Danziger Bridge Shootings (2005)

Sun Sep 04, 2005

Image: Danziger Bridge, New Orleans, in April 2012 [Wikipedia]

The Danziger Bridge Shootings were murders that took place on this day in 2005 at the Danziger Bridge in New Orleans, six days after Hurricane Katrina struck the city.

The 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 James Brissette and 40-year-old Ronald Madison. Four other civilians were also wounded. All of the victims were black and unarmed, and one, Ronald Madison, was mentally handicapped and shot in the back five times.

The NOPD attempted to cover-up the murders, falsely reporting that seven police 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.

An attorney for the Justice Department described the case as "the most significant police misconduct prosecution [in the U.S.] since the Rodney King beating case". On April 20th, 2016, the five former officers pleaded guilty to various charges related to the shooting, and in return received reduced sentences ranging from three to twelve years. Three of the officers are white and two are black.

• Date: 2005-09-04
• Learn More: www.nola.com, en.wikipedia.org, www.npr.org.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Textile Workers' Strike (1934)

Mon Sep 03, 1934

Image: Striking textile workers come up against state troopers in 1934 [libcom.org]

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, and deputized vigilantes.

The strike was national in scope - textile workers from New England, the Mid-Atlantic states, and the U.S. Southern states, all participated in the Textile Strike of 1934, which lasted twenty-two days.

In part due to the labor reforms of the Roosevelt administration, union membership had grown greatly in the months leading up to the strike. In February 1933, the United Textile Workers (UTW) had no more than 15,000 members. By June 1934, they had grown to 250,000 members, half of whom were cotton mill workers.

On 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 thousands of textile workers across the country soon followed suit.

Strikers faced violence from state police, private citizens, and private guards for the mills. South Carolina Governor Ibra Blackwood announced that he would deputize the state's "mayors, sheriffs, peace officers and every good citizen" to maintain order. Accordingly, dozens of protesting workers were killed as martial law was declared and private guards fired into crowds across the country.

Results of the strike were mixed, but workers in the South fared particularly badly. Thousands of striking mill workers did not return to the mills and many were blacklisted. Some union officials claimed victory despite worker demands not being met.

Southern mill workers 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.

• Date: 1934-09-03
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, libcom.org.
• Tags: #Labor.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Original 33 Expelled (1868)

Sun Sep 03, 1865

Image: A statue commemorating the Original 33 on the grounds of the Georgia State Capitol, titled "Expelled Because of Color" (1973) [Wikipedia]

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 white lynch mob.

The "Original 33" were the first 33 African-American members of the Georgia General Assembly who were elected to office in 1868, during the Reconstruction era. They were among the first black state legislators in the United States. 24 of the members were ministers.

After most of the legislators voted for losing candidates in the legislature's elections for the U.S. Senate, the white majority conspired to remove the black and mixed-ethnicity members from the Assembly.

On September 3rd, 1868, the Georgia legislators voted to expel all black members of the General Assembly (4 of the 33 were allowed to stay due to being 1/8 or less black).

The expelled members appealed to the federal government and state courts. In protest of the expulsion, former representative Phillip Joiner led a 25 mile march to Camilla, the county seat on September 19th.

There, the march was attacked by an armed white lynch mob, and approximately a dozen marchers were killed. The Camilla Massacre marked a new era of de facto voting discrimination and political disenfranchisement of the black population in Georgia.

• Date: 1865-09-03
• Learn More: www.georgiapol.com, en.wikipedia.org, www.blackpast.org.
• Tags: #Protests.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Aunt Molly Jackson Passes (1960)

Thu Sep 01, 1960

Aunt Molly Jackson (Mary Magdalene Garland Stewart Jackson Stamos, 1880 - 1960) was an American folk singer and a union activist who died 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 her family's union activities, she grew up to author songs such as "I Am a Union Woman" and "Poor Miner's Farewell".

Born into a poor, mining family, 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 like "I Am A Union Woman", "Kentucky Miner's Wife", and "Poor Miner's Farewell". When Jackson was jailed because of her unionizing activities, her husband was forced to divorce her in order to keep his mining job.

In December 1931, Jackson traveled to New York City to support and raise money for striking Harlan coal miners, at one point appearing before an estimated crowd of 21,000 at the Bronx Coliseum. In the mid-1930s, she performed in New York City together with Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Earl Robinson, and others.

• Date: 1960-09-01
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, lomaxky.omeka.net, www.youtube.com.
• Tags: #Labor.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Fred Hampton (1948 - 1969)

Mon Aug 30, 1948

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 being assassinated by the Chicago PD.

The "Rainbow Coalition" included groups such as the Black Panther Party, the Young Patriots, the Young Lords, and worked together to organize against capital and broker peace treaties and alliances among Chicago street gangs.

In 1967, Hampton was identified by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as a radical threat. The FBI tried to subvert his activities in Chicago, sowing disinformation among these groups and placing a counterintelligence operative in the local Panthers.

In December 1969, Hampton was assassinated during a predawn raid at his Chicago apartment by the Chicago Police Department. During the raid, Panther Mark Clark was also killed.

At 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 accordingly. In another press conference, police leadership praised the assault team for their "remarkable restraint" and "professional discipline" in not killing all the Panthers present.

Photographic evidence was presented 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.

• Date: 1948-08-30
• Learn More: www.blackpast.org, en.wikipedia.org, www.youtube.com.
• Tags: #Birthdays.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Notting Hill Race Riots (1958)

Sat Aug 30, 1958

Image: Graffiti from the time period, saying "No colour bar here". Titled "Beating back Mosley at Notting Hill 1958" - Baker Baron

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.

The Notting Hill race riots were a series of racially motivated riots that took place in Notting Hill, England between August 23rd and September 5th, 1958.

Although the racial uprising was initially sporadic, one of the primary triggers 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.

Following this incident, a white mob several hundred strong formed (associated with the racist "Teddy Boys" movement) and began to terrorize people of color in the area.

One 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 molotov cocktails. Here is what happened in Baron's own words:

"When they told us that they were coming to attack that night I went around and told all the people that was living in the area to withdraw that night. The women I told them to keep pots, kettles of hot water boiling, get some caustic soda and if anyone tried to break down the door and come in, to just lash out with them.

The men, well we were armed...Make no mistake, there were iron bars, there were machetes, there were all kinds of arms, weapons, we had guns. We made preparations at the headquarters for the attack. We had men on the housetop waiting for them...'Let's burn the removeds, let's lynch the removeds.' That's the time I gave the order for the gates to open...I says, 'Start bombing them.' When they saw the Molotov cocktails coming and they start to panic and run.

...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."

• Date: 1958-08-30
• Learn More: libcom.org, en.wikipedia.org, www.blackpast.org, warwick.ac.uk.
• Tags: #Riots.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Chicago Bus Strike (1968)

Sun Aug 25, 1968

Image: A still from the documentary "Labor Beat: CTA Strike of 1968" showing a group of black bus drivers applauding and cheering

On this day in 1968, black bus drivers in Chicago turned off the lights on their vehicles and headed back to the Chicago Transit Authority (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.

Like many other protest movements in the 50s and 60s, the drivers took as their model the Montgomery bus boycott, organizing car pools and CTW "courtesy cars" to meet the transportation shortfall in some neighborhoods.

According 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 money we had bailing them out of jail...White drivers at black stations respected the picket lines. The white drivers at the white ones did not."

According to Willis, the strike's failure was due to the collective effort of establishment political powers working against the strike: "With the police arresting our guys, the judges putting guys in jail and holding them for contempt, and the union threatening to kick our leaders out, it was 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."

• Date: 1968-08-25
• Learn More: www.chicagoreader.com, www.youtube.com, presidentlincoln.illinois.gov.
• Tags: #Labor.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Marsha P. Johnson (1945 - 1992)

Fri Aug 24, 1945

Image: Marsha P. Johnson at the First Christopher Street Liberation Day March, 1970. Leonard Fink / LGBT Community Center Archive [wams.nyhistory.org]

Marsha P. Johnson, born on this day in 1945, was a civil rights activist, founding member of the Gay Liberation Front and the Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (S.T.A.R.), and participant in the Stonewall Uprising of 1969.

Johnson was one of the first drag queens to go to the Stonewall Inn after they began allowing women and drag queens inside; it was previously a bar for only gay men.

On the early morning hours of June 28th, 1969, the Stonewall uprising occurred. While the first two nights of rioting were the most intense, the clashes with police would result in a series of spontaneous demonstrations and marches through the gay neighborhoods of Greenwich Village for roughly a week afterwards.

According to the New-York Historical Society, "While there are many conflicting 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 Stonewall, Johnson became more involved in activism, helping found the Gay Liberation Front.

To help provide a home for vulnerable trans youth, Marsha and her friend Sylvia Rivera together formed the Street Transvestite Activist Revolutionaries (STAR). The first STAR House was in the back of a seemingly abandoned truck in Greenwich Village, housing nearly 24 people.

One morning, they returned to the truck just as its driver was pulling 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 dilapidated building to house STAR residents for eight months before being evicted.

Shortly after a pride parade in 1992, Johnson's body was discovered floating in the Hudson River. Police ruled the death a suicide, but Johnson's friends and other members of the local community insisted Johnson was not suicidal and noted that the back of Johnson's head had a massive wound.

Johnson was cremated and, following a funeral at a local church, friends released her ashes over the river.

The 2012 documentary "Pay It No Mind – The Life and Times of Marsha P. Johnson" heavily features segments from a 1992 interview with Johnson, filmed shortly before her death.

"Darling, I want my gay rights now"

- Marsha P. Johnson

• Date: 1945-08-24
• Learn More: wams.nyhistory.org, www.gnof.org, en.wikipedia.org, www.youtube.com, marshap.org.
• Tags: #Birthdays.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Maria Silva Cruz Executed (1936)

Sun Aug 23, 1936

Image: Maria Silva Cruz, also known as La Libertaria

On this day in 1936, anarchist and hero of the Casas Viejas Uprising Maria Silva Cruz was executed by Spanish fascists at age 21. Despite the efforts of her son, who was 1 year old at the time her death, Cruz's remains were never identified.

Maria Silva Cruz was born to day laborers on April 20th, 1915, and her father and uncle were members of the anarchist union Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT).

In January 1933, the CNT initiated the anti-government Casas Viejas Uprising, which Silva Cruz and her friends participated in. When Civil Guard troops were sent to put down the uprising, many of the villagers fled.

Some anarchists 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 arrested.

When 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.

On August 23rd, 1936, Silva Cruz was executed at dawn. Her remains were never identified despite the efforts of her son, who grew up with Silva Cruz's aunt. He sought to find his mother's remains in order to bury them and plant flowers for her.

• Date: 1936-08-23
• Learn More: libcom.org, en.wikipedia.org, dbe.rah.es.
• Tags: #Labor, #Anarchism, #Fascism.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Iran coup d'état (1953)

Wed Aug 19, 1953

Image: Rioters run in the streets of Tehran in August 1953 [foreignpolicy.com]

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 British-owned oil fields.

Mosaddegh 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 voted to nationalize Iran's oil industry and to expel foreign corporate representatives from the country.

In response, the British began a worldwide boycott of Iranian oil to pressure Iran economically and engaged in subterfuge to undermine Mosaddegh's government.

Judging Mosaddegh to be unreliable and fearing a communist takeover, Winston Churchill and the Eisenhower administration overthrew Iran's government. The coup action was also supported by the Iranian clergy, who opposed Mosaddegh's secularism.

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) hired mobsters to stage pro-Shah riots and paid people to travel to Tehran and take over the streets of the city. Between 200 and 300 people were killed in the ensuing mayhem.

Mosaddegh was arrested, tried, and convicted of treason by the Shah's military court. Many of his supporters were imprisoned, several received the death penalty. Mosaddegh himself lived the rest of his life under house arrest, dying in 1967.

After the coup, the Shah ruled as a monarch for the next 26 years until he was overthrown in the Iranian Revolution in 1979.

• Date: 1953-08-19
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, libcom.org, www.democracynow.org, nsarchive2.gwu.edu.
• Tags: #Riots.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Food Not Bombs First Arrests (1988)

Mon Aug 15, 1988

Image: On August 15th, 1988, nine volunteers were arrested for sharing food and literature at Golden Gate Park, including founding member Keith McHenry (shown) [zinnedproject.org]

Food Not Bombs is a loose-knit group of independent 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.

As evidence of this, 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).

On this day in 1988, members of Food Not Bombs (including one of the founders, Keith McHenry, shown), were arrested for the first time in San Francisco, California, for handing out free food and literature in Golden Gate Park. These were the first of many arrests of Food Not Bombs activists for giving away free food.

• Date: 1988-08-15
• Learn More: www.zinnedproject.org, foodnotbombs.net.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Michael Brooks (1983 - 2020)

Sat Aug 13, 1983

✱the source for this birthday date is a tweet by Brooks and needs further confirmation

Michael Jamal Brooks, born on this day in 1983, was an American talk show host, writer, and democratic socialist political commentator. He launched "The Michael Brooks Show" in August 2017, interviewing figures such as Noam Chomsky, Cornel West, Adolph Reed, and Slavoj Žižek.

Brooks was a self-identified progressive and democratic socialist. One of his last publications was a book titled "Against the Web: A Cosmopolitan Answer to the New Right", which offered a critique of 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 organize.

"Be ruthless with systems, be kind with people."

- Michael Brooks

• Date: 1983-08-13
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, jacobinmag.com.
• Tags: #Socialism, #Birthdays.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Karl Liebknecht (1871 - 1919)

Sun Aug 13, 1871

Karl Liebknecht, born on this day in 1871, was a German socialist politician and theorist. Originally associated with the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), Liebknecht later became a co-founder with Rosa Luxemburg of both the Spartacus League and the Communist Party of Germany (KPD). Liebknecht is also known for his outspoken opposition to World War I.

In 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 (paramilitary units composed of World War I veterans). For their role in the uprising, Liebknecht and Luxemburg were both kidnapped, tortured, and murdered on January 15th, 1919.

Their contributions to European socialism are commemorated annually in Germany during the second weekend of January, an event known as the Liebknecht-Luxemburg Demonstration, or "LL-Demo" for short.

"The main enemy of the German people is in Germany: German imperialism, the German war party, German secret diplomacy. This enemy at home must be fought by the German people in a political struggle, cooperating with the proletariat of other countries whose struggle is against their own imperialists."

- Karl Liebknecht

• Date: 1871-08-13
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, spartacus-educational.com, www.marxists.org.
• Tags: #Socialism, #Birthdays, #Imperialism.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

U.S. Annexes Hawaii (1898)

Fri Aug 12, 1898

Image: In August 1898, the Hawaiian flag was lowered from Iolani Palace and replaced by the flag of the United States of America. [nea.org]

On January 17th, 1893, Queen Liliʻuokalani was overthrown by a group of predominantly foreign insurgents who sought American annexation of the Hawaiian islands. They successfully requested assistance from the U.S. government, who sent 162 sailors to occupy Oahu.

On this day in 1898, a formal ceremony was held at Iolani Palace to commemorate the annexation. Most of the 40,000 native Hawaiians, including the deposed Liliʻuokalani and the royal family, shuttered themselves in their homes, protesting against the occupation.

Hawaiian scholar Dr. Keanu Sai has written about the illegality of the U.S. occupation and annexation, citing an 1893 Executive 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.

• Date: 1898-08-12
• Learn More: www.nea.org, hawaiiankingdom.org, hawaiiankingdom.org, en.wikipedia.org, learning.blogs.nytimes.com.
• Tags: #Imperialism.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Franco Assassination Attempt (1964)

Sun Aug 11, 1946

Stuart Christie (1946 - 2020) was a Scottish anarchist writer and publisher.

On this day in 1964, an eighteen year old Christie was arrested while carrying explosives to assassinate the Spanish dictator, General Francisco Franco. Christie had become interested in the Spanish resistance to Franco after meeting Spanish anarchists living in London, in exile.

In Paris, he met members of the Defensa Interior organization and was assigned to bring plastic explosives to Madrid. The Defensa Interior had been infiltrated by government spies, however, and after arriving in Madrid Christie was promptly arrested by undercover police.

Christie was freed after serving three years in prison. He went on to found the Cienfuegos Press publishing house and in 2008 the online Anarchist Film Channel, which hosts films and documentaries with anarchist and libertarian socialist themes.

• Date: 1946-08-11
• Learn More: www.heraldscotland.com, www.permanentculturenow.com, en.wikipedia.org.
• Tags: #Assassinations, #Anarchism, #Fascism.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Pueblo Revolt (1680)

Sat Aug 10, 1680

Image: Fragment of Un Sueño de Santa Fe, Agosto 1680 by Ramón José López (2013)

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.

According to the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center, the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 was the only successful Native uprising against a colonizing power in North America.

Spain first claimed the region in the 16th century, subjecting Puebloans to episodes of colonial violence and displacement. The Spanish demanded payment of heavy tribute from indigenous communities and destroyed ceremonial buildings in an attempt to eradicate indigenous beliefs and impose Christianity.

During the 1670s, conflict intensified as famine put the communities there in direct competition for scarce resources. In one incident, 47 Pueblo medicine men were arrested by Spanish forces in 1675 under charges of "sorcery".

By 1680, one of the arrested 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 rebellion, it is likely there were several other instrumental organizers who played an important role in its fruition.

The date of a cross-Pueblo revolt was set for August 11th, with time being kept at each Pueblo by untying a knot from a cord everyday until all the knots had been untied. Spanish forces, however, learned of the revolt on August 9th after capturing two messengers from Tesuque. As a result, Po’Pay ordered military action a day early, on August 10th.

Pueblo rebels quickly succeeding in sealing off roads, destroying colonial settlements, and laying siege to the regional capital of Santa Fe.

In total, Puebloans killed 400 Spaniards and drove the remaining 2,000 settlers out of the area. On August 21st, New Mexico governor Antonio de Otermín fled, leading a southward retreat out of the region.

With the Spanish gone, Po’Pay traveled the region, promoting the revival of indigenous beliefs and destroying churches and other symbols of Catholicism in the region. Pueblos largely returned to communal self-governance after the flight of the Spanish.

Spanish colonizers attempted to retake the Pueblos in 1681, 1688, and 1689, finally succeeding in 1692.

• Date: 1680-08-10
• Learn More: indianpueblo.org, en.wikipedia.org, www.thoughtco.com.
• Tags: #Colonialism, #Indigenous.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Ballymurphy Massacre (1971)

Mon Aug 09, 1971

Image: The image shows a large streetside sign with the text "BALLYMURPHY MASSACRE AUGUST 1971 WE DEMAND THE TRUTH", as well as the faces and names of the eleven people who were killed

On this day in 1971, more than 600 British soldiers entered the Ballymurphy area of Belfast in a military operation meant to "stun the civilian population", killing eleven innocent people in what is now called the Ballymurphy Massacre.

The violence was part of the British Operation Demetrius, which explicitly allowed for internment without trial and targeted Irish Republicans/nationalist factions of the population.

The massacre began when the 1st Battalion, Parachute Regiment of the British Army entered Ballymurphy the evening of August 9th, 1971. Six civilians were 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 death while brandishing a white flag.

Another person killed was Joseph Murphy, who was shot as he stood opposite the Army Base. He was taken into custody, where he was beaten and shot again before being released and expiring.

The violence continued for two more days, killing eleven people in total. A 2021 coroner's report found that all those killed had been innocent and that the killings were "without justification".

The same battalion that committed this massacre later shot twenty-six unarmed civilians during a protest march in Derry against the internment without trial policy.

The Ballymurphy Massacre is the subject of the August 2018 documentary "The Ballymurphy Precedent", directed by Callum Macrae and made in association with Channel 4.

• Date: 1971-08-09
• Learn More: www.ballymurphymassacre.com, en.wikipedia.org.
• Tags: #Massacre.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Treaty of Fort Jackson (1814)

Tue Aug 09, 1814

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 treaty was agreed upon in the aftermath of the defeat of Red Stick (Upper Creek) resistance by U.S. forces at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend.

The treaty was the "largest single Indian cession of southern American land", according 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 Cherokee and Lower Creek forces friendly to the American side.

The terms of various treaties with the Creek nation would go on to be consistently violated by Americans colonizing the south.

• Date: 1814-08-09
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, www.nps.gov, www.firstpeople.us.
• Tags: #Indigenous.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

José Cha Cha Jiménez (1948 - )

Sun Aug 08, 1948

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. The group was founded in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois on September 23rd, 1968, one hundred years after the Grito de Lares uprising. Jiménez was born to jíbaro parents in Caguas, Puerto Rico, but spent his formative years in Chicago.

In the summer of 1968, he was picked up for a possession of heroin charge and given a 60-day sentence at Cook County Jail. While in jail, he read "The Seven Story Mountain" by Thomas Merton, and became politically radicalized, also reading texts from radicals such as MLK Jr. and Malcolm X.

After his release, Jiménez transformed the Young Lords from a street gang into a human rights organization, entering into the "Rainbow Coalition" with Fred Hampton, head of the BPP's Chicago chapter. After Hampton's assassination by the Chicago Police and FBI, and the Coalition's dissolution, Jiménez continued his activism, running for a Chicago Alderman position in 1975, and helping organize a voter registration drive to support Harold Washington's 1982-83 mayoral campaign.

When asked in a 2018 interview what happened to the Young Lords, Jiménez responded:

"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...

...We will always be reminded of how COINTELPRO and others have worked to split our movement so that we cannot organize together to free our nation of Puerto 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."

"If the People of El Salvador can ask for self-determination, if the People of Nicaragua can ask for self-determination, if the People of Ireland can ask for self-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."

• José Cha Cha Jiménez

• Date: 1948-08-08
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, www.fightbacknews.org, digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu.
• Tags: #Birthdays.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Wisconsin Sikh Temple Shooting (2012)

Sun Aug 05, 2012

Image: Members of the Akhil Bharatiya Human Rights Organization hold placards and candles during a vigil in Amritsar, India, on Tuesday, August 7th, as they pay tribute to Sikh devotees killed in the U.S. [cnn.com]

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.

The 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 meal at the time of the incident, as children's classes were scheduled to begin around the same time.

Despite this, no children were wounded in the 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.

The perpetrator was a white supremacist 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 "impending racial holy war", and racist tattoos adorned his chest, arms, and hands.

Despite this, Oak Creek Police Chief John Edwards declined to speculate 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 his motive was or what he was thinking." Similarly, the owner of the gun shop where the shooter purchased a weapon in cash said that his presence "raised no eyebrows whatsoever".

• Date: 2012-08-05
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, www.npr.org.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Paul Avrich (1931 - 2006)

Tue Aug 04, 1931

Paul Avrich, born on this day in 1931, was a historian of anarchism whose works address topics such as the Kronstadt Rebellion, the Haymarket Affair, and the case of Sacco and Vanzetti. "Every good person deep down is an anarchist."

Born in Brooklyn, New York on August 4th, 1931, Avrich served in the Korean War and received a prodigious formal education, studying at both Cornell University and Columbia University. His doctoral thesis addressed the labor movement during the Russian Revolution and was also one of the first American exchange students to study in the Soviet Union.

Avrich became a key figure as an exponent of anarchism in the United States through his scholarship, which undermined the notion of anarchists as amoral and violent.

Avrich was also important in developing formal scholarship of the history of anarchism, interviewing Soviet exiles and, in his last book, "Anarchist Voices: An Oral History of Anarchism in America" (1995), compiling thirty years of interviews of various anarchist figures.

"Every good person deep down is an anarchist."

- Paul Avrich

• Date: 1931-08-04
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, libcom.org.
• Tags: #Labor, #Birthdays, #Anarchism.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

British Communists Arrested (1925)

Tue Aug 04, 1925

On this day in 1925, twelve organizers with the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) were arrested and charged with violating the Mutiny Act of 1797. Six served time in prison after refusing to renounce communism.

The 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.

Many of those arrested were Party leaders. The CPGB elected to be silent on the arrests, for fear of the next set of leaders being arrested like the first.

The arrested communists were subjected to a highly politicized trial that lasted for eight days. Five of the group were sentenced to a year in prison for "members of an illegal party carrying on illegal work in this country".

To the remaining seven, the conservative judge offered an ultimatum: "Those of you who will promise me that you will have nothing more to do with this association or the doctrine it preaches, I will bind over to be of good behaviour in the future. Those of you who do not promise will go to prison." All but one refused.

• Date: 1925-08-04
• Learn More: spartacus-educational.com, en.wikipedia.org.
• Tags: #Communism.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Pidjiguiti Massacre (1959)

Mon Aug 03, 1959

Image: The "Hand of Timba", erected to commemorate those killed during the Pidjiguiti Massacre [atlasobscura.com]

On this day in 1959, the Pidjiguiti Massacre occurred when Portuguese police (PIDE) fired on striking dock workers in Bissau, Portuguese Guinea, killing 50 people. The incident led anti-colonial activists (PAIGC) to abandon non-violence.

When dock workers went on strike to seek higher pay, their manager called the Portuguese state police (PIDE) to the scene, who fired into the crowd, killing at least 50 people.

The government blamed the anti-colonial group "Partido Africano para a Independência da Guiné e Cabo Verde" (PAIGC) for the labor unrest, arresting several of its members. The incident caused PAIGC to abandon their campaign of non-violent resistance, leading to the Guinea-Bissau War of Independence in 1963, which culminated in independence for Cape Verde and all of Portuguese Africa.

Today, near the Pidjiguiti docks, there is a large black fist known as the "Hand of Timba", which commemorates those killed that day.

• Date: 1959-08-03
• Learn More: www.dw.com, www.marxists.org.
• Tags: #Labor, #Colonialism, #Massacre, #Independence.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Roger Casement Executed (1916)

Thu Aug 03, 1916

Roger Casement was a human rights journalist and Irish revolutionary who was executed on this day in 1916 by the British state for treason after trying to acquire military aid for Irish Republicans before the Easter Rising. Casement's work in the first decade of the 20th century exposed imperialist atrocities in the Congo and Peru.

Casement began his career working for Henry Morton Stanley and the African International Association, a front for King Leopold II of Belgium in his efforts to colonize the Congo.

In 1890, Casement met author 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 progress to the continent and free its inhabitants 'from slavery, paganism and other barbarities.' Each would soon learn the gravity of his error."

In 1904, Casement published the "Casement Report", which, via interviews with workers, overseers, and mercenaries, exposed the enslavement, mutilation, and torture of natives on the rubber plantations. The report caused an international scandal and led to the creation of various reform organizations in the West.

A few years later, Casement traveled to the Putumayo District in South America, where rubber was being harvested in the Amazon Basin, and exposed the treatment of indigenous people in Peru. Finding conditions just as inhumane as what he witnessed in the Congo, Casement interviewed both the Putumayo and men who had abused them, publishing his findings in a first-person narrative that again caused an international scandal.

In November, 1914 Casement helped form the Irish Volunteers. He traveled to both the United States and Germany to both promote the Irish nationalist cause and acquire aid for it.

In 1916, Casement was captured by the British government and charged with 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 "Black Diaries", which detailed sexual acts with other men. The authenticity of these documents is still debated today.

Casement was hanged at Pentonville Prison on August 3rd, 1916 at 51 years old.

"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."

- Roger Casement

• Date: 1916-08-03
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, www.rte.ie.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Gulf of Tonkin Incident (1964)

Sun Aug 02, 1964

Image: Official U.S. Navy photo taken from USS Maddox (DD-731) during her engagement with three North Vietnamese motor torpedo boats in the Gulf of Tonkin, August 2nd, 1964. The view shows all three of the boats speeding towards the Maddox [Wikipedia]

On this day in 1964, the Gulf of Tonkin Incident occurred when the American destroyer Maddox was damaged in North Vietnamese waters, an event the U.S. government lied about in order to justify military action against Vietnam.

The incident began when three North Vietnamese torpedo 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 North Vietnamese boats replied with torpedoes and machine gun fire.

The exchange caused ten North Vietnamese casualties and damaged one U.S. helicopter; there were no American casualties.

In response, the U.S. Congress passed a "Gulf of Tonkin Resolution", which granted U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson the authority to assist any Southeast Asian country whose government was considered to be jeopardized by "communist aggression". The resolution served as Johnson's legal justification for deploying U.S. conventional forces and the commencement of open warfare against North Vietnam.

On television, President Johnson made misleading statements about the incident and portrayed U.S. military escalation as an act of defense. Since 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.

• Date: 1964-08-02
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, www.wsws.org.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org