Today in Labor History January 5, 1869: Isaac Meyers and Frederick Douglass organized the First U.S. National Colored Convention. At the convention, they created the Colored National Labor Union. At the time, white unions routinely refused to accept African American members or to show solidarity with black workers. Additionally, employers often hired black scabs during strikes by white unions, while the KKK often recruited within white unions, exacerbating mistrust. Over time, the union became more and more political (much like most modern unions), until it became a de facto branch of the Republican Party (which in those days was known as the party of abolition).

#workingclass #LaborHistory #union #frederickdouglass #racism #kkk #Abolition #republican #solidarity #strike #scab

12 Things to do Instead of Calling the Cops

https://slrpnk.net/post/32315903

“We will grind you down” Tory peers fighting abolition of hereditary peers

Dining in House of #Lords canteen after #Labour came to power, one Labour adviser found themselves sitting opposite two #Tory #peers.

In particular, the pair were fuming about the forthcoming #abolition of #hereditary #peers. Both agreed, the adviser said, that there should be a deliberate strategy to undermine the government on all its legislation

https://www.theguardian.com/news/ng-interactive/2026/jan/03/we-will-grind-you-down-how-rogue-peers-became-labours-toughest-opponents

#UK #DemocracyNow #AbolishLords #democracy

separation of church and skate

https://quokk.au/c/leftymemes/p/557184/separation-of-church-and-skate

Today in Labor History January 1, 1808: The United States banned the importation of slaves. However, illegal smuggling of slaves continued unabetted. Many Americans continued to engage in the slave trade by transporting Africans to Cuba and Brazil. From 1808 to 1860, nearly 33% of all slave ships were either owned by American merchants, or were built and outfitted in American ports. Furthermore, smugglers imported roughly 50,000 slaves into the United States after 1808, in violation of the law, mostly through Spanish Florida and Texas. In 1819, South Carolina Governor Henry Middleton estimated that 13,000 smuggled African slaves arrived every year. In 1820, Congress made slave-trading a capital offense. Yet out of 74 total slaving-trading cases brought before the U.S. courts between 1837 and 1860, nearly all were acquitted. Only one man, Nathaniel Gordon, was ever executed for illegal slave-trading in the U.S.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #slavery #abolition #BlackMastodon

[Veille 📣] À quoi sert la police ??? ｜Interview avec Gwenola Ricordeau - YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPiB9nsA0hk

Discussion extrêmement intéressante sur un sujet primordial : que faire de la police. L’abolitionnisme de l’institution policière est primordiale, au même titre que l’abolition de l’institution carcérale.

Libérons-nous.

#veilleVidéo #police #abolition #abolitionnisme #links #shaarli

Review :The Zorg

I forwarded another review some months ago, but if you have nor read the book, this might help.

‘Over the course of several days, the crew drowned “those Africans who would be worth less at auction, either due to gender, age, or state of illness”: the weak, the sick, women and children, including a baby born during the crossing.’

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/dec/30/the-zorg-by-siddharth-kara-review-scarcely-imaginable-horrors-at-sea

#Review #Bookstadon #Zorg #Slavery #ModernSlavery #Abolition #Inhumanity #Profit

Well, getting into a Facebook argument with NSW Police wasn't in my 2025 bingo card...

Wait, who am I kidding. Yes, it fucking was.

#NSWPolice #AbolishPolice #Abolition #AbolishPrisons #CommunityNotCops #FuckThePolice

Today in Labor History December 25, 1831: The Great Jamaican Slave Revolt, the largest slave uprising in the British West Indies, began on this date. Samuel Sharpe, a black Baptist deacon, led the revolt of 60,000 enslaved people. The 11-day uprising began as a General Strike, but quickly turned violent. 14 whites and 207 enslaved black people died in the siege. However, another 340 rebels were executed afterward. The rebels had been inspired by the abolitionist movement in London and had intended to call for a peaceful uprising. The rebellion was depicted in Andrea Levy's 2010 novel, “The Long Song,” and in Herbert de Lisser’s The 1929 novel “The White Witch of Rosehall.”

#workingclass #LaborHistory #slavery #abolition #revolt #uprising #jamaica #samuelsharpe #rebellion #books #novels #writer #author #fiction #BlackMastodon @bookstadon