Today in Labor History August 12, 1936: The First International Brigades arrived in Spain to fight against Franco. Organized by the Communist International, between 40,000 and 60,000 men and women from around the world fought on the Republican side against the fascists. 10,000 of them died. Thousands more international activists joined anti-Stalinist forces, like the socialist POUM, or anarchist groups, like the FAI, CNT and the Durruti Column. Americans defied federal law to participate in the International Brigade, as members of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. Famous Lincoln participants included Avant Garde composer Conlon Nancarrow, labor organizer Delmer Berg, scifi author Theodore Cogswell, novelist William Herrick. The Tom Mooney Company, named for San Francisco labor organizer, Tom Mooney, who was wrongly imprisoned for the WWI Preparedness Day bombing, was commanded by African American labor organizer Oliver Law, the first African-American to command an integrated American military unit. Many African-Americans joined the anti-franco forces. Langston Hughes, who was writing for the Baltimore Afro-American, said: "Give Franco a hood, and he would be a member of the Ku Klux Klan." There was also a George Washington Battlian, and a John Brown battery. Once the U.S. entered World War II, the FBI recommended that none of the veterans of the Spanish war against fascism be given any promotions within the U.S. military, to prevent the “rise of communists” in their ranks. The House UnAmerican Activities Committee (HUAC) blacklisted all American veterans of the Spanish war.

You can read my complete article on Tom Mooney here: https://michaeldunnauthor.com/2024/05/19/tom-mooney-and-warren-billings/

#workingclass #LaborHistory #lincolnbrigades #spain #fascism #antifa #antifascism #anarchism #communism #socialism #stalin#fai #cnt #durruti #tommooney #oliverlaw #union #books #author #writer #composer#Blackmastadon @bookstadon

Today in Labor History August 12, 1936: The First International Brigades arrived in Spain to fight against Franco. Organized by the Communist International, between 40,000 and 60,000 men and women from around the world fought on the Republican side against the fascists. 10,000 of them died. Thousands more international activists joined anti-Stalinist forces, like the socialist POUM, or anarchist groups, like the FAI, CNT and the Durruti Column. Americans defied federal law to participate in the International Brigade, as members of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. Famous Lincoln participants included Avant Garde composer Conlon Nancarrow, labor organizer Delmer Berg, scifi author Theodore Cogswell, novelist William Herrick. The Tom Mooney Company, named for San Francisco labor organizer, Tom Mooney, who was wrongly imprisoned for the WWI Preparedness Day bombing, was commanded by African American labor organizer Oliver Law, the first African-American to command an integrated American military unit. Many African-Americans joined the anti-franco forces. Langston Hughes, who was writing for the Baltimore Afro-American, said: "Give Franco a hood, and he would be a member of the Ku Klux Klan." There was also a George Washington Battlian, and a John Brown battery. Once the U.S. entered World War II, the FBI recommended that none of the veterans of the Spanish war against fascism be given any promotions within the U.S. military, to prevent the “rise of communists” in their ranks. The House UnAmerican Activities Committee (HUAC) blacklisted all American veterans of the Spanish war.

You can read my complete article on Tom Mooney here: https://michaeldunnauthor.com/2024/05/19/tom-mooney-and-warren-billings/

#workingclass #LaborHistory #lincolnbrigades #spain #fascism #antifa #antifascism #anarchism #communism #socialism #stalin#fai #cnt #durruti #tommooney #oliverlaw #union #books #author #writer #composer#Blackmastadon @bookstadon

Okay so I'm currently exploring the #fedi lore and thought I would share some of my favourite reading nugs. Feel free to throw in more-

@so_treu has an amazing interview with @ArtistMarciaX that looks at blackness out here and yeah! This really puts a lot into perspective 🧐
https://logicmag.io/policy/blackness-in-the-fediverse-a-conversation-with-marcia-x/

The second, and thanks for sharing @jdp23 , goes a bit more into the nitty gritty details of some key events all the way from 2009 🤯 (its long) https://privacy.thenexus.today/mastodon-a-partial-history/
#BlackMastadon#blackfedi

Okay so I'm currently exploring the #fedi lore and thought I would share some of my favourite reading nugs. Feel free to throw in more-

@so_treu has an amazing interview with @ArtistMarciaX that looks at blackness out here and yeah! This really puts a lot into perspective 🧐
https://logicmag.io/policy/blackness-in-the-fediverse-a-conversation-with-marcia-x/

The second, and thanks for sharing @jdp23 , goes a bit more into the nitty gritty details of some key events all the way from 2009 🤯 (its long) https://privacy.thenexus.today/mastodon-a-partial-history/
#BlackMastadon#blackfedi

Today in Labor History July 17, 1944: Two ammunition ships exploded at Port Chicago, CA (now known as the Concord Naval Weapons Center). The explosion killed 322 sailors, including 202 African-Americans assigned by the Navy to handle explosives. The explosion could be seen 35 miles away in San Francisco, across the Bay. In response, 258 African-Americans refused to return to the dangerous work, initiating what would be known as the Port Chicago Mutiny. 50 of the men were convicted and sentenced to hard labor. 47 were released in 1946. During their court proceedings, Thurgood Marshall, working then for the NAACP, prepared an appeal campaign, noting that only black men had been assigned to the dangerous munitions loading job. At the time, navy had over 100,000 black sailors, but no black officers. Beginning in 1990, a group of 25 Congressional leaders began a campaign to exonerate the mutineers. However, Congress did not exonerate the men until 2019.

In the 1980s, activists regularly protested at the Concord Naval Weapons Center against U.S. arms shipments to the Contras in Nicaragua. These shipments were supposedly secret, and illegal under the Congressional Boland Amendment. The base shipped 60,000 to 120,000 tons of munitions each year to U.S. forces and allies, including the Contras. On September 1, 1987, a weapons train deliberately ran over veterans who were blockading the tracks, including Brian Willson, who lost both of his legs, and a portion of his frontal lobe, in the collision. Days later, activists dismantled the train tracks. And for years after, activists maintained a 24-hour vigil at the site. The FBI had been surveilling Willson for more than a year as a “domestic terrorist,” even though all of his activism and protests had been entirely nonviolent. The train crew had been told to not stop the train, even if protesters were on the tracks.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #brianwillson #portchicago#ConcordNavalWeaponsCenter#nicaragua #contras #sandinistas #directaction #civildisobedience #domesticsurveillence #fbi #mutiny #weapons #disaster #racism #blm #naacp #thurgoodmarshall #terrorism #BlackMastadon

Today in Labor History July 17, 1944: Two ammunition ships exploded at Port Chicago, CA (now known as the Concord Naval Weapons Center). The explosion killed 322 sailors, including 202 African-Americans assigned by the Navy to handle explosives. The explosion could be seen 35 miles away in San Francisco, across the Bay. In response, 258 African-Americans refused to return to the dangerous work, initiating what would be known as the Port Chicago Mutiny. 50 of the men were convicted and sentenced to hard labor. 47 were released in 1946. During their court proceedings, Thurgood Marshall, working then for the NAACP, prepared an appeal campaign, noting that only black men had been assigned to the dangerous munitions loading job. At the time, navy had over 100,000 black sailors, but no black officers. Beginning in 1990, a group of 25 Congressional leaders began a campaign to exonerate the mutineers. However, Congress did not exonerate the men until 2019.

In the 1980s, activists regularly protested at the Concord Naval Weapons Center against U.S. arms shipments to the Contras in Nicaragua. These shipments were supposedly secret, and illegal under the Congressional Boland Amendment. The base shipped 60,000 to 120,000 tons of munitions each year to U.S. forces and allies, including the Contras. On September 1, 1987, a weapons train deliberately ran over veterans who were blockading the tracks, including Brian Willson, who lost both of his legs, and a portion of his frontal lobe, in the collision. Days later, activists dismantled the train tracks. And for years after, activists maintained a 24-hour vigil at the site. The FBI had been surveilling Willson for more than a year as a “domestic terrorist,” even though all of his activism and protests had been entirely nonviolent. The train crew had been told to not stop the train, even if protesters were on the tracks.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #brianwillson #portchicago#ConcordNavalWeaponsCenter#nicaragua #contras #sandinistas #directaction #civildisobedience #domesticsurveillence #fbi #mutiny #weapons #disaster #racism #blm #naacp #thurgoodmarshall #terrorism #BlackMastadon

Today in Labor History July 8, 1968: A wildcat strike began in Detroit, Michigan against both the Chrysler Corporation and the UAW. At the time, the Dodge Hamtramck plant was 70% black, while the union local was dominated by older Polish-American workers. In response, black workers formed the new Dodge Revolutionary Union Movement. The Revolutionary Union Movement quickly spread to other Detroit plants: Ford Revolutionary Union Movement at the Ford River Rouge Plant, and Eldon Avenue Revolutionary Union Movement at the Chrysler Eldon Avenue plant. They united in 1969 in the League of Revolutionary Black Workers.

#workingclass #LaborHistory#DRUM #racism#revolutionary #union #wildcat #strike #autoworkers #detroit #michigan#DodgeRevolutionayUnionMovement#UAW#LeagueofRevolutionaryBlackWorkers #BlackMastadon

Today in Labor History July 8, 1968: A wildcat strike began in Detroit, Michigan against both the Chrysler Corporation and the UAW. At the time, the Dodge Hamtramck plant was 70% black, while the union local was dominated by older Polish-American workers. In response, black workers formed the new Dodge Revolutionary Union Movement. The Revolutionary Union Movement quickly spread to other Detroit plants: Ford Revolutionary Union Movement at the Ford River Rouge Plant, and Eldon Avenue Revolutionary Union Movement at the Chrysler Eldon Avenue plant. They united in 1969 in the League of Revolutionary Black Workers.

#workingclass #LaborHistory#DRUM #racism#revolutionary #union #wildcat #strike #autoworkers #detroit #michigan#DodgeRevolutionayUnionMovement#UAW#LeagueofRevolutionaryBlackWorkers #BlackMastadon