In which you'll see the Place de la Bastille in 1916 and also hear from a mysterious "Merle" who was fighting at the front during that time.
This is the Place de la Bastille in Paris, about 100 years ago. And this is what it looked like 90 years later: The postcard shows the building that stood before the Opera Bastille was constructed. The July Column, on the other hand, hasn’t changed much since its construction
Today in Labor History February 8, 1919: A General Strike occurred in Butte, Montana against a wage cut. Inspired by the Seattle General Strike, members of the IWW and the Metal and Mine Workers Union, Local 800, organized Soldiers’, Sailors’ and Workers Councils to lead the strike. Streetcar workers joined in, shutting down transportation for 5 days. Soldiers, returning from World War I, joined the pickets. Montana’s governor called in the National Guard. They bayoneted 9 workers. The workers ultimately called off the strike out of fear that there would be fatalities.
#workingclass #LaborHistory #butte #generalstrike #seattle #IWW #nationalguard #wwi #bayonet #montana #mining #worldwarone
In honor of Black History Month, a short biography of Ben Fletcher (April 13, 1890 – 1949), Wobbly and revolutionary. Fletcher joined the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) in 1912 and became secretary of the IWW District Council in 1913. He also co-founded the interracial Local 8 in 1913. Also in 1913, he led a successful strike of over 10,000 dockers. At that time, roughly one-third of the dockers on the Philadelphia waterfront were black. Another 33% were Irish. And about 33% were Polish and Lithuanian. Prior to the IWW organizing drive, the employers routinely pitted black workers against white, and Polish against Irish. The IWW was one of the only unions of the era that organized workers into the same locals, regardless of race or ethnicity. And its main leader in Philadelphia was an African American, Ben Fletcher.
By 1916, thanks in large part to Fletcher’s organizing skill, all but two of Philadelphia’s docks were controlled by the IWW. And the IWW maintained control of the Philly waterfront for about a decade. After the 1913 strike, Fletcher travelled up and down the east coast organizing dockers. However, he was nearly lynched in Norfolk, Virginia in 1917. At that time, roughly 10% of the IWW’s 1 million members were African American. Most had been rejected from other unions because of their skin color. In 1918, the state arrested him for treason, sentencing him to ten years, for the crime of organizing workers during wartime. He served three years. Fletcher supposedly said to Big Bill Haywood after the trial that the judge had been using “very ungrammatical language. . . His sentences are much too long.”
#workingclass #LaborHistory #IWW #benfletcher #union #strike #philadelphia #longshore #docker #waterfront #worldwarone #prison #antiwar #freespeech #racism #blackhistorymonth #BlackMastodon
"It is currently not known why the 37mm brass-and-copper shell was lodged in the man’s anus but he is set to be interviewed this week."
Can anyone come up with a plausible, innocent excuse?
Hospital evacuated after doctors find unexploded WW1 bomb lodged in man's rectum:
https://www.lbc.co.uk/article/hospital-evacuated-toulouse-unexploded-bomb-5HjdRkk_2/?fbclid=Iwb21leAPvDQVjbGNrA-8Mj2V4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkDDM1MDY4NTUzMTcyOAABHtnKNn_CDmgcOZfo9cyuhD-6PzNxINqVMGs7zK-NMtw25-lEc-3nVN06yeTq_aem_fJrK8gTnLnPDdFVh7mZo2w
#News #Newstodon #NewsTooter #France #Toulouse #WW1 #WorldWarOne #ExplosiveSuppository
[[Credit @mrcrim3]]
Would you have responded the way they did? 😧
One of the reasons I love watching history documentaries is, you always learn little nuggets that you otherwise would’ve missed while reading a quick overview on a random website. This documentary, "The Harlem Hellfighters", is no different.
#blackhistory #historychannel #racism #southcarolina #worldwarone #wwi #ushistory #soldier #veteran
Today in Labor History January 28, 1918: General strikes occurred in the large cities throughout Germany. The Berlin strike lasted through February 3. Over 4 million workers participated.
#workingclass #LaborHistory #GeneralStrike #strike #wildcat #germany #berlin #worldwarone
All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) (Oscar-winning anti-war drama)
Today in Labor History December 23, 1921: President Warren Harding issued a "Christmas amnesty," freeing Eugene V. Debs and 23 other political prisoners who had been imprisoned for their opposition to World War I under the Sedition Act. Debs was a founding member of the IWW, a socialist, and a 5-time candidate for president of the US. In the 1912 election, he won 6% of the vote. He also led the 1894 Pullman Strike of over 250,000 railroad workers.
In 2023, the U.S. launched its #WithoutJustCause campaign to seek the release of the over 1 million political prisoners around the world, ignoring/denying the fact that it has its own political prisoners, including Mumia Abu-Jamal, who has been in prison through eight different presidencies. Very few political prisoners have been pardoned historically, particularly those on the Left. Here are a few exceptions:
*Washington and Adams both pardoned several men convicted for the Whiskey Rebellion.
*Hayes pardoned the anarchist Ezra Heywood for his 1878 conviction for violating the Comstock Act (for publishing articles in support of free love).
*Teddy Roosevelt pardoned Filipino revolutionary Servillano Aquino, ancestor to future Philippine presidents Benigno and Corazon Aquino.
*Coolidge commuted the sentence of Marcus Garvey, convicted of mail fraud, but then had him deported.
*Ford granted amnesty to over 50,000 Vietnam War resisters.
*Jimmy Carter granted clemency to Lolita Lebrón, Rafael Cancel Miranda, Irving Flores Rodriguez, Puerto Rican nationalists who opened fire in the U.S. House of Representatives and wounding five Congressmen in 1954
*Clinton pardoned Elizam Escobar, Puerto Rican artist and activist, convicted of seditious conspiracy in 1980; and commuted the sentences of 16 members of FALN, a Puerto Rican clandestine paramilitary. He also commuted the sentence of Susan Rosenberg, former radical activist and domestic terrorist, convicted of illegal explosives possession in 1984. She also was involved in several Brink’s armored car robberies, providing material support to the Black Liberation Army, and helping Assata Shakur escape from prison.
*Obama commuted the sentence of army whistle blower Chelsea Manning. He also commuted the sentence of Oscar López Rivera, an FALN member serving 55 years for seditious conspiracy
*Trump posthumously pardoned Susan B. Anthony for illegally voting in 1872, in spite of the fact that Anthony, herself, never would have accepted a pardon, as it would have wrongly validated the trial proceedings and the fine she refused to pay.
*Biden commuted the life sentence of Leonard Peltier to home confinement for life.
#workingclass #LaborHistory #prison #union #strike #solidarity #socialism #sedition #IWW #worldwarone #antiwar #politicalprisoner #eugenedebs #mumia #leonardpeltier
I find it fascinating how postcards were used at the time as “news.” Well, not exactly news but as visual historical documents. It totally makes sense when you think about it, not even newspapers had pictures at the time. Today, the street is still a residential street with a series
David B. 
Destination's Journey
MikeDunnAuthor
Christopher Miller
Playne Jayne
Fedi.Video on PeerTube
David B. Himself