Tag: Justice

Peace & Justice History for 9/29:

September 29, 1923
Great Britain began to govern the formerly Turkish province of Palestine under a League of Nations mandate to create a Jewish national home.
The British Mandate For Palestine established at the San Remo Conference, 1920
(Note from A: I searched this link; the one Peace History had was no longer present on the site.)
September 29, 1943
Six conscientious objectors, imprisoned at Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, for refusing to serve in World War II, began a hunger strike against censorship of mail and reading material by federal prison authorities.
September 29, 1983
The municipal council of Woensdrecht, a southern Dutch town, voted against cooperating in the possible siting of 48 U.S. nuclear-tipped cruise missiles at the nearby air base.
The council voted Tuesday by 9 to 4 not to cooperate with the national government, and to stop any activities that might lead to the missiles being sited at the base.
September 29, 2002

A London crowd – estimated between 200,000 and 500,000 – protested British and U.S. plans for a “preemptive” (that is, without provocation) invasion of Iraq.

https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistoryseptember.htm#september29

Peace & Justice History for 9/28:

September 28, 1836
Cherokee Chief John Ross wrote a letter to both houses of the U.S. Congress stating that the Treaty of New Echota was not negotiated by any legitimate representatives of his nation.
Its terms required the Cherokees to relinquish all lands east of the Mississippi River for a payment of $5 million. Ross was the democratically chosen leader of a nation with its own language, its own newspaper, a bi-cameral legislature and a republican form of government.

Cherokee Chief John Ross
The Cherokee Nation celebrated its own arts and sports, and produced a wide variety of agricultural and commercial goods. I had twelve political units ranging from northern Alabama to western North Carolina.Writing from north Georgia, Ross said: “The makers of it [the treaty] sustain no office nor appointment in our Nation, under the designation of Chiefs, Head men, or any other title, by which they hold, or could acquire, authority to assume the reins of Government, and to make bargain and sale of our rights, our possessions, and our common country . . . .
“ We are despoiled of our private possessions, the indefeasible property of individuals. We are stripped of every attribute of freedom and eligibility for legal self-defence. Our property may be plundered before our eyes; violence may be committed on our persons; even our lives may be taken away, and there is none to regard our complaints. We are denationalized; we are disfranchised. We are deprived of membership in the human family!”
Full text of the letter 
September 28, 1917
166 people who were (or had been) active in the I.W.W. (Industrial Workers of the World, whose members were also known as Wobblies) were indicted for protesting World War I.They were accused of trying to “cause insubordination, disloyalty, and refusal of duty in the military and naval forces” in violation of the Espionage Act. One hundred and one defendants were found guilty, and received prison sentences ranging from days to twenty years, with accompanying fines of $10,000-$20,000. This was part of a successful U.S. government campaign to cripple the radical union movement.

The I.W.W. – A Brief History (U.S.) 
I.W.W. home 
September 28, 1943
In Denmark, underground anti-Nazi activists began systematic smuggling of Jews to Sweden. In just three weeks, all but 481 of Denmark’s 8000 Jews had been moved to safety.
Kim Malthe-Bruun, a 21-year-old Danish resistance fighter. Unfortunately one of the ones who did not make it.


A Danish Jewish family ready to go
Read more about Kim 
September 28, 2005
The lawyer who wrote the original legal complaint in the case of Brown v. Board of Education, Constance Baker Motley, died in New York City. She had led a remarkable career which began at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF) where she was their first female attorney. The first black woman to argue before the Supreme Court, she was successful in nine of her ten cases. Motley went on to achieve three more firsts as an African American woman: being elected to the New York State Senate and shortly thereafter to the Manhattan Borough presidency. Finally, Pres. Lyndon Johnson appointed her to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in 1966 where she served until her passing.

https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistoryseptember.htm#september28

Peace & Justice History for 9/27:

September 27, 1962
Rachel Carson’s book indicting the pesticide industry, Silent Spring, was published.

The scientist (17 years with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) and writer demonstrated the connection between the excessive and ubiquitous use of DDT and its long-term effect on plants and animals.

Rachel Carson at work c. 1936
The impact of her book proved seminal to a new ecological awareness. But even 30 years later, Carson was denounced for “preservationist hysteria” and “bad science.” But she had said when the book was published: “We do not ask that all chemicals be abandoned. We ask moderation. We ask the use of other methods less harmful to our environment.“ Rachel Carson, her Silent Spring and its impact
 September 27, 1967
An advertisement headed “A Call To Resist Illegitimate Authority,” signed by over 320 influential people (professors, writers, ministers, and other professional people), appeared in the New Republic and the New York Review of Books, asking for funds to help youths resist the draft.
September 27, 1990
The last U.S. Pershing II tactical nuclear missiles were removed from Germany, fewer than ten years after their installation provoked a massive anti-nuclear movement across Europe.The range and accuracy of the Pershing II pushed the Soviet Union to negotiate the Treaty on Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces (INF) which completely eliminated all nuclear-armed ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges between 500 and 5,500 kilometers (about 300 to 3400 miles) and their infrastructure.
The INF Treaty was the first nuclear arms control agreement to actually reduce nuclear arms, and the signatories destroyed almost 2700 nuclear weapons (including 234 Pershing II) by May of 1991.
September 27, 1991
President George H.W. Bush announced a major unilateral withdrawal of U.S. tactical nuclear weapons:
“I am . . . directing that the United States eliminate its entire worldwide inventory of ground-launched short-range, that is, theater, nuclear weapons. We will bring home and destroy all of our nuclear artillery shells and short-range ballistic missile warheads. We will, of course, insure that we preserve an effective air-delivered nuclear capability in Europe.
“In turn, I have asked the Soviets . . . to destroy their entire inventory of ground-launched theater nuclear weapons . . . .
“Recognizing further the major changes in the international military landscape, the United States will withdraw all tactical nuclear weapons from its surface ships, attack submarines, as well as those nuclear weapons associated with our land-based naval aircraft. This means removing all nuclear Tomahawk cruise missiles from U.S. ships and submarines, as well as nuclear bombs aboard aircraft carriers.”

https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistoryseptember.htm#september27

Peace & Justice History for 9/26:

September 26, 1909

International Ladies’ Garment Workers Union (ILGWU Local 25) began a strike against the Triangle Shirtwaist Company.
In November their strike would become part of the “Uprising of the 20,000,” during which 339 of 352 firms would be struck and reach agreements with the union over the following five months but Triangle was not one of them. The strike ended after thirteen weeks that saw over 700 striking workers arrested.
More info 
Chronology 
===========================
September 26, 1945
OSS (Office of Strategic Services, the precursor of the CIA) officer Lieutenant Colonel A. Peter Dewey became the first American to die in Vietnam. During unrest in Saigon, he was killed by Viet Minh guerrillas who mistook him for a French officer. Before his death, Dewey had filed a report on the deepening crisis in Vietnam, stating his opinion that the U.S. “ought to clear out of Southeast Asia.”
====================
September 26, 1957

The Buffalo Nuclear Test, Maralinga
Despite international protests, the United Kingdom began a series of atmospheric nuclear bomb tests beginning with Operation Buffalo on aboriginal land
at Maralinga, South Australia. The series of tests included dropping a bomb from a height of 30,000 feet. This was the first launching of a British atomic weapon from an aircraft.
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September 26, 1983
Five members of Puget Sound Women’s Peace Camp entered Boeing’s cruise missile production plant in Seattle, Washington, to leaflet the workers and were arrested.
In November of 1980 and 1981 the Women’s Pentagon Actions, where hundreds of women came together to challenge patriarchy and militarism, took place.A movement grew that found ways to use direct action to put pressure on the military establishment and to show positive examples of life-affirming ways to live together. This movement spawned women’s peace camps at military bases around the world from Greenham Common, England, to the Puget Sound Peace Camp, as well as camps in Japan and Italy, among others.

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September 26, 1988
President Ronald Reagan urged the United Nations General Assembly to call a conference about the use of chemical weapons. Though the U.S. and other nations had signed the Geneva Protocol banning chemical (as well as bacteriological) arms, such weapons had been used repeatedly by Saddam Hussein’s Iraq in its war against Iran.
Background on the treaty and the issue 

https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistoryseptember.htm#september261909

Peace & Justice History for 9/25:

Jazz for Peace!

September 25, 1789
The first U.S. Congress passed the Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to the Constitution, and sent them on to the states for ratification.
See the actual document and learn more 
September 25, 1957
Nine African-American children, protected by 300 members of the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division, with fixed bayonets, entered the previously all-white Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas.The troops were there to escort the children past white segregationists and the Arkansas Militia (National Guard) thatArkansas Governor Orval Faubus had activated to prevent its federal court-approved racial integration plan.
 
After a tense standoff, President Dwight D. Eisenhower federalized the Arkansas National Guard and sent troops to Little Rock to enforce the court order. The order to de-segregate the Little Rock schools flowed from the Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education decision.
The troops remained for the entire school term.

Watch a video about the Little Rock 9 
September 25, 1961
Herbert Lee, a farmer who worked with civil rights leader Bob Moses to help register black voters, was killed by a state legislator, E. H. Hurst, in Liberty, Mississippi. Hurst claimed self-defense and was acquitted by a coroner’s jury the same day as the killing. Lewis Allen, who witnessed the shooting, said otherwise, and was himself murdered two years later.

Herbert Lee

More about Herbert Lee 
September 25, 2002
Rick DellaRatta and Jazz For Peace performed at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City. He led a band consisting of Israeli, Middle Eastern, European, Asian and American jazz musicians in concert for an international audience.
Jazz for Peace continues to perform concerts to raise money for non-profit organizations.

Rick DellaRatta

https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistoryseptember.htm#september25

Haitian group seeks criminal charges vs. Trump, Vance in Springfield court filing

News By Jessica Orozco Updated 41 minutes ago

The Haitian Bridge Alliance filed a bench memorandum and supporting affidavit in Clark County Municipal Court on Tuesday, asking local authorities to charge former President Donald Trump and Sen. JD Vance with multiple criminal offenses related to claims they made about Springfield’s Haitian community.

The memorandum was filed by Guerline Jozef on behalf of the national nonprofit the Haitian Bridge Alliance (HBA), asking a Municipal Court judge to charge Vance and Trump with disrupting public services, making false alarms, two counts of complicity, two counts of telecommunications harassment and aggravated menacing.

The filing asks that the court find probable cause for the charges and issue arrest warrants for Trump and Vance.

Under Ohio law, a private citizen seeking to “cause an arrest or prosecution” can file an affidavit with “a reviewing official” — a judge, prosecuting attorney or magistrate — to have them review the facts and decide if a complaint should be filed.

Springfield Mayor Rob Rue said Tuesday afternoon that while the city recognizes the serious nature of the allegations, “it is important to allow the legal process to unfold.” He said it is “critical that we’re sensitive to these issues like immigration” and are grounded in facts.

“Springfield remains dedicated to fostering constructive dialogue and addressing concerns with integrity,” Rue said. “Springfield’s priority continues to be the wellbeing of our residents, including the Haitian immigrant community. Any actions that disrupt public services or spread false alarms are taken seriously and we’ll continue to uphold our commitment to protect public order.”

This bench memorandum and affidavit comes through The Chandra Law Firm in Cleveland, and according to its website, Jozef, the HBA’s co-founder and executive director, is seeking Trump and Vance’s immediate arrest for:

  • Disrupting public service “by causing widespread bomb and other threats that resulted in massive disruptions to the public services;”
  • Making false alarms “by knowingly causing alarm in the Springfield community by continuing to repeat lies that state and local officials have said were false;”
  • Telecommunications harassment “by spreading claims they know to be false during the presidential debate, campaign rallies, nationally televised interviews, and social media;”
  • Aggravated menacing “by knowingly making intimidating statements with the intent to abuse, threaten, or harass the recipients, including Trump’s threat to deport immigrants who are here legally to Venezuela, a land they have never known” and “by knowingly causing others to falsely believe that members of Springfield’s Haitian community would cause serious physical harm to the person or property of others in Springfield;”
  • Complicity “by conspiring with one another and spreading vicious lies that caused innocent parties to be parties to their various crimes.”

“Because the prosecuting attorney has not yet acted to protect the community and hold Trump and Vance accountable for what they have instigated, Ms. Jozef asks the court to find probable cause based on the facts presented and issue arrest warrants for both Trump and Vance,” the law firm stated. “The prosecuting attorney then must make a public decision about whether that office stands for the rule of law — or whether it will further coddle Trump and Vance with complete inaction.”

Subodh Chandra, Jozef’s lead counsel, said in a statement that the Haitian community is “suffering in fear” due to Trump and Vance’s “relentless, irresponsible, false alarms, and public services have been disrupted.” Chandra said the two politicians “must be held accountable to the rule of law,” claiming that others who “have wreaked havoc” would have been arrested already.

“They think they’re above the law. They’re not,” Chandra said.

Trump campaign communications director Steven Cheung didn’t comment directly on the court filing, but said that Trump is “rightfully highlighting the failed immigration system that Kamala Harris has overseen, bringing thousands of illegal immigrants pouring into communities like Springfield and many others across the country.” (snip-More)

https://www.springfieldnewssun.com/news/haitian-group-seeks-criminal-charges-vs-trump-vance-in-springfield-court-filing/ZBLJL63EUBAQBJT2UOC7OSUJVM/#

Peace & Justice History for 9/24:

September 24, 1968

10,000 draft files were destroyed by fourteen anti-war activists with homemade napalm in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Milwaukee 14 home 
Watch a video of the event 
September 24, 1969
The Chicago 8 trial opened in Chicago. It was the prosecution of eight anti-war activists charged with responsibility for the violent demonstrations at the August 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.The defendants included David Dellinger of the National Mobilization Committee (NMC); Rennie Davis and Thomas Hayden of the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS); Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin, founders of the Youth International Party (“Yippies”); Bobby Seale of the Black Panther Party; and two lesser-known activists, Lee Weiner and John Froines.

The Chicago 8 minus Bobby Seale
Chicago 8 background

Bobby Seale, after repeatedly asserting his right to an attorney of his own choosing or to defend himself, was bound and gagged in the courtroom and his trial was severed from the rest on November 5th. The group then became known as the Chicago 7.
About Bobby Seale   
September 24, 1976
Ian Smith, leader of the whites-only government of Rhodesia, a former British colony, agreed to introduce black majority rule to the country within two years. He was under pressure from the United States through Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, and from British Prime Minister James Callaghan.

https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistoryseptember.htm#september24

Peace & Justice History for 9/23:

September 23, 1949
President Harry Truman announced that the Soviet Union had exploded its first atomic bomb, an implosive plutonium weapon, the previous month (it had happened on August 29). “We have evidence,” the White House statement said, “that within recent weeks an atomic explosion occurred in the U.S.S.R.”
September 23, 1979

200,000 attended an anti-nuclear rally in New York City’s Battery Park. It was the largest political protest of the late ’70s in the U.S., six months after the partial meltdown of the nuclear reactor at Three Mile Island, Pennsylvania. Two days earlier the ‘No Nukes’ concert, also known as the “Muse (Musicians United for Safe Energy) concert,” was held in Madison Square Garden, featuring Bruce Springsteen, Crosby Stills & Nash, Jackson Browne and others.
More about the concert, the record and the film 
September 23, 1982
Dr. Jane Goodall created Roots & Shoots Day of Peace in 1982 in honor of U.N. International Day of Peace; each year, Roots & Shoots Day of Peace is observed in late September. Roots & Shoots groups around the world fly Giant Peace Dove puppets to celebrate Roots & Shoots Day of Peace for its symbolic meaning. They also plan and implement peace project initiatives to help make the world a better place for animals, the environment and the human community.
Hear Jane Goodall on World Peace Day 
Dr. Goodall was appointed a Messenger of Peace in 2002 by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan. People selected as Messengers of Peace are widely recognized for their achievements in music, literature, sports and the arts.To commemorate her appointment, Roots & Shoots members at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point first conceived of and created the Giant Peace Dove puppets. Since then, Roots & Shoots groups have flown doves in over 40 countries around the world.

https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistoryseptember.htm#september23

Peace & Justice History for 9/22:

September 22, 1966
Eight hundred Puerto Rican men pledged in Lares to refuse U.S. Vietnam draft. They saw compliance as “part of the colonial subjugation of our country.”
September 22, 1980
The Solidarity union under leadership of Lech Walesa was allowed to organize by the Communist-led Polish government. The previous month the group had occupied the Lenin shipyards in Gdansk and had inspired a national general strike.
September 22, 1985
The first Farm Aid concert, organized principally by Willie Nelson, was held with more than 50 musicians raising $9 million for debt-ridden U.S. farmers. 
Farm Aid home 

https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistoryseptember.htm#september22

Peace & Justice History for 9/21; also Have A Wonderfully Peaceful International Day of Peace today!

September 21, 1963
The War Resisters League organized the first American anti-Vietnam War demonstration in New York City. The League, founded in 1923, was the first peace group to call for U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam, and played a key role throughout the war, organizing rallies, the burning of draft cards, civil disobedience at induction centers, and assisting resisters.
History of WRL
 
WRL home 
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September 21st (since 1982)

The International Day of Peace was established by United Nations resolution in 1981 and first celebrated in 1982 (then as the 3rd tuesday of the month).
Events are planned all over the world to promote peace and make it more visible.
About Peace Day and plans around the world 

https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistoryseptember.htm#september21