| March 18, 1922 Gandhi’s “Great Trial” for writing seditious articles opposing British colonial rule began in Ahmedabad, India. The accused, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, aged 53, described himself as a farmer and weaver by profession, and spoke in his own defense, pleading guilty.  Mahatma Gandhi “I hold it to be a virtue to be disaffected towards a government which, in its totality, has done more harm to India than any other system . . . . ” . . . I do not ask for mercy. I am to invite and cheerfully submit to the highest penalty that can be inflicted upon me for what in law is a deliberate crime and what appears to me to be the highest duty of the citizen.” More on the trial ================================================= March 18, 1962 Algeria became a sovereign nation after 130 years of French colonial rule. The struggle for independence inspired “The Battle of Algiers,” a movie by Gillo Pontecorvo. The film was shown extensively in the Pentagon to help understand the Iraqi insurgency.  French army confront demonstrators for Algerian independence in 1960 Read about the movie The movie and the Pentagon ============================================ March 18, 1970 The first strike against the U.S. government and the first mass work stoppage in the 195-year history of the Postal Service began with a walkout of letter carriers in Brooklyn and Manhattan who were demanding better wages.  Ultimately, 210,000 (in 30 cities) of the nation’s 750,000 postal employees participated in the wildcat strike. With mail service virtually paralyzed in New York, Detroit, and Philadelphia, Pres. Nixon declared a state of national emergency and assigned military units to New York City post offices. The stand-off ended one week later. Congress voted a six percent raise for the workers retroactive to December. More about the strike from APWU Video of the strike ============================================= March 18, 1970  Country Joe McDonald Country Joe McDonald was convicted of obscenity and fined $500 for leading a crowd in his infamous Fish Cheer (“Gimme an F !”) at a concert in Massachusetts. It was the band’s introduction to “I Feel Like I’m Fixin’ to Die Rag,” a Vietnam protest song. The lyrics: Listen to the song: ============================================= March 18, 1992 In a referendum, the last whites-only election held in South Africa, voters overwhelmingly gave the government authority to negotiate a new constitution with the African National Congress and other black political groups, and an end to the system of racial separation know as apartheid. When white South Africans voted for change ============================================== March 18, 2011 As a means to thwart a growing reform movement in the kingdom of Bahrain, the government destroyed the structure in the middle of the Pearl Roundabout, the focal point of demonstrations over the previous six weeks. Groups of Shiite Muslims, treated as second-class citizens by the ruling Sunni government led by the ruling al-Khalifa family, had gathered there repeatedly.   <Pearl before demo Pearl after demo> |
https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistorymarch.htm#march18
Scottie's Playtime 