Today in Labor History May 3, 1919: Pete Seeger was born, Patterson, New York. He started his folk singing career in the 1940s, with the Almanac singers. This group included Woodie Guthrie, Cisco Houston and Bess Lomax Hawes. They sang about industrial unionism and racial inclusiveness. In the 1950s, they reconstituted as the Weavers. However, they were blacklisted by the McCarthyites. As a result, radio stations stopped playing their records and their bookings were cancelled. Seeger was a member of the Communist Party USA, but left it in 1949. He was also an early backer of Bob Dylan until he went electric and Seeger threatened to unplug him at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival.

https://youtu.be/0fhL1E2cvvI

#WorkingClass #LaborHisotry #PeteSeeger #communism #FolkMusic

Today in Labor History May 3, 1971: 7,000 people were arrested trying to shut down the Pentagon in protest against the Vietnam war.

#WorkingClass #LaborHisotry #students #vietnam #antiwar #protest #pentagon

Today in Labor History May 3, 1968: The first battles of the May Upheaval began in the Latin Quarter of Paris. The police arrested 500 students meeting at the University of Sorbonne to protest repression at Nanterre. Revolt broke out along the route taken by police vans, with thousands fighting against the police. Throughout the month of May and part of June, workers and students occupied schools, factories and offices. By mid-May, 10 million workers were on strike.

#WorkingClass #LaborHisotry #paris #strike #revolt #rebellion #occupation #students

Today in Labor History May 3, 1974: Spanish banker Balthasar Suarez was kidnapped in Paris by the "Groups of International Revolutionary Action" (GARI ) in an attempt to free 100 political prisoners in Spain being held by Franco.

#WorkingClass #LaborHisotry #anarchism #franco #fascism #antifascism #spain #prison #Revolutionary

Today in Labor History May 3, 1937: The May Days began in Catalonia. This was a counterrevolution by the Spanish Republican government against radical workers and anarchists. Prior to this, the communists, socialists and anarchists had been allied against Franco’s nationalists. However, anarchist workers and their militias controlled most industries, which they had collectivized, while the communists controlled the central government and finances. As a result, this brought the various groups into conflict. To make matters worse, the Communist Party of Spain was taking orders from Moscow. And they wanted to separate the two struggles: revolution against the ruling class versus war against the nationalists. In contrast, the Trotskyist POUM and the anarchists saw the two struggles as one and the same. The anarchist faction included the Friends of Durruti Group and the CNT (a confederation of anarcho-syndicalist labor unions).

#WorkingClass #LaborHisotry #anarchism #CivilWar #spain #fascism #antifascism #durruti #communist #Revolution

Today in Labor History May 3, 1920: A young anarchist printer, Andreas Salsedo, “fell” to his death from a 14th story window of an FBI detention room in New York City. He had been arrested during the anti-commie raids launched by Attorney General Mitchell Palmer. The FBI claimed it was suicide. Activists said he was thrown.

#WorkingClass #LaborHisotry #anarchism #PoliceBrutality #PoliceMurder #fbi #prison #acab

Today in Labor History May 3, 1849: A popular rebellion broke out in Dresden, with the militant Russian anarchist Mikhail Bakunin emerging as a "heroic" leader. He was imprisoned in the Konigstein fortress and condemned to death. He eventually was released. Composer Richard Wagner also participated. He fled to Switzerland to avoid arrest.

#WorkingClass #LaborHisotry #anarchism #Revolution #bakunin #rebellion