Shirley Chisholm (1924 - 1995)

Sun Nov 30, 1924

Shirley Anita Chisholm, born on this day in 1924, was an American politician, educator, and author who became the first black woman elected to U.S. Congress in 1968. Her campaign slogan was "Unbought and Unbossed".

Chisholm was born to immigrant parents from the Caribbean. When she was five, she was sent to live with her maternal grandmother in Barbados because her parents' work schedules made it difficult to raise children.

Chisholm returned to the United States at the age of ten, and spoke with a slight West Indies accent for the rest of her life. On her grandmother's influence, Chisholm later stated "Granny gave me strength, dignity, and love. I learned from an early age that I was somebody. I didn't need the black revolution to tell me that."

In 1968, she became the first 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".

Chisholm represented New York's 12th congressional district for seven terms from 1969 to 1983. In the 1972 United States presidential election, she became the first black candidate for a major party's nomination for President of the United States.

"In the end anti-black, anti-female, and all forms of discrimination are equivalent to the same thing: anti-humanism."

- Shirley Chisholm

• Date: 1924-11-30
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, www.womenshistory.org, www.zinnedproject.org.
• Tags: #Birthdays.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Théophile Ferré Executed (1871)

Tue Nov 28, 1871

Image: Théophile Ferré in 1871, photographed by Eugène Appert. From the Musée de l'histoire vivante. [Wikipedia]

Théophile Ferré was a leader of the Paris Commune who was executed by the French government on this day in 1871. Ferré personally authorized the execution of the archbishop of Paris and was the first of 25 Communards to be executed.

Little is known about Ferré's early life, before his participation in the Paris Commune. After Paris was seized by revolutionaries 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.

On April 5th, the Commune passed a decree that authorized the arrest of any person thought to be loyal to the French government in Versailles, to be held as hostages. Prominent figures arrested included a Catholic priest Georges Darboy and the archbishop of Paris. The Commune hoped to exchange their hostages for Louis-Auguste Blanqui, a revolutionary and honorary President of the Commune, imprisoned by the state.

Following the events of the "Bloody Week", in which the French government summarily executed many suspected Communards, Ferré authorized the execution of several hostages, including Darboy and the archbishop.

After the resistance 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 first of twenty-five Communards to be executed for their role in the Paris Commune.

• Date: 1871-11-28
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, www.marxists.org.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Harvey Milk Assassinated (1978)

Mon Nov 27, 1978

Harvey Bernard Milk (1930 - 1978) was the first openly gay elected 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.

In 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 office three times, but finally won a seat as a city supervisor in 1977.

Milk was assassinated on this day in 1978, after only eleven months in office. He was killed by Dan White, a disgruntled former city supervisor.

During Milk's short time in office, he sponsored a bill banning discrimination in public accommodations, housing, and employment on the basis of sexual orientation. After his death, Milk became an icon in San Francisco and a martyr for the gay community.

In 2021, the U.S. Navy launched a ship named after Harvey Milk, who had been discharged from the Navy during the Korean War after being questioned about his sexual orientation.

• Date: 1978-11-27
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, milkfoundation.org.
• Tags: #Assassinations.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Free Territory of Ukraine (1917)

Tue Nov 27, 1917

Image: Two soldiers next to a Makhnovian flag, reading "Death to all who stand in the way of freedom for working people" in Cyrillic. Unknown date and location [Wikicommons]

Makhnovia, also known as the Free Territory of Ukraine, was an anarchist society established on this day in 1917 with the capture of the Ukrainian city of Huliaipole.

The Free Territory was an attempt to form a stateless anarchist society during the Ukrainian Revolution of 1917 to 1921, during which time "free soviets" and libertarian communes operated under the protection of Nestor Makhno's Revolutionary Insurrectionary Army (flag shown above).

As Makhnovia self-organized along anarchist principles, references to "control" and "government" were highly contentious. For example, the Makhnovists, often cited as a form of government (with Nestor Makhno as their "leader"), were ostensibly organized to serve in a purely military role, with Makhno himself functioning as more of a strategist than commander.

The economy of Makhnovia varied by region, from "market socialism" to anarcho-communism in character. Where money was used, production was often organized in the form of worker cooperatives.

The Bolsheviks were openly hostile to the Free Territory. On November 26th, 1920, less than two weeks after the Revolutionary Insurrectionary Army assisted Bolshevik forces in defeating the White Army, Makhno's headquarters staff and many of his subordinate commanders were arrested at a Red Army planning conference to which they had been invited by Moscow, and executed.

Makhno himself fled the region several months later, settling in Paris, France.

• Date: 1917-11-27
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, libcom.org, www.marxists.org.
• Tags: #Anarchism.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Indian General Strike (2020)

Thu Nov 26, 2020

Image: Farmers gather as they take part in a nationwide general strike to protest against the recent agricultural reforms at the Delhi-Haryana state border in Singhu on December 8, 2020. From Sajjad HUSSAIN

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 solidarity with farmers protesting en masse and to demand better working conditions for themselves.

The strike took place following months of protest from Indian farmers, a response to three farm acts passed by the Parliament of India in September 2020. According to protesters, the farm acts would leave small farmers, the vast majority, at the mercy of large corporations. Poor farmers were already desperate before the laws were passed - in 2019 alone, 10,281 agricultural workers committed suicide.

Dozens of farm unions began organizing protests demanding the repeal of these laws. After failing to get the support of their respective state governments, the farmers decided to pressure the Central Government by marching to Delhi en masse.

The farmers arrived at Delhi on November 25th, 2020 and were met by police, who employed the use of tear gas and water cannons, dug up roads, and used layers of barricades and sand barriers to try and stop their march.

On 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, trade unions issued a twelve-point charter of demands which included "the reversal of the anti-worker, anti-farmer laws pushed by the government in September, the reversal of the privatisation of major government enterprises, and immediate [Covid] relief for the population".

Farmer protests continued for more than a year, featuring mass marches, clashes with police, and many failed negotiations between farmers' unions and the government. Rakesh Tikait, a leader with Bharatiya Kisan Union (English: Indian Farmers' Union) stated in October 2021 that approximately 750 participants have died in the protest.

Among 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 from the guns kill only those whom they strike. The bullet of injustice, however, kills many with a single stroke... It is humiliating to suffer injustice."

In a televised address on November 19th, 2021, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated that his government would repeal the three acts in the upcoming winter parliamentary session in December. The national spokesperson of the Bharatiya Kisan Union, Rakesh Tikait, stated the protests would only cease once the laws were repealed.

The film actor Deep 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."

• Date: 2020-11-26
• Learn More: thetricontinental.org, en.wikipedia.org.
• Tags: #Labor, #GeneralStrikes, #Protests.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

New York Shirtwaist Strike (1909)

Wed Nov 24, 1909

Image: Two women strikers on picket line during the "Uprising of the 20,000", garment workers strike, New York City [Wikipedia]

On this day in 1909, the New York Shirtwaist Strike began when 15,000 shirtwaist factory workers (mostly Jewish women) walked off the job in New York City to demand higher wages and better working conditions.

The strike was the largest by female American workers up to that date, and was led by Clara Lemlich and the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union, also supported by the National Women's Trade Union League of America (NWTUL).

The industry working conditions preceding the strike were atrocious - work weeks of 65 hours were normal, and in season they might expand to as many as 75 hours. Despite low wages, workers were often required to buy their own materials, including needles, thread, and sewing machines.

In February of 1910, the NWTUL settled with the factory owners, gaining improved wages, working conditions, and hours. The end of the strike was followed just a year later by the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, which exposed the plight of immigrant women working in dangerous and difficult conditions and boosted participation in the garment unions.

• Date: 1909-11-24
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, projects.leadr.msu.edu.
• Tags: #Labor.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Irish Citizen Army Founded (1913)

Sun Nov 23, 1913

The Irish Citizen Army (ICA) was a paramilitary group of trained trade union volunteers from the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union (ITGWU), founded on this day in 1913. The ICA was founded by James Larkin, James Connolly, and Jack White in Dublin, Ireland, and established for the defense of workers' demonstrations from the Dublin Metropolitan Police.

The 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.

In 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 members receiving superior training and being less affected by factional and ideological division.

The ICA became involved in the War of Independence, taking responsibility for parts of Dublin and aiding the Irish Republican Army (IRA) in various operations.

• Date: 1913-11-23
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, libcom.org.
• Tags: #Labor.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Bogalusa Sawmill Killings (1919)

Sat Nov 22, 1919

The Bogalusa Sawmill Killings was a massacre of labor organizers by the white paramilitary group "Self-Preservation and Loyalty League" (SPLL) on this day in 1919, in Thibodaux, Louisiana.

The Bogalusa Sawmill 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.

In response to the attempted unionizing efforts, the company organized racist whites into the SPLL. Company gunmen and the SPLL assaulted union members, evicted them from company housing, burned private homes, and kidnapped and tortured organizers.

On November 21st, they shot up black labor organizer Sol Dacus's home. In a show of force the next day, Dacus marched through the town accompanied by white supporters and allies in the labor movement. The SPLL then 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.

This incident was part of a larger period of civil 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.

• Date: 1919-11-22
• Learn More: www.zinnedproject.org, en.wikipedia.org.
• Tags: #Labor, #Massacre.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Columbine Massacre (1927)

Mon Nov 21, 1927

On this day in 1927, the Columbine Massacre took place when a crowd of more than 500 miners and their supporters in Serene, Colorado was fired on by a militia of ex-police officers, killing six workers.

On 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 did so using imported scab labor.

For the still-operating Columbine mine, scab workers were housed in Serene, which was fortified with barbed wire on the fences and armed guards.

Mass 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, riot guns and tear gas grenades.

The workers were fired upon after a dispute on whether or not they could enter the town of Serene. The event is known as the Columbine Massacre. Six people were killed, all miners. No member of the militia was ever held accountable for the violence of that day.

• Date: 1927-11-21
• Learn More: libcom.org, en.wikipedia.org.
• Tags: #IWW, #Massacre.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Dr. Robert Hayling (1929 - 2015)

Wed Nov 20, 1929

Dr. Robert B. Hayling, born on this day in 1929, has been hailed as the "father" of St. Augustine's civil rights movement and was a staunch advocate of armed self-defense within the black community. He organized demonstrations and coordinated visiting activists, including Dr. Martin Luther King.

Dr. Hayling brought direct action to the local chapter of the NAACP by organizing young people into a youth council within the organization. At his dental office, Dr. Hayling taught them methods of nonviolent activism. He arranged picketing and sit-ins at white-only restaurants, and wade-ins at a white-only pool and beach, and was arrested many times for his activism, as well as being assaulted by the Ku Klux Klan.

As he gained a reputation for militancy, Hayling was threatened with the revocation of his local NAACP chapter's charter by Executive Secretary Roy Wilkins. Hayling replied, "I will mail you your charter", and vowed to continue his activities without the support of the NAACP.

Dr. Hayling is also remembered for this quote: "I and the others have armed. We will shoot first and answer questions later. We are not going to die like Medgar Evers." Dr. Hayling died in 2015, at the age of 86.

• Date: 1929-11-20
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, www.visitstaugustine.com.
• Tags: #CivilRights, #Birthdays.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

U.S. Occupies Nicaragua (1909)

Thu Nov 18, 1909

On this day in 1909, President William Howard Taft sent U.S. warships to take position against the elected government of Nicaraguan President 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.

The U.S. moved to remove President Zelaya after he executed two American citizens who had conspired to commit a revolution against the government. Despite the fact that Zelaya proposed a commission made up of Mexicans and Americans come to Nicaragua to investigate the executions, promising to resign if it found him guilty of any wrongdoing, President Taft ordered warships to approach both Nicaraguan coasts and marines to assemble in Panama.

Zelaya fled the country, stating that he would "give no pretext" to American hostilities. His successor José Madríz was eventually forced to resign by the American forces, and followed Zelaya into exile. Historian Stephen Kinzer has written the following about the event:

"This was the first time the United States government had explicitly orchestrated the overthrow of a foreign leader. In Hawaii, an American diplomat had managed the revolution, but without specific instructions from Washington. In Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines, American 'regime change' operations were part of a larger war. The overthrow of President Zelaya in Nicaragua was the first real American coup."

• Date: 1909-11-18
• Learn More: www.zinnedproject.org, libcom.org.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Gavril Myasnikov Executed (1945)

Fri Nov 16, 1945

Gavril Ilyich Myasnikov was a Russian Bolshevik revolutionary and later left communist dissident who was executed by the USSR on this day 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.

In 1922, along with former members of the Workers' Opposition (a dissident group with the Bolsheviks), Myasnikov signed the "Letter of the Twenty-Two", sent to the Comintern in 1922, protesting the Russian Communist Party leaders' suppression of dissent among proletarian members of the Communist Party. Shortly thereafter, Myasnikov was expelled from the Russian Communist Party, and he formed an opposition faction called "Workers Group of the Russian Communist Party" that opposed the New Economic Policy (NEP).

Myasnikov was arrested by the Soviet state in 1923, and served several years in prison 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 USSR. Upon his arrival, he was arrested by the Soviet secret police and later executed on November 16th, 1945.

• Date: 1945-11-16
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, www.marxists.org.
• Tags: #Communism.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Guayaquil Strike Massacre (1922)

Wed Nov 15, 1922

Image: A crowd of striking workers in the street, some carrying banners

On this day in 1922, soldiers fired on a crowd of 20,000 demonstrators, killing approximately 300 people who were participating in a general strike in Guayaquil, Ecuador.

The general strike took place in the context of an economic crisis related to the collapse of cocoa bean prices. Trolley and public utility workers initiated the labor action, inspired by a successful railroad workers' strike in nearby Durán. Their demands were initially modest (safer working conditions, more timely pay), but grew more ambitious as the strike war on (the creation of an artificial exchange rate to manage severe currency inflation).

The 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 demonstrators gathered in downtown Guayaquil and marched towards the police station. When they arrived, they were fired upon by soldiers at the station. Approximately three hundred protesters died, either by gunshot or from being stabbed by bayonets.

For 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.

• Date: 1922-11-15
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, libcom.org.
• Tags: #Labor, #GeneralStrikes, #Protests.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Berlin Squatters Battle Police (1990)

Wed Nov 14, 1990

Image: The Battle of Mainzer Strasse, with large groups of police gathered on the street

On this day in 1990, German squatters battled with approximately 1,500 heavily armed police officers who were attempting to evict squatters from a tenement neighborhood in eastern Berlin.

The officers went in with tear gas and water cannons and fought squatters for nearly six hours 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.

According to the NY Times, the squatters, mostly from western Berlin and western Germany, had first fought with the police late Monday night, then constructed a veritable fortress throughout the area, digging deep ditches with a stolen excavator, stringing barbed wire and storing stones, gasoline bombs and railroad flares as weapons.

On the evening of November 14th, thousands of squatters and their supporters marched through Berlin to protest the action. The government claimed that at least 85 people, including 70 police officers, were injured, and 350 people were taken into custody.

• Date: 1990-11-14
• Learn More: www.washingtonpost.com, www.nytimes.com.
• Tags: #Tenant.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Silkwood Dies in Mysterious Crash (1974)

Wed Nov 13, 1974

Karen Gay Silkwood (1946 - 1974) was an American chemical technician and labor union activist who was possibly assassinated on this day in 1974. Silkwood is most known for raising concerns about corporate practices related to health and safety in the Kerr-McGee Cimarron Fuel Fabrication Site in Oklahoma.

As an employee of Kerr-Mcgee, Silkwood made plutonium pellets and was the first woman on the union's negotiating team. After 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.

On this day in 1974, while en route to meet a New York Times journalist and union official, Silkwood died in a crash where her car ran off the road. She 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 scene of the crash.

Although foul play was not conclusively proven, skid 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. Investigators 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 impact by another vehicle.

Silkwood's family sued Kerr-McGee on grounds of negligence, and Kerr-McGee eventually settled out of court for $1.38 million, admitting no liability. Kerr-McGee closed its nuclear fuel plants in 1975.

• Date: 1974-11-13
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, www.pbs.org.
• Tags: #Labor, #Assassinations.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

UMW Coal Strike (1919)

Sat Nov 01, 1919

On this day in 1919, the United Mine Workers (UMW) initiated a nationwide 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.

U.S. Attorney General, A. Mitchell Palmer, the same individual behind the infamous Palmer Raids, declared the strike illegal by invoking the Lever Act, a wartime measure that made it a crime to interfere with the production or transportation of necessities.

The law had never been used against a union before, and in fact American Federation of Labor (AFL) founder Samuel Gompers had been promised by President Woodrow Wilson that the Lever Act would not be used to suppress labor actions.

The 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. Others used words like "insurrection" and "Bolshevik revolution". Because of this propaganda and the Attorney General's injunction against the strike, the UMW called the strike off on November 8th.

Many workers ignored this order, however, and the strike continued for over a month, with a final agreement being reached on December 10th. Workers won a 14% wage increase and the creation of an investigatory commission to mediate wage issues.

• Date: 1919-11-01
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, libcom.org.
• Tags: #Labor.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Luisa Capetillo (1879 - 1922)

Tue Oct 28, 1879

Luisa Capetillo, born on this day in 1879, was a Puerto Rican labor organizer, feminist, and Christian anarchist. Capetillo advocated for women's suffrage, was arrested for wearing pants in public, and helped raise the minimum wage.

As a labor activist, Capetillo organized workers throughout the United States, worked as a reporter for the FLT (American Federation of Labor), and traveled throughout Puerto Rico, educating and organizing women. Her hometown, Arecibo, became the most unionized area of the country.

Capetillo is considered to be one of Puerto Rico's first suffragists. In 1908, during the FLT convention, Capetillo asked the union to approve a policy for women's suffrage, insisting that all 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 Legislature.

Today, Capetillo is perhaps best known for being arrested for wearing pants in public, although the charges against her were later dropped.

In 2014, the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico honored Capetillo, along with eleven other women, with plaques in the "La Plaza en Honor a la Mujer Puertorriqueña" (Plaza in Honor of Puerto Rican Women).

• Date: 1879-10-28
• Learn More: documents.alexanderstreet.com, en.wikipedia.org, libcom.org.
• Tags: #Labor, #Birthdays.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Million Woman March (1997)

Sat Oct 25, 1997

The Million Woman March was a protest march held on this day in 1997, involving approximately 500,000 people on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

A major theme of the march was family unity and what it means to be a black woman in America. The women of the march called for three things: repentance for the pain of black women caused by one another, and the restoration and resurrection of black family and community bonds.

The march, which was organized by two Philadelphia grass roots activists, Phile Chionesu and Asia Coney, enjoyed substantial turnout despite short notice and bypassing traditional leaders and organizations that had played an important role in organizing the Million Man March in 1995, such as Rev. Jesse Jackson, Louis Farrakhan, and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

Notable speakers at the event included Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Sista Souljah, Jada Pinkett Smith, Attallah and Ilyasah Shabazz, the daughters of Malcolm X, and Dr. Dorothy Height. A message from Assata Shakur, living in exile in Cuba, was also read.

• Date: 1997-10-25
• Learn More: www.blackpast.org, en.wikipedia.org.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Chinese Massacre of 1871

Tue Oct 24, 1871

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 mestizo people entered Chinatown and attacked, robbed, and murdered Chinese residents.

The massacre took place on Calle de los Negros, also known as "Negro Alley". The mob gathered after hearing that a policeman had been shot and a rancher killed by Chinese immigrants. Historian John Johnson described the ensuing violence as the "largest mass lynching in American history".

An estimated 17 to 20 Chinese immigrants were hanged by the mob 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.

Ten members of the mob were prosecuted, eight were convicted of manslaughter. The convictions were overturned on appeal due to various technicalities.

• Date: 1871-10-24
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, www.laweekly.com.
• Tags: #Riots, #Massacre.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Iceland Women's Strike (1975)

Fri Oct 24, 1975

Image: "VIÐ ERUM MARGAR": WE ARE MANY The largest mass demonstration in Icelandic history: More than 10% of the total population of Iceland participated in the women's rally in downtown Reykjavík. Photo by Ólafur K Magnússon

On this day in 1975, approximately 90% of Icelandic women struck for equality, not attending jobs or doing any domestic work. Iceland passed an equal pay law the following year, but the strike has been repeated on its anniversary several times since, such as in the years 2005, 2010, and 2016.

The strike was planned by "The Women's Congress", which 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 leadership, and a general lack of recognition for the value and skill of domestic labor.

During 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 about what could be done to achieve gender equality in Iceland.

Women 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 lowest paid women in Iceland", according to The Guardian.

In 1976, the Icelandic government passed an equal pay law, and the country elected its first female President, Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, five years later in 1980.

The 1975 Women's Strike also helped inspire the 2016 "Black Monday" anti-abortion ban protests in Poland, as well as the "International Women's Strike", single day work stoppages on March 8th, 2017 and 2018.

• Date: 1975-10-24
• Learn More: www.theguardian.com, kvennasogusafn.is.
• Tags: #Labor, #Feminism.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Jack Reed (1887 - 1920)

Sat Oct 22, 1887

John Reed, born on this day in 1887, was an American journalist, poet, and communist activist. Reed served as a war correspondent, covered strikes, interviewed Pancho Villa, and was an eyewitness to the October Revolution.

Reed 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".

As the U.S. entered World War 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 Revolution. Reed was an enthusiastic supporter of the new revolutionary socialist government, and met both Leon Trotsky and Lenin while there.

Reed subsequently made a trip back to the U.S., where he vehemently defended the new Soviet Republic and was arrested three times, the last for violating the Sedition Act. After being acquitted, Reed returned to the USSR and again met with Lenin and Trotsky.

Reed died from spotted typhus while trying to return to the United States in 1920. He was given a state funeral and buried at the Kremlin Wall Necropolis.

• Date: 1887-10-22
• Learn More: www.rbth.com, www.marxists.org, en.wikipedia.org, www.britannica.com.
• Tags: #Marxism, #Birthdays, #Journalism.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Marcus Thrane (1817 - 1890)

Tue Oct 14, 1817

Image: Portrait of Marcus Thrane for business cards. Chicago circa 1875 [snl.no]

Marcus Thrane, born on this day in 1817, was a socialist labor activist who founded the first organized workers' movement in Norway. After a union he founded petitioned the King for universal suffrage and legal equality, Thrane was imprisoned.

Born into a bourgeois family, Thrane was orphaned at the early age of 15 and spent the rest of his youth studying abroad in Europe. He returned to Norway, working as an educator.

In 1848, Thrane began working as the editor of the local newspaper Drammens Adresse. Inspired by the February Revolution in France, Thrane expressed radical political opinions and was dismissed from the position after less than a year.

Around this time, Thrane founded the Drammens arbeiderforening (Drammen Labour Union) and began publishing the union's paper. Between 1849-50, the trade union movement (also called the Thranite Movement) grew very quickly, to approximately 30,000 members.

Members of the Thranite Movement were both urban and rural - both small farmers in the countryside and urban craftsmen participated.

This trade union movement is often associated with a petition presented to King Oscar I on May 19th, 1850. The petition, backed by nearly 13,000 signatures, demanded universal suffrage, abolition of protective tariffs, reform of the public school, and improvement of householders ' conditions.

Over the following years, this growing labor movement was repressed by the state - its leadership, 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.

In 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.

• Date: 1817-10-14
• Learn More: snl.no, en.wikipedia.org, www.britannica.com.
• Tags: #Labor, #Birthdays.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Francisco Ferrer Executed (1909)

Wed Oct 13, 1909

Francisco Ferrer i Guàrdia (1859 - 1909) was a radical anarchist educator who was executed by the Spanish government on this day in 1909. His death caused a storm of international protest across three continents.

Ferrer was well-known for founding a network of secular and libertarian schools in and around Barcelona. In 1901, Ferrer founded the Barcelona Modern School, "Escuela Moderna", which sought to provide a secular, libertarian curriculum 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.

In mid-1909, Ferrer was arrested and accused of orchestrating a week of insurrection known as Barcelona's "Tragic Week". He was convicted in a show trial and executed by firing squad on October 13th, 1909. His death triggered international outcry, and his life was prominently memorialized in writing, monuments, and demonstrations across three continents.

"Let no more gods or exploiters be served. Let us learn rather to love one another."

- Francisco Ferrer

• Date: 1909-10-13
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, theanarchistlibrary.org.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Battle of Virden (1898)

Wed Oct 12, 1898

Image: Miners gathered on the train tracks in Virden, Illinois, the day before the Battle of Virden. October 11th, 1898. From the Mother Jones Museum.

On this day in 1898, the Battle of Virden began when armed members of the United Mine Workers of America (UMW) surrounded a train full of strikebreakers and exchanged fire with company guards. 13 people were killed, dozens more wounded.

After a local chapter of the UMW began striking at a mine in Virden, Illinois, the Chicago-Virden Coal Company hired black strikebreakers from Birmingham, Alabama and shipped them to Virden by train.

The company hired armed detectives or security guards to accompany the strikebreakers, and an armed conflict broke out when armed miners surrounded the train as it arrived in town. A total of four detectives and seven striking mine workers were killed, with five guards, thirty miners, and an unrecorded number of strikebreakers wounded.

After this incident, Illinois Governor John Tanner ordered the National Guard to prevent any more strikebreakers from coming into the state by force. The next month, the Chicago-Virden Coal Company relented and allowed the unionization of its workers.

"When the last call comes for me to take my final 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 labor state in America."

- Mother Jones

• Date: 1898-10-12
• Learn More: sangamoncountyhistory.org, www.motherjonesmuseummtolive.org, en.wikipedia.org, www.zinnedproject.org.
• Tags: #Labor.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

El Centro de la Raza Founded (1972)

Wed Oct 11, 1972

Image: Group in classroom at occupied Beacon Hill School, Seattle, October 11th, 1972. Photo by Phil H. Webber [historylink.org]

On this day in 1972, ESL staff from South Seattle Community College, 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").

After three months of occupying the building and numerous rallies, petitions and letters, the Seattle City Council finally agreed to hear the case of the occupiers. Although City Council approved 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.

According to author David Wilma, in 1997 the school district insisted on fair market rates, causing rent for the property 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 district.

Today, El Centro de la Raza continues to function as an educational, cultural, and social service agency. It is considered a significant part of civil rights history in the Pacific Northwest.

In 2015, El Centro de la Raza built more than one hundred moderately-priced apartments south 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.

• Date: 1972-10-11
• Learn More: www.elcentrodelaraza.org, www.historylink.org, en.wikipedia.org.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org