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Skip to month for 2023 Extra Content: January | February | March | April | May | June | July | August | September | October | November | December
January
Artwork available for purchase: “Planet Parenthood,” “Say Gay,” “Stop Thinking About Sex!”
More information about historical dates in January-
The Six Companies
- History of the Chinese in San Francisco- San Francisco Digital Archive
- The Six Companies today- San Francisco’s Chinatown
- The Future of the Six Companies- South China Morning News
The Christmas Rebellion
- Essay about the rebellion and abolition in the British Empire- Zócalo Public Square
- Broader context of the rebellion- BlackPast
The Southern Tenant Farmers’ Union
The Bread and Roses Textile Strike
One Inc. v. Olesen, the first Supreme Court decision to deal with gay rights
Los Angeles Teacher Strike
Lucy Parsons
- Her role in labor history- IWW
- A biography- Patrick Murfin
- Images from labor movements in Chicago- Chicago History
The Lumbee and the KKK
Jaunary 21, 2017 Women’s March
- Wikipedia entry for 2017 Women’s March
- The day before, on January 20, 2017, many were arrested in a historic confrontational protest against Donald Trump’s inauguration (podcast episode with links to articles). Most charges were later dropped.
January 22, 1973: Roe vs. Wade
In Roe v. Wade, the United States Supreme Court rules that the Constitution protects the right to an abortion without excessive government restriction.
- Norma McCorvey, also known as Jane Roe- Smithsonian Magazine
- History of the case- New York Times
- Educator Resources- Zinn Education Project
- History of abortion post-Roe- NPR
After the rollback of Roe v. Wade in 2022…
- Support your local Abortion Fund. Locally, check out Spiral MN.
- Unrestrict Minnesota advocates legislatively to expand abortion access in Minnesota, where abortion is legal but unnecessary restrictions remain in place
- Anonymous people acting under the name “Jane’s Revenge” attacked fake clinics (“crisis pregnancy centers”) and other anti-abortion institutions, as meaningful resistance to attacks on reproductive rights from the mainstream left/liberals failed to materialize.
“Muslim Ban” Protests
Bde Maka Ska name restoration
- The Beane Family’s role in the name restoration- Indian Country Today
- Controversy around the renaming- MPR
February
Artwork available for purchase: “The Earth Is Not For Sale“, “We Are The Mainstream“
More info on the Black Hills Survival Gathering, as reported in Science For The People in 1980.
John Trudell on Liberation – Black Hills (Paha Sapa) Survival Gathering on Youtube
More information about Historical Dates in February-
Greensboro Sit-ins
- The activists- BlackPast
- The aftermath- North Carolina History Project
- Teacher Resources- Library of Congress
“Lunch Counter” poster, card or jigsaw puzzle
New York City School boycotts
History of Black History Month
Wet’suwet’en Resistance
- All Out For Wedzin Kwa – news, history and updates of ongoing struggle
- Resistance and Reconciliation- Canadian Dimension
- Continued Resistance- Indian Country Today
Japanese-Mexican Labor Association
Captain Cook and Hawai’i
- Indigenous Histories of Captain Cook- Australian Broadcasting Corporation
- The Death of Captain Cook- HistoryAlive
Iraq War Protest Anniversary
- Wikipedia entry
- (2018) The Largest Protest Ever Was 15 Years Ago. The Iraq War Isn’t Over. What Happened? – Huffington Post
Kelli Peterson and the GSA
West Virginia Teacher Strike
- Contemporary news article- Vox
- 2018 Teachers strikes in context- Rethinking Schools
- Retrospective- WTRF
No Border Wall Drag Protest
Wounded Knee Occupation
- Timeline of Indigenous History- National Library of Medicine Native Voices Timeline
- Details and Teacher resources- Zinn Education Project
March
Artwork available for purchase: “Rachel Corrie“
Minneapolis Federation of Teachers and Saint Paul Federation of Educators used some re-worked RLM artwork to promote a joint protest, which turned out thousands in the bitter cold a few weeks before MFT went on a historic strike in March 2022.
- The Minneapolis Teacher Strike is a Struggle for Black Lives
- A Few Gains and Plenty of Frustration as Minneapolis Teacher Strike Ends
- ‘We shouldn’t have to separate being Black from our profession’: A Minneapolis teacher weighs the cost of battling the white education hierarchy—and her own union.
More information about historical dates in March –
Claudette Colvin
Chicano Blowouts
Needletrades strike and International Women’s Day
The New Deal (see also June artt)
Alberta Schneck
The Capitol Crawl
Rachel Corrie
- Documents and Articles- Rachel Corrie Foundation
- Profile- Americans who tell the truth
- History of the Israel military killing Americans- the Intercept
New York Conspiracy
March for our Lives
ICE Stewart Detention Center Hunger Strike
Memphis Sanitation Worker Strike
- History of the Strike- King Institute
- Context of the Strike- Smithsonian Magazine
- Dr. King’s speech to the striking workers- AFSCME
April
Art available for Purchase: “No Mas Fossil Fuels!”
RLM’s 2022 Video, “A Circle By The River” discusses visioning for a fossil free future:
The background image for April’s calendar page comes from Ricardo’s poster, “Better Active Today Than Radioactive Tomorrow,” produced for Northern Sun Alliance in the mid 1970s.
More information about historical dates in April-
Amazon Unionization
The Rainbow Coalition
- Documentary- The First Rainbow Coalition- PBS
- Fifty years of the Rainbow Coalition- Southside Weekly
Chairman Fred Hampton/Rainbow Coalition poster/card
“Had the Panthers followed today’s practices and looked just at the surface evidence, they’d have written the Patriots off as hopeless racists. Instead they asked why these folks were hurting: was their racism based on vested interest or had they been fooled into it. They concluded that in the big picture they all had more to gain as allies than enemies.” – From Ricardo’s 2010 blog post, Float Like a Butterfly, Sting Like a Bee: a political ecology of change
The Assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King
Disability Rights Sit-in
- Documentary and teachers resources- Zinn Education Project
- History of the sit in- DREDF
- History and aftermath- Atlas Obscura
California Essential Workers Wildcat Strike
Freedom House Ambulance Services
Earth Day
- History- PBS
- Gallery and more resources- Library of Congress
- Earth Day Teach-Ins oral history- IISD
- Earth Day founder Gaylord Nelson and Indigenous dispossession
Chinese Hand Laundry Alliance
- History- Museum of Chinese in America
- Timeline and activists- Activist New York
- One of New York’s last hand laundry closes- NBC
Los Angeles 1992 Rebellion
- Videos and resources- Westport Library
- Retrospective- NPR
- Timeline- Southern California Public Radio
May
The May calendar art was all originally commissioned and is not available for purchase – but you might recognize the background from the poster “Begin With Research.”
More information about historical dates in May-
Eight hour workday and International Workers’ Day
- Images and videos- Library of Congress
- The Chicago labor movement, Haymarket, and the 8 hour work day- Encyclopedia of Chicago
- The Eight Hour Strike of 1886 by Lucy Parsons- Anarchist Library
Poster/card “Eight Hours.” How would you fill in the top and bottom text to reflect the world you’d like to see?
New Orleans Sanitation Workers Strike-
- Interviews with sanitation workers- Southerly Mag
- Press Release- Teamsters
- Aftermath- In These Times
Jack Spratt Sit-in
Poor People’s March on Washington
- History- King Institute
- Protest signs and images- Smithsonian
- Archival Resources- Civil Rights Digital Library
Jackson State Shootings
- Videos and teacher resources- Zinn Education Project
- History- BlackPast
- Aftermath- NPR
Poster created by RLM for a commemorative conference 20 years after the Kent State & Jackson state murders.
Minneapolis Teamster Strike
- History and Timeline- Teamsters
- Rise of unions in Minneapolis- MinnPost
- Images and more sources- Minnesota Historical Society
- The Aquatennial- Historyapolis
Ida B Wells
- Biography- Lynching Sites Project
- History and teacher guide- Library of Congress
- Southern Horrors by Ida B Wells- Digital History
George Floyd Uprising
- Snapshots From The Uprising – Accounts From Three Weeks of Countrywide Revolt – Crimethinc
- Reporter Reflection Series – Unicorn Riot
- Various reflections and analysis of the uprising and aftermath from Spirit of May 28th
Third Precinct Burning
- Burning Down the Third Precinct Changed Everything – Vicky Osterweil/The Nation
- The Siege of the Third Precinct – Account and Analysis – Crimethinc
- Two Years Later – MPR
“We Feel You – From the Ancestors”: Ricardo made this poster in the wake of the uprising. Available as a poster/card.
League of the Physically Handicapped
June
Artwork available for purchase: “New Deal Anniversary“
More information about historical dates in June-
Harriet Tubman and the Combahee River Raid
Angela Davis’s Acquittal
Angela Davis Raid on Tierra Amarilla Courthouse
Columbus Statue Toppling
- Interview with activist Mike Forcia- Smithsonian Magazine
- Performance celebrating toppling- Unicorn Riot
No More Deaths case
Sitka Fort Capture
- Maps and history of Russians in Alaska- National Parks History
- The two battles of Sitka- National Parks Service
Juneteenth Ports Shutdown
ADAPT die-in
Vincent Chin
- The roots of anti-Asian violence- Vox
- History- University of Michigan
- Protest and Documentary- Zinn Education Project
The Battle of Little Bighorn
- Pictographs of Little Bighorn- Smithsonian Online Virtual Archives
- Memorialization -Zinn Education Project
- Indigenous eyewitness account- CBC
Stonewall Rebellion
July
Art available for purchase: “Serán las dueñas de la tierra“
Review of the film “Serán las dueñas de la tierra” by Néstor David Pastor at NACLA:
When you consider Puerto Rico’s fertile land and tropical climate, it’s tempting to assume that conditions are ideal for farming—they’re not. This unfortunate reality becomes increasingly apparent in the new documentary, Serán las dueñas de la tierra (English title: Stewards of the Land), which follows the struggles of three young farmers. The film also marks the debut for director Juan Manuel Pagán Teitelbaum, who produced the feature-length documentary alongside his partner, Mariolga Reyes Cruz.
More information about historical dates in July-
The Bicentennial Without Colonies
We Will Ride movement
The Atlantic Coast Pipeline
Pelican Bay Hunger Strike
Black Hills decision (See also February for information about the 1980 Black Hills Survival Gathering)
- Mount Rushmore Protests- High Country News
- Broken Treaties- Smithsonian
- Refusal of the $1.3 billion- PBS
The Society for Human Rights
Prime Day Amazon Protests
Strike for Black Lives-
Jaleel Stallings
The Bonus Army
- Footage and other resources- Zinn education project
- Multiracial protest- National Archives
- Removal by Douglas MacArthur, George Patton and Dwight Eisenhower- Smithsonian Magazine
August
Artwork available for purchase: “The Throne Within”
- Article from Facing South about the hunger strike at immigration detention center in Basile, Louisiana in 2009, featured in August’s main artwork.
- 2019: Ten years later, more hunger strikes at Louisiana immigrant detention centers. Article from Perilous Chronicle.
More information about historical dates in August –
The Black Sex Worker Liberation Protest
UPS Teamsters Strike
Community Gardens in Detroit
“Defend Detroit” – Poster/Notecard by RLM
Freedom School Convention
- Convention platform and excerpts- Freedomways
- Context and images- Mississippi History Now
- Documents- SNCC digital
World War II Internment Reparations
- Civil liberties act of 1988- Densho
- Community mobilization towards reparation- NPR
- Aleutian Islanders interment- Smithsonian
- Oral histories- National Parks Service
Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters
CIA driven coup in Iran
Nat Turner’s Revolt
Battle of Blair Mountain
March on Washington
- History and Images- National Parks Service
- Dr. King’s Speech- NAACP
- A. Phillip Randolph’s Speech- WGBH
- John Lewis’s Speech- Voices of Democracy
Gabriel Prosser and Jack Ditcher’s Revolt
September
Artwork available for purchase: “My Hands/Mis Manos“, “Violetta Parra“
“One of my greatest inspirations has been the Latin American New Song movement, especially its Chilean pioneers. They transformed themselves from performers of and for the student left into the creators of an authentic voice for their people’s aspirations. Moving easily between songs of love and songs of land reform, between nonsense verse and traditional lament, they dissolved rather than accepted the barriers that divide politics from the rest of life.
What these musicians accomplished was to master the “dream language” of their people as expressed in ancient and contemporary musical traditions. They then used it to voice the secret hopes and feelings that were not finding expression in the commercial culture monopoly, dominated by imported, “Western,” music.”
–Ricardo’s 1990 essay, “The Importance of Being Artist”
More information about historical dates in September-
Tulsa Massacre
- Comprehensive online exhibit- Tulsa History
- History- Encyclopedia of Oklahoma
- Living survivors can sue for reparations- CNN
- Descendants cannot sue for reparations- AP News
Peekskill white supremacist riots
- Concert and riots- BlackPast
- Videos and biographies- Hudson River Maritime Museum
- Remembering Peekskill- Jacobin
- Retrospective- Washington Socialist
Seizure of the La Boquilla Dam
Attica Rebellion anniversary
- Attica Prison Uprising – A Short Primer – Project NIA [PDF] (includes manifesto, primary documents, timeline, activities for youth, oral history and more resources – highly recommended)
- Sources on Attica- New York State Library
- Retrospective of Attica- NPR
- 2016 strike- the biggest prisons strike in US History- Vox
- Nationwide prison strike- The Marshall Project
Fascist/US-backed Chilean Coup
- Teacher’s guide- CUNY
- The Coup- Jacobin
- Remembering the Coup- Duke
- Declassified Documents- National Security Archive
Naomi Osaka wins the US Open
- Interview- Andscape
- Images- Time
National Farmworkers Association Strike
Air Traffic Controller solidarity walkout
- PATCO strike- UTA Libraries
- Look back- NPR
- The PATCO strike and the death of the middle class- The Intercept
Hurricane Maria and mutual aid
Huracanes y San Ciriaco – posters commemorating people’s resilience in the face of previous hurricanes to hit Puerto Rico
Dzil Nchaa Si An/Mount Graham observatory protest
- Contemporary article, Cultural Survival
- Maps and history- AZ Central
- Role of the Vatican in the observatory and protest- RunnersWorld
El Grito de Lares
Poster featuring Ramon Emeterio Betances, leader of the 1868 rebellion against Spain. The “PROMESA” bill in his right hand connects El Grito de Lares to present day anticolonial struggle.
US colonialism, following in the footsteps of Spanish colonialism, genocide and slavery, has been a violent and criminal interruption of the inherent freedom of Puerto Rico and its people, and an assault on everything that sustains our lives and our land. It has caused us tremendous suffering and the loss of many lives. It has cost us great harm to our collective health and wellbeing, the theft of our natural wealth, our work, our agriculture, and the poisoning of our culture and our ecosystem.
In the face of everything that has happened, our natural sovereignty continues to push back, for, like all living organisms, it is part of our nature to resist all harm and reject every form of violation. – excerpt from DeCLARAcion, a liberation document by Aurora Levins Morales and Ricardo Levins Morales in 2017 (English/Español)
Youth protest the climate the crisis
The Philadelphia housing protest
October
The plate and halftone images in October come from event posters designed by Ricardo for the “Guerrilla Wordfare” series in Minneapolis. The clock spot graphic was adapted from the classic “Time to Organize!” IWW image, for the zine version of Ricardo’s 2022 essay “What time is it on the clock of the police abolition movement?”
More information about historical dates in October –
The Daughters of Bilitis
- History and publications- Library of Congress
- The women of color behind the Daughters of Bilitis- Malindalo
Striketober 2021
- Interview with Kellogg Strike Leaders – Labor Notes
- Beneath Striketober Fanfare, the Lower Frequencies of Class Struggle Need to Be Heard – The Real News
- Images- BBC
- Lasting impacts- NPR
Mauna Kea Thirty Meter Telescope protests
Act UP FDA protest
- Images and protest signs- Georgia State University
- Timeline- Act UP NYC
- Lessons from the protest- NPR
#MeToo
The 1968 Mexico City Olympics protests
- Tommie Smith and John Carlos- UCLA
- Context of athlete activism- Sports Illustrated
- The story behind the protest- Civil Rights Teaching
- Peter Norman, the white man in that photo- The Wire
The I hotel protests and evictions
- Manilatown history
- Battle for the I hotel- San Francisco’s Digital Archive
- I hotel website
- I Hotel and the Asian American movement- The Nation
Youth lawsuit over climate change
November
Artwork available for purchase: “Ella Baker – Understanding“, “Study History“
More information about historical dates in November-
Minneapolis Public Safety Initiative-
- How will proposition 2 change public safety- Ben and Jerry’s (yes really)
- “How (Not) to Abolish the Police: A Guide from the City of Minneapolis – CrimethInc
- Amendment rejected- Sahan Journal
- MPD 150- A people’s project evaluating policing
Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle and the FDA
- The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair- Archive.org
- 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act- Library of Congress
- Where did the FDA come from- Smithsonian Magazine
- Timeline of food safety in the US
The Historic 2018 elections
The liberation of “The Creole”
- Most successful enslaved rebellion in US History- Smithsonian Magazine
- Context- Cambridge Blog
- The subsequent court case- BlackPast
The prevention of the Orme Dam
Line 3 protest
The Poston internment camp strike
Walmart Black Friday Demonstrations
Indian Farmworker Strike
The “Battle of Seattle” WTO protests
- Map and additional resources- University of Washington
- Retrospective- In These Times
- Retrospective- the Atlantic
December
Artwork available for purchase: “Cardinals,” “Happy Solidarity Holiday“
More information about historical dates in December –
Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott
Starbucks Unionization
- Interviews with the first unionized Starbucks employees- Vox
- Union efforts and strikes continue- The Guardian
- Illegal retaliation- Reuters
- Starbucks United Website
Jackson Boycotts
- Letter circulated about the boycotts- Mississippi digital library
- Jackson Civil Rights movement- Mississippi encyclopedia
- Operation Breadbasket- King Institue
London ads preventing deportation
The 1975 Minneapolis trans anti-discrimination ordinance
DRUM and the Muslim Registry
Battle of Lake Okeechobee
The Skylab Job Action
The United Auto Workers win recognition
- Images of the Fisher Body Strike- Cleveland Historical Society
- The Battle of the Running Bulls, Fisher Body Number 2- UAWD
- UAW Today- Prospect.org
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