June 22, 1923: Wobbly William Flanagan Triggers San Quentin Strike
June 22 1923, William Flanagan, a member of the Industrial Workers of the World incarcerated at San Quentin, refused to work in the prison’s jute mill. Flanagan was put in solitary confinement, triggering a prison strike of 25 IWW-affiliated prisoners. Flanagan and the other striking Wobblies were serving sentences for …
June 21, 1974: Flotilla Protests Chilean Torture Ship
June 21 1974, Chilean tall ship La Esmeralda, which had been used as a prison and torture chamber by the Pinochet government, docked in Oakland on a goodwill mission, where it was met by a protest flotilla organized by the Chilean solidarity movement. A wide array of actions were taken …
June 17, 2011: Second Anticut Demo in Oakland
June 17 2011, the second anti-austerity Anticut demo was held in Oakland days before the city’s budget announcement. With 14 libraries on the chopping block, organizers with book shields led a march downtown before holding a rally in front of the main branch library. Starting from Latham Square, the march …
June 17, 1969: Black Panther William Lee Brent Hijacks Trans World Airlines Flight 154
June 17 1969, former Black Panther William Lee Brent hijacked Trans World Airlines flight 154 from Oakland to New York, redirecting it to Cuba. Brent was fleeing prison time stemming from a San Francisco shootout that injured three police in November 1968. Brent, a captain in the Black Panther Party, …
June 14, 1969: Black Panther Party Calls for East Bay Safeway Boycott
June 14 1969, the Black Panther Party published a call in their party paper to boycott East Bay Safeway grocery stores, which had refused to donate food to the party’s Free Breakfast program, in solidarity with the United Farm Workers boycott of Safeway. The boycott solidified a growing coalition between …