policemen and members of the government.\n\ nHe was a firm believer in direct action\, the propaganda of the deed\, de rived from Blanqui and the Spanish anarchists\, and was much criticised by the Communists for his voluntarism and his predilection for violence."\n\ nAccording to the New York Times\, Guiteras died in a firefight while tryi ng to flee the country. RESOURCES:http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/cuba-news/guiteras.htm RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_Guiteras END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Bogalusa Sawmill Killings (1919) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251122 DTEND:20251123T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Massacre COMMENT:On this day in 1919\, the "Bogalusa Sawmill Killings" took place i n Thibodaux\, Louisiana\, a massacre of black labor organizers and their w hite allies by the white supremacist paramilitary "Self-Preservation and L oyalty League" (SPLL). DESCRIPTION:The Bogalusa Sawmill Killings was a massacre of labor organize rs by the white paramilitary group "Self-Preservation and Loyalty League" (SPLL) on this day in 1919\, in Thibodaux\, Louisiana.\n\nThe Bogalusa Saw mill employed both white and black workers\, and they had been attempting to form an interracial union for years. To offset labor demands for better wages\, local police would arrest black men nightly for minor crimes and force them to work in the mill at gunpoint.\n\nIn response to the attempte d unionizing efforts\, the company organized racist whites into the SPLL. Company gunmen and the SPLL assaulted union members\, evicted them from co mpany housing\, burned private homes\, and kidnapped and tortured organize rs.\n\nOn November 21st\, they shot up black labor organizer Sol Dacus's h ome. In a show of force the next day\, Dacus marched through the town acco mpanied by white supporters and allies in the labor movement. The SPLL the n murdered four of those white allies\, including one American Federation of Labor (AFL) district representative. Dacus and his family were able to escape to New Orleans.\n\nThis incident was part of a larger period of civ il unrest known as the "American Red Summer of 1919"\, including massacres and riots in Elaine\, Arkansas\, Chicago\, Washington D.C.\, Knoxville\, Tennessee\, Wilmington\, Delaware\, and other cities. RESOURCES:https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/bogalusa-labor-massacre/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bogalusa_sawmill_killings END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Andrew Goodman (1943 - 1964) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251123 DTEND:20251124T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Civil Rights,Birthdays COMMENT:Andrew Goodman\, born on this day in 1943\, was an American social worker who was one of three civil rights activists who were murdered duri ng the Freedom Summer of 1964 by members of the Ku Klux Klan. DESCRIPTION:Andrew Goodman\, born on this day in 1943\, was an American so cial worker who was one of three civil rights activists who were murdered during the Freedom Summer of 1964 by members of the Ku Klux Klan.\n\nIn 19 64\, Goodman volunteered along with fellow activists Michael Schwerner\, h is wife Rita Schwerner Bender\, and James Chaney to work on the "Freedom S ummer" project of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) to register black people to vote in Mississippi. In mid-June\, Goodman joined Schwerner in Meridian\, Mississippi\, where the latter was designated head of the field office. They worked in rural areas on registering black people to vote.\n \nGoodman and fellow civil rights workers Michael Schwerner and James Chan ey were killed near the town of Philadelphia\, Mississippi while investiga ting the burning of Mt. Zion Methodist Church\, which had been a site for a CORE Freedom School.\n\nArrested by the local sheriff\, the trio was rel eased that evening without being allowed to contact anyone. On the road\, they were stopped by patrol lights and two carloads of KKK members\, kidna pped\, tortured\, and killed.\n\nThe sheriff\, along with six others\, wer e indicted and convicted for depriving the three men of their civil rights . No one was held accountable for their murders until 2005\, when outspoke n white supremacist Edgar Ray Killen was convicted on three counts of mans laughter. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Goodman_(activist) RESOURCES:https://mscivilrightsproject.org/neshoba/event-neshoba/the-murde r-of-chaney-goodman-and-schwerner/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Irish Citizen Army Founded (1913) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251123 DTEND:20251124T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:The Irish Citizen Army (ICA)\, founded on this day in 1913\, was a paramilitary group of trained trade union volunteers from the Irish Trans port and General Workers' Union (ITGWU). DESCRIPTION:The Irish Citizen Army (ICA) was a paramilitary group of train ed trade union volunteers from the Irish Transport and General Workers' Un ion (ITGWU)\, founded on this day in 1913. The ICA was founded by James La rkin\, James Connolly\, and Jack White in Dublin\, Ireland\, and establish ed for the defense of workers' demonstrations from the Dublin Metropolitan Police.\n\nThe ICA was first formed in the turmoil of the Lockout of 1913 . The violence at union rallies during the strike prompted Larkin to call for a workers' militia to be formed. During the lockout\, they armed with hurleys and bats to protect workers' demonstrations from the police.\n\nIn 1916\, it took part in the Easter Rising\, an armed insurrection aimed at ending British rule in Ireland. Despite the relatively small size of the army\, it was more organized than the larger Irish Volunteers\, with its m embers receiving superior training and being less affected by factional an d ideological division.\n\nThe ICA became involved in the War of Independe nce\, taking responsibility for parts of Dublin and aiding the Irish Repub lican Army (IRA) in various operations. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_Citizen_Army RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/library/story-irish-citizen-army-sean-ocasey END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Theodore Weld (1803 - 1895) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251123 DTEND:20251124T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Abolitionism COMMENT:Theodore Dwight Weld\, born on this day in 1803\, was one of the a rchitects of the American abolitionist movement during its formative years from 1830 through 1844\, playing a role as a writer\, editor\, speaker\, and organizer. DESCRIPTION:Theodore Dwight Weld\, born on this day in 1803\, was one of t he architects of the American abolitionist movement during its formative y ears from 1830 through 1844\, playing a role as a writer\, editor\, speake r\, and organizer.\n\nWeld is best known for his co-authorship of the auth oritative compendium "American Slavery As It Is: Testimony of a Thousand W itnesses"\, published in 1839. Harriet Beecher Stowe partly based her work "Uncle Tom's Cabin" on Weld's text\, and it is regarded as second only to that work in its influence on the anti-slavery movement.\n\nWeld married fellow abolitionist lecturer Angelina Grimké\, Sarah\, at the home of her sister in Philadelphia and explicitly rejected the legal power of husband over wife.\n\nTheir wedding was the opening event in a week-long abolitio nist celebration. Long excluded from churches and meetings halls for fear of mob violence\, Philadelphia abolitionists had raised $40\,000 to build their own (in Weld's words) "Temple of Freedom." Just four days after the building opened\, a mob burned it to the ground.\n\nWeld continued his abo litionist work after the act of arson\, temporarily moving to Washington D .C. to help anti-slavery efforts there. In 1848\, Theodore\, Angelina\, an d Sarah also started a progressive\, racially integrated school in Bellevi lle\, New Jersey.\n\n"Every man knows that slavery is a curse. Whoever den ies this\, his lips libel his heart."\n\n- Theodore Weld RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_Dwight_Weld RESOURCES:https://www.nationalabolitionhalloffameandmuseum.org/theodore-dw ight-weld.html END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Thibodaux Massacre (1887) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251123 DTEND:20251124T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,Massacre COMMENT:On this day in 1887\, the Thibodaux Massacre took place when white paramilitaries violently suppressed the unionizing efforts of 10\,000 bla ck cane workers in Thibodaux\, Louisiana. The strike was one of the deadli est in U.S. labor history. DESCRIPTION:The Thibodaux Massacre was an incident of violent suppression by white paramilitary forces of the unionizing efforts of 10\,000 black su gar cane workers that took place on this day in 1887\, in Thibodaux\, Loui siana.\n\nThe sugar cane workers\, determined to unionize for a living wag e\, had chosen to strike during the crucial harvest season\, during which there was a narrow window of time to harvest the cane and the planters wou ld be unlikely to find strikebreakers.\n\nJudge Taylor Beattie\, an ex-Con federate soldier and slaveowner\, declared martial law and gathered up hun dreds of white men to form a paramilitary group to suppress the strikers\, close the borders to the city\, and monitor all movement of black people in the area. Not wanting to be boxed in\, black strikers fired on the city border guards. In retaliation\, the paramilitary forces initiated three d ays of violence against mostly unarmed black workers and their families.\n \nEstimates of the total number of dead range from 35-60\, making it one o f the deadliest strikes in American labor history. Despite the women and c hildren killed\, the Southern press heralded the white perpetrators of the violence.\n\nOne participant\, Andrew Price\, went on to be elected to Co ngress. Black farmworkers in the region did not make another large effort to unionize until the 1940s. RESOURCES:https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/the-thibodaux -massacre-november-23-1887/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thibodaux_massacre END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:New York Shirtwaist Strike (1909) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251124 DTEND:20251125T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor COMMENT:On this day in 1909\, the New York Shirtwaist Strike began when 15 \,000 factory workers (mostly Jewish women) walked off the job to demand h igher wages and better working conditions\, the largest U.S. women's strik e ever at that time. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1909\, the New York Shirtwaist Strike began whe n 15\,000 shirtwaist factory workers (mostly Jewish women) walked off the job in New York City to demand higher wages and better working conditions. \n\nThe strike was the largest by female American workers up to that date\ , and was led by Clara Lemlich and the International Ladies' Garment Worke rs' Union\, also supported by the National Women's Trade Union League of A merica (NWTUL).\n\nThe industry working conditions preceding the strike we re atrocious - work weeks of 65 hours were normal\, and in season they mig ht expand to as many as 75 hours. Despite low wages\, workers were often r equired to buy their own materials\, including needles\, thread\, and sewi ng machines.\n\nIn February of 1910\, the NWTUL settled with the factory o wners\, gaining improved wages\, working conditions\, and hours. The end o f the strike was followed just a year later by the Triangle Shirtwaist Fac tory Fire\, which exposed the plight of immigrant women working in dangero us and difficult conditions and boosted participation in the garment union s. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_shirtwaist_strike_of_1909 RESOURCES:http://projects.leadr.msu.edu/makingmodernus/exhibits/show/the-t riangle-shirtwaist-factor/new-york-shirtwaist-strike-of- END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Operation Dragon Rouge (1964) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251124 DTEND:20251125T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Assassinations COMMENT:On this day in 1964\, during the Congo Crisis\, Belgian and U.S. f orces initiated "Operation Dragon Rouge"\, a hostage rescue operation on b ehalf of hundreds of Belgian and American civilians captured by anti-capit alist Simba rebels. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1964\, during the Congo Crisis\, Belgian and U. S. forces initiated "Operation Dragon Rouge"\, a hostage rescue operation on behalf of hundreds of Belgian and American civilians captured by anti-c apitalist Simba rebels.\n\nThe event took place in the context of widespre ad political instability within the Democratic Republic of the Congo follo wing the Belgian-backed assassination of former leader Patrice Lumumba in 1961. The Simbas\, comprised of Lumumba supporters\, launched a rebellion against the West-backed state that subsequently formed\, capturing much of eastern Congo\, enjoying material support from Che Guevara\, and proclaim ing a "People's Republic".\n\nOn October 28th\, 1964\, facing the possibil ity of defeat\, Simba rebels arrested all of the Belgians and Americans in Stanleyville\, several hundred people\, and placed them under guard in th e Victoria Hotel.\n\nIn the early morning of November 24th\, 1964\, five A merican C-130 Hercules planes dropped 320 Belgian paratroopers of the Para commando Regiment onto the airfield at Stanleyville\, beginning a rescue o peration known as "Operation Dragon Rouge". In total\, 24 hostages were ki lled and approximately 1\,600 foreign nationals and 150 Congolese civilian s were evacuated.\n\nThe Simba rebels were largely defeated in 1965\, alth ough some groups remained active for decades afterward. Several hundred ex -Simba rebels later immigrated to Cuba\, leading to the emergence of a Cub an-Congolese community. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Dragon_Rouge RESOURCES:https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA094969.pdf END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Ba Jin (1904 - 2005) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251125 DTEND:20251126T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Anarchism COMMENT:Li Yaotang\, better known by his pen name Ba Jin\, was an anarchis t Chinese author\, activist\, and political dissident born on this day in 1904. Persecuted during the Cultural Revolution\, Ba Jin was later rehabil itated in 1977. DESCRIPTION:Li Yaotang\, better known by his pen name Ba Jin\, was an anar chist Chinese author\, activist\, and political dissident born on this day in 1904. Persecuted during the Cultural Revolution\, Ba Jin was later reh abilitated in 1977.\n\nInfluenced by Peter Kropotkin\, Ba Jin's politics d rew heavily from anarchist political thinking. From 1927 to 1928\, Ba Jin lived in France\, meeting many anarchists\, including Alexander Berkman\, translating some of his works.\n\nBa Jin was persecuted by Mao's Cultural Revolution - he was forced to rewrite some of his works accommodate state policy and his wife died while being denied medical care by the government . He was officially rehabilitated by the state in 1977 and went on to serv e as chairman of the Chinese Writers' Association.\n\n"My pen is alight an d my body aflame. Until both burn down to ash\, my love and my hate will r emain here in the world."\n\n- Ba Jin RESOURCES:https://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/4xgxxt RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ba_Jin END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Juliet Stuart Poyntz (1886 - 1937) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251125 DTEND:20251126T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Labor,Birthdays COMMENT:Juliet Stuart Poyntz\, born on this day in 1886\, was an American suffragist\, trade unionist\, and co-founder of the CPUSA. Later\, she wor ked as an intelligence agent for the USSR\, but disappeared in 1937. DESCRIPTION:Juliet Stuart Poyntz\, born on this day in 1886\, was an Ameri can suffragist\, trade unionist\, and co-founder of the Communist Party Un ited States of America (CPUSA). Later\, she worked as an intelligence agen t for the USSR\, but disappeared in 1937.\n\nJuliet Poyntz was born in Oma ha\, Nebraska and later attended Barnard College in New York City. She was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). As a student and university teacher\, Poyntz espoused many radical causes and went on t o become a co-founder of the Communist Party of the United States (CPUSA). \n\nDuring the 1910s\, Poyntz worked with the International Ladies Garment Workers Union (ILGWU)\, becoming education director of the ILGWU's Worker 's University. In the 1920s\, Poyntz was on the staff of the Friends of th e Soviet Union and International Labor Defense.\n\nPoyntz also served as a n intelligence agent for the Soviet Union. In 1936\, Poyntz secretly trave led to Moscow to receive further instructions from Soviet authorities\, an d was seen there in the company of George Mink (alias Minkoff)\, an Americ an later implicated in the disappearance of several Trotkskyists during th e Spanish Civil War.\n\nOn June 3rd\, 1937\, Poyntz disappeared after leav ing the American Woman's Association Clubhouse at 353 West 57th Street in Manhattan\, New York City. Multiple colleagues of Poyntz\, including Benja min Gitlow\, co-founder of the CPUSA later turned reactionary\, and Carlo Tresca\, Italian-American anarchist\, claimed Poyntz returned from her tri p a critic of Stalin\, having witnessed the purges from that period.\n\nIn 1938\, Tresca formally accused the Soviet Union of having assassinated Po yntz\, claims that were published by the New York Times. Various Soviet de fectors and ex-communists also claimed that she was assassinated by the US SR\, including Whittaker Chambers\, Walter Krivitsky\, Benjamin Gitlow\, a nd Elizabeth Bentley. Her body was never found.\n\n"I am still a woman's s uffragist or worse still a Feminist and also a Socialist (also of the wors t brand)."\n\n- Juliet Stuart Poyntz RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juliet_Stuart_Poyntz RESOURCES:https://spartacus-educational.com/Juliet_Poyntz.htm RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/archive/dewar/assassins/ch07.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Mirabal Sisters Assassinated (1960) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251125 DTEND:20251126T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Assassinations COMMENT:On this day in 1960\, three of the Mirabal Sisters\, four revoluti onary Dominican women who opposed the dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo\, we re assassinated by his government\, their deaths framed as suicides. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1960\, three of the Mirabal Sisters\, four revo lutionary Dominican women who opposed the dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo\ , were assassinated by his government\, their deaths framed as suicides.\n \nOne the four sisters - Patria\, Minerva\, María Teresa\, and Dedé - on ly Dedé survived\, dying of natural causes in 2014.\n\nTo organize agains t the state\, Minerva\, María Teresa\, and Patria began distributing pamp hlets about the many people whom Trujillo had killed\, also obtaining mate rials for guns and bombs for use when they eventually openly revolted.\n\n The sisters called themselves "Las Mariposas" ("The Butterflies")\, after Minerva's underground name. For their acts of subversion\, María\, Minerv a\, both of their husbands\, and Patria's husband were all imprisoned.\n\n After being freed\, Patria\, Minerva\, María Teresa\, and their driver\, Rufino de la Cruz\, were attacked after visiting María's and Minerva's in carcerated husbands. On the way home\, the sisters and de la Cruz were sep arated\, strangled\, and clubbed to death by state forces.\n\nThe bodies w ere then gathered and put in their Jeep\, which was run off the mountain r oad in an attempt to make their deaths look like an accident.\n\nThe assas sinations turned the Mirabal sisters into "symbols of both popular and fem inist resistance"\, according to the New York Times. In their honor\, the United Nations General Assembly designated the 25th of November as "Intern ational Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women" in 1999. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirabal_sisters RESOURCES:https://daily.jstor.org/remembering-the-mirabal-sisters/ RESOURCES:https://time.com/5793594/mirabal-sisters-100-women-of-the-year/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Gerrit van der Veen (1902 - 1944) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251126 DTEND:20251127T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Fascism COMMENT:Gerrit van der Veen\, born on this day in 1902\, was a Dutch anti- fascist sculptor who was assassinated by the Nazis after a failed attempt to free his comrades from prison. Van der Veen helped forge more than 80\, 000 ethnic identity papers. DESCRIPTION:Gerrit van der Veen\, born on this day in 1902\, was a Dutch a nti-fascist sculptor who was assassinated by the Nazis after a failed atte mpt to free his comrades from prison. Van der Veen helped forge more than 80\,000 ethnic identity papers.\n\nDutch historian Robert-Jan van Pelt has written the following about van der Veen:\n\n"In 1940\, after the German occupation\, van der Veen was one of the few who refused to sign the so-ca lled "Arierverklaring"\, the Declaration of Aryan Ancestry. In the years t hat followed\, he tried to help Jews both in practical and symbolic ways.\ n\nTogether with the musician Jan van Gilse and the (openly homosexual) ar tist\, art historian\, and critic Willem Arondeus\, van der Veen establish ed the underground organization De Vrije Kunstenaar (The Free Artist).\n\n Van der Veen and the other artists published a newsletter calling for resi stance against the occupation. When the Germans introduced identity docume nts (Persoonsbewijzen) that distinguished between Jews and non-Jews\, van der Veen\, Arondeus and the printer Frans Duwaer produced some 80\,000 fal se identity papers."\n\nVan der Veen tried to escape his comrades from pri son in May 1944\, but the attempt failed and van der Veen was paralyzed af ter being shot. He was arrested a few weeks later and then executed on Jun e 10th\, 1944. In May 1946\, he was awarded the Dutch Cross of Resistance. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrit_van_der_Veen RESOURCES:https://gerritvdveen.nl/school/school-verzetsheld/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Herman Gorter (1864 - 1927) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251126 DTEND:20251127T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Marxism,Birthdays COMMENT:Herman Gorter\, born on this day in 1864\, was a prominent Dutch p oet and communist. "[Lenin's] words will be an incentive to me...to base m y judgement in all matters of tactics...exclusively on reality\, on the ac tual class-relations". DESCRIPTION:Herman Gorter\, born on this day in 1864\, was a prominent Dut ch poet and council communist. He was a leading member of the "Tachtigers" \, a highly influential group of Dutch writers who worked together in Amst erdam in the 1880s.\n\nGorter's first book\, a 4\,000 verse epic poem call ed "Mei" (May)\, helped establish his reputation as a great writer upon it s publication in 1889\, and is regarded by critics as the pinnacle of Dutc h Impressionist literature.\n\nGorter was also an outspoken advocate of re volutionary communism and Marxist theory. In 1917\, he hailed the Russian Revolution as the beginning of that global revolution and had corresponden ce with Lenin on multiple occasions\, wishing him well and asking for his support in condemning Dutch social democrats for not condemning American i mperialism.\n\nLenin sent Gorter a copy of "State and Revolution" in respo nse\, which Gorter then offered to translate.\n\n"Your words will be an in centive to me\, once again\, and to an even greater extent than before\, t o base my judgement in all matters of tactics\, also in the revolution\, e xclusively on reality\, on the actual class-relations\, as they manifest t hemselves politically and economically."\n\n- Herman Gorter\, in "Open Let ter to Comrade Lenin" RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herman_Gorter RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/library/life-struggle-farewell-herman-gorter- anton-pannekoek END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Indian General Strike (2020) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251126 DTEND:20251127T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Labor,General Strikes,Protests COMMENT:On this day in 2020\, the largest strike in world history began in India when 250 million workers from across the country struck both in sol idarity with farmers protesting en masse and to demand better working cond itions for themselves. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 2020\, the largest strike in world history bega n in India when 250 million workers from across the country struck both in solidarity with farmers protesting en masse and to demand better working conditions for themselves.\n\nThe strike took place following months of pr otest from Indian farmers\, a response to three farm acts passed by the Pa rliament of India in September 2020. According to protesters\, the farm ac ts would leave small farmers\, the vast majority\, at the mercy of large c orporations. Poor farmers were already desperate before the laws were pass ed - in 2019 alone\, 10\,281 agricultural workers committed suicide.\n\nDo zens of farm unions began organizing protests demanding the repeal of thes e laws. After failing to get the support of their respective state governm ents\, the farmers decided to pressure the Central Government by marching to Delhi en masse.\n\nThe farmers arrived at Delhi on November 25th\, 2020 and were met by police\, who employed the use of tear gas and water canno ns\, dug up roads\, and used layers of barricades and sand barriers to try and stop their march.\n\nOn November 26th\, 250 million workers from all over the country initiated a general strike in solidarity with the farmer' s struggle. According to Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research\, t rade unions issued a twelve-point charter of demands which included "the r eversal of the anti-worker\, anti-farmer laws pushed by the government in September\, the reversal of the privatisation of major government enterpri ses\, and immediate [Covid] relief for the population".\n\nFarmer protests continued for more than a year\, featuring mass marches\, clashes with po lice\, and many failed negotiations between farmers' unions and the govern ment. Rakesh Tikait\, a leader with Bharatiya Kisan Union (English: Indian Farmers' Union) stated in October 2021 that approximately 750 participant s have died in the protest.\n\nAmong the dead was a Senior Superintendent of Police in the city of Sonepat\, who committed suicide\, saying he could not bear the pain of the farmers. His suicide note read "Bullets fired fr om the guns kill only those whom they strike. The bullet of injustice\, ho wever\, kills many with a single stroke... It is humiliating to suffer inj ustice."\n\nIn a televised address on November 19th\, 2021\, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated that his government would repeal the three a cts in the upcoming winter parliamentary session in December. The national spokesperson of the Bharatiya Kisan Union\, Rakesh Tikait\, stated the pr otests would only cease once the laws were repealed.\n\nThe film actor Dee p Sidhu also joined the protests\, and was quoted as having told a police officer the following: "Ye inquilab hai. This is a revolution. If you take away farmers' land\, then what do they have left? Only debt." RESOURCES:https://thetricontinental.org/newsletterissue/49-general-strike- india/ RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020%E2%80%932021_Indian_farmers%2 7_protest END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Sarah Grimké (1792 - 1873) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251126 DTEND:20251127T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Abolitionism COMMENT:Sarah Grimké\, born on this day in 1792\, was a prominent America n feminist and abolitionist. "All I ask of [men] is that they will take th eir feet from off our necks and permit us to stand upright on the ground.. ." DESCRIPTION:Sarah Moore Grimké\, born on this day in 1792\, was an Americ an abolitionist\, also widely held to be one of the mothers of the women's suffrage movement.\n\nBorn and raised in South Carolina to a prominent\, slave-owning planter family\, she moved to Philadelphia\, Pennsylvania\, i n the 1820s and became a Quaker. She and her sister Angelina Grimké are t wo of the very few white Southern women who became prominent abolitionists .\n\nHere is an excerpt from a series of articles she wrote\, titled "Lett ers on the Condition of Women and the Equality of the Sexes" (1838):\n\n"I ask no favors for my sex\, I surrender not our claim to equality. All I a sk of our brethren is that they will take their feet from off our necks\, and permit us to stand upright on the ground which God has designed us to occupy...To me\, it is perfectly clear that whatsoever it is morally right for a man to do\, it is morally right for a woman to do." RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Moore_Grimk%C3%A9 RESOURCES:https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/sa rah-moore-grimke END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Free Territory of Ukraine (1917) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251127 DTEND:20251128T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Anarchism COMMENT:Makhnovia\, also known as the Free Territory of Ukraine\, was an a narchist society established on this day in 1917 with the capture of the U krainian city of Huliaipole. The territory lasted 3 years before being ove rwhelmed by the Red Army. DESCRIPTION:Makhnovia\, also known as the Free Territory of Ukraine\, was an anarchist society established on this day in 1917 with the capture of t he Ukrainian city of Huliaipole.\n\nThe Free Territory was an attempt to f orm a stateless anarchist society during the Ukrainian Revolution of 1917 to 1921\, during which time "free soviets" and libertarian communes operat ed under the protection of Nestor Makhno's Revolutionary Insurrectionary A rmy (flag shown above).\n\nAs Makhnovia self-organized along anarchist pri nciples\, references to "control" and "government" were highly contentious . For example\, the Makhnovists\, often cited as a form of government (wit h Nestor Makhno as their "leader")\, were ostensibly organized to serve in a purely military role\, with Makhno himself functioning as more of a str ategist than commander.\n\nThe economy of Makhnovia varied by region\, fro m "market socialism" to anarcho-communism in character. Where money was us ed\, production was often organized in the form of worker cooperatives.\n\ nThe Bolsheviks were openly hostile to the Free Territory. On November 26t h\, 1920\, less than two weeks after the Revolutionary Insurrectionary Arm y assisted Bolshevik forces in defeating the White Army\, Makhno's headqua rters staff and many of his subordinate commanders were arrested at a Red Army planning conference to which they had been invited by Moscow\, and ex ecuted.\n\nMakhno himself fled the region several months later\, settling in Paris\, France. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Makhnovia RESOURCES:https://libcom.org/library/nestro-makhno-russian-civil-war RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/makhno-nestor/index.h tm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Harvey Milk Assassinated (1978) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251127 DTEND:20251128T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Assassinations COMMENT:Harvey Milk\, assassinated on this day in 1978\, was the first ope nly gay elected official in California history\, serving on the San Franci sco Board of Supervisors. DESCRIPTION:Harvey Bernard Milk (1930 - 1978) was the first openly gay ele cted official in the history of California\, elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors\, and was assassinated on this day in 1978. Although he achieved national renown as one of the most pro-LGBT politicians in the United States at the time\, politics was something Milk came to later in life\, after his experiences with the counterculture movement of the 1960s .\n\nIn 1972\, Milk moved from New York City to the Castro District of San Francisco and took advantage of the growing political and economic power of the neighborhood to promote his activism. Milk unsuccessfully ran for o ffice three times\, but finally won a seat as a city supervisor in 1977.\n \nMilk was assassinated on this day in 1978\, after only eleven months in office. He was killed by Dan White\, a disgruntled former city supervisor. \n\nDuring Milk's short time in office\, he sponsored a bill banning discr imination in public accommodations\, housing\, and employment on the basis of sexual orientation. After his death\, Milk became an icon in San Franc isco and a martyr for the gay community.\n\nIn 2021\, the U.S. Navy launch ed a ship named after Harvey Milk\, who had been discharged from the Navy during the Korean War after being questioned about his sexual orientation. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvey_Milk RESOURCES:http://milkfoundation.org/about/harvey-milk-biography/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Faye Schulman (1919 - 2021) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251128 DTEND:20251129T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Marxism,Birthdays,Massacre,Fascism COMMENT:Faye Schulman\, born on this day in 1919\, was a Jewish partisan w ho took up arms against the Nazis responsible for killing her family. "I w ant people to know that there was resistance. Jews did not go like sheep t o the slaughter." DESCRIPTION:Faye Schulman\, born on this day in 1919\, was a Jewish partis an and photographer who took up arms against the Nazis who were responsibl e for killing her family.\n\nOn August 14th\, 1942\, the Germans killed 1\ ,850 Jews from the "Lenin" ghetto (named after Lenin\, Poland\, where Faye was from)\, including her parents\, sisters\, and younger brother. Faye w as spared for her ability to develop photographs\, and the Nazis ordered F aye to develop their photographs of the massacre. Later\, she cited taking a photo of her dead family in a mass grave as the impetus to take up arms .\n\nDuring a partisan raid on the camp\, Faye fled to the forests and joi ned the Molotava Brigade\, a partisan group mostly comprised of escaped So viet Red Army POWs. She was accepted because her brother-in-law had been a doctor and they were desperate for anyone who knew anything about medicin e. Faye served the group as a nurse from September 1942 to July 1944\, eve n though she had no previous medical experience.\n\nDuring another raid on the Lenin ghetto\, Faye succeeded in recovering her old photographic equi pment. During the next two years\, she took over a hundred photographs\, d eveloping the medium format negatives under blankets and making "sun print s" during the day. While on missions\, Faye buried the camera and tripod t o keep it safe. Schulman is the only known Jewish partisan photographer fr om this era.\n\nAfter the war\, Faye and her husband Morris left for a dis placed-persons camp in West Germany\, where they smuggled people and weapo ns to support the movement for an independent Israel\, making plans to emi grate to British-controlled Palestine themselves.\n\n"I want people to kno w that there was resistance. Jews did not go like sheep to the slaughter. I was a photographer. I have pictures. I have proof."\n\n- Faye Schulman RESOURCES:https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/faye-schulman RESOURCES:https://www.pbs.org/daringtoresist/fayeb.html END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Friedrich Engels (1820 - 1895) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251128 DTEND:20251129T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Communism,Marxism,Birthdays COMMENT:Friedrich Engels\, born on this day in 1820\, was a German philoso pher\, journalist\, and revolutionary socialist who co-authored the "Commu nist Manifesto" and edited Marx's "Das Kapital". "An ounce of action is wo rth a ton of theory." DESCRIPTION:Friedrich Engels\, born on this day in 1820\, was a German phi losopher\, journalist\, and revolutionary socialist who collaborated with Karl Marx\, co-authoring the "Communist Manifesto" and editing Marx's "Das Kapital".\n\nEngels was born in Barmen\, Rhine Province\, Prussia (now Wu ppertal\, Germany)\, to a wealthy family. His father owned large textile f actories in Barmen and Salford\, England. His revolutionary predilections (and later\, his atheistic beliefs) put him at odds with his family\, who expected Engels to inherit the family business.\n\nEngels' career became i ntertwined with Marx's when he began writing articles for "Rheinische Zeit ung"\, a German newspaper that Karl Marx edited. In 1845\, Engels publishe d "The Condition of the Working Class in England"\, based on personal obse rvations and research of poverty and disease in English cities. In 1848\, Engels co-authored the "Communist Manifesto" with Marx.\n\nLater\, Engels supported Marx financially\, allowing him to perform research and write "D as Kapital". After Marx's death\, Engels edited the second and third volum es of "Das Kapital".\n\nAdditionally\, Engels organized Marx's notes into "Theories of Surplus Value"\, which were later published as the fourth vol ume of "Das Kapital". In 1884\, he published "The Origin of the Family"\, Private Property and the State"\, based on Marx's ethnographic research.\n \n"An ounce of action is worth a ton of theory."\n\n- Friedrich Engels RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Engels RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/bio/engels/en-1893.htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Théophile Ferré Executed (1871) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251128 DTEND:20251129T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES: COMMENT:Théophile Ferré was a leader of the Paris Commune who was execut ed by the French government on this day in 1871. Ferré personally authori zed the execution of the archbishop of Paris and was the first of 25 Commu nards to be executed. DESCRIPTION:Théophile Ferré was a leader of the Paris Commune who was ex ecuted by the French government on this day in 1871. Ferré personally aut horized the execution of the archbishop of Paris and was the first of 25 C ommunards to be executed.\n\nLittle is known about Ferré's early life\, b efore his participation in the Paris Commune. After Paris was seized by re volutionaries in March 1871\, Ferré served on the Commune's Committee of Public Safety\, a body given extensive powers to hunt down enemies of the Commune.\n\nOn April 5th\, the Commune passed a decree that authorized the arrest of any person thought to be loyal to the French government in Vers ailles\, to be held as hostages. Prominent figures arrested included a Cat holic priest Georges Darboy and the archbishop of Paris. The Commune hoped to exchange their hostages for Louis-Auguste Blanqui\, a revolutionary an d honorary President of the Commune\, imprisoned by the state.\n\nFollowin g the events of the "Bloody Week"\, in which the French government summari ly executed many suspected Communards\, Ferré authorized the execution of several hostages\, including Darboy and the archbishop.\n\nAfter the resi stance of the Commune collapsed\, Ferré was captured by the army\, tried by a military court\, and sentenced to death. On November 28th\, 1871\, he was shot at Satory\, an army camp southwest of Versailles. He was the fir st of twenty-five Communards to be executed for their role in the Paris Co mmune. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Th%C3%A9ophile_Ferr%C3%A9 RESOURCES:https://www.marxists.org/history/france/archive/lissagaray/index .htm END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Lau Mazirel (1907 - 1974) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251129 DTEND:20251130T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Fascism COMMENT:Lau Mazirel\, born on this day in 1907\, was a member of the anti- Nazi Dutch resistance during WWII who helped organize a bombing campaign\, jumped on transport trains to rescue Jewish children\, and advocated for queer and Romani people. DESCRIPTION:Lau Mazirel\, born on this day in 1907\, was a member of the a nti-Nazi Dutch resistance during WWII who helped organize a bombing campai gn\, jumped on transport trains to rescue Jewish children\, and advocated for queer and Romani people.\n\nMazirel was born to pacifists who helped r efugees during World War I\, growing up in the southern province of Limbur g. In 1929\, she moved to Amsterdam\, where she became an active member of the social democratic student organization Sociaal Democratische Studente n Club (SDSC) and the social democratic party Sociaal-Democratische Arbeid erspartij (SDAP).\n\nAmong Mazirel's efforts as part of the anti-Nazi resi stance in the Netherlands were helping organize the 1943 bombing of the Am sterdam civil registry office\, rescuing Jewish children from concentratio n camp trains\, and using her law firm to focus on cases involving refugee s and immigrants. Her law office was raided three times by the Nazi state. In 1944\, Mazirel was arrested and served six weeks in prison.\n\nMazirel was also an early advocate of both LGBT rights and the rights of Romani p eople. After World War II\, she served as attorney for the LGBT rights org anisation Cultuur en Ontspanningscentrum (COC)\, founded in 1946. She also fought against the racist 1968 "Woonwagenwet" legislation\, which targete d Romani people.\n\n"I wish there were people who would take over from me\ , who would go and see for themselves\, seeing and realizing why I scream so loud and still have to deal with refugees for the genocide."\n\n- Lau M azirel RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lau_Mazirel RESOURCES:https://socialhistory.org/bwsa/biografie/mazirel END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:My Trach Massacre (1947) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251129 DTEND:20251130T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Colonialism,Massacre COMMENT:On this day in 1947\, the My Trach Massacre took place when French colonizers attacked the centuries-old village of My Trach\, murdering hal f of its population\, raping women\, and burning 326 homes. 157 of those k illed were children. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1947\, the My Trach Massacre took place when Fr ench colonizers attacked the centuries-old village of My Trach\, murdering half of its population (raping the women before they were killed) and bur ning 326 homes. 157 of those killed were children.\n\nMỹ Trạch village is located in Mỹ Thủy commune\, Lệ Thủy District\, Quảng Bình Province\, Vietnam. The massacre was carried out by the French army during French colonial rule in the country.\n\nThe attack took place early in th e morning on November 29th\, 1947. French soldiers burned 326 houses and m ore than half of the village's residents were killed. Many women were rape d by the French soldiers before being killed\, and 157 of those killed wer e children.\n\nThe location of the massacre was in the foot of Mỹ Trạc h Bridge\, a bridge on the North–South Railway\, next to Mỹ Trạch Ra ilway Station. The victims were forced to the foot of the bridge and lined up before being killed with machine gun fire.\n\nToday\, November 29th is mourned annually as "Hatred Date" by the village's residents. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%E1%BB%B9_Tr%E1%BA%A1ch_massacre RESOURCES:https://thanhnien.vn/ve-tham-lang-my-trach-post810149.html END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Sand Creek Massacre (1864) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251129 DTEND:20251130T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Indigenous,Massacre COMMENT:On this day in 1864\, the Sand Creek Massacre began when the U.S. Army attacked a village of Cheyenne and Arapaho people in Colorado\, mutil ating and killing hundreds of indigenous people\, 2/3rds of whom were wome n and children. DESCRIPTION:On this day in 1864\, the Sand Creek Massacre began when the U .S. Army attacked a village of Cheyenne and Arapaho people in Colorado\, m utilating and killing hundreds of indigenous people\, 2/3rds of whom were women and children.\n\nThe attack began when a 675-man force of the Third Colorado Cavalry descended on the village in southeastern Colorado Territo ry\, indiscriminately killing all present. This violence took place despit e the fact that Black Kettle\, a chief known for advocating peace\, was fl ying a U.S. and white flag over his lodge to forestall any possible attack .\n\nTwo officers of the attacking forces\, Captain Silas Soule and Lieute nant Joseph Cramer\, refused to obey the order to attack the camp. The res t of the soldiers complied\, killing all present\, regardless of age. They murdered children and took trophies\, cutting off the fingers\, ears\, no ses\, and testicles of the fallen as keepsakes.\n\nChief Ochinee (One-Eye) managed to escape from the camp\, but\, seeing the massacre unfolding\, r eturned to die with his people. A survivor of the massacre\, a 24-year old woman named Mochni\, became a warrior afterward\, participating in raids against colonizers until her incarceration and death.\n\nMany people who h ad previously supported peace with the United States joined the "Dog Soldi ers"\, an indigenous group that engaged against guerilla warfare against t he state and would-be settlers on their land. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sand_Creek_massacre RESOURCES:https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/horrific-sand-creek-massa cre-will-be-forgotten-no-more-180953403/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Abbie Hoffman (1936 - 1989) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251130 DTEND:20251201T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Riots COMMENT:Abbie Hoffman\, born on this day in 1936\, was an American politic al activist\, anarchist\, socialist\, and revolutionary who co-founded the Youth International Party ("Yippies"). His FBI file was 13\,262 pages lon g. DESCRIPTION:Abbot "Abbie" Howard Hoffman\, born on this day in 1936\, was an American political activist\, anarchist\, socialist\, and revolutionary who co-founded the Youth International Party ("Yippies"). His FBI file wa s 13\,262 pages long.\n\nHoffman was arrested and tried for conspiracy and inciting to riot as a result of his role in anti-Vietnam War protests\, w hich were met by a violent police riot during the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. He was among the group that came to be known as th e Chicago Eight\, which included future California state senator Tom Hayde n and Black Panther Party co-founder Bobby Seale.\n\nAs a prominent left-w ing dissident and leader of the counter-culture movement\, Hoffman's perso nal life drew a great deal of surveillance from the Federal Bureau of Inve stigation - its file on him was 13\,262 pages long. He committed suicide i n 1989.\n\nMR. WEINGLASS: "Between the date of your birth\, November 30th\ , 1936\, and May 1st\, 1960\, what if anything occurred in your life?"\n\n HOFFMAN: "Nothing. I believe it is called an American education."\n\n- Abb ie Hoffman\, from the Chicago 7 trial RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbie_Hoffman RESOURCES:https://www.britannica.com/biography/Abbie-Hoffman RESOURCES:https://archive.org/stream/pdfy-TNlDHryRIk4DXKAU/Steal%20This%20 Book_djvu.txt END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Charlie Clements (1945 - ) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251130 DTEND:20251201T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays COMMENT:Charlie Clements\, born on this day in 1945\, is a retired America n physician and human rights activist who was committed to a psych ward af ter refusing to fly missions in Cambodia during the Vietnam War. DESCRIPTION:Charlie Clements\, born on this day in 1945\, is a retired Ame rican physician and human rights activist who was committed to a psych war d after refusing to fly missions in Cambodia during the Vietnam War.\n\nTh e decision came after flying more than 50 missions as a pilot in the war\, and Clements refused to participate in the invasion of Cambodia on moral grounds. The Air Force responded by committing him to a psychiatric hospit al\, and he was subsequently declared to have a 10% mental disability and discharged.\n\nAfterward\, Clements became a trained physician\, connectin g the struggle for social justice to his medical practice. After learning of the U.S.-backed death squads in El Salvador\, Clements traveled to an a rea controlled by the Salvadoran guerrilla resistance group Farabundo Mart í National Liberation Front (FMLN)\, to care the wounded.\n\nDr. Clements has served as president of both the Unitarian Universalist Service Commit tee and Physicians for Human Rights\, a US-based not-for-profit that uses medicine and science to document and advocate against mass atrocities and severe human rights violations around the world. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Clements_(physician) RESOURCES:https://www.americanswhotellthetruth.org/portraits/charlie-cleme nts END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Mark Twain (1835 - 1910) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251130 DTEND:20251201T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays,Imperialism COMMENT:Mark Twain\, born on this day in 1835\, was an American author and anti-imperialist. Initially supportive of U.S. imperialism\, Twain change d his mind after the Spanish-American War\, serving as VP of the American Anti-Imperialist League. DESCRIPTION:Samuel Clemens\, better known by his pen name Mark Twain\, was an American writer\, humorist\, and anti-imperialist born on this day in 1835. He was lauded as the "greatest humorist [the United States] has prod uced"\, and William Faulkner called him "the father of American literature ". After 1899\, he was also a committed anti-imperialist and anti-racist.\ n\nBefore 1899\, however\, he supported imperialism\, calling the Spanish War "the worthiest" war the U.S. ever fought. In the New York Herald\, he described his anti-imperialism epiphany like this:\n\n"I wanted the Americ an eagle to go screaming into the Pacific ... Why not spread its wings ove r the Philippines\, I asked myself? ... I said to myself\, Here are a peop le who have suffered for three centuries. We can make them as free as ours elves\, give them a government and country of their own\, put a miniature of the American Constitution afloat in the Pacific\, start a brand new rep ublic to take its place among the free nations of the world. It seemed to me a great task to which we had addressed ourselves."\n\n"But I have thoug ht some more\, since then\, and I have read carefully the treaty of Paris [which ended the Spanish-American War]\, and I have seen that we do not in tend to free\, but to subjugate the people of the Philippines. We have gon e there to conquer\, not to redeem."\n\nFrom 1901 until his death in 1910\ , Twain was vice-president of the American Anti-Imperialist League\, which believed that there is a fundamental contradiction between the ideas upon which the American republic was founded and designs for colonial expansio n being advanced by the nation's contemporary political leaders. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Twain#Anti-imperialist RESOURCES:https://www.commondreams.org/views/2003/04/15/mark-twain-speaks- us-i-am-anti-imperialist END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Seattle WTO Protests (1999) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251130 DTEND:20251201T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Anarchism,Protests COMMENT:The Seattle WTO protests were a series of large anti-globalization protests that began on this day in 1999. More than 500 people were arrest ed\, the controversial police response later compelled the Seattle Police Chief to resign. DESCRIPTION:The Seattle WTO protests\, sometimes referred to as the "Battl e of Seattle"\, were a series of large anti-globalization protests that be gan on this day in 1999. Protesters surrounded the WTO Ministerial Confere nce\, which was to be the launch of a new millennial round of trade negoti ations. The negotiations were quickly overshadowed by the massive street p rotests outside the hotels and the Washington State Convention and Trade C enter\, estimated to have more than 40\,000 participants.\n\nThe protests were a mix of permitted rallies and marches (involving the AFL-CIO) and di rect action from anarchists and other political radicals. By noon\, the op ening ceremony of the conference had been canceled due to protest control and vandalism of intersections downtown\, and that night the Mayor declare d a state of emergency. Police began gassing and arresting people indiscri minately\, sometimes targeting bystanders who weren't participating in the protests. By December 1st\, 500 people had been jailed.\n\nTo many in Nor th American anarchist and radical circles\, the Seattle WTO riots\, protes ts\, and demonstrations were viewed as a success - prior to the "Battle of Seattle"\, almost no mention was made of "anti-globalization" in the U.S. media\, while the protests were seen as having forced the media to report on 'why' anybody would oppose the WTO. Controversy over the city's respon se to the protests resulted in the resignation of the police chief of Seat tle\, Norm Stamper. RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1999_Seattle_WTO_protests RESOURCES:https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/01/the-dark-si de-of-globalization-why-seattles-1999-protesters-were-right/282831/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Shirley Chisholm (1924 - 1995) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251130 DTEND:20251201T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:Birthdays COMMENT:Shirley Anita Chisholm\, born on this day in 1924\, was an America n politician\, educator\, and author who became the first black woman elec ted to U.S. Congress in 1968. Her campaign slogan was "Unbought and Unboss ed". DESCRIPTION:Shirley Anita Chisholm\, born on this day in 1924\, was an Ame rican politician\, educator\, and author who became the first black woman elected to U.S. Congress in 1968. Her campaign slogan was "Unbought and Un bossed".\n\nChisholm was born to immigrant parents from the Caribbean. Whe n she was five\, she was sent to live with her maternal grandmother in Bar bados because her parents' work schedules made it difficult to raise child ren.\n\nChisholm returned to the United States at the age of ten\, and spo ke with a slight West Indies accent for the rest of her life. On her grand mother's influence\, Chisholm later stated "Granny gave me strength\, dign ity\, and love. I learned from an early age that I was somebody. I didn't need the black revolution to tell me that."\n\nIn 1968\, she became the fi rst black woman elected to the United States Congress in an upset victory where she defeated civil rights activist James Farmer. Her campaign slogan \, later the title of her autobiography\, was "Unbought and Unbossed".\n\n Chisholm represented New York's 12th congressional district for seven term s from 1969 to 1983. In the 1972 United States presidential election\, she became the first black candidate for a major party's nomination for Presi dent of the United States.\n\n"In the end anti-black\, anti-female\, and a ll forms of discrimination are equivalent to the same thing: anti-humanism ."\n\n- Shirley Chisholm RESOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shirley_Chisholm RESOURCES:https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/sh irley-chisholm RESOURCES:https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/shirley-chisholm-born/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Wobbly B Duck Sue Attacked (1912) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251130 DTEND:20251201T000000 DTSTAMP:20250313T132916Z CATEGORIES:IWW COMMENT:On this day in 1912\, Korean IWW organizer B Duck Sue was beaten s everely with heavy whips for organizing fifty-two plantation laborers. Des pite B Duck Sue being forced to flee the county\, the workers' wages were increased by 20%. DESCRIPTION:The following passage is taken verbatim from the University of Washington's IWW History Project\, which has produced a database of "Arre sts\, Prosecutions\, Beatings\, and other Violence 1906-1920" from the his tory of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW):\n\nOn this day in 1912\ , Korean IWW organizer B Duck Sue was beaten severely with heavy whips for organizing fifty-two plantation laborers. He was forced out of the county \, but the workers' wages were increased from twenty dollars a month to tw enty four dollars a month. RESOURCES:https://depts.washington.edu/iww/persecution.shtml RESOURCES:https://depts.washington.edu/iww/persecution.shtml END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR