February 22, 1879 – "Révolte" first appeared in Switzerland, founded by Peter Kropotkin, François Dumarteray, and Élisée Reclus. (From the Daily Bleed)
February 22, 1892 –
The founding convention of the People's Party met in St. Louis, with
the support of the Knights of Labor, United Mine Workers and 20 other
organizations. The party criticized political corruption, increasing
concentration of wealth, and attacks on the rights of workers and
farmers. (From Workday Minnesota)
February 22, 1917 – The Russian Revolution began. (From the Daily Bleed)
February 22, 1918 – At the height of the Red Scare, the office of the "Cronaca Sovversiva" was raided.
Sacco and Vanzetti had written for this anarchist newspaper and donated
money to it, marking their first official link to anarchist activities
by the authorities.. (From the Daily Bleed)
February 22, 1921
– A wave of strikes in Petrograd occurred in opposition to terrible
factory conditions and the discipline of 'war communism.' (From the Daily Bleed)
February 22, 2004 – Education Secretary Rod Paige called the nation's largest teachers union, National Education Association (NEA), a "terrorist organization"
during a White House meeting with state governors. Meanwhile the Bush
administration asserted the right to imprison citizens or non-citizens
indefinitely without trial or access to lawyers, family members or
journalists, as long as they were accused of being terrorists. (From the Daily Bleed)
February 4, 1869
- Labor leader and Industrial Workers of the World co-founder William
D. "Big Bill" Haywood was born on this date. Haywood started mining at
age nine. He became secretary-treasurer of the Western Federation of
Miners in 1900 and co-founded the IWW in 1905. Charged in the bombing
murder of former Idaho Governor Frank Steunenberg in 1907, he was
acquitted with the counsel of Clarence Darrow. His radicalism led to his
dismissal from the WFM in 1918. That same year he was convicted of
violating alien and sedition acts, a victim of the Red Scare, and was
sentenced to 20 years in prison. However, he jumped bail and fled to the
Soviet Union, where he died in 1928. (From Workday Minnesota)
February 4, 1899 – A U.S.
sentry shot Filipino soldiers, leading to a revolt against the U.S.
occupation. Filipino historians like Agoncillo and Constantino estimated
that over 300,000 Filipinos, mostly civilians, perished as a result of
the U.S. genocide. The Manila correspondent for the Philadelphia Ledger
wrote in 1901, “Our men have been relentless, have killed to exterminate
men, women, children, prisoners and captives, active insurgents and
suspected people from lads of ten up. . .” (From the Daily Bleed)
February 4, 1900
– Jacques Prévert was born on this date (1900-1977). Prevert was a
poet, surrealist and libertarian who glorified the spirit of rebellion
& revolt. (From the Daily Bleed)
February 4, 1900 -- Labor strikes in mining areas led to riots in Belgium and Germany. (From the Daily Bleed)
February 4, 1913 – Rosa Parks was born on this date in Tuskegee, Alabama. (From the Daily Bleed)
February 4, 1921
– A massacre at San Gregorio, Chile, left 565 nitrate miners dead. 1920
was a year of brutal repression of the workers movement — many locals
were burnt down, many agitators murdered, workers sent to prison, etc.
The Chilean IWW led a three month long strike protesting the export of
grain during a food shortage. (From the Daily Bleed)
February 4, 1956 – White students rioted at the University of Alabama against court-ordered admission of first black student. (From the Daily Bleed)
February 4, 1979 – Six workers were killed in the massacre of Cromotex, Lima Peru. (From the Daily Bleed)
February 4, 1981 – 68 campesinos were killed in the massacre of Chimaltenango, Guatemala. (From the Daily Bleed)
Victims of the Red Scare Awaiting Deportation at Ellis Island, 1/3/20 (from Wikipedia)
January 24, 1920—Palmer
raids (or first Red Scare), which began on January 2, continued
throughout January, resulting in the arrest of 3,000 labor activists and
suspected anarchists and communists in 30 cities and 20 states. (From
the Daily Bleed)
January 24, 1937 -- The United Auto Workers (UAW) organized their first aircraft local. (From the Daily Bleed)
January 24, 1981 – Millions of Polish workers walked off the job in support of Solidarity’s demand for a 5-day work week. (From the Daily Bleed)
1918 Ginger Goodwin Assassination: A hired private policeman shot United Mine Workers Organizer Ginger Goodwin outside Cumberland, B.C. (Source: AFGE)
1919Fannie Sellins Assassination: Company guards gunned down United Mine Worker organizer Fannie Sellins in Brackenridge, Pennsylvania. (Source: AFGE)
Chaos during Boston police strike and riot
1919Boston Police Strike and Riot: On September 19, looting, rioting, and sporadic violence broke out in downtown and South Boston after 1,117 policemen declared a work stoppage. Governor Calvin Coolidge brought in the entire state militia to put down the strike. (Source: AFGE, Wikipedia)
1919The Great Steel Strike: nearly 400,000 steelworkers went on strike for union recognition on September 22, ultimately failing. Martial law was declared in Gary, IN. Troops were called to several cities. (Sources: AFGE, Rense.com)
1919Centralia Massacre: Legionnaires attacked a Centralia, Washington IWW hall and then lynched IWW organizer Wesley Everest. (Sources: AFGE, Wikipedia, IWW)
Newspaper clipping during Seattle General Strike
1919Seattle General Strike: After two years of frozen wages due to the war, over 65,000 workers went on strike in Seattle for higher wages, joined by members of both the AFL and the IWW. The strike was a virtual commune, with the General Strike Committee taking over most governmental functions, including providing food and security. Mayor Hanson brought the strike to an end by threatening violence with soldiers, cops and several thousand deputized UW students. (Sources: Wikipedia, Seattle General Strike Project, Seattle Times, Lib com)
1919Red Scare Begins—Approximately 250 "anarchists," "communists," and "labor agitators" were deported to Russia, marking the beginning of the so-called "Red Scare," or “Palmer Raids.” Woodrow Wilson's Attorney General, A. Mitchell Palmer, ultimately arrested nearly 6,000 people on suspicion of "communism." Those who were not U.S. citizens were deported as "undesirable aliens." (Sources: AFGE, Workday Minnesota,Daily Bleed)
1920 Anaconda Road Massacre: On April, 21, Anaconda Copper company guards in Butte, Montana opened fire on striking IWW miners, killing 1 and injuring 16 others. (Sources: Wikipedia)
1920Matewan Battle: Ten people were killed when coal company officials in Matewan, West Virginia, tried to remove striking union workers from coal company housing. They sent in agents from the Baldwin-Felts detective agency who evicted several families before trying to hop on a train out of town. Sheriff Hatfield, who supported the miners’ right to organize, tried to arrest the detectives who, in turn, tried to arrest Hatfield. Unbeknownst to the detectives, they had been surrounded by miners. No one knows who shot first, but when the smoke had cleared, there were 7 dead detectives (including Albert and Lee Felts) and 4 dead townspeople. Miners were typically forced to live in company towns and purchase living necessities from company stores at inflated prices. They were paid in scrip, which was useless outside of the company towns. In the time leading up to the Battle of Matewan, numerous miners had been assassinated by vigilantes, goons or detectives. In the aftermath of the massacre, the miners went on strike and were treated to even more violence. (From Workday Minnesota, Wikipedia,Daily Bleed, Modern School and Matewanwv.com)
1920Alabama Coal Strike: This was a statewide strike by the United Mine Workers that was marred by racial violence and ended in defeat for the union. UMW was already integrated by this time, which was offensive both to white racists, and black assimilationists. Several people were killed during the strike, most of whom were black workers. (Sources: Wikipedia)
Miners with bomb that had been dropped on them
1921Battle of Blair Mountain: Sheriff Sid Hatfield and Ed Chambers were murdered by Baldwin-Feltz private cops for their role in the Matewan labor battle in 1920, when two Feltz family thugs were killed by Hatfield and his deputies. They were executed on the Welch County court house steps in front of their wives, leading to the Battle of Blair Mountain, where 20,000 coal miners marched to the anti-union stronghold Logan County to overthrow Sheriff Dan Chaffin, the coal company tyrant who murdered miners with impunity. The Battle of Blair Mountain was the largest armed insurrection since the Civil War and the first time that American citizens were aerially bombarded by their own government. (Sources: the Daily Bleed,Wikipedia,Workday Minnesota)
1922The Herrin Massacre (June 22): striking coal miners killed 20 guards and strikebreakers in Herrin, Illinois in retaliation for the murder of three of their own. (Source: AFGE, Wikipedia)
A. Phillip Randolph, 1946
1925The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, founded by A. Phillip Randolph and others, was the nation's first African American union. The AFL, which proclaimed support for Randolph's efforts, historically excluded African Americans from its membership. (Source: AFGE)
1927Columbine Massacre: 6 unarmed mine workers were machine-gunned down in Serene, Colorado, either by police or company guards, during a weeks-long strike at the Columbine Mine. (Sources: Wikipedia)
January 1, 1804 – Haitian slaves, led by Jean Jacques Desalines, declared independence from France, making Haiti the first free black republic in the world. The U.S. refused to recognize Haiti for the next 70 and France extracted millions in restitution, destroying any hope of ever moving out of deep poverty. The slave revolt against the French began in 1791 with the call by Dutty Boukman, a vodou priest and was led by Toussaint L'Ouverture. (From theDaily Bleed and Wikipedia; For a really great history of the Haitian revolution, please see the Black Jacobins, by H. L. R. James)
January 1, 1831 – The first issue of "The Liberator," William Lloyd Garrison's abolitionist paper was printed on this date.(From theDaily Bleed) January 1, 1832 – The first meeting of the New England Anti-Slavery Society occurred on this date. (From the Daily Bleed)
January 1, 1863 – President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation freeing the slaves in all rebel states, but by no means granting equality under the law: "I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races; that I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of making voters or jurors of negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor to inter-marry with white people . . . and I am as much as any other man in favor of having the superior position assigned to the white race."(From the Daily Bleed)
January 1, 1875 – Women weavers formed a union in Fall River, Massachusetts. (From the Daily Bleed)
January 1, 1879 – Ben Reitman was born on this day. Reitman was a comrade and one-time lover of Emma Goldman, a doctor to hobos and prostitutes, and an anarchist organizer. (From the Daily Bleed)
Louis-Auguste Blanqui
January 1, 1881 -- Paris Commune leader Louis-Auguste Blanqui (1805-1881) died on this date in Paris.
January 1, 1920 – America's first "Red Scare" began with the arrest of 2,700 people without charge. A. Mitchell Palmer, Wilson's Attorney General, ultimately arrested nearly 6,000 people on suspicion of "communism." Those who were not U.S. citizens were deported as "undesirable aliens." (From theDaily Bleed)
January 1, 1924 – IWW Lumber Workers IU120 struck the British Columbia lumber owners, calling for an 8 hour day with blankets supplied, minimum wage of $4 per day, release of all class war prisoners, no discrimination against IWW members & no censuring of IWW literature. (From the Daily Bleed and Morgan Miller, A Brief History of the IWW outside the US (1905-1999)
January 1, 1966 - 35,000 members of the Transport Workers Union and the Amalgamated Transit Union shut down 135 miles of subway and 2,200 buses in New York City, bringing huge losses to business and, consequently, a quick resolution, with a settlement being reached on January 13. (From Workday Minnesota)
December 22, 1731 – There was a Dutch revolt against a meat tax on this date. (From the Daily Bleed)
The UST Buford, AKA the Soviet Ark, AKA An Xmas Gift to Lenin and Trotsky
December 22, 1919 – During a strike by 395,000 steelworkers, approximately 250 "anarchists," "communists," and "labor agitators" were deported from the United States and sent to Russia, on the U.S.S. Buford (dubbed the Christmas Gift for Trotsky). Included among the deportees were Emma Goldman and Alexander Berkman (the man who shot Henry Clay Frick in retaliation for his role in the Homestead massacre). This marked the beginning of the first "Red Scare." (From Workday Minnesota)
December 22, 1922 – The International Congress of Revolutionary Syndicalists met in Berlin, leading to the founding of the International Workers Association (AIT/ IWA). The anti-authoritarian AIT served as an umbrella organization for numerous anarcho-syndicalist trade unionists from 12 countries (FORA, USI, SAC, FAUD, CNT, etc.) with several million members at its height. (From the Daily Bleed)
December 22, 1997 – Méxican paramilitaries associated with the ruling PRI party massacred 45 peasants in the village of Acteal. Chiapas. (From theDaily Bleed)
November 25, 1919 – A strike for union recognition by 395,000 steelworkers continued throughout November. The strike began on September 22 and collapsed on January 8, 1920. The strike was used by the feds as an excuse to deport approximately 250 anarchists, communists and labor agitators to Russia on November 24, marking the beginning of the so-called "Red Scare." (from the Daily Bleed)
November 25, 1946 - St. Paul teachers, led mostly by women, walked out of their classrooms in American’s first organized teachers’ strike. 1,165 teachers and principals (all represented by the same union) remained out until Dec. 27 in what they called the “strike for better schools.” (From Workday Minnesota)
November 24, 1859 -- Charles Darwin's Origin of the Species was published. (From the Daily Bleed)
November 24, 1875 - The Cigar Makers International Union, Local 144, was chartered with Samuel Gompers as president. (From Workday Minnesota)
Mollie Steimer c1918 (public domain)
November 24, 1921 – Mollie Steimer, after doing 18 months for handing out leaflets, was shipped off to Soviet Russia along with three other radicals (Jacob Abrams, Samuel Lipman, & Hyman Lachowsky). In the U.S., they were victims of the Red Scare, for handing out leaflets opposing the deployment of U.S. troops against Soviet Russia. However, they were also soon victims of the Red Terror in Russia. Steimer was deported from the USSR in 1923 for aiding “criminal elements.” (From the Daily Bleed)
November 24, 1927 – On Thanksgiving Day 1927, California troops battled 1,200 inmates when Folsom prisoners revolted. One prisoner was shot and five others were later hanged. (From the Daily Bleed)
November 24, 1947 –Chicago newspaper printers' strike began in opposition to the recently passed anti-labor Taft-Hartley Act. (From the Daily Bleed)
November 7, 1912 – Enest Riebe's "Mr. Block," IWW labor comic strip first appeared in print. Mr. Block was one of the best-loved features in the Wobbly press. Joe Hill wrote a song about "Mr. Block," who was a boss-loving, American Dream-believing, self-sabotaging knucklehead. Some call Riebe the first "underground" comic book artist. (From the Daily Bleed)
Mr. Block (by Joe Hill)
1. Please give me your attention, I'll introduce to you
A man who is a credit to the ["Our] old Red White and Blue["]
His head is made of lumber and solid as a rock
He is a common worker and his name is Mr. Block
And Block [he] thinks he may be premier [President] some day
Chorus
Oh Mr. Block, you were born by mistake
You take the cake, you make me ache
[Go] tie a rock on your block and then jump in the lake
Kindly do that for Liberty's sake!
2. Yes, Mr. Block is lucky - he got a job, by gee!
The shark got seven dollars for job and fare and fee
They shipped him to a desert and dumped him with his truck
But when he tried to find his job he sure was out of luck
He shouted, "That's too raw! I'll fix them with the law!"
3. Block hiked back to the city but wasn't doing well
He said "I'll join the union, the great AF of L".
He got a job that morning, got fired by the night
He said, "I'll see Sam Gompers and he'll fix that foreman right!"
Sam Gompers said, "You see, you've got our sympathy."
4. Election day he shouted, "A Socialist for Mayor!"
The comrade got elected [and] he happy was for fair
But after the election he got an awful shock
[When] a great big socialistic bull did rap him on the block
And Comrade Block did sob, "I helped him get his job!"
5. Poor Block he died one evening, I'm very glad to state
He climbed the golden ladder up to the pearly gate
He said, "Oh Mister Peter, one thing I'd like to tell
I'd like to meet the Astorbilts and John D Rockerfell!"
Old Pete said, "Is that so? You'll meet them down below!"
Tune: It Looks to me Like a Big Time Tonight. from Al Grierson,
by Joe Hill, in 13th ed. of the Little Red Songbook
November 7, 1915 – Emiliano Zapata proposed a new labor law that included an 8-hour day, prohibition of work for children under age 14, worker cooperatives to run factories abandoned by owners, and a fixed minimum wage. (From the Daily Bleed)
German Revolutionaries Summarily Executed, March 1919, During Counter-Revolution from the Deutsches Bundesarchiv (German Federal Archive)
November 7, 1918 – The imprisonment of 600 sailors during the Kiel Mutiny in Germany led to a general uprising. Within months, the Independent Social Democrats, who were heading the provisional government, were overthrown by the Bavarian Raterepublik, composed of Workers', Soldiers', and Farmers' Councils. Those fighting the socialists included anarchists and anti-authoritarian communists like Erich Mühsam, Gustav Landauer, Ernst Toller and Ret Marut (who became known as the novelist B. Traven after fleeing the counterrevolution and living in exile in Mexico). (From the Daily Bleed)
IWW Union Office Ransacked During Palmer Raid
November 7, 1919 – The first Red Scare, or "Palmer’s Reign of Terror," began in the U.S. on this date with the imprisonment of 3,000 anarchists without bail at Ellis Island. During the Palmer raids, hundreds of anarchists, communists, union leaders and other radicals were rounded up, imprisoned, deported and even killed. (From the Daily Bleed)
November 7, 1959 - The U.S. Supreme Court used the Taft-Hartley Act to break a steel strike. Taft-Hartley was passed in 1947, in the wake of the 1946 Oakland General Strike. It severely limited strike activities, specifically prohibited sympathy strikes and General Strikes, and was essentially a giveaway to employers helping pave the way for the progressive weakening of the U.S. labor movement. (From Workday Minnesota)
February 22, 1879 – "Révolte" first appeared in Switzerland, founded by Peter Kropotkin, François Dumarteray, and Élisée Reclus. (From the Daily Bleed)
February 22, 1892 – The founding convention of the People's Party met in St. Louis, with the support of the Knights of Labor, United Mine Workers and 20 other organizations. The party criticized political corruption, increasing concentration of wealth, and attacks on the rights of workers and farmers. (From Workday Minnesota)
February 22, 1917 – The Russian Revolution began. (From the Daily Bleed)
February 22, 1918 – At the height of the Red Scare, the office of the "Cronaca Sovversiva" was raided. Sacco and Vanzetti had written for this anarchist newspaper and donated money to it, marking their first official link to anarchist activities by the authorities.. (From the Daily Bleed)
February 22, 1921 – A wave of strikes in Petrograd occurred in opposition to terrible factory conditions and the discipline of 'war communism.' (From the Daily Bleed)
February 22, 2004 – Education Secretary Rod Paige called the nation's largest teachers union, National Education Association (NEA), a "terrorist organization" during a White House meeting with state governors. Meanwhile the Bush administration asserted the right to imprison citizens or non-citizens indefinitely without trial or access to lawyers, family members or journalists, as long as they were accused of being terrorists. (From the Daily Bleed)
