Working Class Calendar

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

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

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

In re Debs (1895)

Mon May 27, 1895

Image: The official Seal of the Supreme Court of the United States

In re Debs (Latin: "In the matter of Debs") was a U.S. Supreme Court case that, on this day in 1895, unanimously upheld the government's use of injunctions against labor strikes, specifically the Pullman Strike of the preceding year.

The Pullman Strike was a large national railroad strike led by the American Railway Union (ARU), involving around 250,000 workers in 27 states. The federal government obtained an injunction against the union, Eugene V. Debs, and other boycott leaders, ordering them to stop interfering with trains that carried mail cars. After the strikers refused, President Grover Cleveland forcibly ended the strike with military force.

Debs and four other ARU leaders were arrested and charged with violating the injunction. After the Supreme Court sided with the government, Debs was sentenced to prison and the ARU dissolved.

In re Debs contributed to a widely held belief that the Supreme Court was simply a tool of the wealthy and big business - for the next 40 years business interests hostile to labor unions found the courts willing partners in suppressing strikes through injunction. This practice ended in 1932 with the Norris-La Guardia Act.

• Date: 1895-05-27
• Learn More: www.britannica.com, en.wikipedia.org.
• Tags: #Labor.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Lyuh Woon-hyung (1886 - 1947)

Wed May 26, 1886

Image: **

Lyuh Woon-hyung, born on this day in 1886, was a socialist politician who argued that Korean independence was essential to world peace. Lyun was assassinated in 1947 by a right-wing nationalist refugee from the north. He is also known by the name Yo Un-hyung or the pen-name "Mongyang".

Lyuh was born in Yangpyeong, Gyeonggi Province, the son of a local yangban magnate. In 1910, Lyuh parted from Korean tradition by freeing his household's slaves, giving them enough land and money to become self-sufficient.

Like many in the Korean independence movement, Lyuh sought aid from both right and left. In 1920, he joined the Koryǒ Communist Party, later meeting Leon Trotsky and Vladimir Lenin. In 1924, he also joined Sun Yat-sen's Chinese Nationalist Party to facilitate Sino-Korean cooperation.

In September 1945, Lyuh proclaimed the establishment of the People's Republic of Korea and became its vice-premier. When the United States occupied the Korean Peninsula, it did not recognize the People's Republic of Korea, and in October he was forced to step down under pressure from the U.S. military government.

In 1946, Lyuh represented the center-left politically as part of an effort to unify right and left-wing independence struggles, however this strategy earned ire from both sides. On July 19th, 1947, Lyuh was assassinated in Seoul by a 19-year-old North Korean refugee who was an active member of a nationalist right-wing organization.

His pen-name was Mongyang, the Hanja for "dream" and "the sun". Lyuh Woon-hyung is one of the few politicians celebrated in both North and South Korea.

• Date: 1886-05-26
• Learn More: web.archive.org, en.wikipedia.org.
• Tags: #Birthdays, #Independence.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

House Committee on Un-American Activities Founded (1938)

Thu May 26, 1938

Image: Actor Gary Cooper testifying before HUAC [thoughtco.com]

On this day in 1938, the House Committee on Un-American Activities was established to investigate suspected communist sympathies among private citizens and organizations, leading to the blacklisting of hundreds of artists and academics. The committee became permanent in 1948 and was terminated in 1975.

The HUAC is notable for causing de facto media censorship among artists suspected of having communist sympathies. Their investigations resulted in a Hollywood blacklist of over 300 actors, directors, and others.

Arists whose careers were damaged by the committee included Charlie Chaplin, Orson Welles, Alan Lomax, Paul Robeson, Aaron Copland, and Yip Harburg. When one Senator asked Robeson why he didn't remain in the Soviet Union, he replied "Because my father was a slave and my people died to build this country, and I am going to stay here and have a part of it just like you. And no Fascist-minded people will drive me from it. Is that clear?"

In 1960, William Mandel, an expert on Soviet affairs who had lost his position as a fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution due to anti-communist repression, was called to testify in front of the HUAC. When asked "Are you now or have you ever been a member of the Communist Party?", Mandel responded:

"Honorable beaters of children, sadists, uniformed and in plain clothes, distinguished Dixiecrat wearing the clothing of a gentleman, eminent Republican who opposes an accommodation with the one country with which we must live at peace in order for us and all our children to survive...

If you think that I am going to cooperate with this collection of Judases, of men who sit there in violation of the United States Constitution, if you think I will cooperate with you in any way, you are insane!"

• Date: 1938-05-26
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, www.mtsu.edu.
• Tags: #Communism.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

George Floyd Murdered (2020)

Mon May 25, 2020

Image: George Floyd with his six-year old, Gianna [blackpast.org]

On this day in 2020, a Minneapolis cop murdered George Floyd by kneeling on his neck for more than nine minutes. Floyd's death became the catalyst for protests around the world; by July, more than 14,000 were arrested in the U.S. alone.

Floyd, a 46-year old black man, had been arrested on suspicion of using a counterfeit $20 bill. The cop, 44-year old white man Derek Chauvin, knelt on Floyd's neck for nine minutes and twenty-nine seconds while he was handcuffed and lying face-down in a street. Floyd was dead before Chauvin's knee left his neck.

The following day, after videos made by witnesses and security cameras became public, all four officers involed were fired. Floyd's state murder became the catalyst for worldwide Black Lives Matter protests against police brutality, which took place on every continent except Antartica.

The scope of civil unrest within the U.S. was nearly unprecedented. Author Malik Simba writes: "the protests have involved more than 26 million Americans in 2,000 cities and towns in every state in the U.S., making [them] the most widespread protests around one issue in the history of the nation. By the end of June alone, one month into the protests, 14,000 people had been arrested."

Initially, the local District Attorney's Office only harged Chauvin with third-degree manslaughter, but this charge was later increased to second degree murder, following mass protests. On April 20th, 2021, Chauvin was convicted and sentenced to 22.5 years in prison. The other three officers were also later convicted of violating Floyd's civil rights.

Floyd's murder was witnessed by several people, including children. On the incident, seventeen year old Danella Frazier stated "When I look at George Floyd, I look at my dad, I look at my brother, I look at my cousin and my uncle." Her nine year old cousin, also an eyewitness, testified in court: "I was sad and kind of mad and it felt like [Chauvin's knee] was stopping him from breathing and it was hurting him."

• Date: 2020-05-25
• Learn More: www.blackpast.org, en.wikipedia.org.
• Tags: #Protests.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Symon Petliura Assassinated for Pogroms (1926)

Tue May 25, 1926

On this day in 1926, Jewish anarchist Sholem Schwarzbard assassinated Symon Petliura, President of the Ukrainian People's Republic and leader of its army, for his role in Jewish pogroms, stating "I have killed a great assassin".

According to Jewish historian Peter Kenez, "before the advent of Hitler, the greatest mass murder of Jews occurs in the Ukraine in the course of the Civil War. All participants in the conflict were guilty of murdering Jews, even the Bolsheviks; however the Volunteer Army had the largest number of victims."

The number of Jews killed during the period is estimated to be between 35,000 and 50,000. A total of 1,236 violent attacks on Jews had been recorded between 1918 and 1921 in Ukraine.

The role of Petliura in those pogroms is controversial. While Petliura actively sought to halt anti-Jewish violence on numerous occasions, including the punishment capital punishment for the crime of pogroming, it is also documented that he was afraid to punish officers and soldiers engaged in crimes against Jews for fear of losing their support.

Schwarzbard was a Jewish anarchist living in Paris, becoming acquainted with other anarchist activists who had emigrated from Russia and Ukraine, including figures such as Volin, Alexander Berkman, Emma Goldman, and Nestor Makhno.

At the same time, Petliura was living in Paris in exile. On May 25th, 1926, Schwarzbard approached Petliura and asked him in Ukrainian, "Are you Mr. Petliura?" Petliura did not answer but raised his cane in response.

Schwartzbard pulled out a gun, shooting him seven times. At the trial, survivors of the pogroms testified that they were brutalized by soldiers who claimed to be acting on orders from Petliura. After eight days, Schwarzbard was acquitted.

• Date: 1926-05-25
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, dash.harvard.edu.
• Tags: #Assassinations, #Anarchism.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Earth First Car Bombing (1990)

Thu May 24, 1990

Image: Police photo of Judi Bari's bombed Subaru station wagon. Judi Bari's website alleges that this photo proves the bomb was hidden under her driver's seat, not in plain view on the back seat floor as FBI claimed. [judibari.org]

On this day in 1990, in Oakland, California, an assassination attempt was made against environmental activists and political radicals Judi Bari and Darryl Cherney when a car bomb beneath Judi's seat exploded; both survived.

Bari was severely injured by the blast, while Cherney suffered minor injuries. The bombing took place in the context of the Redwood Summer protests organized by Earth First!, the culmination of years of labor organizing and environmental activism in California by Bari.

FBI bomb investigators were present on the scene of the bombing almost immediately, leading some to speculate that the FBI either knew of the bombing or was directly involved in it. Bari was arrested for transporting explosives while she was still in critical condition with a fractured pelvis and other major injuries. In 2002, a federal jury found the FBI had violated Bari and Cherney's civil rights in the case, and the pair was later awarded a $4.4 million payout, although Bari had died five years earlier.

FBI analysis of the explosion dismissed the idea that the bomb was designed by Bari or Cherney. The identity of the bomber is still unknown. As for the protests, subsequent attendance was lower than organizers had hoped, and in November the pro-environment ballot initiative Proposition 130 was defeated by California voters.

• Date: 1990-05-24
• Learn More: www.judibari.org, www.northcoastjournal.com.
• Tags: #Assassinations, #Terrorism, #Protests.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Drumheller Coal Strike (1919)

Sat May 24, 1919

Image: Drumheller strikers, 1919 [libcom.org]

On this day in 1919, under the banner of the One Big Union (OBU), approximately 6,500 miners in Alberta, Canada walked off the job during a dispute over wages, the cost of living allowance, and working conditions. The strike took place in the context of federal repression of labor movements; a few years earlier, Canada had banned the similar Industrial Workers of the World (IWW).

Accordingly, the striking workers faced violent repression from both the government and the coal operators. After the walk-out continued more than a month, coal operators received permission from the Northwest Mounted Police to hire "special constables" - in practice unemployed World War I veterans who were paid $10 a day, plied with free liquor, and armed with brass knuckles and crowbars - to break up the strike.

Striking workers were attacked in their homes, and workers who refused to act as scabs were driven 65-km out of town, beaten, and left there. Strikers responded by forming self-defense militias that deterred constables form attacking them. The labor action was finally broken after the federal government declared the OBU illegal and two strike leaders were beaten, tied to telephone poles, and tarred and feathered in August of that year.

Despite the immediate defeat, the mere threat of militant industrial action allowed coal miners in Alberta to achieve massive gains: the miners' day rate rose from $5.70 to $7.50 between 1919 and 1920 and, even after the strike had collapsed, and the rate remained well above inflation for a few years. These gains were eroded by 1924-25, when salaries were reduced back to the pre-strike levels.

• Date: 1919-05-24
• Learn More: libcom.org, briarpatchmagazine.com.
• Tags: #Labor, #IWW.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Margaret Fuller (1810 - 1850)

Wed May 23, 1810

Image: **

Margaret Fuller, born on this day in 1810, was an American feminist journalist associated with the American transcendentalism movement. Her work "Woman in the Nineteenth Century" was one of the first major feminist works in the U.S.

Fuller also worked as an editor, translator, critic, and journalist. She became the first American female war correspondent, writing for Horace Greeley's New-York Tribune.

Fuller's book "Woman in the Nineteenth Century" is considered the first major feminist work in the United States, and later feminists like Susan B. Anthony cited her as an inspiration. Fuller was also an advocate of abolishing slavery and prison reform.

"Male and female represent the two sides of the great radical dualism. But in fact they are perpetually passing into one another. Fluid hardens to solid, solid rushes to fluid. There is no wholly masculine man, no purely feminine woman."

- Margaret Fuller

• Date: 1810-05-23
• Learn More: www.biography.com, plato.stanford.edu, en.wikipedia.org.
• Tags: #Birthdays, #Journalism.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Joe Slovo (1926 - 1995)

Sun May 23, 1926

Image: Joe Slovo speaking with Pallo Jordan, another SACP and ANC leader, in the background. [africasacountry.com]

Joe Slovo, born on this day in 1926, was a South African communist politician and miliant opponent of the apartheid system whose wife, Ruth First, was assassinated by the South African police.

A Marxist-Leninist, Slovo was a long-time leader and theorist in the South African Communist Party (SACP), a leading member of the African National Congress (ANC), and a commander of the ANC's military wing Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK).

Slovo was married to Ruth First, another prominent South African anti-apartheid activist who was assassinated by state police via bomb. He, along with First, was arrested and detained for two months during the Treason Trial of 1956, and lived in exile from 1963 to 1990, conducting operations against the apartheid regime from the United Kingdom, Angola, Mozambique, and Zambia.

"No matter what vision one has of South Africa, the first thing that must be done is to destroy racism."

• Joe Slovo

• Date: 1926-05-23
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, www.sahistory.org.za, www.sahistory.org.za.
• Tags: #Communism, #Marxism, #Civil Rights, #Birthdays.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Giacomo Matteotti (1885 - 1924)

Fri May 22, 1885

Image: **

Giacomo Matteotti, born on this day in 1885, was an anti-fascist Italian socialist politician. After publicly denouncing Mussolini in 1924, he said "now start composing your oration for my funeral" and was assassinated eleven days later.

As a young adult, Matteotti was active in the socialist movement and the Italian Socialist Party. He was imprisoned in Sicily for opposing Italy's entry into World War I (and was interned in Sicily during the conflict for this reason).

Matteotti spoke openly against Italian Fascism and Benito Mussolini, and for a time was leader of the opposition to the National Fascist Party (NFP). In 1921, he denounced fascist violence in a pamphlet titled "Inchiesta socialista sulle gesta dei fascisti in Italia" ("Socialist enquiry on the deeds of the fascists in Italy").

On May 30th, 1924, speaking in the Italian Parliament, he alleged that the Fascists committed fraud in the recently held elections and denounced the violence that they used to gain votes. Eleven days later, he was kidnapped and killed by fascists.

After Matteotti's body was discovered, Mussolini took full responsibility for the murder as head of the Fascist party (although whether he gave a direct order for the murder remains uncertain) and dared his critics to prosecute him for the crime.

This challenge went unaccepted. After the Second World War ended, Italian fascists Amerigo Dumini, Giuseppe Viola, and Amleto Poveromo were sentenced to thirty years in prison for their involvement in Matteotti's murder.

"Now start composing your oration for my funeral."

- Giacomo Matteotti, to his friend after denouncing Mussolini in 1924, eleven days before his death

• Date: 1885-05-22
• Learn More: www.britannica.com, en.wikipedia.org, primolevicenter.org.
• Tags: #Socialism, #Birthdays, #Fascism.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Harvey Milk (1930 - 1978)

Thu May 22, 1930

Image: **

Harvey Milk, born on this day in 1930, the first openly gay elected official in the history of California, serving on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. "If a bullet should enter my brain, let that bullet destroy every closet door."

Although Milk was among the most pro-LGBT American politicians at the time, politics was something he came to later in life, after his experiences in the counterculture movement of the 1960s.

In 1972, Milk moved from New York City to the Castro District of San Francisco and took advantage of the growing political and economic power of the neighborhood to promote his activism. Milk unsuccessfully ran for office three times, but finally won a seat as a city supervisor in 1977.

Milk was assassinated after only eleven months in office by Dan White, a disgruntled ex-supervisor and former police officer. During Milk's short time in office, he sponsored a bill banning discrimination in public accommodations, housing, and employment on the basis of sexual orientation. After his death, Milk became an icon in San Francisco and a martyr for the gay community.

"If a bullet should enter my brain, let that bullet destroy every closet door."

- Harvey Milk

• Date: 1930-05-22
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, milkfoundation.org.
• Tags: #Birthdays.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Paris Commune Dissolves (1871)

Sun May 21, 1871

Image: A barricade in the Paris Commune, March 18th, 1871. [Wikipedia]

On this day in 1871, the Paris Commune, a hotbed of radical working class politics and watershed moment in revolutionary anti-capitalist history, was crushed by the French National Army. 20,000 people were killed and 44,000 arrested.

The Paris Commune was a radical socialist government that had formed in Paris a few months earlier, on March 18th, 1871. The Commune developed a set of progressive, secular, and social democratic policies, although its existence was too brief to implement all of them.

Among these policies were the separation of church and state, abolition of child labor, abolishment of interest on some forms of debt, as well as the right of employees to take over and run an enterprise if it was deserted by its original owner.

The Commune was attacked by the French National Army on May 21st, 1871, beginning the so-called "Bloody Week" which defeated the revolutionary movement. After crushing the rebellion, the French government imprisoned approximately 44,000 people for their role in the uprising. Estimated deaths from the fighting are around 20,000.

The Paris Commune was analyzed by many communist thinkers, including Karl Marx, who identified it as a dictatorship of the proletariat. Vladimir Lenin danced in the snow when the newly formed Bolshevik government lasted longer than the Paris Commune.

The episode inspired similar revolutionary attempts around the world, including in Moscow (1905), Petrograd (1917), and Shanghai (1927 and 1967).

• Date: 1871-05-21
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, www.jacobinmag.com.
• Tags: #Marxism.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

White Night Riots (1979)

Mon May 21, 1979

Image: Rioters on the San Francisco Civic Center plaza causing property damage during the White Night riots. Burning police cruisers are in the background. Photo credit to Daniel Nicoletta [Wikipedia]

On this day in 1979, the "White Night Riots" began in San Francisco after Harvey Milk's assassin was convicted of voluntary manslaughter, the most lenient sentence possible. More than 160 people were hospitalized, including 60 cops.

Harvey Milk was one of the first openly gay politicians in the U.S., and had been elected to serve as a city supervisor in San Francisco in 1977. On November 28th, 1978, Milk, along with Mayor George Moscone, were assassinated by former police officer and disgruntled ex-supervisor Dan White.

On May 21st, 1979, Dan White was convicted of voluntary manslaughter, widely perceived to be the lightest possible sentence for his actions. His lawyers successfully argued that White was depressed, citing how much junk food he consumed. This was pejoratively dubbed the "Twinkie Defense".

Following the announcement of White's conviction, members of San Francisco's gay community began marching in protest, starting at Castro Street and ending with more than 5,000 arriving at City Hall. Protesters shouted "Kill Dan White!" and "Dump Dianne!", a reference to then Mayor Dianne Feinstein.

Some protesters began breaking City Hall windows, and the crowd was attacked by officers with night sticks. Protesters began setting police cruisers on fire. As one man ignited a cop car, he shouted to a reporter "Make sure you put in the paper that I ate too many Twinkies!" Sixty officers were injured and about two dozen arrests were made.

Later that evening, the police raided the predominantly gay Castro neighborhood, invading the Elephant Walk bar and brutalizing its occupants. Police entered the bar yelling slurs, shattering bar windows, and attacking patrons. Other officers outside indiscriminately attacked gays on the street.

The following day, Supervisor Harry Britt, who had replaced Milk, refused to apologize for the riot: "Harvey Milk's people do not have anything to apologize for. Now the society is going to have to deal with us not as nice little fairies who have hairdressing salons, but as people capable of violence. We're not going to put up with Dan Whites anymore."

Just a few months after the White Night Riots, Dianne Feinstein was elected to a full term as San Francisco Mayor with some support from the gay community. One of her first actions in office was to appoint a new Chief of Police who oversaw the hiring of a more diverse police force. By 1980, one in seven new police recruits was queer.

"If a bullet should enter my brain, let that bullet destroy every closet door."

- Harvey Milk

• Date: 1979-05-21
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, www.foundsf.org.
• Tags: #Assassinations, #Riots, #Protests.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Toussaint Louverture (1743 - 1803)

Mon May 20, 1743

Image: **

François-Dominique Toussaint Louverture, born on this day in 1743, was a Haitian general and leader of the Haitian Revolution, the first successful slave revolution in the Americas. Haiti was the first country in the region to outlaw slavery.

Louverture's participation in the war was complex, first fighting for the Spanish against the French; then for France against Spain and Great Britain; and finally, he fought on behalf of independence for Saint-Domingue against the French.

Initially, Louverture was only supportive of fighting for better living conditions for the enslaved, but, after committing to the full abolition of slavery in 1791, he issued a proclamation at Camp Turel of St. Domingue: "Brothers and friends, I am Toussaint Louverture; perhaps my name has made itself known to you. I have undertaken vengeance. I want Liberty and Equality to reign in St Domingue. I am working to make that happen. Unite yourselves to us, brothers and fight with us for the same cause."

As a revolutionary leader, Louverture's military and political acumen helped transform the fledgling slave rebellion into a revolutionary movement. He governed Saint-Domingue with varying degrees of power for several years, proclaiming an autonomous constitution for the colony in 1801 that declared himself its governor for life.

Louverture was eventually tricked into being arrested by Brunet, a French General, and deported to France, where he died of unknown causes while imprisoned. Shortly thereafter, the colony finally achieved independence under the leadership of Jean-Jacques Dessalines.

"This gun is liberty; hold for certain that the day when you no more have it, you will be returned to slavery."

- Toussaint Louverture

• Date: 1743-05-20
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, www.britannica.com, politicaleducation.org.
• Tags: #Birthdays, #Independence.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Marcelino Dos Santos (1929 - 2020)

Mon May 20, 1929

Marcelino dos Santos, born on this day in 1929, was a Mozambican poet, revolutionary, and politician who co-founded the Frente de Libertação de Moçambique (FRELIMO-Mozambican Liberation Front) in 1962. Santos served as the party's deputy president from 1969 to 1977.

After Mozambique won its independence, Santos served in its government in a variety of capacities over the next several decades: as Minister of Economic Development, Chairman of the country's parliament, the Assembly of the Republic, and, towards the end of his life, a member of the Frelimo Central Committee.

Under the pseudonyms Kalungano and Lilinho Micaia, he published his early poems in "O Brado Africano". Under his real name, the Associação dos Escritores Moçambicanos (Mozambican Writers' Association) published his work "Canto do Amor Natural".

• Date: 1929-05-20
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, www.thepresidency.gov.za.
• Tags: #Birthdays.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Boston Bread Riot (1713)

Fri May 19, 1713

On this day in 1713, two hundred people rioted on the Boston Common, attacking the ships and warehouses of Andrew Belcher, a wealthy capitalist who had been exporting grain to the Caribbean during a domestic food shortage. When the lieutenant governor tried to intervene, the crowd shot him.

Belcher had been exporting grain to the Caribbean for years because the profit was greater there. The 1713 riot was one of three bread riots in Boston between 1710 - 1713, when poor and hungry people would raid and attack the stores of grain to be exported.

• Date: 1713-05-19
• Learn More: www.historyisaweapon.com, en.wikipedia.org.
• Tags: #Riots.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

The Battle of Matewan (1920)

Wed May 19, 1920

Image: An old photograph of Matewan, unknown year. From Tony Santon [wvencyclopedia.org]

On this day in 1920, Baldwin-Felts agents were met with armed resistance from local miners after serving eviction notices in Matewan, West Virginia, leading to the "Battle of Matewan", in which seven of the agents were killed.

The Baldwin-Felts agents had arrived that morning to evict several families from their company homes. When the agents attempted to leave town that evening, they were stopped by Matewan Police Chief Sid Hatfield, who claimed to have arrest warrants from the county sheriff.

The agents then produced their own warrant for Sid Hatfield's arrest, however the Matewan Mayor Cabell Testerman declared it fake upon inspection. While this discussion was happening, the group was quietly surrounded by armed miners, who were watching while hidden in buildings along the street.

Gunfire broke out (it is unknown which group fired first), and ten people were killed in the subsequent fighting. Seven of the agents and the Mayor Cabell were killed. Hatfield, however, survived and was immediately regarded as a hero by the coal miners.

Hatfield was later assassinated while standing trial for murder by other Baldwin-Felts agents, who successfully claimed self-defense, despite the fact he was unarmed while gunned down on the courthouse steps.

The incident inflamed tensions between either side. Six months after Hatfield's assassination, the Battle of Blair Mountain took place when more than 10,000 miners took up arms against the state.

• Date: 1920-05-19
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, www.wvencyclopedia.org.
• Tags: #Assassinations.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Gwangju Uprising (1980)

Sun May 18, 1980

Image: Prisoners tied up in the wake of the uprising [libcom.org]

On this day in 1980, the Gwangju Uprising began when 200 South Korean students clashed with the army, a protest that quickly escalated into more than 10,000 citizens battling with state forces and seizing the city of Gwangju.

The uprising took place in the context of anti-democratic repression by the government of Chun Doo-hwan, who had declared an extensive martial law, closing universities, banning political activities, and heavily censoring the press. On May 18th, two hundred students gathered at the gate of Chonnam National University in defiance of its closing, clashing with thirty paratroopers.

The protest was violently subdued, and the first fatality of the repression was a 29-year old deaf man who had simply been passing by. In response, the population rebelled en masse, with more than 10,000 protesters joining the students over the next few days.

As the protests grew, so did state repression and an increasingly militant civilian response to it. By May 21st, civilian militias were engaging in full-blown battles with the army. After the civilian militias acquired and began using light machine guns, the army retreated and protesters temporarily gained control of Gwangju.

The rebellion was sustained until being defeated by force on May 27th. There is no official death toll for the uprising; figures vary from the low hundreds to more than two thousand dead. Regardless, the recorded deaths in the month of May were 2,300 higher than average. Nearly 1,400 were arrested for involvement in the Gwangju incident, and 427 were indicted.

In May 2020, 40 years after the uprising, the independent "May 18 Democratization Movement Truth Commission" was launched to investigate the crackdown and use of military force. Under legislation passed in 2018, it would operate for two years, with a one-year extension allowed if necessary.

• Date: 1980-05-18
• Learn More: libcom.org, roarmag.org.
• Tags: #Protests.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Augusto Sandino (1895 - 1934)

Sat May 18, 1895

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Augusto César Sandino, born on this day in 1895, was a Nicaraguan revolutionary and leader of a working class rebellion against the U.S. military occupation of Nicaragua between 1927 and 1933. Despite U.S. Marines attempting to find Sandino for years, he was never captured by U.S. forces.

On February 21th, 1934, Sandino attended a round of talks with Sacasa, the newly elected Nicaraguan President. Upon leaving Sacasa's Presidential Palace, Sandino and five others were stopped in their car at the main gate by local National Guardsmen and were ordered to leave their car.

The National Guardsmen, acting on orders from future Nicaraguan dictator Anastasio Somoza García, took Sandino, his brother Socrates, and his two generals to a crossroads section in Larreynaga and executed them.

Although Sandino was called a "bandit" by the United States government, his guerilla style warfare against U.S. forces made him a hero throughout much of Latin America, where he became a symbol of resistance to United States imperialism.

Sandino's life served as an inspiration to both Che Guevara and Fidel Castro, and the Sandinista National Liberation Front, a revolutionary socialist party that overthrew the Somoza dynasty in 1979, is named in his honor.

• Date: 1895-05-18
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, www.nicaragua.com.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Catonsville Nine (1968)

Fri May 17, 1968

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The Catonsville Nine were a group of Catholic activists who, on this day in 1968, seized 378 draft files from a local draft board, dumped them in the parking lot, burned them with homemade napalm, and were promptly arrested by police.

They were found guilty of destruction of U.S. property, destruction of Selective Service files, and interference with the Selective Service Act of 1967. The group was sentenced to a collective 18 years in jail and a fine of $22,000.

Several of the nine - Mary Moylan, Phil Berrigan, Dan Berrigan and George Mische - fled before their prison sentence, forcing the FBI to hunt them down.

• Date: 1968-05-17
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, www.catonsville9.org.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Uchiyama Gudō (1874 - 1911)

Sun May 17, 1874

Image: An illustration of the four of the executed men in front of hung nooses, Gudo shown second from the left. Unknown artist. [http://cnt-ait.info/]

Uchiyama Gudō, born on this day in 1874, was a socialist Buddhist priest who opposed Japanese imperialism, oligarchic land ownership, and the rule of the Emperor. He was executed by the state in 1911 during the "High Treason Incident".

Gudō was ordained as a Soto Zen priest in 1897. In 1904, he became the abbot of Rinsenji temple in a poor area of a rural region of the Hakone Mountains. Village tradition states that every autumn Gudō would invite poor villagers to divide the harvest from the temple's only two trees equally among themselves.

Gudō was a self-identified socialist and outspoken advocate for redistributive land reform, overturning the Meiji emperor system, encouraging conscripts to desert en masse, and advancing democratic rights for all. He also criticized Zen leaders who claimed that low social position was justified by karma.

One of Gudō's most widely read and circulated works was a scathing denunciation of the Imperial Japanese government. Contradicting official state doctrine, he argued that the Emperors of the Imperial family were neither divine nor the destined rulers of Japan, and that their ancestors "came forth from a corner of Kyushu, killing and robbing people as they did. They then destroyed their fellow thieves."

Due to the popularity of Gudō's subversive publications, he was arrested in May 1909 and charged with violating press and publication laws. When police uncovered an alleged socialist plot to assassinate the Emperor (known as the "High Treason Incident"), Gudō was accused of being a co-conspirator.

In 1911, he, along with eleven other socialists, were convicted and executed. In July 1909, before Gudō's conviction, officials of the Sōtō Zen sect revoked Gudō'sabbotship.

"When I began reading the Heimin Shimbun at that time [1904], I realized that its principles were identical with my own and therefore I became an anarcho-socialist."

- Uchiyama Gudō

• Date: 1874-05-17
• Learn More: theanarchistlibrary.org, en.wikipedia.org.
• Tags: #Socialism, #Birthdays.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Adrienne Rich (1929 - 2012)

Thu May 16, 1929

Image: Black and white photograph of Adrienne Rich sitting at a desk, surrounded by piles of books. Photo by Neal Boenzi [poetryfoundation.org]

Adrienne Cecile Rich, born on this day in 1929, was a queer American poet, essayist and feminist. She was called "one of America's foremost public intellectuals" by the Poetry Foundation and is credited with bringing "the oppression of women and lesbians to the forefront of poetic discourse" by the New York Times.

Rich criticized rigid forms of feminist identities, and valorized what she coined the "lesbian continuum", which is a female continuum of solidarity and creativity that impacts and fills women's lives. Notable works by Rich include "On Lies, Secrets, and Silence" (1979), "Blood, Bread, and Poetry: Selected Prose" (1986), and "The Dream of a Common Language" (1978).

"False history gets made all day, any day, the truth of the new is never on the news."

- Adrienne Rich

• Date: 1929-05-16
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, www.theguardian.com.
• Tags: #Birthdays, #Queer.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org