Today for Black History Month we remember Oliver Law (10/23/1900–7/9/1937), African-American communist labor organizer, who fought for the Republic in Spanish War against fascism, and was the first African American to command white troops in battle. Law was born in west Texas and served in the U.S. army from 1919-1925. After that, he moved to Chicago, where he worked as a cab driver and as a stevedore. He joined the Communist Party in 1932 and ran as its candidate for the State House in 1934. He was also active in the Unemployed Movement and in Harry Haywood’s movement to oppose the Italian occupation of Ethiopia, and was arrested for speaking at a demonstration in 1935. In 1936, he joined the Abraham Lincoln Brigade and the Internationalists fighting with the Spanish republicans against the fascist forces of Francisco Franco. He fought on the Jarama Front and, later, became commander of the Tom Mooney Machine Gun Battalion, named for anarchist IWW labor organizer, Tom Mooney, who was serving time after being falsely convicted for San Francisco’s Preparedness Day Parade bombing. Law was killed on July 9, 1937 while leading his men in an attack on Mosquito Hill.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #IWW #oliverlaw #anarchism #communism #fascism #antifascism #abrahamlincoln #spain #civilwar #blackhistorymonth #BlackMastodon

Today in Labor History January 6, 1937: The Abraham Lincoln Brigade formed to fight fascism in the Spanish Civil War. Roughly 4,000 American men and women fought for the Republicans in violation of U.S. law. Nearly 2,000 of them died of wounds or disease. One of the casualties was Oliver Law, a communist, and the first black man known to have commanded white U.S. troops. He led the Tom Mooney Machine-Gun Company, named for labor organizer Tom Mooney, who spent years in prison on trumped up charges related to the San Francisco Preparedness Day bombing.

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

#workingclass #LaborHistory #spain #civilwar #fascism #antifa #antifascism #communism #anarchism #oliverlaw #prison #AbrahamLincolnBrigade #BlackMastodon

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 May 17, 1917: The government stayed the execution of Tom Mooney while he appealed his case. Mooney ultimately spent 22 years in prison for the San Francisco Preparedness Day Parade bombing in 1916, a crime he did not commit. Mooney, along with codefendant Warren Billings, were members of the IWW and were railroaded because of their union and anarchist affiliations. The bomb exploded at the foot of Market Street, killing ten and wounding forty. Billings had heard rumors that agents provocateurs might try to blacken the labor movement by disrupting the pro-war parade. He tried to warn his comrades.

Mooney’s father had been in the Knights of Labor, a forerunner of the IWW. He had been beaten so badly during one strike, that his comrades thought he was dead. He ultimately died of silicosis from mining at the age of 36, when Tom was only ten. In San Francisco, Tom Mooney published The Revolt, a socialist newspaper. He was tried and acquitted three times for transporting explosives during the Pacific Gas & Electric strike in 1913.

Mooney filed a writ of habeas corpus in 1937, providing evidence that his conviction was based on perjured testimony and evidence tampering. Among this evidence was a photograph of him in front of a large, ornate clock, on Market Street, clearly showing the time of the bombing and that he could not have been at the bombing site when it occurred. The Alibi Clock was later moved to downtown Vallejo, twenty-five miles to the northeast of San Francisco. A bookstore in Vallejo is named after this clock. He was finally pardoned in 1939. Upon his release, he marched in a huge parade down market street. Cops and leaders of the mainstream unions were all forbidden from participating. An honor guard of longshoremen accompanied him carrying their hooks. His case helped establish that convictions based on false evidence violate people’s right to due process.

The accompanying photo shows Oliver Law, and the Tom Mooney Machine Gun Company, part of the Abraham Lincoln Brigades, who fought in the Spanish war against fascism (AKA the Spanish Civil War). Oliver Law was a communist, and the first black man known to have commanded white U.S. troops.

Read my complete article on Mooney and Billings here: https://michaeldunnauthor.com/2024/05/19/tom-mooney-and-warren-billings/

#workingclass #LaborHistory #IWW #TomMooney #WarrenBillings #bombing #prison #socialism #execution #union #anarchism #AbrahamLincolnBrigades #fascism #antifascism #oliverlaw #spain #BlackMastadon

Today in Labor History January 6, 1937: The Abraham Lincoln Brigade formed to fight fascism in the Spanish Civil War. Roughly 4,000 American men and women fought for the Republicans in violation of U.S. law. Nearly 2,000 of them died of wounds or disease. One of the casualties was Oliver Law, a communist, and the first black man known to have commanded white U.S. troops. He led the Tom Mooney Machine-Gun Company, named for labor organizer Tom Mooney, who spent years in prison on trumped up charges related to the San Francisco Preparedness Day bombing.

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

#workingclass #LaborHistory #spain #civilwar #fascism #antifa #antifascism #communism #anarchism #oliverlaw #prison #AbrahamLincolnBrigade #BlackMastadon

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.

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 #Blackmastadon #books #author #writer #composer @bookstadon

Today in Labor History January 6, 1937: The Abraham Lincoln Brigade formed to fight fascism in the Spanish Civil War. Roughly 4,000 American men and women fought for the Republicans in violation of U.S. law. Nearly 2,000 of them died of wounds or disease. One of the casualties was Oliver Law, a communist, and the first black man known to have commanded white U.S. troops. He led the Tom Mooney Machine-Gun Company, named for labor organizer Tom Mooney, who spent years in prison on trumped up charges related to the San Francisco Preparedness Day bombing.

#WorkingClass #LaborHistory #spain #CivilWar #fascism #antifa #antifascism #communism #anarchism #OliverLaw #prison #AbrahamLincolnBrigade #BlackMastadon

Today in Labor History January 6, 1937: The Abraham Lincoln Brigade formed to fight fascism in the Spanish Civil War. Roughly 4,000 American men and women fought for the Republicans in violation of U.S. law. Nearly 2,000 of them died of wounds or disease. One of the casualties was Oliver Law, a communist, and the first black man known to have commanded white U.S. troops. He led the Tom Mooney Machine-Gun Company, named for labor organizer Tom Mooney, who spent years in prison on trumped up charges related to the San Francisco Preparedness Day bombing.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #civilwar #spain #fascism #communism #anarchism #TomMooney #OliverLaw #prison