Today in Labor History October 9, 1936: A lettuce strike had recently ended in Salinas, California. However, when red flags went up throughout town, the authorities feared communist agitators had returned and removed the red flags, only to find out later that they were part of a traffic check being done by the state highway division.

The first effective organizing in the Salinas Valley began in 1933, with the mostly female lettuce trimmers demanding equal pay to the men. The Filipino field workers supported the women’s demands. In 1934, members of the Filipino Labor Union (FLU) struck the lettuce farms. So, the farmers brought in Mexican and Anglo scabs. They used vigilante mobs and the cops to violently attack the strikers and arrested their leaders. When the Filipino Labor Union and the Mexican Labor Union joined forces, a mob of vigilantes burned their labor camp down and drove 800 Filipinos out of the Salinas Valley at gunpoint. The 1934 strike ended soon after, with the growers recognizing the FLU and offering a small raise. This violence inspired John Steinbeck to write “In Dubious Battle” and “Grapes of Wrath,” for which he won both Pulitzer and Nobel Prizes.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #salinas #union #strike #filipino #mexican #racism #communism #police #policebrutality #vigilante #author #books #writer #johnsteinbeck #novel #fiction #novelprize #pulitzer @bookstadon

Today in Labor History October 9, 1936: A lettuce strike had recently ended in Salinas, California. However, when red flags went up throughout town, the authorities feared communist agitators had returned and removed the red flags, only to find out later that they were part of a traffic check being done by the state highway division.

The first effective organizing in the Salinas Valley began in 1933, with the mostly female lettuce trimmers demanding equal pay to the men. The Filipino field workers supported the women’s demands. In 1934, members of the Filipino Labor Union (FLU) struck the lettuce farms. So, the farmers brought in Mexican and Anglo scabs. They used vigilante mobs and the cops to violently attack the strikers and arrested their leaders. When the Filipino Labor Union and the Mexican Labor Union joined forces, a mob of vigilantes burned their labor camp down and drove 800 Filipinos out of the Salinas Valley at gunpoint. The 1934 strike ended soon after, with the growers recognizing the FLU and offering a small raise. This violence inspired John Steinbeck to write “In Dubious Battle” and “Grapes of Wrath,” for which he won both Pulitzer and Nobel Prizes.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #salinas #union #strike #filipino #mexican #racism #communism #police #policebrutality #vigilante #author #books #writer #johnsteinbeck #novel #fiction #novelprize #pulitzer @bookstadon

Although there are around 160 universities in the UK, and only a small minority of students attend Oxford & Cambridge, in the world of British fiction it seems the vast majority of students attend Oxbridge.

This reflects both the laziness of authors in their building of incidental detail & the stranglehold these two universities have over the literate arts....

It really annoys me & each time I see it in a book I feel like stopping reading right there & then...

#books #fiction #universities

Although there are around 160 universities in the UK, and only a small minority of students attend Oxford & Cambridge, in the world of British fiction it seems the vast majority of students attend Oxbridge.

This reflects both the laziness of authors in their building of incidental detail & the stranglehold these two universities have over the literate arts....

It really annoys me & each time I see it in a book I feel like stopping reading right there & then...

#books #fiction #universities

With the USA having turned into what it has become today, now might be a good time to read (or even re-read) the book HOMELAND, by @pluralistic
#Reading #Books #Fiction #Fascism

With the USA having turned into what it has become today, now might be a good time to read (or even re-read) the book HOMELAND, by @pluralistic
#Reading #Books #Fiction #Fascism

Message personnel : les gens qui lisent #Velorutopia et qui me laissent des commentaires de soutien => ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ !!!

Pour les autres, c'est là que ça se passe :
https://standblog.org/blog/post/2025/09/20/V%C3%A9lorutopia%2C-une-nouvelle-utopique-solarpunk-et-bikepunk-qui-donne-la-p%C3%AAche

#vélo #fiction #solarpunk

For me, it's Joe Frazier >_> I think he deserves it

#film #anime #movies #tv #television #fiction #history

For me, it's Joe Frazier >_> I think he deserves it

#film #anime #movies #tv #television #fiction #history

#books #fiction #sports #anime #manga #comics #comicbooks #videogames #ttrpg #ccgs #movies #film #television#TV

The #MastoPrompt for Saturday 30 August 2025 is:

#excellent

The poem or story can include the prompt word or be about the prompt word.

@ me, if you like, or just include the #MastoPrompt tag (to allow people to follow or filter their feeds), or keep your work to yourself - all the options are good as long as you're writing.

If you're including an image please do include alt-text if you’re able to.

#Writing#SmallPoem#Poetry#Fiction#MicroFiction#SmallStories

The #MastoPrompt for Saturday 30 August 2025 is:

#excellent

The poem or story can include the prompt word or be about the prompt word.

@ me, if you like, or just include the #MastoPrompt tag (to allow people to follow or filter their feeds), or keep your work to yourself - all the options are good as long as you're writing.

If you're including an image please do include alt-text if you’re able to.

#Writing#SmallPoem#Poetry#Fiction#MicroFiction#SmallStories

Today in Labor History August 21, 1920: Ongoing violence by coal operators and their paid goons in the southern coalfields of West Virginia led to a three-hour gun battle between striking miners and guards that left six dead. 500 Federal troops were sent in not only to quell the fighting, but to ensure that scabs were able to get to and from the mines. A General Strike was threatened if the troops did not cease their strikebreaking activities. This was just 3 months after the Matewan Massacre, in which the miners drove out the seemingly invincible Baldwin-Felts private police force, with the help of their ally, Sheriff Sid Hatfield. 1 year later, Sheriff Hatfield was gunned down on the steps of the courthouse by surviving members of the Baldwin-Felts Agency. News spread and miners began arming themselves, leading to the Battle of Blair Mountain, the largest armed insurrection since the Civil War and the largest labor uprising in U.S. history. Over 100 people were killed in the 5-day battle, including 3 army soldiers and up to 20 Baldwin-Felts detectives. Nearly 1,000 people were arrested. 1 million rounds were fired. And the government dropped bombs from aircraft on the miners, only the second time in history that the government bombed its own citizens (the first being the pogrom against African American residents of Tulsa, during the so-called Tulsa Riots).

The Battle of Blair Mountain is depicted in Storming Heaven (Denise Giardina, 1987), Blair Mountain (Jonathan Lynn, 2006), and Carla Rising (Topper Sherwood, 2015). And the Matewan Massacre is brilliantly portrayed in John Sayles’s film, “Matewan.”

Read my history of the Battle of Blair Mountain here: https://michaeldunnauthor.com/2024/04/14/the-battle-of-blair-mountain/

#workingclass #LaborHistory #mining #strike #union #westvirginia #matewan#BattleOfBlairMountain #uprising #civilwar#GeneralStrike #tulsa #massacre #racism #books #fiction #film #writer #author #novel @bookstadon

Today in Labor History August 21, 1920: Ongoing violence by coal operators and their paid goons in the southern coalfields of West Virginia led to a three-hour gun battle between striking miners and guards that left six dead. 500 Federal troops were sent in not only to quell the fighting, but to ensure that scabs were able to get to and from the mines. A General Strike was threatened if the troops did not cease their strikebreaking activities. This was just 3 months after the Matewan Massacre, in which the miners drove out the seemingly invincible Baldwin-Felts private police force, with the help of their ally, Sheriff Sid Hatfield. 1 year later, Sheriff Hatfield was gunned down on the steps of the courthouse by surviving members of the Baldwin-Felts Agency. News spread and miners began arming themselves, leading to the Battle of Blair Mountain, the largest armed insurrection since the Civil War and the largest labor uprising in U.S. history. Over 100 people were killed in the 5-day battle, including 3 army soldiers and up to 20 Baldwin-Felts detectives. Nearly 1,000 people were arrested. 1 million rounds were fired. And the government dropped bombs from aircraft on the miners, only the second time in history that the government bombed its own citizens (the first being the pogrom against African American residents of Tulsa, during the so-called Tulsa Riots).

The Battle of Blair Mountain is depicted in Storming Heaven (Denise Giardina, 1987), Blair Mountain (Jonathan Lynn, 2006), and Carla Rising (Topper Sherwood, 2015). And the Matewan Massacre is brilliantly portrayed in John Sayles’s film, “Matewan.”

Read my history of the Battle of Blair Mountain here: https://michaeldunnauthor.com/2024/04/14/the-battle-of-blair-mountain/

#workingclass #LaborHistory #mining #strike #union #westvirginia #matewan#BattleOfBlairMountain #uprising #civilwar#GeneralStrike #tulsa #massacre #racism #books #fiction #film #writer #author #novel @bookstadon

#PennedPossibilities 760 — MC POV: Describe who you are in your group of friends. Tell is if you’re the motherly / fatherly type, the funny friend, the serious one, etc.

Friends, Friendship. Teammates. Buddies. Partners in crime†. Frankly, I don't get it. I do the job and make sure everybody comes back. I train them until they drop in a sweaty heap, but then they insist on group meals and singing, that stuff, and won't let me pay. Sure I have everybody's back in a fight, or with clients, or the boss, but that's the right thing to do. I am responsible for them. They ask me for advice, too. Sometime weird. I ended up punching the cheating husband when he made a pass at me, which was actually sort of fun. At times they won't leave me along to be quiet with my books, which is really all I want out of life. I am really the wrong person to ask such a question to.

=-=-=-=-=-=
† Literally.

[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]

#BoostingIsSharing

#gender #fiction #writer #author
#mystery #thriller #romance #sf #sff #sciencefiction
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion
#RSstory#RSReluctanceStory
#microfiction #flashfiction #tootfic #smallstory

#PennedPossibilities 760 — MC POV: Describe who you are in your group of friends. Tell is if you’re the motherly / fatherly type, the funny friend, the serious one, etc.

Friends, Friendship. Teammates. Buddies. Partners in crime†. Frankly, I don't get it. I do the job and make sure everybody comes back. I train them until they drop in a sweaty heap, but then they insist on group meals and singing, that stuff, and won't let me pay. Sure I have everybody's back in a fight, or with clients, or the boss, but that's the right thing to do. I am responsible for them. They ask me for advice, too. Sometime weird. I ended up punching the cheating husband when he made a pass at me, which was actually sort of fun. At times they won't leave me along to be quiet with my books, which is really all I want out of life. I am really the wrong person to ask such a question to.

=-=-=-=-=-=
† Literally.

[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]

#BoostingIsSharing

#gender #fiction #writer #author
#mystery #thriller #romance #sf #sff #sciencefiction
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion
#RSstory#RSReluctanceStory
#microfiction #flashfiction #tootfic #smallstory

Correlated #QuestionOfTheDay what's a piece of media that on paper fits everything you like/fits your politics/morality/etc that people recommend you but that just doesn't click with you?

#anime #manga #music #fiction #books #film #movies#TV #television #comics #comicbooks #webcomics #musicals #ttrpg #ccgs #videogames

Today in Labor History August 18, 1812: Lady Ludd led the Luddite Corn Market riot of women and boys in Leeds, England. Luddites also rioted in Sheffield against flour and meat sellers. England was suffering huge food shortages and inflation at the time, in part because of the War of 1812, which had started in June, and the ongoing Napoleonic wars. Additionally, new technological innovations were allowing mill owners to replace many of their employees with machines. In response, Luddites would destroy looms and other equipment. To try and get control over these worker protests, the British authorities made illegal oath-taking punishable by death in July 1812. They also empowered magistrates to forcibly enter private homes to search for weapons. And they stationed thousands of troops in areas where rioting and looting had occurred over the summer.

There are numerous parallels between that period and today. Like then, we have new technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence, that could reduce the amount of dangerous and tedious toil for the working-class, giving them higher wages and reduced hours. Instead, the technology is being used by the bosses to cut jobs and further enrich themselves. Like then, we are funding numerous wars and genocides, paid for through austerity that has been imposed on the working-class. And like then, governments are planning and implementing new repressive laws and police powers to undermine working-class protest.

Charlotte Bronte’s second novel, “Shirley” (1849), takes place in Yorkshire, 1811-1812, during the Luddite uprisings. It was originally published under the pseudonym, Currer Bell. The novel opens with a ruthless mill owner waiting for the delivery of new, cost-saving equipment that will allow him to fire many of his workers, but Luddites destroy the equipment before it reaches him. As a result of the novel’s popularity, Shirley became a popular female name. Prior to this, it was mostly a male name.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #luddite #england #inflation #genocide #ukraine #palestine #gaza #hunger #freespeech #fiction #novel #author #writer #books @bookstadon

Today in Labor History August 18, 1812: Lady Ludd led the Luddite Corn Market riot of women and boys in Leeds, England. Luddites also rioted in Sheffield against flour and meat sellers. England was suffering huge food shortages and inflation at the time, in part because of the War of 1812, which had started in June, and the ongoing Napoleonic wars. Additionally, new technological innovations were allowing mill owners to replace many of their employees with machines. In response, Luddites would destroy looms and other equipment. To try and get control over these worker protests, the British authorities made illegal oath-taking punishable by death in July 1812. They also empowered magistrates to forcibly enter private homes to search for weapons. And they stationed thousands of troops in areas where rioting and looting had occurred over the summer.

There are numerous parallels between that period and today. Like then, we have new technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence, that could reduce the amount of dangerous and tedious toil for the working-class, giving them higher wages and reduced hours. Instead, the technology is being used by the bosses to cut jobs and further enrich themselves. Like then, we are funding numerous wars and genocides, paid for through austerity that has been imposed on the working-class. And like then, governments are planning and implementing new repressive laws and police powers to undermine working-class protest.

Charlotte Bronte’s second novel, “Shirley” (1849), takes place in Yorkshire, 1811-1812, during the Luddite uprisings. It was originally published under the pseudonym, Currer Bell. The novel opens with a ruthless mill owner waiting for the delivery of new, cost-saving equipment that will allow him to fire many of his workers, but Luddites destroy the equipment before it reaches him. As a result of the novel’s popularity, Shirley became a popular female name. Prior to this, it was mostly a male name.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #luddite #england #inflation #genocide #ukraine #palestine #gaza #hunger #freespeech #fiction #novel #author #writer #books @bookstadon

(For me it's the movie Major League)

#fiction #movies #film #videogames #games#TV #television #manga #anime #boardgames #ccgs #ttrpg #comics #comicbooks#musicals #books