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El Centro de la Raza Founded (1972)

Wed Oct 11, 1972

Image: Group in classroom at occupied Beacon Hill School, Seattle, October 11th, 1972. Photo by Phil H. Webber [historylink.org]

On this day in 1972, ESL staff from South Seattle Community College, students, and families occupied a vacant school building in the Beacon Hill neighborhood, founding El Centro de la Raza ("The Center for the People of All Races").

After three months of occupying the building and numerous rallies, petitions and letters, the Seattle City Council finally agreed to hear the case of the occupiers. Although City Council approved the lease, Mayor Wes Uhlman vetoed the action, causing supporters to occupy the mayor's office. A five-year lease signed January 20th, 1973, at $1 rent annually.

According to author David Wilma, in 1997 the school district insisted on fair market rates, causing rent for the property to rise to $12,000 a month. By 1999, El Centro owed $150,000 in back rent. Grants from the City of Seattle and from Washington state totaling $1 million finally allowed El Centro to buy the site from the school district.

Today, El Centro de la Raza continues to function as an educational, cultural, and social service agency. It is considered a significant part of civil rights history in the Pacific Northwest.

In 2015, El Centro de la Raza built more than one hundred moderately-priced apartments south of its main building. The apartments are designed for families making 30-60% of the average median annual income in Seattle, or $24,000 to $49,000.

• Date: 1972-10-11
• Learn More: www.elcentrodelaraza.org, www.historylink.org, en.wikipedia.org.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Eric Garner Murdered by NYPD (2014)

Thu Jul 17, 2014

Image: Eric Garner and his wife, Esaw, during a family vacation in 2011 [New York Times]

On this day in 2014, Eric Garner was murdered by the NYPD, choked to death after police suspected him of selling loose cigarettes. Garner said "I can't breathe" 11 times before dying. The man who filmed his death was poisoned in prison.

Eric Garner (1970 - 2014) was a former horticulturist at the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, father of six, and grandfather of three. On July 17th, 2014, was approached by Justin D'Amico, a plainclothes officer, in front of a beauty supply store in Tompkinsville, Staten Island. D'Amico suspected Garner of selling loose cigarettes.

Garner stated "Every time you see me, you want to mess with me. I'm tired of it. It stops today...I'm minding my business, officer, I'm minding my business. Please just leave me alone. I told you the last time, please just leave me alone."

After refusing to be handcuffed, 29-year old officer Daniel Pantaleo put Garner in an ultimately fatal chokehold. Despite Garner stating "I can't breathe" eleven times before losing consciousness, the several officers on scene did not come to his aid.

Ramsey Orta, a member of Copwatch, filmed the incident. Following a campaign of police harassment after the video went viral, he was arrested on weapons charges.

Before being imprisoned in Rikers, Orta claims a cop told him he'd be better off killing himself before being jailed. While in prison, Orta was poisoned by prison staff and at one point only ate food that his wife brought him. In May 2020, Orta was released from Groveland Correctional Facility.

Garner's death was protested internationally and became one of many police killings protested within the Black Lives Matter movement. Some perpetrators of violence against police have cited Garner's murder as a motive.

A grand jury elected to not indict Pantaleo on December 3rd, 2014. After the decision, Garner's widow was asked whether she accepted Pantaleo's condolences. She replied: "Hell, no! The time for remorse would have been when my husband was yelling to breathe...No, I don't accept his apology. No, I could care less about his condolences...He's still working. He's still getting a paycheck. He's still feeding his kids, when my husband is six feet under and I'm looking for a way to feed my kids now."

An NYPD disciplinary hearing regarding Pantaleo's treatment of Garner was held in the summer of 2019, and Pantaleo was fired on August 19th, more than five years after the murder took place.

• Date: 2014-07-17
• Learn More: www.blackpast.org, en.wikipedia.org, www.vanityfair.com.
• Tags: #Protests.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Sinking of the Rainbow Warrior (1985)

Wed Jul 10, 1985

Image: The Rainbow Warrior in Marsden Wharf in Auckland Harbour after the bombing by French secret service agents. © Greenpeace / John Miller [greenpeace.org]

On this day in 1985, the French government, in an act of state-sponsored terror, bombed the Greenpeace-operated boat Rainbow Warrior, which was en route to protest a nuclear weapons test planned by the French state. The bombing, later found to be personally ordered by French President François Mitterrand, killed a freelance photographer on board named Fernando Pereira.

France had been testing nuclear weapons on the Mururoa Atoll in French Polynesia since 1966. In 1985 eight South Pacific countries, including New Zealand and Australia, signed a treaty declaring the region a nuclear-free zone.

Since being acquired by Greenpeace in 1977, Rainbow Warrior was active in supporting a number of anti-nuclear testing campaigns during the late 1970s and early 1980s, including relocating 300 Marshall Islanders from Rongelap Atoll, which had been polluted by radioactive fallout by past American nuclear tests.

For the 1985 tests, Greenpeace intended to monitor the impact of nuclear tests and place protesters on the island to observe the blasts. Three undercover French agents were on board, however, and they attached two limpet mines to Rainbow Warrior and detonated them ten minutes apart, sinking the ship.

France initially denied responsibility, but two of the French agents were captured by New Zealand Police and charged with arson, conspiracy to commit arson, willful damage, and murder.

The resulting scandal led to the resignation of the French Defence Minister Charles Hernu, while the two agents pleaded guilty to manslaughter and were sentenced to ten years in prison. They spent a little over two years confined to the French island of Hao before being freed by the French government.

In 1987, after international pressure, France paid $8.16m to Greenpeace in damages, which helped finance another ship. It also paid compensation to the Pereira family, making reparation payments of 650,000 francs to Pereira's wife, 1.5 million francs to his two children, and 75,000 francs to each of his parents.

• Date: 1985-07-10
• Learn More: www.greenpeace.org, en.wikipedia.org, www.zinnedproject.org.
• Tags: #Terrorism, #Protests.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

St. Louis Race Massacre (1917)

Sun Jul 01, 1917

Image: East St. Louis Race Riot headline from the St. Louis Globe-Democrat on Friday, July 6th, 1917. It reads "100 NEGROES SHOT, BURNED, CLUBBED TO DEATH IN E. ST. LOUIS RACE WAR" [blackpast.org]

On this day in 1917, white mobs in East St. Louis began indiscriminately killing black people, burning down homes with the families trapped inside, killing more than a hundred people in one of the bloodiest race riots of the 20th century.

Racial tensions had begun to increase in February, when 470 black workers were hired to replace white workers who had gone on strike against the Aluminum Ore Company. The use of all-white workforces and using non-white strikebreakers was an often used tactic to break working class solidarity.

At a city council meeting, angry white workers lodged formal complaints to the mayor of East St. Louis about black migration to the city. After the meeting ended, rumors of an attempted robbery of a white man by an armed black man began to circulate through the city.

In response, white mobs formed and rampaged through downtown, assaulting any black people they could find. The mobs also stopped trolleys and streetcars, pulling black passengers out and beating them on the streets and sidewalks.

On this day in 1917, the racial violence resumed at a fever pitch, with white mobs gunning down men, women, and children and burning down the homes of black families with them trapped inside. More than one hundred people were killed.

A year after the violence took place, a federal investigation of the conduct of the city government concluded that police officers fled the scenes of arson and murder, abandoning their posts and refusing to answer calls for help. Less than a dozen white people were sentenced to prison for crimes related to the riot.

• Date: 1917-07-01
• Learn More: www.blackpast.org, www.smithsonianmag.com.
• Tags: #Riots.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Founding of the IWW (1905)

Tue Jun 27, 1905

Image: The IWW logo

The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), founded on this day in 1905 in Chicago, Illinois, is an anti-capitalist and internationalist labor union whose slogan says "An injury to one is an injury to all!"

The IWW promotes the concept of "One Big Union", and contends that all workers should be united as a social class to supplant capitalism and wage labor with industrial democracy.

The IWW was officially founded in Chicago, Illinois on June 27th, 1905. A convention was held of 200 socialists and radical trade unionists from all over the United States who opposed the policies and politics of the more moderate American Federation of Labor (AFL). In particular, the IWW opposed the American Federation of Labor's acceptance of capitalism and its refusal to include unskilled workers in craft unions.

The IWW's founders included many historically important labor activists and socialist thinkers, including "Big Bill" Haywood, James Connolly, Daniel De Leon, Eugene V. Debs, Thomas Hagerty, Lucy Parsons, Mary Harris "Mother" Jones, Frank Bohn, William Trautmann, Vincent Saint John, Ralph Chaplin, and many others.

• Date: 1905-06-27
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, iww.org.
• Tags: #Socialism, #Labor, #IWW.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Zoot Suit Riots (1943)

Thu Jun 03, 1943

Image: Two boys, beaten during the Zoot Suit riots, lie in the street, surrounded by a crowd. One is stripped down to his underwear. [Wikipedia]

On this day in 1943, the Zoot Suit Riots began when thousands of white American servicemen in California began indiscriminately attacking people (mostly Latinos) wearing Zoot Suits, which were seen as unpatriotic. The suits were ostensibly seen as unpatriotic due to wartime rations, although they were also racialized, with L.A. Councilman Norris Nelson stating "the zoot suit has become a badge of hoodlumism".

The riots began on the night of June 3rd when ~12 sailors and a group of young Mexicans in zoot suits began fighting. The LAPD responded to the incident "seeking to clean up Main Street from what they viewed as the loathsome influence of pachuco gangs", according to historian Luis Alvarez. The police arrested the sailors and not the Mexicans.

The next day, 200 sailors headed for East Los Angeles, a Mexican-American part of town, and attacked and stripped everyone they came across who were wearing zoot suits. Local press heralded the violence as cleaning up the town, and soon thousands of sailors joined the riot. Journalist Carey McWilliams described what happened like this:

"Marching through the streets of downtown Los Angeles, a mob of several thousand soldiers, sailors, and civilians, proceeded to beat up every zoot suiter they could find. Pushing its way into the important motion picture theaters, the mob ordered the management to turn on the house lights and then ran up and down the aisles dragging Mexicans out of their seats. Streetcars were halted while Mexicans, and some Filipinos and Negroes, were jerked from their seats, pushed into the streets and beaten with a sadistic frenzy."

The L.A. City Council approved a resolution criminalizing zoot suits, although the ordinance was not signed into law. The Navy and Marine Corps Staff prohibited sailors from traveling to L.A. in an effort to curb the violence, however they officially maintained that the men were acting in self-defense.

• Date: 1943-06-03
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, libcom.org.
• Tags: #Riots.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

George Floyd Murdered (2020)

Mon May 25, 2020

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Gabriela Silang (1731 - 1763)

Mon Mar 19, 1731

Image: A painting of Gabriela Silang by artist Carlito Rovira, showing her on horseback and wielding a saber [liberationnews.org]

Gabriela Silang, born on this day in 1731, was a Filipina revolutionary who led a revolt against Spanish colonizers after her husband's assassination, vowing to avenge his death. The Spanish captured Gabriela, executing her at age 32.

Gabriela married Diego Silang, an Ilocano resistance leader, in 1757. Diego was imprisoned after he suggested to the Spanish authorities that they abolish the tribute, colonialist tax, and replace Spanish functionaries with native people. Together, Diego and Gabriela resisted colonial rule, engaging in skirmishes with Spanish troops.

Gabriela took over the reins of her husband's revolutionary movement after his assassination on May 28th, 1763. She led Ilocano rebels for four months before being captured and executed on September 20th that year by the colonial government of the Spanish East Indies. Spanish forces executed her later that year, at age 32.

"Her undaunted determination, along with her skill and strength is what the people of the Philippines will never forget, and why she is regarded as the pioneering female Bayani. Today her courageous leadership became a symbol for the importance of women in Filipino society, and their struggle for liberation during colonization."

- Margarita Mansalay

• Date: 1731-03-19
• Learn More: liberationschool.org, www.bayaniart.com, en.wikipedia.org.
• Tags: #Birthdays, #Colonialism, #Indigenous.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org