There were over 40 people at the VUSE e-cigarette boycott rally outside the Circle K Coastal Carolinas regional office in Raleigh (1100 Situs Court, #100, in a brick office building near Lake Johnson in southwest Raleigh) last Thursday (March 28th), 4:30 to about 5:30pm. There were contingents from the Farm Labor Organizing Committee, NC AFL-CIO, National Farm Worker Ministry, Student Action with Farmworkers, Triangle Friends of Farmworkers, NC Church Women United, Chapel Hill/Carrboro NAACP, the Raging Grannies, Durham People's Alliance, and others. I saw a group with a big red International Workers of the World flag, but maybe that was the DSA. A hat was passed for an injured farmworker, but I did not hear the details.
A delegation composed of farmworker and FLOC member Yolanda Sanchez, FLOC organizer Leticia Zavala, NC AFL-CIO President MaryBe McMillan, NC Church Women President Emily Sprague, TFF Communication Coordinator Dave Austin, NFWM Associate Director Susan Alan went to Circle K's office to request a meeting, but the door was locked. Ten minutes later a human resources official answered the door and was not interested in talking and refused requests for a meeting with the vice president of operations, regional director of operations, or category manager for tobacco, directing the delegation to parent company Alimentation Couche-Taird's North America director of global communications. Groups have been requesting a meeting with Circle K at each store picket and in separate communications for months or years. Given the amount of rush hour traffic out on the main road (Jones Franklin Road), Circle K should be glad the rally was only in front of their office.
The National Farm Worker Ministry released a write-up (search Facebook and Instragram for @nfwministry )
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| Near the end of the rally ©. |
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| 1100 Situs Court, Raleigh ©. |
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| From the NFWM. |
This month's calendar
This calendar lists regional events of general left interest and cultural events, along with notable historical anniversaries and news. More items will be added during April.
Comment by April 15th on proposed changes to the Waters of the US rule
The EPA and US Army Corps of Engineers under Trump are trying to change the definition of the "waters of the US" under the Clean Water Act, reducing protection for wetlands, streams that dry up for part of the year, etc. which could harm many species, water quality in larger waterways and lakes and drinking water, increase flooding, etc. For more information, public comments, etc. see: carolinawetlands.org/index.php/other-resources/wotus-rule/
Pipelines and the Appalachian Trail
There might be legislation coming in Congress to overturn a court ruling that rejected a US Forest Service permit for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline to cross the Appalachian Trail. Legislation might also allow the Mountain Valley Pipeline to cross the AT.
The Alliance Marxist-Leninist website ( ml-review.ca/aml/index/subject.html ) was hacked recently; it has been fixed, but people who visited in about the last 30 days are advised to check for viruses. Reportedly some new articles will be posted soon.
GoFundMe campaign to prevent a deportation
This comes from Alerta Migratoria NC. A Latino woman in North Carolina had a diabetic seizure in September 2018 and her family called 911, but along with the ambulance came a police officer who didn't know Spanish and arrested her husband, Luis Castanon, who didn't know English. The apparently baseless criminal charges were soon dropped, but the arrest must have been in a county that cooperates with ICE, because Castanon has been in the Folkston Detention Center for over a year and faces deportation after his last court date, April 1st. There is a GoFundMe campaign to raise money to file a Stay of Removal: www.gofundme.com/911-medical-call-leaves-family-homeless Some NC counties have refused to serve as deputies for ICE and arrest unauthorized immigrants who are not doing anything warranting police attention, but this is probably a common situation across the country. If I'm not mistaken nearby Alamance County has long been part of the 287(g) program and a County official recently said a reason is that their property taxes are low and they need money, and imprisoning non-criminals for ICE is costly, and discourages people from reporting crimes, seeking help in emergencies, etc., reasons many counties stopped participating in 287(g).
Organizing against Trump's coup plot in Venezuela
Say No to Media Lies on Venezuela/ #HandsOffVenezuela
The Alliance for Global Justice is calling for local actions around the world against the anti-Venezuela and pro-Trump propaganda campaign being carried out by much of the media, April 19 - 20. For example, in the days before March 30th Ari Shapiro, co-host of NPR's weekday afternoon program All Things Considered has been reporting from Colombia about how dire things are for Venezuelans and that violence is coming unless President Maduro surrenders to US dictates, which obviously supports the imperialist narrative that Venezuela is falling apart politically and economically by itself and that regular Venezuelans support Trump's actions, demoralizes true resistance to Trump's policies, and provides justification if the USA or one of Venezuela's neighbors invades ( www.npr.org/people/2101154/ari-shapiro ). I can't remember the last time I heard a Venezuelan government representative or anti-war voice interviewed about Venezuela on NPR, if ever (and they are very rare on the even more biased BBC), but NPR and the BBC quote US officials and Latin American rightists and anti-Venezuela liberals almost every day about how the end is nigh for the government of Venezuela and how only the military and irregular forces keep it in power and now a few personnel from Russia. According to NPR, the Venezuelan coup plotters plan to do something in early April, after having seemingly suffered a series of political defeats over the past few weeks.
NPR's public editor addresses the complaints and claims there isn't a pro-coup bias at: www.npr.org/sections/publiceditor/2019/04/09/711448063/accessing-nprs-recent-venezuela-coverage
There is often talk of the seizure (initially by college students) of the US embassy and its staff during the Iranian Revolution and attacks on embassies in other countries, but right now coup supporters, abetted by the US government, especially the Secret Service, are attempting to seize the Venezuelan embassy in Washington, violently and against international law, such as the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961. American citizens allowed in by the internationally recognized and elected government of Venezuela under President Maduro are protecting the embassy, although it is the obligation of the US government to protect the embassies in Washington. There will be a rally to support the Embassy Protection Collective ( www.facebook.com/ColectivosporlaPaz/ ) May 11th at 12pm at the embassy (1099 30th Street Northwest): popularresistance.org/rally-saturday-at-the-venezuelan-embassy-in-dc/ I think there was also a rally May 4th.
For more information see:
www.commondreams.org/news/2019/05/02/peace-activists-arrested-while-trying-deliver-food-and-medicine-blockaded-dc
popularresistance.org/violent-bigoted-supporters-of-juan-guaido-attempt-to-invade-venezuelas-d-c-embassy/
popularresistance.org/dangerous-and-appalling-us-defenders-of-venezuelan-embassy-demand-secret-service-end-illegal-water-and-power-shutoff/
There will be a National Mobilization at the Venezuelan Embassy in DC Saturday, May 18th at 12pm: popularresistance.org/national-mobilization-at-the-venezuelan-embassy-in-dc/
Cracking down on free speech at the Johnston County Airport (JNX)
The public airport issued new rules that limit protests and other speech as well as filming February 18th: afriendlyletter.com/mowing-down-free-speech-in-the-heart-of-carolina/ Johnston County Airport is a site of regular protests because it is home to Aero Contractors, a company involved in rendition for torture and connected to the CIA. Reportedly the company has expanded at JNX.
Lobbying for a bill in Congress to restore net neutrality: www.battleforthenet.com/
Changes to public hearing notification policy in Durham
It was once possible for groups and individuals to request notification by mail of upcoming rezoning hearings, etc. before the Durham Planning Commission, City Council, County Commissioners, etc., but that was replaced by email notification in January. By law people property owners within a certain distance of a proposed rezoning have to be notified and that has not changed. Under the previous system people could specify what part of Durham they were interested in and would receive letters about any upcoming meetings, usually including a map showing the site in question and the current and proposed zonings. People would also receive notices of informal community meetings called by developers before a rezoning hearing, to gauge public opinion and gather information. Under the new system it looks like people will have to go through the agendas to find out if a rezoning has been requested in their area and the specifics, and they will only hear about community meetings if they live near the site and have to be notified by law. It seems like this will benefit the "developers," by reducing community involvement in land use decisions, and possibly save a small amount of money for the Planning Department. As of a few years ago rezoning requests in places like Wake County and Cary were publicized in the News and Observer and people could not request special notification, but I think Cary put community meeting information online, so if you uncovered a rezoning request you could find out about informal meetings. Only putting notifications in newspapers or buried in possibly slow and cumbersome websites isn't going to encourage democratic participation, but zoning decisions can have far-reaching consequences, through increased stormwater runoff, traffic, etc.
Paper notifications were still sent after the policy change was supposed to go into effect, but presumably will end soon.
This is a January 7th email from the City of Durham announcing the new policy:
"The Planning Department will be expanding its public hearing notification service starting January 15, 2019. The Department will begin sending out email notification of all upcoming, Planning public hearings to anyone (individuals, neighborhood organizations, other entities, etc.) who signs up for the service.
These notifications are separate from those sent by the Development Services Center. You must OPT-IN to the Public Notification Service in order to receive the notification emails.
Background
- The new email Public Notification Service is a continuation and expansion of the existing neighborhood notification mail-outs for zoning and other land use public hearings.
- These notifications go beyond state law requirements and have been determined by Durham’s elected officials to be a necessary method to help citizens stay informed about upcoming zoning and other land use public hearings.
- Notification will NOT be restricted to a certain distance from a site -- any individual or entity that requests this notification will receive notification for ALL scheduled hearings.
- The Public Notification Service notifications will only be performed through email -- no letters will be sent.
- The Public Notification Service emails will NOT change requirements for property owner notifications as required by Ordinance. Those notifications will continue as required.
Why did I get this email?
You received this email because you are currently receiving some public hearing notifications, either by letter or email, or your email was provided through the Development Services Center. In order to reach the most people, we are sending this email to all of our current email lists, so please forgive any duplicate emails. You only need to subscribe once.
What do I need to do?
You or your organization WILL NOT be automatically subscribed to the new Public Information Service list. All subscribers to the Public Information Service MUST Opt-In.
- All organizations and individuals will be removed from our current list on January 31st. Therefore, if you want to receive email notifications, you must subscribe through this link: https://durhamnc.gov/list.aspx?ListID=340.
- The service is currently free and requires setting up an account on the DurhamNC.gov website. If you are already subscribed to at least one other notification service through the City’s website, you can easily add the Planning Public Notification Service to your subscriptions.
- If you do not want this service, do not subscribe.
- If you change your mind, you can subscribe or unsubscribe at any time.
- Please note that text messages (SMS) are not available for this subscription due to extra charges.
What should I expect after I sign up?
Email notifications will be sent approximately every two weeks, but at least once a month, and will provide basic information about upcoming Planning-related public or quasi-judicial hearings by the following boards or commissions:
- Board of Adjustment (special use permits, variances, appeals, reasonable accommodation requests).
- Historic Preservation Commission (certificates of appropriateness, new or expanding local historic districts).
- Planning Commission (rezonings, comprehensive plan amendments, future land use map amendments, ordinance text amendments).
- City Council and Board of County Commissioners (rezonings, comprehensive plan amendments, future land use map amendments, ordinance text amendments, major and transportation special use permits, major site plans).
For questions, please contact Teri Danner at Teri [period] Danner [at DurhamNC period gov] or 919-560-4137, ext. 28246."
The Umstead Coalition is opposing the plan by the RDU Airport Authority (whose Board is appointed by Durham and Wake counties, and the cities of Durham and Raleigh) to sell 105 acres of forested public land originally intended for a runway to Wake Stone, which operates an adjacent rock quarry ( umsteadcoalition.org/StopRDUQuarry/ ) . I have not looked into the issue, but on the positive side when the quarry is eventually closed it could potentially be a source of drinking water, reducing the need to dam waterways. There could be a hearing very soon.
Library booksales
The Friends of the Durham Library 2019 booksales will be April 6 - 7, June 1 - 2, August 3 - 4, October 5 - 6, and December 7 - 8, and the hours for all of these sales will be 10am - 12pm members only and 12 - 4pm open to all on Saturdays and 1 - 4pm $10 paper grocery bag sales open to all on Sundays. The sales are at a space inside Northgate Mall, right next to Sears (enter through Sears or another Mall entrance). There are small satellite sales inside the library branches daily ( durhamcountylibrary.org/friends/ ).
The Friends of the Chapel Hill Public Library 2019 sales will be April 5 - 7, September 13 - 15, and December 6 -8 ( friendschpl.org/FCHPLevents ).
The Wake County Public Libraries' Annual Book Sale will be May 2 - 5 in the Expo Center at the NC State Fairgrounds in Raleigh ( www.wakegov.com/libraries/events/Pages/booksale.aspx ). More than 11,000 people attended the 2018 sale, buying more than 210,000 books, and generating about $110,000 dollars for Wake County libraries. This could be the biggest annual booksale in North Carolina.
Friends of the Lee County Library has a continuous book sale: library.leecountync.gov/friends
Eno River spring wildflower hikes
The Eno River Association ( www.enoriver.org ) organizes several hikes every spring through mid-May (there are also winter hikes) along the Eno and Flat Rivers in Durham and Orange counties, covering what are probably the top locations for spring woodland wildflowers in the area ( www.enoriver.org/events-and-activities/hikes-and-outings/wildflower/ ). There are species seen in southern Durham at sites such as Burdens Creek Bluff ( durhamspark.blogspot.com/2018/12/burdens-creek-bluff-and-surrounding.html ) and additional flowers, such as bloodroot, Dutchman's breeches, Atlantic Isopyrum in somewhat moist areas and trailing arbutus and mountain laurel in drier locations. This could be due to factors like the very different geology and soils between the Eno River and areas at the south end of the County, but historical land use might also be a factor.
Creek Weeks
Durham Creek Week is over for the year, but there are others nearby:
Forsyth County (March 23 - 31) - forsythcreekweek.squarespace.com
Guilford County (March 23 - 31) - guilfordcreekweek.org
Almance County (April 6 - 13) - alamancecreekweek.org
Guilford County (March 23 - 31) - guilfordcreekweek.org
Almance County (April 6 - 13) - alamancecreekweek.org
Russian revolutionary Alexandra Kollontai was born March 31, 1872.
April is Arab-American Heritage Month, Community College Awareness Month, National Volunteer Month, and Sexual Assault Awareness Month, among other annual commemorations.
April 1st is Fossil Fools Day (noting the foolishness of burning more fossil fuels and polluting the atmosphere) and started in 2004. Traditional April Fool's Day has been marked for at least hundreds of years. April 1st is also Edible Book Day.
Monthly tours of the South Wake Landfill and Sonoco Recycling Facility
There will be free one hour tours of these facilities near Apex once a month through May on Wednesdays or Saturdays (and private tours for groups with 5 to 14 people can be arranged). For more information and registration see: www.wakegov.com/recycling/outreach/Pages/tours.aspx
Israeli Apartheid Week at Duke
April 1 - 4 organized by Duke Students for Justice in Palestine and Duke People's State of the University For more information see: www.facebook.com/events/311787699529265/
The schedule from Facebook:
"1. Day one, Monday, April 1st, “Tears of Gaza” Film Screening, Social Psychology 126, 6pm
SJP will kick off Apartheid week with the screening of “Tears of Gaza,” a Norwegian anti-war movie from 2010 concerning the 2008 Gaza War as seen through the eyes of a group of Palestinian children. The film is based on the imagery taken by people themselves in Gaza while the war continued, with some additional material from the few foreign journalists who were present while the conflict unfolded.
2. Day two, Tuesday, April 2nd, On Palestine and Solidarity between Struggles: An interactive panel discussion, Duke Coffeehouse off east, 6pm
We often ask ourselves what our roles in advocacy groups are really doing to help the causes we support. How are the problems addressed by these causes interconnected, and what can we do to contribute to different movements for justice and human rights? Our panelists include Axel Herrera of Define American, Sydney Roberts of People’s State of the University, Sijal Nasralla, Digital campaigner with Sum of Us, along with Jazzmyne Williams, a Durham activist with Demilitarize! Durham2Palestine and Duke alum. Topics will include how different struggles for justice and equality are interconnected by forces like colonialism and imperialism, how we can work together to fight back, and what you can do as activists, even as students, to contribute.”
3. Day three, Wednesday, April 3rd. The movements for Black and Palestinian Lives: How our Struggles are Linked. Social Science 136, 7pm
How are these systems of oppression faced both here and abroad interconnected? How do colonial enterprises collaborate to prop each other up? And how can we unite our struggles to confront them on all fronts?
Join us for a panel discussion with two Durham activists and organizers, Ajamu Dillahunt and Desmara Gatewood, whose work focuses on both Black and Palestinian liberation, and who both recently returned from a trip to Palestine to witness first-hand the reality of the Israeli occupation and Palestinian efforts to exist and resist in spite of it. They’ll report back from their trips, talk about their organizing work here in North Carolina, and share their perspectives on the history and present need of internationalist liberation movements of Black Americans, Palestinians, and all oppressed peoples worldwide.
4. Day four, Thursday, April 4th. Keynote Speaker Nadya Tannous, Social Science 139, 6pm.
Come hear our keynote lecture for Apartheid Week, delivered by Nadya Tannous, education and advocacy coordinator at Interfaith Peace-Builders. Tannous is a passionate community organizer with a focus on refugee rights, transitional justice, youth education, and inter-community empowerment movements. Tannous is also general coordinator of the Palestinian Youth Movement - USA Branch, and she coordinated and spoke for the 2017 U.S. tour of No Child Behind Bars: Living Resistance from the US to Palestine.
5. More information
Also, we know that calling labeling Israel as an apartheid state is a claim that often receives rebuttal, so we want to direct everyone to some useful readings (regardless of how you feel about the apartheid label).
The first resource is extremely comprehensive (good luck getting through it). This study was conducted by an international team of legal scholars working for the Human Sciences Research Council in Cape Town. The study concluded that the Israeli state is indeed enforcing apartheid on the Palestinians, as is outlined by the Apartheid Convention adopted by the United Nations in 1973. This is a long read, but the Summary Findings on page 277 provide a clear and concise summary of the study.
Occupation, Colonialism, Apartheid? A re-assessment of Israel’s practices in the occupied Palestinian territories under international law
http://www.alhaq.org/attachments/article/236/Occupation_Colonialism_Apartheid-FullStudy.pdf
This next one has a lot of the same findings as the first, but it examines the conditions Palestinians face under a South African framework.
Apartheid, International Law, and the Occupied Palestinian Territory
John Dugard
European Journal of International Law, Volume 24, Issue 3, August 2013, Pages 867–913,
https://academic.oup.com/ejil/article/24/3/867/481600#7307250 "
Silo Plowshares
On Good Friday, March 28, 1986 anti-nuclear weapons activists damaged two nuclear missile silos close to Holden, Missouri.
There will be many demonstrations in early April during the anniversary NATO meeting in Washington, DC. See: NotoNATO.org and worldbeyondwar.org/notonato/
Brian Avery, an International Solidarity Movement volunteer, was shot in the face without provocation by Israeli soldiers in Jenin, West Bank April 5, 2003, leaving him with disfiguring injuries and other health problems. According to Wikipedia Israel denied any soldiers were in the area at the time, but Israel paid Avery $150,000 dollars to drop a lawsuit in 2008. Avery is from Connecticut but spent part of his childhood in Chapel Hill and was an student at UNC-Greensboro and last I heard lives in the state.
International Dark Sky Week, highlighting the increasing problem of light pollution, is around the New Moon in April, which is April 5th this year, but I'm not sure if that means it is during the first week in April or the second. This Week was first observed in 2003.
The annual JC Raulston Arobretum Plant Sale in Raleigh will be April 5 - 6: jcra.ncsu.edu/events/details.php?ID=1954
Climate change and environmental protest in Tar Heel
The NC Save Movement will hold a vigil outside the massive hog slaughterhouse in Tar Heel, in Bladen County, the site of a long running and ultimately successful UFCW unionization battle several years ago, April 5th 1 to 5 or 6pm. There will be a carpool from Durham at 11am; www.ncsave.org
April 6th is National Tartan Day.
The US declared war on Germany April 6, 1917, entering WWI, or the first big inter-imperialist war.
Following a coup that toppled an Axis-allied government, Germany bombed Belgrade, April 6 - 8, 1941, killing thousands, and then invaded with Italy. The UK bombed targets in Axis ally Bulgaria, though the UK was not formally at war with Bulgaria at the time. Yugoslavia surrendered April 17th and was later liberated by the Yugoslav and Albanian Partisans.
Community Event: Support for José Chicas
This fundraising event will be Saturday, April 6th 9am - 3pm at 923 Onslow Street in Durham: www.facebook.com/events/306325603383581/ and is being organized by the Ecumenical Immigration Alliance.
Earth Day Festival in Greensboro
This annual event at the Kathleen Clay Edwards Family Branch Library will be April 6th 1 - 5pm: library.greensboro-nc.gov/locations/kathleen-clay-edwards-family-branch/earth-day-2019
Carrboro Really Really Free Market
There will be a Really Really Free Market Saturday, April 6th 2 - 4pm in the park next to Carrboro's Town Hall ( 301 West Main Street): www.facebook.com/events/1336436939845083/
Le Duan, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam during the struggle against American imperialism, was born April 7, 1907.
Geologists Day is April 7th (the first Sunday in April) and began in the USSR commemorating an oil discovery.
National Library Week is April 7 -13th: www.ala.org/conferencesevents/celebrationweeks/natlibraryweek
Santiago Rafael Cruz, an employee of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee working in their office in Monterrey, Mexico was assassinated April 9, 2007. The crime might remain unsolved.
There will be a Really Really Free Market Saturday, April 6th 2 - 4pm in the park next to Carrboro's Town Hall ( 301 West Main Street): www.facebook.com/events/1336436939845083/
Le Duan, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam during the struggle against American imperialism, was born April 7, 1907.
Geologists Day is April 7th (the first Sunday in April) and began in the USSR commemorating an oil discovery.
National Library Week is April 7 -13th: www.ala.org/conferencesevents/celebrationweeks/natlibraryweek
Santiago Rafael Cruz, an employee of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee working in their office in Monterrey, Mexico was assassinated April 9, 2007. The crime might remain unsolved.
Jordan Lake's annual Family Fishing Fiesta (not only about fishing) will be April 7th 11am - 3pm at the White Oak access (north side of NC 64, east of the Lake): www.ncparks.gov/jordan-lake-state-recreation-area/events-and-programs
The NC Botanical Garden's annual Evelyn McNeill Sims Native Plant Lecture will be April 7th 2:30 - 3:30pm. Dwayne Estes will talk about the Southeastern Grasslands Initiative, to conserve grassland habitats and species that historically existed in the southeast: ncbg.unc.edu/2019-events/
April 8th is International Romani Day.
Singer, actor, and activist Paul Robeson was born April 9, 1898. There are links to his English versions of the contemporary Soviet and Chinese anthems in a previous post: durhamspark.blogspot.com/2017/04/communist-fight-songs-and-musical.html
April 9, 1948 a neutral Palestinian village near Jerusalem, Deir Yassin, was attacked by Zionist terrorist groups, which were later merged with the Israeli military. The residents were killed during and after the fighting and today the Kfar Shaul Mental Health Center stands where Deir Yassin had been, and includes some of the remaining buildings.
Siblings Day is April 10th every year.
Enver Hoxha, Albanian partisan during WWII and later first secretary of the Party of Labor of Albania, passed away April 11, 1985. For more information see: www.enver-hoxha.net/ and (in Russian): www.enverhoxha.ru/
British student and International Solidarity Movement volunteer Tom Hurndall was shot in the head by an Israeli soldier April 11, 2003 in Rafah, Gaza. Hurndall was left comatose and died January 13, 2004. The shooter, Taysir Hayb, was sentenced to 8 years in prison and released after 6 and a half. Earlier Hurndall went to Iraq as part of a campaign to provide volunteer human shields to protect civilian infrastructure from Coalition bombing. The US government and Human Rights Watch condemned the shields, and the US considered prosecuting American volunteers as war criminals.
April 12 is Halifax Day, commemorating the Halifax Resolves in 1776, beginning the process of separation from Britain, a date also emblazoned on North Carolina's flag.
Siblings Day is April 10th every year.
Enver Hoxha, Albanian partisan during WWII and later first secretary of the Party of Labor of Albania, passed away April 11, 1985. For more information see: www.enver-hoxha.net/ and (in Russian): www.enverhoxha.ru/
British student and International Solidarity Movement volunteer Tom Hurndall was shot in the head by an Israeli soldier April 11, 2003 in Rafah, Gaza. Hurndall was left comatose and died January 13, 2004. The shooter, Taysir Hayb, was sentenced to 8 years in prison and released after 6 and a half. Earlier Hurndall went to Iraq as part of a campaign to provide volunteer human shields to protect civilian infrastructure from Coalition bombing. The US government and Human Rights Watch condemned the shields, and the US considered prosecuting American volunteers as war criminals.
April 12 is Halifax Day, commemorating the Halifax Resolves in 1776, beginning the process of separation from Britain, a date also emblazoned on North Carolina's flag.
The US Civil War began and ended in April. The bombardment of Fort Sumter in Charlestown Harbor began April 12, 1861. The Civil War ended with several separate surrenders. Robert E Lee surrendered his forces at Appomattox, Virginia April 9, 1865. The largest Confederate surrender occurred at Bennett Place, now in Durham, when Joseph E Johnston surrendered his forces April 26th. Bennett Place State Historic Site will hold its 154th Surrender Commemoration April 27th (10am - 4pm) ( www.bennettplacehistoricsite.com/special-events/ ). Admission costs $3 dollars for adults, $2 dollars for children aged 5 to 16, and is free for children under 5. Besides its historical value, Bennett Place is significant ecologically because the land has been mostly left alone. According to Wikipedia, the last general to surrender was Cherokee leader Stand Watie, June 23rd, but the last military surrender was Confederate commerce raider CSS Shenandoah, November 6, 1865 in Liverpool, UK. It could be argued that the Civil War continued in another form into the Reconstruction period, which ended in 1877.
April 12th is the UN International Human Space Flight Day/Cosmonautics Day in honor of the first human space flight, by Yuri Gagarin on this day in 1961. US Astronauts Day is the last Friday in January.
North Carolina Statewide Star Party and the NC Festival of Science
The 7th annual Statewide Star Party will be celebrated with stargazing events at over 50 locations across North Carolina the evenings of April 12 - 13. This year's theme is "The Moon and Beyond," commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Apollo landings ( www.ncsciencefestival.org/starparty ). This is part of the 9th annual NC Festival for Science, April 1 - 30.
American bourgeois-democratic revolutionary and later US president, Thomas Jefferson, was born April 13, 1743.
The Battle of Morrisville in Wake County was April 13, 1865. Sometime around then there was a skirmish near New Hope Creek in southern Durham County.
Georg Lukács, a Marxist philosopher and literary critic and Minister of Culture in the Hungarian Soviet Republic, was born April 13, 1885 in Budapest. Many of his works are online, in English, at: www.marxists.org/archive/lukacs/index.htm
The US, UK, and France attacked Syria April 13, 2018, said to be retaliation for alleged use of chemical weapons.
Record Store Day is April 13th this year.
The NC DOT is seeking volunteers for its annual spring litter sweep along roads, April 13 - 27th is year: www.ncdot.gov/initiatives-policies/environmental/litter-management/Pages/litter-sweep.aspx
The NC DOT is seeking volunteers for its annual spring litter sweep along roads, April 13 - 27th is year: www.ncdot.gov/initiatives-policies/environmental/litter-management/Pages/litter-sweep.aspx
The annual Party for the Pine will be April 13 10am - 3pm at Weymouth Woods - Sandhills Nature Preserve in Southern Pines: www.partyforthepine.org/
The annual BW Wells Heritage Day will be April 13th, 10am - 4pm, at Rock Cliff Farm, at Falls Lake's BW Wells access: www.ncparks.gov/falls-lake-state-recreation-area/events-and-programs
The last known female Yangtze giant softshell turtle and one of the last individuals in captivity died around April 13th. These large, very aquatic Southeast Asian turtles are being harmed by hunting, habitat loss due to dams, etc., and pollution, though there is a chance the species could survive. There are species of softshell turtle, though much smaller, in the southern US, including one in North Carolina.
Black Day [April 14th] is a day for single people in the ROK.
The last known female Yangtze giant softshell turtle and one of the last individuals in captivity died around April 13th. These large, very aquatic Southeast Asian turtles are being harmed by hunting, habitat loss due to dams, etc., and pollution, though there is a chance the species could survive. There are species of softshell turtle, though much smaller, in the southern US, including one in North Carolina.
Black Day [April 14th] is a day for single people in the ROK.
The annual Pilgrimage for Peace and Justice will be April 14 - 19th, details to be released soon (Witness for Peace Southeast). www.facebook.com/events/250564795868005/
World Art Day is April 15th, coinciding with Leonardo da Vinci's birth in 1452.
World Art Day is April 15th, coinciding with Leonardo da Vinci's birth in 1452.
Korean revolutionary and statesman Kim Il Sung was born April 15, 1912.
Ronald Reagan bombed Libya April 15, 1986, killing many military personnel and civilians, reportedly including an infant child of Qaddafi. Libya shot down an F-111, killing the two person crew. In 2011 Obama and Hillary Clinton used humanitarian interventionism as a pretext to achieve the long-term US and European imperialist goal of neutralizing Libya. A few years earlier Libya had given up its weapons of mass destruction programs, a lesson to the DPRK about trusting pledges made by imperialists.
US Tax Day is April 15th, except for tax resisters.
US Tax Day is April 15th, except for tax resisters.
Ernst Thälmann, leader of the Communist Party of Germany during the Weimar period, was born April 16, 1886, and shot in Buchenwald August 18, 1944 after years of solitary confinement. The Nazis claimed he was killed by Allied bombing. Many groups used his name, such as the Thälmann Brigade of German volunteers fighting in the Spanish Civil War on the side of the Republic. There are possibly questionable translations of some of his works online at: aredinohio.wordpress.com/ernst-thalmann-library/
Rivercane Rendezvous 2019 will be April 15 - 21 in Westminster, South Carolina: www.facebook.com/events/2041772256045247/
The International Day for Monuments and Sites / World Heritage Day is April 18th.
Trident II Pruning Hooks
Trident II Pruning Hooks
April 18, 1985 anti-nuclear weapons activists damaged three Trident II missile tubes at the EB Quonset Point facility in North Kingston, Rhode Island. Six tubes had been damaged October 1, 1984.
Pyongyang Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Conference April 18 - 25 (register by February 10th; this is an international conference and Americans and others are welcome to attend): www.korea-dpr.com/dprk-blockchain-conference-2019.html
Anti-torture events from an activist calendar:
Thurs., Apr. 18, approx. 8:00 am -- Gathering at the gates of Aero Contractors, Johnston County Airport [JNX]. Foot-washing as part of the Witness for Peace annual pilgrimage.
Sun. Apr. 28, 2:00 to 5:00 pm: Faith and Convocation: A Call for Accountability for Torture is a conference at UNC-Asheville. Speakers include Bill Ramsey (2005 participant in non-violent civil disobedience at Aero Contractors), Frank Goldsmith, Col. Larry Wilkerson, David Crane, and Christina Cowger. Join others in community to learn the facts recorded by the NC Commission of Inquiry on Torture, to advocate for the release of the full Senate Torture Report and a state investigation of the activities in NC, and to act on behalf of those who have been wrongfully tortured and abused.
Rep. David Price constituents: sign a post card to Rep. Price, asking him to act in response to the NCCIT report. For cards, stop by the NC Council of Churches or reply to Christina Cowger, cowgerchristina /at] /gmail period com]"
April 19, 1971 the USSR launched Salyut 1, the first space station. Mir and the Russian part of the International Space Station (which Americans can currently get to only by taking a Russian rocket) developed from the Salyut program.
April 19, 1971 the USSR launched Salyut 1, the first space station. Mir and the Russian part of the International Space Station (which Americans can currently get to only by taking a Russian rocket) developed from the Salyut program.
Unusual recyclables event benefitting the Durham Public Schools
May 19 [these were both in April]: 10am - 5pm and May 20: 10am - 2pm at the Fonville Morissey Durham Sales Office (1304 West Highway 54, Durham): www.facebook.com/events/563764164129969/?event_time_id=563764167463302
Arbor Day at the Hayti Heritage Center
April 19th 10am - 2pm: www.keepdurhambeautiful/events/hayti
April 19th is apparently National Garlic Day and National Rice Ball Day in the USA.
The 2019 National Cannabis Festival will be Saturday, April 20th 12 - 8pm at the RFK Stadium in Washington, DC ( www.facebook.com/events/143259523190795/ ).
Earth Day is April 22nd (the first Earth Day was in 1970), also Easter Monday, and VI Lenin was born April 22, 1870.
Italian-American anarchist Nicola Sacco was born April 22, 1891. Together with another Italian-American anarchist, Bartolomeo Vanzetti (born June 11, 1888), Sacco was executed August 23, 1927 for two murders committed during a robbery April 15, 1920 in Braintree, Massachusetts. Sacco and Vanzetti were famous worldwide as political prisoners and there was a lot of organizing around the case and many places and groups have been named after them. In 1977 Massachusetts governor Michael Dukakis signed a proclamation saying that Sacco and Vanzetti had been unfairly convicted and executed and should not bear any "disgrace" for the alleged crime, though he did not say they were actually innocent or officially pardon them.
Donations to the Triangle Land Conservancy, which preserves areas such as the White Pines Nature Preserve, will be matched up to $40,000 dollars all day on Earth Day: www.triangleland.org/give
3rd Annual Earth Day Celebration Under the ATC Water Tower
This will be April 22nd 12 - 1:30pm under the historic Lucky Strike Water Tower in downtown Durham: www.facebook.com/events/349904139206873/
Italian-American anarchist Nicola Sacco was born April 22, 1891. Together with another Italian-American anarchist, Bartolomeo Vanzetti (born June 11, 1888), Sacco was executed August 23, 1927 for two murders committed during a robbery April 15, 1920 in Braintree, Massachusetts. Sacco and Vanzetti were famous worldwide as political prisoners and there was a lot of organizing around the case and many places and groups have been named after them. In 1977 Massachusetts governor Michael Dukakis signed a proclamation saying that Sacco and Vanzetti had been unfairly convicted and executed and should not bear any "disgrace" for the alleged crime, though he did not say they were actually innocent or officially pardon them.
Donations to the Triangle Land Conservancy, which preserves areas such as the White Pines Nature Preserve, will be matched up to $40,000 dollars all day on Earth Day: www.triangleland.org/give
3rd Annual Earth Day Celebration Under the ATC Water Tower
This will be April 22nd 12 - 1:30pm under the historic Lucky Strike Water Tower in downtown Durham: www.facebook.com/events/349904139206873/
Triangle Friends of Farmworkers meeting
The April meeting will be April 22nd at 7pm at 130 Hunt Street in Durham: www.facebook.com/events/2623632251042546/
There was a picket at a Circle K in Goldsboro 4 - 5pm.
NATO bombed the headquarters of Radio Television Serbia April 23, 1999, killing 16 civilian employees. Apparently the general manager was jailed for not ordering an evacuation, but no one has been punished for the bombing, though Amnesty International called it a war crime, Human Rights Watch condemned it, and apparently even the French government was opposed to it. According to the BBC the station was only silenced for 4 hours. NATO bombed Yugoslavia from March 24th to June 10th. From the way staff at NPR, etc. discuss war they don't seem to realize that US military strategy has opened the way to targeting media and journalists in future wars.
NATO bombed the headquarters of Radio Television Serbia April 23, 1999, killing 16 civilian employees. Apparently the general manager was jailed for not ordering an evacuation, but no one has been punished for the bombing, though Amnesty International called it a war crime, Human Rights Watch condemned it, and apparently even the French government was opposed to it. According to the BBC the station was only silenced for 4 hours. NATO bombed Yugoslavia from March 24th to June 10th. From the way staff at NPR, etc. discuss war they don't seem to realize that US military strategy has opened the way to targeting media and journalists in future wars.
Durham Litter Index seeks volunteers
Easter Rising for Irish independence began April 24, 1916.
World Day for Laboratory Animals / World Lab Animals Day is April 24th, started by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals in 1980.
International Noise Awareness Day, April 24th (the last Wednesday of the month), raises awareness about noise pollution and the health and environmental problems excessive noise causes.
Durham Green New Deal Town Hall
VUSE boycott picket in Chapel Hill
There will be a picket in support of FLOC's VUSE e-cigarettes boycott at the Circle K at the corner of 15-501/Fordham Boulevard and South Estes Road (201 South Estes Road) March 25th 5 - 5:45pm: www.facebook.com/events/656612271455391/ Earlier in the day the NC Farmworker Institute will meet at the United Church of Chapel Hill: www.facebook.com/events/824871291206479/
9th Annual Stand Against Racism
This rally and march will be April 25th 6 - 8pm at Wilmington's 1898 Memorial Park: www.facebook.com/events/395096037972655/
Germany and Italy bombed the town of Guernica in the Basque region April 26, 1937 during the Spanish Civil War, killing hundreds to thousands of people. Several art works memorialize the event, including Pablo Picasso's well-known Guernica painting. A full-sized tapestry copy hangs in the UN headquarters and was covered over February 5, 2003 when Colin Powell and John Negroponte gave press conferences pushing for the Iraq War, which began that March.
9th Annual Stand Against Racism
This rally and march will be April 25th 6 - 8pm at Wilmington's 1898 Memorial Park: www.facebook.com/events/395096037972655/
Germany and Italy bombed the town of Guernica in the Basque region April 26, 1937 during the Spanish Civil War, killing hundreds to thousands of people. Several art works memorialize the event, including Pablo Picasso's well-known Guernica painting. A full-sized tapestry copy hangs in the UN headquarters and was covered over February 5, 2003 when Colin Powell and John Negroponte gave press conferences pushing for the Iraq War, which began that March.
April 26th is National Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day.
April 26th is World Intellectual Property Day, with the theme Reach for Gold, focusing on intellectual property relating to sports, this year.
Nikos Zachariadis, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Greece during the Greek Civil War, was born April 27, 1903. He lived in exile in the USSR after 1949, becoming a thorn in the side of the revisionist CPSU under Khrushchev and either committed suicide or was assassinated August 1, 1973. For more information, see: anasintaxi-en.blogspot.com/2007/09/three-versions-of-nikos-zachariadiss.html
The People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan launched the Saur Revolution April 27, 1978, followed by US support for Islamist terrorists, beginning before the Soviet intervention in December 1979 that overthrew the more radical faction of the PDPA. The Afghan government fell after March 18, 1992, but outlasted the Soviet withdrawal in 1989 and the overthrow of the revisionist Soviet government in 1991. This was followed by a civil war among the Islamists and later the formation of the Taliban. The current Afghan government marks Mujahideen Victory Day every April 28th.
Save the Frogs Day is April 27th: www.savethefrogs.com/d/day/index.html
National Arbor Day is April 27th and many states have state arbor days.
The first Sustainable Living Fair will be at the Eno River Unitarian Universalist Fellowship April 27th 9am - 3pm (registration is required by April 22nd, email deniseaf8 [ at gmail]
Jordan Lake Environmental Futures Fair
This event will be April 27th 10am - 2pm at 2080 Jordan Dam Road in Moncure.
Paddle Against the Pipeline
The Haw River Assembly is hosting a paddle and picnic to talk about the proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline Southgate, which would carry fracked gas along the Haw River. The event will be April 27th 9am - 3pm at Red Slide Park: www.facebook.com/events/168671924057107/
The Mother Earth News Fair 2019 will be April 27 - 28th in Fletcher, North Carolina: motherearthnewsfair.com/north-carolina/
Bill Bland was born April 28, 1916 in Ashton-under-Lyne in the UK. He was a founder of the Albanian Society, the Communist League of Great Britain, and the Stalin Society, was involved in Alliance Marxist-Leninist and International Struggle Marxist-Leninist, and produced many works and translated documents from Albania. He died March 13, 2001. For more information see: www.revolutionarydemocracy.org/rdv7n2/blandobit.htm (obituary) , ml-review.ca/aml/index/subject.html#b , www.mltranslations.org/Britain/StalinBB.htm , and www.marxists.org/archive/bland/
Jordan Lake Environmental Futures Fair
This event will be April 27th 10am - 2pm at 2080 Jordan Dam Road in Moncure.
Paddle Against the Pipeline
The Haw River Assembly is hosting a paddle and picnic to talk about the proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline Southgate, which would carry fracked gas along the Haw River. The event will be April 27th 9am - 3pm at Red Slide Park: www.facebook.com/events/168671924057107/
The Mother Earth News Fair 2019 will be April 27 - 28th in Fletcher, North Carolina: motherearthnewsfair.com/north-carolina/
Bill Bland was born April 28, 1916 in Ashton-under-Lyne in the UK. He was a founder of the Albanian Society, the Communist League of Great Britain, and the Stalin Society, was involved in Alliance Marxist-Leninist and International Struggle Marxist-Leninist, and produced many works and translated documents from Albania. He died March 13, 2001. For more information see: www.revolutionarydemocracy.org/rdv7n2/blandobit.htm (obituary) , ml-review.ca/aml/index/subject.html#b , www.mltranslations.org/Britain/StalinBB.htm , and www.marxists.org/archive/bland/
April 28th is Restoration of Sovereignty Day in Japan, marking the end of the US occupation in 1952. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe proposed the commemoration in 2012, but it is controversial, for example there were demonstrations in Okinawa in 2013, because much of the continuing US military presence in Japan is based in Okinawa. It is questionable how much sovereignty Japan has, if former prime minister Yukio Hatoyama asked the USA to move one or more bases, and Secretary of State Clinton could refuse, but maybe that is not exactly what happened.
Pershing Plowshares
Easter Monday, April 22, 1984 Americans (including Patrick O'Neill) and a Swedish student damaged Pershing II ballistic missile parts and a Patriot missile launcher at a Martin Marietta facility in Orlando, Florida.
Workers' Memorial Day is Friday, April 28th and the NC AFL-CIO will hold a commemoration [State Capitol 10 - 11am]. www.facebook.com/events/719692885095102/
Durham's Earth Day Festival will be April 28th 12 - 5pm at the Durham Central Park: dprplaymore.org/299/Earth-Day-Festival
The Case for Building an Independent Left Political Party
This talk is organized by or associated with the NC Green Party and will be April 28th 1 - 3pm. One announcement says it is a Raleigh event, but the Facebook announcement says it will be at the Chapel Hill Public Library like the talk earlier in the year: www.facebook.com/events/399372083950401/ From Facebook:
The Case for Building an Independent Left Political Party
This talk is organized by or associated with the NC Green Party and will be April 28th 1 - 3pm. One announcement says it is a Raleigh event, but the Facebook announcement says it will be at the Chapel Hill Public Library like the talk earlier in the year: www.facebook.com/events/399372083950401/ From Facebook:
"A presentation on the historical justification and necessity for third-party and worker independence from the structures that underpin the two-party system. Wayne Turner, Tony Ndege and other Green Party members on the structure of successful movements in American labor history and how movements are derailed and blunted by the major parties. Open to the public. Q&A session after talk. We want to hear from you."
World Tour Paddling Film Festival
This will be April 28th (?) 6 - 9pm at HQ Greensboro (111 West Lewis Street) and is organized byGetOutdoors.
World Tour Paddling Film Festival
This will be April 28th (?) 6 - 9pm at HQ Greensboro (111 West Lewis Street) and is organized byGetOutdoors.
April 28th is World Day for Safety and Health at Work.
Learn about the Citizen's Climate Lobby
Saigon was liberated and the Vietnam's long war for independence and unification finally ended April 30, 1975, though the US military had withdrawn in 1973.
Chose Privacy Week is May 1 - 7: chooseprivacyeveryday.org
May is bicycle month. The Durham County Library had an event May 9th and there will be bicycle helmet and safety training events June 30th and July 7th ( durhamcountylibrary.org/2017/04/durham-county-library-presents-bicycle-helmets-and-safety-training-events/ ).
May is also Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, Jewish American Heritage Month, Haitian Heritage Month, Oder Americans Month, Mental Health Awareness Month, Hepatitis Awareness Month, National Electrical Safety Month, National Water Safety Month, National Foster Care Month, and National Burger Month, among other commemorations in the USA, according to Wikipedia.
The 5th annual UN Global Road Safety Week is May 6 - 12 ( www.who.int/roadsafety/week/2019/en/ ).
Chose Privacy Week is May 1 - 7: chooseprivacyeveryday.org
May is bicycle month. The Durham County Library had an event May 9th and there will be bicycle helmet and safety training events June 30th and July 7th ( durhamcountylibrary.org/2017/04/durham-county-library-presents-bicycle-helmets-and-safety-training-events/ ).
May is also Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, Jewish American Heritage Month, Haitian Heritage Month, Oder Americans Month, Mental Health Awareness Month, Hepatitis Awareness Month, National Electrical Safety Month, National Water Safety Month, National Foster Care Month, and National Burger Month, among other commemorations in the USA, according to Wikipedia.
The 5th annual UN Global Road Safety Week is May 6 - 12 ( www.who.int/roadsafety/week/2019/en/ ).
International Workers' Day / May Day is Wednesday, May 1st.
NCAE demonstration in Raleigh
NCAE demonstration in Raleigh
The NC Association of Educators is organizing a rally in downtown Raleigh from 9am - 5pm again this year, with the slogans of respect, strong students, strong schools, and strong communities. For more information and registration see: www.facebook.com/events/2278040342469360/ Under an old NC law, state and local government bodies can't engage with their workers in collective bargaining, but government organizations have legally talked with their workers in the past and if large numbers of workers, such as teachers, don't come to work or go slow, government organizations will be forced to shut down, whatever laws the rightists pass in their race to the bottom in working conditions and overall quality of life.
May Day March Durham - No Walls in the Workers Struggles
There will be a march starting at 5:30pm at the Los Primos grocery store and continuing west on East Main Street with stops at the new Durham Police headquarters, City Hall, and a McDonald's. From the Facebook page ( www.facebook.com/events/310706632948560/ ):
"~~En español abajo~~
No Walls in the Workers Struggle
May Day, International Workers Day unites workers and oppressed peoples across the world in struggle for liberation. Just as workers struggled in 1886 to win an 8 hour work day, workers in Durham and around the world today are struggling for:
No to ICE raids, mass incarceration and police brutality
No to $3 million for more police
End sexual harassment #MeTooMcDonalds
Raise the Wages: $15/hr and union rights for all
No to racism and restructuring of City worker jobs
US Hands off Venezuela, No to Trump’s wars at home and abroad and the militarization of the border
5:30pm - opening rally at Los Primos grocery store, E. Main Street, Durham
6:15pm - March kicks off. Stops with short rallies at new police HQ, City Hall and McDonalds.
Who does Durham belong to? Does it belong to the bosses, landlords, police, and ICE; those that own the condos and run the jail? Or does it belongs to the workers, the incarcerated, the oppressed, and migrants? We demand that the $3 million proposed by City Council for hiring 72 more police be spent on affordable housing, living wage union jobs, mental health care, and education. We demand that money be reinvested to support worker organizations, to build unions and fight back against employers. Rather than this money be spent to protect the rich and owners, at the expense of all the exploited communities that have the right to call Durham home, especially the displaced Eno people, the Occaneechi Band of the Saponi nation, Tuscarora nation and Catawba nation. We demand that the trillions made by the workers across the country, not be spent by Trump, the Pentagon, and corporate profiteers on war. Instead, it should be spent on the people’s needs.
We support Black, migrant, trans, queer, and indigenous people. No where is the exploitation of these workers more apparent than in the US prison system. We support the liberation of all prisoners. We stand with Kanautica Zayre-Brown, against her systematic torture and the state’s attempt to rob her of her identity, freedom and dignity. She is a Black trans women held at a Warren County men’s facility. We support state workers fighting for trans-inclusive health care.
40% of all women workers in low wage jobs face sexual harassment. McDonald’s workers in Raise Up in Durham are reclaiming their power and organizing against this epidemic. We stand with them to demand safety and dignity on the job. #MeTooMcDonalds.
Workers in the City of Durham are organizing against the structural changes that are causing a work speed up, more force overtime and increased licenses and degrees. With position vacancy rates as high as 11.1% in Water Management and 15.3% in Public Works, we should all be concerned about understaffing and over-working the current employees. We stand against the white management structure engaged in racist hiring and promotions. We support the Durham City Workers Union, chapter of UE local 150, and the movement to repeal the Jim Crow ban on public sector collective bargaining.
This is why we say “No Walls in the Workers Struggle.” No walls on the border. No prison walls. No walls to divide workers. As the Durham working class, we reclaim our city! Join us on May Day we march together!
#MayDayDurham #NoWalls #DurhamWorksBecauseWeDo #MeTooMcDonalds
Initiated by the Durham Workers Assembly
Endorsers:
NC Raise Up - Fight for $15
National Domestic Workers Alliance, We Dream in Black
UE local 150, NC Public Service Workers Union
A. Phillip Randolph Institute, Durham chapter
Poor People's Campaign
Raleigh-Durham International Workers of the World (IWW)
Fighting for Im/migrants and Refugees Everywhere (FIRE)
Comite Accion Popular
Stop Killing Us (SKU)
NC Green Party
Workers World Party
Communist Party USA - NC branch
Miguel Staten, uncle of DeAndre Ballard
(List still in formation, add your organization!)
Endorsements should be emailed to durhamworkersrights [at gmail period com]
** this is a kid and family-friendly event!
---------------------------------------------------------------
Un llamado a tomar acción este primero de mayo de 2019, Durham, NC:
No a los muros en la lucha de lxs trabajadores
El primero de mayo, día internacional de lxs trabajadores reúne a trabajadores y los pueblos oprimidos en todo el mundo en la lucha por la liberación. Así como lxs trabajadores lucharon en 1886 para ganar una jornada de 8 horas, lxs trabajadores en Durham, Carolina del Norte y en todo el mundo hoy luchan por:
• Un alto a las redadas de ICE, al encarcelamiento masivo y la brutalidad policial
• No a los $3 millones para conseguir más policía
• Poner fin al acoso sexual #MeTooMcDonalds
• Aumentar el salario: $15/ hora y el derecho de formar un sindicato para todxs
• No al racismo y la reestructuración del empleo de trabajadores municipales
• No a la intervención de los Estados Unidos en Venezuela, No a las guerras de Trump aquí y en el extranjero, y a la militarización de la frontera
Marcha del primero de mayo, día internacional de lxs trabajadores
1 de mayo de 2019
5:30pm, Los Primos Grocery Store, E. Main Street, Durham
Marcha a la nueva sede de policía, al ayuntamiento y a McDonalds.
�¿A quién pertenece Durham? ¿Pertenece a lxs jefes, a lxs propietarixs, la policía y ICE; es de quienes poseen los condominios o quien administra la cárcel? ¿O pertenece a lxs trabajadores, lxs encarceladxs, lxs oprimidxs, y lxs migrantes? Exigimos que los $3 millones propuesto por el Concejo municipal para contratar a 72 más agentes de policía, sea asignados a la vivienda económica, a los trabajos sindicalizados de salario digno, a la atención de salud mental y la educación. Exigimos que se vuelva a invertir el dinero para apoyar a las organizaciones laborales, para construir sindicatos y defendernos contra lxs empleadores. En lugar de gastar este dinero para proteger a la gente adinerada y terrateniente, a expensas de todas las comunidades explotadas que tienen el derecho de encontrar su hogar en Durham, especialmente el pueblo Eno, la Banda Occaneechi del Pueblo Saponi, los Pueblos Tuscarora y Catawba, ya desplazados. Exigimos que los trillones de dólares producidos por lxs trabajadores en todo el país no sean desperdiciados por Trump, el Pentágono y lxs empresarixs especuladores de la guerra. En cambio, debe ser invertidos en las necesidades de las personas.
Apoyamos los pueblos negros, migrantes, trans, queer e indígenas. No hay lugar donde la explotación de estxs trabajadores está más evidente, que en el sistema de cárceles de los Estados Unidos. Apoyamos la liberación de todxs lxs presos. Nos solidarizamos con Kanautica Zayre-Brown, contra su tortura sistemática y el intento del estado de robarle su identidad, libertad y dignidad. Ella es una mujer negra trans detenida en la cárcel de hombres en el Condado Warren. Apoyamos la lucha de lxs trabajadores del estado por la salud trans-inclusiva.
El 40% de todas las trabajadoras en empleos de bajo salario sufren del acoso sexual. Lxs trabajadores de McDonald's que participan en Raise Up Durham están haciendo valer su poder y su trabajo organizativo contra esta epidemia. Nos solidarizamos con ellxs en exigir la seguridad y dignidad en el trabajo. #MeTooMcDonalds.
Lxs trabajadores municipales de Durham se organizan en contra de los cambios estructurales que se han llevado a un aumento en la velocidad de trabajo, más horas extra obligatorias y un aumento de licencias y grados. Con la tasa de puestos no ocupados llegando hasta el 11.1% en el Departamento de gestión de agua y de 15.3% en Obras públicas, todxs debemos preocuparnos por la falta de personal y el exceso de trabajo para lxs trabajadores de planta. Nos oponemos a la estructura de gerencia blanca que ha hecho uso de procesos de contratación y acenso racistas. Apoyamos el sindicato de Trabajadores municipales de Durham, Sección local de UE 150, y el movimiento para derogar la prohibición de la negociación colectiva en el sector público, que data desde la era Jim Crow.
Por esta razón, decimos "No a los muros en la lucha de lxs trabajadores". No a los muros en la frontera. No a los muros de las cárceles. No a los muros para dividir a lxs trabajadores. Nosotrxs, la clase obrera de Durham, ¡estamos recuperando nuestra ciudad! ¡Únete a nosotrxs este primero de mayo para marchar juntxs!
Iniciado por la Asamblea de Trabajadores de Durham
Firmantes:
NC Raise Up - Fight for $15
National Domestic Workers Alliance, We Dream in Black
UE local 150, NC Public Service Workers Union
A. Phillip Randolph Institute, Durham chapter
Poor People's Campaign
Raleigh-Durham International Workers of the World (IWW)
Fighting for Im/migrants and Refugees Everywhere (FIRE)
Comite Accion Popular
Stop Killing Us (SKU)
NC Green Party
Workers World Party
Communist Party USA - NC branch
Miguel Staten, uncle of DeAndre Ballard
(Lista aún en formación, agregue su organización!)
Los endosos deben ser enviados por correo electrónico a durhamworkersrights [at gmail]"
May Day March Durham - No Walls in the Workers Struggles
There will be a march starting at 5:30pm at the Los Primos grocery store and continuing west on East Main Street with stops at the new Durham Police headquarters, City Hall, and a McDonald's. From the Facebook page ( www.facebook.com/events/310706632948560/ ):
"~~En español abajo~~
No Walls in the Workers Struggle
May Day, International Workers Day unites workers and oppressed peoples across the world in struggle for liberation. Just as workers struggled in 1886 to win an 8 hour work day, workers in Durham and around the world today are struggling for:
No to ICE raids, mass incarceration and police brutality
No to $3 million for more police
End sexual harassment #MeTooMcDonalds
Raise the Wages: $15/hr and union rights for all
No to racism and restructuring of City worker jobs
US Hands off Venezuela, No to Trump’s wars at home and abroad and the militarization of the border
5:30pm - opening rally at Los Primos grocery store, E. Main Street, Durham
6:15pm - March kicks off. Stops with short rallies at new police HQ, City Hall and McDonalds.
Who does Durham belong to? Does it belong to the bosses, landlords, police, and ICE; those that own the condos and run the jail? Or does it belongs to the workers, the incarcerated, the oppressed, and migrants? We demand that the $3 million proposed by City Council for hiring 72 more police be spent on affordable housing, living wage union jobs, mental health care, and education. We demand that money be reinvested to support worker organizations, to build unions and fight back against employers. Rather than this money be spent to protect the rich and owners, at the expense of all the exploited communities that have the right to call Durham home, especially the displaced Eno people, the Occaneechi Band of the Saponi nation, Tuscarora nation and Catawba nation. We demand that the trillions made by the workers across the country, not be spent by Trump, the Pentagon, and corporate profiteers on war. Instead, it should be spent on the people’s needs.
We support Black, migrant, trans, queer, and indigenous people. No where is the exploitation of these workers more apparent than in the US prison system. We support the liberation of all prisoners. We stand with Kanautica Zayre-Brown, against her systematic torture and the state’s attempt to rob her of her identity, freedom and dignity. She is a Black trans women held at a Warren County men’s facility. We support state workers fighting for trans-inclusive health care.
40% of all women workers in low wage jobs face sexual harassment. McDonald’s workers in Raise Up in Durham are reclaiming their power and organizing against this epidemic. We stand with them to demand safety and dignity on the job. #MeTooMcDonalds.
Workers in the City of Durham are organizing against the structural changes that are causing a work speed up, more force overtime and increased licenses and degrees. With position vacancy rates as high as 11.1% in Water Management and 15.3% in Public Works, we should all be concerned about understaffing and over-working the current employees. We stand against the white management structure engaged in racist hiring and promotions. We support the Durham City Workers Union, chapter of UE local 150, and the movement to repeal the Jim Crow ban on public sector collective bargaining.
This is why we say “No Walls in the Workers Struggle.” No walls on the border. No prison walls. No walls to divide workers. As the Durham working class, we reclaim our city! Join us on May Day we march together!
#MayDayDurham #NoWalls #DurhamWorksBecauseWeDo #MeTooMcDonalds
Initiated by the Durham Workers Assembly
Endorsers:
NC Raise Up - Fight for $15
National Domestic Workers Alliance, We Dream in Black
UE local 150, NC Public Service Workers Union
A. Phillip Randolph Institute, Durham chapter
Poor People's Campaign
Raleigh-Durham International Workers of the World (IWW)
Fighting for Im/migrants and Refugees Everywhere (FIRE)
Comite Accion Popular
Stop Killing Us (SKU)
NC Green Party
Workers World Party
Communist Party USA - NC branch
Miguel Staten, uncle of DeAndre Ballard
(List still in formation, add your organization!)
Endorsements should be emailed to durhamworkersrights [at gmail period com]
** this is a kid and family-friendly event!
---------------------------------------------------------------
Un llamado a tomar acción este primero de mayo de 2019, Durham, NC:
No a los muros en la lucha de lxs trabajadores
El primero de mayo, día internacional de lxs trabajadores reúne a trabajadores y los pueblos oprimidos en todo el mundo en la lucha por la liberación. Así como lxs trabajadores lucharon en 1886 para ganar una jornada de 8 horas, lxs trabajadores en Durham, Carolina del Norte y en todo el mundo hoy luchan por:
• Un alto a las redadas de ICE, al encarcelamiento masivo y la brutalidad policial
• No a los $3 millones para conseguir más policía
• Poner fin al acoso sexual #MeTooMcDonalds
• Aumentar el salario: $15/ hora y el derecho de formar un sindicato para todxs
• No al racismo y la reestructuración del empleo de trabajadores municipales
• No a la intervención de los Estados Unidos en Venezuela, No a las guerras de Trump aquí y en el extranjero, y a la militarización de la frontera
Marcha del primero de mayo, día internacional de lxs trabajadores
1 de mayo de 2019
5:30pm, Los Primos Grocery Store, E. Main Street, Durham
Marcha a la nueva sede de policía, al ayuntamiento y a McDonalds.
�¿A quién pertenece Durham? ¿Pertenece a lxs jefes, a lxs propietarixs, la policía y ICE; es de quienes poseen los condominios o quien administra la cárcel? ¿O pertenece a lxs trabajadores, lxs encarceladxs, lxs oprimidxs, y lxs migrantes? Exigimos que los $3 millones propuesto por el Concejo municipal para contratar a 72 más agentes de policía, sea asignados a la vivienda económica, a los trabajos sindicalizados de salario digno, a la atención de salud mental y la educación. Exigimos que se vuelva a invertir el dinero para apoyar a las organizaciones laborales, para construir sindicatos y defendernos contra lxs empleadores. En lugar de gastar este dinero para proteger a la gente adinerada y terrateniente, a expensas de todas las comunidades explotadas que tienen el derecho de encontrar su hogar en Durham, especialmente el pueblo Eno, la Banda Occaneechi del Pueblo Saponi, los Pueblos Tuscarora y Catawba, ya desplazados. Exigimos que los trillones de dólares producidos por lxs trabajadores en todo el país no sean desperdiciados por Trump, el Pentágono y lxs empresarixs especuladores de la guerra. En cambio, debe ser invertidos en las necesidades de las personas.
Apoyamos los pueblos negros, migrantes, trans, queer e indígenas. No hay lugar donde la explotación de estxs trabajadores está más evidente, que en el sistema de cárceles de los Estados Unidos. Apoyamos la liberación de todxs lxs presos. Nos solidarizamos con Kanautica Zayre-Brown, contra su tortura sistemática y el intento del estado de robarle su identidad, libertad y dignidad. Ella es una mujer negra trans detenida en la cárcel de hombres en el Condado Warren. Apoyamos la lucha de lxs trabajadores del estado por la salud trans-inclusiva.
El 40% de todas las trabajadoras en empleos de bajo salario sufren del acoso sexual. Lxs trabajadores de McDonald's que participan en Raise Up Durham están haciendo valer su poder y su trabajo organizativo contra esta epidemia. Nos solidarizamos con ellxs en exigir la seguridad y dignidad en el trabajo. #MeTooMcDonalds.
Lxs trabajadores municipales de Durham se organizan en contra de los cambios estructurales que se han llevado a un aumento en la velocidad de trabajo, más horas extra obligatorias y un aumento de licencias y grados. Con la tasa de puestos no ocupados llegando hasta el 11.1% en el Departamento de gestión de agua y de 15.3% en Obras públicas, todxs debemos preocuparnos por la falta de personal y el exceso de trabajo para lxs trabajadores de planta. Nos oponemos a la estructura de gerencia blanca que ha hecho uso de procesos de contratación y acenso racistas. Apoyamos el sindicato de Trabajadores municipales de Durham, Sección local de UE 150, y el movimiento para derogar la prohibición de la negociación colectiva en el sector público, que data desde la era Jim Crow.
Por esta razón, decimos "No a los muros en la lucha de lxs trabajadores". No a los muros en la frontera. No a los muros de las cárceles. No a los muros para dividir a lxs trabajadores. Nosotrxs, la clase obrera de Durham, ¡estamos recuperando nuestra ciudad! ¡Únete a nosotrxs este primero de mayo para marchar juntxs!
Iniciado por la Asamblea de Trabajadores de Durham
Firmantes:
NC Raise Up - Fight for $15
National Domestic Workers Alliance, We Dream in Black
UE local 150, NC Public Service Workers Union
A. Phillip Randolph Institute, Durham chapter
Poor People's Campaign
Raleigh-Durham International Workers of the World (IWW)
Fighting for Im/migrants and Refugees Everywhere (FIRE)
Comite Accion Popular
Stop Killing Us (SKU)
NC Green Party
Workers World Party
Communist Party USA - NC branch
Miguel Staten, uncle of DeAndre Ballard
(Lista aún en formación, agregue su organización!)
Los endosos deben ser enviados por correo electrónico a durhamworkersrights [at gmail]"
World Tuna Day is May 2nd: www.un.org/en/events/tunaday/index.shtml
Welsh Journalist James Miller was killed by the Israeli military May 2, 2003 in Rafah, Gaza.
The House of Trade Unions in Odessa, Ukraine was attacked by rightists May 2, 2014, killing 42.
There will be a protest Thursday, May 2nd 12 - 1pm in front of Ukraine's embassy in Washington, DC: www.facebook.com/events/2229408557272929/ and odessasolidaritycampaign.org/
The House of Trade Unions in Odessa, Ukraine was attacked by rightists May 2, 2014, killing 42.
There will be a protest Thursday, May 2nd 12 - 1pm in front of Ukraine's embassy in Washington, DC: www.facebook.com/events/2229408557272929/ and odessasolidaritycampaign.org/
Waste Not: Moving Your Congregation Toward Zero Waste
May 2nd 6:30 - 9pm at the Church of the Nativity (8849 Ray Street) in Raleigh: www.eventbrite.com/e/waste-not-moving-your-congregation-toward-zero-waste-tickets-55666749747
There was a bombing at a labor rally in Chicago's Haymarket Square May 4, 1886. Seven police and at least four workers were killed and more wounded that day. The left, labor movement, and immigrant communities in Chicago were subjected to arrests and searches apparently without warrants in a local red scare. Eight anarchists were found guilty of conspiracy, four were hung, one committed suicide, and the survivors were pardoned in 1893. There are still questions about who threw the dynamite, etc. The events helped created modern International Workers' Day (May 1st).
The Kent State Massacre was May 4, 1970 in Kent, Ohio. The Ohio National Guard shot at students who were protesting Nixon's bombing of Cambodia during the Vietnam War. Four students were killed and 9 wounded, leaving one student paralyzed. Anti-war protesters were shot, bayoneted, or assaulted elsewhere that May (see below) and these protests might have been the first national student strike in the USA, with 4 million participants and hundreds of schools closed.
The 11th annual World Labyrinth Day Walk for Peace is May 4th at 1pm local time (Walk as One at 1): labyrinthsociety.org/world-labyrinth-day
The NC Botanical Garden's annual Spring Plant Sale and Festival will be May 4th 2 - 7pm: ncbg.unc.edu/2019-events/
The Haw River Festival will be May 4th 4 - 8pm: www.hawriver.org [in Saxapahaw]
Free Comic Book Day is May 4th (the first Saturday every May, since 2002): www.freecomicbookday.com/
Karl Marx was born [201] years ago, May 5, 1818, in Trier, Germany.
Cinco de Mayo (May 5th) commemorates the Mexican victory over the French at the Battle of Puebla in 1862.
North American Occupational Health and Safety Week is May 5 - 11th this year.
The Viet Minh (League for the Independence of Vietnam) under General Vo Nguyen Giap defeated the French military at Dien Bien Phu in northwest Vietnam May 7, 1954. Under the 1954 Geneva Accords France withdrew from its colonies in Indochina, the Democratic Republic of Vietnam was established in northern Vietnam with Ho Chi Minh as prime minister, the State of Vietnam was created in the south, and there would be a national election in July 1956. The election was never held, leading to the Vietnam War.
The US bombed China's embassy in Belgrade on the night of May 7 - 8th, 1999, killing three civilians and wounding 20 inside. It has been speculated that the objective was to destroy parts from a F-117A stealth fighter shot down by Yugoslavia March 27th, but the US government claims it was just a mistake.
The Hard Hat Riot, in which pro-Nixon rightists, mostly construction workers, attacked an anti-war rally, a nearby church, and Pace University facilities, was May 8, 1970 in New York City. The New York police were accused of doing little to prevent the violence. Union leader Peter J Brennan went on to become US secretary of labor under Nixon and Ford.
The New Mexico National Guard bayonetted but did not kill 11 students and journalists at the University of New Mexico May 8, 1970. The University had the first Signature School Program, training students for future CIA jobs, in 2016. Legend has it that students drove CIA recruiters off the UNC-Chapel Hill campus sometime in the 80's.
Victory Day is May 9th and marks the end of WWII in Europe in 1945.
National Public Gardens Day is the Friday before Mother's Day (May 10th).
18th annual Passalong Plant Sale
May 10 (9am - 3pm) and 11 (9am - 1pm) at the NC Cooperative Extension - Guilford County Center (3309 Burlington Road, Greensboro). For more information call 336 641 2400.
The Augusta (Georgia) Riot was May 11 - 13, 1970. Charles Oatman, a mentally disabled black teenager, was held in an adult jail and allegedly died after a fall, but appeared to have been tortured and beaten to death. Hundreds protested at the Augusta Municipal Building and six unarmed protesters were shot in the back and killed ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1970_Augusta_riot ).
Karl Marx was born [201] years ago, May 5, 1818, in Trier, Germany.
Cinco de Mayo (May 5th) commemorates the Mexican victory over the French at the Battle of Puebla in 1862.
North American Occupational Health and Safety Week is May 5 - 11th this year.
The Viet Minh (League for the Independence of Vietnam) under General Vo Nguyen Giap defeated the French military at Dien Bien Phu in northwest Vietnam May 7, 1954. Under the 1954 Geneva Accords France withdrew from its colonies in Indochina, the Democratic Republic of Vietnam was established in northern Vietnam with Ho Chi Minh as prime minister, the State of Vietnam was created in the south, and there would be a national election in July 1956. The election was never held, leading to the Vietnam War.
The US bombed China's embassy in Belgrade on the night of May 7 - 8th, 1999, killing three civilians and wounding 20 inside. It has been speculated that the objective was to destroy parts from a F-117A stealth fighter shot down by Yugoslavia March 27th, but the US government claims it was just a mistake.
The Hard Hat Riot, in which pro-Nixon rightists, mostly construction workers, attacked an anti-war rally, a nearby church, and Pace University facilities, was May 8, 1970 in New York City. The New York police were accused of doing little to prevent the violence. Union leader Peter J Brennan went on to become US secretary of labor under Nixon and Ford.
The New Mexico National Guard bayonetted but did not kill 11 students and journalists at the University of New Mexico May 8, 1970. The University had the first Signature School Program, training students for future CIA jobs, in 2016. Legend has it that students drove CIA recruiters off the UNC-Chapel Hill campus sometime in the 80's.
Victory Day is May 9th and marks the end of WWII in Europe in 1945.
National Public Gardens Day is the Friday before Mother's Day (May 10th).
18th annual Passalong Plant Sale
May 10 (9am - 3pm) and 11 (9am - 1pm) at the NC Cooperative Extension - Guilford County Center (3309 Burlington Road, Greensboro). For more information call 336 641 2400.
The Augusta (Georgia) Riot was May 11 - 13, 1970. Charles Oatman, a mentally disabled black teenager, was held in an adult jail and allegedly died after a fall, but appeared to have been tortured and beaten to death. Hundreds protested at the Augusta Municipal Building and six unarmed protesters were shot in the back and killed ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1970_Augusta_riot ).
International Migratory Bird Day is May 11th in the USA and Canada (the second Saturday in May). It is celebrated the second Saturday in October elsewhere in the Americas.
The Durham County Library is celebrating International Culture Fest May 11 - 31, with events at each library during the month ( events.durhamcountylibrary.org/events?term=international%20culture%20fest&r=thismonth ).
The Durham County Library is celebrating International Culture Fest May 11 - 31, with events at each library during the month ( events.durhamcountylibrary.org/events?term=international%20culture%20fest&r=thismonth ).
Mother's Day in the US is Sunday, May 12th and has pacifist and social welfare roots.
Apparently this is also the time to see the mountain laurels blooming at Occoneechee Mountain State Natural Area, south of Hillsborough, across the Eno River, and probably elsewhere along the Eno (www.ncparks.gov/occoneechee-mountain-state-natural-area ). The end of the ice ages left species more often found in the Appalachians or further north in several places in the Triangle, such as brown elfin butterflies at Occoneechee, white pines at the White Pines Nature Preserve south of Pittsboro, and Eastern hemlocks at Hemlock Bluffs Nature Preserve in Cary. In many cases species that live on mountains are very at risk from climate change, because they can only retreat up, and at some point they might not be able to go any higher. Non-native pests are also threatening hemlocks, but have been gotten rid of in the Triangle, for now. The annual Eno River Association hike at Occoneechee will be May 12th: www.enoriver.org/events-and-activities/hikes-and-outings/wildflower/
May 13, 1985 police surrounded the MOVE house in Philadelphia and a few hours later bombed it by helicopter. In all, 11 members of MOVE, including 5 children, were killed, with 2 survivors (1 adult and 1 child), and around 61 houses in the neighborhood burned to the ground.
National Public Gardens Week is May 13th - 19th: publicgardens.org/programs/national-public-gardens-week/about-national-public-gardens-week
May 13 - 17th is Green Office Week: Wikipedia and www.avery.co.uk/gow
Nakba Day is May 15th.
Two students were killed and 12 injured May 15, 1970 at Jackson State University in Jackson, Mississippi after state highway patrol and Jackson police fired into a crowd.
Two students were killed and 12 injured May 15, 1970 at Jackson State University in Jackson, Mississippi after state highway patrol and Jackson police fired into a crowd.
The last known sighting of a Costa Rican golden toad was May 15, 1989 and they are thought to be extinct. The species was first described scientifically in 1966. There is still debate about the cause, but this might be an early example of anthropogenic climate change killing a species. Possibly the cause was a chytrid fungus epidemic, possibly assisted by climate change, and a continuing threat to amphibian species in many countries.
Endangered Species Day is Friday, May 17th: www.endangered.org/campaigns/endangered-species-day/
Wildflower Sale in High Point
Wildflower Sale in High Point
At the Piedmont Environmental Center May 17, 18, and June 1: highpointnc.gov/Activities/Activity/Detail/618
Culture Freedom Day is May 18th (the third Saturday in May), as is International Museum Day ( imd.icom.museum/ ).
Culture Freedom Day is May 18th (the third Saturday in May), as is International Museum Day ( imd.icom.museum/ ).
Harris Lake County Park's 10th annual Longleaf Festival (and the Park's 20th anniversary) will be Saturday, May 18th 10am - 2pm: www.wakegov.com/parks/harrislake/Pages/Longleaf-Festival.aspx
National Mobilization at Venezuela's US embassy
There will be a National Mobilization at the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington, DC (1099 30th Street Northwest) Saturday, May 18th at 12pm, following rightist violence against peace activists and invasion of the embassy by the police, flouting international law (see above): popularresistance.org/national-mobilization-at-the-venezuelan-embassy-in-dc/
Vietnamese revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh was born on or around May 19, 1890.
Durham training on how to organize a grassroots union
I think this is being organized by the Durham Workers Assembly ( unions4durham.org/ ) or the local IWW branch and will be the weekend of May 18 - 19 9am - 5pm at a location in Durham, but check the details if you want to participate.
The Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence is supposed to have been signed by a citizens' committee in Charlotte May 20, 1775, and would be the first call for independence from the UK following the beginning of hostilities in Massachusetts in April, but there are doubts about its authenticity. The original document is supposed to have been lost in a fire in 1800. Historical or not, the date is emblazoned on North Carolina's flag.
It could be related to the 1775 date that North Carolina seceded from the USA on May 20, 1861, after the start of the Civil War at Fort Sumter near Charleston, South Carolina April 12th.
May 20 is World Bee Day ( www.un.org/en/events/beeday/ ).
May 22 is the International Day for Biodiversity ( www.un.org/en/events/biodiversityday/ ).
World Turtle Day is May 23rd.
Climate Resilience: Are You Ready?
This is the 46th annual conference of the Cape Fear River Assembly (the southern end of Durham County and Chapel Hill are in the Cape Fear River basin) and will be at The Frontier in RTP Thursday, May 23rd 8am - 5pm. The conference will talk about planning to ameliorate the impact of a changing climate on local communities. For more information see: cfra-nc.org/annual-meeting/2019-2/
May 25 - 31 is the International Week of Solidarity with the Peoples of Non-Self-Governing Territories, such as Western Sahara, the US Virgin Islands, and New Caledonia ( www.un.org/en/events/nonselfgoverning/index.shtml ).
May 26th is Arbor Day in Venezuela.
Plowshares disarmament in Michigan
Peace activist and radio technician Tom Hastings sawed off an extremely low frequency radio antenna mast on Michigan's Upper Peninsula May 28, 1985. The ELF antennas were used to communicate with submarines, such as those carrying nuclear missiles. These are supposed to be sensitive facilities handling nuclear weapons systems, but plowshare activists often enter and are not arrested for minutes to hours or are only arrested after leaving or turning themselves in. Hastings stayed at the site for 45 minutes and prayed, sang, and planted a corn circle. He was only arrested after taking part of the pole to the office of Congressman Bob Davis in the morning and surrendering to a sheriff. He was sentenced to 15 days in prison and two years probation for malicious destruction of property.
May 31, 1775 the Mecklenburg County Committee of Safety adopted the Mecklenburg Resolves, declaring that laws based on the power of the British king and parliament were nullified and that legislative and executive power was in the Continental Congress, the first such proclamation. It is thought that this might be the true basis of the alleged Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence, but the Resolves did not go as far as declaring independence. The original document was lost in a house fire in 1800, but a copy was found in a South Carolina newspaper.
Climate Resilience: Are You Ready?
This is the 46th annual conference of the Cape Fear River Assembly (the southern end of Durham County and Chapel Hill are in the Cape Fear River basin) and will be at The Frontier in RTP Thursday, May 23rd 8am - 5pm. The conference will talk about planning to ameliorate the impact of a changing climate on local communities. For more information see: cfra-nc.org/annual-meeting/2019-2/
May 25 - 31 is the International Week of Solidarity with the Peoples of Non-Self-Governing Territories, such as Western Sahara, the US Virgin Islands, and New Caledonia ( www.un.org/en/events/nonselfgoverning/index.shtml ).
May 26th is Arbor Day in Venezuela.
Plowshares disarmament in Michigan
Peace activist and radio technician Tom Hastings sawed off an extremely low frequency radio antenna mast on Michigan's Upper Peninsula May 28, 1985. The ELF antennas were used to communicate with submarines, such as those carrying nuclear missiles. These are supposed to be sensitive facilities handling nuclear weapons systems, but plowshare activists often enter and are not arrested for minutes to hours or are only arrested after leaving or turning themselves in. Hastings stayed at the site for 45 minutes and prayed, sang, and planted a corn circle. He was only arrested after taking part of the pole to the office of Congressman Bob Davis in the morning and surrendering to a sheriff. He was sentenced to 15 days in prison and two years probation for malicious destruction of property.
May 31, 1775 the Mecklenburg County Committee of Safety adopted the Mecklenburg Resolves, declaring that laws based on the power of the British king and parliament were nullified and that legislative and executive power was in the Continental Congress, the first such proclamation. It is thought that this might be the true basis of the alleged Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence, but the Resolves did not go as far as declaring independence. The original document was lost in a house fire in 1800, but a copy was found in a South Carolina newspaper.
During the Tulsa Race Riot May 31 - June 1, 1921 in Oklahoma there was fighting on the ground and firebombing using private airplanes.
National Trails Day is June 1st.
World Bicycle Day in June 3rd ( www.un.org/en/events/bicycleday/ ).
The International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression is June 4, and was created in 1982 following the deaths of many Palestinian and Lebanese children due to Israeli aggression.
World Environment Day is June 5th ( www.un.org/en/events/environmentday/ ) and the International Day for the Fight against Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing, for example the plundering of fisheries around war-torn or weak countries that can't adequately patrol their coastlines ( www.un.org/en/events/illegalfishingday/ ).
World Food Safety Day is June 7th ( www.un.org/en/events/foodsafetyday/ ).
World Oceans Day is June 8th ( www.un.org/en/events/oceansday/ ).
The World Day against Child Labor is June 12th ( www.un.org/en/events/childlabourday/index.shtml ).
World Elder Abuse Awareness Day is June 15th ( www.un.org/en/events/elderabuse/ ).
Valentina Tereshkova was the first woman to go into space, on June 16, 1963, piloting Vostok 6 and spending about three days in orbit. According to Wikipedia, with this mission, Tereshkova logged more time in space than the entire US astronaut corps at the time.
The International Day of Family Remittances is June 16th ( www.un.org/en/events/family-remittances-day/ ).
The World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought is June 17th ( www.un.org/en/events/desertificationday/ ).
The International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict is June 19th ( www.un.org/en/events/elimination-of-sexual-violence-in-conflict/index.shtml ).
World Refugee Day is June 20th ( www.un.org/en/events/refugeeday/ ).
The summer solstice is June 21st.
The Korean War officially began June 25, 1950, but fighting was already going on between revolutionary and counterrevolutionary forces; for example the Jeju Uprising officially began April 3, 1948.
The International Day of the Tropics is June 29th ( www.un.org/en/events/tropicsday/ ).
International Asteroid Day is June 30th, and something from space exploded over Siberia that day in 1908, leveling a large area of forest with few humans nearby. More recently an asteroid exploded high above the city of Chelyabinsk in the Ural Mountains of Russia February 15, 2013 with the force of 440 kilotons of TNT, far more powerful than the atomic bomb used on Hiroshima, and injured many people and damaged buildings ( www.un.org/en/events/asteroidday/ ).
National Trails Day is June 1st.
World Bicycle Day in June 3rd ( www.un.org/en/events/bicycleday/ ).
The International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression is June 4, and was created in 1982 following the deaths of many Palestinian and Lebanese children due to Israeli aggression.
World Environment Day is June 5th ( www.un.org/en/events/environmentday/ ) and the International Day for the Fight against Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing, for example the plundering of fisheries around war-torn or weak countries that can't adequately patrol their coastlines ( www.un.org/en/events/illegalfishingday/ ).
World Food Safety Day is June 7th ( www.un.org/en/events/foodsafetyday/ ).
World Oceans Day is June 8th ( www.un.org/en/events/oceansday/ ).
The World Day against Child Labor is June 12th ( www.un.org/en/events/childlabourday/index.shtml ).
World Elder Abuse Awareness Day is June 15th ( www.un.org/en/events/elderabuse/ ).
Valentina Tereshkova was the first woman to go into space, on June 16, 1963, piloting Vostok 6 and spending about three days in orbit. According to Wikipedia, with this mission, Tereshkova logged more time in space than the entire US astronaut corps at the time.
The International Day of Family Remittances is June 16th ( www.un.org/en/events/family-remittances-day/ ).
The World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought is June 17th ( www.un.org/en/events/desertificationday/ ).
The International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict is June 19th ( www.un.org/en/events/elimination-of-sexual-violence-in-conflict/index.shtml ).
World Refugee Day is June 20th ( www.un.org/en/events/refugeeday/ ).
The summer solstice is June 21st.
The Korean War officially began June 25, 1950, but fighting was already going on between revolutionary and counterrevolutionary forces; for example the Jeju Uprising officially began April 3, 1948.
The International Day of the Tropics is June 29th ( www.un.org/en/events/tropicsday/ ).
International Asteroid Day is June 30th, and something from space exploded over Siberia that day in 1908, leveling a large area of forest with few humans nearby. More recently an asteroid exploded high above the city of Chelyabinsk in the Ural Mountains of Russia February 15, 2013 with the force of 440 kilotons of TNT, far more powerful than the atomic bomb used on Hiroshima, and injured many people and damaged buildings ( www.un.org/en/events/asteroidday/ ).
National Moth Week is July 20 – 28 ( www.nationalmothweek.org/ ).
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