Category Archives: Desegregation

Black history, Desegregation, Emmett Till, Music et al, Native Americans, Peace Love Art and Activism, Sexual abuse of children, Today in history

September 23 Peace Love Art Activism

September 23, 2015 Woodstock Whisperer Leave a comment

September 23 Peace Love Art Activism

Native Americans

Battle of Wood Lake

September 23, 1862: the Battle of Wood Lake. After delays due to forces needed for the Civil War, a large regular army contingent overwhelmingly defeated the Dakota forces. [US Dakota War article] (see December 1862)

Veronica

September 23, 2013: Veronica, the Cherokee girl at the center of a long custody dispute, was handed over to her adoptive parents, Matt and Melanie Capobianco, of South Carolina. Veronica, 4, had been living in the Cherokee Nation with her father, Dusten Brown, since she was 2. Before that, she lived with the Capobiancos. Her adoption was made final earlier this year, but Mr. Brown had appealed. The girl was handed over after the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled it would not intervene.

Cherokee Nation spokeswoman Amanda Clinton confirmed the announcement via social media about an hour after the handover. “It is with a heavy heart that I can confirm Veronica Brown was peacefully handed over to Matt and Melanie Capobianco (this) evening,” she tweeted. “Updates will be forthcoming, but the transition was handled peacefully and with dignity by all parties. Please keep Veronica in your prayers.” (see Veronica for expanded story)

September 23 Peace Love Art Activism

US Labor History

September 23, 1886: a coalition of Knights of Labor and trade unionists in Chicago launched the United Labor party, calling for an 8-hour day, government ownership of telegraph and telephone companies, and monetary and land reform. The party elected seven state assembly men and one senator. [Encyclopedia of Chicago article] (see Dec 8)

September 23 Peace Love Art Activism

Anarchism in the US

Leon Czolgosz

September 23, 1901: Leon Czolgosz was put on trial for assassinating US President William McKinley at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. [Open Edition article on Czolgosz] (see Sept 24)

Colorado Fuel and Iron Company

September 23, 1913: miners working for the John D. Rockefeller-owned Colorado Fuel and Iron Company went on strike. Organized by the United Mine Workers Association, the miners moved their families to union tent colonies in the countryside away from the mining camps. [Colorado Encyclopedia article] (see April 20, 1914)

September 23 Peace Love Art Activism

FREE SPEECH

September 23, 1943: six conscientious objectors, in prison for refusing to cooperate with the draft during WW II, began a hunger strike to protest the censorship of mail and reading material in prison. The strike ended in December 1943.

James V. Bennett, head of the federal Bureau of Prisons, ended the censorship but retained the right to open and read mail for security purposes.

One participant in the hunger strike, David Dellinger, who in the 1960s became a leader in the anti-Vietnam War movement. [2004 NYT obit] (FS, see April 4, 1944; Dellinger, see below with Vietnam & see March 20, 1969)

September 23 Peace Love Art Activism

Vietnam

Major General Douglas Gracy

September 23, 1945: after the Viet Minh called for a general strike and mass demonstrations, British Major General Douglas Gracy imposed martial law, then rleased and armed fourteen hundred French prisoners of war. The released prisoners and an accompanying French mob stormed throught the streets clubbing any Vietnamese in sight. They lynched Viet Minh officials and raised the French flag. (see Sept 24)

Chicago 8

September 23, 1969: the Chicago Eight trial began. The defendants included David Dellinger of the National Mobilization Committee (NMC); Rennie Davis and Thomas Hayden of the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS); Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin, founders of the Youth International Party (“Yippies”); Bobby Seale of the Black Panthers; and two lesser known activists, Lee Weiner and John Froines. The group was charged with conspiracy to cross state lines with intent to incite a riot. All but Seale were represented by attorneys William Kunstler and Leonard Weinglass.

Early in the trial, presiding Judge Julius Hoffaman (no relation to Abbie) ordered Bobby Seale bound and gagged in the courtroom because of his outbursts. Seale’s trial will eventually be separated from the others’. (Chicago Eight, see Oct 28; Vietnam, see Oct 5)

BLACK HISTORY

Emmett Till

September 23 Peace Love Art Activism — Mr. & Mrs. Roy (Carolyn) Bryant (left) with Mr. & Mrs. J.W. Milam showed happiness at a the verdict delivered in Sumner, Miss. Friday, September 23, 1955.

September 23, 1955: the jury acquitted Milam and Bryant of murdering Emmett Till after the jury deliberates 67 minutes. One juror told a reporter that they wouldn’t have taken so long if they hadn’t stopped to drink pop. Roy Bryant and J. W. Milam stand before photographers, light up cigars and kiss their wives in celebration of the not guilty verdict.

Moses Wright and another poor black Mississippian who testified, Willie Reed, leave Mississippi and were smuggled to Chicago. Once there, Reed collapsed and suffered a nervous breakdown. (see Emmett Till; Willie Reed, see July 18, 2013)

School Desegregation

September 23, 1957: nine black students who had entered Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas were forced to withdraw because of a white mob outside. (History dot com article) (see Sept 24)

September 23 Peace Love Art Activism

September 24 Music et al

LSD

September 23, 1967: Saturday Evening Post cover features a “Hippie” and a story about the so-called Hippie Cult. (see November)

The Letter

September 23 – October 20, 1967: “The Letter” by the Boxtops #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

…and a great cover by Joe Cocker w Leon Russell.

Whatever Get You Through the Night

September 23, 1974: Lennon single, Whatever Get You Through the Night released. It would be Lennon’s only solo #1 single in the US during his lifetime.

Lennon was the last member of The Beatles to achieve an American number one solo hit. The recording featured Elton John on harmony vocals and piano. While in the studio, Elton bet Lennon that the song would top the charts. (see Nov 16)

September 23 Peace Love Art Activism

DEATH PENALTY

September 23, 2010: Virginia executed Teresa Lewis for arranging the killings of her husband and a stepson over a $250,000 insurance payment. The 41-year-old was the first woman to be executed in the United States in five years. More than 7,300 appeals to stop the execution – the first of a woman in Virginia since 1912 – had been made to the governor in a state second only to Texas in the number of people it executes. Texas held the most recent U.S. execution of a woman in 2005. Out of more than 1,200 people put to death since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment in 1976, only 11 have been women.

Lewis, who defense attorneys said was borderline mentally disabled, had inspired other inmates by singing Christian hymns in prison. Her execution stirred an unusual amount of attention because of her gender, claims she lacked the intelligence to mastermind the killings and the post-conviction emergence of defense evidence that one of the triggermen manipulated her.” Under US law, anyone with an IQ under 70 cannot be executed. Lewis was judged to have an IQ of 72. (ABC news article)(see January 21, 2011)

September 23 Peace Love Art Activism

Sexual Abuse of Children

September 23, 2014: Vatican officials announced that Pope Francis had ordered the arrest of former Polish archbishop Jozef Wesolowski, accused of child sex abuse in the Dominican Republic.

A Vatican tribunal had defrocked Wesolowski earlier in the year. He was under house arrest inside Vatican City due to the “express desire” of Pope Francis, the Vatican said in a statement.

The Vatican’s chief spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said, “The seriousness of the allegations has prompted the official investigation to impose a restrictive measure that … consists of house arrest, with its related limitations, in a location within the Vatican City State.” [Washington Post article] (see Oct 14)

September 23 Peace Love Art Activism

Cultural milestone, Desegregation, Feminism, Music et al, Peace Love Art and Activism, Space race, Teenage culture, Today in history

September 12 Peace Love Art Activism

September 12, 2015 Woodstock Whisperer Leave a comment

September 12 Peace Love Art Activism

STUDENT ACTIVISM

September 12, 1905: The Intercollegiate Socialist Society (ISS) began. It was a national non-party group dedicated to the organization of current and former collegians for the socialist cause and the spreading of socialist ideas on campus. [Marxist History dot org article] (see December 2, 1964)

September 12 Peace Love Art Activism

US Labor History

Woonsocket strike

September 12, 1934: National Guardsmen fired on “sullen and rebellious” strikers at the Woonsocket (Rhode Island) Rayon plant, killing one and injuring three others. A correspondent said the crowd of about 2,000 “went completely wild with rage.” Word spread, 6,000 more workers arrived at the scene and the city was put under military rule. The governor declared that “there is a Communist uprising and not a textile strike” in the state. [RI History article] (see April 8, 1935)

September 12 Peace Love Art Activism

BLACK HISTORY

Cooper v. Aaron

September 12, 1958: the Supreme Court asserted the supremacy of the Constitution as the law of the land and the authority of the federal courts to enforce lawful court orders. The case arose from the 1957 conflict over the integration of Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, in the face of opposition from local officials and a pro-segregation mob.

Important as it was in terms of constitutional law, Cooper v. Aaron did not end the school integration crisis in Little Rock. The decision applied only to orders from the lower courts. In the summer of 1958, segregationists who controlled the Little Rock school board voted to close the schools rather than integrate them. Thus, in what is known as “the lost year,” the city’s public schools were closed for the 1958–1959 academic year. They reopened in the fall of 1959 after citizens and business leaders, concerned about the impact of closed public schools on the city’s future, captured control of the school board and reopened the schools. (additional info via PBS) (BH, see Sept 20; SD, see Sept 27)

Albany Movement

September 12, 1962: Martin Luther King Jr. decried the pace of civil rights progress in the United States. He also said that “no President can be great, or even fit for office, if he attempts to accommodate injustice to maintain his political balance.” (BH, see Sept 13; see Albany for expanded story)

Birmingham West End High School

September 12, 1963: white students in Birmingham, Alabama, drag an African American effigy past West End High School. Two African American girls attended the desegregated school and a majority of the white students were staying away from classes. Police stopped this car in a segregationist caravan in front of the school to caution them about fast driving and blowing auto horns in front of a school. [Alabama dot com article] (BH, see Sept 15; SD, see Oct 22)

Grenada, Mississippi

Twelve years after the United States Supreme Court’s landmark Brown v. Board of Education ruling holding school segregation unconstitutional, the city of Grenada, Mississippi, continued to operate a segregated school system. In August of 1966, a federal judge ordered that African American students be permitted to enroll in the formerly whites-only schools. Approximately 450 African American students enrolled prior to the scheduled start of the school year on September 2, 1966.

On September 2, the school district postponed the start of school by ten days. White leaders used that time to attempt to coerce African American parents into withdrawing their children from the white schools by threatening them with firing or eviction; as a result, 200 students withdrew.

On September 12, 1966, the Grenada schools opened, and 250 African American students attempted to integrate the schools. A large white mob surrounded the school and turned away most of the African American students. As the students retreated, members of the mob pursued them through the streets, beating them with chains, pipes, and clubs. At lunchtime, the mob returned to the school to attack the few African American students who had successfully entered. As the students left for lunch, members of the mob attacked them, leaving some hospitalized with broken bones. Reporters covering the story were also beaten.

The mob violence continued for several days, with no intervention from law enforcement. On September 16, a federal judge ordered protection for the students, and on September 17, thirteen members of the mob were arrested by the FBI. [Black Then article] (BH, see Oct 15; SD, see May 27, 1968)

Boston

September 12, 1974: in Boston, opposition to court-ordered school busing turned violent on the opening day of classes. School buses carrying African-American children were pelted with eggs, bricks and bottles, and police in combat gear fought to control angry white protesters besieging the schools. The protests continued, and many parents, black and white, kept their children at home. In October, the National Guard was mobilized to enforce the federal desegregation order. [WBUR article] (BH, see Oct 3; SD, see February 6, 1986)

Steven Biko

September 12, 1977: Steve Biko died while in police custody. Police had driven him naked in a truck 700 miles to Pretoria where he died in a prison cell. (see Peter Gabriel – “Biko” (1980) [Overcoming Apartheid article] (SA/A, see March 28, 1982; Biko, see January 28, 1997)

BLACK & SHOT/Freddie Gray

September 12, 2017: the Justice Department announced that six Baltimore police officers would face no federal charges in the death of Freddie Gray, the 25-year-old black man who died of a severe spinal cord injury while in custody.

“After an extensive review of this tragic event, conducted by career prosecutors and investigators, the Justice Department concluded that the evidence is insufficient,” the department said in a statement, adding that it was unable to prove the officers “willfully violated Gray’s civil rights.”

The closure of the criminal civil rights investigation into Mr. Gray’s death, which prompted unrest in Baltimore, a predominantly black city, and a federal examination of its police department’s practices, means that no officers will be held criminally responsible in his death. [NYT article] (next B & S, see March 19, 2024)

BLACK & SHOT/Tyre Nichols

September 12, 2023: the Justice Department announced indictments of the former Memphis police officers — Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr. and Justin Smith– accused of brutally beating Tyre Nichols on federal criminal charges in connection with Nichols’s death.

The four charges, handed up by a grand jury in the Federal District Court in Memphis, accuse each of the five men of various civil rights, conspiracy and obstruction offenses.

They faced two counts of deprivation of rights under color of law, as the grand jury found that on January 7, 2023 the officers had unlawfully assaulted Nichols, refused to intervene, and had failed to provide medical aid or tell medical responders about his injuries. The indictment said that the two offenses led to Nichols’s severe injuries and death. [NYT article] (next B & S, see ; next Nichols, see )

September 12 Peace Love Art Activism

Space Race

September 12, 1962: President Kennedy gave a speech at Rice University, future home of the Manned Spacecraft Center (which later will be renamed Johnson Space Center)

In it he famously stated: We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too. [text of entire speech](see Dec 13)

September 12 Peace Love Art Activism

September 12 Music et al

The Beatles

September 12, 1965: an August 14 taped performance broadcast on “The Ed Sullivan Show.” Taped before a live studio audience at Studio 50 in NY. The Beatles perform: 1) I Feel Fine 2) I’m Down 3) Act Naturally 4) Ticket to Ride 5) Yesterday 6) Help! (see Sept 13)

see The Monkees for more

September 12, 1966: the made-for-TV show band, The Monkees, premiered on NBC. (see Oct 10)

September 12 Peace Love Art Activism

Feminism

Maude

September 12, 1972: Maude, a spin-off of All in the Family, premiered, starring Beatrice Arthur as Maude Findlay, a leftist feminist who supports abortion and civil rights. (next Feminism see Oct 25)

Malala Yousafzai

September 12, 2014: the Pakistani army announced that 10 Taliban militants who tried to kill teenage activist Malala Yousufzai for her outspoken views on girls’ education in the country’s troubled northwest in 2012 had been arrested. [USA Today article] (see Oct 10)

September 12 Peace Love Art Activism

Hurricane Katrina

September 12, 2005: in the wake of what was widely believed to be incompetent handling of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina by state, local and federal officials, FEMA director, Michael Brown, resigned, saying that it was “in the best interest of the agency and best interest of the president.” His standing had also been damaged when the Boston Herald revealed his meager experience in disaster management before joining FEMA. (see Katrina for expanded story)

September 12 Peace Love Art Activism

Nuclear/Chemical News

September 12, 2011: Macoule nuclear site (France). One person is killed and four are injured – one with serious burns – after an explosion in a furnace used to melt down nuclear waste and recycle it for energy. No radiation leaks nor damage to the plant were detected. [Reuters article] (see January 30, 2012)

September 12 Peace Love Art Activism

Terry Jones

September 12, 2013: after being arrested on September 11, Terry Jones was released from the Polk County Jail after posting a $1,250 bond. (see Oct 15)

September 12 Peace Love Art Activism

FREE SPEECH & Colin Kaepernick

September 12, 2016: Eric Reid knelt alongside Colin Kaepernick. 49ers teammates and Rams players raise their fists

Kaepernick maintained his protest, and was joined by several players set to take the field before Monday Night Football. As expected, safety Eric Reid knelt next to the quarterback during the national anthem, just as he did during the last week of the preseason. 49ers linebacker Eli Harold and safety Antoine Bethea stood, but with their fists raised in the air.

The 49ers players were joined by their opponents. Rams defensive end Robert Quinn (No. 94) and wide receiver Kenny Britt (No. 18) also stood with their fists in the air. [USA Today article] (FS & CK, see Sept 16)

September 12 Peace Love Art Activism

LGBTQ

September 12, 2016: responding to a contentious North Carolina law that curbed anti-discrimination protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, the N.C.A.A announced that it would relocate all championship tournament games scheduled to take place in the state over the coming academic year. Among the events affected was the Division I men’s basketball tournament, the N.C.A.A.’s most prominent annual event, which had six first- and second-round games scheduled to be played in Greensboro in March.

The announcement followed the N.B.A.’s decision in July to move its 2017 All-Star Game out of Charlotte but was seen as a particularly substantial blow to officials in North Carolina, where college basketball is central to the state’s culture and pride. North Carolina had hosted more men’s basketball tournament games than any other state, an N.C.A.A. spokesman said. [NYT article] (LGBTQ & NC, see Sept 14)

NYC/Conversion therapy

September 12, 2019: nearly two years ago, the New York City Council passed a far-reaching ban on conversion therapy, a discredited practice to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity.

On this date, Corey Johnson, the Council speaker, who is gay, said the Council would act swiftly to repeal the ban.

The move was a gambit designed to neutralize a federal lawsuit filed against the city by a conservative Christian legal organization; if the case were to be heard by the Supreme Court, advocates for the L.G.B.T. community fear that the panel could issue a ruling that could severely damage attempts to ban or curtail conversion therapy. [NYT article] (next LGBTQ, see January 21, 2020)

September 12 Peace Love Art Activism

Immigration History

September 12, 2017: the Supreme Court agreed with the Trump administration and put on hold the September 7 lower-court decision that would have allowed more refugees to enter the country.

The court issued a one-paragraph statement granting the administration’s request for a stay. There were no recorded dissents to the decision. [Washington Post article] (see Sept 14)

September 12 Peace Love Art Activism

Marijuana

September 12, 2018: Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. asked a court to scrap 3,042 warrants for people who missed court dates and to toss out the cases themselves. He had recently decided to stop prosecuting many minor pot possession cases and argued it made sense to spare people potential arrests in old ones.

The cases included misdemeanor and violation-level pot possession cases that had sat open for as long as 40 years. [Eagle article] (see Sept 13)

September 12 Peace Love Art Activism

Sexual Abuse of Children

September 12, 2018: Pope Francis announced that he had summoned bishops from around the world to Rome for an unprecedented meeting focused on protecting minors.

It would be the first global gathering of church leaders to discuss the crisis. [Washington Post article] (next SAoC, see Oct 12; gathering, see February 21, 2019)

September 12 Peace Love Art Activism

Environmental Issues

September 12, 2019: the Trump administration completed the legal repeal of a major Obama-era clean water regulation, which had placed limits on polluting chemicals that could be used near streams, wetlands and water bodies.

The rollback of the 2015 measure, known as the Waters of the United States rule, had been widely expected since the early days of the Trump administration, when President Trump signed an executive order directing federal agencies to begin the work of repealing and replacing it. [NYT article] (see Sept 17)

September 12 Peace Love Art Activism

#1 album, #1 Song, Anarchism, Apartheid, Birth control, Cultural milestone, Desegregation, Music et al, Peace Love Art and Activism, Religion & Public Education, Today in history, Vietnam

September 10 Peace Love Art Activism

September 10, 2015 Woodstock Whisperer Leave a comment

September 10 Peace Love Art Activism

US Labor History

Lattimer Mines massacre

September 10, 1897: in Pennsylvania, Polish, Lithuanian and Slovak miners are gunned down by the Lattimer Mine’s sheriff deputies—19 dead, more than 50 wounded—during a peaceful march from Hazelton to Lattimer. Some 3,000 were marching for collective bargaining and civil liberty. The shooters were tried for murder but the jury failed to convict . [PSU article] (see Sept 11)

Chicago teacher strike

September 10, 2012: the Chicago teachers union strike the nation’s third largest school system. [Mother Jones article] (see Sept 18)

September 10 Peace Love Art Activism

Emma Goldman

September 10, 1901: a warrant was issued for Goldman’s arrest in connection with the (then) assassination attempt. Goldman gave herself up and was subjected to intensive interrogation. Though initially denied, bail was set at $20,000. She was never officially charged with a crime. (see Goldman for expanded story)

September 10 Peace Love Art Activism

Women’s Health

September 10, 1915: William Sanger convicted re birth control literature. (from the NYT) Turbulent scenes followed the conviction…in Special Sessions of William Sanger, artist and architect, of having violated the Criminal Code in giving away a single copy of “Family Limitation,” a pamphlet on birth control written by Margaret Sanger, his wife. He spent 30 days in jail. (see March 1, 1916)

September 10 Peace Love Art Activism

Black History

School desegregation

September 10, 1963: in January 1963, African American parents of students in Macon County, Alabama, sued the Macon County Board of Education to desegregate the county’s public schools. Though the United States Supreme Court had declared school segregation unconstitutional nearly nine years earlier, the board had taken no steps integrate local schools. In August 1963, Federal District Judge Frank Johnson ordered the school board to begin integration immediately.

The school board selected 13 African American students to integrate Tuskegee High School that fall. On September 2, 1963, the scheduled first day of integrated classes, Alabama Governor George Wallace had ordered the school closed due to “safety concerns.” The school reopened a week later, and on September 10, 1963, the second day of classes, white students began to withdraw. Within a week, all 275 white students had left the school.

Most fleeing white students enrolled at Macon Academy, a newly formed, all-white private school. In support of the school and its efforts to sidestep federal law to maintain school segregation, Governor Wallace and the school board approved the use of state funds to provide white students abandoning the public school system with scholarships to attend Macon Academy. Meanwhile, the Macon County School Board ordered Tuskegee High School closed due to low enrollment and split its remaining African American students among all-white high schools in Notasulga and Shorter, Alabama. White students in those high schools boycotted for several days and many eventually transferred to Macon Academy.

Macon-East Academy, the school relocated near Montgomery, Alabama, in 1995, and today (2015) operates as one of several private schools in the Alabama Black Belt with origins rooted in resistance to integration. As of the 2007 – 2008 school year, Macon-East Academy’s student population of more than 400 was 98% white and less than 1% African American. [NYT article] (see Sept 12)

Earle Race Riot of 1970

September 10, 1970: a group of whites armed with clubs, guns, and other weapons attacked a group of unarmed African-Americans marching to Earle County (Arkansas) city hall to protest segregated conditions in the town’s school system. Five black residents were injured, including two women who were shot, and one was in serious condition but survived.

Over 30 protesters from the ages of 13 to 20 were arrested, all of whom were students except two. Police charged the protesters with marching without a permit. [Black Then article] (next BH, see Sept 24)

BLACK & SHOT

September 10, 2014: Darrien Hunt was shot seven times by Saratoga Springs, Utah, police who were investigating reports of a man with a sword on at a shopping center. Hunt’s family said the sword was a replica. Police said Hunt refused to give up his sword and then started swinging it at them. An autopsy report determined that Hunt was shot seven times by officers, including several times in the back as he fled from police. The Hunt family’s attorney, Bob Sykes, disputed assertions from cops that the 22-year-old acted aggressively. “I think it’s a whitewash. I think it’s an exaggeration,” Sykes said. “I think they ignored good hard evidence to the contrary.” [NY Daily News story] (see Oct 20)

September 10 Peace Love Art Activism

Religion and Public Education

September 10, 1945: the opening argument by Vashti McCollum’s attorney, Landon Chapman, suggested the program was sectarian and social pressure from students and teachers was used to get all students to participate. Defense attorney John Franklin indicated similar programs existed in 46 states and 80 Illinois communities.

The Baptist Joint Committee submitted an amicus brief in support of McCollum, saying, “We must not allow our religious fervor to blind us to the essential fact that no religious faith is secure when it meshes its authority with that of the state.” [NYT obit for McCollum] (see January 26, 1946)

September 10 Peace Love Art Activism

FREE SPEECH

September 10, 1963: a New York state court ruled on this day that “trashy” novels “have a place in our society,” and deserved the same constitutional protection as recognized literary classics.

The judge dismissed obscenity charges against three book distributors and their executives charged with selling obscene publications. He agreed that the 25 books in question were “poor writings, bad in taste, profane, offensive, disgusting and plain unvarnished trash.” Nonetheless, he ruled, they are entitled to First Amendment protection. [Today In Civil Liberties article] (see January 6, 1964)

September 10 Peace Love Art Activism

September 10 Music et al

You Can’t Hurry Love

September 10, 1966, the Supremes’ ”You Can’t Hurry Love” is Billboard #1 single.

Revolver

September 10 – October 21, 1966: Revolver became Billboard’s #1 album. Released in the US on August 8, Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic wrote: All the rules fell by the wayside with Revolver, as the Beatles began exploring new sonic territory, lyrical subjects, and styles of composition. It wasn’t just Lennon and McCartney, either — Harrison staked out his own dark territory with the tightly wound, cynical rocker “Taxman”; the jaunty yet dissonant “I Want to Tell You”; and “Love You To,” George‘s first and best foray into Indian music. Such explorations were bold, yet they were eclipsed by Lennon‘s trippy kaleidoscopes of sound.

Side 1

“Taxman” (George Harrison)
“Eleanor Rigby”
“Love You To” (Harrison)
“Here, There and Everywhere”
“Yellow Submarine”
“She Said She Said”

Side 2

“Good Day Sunshine”
“For No One”
“I Want to Tell You” (Harrison)
“Got to Get You into My Life”
“Tomorrow Never Knows”

From Rolling Stone magazine: Revolver signaled that in popular music, anything – any theme, any musical idea – could now be realized. And, in the case of the Beatles, would be. (see Sept 26)

September 10 Peace Love Art Activism

Vietnam & Cultural Milestone

September 10, 1967: the second season of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Show begins with Pete Seeger appearing for the first time in 17 years since his 1950s blacklisting. He sang Waist Deep in the Big Muddy, but CBS dropped the performance when Seeger refused to edit the obviously anti-Viet Nam sentiments the old song presented. (CM, see Sept 17; Seeger, see February 25, 1968; Vietnam, see Sept 27)

September 10 Peace Love Art Activism

Dissolution of the USSR

September 10, 1989: thousands of East Germans cross the Austria-Hungary frontier after Budapest waived border restrictions amid the largest legal exodus from eastern Europe since 1945.Video on East German exodus (see USSR for expanded chronology)

September 10 Peace Love Art Activism

Stop and Frisk Policy

September 10, 2008: a judge ordered that New York City and the NYPD turn over all UF-250 (stop-and-frisk) data for the past 10 years.

By December 2008, 531,159 police had stopped New Yorkers. 271,602 were black (51 percent); 167,111 were Latino (32 percent); 57,407 were white (11 percent) (see May 1, 2009)

September 10 Peace Love Art Activism

LGBTQ

Alan Turing

September 10, 2009: British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, made an official public apology on behalf of the British government for the way in which Turing was treated after the war. The statement read, in part: Thousands of people have come together to demand justice for Alan Turing and recognition of the appalling way he was treated. While Turing was dealt with under the law of the time, and we can’t put the clock back, his treatment was of course utterly unfair, and I am pleased to have the chance to say how deeply sorry I and we all are for what happened to him. Alan and the many thousands of other gay men who were convicted, as he was convicted, under homophobic laws, were treated terribly. full statement[] (Turing, see December, 2011; LGBTQ, see Oct 28)

September 10 Peace Love Art Activism

Terry Jones

September 10, 2010: Jones told NBC’s “Today” show that he will cancel Koran burning if he could meet with Rauf. Rauf insists no meeting has been planned with Jones and that he is committed to meeting with anyone “seriously committed to pursuing peace.” [Reuters article] (see Sept 11)

September 10 Peace Love Art Activism

Native Americans & Voting Rights

September 10, 2015: Alaska agreed to provide increased language assistance for voters who speak Yup’ik and Gwich’in. Natalie Landreth with the Native American Rights Fund said: “The choices that were made in the settlement open the door for Alaska Native access to the polls in a way that we have not seen before.”

Landreth said that the centerpiece of the settlement was translating the state’s official election pamphlet into Gwich’in and up to six different dialects of Yup’ik.

The pamphlet contains pre-election information on how to vote, biographical information on candidates and ballot measures. [Alaska Public article] (NA, see August 1, 2016; voting suit, see August 16 2016)

Native Americans & Environmental Issues

September 10, 2016: the federal government ordered work to stop on one segment of the project in North Dakota and asked the Texas-based company building it to “voluntarily pause” action on a wider span that an American Indian tribe says holds sacred artifacts.

The government’s order came minutes after a judge had rejected a request by the Standing Rock Sioux to halt construction of the $3.8 billion, four-state pipeline.

The tribe, whose cause drew thousands to join their protest, had challenged the Army Corps of Engineers’ decision to grant permits for the pipeline at more than 200 water crossings. Tribal leaders alleged that the project violated several federal laws and wouldharm water supplies. The tribe also said ancient sites had been disturbed during construction. [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article] (NA, & EI, see Dec 4)

September 10 Peace Love Art Activism

Immigration History

Unaccompanied alien children

September 10, 2019: the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG)’s new report found the Trump administration’s policy changes in 2018 exacerbated the mental health needs of “unaccompanied alien children” in their custody. The unaccompanied alien children in this study were overwhelmingly asylum seekers from Central America.

The OIG found two particular policies — separating children from their parents and prolonging the time children are in custody — were especially harmful to the children’s mental health. (see Sept 11)

Census 2020

September 10, 2020: a special three-judge court in New York blocked the Trump administration’s efforts to make an unprecedented change to who is included in the census numbers that determine each state’s share of seats in Congress.

The president, the court concluded, cannot leave unauthorized immigrants out of that specific count.

The decision comes after the July release of a memorandum by President Trump that directs Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who oversees the U.S. Census Bureau, to provide Trump with information needed to exclude immigrants who are living in the United States without authorization from the apportionment count.

The panel of judges — including U.S. Circuit Judge Richard Wesley, Circuit Judge Peter Hall and District Judge Jesse Furman — noted the president does have some direction over the census and how the results of the count are used for reapportionment. But that authority, which is delegated from Congress, is limited.

A “tabulation of total population” is what the commerce secretary is directed to report to the president from the once-a-decade census, under Title 13 of the U.S. Code. According to Title 2, the president, in turn, is supposed to hand off to Congress “a statement showing the whole number of persons in each State.” [NPR article] (next IH, see Oct 1; next Census, see Sept 25)