Category: History

“Durbin’s Due”, Elie v. U.S.

I enjoy this man’s commentary. He’s always seemed to know whereof he speaks. Every weekend I intend to post this newsletter, and every weekend gets by me without me getting it done. This is a copy-paste of my newsletter; I receive it in email from “The Nation” magazine. All links within are live.

A retirement for the ages
 Illinois Senator Dick Durbin, who has been in Congress or the Senate for nearly my entire life, has announced that he will not seek reelection in 2026. The 80-year-old’s retirement will touch off a firestorm of a Democratic primary in Illinois, and I’m already dreading the prospect of a heap of progressives jumping into the race, cannibalizing each other, and clearing the path for the wealthiest available moderate white man to buy the nomination. If progressives could just coalesce around one candidate and stick together, they’d win this thing. Then again, if I had wheels, I’d be a wagon. In any event, Durbin’s long overdue retirement is more important to what I cover than the primary, because Durbin is the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which controls the judicial nomination process. He was the head of the committee during Joe Biden’s presidency—a job he got by literally pulling rank over the guy who was best suited for the post (according to me), Senator Sheldon Whitehouse. The last four Democratic leaders on Judiciary have been, pretty much, a disaster. Durbin was preceded by Diane Feinstein, who was preceded by Patrick Leahy, who was preceded by Joe Biden. All four of these people were establishment moderates who were more concerned with formalities and courtesies than fighting for control of the courts. It was during their watch that the Federalist Society was able to overrun the judiciary with Republican judges who have literally taken away constitutional rights and redefined the law as a tool of the Republican political agenda. The Judiciary Committee desperately needs new, energetic leadership, to say nothing of a fighting spirit. I can only hope that Durbin’s retirement marks the end of the era of Democrats’ getting punked on judicial nominations.
The Bad and The Ugly
SCOTUSblog, a popular website that reports on the Supreme Court, has been acquired by the right-wing media outlet The Dispatch. The acquisition likely marks the end of one of the few nonpartisan sources of information about the Supreme Court and plunges yet another independent outlet into the dark morass of the white-wing media ecosystem. I have a ton of respect for the website’s senior editor, Amy Howe, and I know she will fight like hell to retain the site’s nonpartisan independence. But this ain’t no fairy tale. When you lie down with dogs, you wake up with fleas.The number of young people who are incarcerated is going down, but the racial disparities among the children we put behind bars are “the highest in decades.” Black and Native American children are getting the worst of it, according to NPR.
Pope Francis died. Francis was from Argentina. He was the first pope from Latin America, the first pope from the Southern Hemisphere, the first Jesuit pope, and the first pope born and raised outside of Europe since the 8th century. He was also one of the most progressive popes in the history of that office, though admittedly that’s a bit like saying he was the least fungal fungus. For my lapsed-Catholic part, I liked him. I hope the next pope is the second pope who can claim to be most of these things.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has been caught up in yet more Signal-inspired controversy. I know I’m supposed to care, but I don’t. They put a Fox News host in charge of the American military; what the hell did people think was going to happen? Decency? Competence?
A group of bigoted parents went before the Supreme Court this week and asked the justices to allow them to object to books in school that mention gay people. The Republican justices on the court fell all over themselves to agree with the parents. I am once again asking bigoted religious wing nuts to homeschool their children and leave the rest of us who want to live in a society alone.
Inspired Takes
In The Nation, my colleague Joan Walsh took on the Trump administration’s ridiculous and sexist obsession with white birth rates. For my part, I am willing to help the administration accomplish its goals: If it really wants white birth rates to go up, all it has to do is make most white people poor again. The lesson from literally all today’s high-income societies is that birth rates go down as economic prosperity goes up, so the solution is actually pretty simple. Maybe that’s the real reason behind Trump’s tariffs?
Contraband Camp has put out a “Trump Administration Discrimination Database.” So now, whenever your MAGA uncle says, “Point to one thing Trump has done that is racist,” you have a reference source.
I used to feed my dog a “raw food” diet. It made sense to me, in an unthinking way (dog = wolf = murderous carnivore = “Aww… who’s the good girl who wants to feast on the raw viscera of your slain enemies?”). The fru-fru suburban veterinarian I go to didn’t immediately tell me it was a bad idea. But then, I happened to run into my old, hardscrabble city veterinarian and she basically said, “What the fuck? Don’t do that. I thought you were a smart person?” She then gave me some research. Now, we’re back to kibble. For people who don’t have the benefit of knowing a frank-talking vet, Emmet Frazier explains in The Nation why your fully domesticated dog doesn’t need to be eating rabbit liver.
Worst Argument of the Week
This isn’t really an argument, but I read a story in Gothamist that almost made me cry. The Trump administration has largely cut off funding for legal aid programs that would provide lawyers to immigrant children sent here without their parents or legal guardians. That has forced thousands of children in New York City to go through the court process—which can lead to their deportation (among other things)—with no legal representation. We’re talking about children as young as 4 being hauled into a courtroom without a lawyer. I do not know what kind of sick fucks think this is OK. I cannot fathom the base, racist, cruelty and inhumanity you have to be comfortable with to think that Trump is right to cut this funding. I cannot conceive of the argument one might make to support this. All I know is that whatever argument one has for making this OK is wrong.
What I Wrote
I was not prepared to engage with a Supreme Court decision at 1 o’clock on Saturday morning, but I’m very glad the court was still working. It issued a ruling that prevented Trump from deporting another group of immigrants, and in so doing, probably saved some of their lives.
The Harvard lawsuit against the Trump administration over his illegal and unconstitutional freeze of the university’s research funding is very strong. Harvard should win, if winning in court still matters.
In News Unrelated to the Ongoing Chaos
You should watch Andor. The first episode of its second season just came out and, trust me, you should just watch it. Forget that it’s part of the Star Wars franchise. Forget that it’s another Disney-owned media property looking to milk that franchise for all its worth. This show is about fighting fascism. It is the most relevant piece of dramatic fiction of this era.

Peace & Justice History for 4/27

April 27, 1936
The UAW (United Automobile, Aerospace, and Agricultural Implement Workers of America), gained autonomy from the AFL (American Federation of Labor), becoming the first democratic, independent labor union concerned with the rights of unskilled and semi-skilled laborers.
April 27, 1937
The Social Security Administration began operation by making its first payment to an American protected under the law, principally the elderly, and children who’ve lost their parents. 
April 27, 1942
Sixteen pacifists, including Evan Thomas and A.J. Muste, refused to register for the World War II draft. Muste was a Quaker activist, founder of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, and author of two pamphlets that same year, War is the Enemy and Wage Peace Now.

A.J. Muste still working for peace 25 years later with Dorothy Day, leader of the Catholic Worker movement.
Read about War is the Enemy 
April 27, 1974
Ten thousand marched in Washington, D.C., calling for impeachment of President Richard M. Nixon.
April 27, 1987
Central Intelligence Agency headquarters in Langley, Virginia, was blockaded by people protesting U.S. policies in Central America and Southern Africa. 700 were arrested.
April 27, 1989
Thousands of Chinese students took to the streets in Beijing to protest government policies and issued a call for greater democracy in the communist People’s Republic of China.
The protests grew until the Chinese government ruthlessly suppressed them in June during what came to be known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre. Ignoring government warnings of violent suppression of any mass demonstration, students from more than 40 universities began a march to Tiananmen this day.

The students were joined by workers, intellectuals, and civil servants and, by mid-May, more than a million people filled the square.
April 27, 1994

Nelson Mandela casting his first vote
South Africa held its first multiracial elections and chose anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela (with more than 62% of the vote) to head a new coalition government that included his African National Congress Party.
More on that historic election 

https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistoryapril.htm#april27

BLACKPRESSUSA UPDATE COMING SOON – The Smithsonian PURGE: Trump Team Removes Artifacts of Black Resistance

BLACKPRESSUSA UPDATE COMING SOON – The Smithsonian PURGE: Trump Team Removes Artifacts of Black Resistance

The racism in this tRump administration is incredible.  They are desperate to remove anything positive done by people who are not white cis straight males.  They want nothing that shows women or brown / black people.  They want segregation back.    They want subservient women who have to do as a male tells them.  They are desperate to have a white straight cis male dominated society.  The adminstartion is full of white supramcists who believe that teaching the true history, that telling people the truth is “… improper ideology”.   Hugs

Attorney Lindsey Halligan is reportedly consulting Vice President JD Vance to “remove improper ideology” from Smithsonian properties. According to a recent Washington Post article, Halligan told Trump the Smithsonian needs “changing,” and he has since ordered her to act.

Critics warn: it’s not just history being erased—it’s identity.

 

Greensboro lunch counter exhibit

April Ryan

BLACKPRESSUSA UPDATE COMING SOON – The Smithsonian PURGE: Trump Team Removes Artifacts of Black Resistance

Critics warn: it’s not just history being erased—it’s identity.

 
Greensboro lunch counter exhibit

1960 Woolworth’s lunch counter sit-in display

 

By April D. Ryan
Washington Bureau Chief

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE – Black Press USA has learned that Trump officials are sending back exhibit items to their rightful owners and dismantling them—starting with the 1960 Woolworth’s lunch counter sit-in exhibit.

“This president is a master of distraction and is destroying what it took 250 years to build. Here’s another distraction in his quest for attention. Another failure of his first 100 days,” said North Carolina Rep. Alma Adams, responding to efforts to physically remove the Greensboro, North Carolina, Woolworth’s lunch counter exhibit from the National Museum of African American History and Culture—affectionately known as the “Blacksonian.”

The exhibit features portions of the original lunch counter and highlights the story of four Black male students from North Carolina A&T who were brutally attacked after sitting at the whites-only counter Feb. 1, 1960. When denied service, the students refused to leave. Their defiance ignited a wave of lunch counter sit-ins across the South and became a major flashpoint in the Civil Rights Movement.

Adams added, “We are long past the time when you can erase history—anyone’s history. You can take down exhibits, close buildings, take down websites, ban books, and try to change history, but we are long past that point. We will never forget!”

Black Press USA has also obtained a letter from Dr. Amos Brown, long-standing civil rights leader and pastor of Third Baptist Church in San Francisco—also known as the home church of former Vice President Kamala Harris.

The letter notifies Dr. Brown that the museum is returning a Bible and George W. Williams’s History of the Negro Race in America, 1618-1880, one of the first books on racism in the U.S. Black Press USA has obtained emails from April 10 and 15, 2025, confirming the transfer.

The excerpt obtained by Black Press USA reads:

Dear Reverend Brown,
“I wanted to alert you that the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) will be returning your Bible and book we borrowed for our exhibition, Segregation.” (Email to Dr. Amos Brown)

These artifacts have been on display since the museum’s opening in September 2016. Dr. Brown has confirmed he will accept their return.

For Dr. Amos Brown, the artifacts meant something.

“Those two books and the summary of my civil rights activism and my picture right there next to Medgar Evers, John Lewis, and Fred Shuttlesworth in the desegregation of civil rights exhibit… That book [History of the Negro Race in America] inspired me before there were even African studies published. In my home, in that 3rd Street Baptist Church, we studied that book. The Bible—that’s my father’s Bible and the Bible I used in the Civil Rights Movement. When we went on demonstrations, we always had the Bible.”

While civil rights leaders are seeing their history returned behind the scenes, other actors are influencing the future of national memory.

Attorney Lindsey Halligan is reportedly consulting Vice President JD Vance to “remove improper ideology” from Smithsonian properties. According to a recent Washington Post article, Halligan told Trump the Smithsonian needs “changing,” and he has since ordered her to act.

Halligan stated, “I would say that improper ideology would be weaponizing history. We don’t need to overemphasize the negative to teach people that certain aspects of our nation’s history may have been bad.” That overemphasis, she argued, “just makes us grow further and further apart.”

Emails from April 10 and 152025

Peace & Justice History For 4/26

April 26, 1954
The Geneva Conference began for the purpose of bringing to an end the conflicts in Korea and Indochina. This followed the defeat of the French in Vietnam at Dien Bien Phu. France had been trying to reassert colonial control over Indochina following World War II.
The conferees included Cambodia, France, Laos, the People’s Republic of China, the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, the Soviet Union, Vietnam, the U.S. and the United Kingdom.
As a result, Vietnam was temporarily partitioned pending elections on reunification to be held in 1956; those elections were never held.
April 26, 1966

Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzales
Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzales founded the Crusade for Justice, a Chicano activist group, in Denver, Colorado, and marked his departure from the Democratic Party. It was the beginning of a nationalist strategy for the attainment of Chicano civil rights.
Read more
video  Democracy Now
April 26, 1968
A national student strike against the Vietnam war enlisted as many as one million high school and college students across the U.S.
April 26, 1986
A major accident occurred at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the Ukraine near the border with Belarus, both then part of the Soviet Union (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics). An explosion and fire in the No. 4 reactor sent radioactivity into the atmosphere. Only after Swedish authorities reported the fallout over their country 1385 km away (860 miles), did Soviet authorities reluctantly admit that an accident had occurred.
During a fire that burned for 10 days, 190 tons of toxic materials were expelled into the atmosphere (3% of the reactor core). Winds blew 70% of the radioactive material into neighboring Belarus.

The explosion at Chernobyl was the world’s largest-scale nuclear accident. Approximately 134 power-station workers were exposed to extremely high doses of radiation directly after the accident. About 31 of these people died within 3 months. Another 25,000 “liquidators”—Soviet soldiers and firefighters who were involved in clean-up operations — have died since the incident of diseases such as lung cancer, leukemia, and cardiovascular disease.
400,000 were evacuated and over 2,000 towns and villages were bulldozed to the ground in areas considered permanently contaminated.
Deaths and illnesses directly attributable to radiation exposure continue.
“Chernobyl is a global environment event of a new kind. It is characterized by the presence of thousands of environmental refugees, long-term contamination of land, water and air, and possibly irreparable damage to ecosystems.”
– Christine K. Durbak, Chairwoman of the World Information Transfer, New York
Chernobyl for Kids
April 26, 1998

Bishop Juan Gerardi Conedera
Bishop Juan Gerardi Conedera, a leading human rights activist in Guatemala, was bludgeoned to death two days after a report he had compiled was made public. The report blamed the U.S.-backed Guatemalan military government and its agencies for atrocities committed during Guatemala’s 36-year civil war.
About Bishop Gerardi’s murder  (Democracy Now)

https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistoryapril.htm#april26

Recent Yet Historic Marches, & More, in Peace & Justice History for 4/25

April 25, 1945
Delegates from some 50 countries met in San Francisco for the United Nations Conference on International Organization. Over the next two months they would negotiate the principles and structure of the United Nations.
Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt had just died and had been working on his speech to the conference: “The work, my friends, is peace; more than an end of this war—an end to the beginning of all wars . . . As we go forward toward the greatest contribution that any generation of human beings can make in this world—the contribution of lasting peace—I ask you to keep up your faith . . . .”
April 25, 1969

The Reverend Ralph David Abernathy, head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and 100 others were arrested while picketing a Charleston, South Carolina, hospital to support unionization by its workers.
Read more about Reverend Ralph David Abernathy 
April 25, 1974
A peaceful uprising by both the army and civilians, known as the Carnation Revolution (Revolução dos Cravos), ended 48 years of fascism in Portugal. People holding red carnations urged soldiers not to resist the overthrow and many placed the flowers in the muzzles of their rifles. The regime killed four before giving in to the popular resistance.
 
Lisbon demonstration ’74
Read more about the Carnation Revolution 
April 25, 1983
Women in Canberra, Australia, laid a wreath to remember women of all countries raped during wartime.
April 25, 1987
Tens of thousands marched on Washington, D.C. to demand an end to U.S.-sponsored and -supported wars in Central America.
April 25, 1993
Nearly one million marched for homosexual rights and liberation in Washington, D.C.

Health Care Rally at April 25, 1993

The AIDS quilt on display as part of the event.

April 25, 2004

The March for Women’s Lives drew a record 1.15 million people to Washington, D.C. The marchers wanted to protect legal and safe access to reproductive services including abortion, birth control and emergency contraception.
Organized by a coalition that included the National Organization for Women (NOW), Black Women’s Health Imperative, Feminist Majority, National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL), the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, and Planned Parenthood, along with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
The March for Women’s Lives was the largest protest in U.S. history.
Read more 

https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistoryapril.htm#april25

Observing April 25th

Cantare è resistere. Il 25 aprile non può essere messo a tacere

This blogger visits us here; I’ve seen likes on our posts. I checked out the blog and subscribed. I admit, I read with the Translate turned on, so I’ve copy-pasted a snippet here, in English. It’s not too long to read, so please do! It’s motivating.

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Singing is resisting. April 25th cannot be silenced

April 24, 2025

The government’s instructions on the “sobriety” to be maintained in the celebrations of April 25 have led to the cancellation of celebrations and concerts, even in municipalities administered by left-wing councils. An indication is not a ban, but many mayors have preferred to avoid being accused of having violated the sobriety required during the five days of national mourning proclaimed for the death of the Pope. As in the case of Foligno, they even cancelled the performance of the philharmonic that was supposed to play the national anthem.

In Lastra a Signa, on the outskirts of Florence, the municipal council has decided to cancel the concert of Quarto Podere , a historic Tuscan band that has always combined commitment, tradition and irony in its long artistic career. In response to this absurd decision, the members of the group wrote a letter in which they expressed deep dismay and asked for a reconsideration. Here is a significant passage:

“ April 25, Liberation Day from Nazi-fascism, is a cornerstone of our Republic. We therefore consider it unacceptable that a left-wing government, in a secular State (as established by Article 1 of the Constitution), chooses to deny the possibility of adequately commemorating such a significant day, outraging the memory of those who sacrificed their lives for our freedom.
This choice appears even more serious at a time in history when our dignity, workers’ rights and the founding values ​​of the Republic are under attack by a far-right government, clearly of neo-fascist origin; a government that, since it has been in office, has undertaken a systematic demolition of political rights, limiting the possibility of dissent and resistance, as demonstrated by the latest Security Decree. The
proclamation of five days of national mourning represents yet another opportunity to exploit a contingent event and silence any form of dissent.
We are convinced that Pope Francis – a figure we deeply respect – would have been opposed to a cancellation that betrays the inclusive and profound spirit of a celebration that, for our country, is sacred .”

Music, singing, artistic expression have always been perceived as dangerous by totalitarian regimes. (snip-MORE)

Clay Jones & Open Windows

Cheeto Benito by Clay Jones

Cheetos and Cheatahs Read on Substack

On Tuesday, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Food and Drug Administration announced a series of measures to phase out eight artificial food dyes and colorings from America’s food supply by the end of next year. Get ready for boring Cheetos.

RFK Jr, the nation’s laughingstock of a Health Secretary, said, to a crowd of “Make America Health Again” supporters (that’s a thing?), “I just want to urge all of you, it’s not the time to stop; it’s the time to redouble your efforts, because we have them on the run now, and we are going to win this battle.” Who do we have on the run? Food colorers? The Easter Bunny? He also said, “And four years from now, we’re going to have most of these products off the market, or you will know about them when you go to the grocery store.”

Are they sure that brain worm is dead?

FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary said the agencies are looking to revoke authorization for two synthetic food colorings and to work with the food industry to eliminate six remaining synthetic dyes used in cereal, ice cream, snacks, yogurts, and more. They’re going to fuck up ice cream.

He said, “Today, the FDA is taking action to remove petroleum-based food dyes from the U.S. food supply and medications. For the last 50 years, American children have increasingly been living in a toxic soup of synthetic chemicals.”

Now get this. These bans will be voluntary with the food companies. RFK Jr. said, “We don’t have an agreement; we have an understanding.” Good luck with that, Mr. Wormy Bear Killer.

The food companies would like an agreement, and that is for there to be one federal regulation on food dyes, and regulations from every state. Remember state rights? That will be the case for abortions but not for the color in Cheetos. (Snip-MORE + Chicago trip stuff)

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The three branches of government, 2025 by Ann Telnaes

Dictators, defenders, and dysfunction Read on Substack

Peace & Justice History for 4/23

April 23, 1968

Students at Columbia University in New York City occupied campus buildings to protest military research and the razing of part of the neighboring Morningside Heights section of Harlem to make way for a new student gymnasium.
Perspective from 40 years on by Mark Rudd, one of the Columbia leaders
April 23, 1971

In the final event of Operation Dewey Canyon III, nearly 1,000 Vietnam War veterans threw their combat ribbons, helmets, and uniforms on the U.S. Capitol steps along with toy weapons.
Read more about Operation Dewey Canyon III
April 23, 1996

Chernobyl veterans
Nineteen Ukrainian demonstrators were arrested in the capital, Kiev, during an illegal anti-nuclear protest marking the 10th anniversary of the nuclear reactor explosion and fire at Chernobyl, Ukraine, until then the largest and deadliest nuclear accident in history, now exceeded by Fukushima. [see April 26, 1986].

https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistoryapril.htm#april23

Mothers For Peace, Earth Day, and More in Peace & Justice History for 4/21

April 22, 1963
The Mothers for Peace, a group made up of Catholic Workers, members of PAX (which became Pax Christi in 1972), Women Strike for Peace, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), the Fellowship of Reconciliation, and others, met with Pope John XXIII to plead for a condemnation of nuclear war and the development of nonviolent resistance.
About Women Strike for Peace 
April 22, 1970

Banner at the first Earth Day

On the first Earth Day observance, an estimated 20 million participated in peaceful demonstrations of concern for the environment across the U.S. including ten thousand grade schools and high schools, two thousand colleges across one thousand communities.
 
1st Earth Day, 1970
Beginnings of Earth Day from then Sen. Gaylord Nelson (D-Wisconsin)
One on the 1st buttons

Read more about Earth Day history
Read about the history about the ecology symbol
April 22, 1992
50,000 attended “Don’t Count On Us,” an anti-war rock concert in Belgrade, Serbia. It was to the nationalist regime of President Slobodan Milosevic an expression of the resistance within society to the military aggression he had been pursuing in the name of Serbian nationalism. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the various constituent republics of the former Yugoslavia—Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina—had declared their independence.
Following a military draft call-up, fewer than 10% had reported for duty, and there was considerable dissension within what was then still called the Yugoslav People’s Army.
April 22, 1997
On Earth Day, Plowshares activists Donna and Tom Howard-Hastings used handsaws to cut down three poles in northern Wisconsin supporting the ELF (Extremely Low Frequency) transmitter for communication with submerged Trident nuclear submarines. After the poles were cut they were decorated with photos of children and posted with documents about international law and treaties outlawing nuclear weapons. They also placed stakes to mark tree seedlings under the transmission lines that they said were “doomed to the cutting bar.”
They cut a section of one of the downed poles, carrying it to the nearby transmitter site where they turned themselves in to security personnel.
They were then taken into custody by county sheriffs. An ABC-TV news affiliate, along with reporters from two public radio stations, were on hand to observe what happened.
During the three-day jury trial on charges of sabotage and property destruction in Ashland County District Court, the defense was allowed to present several expert witnesses, including a retired Navy captain, Trident missile designer Bob Aldridge, and international law expert Francis Boyle. Both Howard-Hastings defendants were acquitted of the sabotage charge, which carried ten years and a $10,000 fine, but were convicted of destruction of property.
At sentencing, they claimed the court had no jurisdiction over them, seeing that a jury had determined that their action was reasonable, and that they did not damage the national defense. They also made a passionate appeal to the judge to heed international law and the World Court decision to outlaw nuclear weapons.
Donna was sentenced to 114 days she had already served, with a three-year period of probation and restitution. Tom was sentenced to one year in prison, with credit for time served and three years of intensive probation, including electronic home monitoring, and restitution. 
The name Laurentian Shield refers the granite geological formation at the ELF site.
More Plowshares actions 

Peace & Justice History for 4/21

April 21, 1856
Stonemasons and other construction workers on building sites around Melbourne, Australia, stopped work and marched from the University of Melbourne to Parliament House. They advocated eight hours for work, eight hours for recreation, and eight hours for rest. Their direct action protest was a success, becoming the first organized workers in the world to achieve an eight-hour workday, inspiring the celebration of Labor Day and May Day.
April 21, 1989
Six days after the death of Hu Yaobang, the deposed reform-minded leader of the Chinese Communist Party, some 100,000 students from more than 40 universities gathered at Beijing’s Tiananmen Square to commemorate Hu prior to his funeral.They voiced their discontent with China’s authoritarian communist government, and called for greater democracy. Ignoring government warnings of violent suppression of any mass demonstration, the students were joined by workers, academics, and civil servants.

Pro-democracy student protesters face-to-face with policemen outside the Great Hall of the People in Tiananmen Square the day of Hu Yaobang’s funeral.

https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistoryapril.htm#april21