Vladimir Lenin (1870 - 1924)

Fri Apr 22, 1870

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Vladimir Lenin, born on this day in 1870, was a revolutionary Marxist theorist who played a leading role in the October Revolution.

Born into a prosperous family, Lenin was radicalized at least in part after his older brother Alexander was executed in 1887 for conspiring to assassinate Alexander III. He was subsequently expelled from Kazan Imperial University for participating in protests against the Russian Empire's Tsarist government and later arrested for sedition, exiled to Siberia in 1897.

Over the next two decades, Lenin remained committed to revolutionary activity, authoring influential texts such as "What is to Be Done?" (1901-2), "One Step Forward, Two Steps Back" (1904), "Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism" (1916), and "The State and Revolution" (1917). During this time period, Lenin and his wife, fellow revolutionary Nadezhda Krupskaya, moved frequently, living both in Russia and abroad.

After the February Revolution of 1917 ousted the Tsar and established a Provisional Government, Lenin returned to Russia from Switzerland and played a leading role in the October Revolution, in which the Bolsheviks overthrew the new State Duma government.

A civil war of significant political complexity subsequently broke out, in which the Bolsheviks defeated conservative, social democratic, and anarchist forces to consolidate its own power. Lenin served as Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the Russian SFSR from 1917 to 1924. In 1918, he survived two separate assassination attempts.

Lenin's ideas are foundational to the political tradition of Marxism-Leninism, a political tradition which emphasizes the creation of a dictatorship of the proletariat by means of a revolutionary vanguard party and democratic centralism, in which political decisions reached through free discussion are binding upon all members of the political party.

"Freedom in capitalist society always remains about the same as it was in ancient Greek republics: Freedom for slave owners."

- Vladimir Lenin

• Date: 1870-04-22
• Learn More: www.marxists.org, en.wikipedia.org, www.revolutionarydemocracy.org, spartacus-educational.com.
• Tags: #Marxism, #Birthdays, #Imperialism.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Anaconda Road Massacre (1920)

Wed Apr 21, 1920

Image: One of Butte’s most famous byways was the Anaconda Road, which remains near the Irish neighborhood of Dublin Gulch. On April 21st, 1920, the road was the site of the anti-labor Anaconda Road Massacre.

On this day in 1920, an anti-labor posse, deputized by police, gunned down striking miners in Butte, Montana, shooting 15-16 men in the back, killing one. Workers had gone on strike to demand higher wages and an end to anti-union discrimination.

Author Richard Gibson writes that, in a Sunday night meeting, April 18th, 1920, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) and the Metal Mine Workers Union called for a strike to improve wages and end the hated rustling card system, a process whereby employers could blacklist union organizers and members.

Pickets spread along the Anaconda Road on April 19th to enforce the strike, and some trolley cars were attacked, with strikers turning men bound for work away from the mines.

On April 21st, the Silver Bow County Sheriff deputized Anaconda mine guards to suppress workers. As nearly 400 unarmed miners marched up the Anaconda Road, they were confronted near the Neversweat Mine by the sheriff, Anaconda Copper Mining (ACM) Company officials, and armed guards. Shots rang out, and armed Company agents shot 15 or 16 unarmed miners, all in the back. One, Tom Manning, a 25-year-old Irish immigrant, died four days later.

Anti-labor press claimed, without evidence, that workers shot first. Despite a massive inquest, no one was ever charged with the murder of Tom Manning. The inquest report included the complete Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx, entered as evidence against IWW members and others involved in the events of April 21st.

In the wake of the Anaconda Road shootings, federal troops were called to Butte, arriving on April 22-25 as Tom Manning died. Troops were billeted at the Florence Hotel in the 200 block of East Broadway and elsewhere. They did not depart from Butte until the following January.

The strike and massacre were the last major labor conflict in the area until the 1934 passage of the National Recovery Act allowed outside support to help rebuild the weakened Butte Miners Union.

"The overlords of Butte will not permit their right to exploit to be challenged. Drunk with unbridled power and the countless millions profiteered during the war, with lying phrases of 'law and order' on their lips, the blood of workingmen dripping from their hands, and the gold of the government bursting their coffers, they face the nation unreprimanded and unashamed — reaction militant, capitalism at its worst. The copper trust can murder its slaves in broad daylight on any occasion and under any pretext. There is no law to call a halt. In the confines of this greed-ruled city, the gunman has replaced the Constitution. Butte is a law unto itself."

- Ralph Chaplin, poet and member of the IWW

• Date: 1920-04-21
• Learn More: mtstandard.com, en.wikipedia.org.
• Tags: #IWW, #Labor, #Massacre.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Spanish-American War Begins (1898)

Thu Apr 21, 1898

On this day in 1898, the Spanish-American War began, greatly expanding the scope of American imperialism, granting the U.S. sovereignty over the Philippines, Guam, and Puerto Rico, as well as de facto control of the Cuban economy.

The war began with an American naval blockade of Cuba, which was fighting a war for independence from Spain, and only lasted three months. The U.S. intervened in the Cuban War of Independence after the internal explosion of the U.S.S. Maine, despite there being no evidence of Spanish involvement in the explosion.

The outcome of the war resulted in U.S. acquisition of Puerto Rico, Cuba, and the Philippines, and signaled a new era of American expansionism and colonialism in the 20th century.

From 1899-1901, the U.S. had to brutally suppress the Filipino movement for independence, killing between 200,000 and 1,000,000 civilians in the Philippine-American War. In 1901, the American government also refused to withdraw troops from Cuba unless their Constitutional Convention signed the Platt Amendment, which gave the U.S. government and capitalists de facto hegemony over the newly "independent" Cuba.

• Date: 1898-04-21
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, www.thenation.com.
• Tags: #Imperialism, #Independence.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Maria Silva Cruz (1915 - 1936)

Mon Apr 20, 1936

Image: Maria Silva Cruz, also known as La Libertaria

Maria Silva Cruz, born on this day in 1915, was a Spanish anarchist and hero of the Casas Viejas Uprising, executed by fascists at age 21. Despite the efforts of her son, who was 1 year old at the time her death, Cruz's remains were never identified.

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

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

Some anarchists attempted to hide in the house of Silva Cruz's grandfather, which was set on fire by the guard, killing all but Cruz and her young cousin, who she carried outside the burning building to safety. Cruz was later arrested.

When the fascists occupied the town of Ronda in July 1936, her husband Perez Cordon fled to the mountains, while Silva Cruz stayed with her one year old son at home. She was arrested by the Civil Guard and her son was taken from her.

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

• Date: 1936-04-20
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, dbe.rah.es.
• Tags: #Labor, #Birthdays, #Anarchism, #Fascism.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Walter Reuther Assassination Attempt (1948)

Tue Apr 20, 1948

Image: Walter Reuther and his wife in Detroit Hospital after an assassination attempt on 20th April, 1948. Source: Spartacus-Educational

On this day in 1948, social democratic labor organizer Walter Reuther was shot and nearly killed in his home. This was the second attempt to assassinate Reuther, who was a politically outspoken leader of the UAW.

Walter Reuther was an American labor leader and civil rights activist who helped turn the United Automobile Workers (UAW) into one of the most progressive labor unions in U.S. history. Reuther saw labor movements not as narrow special interest groups but as political vehicles to advance social justice and human rights.

Reuther leveraged the UAW's resources and influence to advocate for workers' rights, civil rights, women's rights, universal health care, public education, affordable housing, environmental stewardship, and nuclear nonproliferation around the world.

Reuther survived two attempted assassinations and at least one beating from anti-union forces at Henry Ford's factory. On April 20th, 1948, Reuther was struck by a 12-gauge shotgun blast fired through his kitchen window, which nearly killed him. While being treated by his neighbor, he cried "Those dirty sons of bitches! They have to shoot a man in the back. They won't come out in the open and fight.'"

Reuther's right arm was shattered into 150 bones, and a slug pierced his stomach. Upon receiving blood transfusions, he came down with both malaria and hepatitis. When Attorney General Tom Clark requested J. Edgar Hoover to get the FBI to investigate the shooting, Hoover refused, stating "I'm not going to send in the FBI every time some removed woman gets raped."

Thirteen months later, Walter's brother Victor was shot and nearly killed, losing his right eye in a similar attack. Neither shooting was ever solved.

• Date: 1948-04-20
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, spartacus-educational.com.
• Tags: #Labor, #CivilRights, #Assassinations.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Operation Dewey Canyon III (1971)

Mon Apr 19, 1971

On this day in 1971, Operation Dewey Canyon III was initiated by Vietnam Veterans Against the War, who dubbed the planned protests "a limited incursion into the country of Congress", mocking similar rhetoric from the U.S. government.

The protest began with more than 1,100 veterans led by Gold Star Mothers (mothers of soldiers killed in war) marching to the Arlington Cemetery gate, just beneath the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Reverend Jackson H. Day, who had a few days earlier resigned his military chaplainship, conducted a memorial service for their fellows.

Over the next four days, fifty soldiers attempted to turn themselves in as war criminals at the Pentagon, police defied orders to arrest protesters camping on the National Mall, and more than 800 soldiers threw their medals, ribbons, discharge papers, and other war mementos on the steps of the U.S. Capitol as a symbolic rejection of the war.

• Date: 1971-04-19
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, publish.illinois.edu.
• Tags: #Protests.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Looby House Bombing (1960)

Tue Apr 19, 1960

Image: Civil rights leader Z. Alexander Looby’s house after being bombed in April 1960 [nashvillescene.com]

On this day in 1960, the home of famous Nashville politician and civil rights attorney Z. Alexander Looby was bombed by white supremacists, leading to 3,000 people marching on City Hall.

Looby had achieved national notoriety for his defense of twenty-five black men charged with murder as part of the 1946 Columbia Race Riots, as well as his support of the students participating in the Nashville Sit-ins of 1960.

On April 19th, 1960, a bundle of dynamite was lobbed towards the front of his home, rolling onto its concrete foundation before detonating. The blast destroyed the front of the house, however Looby survived the assassination attempt.

The bombing was the catalyst for a march held later that day, in which approximately 3,000 people marched to City Hall in total silence.

Once the crowd converged on City Hall, they were met on the steps of the plaza by Mayor Ben West, who admitted to the demonstrators that he supported desegregating the lunch counters. By May of that year, lunch counters in Nashville were desegregated.

• Date: 1960-04-19
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, www.nashvillescene.com, www.atlasobscura.com.
• Tags: #CivilRights, #Assassinations, #Terrorism.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Harvard Living Wage Sit-In (2001)

Wed Apr 18, 2001

On this day in 2001, 46 demonstrators at Harvard University, carrying sleeping bags, computers, and a week's supply of food, occupied Massachusetts Hall, refusing to budge until the school agreed to pay its workers a "living wage".

The protest was a culmination of years of activism at Harvard to try and get the richest university in the world to pay all of its workers a living wage.

The sit-in ended after 21 days (the longest in Harvard history) when Harvard President Neil L. Rudenstine announced the formation of a University-wide committee to investigate the "principles and policies" regarding low paid and contract university workers.

No non-unionized or non-management workers served on the committee, however, and the workers that did were outnumbered 3-1 by faculty and students.

• Date: 2001-04-18
• Learn More: www.washingtonpost.com, www.thecrimson.com.
• Tags: #CivilRights, #Protests.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Paint Creek Mine War (1912)

Thu Apr 18, 1912

On this day in 1912, the Paint Creek Mine War began when West Virginia miners struck, demanding formal union recognition and fairer labor practices. The incident quickly escalated into one of the worst labor conflicts in U.S. history.

The event, also known as the Paint Creek-Cabin Creek Strike, centered on the area enclosed by two streams, Paint Creek and Cabin Creek. It is considered part of the "Coal Wars", a series of armed conflicts between workers and coal companies from the 1890s - 1930s in the United States.

The strike lasted for fourteen months, and over 5,000 workers participated. Notable labor organizer Mother Jones (shown) came to West Virginia to support the workers, organizing a secret march of 3,000 armed miners to the steps of the state capitol in Charleston to read a declaration of war to Governor William E. Glasscock.

The confrontation directly caused approximately fifty violent deaths from armed conflicts between miners and strike-breaking forces, as well as many more deaths indirectly caused by starvation and malnutrition among the striking miners. In terms of casualties, it was among the worst conflicts in American labor history.

• Date: 1912-04-18
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, www.wvencyclopedia.org.
• Tags: #Labor.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

"A Peace Appeal to Labor" Published (1898)

Sun Apr 17, 1898

On this day in 1898, Bolton Hall, the treasurer of the American Longshoremen's Union, wrote "A Peace Appeal to Labor", urging workers to oppose American imperialism in the Spanish-American War on a class basis.

The piece was written and published at height of yellow journalism and war fever in the U.S., which was pushing for U.S. interference in the Cuban struggle for independence against Spain, and pleaded for the working class to not support the coming war. Here is a short excerpt from Hall's piece:

"If there is a war, you will furnish the corpses and the taxes, and others will get the glory. Speculators will make money out of it -- that is, out of you.

Men will get high prices for inferior supplies, leaky boats, for shoddy clothes and pasteboard shoes, and you will have to pay the bill, and the only satisfaction you will get is the privilege of hating your Spanish fellow-workmen, who are really your brothers and who have had as little to do with the wrongs of Cuba as you have."

• Date: 1898-04-17
• Learn More: books.google.com, www.historyisaweapon.com.
• Tags: #Labor, #Imperialism.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Bay of Pigs Invasion (1961)

Mon Apr 17, 1961

Image: U.S.-backed Cuban exiles captured during the failed Bay of Pigs invasion, Cuba, 1961 [britannica.com]

On this day in 1961, the Bay of Pigs invasion took place when a force of 1400 Cuban exiles, funded and led by the U.S., landed on the southwest coast of Cuba in a failed attempt at overthrowing the revolutionary Cuban government.

Covertly financed and directed by the U.S. government, the operation took place at the height of the Cold War and its failure led to major shifts in international relations between Cuba, the United States, and the Soviet Union.

The coup attempt came after the Cuban government expropriated property from American capitalists. U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower allocated $13.1 million to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in March 1960 for use against Castro's government. With the aid of Cuban counter-revolutionaries, the CIA proceeded to organize an invasion.

On April 14th, 1961, a squadron of U.S. B-26 bombers camouflaged with Cuban insignias begin a two-day bombing campaign of Cuban airports, destroying a large portion of the Cuban air force.

On the night of April 17th, an invasion force of approximately 1400 Cuban exiles and CIA officers landed on the beach at Playa Girón in the Bay of Pigs. After a few days, the insurgents became overwhelmed by the Cuban army. President Kennedy refused to provide air support for the operation.

The invasion's defeat solidified Castro's role as a national hero and strengthened Cuba-Soviet relations. Several Cuban exiles and two Americans were executed upon capture. Over 1,000 prisoners were exchanged for humanitarian aid from the U.S. government.

• Date: 1961-04-17
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, www.npr.org, www.marxists.org, www.britannica.com.
• Tags: #Imperialism, #Communism.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Sierra Leone AML Strike (2012)

Mon Apr 16, 2012

Image: Kelly Conteh lies in hospital with a head wound after police opened fire at protesters in Bumbuna, in the north of Sierra Leone, in April 2012. Photograph: Finbarr O'Reilly/Reuters [theguardian.com]

On this day in 2012, workers at the London-based African Minerals Limited (AML) company went on strike in Bumbuna, Sierra Leone. The next day, protesters were fired upon and arrested in what was later described as a "war zone".

According to Human Rights Watch, AML is the largest private employer in Sierra Leone, with a $2 billion direct investment in the country's economy. Human Rights Watch also cites Sierra Leone government officials who claim that AML's company operations are close to double the country's gross domestic product.

On April 16th, 2012, AML workers in the northern town of Bumbuna struck in protest of bad working conditions, workplace discrimination, and the inability to form their own union. Striking workers convinced contracted workers to join them and attempted to prevent AML vehicles from refueling.

Bumbuna's local police force called for reinforcements, and an estimated 200 police officers descended upon the town the next day. During a protest, police opened fire on the market and town center, killing a 24-year-old woman and wounding eight others.

Police arrested at least 29 people who were held for a day before being released without charge, and many alleged they were beaten during their arrest. Three police officers were also injured. Sierra Leone's Human Rights Commission described the incident as resembling a "war zone".

• Date: 2012-04-16
• Learn More: www.hrw.org, www.theguardian.com.
• Tags: #Labor, #Protests.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Compensated Emancipation Act (1862)

Wed Apr 16, 1862

Passed on this day in 1862, the Compensated Emancipation Act ended slavery in the District of Columbia. The law offered slavers $300 per enslaved person forfeited, while offering freedmen $100 on condition they move to Haiti or Liberia.

The Act was signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln, who was keen on offering slave owners compensation for forfeiting their "property" as a means to not alienate border states in the Civil War. Although it was the only time the U.S. federal government gave direct aid to slaveowners, many state governments took the initiative to do so as well.

The law offered $300 per slave forfeited and $100 to any freed slave, on condition that they move to Haiti or Liberia. Later Lincoln signed a second compensation act into law that allowed former slaves to petition for reimbursement for their own value, but only if their former masters had not already been compensated.

Dr. John Rock, a black physician in Boston, said this of the law's passage:

"Why talk about compensating masters? Compensate them for what? What do you owe them? What does the slave owe them? What does society owe them? Compensate the master?...It is the slave who ought to be compensated. The property of the South is by right the property of the slave..."

3,185 slaves were freed as a direct result of the Compensated Emancipation Act, and the anniversary of its passing is still recognized as the holiday "Emancipation Day" in Washington D.C.

• Date: 1862-04-16
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, www.nytimes.com.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Harold Washington (1922 - 1987)

Sat Apr 15, 1922

Image: **

Harold Washington, born on this day in 1922, was a U.S. lawyer and politician who, with the help of the Young Lords, became the first black mayor of Chicago, overcoming a slew of racist fear-mongering and underhanded political tactics.

Washington was elected as mayor of Chicago after a coalition of black-brown unity, including the Young Lords of Rainbow Coalition fame, organized in support of his election, leading to an upset over establishment candidate Richard J. Daley. Due to that coalition's efforts, over 100,000 new voters participated in the mayoral primary.

After winning the primary, Washington faced widespread racist paranoia about his possible tenure as mayor, and prominent Democratic Party establishment politicians (such as alderman Edward Vrdolyak) endorsed his Republican opponent Bernard Epton.

After winning the general election, Washington promised to be "fairer than fair" in regards to the allocation of municipal services, which had traditionally gone to service wealthy white neighborhoods more than poor, inner city communities. He served as mayor from 1983 until his death from a heart attack in 1987.

• Date: 1922-04-15
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, www.thisamericanlife.org.
• Tags: #Birthdays.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Vietnam Veterans Against the War (1967)

Sat Apr 15, 1967

Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW), founded on this day in 1967, is an American non-profit organization whose goal is to oppose U.S. policy and participation in the Vietnam War.

Today, the VVAW is a national veterans' organization that campaigns for peace, justice, and the rights of all United States military veterans. The VVAW is considered to be among the most influential anti-war organizations of the American Vietnam War era.

In January 1971, the VVAW sponsored the Winter Soldier Investigation to gather and present testimony from soldiers about war crimes being committed in Southeast Asia, intending to demonstrate that these resulted from American war policies.

The event was boycotted by most mainstream media, although the Detroit Free Press covered it daily. Later, the VVAW released "Winter Soldier", a 16mm black-and-white documentary film showing participants giving testimony at the 1971 hearing.

• Date: 1967-04-15
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, www.vvaw.org.
• Tags: #Imperialism.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

First U.S. Abolitionist Organization (1775)

Fri Apr 14, 1775

Image: **

On this day in 1775, Philadelphia Quakers formed the first abolitionist organization in the U.S., the "Society for the Relief of Free Negroes Unlawfully Held in Bondage". Although they won reforms, they never succeeded in abolishing slavery.

Although there are records of Quakers condemning the "traffic of Men-body" as early 1688, this group (predominantly but not exclusively Quaker) was the first official organization to work for the abolition of slavery.

The organization was re-formed in 1784, renamed the "Pennsylvania Abolition Society" (PAS). This version of the group began to grow more influential, broadening its membership to prominent figures as Benjamin Franklin and Benjamin Rush, who both helped write the Society's new constitution.

In 1787, the PAS unsuccessfully petitioned the Constitutional Convention to institute a ban on slavery. The following year, they successfully lobbied the Pennsylvania legislature to amend the gradual abolition act of 1780, winning reforms like the banning of transporting enslaved children and pregnant women out of Pennsylvania and the sending of slave ships from the city.

The amended act also imposed heavier fines for kidnapping the enslaved, and made it illegal to separate enslaved families by more than ten miles.

The group's influence waned in the decades leading up the Civil War amid economic crises and an increasing anti-black sentiment in the region. Despite their efforts at gradual abolition, chattel slavery was not abolished in the United States until 1865.

• Date: 1775-04-14
• Learn More: www.pbs.org, www.history.com.
• Tags: #Abolitionism.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Limerick Soviet Forms (1919)

Mon Apr 14, 1919

On this day in 1919, the Limerick Soviet (Irish: Sóibhéid Luimnigh) formed during a general strike, one of a number of self-declared Irish workers' soviets that were formed between 1919 and 1923.

The soviet was formed in the context of the Irish War of Independence, fought between the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and the British government, and was sustained for a period of about two weeks.

The workers' rebellion began in response to British Army Brigadier Griffin declaring the city to be a "Special Military Area", with permits required for all wanting to enter and leave the city and British Army troops and armored vehicles deployed to the area. On April 11th, a meeting of the United Trades and Labour Council took place where a representative from the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union (ITGWU), Sean Dowling, proposed that the trade unions take over Town Hall and have meetings there.

After a twelve-hour discussion and lobbying of the delegates by workers, a general strike was called on April 13th, by the city's United Trades and Labour Council. A special strike committee was set up to print their own money, control food prices, and publish newspapers, and these actions had support from many workers outside the city.

After two weeks, the Sinn Féin Lord Mayor of Limerick and the Catholic Bishop Denis Hallinan called for the strike to end. The Strike Committee capitulated, issuing a proclamation on April 27th, stating that the strike was over.

• Date: 1919-04-14
• Learn More: libcom.org, en.wikipedia.org.
• Tags: #Labor, #GeneralStrikes.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Amy Goodman (1957 - )

Sat Apr 13, 1957

Image: **

Amy Goodman, born on this day in 1957, is an American journalist, investigative reporter, and author who co-founded the news program Democracy Now!, which does not accept corporate funding.

Goodman's investigative journalism work is international in scope, including coverage of the East Timor independence movement and Chevron Corporation's complicity in violence in Nigeria; Chevron assisted the Nigerian Army in a violent conflict with villagers who had seized oil rigs to protest environmental pollution.

Goodman has also been arrested when covering anti-war protests at the RNC and charged with rioting for her coverage on attacks of Dakota Pipeline Access protesters. Goodman and her team captured footage that showed security personnel pepper-spraying and siccing attack dogs on demonstrators.

After the footage aired, North Dakota state prosecutor Ladd Erickson charged her with criminal trespass and, later, rioting. Both charges were dismissed in court.

Since 1996, Goodman has been the main host of Democracy Now!, a progressive global news program broadcast daily on radio, television and the internet. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Thomas Merton Award in 2004, a Right Livelihood Award in 2008, and an Izzy Award in 2009 for "special achievement in independent media".

"Go to where the silence is and say something."

- Amy Goodman

• Date: 1957-04-13
• Learn More: www.britannica.com, en.wikipedia.org, www.democracynow.org.
• Tags: #Birthdays, #Riots, #Journalism, #Protests.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Project MKUltra Begins (1953)

Mon Apr 13, 1953

Image: From 1955, artist William Millarc takes part in an LSD experiment alleged to have been part of the MK-ULTRA program. [whyy.org]

On this day in 1953, the CIA's Project MKUltra began. MKUltra is the code name given to a secret CIA program of mind control experiments, sometimes involuntary and involving the unethical use of hallucinogens, on test subjects.

These experiments were intended to identify and develop drugs and procedures to be used in interrogations in order to weaken the individual and force confessions through mind control, and often ran without the test subject's consent or knowledge.

Under MKUltra, the CIA created secret detention camps in international areas under American control so experiments could be done on prisoners without being prosecuted, hired British psychiatrist Donald Ewen Cameron to conduct experiments on patient, including dosing them with LSD and putting them in drug induced comas for weeks at a time, and secretly dosed Dr. Frank Olson with LSD after he asked to resign from the CIA, resulting in his suicide.

In 1973, amid a government-wide panic caused by Watergate, CIA Director Richard Helms ordered all MKUltra files destroyed. Most CIA documentation of the project was destroyed, however 20,000 documents survived because they had been incorrectly stored in a financial records building.

We only know about MKUltra today because of this misplaced cache and a Freedom of Information Request filed in 1977.

• Date: 1953-04-13
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, www.smithsonianmag.com.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

William Swann Arrested (1888)

Thu Apr 12, 1888

Image: There are no known images of William Swann. In this photographic postcard, two black actors dance the Cake-Walk in Paris. James Gardiner Collection, 1903. CC-BY (Photo: Welcome Library) [fashionandrace.org]

On this day in 1888, D.C. police raided a drag ball held for William Dorsey Swann's 30th birthday. While most fled, Swann, the queen of the ball, confronted police while wearing a satin dress, attempting to prevent them from entering.

Swann, enslaved at birth but emancipated after the Civil War, was an early queer liberation activist who was the first American to lead a queer resistance group, to take legal and political action in defense of queer rights (in the form of demanding a Presidential pardon in 1896), and the first known person to self-identify as a "queen of drag".

On April 12th, 1888, Washington D.C. police raided a drag queen ball held in honor of Swann's thirtieth birthday. Many of the guests fled, even jumping from second story windows to escape police.

Swann, however, confronted the police in what was later described as "a gorgeous dress of cream-colored satin", vainly hoping to prevent the cops from entering the residence. Author Adriana Hill claims that this incident "marked one of the earliest documented instances of resistance in the name of queer rights."

In total, thirteen men, including Swann, were arrested and "charged with being suspicious characters", according to queer journalist and historian Channing Joseph.

Years later, when William Swann stopped organizing and participating in drag events, his brother continued to make costumes for the drag community. Swann died in 1925 in Hancock, Maryland. After his death, local officials burned his home.

• Date: 1888-04-12
• Learn More: www.truthdig.com, fashionandrace.org.
• Tags: #Queer.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Hosea Hudson (1898 - 1988)

Tue Apr 12, 1898

Hosea Hudson, born on this day in 1898, was a communist labor leader active in Wilkes County, Georgia and Birmingham, Alabama who was expelled from a union council he founded and blacklisted for his political beliefs.

Born in Wilkes County, Hosea worked as a sharecropper in what was then known as the "Black Belt" of Georgia. Later, Hudson worked as a steel-mill worker and a local union official in Birmingham while maintaining an active membership in the Communist Party. Through his work, Hudson was often referred to as a militant fighter against racist oppression and economic exploitation.

During the Red Scares of the post-World War II period, Hudson was expelled from the Birmingham Industrial Union Council. In 1947, he was fired from his job, removed from his offices in Local 2815 (which he had founded), and blacklisted as a communist.

In 1972, Hudson authored his autobiography, "Black Worker in the Deep South: A Personal Record".

• Date: 1898-04-12
• Learn More: www.blackpast.org, en.wikipedia.org.
• Tags: #Communism, #Labor, #Birthdays.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Rudi Dutschke Shot (1968)

Thu Apr 11, 1968

Image: Rudi Dutschke in 1976 [Wikipedia]

On this day in 1968, Rudi Dutschke, a key figure in the extra-parliamentary left opposition movement in West Germany, was shot by neo-Nazi Josef Bachman. Although Dutschke survived the shooting, he died from complications due to his injuries.

Born in 1940, Rudi Dutschke grew up in post-war East Germany. As a youth, he became involved with the Evangelical Church in East Germany and would later claim religious inspiration for his socialism, tying the idea of spiritual transcendence with societal transcendence.

Dutschke's views on socialism, influenced by worker councils during the Hungarian Uprising of 1956, put him in conflict with GDR authorities, and he defected to West Germany shortly before construction of the Berlin Wall began in 1961.

Dutschke became influenced by ideas of social provocation proposed by the Situationist International, and joined the Situationist group Subversive Action in 1963. He edited their newspaper and wrote about revolutionary developments in the Third World.

Subversive Action would later join the German Socialist Students' Union, which had formerly been the student wing of the social democratic SPD before being expelled due to being well to the left of its parent organization. After being elected to the political council of the West Berlin SDS in 1965, Dutschke became a major leader calling for student resistance in West Germany, focusing on the Vietnam War in particular.

As the movement grew, Dutschke's visibility made him a figure of attack from right-wing politicians and press, such as those owned by Axel Springer, which controlled around 67% of West Germany's press market at the time. His family was forced to leave their apartment after it was attacked with smoke bombs, excrement, and threatening graffiti.

In 1967, Dutschke famously advocated for a "long march through the institutions", to join political and media establishments to build power for leftist movements from within.

On April 11th, 1968, while attempting to collect a prescription for his infant son, Dutschke was shot by Josef Bachmann, a young laborer with ties to neo-Nazi groups. Bachmann shouted "you dirty, communist pig!" and shot him three times.

Bachman claimed to have been inspired by the assassination of MLK Jr., which had taken place just a week prior. The assassination attempt spawned another wave of attacks on Springer Press facilities by protestors, and the shooting was viewed as a major factor in the rise of the militant Red Army Faction (RAF).

While Dutschke survived, he suffered from significant memory and speech issues along with epileptic seizures, and was soon forced to step down from his political roles. He moved with his family to England in 1969, only to be accused by the Conservative Party-controlled UK Home Office of engaging in political activity in 1971 and expelled, before taking up a teaching role at the University of Aarhus in Denmark.

Dutschke would later maintain limited political involvement during the 1970s, supporting East German dissidents. His thoughts on the Red Army Faction during this time remain controversial; when RAF member Holger Meins died on hunger strike, he commented at his grave; "the struggle continues". However, he grew critical of their actions which risked harm to civilians and people rather than infrastructure and objects.

In December 1978, Dutschke wrote, "Every small citizens' initiative, every political and social youth, women, unemployed, pensioner and class struggle movement is a hundred times more valuable and qualitatively different than the most spectacular action of individual terror".

Dutschke died on December 24th, 1979 after suffering an epileptic seizure while taking a bath at his home in Denmark, causing him to drown. Thousands gathered at his funeral, where Protestant theologian Helmut Gollwitzer described him as someone "fought passionately, but not fanatically, for a more humane world".

• Date: 1968-04-11
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, , www.dw.com, www.youtube.com.
• Tags: #Socialism, #Labor, #Assassinations, #Fascism, #Protests.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Luís Cabral (1942 - 2009)

Sat Apr 11, 1942

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Luís Cabral, born on this day in 1942, was a Bissau-Guinean revolutionary who served as the first President of Guinea-Bissau after the country won its independence from Portuguese colonizers in 1974.

Luís Cabral was also a half-brother of noted pan-African revolutionary Amílcar Cabral, with whom he co-founded the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC) in 1956.

PAIGC was one of the primary agitators for freedom against Portuguese colonial rule, and fought the Guinea-Bissau War of Independence against Portugal, winning the country's independence in 1974. Luís Cabral became the leader of the party in 1973 after Amílcar was assassinated that year.

Cabral served as president of Guinea-Bissau from 1974 to 1980, when a military coup d'état led by João Bernardo Vieira deposed him. After losing power, Cabral was exiled to Portugal, where he died in 2009.

• Date: 1942-04-11
• Learn More: www.blackpast.org, en.wikipedia.org, www.theguardian.com.
• Tags: #Birthdays, #Colonialism, #Independence.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Emiliano Zapata Assassinated (1919)

Thu Apr 10, 1919

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Emiliano Zapata, assassinated on this day in 1919, was a leader of peasant uprisings in Mexico and the inspiration for the name of the revolutionary Zapatista movement.

Zapata was born in the rural village of Anenecuilco in Morelos State, where peasant communities were under increasing pressure from a small landowning class, supported by dictator Porfirio Díaz, who monopolized land and water resources for sugar cane production.

Early on, Zapata participated in political movements against Diaz and the landowning hacendados, and when revolution broke out in 1910, he was positioned as a central leader of the peasant revolt in Morelos. Zapata was responsible for defeating and ousting various invading armies from Morelos on multiple occasions.

On April 10th, 1919, Jesús Guajardo invited Zapata to a meeting, intimating that he intended to defect to the revolutionaries. When Zapata arrived at the meeting, however, Guajardo's men riddled him with bullets instead.

"I want to die a slave to principles. Not to men."

- Emiliano Zapata

• Date: 1919-04-10
• Learn More: www.jstor.org, en.wikipedia.org.
• Tags: #Assassinations.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Chris Hani Assassinated (1993)

Sat Apr 10, 1993

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Chris Hani, assassinated by an anti-communist on this day in 1993, was the leader of the South African Communist Party and chief of staff of the armed wing of the African National Congress (ANC).

Hani received military training in the Soviet Union and served in campaigns in the Zimbabwean War of Liberation, also known as the Rhodesian Bush War.

Hani was a fierce opponent of the apartheid government, but supported the suspension of the ANC's armed struggle in favor of negotiations after becoming head of the party in 1991. He was assassinated by Janusz Walus, an anti-communist Polish immigrant, on April 10th, 1993.

Clive Derby-Lewis, along with other members of the Conservative Party, had conspired to assassinate Hani in an attempt to start a race war shortly before the 1994 elections in which all races could vote. In particular, Lewis had given Walus the murder weapon directly.

Lewis was released in 2015 shortly before dying of lung cancer. Walus was granted parole by Justice Minister Ronald Lamola in December 2022.

"Socialism is not about big concepts and heavy theory. Socialism is about decent shelter for those who are homeless. It is about water for those who have no safe drinking water. It is about health care, it is about a life of dignity for the old...As long as the economy is dominated by an unelected, privileged few, the case for socialism will exist."

- Chris Hani

• Date: 1993-04-10
• Learn More: www.sahistory.org.za, en.wikipedia.org, web.archive.org.
• Tags: #Communism, #Socialism, #Assassinations.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org