Today in Labor History, July 23, 1967: Five days of rioting began in Detroit, after police raided an unlicensed, after-hours bar, known as a blind pig, on the city's Near West Side. The Detroit riots were among the deadliest in U.S. history, killing 43 people, including several cops and soldiers. Additionally, 1,189 people were injured, 7,200 people were arrested, and over 400 buildings were destroyed. The governor called out the National Guard and President Johnson sent in the army’s 82nd and 101st airborne divisions. The rioting came in the wake of decades of racial discrimination and violence against black residents, including by the KKK and racist police. #workingclass #LaborHistory #detroit #Riot #racism #police #policebrutality #massacre #kkk #acab #discrimination #BlackMastadon

Today in Labor History July 23, 1892: Anarchist Alexander Berkman tried to assassinate industrialist Henry Clay Frick in retaliation for the 9 miners killed by Pinkerton thugs on July 6, during the Homestead Steel Strike. Frick was the manager of Homestead Steel and had hired the Pinkertons to protect the factory and the scab workers he hired to replace those who were on strike. Berkman, and his lover, Emma Goldman, planned the assassination hoping it would arouse the working class to rise up and overthrow capitalism. Berkman failed in the assassination attempt and went to prison for 14 years. He wrote a book about his experience called, “Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist” (1912). He also wrote “The Bolshevik Myth” (1925) and “The ABC of Communist Anarchism” (1929). You can read my complete article on the Pinkertons here:

Michael Dunn

Union Busting and the Pinkertons - Michael Dunn

Union Busting by the Pinkertons was key to the rapid accumulation of wealth by the robber barons like Gowen, Carnegie, Rockefeller

#workingclass #LaborHistory #anarchism #communism #alexanderberkman #prison #assassination #strike #steel #carnegie #massacre #emmagoldman #pinkertons #books #writing #author @npub1wceq...lzu8

Today in Labor History July 22, 1917: The IWW successfully shut down the oil industry in Tampico, Mexico during an oil workers’ strike. #workingclass #LaborHistory #strike #union #IWW #mexico #oil #petroleum #anarchism

The site of the Compton's Cafeteria Riot is now owned by one of the country's largest private prison companies and erasure of this important Trans history is now possible in "liberal" LGBTQ mecca of San Francisco. The 1966 Compton’s Cafeteria Riot began when a transgender woman threw a cup of coffee in the face of a cop, after years of abuse and harassment of trans folks by the SFPD. The 200-person riot ended with a newsstand being set ablaze and is the first documented LGBTQ+ riot against the police. https://www.sfgate.com/local/article/erasure-san-francisco-celebrated-site-crossroads-20318006.php #lgbtq #trans #transrightsarehumanrights #comptonscafeteria #riot #police #policebrutality #transphobia

Today in Labor History July 20, 1934: Seattle police fired tear gas and clubbed 2,000 striking longshoremen during the West Coast port strike. Meanwhile, the governor of Oregon called out the National Guard to break the strike on the Portland docks. By the end of the strike, all the West Coast ports had become unionized. 1 worker died in Seattle and another died in Portland. And 2 in San Francisco. The San Francisco deaths led to a General Strike #workingclass #LaborHistory #seattle #Portland #strike #waterfront #longshoremen #union #policebrutality #policemurder #police #acab