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Music et al, Peace Love Art and Activism, Today in history

November 2 Peace Love Art Activism

November 2, 2015 Woodstock Whisperer Leave a comment

November 2 Peace Love Art Activism

Black History

The Mississippi Plan of 1875

November 2, 1875: The Mississippi Plan of 1875, which included violence against African Americans to keep them from voting, resulted in huge victories for white Democrats across the state. John R. Lynch, the last African-American congressman for Mississippi until the 1986 election of Mike Espy, wrote: “It was a well-known fact that in 1875 nearly every Democratic club in the State was converted into an armed military company.” A federal grand jury concluded: “Fraud, intimidation, and violence perpetrated at the last election is without a parallel in the annals of history.” [AAREG article] (see January 4, 1876)

Ocoee Election Day Massacre

November 2, 1920: white mobs in Ocoee, Florida, began a campaign of terror and violence, designed to stop Black citizens in Ocoee from voting, that resulted in the deaths of dozens of Black people and the destruction of the Black community.

Over a two-day span, a mob of white Floridians killed dozens of Black people, burned 25 Black homes, two Black churches, and a masonic lodge in Ocoee. Estimates of the total number of Black Americans killed during the violence range from six to over 30. Because neither the government nor the newspapers at the time thought it was important to establish how many Black people were killed during this attack, we will never have an adequate accounting of this violence. [EJI article] (next BH & Lynching, see Dec 26 or see AL2 for expanded chronology)

Coleman Young/Tom Brady

November 2, 1971: Coleman Young elected first African American mayor of Detroit; Tom Bradley elected first Black mayor of Los Angeles. (see February 28, 1972)

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

November 2, 1983: President Ronald Reagan signed a bill creating a federal holiday on the third Monday of every January. [King Center article] (see Nov 8)

School Desegregation

November 2, 2004: Alabama voters narrowly voted to retain a state constitutional provision mandating separate schools for black and white children. The amendment would have removed a provision from Article XIV, Section 256, of the Alabama Constitution of 1901, which reads: “Separate schools shall be provided for white and colored children, and no child of either race shall be permitted to attend a school of the other race.”

The amendment also would have removed language added to Section 256 in 1954, which stated that the Alabama Constitution does not create a right to public education. As Alabama resisted school desegregation following the Brown v. Board of Education decision, the 1954 language was enacted to authorize the state to dismantle its public education system if forced to integrate. Proponents of the 2004 amendment argued that removing both the 1901 and 1954 language would purge the constitution’s educational provisions of that pro-segregation legacy.

Shortly before the election, some conservative officials mounted a campaign arguing that removal of the “no right to public education” language would expose the state to potential legal challenges and could allow the state to raise taxes. The proposed amendment failed by 1850 votes (0.13%). In November 2012, Alabama voters again had the opportunity to remove the school segregation provision from the state constitution and again voted to retain it.

Meanwhile, many school systems in Alabama remained segregated. Following the forced implementation of the Brown decision, all-white private schools and academies opened across the state. These academies still exist, especially in the Alabama’s Black Belt region, where white enrollment in public schools is particularly low. In 2008-09, 94% of students enrolled in the Bullock County public school system were African American and less than 1% were white. (BH, see January 6, 2005; SD, see June 28, 2007)

Church Burning

November 2, 2016: someone burned and vandalized Hopewell Missionary Baptist Church in Greenville, Mississippi. The Delta Daily News reported that the majority of the damage was to the main sanctuary and that there were no reported injuries. Someone had spray-painted the words “Vote Drumpf” along the side of the building.

Two months later, police arrested 45-year-old Andrew McClinton, a member of the church (BH, see Dec 16; CB, see March 26, 2019)

Emmett Till

November 2, 2019: a group of people carrying a white nationalist flag were caught on camera attempting to record a video in front of the Emmett Till memorial in Sumner, Mississippi.

Patrick Weems, executive director of the Emmett Till Memorial Commission, told NBC News that the group was captured on camera by a new surveillance system that was updated when the bulletproof memorial was dedicated on Oct. 19.

“This is the first incident we’ve seen of what appears to be white nationalists making a propaganda video,” Weems said.

One man can be heard in the video identifying the sign as a monument representing the “civil rights movement for blacks.”

“What we want to know is, where are all of the white people?” he continued.

In another clip, the group can be seen scrambling for their cars after sirens go off, a newly added security feature. (next BH, see Nov 12; next ET, see December 6, 2021)

Church Burning

November 2, 2020: Louisiana man Holden James Matthews (23) was sentenced to 25 years in prison for setting fire to three predominantly Black churches in what federal prosecutors say was an effort to raise his profile as a “black metal” musician.

Matthews, who burned down the churches over a 10-day period ending on April 4, 2019, was also ordered to pay nearly $2.7 million to the churches. He had pleaded guilty in federal court in February to three counts of violating the Church Arson Prevention Act and to one count of using fire to commit a felony. [NYT article] [ABC News article] (next BH, see Nov 12; next CB, see)

November 2 Peace Love Art Activism

Technological Milestone

Locomobile

November 2, 1902: engineer Andrew Riker delivered the first four-cylinder, gas-powered Locomobile—a $4,000, 12-horsepower Model C—to a buyer in New York City. The Locomobile Company had been known for building heavy, powerful steam cars, but by the turn of the century it was clear that the future of the automobile—and thus of the Locomobile—lay in the internal-combustion engine. (see December 17, 1903)

November 2 Peace Love Art Activism

Presidential elections

Harry Truman

November 2, 1948: Truman’s surprise re-election. President Harry S. Truman elected to a second term as president, defeating Republican Thomas Dewey, Progressive Henry Wallace, and Dixiecrat Strom Thurmond in the election of 1948. (see Dec 3)

Jimmy Carter

November 2, 1976: Jimmy Carter defeated incumbent Gerald Ford, becoming the first candidate from the Deep South to win since the Civil War.

George W Bush

November 2, 2004, Bush re-elected President.

November 2 Peace Love Art Activism

Cold War

November 2, 1949: The Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) voted in its national convention to revoke the charter of the United Electrical Workers, the third largest union in the CIO, for failing to purge itself of Communist influence. Ultimately twelve left-leaning unions, and countless individual left-wing organizers, will be booted from the CIO. (see December 10, 1949)

November 2 Peace Love Art Activism

Cannabis

Boggs Act

November 2, 1951: President Harry Truman signed the “Boggs Act” into law, setting minimum federal sentences for drug offenders. A first-offense marijuana possession carried a minimum sentence of 2-10 years with a fine of up to $20,000. [Prohbtd article] (C & P, see May 22, 1964; Marijuana, see March 30, 1961)

Maine

November 2, 1999: Maine became the fifth state to legalize medical marijuana when ballot initiative Question 2 was passed with 61% of the vote. The law “provides a simple defense, which means the burden is on the state to prove that a patient’s medical use or possession was not authorized by statute.” (see June 4, 2000)

Medical marijuana

November 2, 2004: sixty-two percent of voters in Montana approved Initiative 148. The law took effect that same day. It removed state-level criminal penalties on the use, possession and cultivation of marijuana by patients who possess written documentation from their physicians authorizing the medical use of marijuana. The law established a confidential state-run patient registry that issues identification cards to qualifying patients. (see January 3, 2006)

Arizona

November 2, 2010: Arizona became the 15th state to legalize medical marijuana when Proposition 203, the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act, passes by a margin of 4,341 votes out of 1,678,351 votes cast in the Nov. 2, 2010 election. The law allows registered qualifying patients to obtain marijuana from a registered nonprofit dispensary, and to possess and use medical marijuana to treat the condition. (see May 13, 2012)

American Legion

November 2, 2017: the American Legion financed an independent survey as part of its continued efforts, under Resolution 11 (see August 30, 31 & Sept 1 2016) urging Congress to amend legislation to remove marijuana from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act and reclassify it, at a minimum, as a drug with potential medical value.

According to the survey – which included more than 1,300 respondents and achieved a +/- 3.5 percent margin of error at a 95 percent confidence level – 92 percent of veteran households support research into the efficacy of medical cannabis for mental and physical conditions.

Eighty-three percent of veteran households surveyed indicated that they believe the federal government should legalize medical cannabis nationwide, and 82 percent indicated that they would want to have medical cannabis as a federally-legal treatment option, the survey said. (Marijuana, see Nov 7; Veterans, see January 16, 2018)

November 2 Peace Love Art Activism

Vietnam

South Vietnam Leadership

November 2, 1963: Ngo Dinh Diem and brother Ngô Đình Nhu surrendered and were murdered. The military took power, calling itself The Military Revolutionary Council. The Council dissolved Diệm’s rubber stamp National Assembly and the constitution of 1956. It vowed support for free elections, unhindered political opposition, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, and an end to discrimination, and that the purpose of the coup was to bolster the fight against the Vietcong. (see Nov 5)

Norman R. Morrison

November 2, 1965: Norman R. Morrison, a Baltimore Quaker and a pacifist sacrificed himself in flames in front of the Pentagon. His widow said he gave his life “protesting our government’s deep military involvement” in Viet Nam. He had clutched his year-old daughter Emily in one arm late as he began to burn. Screams of “drop the baby” from onlookers may have saved her life, for she fell uninjured to the ground. Morrison, 31, drenched in kerosene, kindled himself as a human torch in full view of hundreds of Defense Department workers and military men. (Baltimore Sun article) (See immolations for other examples) (next Vietnam, see Nov 9)

November 2 Peace Love Art Activism

November 2 Music et al

see British Beatlemania for more

November 2, 1963: London’s Daily Mirror used the term “Beatlemania” in a news story about the group’s concert the previous night in Cheltenham. (see Nov 4)

Peter, Paul and Mary

November 2 – December 6, 1963: Peter, Paul, and Mary’s Blowin’ In the Wind is the Billboard #1 album. The best-known cover of Bob Dylan’s song. In the liner notes to Dylan’s original release, Nat Hentoff calls the song “a statement that maybe you can say to make yourself feel better… as if you were talking to yourself.” The song was written around the time that Suze Rotolo had indefinitely prolonged her stay in Italy. The melody is based on an older song, “Who’s Gonna Buy Your Chickens When I’m Gone”. The melody was taught to Dylan by folksinger Paul Clayton, who had used the melody in his song “Who’s Gonna Buy Your Ribbons When I’m Gone?” (next Dylan, see Nov 4)

Cream’s Disraeli Gears

November 2, 1967: Cream released second album, Disraeli Gears.

November 2 Peace Love Art Activism

Women’s Health

November 2, 1965: The New York Times reported that the first federally supported Women’s Health program had opened in a rural area near York, Pennsylvania.

The clinic was funded through President Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty, and it marked the beginning of federal aid for family planning services. Federal support became institutionalized with the 1970 Family Planning Services Act, passed by Congress on December 24, 1970 and signed into law by President Richard Nixon on December 26, 1970. (see March 1, 1966)

November 2 Peace Love Art Activism

Native Americans

November 2, 1972: more than 2,000 Indians go to Washington on the eve of the presidential election to present Nixon with their 20-point program. They occupied the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) headquarters for seven days, demanding that the U.S. recognize tribal self-determination. (see February 27, 1973)

November 2 Peace Love Art Activism

Dissolution of Yugoslavia

November 2, 1991: The UN Security Council unanimously adopts a resolution opening the way to the establishment of peacekeeping operations in Yugoslavia. (see January 9, 1992)

November 2 Peace Love Art Activism

SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE

November 2, 2002: an estimated 2,000 people assembled on the National Mall on this day in the first Godless March on Washington.

Participants included atheists, agnostics, humanists, and free-thinkers. Twenty people spoke at the four-hour event, which attracted some protesters. Marchers carried signs and T-shirts reading “What Our Schools Need is a Moment of Science,” and “Atheism is Myth-Understood.” (see Nov 18)

November 2 Peace Love Art Activism

LGBTQ

Amendments deny same-sex marriage

November 2, 2004: marshaled by Karl Rove, anti-gay forces in eleven states push through constitutional amendments to deny same-sex couples the freedom to marry.

In Mississippi, Montana, and Oregon the amendments restrict marriage to different-sex couples. In the other states – Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Ohio, and Utah – the amendments deny all forms of family recognition or status, including civil union and domestic partnership. A similar amendment banning marriage was passed in Missouri in August 2004. (NYT article) (see January 19, 2005; Oklahoma, see January 14, 2014)

November 2, 2015

federal education authorities, staking out their firmest position yet on an increasingly contentious issue, found that an Illinois school district violated anti-discrimination laws when it did not allow a transgender student who identifies as a girl and participates on a girls’ sports team to change and shower in the girls’ locker room without restrictions. Education officials said the decision was the first of its kind on the rights of transgender students, which were emerging as a new cultural battleground in public schools across the country. In previous cases, federal officials had been able to reach settlements giving access to transgender students in similar situations. But in this instance, the school district in Palatine, Ill., had not yet come to an agreement, prompting the federal government to threaten sanctions. The district, northwest of Chicago, had indicated a willingness to fight for its policy in court.
Kim Davis, the clerk of Rowan County, asked the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit to scrap a series of rulings issued by the district judge Judge David L. Bunning who sent her to jail for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Ms. Davis’s lawyers called Bunning’s order that Ms. Davis license same-sex marriages a “rush to judgment” that trampled her religious liberty. (LGBTQ, see Nov 14; Davis, see August 18, 2016)

November 2 Peace Love Art Activism

Nuclear/Chemical News

ICAN

November 2, 2015: after mobilizing campaigners behind the Humanitarian Pledge for almost a year, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons [ICAN] took significant credit for bringing 127 onto the Pledge as signatories; another 23 States vote in favor of Pledge goals at General Assembly.

Also, the UN General Assembly established the Open-Ended Working Group [OEWG] to review the evidence of catastrophic humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons and to make concrete recommendations for taking forward multilateral nuclear disarmament. ICAN called on the OEWG “to begin the serious practical work of developing the elements for a treaty banning nuclear weapons.” (Nuclear, see January 6, 2016; ICAN, see see February – August 2016)

North Korea

November 2, 2018: an official with North Korea’s Foreign Ministry issued a veiled threat warning that Pyongyang could restart “building up nuclear forces” if the US did not ease the crippling sanctions levied on North Korea. [CNN report] (see Nov 12)

November 2 Peace Love Art Activism

US Labor History

November 2, 2017: Joe Ricketts, the billionaire founder of TD Ameritrade who owned the DNAinfo and Gothamist, shut them down.

A post by Mr. Ricketts went up on the sites announcing the decision. He praised them for reporting “tens of thousands of stories that have informed, impacted and inspired millions of people.” But he added, “DNAinfo is, at the end of the day, a business, and businesses need to be economically successful if they are to endure.”

All other articles promptly vanished from the sites; an official at DNAinfo said they would be archived online.

The decision put 115 people out of work, both at the New York operations that unionized and at those in Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington that did not. They are getting three months of paid “administrative leave” at full salary, plus four weeks of severance, DNAinfo said. [NYT article] (see Nov 14)

Nuclear/Chemical News

Immigration History

Trump’s Wall

November 2, 2019: according to the Washington Post, smugglers were using a commercial saw to cut through newly built sections of the president’s wall— which is made of steel bollards that are partially filled with concrete.

The tool can cut through the wall’s steel and concrete in minutes when fitted with the appropriate blades, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents have said. After cutting the steel bollards, smugglers have taken to returning them to their original positions in hope of reusing the passage without being detected by border officials.

Agents mended the breach, however, repaired sections are still targeted by smugglers, as it was easier to cut through the welded metal than to make new cuts. And the repair policy had also been targeted by smugglers who attempt to fool agents into believing a severed bollard has been fixed by applying putty to the site of the cut. [VOX story] (see Trump’s Wall for expanded chronology)

Health Insurance

November 2, 2019: U.S. District Judge Michael Simon Portland, Oregon put on hold a Trump administration rule requiring immigrants prove they would have health insurance or could pay for medical care before they could get visas.

Simon granted a temporary restraining order that prevented the rule from going into effect November 3. (next IH, see Nov 6)

Environmental Issues

November 2, 2021: more than 100 countries vowed to end deforestation by 2030.

President Biden said the United States would contribute billions to the global effort to protect the ecosystems that are vital for cleaning the air we breathe and the water we drink, and keeping the Earth’s climate in balance.

The pact — which also includes countries such as Brazil, Russia and China — encompasses about 85 percent of the world’s forests, officials said. It is one of the first major accords to emerge from the United Nations climate summit known as COP26, which is seen as a crucial moment in efforts to address climate change.

“These great teeming ecosystems — these cathedrals of nature,” Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain said in announcing the agreement, “are the lungs of our planet.” [NYT article] (next EI, see Nov 13)

November 2 Peace Love Art Activism

LSD

November 2, 2021: Detroit voters decriminalized therapeutic mushrooms – also known as psychedelic or “magic” mushrooms. Voters were asked to vote on Proposal E, which would make “the personal possession and therapeutic use of entheogenic plants by adults the city’s lowest law-enforcement priority.”

The measure passed with 61.08% of the vote.

Although scientists are still doing research, Psilocybin can be used to treat a variety of psychological issues, including depression, .

Last year, voters in another Michigan city, Ann Arbor, also voted to decriminalize psychedelic plants, as did voters in Washington, D.C. and voters in Denver in 2019. [CBS News article] (next LSD, see August 24, 2022)

November 2 Peace Love Art Activism

Lynching, Music et al, Peace Love Art and Activism, Today in history

November 1 Peace Love Art Activism

November 1, 2015 Woodstock Whisperer Leave a comment

November 1 Peace Love Art Activism

US Labor History

Nation’s First General Strike

November 1, 1835: in the nation’s first general strike for a 10-hour day, 300 armed Irish longshoremen marched through the streets of Philadelphia calling on other workers to join them. Some 20,000 did, from clerks to bricklayers to city employees and other occupations. The city announced a 10-hour workday within the week; private employers followed suit three weeks later. [Ency of Philadelphia article] (see March 31, 1840)

Portland, OR Teacher Strike

November 1, 2023: teachers and other school employees in Portland, Oregon went on strike canceling school for tens of thousands of children in Oregon’s largest school district.

The Portland Association of Teachers, which represents about 3,700 teachers, school counselors and other employees in the negotiations, is asking for higher wages, more time to plan lessons and a cap on class sizes, among other issues. They say that students’ emotional and academic needs have skyrocketed since the pandemic, and that employees are under strain and undersupported.

“We are on strike not just for ourselves, but for our students,” said Angela Bonilla, the union’s president. [NYT article] (next LH, see Nov 9; Portland, see Nov 26)

November 1 Peace Love Art Activism

Native Americans

The Carlisle Indian School

November 1, 1879: founded by Richard Henry Pratt, The Carlisle Indian School formally opened (in Carlisle, PA) with an enrollment of 147 students. The youngest was six and the eldest twenty-five, but the majority were teenagers. Two-thirds were the children of Plains Indian tribal leaders. The first class was made up of eighty-four Lakota, fifty-two Cheyenne, Kiowa and Pawnee, and eleven Apache. Pratt believed that the only road to success for the Native Americans was to assimilate them to the American culture. He was often quoted as saying “Kill the Indian, save the man”. NPR’s Radio Lab did a piece on the school. The following picture comparisons are from RL’s site. Click for others >>> Radio Lab) (next NA, see July 20, 1881)

Tom Torlino before	Tom Torlino after
Sioux children before	Sioux children after

November 1 Peace Love Art Activism

Black History

Louisiana Sugar Workers Lynched

November 1, 1887: thirty-seven Black striking Louisiana sugar workers were murdered when Louisiana militia, aided by bands of “prominent citizens,” shoot unarmed workers trying to get a dollar-per-day wage. Two strike leaders are lynched. [Smithsonian article] (next Labor History, see March 12, 1888; next BH & next Lynching, see August 18, 1889; see 19th century for expanded lynching chronology)

Poll Taxes

November 1, 1890: Mississippi adopted a new state constitution aimed at keeping African Americans from voting through poll taxes, literacy tests and other means. The constitution achieved the delegates’ chief aim through instituting mechanisms including poll taxes and literacy tests.

One of the state constitution’s framers, Democrat James K. Vardaman, who would go on to become governor and a US Senator, saw no need to hide his disdain for Black Americans.

“Mississippi’s constitutional convention of 1890 was held for no other purpose than to eliminate the n****r from politics,” he once said.

Many other states followed Mississippi’s lead. (next BH, see Nov 4)

Frank Sinatra/School Desegregation

On September 18, 1945 in Gary, Indiana, mounting pressure from civic groups such as the League of Women Voters, YWCA, and Gary Teacher’s Union to desegregate schools pushed district officials to make another attempt (see September, 1927) at integration. Again, white students took to the streets en masse in an effort to curb integration. On November 1, 1945, in an effort to win over white students against school desegregation, Gary officials invited Frank Sinatra to perform. Though very popular with teenagers, Sinatra’s appeal failed to get students back to school. [Time article] (BH, see Dec 16; SD, see September 1946)

Freedom Riders

November 1, 1961: November 1^st was the day the Interstate Commerce Commission’s new prohibition against segregated bus terminals was to go into effect. This was the ruling won by the Freedom Rides.

The Albany, Georgia bus terminal was located in the Black section of town and on November 1^st — with a neighborhood crowd watching — nine Black students attempted to use the terminal’s “white-only” facilities. As planned, they leave without being arrested when ordered out by the police and then filed immediate complaints with the ICC under the new ruling. (BH, see Nov 9; FR, see Nov 29)

“Freedom Vote”

November 1, 1963: the “Freedom Vote” on this day was a mock election in Mississippi involving officially unregistered African American voters. The event was organized by the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) to dramatize the fact that only 7 percent of the potentially eligible African-American voters were actually registered.

The Freedom Vote was considered a success by SNCC leaders, and it inspired the idea for a larger effort in the summer of 1964. This became Freedom Summer, in which about 1,000 white northern college students were recruited to help African-Americans register to vote. (see Nov 19)

SOUTH AFRICA/APARTHEID

November 1, 1995 South Africans voted in their first all-race local government elections, completing the destruction of the apartheid system. (see October 30, 1996)

Kayla Morris

November 1, 2018: Kayla Morris, of Antioch, California and a member of Gold Rush, the San Francisco 49ers cheerleader, appeared to take a knee during the national anthem. It was the first time that an NFL cheerleader had done so. (see February 15, 2019)

Tommie Smith and John Carlos

November 1, 2019: fifty-one years after the U.S. Olympic Committee vilified Tommie Smith and John Carlos for taking a stand against racism and discrimination, banishing them from the Mexico City team and leaving them to face scorn and condemnation at home, it changed its mind. The Committee inducted Smith and Carlos into the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Hall of Fame, an honor bestowed because of their “character, conduct and off-field contributions,” as well as their athletic achievements. [NBC Sports story] (next BH, see Nov 2)

November 1 Peace Love Art Activism

Fair Housing

Rent control

November 1, 1943: the federal Office of Price Administration first established rent control in wartime New York City. [Curbed NY article]

McCarthy kickbacks

From 1947 – 1949: Joe McCarthy accepted kickbacks from Pepsi Cola totaling $20,000 in exchange for helping Pepsi to circumvent the post-war sugar rationing. He also received another $10,000 from entrepreneurs in the pre-fabricated housing industry. Shortly thereafter, McCarthy joined the Senate Housing Committee and went on the road to speak out against public housing for veterans, extolling the benefits of the pre-fabricated home and offering it as an alternative. (FH, see May 3, 1948: RS, see Feb 17)

November 1 Peace Love Art Activism

The Red Scare & the Cold War

Free Speech

November 1, 1948: the famous Smith Act trial began, one of the major events of the Cold War, involved the prosecution of eleven leaders of the Communist Party for violating the Smith Act (enacted on June 29, 1940), which outlawed advocating the overthrow of the government. (FS, see Dec 10; Red Scare, see Nov 2; trial, see October 10, 1949)

H-Bomb

November 1, 1952: U.S. detonated the first hydrogen bomb at Enewetak Atoll in the Marshall Islands. [Air & Space article] (see Dec 13)

November 1 Peace Love Art Activism — The first thermonuclear weapon (hydrogen bomb), code-named Mike, was detonated at Enewetak atoll in the Marshall Islands, Nov. 1, 1952. Photograph taken at an altitude of 3,600 metres (12,000 feet) 80 km (50 miles) from the detonation site.

Women Strike for Peace

November 1, 1961: thousands of women throughout the United States demonstrated in protest against nuclear weapons. The rallies were organized by Women Strike for Peace, founded by Bella Abzug and Dagmar Wilson. WSP’s guiding statement, adopted in 1962: “We are women of all races, creeds and political persuasions. We are dedicated to the purpose of complete and general disarmament. We demand that nuclear tests be banned forever, that the arms race end and the world abolish all weapons of destruction under United Nations safeguards. We cherish the right and accept the responsibility to act to influence the course of goverment for peace. … We join with women throughout the world to challenge the right of any nation or group of nations to hold the power of life and death over the world.” [Swarthmore article] (see May 31, 1962)

November 1 Peace Love Art Activism

TERRORISM

November 1, 1950: two Puerto Rican nationalists tried to force their way into Blair House in Washington to assassinate President Harry S. Truman. One of the assailants was killed. [Truman Library article] (see March 1, 1954)

November 1 Peace Love Art Activism

Algeria

November 1, 1954, Algeria began a rebellion against French rule. [Atlantic article w chronology] (see July 5, 1962)

November 1 Peace Love Art Activism

Technological Milestone

November 1, 1954: jointly produced by Texas Instruments and TV accessory manufacturer IDEA (Industrial Development Engineering Associates) Corp, the TR-1 was the first consumer device to employ transistors went on sale at a price of $49.95 (less battery). One year after the release of the TR-1, sales approached the 100,000 mark.

Measuring 5×3×1.25 inches and weighing 12.5 ounces, the Regency TR-1 was designed to receive AM broadcasts only. It kicked off a worldwide demand for small and portable electronic products. (see Dec 23)

November 1 Peace Love Art Activism

November 1 Music et al

Howl

Allen Ginsberg, far left, reading in San Francisco on Nov. 20, 1955, and center center, in NYC’s Washington Square Park on Aug. 28, 1966.

November 1, 1956, Lawrence Ferlinghetti published Howl and Other Poems by Allen Ginsberg. (see Howl judgement for more)

Beatles in trouble

November 1, 1960: furious that The Beatles had made a verbal agreement to play at rival Peter Eckhorn’s Top Ten Club, Kaiserkeller owner Bruno Koschmider terminated their contract. Despite this, they continued to perform at the club for another three weeks. An additonal reason why Koschmider wanted them out: at 17 years of age, George Harrison was too young to be working in the club. Eckhorn’s statement read: I the undersigned hereby give notice to Mr George Harrison and to Beatles’ Band to leave [the Club] on November 30th, 1960. The notice is given to the above by order of the Public Authorities who have discovered that Mr George Harrison is only 17 (seventeen) years of age. (see Nov 20)

News Music/Bob Marley

November 1, 1964: Bob Marley’s Wailers’s first single, ‘Simmer Down‘, reached Number 1 in Jamaica’s JBC Radio Chart.

News Music/Buffy Sainte-Marie

In 1964 Buffy Sainte-Marie’s first album released. It’s My Way (see Dec 22)

“Wild Thing”

November 1, 1965, Jordan Christopher & The Wild Ones release “Wild Thing.” Written by Chip Taylor (born James Wesley Voight, brother of actor Jon Voight; uncle, therefore, of Angelina Jolie). (see July 25, 1966)

“Wonderwall Music”

November 1, 1968: George Harrison became the first member of The Beatles to release a solo project, an LP called “Wonderwall Music.”

Paul McCartney’s January 1967 The Family Way soundtrack recording is sometimes considered to be the first Beatles solo album, but most critics consider Wonderwall Music to be the first, because it was released under George Harrison’s name while The Family Way was credited to George Martin.

The songs, recorded in December 1967 in England, and January 1968 in Bombay, India were virtually all instrumental, except for some non-English vocals and a slowed-down spoken word track. “Wonderwall Music” is notable for being the first official LP release on Apple Records. (see Wonderwall for expanded story) (next Beatles, see Nov 8)

Abbey Road

November 1 – December 26, 1969: Abbey Road the Billboard #1 Album. The Beatles’ Let It Be album will be released on May 8, 1970 and be the Billboard #1 album from June 13 – July 10, 1970. Let It Be was actually recorded in before Abbey Road in February 1968, January – February 1969. Since most of Let It Be was recorded in January 1969, before the recording and release of the album Abbey Road, some critics argue that Abbey Road should be considered the group’s final album and Let It Be the penultimate. (see November 26)

Elvis Presley

November 1 – 7, 1969: after seven years off the top of the charts, Elvis Presley’s “Suspicious Minds” is #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. It will be his last #1 during his lifetime. (see December 21, 1971)

November 1 Peace Love Art Activism

FREE SPEECH

United States v. 31 Photographs

November 1, 1957: in the case of United States v. 31 Photographs, a U.S. District Court judge cleared the way for importation of 31 photographs that the Alfred Kinsey had sought to import for his scientific research on sexuality. The judge ruled that the photographs could be brought into the U.S. because they were material for scientific study and not public consumption. The decision ended a three-year battle over the photographs.

While the decision was a victory for Kinsey and his research, it was a very limited one with respect to censorship of sexually related materials, given its narrow focus on research materials. (see May 6, 1959)

MPPA

November 1, 1968: the Motion Picture Producers Association (MPPA), struggling to adapt to both anti-censorship court decisions and more tolerant public attitudes regarding sexuality in the movies — but not willing to abandon all restraints — put into effect a new movie ratings system. The categories were G, PG, R and X. [Wikipedia article] (see Nov 12)

Colin Kaepernick

November 1, 2017: Papa John’s Founder and CEO John Schnatter claimed that the NFL kneeling protests were costing the company lots of money. Papa John’s had been an official NFL sponsor since 2010, but has seen its stock drop 24 percent in 2017

Schnatter blamed NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. Schnatter said, ““The NFL has hurt us by not resolving the current debacle to the players’ and owners’ satisfaction … The NFL has hurt Papa John’s shareholders.” [CNN article] (US Labor, see Nov 2; FS & CK, see Nov 14)

NFL cheerleader

November 1, 2018: a San Francisco 49ers cheerleader appeared to take a knee during the national anthem. It was the first time that an NFL cheerleader had done so. (Colin K, see February 15, 2019)

November 1 Peace Love Art Activism

Clarence Earl Gideon

November 1, 1963: in a speech before The New England Conference on the Defense of Indigent Persons accused of Crime, Attorney General Robert Kennedy stated: “If an obscure Florida convict named Clarence Earl Gideon had not sat down in prison with a pencil and paper to write a letter to the Supreme Court, and if the Supreme Court had not taken the trouble to look for merit in that one crude petition among all the bundles of mail it must receive every day, the vast machinery of American law would have gone on functioning undisturbed.” (see Gideon for expanded story)

November 1 Peace Love Art Activism

Vietnam

South Vietnam Leadership

November 1, 1963: South Vietnamese general Duong Van Minh, acting with the support of the CIA, launched a military coup which removed Ngo Dinh Diem from power. (see Nov 2)

Operation Rolling Thunder

November 1, 1968: after three-and-a-half years, Operation Rolling Thunder comes to an end. In total, the campaign had cost more than 900 American aircraft, 818 pilots dead or missing, and hundreds in captivity. Nearly 120 Vietnamese planes had been destroyed in air combat or accidents, or by friendly fire. According to U.S. estimates, 182,000 North Vietnamese civilians were killed. Twenty thousand Chinese support personnel were also casualties of the bombing. (see Nov 5)

Operation Popeye

November 1, 1968: the southern region of North Vietnam was removed from the Operation concurrent with a halt to conventional bombing of North Vietnam. (see Popeye for expanded story)

November 1 Peace Love Art Activism

INDEPENDENCE DAY

November 1, 1981: Antigua and Barbuda independent of the United Kingdom. (see September 2, 1983)

November 1 Peace Love Art Activism

Feminism

Early Money Is Like Yeast

November 1, 1986: EMILY‘s (Early Money Is Like Yeast) List was established in 1985 to help elect pro-choice Democratic women to office in the 1986 election. By November 1986, EMILY’s List raised over $350,000 for two Senate candidates. (see Oct 3, 1988)

November 1 Peace Love Art Activism

Maastricht Treaty

November 1, 1993: the Maastricht Treaty took effect, formally establishing the European Union. [Britannica article]

November 1 Peace Love Art Activism

LGBTQ

November 1, 2010: The 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals stays Judge Virginia Phillips’ injunction on Don’t ask, don’t Tell pending appeal. [NYT article] (see Nov 12)

November 1 Peace Love Art Activism

Lynching, Music et al, Peace Love Art and Activism, Today in history

October 31 Peace Love Art Activism

October 31, 2015 Woodstock Whisperer Leave a comment

October 31 Peace Love Art Activism

Labor history

Working Man’s Advocate

October 31, 1829: George Henry Evans published the first issue of the Working Man’s Advocate, “edited by a Mechanic” for the “useful and industrious classes” in New York City. He focused on the inequities between the “portion of society living in luxury and idleness” and those “groaning under the oppressions and miseries imposed on them.” (see March 13, 1830)

Coal Creek War

October 31, 1891: during the spring of 1891, free miners working for the Tennessee Coal Mining Company went on strike in Briceville, Tennessee, after the company demanded that all miners sign an iron-clad contract with draconian terms. In response to the strike, the company evicted the miners from their homes, built a stockade, and leased dozens of state prisoners to replace the free workers. Using convict labor, the mine reopened on July 5, 1891.

Two weeks later, on July 14, three hundred armed miners stormed the stockade and marched the convicts out of the valley, shutting down the mine once more. In response, Governor John P. Buchanan marched the state militia into the valley and, on July 16, met the miners just north of Briceville to plead for peace. The miners refused to accept the mining company’s treatment, and instead demanded that the governor enforce the state’s laws against iron-clad contracts.

When the miners seized control of the Briceville mine again, on July 20, Governor Buchanan requested a 60-day truce so that he could present the miners’ claims to the Tennessee legislature. The legislature subsequently rejected the miners’ demands, and tensions flared once more.

On October 31, 1891, the miners stormed the Briceville mine and burned the stockades to the ground, freeing more than 500 leased convicts and placing them on trains headed out of the Coal Creek Valley. Free miners in other towns soon followed suit; the conflict spread across the Cumberland Plateau and lasted several months until the militia launched a crackdown in the summer of 1892, leading to the arrests of hundreds of miners. Known as the “Coal Creek War,” this clash ultimately brought about the miners’ goal: the Tennessee legislature abolished convict leasing to private companies on January 1, 1894.

While the free miners no longer had to compete with convict labor, the Coal Creek War did not end the practice of forcing state convicts – mostly “able bodied young colored men” – to labor in mines. Instead, convicts were now shipped to Brushy Mountain and forced to mine coal for the state of Tennessee. By 1904, the state claimed $200,000 per year in profits from convict labor. (see January 7, 1892)

Chicago Teachers Strike

October 31, 2019: Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Teachers Union agreed to a five-year contract agreement.

The city agreed to spend millions of dollars on reducing class sizes; promised to pay for hundreds more social workers, nurses and librarians; and approved a 16 percent salary increase over the coming five years. But not all union members were satisfied; a vote to approve a tentative deal was noticeably split, and some teachers wanted to press on to seek steeper reductions in class sizes, more teacher preparation time and aid for special education. [NYT story] (next LH, see Nov 25)

October 31 Peace Love Art Activism

BLACK HISTORY

Silas Ester lynched

October 31, 1901: authorities in Hadgenville, Kentucky had arrested Silas Ester accusing him of coercing a young boy to commit a crime. At approximately 2:00 am a lynch mob of more than 50 white men tightened a noose around the neck Esters’s neck and dragged him from the LaRue County Jail.

Police officers at the jail had surrendered the keys and made no effort to protect Esters.

In an attempt to escape his fate, Mr. Esters slipped free and began to run away – but made it only 100 yards before his body was riddled with bullets. The mob then placed the rope noose around the neck of his corpse, dragged the lifeless body to the courthouse, and swung it from the top steps. No one was ever held accountable for the lynching of Silas Esters. (next BH & Lynching, see February 6, 1902; for for expanded chronology, see American Lynching 2)

see George Whitmore, Jr for full story

October 31, 1964: police disclosed that they were questioning another unidentified suspect in the Wylie-Hoffert case. The suspect was identified as a white 19-year-old narcotics addict who had a record of burglary and sexual assault. (Evidently the suspect was Richard Robles, although Robles is not 19 but in his early 20s.

Jacksonville, FL race revolt

October 31, 1969: a race revolt in Jacksonville, FL. The trouble started when a white truck driver accused a 20-year-old black man of stealing from his truck. The white man shot the black man, triggering two hours of violence and looting. Windows were smashed and TV sets, furniture and appliances were stolen, with losses estimated at $125,000. Three vehicles were burned. Two people were injured by gunfire and a policeman was struck by a brick. The police arrested 11 people – 10 of them were charged not with vandalism or looting but with using profanity and failing to obey police officers. A teenager was charged with looting, but rather than calming matters, that arrest led to the gathering of an angry crowd that didn’t disperse until four squad cars arrived. (BH, see February 21, 1970; RR, see May 11, 1970) (NYT article)

October 31 Peace Love Art Activism

see October 31 Music et al for more

Quarry Men

October 31, 1959: Quarry Men auditioned for Carrol Levis Show in Liverpool. During this audition period, the band would change its name from “Quarry Men” to “Johnny and the Moondogs” by November 15. On that day, they lose out for the Carrol Levis finals. (see Nov 15)

Five years later…

October 31, 1963: The Beatles were trying to walk through Heathrow Airport, London, where they’d just returned from a successful tour of Sweden. Also at Heathrow that particular day, after a talent-scouting tour of Europe, was the American television impresario Ed Sullivan. The pandemonium that Sullivan witnessed as he attempted to catch his flight to New York would play a pivotal role in making the British Invasion possible. Sullivan had his staff make inquiries about the Beatles following his return to the United States, and Brian Epstein arranged to travel to New York to open negotiations. (see Nov 2)

Nice ‘n’ Easy

October 31 – November 6, 1960: Frank Sinatra’s Nice ‘n’ Easy Billboard #1 album.

“Baby Love”

October 31 – November 27, 1964: “Baby Love” by the Supremes #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

People

October 31 – December 4, 1964: Barbara Streisand’s People is the Billboard #1 album.

LSD

October 31, 1966: San Francisco, California (Acid Test Graduation at Winterland) (see Graduation for expanded story)

October 31 Peace Love Art Activism

Cold War & Nuclear News

October 31, 1961, : Soviet Union above-ground nuclear test. 5 megaton. (NYT article) (see Dec 1)

October 31 Peace Love Art Activism

Americans with disabilities

Community Mental Health Act

October 31, 1963: The Community Mental Health Act of 1963 (CMHA) (also known as the Community Mental Health Centers Construction Act, Mental Retardation Facilities and Construction Act, Public Law 88-164, or the Mental Retardation and Community Mental Health Centers Construction Act of 1963) was an act to provide federal funding for community mental health centers. This legislation was passed as part of John F. Kennedy’s New Frontier. It led to considerable de-institutionalization. In 1984 it was renamed the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act.

TTY

In 1964 in California, deaf orthodontist Dr. James C. Marsters of Pasadena sent a teletype machine to deaf scientist Robert Weitbrecht, asking him to find a way to attach the TTY to the telephone system. Weitbrecht modified an acoustic coupler and gave birth to “Baudot,” a code that is still used in TTY communication. (ADA, see July 2, 1964; TM, see April 30)

October 31 Peace Love Art Activism

Vietnam

Bien Hoa Air Base

October 31, 1964: three days before the U.S. presidential election, Vietcong mortars shelled Bien Hoa Air Base near Saigon killing five Americans and wounding 30. Five B-57 bombers are destroyed, and 15 are damaged. (see Nov 10)

LBJ

October 31, 1968: President Lyndon B. Johnson ordered a halt to all U.S. bombing of North Vietnam, saying he hoped for fruitful peace negotiations. (NYT article) (see Nov 1)

October 31 Peace Love Art Activism

FREE SPEECH & Pledge of Allegiance

October 31, 1969: two 12-year-old girls in Brooklyn went to court on this day to assert their right to remain seated in class while other students recited the Pledge of Allegiance. One of the students, Mary, said she refused to recite the pledge because she doesn’t believe that “the actions of this country at this time warrant my respect.” (The Vietnam War was still raging at this time.) The seventh graders had been suspended four weeks earlier in what the school board’s attorney described as a simple matter of school discipline and not one of First Amendment law. Allowing the girls to remain seated, he claimed, would be “disruptive.”

The girls were represented by lawyers for the New York Civil Liberties Union, who cited the famous Supreme Court case of West Virginia v. Barnette, decided on June 14, 1943, in which the Court upheld the right of Jehovah’s Witness’s children not to salute the American flag as required by their school.(FS, see March 18, 1970; see Pledge for expanded story)

October 31 Peace Love Art Activism

Native Americans

October 31, 1972: The Trail of Broken Treaties was a twenty-point manifesto adopted by Native American activists at a meeting in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on this day. The twenty points/demands included a Commission to Review Treaty Commitments & Violations, and that All Indians to be Governed by Treaty Relations. (link to manifesto) (see Nov 2)

October 31 Peace Love Art Activism

Feminism

Pregnancy Discrimination Act

October 31, 1978: The Pregnancy Discrimination Act amended Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, making it unlawful for an employer to discriminate on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions. (see Dec 4)

Women’s Health

October 31, 2013: a federal appeals court ruled that the part of a Texas anti-abortion law that was struck down by a district court would be allowed to take effect while legal challenges proceed. The provisions will cause at least one-third of the state’s licensed health centers that currently provide abortion to stop offering the service immediately. [NYT article] (BC, see Nov 4; Texas, see June 27, 2016)

October 31 Peace Love Art Activism

Stop and Frisk Policy

Fourth Amendment

October 31, 2013: the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled that Judge Scheindlin “ran afoul” of the judiciary’s code of conduct by showing an “appearance of partiality surrounding this litigation.” The panel criticized how she had steered the lawsuit to her courtroom when it was filed in early 2008. The ruling effectively puts off a battery of changes that Judge Scheindlin, of Federal District Court in Manhattan, had ordered for the Police Department. Those changes include postponing the operations of the monitor who was given the task to oversee reforms to the department’s stop-and-frisk practices, which Judge Scheindlin found violated the Fourth and 14th Amendments of the Constitution. [NYT PDF] (next S & F, see Nov 6; next 4th, see Dec 31)

October 31 Peace Love Art Activism

Cannabis

October 31, 2018: Mexico’s Supreme Court ruled that an absolute ban on recreational use of marijuana was unconstitutional, effectively leaving it to lawmakers to regulate consumption of the drug.

Announcing it had found in favor of two legal challenges filed against prohibition of recreational marijuana use, Mexico’s top court crossed the threshold needed to create jurisprudence: five similar rulings on the matter. (see Nov 6 or see CCC for expanded cannabis chronology)

October 31 Peace Love Art Activism

TERRORISM

October 31, 2018: court papers submitted by authorities showed that Cesar Sayoc, Jr had been planning his campaign for at least three months. [NYT article] (next Terrorism, see Dec 7; Sayoc, see March 21, 2019)

October 31 Peace Love Art Activism

Trump Impeachment Inquiry

October 31, 2019: the House of Representatives voted to endorse the Democratic-led impeachment inquiry into President Trump, in an action that set up a critical new public phase of the process.

The vote was 232-196 to approve a resolution that set out rules for an impeachment process for which there were few precedents and which promised to consume the country a little more than a year before the 2020 elections. It was only the third time in modern history that the House had taken a vote on an impeachment inquiry into a sitting president.

Two Democrats broke with their party to vote against the measure, while Republicans — under immense pressure from Trump to shut down the impeachment inquiry altogether — unanimously opposed it.

Minutes after the vote, the White House press secretary denounced the process as “a sham impeachment” and “a blatantly partisan attempt to destroy the president.” [NYT article] (see TII for expanded chronology)

October 31 Peace Love Art Activism

Environmental Issues

October 31, 2019: North Dakota state environmental regulators said that the Keystone pipeline system leaked about 383,000 gallons of crude oil. The spill occurred in a low-gradient drainage area near the small town of Edinburg in northeast North Dakota, less than 50 miles from the Canadian border, according to Karl Rockeman, the director of the state Department of Environmental Quality’s division of water quality.

“It is one of the larger spills in the state,” he said. [NYT story] (see Nov 4)