This is list of some upcoming protests and political, cultural, music, and art events, news, historical anniversaries, and sometimes oddities. More items will be added during the month.
The Embassy Protectors, Americans who occupied Venezuela's embassy in Washington with the permission of the elected Maduro administration, to prevent the US government and coup supporters from seizing the building, were removed by the US and now face trials on various charges. Some could be imprisoned for up to a year and fined $100,000 dollars. They are seeking tax-deductible donations to pay $50,000 in legal fees and solidarity messages and actions by other groups. For more information see:
Journalist and author Max Blumenthal was arrested early in the morning on October 25th for alleged assault committed May 7th while delivering supplies to the Embassy. Others were charged months ago and at the time people delivering supplies were attacked by coup supporters, with the complicit of the DC Police, or directly attacked by the officers. Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting points out that this story has been buried in the mainstream US media, which likes to talk about defending journalists from governmental repression, and gives a lot of coverage to allegations against governments targeted by the US:
This is a report from Defending Rights and Defense (a merger of the Bill of Rights Defense Committee and the Defending Dissent Foundation) on FBI surveillance of political and social groups and movements over the last decade:
CHOCE is holding vigils every Friday morning 8 - 10am outside UNC's coal-fired Co-generation Plant (at 504 Cameron Avenue [near the intersection with South Graham] west of the main campus [I think the municipal parking lots in Carrboro are free during the day and there is a paved trail along the railroad tracks to the UNC facility]). For more information contact Richard (period) Gary 057 (at) gmail (period com). [Climate Reality Orange County says a student filmmaker will be there November 8th, so they are hoping for a large group.]
There is or was a peace vigil for about 20 years or more every Friday afternoon 5 - 6 or 4:30 - 5:30pm, most recently at Village Plaza in Chapel Hill.
According to the local NPR station, Greta Thunberg will be at a climate protest at the Charlotte-Mecklenberg Government Center November 8th.
Durham is asking people not to put leaves in streets and they also shouldn't be dumped into waterways (of course leaves naturally enter waterways and support aquatic life, but dumping large amounts could cause blockages, carry in pollutants, and could degrade water quality later on as the leaves decay). For biodiversity it would be best to leave them on the ground or use them for mulch. For example, some charismatic large moths spin their cocoons attached to leaves while they are still up in the canopy and then spend the winter on the ground, leaf litter encourages earthworms and enriches the soil, and leaf litter probably also insulates dormant plants on the coldest winter days. Here is one article on leaving fallen leaves:
This iconic building with a black cat logo has been a landmark on Old Oxford Road near Penny's Bend on the Eno in East Durham for 100 years, and is to be demolished for construction. A
is being circulated to support moving it a short distance to a site by the new Sandy Ridge Elementary School and renovate it as a community center. Closer to the Eno there are several threatened plant species, and hopefully someone checked the Catsburg area before the new project was approved, though endangered plants have fewer protections than endangered animals due to legal history.
The Farm Labor Organizing Committee and supporting groups have begun protesting outside Greenleaf Nursery near Tarboro in Edgecombe County. FLOC has had problems with Barajas, the contractor that provides farmworkers for Greenleaf, and when organizers leafleted at the nursery Friday, October 25th they were forced out and the Sheriff was called, resulting in second degree trespassing charges. FLOC says workers said they were being paid less than what is required by law. I'm not sure if protest details are meant to be public, so call FLOC's NC office (
) or contact Triangle Friends of Farmworkers for information. There apparently isn't anywhere to park at the site, so people are meeting elsewhere and there is carpooling from Durham.
The last Friends of the Durham Library sale of the year will be December 7 - 8th, 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 Books Among Friends (Suite 252) inside Northgate Mall (1058 West Club Boulevard, Durham), formerly next to Sears (with Sears closed, people will have to enter through Entrance 8, between Foot Locker and Plato's Closet; Books Among Friends has a back service door, but it probably won't be left open). There are small satellite sales inside the library branches daily (
The Friends of the Chapel Hill Public Library's last 2019 sale will be December 6 - 8th (
Friends of the Lee County Library has occasional weekend book sales and a continuous book sale:
will campaign in North Carolina for the first time the first week of November, in Raleigh.
There will be trash cleanups across the state this fall as part of the annual Big Sweep; Big Sweep in Durham is usually the first weekend in October, though the City/County will collect trash picked up and placed on the side of roads at other times as well (see keepdurhambeautiful.org/big-sweep/ for Durham events).
The war for Algerian independence from France began November 1, 1954 and lasted until March 19, 1962. The Battle of Algiers is a well-known film on the national liberation war, banned in France for years.
November 2, 1917, during WWI, the UK issued the Balfour Declaration, promising support for Zionist goals in Palestine, at the time part of the Ottoman Empire, a Central power.
The 25th annual
Open Studio Tour, organized by the Orange County Artists Guild, will be November 2-3 and 9-10:
ocagnc.org/ The
Third Annual Alamance Artisans Extravaganza 2019 was October 26 - 27th at the Vailtree Event Center in Haw River, and there was a Preview Exhibit at Chapel Hill's Frank Community Gallery September 28-29th. For next year, see:
alamanceartisans.com/extravaganza
According to
Wikipedia,
National Bison Day is November 2nd, celebrating the official national mammal of the US, which almost became extinct and once lived even in North Carolina.
The 40th anniversary of the 1979 Greensboro Massacre is November 3rd. KKK and American Nazi Party members fired on the Death to the Klan demonstration organized by the now disbanded Communist Workers' Party, killing 5 people and wounding others. Some police were present and the local police and Federal agencies had infiltrated the KKK and neo-Nazi groups. There will be events marking the 40th anniversary November 1st - 3rd: www.greensboromassacrelessonstoday.org/
Día de los Muertos
There will be a celebration of this traditional Mexican and Latin American holiday Sunday, November 3rd 2 - 3:30pm in Dunn, Harnett County, organized by Student Action with Farmworkers, Western North Carolina Workers' Center, North Carolina Farmworkers' Project, and the Episcopal Farmworker Ministry ( www.facebook.com/events/2477957405591857/ ). It will be at the Episcopal Farmworker Ministry 2989 Easy Street, Dunn, NC 28334-7994 ( episcopalfarmworkerministry.org/ ).
From the Facebook announcement:
"Acompañe a los miembros de la Red Defensora de los Trabajadores Agrícolas (FAN) para celebrar la costumbre de Día de los Muertos y honrar el trabajo de los trabajadores agrícolas.
Aparte del programa, habra comida, bebida, y actividades para niños.
*****************************************************************
Join the members of the Farmworker Advocacy Network (FAN) to celebrate the traditional Día de los Muertos and to honor the work of farm workers.
Apart from the program, there will be food, drink, and activities for children."
Syndicalist writer Georges Sorel was born November 3, 1847 in Cherbourg, France. His most influential work is probably
Reflections on Violence, published in 1908.
November 3rd is
Culture Day (
Bunka no Hi) in Japan, celebrating the arts, culture, and scholarship; the Apollo 11 astronauts are among the recipients of the Order of Culture presented on this day. The post-war Japanese constitution, which the ruling rightist Liberal Democratic Party wants to amend, was announced November 3, 1946.
Musician and recording engineer
Malachi Ritscher burned himself to death in condemnation of the Iraq War November 3, 2006 near the Kennedy Expressway in Chicago. His final statement is included in:
chicago.indymedia.org/archive/newswire/display/74806/index.php and he wrote his own obituary at:
www.savagesound.com/gallery100.htm
Daylight Saving Time in the US ends early November 3rd. The Federal government seems to control time standards, but local governments can opt out, though few do so, despite regular complaints.
Jenny Elder Fitch Memorial Lecture: A New Garden Ethic
The North Carolina Botanical Garden's annual Jenny Elder Fitch Memorial Lecture will be Sunday, November 3rd 2:30 - 3:30pm, featuring Dr Benjamin Vogt, a writer and owner of garden design company Monarch Gardens, speaking on "A New Garden Ethic." This is a free event but registration is required:
ncbg.unc.edu/event/jenny-elder-fitch-lecture/
NC WARN will hold a webinar on the proposed Duke Energy rate increase November 4th at 7pm; RSVP
here.
British working class democratic reformer
Thomas Hardy (not the famous author) was acquitted of High Treason on Guy Fawkes Day (November 5th) 1794, but at a high personal cost. Subsequently the other arrested radicals were also acquitted or prosecution was dropped. Who could vote or otherwise participate in British bourgeois democracy was very restricted until well into the 20th century. For more information see an article in
Monthly Review:
monthlyreview.org/2019/11/01/the-trial-of-thomas-hardy/ and Thomas Hardy's
Wikipedia entry:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Hardy_(political_reformer)
Eugene V Debs, a founder of the Industrial Workers of the World and presidential candidate of the Socialist Party of America, was born November 5, 1855. He was imprisoned for advocating draft resistance during WWI, and sentenced to a decade in prison and loss of suffrage November 18, 1918, but ran for president again in 1920, from a Federal prison in Atlanta. President Harding commuted his sentence in 1921 and he died in 1926.
World Tsunami Awareness Day is November 5th:
www.un.org/en/events/tsunamiday/ Besides the impact of meteors, it is possible that a massive landslide in the Canary Islands or Cape Verde could send tsunamis to the Atlantic coast of the USA, and the Pacific is more tsunami-prone.
The
general election for local races will be Tuesday, November 5th, and includes Durham City council races and a housing bond proposal.
The Union Sportsmen's Alliance will hold its
Inaugural NC State Conservation Dinner November 6th in Charlotte:
aflcionc.org/union-sportsmens-alliance-to-host-inaugural-nc-state-conservation-dinner-nov-6th-in-charlotte/
Forest Theatre and Coker Arboretum public input workshops
There will be public meetings seeking input on the next century of these two UNC locations November 6th 11am - 2pm and 6 - 7:30pm, with light refreshments. There is also a questionnaire online. For more information see:
ncbg.unc.edu/event/forest-theatre-and-coker-arboretum-input-workshops/
According to
Wikipedia French Catalonia's national day is November 7th while Spanish Catalonia's is September 11th.
The Great October Socialist Revolution was November 7 - 8 (it is called the October Revolution because it occurred in October under the old calendar).
Don't Waste Durham meeting
Don't Waste Durham and other groups will be discussing a proposed 10-cent fee on single-use paper and plastic bags in Durham County and the City of Durham, November 7th at 1 - 3pm at the Emily K Center. RSVP is
requested; for more information about single use fees see:
www.dontwastedurham.org/resources ; contact information:
crystal [at] dontwastedurham [period org]
Sea Level Rise
Orrin H Pilkey and Keith C Pilkey will talk about climate change and life along the USA's almost 90,000 miles of seashore during this century. They argue that rising sea levels mean managed retreat needs to start now. Their talk will be Thursday, November 7th at 7pm at Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill (752 Martin Luther King Jr Boulevard). For more information see:
www.flyleafbooks.com/sea-level-rise
The Communist Party of Albania (later renamed the Party of Labor of Albania) was founded November 8, 1941 through a merger of earlier groups. At the time Albania was occupied by fascist Italy.
Soviet revolutionary and statesman Vyacheslav Molotov died November 8, 1986.
Intersex Day of Remembrance or Solidarity Day is November 8th.
Southern Labor Organizing in the Age of Trump: A Forum
This will be Saturday, November 9th 9:30am - 1pm at the Fruit of the World Cultural Center in Raleigh (4200 Lake Ridge Drive). To register see: forms.gle/RqNQMAL2x5QBSsaj7 From the Facebook announcement ( www.facebook.com/events/427878361451345/ ):
"~~Español abajo ~~
Coffee at 9:30am
Forum 10:00am-12:00pm
Lunch 12:00pm
REGISTER TODAY!
The South is on the move!
Social movement unionism is on a rise!
2018 was the year with the most worker strikes in over 30 years!
Help strengthen the labor movement by attending this forum where you will hear on-the-ground reports from worker organizers about the current strategic campaigns to #OrganizetheSouth. Are you looking for more ways to help build with the working class? This forum is perfect for you! Let's unite and strengthen our solidarity in action.
The forum will include presentations from the following worker campaigns:
Using the struggle for Medicare for All to organize Southern workers, by Southern Workers Assembly
Building city-wide worker resistance with local workers assemblies, by the Durham Workers Assembly
Why public sector non-collective bargaining organizing is strategic for worker power, by UE local 150, NC Public Service Workers Union
Migrant workers are organizing against state repression and deportation, by Comite de Accion Popular
Using tech initiatives to draw tech workers into the movement, by Raleigh-Durham Labor Watch
After the presentations, there will be time for discussion in response to the presentations, and also time for you to get more connected with the work. We'd also love to hear about your labor organizing work.
Share your work, learn from others and leave with with a new perspective.
REGISTER TODAY: https://forms.gle/RqNQMAL2x5QBSsaj7
Forum is co-sponsored by:
Black Workers for Justice
Comite de Acción Popular
Durham Workers Assembly
People’s World
People Before Profits Education Fund
Raleigh Labor Watch
Southern Workers Assembly
UE local 150, NC Public Service Workers Union
Spanish translation available.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Café a las 9:30 a.m.
Foro 10:00 am-12:00pm
Almuerzo 12:00 p.m.
¡REGÍSTRESE HOY!
¡El sur está en movimiento!
¡El sindicalismo del movimiento social está en aumento!
¡2018 fue el año con más huelgas de trabajadores en más de 30 años!
Ayude a fortalecer el movimiento laboral asistiendo a este foro donde escuchará informes sobre el terreno de los organizadores de los trabajadores sobre las campañas estratégicas actuales para #OrganizetheSouth. ¿Estás buscando más formas de ayudar a construir con la clase trabajadora? ¡Este foro es perfecto para ti! Unámonos y fortalecemos nuestra solidaridad en acción.
El foro incluirá presentaciones de las siguientes campañas para trabajadores:
Usando la lucha por Medicare para Todos para organizar a los trabajadores del Sur, por la Asamblea de Trabajadores del Sur
Construyendo resistencia de trabajadores en toda la ciudad con asambleas de trabajadores locales, por la Asamblea de Trabajadores de Durham
Por qué la organización de negociaciones no colectivas del sector público es estratégica para el poder de los trabajadores, por UE local 150, NC Public Service Workers Union
Los trabajadores migrantes se están organizando contra la represión y la deportación del estado, por Comité de Acción Popular
Uso de iniciativas tecnológicas para atraer trabajadores tecnológicos al movimiento, por Raleigh-Durham Labor Watch
Después de las presentaciones, habrá tiempo para la discusión en respuesta a las presentaciones, y también tiempo para que se conecte más con el trabajo. También nos encantaría saber acerca de su trabajo de organización laboral.
Comparte tu trabajo, aprende de los demás y vete con una nueva perspectiva.
REGÍSTRESE HOY: https://forms.gle/RqNQMAL2x5QBSsaj7
El foro es copatrocinado por:
Black Workers for Justice
Comite de Acción Popular
Durham Workers Assembly
People’s World
People Before Profits Education Fund
Raleigh Labor Watch
Southern Workers Assembly
UE local 150, NC Public Service Workers Union
Traducción al español disponible.
Hasta la victoria siempre!"
The
78th Annual NC Gourd Arts and Crafts Festival will be November 9-10th in the Holshouser Building at the NC State Fairgrounds in Raleigh. This year's theme is "Fun and Games with Gourds." For more information see:
www.ncgourdsociety.org/festival
The 6th annual
Durham County Pottery Tour will be November 9-10th:
www.durhamcountypotterytour.com/general-info
November 11 is Armistice Day, marking the truce that (more or less) ended World War I 100 in 1918. In the USA Armistice Day has became the more pro-war Veterans Day.
Business interests and the local American Legion attacked an IWW hall in Centralia, Washington November 11, 1919, using an Armistice Day parade as cover, resulting in several deaths on each side. Wesley Everest, a logger and IWW member, was taken from jail and lynched later that day. Only the IWW and supporters were prosecuted and convicted of crimes. Other attacks preceded the events of Armistice Day, including an attack on an IWW hall during a Red Cross parade April 30, 1918. Here is a more detailed account:
www.counterpunch.org/2019/11/11/class-war-violence-centralia-1919/
Novelist Kurt Vonnegut was born November 11, 1922 in Indianapolis.
November 11, 1975 Governor-General Sir John Kerr, representing Queen Elizabeth II, removed Prime Minister Gough Whitlam of the Australian Labor Party, and installed a member of the Liberal Party. There were allegations of US involvement, allegedly to prevent the Labor Party from closing US military bases in Australia.
Sun Yat-sen, a founder of the Republic of China, created by the Revolution of 1911, was born November 12, 1866.
Silo Pruning Hooks
November 12, 1984 four people entered a Minuteman II ICBM silo operated out of Whiteman Air Force Base in Knob Noster, Missouri. Using a jackhammer and air compressor, they damaged the silo's lid, offered Eucharist and left Christian and Native American condemnations of the US government and mainstream Christianity over nuclear war. An hour later they were arrested by military security authorized to kill and were held in preventive detention without bail. In a Federal jury trial they were convicted of destruction of government property, conspiracy, intent to damage the national defense, and trespass. They were sentenced to 8 to 18 years in jail, 3 to 5 years of probation, and each had to pay the government $2932.80. A few months later the 18 year sentence was reduced to 12 years, but when the others appealed they were denied.
The German air force bombed the city of Coventry, England, UK multiple times during WWII, but the largest and most damaging air raid was the night of November 14 - 15th in 1940. 515 Luftwaffe bombers, using both explosive and incendiary bombs, virtually destroyed the downtown area and its medieval buildings, destroyed thousands of homes, and damaged 2/3rds of the city's buildings, as well as killing about 568 people and wounding many more. Some have suggested that the UK knew the attack was coming but didn't give a warning so that the German military would not find out that its encryption had been broken. Coventry had military value because of its industries, but it also might have been targeted for its cultural value, as revenge for the bombing of Munich a few days earlier. The British used the attack as a pretext to start indiscriminately bombing or firebombing German cities, and later the US Air Force developed these techniques further, resulting in attacks such as the firebombing of Tokyo in March 1945 and the annihilation of entire cities with a single nuclear weapon.
Plowshares Number Four
November 14, 1982 seven people entered the General Dynamics Electric Boat shipyard in Groton, Connecticut. Three hammered and put blood on several of the USS Georgia submarine's ICBM hatches. Four others hammered and put blood on parts in the south storage yard. They were soon placed under arrest. In a jury trial they were not able to make a justification defense and were convicted of criminal mischief, conspiracy, and criminal trespass, and sentenced to two months to a year in prison.
November 15th is America Recycles Day (
americarecyclesday.org )
The 15th (the third Friday in November) is also
International Stand Up to Bullying Day (there is apparently another international day on the last Friday in February)
There was a
National Day of Action against the
Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) November 15, 2016. According to
Wikipedia, Bernie Sanders spoke in front of the White House and Robert Kennedy Jr visited the protest camp, among other high-profile endorsements.
The Y
ellow Vest protest movement (Mouvement des gilets jaunes) began November 17, 2018, and the anniversary was marked by further demonstrations in mid-November 2019.
Close the School of the Americas
School of the Americas Watch is organizing a demonstration outside Fort Benning, Georgia (near Columbus and the border with Alabama) November 15 - 17. November 16th is the 30th anniversary of a massacre at the Central American University in San Salvador, El Salvador in 1989.
November 16, 1989 El Salvador's military, specifically the Atlacatl Battalion, killed six Jesuits at the (including the rector, vice-rector, and a dean), a housekeeper, and her 16 year old daughter at the José Simeón Cañas Central American University in San Salvador and tried to pass it off as an attack by the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), during the Salvadoran Civil War. The Jesuits advocated negotiations and the military accused them of being on the side of the FMLN. The Atlacatl Battalion was organized in 1980 at the US Army's School of the Americas (now called the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation and based at Fort Benning) and trained at NC's Fort Bragg by Special Forces and the 82nd Airborne Division and went on to carry out many large massacres and killings of civilians. Several people were prosecuted in El Salvador and Spain, including one officer who had been living in Massachusetts for about 10 years until 2011.
Robeson County Coalition to Protect Our Lands and Waters - March for Justice
There will be a march and rally against liquefied natural gas infrastructure and the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, planned in the Robeson County homeland of the Lumbee Indians and near the majority black town of Maxton. The demonstration will be November 16th 10am - 4pm:
www.ncwarn.org/event/robeson-march-for-justice/ This is being organized by Robeson County Coalition to Protect Our Lands and Waters and NC WARN.
Tree Tour!
There will be a guided hike to see an exceptionally large white ash, reportedly almost as big as the champion tree for North Carolina, November 16th at 2pm (meet at the Parkwood Community Center, 1417 Seaton Road, next to the intersection with Revere Road, in Durham). The tree is also a winner of the Durham's Finest Trees contest, in 2015 (as are a cottonwood and a catalpa also in the neighborhood, but I don't know if they are included in the tour). The ash was also recently re-treated to protect it from emerald ash borer and the injection points can be seen. The hike is off-trail in a publicly-owned woods but the area is relatively open and level. For information call the Parkwood Association at 919 544 2161.
What Are You Hiding Wendy's? march
The Coalition of Immokalee Workers, Alliance for Fair Food, and Student /Farmworker Alliance are organizing a march and rally for farmworker human rights in New York City Monday, November 18th 5 - 7:30pm:
www.facebook.com/events/1526715417470579/
[There was a rally against the rightist
coup in Bolivia in Durham's downtown plaza, but I did not hear about it in time.]
Russian revolutionary Mikhail Kalinin was born November 19, 1875 and was head of state of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and later of the entire USSR and a member of the CPSU's Politburo. The Baltic port city of Kӧnigsberg was renamed Kaliningrad after his death June 3, 1946. The city and its surrounding territory was formerly East Prussia, seized from Germany after WWII, and is now a Russian enclave cut off by NATO and EU states.
November 20th is Mexico's Revolution Day (Día de la Revolución), a national holiday marking the beginning of the Mexican Revolution in 1910.
The Indians of All Tribes occupied Alcatraz Island November 20, 1969 to June 11, 1971.
Transgender Day of Remembrance is November 20th.
Africa Industrialization Day is November 20th:
www.un.org/en/events/africaday/
The
5th Democratic presidential primary debate will be Wednesday, November 20th, 9 - 11pm in Atlanta.
James Lewis Cates Jr, a lifelong black Chapel Hill citizen, was stabbed in The Pit area of UNC around 2am on November 21, 1970. UNC Hospital is very close by and there are accusations that police actions contributed to his death. That night the Durham-based Storm Troopers motorcycle gang, which used Nazi symbols, fought several times with black youths at an all-night interracial dance party during Homecoming weekend. During a fistfight Cates took out a straight razor and was stabbed by one or more Storm Troopers. May 25, 1971 no one was convicted of the killing, leading to the firebombing of several buildings over three weeks, for which people were imprisoned.
Here are some accounts that came up in a search, probably truthful:
orangepolitics.org/2005/09/the-legacy-of-james-cates
www.dailytarheel.com/article/2018/08/james-cates-silent-sam-0823
www.nytimes.com/1971/01/31/archives/slaying-arouses-chapel-hill-nc-sleepy-college-town-finds-itself.html
World Philosophy Day is November 21st (the third Thursday of the month):
http://www.unesco.org/new/en/social-and-human-sciences/themes/most-programme/humanities-and-philosophy/philosophy-day-at-unesco/
The Durham Night Market will be Thursday, November 21st 5:30 - 10:30pm at 307 South Roxboro Street with more than 40 local vendors selling handicrafts, live music, food trucks, alcohol and more:
www.facebook.com/events/802005426904196/
"Old Bolshevik"
Lazar Kaganovich was born November 22, 1893 in what is now northern Ukraine and came from a Jewish family. He had various roles in the Soviet government, including work on the Moscow Metro, membership in the Politburo, etc., but was sidelined under Khrushchev and died July 25, 1991.
President John Fitzgerald Kennedy was assassinated November 22, 1963 in Dallas.
International Survivors of Suicide Loss Day is November 23rd:
afsp.org/find-support/ive-lost-someone/survivor-day/
Passion, Politics, and Art in 20th-Century Mexico
There will be a seminar on the personal and political lives and work of Mexican artists Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera Saturday, November 23rd 9am - 12:30pm at the NC Museum of Art. There will be an optional lunch and tour of the Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, and Mexican Modernism from the Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection 12:30 - 2:30pm. There is a $65 fee, discounted for UNC students, staff, and alumni. The exhibit will be on display through January 19th:
ncartmuseum.org/calendar/series_parent/frida_kahlo_diego_rivera_and_mexican_modernism_from_the_jacques_and_natasha
This is organized by UNC's Carolina Public Humanities, the NC Museum of Art, and the Mexican Modernism exhibition. For more information see:
humanities.unc.edu/event/passion-politics-and-art-in-20th-century-mexico/
The
Global Holiday Festival and Market will be November 23rd 11am - 8pm in Raleigh's Moore Square (the International Festival will be March 6 - 8th and the State Fairgrounds, and there will be smaller events in October, such as an India-themed Pop-Up event in Moore Square on the 4th, 6 - 8pm):
internationalfocus.org/global-holiday-festival-and-market/
Griffiss Plowshares
November 24, 1983 (Thanksgiving Day) seven people entered Griffiss Air Force Base in Rome, New York and proceeded to hammer and put blood on a B-52 bomber modified to carry cruise missiles and on some B-52 engines. They left a statement condemning Griffiss and the US government for nuclear war preparation and condemned the violation of constitutional rights and punishment of acts of conscience under what they called the state religion of "nuclearism." No one came to arrest them for hours, so they looked for the guards themselves. This was the first Federal trial of Plowshares activists. A justification defense and expert testimony were barred. The jury found them innocent of sabotage but convicted them of conspiracy and destruction of government property, with prison sentences of two to three years and an appeal was denied. This account and the others in this post come from
Swords Into Plowshares: Nonviolent Direct Action for Disarmament, edited by Arthur J Laffin and Anne Montgomery, and published in 1987. There have been more recent actions.
Never Again Action in Alamance County against ICE
There will be a march and rally against Alamance County's $2.3 million dollar contract with ICE November 24th 1 - 6pm, starting from the Center for Spiritual Living 309 South Maple Street in Graham. It is being organized by #NeverAgain, Siembra, Southerners on New Ground, and Triangle Showing Up for Racial Justice. For more information see:
www.facebook.com/events/481096502501999/
Sister Cities of Durham: 30 Years of Friendship
Find out about Durham's 30 years of friendship and exchanges with cities in China, Costa Rica, Greece, Japan, Mexico, Romania, Russia, Tanzania, and the UK Sunday, November 24th 3 - 4:30pm at the Southwest Regional Library (3605 Shannon Road, near the old South Square and a post office). For more information see:
events.durhamcountylibrary.org/event/2175982
The modern US
Thanksgiving holiday began under Lincoln November 26, 1863 (the last Thursday that November), during the Civil War, though there had been previous thanksgiving days around that time. It has also been called the National Day of Mourning and Unthanksgiving Day because of the associations with colonialism. Thanksgiving eclipsed Evacuation Day, commemorating the November 25, 1783 evacuation of the last of the defeated British army, through New York City. Thanksgiving is followed by the unofficial Black Friday commercial holiday (also Native American Heritage Day since 2008), or Buy Nothing Day. There is also Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday, and Giving Tuesday to continue the spending.
UNC-Chapel's Hill 172-foot tall Bell Tower was dedicated on November 26, 1931 (Thanksgiving Day that year), and people will be able to climb its 128 steps between 4:30 and 6:30pm November 2nd.
Marxist philosopher and writer Friedrich Engels was born November 28, 1820 in what is now Wuppertal, Germany.
Albania has two national days, November 28, 1912, when Albania gained independence from the Ottoman Empire, and
November 29, 1944, when Albanian partisans drove out the German occupiers. Subsequently the Albanians were unique in liberating their own country and then helping to liberate neighboring Yugoslavia.
The Natchez and other groups rebelled against French colonialism in the lower Mississippi Valley, starting November 29, 1729. Other indigenous nations fought on the side of the French. The governor feared that a wider Indian and possibly slave rebellion was planned, so had a force of African slaves massacre the peaceful Chaouacha tribe living near New Orleans, for which he was apparently criticized at the time. Ultimately the Natchez were driven out of their homeland or enslaved by the French, but still exist as a people.
Russian Marxist Georgi Plekhanov was born November 29, 1856 and was upheld as a founder of the Russian Marxist movement, but was an opponent of the Bolsheviks.
In the Sand Creek Massacre, starting November 29, 1864, Federal soldiers attacked peaceful Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians camped along Big Sandy Creek in what is now Colorado (where they had asked them to gather, displaying a US flag and a white flag), killing about 230 Indians, predominantly women, children, and elders, as well as committing torture and mutilation, before leaving the area December 1st. Some soldiers refused to attack the village, but the perpetrators received little punishment and no criminal prosecution (from
Wikipedia as well as
www.nps.gov/sand/learn/historyculture/index.htm ).
The
International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People is November 29th:
www.un.org/en/events/palestinianday/index.shtml
November 29th is also
International Jaguar Day (
www.internationaljaguarday.org/ ); long ago these big cats included the Appalachians in their vast range while today a border wall could finish the job of exterminating jaguars in the USA (
www.biologicaldiversity.org/species/mammals/jaguar/ ;
www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/press_releases/2019/jaguar-04-24-2019.php ;
biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press-releases/trump-bulldozes-new-wall-through-wildlife-refuge-jaguar-country-2019-10-31/ ) .
Mark Twain (Samuel L Clemens), acclaimed author as well as vice president of the American Anti-Imperialist League, was born November 30, 1835 in Florida, Missouri.
The
Winter War between the USSR and Finland began November 30, 1939.
The People's Republic of Southern Yemen (South Yemen) gained independence from the UK November 30, 1967. North Yemen had been independent since the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire after WWI.
Tens of thousands of people, many anarchists, protested the World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference of 1999 in Seattle November 30th - December 1st, sometimes called the
Battle of Seattle and
N30. It was a major event of the anti-globalization movement, later overshadowed by the need for anti-war organizing after 9/11. There was a lot of organizing against globalization at UNC-Chapel Hill around then and some concessions were gained from the administration. The Battle of Seattle also featured things like the black bloc, heavy police repression, bans on protesting, etc. seen in many large protests in the early 2000's.
The
People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (South Yemen), the first and so far only Arab Marxist state, was founded December 1, 1970. It merged with the Yemen Arab Republic (North Yemen) in 1990, creating the Republic of Yemen. There is currently a civil war and armed intervention by other Arab states and the USA and there are Southern Yemen secessionist movements.
The
2020 election filing deadlines are December 2nd - 20th:
www.ncsbe.gov/Elections/Candidate-Filing
Plowshares Number Seven was carried out December 4, 1983 in West Germany, and was the first in Europe.
Imprisoned Japanese anti-imperialist Tsutomu Shirosaki was born December 5, 1947 in Toyoma, Japan. A few years ago he was released from US custody, but is now finishing a previous prison sentence somewhere in Japan. It might be possible to write to prisoners in Japan, but I haven't come across any information about where he is being held. For background, see a previous post (
durhamspark.blogspot.com/2015/01/tsutomu-shirosaki-japanese-anti.html ) and
denverabc.wordpress.com/prisoners-dabc-supports/political-prisoners-database/tsutomu-shirosaki/ . If there is any news, it will probably be posted at:
throwoutyourbooks.wordpress.com/tag/tsutomu-shirosaki/
Finland declared independence from Russia December 6, 1917 followed by a civil war between White and Red forces in early 1918.
The 27th annual
Chatham Studio Tour will be December 7-8 and 14-15:
www.facebook.com/events/chatham-county-north-carolina/2019-chatham-studio-tour/409473116262398/
Plowshares Number Two was December 14 [actually the 13th], 1980 in Groton, Connecticut.
The
6th Democratic presidential primary debate will be Thursday, December 19th in Los Angeles. The other six official Democratic National Committee approved debates will be in early 2020, and independent forums with the candidates are ongoing.
The winter solstice is December 21st this year.
Georgian revolutionary and Soviet statesman Joseph Stalin was born December 21, 1879 or 1878 in Gori, now in the Republic of Georgia, but at the time part of the Russian Empire.
Thomas Sankara, called Africa's Che Guevara, was president of Burkina Faso from 1983 until he was assassinated October 15, 1987 was born
December 21, 1949, in the northern town of Yako, in what was then the French colony of Upper Volta.
Sen Katayama, co-founder of the Japanese Communist Party and an official in the Comintern, was born December 26, 1859. He was also one of the first members of the CPUSA and is buried in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis.
Chinese revolutionary and statesman Mao Zedong (or Mao Tsetung) was born December 26, 1893 in China's Hunan Province.
The
presidential primary elections for various parties will be on Super Tuesday, March 3, 2020, so North Carolina much more influence this time.
The NC Board of Elections now certifies voting machines that could steal the vote electronically, but Durham is still using machines that collect a paper ballot marked by the voter, leaving a voter-marked paper trail for manual recounting.
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