August 13, 2001
“Twenty years ago I didn’t think this could happen. This is truly a historic day,” said Carlos Zenón, a leader of fishermen and resident of Vieques, Puerto Rico. Zenón was celebrating a victory in the struggle to get the U.S. Navy out of the island, registered when he and others who live there voted by a 68 percent majority for the U.S. Navy to leave immediately.
Washington has used a large portion of the island as a live-fire training ground. U.S. imperialism maintains colonial rule over Puerto Rico, a key component in its ability to impose the objectionable military force on the people of Vieques for so long.
More than two-thirds of those voting supported the immediate closing of the Navy base and departure of military forces. The voter turnout was very high, with 81 percent of the 5,893 registered voters on the island casting ballots.
August 6, 1976
NEW ORLEANS — Under a scorching summer sun, 1,000 supporters of Gary Tyler rallied, marched and shouted one message, loud and clear: “We’re gonna kick. We’re gonna fight. We’re gonna save Gary Tyler’s life.” Tyler is an eighteen-year-old Black youth falsely charged with the killing of a white youth and convicted by an all-white jury last November.
The march was preceded by a rally across the street from the Louisiana Supreme Court. The court is expected to hear Tyler’s appeal for freedom this fall. The loudest, longest applause was reserved for Tyler’s mother, Juanita Tyler.
“Mothers,” she warned, “just like it was my son, it could be any of your sons.” Bill Hampton, brother of Black Panther leader Fred Hampton, who was shot to death in his bed by Chicago police in 1969, urged continued mass rallies as the only way to free Tyler.
August 13, 1951
When we have a real bomb drill, the lights go off and we line up, the teacher at the head with a flashlight. We climb down the four flights to the boiler room and sit down. We each have a piece of cardboard to sit on.
We are told to put our coats over own heads until the teacher counts ten; then we begin to sing songs like “God Bless America.” But if a bomb is really falling isn’t it a little late for God to bless America?
A few weeks ago we got papers telling us what to do if a bomb falls.
I come to school to learn how to read and write — not to learn how to save my life if a bomb falls. I want to grow up in a happy world — not one full of hatred and wars. If you ask any child I think they will agree with me. I have nothing against the adults, believe me, but I do think the world would be better if the children ran it.