They call, they call me the fat man ‘Cause I weight two hundred pounds All the girls they love me ‘Cause I know my way around
I was standin’, I was standin’ on the corner Of Rampart and Canal I was watchin’, watchin’ Watchin’ all these creole gals
December 10, 1949: Fats Domino recorded his first sides for Imperial Records. He recorded The Fat Man, one of the earliest rock and roll records. The title also turned into Domino’s nickname and stayed with him through his years of success.
Domino sang and played piano, along with Earl Palmer on drums, Frank Fields on string bass, Ernest McLean on guitar, and sax players Herbert Hardesty, Clarence Hall, Joe Harris, and Alvin “Red” Tyler.
On February 18, 1950 it reached number two on the R&B Singles chart. It was Domino’s debut single, the B-Side being “Detroit City Blues”. Imperial advertising claimed it sold 10,000 copies in New Orleans in 10 days, and the record became a national hit in late January 1950. It sold one million copies by 1953
December 10 Music et al
Beatles
John Lennon leaves Hamburg
December 10, 1960: John Lennon traveled back to England by train and boat. Stuart Sutcliffe continued stay in Hamburg which effectively ended of his time in The Beatles. (see February 9, 1961)
CBS/Beatles
December 10, 1963: CBS aired the four-minute segment on The Beatles on Walter Cronkite’s CBS Evening News. The Kennedy assassination had been pre-empted the segment’s original air date.
December 10 Music et al
Grateful Dead & Rock Venues
December 10, 1965: the San Francisco Fillmore auditorium held its first rock ‘n’ roll concert (thanks to promoter Bill Graham), a benefit for the San Francisco Mime Troupe. Unbilled but also playing that night: the Grateful Dead, having just changed its name from the Warlocks. (RV, see January 8, 1966; GD, see January 22, 1966)
December 10 – 16, 1966: “Good Vibrations” by the Beach Boys #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The John Sinclair Freedom Rally
Exactly 8 years later, on December 10, 1971 John Lennon, now a solo artist after the Beatle breakup, headlined The John Sinclair Freedom Rally, a protest and concert in response the imprisonment of John Sinclair whom the courts gave ten years in prison for the possession of two marijuana cigarettes. The concert was held in Crisler Arena at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Two days after the event, Sinclair was released.
It ain’t fair, John Sinclair
In the stir for breathing air
Won’t you care for John Sinclair?
In the stir for breathing air
Let him be, set him free
Let him be like you and me
They gave him ten for two
What else can the judges do?
December 10 Music et al
Bob Dylan
December 10, 2016: Bob Dylan did not attend the Nobel Banquet in the Stockholm City Hall. Azita Raji, the United States Ambassador to Sweden, gave an acceptance speech in his place. (NYT article)(see June 4, 2017)
December 10, 1869: motivated more by interest in free publicity than a commitment to gender equality, Wyoming territorial legislators passed a bill that is signed into law granting women the right to vote. Western states led the nation in approving women’s suffrage, but some of them had other motives. Though some men recognized the important role women played in frontier settlement, others voted for women’s suffrage only to bolster the strength of conservative voting blocks. In Wyoming, some men were also motivated by sheer loneliness–in 1869, the territory had over 6,000 adult males and only 1,000 females, and area men hoped women would be more likely to settle in the rugged and isolated country if they were granted the right to vote. (Voting Rights, see February 3, 1870)
Matilda Josyln Gage
In 1870 Gage researched and published “Woman as Inventor.” In it, Gage credited the invention of the cotton gin to a woman, Catherine Littlefield Greene. Gage claimed that Greene suggested to Whitney the use of a brush-like component instrumental in separating out the seeds and cotton. [Gage provided no source for this claim and to date there has been no independent verification of Greene’s role in the invention of the gin. However, many believe that Eli Whitney received the patent for the gin and the sole credit in history textbooks for its invention only because social norms inhibited women from registering for patents.] During this same time Gage wrote a series of articles speaking out against United States’ unjust treatment of American Indians and describing superior position of native women. “The division of power between the sexes in this Indian republic was nearly equal,” Gage wrote of the Iroquois. In matters of government, “…its women exercised controlling power in peace and war … no sale of lands was valid without consent” of the women, while “the family relation among the Iroquois demonstrated woman’s superiority in power … in the home, the wife was absolute … if the Iroquois husband and wife separated, the wife took with her all the property she had brought … the children also accompanied the mother, whose right to them was recognized as supreme.” “Never was justice more perfect, never civilization higher,” Gage concluded. (next Feminism, see February 3, 1870; Native Americans, see June 18; see Gage for her expanded chronology)
Equal Rights Amendment
December 10, 1923: The Equal Rights Amendment, drafted by Alice Paul, introduced in the Senate. It read, “Men and women shall have equal rights throughout the United States and every place subject to its jurisdiction.” Although the amendment will be introduced in every session of Congress, it will not reach the floor of the House of Representatives for a vote until 1971.(see January 14, 1927)
Jane Addams
December 10, 1931: Jane Addams became the first American woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize; the co-recipient was Nicholas Murray Butler. (January 12, 1932)
Janice R. Lachance
December 10, 1997: with the swearing in of Janice R. Lachance as Director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management on this day, the total number of women appointed to President Clinton’s Cabinet reached 13, the highest number in any presidential cabinet in US history. (see March 4, 1998)
Shirin Ebadi
December 10, 2003: Iranian democracy activist Shirin Ebadi, the first Muslim woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize, accepted the award in Oslo, Norway. (see January 26, 2005)
December 10 Peace Love Art Activism
BLACK HISTORY
Charles Lewis lynched
December 10, 1897: in Lawrence County, Mississippi a white family was found murdered. A surviving 5-year-old child claimed a black man did it. Officials brought several black male “suspects” before her and she identified one — a man named Charles Lewis — as the perpetrator. A mob of hundreds immediately formed and lynched Lewis.
Although early accounts alleged only one perpetrator, the white community was unsatisfied to lynch only one man, and continued to “investigate” the white family’s murders. [EJI article] (next BH, see Dec 15; see 19th century for expanded lynching chronology)
Ralph Bunche
December 10, 1950: for his peace mediation during the first Arab-Israeli war, American diplomat Ralph Joseph Bunche received the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway. Bunche was the first African American to win the prestigious award.(see January 20, 1951)
Humboldt Black Players Secregated
December 10, 1960, Black college football players from California’s Humboldt State College were banned from “mixing” with white people during their stay in Florida for the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) National Championship Football Game. After an undefeated season, the racially integrated team earned the right to compete in the Holiday Bowl on December 10 in St. Petersburg, Florida, for the national title. However, segregated facilities forbade Humboldt State’s Black players from sleeping under the same roof as their white teammates. [EJI article] (next BH, see January 6, 1961)
Freedom Riders
December 10, 1961: nine Freedom Riders from Atlanta arrived at the Albany Trailways bus terminal and were met by a crowd of approximately three hundred black onlookers and a squad of Albany policemen. Albany Police Chief Laurie Pritchett arrested the riders without incident, telling the press that white Albany would “not stand for these troublemakers coming into our city for the sole purpose of disturbing the peace and quiet in the city of Albany.” (BH, AM, & FR, see December 11)
Martin Luther King, Jr
December 10, 1964: Martin Luther King, Jr received Nobel Peace Prize. In his acceptance speech, King said, “I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality.” (BH, see Dec 12; MLK, see Dec 28)
Frank Morris burned to death
December 10, 1964: the Ku Klux Klan set fire to the business of Frank Morris, a 51-year-old African-American in Ferriday, Louisiana. Morris died four days. He had been asleep in the back of his shoe shop when he heard glass breaking shortly after midnight. Out front he saw two men, one pouring gasoline on the outside of the building, the other holding a shotgun. Morris yelled, “Hey, stop that!” Suddenly, the building was ignited, and Morris was in a sea of flame and smoke. The man with the shotgun blocked his escape through the front door as he pointed the barrel at Morris while shouting, “Get back in there, nigger!”
Two police officers arrived just seconds after Morris’s attackers fled. They watched Morris emerge from the back of the building completely in flames—naked, bleeding, exhausted—leaving behind a trail of bloody footprints. Skin peeled and fell from his body. Morris’s hair was ablaze, the waistband of his boxer shorts and the shoulder straps of his undershirt smoldering. Morris said he didn’t know his attackers.
The FBI agent who rushed to the hospital within hours of the arson said, “If Frank would have told me who they [his attackers] were, we would have gone after the sons of bitches.” Morris’s friends believed he knew his attackers but was afraid to identify them. No one was prosecuted. (see Dec 14)
March to Montgomery
On March 11, 1965 James J. Reeb had died in a hospital in Birmingham, Alabama after White supremacists had beat him in Selma, AL following the second march from Selma.
On December 10, 1965, Elmer Cook, O’Neal Hoggle, and his brother Willam Hoggle were acquitted of the murder of Rev James J Reeb. The all-white jury deliberated 90 minutes. (BH, see January 3, 1966; see March for expanded chronology)
December 10, 1996: Mandela signed into law a new democratic constitution, completing the country’s transition from white-minority rule to a non-racial democracy. (SA/A, see January 28, 1997; NM, see June 16, 1999)
Antwon Rose
December 10, 2018: NBC news reported that the parents of Antwon Rose, who East Pittsburgh police officer Officer Michael Rosfeld fatally shot when as Rose fled a traffic stop, sued Rosfeld’s former employer — the University of Pittsburgh — for failing to properly discipline him or record performance issues in his personnel file.
In the lawsuit filed in Allegheny County, the Rose’s parents said the university allowed Rosfeld to resign quietly without putting any notice in his personnel file that there had been issues with at least one arrest. The University had hired Rosfeld as a university police officer in 2012, was suspended in December 2017, and resigned a few weeks. (B & S, see Dec 14; AR, see January 11, 2019)
December 10 Peace Love Art Activism
US Labor History
December 10, 1906: first sit-down strike in U.S. called by International Workers of the World at General Electric in Schenectady, N.Y.(see April 4, 1907)
December 10 Peace Love Art Activism
LGBTQ
December 10, 1924: Henry Gerber founded The Society for Human Rights in Chicago. The society was the first gay rights organization as well as the oldest documented in America.
After receiving a charter from the state of Illinois, the society published the first American publication for homosexuals, Friendship and Freedom. Soon after its founding, the society disbanded due to political pressure.(see June 23, 1945)
December 10 Peace Love Art Activism
FREE SPEECH
December 10, 1948: Chicago authorities banned The Respectful Prostitute, a play by Jean-Paul Sartre. Chicago theater and film censor Harry Fulmer argued that the play would offend African-Americans. The play involves an incident that occurred on a train where an African-American man was falsely accused of attacking a white woman, when in fact a white man perpetrated the attack. National NAACP Director Walter White gave the play his “unqualified endorsement” but was unsuccessful in preventing the ban. (next FS, see following; next BH, Dec 14)
Book burning
December 10, 1948: most of the 500 students at St. Patrick’s School in Binghamton, NY, on this day stood and watched as the school burned 10,000 comic books as part of a “purity” crusade. The Bishop of the Catholic Diocese, as part of the crusade, urged parish members to “boycott” stores that sold magazines with “indecent pictures and sensational details of crime.” The comic books were burned in a courtyard behind the school. The event was part of a national panic over comic books in the 1950s regarding their alleged impact on juvenile delinquency.(see March 8, 1949)
December 10 Peace Love Art Activism
Cold War
December 10, 1949: Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek, longtime American ally and leader of the anticommunist Chinese Nationalists, fled mainland China to organize the Republic of China on the island of Taiwan. (NYT article) (see January 21, 1950)
December 10 Peace Love Art Activism
Technological Milestone
December 10, 1959: a National Airlines Boeing 707 with 111 passengers flew from New York to Miami. It was the first domestic passenger jet flight. (see February 7, 1960)
December 10, 1949: Fats Domino recorded his first sides for Imperial Records. He recorded The Fat Man, one of the earliest rock and roll records. The title also turned into Domino’s nickname and stayed with him through his years of success. (see January 3, 1950)
John Lennon leaves Hamburg
December 10, 1960: John Lennon traveled back to England by train and boat. Stuart Sutcliffe continued stay in Hamburg, , effectively signified the end of his time in The Beatles. (see Beatles Deported for expanded chronology)
CBS/Beatles
December 10, 1963: CBS-TV aired a four-minute segment on The Beatles that had been pre-empted by the JFK tragedy. (see Dec 17)
Grateful Dead & Rock Venues
December 10, 1965: the San Francisco Fillmore auditorium held its first rock ‘n’ roll concert (thanks to promoter Bill Graham), a benefit for the San Francisco Mime Troupe. Unbilled but also playing that night: the Grateful Dead, having just changed its name from the Warlocks. (RV, see January 8, 1966; GD, see January 22, 1966)
December 10 – 16, 1966: “Good Vibrations” by the Beach Boys #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
John Lennon/John Sinclair
December 10, 1971: John Lennon headlined The John Sinclair Freedom Rally, a protest and concert in response the imprisonment of John Sinclair who was given ten years in prison for the possession of two marijuana cigarettes. The concert was held in Crisler Arena at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Two days after the event, Sinclair was released. (see January 1972)
Bob Dylan
December 10, 2016: Bob Dylan did not attend the Nobel Banquet in the Stockholm City Hall. Azita Raji, the United States Ambassador to Sweden, gave an acceptance speech in his place. (see June 4, 2017)
December 10 Peace Love Art Activism
Vietnam
My Lai Massacre
December 10, 1970: the defense opened its case in the murder trial of Lt. William Calley. Citing “superior’s orders,” Defense Attorney George Lattimer contended that Capt. Ernest Medina, Calley’s company commander, told his men that they were finally going to fight the enemy. He reportedly ordered “every living thing” killed. Lattimer also cited poor training of the platoon, the rage of the men who had seen their buddies killed, and the expectation of fierce resistance as additional factors contributing to the incident. The lawyer also charged that higher commanders on the ground and in the air observed the episode but did nothing. (Vietnam; see Jan 12; see My Lai for expanded chronology)
Peace Accord
December 10, 1972: technical experts on both sides began work on the language of a proposed peace accord, giving rise to hope that a final agreement is near. (see Dec 13)
December 10 Peace Love Art Activism
AIDS
December 10, 1982: CDC reported a case of AIDS in an infant who received blood transfusions. The following week, the MMWR reports 22 cases of unexplained immunodeficiency and opportunistic infections in infants. (see January 7, 1983)
December 10 Peace Love Art Activism
Immigration History
Luis Ramirez
On July 12, 2008 six white teenagers beat Mexican immigrant Luis Ramirez to death in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, while taunting him with racial slurs and threats including: “Spic,” “fucking Mexican,” and “This is Shenandoah. This is America. Go back to Mexico.” After leaving Mr. Ramirez, a 25-year-old father of two, unconscious and convulsing on the pavement, one of the attackers yelled: “Tell your fucking Mexican friends to get the fuck out of Shenandoah or you’re going to be fucking laying next to him.” Mr. Ramirez died of his injuries two days later. (see Luis Ramirez for expanded chronology)
Trump’s Wall
December 10, 2019: Judge David Briones of the US District Court for the Western District of Texas said that the administration cannot use military construction funds to build additional barriers on the southern border.
The ruling was a setback for the administration, which has sought to shore up money for the President’s signature campaign promise of a border wall, and marks yet another high-profile blow the courts have dealt Trump on key issues, including his immigration policies and his fight to not turn his tax returns over to Congress. It targeted only one set of Pentagon funds, however, leaving in place the money the Supreme Court allowed to be used earlier this year. [CNN article] (next Wall, see January 8, 2020 or see TW for expanded chronology) (next IH, see Dec 20)
December 10 Peace Love Art Activism
Marijuana
December 10, 2013: Uruguay’s Senate gave final congressional approval to create the world’s first national marketplace for legal marijuana. The government will oversee production, sales and consumption. (NYT article) (see February 6, 2014)
December 10, 2019 the annual Arctic report card stated that temperatures in the Arctic region remained near record highs in 2019. The high temperatures lead to low summer sea ice, cascading impacts on the regional food web and growing concerns over sea level rise.
Average temperatures for the year ending in September were the second highest since 1900, the year records began, scientists said. While that fell short of a new high, it fit a worrying trend: Over all, the past six years have been the warmest ever recorded in the region.
“It’s really showing that we have a system that’s under duress,” said Donald K. Perovich, a professor of engineering at the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College and the lead author of the report’s chapter on sea ice.
The results are from a peer-reviewed assessment produced by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that takes a broad look at the effects of climate change in the region and compares current findings with the historical record. [NYT article] (next EI, see Dec 20)
On May 10, 1837 in Macon, GA Pinckney Benton Stewart Pinchback, or P.B.S. as he preferred, was born the son of Eliza Stewart, an enslaved woman, and William Pinchback, her white master.
P.B.S. Pinchback and his mother were freed when he was a young child and moved to Ohio, where they lived together until his mother died when he was just 12 years old. He then traveled back to the South and found work as a cabin boy.
In 1862, Pinchback moved to Louisiana and enlisted in the Union Army, encouraging other African Americans to do the same. After the war ended, he joined the Louisiana Republican Party and, in 1868, was elected to the state legislature and chosen as President Pro Tempore of the Senate. When Louisiana’s African American lieutenant governor, Oscar Dunn, died in 1871, Pinchback was automatically promoted to lieutenant governor.
In the 1872 presidential election, Louisiana Governor Henry Clay Warmouth, a white Republican, supported Democrat Horace Greeley in his presidential race against Republican Ulysses Grant. Following President Grant’s election, the Louisiana state senate impeached Governor Warmouth, leaving Lt. Governor Pinchback to take over the office.
On December 9, 1872, P.B.S. Pinchback was sworn in as Governor of Louisiana, becoming the first black governor in United States history. He occupied the office for just 43 days, until a special election was held and Republican William Pitt Kellog elected and sworn in. The United States would not see its first elected black governor for another 118 years, when Douglas Wilder was sworn in as Governor of Virginia in 1990. (see April 13, 1873)
December 9, 1965: the government classified Joe Namath 4F and ineligible for the draft. The Army conceded that “it may seem illogical” that he should be found unfit, but as a pro football player Namath had doctors and trainers close by at every game and practice. “In the military service, these conditions wold not necessarily be present.” (Vietnam, see Dec 16; BH, see January 3, 1966; Ali, see February 17, 1966)
Jim Peck
December 9, 1983: Jim Peck was a pacifist and civil rights activist. A participant in the 1961 Freedom Rides (see May 4, 1961), he was savagely beaten by racists in Anniston, Alabama on May 14, 1961. It was later revealed that the FBI knew in advance of the plan to attack the Freedom Riders but did nothing to prevent the attack. Peck sued and, on this day, the FBI was ordered to pay him $25,000 in damages. (see September 1984)
King assassination
December 9, 1999: a Memphis jury handed down a verdict agreeing with the King family that the 1968 assassination of the civil rights leader was a conspiracy rather than the act of a lone gunman. After four weeks of testimony and one hour of deliberation, the jury in the wrongful-death case found that Loyd Jowers as well as ”others, including governmental agencies” had been part of a conspiracy. The jury awarded the King family the damages they had sought: $100, which the family says it will donate to charity. According to the Los Angeles Times, “The trial relied heavily on second- and third-hand accounts, and the judge and jurors were often seen dozing off during testimony.” John Campbell, an assistant district attorney in Memphis who was part of the criminal trial against James Earl Ray, said: “I’m not surprised by the verdict. This case overlooked so much contradictory evidence that never was presented, what other option did the jury have but to accept Mr. Pepper’s version?” Gerald Posner, an investigative journalist who wrote the book Killing the Dream in which he makes the case that Ray is the killer, said after the verdict: “It distresses me greatly that the legal system was used in such a callous and farcical manner in Memphis. If the King family wanted a rubber stamp of their own view of the facts, they got it.” (see August 29, 2000)
December 9 Peace Love Art Activism
Religion and Public Education
“Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee, and we beg Thy blessings upon us, our parents, our teachers and our Country.”
December 9, 1948: in an early stage of what would become a long struggle over religion in public schools, the New York Regents, the governing body of the state public schools, drafted a nondenominational prayer to be read in the schools. The nondenominational prayer was an attempted political compromise: a “prayer” to satisfy those who wanted a mandatory school prayer, but a nondenominational one that hopefully would not offend different religious groups.
The ACLU did not accept the compromise — because a prayer is still a prayer — and protested the “Regents’ Prayer” on this day.
On June 25, 1962, the US Supreme The Court found the New York Regents’ prayer to be unconstitutional. Justice Hugo Black wrote the opinion for the 6-1 majority: “We think that by using its public school system to encourage recitation of the Regents’ Prayer, the State of New York has adopted a practice wholly inconsistent with the Establishment Clause. There can, of course, be no doubt that New York’s program of daily classroom invocation of God’s blessings…in the Regents’ Prayer is a religious activity” (see April 28, 1952)
December 9 Peace Love Art Activism
Red Scare, McCarthyism, and the Cold War
Nuclear and Chemical Weapons
December 9, 1950: Harry Gold–who had confessed to serving as a courier between Klaus Fuchs, a British scientist who stole top-secret information on the atomic bomb, and Soviet agents–was sentenced to 30 years in jail for his crime. Gold’s arrest and confession led to the arrest of David Greenglass, who then implicated his brother-in-law and sister, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. Gold was paroled in May 1965, after serving just under half of his sentence. He died in 1972 in Philadelphia, age 62. (see Dec 16)
John Birch Society
December 9, 1958: in Indianapolis, retired Boston candy manufacturer Robert H.W. Welch, Jr., established the John Birch Society, a right-wing organization dedicated to fighting what it perceived to be the extensive infiltration of communism into American society. Welch named the society in honor of John Birch, considered by many to be the first American casualty in the struggle against communism.
In 1945, Birch, a Baptist missionary and U.S. Army intelligence specialist, was killed by Chinese communists in the northern province of Anhwei. (see January 1, 1959).
Minuteman II missile
December 9, 1993: the US Air Force destroyed the first of 500 Minuteman II missile silos marked for elimination under an arms control treaty. [UPI article] (see January 14, 1994)
December 9 Peace Love Art Activism
December 9 Music et al
The Beatles/Aldershot
December 9, 1961: The Beatles played to 18 people in Aldershot. (see Dec 13)
Beatles/Cavern recording
December 9, 1962: George Martin wanted to record their first album live at the Cavern in front of the group’s home audience. He visited the Liverpool club to consider the technicalities. Time constraints forced him to record at the EMI studio. (Beatles, see January 1, 1963; album, see February 11, 1963)
Beatles/Anthology
December 9, 1995: The Beatles’ Anthology 1 was the #1 album in the U.S. It was their sixteenth number-one album. It also set a record for the longest time span for a run of number-one albums: 31 years and 10 months between Meet the Beatles and Anthology 1. (see March 4, 1996)
The Supremes
December 9, 1963, The Supremes released their first album, Meet the Supremes. The earliest recordings on this album, done between fall 1960 and fall 1961, feature the Supremes as a quartet composed of teenagers Diane Ross, Mary Wilson, Florence Ballard, and Barbara Martin. Martin left the group in early 1962 to start a family, and the others continued as a trio. Martin is not pictured on the album because of her departure earlier in the year; although her vocals are present on the majority of the recordings on the album (as well as other recordings made during that period), she never received any royalties from album sales. Martin did have a speaking part on the song “He’s Seventeen.”
December 9, 1971: Ryan White born at St. Joseph Memorial Hospital in Kokomo, Indiana to Jeanne Elaine Hale and Hubert Wayne White, 3-day old Ryan White is diagnosed with severe Hemophilia A. (see Ryan White for expanded chronology)
December 9 Peace Love Art Activism
TERRORISM
Iran
December 9, 1984: a five-day-old hijacking ended as Iranian security men seized control of the plane, which was parked at Tehran airport.(NYT article) (see March 16, 1985)
Thomas Wendell Smith
December 9, 2013, : Thomas Windell Smith, 24, pleaded guilty to one felony count of conspiracy against rights of citizens. During his plea, Smith admitted that he and co-conspirator Steven Joshua Dinkle agreed to burn a cross together in order to intimidate black residents.(see January 23, 2014)
December 9 Peace Love Art Activism
Iran–Contra Affair
December 9, 1992: Clair George, former CIA spy chief, was convicted of lying to the U.S. Congress about the Iran-Contra affair.Before George was sentenced, the first President George HW Bush granted a full and unconditional pardon to him. (see Dec 24)
December 9 Peace Love Art Activism
LGBTQ
Hawaii/Same-sex marriage
December 9, 1999: The Hawaii Supreme Court, bound by the new restrictive constitutional amendment, dismisses the couples’ challenge and leaves standing the denial of marriage. (see Dec 20)
Native Americans
December 9, 2016: Cherokee Nation Attorney General Todd Hembree overruled the tribe’s ban on same-sex marriage. His opinion specifically said that two sections of the 2004 Cherokee Nation Marriage and Family Act were unconstitutional.
Hembree said the tribe’s constitution protected certain fundamental rights, among them the right to marry.
“The constitution affords these rights to all Cherokee citizens, regardless of sexual orientation and the Cherokee Nation, or any subdivision, must recognize validly issued civil unions, same-sex marriages, and same-sex domestic partnerships from other jurisdictions,” the opinion said. [CNN article] (LGBTQ, see Dec 22; NA, see Dec 29)
December 9 Peace Love Art Activism
Immigration History
Syrian Refugees
December 9, 2015: U.S District Judge David Godbey dismissed a request by Texas shortly after it was filed seeking a restraining order to block the imminent entry into the state of nine Syrian refugees, saying the evidence presented was “largely speculative hearsay.”
This was the second attempt by Texas to seek immediate court help to halt the refugees, with Texas saying the U.S. government had not met its legal obligation to consult with local officials about the resettlement.
“The (Texas) Commission has failed to show by competent evidence that any terrorists actually have infiltrated the refugee program, much less that these particular refugees are terrorists intent on causing harm,” said Godbey. [Reuters article] (see February 9, 2016)
Under the bill, individuals who had lived in the city for at least 30 days and were legal permanent residents in the US — including green card holders, individuals with workers permits and DACA holders — would be allowed to vote in city elections, including mayor, public advocate, borough president and city council. [CNN article] (next VR, see January 19, 2022; next IH, see March 12, 2022)
December 9 Peace Love Art Activism
Women’s Health
December 9, 2019: the US Supreme Court rejected a challenge to a Kentucky law requiring doctors to describe ultrasound images and play fetal heartbeat sound to abortion seekers.
Kentucky argued the law is “simple and straightforward,” calling it part of an” informed-consent process.” The law, Kentucky said, “does nothing more than require that women who are considering an abortion be provided with information that is truthful, non-misleading and relevant to their decision of whether to have an abortion.”
The court rejected the case without comment or noted dissent by any of the justices.
Challengers, including an abortion clinic, argued that the law forced patients to see the images even if she didn’t want to, and that it violated doctors’ First Amendment rights. [CNN story] (next WH, see Dec 13)
December 9 Peace Love Art Activism
US Labor History
December 9, 2021: the National Labor Relations Board announced that employees at a Buffalo-area Starbucks store voted to form a union, making it the only one of the nearly 9,000 company-owned stores in the United States to be organized and notching an important symbolic victory for labor at a time when workers across the country were expressing frustration with wages and working conditions.
The result represented a major challenge to the labor model at the giant coffee retailer, which had argued that its workers enjoy some of the best wages and benefits in the retail and restaurant industry and don’t need a union. [NYT article] (next LH, see April 1, 2022)
December 9 Peace Love Art Activism
What's so funny about peace, love, art, and activism?
