2024 RLM Liberation Calendar
Extra Content
Looking for art & info from the 2023 Calendar? Find it here.
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January
The featured artwork is from the book “Rimonim: Ritual Poetry for Jewish Liberation” by Aurora Levins Morales. Aurora is Ricardo’s sister, and her website can be found here.
Spot graphic from “Let All Trade Be Fair Trade” – Poster/card available here
The background image “Tlatelolco” honors the Tlatelolco massacre committed by the Mexican state against people protesting the 1968 Mexico City summer Olympics.
Both these images give context to the January 1, 1994 beginning of the Zapatista Rebellion, after the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) took effect. This year is the 30th anniversary.
More information about historical dates in January:
The Christmas Rebellion
- Essay about the rebellion and abolition in the British Empire- Zócalo Public Square
- Broader context of the rebellion- BlackPast
Statue of Juan de Oñate is Defaced
- Context and report of the action. “When I think of what Oñate did to the Acoma Pueblo, I have a vision of Indian men lined up to have one foot cut off.”
The Southern Tenant Farmers’ Union
- Documentary and Teaching activities- Zinn Education Project
- A very in-depth history of the movement – Southern Spaces
The Bread and Roses Textile Strike
- Exhibit about the strike- Digital Public Library of America
- History of the strike -Mass Moments
“What She Wants” – poster with quotation from the Bread and Roses strike
CeCe McDonald released from prison, 2014
- LGBTQ Task Force news release
- Free Cece! Documentary by Laverne Cox
Ricardo made this image in 2014 for CeCe McDonald’s support campaign.
Chicago March of the Unemployed
- “Lucy Parsons and the March of the Unemployed Terrified Chicago Plutocrats”
- IWW Biography of Lucy Parsons
Tortuguita/Stop Cop City
- Unicorn Riot coverage of Tortuguita’s murder and the movement response
- Defend The Atlanta Forest library of artwork and zines
Filipino and Japanese Sugar Cane Workers Strike
- “Give Us $1.25 a day” – excerpt from The Japanese Conspiracy: The Oahu Sugar Strike of 1920
- Hawai’i strikes timeline – Hawai’i Digital Newspaper Project
After Hurricane San Ciriaco in 1899 destroyed Puerto Rico’s coffee plantings, thousands of workers were recruited to cut sugar cane in Hawai’i. This gave birth to Hawai’i’s Puerto Rican community. Poster/card: San Ciriaco
February
Featured Art: “Ancestors.” Poster/card available here.
More information about Historical Dates in February-
Greensboro Sit-ins
- The activists- BlackPast
- The aftermath- North Carolina History Project
- Teacher Resources- Library of Congress
New York City School boycotts
History of Black History Month
Japanese-Mexican Labor Association
Boldt Decision
- Boldt Decision: US vs State of Washington – History Link
- Backlash to Boldt – Native Knowledge 360
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
This poster was made by Ricardo in 2006 and originally said “End the war in Iraq – U.S. Troops Out Now”.
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
Featured Art: Miriam Makeba. Poster/card available here.
More information about historical dates in March –
Puerto Rican nationalist attack on Congress (1954 – 70th Anniversary)
- (2023) 69 Years After Puerto Ricans Attacked Congress, Colonialism Remains the Most Violent Conspiracy – Latino Rebels
- NPR: Eyewitnesses Recount the 1954 Attack
Chicano Blowouts
“Stop Cop City” direct action destroys construction site
- Unicorn Riot coverage, including video & report from an anonymous participant
- Crimethinc – Living In an Earthquake: The Fight against Cop City Confronts Unprecedented Repression – describes the movement’s trajectory from the March 2023 Week of Action through the following months
Needletrades strike and International Women’s Day
- History- Gray Panthers
Poster by Ricardo commemorating the first International Women’s Day demonstration, resulting from the needletrades strike. Available here.
Alberta Schneck
The Capitol Crawl
New York Conspiracy
March for our Lives
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
World War II Internment Camp survivors show solidarity with 2019 family detainees
- Tsuru for Solidarity Child & Family Detention Campaign – direct action project of Japanese Americans
- Video: Japanese Americans lead protest at Dilley, TX detainment facility (Youtube)
April
Featured art: Be a Wetland. Poster/card/button available here.
More information about historical dates in April
Amazon Unionization
Nurses protest lack of equipment as COVID pandemic grows
- Nurses protest PPE shortages – CBS News
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
Disability Rights Sit-in
- Documentary and teachers resources- Zinn Education Project
- History of the sit in- DREDF
- History and aftermath- Atlas Obscura
Tennessee lawmakers expelled, reinstated after protesting gun violence
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
Featured art: Heroines of Labor. Poster/card available here
Background art: “Self-Made Woman” – poster/card available here
Spot graphics from “Solidarity Across Oceans” (poster) and “ORCA-nize!” (button)
More information about historical dates in May-
Struggle for the 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?
May 1, 2006 Immigrant Rights Protests
Writers Guild of America Strike
“Orca Uprising”
- Orcas have sunk 3 boats in Europe and appear to be teaching others to do the same. But why?
- Orca Rams Into Yacht Near Scotland, Suggesting the Behavior May Be Spreading
Malcolm X delivers his “Who Taught You to Hate Yourself?” speech
- Retrospective from Amsterdam News (NYC Black community newspaper)
- (PDF) Transcript of speech
“Jane’s Revenge”
- Some of the Jane’s Revenge anonymous communiques
- Several months later: Biden’s Justice Department Uses Abortion Access Law to Indict Pro-Choice Vandals (Rolling Stone)
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 – 1934 (90th Anniversary)
- 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
Featured artwork: Water Music. Poster/card available here
Background art: “Naturally Powerful” – card available here
More information about historical dates in June-
Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters wins recognition
Harriet Tubman and the Combahee River Raid
Angela Davis’s Acquittal
Angela Davis Raid on Tierra Amarilla Courthouse
Sitka Fort Capture
- Maps and history of Russians in Alaska- National Parks History
- The two battles of Sitka- National Parks Service
Juneteenth Ports Shutdown
Vincent Chin murder and Asian-American civil rights activism
- 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
Founding of the IWW
Stonewall Rebellion
“Families Belong Together” demonstrations
July
Featured artwork: Study History. Poster/card available here
Background art commemorates the 1934 Minneapolis trucker strike, which began in May and came to a head in July.
Spot graphic from: “Union Busters = Community Wreckers” poster
More information about historical dates in July-
Paterson textile strike
The Bicentennial Without Colonies
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
American Indian Movement founded
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The Minneapolis-founded American Indian Movement responded to the needs of urban American Indians – MinnPost/MNopedia
1619 Polish Voting Rights Strike in Virginia
- Background info on strike
- Preparing for the 400th Anniversary in 2019 – Polish Weekly
August
Featured Artwork: A Change Is Gonna Come – poster/card available here
Background art from “World Music” – poster available here
The spot graphic, “Soy Minneapolis,” was created several years ago by Ricardo for the Minneapolis campaign for Driver’s Licenses for All. The campaign was victorious at the statewide level last year, allowing undocumented Minnesotans to drive legally without fear.
More information about historical dates in August –
Black Sex Worker Liberation Protest
Puerto Rican governor resigns after people’s rebellion
- “Ricky Renuncia” March in San Juan – NPR
- Discussion of Puerto Rican 2019 uprising on the It’s Going Down podcast
UPS Teamsters Strike 1997
- How the strike was won- Teamsters for a Democratic Union
- Retrospective- Labor Notes
- Last year (2023), Teamsters nearly went on strike again:
Crowd takes over Montreal Pride without cops or corporations
- Report from LGBTQ Nation
- Cancel Pride? We’d Prefer Not To (MTL Counter-Info)
Freedom School Convention
- Convention platform and excerpts- Freedomways
- Context and images- Mississippi History Now
- Documents- SNCC digital
Murder of Michael Brown and Ferguson Uprising (2014)
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
Nat Turner’s Revolt
Battle of Blair Mountain
March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom
- History and Images- National Parks Service
- Dr. King’s Speech- NAACP
- A. Phillip Randolph’s Speech- WGBH
- John Lewis’s Speech- Voices of Democracy
Drag Show Defense
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Armed antifascists block MAGA/Proud Boys from attacking drag brunch (with video)
- Rolling Stone article about John Brown Gun Club
Gabriel Prosser and Jack Ditcher’s Revolt
September
Background art from “Green Jobs” – poster available here
Spot graphic: “Defend Public Education” – poster/card/button available
More information about historical dates in September-
1946 Sugar Workers Strike
- 1946 Sugar Strike – The Rise of Hawai’i’s Labor Unions (Hawai’i Public Radio)
- Rice and Roses – Univ. of Hawai’i Center for Labor Education and Research
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
Lesbian Avengers protest attempts to eliminate inclusive curriculum
Also on September 9: 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
Mexican Normalistas attack military base in support of 43 murdered Ayotzinapa students
- Video report: “The New Normal” – Sub.media (last segment)
1982 Environmental Racism Blockade
- We Birthed the Movement: The Warren County PCB Landfill Protests
- 55 Arrested in Protest at Toxic Dump – contemporary article from NY Times
Beginning of Occupy Wall Street
- “Another World Is Possible”: How Occupy Wall Street Reshaped Politics & Kicked Off New Era of Protest – 10 year retrospective from Democracy Now (video and transcript)
Air Traffic Controller solidarity march
- PATCO strike- UTA Libraries
- Look back- NPR
- The PATCO strike and the death of the middle class- The Intercept
67-member Kootenai Tribe declares war on the US
- Kootenai War of 1974 (Kootenai Tribe of Idaho)
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)
Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries Sit-In
- Revolutionaries on East Second Street: The STAR House
- 1970 Interview with STAR members (audio, transcript and article)
“No One Is Disposable” Poster
Silent Spring released
Rachel Carson poster available
October
Background art from “Workers’ Bill of Rights” – poster available here
Spot graphic is a “leaf” from “Century of Struggle,” depicting the historic AIDS Quilt as displayed on the Washington Mall starting in 1987.
Related poster: “How to Heal a Continent of HIV/AIDS”
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
Black Panther Party is Founded
- Zinn Education Project – Black Panther Party Founded, with 10-Point Program, links and teaching resources
John Brown’s insurrection against slavery
- Zinn Education Project – John Brown’s last speech & related resources
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
Women’s international Terrorist Conspiracy from Hell (W.I.T.C.H.)
November
The spot graphic for November is the t-shirt Ricardo and Northland Poster Collective made ahead of the “Battle in Seattle” in 1999. Ricardo drove there with boxes of shirts in a pickup truck and witnessed the historic direct actions that shut down the World Trade Organization’s meeting.
More information about historical dates in November-
Assata Shakur escapes prison
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- The Life and Ongoing Impact of Assata Shakur – The Progressive
- Open Letter from Assata Shakur in 2013: “I am a 20th century escaped slave”
“Friend of Assata” Poster/Card
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
Strike wins Ethnic Studies Department in San Francisco
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
San Miguel de Gualdape Rebellion of 1526
- Slave Rebellion of 1526 – Black Past
The Poston internment camp strike
Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR)
- GLAAD: TDOR Resources
- Two Decades After Her Death, Rita Hester’s Family Reflects On Her Spirit
- Chanelle Picket – A Life Cut Short (PDF – MA Transgender Political Coalition)
Button: Trans People Won’t Be Erased!
Uprising of the 20,000 – Garment Workers’ Strike
Poster “Uprising of the 20,000”
Indian Farmworker Strike
Arizona Border Wall section blocked
The “Battle of Seattle” WTO protests – 25th Anniversary
- Map and additional resources- University of Washington
- Retrospective- In These Times
- Retrospective- the Atlantic
December
Background art from “Reconstruction” – poster available here
Related poster: The Gulf Solidarity Pledge
More information about historical dates in December –
Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott
Fred Hampton assassinated
Antifascists Sabotage Neo-Nazis’ vehicles in DC
Starbucks Unionization
- Interviews with the first unionized Starbucks employees- Vox
- Union efforts and strikes continue- The Guardian
- Illegal retaliation- Reuters
- Starbucks United Website
Button: I like My Coffee Union Brewed!
Jackson Boycotts
- Letter circulated about the boycotts- Mississippi digital library
- Jackson Civil Rights movement- Mississippi encyclopedia
- Operation Breadbasket- King Institue
Radio Free Alcatraz
Battle of Lake Okeechobee
The 1975 Minneapolis trans anti-discrimination ordinance
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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