Peterloo Massacre (1819)

Mon Aug 16, 1819

Image: A colored engraving that depicts the Peterloo Massacre in Manchester, England. Not all the details strictly accord with contemporary descriptions; the banner the woman is holding should read: Female Reformers of Roynton -- "Let us die like men and not be sold like slaves".

On this day in 1819, the Peterloo Massacre took place when British cavalry charged a crowd of ~60,000 protesters gathered in St. Peter's Field in Manchester, England to demand democratic reforms, killing 18 people and wounding hundreds more.

The protest took place in the context of an economic crisis and harvest failure following the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815. At the time, only approximately 11% of adult males could vote, very few of them in the industrial north, which was the worst hit by the crises.

Reformers, led by figures such as the radical orator Henry Hunt and social reformer Samuel Bamford, identified democratic and parliamentary reforms as a way to mobilize the masses, acquiring three-quarters of a million signatures in 1817, a proposal flatly rejected by the House of Commons.

On August 16th, 1819, a mass rally of democratic reformers gathered in St. Peter's Field in Manchester. The meeting's aims were explicitly peaceful and legal; organizers stated the protest's purpose was "to consider the propriety of adopting the most LEGAL and EFFECTUAL means of obtaining a reform in the Common House of Parliament" and did not allow participants to bear arms.

Despite this, members of the British Cavalry attempted to arrest leaders of the protest. When their horses became stuck in the crowd, officers panicked and began indiscriminately attacking the meeting's participants. Exact numbers are difficult to calculate, but modern estimates are that 18 people were killed and approximately 600 more were injured.

Among those killed was a two year old boy, knocked from his mother's arms by a charging horse. John Lees, a working class veteran of Waterloo who later died of wounds sustained at the Peterloo Massacre, stated "At Waterloo there was man to man but there it was downright murder".

The British government supported the military's actions and, as a result of the disorder, passed the "Six Acts", legislation to suppress radical meetings and publications. By the end of 1820, every significant working-class radical reformer was in jail.

On the political situation after Peterloo, historian Robert Reid wrote "it is not fanciful to compare the restricted freedoms of the British worker in the post-Peterloo period in the early nineteenth century with those of the black South African in the post-Sharpeville period of the late twentieth century."

• Date: 1819-08-16
• Learn More: www.peterloomassacre.org, en.wikipedia.org.
• Tags: #Massacre, #Protests.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

London Women Transport Workers Strike (1918)

Fri Aug 16, 1918

Image: Some of the strikers in August, 1918 [libcom.org]

On this day in 1918, a meeting of women at Willesden bus garage decided to go on strike without informing their bosses or unions, beginning the London Women Transport Workers' Strike, in which they demanded equal pay for equal work.

In August 1918, female tram conductors in Willesden, London started a wildcat strike which quickly spread around the country and to other sectors of public transport. Earlier that year, male workers were given a 5 shilling per week wartime bonus to help cope with the increased cost of living, but women workers were not.

On August 16th, 1918, a meeting of women at Willesden bus garage decided to go on strike the following day, without informing their bosses or unions. Initially demanding the same war bonus that had been given to men, their demands morphed into equal pay, more than forty years before the Equal Pay Act. The slogan of the strike was "Same Work - Same Pay".

The strike spread throughout the city - an estimated 18,000 out of a total 27,000 women working in the public transport industry participated.

The strike was settled on the 25th of August. The women won the 5 shilling war bonus, but not equal pay. According to historian Dr. Cathy Hunt, this labor action was "an important step along the way to full gender equality".

• Date: 1918-08-16
• Learn More: cathyhunthistorian.com, libcom.org.
• Tags: #Labor.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Food Not Bombs First Arrests (1988)

Mon Aug 15, 1988

Image: On August 15th, 1988, nine volunteers were arrested for sharing food and literature at Golden Gate Park, including founding member Keith McHenry (shown) [zinnedproject.org]

Food Not Bombs is a loose-knit group of independent collectives, sharing free vegan and vegetarian food with others. Food Not Bombs' ideology is that corporate and government priorities are skewed to allow hunger to persist in the midst of abundance.

As evidence of this, a large amount of the food served by the group is surplus food from grocery stores, bakeries, and markets that would otherwise go to waste (or, occasionally, has already been thrown away).

On this day in 1988, members of Food Not Bombs (including one of the founders, Keith McHenry, shown), were arrested for the first time in San Francisco, California, for handing out free food and literature in Golden Gate Park. These were the first of many arrests of Food Not Bombs activists for giving away free food.

• Date: 1988-08-15
• Learn More: www.zinnedproject.org, foodnotbombs.net.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

London Dock Strike (1889)

Wed Aug 14, 1889

Image: Dockers' strike march, 1889 [libcom.org]

The London Dock Strike was a massive industrial dispute involving more than 100,000 workers in the Port of London, beginning on this day in 1889. Workers established strong trade unions and won better working conditions.

Before the strike began, workers were paid extremely poorly and did not have regular hours. Instead, they would show up en masse to work and a handful would be selected - the rest would be sent home without payment. In this way, their employers could only pay for exactly the labor needed for the day.

On August 14th, led by socialist union organizer Ben Tillet, the men in the West India Dock struck immediately and started persuading other dockers to join them. The support they needed came when the Amalgamated Stevedores Union (whose workers were essential the operation of the dock), under Tom McCarthy, joined the strike.

The labor action became so large (one estimation was 130,000 workers), that it could possibly be considered a general strike. A newspaper reported "Dockmen, lightermen, bargemen, cement workers, carmen, ironworkers and even factory girls are coming out."

The London Dock Strike resulted in a victory for the 100,000 strikers and established strong trade unions amongst London dockers, one of which became the nationally important "Dock, Wharf, Riverside and General Labourers' Union".

The success of the Dockers' Strike was a turning point in the history of trade unionism, with unskilled workers in particular gaining confidence to organize and engage in collective action. From 750,000 workers in 1888, trade union membership grew to more than 2 million by 1899.

• Date: 1889-08-14
• Learn More: libcom.org, en.wikipedia.org.
• Tags: #Labor.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Mariola Sirakova (1904 - 1925)

Sun Aug 14, 1904

Mariola Sirakova, born on this day in 1904, was a wealthy Bulgarian actress who organized with the revolutionary anarchist movement in Bulgaria, sheltering wanted anarchists from the state.

In 1923, a military coup led to the butchery of 35,000 workers and peasants, leading to a campaign of armed resistance against the state (the "September Rising"). A massive wave of repression was undertaken by the fascists and military against the revolutionary movement, and Mariola was arrested by the police, raped, and brutally beaten.

After her 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 subsequently caught in an ambush and arrested. On May 28th, 1925, they were taken to Belovo railway station and summarily executed with 12 other prisoners. Mariola was twenty years old.

• Date: 1904-08-14
• Learn More: libcom.org.
• Tags: #Birthdays, #Anarchism.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Joycelyn Elders (1933 - )

Sun Aug 13, 1933

Dr. Joycelyn Elders, born on this day in 1933, is an American pediatrician and public health administrator who served as Surgeon General of the United States from 1993 to 1994. Elders was the first African American to serve as Surgeon General and is best known for her frank discussion of her views on controversial issues such as drug legalization, masturbation, and distributing contraception in schools.

Although she faced censure from the Clinton administration for advocating the legalization of drugs, it was her sex positive view on masturbation that led to her removal from office. After stating "I think that [masturbation] is part of human sexuality, and perhaps it should be taught", Clinton forced her to resign as Surgeon General in December of 1994. She is currently a professor emerita of pediatrics at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.

"If you can't control your reproduction, you can't control your life."

- Dr. Joycelyn Elders

• Date: 1933-08-13
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, cfmedicine.nlm.nih.gov, pryorcenter.uark.edu.
• Tags: #Birthdays.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Daoxian Massacre (1967)

Sun Aug 13, 1967

Image: A map of China with Hunan province highlighted

Note: most of the following entry comes from the scholarship of Song Yongyi, a Chinese-American historian who specializes in the study of Chinese Cultural Revolution, currently employed by California State University in Los Angeles.

On this day in 1967, violence broke out in Dao County, Hunan Province, China against alleged counter-revolutionaries during the Cultural Revolution. The violence, now known as the Daoxian Massacre, killed 4,519 people over 2 months, hundreds of whom were forced to commit suicide.

Approximately 90% of the victims were alleged members of the "Black Five Categories", a term used by the state to label enemies of the communist revolution - landlords, rich peasants, counter-revolutionaries, "bad elements", and right-wingers. Family members were also targeted, with the youngest recorded death being a 10-day-old infant.

During the "Boluan Fanzheng" period following Mao Zedong's death, the Chinese government opened an investigation into the massacre, which it concluded in 1986 by denouncing the violence and imprisoning some of its participants. In Dao County, 43 people who involved in the massacre were punished, with only 11 being prosecuted, receiving between 3 to 10 years in prison.

• Date: 1967-08-13
• Learn More: www.sciencespo.fr, en.wikipedia.org.
• Tags: #Massacre.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

South Africa Miners Strike (1946)

Mon Aug 12, 1946

Image: The front cover of a booklet about the strike, titled "Workers at War - CNETU and the 1946 African Mineworkers' Strike" [https://www.saha.org.za/]

On this day in 1946, nearly 100,000 black South African mine workers of the Witwatersrand went on strike in support of a demand for higher wages - 10 shillings a day. They continued the strike for a week in the face of the most savage police terror, in which officially 1,248 workers were wounded and a large number - officially only 9 - were killed.

Lawless police and army violence broke the strike. The resources of the racist state were mobilized in war-like fashion against unarmed workers. A profound result of the strike was the effect it had on the thinking of the national liberation movement - almost immediately it shifted significantly from a policy of concession to more dynamic and militant forms of struggle.

• Date: 1946-08-12
• Learn More: www.sahistory.org.za, nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu, www.saha.org.za, en.wikipedia.org.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Luigi Galleani (1861 - 1931)

Mon Aug 12, 1861

Luigi Galleani, born on this day in 1861, was an Italian anarchist active in the United States from 1901 to 1919. He is best known for his enthusiastic advocacy of "propaganda of the deed", the use of violence to eliminate those he viewed as tyrants and oppressors and to act as a catalyst to the overthrow of existing government institutions.

From 1914 to 1932, Galleani's followers in the United States (known as i Galleanisti) carried out a series of bombings and assassination attempts against institutions and persons they viewed as class enemies. After Galleani was deported from the United States to Italy in June 1919, his colleagues are alleged to have carried out the Wall Street bombing of 1920, causing the deaths of 38 people.

"Everything must belong to everybody and must present the hypothesis of a world without god, without king, without government, without masters."

- Luigi Galleani

• Date: 1861-08-12
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, libcom.org, theanarchistlibrary.org.
• Tags: #Birthdays.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Watts Riots (1965)

Wed Aug 11, 1965

Image: Armed National Guardsmen march toward smoke on the horizon during the street fires in Los Angeles, California, 1965. (Credit: Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

On this day in 1965, the Watts Riots began in Los Angeles after police beat Marquette Fry and his family after he was pulled over for drunk driving. The uprising was the largest in city history until the Rodney King riots of 1992, with 34 deaths and $40 million in property damage across a 46 square mile (119 square km) stretch of L.A.

The uprising took place in the context of a highly racialized city, with severely discriminatory housing, educational, and economic practices. The community of Watts was predominantly black and regularly suffered brutality at the hands of police.

After Marquette, along with his brother and mother, were beaten and arrested by police, an angry mob formed and riots broke out. For the next six days, rioters clashed with police and armed National Guardsmen, who had been sent by the thousands to suppress the uprising.

Los Angeles Chief of Police William Parker (incidentally, Parker also coined the phrase "thin blue line" around this time) compared the rioters to the Viet Cong, promising a "paramilitary" response to the disorder. One officer later stated "The streets of Watts resembled an all-out war zone in some far-off foreign country, it bore no resemblance to the United States of America."

Between 31,000 and 35,000 people participated in the riots, while 70,000 people were "sympathetic, but not active" according to John H. Barnhill. Over the six days of rioting, there were 34 deaths (23 of which were the result of police shootings), 1,032 injuries, 3,438 arrests, and over $40 million in property damage.

Following the uprising's suppression, a wave of white flight occurred in surrounding areas, leading to significant demographic changes in areas such as Compton and Huntington Park.

A government committee known as the McCone Commission concluded that the cause of the riots was primarily socio-economic, and recommended reforms along these lines. Most of these recommendations were not adopted.

"The whole point of the outbreak in Watts was that it marked the first major rebellion of Negroes against their own masochism and was carried on with the express purpose of asserting that they would no longer quietly submit to the deprivation of slum life."

- Bayard Rustin

• Date: 1965-08-11
• Learn More: www.blackpast.org, en.wikipedia.org.
• Tags: #Riots.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Franco Assassination Attempt (1964)

Sun Aug 11, 1946

Stuart Christie (1946 - 2020) was a Scottish anarchist writer and publisher.

On this day in 1964, an eighteen year old Christie was arrested while carrying explosives to assassinate the Spanish dictator, General Francisco Franco. Christie had become interested in the Spanish resistance to Franco after meeting Spanish anarchists living in London, in exile.

In Paris, he met members of the Defensa Interior organization and was assigned to bring plastic explosives to Madrid. The Defensa Interior had been infiltrated by government spies, however, and after arriving in Madrid Christie was promptly arrested by undercover police.

Christie was freed after serving three years in prison. He went on to found the Cienfuegos Press publishing house and in 2008 the online Anarchist Film Channel, which hosts films and documentaries with anarchist and libertarian socialist themes.

• Date: 1946-08-11
• Learn More: www.heraldscotland.com, www.permanentculturenow.com, en.wikipedia.org.
• Tags: #Assassinations, #Anarchism, #Fascism.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Tombs Prison Uprising (1970)

Mon Aug 10, 1970

Image: McGrath, the Press and Prisoners. NY Daily News, October 1970. [gothamcenter.org]

On this day in 1970, more than 900 inmates at Tombs Prison in Manhattan, New York City took over the prison after multiple warnings about falling budgets, aging facilities, and rising prison populations were ignored by the city.

The situation was so dire that union correctional officers had initiated an informational picket of City Hall to protest the living conditions. Overcrowding was so severe that more than 2,000 people were being held in space meant for less than a 1,000.

On August 10th, 1970, prisoners seized control of the entire ninth floor of the facility, taking several officers hostage for eight hours, until state officials agreed to hear prisoner grievances and take no punitive action against the rioters.

Despite that promise, Mayor John Lindsay had the leaders behind the action shipped upstate to the state's Attica Correctional Facility, possibly contributing to the Attica Prison riot about a year later.

The August uprising preceded another rebellion in Tombs Prison in October later that year. Inmates again seized staff as hostages and made demands to improve their living conditions, such as more education, lower bail, and an "inmate council" to mediate prisoner complaints.

After the October uprising, NYC Commissioner of Correction George McGrath fired two black guards at the Tombs, both of whom had reported abuse of inmates by other guards and expressed sympathy for the prisoners' cause.

Following the August uprising, the New York City Legal Aid Society filed a class action suit on behalf of pre-trial detainees held in the Tombs. The city decided to close the facility on December 20th, 1974 after years of litigation and a federal judge declaring that the prison's conditions were bad enough to be considered unconstitutional.

• Date: 1970-08-10
• Learn More: www.gothamcenter.org, en.wikipedia.org, www.nytimes.com.
• Tags: #Riots.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org