Tag Archives: May Peace Love Art Activism

May 29 Peace Love Art Activism

May 29 Peace Love Art Activism

BLACK HISTORY

Segregated Ships for Parents of Black Vets Killed

May 29, 1930: the U.S. Department of War—which had invited the families of veterans killed during World War I to visit their graves in Europe—denied a petition by Black mothers and spouses to travel on the same ship as white families and instead forced them to travel on segregated boats.

With the support of the NAACP, a group of 55 Black mothers and widows, known as Gold Star women, from 21 different states petitioned President Hoover, asking him to allow all of the grieving women to travel together.

“When the call to arms came from our government in 1917,” they wrote, “mothers, sisters and wives, regardless of race, color or creed, were asked to give their loved ones to the end that the world might be saved for democracy. This call we answered freely and willingly. In the years which have passed since death took our loved ones our anguish and sorrow have been assuaged by the realization that our loved ones who rest in the soil of France gave their lives to the end that the world might be a better place in which to live for all men, of all races and all colors.”

“Twelve years after the Armistice, the high principles of 1918 seem to have been forgotten. We who gave and who are colored are insulted by the implication that we are not fit persons to travel with other bereaved ones. Instead of making up parties of Gold Star Mothers on the basis of geographical location we are set aside in a separate group, Jim Crowed, separated and insulted.”

The petition was referred from President Hoover to the War Department, which ultimately declined the Black families’ request. [EJI article] (next BH, see May 31)

Reitman v. Mulkey

May 29, 1967: in a 5-4 decision the U.S. Supreme Court concluded that a California state constitutional amendment allowing racial discrimination by property owners violated the 14th Amendment. [ACLU article] (see June 2)

137 SHOTS

May 29, 2015: while acknowledging that he cannot appeal an acquittal, prosecutor Timothy J. McGinty of Cuyahoga County said that Judge John O’Donnell made serious errors before finding officer Michael Brelo not guilty in the deaths of Malissa Williams and Timothy Russell, and he wants an appeals court to order the judge to correct the record.

McGinty said that Judge O’Donnell’s reasoning in the voluntary-manslaughter trial of Officer Michael Brelo could set a legal precedent that would “endanger the public,” and that that Officer Brelo’s acquittal was based on the judge’s mistaken analysis of laws concerning police use of deadly force and on homicide involving more than one person who fired shots. He said the judge had also considered the wrong lesser charge — felonious assault — when he should have considered attempted voluntary manslaughter or aggravated assault.

“As it stands, the trial court’s verdict will endanger the public, allow for one of multiple actors to escape culpability and lead to more unnecessary deaths by police-created crossfire situations,” Mr. McGinty said in his filing with the appeals court. “This court must return the case with the corrections of law to the trial court with instructions to deliberate and reach a verdict with the correct application of the law and correct determination of lesser offense of voluntary manslaughter — attempted voluntary manslaughter or aggravated assault,” he said. (see 137 for expanded story)

Starbucks

May 29, 2018: Starbucks closed more than 8,000 stores in the afternoon to provide anti-bias training for its employees after two black men were arrested for trespassing at one of the coffee chain’s sites in Philadelphia on April 12.

Roseanne

May 29, 2018: ABC canceled the hit sitcom “Roseanne” hours after the show’s star and co-creator, Roseanne Barr, posted a racist tweet [if “muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby=vj.] about Valerie Jarrett, a former top adviser to President Obama who is black. (see June 21)

US Labor History

Toledo Auto-Lite strike, day 5

May 29, 1934 (Tuesday): tensions worsened again. The Toledo Central Labor Council continued to plan for a general strike. By now, 68 of the 103 unions had voted to support a general strike, and the council was seeking a vote of all its member unions on Thursday, May 31. Auto-Lite executives, too, were busy. Miniger met with Governor George White and demanded that White re-open the plant using the National Guard. White refused, but quietly began drawing up contingency plans to declare martial law. Negotiations remained deadlocked, and Taft began communicating with United States Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins to seek federal support (including personal intervention by Roosevelt). (see Toledo for expanded chronology)

Walt Disney animator strike

May 29, 1941: animators working for Walt Disney begin what was to become a successful 5-week strike for recognition of their union, the Screen Cartoonists’ Guild. The animated feature Dumbo was being created at the time and, according to Wikipedia, a number of strikers are caricatured in the feature as clowns who go to “hit the big boss for a raise” [2015 Hollywood Reporter article] (see June 20)

17 year boycott ends

May 29 Peace Love Art Activism

May 29, 1996: the United Farm Workers of America reached an agreement with Bruce Church Inc. on a contract for 450 lettuce harvesters, ending a 17-year-long boycott. The pact raised wages, provided company-paid health benefits to workers and their families, created a seniority system to deal with seasonal layoffs and recalls, and established a pesticide monitoring system. (LH, see Aug 29; UFW, see August 18, 2000)

Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co

May 29, 2007:  the US Supreme Court decided that employers cannot be sued under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 over race or gender pay discrimination if the claims are based on decisions made by the employer 180 days ago or more. The plaintiff, Lily Ledbetter, was a former employee of Goodyear who alleged that she was paid 15–40% less than her male counterparts, which was later found to be accurate. [Oyez article] (see Sept 24)

May 29 Peace Love Art Activism

May 29 Music et al

White Christmas in May

May 29, 1942: Bing Crosby recorded the Irving Berlin song ‘White Christmas’. Crosby recorded the song with the John Scott Trotter Orchestra and the Ken Darby Singers in just 18 minutes. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the version sung by Bing Crosby is the best-selling single of all time, with estimated sales in excess of 50 million copies worldwide. (next Cultural Milestone, see February 16, 1948)

Ricky Nelson

May 29 – June 4, 1961, “Travelin’ Man” by Ricky Nelson #1 Billboard Hot 100.

Beach Boys

May 29 – June 11, 1965 – “Help Me Ronda” by Beach Boys #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. (see February 17, 1966)

Crosby, Stills, & Nash

May 29, 1969: Crosby, Stills, & Nash released first album.  (David Crosby age 28; Stephen Stills age 24; Graham Nash, age 27).”(see CSN for expanded story)

May 29 Peace Love Art Activism

Cold War

HUAC

May 29, 1947: the House Un-American Activities Committee opened public hearings into communist influence in Hollywood. (see July 26)

Hollywood 10

May 29 Peace Love Art Activism

May 29, 1950: the Supreme Court denied new hearings for the Hollywood Ten. [jrank dot org article] (RS, see June Peace…; HT, see June 29)

Cuba

May 29, 2015: Secretary of State John F. Kerry rescinded Cuba’s designation as a terrorism sponsor at the end of a 45-day congressional notification period that began on April 14, when President Obama announced his intention to remove Cuba from the list.

The move “reflects our assessment that Cuba meets the statutory criteria for rescission,” Jeff Rathke, the State Department spokesman, said in a statement. “While the United States has significant concerns and disagreements with a wide range of Cuba’s policies and actions, these fall outside the criteria relevant to the rescission of a State Sponsor of Terrorism designation.” [NYT article]  (CW, & Cuba, see July 1)

May 29 Peace Love Art Activism

LGBTQ

May 29, 1965: nine men and three women picketed the White House to protest what they called Government discrimination against homosexuals. (see February 19, 1966)

May 29 Peace Love Art Activism

Judicial Milestone

Afroyim v. Rusk

May 29, 1967:  the US States Supreme Court ruled that US citizens may not be deprived of their citizenship involuntarily. The U.S. government had attempted to revoke the citizenship of Beys Afroyim, a man born in Poland, because he had cast a vote in an Israeli election after becoming a naturalized U.S. citizen. The Supreme Court decided that Afroyim’s right to retain his citizenship was guaranteed by the Citizenship Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution. In so doing, the Court overruled one of its own precedents, Perez v. Brownell (1958), in which it had upheld loss of citizenship under similar circumstances less than a decade earlier. [Oyez article] (see Dec 18)

May 29 Peace Love Art Activism

Consumer Protection

May 29 Peace Love Art Activism

May 29, 1968: the (TILA) Truth In Lending Act passed into law with regulations designed to protect consumers in credit transactions requiring clear disclosure of key terms of the lending arrangement and all costs. It is part of the “Consumer Credit Protection Act”. [US DoT article] (see April 23, 1970)

May 29 Peace Love Art Activism

Vietnam

Hamburger Hill

May 29, 1969: U.S. troops abandoned Ap Bia Mountain [“Hamburger Hill”]. A spokesman for the 101st Airborne Division said that the U.S. troops “have completed their search of the mountain and are now continuing their reconnaissance-in-force mission throughout the A Shau Valley.”

Outrage over what appeared to be a senseless loss of American lives was exacerbated by pictures published in Life magazine of 241 U.S. soldiers killed during the week of the battle. Gen. Creighton Abrams, commander of U.S. Military Assistance Command Vietnam, was ordered to avoid such battles. Because of Hamburger Hill, and other battles like it, U.S. emphasis was placed on “Vietnamization”–turning the war over to the South Vietnamese forces rather than engage in direct combat operations. [US Army article]

DRAFT CARD BURNING

May 29, 1969: in NY, a Federal grand jury indicted eighteen men on draft-evasion charges. A 19th was charged with illegally wearing a military uniform during a draft card-burning demonstration. (Draft Card Burning, see June 4; Vietnam, see June 1)

May 29 Peace Love Art Activism

Fourth Amendment

Schneckloth v. Bustamonte

May 29, 1973: the US Supreme Court ruled that in a case involving a consent search, while knowledge of a right to refuse consent is a factor to be taken into account, the state does not need to prove that the one who is giving permission to search knows that he has a right to withhold his consent under the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution. [Oyez article] (see June 20,1979)

May 29 Peace Love Art Activism

Irish Troubles

May 29 Peace Love Art Activism

May 29, 1981:  the names of four prisoners on hunger strike together with five other Republican prisoners, were put forward as candidates in the forthcoming general election in the Republic of Ireland. (see Troubles for expanded story)

May 29 Peace Love Art Activism

ADA

 

May 29, 2001: the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that disabled golfer Casey Martin could use a cart to ride in tournaments. [NYT article] (see May 2, 2002)

May 29 Peace Love Art Activism

TERRORISM

May 29, 2001: four followers of Osama bin Laden were convicted in New York of a global conspiracy to murder Americans, including the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa that killed 224 people. (All were sentenced to life in prison.) (see Sept 11)

May 29 Peace Love Art Activism

Iraq War II

May 29, 2003:  50 days after the fall of Baghdad, President Bush proclaimed a fresh victory for his administration in Iraq: Two small trailers captured by U.S. and Kurdish troops had turned out to be long-sought mobile “biological laboratories.” He declared, “We have found the weapons of mass destruction.” The claim, repeated by top administration officials for months afterward, was hailed at the time as a vindication of the decision to go to war. But even as Bush spoke, U.S. intelligence officials possessed evidence that it was not true. (see Sept 17)

May 29 Peace Love Art Activism

Kandahar massacre

May 29, 2013: it was announced Robert Bales would plead guilty (thereby avoiding the death penalty) and describe the events of March 11, 2012 (see June 5)

May 29 Peace Love Art Activism

Women’s Health

Idaho abortion ban

May 29, 2015: the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals upheld U.S. District Judge Lynn Winmill’s earlier decision that Idaho’s “pain-capable abortion” ban was unconstitutional. In a unanimous decision, a three-judge panel of the appeals court held that banning abortions from 20 weeks on was “facially unconstitutional because it categorically bans some abortions before viability.” The court also found other portions of Idaho’s restrictive anti-abortion laws unconstitutional. [Spokesman-Review article] (see June 9)

Arkansas abortion ban

May 29, 2018: the U.S. Supreme Court declined to consider whether an Arkansas law restricting access to medication abortions  unconstitutionally burdens a woman’s access to abortion services.

By rejecting the legal challenge, the justices allowed a lower court order to lapse that had blocked enforcement of the law, which was passed in 2015. As a result, the restriction took effect. (see June 26)

May 29 Peace Love Art Activism

STAND YOUR GROUND LAW

May 29, 2015: Michael Lafay, the lawyer for Matthew Apperson, a 36-year-old Winter Springs man accused of firing into George Zimmerman’s pickup on May 11 as they two traveled in separate vehicles down West Lake Mary Boulevard (Sanford, FL), announced that Zimmerman would use a “stand your ground” defense in an attempt to clear himself. (see November 28, 2016)

May 29 Peace Love Art Activism

Fourth Amendment

May 29, 2018: in Collins v Virginia, the U.S. Supreme Court put restrictions on police searches of vehicles ruling in a Virginia case involving a stolen motorcycle that officers generally cannot search a vehicle on private property without a warrant.

The 8-1 decision called into question evidence police obtained from a motorcycle search that was used to convict defendant Ryan Collins of receiving stolen property. The Supreme court returned the case to lower courts to determine if the police had other lawful grounds for entering the property without a court-approved warrant.

The stolen motorcycle was covered by a tarpaulin and parked on private property next to a house in Charlottesville, Virginia. (see June 22)

May 29 Peace Love Art Activism

SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE

May 29, 2020: the Supreme Court  turned away a request from a church in California to block enforcement of state restrictions on attendance at religious services.

The vote was 5 to 4, with Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. joining the court’s four-member liberal wing to form a majority.

“Although California’s guidelines place restrictions on places of worship, those restrictions appear consistent with the free exercise clause of the First Amendment,” Chief Justice Roberts wrote in an opinion concurring in the unsigned ruling. [NYT article] (next Separation, see June 30)

May 29 Peace Love Art Activism

May 28 Peace Love Art Activism

May 28 Peace Love Art Activism

Native Americans

May 28, 1830: President Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act, which authorized the President to grant land west of the Mississippi River in exchange for the lands of the American Indian tribes living primarily in the southeastern United States. President Jackson’s message to Congress stated a double goal of the Indian Removal Act: freeing more land in southern states like Alabama and Mississippi, while also separating the Indians from “immediate contact with settlements of whites” in the hopes that they will one day “cast off their savage habits and become an interesting, civilized, and Christian community.” [PBS article] (see March 18, 1831)

May 28 Peace Love Art Activism

BLACK HISTORY

East St Louis attack

May 28, 1917: in East St. Louis, Illinois, a meeting of 3000 white union members marched on the Mayor’s office to make demands about the job competition resulting from the city’s growing African American population. The disgruntled union members were upset that African Americans who had migrated from the South were being hired by companies who wanted to weaken the bargaining power of white unions. The large group quickly devolved into an angry mob, and rioted through the streets of East St. Louis, destroying property and physically assaulting African Americans at random.

Local law enforcement was unable to control the large crowd and the National Guard was deployed to regain order in the community. After the riots were calmed, little action was taken to prevent the violence from restarting and none of the union’s participants were arrested. New agreements were not established with white unions and local police were not better equipped to handle large mobs. [images via sttoday dot com]  (BH, see July 1; RR, see July 2)

Woolworth’s lunch counter

May 28, 1963: Black and white civil rights activists were attacked as they took part in a sit-in at a Woolworth’s lunch counter in Jackson, Mississippi. One of them, John Salter, said, “I was attacked with fists, brass knuckles and the broken portions of glass sugar containers, and was burned with cigarettes. I’m covered with blood, and we were all covered by salt, sugar, mustard, and various other things.” The protest came eight days after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that state enforcement of restaurant segregation is a violation of the 14th Amendment. M.J. O’Brien’s book, We Shall Not Be Moved: The Jackson Woolworth’s Sit-In and the Movement It Inspired, describes that event. [Zinn Education article] (see June 4)

Miami revolt

May 28, 1993: in a decision met with anger and dismay among blacks in Miami, police officer William Lozano, who was convicted in 1989 on two counts of manslaughter in the shooting deaths of two young black men, was acquitted in a second trial on the same charges. [Washington Post article] (BH, see Aug 4; RR, see April 18, 1994)

Vernon Dahmer

May 28, 1998: Sam Bowers (73) was arrested again for the death of Vernon Dahmer (see January 10, 1966). The jury had deadlocked In each of the four previous trials. [SPLC article] (BH, see June 7; Dahmer, see Aug 21)

May 28 Peace Love Art Activism

INDEPENDENCE DAYS

May 28, 1918

May 28 Peace Love Art Activism

1) Armenia independent from Ottoman Empire. [100 years 100 facts article]

2) Azerbaijan independent from the Russian Empire. [Wiki source article]  (see October 28, 1918)

May 28 Peace Love Art Activism

US Labor History

May 28, 1934 (Monday): the union agreed to submit their grievances to mediation, but Auto-Lite officials refused these terms. A company union calling itself the Auto-Lite Council injected itself into the negotiations, demanding that all replacement workers be permitted to keep their jobs. In contrast, the union demanded that all strikebreakers be fired. Meanwhile, Judge Stuart began processing hundreds of contempt of court cases associated with the strike. Arthur Garfield Hays, general counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union, traveled to Toledo and represented nearly all those who came before Judge Stuart. (see Toledo for expanded chronology)

May 28 Peace Love Art Activism

see May 28 Music et al for more

John Fogerty

May 28, 1945: John Fogerty born

Hendrix obsessed

May 28, 1962: Sergeant Louis J Hoekstra filed a statement against Jimi Hendrix for missing bed check and being obsessed with his guitar. (see Military for expanded chronology)

Herbie Hancock

May 28, 1962: Herbie Hancock recorded Takin’ Off  album at Van Gelder Studios.

LSD

May 28, 1963:  Weil and Russin wrote a scathing critique of Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert’s work in the Harvard Crimson. Part of the article read: Far from exercising the caution that characterizes the published statements of most scientists, Leary and Alpert, in their papers and speeches, have been given to making the kind of pronouncement about their work that one associates with quacks. They also wrote: “The shoddiness of their work as scientists is the result less of incompetence than of a conscious rejection of scientific ways of looking at things. Leary and Alpert fancy themselves ‘prophets’ of a psychic revolution designed to free Western man from the limitations of consciousness as we know it.”  (see September Music…)

When A Man Loves a Woman

May 28 – June 10, 1966: “When A Man Loves a Woman” by Percy Sledge #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

What Now My Love

May 28 – July 22, 1966: Herb Albert’s What Now My Love  is the Billboard #1 album.

The Road to Bethel

May 28, 1969: Mel Lawrence presented first “checklist” for the festival’s execution. Incredible String Band and Ravi Shankar signed. $4,500 each. Also at this time (late May) newspapers began to display the first print advertisements for the festival. (see Road for expanded story)

May 28 Peace Love Art Activism

 Space Race

May 28 Peace Love Art Activism

May 28, 1959: NASA launched Miss Baker and Able, two monkeys, from Cape Canaveral and successfully recovered them after their Atlantic Ocean landing.

America’s first attempt to send up a monkey was in 1948. For over a decade, all monkey flights failed for one reason or another. [NPR story] (see Sept 14)

May 28 Peace Love Art Activism

Amnesty International

May 28, 1961, the British newspaper The London Observer published British lawyer Peter Benenson’s article “The Forgotten Prisoners” on its front page, launching the Appeal for Amnesty 1961–a campaign calling for the release of all people imprisoned in various parts of the world because of the peaceful expression of their beliefs. The article will spur the establishment of Amnesty International, a non-governmental organization focused on human rights. [Amnesty International site]

May 28 Peace Love Art Activism

Vietnam

May 28, 1970: The National League of Families of American Prisoners and Missing in Southeast Asia was incorporated in the District of Columbia. Voting membership is comprised of wives, children, parents, siblings and other close blood and legal relatives of Americans who were or are listed as Prisoners of War (POW), Missing in Action (MIA), Killed in Action/Body not Recovered (KIA/BNR) and returned American Vietnam War POWs. (see June Peace…)

May 28 Peace Love Art Activism

Falklands War

May 28 Peace Love Art Activism

May 28 – 29, 1982: Battle of Goose Green. Seventeen British soldiers from 2 Para killed in two days of fierce fighting, which ended in Argentine surrender with dozens killed and more than 1,000 taken as prisoners of war. [War History article] (see June 8)

May 28 Peace Love Art Activism

Religion and Public Education

May 28, 1982: in an attempt to permit some form of prayer in its public schools, the state of Alabama enacted a law requiring a “moment of silence” in classrooms at the start of each school day. Ishmael Jaffree filed complaint on this day on behalf of his three children, challenging the constitutionality of the law. [FFRF article] (Religion, see June 29, 1983; Jaffree, see June 4, 1985)

May 28 Peace Love Art Activism

Nuclear/Chemical News

Pakistan nuclear tests

May 28, 1998: in response to a series of Indian nuclear tests, Pakistan exploded 5 nuclear devices of its own in the Chaghai hills of Baluchistan. [Guardian article] (see May 30)

ICAN

May 28, 2010: the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons [ICAN] campaigners at the NPT Review Conference in New York called on governments to support a nuclear weapons convention. While references to a convention were included in the final document, ICAN was already considering a shift in strategy toward a new treaty banning nuclear weapons in order to empower non-nuclear-weapon states to assume more effective leadership. (Nuclear, see May 30 ; ICAN, see June 27, 2011)

May 28 Peace Love Art Activism

CLINTON IMPEACHMENT

May 28, 1998: Ken Starr asked the Supreme Court to expedite their ruling on executive privilege. Monica Lewinsky gave handwriting and fingerprints samples to the FBI at Ken Starr’s request. (see Clinton for expanded story)

May 28 Peace Love Art Activism

Women’s Health

May 28, 2019: the Supreme Court said that a provision of an Indiana law which said the state may prohibit abortions motivated solely by race, sex or disability should remain blocked.

The court, however, did say it would allow part of the law that requires clinics to bury or cremate fetal remains to take effect.

Then-Indiana Gov. Mike Pence had signed the law in March 2016. Judge William Bauer of the 7th US Circuit Court of Appeals blocked it last year.

In his decision Bauer wrote that provisions in the law that bar women from seeking abortions in certain cases “clearly violate” what he described as “well-established Supreme Court precedent, and were therefore, unconstitutional.”

Justice Clarence Thomas agreed that the court was right not to take up the provision at this time, but said justices “soon need to confront” the issue. (see June 10)

May 28 Peace Love Art Activism

LGBTQ

May 28, 2019: the US Supreme Court left in place a lower court ruling in favor of a Pennsylvania school district policy that allowed some transgender students to use bathrooms that matched their gender identity.

The case was a challenge to a Pennsylvania’s school district’s policy that allowed some transgender students to use bathrooms that match their gender identity. The plaintiffs were students who said the policy violated their privacy rights and constitutes sexual harassment in violation of Title IX, a federal law that bars discrimination based on sex in educational institutions that receive federal funds.

The ruling was issued without comment. (see June 6)

May 28 Peace Love Art Activism

May 27 Peace Love Art Activism

May 27 Peace Love Art Activism

DEATH PENALTY

Feminism

May 27, 1647: Achsah (sometimes rendered “Alice”) Young of Windsor, Connecticut, became the first person executed in North America for witchcraft when she was hanged in Hartford, Conn. [Jurist article] (see June 15, 1648)

Hall v Florida

May 27, 2014: the Supreme Court decided 5 – 4 that Florida’s threshold requirement, as interpreted by the Florida Supreme Court, that defendants show an IQ test score of 70 or below before being permitted to submit additional intellectual disability evidence was unconstitutional because it created an unacceptable risk that persons with intellectual disabilities will be executed.

Twelve years after leaving it to the states to decide when an individual convicted of murder was too intellectually incapacitated to be executed, the divided Supreme Court withdrew some of that discretion.  The states cannot use a fixed IQ score as the measure of incapacity to be put to death.  “Intellectual incapacity,” the Court said, “is a condition, not a number.”

But even the new attempt at guidance may have left some uncertainty.  While states were told that they cannot make an IQ test score anywhere above 70 as permission for an individual’s execution, it did say that it was not ruling on whether a state could set the fixed score at 75 or above, and use that alone as the measure.  [Oyez article] (see July 16)

Nebraska death penalty

May 27, 2015: Nebraska became the first conservative state in more than 40 years to abolish the death penalty, with lawmakers defying their Republican governor, Pete Ricketts, a staunch supporter of capital punishment who had lobbied vigorously against banning it. After more than two hours of emotional speeches at the Capitol, the Legislature, by a 30-to-19 vote that cut across party lines, overrode the governor’s veto of a bill repealing the state’s death penalty law. After the repeal measure passed, by just enough votes to overcome the veto, dozens of spectators in the balcony burst into celebration. [DP information center article]  (DP, see June 8; Nebraska, see November 9, 2016)

May 27 Peace Love Art Activism

SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE

May 27, 1668: three colonists were expelled from Massachusetts for being Baptist. (see May 11, 1682)

May 27 Peace Love Art Activism

Black History

Ida B Wells

May 27, 1892: while black journalist Ida B. Wells was away visiting Philadelphia, a white mob attacked and destroyed her newspaper’s office in Memphis, Tennessee and threatened her with bodily harm if she returned to the city.

On March 9, three black men had been lynched in Memphis. Ms. Wells, 29, was a local black schoolteacher, editor, and co-owner of The Free Speech and Headlight newspaper, and a friend of the three men. Though Ms. Wells was already a popular journalist and advocate of black causes, the lynchings of her friends inspired her to examine the frequency of racial terror lynching and the false charges often used to justify it. She used the newspaper as a forum to share information she gathered. (next BH, see June 7; next Wells, see July 31, 1896)

Scottsboro Nine

May 27, 1932: the U.S. Supreme Court announced it would hear the Scottsboro cases. (see Scottsboro for expanded story)

Judge Tom P. Brady

May 27 Peace Love Art Activism

May 27, 1954: Judge Tom P. Brady of Brookhaven, Mississippi delivered a defiant speech called “Black Monday” in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education decision, inspiring many white leaders to join the white Citizens’ Council. The racist diatribe was printed in books and distributed to white schoolchildren across Mississippi. Brady pointed to specific moments in history from ancient times, to the period of the Civil War, as proof of the natural order of subordination of African Americans to whites. He went on to discuss what he saw as the nation’s infringement on states’ rights, and campaigns against national laws that undermine the way that the people in Mississippi wish to treat African-American people. He argued that anti-civil rights activists needed to take action against civil rights laws and against an empowered African-American people. [1973 NYT obit](see June 10)

George Whitmore, Jr

May 27, 1966: Justice Aaron Goldstein sentenced  Whitmore to five to ten years in prison for the attempted rape and assault. With time off for good behavior and credit for 25 months already served, Whitmore was eligible for release in. (see Whitmore for expanded story)

Green v. County School Board of New Kent County

May 27, 1968: the US Supreme Court ordered states to dismantle segregated school systems “root and branch.” The Court identified five factors — facilities, staff, faculty, extracurricular activities and transportation — to be used to gauge a school system’s compliance with the mandate of Brown. In a private note to Justice Brennan, Justice Warren wrote: “When this opinion is handed down, the traffic light will have changed from Brown to Green. Amen!”  [Oyez article] (BH, see May 27; SD, see Oct 29, 1969)

Louisville riot

May 27 Peace Love Art Activism

May 27, 1968: Louisville, Kentucky riot in response to the Martin Luther King, Jr assassination. [images] (BH, see Sept 8; RR, see October 31, 1969 )

137 SHOTS

May 27, 2015: authorities said that Cleveland police Officer Michael Brelo allegedly engaged in a fight with his twin brother during a night of drinking. Michael Brelo and his brother, Mark, faced assault charges. The fight between the twins occurred at Michael Brelo’s home after 4 a.m. on May 27, according to police in Bay Village, Ohio. (see 137 for expanded story)

May 27 Peace Love Art Activism

US Labor History

Battle of Toledo, day 5

May 27, 1934 (Sunday): almost all picketing and rioting within the now eight-block-wide zone surrounding the Auto-Lite plant ceased. (see Toledo for expanded chronology)

May 27 Peace Love Art Activism

May 27 Music et al

“From Me to You”

May 27 Peace Love Activism

May 27, 1963: The Beatles released their second US single:  “From Me to You.” (March 15 was first release) It peaked at #116 on the national charts in August. In Los Angeles, it peaked at the same time at #32.

In 1980, John Lennon said, “We were writing it in a car, I think… and I think the first line was mine. I mean, I know it was mine. (humms melody) And then after that we just took it from there. We were just writing the next single. It was far bluesier than that when we wrote it. The notes, today.. you could rearrange it pretty funky.” (see June Peace…)

The Freewheelin Bob Dylan 
photo by Don Hunstein

May 27, 1963: released his second album, The Freewheelin Bob Dylan.

The album cover features Dylan with Suze Rotolo. It was taken in February 1963 by CBS staff photographer Don Hunstein at the corner of Jones Street and West 4th Street in the West Village, close to the apartment where they couple lived.

Critic Janet Maslin summed up the iconic impact of the cover as “a photograph that inspired countless young men to hunch their shoulders, look distant, and let the girl do the clinging.” (see Freewheelin’ for expanded story)

Side one

  1. “Blowin’ in the Wind”
  2. “Girl from the North Country”
  3. “Masters of War”
  4. “Down the Highway”
  5. “Bob Dylan’s Blues”
  6. “A Hard Rain’s a’Gonna Fall
Side two

  1. “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right”
  2. “Bob Dylan’s Dream”
  3. “Oxford Town”
  4. “Talkin’ World War III Blues”
  5. “Corrina, Corrina” (Traditional)
  6. “Honey, Just Allow Me One More Chance” 
  7. “I Shall Be Free”
The Road to Bethel

May 27, 1969: press release: the production staff for the festival was completed. Wartoke Concern was the festival’s public relations firm. (see Road for expanded story)

May 27 Peace Love Art Activism

Crime and Punishment

May 27, 1964: Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy gave the keynote address at the National Conference on Bail and Criminal Justice on this day. Chief Justice Earl Warren also spoke. The conference launched a national bail reform movement that led to the 1966 federal Bail Reform Act (June 22, 1966) and similar laws in every state. [Justice Dept PDF] (see March 8, 1965)

May 27 Peace Love Art Activism

Vietnam

United States v. O’Brien

May 27, 1968: United States v. O’Brien (see March 31, 1966). In a 7 – 1 opinion, the Supreme Court upheld the 1965 law that made it a crime to burn or otherwise destroy or mutilate a draft card. Chief Justice Warren, writing the majority opinion, rejected the lower court’s contention that draft card burning was “symbolic speech” and that Congress was forbidden by the First Amendment’s free-speech guarantees to outlaw it. [Oyez article] (Vietnam, see June 14; FS, see June 3; Draft Card Burning, see October 30)

Swedish Humanitarian Aid to NLF

May 27, 1971: in Sweden, Foreign Minister Torsten Nilsson revealed that Sweden had been providing assistance to the Viet Cong (aka, National Liberation Front), including some $550,000 worth of medical supplies. Similar Swedish aid was to go to Cambodian and Laotian civilians affected by the Indochinese fighting. The support was primarily humanitarian in nature and included no military aid. (see June 7)

May 27 Peace Love Art Activism

Nuclear/Chemical News

SALT

May 27, 1972: Soviet President Leonid Brezhnev and U.S. President Richard Nixon, meeting in Moscow, signed the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) agreements. At the time, these agreements were the most far-reaching attempts to control nuclear weapons. [Office of the Historian article] (see July 1; SALT, see December  13,  2001)

May 27 Peace Love Art Activism

World Trade Center

George H. Willig fined

May 27, 1977:  NYC Mayor Beame accepted $1.10 to settle the city’s $250,000 suit against George H. Willig, Instead, Willig was fined $1.10, 1 cent per floor, for scaling the World Trade Center. (see February 26, 1993)

May 27 Peace Love Art Activism

Oklahoma City Explosion

Michael Fortier

May 27, 1998: Michael Fortier, the government’s star witness in the Oklahoma City bombing case, was sentenced to 12 years in prison after apologizing for not warning anyone about the deadly plot. (see January 2000)

May 27 Peace Love Art Activism

CLINTON IMPEACHMENT

May 27, 1998: Monica Lewinsky’s lawyer, Bill Ginsburg wrote an angry “open letter” to Ken Starr which was published in “California Lawyer.” “Congratulations, Mr. Starr! As a result of your callous disregard for cherished constitutional rights, you may have succeeded in unmasking a sexual relationship between two consenting adults.” It was reported that death threats were made against Linda Tripp when the Lewinsky scandal first broke in January and she was moved to a safe house. (see Clinton for expanded story)

May 27 Peace Love Art Activism

Dissolution of Yugoslavia

Slobodan Milosevic

May 27 Peace Love Art Activism

May 27, 1999: in The Hague, Netherlands, a war crimes tribunal indicted Slobodan Milosevic and four others for atrocities in Kosovo. It was the first time that a sitting head of state had been charged with such a crime.  [Slate article on Milosevic] (see June 3)

May 27 Peace Love Art Activism

Family Leave Medical Act

May 27, 2003: In Nevada Department of Human Resources v. Hibbs, the Supreme Court ruled that states can be sued in federal court for violations of the Family Leave Medical Act. (NYT article)

May 27 Peace Love Art Activism

Environmental Issues

Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

May 27, 2010: President Obama announced a six-month moratorium on new deepwater oil drilling permits in 500 feet of water or more. Based on the oil flow estimates by the Flow Rate Technical Group, the US government increased its estimate from 12,000 to 19,000 barrels (500,000 to 800,000 US gallons per day. (NYT article) (see June 1)

Plains All American Pipeline

May 27 Peace Love Art Activism

May 27, 2015: the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Coast Guard ordered Texas-based Plains All American Pipeline to continue its efforts to clean up the pipeline breach that dumped crude onto a pristine stretch of shoreline and into the Pacific Ocean.

The order required Plains All American Pipeline to submit a written plan by June 6 that will outline measures for analyzing the spill’s effects on the environment.

The May 19 spill dumped as much as 2,400 barrels (101,000 gallons, or 382,000 liters) of crude onto a pristine stretch of the Santa Barbara coastline and into the Pacific, leaving slicks that stretched over 9 miles (14 km) along the coast.

“Our action today is to make sure the oil response work continues until the Santa Barbara County coastline is restored,” Jared Blumenfeld, an EPA regional administrator, said in a statement. (see June 9)

May 27 Peace Love Art Activism

Native Americans

May 27, 2014: a divided Supreme Court ruled that the Michigan could not block the opening of an off-reservation American Indian casino because the state’s legal challenge is barred by tribal sovereign immunity.

In a 5-4 decision, the high court said the state could not shutter the Bay Mills Indian Community’s casino about 90 miles south of its Upper Peninsula reservation.

The ruling was a win for Indian tribes, which had increasingly looked to casinos as a source of revenue and had relied on immunity to shield them from government interference. But it’s a disappointment for Michigan and more than a dozen others states that say the decision will interfere with their ability to crack down on unauthorized tribal casinos.

Michigan argued that the Bay Mills tribe opened the casino in 2010 without permission from the U.S. government and in violation of a state compact. The tribe had purchased land for the casino with earnings from a settlement with the federal government over allegations that it had not been adequately compensated for land ceded in 1800s treaties. [SCOTUS blog article] (see June 18)

May 27 Peace Love Art Activism

Immigration History

May 27, 2015: the Justice Department said it would not ask the Supreme Court to review the judge’s decision that put on hold President Obama’s executive action on immigration. (see June 15)

May 27 Peace Love Art Activism

Cannabis

May 27, 2021: a federal report by U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) analyzed youth surveys of high school students from 2009 to 2019. The report concluded that there had been “no measurable difference” in the percentage of those in grades 9-12 who reported consuming cannabis at least once in the past 30 days.

The report, which relied on data from the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System, also found that access remained stable during that time period, with no statistically significant changes in the percentage of youth who say they’ve been offered, sold or gifted illegal drugs on school grounds in the previous 30 days.

What makes the report notable is the timeline.

Cannabis reform opponents frequently argued that enacting adult-use legalization in states spur more underage people to use marijuana. There were no recreational markets in 2009, and that year, 21 percent of high school students reported past 30-day use. The first legal sales launched in Colorado in 2014—and five years after that, 22 percent of teens said they’d recently used marijuana. [MM article] (next Cannabis see June 22 or see CAC for expanded chronology)

May 27 Peace Love Art Activism