March 18, 1996
Marching in picket lines, holding press conferences, appearing on radio and TV shows in dozens of cities throughout the United States and in other countries — opponents of U.S. government attacks on Cuba made their voices heard as Washington stepped up its campaign of lies and aggression.
The downing of two aircraft flown by members of the right-wing group Brothers to the Rescue after repeated violations of Cuban airspace has been used by Washington to impose harsher sanctions against the Cuban people.
A Militant Labor Forum titled “U.S. Hands Off Cuba! End the Embargo” was held in Miami drawing more than 40 people. Miami police tried to convince organizers to cancel the event, claiming they would not provide security after threats by right-wing Cubans to disrupt it. Forum organizers refused to back down.
March 19, 1971
CLEVELAND — On March 6, 300 women came from all over northeastern Ohio to celebrate International Women’s Day at a conference at Case Western Reserve University.
Fourteen different workshops were held, the largest being on abortion and on women and the Vietnam war. The abortion project group scheduled a demonstration for the end of this month, when the Ohio legislature will be having hearings on abortion bills. The women and war workshop outlined several projects for involving women in the fight to end the war, including the women’s contingent at the march on Washington April 24.
The conference was the first major women’s liberation action in Cleveland since last Aug. 26. It ended with a feeling of confidence and enthusiasm to continue working together on future actions.
March 16, 1946
Nationwide protest by labor, Negro and civil rights organizations against the savage Jim-Crow atrocities and bloody warfare unleashed by state troops on February 25 upon the entire segregated Negro section of Columbia, Tennessee have borne fruit. The last 13 of 101 Negroes arrested were released March 8.
The lynch hysteria and armed invasion followed an altercation between a Negro woman, Gladys Stephenson, and a white radio repairman, William Fleming. Immediately white lynch gangs began to gather.
When it was reported that the Negro citizens were preparing to defend themselves from the murderous mobs, 500 state troops, police and hundreds of armed vigilantes invaded the Negro community. Like Nazi storm troopers they blasted away at Negro dwellings and stores with machine guns and carbines.