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Morgan Testifies to SACB (1954)

Wed Sep 15, 1954

On this day in 1954, Crawford Morgan, a member of Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, a group of American volunteers that fought against Francoist fascists, testified before the anti-communist "Subversive Activities Control Board".

In September 1954, the VALB were brought before the Subversive Activities Control Board (SACB), a United States government committee to investigate Communist infiltration of American society during the 1950s Red Scare, founded after the passage of the McCarran Act.

On September 15th, 1954, Crawford Morgan, a black member of VALB, testified before the SACB. Here is an excerpt of his testimony:

SACB: "Did you have any understanding, Mr. Morgan, before you went to Spain, of what the issues were connected to that war?"

Morgan: "I felt that I had a pretty good idea of what fascism was and most of its ramifications. Being aware of what the Fascist Italian government did to the Ethiopians, and also the way that I and all the rest of the Negroes in this country have been treated ever since slavery, I figured I had a pretty good idea of what fascism was..."

SACB: "Mr. Morgan, were those thoughts in your mind before you went to Spain?"

Morgan: "Ever since I have been big enough to understand things I have rebelled. As a small child of three or four years old I would rebel at human injustice in the way I understood it at that age. And as long as I have been able to remember, up until now, the government and a lot of people have treated me as a second-class citizen. I am 43 years old, and all my life I have been treated as a second-class citizen, and naturally if you always have been treated like one you start feeling it at a very tender age.

With Hitler on the march, and fascism starting the fight in Spain, I felt that it could serve two purposes: I felt that if we cold lick the Fascists in Spain, I felt that in the trend of things it would offset a bloodbath later. I felt that if we didn't lick Franco and stop fascism there, it would spread over lots of the world. And it is bad enough for white people to live under fascism, those of the white people that like freedom and democracy. But Negroes couldn't live under it. They would be wiped out."

• Date: 1954-09-15
• Learn More: libcom.org, en.wikipedia.org.
• Tags: #Communism, #Fascism.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

16th Street Baptist Church Bombing (1963)

Sun Sep 15, 1963

Image: A grieving relative is led away from the site of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama, on September 15th, 1963

On this day in 1963, white supremacists bombed the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, killing 4 girls, aged 11-14, wounding 20 more. Charges were not brought against any of the perpetrators until more than a decade later.

The terrorist attack was committed by four members of a local Ku Klux Klan chapter who had planted at least 15 sticks of dynamite attached to a timing device beneath the steps located on the east side of the church.

At 10:22 am, the dynamite was detonated, blowing a hole measuring seven feet (2.1 m) in diameter in the church's rear wall, blowing a passing motorist out of his car, and destroying several cars nearby. Four girls, Addie Mae Collins (age 14); Carol Denise McNair (age 11); Carole Robertson (age 14); and Cynthia Wesley (age 14), were killed in the attack. Approximately 20 more people were wounded.

On May 13th, 1965, local investigators and the FBI formally named Blanton, Cash, Chambliss, and Cherry as the perpetrators of the bombing, with Robert Chambliss the likely ringleader of the four, however, they did not bring charges against any of them.

Chambliss was the first to be charged for murder, finally convicted of first degree murder in 1977. In 2001 and 2002, respectively, Blanton and Cherry were sentenced to life in prison.

• Date: 1963-09-15
• Learn More: www.blackpast.org, en.wikipedia.org, www.youtube.com.
• Tags: #Terrorism.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Detroit Teachers Strike (1982)

Tue Sep 14, 1982

On this day in 1982, 10,000 teachers in Detroit walked off the job over a Board of Education demand for pay cuts of 8%, leaving 201,000 schoolchildren with the prospect of several days off. The teachers did this despite a Michigan law prohibiting public employees from striking.

The Detroit teacher's strike was the largest of a number of school labor disputes marring the back-to-school season around the country that year, when social spending cuts were hitting schools and teachers particularly hard.

Around the same time, more than 7,500 other teachers were on strike elsewhere in Michigan and in Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Ohio.

• Date: 1982-09-14
• Learn More: www.nytimes.com, www.historyisaweapon.com.
• Tags: #Labor.
• 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

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

Tavis Smiley (1964 - )

Sun Sep 13, 1964

Tavis Smiley, born on this day in 1964, is an American talk show host and author. Smiley was born in Gulfport, Mississippi, and grew up in Bunker Hill, Indiana. From 2010 to 2013, Smiley and Cornel West worked together to host their own radio talk show, Smiley & West.

In 2012, Smiley participated in a "Poverty Tour" with Princeton University professor Cornel West to promote their book "The Rich and the Rest of Us: A Poverty Manifesto". The stated aim of the tour was to highlight the plight of the impoverished population of the United States prior to the 2012 presidential election, whose candidates Smiley and West stated had ignored the plight of the poor.

In 2017, PBS indefinitely suspended Smiley after a law firm "uncovered multiple, credible allegations of conduct that is inconsistent with the values and standards of PBS." The publication Variety reported that Smiley was let go due to multiple sexual relationships with subordinates, some of whom felt the relationship was connected to their employment.

Smiley has stated "To be clear, I have never groped, coerced or exposed myself inappropriately to any workplace colleague in my entire broadcast career, covering six networks over 30 years".

"All he could think of was how all people require attention. All people require respect. All people require acknowledgment. All people require love."

- Tavis Smiley

• Date: 1964-09-13
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, pnhp.org.
• Tags: #Birthdays.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Amílcar Cabral (1924 - 1973)

Fri Sep 12, 1924

Amílcar Lopes da Costa Cabral, born on this day in 1924, was a Bissau-Guinean and Cape Verdean agricultural engineer, intellectual, theoretician, revolutionary, political organizer, nationalist, and diplomat. He was one of Africa's foremost anti-colonial leaders, leading the nationalist movement of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde Islands and the ensuing war of independence in Guinea-Bissau.

From 1963 until his death, Cabral led the Partido Africano da Independência da Guiné e Cabo Verde (PAIGC) guerrilla movement against the Portuguese government, which evolved into one of the most successful wars of independence in modern African history. The goal of the conflict was to attain independence for both Portuguese Guinea and Cape Verde.

Cabral was assassinated on January 20th, 1973 (likely by a Portugal-backed assassin) about eight months before Guinea-Bissau's unilateral declaration of independence. Cabral's pan-Africanism and revolutionary socialism continues to be an inspiration for socialists and national independence movements worldwide.

"We must practice revolutionary democracy in every aspect of our Party life. Every responsible member must have the courage of his responsibilities, exacting from others a proper respect for his work and properly respecting the work of others. Hide nothing from the masses of our people. Tell no lies. Expose lies whenever they are told. Mask no difficulties, mistakes, failures. Claim no easy victories..."

- Amílcar Cabral

• Date: 1924-09-12
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, www.jacobinmag.com, www.marxists.org.
• Tags: #Socialism, #Birthdays, #Independence.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Hull Student Strike (1911)

Tue Sep 12, 1911

Image: School children in Hull on strike in 1911 for "shorter hours and no stick"

On this day in 1911, a student strike in Hull, England began when a dozen older boys at St. Mary's Roman Catholic school walked out during morning lessons. By that afternoon, the whole school was outside on strike.

Striking students formed a crowd at the school gates, denouncing "too much work" and shouting "blackleg" at pupils still in class.

The Hull Daily News reported the following day that "for weeks there has been a feeling of anxiety...first the sailors and dockers; then the millers, cement workers, timber workers, railway men, news boys, factory girls and now the school-boys".

The strike soon spread to schools nearby which, according to the Hull Daily News, made local tradesmen "anxious about the whereabouts of their errand boys".

According to historian Clive Bloom, most of these children had to go to work after school to help feed their families. A lone policeman riding through the poor dock area of Hull made at least one attempt to cow the crowd into submission when he charged at them on his bicycle.

• Date: 1911-09-12
• Learn More: www.historyextra.com, libcom.org.
• Tags: #Labor.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Maruja Lara (1917 - 2012)

Tue Sep 11, 1917

Angustias Lara Sanchez, also known as "Maruja Lara", was an anarchist author and member of the Mujeres Libres, born on this day in 1917 in Granada, Spain.

In Valencia, Lara became branch treasurer of the Mujeres Libres (Free Women) and got to know militants such as Lucia Sánchez Saornil, Suceso Portales, Isabel Mesa, and others. When the war ended in March 1939, she and Mesa got on to a truck for Almeria to catch a ship for Algeria, but was imprisoned in the infamous Francoist concentration camp of Albatera, where 25,000 people were murdered by the Francoists and thrown into mass graves.

After escaping Albatera, along with Isabel Mesa, she set up a newspaper kiosk in Valencia which secretly distributed the anarchist press. In 1942 with Isabel and others, she set up the underground group the Union of Democratic Women (UMD) to help prisoners and their families.

In 1955, Sanchez was arrested because of her anarchist activities. After the death of Franco, she was actively involved in the reconstruction of the CNT and supported the creation of the free radio station Radio Klara. In 1997, she also contributed to the anarchist journal "El Chico".

• Date: 1917-09-11
• Learn More: libcom.org.
• Tags: #Birthdays, #Anarchism, #Fascism.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Salvador Allende Ousted (1973)

Tue Sep 11, 1973

On this day in 1973, democratically elected socialist Chilean president Salvador Allende was ousted in a fascist, U.S.-backed coup led by Augusto Pinochet. He died the same day of a gunshot wound to the head, later ruled a suicide.

Allende was a Chilean socialist politician and physician, President of Chile from 1970 until 1973, and head of the Popular Unity political coalition government; he was Latin America's first ever Marxist to be elected president in a liberal democracy.

As president, Allende sought to nationalize major industries, expand education and improve the living standards of the working class. He clashed with the right-wing parties that controlled Congress and with the judiciary.

On September 11th, 1973, the military moved to oust Allende in a coup d'état assisted by the Henry Kissinger and the CIA. As troops surrounded La Moneda Palace, he gave his last speech vowing not to resign. Later that day, Allende died of a gunshot wound, which the new government claimed was self-inflicted. Although this conclusion was supported by later investigations, speculations of Allende being murdered continue to this day.

Following Allende's death, General Augusto Pinochet refused to return authority to a civilian government, and Chile would be ruled by a military junta until 1990. This junta dissolved the Congress of Chile, suspended the Constitution, and began a persecution of alleged dissidents, in which at least 3,095 civilians disappeared or were killed.

• Date: 1973-09-11
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, www.jacobinmag.com, nsarchive2.gwu.edu.
• Tags: #Socialism, #Marxism.
• 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

Attica Prison Uprising (1971)

Thu Sep 09, 1971

Image: A crowd of nearly all-black inmates with their fists raised during a negotiating session on September 10th, 1971. Photograph from AP.

On this day in 1971, 1,281 out of ~2,200 inmates at the Attica Correctional Facility in New York rioted and took control of the prison, taking 42 staff hostage. The subsequent four-day standoff became the bloodiest prison uprising in U.S. history, with 43 people killed and nearly 100 wounded.

Based upon prisoners' demands for better living conditions and political rights, the uprising was one of the most well-known and significant flashpoints of the Prisoners' Rights Movement.

The rebellion began two weeks after the killing of imprisoned revolutionary George Jackson at San Quentin State Prison. The conditions of the prison were extremely overcrowded, with the population around 2,243 - more than double of the facility's designed limit of 1,200.

Historian Howard Zinn described the conditions at the prison this way: "Prisoners spent 14 to 16 hours a day in their cells, their mail was read, their reading material restricted, their visits from families conducted through a mesh screen, their medical care disgraceful, their parole system inequitable, racism everywhere."

On the morning of September 9th, 1971, fighting broke out between inmates and prison officers, leading to ~1,200 prisoners to control about half of the facility by noon. One officer involved died of his injuries two days later, and inmates took 42 hostages and began drafting a set of demands to be met before they would surrender.

Prisoners met with the press, and a 21-year old speaker, Elliot "L.D." Barkley, delivered a "Declaration to the People of America" the same day inmates seized control of the prison.

After four days of fruitless negotiations and escalating tensions between prisoners and police, Gov. Nelson Rockefeller (who refused to come to the scene in person) ordered that the prison be retaken by force. 39 people, mostly inmates, were killed in a 15-minute assault by state police, including Barkley.

"We are men! We are not beasts and we do not intend to be beaten or driven as such. The entire prison populace, that means each and every one of us here, have set forth to change forever the ruthless brutalization and disregard for the lives of the prisoners here and throughout the United States. What has happened here is but the sound before the fury of those who are oppressed. We will not compromise on any terms except those terms that are agreeable to us. We've called upon all the conscientious citizens of America to assist us in putting an end to this situation that threatens the lives of not only us, but of each and every one of you, as well."

- Declaration to the People of America, Read by Elliott James "L.D." Barkley, September 9th, 1971

• Date: 1971-09-09
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, www.zinnedproject.org, www.socialistalternative.org, www.workers.org.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org