Today in Labor History October 4, 1887: 10,000 Louisiana sugarcane workers went on strike with the Knights of Labor over terrible living and working conditions. Many of the striking workers were bound to the plantations in a status similar to slavery, due to debts they owed the overpriced Company Store, which accepted no cash and only scrip. Bosses would also withhold up to 80% of the workers’ pay until the end of the growing season to ensure that no one quit early. On November 23, the Louisiana Militia, aided by white vigilantes, murdered 60 unarmed black workers during the Thibodaux Massacre. Hundreds were injured, murdered or went missing, including women and children. The massacre ended the strike and any effective effort to organize black cane workers until the 1940s. Democrats in the state passed a series of laws in the wake of the strike that disenfranchised black voters and enforced segregation and Jim Crow.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #knightsoflabor #union #strike #racism #louisiana #jimcrow #massacre #segregation #vigilante #BlackMastadon

Today in Labor History October 2, 1937: Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo ordered the execution of Haitians living in the border region of the Dominican Republic, resulting in the genocidal Parsley massacre of up to 35,000 Haitians. Trujillo was obsessed with race. He’d use pancake make-up to lighten his own skin color and hide his Haitian roots. And even so, the wealthy Dominicans still snubbed him for his working-class family origins. One week prior to the massacre, he publicly accepted a gift of Hitler’s Mein Kampf, whose racial theories he clearly embraced. He used racism to distract Dominicans from their poverty, which had been exacerbated by the Great Depression, and by Trujillo’s corrupt rule. Edwidge Danticat’s historical fiction, “The Farming of Bones,” takes place during the time of the massacre.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #massacre #genocide #haiti #dictatorship #hitler #trujillo #racism #fascism #dominicanrepublic #historicalfiction #fiction #books #author #writer #BlackMastadon @bookstadon

Today in Labor History October 2, 1968: The Tlatelolco Massacre occurred in Mexico City. 15,000 students were demonstrating at the Plaza of Three Cultures against the army’s occupation of the University. The army, with 5,000 soldiers and 200 tanks, ambushed the students, opened fire, and killed nearly 300. They also arrested thousands. This occurred ten days before the opening of the Olympics, the same Olympics where Tommy Smith and John Carlos raised their gloved-fists in a Black Power salute. The U.S. contributed to the massacre by providing the Mexican military with radios, weapons, ammunition and riot control training. Furthermore, the CIA provided the Mexican military with daily reports on student activities in the weeks leading up to the massacre.

Chilean film maker Alejandro Jodorosky portrayed the massacre in his film “The Holy Mountain” (1973). Chilean author Roberto Bolano referenced it in his 1999 novel, “The Savage Detectives.”

#workingclass #LaborHistory #tlatelolco #massacre #mexico #students #olympics #cia #imperialism #robertobolano #racism #protest #film #fiction #historicalfiction #novel #books #film #author #writer #BlackMastadon @bookstadon

Today in Labor History October 1, 1851: 10,000 New Yorkers busted up a police station in Syracuse to free William "Jerry" Henry, a craftsman who was fleeing slavery in the south. He had been arrested by a US Marshall during the anti-slavery Liberty Party's state convention. Citizens of the city stormed the sheriff's office, freed Henry and helped him escape to Canada via the Underground Railroad. There were a lot of abolitionists living in New York, especially in Syracuse, including Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman, and a large number of abolitionist Quakers and Unitarians. Consequently, Syracuse became known as the great central depot on the Underground Railroad. Jerry Rescue Day was celebrated every October 1 in Syracuse, until the start of the Civil War. The annual event included speeches, poetry, music, and organizing against slavery. They also collected funds to keep the Underground Railroad running in central New York.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #slavery #abolition #UndergroundRailroad #frederickdouglass #harriettubman #police #quaker #unitarian #newyork #BlackMastadon

Today in Labor History September 24, 1906: The Atlanta massacre ended on this day. Rioting by white mobs began on September 22 after newspapers published several luridly detailed and unsubstantiated reports of black men allegedly raping 4 local women. The racist mobs destroyed black businesses and homes, killing at least 25 African Americans (official reports). However, the actual death toll may be closer to 100. Black men, including university professors, met to organize defense committees and began arming themselves. However, police and state militias raided their meetings and disarmed them. One cop was killed in the fight. W. E. B. Du Bois, who was teaching at Atlanta University at the time, purchased a shotgun when rioting broke out. "I bought a Winchester double-barreled shotgun and two dozen rounds of shells filled with buckshot. If a white mob had stepped on the campus where I lived I would without hesitation have sprayed their guts over the grass." The massacre was not publicly marked in Georgia until 2006, its 100th anniversary, nor made part of state's curriculum for public schools until 2007.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #atlanta #georgia #racism #Riot #massacre #police #policebrutality #kkk #BlackMastadon

Today in Labor History September 18, 1919: Frederick Douglass “Fritz” Pollard became the first African American to play professional football for a major team, the Akron Pros. This was nearly 30 years before Jackie Robinson broke the color line in Major League Baseball. In 1921, he became the first African-American head coach in the NFL, over 50 years before Frank Robinson became the fist black head coach of a MLB team.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #nfl #football #racism #fritzpollard #BlackMastadon

What drives your characters? What’s pushing them forward—or pulling them apart?

In today’s Tony Tips Tuesdays™ post, we explore why Character Motivation is the heartbeat of your story.

👉🏾 https://wix.to/B3pVVD9

#TonyTipsTuesdays #WritingCommunity #CharacterGoals #FictionTips #WritersLife #BookMastodon #blackmastadon

Today in Labor History September 4, 1949: The Peekskill riots at a Paul Robeson concert in Peekskill, New York. A mob of locals attacked concert-goers with baseball bats and rocks. Police arrived hours later and did little to intervene. Thirteen people were seriously injured. Robeson was lynched in effigy and a cross was burned on the hillside. Robeson was well known for his strong pro-trade union stance, civil rights activism, communist affiliations and anti-colonialism. He also had been increasingly vocal against the Ku Klux Klan and other forces of white supremacy. The concert was a benefit for the Civil Rights Congress. Just prior to the riots, Robeson had spoken at Soviet-sponsored World Peace Conference in Paris, where he said the following:

“We in America do not forget that it was on the backs of white workers from Europe and on the backs of millions of blacks that the wealth of America was built. And we are resolved to share it equally. We reject any hysterical raving that urges us to make war on anyone. Our will to fight for peace is strong.... We shall support peace and friendship among all nations, with Soviet Russia and the People's Republics.”

#workingclass #LaborHistory #newyork #Riot #racism #communism #anticommunism #paulrobeson #soviet #ussr #police #colonialism #peace #antiwar #union #civilrights #BlackMastadon

Today in Labor History September 3, 1838: Frederick Douglass escaped from slavery in Baltimore, Maryland to freedom in the north, where he became a leader of the abolitionist movement. During his lifetime, he wrote 3 autobiographies and became a best-selling author. He also fought for women’s suffrage and was the first black man nominated to run for vice president. Douglass opposed colonialism and segregated schools. He was the most photographed American of the 19th century, never smiling once for the camera so as to not play into the racist myth of the happy slave.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #slavery #Abolition #frederickdouglass #feminism #segregation #education #colonialism #author #writer #biography #books #BlackMastadon @bookstadon

the BLACK & BLOODY kickstarter closes Sept 11, and Black Indie Comix Club is about $900 away from their goal!!! come support the 29 illustrators, artists, and storytellers who've contributed to this incredible anthology!!!

#BlackMastadon #blerdartists #blackvampires #anthology