Today in Labor History April 24, 1954: Mumia Abu Jamal, death row activist, journalist and Black Panther, was born on this date. Mumia is currently in prison on trumped-up charges of killing a cop. He’s been in prison for over 40 years, on Death Row for much of that time. He is also extremely ill with congestive heart failure, diabetes, and a number of other maladies.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #MumiaAbuJamal #prison #BlackPanthers #journalism #FreeSpeech #BlackMastodon

Today in Labor History April 15, 1986: Author Jean Genet died on this day. Genet was a novelists, political activist and petty criminal. His book, The Thief’s Journal (1949), relates his experiences as a young prostitute and thief. That same year, the authorities tried to sentence him to life in prison for his ten convictions. Jean Cocteau, Jean-Paul Sartre and Pablo Picasso successfully petitioned the government on his behalf. In 1968, Genet was censored in the U.S. and expelled from the country after they refused him a visa. But he returned in 1970, upon an invitation by the Black Panthers. He stayed three months, giving lectures and attending the trial of Huey Newton. Later that year, he went to Palestine and visited refugee camps. He supported U.S. political prisoners Angela Davis and George Jackson. He also supported the anti-prison, anti-police brutality work of Michel Foucault, in France.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #blackpanthers #sexwork #prostitution #lgbtq #jeangenet #sartre #picasso #HueyNewton #angeladavis #georgejackson #prison #writer #novel #play #poetry @bookstadon

Today in Labor History April 6, 1968: Oakland police attacked the Black Panthers headquarters and assassinated Bobby Hutton, an unarmed teenager.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #blackpanthers #bobbyhutton #oakland #policebrutality #assassination #racism #BlackMastodon

Today in Labor History April 5, 1977: U.S. disability rights activist stormed and occupied the offices of the US Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Seattle. They demanded enactment of section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which had passed Congress four years prior. The law mandated that no federally funded programs could exclude persons with disabilities and put into place legal protections, and the right to accommodations, for students with disabilities. During the prior four years, HEW repeatedly delayed enactment of the law, while regulations were weakened to benefit business interests. During the San Francisco protests, disability rights activists Judith Heumann, Kitty Cone, and Mary Jane Owen organized a 25-day occupation of the US Federal Building with 150 other activists. Solidarity support was provided by the Black Panthers, allied politicians, and the International Association of Machinists, who donated food, mattresses, wheelchairs, and other equipment, and who helped a delegation get to Washington, D.C. The regulations for section 504 were ultimately signed into law on 28 April, 1977.

For a really great documentary on the birth of this movement, please see “Crip Camp, A Disability Revolution” (2020).

#workingclass #LaborHistory #CivilDisobedience #occupation #directaction #disability #ableism #union #solidarity # #blackpanthers #sanfrancisco #JudithHeumann #KittyCone #MaryJaneOwen #BlackMastodon

I’m listening to #UnderTold [PODCAST] Episode 3: The Black Panther Party's Free Breakfast Program with John Grant, IV

https://pca.st/episode/d7695815-b545-482f-85e5-99dd1b545a5a

#BlackHistory #history #BlackPanthers #CivilRights #HumanRights #ResistAndHeal #HealOurCulture #community #PodcastRecc

https://www.redbubble.com/i/notebook/People-s-Free-Food-Program-by-kodiakj77/179137306.RXH2R

#BlackPanthers #PeoplesFreeFoodProgram #BlackPantherParty #CommunityCare #FeedthePeople #MutualAid #RevolutionaryHistory #CivilRightsMovement #SocialJustice #ActivistShirt #CommunityEmpowerment #PoliticalHistory #BlackLiberation #RadicalHistory #protests #protest #resistance #activism #shopping #merchandise #merch #sales #artwork #artforsale #art #myart #digitalart #redbubble #teepublic #artforsale #myart #digitalart #artistsontumblr

Today in Labor History March 20, 2000: Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, formerly known as H. Rap Brown, was arrested for murdering a Georgia sheriff’s deputy. Al-Amin had been a member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and the Black Panthers. He once said that “violence is as American as cherry pie.” Al-Amin denied shooting the deputy. His fingerprints were not found on the murder weapon. He had no gunshot wounds, though officers who were present at the shootout claimed that the suspect had been hit and wounded. Another man, Otis Jackson, later confessed to being the shooter, but the authorities have repeatedly denied Al-Amin’s requests for a retrial. He is now serving a life sentence. He had been at Florence supermax, under a gag order preventing interviews with journalists. In 2014, he was diagnosed with multiple myeloma. He is now at the U.S. Penitentiary, Tucson. In April 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear his appeal from al-Amin. He died on November 25, 2025.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #blackpanthers #sncc #HRapBrown #prison #cancer #journalism #incarceration #SuperMax #wrongfulconviction #racism #BlackMastodon

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#BlackPowerFist #CivilRights #RevolutionaryArt #PowerFist #ActivistArt #BlackEmpowerment #BlackPower #BlackPride #BlackHistory #AfricanAmericanPride #RevolutionaryStyle #ProtestArt #EqualityMovement #ActivistApparel #CulturalPride #PowertothePeople #BlackPanthers #BlackPantherParty #RevolutionaryHistory #CivilRightsMovement #SocialJustice #CommunityEmpowerment #PoliticalHistory #BlackLiberation #RadicalHistory #protest #resistance #activism #redbubble #teepublic