August 22 Peace Love Art Activism

BLACK HISTORY

Slave Revolts

August 22, 1791: Haiti slave revolt. Former slave Toussaint L’Ouverture led a slave revolt in Haiti, West Indies. He is captured in 1802, but the revolt continues and Haitian independence is declared. Southerners are terrified by these events as they discourage the importation of slaves into the United States. [Black Past article] (BH, see February 12, 1793; SR, see August 30, 1800)

Nat Turner

August 22, 1831: Nat Turner decided to march toward Jerusalem, the closest town. By then word of the rebellion had gotten out to the whites; confronted by a group of militia, the rebels scattered, and Turner’s force became disorganized. After spending the night near some slave cabins, Turner and his men attempted to attack another house, but were repulsed. One slave was killed and many escaped, including Turner.

In the end, the rebels had stabbed, shot and clubbed at least 55 white people to death.Turner escaped and remained free for nearly two months.

In those two months though, the militia and white vigilantes instituted a reign of terror over slaves in the region. Hundreds of blacks were killed. White Virginians panicked over fears of a larger slave revolt and soon instituted more restrictive laws regulating slave life. (next BH, see Sept 21; see NT for expanded Turner chronology)

August 22 Peace Love Art Activism

DEATH PENALTY

August 22, 1924: the famed attorney Clarence Darrow gave a celebrated closing argument in the trial of Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb, on trial for the murder of Bobby Franks in Chicago. The Leopolds were two highly intellectual sons of wealthy parents who committed the murder to see if they could commit the perfect crime. Darrow’s closing argument lasted for an incredible 12 hours as he pleaded that the defendants not be sentenced to death. (He did not argue that they were innocent.) Darrow was a passionate and longtime opponent of the death penalty.

At the end of his argument, the judge was in tears, and he then sentenced the two to life in prison. [Smithsonian article] (see May 1, 1932)

August 22 Peace Love Art Activism

US Labor History & Feminism

August 22, 1945: five flight attendants form the Airline Stewardesses Association, the first labor union representing flight attendants. They were reacting to an industry in which women were forced to retire at the age of 32, remain single, and adhere to strict weight, height and appearance requirements. The association later became the Association of Flight Attendants, now a division of the Communications Workers of America. [CWA article]

Post-war strikes

In 1946, workers struck to win wage increases in the face of postwar inflation. The wave of strikes was the worst since 1919 and included general strikes in Hartford, Houston, Oakland, and other cities. (see Jan 16)

BLACK HISTORY & Feminism

In 1946, The Women’s Political Council formed as a civic organization for African-American professional women in Montgomery, Alabama. It was inspired by the Atlanta Neighborhood Union. Many of its middle-class women were active in education; most of WPC’s members were educators at Alabama State College or Montgomery’s public schools. About forty women attended the first organizational meeting. Mary Fair Burks, who was head of Alabama State’s English department, was the group’s first president.  [Black Past article] (Feminism, see July 9, 1947)

August 22 Peace Love Art Activism

Voting Rights

19th Amendment

August 22, 1973: after voting to ratify the 1920 amendment in 1969, South Carolina certified the 19^th Amendment. (Feminism, see September 20, 1973; Voting Rights, see August 22, 1978)

District of Columbia Voting Rights Amendment

August 22, 1978: Congress passed as a resolution the District of Columbia Voting Rights Amendment, which proposed to give the District full representation in the United States Congress, full representation in the Electoral College system, and full participation in the process by which the U.S. Constitution is amended.

August 22, 1986: the deadline for the District of Columbia Voting Rights Amendment passed. It required the approval of lawmakers in at least 38 of the 50 states. It was ratified by the legislatures of only 16 states (see June 30, 1995):

• New Jersey on Sept 11, 1978
• Michigan on December 13, 1978
• Ohio on December 21, 1978
• Minnesota on March 19, 1979
• Massachusetts on Mar 19, 1979
• Connecticut on April 11, 1979

• Connecticut on April 11, 1979
• Wisconsin on November 1, 1979
• Maryland on March 19, 1980
• Hawaii on April 17, 1980
• Oregon on July 6, 1981
• Maine on February 16, 1983

• West Virginia on Feb 23, 1983
• Rhode Island on May 13, 1983
• Iowa on January 19, 1984
• Louisiana on June 24, 1984
• Delaware on June 28, 1984

US Labor History, Feminism & Nuclear/Chemical News

August 22, 1986: The Kerr-McGee Corp. agreed to pay the estate of the late Karen Silkwood $1.38 million, settling a 10-year-old nuclear contamination lawsuit. She was a union activist who died in 1974 under suspicious circumstances on her way to talk to a reporter about safety concerns at her plutonium fuel plant in Oklahoma. [Legacy dot com article] (LH, & Feminism, see Oct 6; Nuclear, see February 28, 1987)

August 22 Peace Love Art Activism

Vietnam

Opposition estimation

August 22, 1962: Kennedy administration officials quoted in The New York Times estimated that there were 20,000 guerrilla troops in South Vietnam. Despite hundreds of engagements during the preceding two months and encouraging victories for South Vietnamese forces, the Viet Cong (aka, National Liberation Front) had grown in numbers, and U.S. officials felt that the war had reached a point of stalemate. (see Dec 2)

1972 Republican National Convention

August 22, 1972: the Republican National Convention in Miami Beach, Florida renominated President Nixon and Vice President Agnew for a second term. 3,000 antiwar demonstrators, many painted with death masks harassed delegates entering the Convention. The rest of the convention was marked by demonstrations outside the meeting hall; police arrested hundreds of protesters and injured many. (see Sept 17)

August 22 Peace Love Art Activism

August 22 Music et al

Beatles

Cavern performance filmed

August 22, 1962: Granada Television filmed The Beatles during a lunchtime gig at Liverpool’s Cavern Club for the show “Know The North”. It would be their very first filmed performance. However, it was not aired at the time. At the end of one song, fans can be heard shouting “We want Pete!” in reference to drummer Pete Best, who’d just been kicked out of the group. (see Aug 23)

Where Did Our Love Go

August 22 – September 14, 1964: “Where Did Our Love Go” by The Supremes #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, their first of 13 #1 songs in the 1960s.

see Ringo leaves for more

August 22, 1968: tensions had been building within The Beatles for some time during the recording of the White Album. On this day matters came to a head, and Ringo  left the group. Later, Ringo stated. “While we were recording the ‘White’ album we ended up being more of a band again, and that’s what I always love. I love being in a band. Of course, I must have moments of turmoil, because I left the group for a while that summer. (Beatles, see Aug 23; Ringo, see Sept 3)

Beatles final photo session

August 22, 1969: The Beatles met at John Lennon’s Tittenhurst Park home in England for their final ever photo session. Three shots from this session (by Ethan Russell) formed the front and back covers of the Capitol compilation album Hey Jude. Yoko Ono and a pregnant Linda McCartney (she was to give birth to daughter Mary six days later) appeared in some photographs with The Beatles (see Sept 13)

Philadelphia Folk Festival

August 22 – 24: a few of the many performers: Rev. Gary Davis, Eric Anderssen, Sir Douglas Quintet, Incredible String Band, Odetta, and many others.

Vancouver Pop Festival

August 22, 1969: Vancouver Pop Festival, (Squamish, BC) (see Aug 30) (see Vancouver for expanded story)

Parole denial

August 22, 2012: Mark Chapman, 57, denied parole for a seventh time, Chapman has been given a parole hearing every two years since 2000 and has been turned down each time. [ABC News story] (see February 16, 2013)

August 22 Peace Love Art Activism

Fair Housing

August 22, 1974: The Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 enacted. It amended the Housing Act of 1937 to create Section 8 housing [rent supplement] , authorized “Entitlement Communities Grants” to be awarded by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, and created the National Institute of Building Sciences. Under Section 810 of the Act the first federal Urban Homesteading program was created. [HUD article] (see April 20, 1976)

August 22 Peace Love Art Activism

SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE

August 22, 2003: Alabama suspended its chief justice, Roy Moore,  for his refusal to obey a federal court order to remove his Ten Commandments monument from the rotunda of his courthouse. [AP story] (see Aug 28)

August 22 Peace Love Art Activism

Native Americans

August 22, 2017: Yale University announced that it would remove a “problematic” doorway stone carving that depicted a Puritan settler aiming a musket at a Native American, a decision that follows criticism for initially covering up the musket with removable stonework.

Critics, including right-leaning media, had accused Yale, of whitewashing history and being too politically correct. The university in February decided to rename Calhoun College because its namesake — 19th century alumnus and former U.S. Vice President John C. Calhoun — was an ardent supporter of slavery.

Yale had been under fire for decades for refusing to rename Calhoun College, with advocates insisting the name was racially insensitive.

The stone carving would be move to another location and remain available for public viewing and study, The temporary stonework covering the musket would be removed after the relocation. [Toronto Sun article] (see Oct 29)

August 22 Peace Love Art Activism

Environmental Issues

August 22, 2018:  the Trump administration proposed replacing a signature Obama-era policy to combat climate change with a weaker plan that would let states write their own rules on coal-fired power plants, prompting critics to warn of dire environmental and health consequences.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposal would require states to submit plans for improving efficiency of coal-fired power plants. The federal government would set carbon emission guidelines, but states would have the leeway to set less-stringent standards, taking into account a facility’s age and the cost of upgrades.

Documents released showed the EPA estimated carbon dioxide emissions would be higher than under the Obama policy, while pollution-related premature deaths, hospital admissions, asthma cases and school absence days could be higher by 2030. (see Oct 8)

August 22 Peace Love Art Activism

August 21 Peace Love Art Activism

BLACK HISTORY

Slave Revolts

August 21 – 22, 1831: inspired by the success of a Haitian revolution in 1790 that freed the island’s slaves and threw off French rule, Nat Turner’s rebellion was the most successful of all slave revolts. Turner, a slave preacher, inspired fellow slaves with his apocalyptic visions of white and black angels fighting in heaven. He gathered up his seven original followers and, without the organization or planning of Prosser and Vesey, launched his rebellion by entering his owner’s home and killing the entire family, save for a small infant. They moved from one farm to the next, killing all slave-owning whites they found. As they progressed through Southampton county, other slaves joined in the rebellion.

The next day, Turner and his eighty followers were intercepted by the state militia. In the confrontation that followed, Turner escaped and remained free for nearly two months. In those two months though, the militia and white vigilantes instituted a reign of terror over slaves in the region. Hundreds of blacks were killed. White Virginians panicked over fears of a larger slave revolt and soon instituted more restrictive laws regulating slave life. Turner and his followers were captured on October 30 Following his discovery, capture, and arrest, Turner was interviewed in his jail cell by Thomas Ruffin Gray, a wealthy South Hampton lawyer and slave owner. The resulting extended essay, “The Confessions of Nat Turner, The Leader of the Late Insurrection in South Hampton, VA.,” was used against Turner during his trial.  [Documenting the American South article] (see Nov 10)

Samuel Wilbert Tucker

August 21, 1939: five African-American men recruited and trained by African-American attorney Samuel Wilbert Tucker conducted a sit-in at the then-segregated Alexandria, Va., library and were arrested after being refused library cards. [2014 Alexandria Times article]  (see February 29, 1940)

Emmett Till

August 21, 1955:  Till arrived in Money, Mississippi, to stay at the home of his great uncle Moses Wright. (see Till for the rest of the story)

Black Panthers

August 21, 1971: San Quentin Prison guards shot and killed George Jackson, Black Panther member and writer of Soledad Brother during an escape attempt. He had been imprisoned in 1961 for an armed robbery (robbing a gas station at gunpoint) and at age 18 was sentenced to serve one year to life in prison. He had remained in prison because of his behavior while there.  (BH, see Aug 30; BP, see March 28, 1972 )

Vernon Dahmer

August 21, 1998: a jury convicted Imperial Wizard Sam Bowers of ordering the Klan’s 1966 killing of Vernon Dahmer in Hattiesburg, Miss. Bowers was sentenced to life in prison, where he died in 2006.  [NYT obit] (BH, see Sept 13; Dahmer, see January 8, 2016)

August 21 Peace Love Art Activism

Vietnam

Tourane

August 21, 1858: 2,500 French troops attack Tourane [now Da Nang] to protect French missionaries and other nationals already there. Fighting will continue until 1862. [Alpha History article] (see June 5, 1862)

South Vietnam Leadership

August 21, 1963: after promising outgoing US Ambassador Frederick Nolting that he (President Diem) would take no further repressive steps against the Buddhists and before the new American ambassador, Henry Cabot Lodge, arrived, President Diem and his brother Ngô Đình Nhu (Diem’s chief political adviser) ordered that phone lines of all the senor American officials in Saigon be cut and then sent out hundreds of their Special Forces into pagodas of Saigon, Hue, and other cities. More than fourteen hundred monks and nuns, students, and ordinary citizens were rounded up and taken away. Martial law was imposed, public meetings forbidden, and troops were authorized to shoot anyone found on the streets after nine o’clock. (V & SLV, see Aug 24)

Catholic Left

August 21, 1971:  antiwar protesters associated with the Catholic Left raid draft offices in Buffalo, New York, and Camden, New Jersey, to confiscate and destroy draft records. [NYT article]  (see Sept 9)

August 21 Peace Love Art Activism

Pledge of Allegiance

August 21, 1952: the Supreme Council of the Knights of Columbus at its annual meeting adopted a resolution urging that the change be made universal and copies of this resolution were sent to the President, the Vice President (as Presiding Officer of the Senate) and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. (see Pledge for expanded story)

August 21 Peace Love Art Activism

August 21 Music et al

see Juvenile Delinquency and Crime Commission for more

August 21, 1955: the Juvenile Delinquency and Crime Commission in Houston, Texas, claimed success on this day in its anti-rock and roll crusade. The effort involved pressuring radio stations not to play recordings with “lewd or suggestive” lyrics. All nine Houston radio stations were cooperating. Almost all of the artists on the Commission’s list were black. (next Fear of Rock, see Aug 26)

Out of Our Heads

August 21 – September 10, 1965: The Rolling Stones’ Out of Our Heads Billboard #1 album.

see Bullfrog II Festival for more

August 21, 22, and 23: Bullfrog II Festival, held on the Pelletier Farm, St Helens, Oregon.

August 21 Peace Love Art Activism

Native Americans

Alcatraz Takeover

August 21, 1970: the group of Indians who had occupied Alcatraz Island for nine months “exposed” their weapons–one bow and two toy pistols–and then threw the toy pistols into the waters of the San Francisco Bay. (see Nov 21)

Leonard Peltier

August 21, 1987: the State Department said that Leonard Peltier, was a ”convicted criminal” and criticized the Soviet Union for considering his request for political asylum.  Supporters on the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee, have said his case is a human rights issue. Dacajeweiah, a Peltier supporter, told reporters that the committee had had no indication that the United States would free him to go to the Soviet Union if asylum was granted.  [www.whoisleonardpeltier.info article] (Peltier, see December 31, 1991; Native Americans, see June 29, 1988)

August 21 Peace Love Art Activism

Dissolution of the USSR

INDEPENDENCE DAY

August 21, 1991:  Latvia declares its independence from the Soviet Union. [Washington Post article] (see Aug 24)

August 21 Peace Love Art Activism

Iraq War II

August 21, 2006:  President George W Bush acknowledged Iraq had “nothing” to do with 9/11. [Think Progress article] (see Aug 29)

August 21 Peace Love Art Activism

LGBTQ

August 21, 2009: leaders of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America voted to lift a ban that prohibited sexually active gays and lesbians from serving as ministers. [PBS article]  (see Sept 10)

August 21 Peace Love Art Activism

TERRORISM

August 21, 2014: Thomas Windell Smith, 24, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to violate housing rights. Smith was sentenced to serve five years probation including eight months of home confinement after pleading guilty last year to burning a cross in a black neighborhood in Ozark. Smith admitted that he and Steven Joshua Dinkle burned the cross at the entrance of a black community on May 8, 2009 to intimidate the residents.

Dinkle reportedly used materials from his home to build the wooden 6-foot cross and wrapped it with cloth. He and Smith transported the cross to the black neighborhood, poured fuel on it and set it on fire in view of several houses.

Dinkle, the former Exalted Cyclops of the Ozark chapter of the International Keystone Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, received a two-year prison sentence for the offense.

Dinkle’s mother, Pamela Morris, was also charged with impeding the investigation. [AL dot com article] (Terrorism, see January 23, 2015; Morris, see February 6, 2015)

August 21 Peace Love Art Activism

Immigration History

Release of children

August 21, 2015: on July 24 federal judge Dolly M. Gee of Federal District Court for the Central District of California gave the Obama administration two months to change its detention practices to ensure the rapid release of children and their parents caught crossing the border illegally.

Her opinion last month found that the administration had violated the terms of a 1997 court-ordered settlement governing the treatment of unaccompanied children — minors who tried to enter illegally without a parent. The judge determined that the settlement, in a case known as Flores, covered all children in immigration detention, including those held with a parent.

After considering final arguments from both sides, federal judge Dolly M. Gee of Federal District Court for the Central District of California on this date issued an order to put her ruling into effect. She ordered the administration to release children “without unnecessary delay” to a parent or other relative in the United States and, in a significant new mandate, to release the parent as well unless that person posed a flight risk or a threat to national security. The settlement requires the release of children from secure detention within five days.

Judge Gee also prohibited the administration from holding children in secure facilities that are not licensed to care for minors. She ordered the Border Patrol to upgrade the “deplorable” conditions in its front-line stations to ensure a “safe and sanitary” environment for children. She said the new measures must be in place by Oct. 23. (see Sept 4)

Indefinite holding of children

August 21, 2019: the Trump administration unveiled a regulation that would allow it to detain indefinitely migrant families who cross the border illegally, replacing a decades-old court agreement that imposed a limit on how long the government could hold migrant children in custody and specified the level of care they must receive.

The White House has for more than a year pressed the Department of Homeland Security to replace the agreement, known as the Flores settlement, a shift that the administration sais is crucial to halt immigration across the southwestern border. (see Sept 2)

August 21 Peace Love Art Activism