Attended the Woodstock Music and Art Fair in 1969, became an educator for 35 years after graduation from college, and am retired now and often volunteer at Bethel Woods Center for the Arts which is on the site of that 1969 festival.
The media seem unsure which word to use when reporting nowadays. Of course this issue is new. Of course? Of course not.
ANITA I’ll get a terrace apartment
BERNARDO Better get rid of your accent
ANITA Life can be bright in America
BOYS If you can fight in America
GIRLS Life is all right in America
BOYS If you’re all white in America
ANITA
Here you are free, and you have pride
BOYS
As long as you stay on your side.
Immigrants Refugees Migrants
Immigrants Refugees Migrants
What’s in a word?
According to an article in The Guardian, “At its simplest, a migrant is someone who moves from one place to another in order to live in another country for more than a year. The International Organisation of Migration estimates that 232 million people a year become international migrants and another 740 million move within their own countries.”
The same article continues, “A refugee is a person who has fled armed conflict or persecution and who is recognised as needing of international protection because it is too dangerous for them to return home. They are protected under international law by the 1951 refugee convention, which defines what a refugee is and outlines the basic rights afforded to them.”(click/tap >>> Guardian article)
Immigrants Refugees Migrants
National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights
From its site: The National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (NNIRR) works to defend and expand the rights of all immigrants and refugees, regardless of immigration status. Since its founding in 1986, the organization has drawn membership from diverse immigrant communities, and actively builds alliances with social and economic justice partners around the country. As part of a global movement for social and economic justice, NNIRR is committed to human rights as essential to securing healthy, safe and peaceful lives for all.
September 29, 1910: the Committee on Urban Conditions Among Negroes formed. A year later, it merged with other groups to form the National Urban League “to enable African Americans to secure economic self-reliance, parity, power and civil rights.” [Theodore Roosevelt site article] (see Dec 5)
Jim Crow
September 29, 1915: the Jim Crow racial segregation laws enacted and enforced in the American South in the late 19th and early 20th centuries enforced the strict boundaries of a legalized racial caste system and worked to restore and maintain white supremacy in the region. Even after the Civil War and Reconstruction amendments had ended slavery and declared black people to be citizens with civil rights and the power to vote, many Southern state and local lawmakers passed laws forbidding blacks and whites from playing checkers or pool together, entering a circus through the same entrance, or being buried in the same cemetery.
In some instances, these laws interfered with the provision of very important services, including education and health care. On September 29, 1915, the Alabama legislature passed a law forbidding any “white female nurse” from treating a black male patient in any public or private medical facility. Punishment for violation of the law included a fine of $10-$200 and up to six months incarceration or hard labor. An outgrowth of the long-held Southern fear that white women were at risk of attack and assault whenever in the presence of black men, similar action was taken in Georgia in 1911. (see Dec 4)
September 29, 1918: five more soldiers hung. (next BH, see February – August 1919; RR, see May 10 – 11, 1919; next HR, see November 13, 2023)
Barratry
September 29, 1956: in an attempt to restrict the activities of the NAACP, Virginia passed a set of laws against barratry, champertry, and maintenance. Barratry is defined as “stirring up” litigation by encouraging people to sue when they might not have done so on their own.
The laws were a blatant attempt to prevent the NAACP from pursuing civil rights cases in the state.
President Kennedy dispatched the Federal Marshals to Mississippi – lightly armed men clad awkwardly in suits, ties and gas masks. At the same time, JFK wanted Gov Ross Barnett to assure him that Mississippi patrolmen would help maintain law and order as the threat of a race riot on the university campus in Oxford grew.
Mississippi Gov. Ross Barnett spoke at halftime of the University of Mississippi’s game against Kentucky. Barnett whipped up the crowd, with some later comparing it to a Nazi Nuremberg rally. Interrupted by cheers, Barnett told those gathered, “I love Mississippi. I love her people. Our customs. I love and respect our heritage.” [2014 NYT article] (see Sept 30)
Orangeburg Massacre
In late September/early October 1970: after the trial, a jury found Cleveland Sellers guilty of participating in a riot two nights before the Orangeburg shootings.
September 29, 1986: the House of Representatives overrides the President Reagan’s veto of the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act. (see Oct 2)
September 29 Peace Love Art Activism
Nuclear/Chemical News
September 29, 1957: The Mayak or Kyshtym nuclear complex (Soviet Union). A fault in the cooling system at the nuclear complex, near Chelyabinsk, results in a chemical explosion and the release of an estimated 70 to 80 tonnes of radioactive materials into the air. Thousands of people are exposed to radiation and thousands more are evacuated from their homes. It is categorized as Level 6 on the seven-point International Nuclear Events Scale (INES). [2017 Stanford U article] (see Oct 7)
September 29 Peace Love Art Activism
September 29 Music et al
Bob Dylan
September 29, 1961: Robert Shelton of the New York Times reviewed Dylan’s Gerde’s performance. With the headline, Bob Dylan: A Distinctive Folk-Song Stylist, Shelton wrote, “A bright new face in folk music is appearing at Gerde’s Folk City. Although only 20 years old, Bob Dylan is one of the most distinctive stylists to play in a Manhattan cabaret in months.” (see Oct 25)
West Side Story
September 29 – October 19, 1962: West Side Story soundtrack returns to Billboard’s #1 album.
September 29, 1967: John Lennon and George Harrison took part in an interview with David Frost for The Frost Programme. It was recorded before a studio audience between 6pm and 7pm at Studio One at Wembley Studios in London. Among their comments:
Lennon: “Buddha was a groove, Jesus was all right.”
Harrison: “I believe in reincarnation. Life and death are still only relative to thought. I believe in rebirth. You keep coming back until you have got it straight. The ultimate thing is to manifest divinity, and become one with The Creator.” (see Oct 17)
Okie from Muskogee
September 29, 1969, Merle Haggard released single, “Okie from Muskogee.” By November 15, it reached No. 1 on the Billboard magazine Hot Country Singles chart, where it remained for four weeks. It also became a minor pop hit as well, reaching number 41 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. “Okie from Muskogee” — along with the album, Okie from Muskogee — was named the Country Music Association Single of the Year in 1970.
The song’s lyrics typified the view that many Americans felt toward the changes that had occurred during the decade.
We don’t smoke marijuana in Muskogee;
We don’t take our trips on LSD
We don’t burn our draft cards down on Main Street;
We like livin’ right, and bein’ free.
I’m proud to be an Okie from Muskogee,
A place where even squares can have a ball
We still wave Old Glory down at the courthouse,
And white lightnin’s still the biggest thrill of all
We don’t make a party out of lovin’;
We like holdin’ hands and pitchin’ woo;
We don’t let our hair grow long and shaggy
Like the hippies out in San Francisco do.
And I’m proud to be an Okie from Muskogee,
A place where even squares can have a ball.
We still wave Old Glory down at the courthouse,
And white lightnin’s still the biggest thrill of all.
Leather boots are still in style for manly footwear;
Beads and Roman sandals won’t be seen.
Football’s still the roughest thing on campus,
And the kids here still respect the college dean. We still wave Old Glory down at the courthouse,
In Muskogee, Oklahoma, USA.
September 29 Peace Love Art Activism
Vietnam
Operation Popeye
September 29 1966 — October 28 1966: the US military began Project Popeye in a strip of the Laos panhandle east of the Bolovens Plateau in the Se Kong River valley. Naval personnel eventually conducted 50 seeding cloud experiments. Project leaders claimed that 82% of the clouds produced rain within a brief period after having been seeded and that one of the clouds drifted across the Vietnam border and dropped nine inches of rain on a US Special Forces camp over a four hour period. (next V, see “In October” ; see OP for expanded story)
LBJ commitment
September 29, 1967: LBJ spoke about American commitment to US involvement in Vietnam (see Oct 9)
Presidential Commission on Campus Unrest
September 29, 1970: Vice President Agnew charged that the Presidential Commission on Campus Unrest had indulged in “‘scapegoating’ of the most irresponsible sort” in saying that only the President could offer the moral leadership needed to reunite the country. (NYT article) (see Oct 12; FS, see June 7, 1971)
September 29 Peace Love Art Activism
Native Americans
September 29, 1969: Alcatraz Takeover: the San Francisco Board of Supervisors approved a plan by Lama Hunt to turn the Federal prison site of Alcatraz Island into a monument to the US space program. (see Oct 9)
September 29 Peace Love Art Activism
Watergate Scandal
September 29, 1972: John Mitchell, while serving as attorney general, controlled a secret Republican fund used to finance widespread intelligence-gathering operations against the Democrats, the Post reports. (see Watergate for expanded story)
September 29 Peace Love Art Activism
Jack Kevorkian
September 29, 2005: in an MSNBC interview, Kevorkian said that if he were granted parole, he would not resume directly helping people die and would restrict himself to campaigning to have the law changed. (see JK for expanded story)
September 29 Peace Love Art Activism
LGBTQ
September 29, 2011: the Log Cabin Republicans is an organization of lesbian and gay Republicans, working within the Republican Party to advocate for lesbian and gay rights. It operates in the face of hostility from the vast majority of GOP leaders who have been beholden to the Religious Right in opposition to lesbian and gay rights. In Log Cabin Republicans v. United States, the organization challenged the constitutionality of the Pentagon’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy, under which the military would not ask about sexual orientation, and homosexuals would be allowed to serve in the military as long as they did not mention their sexual orientation. In early September 2010 a U.S. District Court declared the DADT policy an unconstitutional violation of the First and Fifth Amendments, but on this day, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the decision on the grounds that the legislative repealed of DADT, in December 2010, rendered the case moot. As a consequence, the District Court decision had no value as legal precedent.
President Barack Obama signed the DADT repeal act into law on the 22nd of December 2010, and the repeal took effect on September 20, 2011. (see Dec 6)
September 29 Peace Love Art Activism
Environmental Issues
September 29, 2021: US federal wildlife officials announced that 22 animals and one plant should be declared extinct and removed from the endangered species list.
The announcement also offered a glimpse of the possible future. It came amid a worsening global biodiversity crisis that threatened a million species with extinction, many within decades. Human activities like farming, logging, mining and damming were taking habitat from animals and pollute much of what’s left. People poached and overfished. Climate change added new peril.
“Each of these 23 species represents a permanent loss to our nation’s natural heritage and to global biodiversity,” said Bridget Fahey, who oversaw species classification for the Fish and Wildlife Service. “And it’s a sobering reminder that extinction is a consequence of human-caused environmental change.” [NYT article] (next EI, see Oct 2)
September 29 Peace Love Art Activism
Sexual Abuse of Children
September 29, 2023: the archdiocese of Baltimore filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy two days before a new Maryland state law went into effect which allowed child sexual abuse victims to sue organizations no matter how long ago the abuse took place.
In a letter to the archdiocese Archbishop William E. Lori attributed the filing directly to the law’s effect on the archdiocese, which was facing “a great number of lawsuits” that were previously prohibited by state law.
Filing for bankruptcy, Lori said, is “the best path forward to compensate equitably all victim-survivors, given the archdiocese’s limited financial resources, which would have otherwise been exhausted on litigation.” [NYT article] (next SAC, see October 16, 2024)
September 28, 1842: in New York, the first grand jury indictments in America against publishers of obscene books were issued: People v. Richard Hobbesand People v. Henry R. Robinson. In addition, indictments were issued against the five print shop owners and bookstand operators used by the two publishers.
Titles named in the indictments: Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure; Memoirs of the Life and Voluptuous Adventures of the Celebrated Courtesan Mademoiselle Celestine of Paris; The Cabinet of Venus Unlocked; The Curtain Drawn Up, or The Education of Laura; The Confessions of a Voluptuous Young Lady of High Rank; The Amorous Songster or Jovial Companion; The Lustful Turk; The Amorous History and Adventures of Raymond De B— and Father Andouillard; The Auto-Biography of a Footman. (see July 19, 1911)
September 28 Peace Love Art Activism
BLACK HISTORY
Opelousas Massacre
September 28, 1868: one of the worst outbreaks of violence during Reconstruction took place in Opelousas, La. The event started with three local members of the KKK-like Knights of the White Camelia beating newspaper editor Emerson Bentley, who had promoted voter registration and education for all. After some African Americans came to his rescue, bands of armed white mobs roamed the countryside and began killing. It is estimated that more than 200 blacks and 30 whites died in the Opelousas Massacre [Black Past article]. (next BH, see January 5, 1869; next Lynching, see August 26, 1874; see Never Forget for expanded 19th century lynching history)
Omaha, Nebraska race revolt
September 28, 1919: a major race riot erupted in Omaha, Nebraska. A white mob of about 4,000 people lynched and burned the body of Willie Brown, an African-American who was being held in the county jail. The mayor of Omaha, who was white, was almost lynched by the mob, which set fire to the county courthouse.
The origin of the revolt lay in racial conflict in the extensive city stockyards and meat packing plants. (A similar conflict underlay the East St. Louis race revolt that began on July 2, 1917.) Rumors that Willie Brown had raped a white woman spurred the lynching. Later reports by the police and U.S. Army investigators determined that the victim had not made a positive identification. The riot lasted for two days, and ended when over 1,200 federal troops arrived to restore order. Although martial law was not formally proclaimed, for all practical purposes it existed, with troops remaining in the city for several weeks. [Black Past article] (next BH, see Oct 1; next Lynching, see Sept 30; for for expanded chronology, see American Lynching 2)
Gary, Indiana integration protests
September 28, 1927: student against integration in Gary, Indiana continued to protest and now numbered over 1300. Family and other local citizen also protested the proposed school integration. City, school, and district officials met with protesters to begin negotiations for bringing the strike to an end. (see Sept 30)
James H Meredith
September 28, 1962: federal marshals, patrolmen from the Texas – Mexico border, and 110 Army engineers with 49 trucks, van, tractor-trailers, and Jeeps loaded with equipment arrived in Memphis, TN in anticipation of a showdown regarding the admission of Meredith. (see September 29, 1962)
Black Panthers
September 28, 1968: a judge sentenced Huey P. Newton to 2 to 15 years in state prison. [PBS story] (BH, see Oct 16; Black Panthers, see “In November”)
Muhammad Ali
September 28, 1976: Ali defeated Ken Norton in the fifteenth and final round at Yankee Stadium. Though Norton was ahead through the first eight rounds, Ali pulls through to win all but one of the subsequent rounds. As with Frazier the year before, this bout ended the three-fight series between Ali and Norton. (NYT article) (Ali, see February 15, 1978; BH, see Nov 12)
Johnnie Mae Chappell
September 28, 2005: retired detectives Lee Cody and Don Coleman, who had led the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office investigation into the 1964 murder of Johnnie Mae Chappell, answered subpoenas sent by the state attorney’s office.
Detective Lee Cody said that in all the years he’d been involved in the Chappell case, it was the first time he’d ever been under oath. Cody and Detective Don Coleman took confessions from the three men, but the charges against them were dropped. (BH & Chappell, see Oct 11)
September 28 Peace Love Art Activism
September 28 Music et al
Hey Jude
September 28 – November 29, 1968, The Beatles after live performances: “Hey Jude” #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. “Hey Jude” was released in August 1968 as the first single from the Beatles’ record label Apple Records. More than seven minutes in length, it was at the time the longest single ever to top the British charts.[1] It also spent nine weeks at number one in the United States, the longest for any Beatles single. “Hey Jude” tied the “all-time” record, at the time, for the longest run at the top of the US charts. The single has sold approximately eight million copies and is frequently included on professional critics’ lists of the greatest songs of all time. (see Oct 18)
September 28, 1987: protesters demanded better access to mass transit systems by blocking buses at a transit association convention. The number of arrests in two days rose to at least 54. ”It’s a very emotional issue for disabled people to have to come out here and do this,” said Judy Heumann of the World Institute on Disability, an organization based in Berkeley. (see March 13, 1988)
September 28 Peace Love Art Activism
Feminism
Violence Against Women Act
September 28, 1994: the House of Representatives passed the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), enhancing states’ ability to respond to domestic violence, stalking, and sexual assault. (see In February 1995)
RU-486
September 28, 2000: the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the use of mifepristone (RU-486) for the termination of early pregnancy, defined as 49 days or less. (see Nov 7)
September 28 Peace Love Art Activism
Iraq War II
September 28, 2004: the same intelligence unit that produced a gloomy report in July 2004 about the prospect of growing instability in Iraq warned the Bush administration about the potential costly consequences of an American-led invasion two months before the war began, government officials said. [NYT article] (see Oct 7)
September 28 Peace Love Art Activism
Trump Impeachment Inquiry
September 28, 2019: House Democrats subpoenaed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, demanding that he promptly produce a tranche of documents and a slate of witnesses that could shed light on the president’s attempts to pressure Ukraine to help tarnish Joe Biden, Jr..
The subpoena and demands for depositions were the first major investigative actions the House took since it launched impeachment proceedings in light of revelations that Mr. Trump pushed President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine to investigate Biden Jr., possibly using United States aid as leverage. [NYT article] (see TII for expanded chronology)
September 28 Peace Love Art Activism
Cannabis
September 28, 2021: Marijuana Moment reported that newly released FBI data showed that marijuana arrests had declined significantly in 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic,.
There were 1,155,610 drug-related arrests overall in 2020, with cannabis sales and possession busts accounting for just over 30 percent (or 350,150) of those cases. The vast majority were for marijuana possession alone.
The agency’s data showed that there was a cannabis arrest every 90 seconds in the country in 2020, and there was a drug-related arrest every 27 seconds.
While these figures still highlighted the rampant, ongoing criminalization of cannabis in states across the U.S., it was a substantial de-escalation compared to 2019, when FBI reported a total of 545,601 marijuana arrests. That amounted to a cannabis bust every 58 seconds. (next Cannabis, see Oct 25, or see Cannabis for expanded chronology)
Women’s Health
September 28, 2023: after U.S. District Court Judge Alan B. Johnson had accepted Lorna Roxanne Green’s agreement with prosecutors at a change-of-plea hearing on July 20, on this date Johnson imposed a sentence of 60 months in prison with three years of supervised release, to follow her prison term for the arson of the Wellspring Health Access Clinic located in Casper. [FoxNews article] (next WH, see Oct 24)
Fair Housing
September 28, 2023: the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and seven other agencies across the federal government for the first time clarifyied in writing that Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibited antisemitism, Islamophobia, and related forms of discrimination. In addition to shared ancestry and ethnic characteristics, religion was also a protected class under the Fair Housing Act. [HUD press release] (next FH, see Oct 2)
September 28 Peace Love Art Activism
What's so funny about peace, love, art, and activism?
