Thomas Bell (1882 - 1944)

Wed Sep 20, 1882

Thomas Bell, born on this day in 1882, was a Scottish socialist politician, trade unionist, and a founding member of the Communist Party of Great Britain. He said: "The Communist Party is nothing if it is not a party of realism".

Bell also worked as an editor for the Communist Party's magazine "Communist Review" and co-founded the Socialist Labour Party.

Thomas Bell was born in Parkhead, Glasgow to an irregularly employed stonemason and a mother who worked at home spinning cotton and silk. While working at a bottling shop, Bell became interested in atheism and labor politics, reading rationalist works by Ernst Haeckel and Thomas Huxley, as well as texts on evolution by Charles Darwin.

Bell joined the Independent Labour Party (ILP) in 1900, but would participate in more radical parties as his politics matured, including the Marxist Social Democratic Party and, later, the Socialist Labour Party.

In 1919, Bell was elected President of the Associated Ironmoulders, Secretary of the SLP and editor of its newspaper, "The Socialist". He sat on a unity committee, intending to negotiate for a single communist party with leaders of the British Socialist Party, Workers Socialist Federation and other socialist groups, but their proposals were repudiated by the SLP.

Resigning as Secretary, Bell helped found the Communist Unity Group, which became an original constituent of the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB).

"The theory of getting a Labour government in order to get communism is as stilted as the Kautskyan idea that Russia should go through period of capitalist development under the democratic bourgeois institutions in preference to the Workers', Peasants' and Soldiers' dictatorship."

- Thomas Bell

• Date: 1882-09-20
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, spartacus-educational.com.
• Tags: #Communism, #Socialism, #Labor, #Marxism, #Birthdays.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Curaçao Slave Revolt Defeated (1795)

Sat Sep 19, 1795

Image: A monument in remembrance of the Curaçao revolt, designed by Nel Simon. The statues were erected in the late 90s, in Willemstad, Curaçao, the same location of Tula’s execution.

On this day in 1795, revolutionaries Tula and Karpata, who had been engaging in guerilla warfare with colonizers in Curaçao, were betrayed and captured, effectively ending their campaign of liberation.

The Curaçao Slave Revolt had begun in August of 1795 and was led by Tula, an enslaved man. On the morning of August 17th, at the Knip plantation of slave master Caspar Lodewijk van Utrecht at Bandabou, Curaçao, the revolt began when Tula and the others slaves gathered and informed van Utrecht they would no longer be his slaves.

The rebels then left for Lagun, where they freed 22 slaves from jail and went from farm to farm, liberating people as they went. After being defeated in open battle, rebels began a guerrilla campaign, poisoning wells and stealing food.

On September 19th, 1795, Tula and Karpata were betrayed by a fellow slave. They were taken prisoner, and the war was effectively over. After Tula was captured, he was publicly tortured to death on October 3rd that year.

The enslaved population was granted more freedom on the island as a result of the uprising, although the system of slavery was not formally abolished until 1863.

Today, August 17th is celebrated in Curaçao to commemorate the beginning of the liberation struggle. The uprising was dramatized in the 2013 Dutch film "Tula: The Revolt".

• Date: 1795-09-19
• Learn More: www.curacaohistory.com, en.wikipedia.org, www.youtube.com.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Camilla Massacre (1868)

Sat Sep 19, 1868

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, the Camilla Massacre took place when a march led by former representative Phillip Joiner in protest of the expulsion of black members from the Georgia General Assembly was viciously attacked by white supremacists.

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 African-American state legislators in the United States, and were expelled by the white members of the General Assembly, who claimed black people could not hold office in Georgia.

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 this day in 1868.

There, they were attacked by an armed white mob - approximately a dozen marchers were killed and 30-40 wounded. The Camilla Massacre began the era of de facto voting discrimination and political disenfranchisement of the black population in Georgia.

Although the expelled legislators eventually won a case in the Georgia Supreme Court (White v. Clements) that gave them the right to hold office, voter intimidation and de facto voting discrimination heightened to such a degree that Georgia went almost sixty years without having a single black legislator in its state congress, although they were legally allowed to do so.

• Date: 1868-09-19
• Learn More: www.zinnedproject.org, en.wikipedia.org.
• Tags: #Massacre, #Protests.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Pavlos Fyssas Assassinated (2013)

Wed Sep 18, 2013

Image: Pavlos Fyssas, giving a performance on June 21st, 2011. Photo credit: John D. Carnessiotis [Wikipedia]

Pavlos Fyssas was a Greek anti-fascist rapper who was killed by members of the fascist group Golden Dawn on this day in 2013.

Fyssas, also known as "Killah P" ("Killer of the Past"), came from a working class family. He and his father were both members of the Piraeus metal union. Pavlos had been active hip hop since 1997 and is well-known for his left-wing, anti-fascist lyrics.

On September 18th, 2013, Fyssas was fatally stabbed by Giorgios Roupakias, a member and employee of the neo-fascist party Golden Dawn. Following his death, there were a series of protests and rallies against Golden Dawn throughout Europe.

During one protest in Athens, attended by 2,500-10,000 people, anti-fascists began marching towards Golden Dawn's central offices and were arrested and beaten by police. On November 1st, 2013, a shooting took place at the Golden Dawn's Neo Irakleio offices in Athens, killing two members.

In October 2020, sixty-eight members of Golden Dawn were declared part of a criminal organization, and fifteen were convicted in charges relating to Pavlos' murder.

When asked about Pavlos' character by Al Jazeera, his mother stated "You're asking a mother about what kind of a person her son was. He was a free man."

"The world has become a big prison

and I'm looking for a way to break the chains

...

Let them come and find me at the mountain top, I'm waiting for them and I will not bother with fear."

• Pavlos Fyssas

• Date: 2013-09-18
• Learn More: www.aljazeera.com, en.wikipedia.org, roarmag.org.
• Tags: #Assassinations, #Fascism, #Protests.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Harriet Tubman Escapes (1849)

Mon Sep 17, 1849

On this day in 1849, Harriet Tubman escaped from slavery. She made more than dozen missions to rescue upwards of seventy enslaved people, including family and friends, using the resistance network known as the "Underground Railroad".

During the American Civil War, Tubman served as an armed scout and spy for the Union Army. In later years, she was an activist in the struggle for women's suffrage. She was friends with both John Brown and Frederick Douglass, and enjoyed renown for her heroism while still alive.

In 1911, two years before she died, Tubman attended a meeting of the suffrage club in Geneva, New York, where a white woman asked her: "Do you really believe that women should vote?" Tubman reportedly replied, "I suffered enough to believe it."

Tubman died of pneumonia on March 10th, 1913 in Auburn, New York, at approximately 92 years old.

• Date: 1849-09-17
• Learn More: www.harriettubmanbiography.com, www.womenshistory.org, www.blackpast.org.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Georgian Prison Reform Protests (2012)

Tue Sep 18, 2012

Image: Georgian students protest against prison abuse

On this day in 2012, footage of penitentiary guards torturing detainees at Gldani Prison in Tbilisi, Georgia's capital city, were broadcast on television, leading to weeks of revolutionary protests and widespread prison reform.

One video showed a group of uniformed officials brutally beating a prisoner to the ground as other inmates waited, heads bowed in line. Another video showed multiple guards sodomizing a prisoner with police batons and a broomstick.

That evening, thousands of Georgians took to the streets in protest of the abuse. The protests went on for weeks and took on an anti-government character, supporting the political opposition, the Georgian Dream Coalition.

On October 1st, 2012, the governing United National Movement suffered a landslide defeat to the Dream Coalition in the parliamentary elections. The new administration promised to improve the penal system and prison conditions.

In 2013, over the span of three months, the newly elected government granted large-scale prison amnesty reducing Georgia's 24,000-person strong prison population by half.

• Date: 2012-09-18
• Learn More: libcom.org, www.theguardian.com.
• Tags: #Protests.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

The Wall Street Bombing (1920)

Thu Sep 16, 1920

Image: The aftermath of the Wall Street Bombing, 1920 [Wikipedia]

On this day in 1920, American anarchists bombed Wall Street in the Financial District of Manhattan, New York City, killing 38 people and seriously injuring at least 143 more.

The Wall Street Bombing of 1920 was the deadliest act of terrorism on U.S. soil at that point, with 181 severe casualties and hundreds more sustaining mild injuries.

Although the perpetrators of the bombing were never found, investigators and historians believe it was carried out by Galleanists (Italian anarchists), a group responsible for multiple episodes of political violence in the U.S.

The following day, authorities released the contents of flyers found in a post office box in the Wall Street area just before the explosion. Printed in red ink on white paper, they said: "Remember, we will not tolerate any longer. Free the political prisoners, or it will be sure death for all of you." At the bottom, the flyers were signed "American Anarchist Fighters".

• Date: 1920-09-16
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, www.britannica.com.
• Tags: #Anarchism, #Terrorism.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Teachers Strike in Philippines (1988)

Sat Sep 17, 1988

On this day in 1988, thousands of school teachers in the Philippines went on strike, leading to mass firings and suspensions by the government.

The following account of the strike is quoted verbatim from a history of trade unionism by the International Communist Current, a left communist organization headquartered in Paris, France:

"In September 17-21, 1988 thousands of school teachers led by Association of Concerned Teachers (ACT) and Manila Public School Teachers Association (MPSTA) went on strike due to unpaid allowances. Classes were completely paralyzed, prompting Education Secretary Cariño to dismiss and suspend 3,000 teachers. This struggle was "led" by the CPP [Communist Party of the Philippines]. Instead of generalizing the struggle of the teachers, CPP isolated it, leading to its failure. This took place as the workers' movement in general was on the wane.

...The years 1987-1988 were the last expression of the generalization of workers' struggles. Attempts of the militant workers to generalize their struggles were marred by union sabotage of sectoral and industry by industry struggles of the unions."

• Date: 1988-09-17
• Learn More: libcom.org.
• Tags: #Communism, #Labor.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Mildred Fish-Harnack (1902 - 1943)

Tue Sep 16, 1902

Mildred Elizabeth Fish-Harnack, born on this day in 1902, was an American literary historian, translator, and anti-fascist organizer in Nazi Germany. She was the only American woman executed on direct orders from Adolf Hitler.

Born in the United States, Fish-Harnack moved with her husband Arvid to Germany to continue her studies, eventually ended up at the University of Berlin. During her time there, Fish-Harnack became interested in the Soviet Union and communist thought.

In her lectures, Fish-Harnack encouraged her students to use Karl Marx as a "practical solution to the evils of the present". Amid financial difficulties at Berlin University and the rising Nazi movement, Mildred was let go from her teaching position in 1932.

Together with her husband, in 1932 Fish-Harnack formed a left-wing group that regularly met to discuss and debate contemporary political ideas. From these meetings arose a key part of the "Red Orchestra", a loose collective of anti-fascists committed to resisting the Nazi government during World War II.

Beginning in 1940, the group was in contact with Soviet agents in an attempt to thwart the forthcoming German attack upon the Soviet Union. Mildred herself even sent the Soviets information about the planned invasion, codenamed Operation Barbarossa.

Following the capture of German communist and Soviet collaborator Johann Wenzel, Nazi police were able to decipher Red Orchestra messages. On September 7th, Arvid and Mildred Fish-Harnack were arrested while on a weekend outing. Both were executed in custody.

Mildred's last words were purported to have been: "Ich habe Deutschland auch so geliebt" ("I loved Germany so much as well"). She was the only American woman executed on the orders of Adolf Hitler.

• Date: 1902-09-16
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, news.wisc.edu, womeninwisconsin.org.
• Tags: #Communism, #Labor, #Birthdays, #Fascism.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Allegheny Strike (1845)

Mon Sep 15, 1845

Image: A historical marker for the Allegheny Textile Strike, photographed By Mike Wintermantel on February 15th, 2011 [hmdb.org]

On this day in 1845, the Allegheny Textile Strike began in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in demand of a ten hour day. The strike was led by women and children, and part of a series of strikes that took place between 1845 - 1848.

More than 400 textile workers struck to push for a 10 hour day without a pay cut from their typical 12 hour day. In October, some workers began flinging mud and destroying factory fences with axes, presumably to scare off some scabs that had replaced them. This behavior scandalized the strike and damaged some public support of it.

The strike was initially unsuccessful, but, following a similar strike in 1848, a law was passed limiting the working day to 10 hours. This achievement was undercut by an amendment that allowed workers to sign a contract to increase the workday back to 12 hours.

• Date: 1845-09-15
• Learn More: uawd.org, en.wikipedia.org, explorepahistory.com.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

INCO Strike (1978)

Fri Sep 15, 1978

Image: Sudbury, January 13th, 2010: Vale Inco workers and their supporters hold a mass demonstration to mark six months on strike.

On this day in 1978, United Steelworkers union workers in Sudbury, Ontario voted to go on strike to fight proposed layoffs and pay cuts. The strike was the longest in Canadian history until the record was broken by Sudbury workers in 2009.

The layoffs and cuts to pay and benefits were at the multi-national company Inco, which cited low nickel prices as a justification.

According to filmmaker Martin Duckworth, workers voted to strike against the advice of the United Steelworkers hierarchy, and the strike enjoyed national support because Inco was a known polluter and one of the biggest multi-nationals in Canada.

Around 11,600 workers were involved in the strike, which affected the wages sustaining 43,000 people, or about 26% of the population of metropolitan Sudbury. By the end of the strike, nine months later, the company had been deprived of over twenty-two million hours of labor.

The workers won small wage increase and a pension package, however thousands of workers lost their homes and cars because of the length of the strike. According to journalist Amy Miller, since 1979, INCO has fired 20,000 employees from their staff and now have more people receiving payments from the pension roll than pay roll.

The role of women in the community during the strike was profiled in the 1980 documentary film A Wives' Tale (Une histoire de femmes).

• Date: 1978-09-15
• Learn More: www.ejumpcut.org, en.wikipedia.org, www.dominionpaper.ca.
• Tags: #Labor.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Margaret Sanger (1879 - 1966)

Sun Sep 14, 1879

Image: A studio portrait of Margaret Sanger, c. 1915 [time.com]

Margaret Sanger, born on this day in 1879, was an American birth control activist, sex educator, writer, and nurse. Sanger popularized the term "birth control", opened the first birth control clinic in the United States, and established organizations that evolved into the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

Sanger also worked with African-American leaders who saw a need for birth control in their communities. In 1930, she opened a clinic in Harlem, staffed with black doctors, by securing funding from the Julius Rosenwald Fund.

Sanger did not tolerate bigotry among her staff, nor would she tolerate any refusal to work within interracial projects. The clinic was publicized in the African-American press and churches, and it received approval from W.E.B. Du Bois. Sanger's efforts were also later lauded by MLK Jr.

Although Sanger rejected racist bigotry, she did endorse the ableism of the then-popular eugenics movement, writing in 1921 that "the most urgent problem today is how to limit and discourage the over-fertility of the mentally and physically defective".

"Birth control is the first important step woman must take toward the goal of her freedom. It is the first step she must take to be man's equal. It is the first step they must both take toward human emancipation."

- Margaret Sanger

• Date: 1879-09-14
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, www.womenshistory.org, time.com, www.plannedparenthood.org.
• Tags: #Birthdays.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Jacobo Árbenz (1913 - 1971)

Sun Sep 14, 1913

Jacobo Árbenz, born on this day in 1913, was a Guatemalan President who earned the ire of the United Fruit Company, the largest private landowner in the country, by instituting widespread land reforms. He was ousted in a U.S-backed coup in 1954.

Árbenz served as the Minister of National Defense from 1944 to 1951 and the second democratically elected President of Guatemala from 1951 to 1954. He was a major figure in the ten-year Guatemalan Revolution, which represented some of the few years of representative democracy in Guatemalan history.

Árbenz instituted many popular reforms, including an expanded right to vote, the right of workers to organize, legitimizing political parties, and allowing public debate.

The centerpiece of Árbenz' policy was an agrarian reform law, under which uncultivated portions of large land-holdings were expropriated in return for compensation and redistributed to poverty-stricken agricultural laborers. Approximately 500,000 people benefited from the decree, the majority of them indigenous people whose forebears had been dispossessed after the Spanish invasion.

Opposition to these policies led the United Fruit Company to lobby the U.S. government to have him overthrown. The U.S. was also concerned by the presence of communists in the Guatemalan government, and Árbenz was ousted in a coup d'état engineered by the U.S. government on June 27th, 1954.

"Our only crime consisted of decreeing our own laws and applying them to all without exception. Our crime is having enacted an agrarian reform which effected the interests of the United Fruit Company. Our crime is wanting to have our own route to the Atlantic, our own electric power and our own docks and ports. Our crime is our patriotic wish to advance, to progress, to win economic independence to match our political independence. We are condemned because we have given our peasant population land and rights."

- Jacobo Árbenz

• Date: 1913-09-14
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, spartacus-educational.com, ufcguatemala.voices.wooster.edu.
• Tags: #Birthdays, #Independence.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Havana General Strike (1899)

Wed Sep 20, 1899

Image: A World Heritage Site map showing the location of Havana, Cuba

On this day in 1899, the Los Angeles Herald reported on a general strike in Havana, stating "It is now estimated that there are 32,000 striking [workers], and if, as is threatened...within the next few days there will be another 4000..."

In the aftermath of the U.S. military occupation of Cuba, a gathering of thousands of workers in Havana launched a general strike for the eight-hour day in September 1899.

The striking workers issued a statement, saying "...we have determined to promote the struggle between the worker and the capitalist. For the workers of Cuba will no longer tolerate remaining in total subjection." The American General William Ludlow ordered the mayor of Havana to arrest eleven strike leaders, and U.S. troops occupied railroad stations and docks.

On September 20th, 1899, the Los Angeles Herald reported "The strike has assumed serious proportions. It is now estimated that there are 32,000 striking masons, painters, carpenters, cartmen and laundry workers, and if, as is threatened, the hackmen, stevedores and strike, within the next few days there will be another 4000..."

• Date: 1899-09-20
• Learn More: cdnc.ucr.edu, www.historyisaweapon.com.
• Tags: #Labor, #GeneralStrikes.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Geronimo Pratt (1947 - 2011)

Sat Sep 13, 1947

Elmer "Geronimo" Pratt, born on this day in 1947, was a decorated military veteran and a high-ranking associate of the Black Panther Party in the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

In Los Angeles, Pratt studied at UCLA under the GI Bill and began working with the Black Panther Party. Pratt was also a target of the FBI's COINTEL program, which sought to subvert black power movements.

In 1972, Pratt was wrongfully convicted for murder and served 27 years in prison, eight of which were in solitary confinement. Pratt was freed in 1997 when his conviction was vacated due to the prosecution concealing wiretaps that proved he was not at the scene of the murder.

"I considered myself chopped off the game plan when I was arrested. But it was incumbent upon me to free myself and continue to struggle again. You can't look back twenty-seven years and say it was [lost time]. I'm still living. I run about five miles every morning, and I can still bench press 300 pounds ten times. I can give you ten reps. Also I hope I'm a little more intelligent and I'm not crazy. It's a hell of a gain that I survived."

- Geronimo Pratt

• Date: 1947-09-13
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, www.blackpast.org, www.youtube.com.
• Tags: #Birthdays.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Annie Kenney (1879 - 1953)

Sat Sep 13, 1879

Annie Kenney, born on this day in 1879, was an English working-class, socialist suffragette who became a leading figure in the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU). She co-founded its first branch in London with Minnie Baldock.

Kenney attracted the attention of the press and public in 1905 when she and Christabel Pankhurst were imprisoned for several days for assault and obstruction after disrupting a Liberal rally attended by Winston Churchill and Sir Edward Grey, demanding women's suffrage.

The incident was credited with inaugurating a new phase in the struggle for women's suffrage in the UK, with the adoption of militant tactics. Emmeline Pankhurst wrote in her autobiography that "this was the beginning of a campaign the like of which was never known in England, or for that matter in any other country...we interrupted a great many meetings...and we were violently thrown out and insulted. Often we were painfully bruised and hurt..."

• Date: 1879-09-13
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, spartacus-educational.com, www.wcml.org.uk.
• Tags: #Birthdays.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

First Gay Liberation Front Protest (1969)

Fri Sep 12, 1969

Image: Gay Liberation Front members marching on Times Square, Fall 1969. Photograph by Diana Davies.

On this day in 1969, the U.S. Gay Liberation Front held their first protest, demanding a meeting with Village Voice publishers who refused to publish their ads, claiming the word "gay" was profane. After being confronted, the ads were ran.

The U.S. Gay Liberation Front (GLF) was formed in the aftermath of the Stonewall Uprising, a landmark event in the American queer liberation struggle. The Stonewall Uprising received homophobic coverage from the Village Voice, whose authors referred to the protesters with language like "blatant queens", "limp wristed", and dubbing the event "the Great removed Rebellion".

A little over two months after the riot, the newly formed GLF tried to place two small ads in the Voice, however the Voice refused to run them, and claimed the word "gay" was profane. On September 12th, 1969, the GLF held their first protest, demanding a meeting with publisher Ed Fancher. The protest went on all day as Fancher stubbornly refused to meet with the group, however he eventually conceded to meet.

In the meeting, Fancher conceded the matter of the ads, and allowed the words "homosexual" and "gay" to appear in the paper - the activists won.

• Date: 1969-09-12
• Learn More: www.back2stonewall.com, en.wikipedia.org.
• Tags: #Queer, #Protests.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

People's Republic of Korea Formed (1945)

Wed Sep 12, 1945

Image: Flag of the PRK

The People's Republic of Korea (PRK) was a provisional government formed on this day in 1945. Based on people's committees, it presented a radical pro-working class program before being outlawed by the U.S. later that year.

At the time of the PRK's formation, Korea was being divided into two occupation zones, with the Soviet Union occupying the north and the United States occupying the south.

Based on a network of people's committees, the PRK presented a program of radical social change, including seizing Japanese-owned land and redistributing it to peasants, universal suffrage, female equality, an eight-hour work day, and abolition of child labor.

The government was short-lived however - in the south, the US military government outlawed the PRK on December 12th, 1945, while in the north, Soviet authorities "recognized these committees as our local provisional government", according to a northern government official, as quoted by historian Stephen Gowans in "Patriots, Traitors, and Empires".

• Date: 1945-09-12
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, www.kfausa.org.
• Tags: #Labor.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Hazelton General Strike (1934)

Tue Sep 11, 1934

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

✱Some sources list the strike as taking place on September 12th

On this day in 1934, as part of a larger national textile strike, 25,000 workers went on a general strike in Hazelton, Pennsylvania.

American Federation of Labor (AFL) leaders joined business interests in denouncing the strikers. Rhode Island union leader Frank Gorman blamed the violence on communists and refused to sanction the flying pickets.

After three weeks, the union leadership declared the strike a "victory" and workers were sent back into the mills, with nothing gained.

"We are in a fight to the death now, and we will put on this demonstration Wednesday in a manner that will impress this community that the workers are organized."

- United Mine Workers organizer Michael J. Hartneady, September 10th, 1934

• Date: 1934-09-11
• Learn More: socialistworker.org, journals.psu.edu, libcom.org.
• Tags: #Labor, #GeneralStrikes.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Flour City Strikers Killed (1935)

Wed Sep 11, 1935

Image: The Flour City Ornamental Iron Company building, with broken windows after a clash between union organizers and police escalated into a gun battle on September 11th, 1935. From the Minnesota Historical Society.

On this day in 1935, two people were killed and twenty-eight injured in a clash between ~5,000 workers and Minneapolis police near the working class neighborhood Seward's Hub of Hell at 26th Avenue and 26th Street. The violence took place in the context of labor strife, with both workers and capitalists organizing against each other, the latter forming the "Citizen's Alliance".

The owner of Flour City Ornamental Iron Works, Walter Tetzlaff, was an active member of the Citizen's Alliance. He was vehemently opposed to the unionization of his staff, who were being organized by the International Association of Machinists. Workers at Tetzlaff's factory went on strike he refused their demands for a minimum wage, the guarantee of an eight-hour day, and time-and-a half pay for overtime.

On September 11th, 1935, 300 pickets were outside the factory in the evening. More than 100 officers arrived on the scene in squad cars, motorcycles, and armored cars. Though there were 1,200 men working at the factory, by the end of the night 5,000 workers and nonworkers were facing off with police.

Police and protesters clashed, and the cops gassed and shot into the crowd. The clouds of gas were so thick that nearby bars had to close and streetcars refused to travel through it. By the end of the night, two people were killed and twenty-eight were injured.

Faced with the possibility of losing a lucrative government contract, Tetzlaff capitulated to the demands of a 40 hour work week, 25 cents per hour wage, and overtime pay to the workers, although he still refused to recognize the union.

• Date: 1935-09-11
• Learn More: libcom.org, historyapolis.com.
• Tags: #Labor.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Battle of Stockton (1933)

Sun Sep 10, 1933

On this day in 1933, the Battle of Stockton took place at the High Street of Stockton-on-Tees, England when hundreds of fascists were confronted by thousands of anti-fascists in a street melee that successfully broke up the fascist rally.

The battle was a clash between members of the British Union of Fascists (BUF) and anti-fascist demonstrators, including local communists and supporters of the Labour Party.

The BUF meeting included just a few hundred fascists, and was met by some 2,000-3,000 counter-protesters. Both sides fought, armed with staves, sticks, and pickaxe handles. The anti-fascists also used various missiles, including stones, half-bricks, knuckledusters, and potatoes with razor blades inserted into them.

Police made no arrests that day. The march was an early and unsuccessful attempt by the BUF to rally support in economically depressed areas. The Battle of Stockton is remembered today as a precursor to the more famous Battle of Cable Street.

• Date: 1933-09-10
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, libcom.org, heritage.stockton.gov.uk.
• Tags: #Labor, #Fascism, #Protests.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Lattimer Massacre (1897)

Fri Sep 10, 1897

On this day in 1897, the Lattimer Massacre occurred near Hazelton, Pennsylvania when a Sheriff's posse fired into a crowd of unarmed, striking miners, killing 19. Miners, mostly Eastern European immigrants, had been protesting for better pay and union recognition.

A week prior, over 3,000 miners had gone on strike, demanding better pay and an end to the forced use of the company store. On the morning of September 10th, approximately 400 miners peacefully marched to a newly opened coal mine in Lattimer to support a new United Mine Workers (UMW) union there.

After refusing an order to disperse by a Luzerne County sheriff's posse, the posse fired into the crowd. Nineteen miners were killed and several dozen were wounded.

Despite the fact that sheriffs had been overhead joking about how many strikers they would kill that morning, as well as medical evidence that demonstrated miners were mostly shot in the back, the sheriff and seventy-three deputies were acquitted at trial, insisting that they were charged by the crowd.

The massacre was a turning point in the history of the United Mine Workers (UMW), who received more than 10,000 new members in the aftermath of the massacre.

• Date: 1897-09-10
• Learn More: www.zinnedproject.org, en.wikipedia.org, explorepahistory.com.
• Tags: #Labor, #Massacre.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Elena Quinteros (1945 - 1976)

Sun Sep 09, 1945

Elena Quinteros, born on this day in 1945, was an anarchist Uruguayan school teacher arrested and killed in 1976, during the rule of a U.S.-backed military dictatorship. Her death led to Venezuela severing diplomatic relations with the country.

After receiving training to become a teacher, Quinteros joined the Uruguayan Anarchist Federation (FAU), as well as the Student-worker Resistance (ROE), becoming active in the latter. Her activities were in the trade union field and she was part of the Socio-pedagogical Missions, an initiative launched by the lecturers from the Co-operative Rural Education Institute.

In 1976, Quinteros was arrested by the military dictatorship. While being escorted by her captors, Quinteros suddenly jumped over the wall of the Venezuelan Embassy, calling out her name and asking for sanctuary. The embassy staff attempted to help her, but her captors managed to thwart the escape.

A few days later, she was tortured and killed. Her kidnapping and murder grew into a major diplomatic incident that eventually culminated in Venezuela cutting off diplomatic relations with Uruguay.

In October 2002, Judge Eduardo Cavalli found former minister Juan Carlos Blanco primarily responsible for the disappearance of Elena Quinteros and had him arraigned on charges of deprivation of liberty.

• Date: 1945-09-09
• Learn More: libcom.org, www.memoria.org.uy, es.wikipedia.org.
• Tags: #Birthdays, #Anarchism.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Col. Stone Johnson (1918 - 2012)

Mon Sep 09, 1918

Colonel Stone Johnson, born on this day in 1918, was a black worker in the civil rights movement who served as a bodyguard for homes, businesses, and people involved in the movement.

A railway worker and union representative by trade, he got involved in the civil rights movement in Birmingham, Alabama in the mid 1950s, working with Fred Shuttlesworth. He started a civil rights organization called the Civil Rights Guards that protected homes and business involved in the movement, usually while armed.

Among Johnson's notable acts was helping carry a Ku Klux Klan bomb away from Bethel Baptist Church in Birmingham, AL and serving as a bodyguard to Martin Luther King Jr. He also provided armed protection to non-violent activists in Anniston, Alabama during the 1961 Freedom Rides, rescuing them from a segregationist mob.

An oft-repeated remark of Johnson, when asked how he managed to protect civil rights leaders, given his commitment to non-violence, Johnson replied, "With my non-violent .38 special."

• Date: 1918-09-09
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, www.al.com.
• Tags: #CivilRights, #Birthdays.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Delano Grape Strike Begins (1965)

Wed Sep 08, 1965

Image: Pickets gathering at edge of a grape field urging workers to join strike. The word "Huelga" is Spanish for strike. From the Bettmann Archive.

On this day in 1965, the Delano Grape Strike began, lasting an astonishing five years before finally succeeding in 1970. During the strike, labor groups involved merged to form the landmark United Farm Workers (UFW).

The Delano Grape Strike was organized by the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC), a predominantly Filipino and AFL-CIO-sponsored labor organization, against table grape growers in Delano, California to fight against the exploitation of farm workers.

The strike began on September 8th, 1965 and was soon joined by the National Farmworkers Association (NFWA). The labor action lasted for an astonishing five years and was characterized by its grassroots tactics - consumer boycotts, marches, community organizing and nonviolent resistance - which achieved national attention.

Filipino strike leader Andy Imutan noted that growers used race as a means to divide workers, writing: "The struggle became a lot harder when Mexican workers started crossing our picket lines. There was no unity between the Mexicans and the Filipinos. The growers were very successful in dividing us and creating conflict between the two races...So Larry Itliong and I decided to take action by seeing Cesar Chavez, the leader of the National Farm Workers Association...It took several discussions and a lot of faith, but finally the Filipinos and Mexicans joined as one on September 16th to picket the Delano growers."

In July 1970, strikers finally achieved a collective bargaining agreement with major table grape growers, affecting more than 10,000 farm workers. In August 1966, the AWOC and the NFWA merged to create the United Farm Workers (UFW) Organizing Committee.

The Delano Grape Strike is notable for the effective implementation and adaptation of boycotts, the unprecedented partnership between Filipino and Mexican farm workers to unionize farm labor, and the creation of the UFW labor union, all of which revolutionized the farm labor movement in America.

• Date: 1965-09-08
• Learn More: ufw.org, ufw.org, en.wikipedia.org.
• Tags: #Labor.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org