Faye Schulman (1919 - 2021)

Fri Nov 28, 1919

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--- Faye Schulman, born on this day in 1919, was a Jewish partisan and photographer who took up arms against the Nazis who were responsible for killing her family.

On August 14th, 1942, the Germans killed 1,850 Jews from the "Lenin" ghetto (named after Lenin, Poland, where Faye was from), including her parents, sisters, and younger brother. Faye was spared for her ability to develop photographs, and the Nazis ordered Faye to develop their photographs of the massacre. Later, she cited taking a photo of her dead family in a mass grave as the impetus to take up arms.

During a partisan raid on the camp, Faye fled to the forests and joined the Molotava Brigade, a partisan group mostly comprised of escaped Soviet Red Army POWs. She was accepted because her brother-in-law had been a doctor and they were desperate for anyone who knew anything about medicine. Faye served the group as a nurse from September 1942 to July 1944, even though she had no previous medical experience.

During another raid on the Lenin ghetto, Faye succeeded in recovering her old photographic equipment. During the next two years, she took over a hundred photographs, developing the medium format negatives under blankets and making "sun prints" during the day. While on missions, Faye buried the camera and tripod to keep it safe. Schulman is the only known Jewish partisan photographer from this era.

After the war, Faye and her husband Morris left for a displaced-persons camp in West Germany, where they smuggled people and weapons to support the movement for an independent Israel, making plans to emigrate to British-controlled Palestine themselves.

> "I want people to know that there was resistance. Jews did not go like sheep to the slaughter. I was a photographer. I have pictures. I have proof." > > - Faye Schulman

---

• Date: 1919-11-28
• Learn More: encyclopedia.ushmm.org, www.pbs.org.
• Tags: #Marxism, #Birthdays, #Massacre, #Fascism.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Friedrich Engels (1820 - 1895)

Tue Nov 28, 1820

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--- Friedrich Engels, born on this day in 1820, was a German philosopher, journalist, and revolutionary socialist who collaborated with Karl Marx, co-authoring the "Communist Manifesto" and editing Marx's "Das Kapital".

Engels was born in Barmen, Rhine Province, Prussia (now Wuppertal, Germany), to a wealthy family. His father owned large textile factories in Barmen and Salford, England. His revolutionary predilections (and later, his atheistic beliefs) put him at odds with his family, who expected Engels to inherit the family business.

Engels' career became intertwined with Marx's when he began writing articles for "Rheinische Zeitung", a German newspaper that Karl Marx edited. In 1845, Engels published "The Condition of the Working Class in England", based on personal observations and research of poverty and disease in English cities. In 1848, Engels co-authored the "Communist Manifesto" with Marx.

Later, Engels supported Marx financially, allowing him to perform research and write "Das Kapital". After Marx's death, Engels edited the second and third volumes of "Das Kapital".

Additionally, Engels organized Marx's notes into "Theories of Surplus Value", which were later published as the fourth volume of "Das Kapital". In 1884, he published "The Origin of the Family", Private Property and the State", based on Marx's ethnographic research.

> "An ounce of action is worth a ton of theory." > > - Friedrich Engels

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• Date: 1820-11-28
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, www.marxists.org.
• Tags: #Communism, #Marxism, #Birthdays.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Harvey Milk Assassinated (1978)

Mon Nov 27, 1978

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--- Harvey Bernard Milk (1930 - 1978) was the first openly gay elected official in the history of California, elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, and was assassinated on this day in 1978. Although he achieved national renown as one of the most pro-LGBT politicians in the United States at the time, politics was something Milk came to later in life, after his experiences with the counterculture movement of the 1960s.

In 1972, Milk moved from New York City to the Castro District of San Francisco and took advantage of the growing political and economic power of the neighborhood to promote his activism. Milk unsuccessfully ran for office three times, but finally won a seat as a city supervisor in 1977.

Milk was assassinated on this day in 1978, after only eleven months in office. He was killed by Dan White, a disgruntled former city supervisor.

During Milk's short time in office, he sponsored a bill banning discrimination in public accommodations, housing, and employment on the basis of sexual orientation. After his death, Milk became an icon in San Francisco and a martyr for the gay community.

In 2021, the U.S. Navy launched a ship named after Harvey Milk, who had been discharged from the Navy during the Korean War after being questioned about his sexual orientation.

---

• Date: 1978-11-27
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, milkfoundation.org.
• Tags: #Assassinations.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Free Territory of Ukraine (1917)

Tue Nov 27, 1917

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Image: Two soldiers next to a Makhnovian flag, reading "Death to all who stand in the way of freedom for working people" in Cyrillic. Unknown date and location [Wikicommons]

--- Makhnovia, also known as the Free Territory of Ukraine, was an anarchist society established on this day in 1917 with the capture of the Ukrainian city of Huliaipole.

The Free Territory was an attempt to form a stateless anarchist society during the Ukrainian Revolution of 1917 to 1921, during which time "free soviets" and libertarian communes operated under the protection of Nestor Makhno's Revolutionary Insurrectionary Army (flag shown above).

As Makhnovia self-organized along anarchist principles, references to "control" and "government" were highly contentious. For example, the Makhnovists, often cited as a form of government (with Nestor Makhno as their "leader"), were ostensibly organized to serve in a purely military role, with Makhno himself functioning as more of a strategist than commander.

The economy of Makhnovia varied by region, from "market socialism" to anarcho-communism in character. Where money was used, production was often organized in the form of worker cooperatives.

The Bolsheviks were openly hostile to the Free Territory. On November 26th, 1920, less than two weeks after the Revolutionary Insurrectionary Army assisted Bolshevik forces in defeating the White Army, Makhno's headquarters staff and many of his subordinate commanders were arrested at a Red Army planning conference to which they had been invited by Moscow, and executed.

Makhno himself fled the region several months later, settling in Paris, France.

---

• Date: 1917-11-27
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, libcom.org, www.marxists.org.
• Tags: #Anarchism.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Herman Gorter (1864 - 1927)

Sat Nov 26, 1864

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--- Herman Gorter, born on this day in 1864, was a prominent Dutch poet and council communist. He was a leading member of the "Tachtigers", a highly influential group of Dutch writers who worked together in Amsterdam in the 1880s.

Gorter's first book, a 4,000 verse epic poem called "Mei" (May), helped establish his reputation as a great writer upon its publication in 1889, and is regarded by critics as the pinnacle of Dutch Impressionist literature.

Gorter was also an outspoken advocate of revolutionary communism and Marxist theory. In 1917, he hailed the Russian Revolution as the beginning of that global revolution and had correspondence with Lenin on multiple occasions, wishing him well and asking for his support in condemning Dutch social democrats for not condemning American imperialism.

Lenin sent Gorter a copy of "State and Revolution" in response, which Gorter then offered to translate.

> "Your words will be an incentive to me, once again, and to an even greater extent than before, to base my judgement in all matters of tactics, also in the revolution, exclusively on reality, on the actual class-relations, as they manifest themselves politically and economically." > > - Herman Gorter, in "Open Letter to Comrade Lenin"

---

• Date: 1864-11-26
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, libcom.org.
• Tags: #Communism, #Marxism, #Birthdays.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Sarah Grimké (1792 - 1873)

Mon Nov 26, 1792

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--- Sarah Moore Grimké, born on this day in 1792, was an American abolitionist, also widely held to be one of the mothers of the women's suffrage movement.

Born and raised in South Carolina to a prominent, slave-owning planter family, she moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the 1820s and became a Quaker. She and her sister Angelina Grimké are two of the very few white Southern women who became prominent abolitionists.

Here is an excerpt from a series of articles she wrote, titled "Letters on the Condition of Women and the Equality of the Sexes" (1838):

"I ask no favors for my sex, I surrender not our claim to equality. All I ask of our brethren is that they will take their feet from off our necks, and permit us to stand upright on the ground which God has designed us to occupy...To me, it is perfectly clear that whatsoever it is morally right for a man to do, it is morally right for a woman to do."

---

• Date: 1792-11-26
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, www.womenshistory.org.
• Tags: #Birthdays, #Abolitionism.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Mirabal Sisters Assassinated (1960)

Fri Nov 25, 1960

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--- On this day in 1960, three of the Mirabal Sisters, four revolutionary Dominican women who opposed the dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo, were assassinated by his government, their deaths framed as suicides.

One the four sisters - Patria, Minerva, María Teresa, and Dedé - only Dedé survived, dying of natural causes in 2014.

To organize against the state, Minerva, María Teresa, and Patria began distributing pamphlets about the many people whom Trujillo had killed, also obtaining materials for guns and bombs for use when they eventually openly revolted.

The sisters called themselves "Las Mariposas" ("The Butterflies"), after Minerva's underground name. For their acts of subversion, María, Minerva, both of their husbands, and Patria's husband were all imprisoned.

After being freed, Patria, Minerva, María Teresa, and their driver, Rufino de la Cruz, were attacked after visiting María's and Minerva's incarcerated husbands. On the way home, the sisters and de la Cruz were separated, strangled, and clubbed to death by state forces.

The bodies were then gathered and put in their Jeep, which was run off the mountain road in an attempt to make their deaths look like an accident.

The assassinations turned the Mirabal sisters into "symbols of both popular and feminist resistance", according to the New York Times. In their honor, the United Nations General Assembly designated the 25th of November as "International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women" in 1999.

---

• Date: 1960-11-25
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, daily.jstor.org, time.com.
• Tags: #Assassinations.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Juliet Stuart Poyntz (1886 - 1937)

Thu Nov 25, 1886

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Image: Juliet Stuart Poyntz circa 1918 [Wikicommons]

--- Juliet Stuart Poyntz, born on this day in 1886, was an American suffragist, trade unionist, and co-founder of the Communist Party United States of America (CPUSA). Later, she worked as an intelligence agent for the USSR, but disappeared in 1937.

Juliet Poyntz was born in Omaha, Nebraska and later attended Barnard College in New York City. She was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). As a student and university teacher, Poyntz espoused many radical causes and went on to become a co-founder of the Communist Party of the United States (CPUSA).

During the 1910s, Poyntz worked with the International Ladies Garment Workers Union (ILGWU), becoming education director of the ILGWU's Worker's University. In the 1920s, Poyntz was on the staff of the Friends of the Soviet Union and International Labor Defense.

Poyntz also served as an intelligence agent for the Soviet Union. In 1936, Poyntz secretly traveled to Moscow to receive further instructions from Soviet authorities, and was seen there in the company of George Mink (alias Minkoff), an American later implicated in the disappearance of several Trotkskyists during the Spanish Civil War.

On June 3rd, 1937, Poyntz disappeared after leaving the American Woman's Association Clubhouse at 353 West 57th Street in Manhattan, New York City. Multiple colleagues of Poyntz, including Benjamin Gitlow, co-founder of the CPUSA later turned reactionary, and Carlo Tresca, Italian-American anarchist, claimed Poyntz returned from her trip a critic of Stalin, having witnessed the purges from that period.

In 1938, Tresca formally accused the Soviet Union of having assassinated Poyntz, claims that were published by the New York Times. Various Soviet defectors and ex-communists also claimed that she was assassinated by the USSR, including Whittaker Chambers, Walter Krivitsky, Benjamin Gitlow, and Elizabeth Bentley. Her body was never found.

> "I am still a woman's suffragist or worse still a Feminist and also a Socialist (also of the worst brand)." > > - Juliet Stuart Poyntz

---

• Date: 1886-11-25
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, spartacus-educational.com, www.marxists.org.
• Tags: #Communism, #Labor, #Birthdays.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

New York Shirtwaist Strike (1909)

Wed Nov 24, 1909

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Image: Two women strikers on picket line during the "Uprising of the 20,000", garment workers strike, New York City [Wikipedia]

--- On this day in 1909, the New York Shirtwaist Strike began when 15,000 shirtwaist factory workers (mostly Jewish women) walked off the job in New York City to demand higher wages and better working conditions.

The strike was the largest by female American workers up to that date, and was led by Clara Lemlich and the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union, also supported by the National Women's Trade Union League of America (NWTUL).

The industry working conditions preceding the strike were atrocious - work weeks of 65 hours were normal, and in season they might expand to as many as 75 hours. Despite low wages, workers were often required to buy their own materials, including needles, thread, and sewing machines.

In February of 1910, the NWTUL settled with the factory owners, gaining improved wages, working conditions, and hours. The end of the strike was followed just a year later by the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, which exposed the plight of immigrant women working in dangerous and difficult conditions and boosted participation in the garment unions.

---

• Date: 1909-11-24
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, projects.leadr.msu.edu.
• Tags: #Labor.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Theodore Weld (1803 - 1895)

Wed Nov 23, 1803

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--- Theodore Dwight Weld, born on this day in 1803, was one of the architects of the American abolitionist movement during its formative years from 1830 through 1844, playing a role as a writer, editor, speaker, and organizer.

Weld is best known for his co-authorship of the authoritative compendium "American Slavery As It Is: Testimony of a Thousand Witnesses", published in 1839. Harriet Beecher Stowe partly based her work "Uncle Tom's Cabin" on Weld's text, and it is regarded as second only to that work in its influence on the anti-slavery movement.

Weld married fellow abolitionist lecturer Angelina Grimké, Sarah, at the home of her sister in Philadelphia and explicitly rejected the legal power of husband over wife.

Their wedding was the opening event in a week-long abolitionist celebration. Long excluded from churches and meetings halls for fear of mob violence, Philadelphia abolitionists had raised $40,000 to build their own (in Weld's words) "Temple of Freedom." Just four days after the building opened, a mob burned it to the ground.

Weld continued his abolitionist work after the act of arson, temporarily moving to Washington D.C. to help anti-slavery efforts there. In 1848, Theodore, Angelina, and Sarah also started a progressive, racially integrated school in Belleville, New Jersey.

> "Every man knows that slavery is a curse. Whoever denies this, his lips libel his heart." > > - Theodore Weld

---

• Date: 1803-11-23
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, www.nationalabolitionhalloffameandmuseum.org.
• Tags: #Birthdays, #Abolitionism.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Thibodaux Massacre (1887)

Wed Nov 23, 1887

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Image: Workers cutting sugar cane in Louisiana, sometime between 1880 and 1897 [Wikipedia]

--- The Thibodaux Massacre was an incident of violent suppression by white paramilitary forces of the unionizing efforts of 10,000 black sugar cane workers that took place on this day in 1887, in Thibodaux, Louisiana.

The sugar cane workers, determined to unionize for a living wage, had chosen to strike during the crucial harvest season, during which there was a narrow window of time to harvest the cane and the planters would be unlikely to find strikebreakers.

Judge Taylor Beattie, an ex-Confederate soldier and slaveowner, declared martial law and gathered up hundreds of white men to form a paramilitary group to suppress the strikers, close the borders to the city, and monitor all movement of black people in the area. Not wanting to be boxed in, black strikers fired on the city border guards. In retaliation, the paramilitary forces initiated three days of violence against mostly unarmed black workers and their families.

Estimates of the total number of dead range from 35-60, making it one of the deadliest strikes in American labor history. Despite the women and children killed, the Southern press heralded the white perpetrators of the violence.

One participant, Andrew Price, went on to be elected to Congress. Black farmworkers in the region did not make another large effort to unionize until the 1940s.

---

• Date: 1887-11-23
• Learn More: www.blackpast.org, en.wikipedia.org.
• Tags: #Labor, #Massacre.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Bogalusa Sawmill Killings (1919)

Sat Nov 22, 1919

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--- The Bogalusa Sawmill Killings was a massacre of labor organizers by the white paramilitary group "Self-Preservation and Loyalty League" (SPLL) on this day in 1919, in Thibodaux, Louisiana.

The Bogalusa Sawmill employed both white and black workers, and they had been attempting to form an interracial union for years. To offset labor demands for better wages, local police would arrest black men nightly for minor crimes and force them to work in the mill at gunpoint.

In response to the attempted unionizing efforts, the company organized racist whites into the SPLL. Company gunmen and the SPLL assaulted union members, evicted them from company housing, burned private homes, and kidnapped and tortured organizers.

On November 21st, they shot up black labor organizer Sol Dacus's home. In a show of force the next day, Dacus marched through the town accompanied by white supporters and allies in the labor movement. The SPLL then murdered four of those white allies, including one American Federation of Labor (AFL) district representative. Dacus and his family were able to escape to New Orleans.

This incident was part of a larger period of civil unrest known as the "American Red Summer of 1919", including massacres and riots in Elaine, Arkansas, Chicago, Washington D.C., Knoxville, Tennessee, Wilmington, Delaware, and other cities.

---

• Date: 1919-11-22
• Learn More: www.zinnedproject.org, en.wikipedia.org.
• Tags: #Labor, #Massacre.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Antonio Guiteras (1906 - 1935)

Thu Nov 22, 1906

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--- Antonio Guiteras y Holmes, born on this day in 1906, was a revolutionary socialist in Cuba during the 1930s.

Born in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania, USA, he participated in the radical government installed after the overthrow of the autocratic right wing Cuban President Gerardo Machado y Morales in 1933. He first became widely known as a student leader and associate of Julio Antonio Mella, a Cuban Communist revolutionary.

In his book "Cuba: A New History", the leftist historian Richard Gott wrote the following about Guiteras:

"Guiteras's views reflected an eclectic mix of revolutionary influences, from Auguste Blanqui to Jean Jacques Jaurès. He drew inspiration from the Mexican and the Russian revolutions, the struggle in Ireland and Sandino's guerrilla movement in Nicaragua. He shared the anti-imperialist politics of the age and, drawing on anarchist roots, advocated rural and urban armed struggle, assaults on army barracks and the assassination of policemen and members of the government.

He was a firm believer in direct action, the propaganda of the deed, derived from Blanqui and the Spanish anarchists, and was much criticised by the Communists for his voluntarism and his predilection for violence."

According to the New York Times, Guiteras died in a firefight while trying to flee the country.

---

• Date: 1906-11-22
• Learn More: www.latinamericanstudies.org, en.wikipedia.org.
• Tags: #Communism, #Birthdays, #Anarchism.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Alexander Berkman (1870 - 1936)

Mon Nov 21, 1870

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--- Alexander Berkman, born on this day in 1870, was a leading member of the anarchist movement in the early 20th century, famous for both his political activism and his writing. He was the lover and lifelong friend of anarchist Emma Goldman. In 1892, undertaking an act of propaganda of the deed, Berkman made an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate businessman Henry Clay Frick, for which he served 14 years in prison.

Berkman and Goldman were later arrested for conspiring against the draft during World War I, deported to Russia upon their release. Initially supportive of the Bolshevik revolution, they soon became disillusioned, voicing their opposition to the Soviets' use of terror after seizing power and their repression of fellow revolutionaries.

Among Berkman's most notable works are "Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist" (1912), an account of his 14 years in prison after attempting to assassinate Frick; "The Bolshevik Myth" (1925), describing his experiences in Bolshevist Russia from 1920 to 1922; "Now and After: The ABC of Communist Anarchism" (1929), which anarchist Stuart Christie called "among the best introductions to the ideas of anarchism in the English language".

> "No intelligent radical can fail to realize the need of the rational education of the young." > > - Alexander Berkman

---

• Date: 1870-11-21
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, theanarchistlibrary.org, www.gutenberg.org.
• Tags: #Birthdays, #Anarchism.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Columbine Massacre (1927)

Mon Nov 21, 1927

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--- On this day in 1927, the Columbine Massacre took place when a crowd of more than 500 miners and their supporters in Serene, Colorado was fired on by a militia of ex-police officers, killing six workers.

On October 18th, 1927, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) called a strike of all mine workers, a call which was quickly heeded in Colorado. Nearly all the mines in Colorado were closed, and the dozen still open did so using imported scab labor.

For the still-operating Columbine mine, scab workers were housed in Serene, which was fortified with barbed wire on the fences and armed guards.

Mass rallies had been held by miners outside the Columbine mine in Serene for several weeks and, on November 21st, 1927, a crowd of more than five hundred workers was fired on by an ex-cop militia. The militia was armed with machine pistols, rifles, riot guns and tear gas grenades.

The workers were fired upon after a dispute on whether or not they could enter the town of Serene. The event is known as the Columbine Massacre. Six people were killed, all miners. No member of the militia was ever held accountable for the violence of that day.

---

• Date: 1927-11-21
• Learn More: libcom.org, en.wikipedia.org.
• Tags: #IWW, #Massacre.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Dr. Robert Hayling (1929 - 2015)

Wed Nov 20, 1929

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--- Dr. Robert B. Hayling, born on this day in 1929, has been hailed as the "father" of St. Augustine's civil rights movement and was a staunch advocate of armed self-defense within the black community. He organized demonstrations and coordinated visiting activists, including Dr. Martin Luther King.

Dr. Hayling brought direct action to the local chapter of the NAACP by organizing young people into a youth council within the organization. At his dental office, Dr. Hayling taught them methods of nonviolent activism. He arranged picketing and sit-ins at white-only restaurants, and wade-ins at a white-only pool and beach, and was arrested many times for his activism, as well as being assaulted by the Ku Klux Klan.

As he gained a reputation for militancy, Hayling was threatened with the revocation of his local NAACP chapter's charter by Executive Secretary Roy Wilkins. Hayling replied, "I will mail you your charter", and vowed to continue his activities without the support of the NAACP.

Dr. Hayling is also remembered for this quote: "I and the others have armed. We will shoot first and answer questions later. We are not going to die like Medgar Evers." Dr. Hayling died in 2015, at the age of 86.

---

• Date: 1929-11-20
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, www.visitstaugustine.com.
• Tags: #Civil Rights, #Birthdays.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Occupation of Alcatraz (1969 - 1971)

Thu Nov 20, 1969

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--- The Occupation of Alcatraz was a 19-month long protest which began on this day in 1969, when 89 Native Americans and their supporters occupied and reclaimed Alcatraz Island as indigenous land.

The protest was led by Richard Oakes and Grace Thorpe. The group chose the name Indians of All Tribes (IOAT) for themselves and lived on the island together until the protest was forcibly ended by the U.S. government.

IOAT claimed that, under the Treaty of Fort Laramie between the U.S. and the Lakota tribe, all retired, abandoned, or out-of-use federal land was returned to the Indians who once occupied it.

By late May of 1971, the government had cut off all electrical power and all telephone service to the island. Left without power, fresh water, and in the face of diminishing public support and sympathy, the number of occupiers began to dwindle. On June 11th, 1971, a large force of federal officers removed the remaining 15 people from the island.

---

• Date: 1969-11-20
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, www.kqed.org.
• Tags: #Indigenous, #Protests.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

August Willich (1810 - 1878)

Mon Nov 19, 1810

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--- August Willich, born on this day in 1810, was a German noblemen turned communist and military officer. Willich renounced his title of nobility, joined the Communist League, and later served in the American Union Army.

Willich was born in Braunsberg, Province of East Prussia, and took part in the uprising of the German revolutions in 1848-1849. Converted to republican politics, Willich's resignation from the military was written such that, instead of it being accepted, he was arrested and tried by a court-martial. Willich was eventually acquitted and was permitted to resign.

Willich joined the Communist League (other members included Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels), but resigned after his suggestion to join forces with petit bourgeois democrats Marx and Engels had thrown out was not implemented. A few days later, Willich challenged Marx to a duel, which was declined.

In the early 1850s, Willich came to the United States and later served as a military officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Later in life, he became known as one of the "Ohio Hegelians", along with John Bernhard Stallo, Moncure Daniel Conway, and Peter Kaufmann.

> "[Willich] squandered the generous proceeds of his office in visionary business schemes and on his friends, and retired with very little. His intimate friends say of him that he would throw away a hundred thousand a year if he had it, and that he could live on a hundred a year if he had to." > > - Cincinnati Commercial Tribune

---

• Date: 1810-11-19
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, www.cincinnatimagazine.com.
• Tags: #Communism, #Labor, #Marxism, #Birthdays.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

U.S. Occupies Nicaragua (1909)

Thu Nov 18, 1909

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--- On this day in 1909, President William Howard Taft sent U.S. warships to take position against the elected government of Nicaraguan President José Santos Zelaya. Taft's administration had close relations with U.S. corporations operating in Nicaragua. Those corporations were opposed to the way Zelaya defended the economic interests of his country and the region from exploitation by U.S. businesses.

The U.S. moved to remove President Zelaya after he executed two American citizens who had conspired to commit a revolution against the government. Despite the fact that Zelaya proposed a commission made up of Mexicans and Americans come to Nicaragua to investigate the executions, promising to resign if it found him guilty of any wrongdoing, President Taft ordered warships to approach both Nicaraguan coasts and marines to assemble in Panama.

Zelaya fled the country, stating that he would "give no pretext" to American hostilities. His successor José Madríz was eventually forced to resign by the American forces, and followed Zelaya into exile. Historian Stephen Kinzer has written the following about the event:

"This was the first time the United States government had explicitly orchestrated the overthrow of a foreign leader. In Hawaii, an American diplomat had managed the revolution, but without specific instructions from Washington. In Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines, American 'regime change' operations were part of a larger war. The overthrow of President Zelaya in Nicaragua was the first real American coup."

---

• Date: 1909-11-18
• Learn More: www.zinnedproject.org, libcom.org.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

School of Americas Protest (2007)

Sun Nov 18, 2007

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--- On this day in 2007, a protest against the U.S. Army's School of the Americas (SOA) began when more than 10,000 demonstrators gathered outside the military training center at Fort Benning in Georgia.

The SOA is notorious for providing military training to graduates that later go on to commit atrocities in Latin America - its graduates have played a key role in the El Mozote Massacre in El Salvador, the St. Jean Bosco Massacre in Haiti, death squads in Honduras, and more.

Protesters carried coffins to symbolize what deaths at the hands of former graduates, and eleven people were arrested and charged with criminal trespass. The demonstration has been staged annually since 1990 to call for the closure of what participants call the "School of Assassins".

---

• Date: 2007-11-18
• Learn More: www.seattletimes.com, en.wikipedia.org.
• Tags: #Massacre, #Protests.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org