November 15 Peace Love Art Activism

Black History

Anti-slavery pamphlets banned

November 15, 1830:  North Carolina passed two laws designed to limit the influence of an anti-slavery pamphlet and discourage its dissemination, mandating the punishment of death for those who twice violated the law.

Titled “An Act to Prevent the Circulation of Seditious Publications,” North Carolina’s first law banned bringing into the state any publication with the tendency to inspire revolution or resistance among enslaved or free Black people; a first violation of the law was punishable by whipping and one-year imprisonment, while those convicted of a second offense would “suffer death without benefit of clergy.”

The second law forbade all persons in the state from teaching the enslaved to read and write. A white person convicted of violating the law would be subject to a $100-200 fine or imprisonment; a free Black person would face a fine, imprisonment, or between 20 and 39 lashes; and an enslaved Black person convicted of teaching other enslaved people to read or write would receive 39 lashes. [EJI article] (next BH, see February 1831)

Jimmie Lee Jackson

On February 18, 1965, during a protest near the Perry County Jail in Perry, Alabama, twenty-six-year-old Jimmie Lee Jackson, his mother Viola Jackson, and his 82-year-old grandfather, Cager Lee, ran into a cafe pursued by Alabama State Troopers. Police clubbed Cager Lee to the floor in the kitchen. His daughter Viola attempted to pull the police off, she was also beaten.

When Jimmie Lee attempted to protect his mother, one trooper threw him against a cigarette machine. A second trooper shot Jimmie Lee twice in the abdomen. Jimmie Lee Jackson died 8 days later.

A grand jury will not indict James Fowler, the trooper who shot Jackson, but on May 10, 2007, 42 years after the homicide, an Alabama grand jury did indict the former state trooper for the February 18, 1965 murder of Jimmie Lee Jackson.

On this date, November 15, 2010, James Fowler apologized for his shooting of Jimmie Lee Jackson, but insisted that he had acted in self-defense, believing that Mr. Jackson was trying to grab his gun. Fowler was sentenced to six months in prison. Perry County commissioner, Albert Turner Jr, called the agreement “a slap in the face of the people of this county.” Fowler served 5 of the 6 months. [BH, see June 26, 2011; Fowler, see July 5, 2015]

BLACK & SHOT

November 15, 2015: white Minneapolis police officers Mark Ringgenberg and Dustin Schwarze fatally shot Jamar Clark, 24, an unarmed black man. (B & S, see Nov 19; Minneapolis, see Nov 23)

November 15 Peace Love Art Activism

Feminism

Voting Rights

November 15, 1913: first issue of The Suffragist published. Rheta Louise Childe Dorr was its first editor. (see Nov 18)

Suffragist Tortured, Night of Terror

November 15, 1917: “Night of Terror” pickets (arrested Nov 10) transferred to Occoquan Workhouse, where Superintendent Raymond Whittaker, just back from White House meeting of district commissioners, set in motion a brutal reception for newly arrived prisoners. Whittaker summarily dismissed demands for political prisoner status and watched guards hurl Dora Lewis into a dark cell, smash her head against an iron bed, and knock her. Her cellmate, Alice Cosu, thought Lewis was dead and suffered a heart attack. They beat Lucy Burns, chained her hands to the cell bars above her head, and left her hanging for the night, bleeding and gasping for air. Julia Emory showed support and sympathy by assuming same position. The next day, 16 women went on hunger strike.  (see Nov 18)

November 15 Peace Love Art Activism

Calvin Graham

Battle of Guadalcanal

November 15, 1942: during the battle of Guadalcanal, the South Dakota was hit forty-seven times by enemy fire. One explosion threw Calvin down three decks of stairs. He was seriously wounded by shrapnel that tore through his jaw and mouth. In spite of his injuries, he helped pull fellow sailors from danger. Half the ship’s crew of 3,300 were killed or wounded. He was awarded the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart and the Navy Unit Commendation medal.

36 years later…

November 15, 1978: the General Accounting Office received Graham’s claim from back-pay due him from his World War II service. (see Calvin Graham for full sad story)

November 15 Peace Love Art Activism

The Cold War

 Nikita Khrushchev

November 15, 1957: in a long and rambling interview with an American reporter, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev claims that the Soviet Union has missile superiority over the United States and challenges America to a missile “shooting match” to prove his assertion. The interview further fueled fears in the United States that the nation was falling perilously behind the Soviets in the arms race. (NYT article) (see December 9, 1958)

November 15 Peace Love Art Activism

November 15 Music et al

Beatles before their US appearance

November 15, 1959: Paul McCartney, John Lennon and George Harrison auditioned for a British talent program called TV Star Search at the Hippodrome Theatre in Lancashire. They had been known as The Quarrymen but for this audition, they took the name “Johnny and the Moondogs.” They played two Buddy Holly songs: “Think It Over” and “It’s So Easy.” They must have been good as they were invited back for the next round of audition the next day. They returned to Liverpool the same night, having no money to rent a hotel room, and therefore missing out on the next round of auditions. (see April 23 & 24, 1960)

November 15 Peace Love Art Activism

Vietnam

Brown University

November 15, 1966: Gen. Earle Wheeler, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, addressed a gathering at Brown University and approximately 60 students walk out to protest his defense of U.S. involvement in Vietnam. Some of those who remained shouted and heckled Wheeler, while others attempted to storm the stage. Outside, over 100 students continued the protest. (Wheeler article) (see Dec 12)

March for Peace in Washington, DC

November 15, 1969: 500,000 people marched for peace in Washington, DC . It was the largest antiwar rally in U.S. history. Some of the speakers: McCarthy, McGovern, Coretta King, Dick Gregory, Leonard Bernstein. Singers: Arlo Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Peter, Paul, & Mary, John Denver, Mitch Miller, touring cast of Hair . (NYT article) (see Nov 20)

November 15 Peace Love Art Activism

Irish Troubles

November 15, 1985: Britain and Ireland signed an accord giving Dublin an official consultative role in governing Northern Ireland. (see Troubles for expanded story)

November 15 Peace Love Art Activism

Sexual Abuse of Children

Bankruptcy filing

November 15, 2004: US Roman Catholic bishops elected Bishop William Skylstad as their new president. His Washington diocese faced bankruptcy due to the volume of compensation claims made by alleged victims of child abuse. [SFG article] (see Dec 3)

Boy Scouts

November 15, 2020: the New York Times reported that more than 81,000 people had come forward with sex-abuse claims against the Boy Scouts of America, describing a decades-long accumulation of assaults at the hands of scout leaders across the nation who had been trusted as role models.

The claims, which lawyers said far eclipsed the number of abuse accusations filed in Catholic Church cases, continued to mount ahead of a November 16 deadline established in bankruptcy court in Delaware, where the Boy Scouts had sought refuge this year in a bid to survive.

Paul Mones, a lawyer who had been working on Boy Scouts cases for nearly two decades, said the prevalence of abuse detailed in the filings was breathtaking and might reflect only a fraction of victims. (next SA of C, & next BSA, see January 28, 2021)

November 15 Peace Love Art Activism

ADA

November 15, 2006: the Road-to-Freedom tour kicked off. The 50-state bus tour and photographic exhibit chronicles the history of the grassroots “people’s movement” that led to passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). (see October 22, 2012)

November 15 Peace Love Art Activism

Native Americans

 The Code Talkers

November 15, 2008: President George W. Bush signed The Code Talkers Recognition Act of 2008 into law. The Act recognized every Native American code talker who served in the US military during WWI or WWII with a Congressional Gold Medal for his tribe (to be retained by the Smithsonian Institution) and a silver medal duplicate to each code talker. (see February 14, 2011)

Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape

November 15, 2018:  New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal announced a settlement with the Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape Tribal Nation under which the State acknowledged it had officially recognized the 3,000-member Tribe as an American Indian Tribe since 1982.

In addition to affirming its historic recognition of the Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape Nation, the State would pay the Tribe a total of $2.4 million under the settlement agreement.

The State also agreed to formally notify all relevant state and federal agencies of the Tribe’s official recognition status. [State of NJ report] (next NA, see January 19, 2019)

November 15 Peace Love Art Activism

Occupy Wall Street

Zuccotti Park

November 15, 2011: day 60 of Occupy Wall Street. NYPD began to clear Zuccotti Park. Mayor Bloomberg released the following statement: “At one o’clock this morning, the New York City Police Department and the owners of Zuccotti Park notified protesters in the park that they had to immediately remove tents, sleeping bags and other belongings, and must follow the park rules if they wished to continue to use it to protest. Many protesters peacefully complied and left. At Brookfield’s request, members of the NYPD and Sanitation Department assisted in removing any remaining tents and sleeping bags. This action was taken at this time of day to reduce the risk of confrontation in the park, and to minimize disruption to the surrounding neighborhood.” (NYT article) (see Nov 18)

November 15 Peace Love Art Activism

LGBT

Gay marriage

November 15, 2013, LGBT: Gov. Neil Abercrombie signed legislation into law, making Hawaii the 15th state to legalize gay marriage. (NYT article) (see Nov 18)

November 15 Peace Love Art Activism

Immigration History

November 15, 2017:  after the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services agency had rejected nearly 100 applications to renew permits that let immigrants stay and work in the United States legally because the applications had been delayed in the mail.

Last week the Agency had said nothing could be done; the decisions were final.

On November 15, the agency reversed its position. In light of the delays, it agreed to allow those rejected because of mail delays to resubmit their renewals for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. [NYT article] (see Nov 20)

November 15 Peace Love Art Activism

Consumer Protection

November 15, 2018: the Food and Drug Administration announced a series of restrictions aimed at combating a growing public health menace — flavored e-cigarettes and tobacco products that have lured young people into vaping and smoking.

And in a bold regulatory move, the agency said it would move to outlaw two traditional tobacco products that disproportionately harm African-Americans: menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars.

The proposed menthol ban would be the most aggressive action the F.D.A. had taken against the tobacco industry in nearly a decade, and it was notable given the Trump administration’s business-friendly approach to regulatory issues. But the proposal is likely to face a protracted legal battle, so it could be years in the making. [NYT report] (see July 8, 2019)

November 15 Peace Love Art Activism

DEATH PENALTY

November 15, 2019: Rodney Reed had long claimed his innocence in the murder of a woman 23 years earlier and was days away from his execution when an appeals court stepped in to suspend his death sentence indefinitely.

The dramatic decision by the Court of Criminal Appeals in Texas halted the execution of Reed and ordered the court where he was originally tried to consider new evidence in the case, including testimony from eyewitnesses who have come forward in recent months pointing toward the victim’s fiancé as another suspect.

The court’s ruling came just hours after the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles had also supported halting the execution and recommended that Gov. Greg Abbott grant a 120-day reprieve for Mr. Reed, 51, one of 215 prisoners on Texas’ death row.  [NYT story]  (next DP, see February 13, 2020)

November 15 Peace Love Art Activism

Trump Impeachment Inquiry

David Holmes

November 15, 2019:  David Holmes confirmed to House impeachment investigators that he had overheard a call between President Trump and a top American diplomat in July in which the president asked whether Ukraine was going to move forward with an investigation he wanted.

Holmes, testified privately that he was at a restaurant in Kiev, Ukraine’s capital, when he overheard Trump on a cellphone call loudly asking Gordon D. Sondland, the American ambassador to the European Union, if Ukraine’s president had agreed to conduct an investigation into one of his leading political rivals. Mr. Sondland, who had just come from a meeting with top Ukrainian officials and the country’s president, replied in the affirmative.

“So, he’s going to do the investigation?” Trump asked, according to a copy of Mr. Holmes’s opening statement posted by CNN and confirmed by The New York Times. (see TII for expanded coverage of whole inquiry)

Trump Impeachment Inquiry/Public

Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch

November 15, 2019: Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch appeared at the Democrats’ second open impeachment hearing to discuss her career and the circumstances under which her posting to Kyiv was prematurely halted earlier this year.

She told Congress that she was recalled after a smear campaign led by President Trump’s allies.

Trump criticized her on Twitter even as she testified live on television.

Trump posted two tweets about Yovanovitch during the session that linked her to problems in the troubled countries in which she had been posted and restated the president’s power to appoint and remove diplomats as he wishes. [NPR story]

November 15 Peace Love Art Activism

November 14 Peace Love Art Activism

Feminism

National Women’s Trade Union League

November 14, 1903: at the AFL convention in Boston, women unionists united to form the National Women’s Trade Union League and elect Mary Morton Kehew president and Jane Addams vice-president. The National Women’s Trade Union League (WTUL) was established to advocate for improved wages and working conditions for women. (see January 25, 1904)

Yale University admits women

November 14, 1968:  Yale University announced would admit admit women. From the New York Times, “For the first time in its 265-year history Yale University will admit undergraduate women next fall to “enhance its contribution to the generations ahead.” (Yale to admit women) (see Nov 22)

Nancy Pelosi minority whip

November 14, 2002: minority whip since 2001, Californian Nancy Pelosi became the first woman elected as Democratic Minority Leader in the U.S. House of Representatives.  The NY Times article began: House Democrats turned to Representative Nancy Pelosi of California today to try to reverse their political fortunes, electing her their leader. She becomes the first woman to head a party in either house of Congress. (Pelosi chosen) (see December 10, 2003)

November 14 Peace Love Art Activism

BLACK HISTORY

Miscegenation

On April 18, 1946: a thirty-two-year-old Navy veteran named Davis Knight married Junie Lee Spradley, a white woman. In June 1948, the state of Mississippi indicted Mr. Knight for violating a law that prohibited “marriage or cohabitation between white persons and those with one-eighth or more Negro or Mongolian blood.” At trial, Mr. Knight insisted that he was white: his wife believed him to be white and his Navy service records listed him as white. Mississippi set out to prove he was black.

The whole case turned on the race of Mr. Knight’s deceased great-grandmother, Rachel; if she was black, Mr. Knight was at least one-eighth black and guilty of the charge. As evidence of Rachel’s race, the State presented several elderly witnesses, including an eighty-nine-year-old white man who testified that Rachel had lived on his father’s plantation and was a “known Negro.”

On December 18, 1948 Mississippi convicted Knight of miscegenation and sentenced him to five years in prison for marrying outside of his race. Knight appealed.

On November 14, 1949 the Mississippi State Supreme Court reversed Knight’s conviction. The Court held that, in Mr. Knight’s particular case, the State had failed to provide sufficient evidence to prove that his grandmother Rachel was fully black, so it had not proved that Mr. Knight was at least one-eighth black.

Though the decision did not strike down the state’s miscegenation law, or prevent future prosecutions of others, many white Mississippians protested the decision, hanging members of the court in effigy. The state’s ban on interracial marriage would stand for nearly two more decades, until the United States Supreme Court’s 1967 decision in Loving v. Virginia struck down remaining anti-miscegenation laws in Mississippi and seventeen other states.

Jo Ann Robinson

In 1950, Jo Ann Robinson became president of the Women’s Political Council in Montgomery, AL. As president, she began to study the issue of bus segregation, which affected the many blacks who were the majority of riders on the city system. First, members appeared before the City Commission to report abuses on the buses, such as blacks who were first on the bus being required later to give up seats for whites as buses became crowded. The commission acted surprised but did nothing. (BH & Feminism, see March 31)

In 1953 Jo Ann Robinson and other local black leaders met with the three commissioners of Montgomery. Robinson’s group complained that the city did not hire any black bus drivers, said that segregation of seating was unjust, and that bus stops in black neighborhoods were farther apart than in white ones, although blacks were the majority of the riders. The commissioners refused to change anything.

Robinson and other WPC members met with bus company officials on their own. The segregation issue was deflected, as bus company officials said that segregation was city and state law, but the WPC achieved a small victory as the bus company officials agreed to have the buses stop at every corner in black neighborhoods, as was the practice in white neighborhoods. (BH, see June 8; Feminism, see May 18, 1954; Montgomery, see March 2, 1955)

 Voting Rights

November 14, 1960: in Gomillion v. Lightfoot, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a redistricting plan enacted by the Alabama legislature, which redrew the boundaries of the City of Tuskegee. The court found that the plan — which changed the city’s shape from a square to a 28-sided border violated the 15th Amendment to the Constitution and was done expressly to exclude black voters from city elections.(VR, see March 26, 1962)

School Desegregation

November 14, 1960: 6-year-old Ruby Bridges became the first black child to attend an all-white school in New Orleans.  Bridges was in first-grade when she started attending William Frantz Elementary School as the court-ordered integration of public schools began in New Orleans. Some in the crowd carried a black doll in a baby’s casket. Federal Marshal Charles Burks and three other marshals escorted the Bridges to and from school for several weeks before local police took over that duty. Eventually the crowds dispersed and she no longer needed protection. Normal Rockwell’s cover depicting Ruby Bridges first day at an all-white school.

In 1963 Norman Rockwell depicted a young black girl carrying textbooks and a ruler being led by marshals past a wall marred by a splattered tomato and a scrawled racial epithet.(BH, see Nov 26; SD, see March 27, 1962)

Medgar Evers

November 14, 1964: William L Walter, the district attorney who prosecuted the case against Byron De La Beckwith, announced that Beckwith would not be tried a third time for the murder of Medgar W. Evers unless new evidence is obtained. (BH, see Nov 18; see Evers for expanded chronology)

November 14 Peace Love Art Activism

November 14 Music et al

November 14 – 20, 1960:  “Georgia On My Mind” by Ray Charles #1 Billboard Hot 100. (see Georgia for much more)

November 14 Peace Love Art Activism

Vietnam

November 14, 1965: the Battle of Ia Drang Valley was the first major battle between regular U.S. and People’s Army of Vietnam (PAVN) troops. The two-part battle occurred at landing zones X-Ray and Albany in Ia Drang Valley, Central Highlands of South Vietnam. Despite heavy casualties on both sides, both claimed the battle was a victory. The battle was considered essential as it set the blueprint for tactics for both sides. American troops continued to reply on air mobility and artillery fire, while the Viet Cong learned that by quickly engaging their combat forces close to the enemy, they could neutralize American advantages (see Nov 17)

November 14 Peace Love Art Activism

Space Race, Apollo 12

November 14 – 24, 1969,  Space Race: Apollo 12 took off. Pete Conrad and Alan Bean will collect lunar samples, as well as parts of the unmanned Surveyor 3. From the New York Times, “Three American astronauts were ready tonight to embark tomorrow on man’s second voyage to land on the moon, a trip aimed at a more thorough scientific investigation into the origin and nature of the earth’s only natural satellite.” (see Apollo 12) [the audio clip is the Byrds song, Armstrong, Aldrin, & Collins. I know it’s not for Apollo 12, but I like the song and…well…close enough.](see April 11 – 17, 1970)

November 14 Peace Love Art Activism

Iran hostage crisis

November 14, 1979: President Jimmy Carter issued Executive Order 12170, freezing all Iranian assets in the United States and U.S. banks in response to the hostage crisis. (see Nov 17)

November 14 Peace Love Art Activism

LGBTQ

November 14, 1985: lesbian and gay rights activists held a town hall meeting on this day in New York City. Two weeks later, GLAAD [Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation] was formed.

GLAAD gave special focus to changing American culture regarding homosexuality.

The GLAAD Mission Statement (in part): “GLAAD works with print, broadcast and online news sources to bring people powerful stories from the LGBTQ community that build support for equality. And when news outlets get it wrong, GLAAD is there to respond and advocate for fairness and accuracy.” (see June 30, 1986)

American Catholic Bishops side against gay marriage

November 14, 2015: Catholic Bishops sided with those who conscientiously object to gay marriage and maintain their opposition to the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling legalizing gay marriage nationwide. These pro-traditional marriage views were expressed during the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ fall General Assembly meeting, the first meeting for the bishops since the 5-4 Supreme Court ruling in the June 26, 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges. (see Dec 14)

Australia

November 14, 2017: in Australia, 61.6 percent in favor of same-sex marriage in a historic survey that, while not binding, paved the way for Parliament to legally recognize the unions of gay and lesbian couples. [NYT article] (see Nov 27)

November 14 Peace Love Art Activism

Stop and Frisk

November 14, 2013: New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman analyzed 150,000 arrests that resulted from 2.4 millions stops by the NYPD between 2009 and 2012. About half of the arrests lead to convictions and about a quarter lead to prison sentences, according to the report released. The other half were never prosecuted, dismissed or resulted in adjournments in contemplation of dismissal – a legal term for cases in which a judge allows a case to be dismissed after a probationary period of usually six months to a year. The report also said the stop-and-frisk arrests resulted in a 24 percent incarceration rate.

The chief spokesman for the police, John McCarthy, called the analysis “flawed” and said it underestimated the value of the tactic. [NY AG article] (see Nov 22)

November 14 Peace Love Art Activism

Nuclear/Chemical News

November 14, 2017: federal officials restarted a nuclear fuel testing facility about 50 miles west of Idaho Falls, Idaho amid efforts to boost the nation’s nuclear power generating capacity and possibly reduce concerns about nuclear power safety.

The U.S. Department of Energy said the facility began operating for the first time since it went on standby status in 1994. Nuclear fuel testing is expected to begin next year.

The Energy Department proposed resuming operations at the Transient Reactor Test Facility in 2013 as part of former President Barack Obama’s plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by generating carbon-free electricity with nuclear power. Nuclear power currently produces about 19 percent of the nation’s energy. [AP article] (see Nov 21)

November 14 Peace Love Art Activism

Crime and Punishment

November 14, 2019: the MDRC (originally Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation) published a report called Evaluation of Pretrial Justice System Reforms That Use the Public Safety Assessment regarding New Jersey’s implementation of its Criminal Justice Reform Act (January 1, 2017).

The report’s findings about the CJR included:

• Fewer arrest events took place following CJR’s implementation. There was a reduction in the number of arrest events for the least serious types of charges — namely, nonindictable (misdemeanor) public-order offenses.
• Police officers appear to be issuing complaint-summonses more often and seeking complaint-warrants less often since CJR was implemented.
• Pretrial release conditions imposed on defendants changed dramatically as a result of CJR. A larger proportion of defendants were released without conditions, and rates of initial booking into jail were lower than predicted given pre-CJR trends.
• CJR significantly reduced the length of time defendants spend in jail in the month following arrest.
• CJR had the largest effects on jail bookings in counties that had the highest rates of jail bookings before CJR.

(next C&P, see Dec 18)

November 14 Peace Love Art Activism

FREE SPEECH, US Labor History & Colin Kaepernick

November 14, 2017: Pizza chain Papa John’s apologized for its CEO John Schnatter’s claim that protesting National Football League players had hurting profits.

On its official Twitter account Papa John’s  “sincerely” apologized “to anyone that thought they [Schnatter’s remarks] were divisive.” “That definitely was not our intention,” the company added.

Schnatter’s remarks also led to the neo-Nazi website The Daily Stormer to endorse Papa John’s as the official pizza of the self-proclaimed alt-right — an accolade the company rejected. (FS, LH, and CK, see Nov 20)

November 14 Peace Love Art Activism

Immigration History

November 14, 2020: federal judge Nicholas Garaufis ruled that Chad Wolf was not legally serving as acting Homeland Security secretary when he signed rules limiting applications and renewals for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program [DACA], and those rules were thus invalid.

In July, Wolf had issued a memo saying that new applications for DACA, the Obama-era program that shielded undocumented immigrants who came to the US as children from deportation, would not be accepted and renewals would be limited to one year instead of two amid an ongoing review. [CNN story] (next IH, see Nov 18); next DACA, see Dec 4)

November 14 Peace Love Art Activism