This week in November marks 100 years since the execution of labor organizer, Joe Hill in 1915. Convicted of an unsolved murder, for which it has been widely acknowledged he was framed, he was executed …
Politics
Puerto Rican Pride
19 November marks the birthday of Puerto Rican Nationalist Lolita Lebron. On a rainy March 1st in 1954, Ms. Lebron left New York City, where she had been working in a shoe factory, and arrived in …
A Good Listener
31 October marks the anniversary of the death in 2008, of Studs Terkel, American author, broadcaster and historian. Born in New York City, Terkel’s family arrived in Chicago when he was 8 years old. Terkel would …
The New Frontier
55 years ago, on 23 October, Senator John F. Kennedy spoke at the Field House on the UW-Madison Campus as part of his campaign for the Presidency, included in his remarks was the following statement: …
Out of the Closet and Into the Streets of Philadelphia
On this date, 19 October, last year, Gloria Casarez died after living with cancer for five years. Casarez was a founding member and community organizer of Empty the Shelters, a national housing rights and economic …
From Marinette to Managua
It was 29 years ago this week that a young Sandinista soldier named, José Fernando Canales Alemán, would shoot down a C-123K cargo plane in Nicaragua. The only survivor of the crash would be Marinette, Wisconsin …
Taking Oath
2 October marks the date of the swearing in of Thurgood Marshall, America’s first African-American Supreme Court Justice. Prior to his 1967 appointment he had come to the attention of the public by arguing the …
Egypt’s Loss
It was on this date, 28 September, 1970, that Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser died. A leader of the Revolution that toppled the Egyptian monarchy in 1952, Nasser himself would assume the office of President …
The Man They Killed, THe Consciousness Remained Alive
It was on 12 September, 1977, that South African student leader Steve Biko died in police custody in the Republic of South Africa, which was then under Apartheid rule. Nelson Mandela said of Biko: They …
HUELGA!
On 8 September, 1965, labor organizers Cesar Chavez and Delores Huerta, among others, held a conference to demand that farm workers be allowed the right to choose if they wished to be represented by a …