Today in Labor History July 14, 1789: Parisians stormed the Bastille during the French Revolution. The Bastille was a fortress, armory and political prison, and was a symbol of tyranny, feudal authority and the "divine" rights of kings. The Marquis de Sade had been imprisoned there and was transferred out only 10 days before the storming. The French Revolution succeeded in overthrowing the monarchy, replacing it with a bourgeois republic. However, it sparked optimism among working people throughout the world and inspired other revolutions, like the Haitian Revolution, in 1791.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #french #Revolution #bastille #haiti #prison #torture

Today in Labor History July 4, 1840: The anti-rent association of Berne in the Hudson Valley issued its Declaration of Independence, starting the Anti-Rent War, which lasted until August 1845. Also known as the Helderberg War, the anti-rent war was a tenants' revolt in upstate New York against the patroons, who acted as feudal lords with the right to make laws. The first meeting of the Anti-Rent tenant farmers was held in Berne, New York on July 4, 1839. Leaders of the revolt were tried for riot, conspiracy and robbery in 1845. The first trial resulted in no convictions. A re-trial in September 1845 saw a fist-fight between the attorneys who were sentenced to solitary confinement for 24 hours. One defendant, Smith A. Boughton, was sentenced to life imprisonment, but was pardoned by the pro-Anti-Renter John Young.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #rent #protest #prison #newyork #tenants #revolt#AntiRentWar #landreform #tax

If you live in the #WashingtonDC area and have #books that you would like to donate to people in #prison, please see the Donate Books page on our web site for details of what books we seek and when/where to drop them off:
http://dcbookstoprisoners.org/donate-books/

If you don't live in the DC area, look for a local prison book program at:
https://prisonbookprogram.org/prisonbooknetwork/

There are also numerous one-time book drives serving various institutions. Here's an example of one that just made the news:
https://www.inforum.com/news/moorhead/ndsu-group-sends-hundreds-of-books-to-clay-county-jail

i had lost touch with jane's revenge political prisoner Hridindu Roychowdhury for a little bit, but recently found out that he had been transferred to county jail (and thus without any programming and likely without any of his prior possessions) as punishment for refusing to cooperate with a federal grand jury. in effect, his federal sentence is frozen in time, even while he's still being jailed for contempt for refusing to snitch.

https://cldc.org/international-day-of-solidarity-with-long-term-anarchist-prisoners-june-11-2025/

Hridindu is a total gem, broadly knowledgable, supremely affable, varied in interests and skills, all around charming individual -- and more than that, a committed anarchist who acted directly against the rising tide of fascistic christian nationalism in the u.s. and took a principled stand in refusing to cooperate with the state.

please write him a note of support, encouragement or solidarity so that he knows people have his back while he faces renewed state repression. his address is:

Hridindu Roychowdhury
Columbia County Jail
403 Jackson St
Portage, WI 53901

#janesrevenge #prison #solidarity #support#FireToThePrisons#FreeThemAll

"I stand a snowball’s chance in hell of a pardon. ... I want to rebuild my life as a convicted felon, because I want to show how difficult it is. I’m starting Veterinary Technology school, but I’m not eligible for [licensure in] this career." https://www.texasobserver.org/reality-winner-rebuilds-in-kingsville/

#politics#USpol #news #whistleblower #prison#HumanRights#Trump #democracy#Texas

The Israeli #Mossad agents just bombed the entrance of #Tehran’s #Evin #prison in an effort to facilitate the escape of prisoners in order to destabilise Iran’s security.

It was never about Nuclear Weapons! It's all about regime change like Iraq, Libya & Syria.

#WarOnIran#IranUnderAttack#Israel#Iran#RegimeChange

video shared on #BlueSky
https://bsky.app/profile/faab64.bsky.social/post/3lsbhpspym22q

And #Telegram
https://t.me/newsvideofa/3471

@iran @israel

Today In Labor History May 1, 1886: The first nationwide General Strike for the 8-hour day occurred in Milwaukee and other U.S. cities. In Chicago, police killed four demonstrators and wounded over 200. This led to the mass meeting a Haymarket Square, where an unknown assailant threw a bomb, killing several cops. The authorities responded by rounding up all the city’s leading anarchists, and a kangaroo court which wrongfully convicted 8 of them, including Albert Parsons, husband of Lucy Parsons, who would go on to cofound the IWW, along with Mother Jones, Big Bill Haywood, Eugene Debs, and others. Worldwide protests against the convictions and executions followed. To honor the wrongfully executed anarchists, and their struggle for the 8-hour day, May first has ever since been celebrated as International Workers Day in nearly every country in the world, except the U.S.

You can read my complete bio of Lucy Parsons here: https://michaeldunnauthor.com/2024/03/24/lucy-parsons/

#workingclass #LaborHistory #anarchism #haymarket #bombing #policebrutality #police #prison #execution #deathpenalty#GeneralStrike #IWW #lucyparsons #motherjones#EightHourDay #mayday