25, 50 and 75 Years Ago

September 7, 2020

September 11, 1995

Some 60 combat aircraft, 48 of them from the United States, launched widespread bombing raids against positions held by Serb troops loyal to Belgrade around Sarajevo and elsewhere in Bosnia August 29. The NATO air strikes, spearheaded by Washington, deepen military intervention by the imperialist powers in the former Yugoslav republic, escalate the bloody war, and threaten a broader Balkan conflict.

The military action began the day after Serb gunners shelled a crowded market in central Sarajevo. Washington latched onto the marketplace slaughter as a pretext to use military might to partition Bosnia and widen its influence in the region.

The U.S. government and the big-business media sounded a unified voice in support of the decision by president Bill Clinton to order the air strikes.

September 11, 1970

LOS ANGELES — The National Chicano Moratorium antiwar demonstration here was the target of an apparently planned, bloody police riot. The attack led to the murder of Chicano journalist Ruben Salazar, numerous injuries, and the arrest on trumped-up felony charges of several leaders and candidates of the Colorado Crusade for Justice and La Raza Unida Party.

A minimum of 20,000 and as many as 40,000 marched peacefully through the East Los Angeles barrio. The Los Angeles County sheriff’s department took a provocative stance.  Taking a minor incident near the rally as a pretext and with no warning, the crowd was attacked by a rampaging, club-swinging army of at least 500 cops.

A severe police repression is under way. An organized response by the Chicano Moratorium is being formulated.

September 8, 1945

NEW YORK, N.Y., Aug. 29 — More than fifty thousand workers packed into the streets here today in a gigantic demonstration against unemployment.

It was a militant army of workers in a fighting spirit. The great numbers who responded to the CIO call exceeded all expectations. “Jobs For All!” was the demand on the majority of banners and signs. “Vets Demand Full Employment!” and “Make Congress Act Now!” were slogans carried by many sections.

Suddenly a union band broke out with “Solidarity Forever.” The crowd waved their signs and banners and sang louder as new, young workers picked up the words to this powerful labor song.

This was the first mass action since Pearl Harbor. It gave promise that in the days to come the New York workers will come out on the streets in fighting formation—and for a fighting program.