Working Class Calendar

Gulf of Tonkin Incident (1964)

Sun Aug 02, 1964

Image: Official U.S. Navy photo taken from USS Maddox (DD-731) during her engagement with three North Vietnamese motor torpedo boats in the Gulf of Tonkin, August 2nd, 1964. The view shows all three of the boats speeding towards the Maddox [Wikipedia]

On this day in 1964, the Gulf of Tonkin Incident occurred when the American destroyer Maddox was damaged in North Vietnamese waters, an event the U.S. government lied about in order to justify military action against Vietnam.

The incident began when three North Vietnamese torpedo boats were surveilling the American destroyer USS Maddox as it performed intelligence operations in North Vietnamese waters. The Maddox initiated the incident by opening fire, shooting off three "warning" shots; the North Vietnamese boats replied with torpedoes and machine gun fire.

The exchange caused ten North Vietnamese casualties and damaged one U.S. helicopter; there were no American casualties.

In response, the U.S. Congress passed a "Gulf of Tonkin Resolution", which granted U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson the authority to assist any Southeast Asian country whose government was considered to be jeopardized by "communist aggression". The resolution served as Johnson's legal justification for deploying U.S. conventional forces and the commencement of open warfare against North Vietnam.

On television, President Johnson made misleading statements about the incident and portrayed U.S. military escalation as an act of defense. Since then, the Pentagon Papers, the memoirs of Robert McNamara, and NSA publications from 2005 have proven that the U.S. government lied about the nature of the incident to justify a war against Vietnam.

• Date: 1964-08-02
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, www.wsws.org.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Ilinden-Preobrazhenie Uprising (1903)

Sun Aug 02, 1903

Image: A map of the Balkans showing hots spots for uprisings of Ilinden, Preobrazhenie and Krastovden and also insurrectionary actions in Rhodope Mountains, in Macedonia and Thrace regions respectively [Wikipedia]

On this day in 1903, 800 Bulgarian rebels associated with the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO) seized the North Macedonian town of Kruševo, beginning the Ilinden–Preobrazhenie Uprising against the Ottomon Empire.

The name of the uprising refers to Ilinden, another name for Elijah's Day (a Catholic commemoration of biblical prophet Elijah), and to Preobrazhenie which means "Transfiguration".

Organized by IMRO, a revolutionary organization dedicated to achieving autonomy for the regions of Macedonia and Adrianople from the Ottoman Empire, the revolt lasted from the beginning of August until the end of October, covering a vast territory from the eastern Black Sea to the shores of Lake Ohrid.

Although the rebellion was successfully planned in secret, taking the Ottomans by surprise, many of its potential leaders had already been arrested or killed by the Empire. The revolution was crushed by overwhelming military force, and Turkish forces slaughtered the civilian population. Anarchist historian Georgi Khadziev wrote that 201 villages and 12,400 houses were burned, 4,694 people killed, and approximately 30,000 refugees fled to Bulgaria.

The survivors waged a guerrilla campaign for a few years, but the greater effect of the rebellion was the creation of the Mürzsteg reforms, which provided for foreign policing of the Macedonia region, financial compensation for victims of the violence, and establishment of ethnic boundaries in the region. These reforms, however, did little to solve the crisis, and the Empire lost nearly all of its European territory in the Balkan Wars of 1912-13.

Today, August 2nd is a national holiday in North Macedonia, known as "Day of the Republic". There are towns named after the rebellion's leaders in both Bulgaria and North Macedonia.

When the uprising began, IMRO issued a statement on its revolutionary aims. Here is a short excerpt:

"We are taking up arms against tyranny and inhumanity; we are fighting for freedom and humanity; our cause is thus higher than any national or ethnic differences. Therefore we express our solidarity with all others who suffer in the Sultan's dark Empire.

Today it is not only the whole Christian population which suffers, but ordinary Turkish villagers as well. Our only enemies are the Turkish authorities, those who use arms against us, betray us, or who carry out acts of retaliation against helpless old people, women and children rather than against us, the rebels. We will fight these enemies and avenge all wrongs!"

• Date: 1903-08-02
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, www.savanne.ch.
• Tags: #Imperialism.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Denise Oliver-Velez (1947 - )

Fri Aug 01, 1947

Image: **

Denise Oliver-Velez, born on this day in 1947, is a former member of both the Young Lords and Black Panthers, as well as an American professor, activist, and community organizer. Oliver-Velez is an adjunct Professor of Anthropology and Women's Studies at State University of New York (SUNY) New Paltz.

Oliver-Velez was a member of both the Young Lords and the Black Panther Party (BPP), and fought to make the Young Lords an organization more conscious of women's liberation, stating "Machismo will never be fucking revolutionary". In 1970, Oliver-Velez was appointed as Minister of Economic Development, becoming the highest ranking woman in the Young Lords.

In addition to her activism with the Young Lords, Oliver-Velez was also an AIDS movement activist, publishing ethnographic research as part of HIV/AIDS intervention projects. She has also worked in public broadcasting and community media for many years, becoming a program director and co-founder of WPFW-FM in Washington, D.C., Pacifica Radio's first minority-controlled station.

Oliver-Velez is featured in the feminist history film "She's Beautiful When She's Angry".

• Date: 1947-08-01
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, www.shesbeautifulwhenshesangry.com, www.blackwomenradicals.com.
• Tags: #Birthdays.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Angelo Sbardellotto (1907 - 1932)

Thu Aug 01, 1907

Angelo Sbardellotto, born on this day in 1907, was an Italian anarchist executed by the state for plotting to assassinate Benito Mussolini; he refused to ask for clemency, instead telling the court he regretted not succeeding in his plan.

Sbardellotto was born into a poor family who was compelled to emigrate to find work. Angelo and his father also left Italy in October 1924, living in France, Luxembourg, and Belgium, where Angelo worked as a miner and a machine hand.

While working as a miner, he joined the anarchist committee of Liege, and was active in the activities to bring about the general strike in Belgium in solidarity with framed Italian-American anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti.

Already under surveillance as a suspected communist subversive, Sbardellotto was stopped by police in Piazza Venezia, Rome in 1932 and was found to be armed with two rudimentary bombs and a pistol, as well as possession of a Swiss passport.

Admitting to having entered Italy clandestinely with the intent of avenging socialist Michael Schirru by killing Mussolini (Schirru himself had attempted to assassinate Mussolini), he was interrogated and likely tortured by police before his trial a week later on June 11th.

When Sbardellotto's lawyer requested that he write to Mussolini directly to ask for his life to be spared, he refused, stating that he was only sorry that he had not carried out the attempt on Mussolini. On June 17th, 1932, at twenty-four years old, he was put in front of the firing squad at the Bretta Fort. He refused last rites from a priest. His last words before being shot were "Long live anarchy!"

• Date: 1907-08-01
• Learn More: libcom.org, it.wikipedia.org.
• Tags: #Birthdays, #Anarchism, #Fascism.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Washington Navy Yard Strike (1835)

Fri Jul 31, 1835

Image: Colored lithograph published by E. Sachse & Company, Baltimore, Maryland, c. 1862. It depicts the Navy Yard as seen from above the Anacostia River, looking north, with Building # 1 and the trophy gun park in the center. [Wikipedia]

On this day in 1835, the first strike of federal civilian employees in the U.S. began when workers at the Washington Navy Yard went on strike for a ten-hour day; the strike devolved into a race riot and failed to achieve its demands.

The strike, known as the Washington Navy Yard Strike, lasted just over two weeks and was part of the ten-hour day movement. Workers also demanded a redress of grievances such as newly imposed lunch hour regulations.

The striking workforce was all-white and took out its frustrations on nearby black communities. On August 12th, workers formed a lynch mob and rioted in the nation's capital, terrorizing the free black community there for days, until President Andrew Jackson ended the race riot by force.

In what is now known as the "Snow Riot", white workers attacked establishments run by free black people, such as schools, churches, and businesses. The riot caused public support for the strike to wane, and the black community received no compensation and little public sympathy for the violence they suffered.

Five years later, in 1840, all public workers finally received a ten hour day by order of President Martin Van Buren.

• Date: 1835-07-31
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, en.wikipedia.org, www.riotacts.org, blackandeducation.org.
• Tags: #Labor, #Riots.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Whitney Young Jr. (1921 - 1971)

Sun Jul 31, 1921

Whitney Young Jr., born on this day in 1921, was a civil rights leader known for his aggressive organizing with the National Urban League and proposal of a "domestic Marshall Plan" to alleviate poverty in black communities.

Young spent most of his career working to end employment discrimination in the United States and turning the National Urban League from a relatively cautious and passive civil rights organization into one that more aggressively lobbied the U.S. government and business leaders to provide equitable access to socioeconomic opportunity.

"The hardest work in the world is being out of work."

- Whitney Young Jr.

• Date: 1921-07-31
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, www.blackpast.org.
• Tags: #CivilRights, #Birthdays.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Marie-Louise Giraud Executed (1943)

Fri Jul 30, 1943

Image: "Story of Women" movie poster. Isabelle Huppert as Marie-Louise Giraud. Imdb.com

Marie-Louis Giraud was a working class French woman who was executed on this day 1943 for providing abortions during the reign of the Nazi Vichy Regime. In 1988, a film based on her life was released - "Story of Women".

Giraud was born on July 30th, 1903 to a poor family and settled in the port city of Cherbourg. She cleaned houses and worked as a laundress to support her family.

In 1939, the French government increased the criminal penalties for abortion, as World War II had caused a significant decline in the birth rate. Along these lines, the Vichy Regime (formed in 1940) created propaganda posters stating "The Family is the Foundation of Society".

When the Nazis occupied Cherbourg in June 1940, there was an influx of prostitutes to the area and Giraud rented rooms out to them. She performed abortions on 27 women, including one who died in January 1942. An anonymous letter detailing Giraud's activities written in October 1942 led to her arrest.

Such was the prominence of Giraud's trial that the head of the Vichy Regime, Philippe Pétain, called her an immoral woman himself She was guillotined on July 30th, 1943, the last woman to be executed by the Nazi French government.

Giraud's story was dramatized in the 1988 film Story of Women, directed by Claude Chabrol. The film premiered at the 45th Venice International Film Festival, in which Isabelle Huppert was awarded the prize for best actress.

• Date: 1943-07-30
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, historycollection.com.
• Tags: #Fascism.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Arizona Copper Mine Strike (1983)

Sat Jul 30, 1983

Image: Employees at Phelps Dodge Corp's Morenci mine were greeted by yelling strikers and their supporters on Aug. 9th, 1983. Photo by Mari Schaefer, 1983 [uapress.arizona.edu]

On this day in 1983, workers of the copper-producing Phelps Dodge Corporation in Arizona went on strike, beginning a bitter strike that lasted three years, defeated in the biggest mass de-certification of unions in U.S. history.

The Arizona Copper Mine Strike of 1983 took place in the context of a global drop in copper prices, and began after negotiations between Phelps Dodge and their workers fell through.

The labor action lasted nearly three years and was a major turning point in U.S. labor history - Phelps Dodge managed to keep copper production going during the strike, most of the striking workers were permanently replaced, and 35 locals of 13 different unions representing Phelps Dodge workers were decertified in Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, the largest mass de-certification in U.S. history.

Although there had been no fatalities during the strike, various acts and threats of violence increased the political pressure on Democratic Governor Bruce Babbitt to intervene. Despite having stated "Phelps Dodge has the worst record in labor relations of any company that has ever operated in Arizona", Babbitt sent 750 National Guard and state police officers to the area to protect business operations.

After a crowd of 1,000 armed protesters shut down the copper plant on threat of violence, ten strikers were arrested in Ajo and charged with rioting, further weakening the strike. The strike officially ended on February 19th, 1986, when the National Labor Relations Board rejected appeals from the unions attempting to halt decertification.

• Date: 1983-07-30
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, uapress.arizona.edu.
• Tags: #Labor.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Dr. John Britton Murdered (1994)

Fri Jul 29, 1994

Image: Dr. John Britton with the .357 Magnum he carried for protection when visiting the Pensacola Ladies' Centre to perform abortions, 1993 [rarehistoricalphotos.com]

On this day in 1994, Dr. John Britton was murdered by a far-right anti-abortionist in Pensacola, Florida. Britton, who had replaced Dr. David Gunn after he was murdered the previous year, had armed himself after receiving death threats.

After Gunn's assassination by an anti-abortionist, Dr. Britton began flying across the state of Florida to Pensacola weekly in order to perform abortions at the Pensacola Ladies' Center. He continued to provide abortions even after receiving harassment and death threats, and began wearing a homemade bulletproof vest, carrying a .357 Magnum, and enlisted volunteer bodyguards to protect himself.

As Britton arrived at the clinic on July 29th, 1994, an anti-abortionist shot him dead with a twelve-gauge shotgun. The assassin also killed Britton's bodyguard, retired Air Force lieutenant colonel James Barrett (aged 74), and wounded Barrett's wife, June, a retired nurse.

Britton's killer became the first American executed for assassinating a doctor who was providing abortion services.

• Date: 1994-07-29
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, rarehistoricalphotos.com.
• Tags: #Assassinations, #CivilRights, #Feminism.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Tavio Amorin Assassinated (1992)

Wed Jul 29, 1992

Image: **

Tavio Amorin was a Togolese socialist politician, Pan-Africanist, and human rights activist who was likely assassinated by Togolese state police on this day in 1992. Amorin organized with the Togolese Pan-African Socialist Party, a movement associated with figures like Kwame Ture, Julius Nyerere, and Marcus Garvey.

In the 1980s, Amorin studied engineering in France. In 1991, after increasingly strong pressure from the Togolese public, President Eyadéma decided to legalize political parties.

Shortly afterward, the "Haut Conseil de la République" (English: High Council of the Republic, HCR) was formed, which Tavio participated in after his return to Togo. There, he became an outspoken critic of the government. In his role as the Chair of Political Affairs, Human Rights, and Liberties Commission, he worked to expose the human rights abuses committed by the Togolese state, and sought systemic reforms.

On July 29th, 1992, Amorin died of gunshot wounds sustained on the 23rd, when he was visiting a relative. He died at the age of 34, leaving behind a wife and a one year old child.

"I am fighting against all forms of tribalism and make no distinction between the north and south of Togo."

- Tavio Amorin

• Date: 1992-07-29
• Learn More: www.amnesty.org, en.wikipedia.org.
• Tags: #Socialism, #Pan-Africanism, #Assassinations.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

U.S. Occupies Haiti (1915)

Wed Jul 28, 1915

Image: U.S. troops marching in Haiti [washingtonpost.com]

On this day in 1915, the U.S. occupation of Haiti began when, on orders from President Woodrow Wilson, 330 Marines landed at Port-au-Prince after the country's leader was assassinated. The imperialist occupation lasted until 1934.

Haiti had already been suffering from U.S. imperialism and political turmoil prior to the invasion. In 1914, U.S. Marines stole $500,000 in gold from the country's National Bank. Haiti's leader, President Vilbrun Guillaume Sam, had also recently been killed by insurgents angered by state-sanctioned murders of his political opposition.

President Wilson ordered the invasion to "protect American and foreign" interests and also wanted to rewrite the Haitian constitution, which banned foreign ownership of land, and replace it with one that guaranteed American financial control. To avoid public criticism, Wilson claimed the occupation was a mission to "re-establish peace and order...and has nothing to do with any diplomatic negotiations of the past or the future".

When the Haitian legislature refused to ratify a new constitution that allowed foreigners to own land there, the U.S.-backed President Dartiguenave dissolved the legislature and the constitution became law. U.S. occupiers also re-instituted a system of slavery known as civil conscription ("impressed labor"), in which Haitian civilians were captured and forced to work on public projects and established the National Guard.

The U.S. military occupation of Haiti continued until August 15th, 1934. According to the U.S. State Department's Office of the Historian, the invasion's result was this: "The United States gained complete control over Haitian finances, and the right to intervene in Haiti whenever the U.S. Government deemed necessary."

• Date: 1915-07-28
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, www.washingtonpost.com, www.studysmarter.co.uk.
• Tags: #Assassinations, #Imperialism.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Hugo Chávez (1954 - 2013)

Wed Jul 28, 1954

Image: Hugo Chávez greeting supporters during a political gathering in the town of Guarico in 2006 [theguardian.com]

Hugo Chávez, born on this day in 1954, was a socialist leader of Venezuela, serving as the country's President from 1999 - 2013. During that period, Chávez's government abolished illiteracy and codified healthcare as a human right.

Chávez was born to schoolteachers in the rural village of Sabaneta. While serving in the Venezuelan military as a young man, Chávez began reading Marxist literature which had been left behind by leftist insurgents his unit had been tasked with dispatching. By age 21, he came to recognize the need for a leftist government in Venezuela.

In 1982, while still active in the military, Chávez founded the Revolutionary Bolivarian Movement-200 (EBR-200), inspired by Latin American revolutionaries Ezequiel Zamora, Simón Bolívar, and Simón Rodríguez.

In 1992, EBR-200 attempted a coup to oust President Carlos Andrés Pérez, who had reneged on campaign promises and begun instituting economic policies of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The coup attempt failed, killing fourteen people. Although Chávez was imprisoned, this incident helped him become a symbol of anti-corruption for working class Venezuelans.

In 1994, Chávez was pardoned by President Rafael Caldera and went on a 100-day speaking tour, promoting the Bolivarian cause of social revolution. He visited Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Colombia, and Cuba, befriending Fidel Castro.

In 1998, Chávez won an election for the Venezuelan Presidency with 56% of the vote, promising widespread social and economic reforms. He would go on to serve as President from 1999 until his death from cancer in 2013 at age 58.

In 2002, Chávez fired executives of the state-run oil company Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA). Following violent protests between anti- and pro- government forces, the Venezuelan military attempted a coup, kidnapping Chávez. This was met with a massive pro-Chávez uprising from the public, and he was re-instated to power after just 47 hours.

Chávez's government succeeded in abolishing illiteracy, expanding access to social services such as healthcare and education, and established rights that protected indigenous cultural practices.

Chávez was subjected to particularly vehement criticism from liberal institutions and intellectuals. British Trotskyist Alan Woods wrote that the "media campaign of vilification against Chávez had no precedent in modern history". Some of this criticism comes from institutions such as the "Freedom House", a majority U.S. government funded think tank based out of Washington D.C., and "Bloomberg", a newspaper named after and majority controlled by American oligarch Michael Bloomberg.

"The capitalist model, the developed model, the consumer model which comes from the North, which it has forced on the world, is falling apart on Earth, and there is no planet nearby that we can emigrate to."

- Hugo Chávez

• Date: 1954-07-28
• Learn More: www.marxist.com, thetricontinental.org, en.wikipedia.org.
• Tags: #Marxism, #Birthdays.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Cuban General Strike (1933)

Thu Jul 27, 1933

Image: Photo from libcom.org

On this day in 1933, Havana bus drivers went on strike for better working conditions, a labor action that quickly grew into an anti-government general strike throughout Cuba, ousting dictator Gerardo Machado two weeks later.

The uprising took place in the context of the violent resistance to the government of Gerardo Machado. For two years prior to this campaign there was a militant struggle to oust him which included gun battles, bombings, and political assassinations.

Two days after Havana bus drivers went on strike, they were joined by inter-city drivers who struck in solidarity. Soldiers fired on demonstrators in Havana on August 1st, killing two, and, on the same day in Santa Clara, shops and theaters closed.

When police attacked a group of striking teachers, more transportation workers went on strike, soon joined by workers from a variety of industries. By early August, railway workers, hotel and restaurant workers, physicians, bakers, cigarmakers, and state utility workers were all striking in protest of the state.

When an underground radio station controlled by an anti-Machado resistance group falsely claimed that Machado had resigned and called for a huge public demonstration, a mob marched on the Presidential Palace.

Police began to fire on the crowd before the marchers could reach the palace, killing twenty protesters. Seeing the public support against Machado, the military decided to switch sides, placing Havana under military control on August 9th. Machado resigned and fled the country two days later.

• Date: 1933-07-27
• Learn More: libcom.org, nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu.
• Tags: #Labor, #GeneralStrikes, #Assassinations, #Protests.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

McAlester Prison Riot (1973)

Fri Jul 27, 1973

Image: An aerial photograph of McAlester Prison burning during the riot. From the Oklahoma Collection, Oklahoma Historical Society [oklahomawatch.org]

On this day in 1973, prisoners at the underfunded and overcrowded Oklahoma State Prison in McAlester seized control of the facility, taking 21 hostages and demanding amnesty, press coverage, and meetings with lawyers from the ACLU. The McAlester Riot is considered by many to be one of the worst prison riots in U.S. history.

Conditions at the prison were terrible: more than 2,200 people were crowded into the prison (nearly ten times recommended by a post-riot investigation) and correctional officers were generally underpaid and poorly trained.

The crowding issue was made worse by Oklahoma governor David Hall's refusal to sign parole recommendations for drug offenders and individuals convicted of violent crimes.

On July 27th, 1973, inmates in the mess hall attacked several prison officials and took approximately twenty-one prison officials were held hostage. By that evening, the inmates had seized the hospital and set the prison on fire.

Prisoners released the hostages 24 hours after the uprising began, but retained control of the facility until August 4th. When the riot was over, three inmates had been killed and more than $20 million in damage had been done to twenty-four buildings. Despite the violence, conditions at the prison were not sufficiently improved to prevent more riots - another riot occurred at the Oklahoma State Prison in December 1985.

• Date: 1973-07-27
• Learn More: www.okhistory.org, oklahomawatch.org.
• Tags: #Riots.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Tragic Week (1909)

Mon Jul 26, 1909

Image: A general strike in Barcelona, Spain, 1909. A banner reads "LIBERTAD JUSTICIA" [libcom.org]

On this day in 1909, a general strike broke out in Catalonia to protest conscription imposed by the Spanish government. The government declared a state of war and put down the rebellion with the Army, killing more than 100 civilians. The series of clashes between working class radicals and government forces is known as the "Tragic Week".

The uprising's immediate cause was Premier Antonio Maura attempting to bring out reserve troops as reinforcements to bolster Spanish military-colonial activity in Morocco. Many of these reservists were the only breadwinners for their families, while the wealthy were able to hire substitutes.

These actions, coupled with anarchist, anti-militarist, and anti-colonial philosophies shared by many in the city, resulted in the calling of a general strike against Maura's attempt at conscription. By the next day, workers had occupied much of central Barcelona, halting troop trains and overturning trams. Just a few days later, there was street fighting, with a general eruption of riots, strikes, and the burning of convents.

The Spanish government declared a "state of war" and used the national army to put down the rebellion by force. Over one hundred civilians were killed and more than 1,700 individuals were indicted in military courts for "armed rebellion".

• Date: 1909-07-26
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, libcom.org.
• Tags: #GeneralStrikes, #Colonialism.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Castro Leads July 26th Attack (1953)

Sun Jul 26, 1953

Image: Fidel Castro and followers arrested after the attack on the Moncada Barracks

On this day in 1953, the Cuban Revolution began when approximately 150 revolutionaries, led by Fidel and Raúl Castro, attacked two Cuban military installations, a battle that became the namesake of the "July 26th Movement".

The rebels were decisively defeated: nine died in the fighting, fifty-six were executed, and Fidel himself was captured (shown) and sentenced to fifteen years in prison.

In his subsequent trial, Fidel gave what is now known as his "History Will Absolve Me" speech, nearly four hours long, ending with the words "Condemn me, it does not matter. History will absolve me." Both Fidel and Raúl were later released as a part of general amnesty for political prisoners.

The surviving revolutionaries fled to Mexico and began organizing to overthrow the Batista government. Several years later, they succeeded, finally ousting Batista on December 31st, 1958, replacing his government with a revolutionary socialist state. Castro's 26th of July Movement later reformed along Marxist-Leninist lines, becoming the Communist Party in October of 1965.

The Cuban Revolution had powerful domestic and international repercussions. In particular, it made Cuba's relationship with the United States, which had been dominating the island's economy since 1901, significantly more antagonistic.

Immediately following the revolution, Castro's government initiated sweeping nationalization and social welfare campaigns, transforming Cuba's economy and civil society. Castro's government also highly prioritized international aid, providing more medical personnel to the developing world than all the G8 countries combined, according to authors Robert Huish and John M. Kirk.

Today is celebrated in Cuba as the Day of the Revolution ("Dia de la Revolución").

• Date: 1953-07-26
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, www.jacobinmag.com.
• Tags: #Marxism.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Emmett Till (1941 - 1955)

Fri Jul 25, 1941

Image: Emmett Till, 13-years-old, on Christmas Day in 1954. Photograph taken by his mother, Mamie Till Bradley [Wikipedia]

Emmett Till, born on this day in 1941, was a black child tortured and lynched by white supremacists in Mississippi at 14 years old. His killers sold the story of how they murdered him for $4,000 after being acquitted by an all-white jury.

Emmett was born in Chicago to Mamie Carthan, a working class woman from Tallahatchie County, Mississippi, where the average annual income for a black family was $462 (equivalent to $4,700 in 2016 dollars). In 1955, Till's great-uncle visited the family in Chicago and told Emmett stories about the Mississippi Delta, leading Emmett to plan a visit.

Till arrived in Money, Mississippi, on August 21st, 1955. On the 24th, Till and his friends visited a store owned by a white couple. Till was accused of whistling at and approaching the wife, Carolyn Bryant, while at the store.

Facts of Till's interaction with Bryant are disputed, however many of the accusations - that Till put his hands on Bryant, that he made lewd comments at her, or that he bragged to his friends about having had sex with a white woman - have been withdrawn by the people who initially made them. Till's mother has also stated that she taught Emmett to whistle to help with his stutter, which he developed after a bout with polio.

After word broke out that an interaction had taken place between Till and Bryant, Carolyn's husband, Roy Bryant, and his half-brother, J.W. Milam abducted Emmett, tortured him, shot him, and threw his corpse into the Tallahatchie River. Following Till's disappearance, civil rights activists Medgar Evers and Amzie Moore went undercover as cotton pickers to try and locate him.

Three days after his abduction and murder, Till's swollen and disfigured body was found by two boys who were fishing in the Tallahatchie River. His head was very badly mutilated, he had been shot above the right ear, an eye was dislodged from the socket, there was evidence that he had been beaten on the back and the hips, and his body weighted by a fan blade, which was fastened around his neck with barbed wire.

Mamie decided to have an open-casket funeral, saying: "There was just no way I could describe what was in that box. No way. And I just wanted the world to see." Tens of thousands of people lined the street outside the mortuary to view Till's body, and days later thousands more attended his funeral at Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ.

In the lead-up to Bryant and Milam's trial, local newspapers falsely reported that there were riots at Till's funeral, and depicted both men smiling in military uniforms. On September 23rd, 1955, an all-white, all-male jury (both women and blacks had been explicitly banned) acquitted Bryant and Milam after a 67-minute deliberation. One juror said "If we hadn't stopped to drink pop, it wouldn't have taken that long."

Protected against double jeopardy, Bryant and Milam quickly struck a deal with "Look" magazine in 1956 to tell their story for approximately $4,000 ($35,000 in 2016 dollars).

Emmett Till's murder became a flashpoint in the American civil rights movement; the Montgomery Bus Boycott began in December later that year after Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat for a white person. Parks stated "I thought of Emmett Till and I just couldn't go back."

Myrlie Evers, the widow of Medgar Evers, said in 1985 that Till's case resonated so strongly because it "shook the foundations of Mississippi - both black and white, because...with the white community...it had become nationally publicized...with us as blacks...it said, even a child was not safe from racism and bigotry and death."

• Date: 1941-07-25
• Learn More: www.blackpast.org, en.wikipedia.org.
• Tags: #CivilRights, #Birthdays.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Tuskegee Experiments Leak Published (1972)

Tue Jul 25, 1972

Image: A white doctor draws blood from one of the Tuskegee test subjects [Wikipedia]

On this day in 1972, whistleblower Peter Buxtun, a social worker and epidemiologist, leaked the story of the Tuskegee Experiments to the Washington Star, leading to a national scandal and the study's quick termination.

The "Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male", more commonly known as the Tuskegee Experiments, was an unethical study done by United States Public Health Service (PHS) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), where black study participants were not told of their syphilitic condition, given toxic treatments, and falsely told they were receiving free healthcare from the federal government. Lasting from 1932 until 1972, all of its participants were poor, rural black men with very limited access to health information.

In November 1966, Buxtun had filed an official protest on ethical grounds with the PHS's "Division of Venereal Diseases" and another protest in November 1968, however his concerns were dismissed both times. In 1968, black statistician and PHS employee William Carter Jenkins also called for an end to the study in his magazine The Drum.

It wasn't until Buxtun leaked the story to the Washington Star that the study became public knowledge and a national scandal. In 1974, as part of the settlement of a class action lawsuit filed by the NAACP on behalf of study participants and their descendants, the U.S. government paid $10 million ($51.8 million in 2019) and agreed to provide free medical treatment to surviving participants and surviving family members infected as a consequence of the study.

The Tuskegee Experiments were not the only syphilis experiments performed by the U.S. government against non-white people - from 1946 to 1948, the U.S. conducted a similar study in Guatemala in which doctors infected soldiers, prostitutes, prisoners and mental patients with syphilis and other sexually transmitted diseases, without the informed consent of the subjects, leading to at least 83 deaths.

The Guatemalan experiments were led by physician John Charles Cutler, who also participated in the late stages of the Tuskegee syphilis experiment. Cutler never faced criminal charges for his actions.

• Date: 1972-07-25
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, www.blackpast.org, www.washingtonpost.com.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Chinese Steel Workers Riot (2009)

Fri Jul 24, 2009

Image: Tonghua Steel workers gathered together on July 24th, 2009 [libcom.org]

On this day in 2009, a group of Chinese steel workers at Tonghua Iron and Steel Group rioted and beat their general manager to death after being informed that 25,000 workers would lose their jobs in a private takeover of the company.

The private takeover was to be done by the Beijing-based Jianlong Steel, one of the country's largest private producers of steel. After steel prices increased, Jianlong sought to acquire a majority stake in Tonghua.

The amount of workers involved in the riot is anywhere from 1,000 - 30,000 (depending on the source), but, in any case, enraged workers beat Jianlong general manager Chen Guojun to death after he informed them of the takeover. Workers also blocked first responders from reaching the scene.

The violence took place in the context of a larger protest in which workers had rushed into the factory and halted production.

• Date: 2009-07-24
• Learn More: www.theguardian.com, libcom.org.
• Tags: #Riots.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Arvida Strike (1941)

Thu Jul 24, 1941

Image: Alcan facilities in Arvida, Saguenay (Quebec, Canada).

On this day in 1941, 700 workers from the aluminium company Alcan in Arvida, Québec went on a wildcat strike - more than 4,500 workers illegally occupied the factory the next day and had to be forced out with federal troops.

The catalyst for the strike were cuts from pay envelopes the previous day, as well as a stifling heat wave. Since the industry had been classified as essential to the war effort, the strike was illegal under federal law.

When the Minister of Munitions and Supply told the press that 300 men had seized the factory and "enemy sabotage" was suspected, two companies of soldiers were sent to Arvida to "protect" the factory.

Work resumed four days later, with negotiations taking place with the union acting as an intermediary. The company made amends several days later by giving a slight increase in salaries and cost-of-living bonuses.

• Date: 1941-07-24
• Learn More: www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca, www.utpjournals.press.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Scranton General Strike (1877)

Mon Jul 23, 1877

Image: An illustration showing Scranton Citizens' Corps firing on strikers, August 1st, 1877, by Frank Leslie [Wikipedia]

On this day in 1877, as part of the Great Railroad Strike, a general strike broke out in Scranton, Pennsylvania when railroad workers walked off the job, quickly joined by thousands more from a variety of industries.

The strike began on July 23rd when railroad workers walked off the job in protest of recent wage cuts, a strike that continued into mid-November. By July 26th, it grew to include thousands of workers from a variety of industries, including brakemen, firemen, mill workers, and miners.

Violence erupted on August 1st after thousands of angry strikers rioted, looting stores, assaulting the mayor, and clashing with a local pro-business militia. The militia shot into the crowd (depicted above), leaving four dead and many more wounded.

The next day, National Guard arrived to Scranton and imposed martial law, later aided by federal troops. Comparatively minor acts of violence continued throughout the strike and associated riots. The occupying military forces left the area at the end of October, signaling an end to the uprising.

• Date: 1877-07-23
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, www.nytimes.com, libraries.psu.edu.
• Tags: #GeneralStrikes, #Riots.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Detroit Riot (1967)

Sun Jul 23, 1967

Image: Police and Rioters, 12th Street, Detroit, July 23rd, 1967. From the Walter P. Reuther Library, Wayne State University [blackpast.org]

On this day in 1967, the deadliest race riot of the "Long, Hot Summer of 1967" began when Detroit police raided an unlicensed drinking club that was celebrating the return of two veterans, arresting everyone present. The Long, Hot Summer of 1967 refers to just a few short months in which more than a hundred riots took place across the United States.

In the early hours of July 23rd, Detroit Police Department (DPD) officers raided an unlicensed weekend drinking club in the office of the United Community League for Civic Action. Expecting a few revelers inside, they instead found a party of 82 people celebrating the return of two local GIs from the Vietnam War. The police decided to arrest everyone present.

After the DPD left, a crowd of onlookers began looting an adjacent clothing store. Shortly thereafter, full-scale looting began throughout the neighborhood. This looting escalated into a city-wide uprising that involved shootouts between rioters and police officers.

The violence escalated throughout the next day, resulting in some 483 fires and 1,800 arrests. Thousands of guns were stolen from stores. Firefighters attempting to put out fires were shot at, police brutality was rampant. Even when thousands of federal troops were sent to occupy Detroit, the rioting could not be quelled until July 28th.

43 people were killed in total, most of whom were black. Among the dead was a four year old girl named Tanya Blanding, shot and killed by Sgt. Mortimer J. LeBlanc after he fired indiscriminately into her mother's apartment. LeBlanc was exonerated by the state.

The scale of the riot was the worst in the United States since the 1863 New York City draft riots during the American Civil War and was not surpassed until the 1992 Los Angeles riots 25 years later.

• Date: 1967-07-23
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, detroithistorical.org, www.blackpast.org.
• Tags: #Riots.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

St. Louis General Strike (1877)

Sun Jul 22, 1877

Image: Blockading of engines in West Viriginia during the Great Railroad Strike of 1877, illustration by Fred B. Schell for Harper's Weekly. (Library of Congress) [jacobin.org]

On this day in 1877, the demand of train workers in East St. Louis, Illinois for higher wages was rejected, marking the beginning of a general strike in which workers seized and destroyed property, dismantling over forty factories.

The 1877 St. Louis General Strike was one of the first general strikes in the United States, growing out of the Great Railroad Strike of 1877, a national period of strikes and rioting due to economic depression. The St. Louis strike was largely organized by the Knights of Labor and the Marxist-leaning Workingmen's Party, the main radical political party of the era.

On this day in 1877, in East St. Louis, Illinois, train workers held a secret meeting, resolving to call for an increase in wages and to strike if their demands were not met. The demand was made and rejected that same night, and so, effective at midnight, the strike began.

Within hours, strikers virtually controlled the city. Although the strike was mostly bloodless, the protesters seized the city's Union Depot, stopped freight and some passenger trains from passing through the city.

Workers attacked productive capital, including flour mills and sugar refineries, dismantling over forty factories in total. The strike ended when the National Guard and U.S. Marshals began to break up demonstrations by force five days later.

• Date: 1877-07-22
• Learn More: jacobin.com, en.wikipedia.org, www.zinnedproject.org.
• Tags: #Labor, #GeneralStrikes, #Marxism.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Butler R. Wilson (1861 - 1939)

Mon Jul 22, 1861

Butler R. Wilson, born on this day in 1861, was an attorney and civil rights activist based in Boston, Massachusetts who organized with the NAACP and became the first black person admitted to the American Bar Association.

Wilson was born in Greensboro, Georgia free people of color who were prominent members of their community. Wilson attended Atlanta University, a historically black college, and moved to Boston for law school after graduating.

After being admitted to the Massachusetts State Bar in 1884, Wilson built a successful practice serving clients of all races, and became a respected attorney in New England.

In 1911, the American Bar Association (ABA) unknowingly admitted three black men, one of whom was Wilson, to the organization, as applicants did not have to state their race. Once their race became known, the ABA rescinded all three memberships, prompting national outrage and resignations in protest. Despite this, the ABA did not re-instate the men and continued their discriminatory practices for several decades afterward.

Wilson, who was still a member of the Massachusetts State Bar, would go on to fight racial discrimination in legal arenas for the next several decades. He was also a founding member and president of the Boston branch of the NAACP and participated in W.E.B. Du Bois's Niagara Movement.

• Date: 1861-07-22
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, www.baystatebanner.com.
• Tags: #Birthdays.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Armando Diaz School Raid (2001)

Sat Jul 21, 2001

Image: A still from the 2012 film "Diaz: Don't Clean Up This Blood"

On this day in 2001, Italian police raided a school occupied by anti-globalization protesters and journalists, beating and torturing hundreds of protesters. No officer served time in prison.

The school was the temporary headquarters of the anti-capitalist Genoa Social Forum, led by Vittorio Agnoletto, set up during the 27th G8 meeting in Genoa. A nearby building, housing the anti-globalization organization Indymedia and lawyers affiliated with the Genoa Social Forum, was also raided.

On July 21st, just before midnight, Italian cops raided the school, brutally beating and torturing all present. The police officers fabricated evidence of weapons and assault to justify their brutality, planting molotov cocktails and slashing their own bulletproof vests to justify the violence.

Before officers entered the school, British journalist Mark Covell confronted them outside, attempting to tell them he was a journalist. Several officers responded by beating him into a coma, breaking his hand, damaging his spine, and breaking six of his ribs. The police then used an armored police van to break through the school gates and 150 policemen, wearing crash helmets and carrying truncheons and shields, entered the school compound.

Police beat and tortured everyone they found. Several people were beaten unconscious, sexually harassed, had hair cut from their head, and thrown down the stairs. At least one person needed surgery to stop a bleed in their brain.

Some arrested were taken back to a temporary detention facility in Bolzaneto. There, they were tortured and forced to praise fascists such as Mussolini and Pinochet in song. One man testified that, after he refused to sign fabricated statements about what happened, police broke three of his ribs.

Although fifteen Italian police officers and doctors were sentenced to jail for the mistreatment of the detainees at Bolzaneto, none served time in prison due to a statute of limitations on their crimes. The British government supported the Italian government in the violence's aftermath; the spokesman for Prime Minister Tony Blair stated "The Italian police had a difficult job to do. The prime minister believes that they did that job."

• Date: 2001-07-21
• Learn More: libcom.org, en.wikipedia.org.
• Tags: #Journalism, #Fascism, #Protests.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org