Working Class History
Working Class History#OtD 10 Dec 1924 the first gay rights organisation in the US, the Society the Human Rights, was founded in Chicago by postalworker and veteran, Henry Gerber (pictured). It lasted a few months until police arrested Gerber and several others. https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/8179/society-for-human-rights-founded
Working Class History#OtD 9 Dec 1959 British government Operation Legacy memo ordered the destruction of official files containing evidence of colonial crimes and brutality. The operation was highly successful as few in the UK know of its crimes. Learn more about Empire: https://shop.workingclasshistory.com/products/insurgent-empire-anticolonial-resistance-and-british-dissent-priyamvada-gopal
Working Class History#OtD 8 Dec 2008 two days after the killing of 15-year-old Alexis Grigoropoulos by police, protests across Greece escalated into a full-blown revolt which was so powerful and widespread it resulted in the imprisonment of the killer https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/10780/greece-anti-police-revolt
Working Class History#OtD 8 Dec 1949 dock workers in France agreed to prevent cargo destined for Indochina from being transported from multiple ports in solidarity with the anti-colonial war in Vietnam, which had spilled over into Cambodia and Laos https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/10779/dockers-block-arms-to-indochina
Working Class History#OtD 7 or 8 Dec 1970 the "Golpe Borghese" coup in Italy was attempted. The plot by 100s of neofascists, led by war criminal Junio Borghese (pictured) and assisted by some within the government, was suspended just hours before it was due to take place https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/8024/golpe-borghese-coup-plot
Working Class History#OtD 6 Dec 1994 Italian actor, Gian Maria Volonté, died. Most famous for his role in A Fistful of Dollars, he also starred in many politically radical films and was arrested while supporting striking workers (pictured). More about his life and films: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/12653/gian-maria-volont%C3%A9-dies
Working Class History#OtD 6 Dec 1938 members of the Australian Aborigines’ League led by William Cooper marched to the German Consulate in Melbourne to deliver a letter condemning the "cruel persecution of the Jewish people by the Nazi government of Germany". Learn more: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/12652/aboriginal-solidarity-after-kristallnacht
Working Class History#OtD 5 (or 1) Dec 1903 Black Spanish civil war fighter Patrick Roosevelt was born in Long Island, NY. He joined the @iww@mastodon.social and Communist Party, and joined the fight against Franco in 1938, during which he lost his leg. He later worked as a machinist. https://workingclasshistory.com/podcast/e39-the-spanish-civil-war-an-introduction/
Working Class History#OtD 5 Dec 1896 Henry Poulaille was born into a poor working-class anarchist family. He became a novelist, anarchist, director of Éditions Grasset, the journal 'Le Nouvel Âge Littéraire' and founded a radical museum https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/10498/henry-poulaille-born
Working Class History#OtD 4 Dec 1853 Errico Malatesta, mechanic and key anarchist theorist and organiser was born in Italy. Despite being repeatedly jailed, exiled and sentenced to death 3 times, he remained active and lived until the age of 78. Learn more in this book: https://shop.workingclasshistory.com/products/life-and-ideas-the-anarchist-writings-of-errico-malatesta