Category Archives: Peace Love Art and Activism

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

January 20 Peace Love Art Activism

January 20, 2017 Woodstock Whisperer 1 Comment

January 20 Peace Love Art Activism

BLACK HISTORY

Hiram Rhodes Revels

January 20, 1870: Hiram Rhodes Revels was elected to the U.S. Senate. He would become the first African American to serve in the United States Congress. Revels was elected in Mississippi to fill the vacancy left after the state’s secession from the Union prior to the Civil War.

However, when Revels later arrived in Washington, Southern Democrats determined to block his seating to the U.S. Congress. The Democrats declared his election null and void for various reasons including the fact that he was ineligible for the Senate because he was not a citizen under Dred Scott until the passage of the 14th Amendment. (biography of Revels from US House site) (BH, see Feb 3; Revels, see Feb 25)

George H White/lynching

January 20, 1900: Black Congressman, George H White from North Carolina introduced the first bill in Congress to make lynching a federal crime to be prosecuted by federal courts; it died in committee, opposed by southern white Democrats. (next BH & Lynching, see Nov 16; for for expanded chronology, see American Lynching 2)

Georgia attempts to withhold school funding

January 20, 1951: Georgia Governor Eugene Talmadge attempted to fight integration by asking the legislature to withhold funds from schools which admit black students. (see Apr 23)

James H Meredith

January 20, 1963: though he initially considered leaving because of continual harassment, James H Meredith announced that he would return to the U of Mississippi for the spring semester. (next BH, see Jan 24; Meredith, see July 9 )

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

January 20, 1986: the US observed the first federal holiday in honor of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. (see Feb 6)

Biden reverses Trump policies

January 20, 2021: On his first day in office, President Biden ended the Trump administration’s 1776 Commission, which had released a report that historians said distorted the role of slavery in the United States, among other history.

Biden also revoked Trump’s executive order limiting the ability of federal agencies, contractors and other institutions to hold diversity and inclusion training.

The president designated Susan E. Rice, the head of his Domestic Policy Council, as the leader of a “robust, interagency” effort requiring all federal agencies to make “rooting out systemic racism” central to their work. His order directed the agencies to review and report on equity in their ranks within 200 days, including a plan on how to remove barriers to opportunities in policies and programs. The order also moves to ensure that Americans of all backgrounds have equal access to federal government resources, benefits and services. It starts a data working group as well as the study of new methods to measure and assess federal equity and diversity efforts. [NYT article] (next BH, see Feb 11)

January 20 Peace Love Art Activism

BILL OF RIGHTS

January 20, 1920: American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) founded.

January 20 Peace Love Art Activism

see January 20 Music et al for more

Meet the Beatles

January 20, 1964, The Beatles before their US appearance: Meet The Beatles! released. (see Meet the Beatles! for more) (see Feb 7)

Alan Freed

January 20, 1965: Alan Freed died. Freed was the man who first played Rock and Roll on the radio and was one of the first to use the term “Rock’N’Roll” in the early 1950’s. Freed is commonly referred to as the “Father of Rock’N’Roll”. He helped bridge the gap of segregation among young teenage Americans, presenting music by African-American artists (rather than cover versions by white artists) on his radio program, and arranging live concerts attended by racially mixed audiences. Freed appeared in several motion pictures as himself. In the 1956 film Rock, Rock, Rock, Freed tells the audience that “rock and roll is a river of music that has absorbed many streams: rhythm and blues, jazz, rag time, cowboy songs, country songs, folk songs. All have contributed to the big beat.” (see January 8, 1966)

Byrds Mr Tambourine Man

January 20, 1965: The Byrds entered the studio to record “Mr Tambourine Man,” what would become the title track of their debut album and, incidentally, the only Bob Dylan song ever to reach #1 on the U.S. pop charts. Aiming consciously for a vocal style in between Bob Dylan and John Lennon, Roger McGuinn sang lead, with Gene Clark and David Crosby providing the complex harmony that would, along with McGuinn’s jangly electric 12-string Rickenbacker guitar, form the basis of the Byrds’ trademark sound. (see Mar 27)

Woody Guthrie Memorial Concert

January 20, 1968, Bob Dylan and the Band performed Woody Guthrie’s “I Ain’t Got No Home” at the Woody Guthrie Memorial Concert, Carnegie Hall. The concert was Dylan’s first public appearance since his motorcycle accident on August 20, 1966 . (see June 22)

Judy In Disguise

January 20 – Feb 2, 1968: “Judy In Disguise (With Glasses)” by John Fred & His Playboy Band #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Judy in disguise, well that’s what you are
Lemonade pies with a brand new car
Cantaloupe eyes come to me tonight
Judy in disguise, with glasses.

The Beatles inducted

January 20, 1988. Paul McCartney did not attend the ceremony, leaving surviving Beatles George Harrison and Ringo Starr, and Lennon’s widow, Yoko Ono, to be inducted by Mick Jagger. McCartney released a brief statement that read: ‘’After 20 years, the Beatles still have some business differences, which I had hoped would have been settled by now. Unfortunately, they haven’t been, so I would feel like a complete hypocrite waving and smiling with them at a fake reunion.’’ (see May 7, 1992)

January 20 Peace Love Art Activism

January 20 Inaugurations Since 1960

January 20, 1961: John F Kennedy inaugurated. [Inauguration Address]

January 20, 1965: Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in for his own full term as U.S. President. [Inauguration Address]

January 20, 1969, Richard Nixon inaugurated. [Inauguration Address]

January 20, 1973: Nixon inaugurated for his second term.[Inauguration Address]

January 20, 1977, Jimmy Carter inaugurated.[Inauguration Address]

January 20, 1981: Ronald Reagan’s first inaugurated. [Inauguration Address]

January 20, 1985: Reagan’s second inauguration. [Inauguration Address]

January 20, 1989: George H. W. Bush inaugurated the 41st President.[Inauguration Address]

January 20, 1993: Bill Clinton inaugurated first time. [Inauguration Address]

January 20, 1997, Bill Clinton is inaugurated for his second term. On the last day of his presidency, [Inauguration Address]

January 20, 2001: George W. Bush inaugurated first time. [Inauguration Address]

January 20, 2005, George W. Bush is inaugurated for his second term. [Inauguration Address]

January 20, 2009: Barack Obama inaugurated first time. [Inauguration Address]

January 20, 2013: Barack Obama inaugurated second time. [Inauguration Address]

January 20, 2017: Donald Trump inaugurated. [Inauguration Address]

January 20, 2021: Joe Biden inaugurated. [Inaugurations Address]

January 20 Peace Love Art Activism

Feminism

January 20, 1966: stewardess Judith Evenson’s challenge to the airlines’ “no marriage” policy was one of a number of cases between the mid-1960s and mid-1970s in which stewardesses challenged discriminatory policies in the industry. She eventually settled her case out of court, but subsequent challenges by other stewardesses ended this and other discriminatory policies. (F, see June 30; Labor, see June 8)

January 20 Peace Love Art Activism

Iran hostage crisis

January 20, 1981: Iran released the 52 Americans held for 444 days within minutes of Ronald Reagan’s inauguration ending the Iran hostage crisis. (NY Daily News article) (see IHC for expanded chronology)

January 20 Peace Love Art Activism

Symbionese Liberation Army

January 20, 2001: on his final day in office, President Bill Clinton issued a presidential pardon to Patty Hearst. (Guardian article) (see Patti Hearst for more about the SLA)

January 20 Peace Love Art Activism

LGBTQ

Maryland/Same-sex marriage

January 20, 2006: Maryland Circuit Court Judge M. Brooke Murdock struck down a state law banning same-sex marriage saying the measure violated a state constitutional amendment prohibiting sex discrimination. (see October 25, 2006)

Biden reverses Trump

January 20, 2021: on his first day in office President Biden with an executive order reinforced Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to require that the federal government dids not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, a policy that reverses action by Trump’s administration. [NYT article] (next LGBTQ, see Jan 25)

January 20 Peace Love Art Activism

Foxconn

January 20, 2011: iPhone maker Apple was criticized by Chinese green groups for lax corporate oversight of its suppliers in China, leading to poor environmental and work safety standards that poisoned dozens of factory workers. (see Feb 22)

January 20 Peace Love Art Activism

SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE

Holt v Hobbs

January 20, 2015: in Holt v Hobbs, the US Supreme Court ruled unanimously and invalidated an Arkansas state prison rule that barred inmates from growing beards measuring more than a quarter of an inch long. The rule had been challenged by inmate Gregory Holt, a Muslim man who had asked for permission to grow a half-inch-long beard as a compromise from the full beard he believed was required by his faith. In the ruling the Supreme Court said the policy violated Holt’s religious beliefs.

Justice Ruth Ginsberg wrote: “Unlike the exemption this Court approved in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., accommodating petitioner’s religious belief in this case would not detrimentally affect others who do not share petitioner’s belief. On that understanding, I join the Court’s opinion.” (Oyez article)

Church request denied

January 20, 2015: the Supreme Court decided not hear a petition by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Baton Rouge, LA regarding a civil lawsuit the diocese said threatened the confidentiality of the confession.

The petition had sought to block a child from testifying in a civil suit against the church and priest about what she said in confession. The high court’s decision meant the lawsuit could move forward.

The Louisiana Supreme Court’s ruling, rendered in May 2014, laid out arguments that priests should be subject to mandatory reporting laws regarding abuse of minors if the person who makes the confession waives confidentiality. Normally, priests are exempt as mandatory reporters in the setting of confessions. The decision by the state’s high court stated confidentially was intended to protect the person who made the confessions, not the person who receives them.

The original case involved a then-minor girl, who alleged she confessed during the sacrament of Reconciliation to Baton Rouge priest Father George Bayhi that a fellow church parishioner had molested her. The Mayeux family sued the priest and diocese for damages, claiming they were negligent in allowing the alleged abuse to continue and should have reported it to authorities. The suit also names the estate of the man Mayeux says molested her, who died in 2009, as a defendant.

The state Supreme Court’s ruling did not decide the case but ordered it returned to the district level for a hearing to let both sides present evidence about the nature of the confessions. The hearing would decide if the communications between Mayeux and Bayhi should be considered religious confessions and/or explore the content of what was allegedly said. (see June 30)

January 20 Peace Love Art Activism

Fair Housing

January 20, 2017: the new Trump administration immediately undid one of Barack Obama’s last-minute economic-policy actions: a mortgage-fee cut under a government program that was popular with first-time home buyers and low-income borrowers.

HUD cancelled a reduction in the Federal Housing Administration’s annual fee for most borrowers. The cut would have reduced the annual premium for someone borrowing $200,000 by $500 in the first year. (see May 1)

Renewed Rule

January 20, 2023: the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released a proposed fair housing rule which put back in place many fair housing obligations that the Trump administration rescinded in 2020.

The new rule revived many provisions of the 2015 Affirmatively Further Fair Housing (AFFH) Rule, passed during the Obama administration. The 2015 rule required program participants to submit an “equity plan” for review and acceptance to HUD every five years. It also required participants to identify fair housing issues in their communities and set goals to remedy them.

The Biden administration’s proposed rule was supposed to foster “greater transparency and public involvement” in its execution by making equity plans available for public feedback. HUD would provide technical assistance to communities under this program. The rule also aimed to create public accountability by including a “complaint and compliance review process.”

The proposed rule fulfilled an obligation in the 1968 Fair Housing Act, which formed part of the landmark 1968 Civil Rights Act, signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson. It prohibited discrimination on the basis of race, sex, religion, disability and other grounds in the provision of real estate and brokerage services. [Jurist article] (next FH, see Mar 17)

January 20 Peace Love Art Activism

Trump Impeachment

January 20, 2020: Senator Mitch McConnell, the majority leader, unveiled ground rules for President Trump’s impeachment trial that would attempt to speed the proceeding along and refuse to admit the evidence against the president unearthed by the House without a separate vote.

In a 110-page brief submitted to the Senate, the president’s lawyers advanced their first sustained legal argument since the House opened its inquiry in the fall, contending that the two charges approved largely along party lines were constitutionally flawed and set a dangerous precedent. [NYT story] (next TI, see Jan 21 or see Trump for expanded chronology]

January 20 Peace Love Art Activism

Women’s Health

January 20, 2020: according to the findings by the National Bureau of Economic Research, the financial cards were stacked against women who wanted but were denied an abortion, as they and their children were more likely to spend years living in poverty than those able to end their pregnancies. Those compelled to carry an unwanted pregnancy to term were far more likely to experience eviction, bankruptcy and be mired in debt,

In looking at a decade of credit data for women who sought abortions at 30 health providers in 21 states, the latest findings built upon a 2019 study that found denied abortions quadrupled the odds of a new mother and her child living in poverty. The new analysis compared changes over time in credit report outcomes for three years before and up to five years after the intended abortion.

“We find that being denied an abortion has large and persistent effects on financial distress that are sustained for five years following the intended abortion,” wrote the report’s authors, Sarah Miller of the University of Michigan, Laura Wheery of the University of California at Los Angeles and Diana Foster of of the University of California at San Francisco. “Unpaid debts that are more than 30 days past due more than double in size, and the number of public records, which include negative events such as evictions and bankruptcies, increases substantially.” [CBS News story] (next WH, see Feb 20)

January 20 Peace Love Art Activism

Environmental Issues

Paris Climate Accord

January 20, 2021: President Biden signed a letter to re-enter the United States in the Paris climate accords, which it would officially rejoin in 30 days from January 20.

In 2019, President Trump had formally notified the United Nations that the United States would withdraw from the coalition of nearly 200 countries working to move away from planet-warming fossil fuels like coal, oil and natural gas.

In additional executive orders, Biden began the reversal of a slew of the Trump administration’s environmental policies, including revoking the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline; reversing the rollbacks to vehicle emissions standards; undoing decisions to slash the size of several national monuments; enforcing a temporary moratorium on oil and natural gas leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; and re-establishing a working group on the social costs of greenhouse gasses. [NYT article] (next EI, see Jan 27)

January 20 Peace Love Art Activism

Immigration History

DACA

January 20, 2021: with an executive order, President Biden bolstered the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals [DACA] program that protected from deportation immigrants brought to the United States as children, often called Dreamers. President Trump had sought for years to end the program.

The order also called on Congress to enact legislation providing permanent status and a path to citizenship for those immigrants.

Another order overturned a Trump executive order that pushed aggressive efforts to find and deport unauthorized immigrants.

Another order blocked the deportation of Liberians who had been living in the United States.

Biden has also ended the so-called Muslim ban, which blocked travel to the United States from several predominantly Muslim and African countries. Biden had directed the State Department to restart visa processing for individuals from the affected countries and to develop ways to address the harm caused to those who were prevented from coming to the United States because of the ban. [NYT article] (next DACA, see July 17)

Trump’s Wall

January 20, 2021: President Biden halted construction of President Trump’s border wall with Mexico. The order included an “immediate termination” of the national emergency declaration that had allowed the Trump administration to redirect billions of dollars to the wall. It said the administration would begin “a close review” of the legality of the effort to divert federal money to fund the wall. [NYT article](next TW, see)

2020 Census

January 20, 2021: with an executive order, Biden revoked the Trump administration’s plan to exclude noncitizens from the census count, [NYT article] (next 2020 Census, see Apr 26; next IH, see Jan 26)

January 20 Peace Love Art Activism

Sexual Abuse of Children

January 20, 2022: Pope Benedict XVI knew about priests who abused children but failed to act when he was archbishop of Munich from 1977 to 1982, an inquest found, rejecting Benedict’s long-standing denials in a damning judgment.

“He was informed about the facts,” lawyer Martin Pusch said, as the Westpfahl Spilker Wastl law firm announced the findings of an investigation into historic sexual abuse at the Munich Archdiocese over several decades. The report was commissioned by the church itself.

“We believe that he can be accused of misconduct in four cases,” Pusch said. “Two of these cases concern abuses committed during his tenure and sanctioned by the state. In both cases, the perpetrators remained active in pastoral care.” [CNN article] (next SaoC, see Apr 19)

January 20 Peace Love Art Activism

Activism, Arts, First amendment, Peace Love Art and Activism

Activist Art Collective IИDECLIИE

January 20, 2017 Woodstock Whisperer Leave a comment

Activist Art Collective IИDECLIИE

These are the times that try men’s souls

On December 23, 1776 Thomas Paine wrote his most famous words and painfully appropriate words: “These are the times that try men’s souls.”

The seventy-seven words that follow those eight are equally appropriate: The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value.

The reality of life is that trying times give us the opportunity to Rise up!

Activist Art Collective IИDECLIИE

What is INDECLINE? Their webpage‘s answer is simple: INDECLINE is an American Activist Collective founded in 2001. It is comprised of graffiti writers, filmmakers, photographers and full-time rebels and activists. INDECLINE focuses on social, ecological and economical injustices carried out by American and International governments, corporations and law enforcement agencies. INDECLINE is NOT an anarchist group.

Activist Art Collective IИDECLIИE

Projects

What are some of INDECLINE’s projects? In August 2012, the group installed a billboard on Interstate 15 in Las Vegas with Dying for Work in black lettering on a white background and a dummy hanging from it by a noose; a companion billboard, also with a hanged man, read “Hope you’re happy Wall St.”

In April 2015, eight people spent six days creating the largest piece of illegal graffiti in the world: “This land was our land”, painted on a disused military runway in the Mojave Desert. Click the YouTube link below to watch the project.

In October 2015, in response to Trump calling Mexicans “rapists”, the group spray-painted a mural depicting him with the slogan “¡Rape Trump!” on an old border wall on US territory approximately a mile from the Tijuana airport.

In March 2016, members of the group glued names of African-Americans killed by police over names on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and also glued the Indecline logo to the stars.

The project that garnered the most media attention was the Trump statue. Trump statues actually. August 18, 2016, life-sized statues of Trump appeared on sidewalks in Cleveland, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Seattle.

The combination clay/silicone sculptures were unflattering to say the least. The artist depicted a very overweight old person whose face appeared discomforted and had varicose veins, a very small penis, and no scrotum.

Joshua “Ginger” Monroe, the artist, entitled each as The Emperor Has No Balls. In some instances the city removed the statue, in others local merchants bought them.

The New York City Parks Department stated that it “stands firmly against any unpermitted erection in city parks, no matter how small.”

One of the statues was set on the roof of a warehouse overlooking the New Jersey entrance to the Holland Tunnel, where Indecline also placed an inverted US flag.

Activist Art Collective IИDECLIИE

Others…

There most recent project is entitled “Death Metals.” They “re-purposed a gold ore processing facility on the Mojave National Preserve that was closed in 1994 and declared a Superfund site.”

There are many other videos of their work that can be viewed at the group’s site.

Activist Art Collective IИDECLIИE

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

January 19 Peace Love Art Activism

January 19, 2017 Woodstock Whisperer Leave a comment

January 19 Peace Love Art Activism

Feminism

Men’s League for Opposing Woman Suffrage

January 19, 1909: The Men’s League for Opposing Woman Suffrage was founded with Lord Cromer as President. (Feminism, see Sept 27; VR, see see November 11, 1909)

Super Bowl Official

January 19,2021: the NFL announced that Sarah Thomas will become the first woman to officiate a Super Bowl. Thomas will serve as a down judge on referee Carl Cheffers’ crew at Super Bowl LV in Tampa, Florida.

Thomas joined the NFL in 2015 as its first female on-field official. [ESPN article] (next Feminism, see Jan 25)

January 19 Peace Love Art Activism

US Labor History

January 19, 1915: guards employed by the Agricultural Fertilizer Chemical Company in Chrome, New Jersey, opened fire on unarmed striking workers, killing two people and wounding eighteen others. The next day, 31 deputy sheriffs were arrested, charged with first-degree murder, and held without bail. The workers eventually won a wage increase and nine of the deputies were convicted of manslaughter and received sentences of between two and ten years each. (Daily Kos article) (see Jan 25)

January 19 Peace Love Art Activism

Immigration History

Watsonvill, CA

Beginning on January 19, 1930, mobs of upwards of 500 whites roamed Watsonville, California, and the surrounding towns and farms, setting upon Filipino farm workers and their property in a rage after Filipino men were seen dancing with white women at a newly opened local dance hall.

In the days and weeks before the rioting, politicians and community leaders had ramped up their anti-Filipino rhetoric, calling the farm workers “a menace,” and demanding that Filipinos be deported so “white people who have inherited this country for themselves and their offspring could live.” A local judge stated, “The worst part of [the Filipino man] being here is his mixing with young white girls from thirteen to seventeen. He gives them silk underwear and makes them pregnant and crowds whites out of jobs in the bargain.”

The Watsonville mob was initially turned away from the dance hall by security guards and the armed owners of the hall, but returned in full force to beat dozens of Filipino farm workers. The beatings continued elsewhere in the area, and on the night of January 22, a mob ransacked Filipino farm workers’ houses and shot into the dwellings, killing Fermin Tobera. No one was ever charged with that murder; seven men were later convicted of rioting, but received either probation or 30 days in jail.

The anti-Filipino frenzy continued in California in the months after the Watsonville riots ended on January 23, 1930, with violence breaking out in Stockton, Salinas, San Francisco, and San Jose. In 1933, California amended the law to prohibit marriages between Filipinos and whites. And in 1934, answering in part a long-standing request of California’s government, Congress reduced Filipino immigration to the United States to just 50 people per year. In September 2011, the California legislature officially expressed regret and apologized for these events and actions. (Santa Cruz Sentinel News article) (see May 24, 1934)

Trump/Wall

January 19, 2019: President Trump announced that he would extend deportation protections for some undocumented immigrants in exchange for $5.7 billion in funding for a wall along the border with Mexico.

The president said he would extend the legal status of those facing deportation and support bipartisan legislation that would allow some immigrants who came to the United States illegally as children, known as Dreamers, to keep their work permits and be protected from deportation for three more years if they were revoked.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi said ahead of his remarks that she considered his proposal a “nonstarter,” in part because it offered no permanent pathway to citizenship for Dreamers. (next IH & TW, see Jan 25)

Wall’s expense

January 19, 2020: based on a status report that U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which is overseeing wall construction, had released, on this date, NPR reported that the price tag for President Trump’s border wall had topped $11 billion — or nearly $20 million a mile — and would become the most expensive wall of its kind anywhere in the world. $11 billion had been identified since Trump took office to construct 576 miles of a new “border wall system.” (next Immigration, see Jan 23; next Wall, see Feb 7, or see TW for expanded chronology)

January 19 Peace Love Art Activism

January 19 Music et al

Janis Joplin

January 19, 1943: Janis Joplin born in Port Arthur, TX. (see Janis Joplin for more)

Ken Kesey arrested again

January 19, 1966: Ken Kesey arrested a second time for marijuana possession. Prankster Mountain Girl (Carolyn Garcia) also arrested. (see Ken Kesey for more) (see Jan 21)

John Lennon inducted

January 19, 1994: John Lennon inducted into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame, performers category. (see November 19, 1995)

January 19 Peace Love Art Activism

BLACK HISTORY

Protesters return

On January 18, 1965 Martin Luther King, Jr and John Lewis had led 300 marchers to register. Selma Police Chief Wilson Baker allowed them to march in small groups to the courthouse, but Sheriff Jim Clark had them line up in an alley beside the courthouse, where they were out of sight, and left them there. None were registered.

On January 19, 1965, protesters returned to the courthouse to register and demanded to remain at the front of the building. Clark arrested them (see Jan 22)

Byron De La Beckwith not guilty

January 19, 1974: Byron De La Beckwith was found not guilty of carrying a live time bomb and a pistol on a midnight drive into New Orleans from Mississippi. Beckwith said he was “exceedingly grateful for the kind treatment I have received and I ask the blessing of the most high God on all who have shown me such consideration.” Beckwith had stated during the trial that he did not know he was carrying a time bomb into New Orleans in his car. He said that the was “astounded” to learn from newspaper accounts after his arrest that there was a bomb in his car. (BH, see June 12; Evers, see October 1, 1989)

BLACK & SHOT

January 19, 2017: Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson handed down one-week suspensions to four officers for failing to ensure the dashboard cameras in their squad cars were operating properly on the night of Laquan McDonald’s shooting. (B & S, see Jan 24; McDonald, see Mar 23)

Cold Case Act

January 19, 2019: President Trump signed into law the “Civil Rights Cold Case Records Collection Act of 2018 (Public Law 115-426). It authorized the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) to create a collection of unsolved civil rights case files. In addition, the law established a Civil Rights Cold Case Review Board to determine which records could be released to the public.

The new law intended to make federal information about investigations of unsolved civil rights cases more readily available to the public. (see Feb 22)

January 19 Peace Love Art Activism

Women’s Health

Clement Haynsworth rejected

January 19, 1970: after the US Senate rejected Clement Haynsworth of South Carolina for an appointment to the US Supreme Court, President Nixon nominated Harold Carswell of the US Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.

The nomination became intensely controversial after a reporter discovered the text of a 1948 political campaign speech by Carswell in which he said “I Am A Southerner By Ancestry, Birth, Training, Inclination, Belief And Practice. I Believe That Segregation Of The Races is Proper And The ONLY Practical And Correct Way Of Life In Our States.” Later in the speech he stated, “I Yield To NO MAN, As A Fellow Candidate, Or As A Fellow Citizen, In The Firm Vigirous Belief In The Principles Of White Supremacy, And I Shall Always Be So Governed.” (The speech’s capitalization is as indicated.)

Attorney General John Mitchell, citing an extensive background check by the Justice Department, was willing to forgive, stating that it was unfair to criticize Carswell for “political remarks made 22 years ago.”

Senator Roman Hruska, a Nebraska Republican, stated: “Even if he were mediocre, there are a lot of mediocre judges and people and lawyers. They are entitled to a little representation, aren’t they, and a little chance? We can’t have all Brandeises, Frankfurters and Cardozos.”

On April 8, 1970, the United States Senate refused to confirm Carswell’s nomination to serve on the Supreme Court by a vote of 51 to 45

Nixon then nominated Minnesota judge Harry Blackmun who was confirmed 94–0. Blackmun later became the author of Roe v. Wade. (see April 8)

January 19 Peace Love Art Activism

Watergate Scandal

January 19, 1979: former U.S. Attorney General John N. Mitchell was released on parole after 19 months at a federal prison in Alabama. (see Watergate for full story)

January 19 Peace Love Art Activism

Hostage Crisis

January 19, 1981: the United States and Iran signed an agreement paving the way for the release of 52 Americans held hostage for more than 14 months. (see Jan 20)

January 19 Peace Love Art Activism

Nuclear/chemical news

January 19, 1993: U.S. forces fired Tomahawk cruise missiles at Baghdad factories linked to Iraq’s illegal nuclear weapons program. (see April 6, 1993)

January 19 Peace Love Art Activism

Environmental Issues

Block Island oil spill

January 19, 1996: a 1.8 million gallon oil spill began after a barge ran aground near Block Island National Wildlife Refuge. (see December 11, 1997)

Elk River spill

On January 9, 2014 it was found that a 48,000-gallon tank was leaking 4-Methylcyclohexane Methanol (MCHM) into the Elk River in West Virginia. The spill affected Charleston and the nine surrounding counties. MCHM is a compound used to wash coal of impurities.

On January 19 West Virginia authorities completely lifted a 10-day-old ban on the use of tap water. The final 2 percent of the 300,000 customers affected by the spill were cleared to drink and wash from their tap, said West Virginia American Water spokeswoman Laura Jordan. Despite the lifting of the ban, dozens of people continued to seek medical attention at hospitals around Charleston for contamination-related illnesses and rashes.

Out of an “abundance of caution,” though, the water utility advised pregnant women to consider an alternative drinking water source “until the chemical is non-detectable in the water distribution system.” (see April 29)

Relaxed Restrictions Struck Down

January 19, 2021: the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia struck down the Trump administration’s plan to relax restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, paving the way for President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. to enact new and stronger restrictions on power plants.

The Court called the Trump administration’s Affordable Clean Energy rule a “fundamental misconstruction” of the nation’s environmental laws, devised through a “tortured series of misreadings” of legal statute.

On the last full day of the Trump presidency, it effectively ended the Environmental Protection Agency’s efforts to weaken and undermine climate change policies and capped a dismal string of failures in which courts threw out one deregulation after another. Experts had widely described the E.P.A.’s losing streak as one of the worst legal records of the agency in modern history. [NYT article] (next EI, see Jan 20)

January 19 Peace Love Art Activism

CLINTON IMPEACHMENT

Monica Lewinsky

January 19, 1998: Monica Lewinsky’s name surfaced in the Internet gossip column, the Drudge Report, which mentioned rumors that Newsweek had decided to delay publishing a piece on Lewinsky and the alleged affair.

Clinton defense team

January 19, 1999: President Clinton’s legal team begins a three-day defense of the president.

Clinton admits to lying

January 19, 2001: in a deal sparing himself possible indictment, President Bill Clinton acknowledged for the first time making false statements under oath about Monica Lewinsky; he also surrendered his law license for five years. (see Clinton for full impeachment information)

January 19 Peace Love Art Activism

LGBTQ

January 19, 2005: The Louisiana Supreme Court reinstated a ban on marriage between same-sex couples, bringing the number of states with constitutional amendments against marriage to 17. The Supreme Court decision overturned an October 2004 ruling from District Judge William Morvant, who declared that constitutionally excluding same-sex couples from marriage is unconstitutional. (see July 12)

January 19 Peace Love Art Activism

Native Americans

January 19, 2019: a group of boys from Covington Catholic High School, an all-male college preparatory school in Park Hills, Ky., near Cincinnati. came to Washington on a field trip to rally at the March for Life.

Nathan Phillips, an Omaha elder, a veteran of the Vietnam War and the former director of the Native Youth Alliance, was there to raise awareness at the Indigenous Peoples March.

In a video posted widely on social media, the boys, predominantly white and wearing “Make America Great Again” gear, were seen surrounding Phillips, jeering him. Phillips said, ”I heard them saying ‘Build that wall! Build that wall!’”

In a statement, the Diocese of Covington and Covington Catholic High School condemned the behavior by the students and extended their “deepest apologies” to the elder, as well as to Native Americans in general. [NYT article] (see Apr 2)

January 19 Peace Love Art Activism

Voting Rights

January 19, 2022: Senate Democrats suffered a major defeat in their efforts to pass voting rights legislation — a key issue for the party, which is under pressure to take action ahead of the midterm elections just months away.

An attempt by Democrats to change filibuster rules in order to pass a voting bill failed amid opposition from moderate Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema. The vote was 52-48, with the two moderates joining all GOP senators. After the vote failed, there was a loud round of applause from Republicans. [CNN article] (next VR, see June 8, 2023)

Space

January 19, 2024: a Japanese robotic spacecraft successfully set down on the moon— but its solar panels were not generating power, which would cut the length of time it would be able to operate to a few hours.

With the achievement, Japan became the fifth country to send a spacecraft that made a soft landing on the moon. [NYT article] (next Space, see Jan 25)