Working Class Calendar

Battle of Menstad (1931)

Mon Jun 08, 1931

Image: Picture from Aftenposten on June 9th, 1931. Shown top right is a jet from one of the water hoses that the police used against protesters. [snl.no]

On this day in 1931, the Battle of Menstad began near Skien, Norway when 2,000 striking workers fought and overwhelmed a group of police officers protecting scabs at Norsk Hydro's Menstad plant. The battle took place in the context of drastic pay cuts during the Great Depression.

Historian Knut Dørum has written that Norway's biggest industrial disputes ever took place that year, beginning with a six month lock-out in the iron industry, involving up to 86,000 workers and causing a loss of 13 million working days.

At Menstad, Norsk Hydro and Union & Co hired strike-breakers to replace the striking workers. The workers responded by chasing 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 deployed troops and ships from to the area.

Afterward, 28 strikers were arrested 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 trade unionists were unemployed.

• Date: 1931-06-08
• Learn More: snl.no, en.wikipedia.org.
• Tags: #Labor, #Protests.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Freedom Riders Arrested (1961)

Thu Jun 08, 1961

Image: Kwame Ture (formerly known as Stokely Carmichael), Gwendolyn Green, and Joan Trumpauer Mulholland. Source: "Breach of Peace" by Eric Etheridge. [zinnedproject.org]

On this day in 1961, Freedom Riders protesting segregation, including Kwame Ture, Gwendolyn Green, and Joan Trumpauer Mulholland (shown), 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.

The 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. Despite segregation being illegal, many southern states still maintained segregated public transit systems. Protesters challenged this by joining together in multi-racial groups and traveling on the busses.

• Date: 1961-06-08
• Learn More: www.zinnedproject.org, snccdigital.org.
• Tags: #Protests.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Women Ford Machinists Strike (1968)

Fri Jun 07, 1968

Image: A group of women Ford employees with a large banner that reads "FORD MACHINISTS SAY WE WANT RECOGNITION FOR OUR SKILL" [workersliberty.org]

On this day in 1968, all 187 women employees working at a Ford factory in Dagenham, East London went on strike to demand equal pay for equal work, eventually leading to the Equal Pay Act of 1970.

At the factory, female workers were classified as unskilled workers (Category B), paid both less than "skilled" (Category C) workers and Category B male workers. Even teenage boys sweeping the floors were paid more than the women working there.

In response to this, all 187 women went on strike on June 7th, demanding equal pay for equal work. Despite their labor being classified as unskilled, car production halted within a week. The factory was forced to come to a complete standstill, eventually costing the company over $8 million. Despite this, Ford refused to negotiate.

The strike ended after Barbara Castle, the Secretary of State for Employment and Productivity, intervened, beginning a set of negotiations at which men were 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 following year. In 1984, following an additional strike, the women were categorized as Category C.

The labor action is considered key to the passing of the Equal Pay Act 1970 prohibited inequality of treatment between men and women in Britain in terms of pay and conditions of employment. In 1978, despite its passage, women's relative position in the UK was still worse than in Italy, France, Germany, or the Benelux countries in 1972.

• Date: 1968-06-07
• Learn More: libcom.org, en.wikipedia.org.
• Tags: #Labor.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Israeli West Bank Occupation Begins (1967)

Wed Jun 07, 1967

Image: A map showing the expansion of Israel's borders from 1967 to 2016 (marked "Today" in the photo) [rac.org]

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 longest in the modern era.

The Israeli Army action took place in the context of the Six Day War, fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab states. The status of the West Bank as a militarily occupied territory has been affirmed by the International Court of Justice and, with the exception of East Jerusalem, by the Israeli Supreme Court.

According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), the military proclamation issued by the Israeli Army on June 7th, 1967 permitted the application of the Defense (Emergency) Regulations of 1945.

These regulations empowered, and continue to empower, authorities to declare as an "unlawful association" groups that advocate 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.

HRW goes on to state that these and other broad restrictions on the occupied population violate international law: "The Israeli army has for over 50 years used broadly worded military orders to arrest Palestinian journalists, activists and others for their speech and activities - much of it non-violent - protesting, criticizing or opposing Israeli policies. These orders are written so broadly that they violate the obligation of states under international human rights law to clearly spell out conduct that could result in criminal sanction."

Following the military occupation of the West Bank, Israel began expropriating the land and facilitating Israeli settlements in the area, broadly considered a violation of international law. While Israelis in the West Bank are subject to Israeli law and given representation in the Israeli Knesset, Palestinian civilians, mostly confined to scattered enclaves, are subject to martial law and are not permitted to vote in Israel's national elections.

This two-tiered system has inspired comparisons to apartheid, likening the dense disconnected pockets that Palestinians are relegated to with the segregated Bantustans that previously existed in South Africa when the country was still under white supremacist rule.

• Date: 1967-06-07
• Learn More: www.hrw.org, en.wikipedia.org, rac.org.
• Tags: #Colonialism.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Marian Wright Edelman (1939 - )

Tue Jun 06, 1939

Image: **

Marian Wright Edelman, born on this day in 1939, is an American children's rights activist who became the first black woman admitted to the Mississippi Bar and founded the Children's Defense Fund in 1973.

The Children's Defense Fund, a group which lobbies to overhaul foster care, support adoption, improve child care and protect children who are disabled, homeless, abused or neglected.

Edelman was active in the civil rights movement, contributing to the organization of the Poor People's Campaign in 1968 and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. She also participated in sit-ins, getting arrested along with fourteen other students at one of the largest sit-ins at the Atlanta City Hall in 1960.

"Service is the rent we pay for being. It is the very purpose of life, and not something you do in your spare time."

- Marian Wright Edelman

• Date: 1939-06-06
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, www.childrensdefense.org.
• Tags: [#Civil Rights](/search?q=%23Civil Rights&type=Posts&listingType=All&page=1&sort=New), #Birthdays.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Union of Journeymen Tailors Found Guilty (1836)

Mon Jun 06, 1836

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 Tailors for a "conspiracy to injure trade", a result which undermined the legality of trade unions. In the early 19th century United States, the legality of trade unions was frequently called into question. Some courts called them "conspiracies to restrain trade", and therefore illegal.

In 1836, 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.

A 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 "Committee of Correspondence" that comprised of people working in trades, which went on to found the working class Equal Rights party.

• Date: 1836-06-06
• Learn More: www.historyisaweapon.com, books.google.com.
• Tags: #Labor, #Protests.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

James Connolly (1868 - 1916)

Fri Jun 05, 1868

Image: A photo portrait of James Connolly by David Granville [Wikipedia]

James Connolly, born on this day in 1868, was an Irish socialist revolutionary, founder of the Irish Citizen Army (ICA), and leader of the Easter Rising rebellion, for which he was executed by the British government.

Connolly was born in a poor Edinburgh neighborhood and spoke with a Scottish accent. He joined the British Army at age 14 to escape poverty and developed a hatred for the institution from firsthand experience. He deserted when his regiment was set to deploy to India.

He was also member of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) and founder of the Irish Socialist Republican Party. With labor radical James Larkin, he was centrally involved in the Dublin lock-out of 1913, after which the two men formed the Irish Citizen Army (ICA) the same year.

Connolly was opposed to British rule in Ireland and played a leading role in the Easter Rising of 1916, signing the "Proclamation of the Irish Republic" and serving as Commandant of the Dublin Brigade, the regiment that played the most substantial role in the Rising. Connolly was executed by firing squad following the Rising's defeat.

"If you remove the English army tomorrow and hoist the green flag over Dublin Castle, unless you set about the organization of the Socialist Republic your efforts would be in vain. England would 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."

- James Connolly

• Date: 1868-06-05
• Learn More: www.dib.ie, archive.iww.org, www.marxists.org, en.wikipedia.org.
• Tags: #Socialism, #Birthdays, #IWW.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Eugen Leviné (1883 - 1919)

Thu Jun 05, 1919

Eugen Leviné, assassinated on this day in 1919, was a German revolutionary communist who briefly led the Bavarian Council Republic, giving luxury apartments to the homeless and factories to the workers during his short reign in power.

Eugen Levine was born to wealthy Jewish parents 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 Tsar and was arrested and exiled to Siberia.

After World War I ended, Leviné joined the Communist Party of Germany and helped to create a socialist republic in Bavaria. Leviné eventually rose to power as the communists assumed control of the government.

He 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 to complete either.

The German Army, assisted by the right-wing Freikorps paramilitary invaded and quickly conquered Munich on May 3rd, 1919. Leviné himself was arrested and shot by firing squad in Stadelheim Prison.

Ex-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 answered: 'We Communists are always under sentence of death.'"

• Date: 1919-06-05
• Learn More: spartacus-educational.com, en.wikipedia.org.
• Tags: #Communism, #Assassinations.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Gurdip Singh Chaggar Murdered (1976)

Fri Jun 04, 1976

Image: A Southall Youth Movement protest in the street. A large sign reads "SOUTHALL YOUTH MOVEMENT REMEMBERS BLAIR PEACH AND GURDID [sic] SINGH CHAGGAR" Monitoring Group

On this day in 1976, Gurdip Singh Chaggar, an 18-year old engineering 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).

The murder was unprovoked and committed by a gang of white youths. The following day, thousands of protesters surrounded the police station and gave speeches, leading to the formation of the SYM.

According to historian Benjamin Bland, "the SYM would go on to be crucial, both in defending Southall's Asian population against the threat of racism and in helping to inspire the foundation of other Asian youth organisations across the UK".

The SYM was also an explicitly anti-fascist organization, clashing with the fascist National Front (NF). After the murder of Chaggar, John Kingsley Read, a former chairman of the NF, stated "one down, a million to go".

These 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 police.

• Date: 1976-06-04
• Learn More: www.aljazeera.com, archive.discoversociety.org.
• Tags: #Fascism, #Protests.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Zoot Suit Riots (1943)

Thu Jun 03, 1943

Image: Two boys, beaten during the Zoot Suit riots, lie in the street, surrounded by a crowd. One is stripped down to his underwear. [Wikipedia]

On this day in 1943, the Zoot Suit Riots began when thousands of white American servicemen in California began indiscriminately attacking people (mostly Latinos) wearing Zoot Suits, which were seen as unpatriotic. 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".

The riots began on the night of June 3rd when ~12 sailors and a group of young Mexicans in zoot suits began fighting. The LAPD responded to the incident "seeking to clean up Main Street from what they viewed as the loathsome influence of pachuco gangs", according to historian Luis Alvarez. The police arrested the sailors and not the Mexicans.

The 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 press heralded the violence as cleaning up the town, and soon thousands of sailors joined the riot. Journalist Carey McWilliams described what happened like this:

"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 important motion picture theaters, the mob ordered the management to turn on the house lights and then ran up and down the aisles dragging Mexicans out of their seats. Streetcars were halted while Mexicans, and some Filipinos and Negroes, were jerked from their seats, pushed into the streets and beaten with a sadistic frenzy."

The L.A. City Council approved a resolution 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 maintained that the men were acting in self-defense.

• Date: 1943-06-03
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, libcom.org.
• Tags: #Riots.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Teresa Claramunt (1862 - 1931)

Wed Jun 04, 1862

Teresa Claramunt, born on this day in 1862, was a Catalan anarcho-syndicalist, feminist, and labor organizer who helped publish the influential radical magazine "El Productor".

Claramunt played an active role in Spanish workers' movements, participating in a 1902 general strike in Barcelona and giving multiple speeches during the Tragic Week of 1909.

Her radicalization began as a textile employee, and she founded an anarchist group in Sabadell which participated in a seven-week strike in 1883. She also authored a text, "La mujer, Consideraciones generales sobre su estado ante las prerrogativas del hombre" (English: The woman, General considerations about her state before the prerogatives of the man), addressing the plight of the woman worker.

• Date: 1862-06-04
• Learn More: libcom.org, en.wikipedia.org.
• Tags: #Birthdays, #Anarchism.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

U.S. Disallows Women's Soccer Strike (2016)

Fri Jun 03, 2016

Image: The U.S. soccer team poses for a group photo before their international friendly soccer match against the Japan in Commerce City, Colorado on June 2nd, 2016. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey) [komonews.com]

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 strike, despite their no-strike collective bargaining agreement expiring four years prior.

The women's team was scheduled to perform in that year's summer Olympics, and the ruling prevented the possibility of using the opportunity to strike.

The mere possibility of this work stoppage led U.S. Soccer to file a complaint in early February, seeking a court order to prevent a potential strike. As a result of the ruling, the players were compelled to work under the terms of a collective bargaining agreement that dated back to 2005.

• Date: 2016-06-03
• Learn More: www.npr.org, libcom.org.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Cornel West (1953 - )

Tue Jun 02, 1953

Image: **

Cornel West, born on this day in 1953, is a philosopher, socialist 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.

The son of a Baptist minister, West's political thought focuses on the role of race, gender, and class in American society. A radical democrat and advocate for social democracy, West draws intellectual contributions from multiple traditions, including the black Christian church, Marxism (although he identifies as a non-Marxist socialist, believing the Christian faith and Marxism to be irreconcilable), and transcendentalism.

Among West's works are "Race Matters" (1994), "Democracy Matters" (2004), and "The Rich and the Rest of Us: A Poverty Manifesto" (2012), co-authored with Tavis Smiley. In this last work, Smiley and West provide a broad, multi-racial look at the history and experience of poverty in the United States, concluding with a twelve-point program to address this poverty.

West has served as honorary chair of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), which he has described as "the first multiracial, socialist organization close enough to my politics that I could join". He has also described himself as a "radical democrat, suspicious of all forms of authority" in the Matrix-themed documentary "The Burly Man Chronicles".

West was arrested on October 13th, 2014, while protesting against the shooting of Michael Brown and participating in "Ferguson October", and again on August 10th, 2015, while demonstrating outside a courthouse in St. Louis on the one-year anniversary of Brown's death.

"To be an intellectual really means to speak a truth that allows suffering to speak. That is, it creates a vision of the world that puts into the limelight the social misery that is usually hidden or concealed by the dominant viewpoints of a society. 'Intellectual' in that sense simply means those who are willing to reflect critically upon themselves as well as upon the larger society and to ascertain whether there is some possibility of amelioration and betterment."

- Cornel West

• Date: 1953-06-02
• Learn More: www.cornelwest.com, mirror.explodie.org, en.wikipedia.org.
• Tags: #Socialism, #Marxism, #Birthdays.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Adelaide Casely-Hayford (1868 - 1960)

Tue Jun 02, 1868

Image: Adelaide Casely-Hayford wearing kente cloth, 1903 [Wikipedia]

Adelaide Casely-Hayford, born on this day in 1868, was a Sierra Leone Creole Pan-African feminist, educator, and author. Hayford established a vocational school for young girls in Sierra Leone that emphasized racial and cultural pride.

Hayford was born into an elite Sierra Leone family in Freetown, British Sierra Leone. She spent much of her youth in England and studying throughout the West, also studying music in Germany at the age of 17.

While in England, Adelaide married West African author and Pan-Africanist J. E. Casely Hayford (also known as Ekra-Agiman). Their marriage may have influenced her transformation into a cultural nationalist.

In May 1914, Hayford returned to Sierra Leone, dedicating the rest of her life to educating African girls. In October 1923, she established the Girls' Vocational School, one of the first educational institutions in Sierra Leone to provide young girls with an African-centered education, according to historian Keisha N. Blain.

Hayford frequently traveled throughout the world, giving a speaking tour in the United States on misconceptions about Africa. Author Brittany Rogers notes that these travels also exposed her to the exploitation of black female labor throughout the world.

Although her educational concept for young girls had a Victorian-influenced, middle class domesticity in mind, Rogers writes that these 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.

"Instantly my eyes were opened to the fact that the education meted out 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 pride of race, an enthusiasm for the black man's capabilities, and a genuine admiration for Africa's wonderful art work."

• Date: 1868-06-02
• Learn More: www.blackpast.org, en.wikipedia.org.
• Tags: #Labor, #Pan-Africanism, #Birthdays.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Burning of Jaffna Public Library (1981)

Mon Jun 01, 1981

Image: A framed photograph of the burned ruins of Jaffna Public Library, following the fire of 1981 [countercurrents.org]

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 20th century. The library was one of the biggest in Asia, containing over 97k books and manuscripts.

The attack on Jaffna was part of a multi-day, anti-Tamil pogrom by Sri Lankan state forces, following a rally held by the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF). Many business establishments, a local Hindu temple, and a newspaper office were also destroyed, and statues of Tamil cultural and religious figures were defaced.

At the time of the Library's destruction, it contained irreplaceable documents of 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.

In 1998, under president Chandrika Kumaratunga, the government began the process to rebuild the Jaffna Public Library with contributions from Sri Lankans and foreign governments, and it was re-opened to the public several years later.

• Date: 1981-06-01
• Learn More: countercurrents.org, en.wikipedia.org.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Stand for Children Rally (1996)

Sat Jun 01, 1996

Image: A still from C-Span footage of the 1996 Stand for Children rally

On this day in 1996, the largest pro-children rally in U.S. history, more than 300k strong, began in D.C., leading to the founding of "Stand for Children". SFC would later accept money from American oligarchs and fight teachers' unions.

Organized by Marian Wright Edelman of the Children's Defense Fund, the rally had many speakers of note, including 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 Eliza Leighton founded SFC as a vehicle to advocate for the nation's children.

The organization has faced criticism for its ultra-wealthy donors, including the Walton Family and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundations, and board members, such as the daughter of billionaire Michael Bloomberg and Steve Jobs' wife. The SFC has also worked to undermine the Chicago Teachers Union.

Susan Barrett, a former volunteer co-leader of a SFC team in Portland, Oregon, resigned from her position with SCF due to concerns along these lines. In a blog post published by the Washington Post, Barrett criticizes the group for allowing corporate influence to corrupt the popular roots of the organization.

• Date: 1996-06-01
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, www.washingtonpost.com.
• Tags: #Labor.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Tulsa Race Massacre (1921)

Tue May 31, 1921

Image: A photo showing the aftermath of the Tulsa Race Massacre, showing a city block razed to the ground. From the Universal History Archive [mashable.com]

On this day in 1921, the Tulsa Race Massacre began when mobs of white people attacked residents and businesses of the Greenwood District, known as "Black Wall Street", killing hundreds and rendering 10,000 black families homeless.

Historian Scott Ellsworth called it "the single worst incident of racial violence in American history", with estimates ranging from 75-300 people killed, 800 wounded, and 10,000 black families made homeless from the destruction of property.

The massacre began over Memorial Day weekend after 19-year-old Dick Rowland, a black shoeshiner, 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 jail, an armed group of black men showed up to counter it.

Shots rang out when a white person tried to disarm one of the black men. The initial violence left ten people dead, and a mob of enraged white people stormed black neighborhoods, indiscriminately killing families, setting fires, and destroying property.

As 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 negro buildings. They shot at us all morning when we were trying to do something but none of my men was hit. There is not a chance in the world to get through that mob into the negro district."

Several eyewitnesses described airplanes carrying white assailants, who fired rifles and dropped firebombs on buildings, homes, and fleeing families. The privately owned aircraft had been dispatched from the nearby Curtiss-Southwest Field outside Tulsa. Law enforcement officials later claimed that the planes were to provide reconnaissance and protect against a "Negro uprising".

Multiple eyewitness accounts said that on the morning of June 1st, at least a dozen planes circled the neighborhood and dropped "burning turpentine balls" on an office, a hotel, a filling station, and other buildings.

For 75 years (until 1996), the massacre was almost totally omitted from local, state, and national histories. It was not recognized in the Tulsa Tribune 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.

In 2015, a previously unknown written eyewitness account of the Tulsa Race Massacre from attorney Buck Colbert Franklin was discovered. Franklin wrote: "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 every burning building first caught fire from the top...I paused and waited for an opportune time to escape. 'Where oh where is our splendid fire department with its half dozen stations?' I asked myself, 'Is the city in conspiracy with the mob?'"

• Date: 1921-05-31
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, www.smithsonianmag.com.
• Tags: #Massacre.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Morral Affair (1906)

Thu May 31, 1906

Image: Photograph of the assassination attempt on King Alfonso XIII and Victoria Eugenia at the moment of the bomb's explosion [Wikipedia]

On this day in 1906, revolutionary anarchist Mateu Morral attempted to assassinate Spanish King Alfonso XIII and his bride via bomb. The attack failed, killing 24 bystanders, and caused state persecution of other anarchists.

Mateu Morral was a young, wealthy anarchist who had recently worked at Escuela Moderna, an anarchist school in Barcelona, Spain, 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.

On May 31st, 1906, Mateu Morral threw a bomb, obscured in a bouquet of 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, and over 100 more wounded.

Morral fled the scene and sought refuge from Republican (although explicitly anti-anarchist) journalist José Nakens. Nakens reluctantly gave Morral shelter, but Mateu grew mistrustful the same 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.

Authorities used the 1906 regicide attempt as a pretext to suppress Ferrer and his educational work. Ferrer was arrested within a week of the attack and charged with both its organization and recruiting of Morral. He was imprisoned for a year while prosecutors pursued evidence for his trial, and was ultimately acquitted.

Modern 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 the Morral affair must remain an open question."

Ferrer was executed by the Spanish government three years later, after a farcical trial convicted him of orchestrating a period of insurrection known as Barcelona's "Tragic Week".

• Date: 1906-05-31
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, books.google.com.
• Tags: #Assassinations, #Anarchism.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Merthyr Rising (1831)

Mon May 30, 1831

Image: Illustration by Hablot Knight Browne depicting people raising a red flag during the Merthyr Rising of 1831 [WikiCommons]

On this day in 1831, workers in the Welsh mining town of Merthyr Tydfil initiated an uprising against the capitalist class, reclaiming goods seized by debtors, striking, and flying the red flag as working class symbol for the first time.

The town of Merthyr Tydfil started becoming a major industrial hub as early as the 18th century, developing a class 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 political change.

Reform-minded ironmaster William Crawshay co-founded the "Political Union of Merthyr" in 1830 to fight for "democratic and humanitarian reforms", such as universal suffrage and parliamentary reform. Crawshay also tried to keep his worker's wages high and produce a higher amount of iron than what the market demanded to expand his workforce.

In the midst of an enduring economic crisis, Crawshay began cutting wages in March 1831. In response, workers abandoned the reformist Political Union and protesting en masse. In Merthyr, huge crowds burned effigies of prominent Tories in the streets, called for opponents of Reform to be hanged, and known Tories found their windows smashed and their businesses looted.

On May 23rd, dozens of miners and "puddlers" (those known for participating in political agitation) received new, deeper wage cuts, and 84 were dismissed altogether.

A week later, on May 30th, 1831, workers assembled at Waum Common, where they made speeches, carried banners and formulated demands, marking the beginning of the Rising. Despite the spontaneous and leaderless character of the protests, a four-point program emerged: abolition of the Court of Requests, the abolition of debt imprisonment, new laws against price gouging, and no hiring of new miners on lower wages than their predecessors.

The following day, workers reclaimed goods that had been seized by debtors. Protestors marched to the mines, where they convinced those still working to join the resistance. A general strike broke out, and workers effectively seized control of Merthyr Tydfil, a key engine of British industrial production.

With Crawshay's help, the army was soon dispatched in order to restore state control, but, finding themselves outnumbered by an armed citizenry, soldiers were forced to fall back. Rebels defeated successive military units before the rebellion was finally put down on April 7th.

• Date: 1831-05-30
• Learn More: www.socialist.net, libcom.org.
• Tags: #Labor, #Protests.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

The New York Conspiracy Panic (1741)

Tue May 30, 1741

Image: An illustration of a New York City execution following the hysteria around an alleged slave uprising. [blackpast.org]

On this day in 1741, the first two victims of the New York Conspiracy Panic, a wave of hysteria about the possibility of slaves and poor whites collaborating to burn the city to the ground, were executed after a series of farcical trials.

The 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 disagree as to whether such a plot existed and, if there was one, its scale.

Despite the lack of hard evidence for such a conspiracy, affluent whites in New York City were hysterical with paranoia over poor whites and the enslaved collaborating to burn the city down. During a series of court cases brought against alleged members of this conspiracy, the prosecution repeatedly changed the grounds of accusation and ignored the alibis proffered by slaveowners for their slaves' non-involvement.

At its height, over half of the city's enslaved males over the age of 16 were implicated in the plot and jailed. On this day in 1741, the first two victims, two men named Kofi and Quaco, were hanged.

After the hysteria ended, eighteen enslaved people were hanged, thirteen burned alive, four whites were executed, and dozens of people had been deported out of the city.

• Date: 1741-05-30
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, www.britannica.com.
• Tags: #Labor.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Cordobazo Uprising (1969)

Thu May 29, 1969

Image: A march of working class insurgents during the Cordobazo Uprising [libcom.org]

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 with the army.

The rebellion took place under the military dictatorship of General Juan Carlos Onganía, who had seized power in a coup in 1966. Onganía's government had suspended the right to strike, froze workers' wages, suppressed communist movements, and extended the age of retirement.

In the wake of widespread violent state repression against protesters, the labor union "CGT de los Argentinos", led by Agustín Tosco, called for national strike on May 30th, 1969. In Cordoba, the general strike and protests began one day earlier.

On the first day of the protests, police opened fire on thousands of protesters, killing a worker named Maximo Mena, causing the strike to escalate into a citywide revolt, leading to widespread destruction of property and seizing of city spaces. Onganía crushed the rebellion with the military, and Agustín Tosco was arrested for his role in the rebellion.

• Date: 1969-05-29
• Learn More: libcom.org, en.wikipedia.org.
• Tags: #Labor, #General Strikes, #Protests.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Robert L. Allen (1942 - )

Fri May 29, 1942

Image: **

Robert Allen, born on this day in 1942, is an American professor, activist, and author who composed "Black Awakening in Capitalist America" (1969), a seminal text in the field of Internal Colonialism Theory.

Allen is Professor of African-American Studies and Ethnic Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, and was Senior Editor of "The Black Scholar: Journal of Black Studies and Research", published quarterly in Oakland, California since 1969 by the Black World Foundation.

In the "Black Awakening in Capitalist America", Allen details how corporate interests and white-led power structures co-opted and de-radicalized black power and black nationalism, also criticizing the concept of "black capitalism" as a means of achieving social change.

"This reformist or bourgeois nationalism - through its chosen vehicle of black capitalism - may line the pockets and boost the social status of the black middle class and black intelligentsia, but it will not ease the oppression of the ordinary ghetto dweller."

- Robert L. Allen

• Date: 1942-05-29
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, items.ssrc.org, archive.org.
• Tags: #Birthdays.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Mariola Sirakova Assassinated (1925)

Thu May 28, 1925

Mariola Sirakova, assassinated by state police at age 20 on this day in 1925, was a Bulgarian actress who organized with anarchists and hid wanted revolutionaries such as Vassil Popov and Valko Shankov from the authorities. Sirakova came from a wealthy family, but broke from this upbringing after attending a girl's high school in 1919.

In 1923, a military coup led to the killing of 35,000 workers and peasants, leading to a campaign of armed resistance against the state known as the "September Uprising". A massive wave of repression was undertaken by the fascists and military against the revolutionary movement. Mariola was arrested by the police, raped, and brutally beaten.

After Sirakova's release, she gave support 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 caught in an ambush and arrested.

On this day in 1925, they were taken to Belovo railway station and summarily executed with 12 other prisoners. Mariola was twenty years old.

• Date: 1925-05-28
• Learn More: libcom.org, en.wikipedia.org.
• Tags: #Assassinations, #Anarchism.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Indian Removal Act (1830)

Fri May 28, 1830

The Indian Removal Act, signed into law on this day in 1830, provided the legal authority for the president to force indigenous peoples west of the Mississippi River, leading to the "Trail of Tears", which killed more than 10,000.

The law is an example of the systematic genocide brought against indigenous peoples by the U.S. government because it discriminated against them in such a way as to effectively guarantee the death of vast numbers of their population. The Act was signed into law by Andrew Jackson and was strongly enforced by his and his successors' administrations.

The 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 Seminole War of 1835.

• Date: 1830-05-28
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, www.britannica.com.
• Tags: #Indigenous.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Gezi Park Occupation (2013)

Mon May 27, 2013

Image: A still from the Turkish short film "Başlangıç" (English: The Beginning), produced by Dominic Brown and Dancing Turtle Films [youtube.com]

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 more than 8,000 injuries.

The wave of civil unrest across Turkey began after 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.

The protest quickly grew in size - by May 31st, 10,000 gathered in Istiklal Avenue. In June, the protests became national in scope and transcended any particular demographic or political ideology. Among the wide range of concerns brought by protesters were issues of freedom of the press, expression, and assembly, as well as the alleged political Islamist government's erosion of Turkey's secularism.

Millions of Turkish football fans, normally divided by intense sports rivalry, marched in unity against the government. Protesters displayed symbols the environmentalist movement, rainbow banners, depictions of Che Guevara, different trade unions, and the PKK and its leader Abdullah Öcalan.

On June 4th, Taksim Dayanışması (Taksim Solidarity) issued a set of demands that included the preservation of Gezi Park, an end to police violence, the right to freedom of assembly, and an end to the privatization of public spaces. Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç met the group on June 5th and rejected these demands.

Erdoğan blamed the protests on "internal traitors and external collaborators", demonizing his political opposition as the former. Despite the popular mobilization, Erdoğan remained in power and no major concessions were won from the government.

• Date: 2013-05-27
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, libcom.org.
• Tags: #Labor, #Protests.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org