Working Class History

#OtD 19 May 1925 Malcolm X was born in Omaha, Nebraska. He became one of the most influential advocates of self-defense for black people as well as one of the harshest critics of America's institutional racism #blackhistory https://libcom.org/tags/malcolm-x pic.twitter.com/sLVxdrwb5y

#OtD 19 May 1989, CLR James, Trinidadian Marxist and author of The Black Jacobins, the definitive history of the Haitian Revolution, as well as other texts on class, race and cricket, died #blackhistory https://libcom.org/tags/clr-james pic.twitter.com/LvtRWoryt9

#OtD 19 May 1918 the Hungarian 6th infantry regiment of Ujvideck at Pecs refused to go to the trenches. Instead they attacked the barracks and municipal buildings and cut telephone wires before occupying the railway station, resisting for 3 days https://libcom.org/history/articles/hungary-anarchism-1890-1924 …pic.twitter.com/l6WVdxblDH

#OtD 19 May 1920, a shootout took place in the town of Matewan, WV between striking miners and private detectives, who had arrived in town to evict miners' families. 7 detectives, 1 bystander and 2 miners were killed. More info in our podcast: https://workingclasshistory.com/2018/06/09/wch-e7-the-west-virginia-mine-wars-1902-1922/ …pic.twitter.com/ekUyq0OX52

#OtD 18 May 1980 the workers of Gwangju, South Korea, after robbing local armouries and police stations, rose up against their brutal US-backed dictator, Chun Doo-hwan. Though bloodily crushed it helped ignite a chain of similar rebellions across Asia https://libcom.org/history/1980-the-kwangju-uprising …pic.twitter.com/UxW0emr9gm

#OtD 18 May 1968 the Senegalese May 68 began when students began a "general strike" against a cut to student grants. Despite repression the movement grew and eventually culminated in a workers' general strike and won many concessions https://libcom.org/library/may-1968-senegal …pic.twitter.com/11WgXOfXqC

#OtD 18 May 1942 the Baum group, Jewish communist factory workers, broke into a Nazi anti-Soviet exhibition and set fire to it. In retaliation, the Gestapo rounded up all 30 members +500 others and executed them all https://libcom.org/history/herbert-baum-group-blog …pic.twitter.com/wBdexBKV8i

#OtD 18 May 1941, the anti-Nazi Strike of the 100,000 in Belgium ended. The Nazis were forced to grant an 8% pay increase, before arresting hundreds of strikers and sending many to the concentration camps https://libcom.org/history/belgian-strike-100000-1941 …pic.twitter.com/vpJr3GwLRa

#OtD 17 May 1946 the US govt seized the nation's railroads to stop a nationwide strike. Workers walked out anyway and only the President's threat to draft the strikers and call up the army to run the railroads forced them back to work https://libcom.org/history/world-war-ii-post-war-strike-wave …pic.twitter.com/7yk0NdEPt7

#OtD 17 May 1972 10,000 schoolchildren in the UK walked out on strike in protest against corporal punishment. Within two years, London state schools banned corporal punishment. The rest of the country followed in 1987. https://libcom.org/history/timeline-uk-schoolchildrens-strikes …pic.twitter.com/dG8OcOsgv3

#OtD 17 May 1943 Albanian communist partisans attacked the town of Leskoviku which was being held by 1000 Italian troops. After 3 days, the partisans were victorious, killing 100s of fascist troops and seizing equipment and weaponrypic.twitter.com/wEHpcRJKJc

#OtD 17 May 1890, the biggest rally outside London to date for the 8-hour working day was held in Aberdeen, Scotland with 10,000 in attendance. More info in our short history of anarchism in #Aberdeen around that time: http://libcom.org/history/anarchism-granite-city …pic.twitter.com/2GN7q01LLr

#OtD 17 May 1968, thousands of students in Paris marched for a second day in a row from the Sorbonne University to the Renault plant occupied by its workers to support them, despite trade union officials trying to separate the struggles https://libcom.org/library/worker-student-action-committees-france-1968-perlman-gregoire …pic.twitter.com/ZS50GFiAMO

#OtD 17 May 1649, three Levellers - democratic rebels during the English civil war - were executed by Oliver Cromwell in Burford for leading a mutiny. 400 troops refused to fight the Irish and instead rebelled https://libcom.org/history/1642-1652-diggers-levellers …pic.twitter.com/TVYldvSJda