This
Week in History is a collection designed to help us
a ppreciate the fact that we are part of a rich history
advocating peace and social justice. While the entries
often focus on large and dramatic events there are
so many smaller things done everyday to promote peace
and justice.
Monday Jan 30
•Mahatma Gandhi assassinated
•King’s home bombed
•Protest at
Okinawa
Tuesday Jan 31 •Slavery made unconstitutional
•WWII deserter executed
•Truman pursues H-bomb
•Winter Soldier: bitter truths
Wednesday
Feb 1
•First lunch counter sit-in
•One year later
•Vietnam: searing image
Thursday
Feb 2
•18th century
anti-war tax
protest
•U.S. sends
Chicanos back to
Mexico
•Soviet troops
leave Afghanistan
•ANC unbanned in South Africa
Friday Feb 3
•Free blacks go back to Africa
•Taxation without representation
•Massive NYC school boycott
•Vietnam: ceasefire
•Congress says No to Contras
Saturday Feb 4
•Liberia founded
•Vote for clean water
•March for peace amidst war
•Same sex marriage found legal
Sunday Feb 5 •Beginning of a labor press
•German COs refuse Gulf War duty
•American officer refuses Iraq duty
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in 1959 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King travelled to India to learn about the statregy of peaceful non-violent resistance. NEW BUTTON union made • detroit
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Monday
January
30, 1948
Mohandas
K. Gandhi was killed in Delhi by an assassin, a fellow Hindu,
who fired three shots from a pistol at a range of three feet.
An
American reporter who saw it happen
January
30, 1956
As
Martin Luther King, Jr. stood at the pulpit, leading a mass
meeting during the Montgomery, Alabama, bus boycott, his
home was bombed. King's wife and 10-week-old baby escaped
unharmed. Later in the evening, as thousands of angry African
Americans assembled on King's lawn, he appeared on his front
porch, and told them: "If you have weapons, take them home . . . We cannot solve
this problem through retaliatory violence . . . We must love our
white brothers, no matter what they do to us."
Martin
Luther King, Jr. and wife Coretta Scott, 1960
January
30, 2010
Thousands of protesters from across Japan marched in central Tokyo to protest the U.S. military presence on Okinawa.
Some 47,000 U.S. troops are stationed in Japan, with more than half on the southern island of Okinawa. Residents have complained for years about noise, pollution and crime around the bases.
News about the protest
Tuesday
January
31, 1865
The
U.S. House of Representatives passed (119-56) the 13th constitutional
amendment which abolished slavery,
and sent it to the states for ratification (three-quarters
of the states would do so by the end of the year). The Kentucky
legislature didn’t vote to ratify until 1976; Mississippi
has never done so. “Neither
slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the
party shall have been duly convicted,
shall exist within the United States, or any place subject
to their jurisdiction.”
Contemporary
report in the newspaper
January
31, 1945
Private Eddie Slovik became the first American soldier since
the Civil War to be executed for desertion, and the only one
who suffered such a fate during World War II.
Supreme
Allied Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower ordered Slovik's execution
be carried out, he said, to avoid further desertions in the
late stages of the war.
Eisenhower
Read
more
Eddie
Slovik
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January
31, 1950
U.S.
President Harry S. Truman publicly announced his decision
to support the development of the hydrogen (fusion) bomb,
a weapon theorized to be hundreds of times more powerful
than the atomic (fission) bombs dropped on Japan at the
end of World War II.
January
31, 1971
The
Winter Soldier Hearings began in a Howard Johnson's motel
in Detroit. Sponsored by Vietnam Veterans Against the War,
the three days of hearings were an attempt by soldiers who
had served in Vietnam to inform the public of the realities
of U.S. conduct in the war. The veterans testified that the
My Lai massacre was not an isolated incident, and that some
American troops had committed atrocities. Among those who
spoke about aspects of their service in Vietnam was John
Kerry, a former Navy lieutenant and future senator and presidential
candidate.
More
than 100 veterans testified to sometimes brutal acts.
Oregon Senator Mark Hatfield later entered the transcript
of the Winter Soldier hearings into the Congressional
Record but, otherwise, the proceedings captured little
attention.
The
term “winter soldier” is
a play on words of Thomas Paine in 1776. He spoke of the “sunshine
patriot and summertime soldiers” who deserted at Valley
Forge because the going was rough.
Review
by Chris Barsanti of the documentary shot during the three
days of hearings
COMING
SOON! The Make
some noise
peace
kazoos
Great to use at OCCUPY events Made in the USA
January
31, 1993
300,000 Berliners rallied to protest
attacks on immigrants, and against racism and renewed support
for Nazism on the 60th anniversary of Adolf Hitler's rise
to power. During the previous year there had been 2,285 racially
motivated attacks, including 77 against Jewish sites, and
the death of two young Turkish girls in an arson attack.
Wednesday
February
is Black History Month
Peace quote . . .
"I submit that an individual who breaks the law that conscience tells him is unjust and willingly accepts the penalty by staying in jail to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the very highest respect for law." - Martin Luther King, Jr see more quotes
February
1, 1960
Four black
college students sat down at the Woolworth's lunch counter
in Greensboro, North Carolina, and were refused service because
of their race. To protest the segregation of the eating facilities,
they remained and sat-in at the lunch counter until the store
closed.
Greensboro first day: Ezell A. Blair, Jr. (now Jibreel Khazan), Franklin
E. McCain, Joseph A. McNeil, and David L. Richmond leave the Woolworth
store after the first sit-in on February 1, 1960.
Four
students returned the next day, and the same thing happened.
Similar protests subsequently took place all over the
South and in some northern communities. By September
1961, more than 70,000 students, both white and black,
had participated, with many arrested, during sit-ins.
On
the second day of the Greensboro sit-in, Joseph A. McNeil
and Franklin E. McCain are joined by William Smith and
Clarence Henderson at the Woolworth lunch counter in Greensboro,
North Carolina.
“Segregation
makes me feel that I'm unwanted," Joseph
McNeil, one of the four, said later in an interview, “I
don't want my children exposed to it.”
Listen
to Franklin McCain’s account of what happened
Newspaper
report of the time
February
1, 1961
On
the first anniversary of the Greensboro sit-in, there were
demonstrations all across the south, including a Nashville
movie theater desegregation campaign (which sparked similar
tactics in 10 other cities). Nine students were arrested
at a lunch counter in Rock Hill, South Carolina, and chose
to take 30 days hard labor on a road gang. The next week,
four other students repeated the sit-in, also chose jail.
Thursday
February
2, 1779
Anthony
Benezet and John Woolman, both prominent Quakers (Society
of Friends), urged refusal to pay taxes used for arming
against Indians in Pennsylvania. Since William Penn established
the state two generations earlier, the Friends had dealt
with the Indian tribes nonviolently, and had been treated
likewise by the native Americans. Benezet and the Quakers
were also early and consistent opponents of slavery.
The Treaty of Guadalupe
Hidalgo was signed in the Mexican city of the same name,
ending the Mexican War. In 1845 Congress had voted to annex
Texas, and Pres. James K. Polk sent Gen. Zachary Taylor and
troops to patrol the border, newly defined by Congress as
the Rio Grande, though it previously had been the Nueces
River.
Following an encounter between Mexican and U.S. troops, Polk
called for Congress to declare war on Mexico. General Winfield
Scott and troops eventually seized Mexico City.
The
treaty’s
provisions called for Mexico to cede 55% of its territory
(present-day California, Nevada and Utah, New Mexico, most
of Arizona,
and portions of New Mexico, Wyoming and Colorado), and to recognize
the Rio Grande as the southern border of Texas, in exchange
for fifteen million dollars in compensation for war-related
damage to Mexican property. According to the treaty, U.S. citizenship
was offered to any Mexicans living in the 500,000 sq miles
(1.3 million sq km) of new U.S. territory.
Remarkable
site on the Mexican War with great depth and creativity
The
first of well over 400,000 Mexican-Americans from across
the country, some of
them citizens and many of them U.S. residents for as long
as 40 years, were "repatriated" as Los Angeles
Chicanos were forcibly deported to Mexico.
More
on those deported, Los Repatriados
February
2, 1989
Soviet
participation in the war in Afghanistan ended as Red Army
troops withdrew from the capital city of Kabul. They left
behind many of their arms for use by Afghan government
forces. They were driven out principally by the insurgent
mujahadin, armed through covert U.S. funding.
Read
more
The
real story about the Soviets in Afghanistan in “Charlie
Wilson’s War”: Watch The Real Charlie
February
2, 1990
South African
President F.W. De Klerk unbanned (lifted the legal prohibition
on) opposition parties: the African National Congress (ANC),
the Pan-Africanist Congress and the South African Communist
party were officially considered legal. He also announced
the lifting of restrictions on the UDF, COSATU and thirty-three
other anti-apartheid organizations, as well as the release
of all political prisoners and the suspension of the death
penalty. This was the result of his negotiations with the
imprisoned Nelson Mandela, a leader of the ANC.
The
ecstatic reaction to De Klerk’s beginning the end of
apartheid on BBC video
Peace quote . . .
"The majority of South Africans, black and white, recognize that apartheid has no future. It has to be ended by our own decisive mass action in order to build peace and security. The mass campaign of defiance and other actions of our organization and people can only culminate in the establishment of democracy."
- Nelson Mandela
Friday
February
3, 1816
Paul Cuffee, a shipowner
and a free negro (born to slave parents in Massachusetts),
arrived in Sierra Leone with 38 African Americans intent
on setting up a colony for free blacks from the United States.
He had earlier set up the Friendly Society of Sierra Leone,
a trading organization, to encourage commerce between England,
the U.S. and the British colony on the Atlantic coast of
Africa.
More
on Paul Cuffee
February
3, 1893
Abigail Ashbrook of Willingboro,
New Jersey, refused to pay taxes because she was denied the
right to vote because she was a woman.
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February
3, 1964
In
New York City, more than 450,000 students, mostly black
and Puerto Rican, comprising nearly
half the citywide enrollment, boycotted the New York City
schools to protest segregation. The school board’s
plan contained changing attendance patterns through transporation
nor a timeline for implementation.
More
detail on one of the largest collective civil rights
actions in history
February
3, 1973
Three
decades of armed conflict in Vietnam officially ended when
a cease-fire agreement signed in Paris the previous month
went into effect. Vietnam had endured almost uninterrupted
hostility since 1945, when a war for independence from France
was launched. A civil war between the northern and southern
regions of the country began after the country was divided
by the Geneva Convention in 1954 following France’s
military defeat and troop withdrawal. American military "advisors" began
arriving in 1955.
Between 1954 and 1975, 107,504 South Vietnamese government
troops, approximately 1,000,000 North Vietnamese and National
Liberation Front soldiers, and 58,209 American troops died
in combat. The number of Vietnamese civilian deaths is unknown,
estimated between one and four million killed, and millions
more wounded or affected by defoliants such as Agent Orange.
February
3, 1988
The
U.S. House of Representatives rejected President Ronald
Reagan's request for at least $36.25 million in aid to
the Nicaraguan Contras, an insurgent group trying violently
to overthrow the Sandinista government.
Peace quote . . .
"The only thing that's been a worse flop than the organization of non-violence has been the organization of violence" - Joan Baez
Saturday
February
4, 1822
The
American Colonization Society established the first
settlement in what would become the west African state
of Liberia. The new arrivals to the island called Perseverance
were freeborn blacks from the U.S. who had emigrated
with the encouragement of influential white Americans
and funding from Congress. The colony was governed
by whites for twenty years.
read
more
American
Colonization Society ship leaving New York City bound for Liberia.
The Peace Cap
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February
4, 1987
The
U.S. House of Representatives overrode Pres. Ronald Reagan’s
(second) veto (401-26) of the Clean Water Act. The law provided
funds for communities to build waste treatment facilities
and to clean up waterways. Reagan described it as ''loaded
with waste and larded with pork.''
Start
of a week of marches for peace by thousands in Grozny,
the embattled capital of Chechnya.
February
4, 2004
The
Massachusetts Supreme Court declared that gays were
entitled to nothing less than marriage under the equal
protection clause of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution.
They ruled that Vermont-style civil unions would not
suffice, declaring they created an "unconstitutional,
inferior, and discriminatory status for same-sex couples."
More on the decision
The actual text of the
decision in Goodridge vs. Department of Public Health
Peace quote . . .
“It’s not my victory, it’s yours and yours and yours. If a gay can win, it means there is hope that the system can work for all minorities if we fight. We’ve given them hope."
- Harvey Milk
Sunday
February
5, 1830
America’s
first daily labor newspaper began publication in New
York City. George Henry Evans, a 29-year-old journeyman
printer, was the publisher of "New York Daily
Sentinel."
Peace quote . . .
“While there is a lower class I am in it; while there is a criminal element I am of it; while there is a soul in prison, I am not free” - Eugene V. Debs see more quotes
February
5, 1991
49
German troops conscientiously objected to serving in
Turkey during the Gulf War. The German peace movement
actively supported U.S. soldiers stationed there by helping
them file for conscientious objector (CO) status. By
the end of the month, there were nearly 30,000 civilian
COs refusing to serve in the military.
February
5, 2007
Lieutenant
Ehren Watada faced a court martial for refusing to deploy
to Iraq and for publicly criticizing the war, the first
officer since Vietnam to be so tried. A volunteer from
Hawaii who joined the U.S. Army prior to the invasion in
2003, he had refused to serve because: "It
would be a violation of my oath because this war to me is illegal
in the sense that it was waged in deception, and it was also
in violation of international law.”
Lieutenant
Ehren Watada
Initially
having served in South Korea, he learned more about the
Iraqi conflict and the bogus claims of Saddam Hussein’s
possession of weapons of mass destruction. He offered to
resign or serve in Afghanistan but was refused: "Mistakes can happen but to think that it was
deliberate and that a careful deception was done on the American
people – you just had to question who you are as a serviceman,
as an American."
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