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THIS WEEK IN PEOPLE’S HISTORY, DEC 25–31  
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_ No Free Speech on Christmas (1919), Killing Babies Is the Ugliest
War Crime (1969), Can the Media Help Defend Democracy Again? (1974),
Young Lords Speak Truth to Power (1969), A Highway to Nowhere (1949),
Russia’s Leader for 25 Years (since 1999) _

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_NO FREE SPEECH ON CHRISTMAS_

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 25, IS THE 105TH ANNIVERSARY of a large march in
Manhattan to protest the Wilson administration’s use of the
Espionage Act to imprison some 2000 women and men as part of a blatant
attack on freedom of speech.

Almost everyone who had been convicted of Espionage Act violations had
been accused of doing nothing except opposing the war or the draft in
writing or by spoken word, activities that were perceived by many as
being protected by the First Amendment. But the President, Congress,
and the federal courts unanimously rejected that position, so prisons
and jails throughout the U.S. were overcrowded with people whose
speech had been deemed illegal.

In 1919 the People’s Freedom Union chose Christmas Day to lead a
march down Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue, past many of the biggest
churches in New York City, calling for an amnesty of Espionage Act
prisoners. The plan was for the marchers to station a small picket
line outside each church they passed, which would display banners
reading “Let good will unlock the doors for political prisoners,”
and “This is Christmas Day; will you keep 2000 men and women in jail
for believing in brotherhood?” where they would be seen by everyone
at the end of the church services.

But the NYPD refused to cooperate. Mounted police used billy clubs to
break up both the main body of marchers and the smaller groups of
pickets outside individual churches. At least five of the protesters
were arrested.
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_KILLING BABIES IS THE UGLIEST WAR CRIME_ 

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 26, IS THE 55TH ANNIVERSARY OF the Art Workers
Coalition’s 1969 publication of the enormously effective anti-war
poster that is often referred to by its brief text -- “Q. And
babies? A. And babies.”

The simple poster consists of a graphic color photo of about a dozen
dead Vietnamese women and babies, victims of the mass murder by U.S.
forces at My Lai. Just the photo and two short lines of text printed
in red. 

The photo was taken on the day of the My Lai massacre, March 16, 1968,
by U.S. Army photographer Sgt. Ronald Haeberle.  Haeberle was certain
that some of the photos he took that day would be suppressed by Army
brass, so he secreted them and smuggled them into the U.S. when his
enlistment ended.

Haeberle was correct, the Army kept the massacre secret until it was
first reported by freelance journalist Seymour Hersh in November 1969,
21 months after the event. 

Once the news of the massacre was out, Haeberle took his photos to his
hometown newspaper, the Cleveland Plain Dealer, which published one of
them on page 1.  The “And babies?” poster uses the same photo
featured by the Plain Dealer a month earlier. 

Please be aware that the “And babies?” poster is graphic and
shocking. If you wish to view it, click here:
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_CAN (WILL?) THE MEDIA HELP DEFEND DEMOCRACY AGAIN?_

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 27, IS THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF the publication, in
1974, of the annual report of the International Press Institute, which
included this: “Watergate, with all the critical currents
surrounding it, and the reactions to President Ford's pardon decision
have once again given the American press the opportunity to
demonstrate its role of watchdog,

“Looking back on the attitude of the media as a whole when faced
with a vindictive and unscrupulous Administration, and also allowing
for certain exaggeration in the scurry of fighting, we have to state
once more that the American press as a whole, and broadcasting to a
large degree, showed the world a democracy conscious of its values and
ready to defend them.

Is it too much to hope that the U.S. media keep those words in mind
during the next four years?
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_YOUNG LORDS SPEAK TRUTH TO POWER_

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 28, IS THE 55TH ANNIVERSARY OF the Young Lords’
takeover of the First Spanish Methodist Church in Manhattan’s El
Barrio to turn it into La Iglesia de la Gente.

In 1969 roughly 100 Young Lords members forcefully but non-violently
commandeered the building at 111th Street and Lexington Avenue for 11
days and used it to provide the community with free services,
including a medical clinic, day-care center, breakfast program and
evening entertainment. “This is the first time the people of El
Barrio have taken over one of the institutions that have so long
oppressed them,” 20-year-old Pablo (Yoruba) Guzman told the media,
adding “We are one with the Cuban revolution.” 

The Young Lords’ occupation of the church ended on Jan. 8, 1970,
when 105 Young Lords agreed to be peaceably arrested by sheriff’s
deputies for contempt of a court order that they vacate the space.
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_A HIGHWAY TO NOWHERE_

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 30, IS THE 75TH ANNIVERSARY of the first meeting to
discuss one of Robert Moses’ misbegotten plans to fill New York City
with a network of superhighways. 

In 1949 the city’s Board of Estimate, which shared power with the
Mayor, gathered to consider a proposal to build the Mid-Manhattan
Expressway, a 6-lane, 100-foot wide, elevated freeway following 30th
Street across Manhattan from the East River to the Hudson. At the
time, there was no strong opposition to the idea, but there was a
strong disagreement whether it should be an elevated highway or a
tunnel. There was more support for building the less obtrusive tunnel,
but the cost of a tunnel was many times greater than a highway, and
the officials found it impossible to arrive at a plan that was both
politically acceptable and affordable. 

The result was a stalemate that continued until the early 1960s when
the public’s acceptance of new super-highways in Manhattan had 
diminished to the point that the project was totally abandoned.
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_RUSSIA’S LEADER FOR 25 YEARS_

MONDAY, DECEMBER 31, IS THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY of the surprise
resignation, in 1999, of Russian President Boris Yeltsin, resulting in
the ascension to power of Yeltsin’s then-Prime Minister, Vladimir
Putin. 

Putin has remained Russia’s leader during the subsequent 25 years,
even though his title has changed several times, from Prime Minister
to President (in 2000) back to Prime Minister (in 2008) and then back
to President (in 2012).
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