audio by album this day in history

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It is said that Pocahontas died in Gravesend, England. Well let's take a moment to correct Disney's portrayal of Pocahontas. Her real name was Matoaka and she was the daughter of a Powhattan Chief; she would have been about 10 at the time it is said that she “rescued” the English man John Smith. Pocahontas was later captured, married off to a man named John Rolph, and transported to England where she was used as propaganda to support the English colonies in Virginia. She died of disease in England at the age of 21.

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3,000 black Americans in Philadelphia protested the opening of a play called "The Clansman."  The play, based on a novel by Thomas Dixon, was extremely racist, glorifying the Ku Klux Klan and encouraging the strict enforcement of racial segregation. Despite the demonstration "The Clansman" continued to play in U.S. cities, later becoming the inspiration for the controversial film "The Birth of a Nation" which was released in 1915. The movie vividly depicted scenes of racial violence.  It also portrayed black people as savage and expressed that their presence in America was a huge threat to white superiority.  Lastly, the movie suggested that all black people had an intense desire to attain whiteness.

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The First National Women's Rights Convention was held at Brinley Hall in Worcester, Massachusetts. The conference was viciously attacked by mainstream media as an event unworthy of public attention, and a huge percentage of the audience rejected the radical ideas that women could and should demand political power. The presenters discussed inequalities from voting and property rights, to marriage and education. While this era of western feminism has been appropriately critiqued for its Eurocentric ideals, this particular national forum was a huge step towards the future of women's rights in America and was an inspiring collaboration between feminists and abolitionists alike.

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Alabama's Governor George Wallace finally pardoned Clarence Norris who was one of the young men convicted in the 1931 Scottsboro trial. The Scottsboro Boys were a group of nine black youths, from age 13-19, who despite the weak evidence and the contradictory witnesses were convicted of raping two white women in Scottsboro, Alabama. Throughout the long and infamous trials of The Scottsboro Boys, Clarence Norris was sentenced to death a total of three times. His death sentence was later commuted but Norris spent 15 years in prison and spent another 30 as a fugitive after fleeing Alabama before the Alabama Pardon and Parole Board unanimously found him innocent.

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A crowd of white people in Los Angeles began angrily attacking a group of Chinese Americans after the accidental death of a white man. The incident began when a large crowd of white spectators began to gather around a street fight that was taking place between two Chinese people. As the fight escalated, shots were fired and a white man accidentally killed. The White mob violence immediately followed as they began assaulting a nearby group of Chinese Americans. Homes and businesses were looted causing immense economic loss for the Chinese Community and 19 Chinese American citizens were killed. The leaders of that nights massacre all escaped punishment.

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Several black people in St Bernard Parish, Louisiana were massacred and terrorized by a group of white supremacists. Although racial killings took place quite often in the South during these times, this one was noted for its brutality. This event has been successfully silenced from historical accounts and the specific facts about it are not easily accessible. But here are some facts to put it into context: During this year, Louisiana saw a huge rise in Ku Klux Klan membership and there was also a shocking increase in racially motivated 'election murders' in 1868; these were murders committed to ensure that the white population sustained its political power in the South. Too bad so many important events get lost in translation.

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Shortly after the United States Army began accepting African American recruits, they declared that the black enlistees needed score of 100 on the Army General Classification Test to qualify, while white enlistees only needed to earn a 70. The army also restricted black officers from choosing their own assignments. Despite the controversial and discriminatory nature of these policies the Army continued to enforce them using a document called the Gillem Board Report as its justification. Seeing as how the army was obviously trying to restrict the number of black soldiers, it is ironic that they now aggressively recruit people-of-color, who just happen to make up a disproportionate percentage of military recruits these days.

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The British government issued a classified statement known as the Balfour Declaration, which proclaimed Britain's support for Zionist plans to create a Jewish "national home" in Palestine. Although the Balfour Declaration stated that the civil and religious rights of existing communities in Palestine should not be compromised, the British governments obvious alliance with the Zionist Federation was enough to worry the Palestinian people and provoked Arab opposition and revolt. The tension quickly grew between the Arab people and the new Jewish state of Israel, which later became viciously protected by both the British and American governments. Hmm, no wonder this document has often been called the Root of the current problem in Palestine.

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Two members of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Movement, Oscar Collazo and Griselio Torresola, attempted to force their way into Blair House in Washington DC and assassinate President Truman. At that time, the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party was lead by the revolutionary figure Pedro Albizu Campos. The movement was dedicated to the Puerto Rican struggle for Independence and went to great lengths to resist the violence that was taking place in Puerto Rico under US domination. The assassination attempt on President Truman failed, and Griselio Torresola, was killed on the scene. Oscar Collazo, who was originally sentenced to death, spent a total of 29 years in prison before returning to Puerto Rico.

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The Pacifica radio station WBAI aired a monologue called "Filthy Words" done by the comedian George Carlin. In his routine, Carlin listed and made fun of the "seven dirty words," words which can not now be uttered over public airwaves. Apparently a complaint was filed with the Federal Communications Commission, or the FCC. Although this was the only complaint filed, it eventually landed the Pacifica Foundation in a Supreme Court case against the FCC. The final ruling was in favor of the FCC and it established many restrictions on the content of publicly broadcast material.

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"Black Tuesday" also known as the Wall Street crash of 1929 occurred, devastating the stock market and causing widespread economic panic throughout America. Although there is debate about whether the Crash of '29 was a result of the Great Depression or a cause, it is definitely agreed that it was one of the most devastating stock market crashes in American History. The quick drop in stock prices caused bankruptcies and severe financial difficulties for businesses; the result was mass unemployment and quickly deteriorating living conditions for the American working class, which happens to be a majority of the American population.

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Today is the beginning of a new year, on some calendars at least, and it seems to be a very Revolutionary day!

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American politician Victor Berger was denied his seat in the House of Representatives because he was a socialist.  Years before this incident, Berger had been voted in to the House of Reps, becoming the first socialist candidate to ever take a seat in the US Congress.  During his time in congress, Berger proposed the elimination of the Presidents veto and strongly voiced his opposition to US participation in WWI.  Berger was later elected to Congress two more times but was  refused his seat each time due to his socialist views.  Now how democratic is that!

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The "Bread and Roses" strike began at a textile factory in Lawrence, Massachusetts. At the factory, which relied heavily on the cheap labor of immigrants, women, and children, anywhere between 25 and 30 thousand workers walked out to protest exploitative factory policies, physical abuse, sexual harassment, poor working conditions, and inhumane wages. The National Guard was immediately called in to quell the strike and began to violently assault the strikers, almost all of who were women and children. Members of the Industrial Workers of the World quickly collaborated with the strikers to become more organized, yet most major media outlets still refused to report on the strike. Now that's subjective journalism!

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A political document, known as The Fundamental Orders, was adopted by the Connecticut Colony council. This document officially established a government within the English Colony of Connecticut by dictating the powers and limitations of its new governing body. It is also largely considered to be the first written constitution in Western history. Certain principles embodied by the Fundamental Orders, including the section on individual rights and the use of secret ballots, were later applied to the United States Constitution. If you think about it, the American government is founded on ideas of individualism.

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Mangas Coloradas, Chief of the Mimbrenos Apache, was shot to death in New Mexico by the American Military. Prior to this, there had been a longstanding history of tension between the Apache people and the American settlers who invaded their land, and this tension quickly increased as the Gold Rush era progressed. After being fed up with the enduring abuse at the hands of American miners, Mangas Coloradas led an attack on the American Army. Later, after being promised a truce, Coloradas agreed to resolve issues through negotiation, but upon his peaceful arrival to a US military camp was shot dead by American Soldiers.

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The Palmer Raids were at their peak in America. The Palmer Raids were a series of controversial raids by the U.S. Justice and Immigration Departments that lasted from 1918 until 1921. The raids, which were a direct attack on the communist party and the radical left in the US, involved illegal means of gaining information, illegal searches and seizures, mass arrests, deportation, and torture. J Edgar Hoover, the Chief of the Justice Department's Radical Division, actually organized the raids. No wonder he went on to a 48-year career as director of the FBI; the perfect candidate.

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The Sullivan Ordinance was passed in New York City, making it illegal for women to smoke cigarettes in any public place. This law, which could have possibly been the first no-smoking legislation enacted in the US, was unanimously approved by the city's Board of Aldermen, which is similar to a city council. During the early 20th Century when this legislation was passed, smoking among women was not too common anyways, but the percentage of female smokers has been steadily increasing since. This is understandable seeing as how tobacco companies aggressively target women in their advertising campaigns. Unfortunately, I'm sure this New York law was not solely motivated by the health and wellbeing of women.

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The US Supreme Court delivered its famous ruling on Roe v. Wade. By determining that state laws banning abortion were in violation of an individual's constitutional right to privacy, the Court's decision served to legalize abortion as a woman's fundamental right and personal choice. There was a huge pro-life backlash directly following Roe v. Wade as religious, right wing, fanatics increased their efforts to terrorize pro-abortion health clinics and the women who were seen entering them. It's kind of ironic when you consider all the health clinics that were bombed... the pro- lifers killing people and all.

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The United States Congress secretly authorized the US government to take possession of East Florida. This land, which had previously been under Spanish control, was heavily pursued by the US for many reasons and was promptly seized after this secret act of congress took place. Once under American control, the interest and well being of American settlers became top priority, and the rights of the Native Americans who resided there were frequently abused. Many expansionist policies, including the East Florida decision, were enacted without any consent from the inhabitants of that territory. No doubt this was common of expansionist mentality.

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Native American Political Prisoner Leonard Peltier was sentenced to an additional 7-years in prison, where he had already spent three years of a double life sentence. Peltier, who is still in prison to this day, was originally arrested and tried for the murder of two FBI Agents. Although his trial was extremely sketchy and filled with holes and missing evidence, Peltier received two consecutive life sentences. His supporters argue that he is innocent and was targeted for his radical beliefs and political Involvement. In 2004, Leonard Peltier was an American presidential candidate for the Peace and Freedom party. Ironically, while convicted felons are allowed to run for federal offices, they are often prohibited from voting. Hmm, can somebody say 'control tactic'?

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The minimum wage in America was raised from 40 cents an hour to 75 cents an hour. This, today, is about equivalent to a 5-dollar an hour pay rate. This makes sense considering that the federal minimum wage was only 5.15 an hour up until 2007, when it was raised a whole 70 cents. This implies that the minimum wage in America has not changed much proportionally in over a century, and it is still not considered to be a living wage. A living wage would be the minimum hourly pay necessary to achieve a decent standard of living in a certain space. A minimum wage on the other hand is the minimum hourly wage set by law, and unfortunately, that amount is often way below a living wage. That might explain why so many people in the US are living below the national poverty line.

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The Bear River Massacre occurred around present day Utah. Three years before this, a group of Shoshoni, under chief Bear Hunter, were forced off of their land by Mormon Farmers. When the young men of the tribe retaliated against the white settlers, American armed troops were called on to punish the Shoshoni. The Shoshoni fought back until their ammunition ran out, at which point American soldiers rushed them and began shooting. About 250 Shoshoni were slain, their women were raped, and American soldiers used axes to bash in the heads of already injured women and children.

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The US officially severed diplomatic relations with Cuba, an event that had been approaching since the Cuban Revolution two years earlier. Back in the late 1800's, American corporations began to search for new markets and investments abroad. Cuba was one of the countries recognized as a capitalist goldmine and was eventually transformed into one at the expense of Cuba's own economy. In 1959, when Fidel Castro reclaimed full control over the Cuban government and economy, he began to openly speak out against America's exploitation of the country and its people.

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White American inventor, Samuel Colt, sold his first revolver pistol to the US government for use in the Mexican-American war. Later, the U.S. Dragoon forces and Texas Rangers credited Colt firearms for their great 'success' in defeating Native American Forces. Business for Samuel Colt continued to be successful and his guns have greatly contributed to the development of war technology for example Colt's M16 full-automatic rifle has repeatedly been used by the US for military operations and invasions. Sadly, this unfortunate invention has played a very decisive role in the course of American history and culture.

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The first Jazz record was made. Jazz is rooted in the African American experience in this country, and early Jazz is a direct product of working-class, New Orleans musicians, but this first Jazz recording was cut by a group of middle-class white men called the Dixieland Jazz Band. Many early Jazz recordings were made by white men, some of who performed in blackface. The first Jazz recordings made by black musicians were made later that year.

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During WWII, Thailand declared war on both Britain and the United States. Since the War broke out, the Japanese Military had been pressuring Thailand to give Japanese troops uninhibited access to their land. This would enable Japan to easily move through and attack certain British Military camps. In accordance and cooperation with Japan's wishes, Thailand temporarily declared war on the US and the UK. As the Thai government became increasingly wary of Japanese occupation, America spotted a perfect opportunity to intervene. The US offered to organize an underground movement to get rid of the Japanese. What a familiar scenario… I wonder if this was a benevolent act of American exceptionalism or if it was a strategic move based solely on self-interest?

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A play "The Drag: A homosexual comedy in 3 acts" first opened up in Bridgeport, New Jersey. Written by the audacious Mae West, this production drew a lot of controversy and was strictly banned from Broadway in NY. For inspiration, Mae West frequented the most popular gay cabaret in Greenwich Village, auditioning those same Drag Queens for her play. West considered sexual expression to be a basic human right, and she was also and early advocate of gay and transgender rights.

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Governor Philip LaFollette of Wisconsin signed the nations first ever unemployment compensation law. Three years later, the federal Social Security Act of 1935 established a national unemployment insurance program, designed to work with the individual state programs. The unemployment compensation program provides workers who have lost their jobs with monetary compensation for a given period of time, or until they find a new job. This is supposed to provide an unemployed worker enough time to find a new job equivalent to their old one. Another important aspect of this program is its guarantee to sustain consumer spending during periods of economic hardship and high unemployment. I suppose this makes sense in the context of a Capitalist society.

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The state of New York introduced a bill to outlaw public flirting. Apparently the bill aimed at prohibiting men from turning around on any city street and looking at a woman 'in that way'. A fine of 25 dollars was the penalty for breaking this law. Its interesting that the government didn't want men to look at women in public, but they didn't mind a woman being brutalized and abused, as long as it was kept private.

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President Harry Truman announced that the United States had developed a hydrogen bomb. One year earlier, the US had detonated the first weapon of this kind in an experiment known as the "Ivy Mike" nuclear test. Similar devices were also developed and tested by countries such as the Soviet Union, the UK, France, and China. The American government continued to perfect its own nuclear technology and in 1954 performed another experiment, which turned out to be the largest nuclear test ever carried out by the US. When a hydrogen bomb is detonated, it produces an explosion that is hundreds of times more powerful than the atomic bombs dropped over Hiroshima and Nagasaki… Talk about weapons of mass destruction.

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Carmen Conde died in Madrid, Spain. Conde, more commonly known as Florentina, was born in 1970, and was an amazing poet and activist. During the Spanish Revolution, she joined the 'Mujeres Libres' which was a group of women fighting for both women's liberation and an Anarchist revolution. With 'Mujeres Libres' Florentina did a lot of work in the community and gave lectures on how to merge the struggle against women's oppression with the struggle against capitalism.

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The United States bought what is now the US Virgin Islands from Denmark for 25 million dollars. Before being colonized by Denmark, the Virgin Islands were home to the Ciboney, Carib, and Arawak people, almost all of who perished under the harsh and devastating effects of colonization. After the indigenous population died off, the islands became a destination for thousands of African people who were enslaved on sugar plantations, many of whom continued to reside there long after slavery was legally abolished. The US Virgin Islands are now known for their lucrative tourist industry, on which American industries continue to profit and feed off of.

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The Southeast Asian country of Laos was under severe attack by South Vietnam and the US, who encouraged and supported this invasion. Presenting a huge threat to American War Interests, Laos played a key role in the Vietnam War. This war, commonly known as the Secret War turned Laos into one of the most manipulated and exploited battlegrounds used between America and North Vietnam. The war left Laos in a political disaster. Also, the Laotians who were recruited to help the US, became despised in Laos, and the US left them at the end of the war in a very bad situation.

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New Jersey became the last Northern state to abolish slavery. Actually, the legislation called for the “Gradual Abolition of Slavery” and it aimed to phase slavery out over a 25-year period. The act ironically granted financial benefits to slave owners. In the years since, New Jersey has built itself a rather bad reputation as far as racial discrimination and police brutality goes. The New Jersey State Troopers are often accused of targeted racial profiling and violent tactics. The names Assata Shakur, Zayd Malik Shakur and Sundiata Acoli come to mind.

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The US battleship Maine exploded and sank killing 260 Americans. At the time of the explosion, The Maine was in the Caribbean protecting US interests in Cuba. By claiming that the Spanish intentionally blew up their ship, The US was able to initiate the Spanish-American war, in which they acquired Puerto Rico, Guam & the Philippines. Additionally, America’s new presence in the Pacific enabled their conquest of Hawaii that same year. It was later determined that the USS Maine sank due to an accidental fire. What a financially convenient accident.

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President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066. These four little numbers sentenced some 120,000 people of Japanese descent to a harsh life in American concentration camps. Apparently because of Pearl Harbor, all persons of Japanese decent were potential spies. More than 2/3 of those who were captured were American citizens and at least half of them were children. By the end of the WWII, only ten people were actually convicted of spying for Japan, all of who were white. Talk about racial profiling!

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American Movie Studio executives agreed to allow the Office of War Information to censor movies. The Office of War Information was a US Government agency created during World War II, who controlled the release of war news for domestic use. An overseas branch was also established and launched huge propaganda campaigns globally. Through its creation and distribution of radio series, newsreels, photographs, and government-approved Hollywood films, the OWI essentially had the power to manipulate public opinion.

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Malcolm X was assassinated. He was just about to deliver a speech In the Audubon Ballroom in Manhattan when a man came forward from the crowd, shooting him in the chest with a shotgun. Malcolm X was a powerful civil rights and human rights leader in America, who associated himself with the Nation of Islam until right before his death. While the Nation of Islam is believed to be behind his assassination, Malcolm X’s radical race politics definitely intimidated a number people.

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F.W. Woolworth opened his very fist five-&-dime store in Utica, New York. As the Woolworth Company spread, the stores began to incorporate lunch counters, serving food and drinks to the public. In the South, segregated Woolworth lunch counters became very significant in the Civil Rights Movement. The Greensboro Sit-In in 1960, which took place at a Woolworth lunch counter, ignited a huge movement of Sit-Ins and Boycotts all over the South.

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The dead body of Anna Mae Pictou-Aquash was found. Anna Mae was a prominent member of the American Indian Movement. It is generally believed that she was executed by other AIM members who were convinced that she was an informant for the FBI. One thing is certain, the murder of Anna Mae Aquash was a direct result of the tactics used by the FBI's Counter Intelligence Program, which regularly used "disinformation" and lies to plant suspicions and divide the American Indian Movement. Using these tactics, the FBI wiped out many amazing revolutionaries through murder and imprisonment.

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Illinois passed a law stating that no black person from another state was allowed to stay in their state for more than ten days. If they were caught, they were to be arrested, and either subject to a $50 fine, or temporarily auctioned into forced labor. These laws, known as “Black Laws” were extremely common in the Southern States, and the state of Illinois had particularly harsh tactics. Although it entered the Union as a free state in 1818, slavery had existed there for almost 100 years and continued to exist for a long time.

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Writer and poet Angelina Weld Grimke was born to a white mother and a black father. Due to racial tensions Grimke's mother left their family, and from the time that Angelina was 7 years old, she was raised by her father and his family in Boston. Throughout her life, Angelina Grimke published many literary pieces from poetry to short stories. A lot of Grimke's work is based on her experience as a biracial woman in America, and also on the isolation she felt as a lesbian woman in the late 1800's.

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The last Aztec Emperor Cuauhtémoc was assassinated. When Cuauhtémoc came to power 5 years earlier, the Spanish had already begun their conquest of the Americas. The Aztec Empire fought the Spanish off for as long as they could, but in 1521, Emperor Cuauhtemoc was forced to surrender to Hernan Cortes. Four years later, Cortes took Cuauhtemoc to Honduras where he ordered him to be hung. Spanish Colonization of the Americas continued and the indigenous people, once conquered, were often exploited and murdered.

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Congress passed the Immigration Act, overruling Woodrow Wilson's Veto. The immigration Act of 1917 implemented an "Asiatic Barred Zone", which specifically prevented immigrants from India, Indochina, Afghanistan, Arabia, the East Indies, and other Asian Countries from entering America. The Act also established a literacy test, which was designed in such a way that most working-class immigrants could not pass it. This is a classic example of racism and classism being inserted into our legal system in discrete ways; Hmmm… The dangers of institutionalized racism.

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More than 400 Chinese people were forcefully driven from their homes in Seattle Washington by a rioting mob of white citizens who wanted them gone. The governor of Washington State quickly ordered that they not be forced to leave, but many Chinese people gathered that next morning at the docks and voluntarily left Seattle on the next boat to San Francisco. Four years before this, the United States government had passed the Chinese Exclusion Act, and since that date, violence and abuse against people of Chinese decent began to heavily increase. Unfortunately, violence is often the outcome when government legislation seems to legitimize the 'inferior' status of a certain group.

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Black feminist and American civil-rights activist Florynce Kennedy was born in Kansas City, Missouri. Flo Kennedy began her career as a lawyer, but quickly lost faith in the American judicial system, and decided that practicing law might never "be an effective means of changing society or resisting oppression". Flo turned to political activism, and in 1966 set up an organization called the Media Workshop to fight racism in journalism and advertising. She continued her struggle for justice, both in the courts and on the streets, aligning herself with movements from the Black Panther Party to abortion rights, and even publicly rallied against the Vietnam War.

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Four members of the Black Liberation Army were arrested for alleged terrorist activity. Their suspected plot to blow up the Statue of Liberty was uncovered by a young black Police Officer who was used to infiltrate the group. The Black Liberation Army emerged as a radical political group attempting to directly confront oppressive conditions in the Black Community. Groups like this were constantly attacked by law enforcement and FBI agents in an operation known as The Counter Intelligence Program, or COINTELPRO. This method has dismantled many radical groups and movements in the US.

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The Bank of America building in the small coastal community of Isla Vista went up in flames as heated student protests against the Vietnam War gained momentum. The protesters in this area of Santa Barbara managed to overpower baton-swinging and gun-toting police for three consecutive nights, successfully seizing its business district and running police out each night. The students, who had an explicitly anti-capitalist agenda, were said to have targeted big corporations while strategically leaving small businesses intact. Many of the students were openly acting in solidarity with the 7 defendants of the Chicago conspiracy, a massive demonstration that took place in Chicago against the Vietnam War and was violently attacked by police.

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Black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet, Audre Lorde was born in New York City. Throughout the 1960's Lorde was politically active in the civil rights, the antiwar and the feminist movements. Also during this time Lorde completed many volumes of poetry, in which she wrote passionately against both racial and sexual oppression, and while her poetry was often very political, she also addressed themes of love, betrayal, childbirth, and intimacy. Throughout her career as a poet and activist, Lorde was a powerful contributor to the evolution of feminist discourse. She often critiqued hegemonic feminist theory in its exclusion of race and sexuality.

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African American actress Hattie McDaniel became the first black performer in the U.S. to win an Academy Award. The movie "Gone With the Wind", which McDaniel's won the Oscar for, premiered in Atlanta, Georgia a few months earlier in an event that barred all the black actors from attending. McDaniel's usually played the roles of domestic servants or maids and while she did received some criticism from the black community for choosing these roles, they were often the only roles that black actors and actresses were able to get. Aside from acting, McDaniel was also a professional singer-songwriter, comedienne, and radio performer. The history of American film is just another door into the history of racism in this country.

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Today, February 1 is the beginning of Black history month. Back in 1926, a man named Carter Woodson fought hard to get a national week of recognition for African-American History. Woodson saw this as an opportunity to raise the consciousness of both the black communities and the white communities about the culture and the struggle of persons of African descent in the "New World". Although there has been legitimate critique on the way America handles Black History Month, Woodson's struggle was to institutionalize the study of Afro-American and African societies and cultures in a world where they were largely ignored.

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The Seattle General Strike of 1919 began. The Shipyard workers strike expanded into the General Strike of about 65,000 individuals from several supporting unions. This strike was sparked after the workers union mistakenly received a telegram revealing that the US Government played a role in the refusal to increase their wages. The radicalized workers in Seattle, Washington, took over the city for a week, closing down Seattle's capitalist industries. They even set up an alternative to the police force, which was unarmed and forbade the use of force, and get this, the Crime Rate went way down.

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The front page of The San Francisco Chronicle read quote, “The Japanese Invasion: The Problem of the Hour.” This article was the first in a series used to fire up the Anti-Japanese movement, encouraging California to take legal action against Japanese Immigrants and laborers in America. White Supremacist groups continued to campaign in the West and the outcome was the Gentlemen’s Agreement, which greatly restricted Japanese Immigration. Discriminatory practices continued and continue to plague people of Japanese decent in America.

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On this day, February 8, in 1911, the Boy Scouts of America's official purpose was incorporated into the organization. It involved education, character building, responsibility, good citizenship, and physical fitness. All innocent enough, but what wasn't outright stated here was the Boy Scouts extremist religious expectations and homophobic beliefs. Since they were founded, 3 children have been ejected for not believing in God, and 1 was expelled for being gay. Possibly just a coincidence, But about half of congress were once Boy Scouts, Mr. Bush was one, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and about 8 other US Presidents.

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The Supreme Court issued their decision on Dred Scott vs. Sandford. The Dred Scott decision ruled that people of African descent, whether they were enslaved or not, could never be citizens of the United States. This was a huge setback to the rights of African Americans considering that some black men in five of the original states had been full voting citizens since the Declaration of Independence. The decision ended up strengthening Northern opposition to slavery and encouraged secessionist elements in the South. This court case contributed to much of the Pre-Civil War tension.

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Police kill 4 strikers at a Ford plant in Dearborn, Michigan. Also known as the River Rouge Massacre, the Dearborn police fired into the crowd of 3000, killing 4 and wounding at least 50. Henry Ford's factories had a well-deserved reputation for brutality and violence. Ford also had a secret police that closely watched employees, infiltrated union meetings, and stifled all radical activism before it could become organized resistance.

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Black activist Marcus Garvey arrived in America, from Jamaica. Marcus Garvey was an amazing leader who’s ultimate mission was to unite people of African ancestry. He had the remarkable ability to gather widespread support and organize mass political and social movements. He also helped form the Universal Negro Improvement Association in Jamaica, which later branched out to the U.S. and attracted millions of members. As well as public speaking, Marcus Garvey used his skills as a printer to publish his ideas, using media as an important way to build his movement.

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Close to a thousand Moro women, children and men lay dead on the ground of Bud Dajo in the Philippines, massacred by the American Military. Only 6 Moro rebels survived this First Battle of Bud Dajo. The Philippine-American war began after the US purchased the Philippines from Spain at the end of the Spanish-American war in 1898. This was despite the fact that the Philippines had just declared independence from Spain. The First Philippine Republic fiercely resisted American colonization until their defeat in 1902. The Philippines were not granted independence until 1946.

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The Spanish Crown finally abolished slavery in Puerto Rico. Somehow it made sense to them to compensate slave owners with money and require enslaved peoples to work for 3 more years. Unfortunately freedom was short-lived and Puerto Rico became U.S. territory after the Spanish-American war of 1898. Political participation by indigenous peoples was restricted, and after a 1917 act making every Puerto Rican a citizen of the United States, many Puerto Ricans were drafted into the armed forces where they endured the severe discrimination that was rampant in the US.

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The Tydings-McDuffie Act was approved in the United States, legally establishing Filipino independence from the US. After centuries of being colonized by Spain and then dominated by the US, this Act agreed to grant independence to the Philippines after a 10-year 'transitional period', during which the US would maintain full military control. Ironically, before the 10-years was up, WWII began and the Japanese military seized control of the Philippines. This occupation lasted for about three years before the U.S. regained control. Finally in 1946, the Filipino people were granted independence, although the US continued its military occupation into the 90's and has still managed to dominate much of the Philippine economy. AND YOU THOUGHT COLONIZATION ENDED WITH INDEPENDENCE

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The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire occurred in New York City, resulting in the death of 148 garment workers, most of who were young immigrant women from Eastern Europe. When the textile factory went up in flames the two company owners immediately fled the building leaving many of the exit doors locked. While many of the workers were alerted and able to escape, the women on the 9th floor were stuck in the fire as their only possible exit way was locked. Although