Vol. 75/No. 7      February 21, 2011

While the U.S. government engineered Duvalier’s flight from Haiti, his regime was toppled by the mass protests of Haitian youths, workers, and farmers.

The fall of the Duvalier dynasty was greeted with outpourings of joy.

But there was also anger that the dictator had not been brought to justice for his crimes against the Haitian people.

The Duvalier family plundered between $300 million and $500 million from Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.  
 
February 20, 1961
More than a hundred students were in Southern jails on Lincoln’s birthday as they pressed a bold new drive against restaurant Jim Crow. Continuing the “jail, no bail” movement in Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia, they chose prison cells and rock piles to posting bond or paying fines after being arrested for requesting service at lunch counters.

Militant students at Friendship Junior College in Rock Hill, S.C., continued mass picketing at local drug and variety stores.

On Sunday, a motorcade of more than 300 Rock Hill students defied a warning from police officials and drove to the county jail for a mass visit to 13 young rights fighters who elected to serve 30 days at hard labor to paying $100 “trespass” fines.  
 
February 22, 1936
TOLEDO, Feb. 18—In an attempt to forestall state wide strike action of the W.P.A. workers of Ohio, Carl Watson, W.P.A. head, today announced a 10 percent pay boost for all categories of W.P.A. workers in the state. The increase is retroactive through February 16.

Announcement of the pay rise came within three days following the issuance of a twenty-four county conference call to W.P.A. workers and the Unemployed League in Northwest Ohio to organize a widespread move to gain the increase and other concessions.

Pressure from all over the state forced through the increase. A conference of the Ohio Workers Alliance in Columbus agreed to take a strike poll if the pay boost was not immediately offered.  
 
 
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