Monday, December 10, 2018

Free John Sinclair Rally--December 10, 1971

And now, marijuana is legal in Michigan, where John Sinclair was sentenced to ten years for two joints.  He did more than two years.  This concert kicked ass. Watch the video.....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqbHsUcuN6I

John has been doing a radio show from Amsterdam for many years....check it out...
http://radiofreeamsterdam.org/shows/the-john-sinclair-radio-show/

Monday, May 7, 2018

Friday, April 20, 2018

MayDay 1971

These are photos taken by activists/reporters for the DC area paper Washington Area Spark.  The Mayday protests were part of several days of protests sponsored by various antiwar organizations.  These groups included the Vietnam Veterans Against the War, Peoples Coalition for Peace and Justice, Socialist Workers Party, and the Mayday Tribe, whose slogan was "If the government won't stop the war, the people will stop the government."

https://www.flickr.com/photos/washington_area_spark/sets/72157648989188025/

Wednesday, April 4, 2018

Clash Album released April 8, 1977

The first album by The Clash was released in 1977 in the UK on this day.  One hundred thousand were imported into the US and sold out.  Eventually a US version was released.

The Clash UK.jpg

Monday, March 19, 2018

March 18, 1978 Corporate Rock Fest in Southern California

California Jam 2 was a huge success monetarily and musically.  I went with several friends, lost track of all but one, listened to some music, partied for 24 hours and, while trying to hitchhike out of the parking lot the next morning, got picked up by my friends I had lost during the concert.  The only act I didn't like at all was Ted Nugent.....although his fans were passionate!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Qc43BH3_mQ

Tuesday, February 27, 2018

February 27, 1973 Wounded Knee Occupation by American Indian Movement fighters begins

we remember wounded knee posterThe American Indian Movement’s (AIM) best known and most controversial protest began in February 1973 in Wounded Knee, South Dakota, a small town on the Pine Ridge reservation. Wounded Knee Two began as a conflict within the Oglala Lakota (Sioux) tribe between the supporters of the tribal Chairman Richard Wilson and other tribal members who considered him to be a corrupt puppet of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA).

Like many other such conflicts, it had simmered for a while. In 1973, the disagreements between the two segments of the Pine Ridge Lakota Sioux created so much anger and division that both sides ended up arming themselves. The forces allied with Wilson, along with Federal law enforcement officials and U.S. military, entered into a 71-day siege of the AIM forces.

The AIM group included local citizens, national AIM members, prominent entertainment figures, and members of national philanthropic, religious, and legal organizations. National news organizations covered the entire 71 days of the siege and its aftermath.

When the siege ended on May 9, 1973, two Native American members of AIM were dead and an unknown number were wounded on both sides. Richard Wilson remained in office and was challenged in the next election. Many AIM members spent the next years in litigation, in exile, and in prison.

Several more armed conflicts erupted in the wake of the siege, in large part due to continuing counterintelligence programs and vigorous prosecutions that targeted AIM members. The most well-known of these cases is that of Leonard Peltier who remains in prison because of an at-best questionable conviction in the death of an FBI agent in 1975.

Although I was living in Germany at the time, the occupation came close to home. A classmate of mine whose family was connected to Pine Ridge left his senior year in early March to participate. His father was supportive, despite his rather contradictory role as part of the U.S. Army’s infantry. Indeed, it is likely that while he was in Vietnam he participated in campaigns named after earlier military actions against his own people.


Thursday, February 22, 2018

White House Crooks Sentenced to Prison February 22, 1975

Three of Nixon's right hand men (including the Attorney General John Mitchell) sentenced to federal prison for some of their crimes in the Watergate scandal.....it was a good day....

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1q-rct0Tsprwp8VgoBANr7KdbZmdjOaNI

Friday, February 9, 2018

New Left Group Rising Up Angry writes up Watergate in 1973

By February 1973, Watergate had begun to affect the Nixon White House. Groups on the Left (not the Democrats) were stepping up their critique of this growing dispute in the circles of the ruling class.  Rising Up Angry, a leftwing Chicago-based group of mostly white working class youth organizing in workplaces and the streets of Chicago and some surrounding areas, put their analysis of the situation in writing in their newspaper.  Click on the link below to read it:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1AZut-F1J92ql2Xt3L28vptlKaLrMGLce

Friday, February 2, 2018

Tuesday, January 30, 2018

Bob Dylan and the Band Play Madison Square Garden January 30, 1974

This show was one of three at the Garden.  It was the first time Dylan had toured in eight years.  He and The Band had just released the album Planet Waves.  Tickets could only be obtained via a lottery.  My roommate at Fordham had scored a couple but he had no spares.  I lucked out, though.  A guy in one of my classes sold me his extra for the January 31 afternoon show at face value.  I was awestruck the entire show. Here's a review.

JANUARY 30, 1974 MADISON SQUARE GARDEN, NY

Friday, January 26, 2018

Some Things Only Get Worse--Immigration chronicles

This is from the underground newspaper the Berkeley Barb January 1977.....the last sentence says a lot..."Allow looser immigration during economic booms....when recession hits, tighten up...and excess workers have to be disposed of."

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B01dj5QyuLDeMjE2TU5RYzBUSlhwNV9FNTh4MEFHY1NqUURB

Monday, January 22, 2018

First Minute of a New Day....

On January 25, 1975 Gil Scott Heron and the Midnight Band released the album First Minute of a New Day.  This link is to the song "Winter in America," which appeared on the previous album in a slightly different version....
Image result for first minute of a new day

Thursday, January 18, 2018

Senator George McGovern Announces Antiwar Run for President

On January 18, 1971 George McGovern announced his candidacy for president.  His campaign was probably the most left-leaning campaign under the flag of one of the two main parties ever (until Bernie Sanders's 2016 campaign, anyhow.)  McGovern promised to withdraw all US forces from Vietnam within sixty days of his inauguration and give amnesty to all draft resisters. He ultimately won the Democratic nomination, despite the best efforts of the centrist/conservative wing of the party.
Here is the text of his announcement:
http://www.4president.org/speeches/mcgovern1972announcement.htm

Unfortunately, he would lose the election to Richard Nixon in November 1972.