The 1970 entry reminded me of how, during the W admin in 2001 before and after the plane crashes and USA PATRIOT, Bartcop used to mention and link Paul Krassner’s site (now gone, of course. A great deal about him is gone online, but I found a link to something still up. Anyway.) Anyway, he was hilarious for his time, and wrote a great resistance blog during a few years back then. It was cheering. So here’s the 23rd’s history:
| January 23, 1890 The United Mine Workers of America was formed through the amalgamation of the National Progressive Union (organized 1888) and the mine locals under the Knights of Labor, including all workers in the coal industry. The workers faced unstable employment, the prevalence of company towns (where the mine owners controlled all housing and commerce), and extremely hazardous working conditions. UMWA history |
January 23, 1962 Fifteen members of the Committee of 100, the non-violent direct action wing of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), sat in at the British House of Commons demanding a halt to nuclear weapons testing. CND history |
| January 23, 1970 Called as witnesses, folksingers Judy Collins, Arlo Guthrie, Country Joe McDonald, Phil Ochs, and Pete Seeger were denied permission to sing as part of their testimony for the defense at the trial of “The Chicago Seven.” Seven leaders of demonstrations at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago were being tried for conspiring to incite a riot as they protested the Vietnam war.      Judy Collins, Arlo Guthrie, Country Joe McDonald, Phil Ochs, and Pete Seeger More on the Chicago 7 Paul Krassner’s quite irreverent recollection of testifying at the trial |
| January 23, 1973 President Richard Nixon announced a Vietnam peace deal. The president appeared on national television and said that National Security Adviser Henry A. Kissinger and North Vietnam’s chief negotiator, Le Duc Tho, had initialed an agreement in Paris “to end the war and bring peace with honor in Vietnam and Southeast Asia.” The agreement had actually been initialed six days beforehand.  Henry A. Kissinger and Le Duc Tho initial the agreement. Read more Listen to Nixon’s announcement |
| January 23, 1976 The Continental Walk for Disarmament & Social Justice began in Ukiah, California, heading for Washington, D.C. Its purposes were “to raise the issue of disarmament through unilateral action . . . to educate about nonviolent resistance as a means superior to armament . . . and to demonstrate how global and domestic and economic problems are interconnected with militarism and the causes of war . . . .”  Initiated by the War Resisters League, and co-sponsored by the Fellowship of Reconciliation, American Friends Service Committee, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Catholic Peace Fellowship, Clergy and Laity Concerned, SANE, and Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, the walk took 10 months and covered 8,000 miles through 34 states. Comprehensive archive of the walk: |
https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistoryjanuary.htm#january23
Scottie's Playtime 