May 30, 1972: 52 years ago, May 30 1972, the Afro-American Liberation Army (also known [...]

52 years ago, May 30 1972, the Afro-American Liberation Army (also known as the Black Liberation Army) claimed responsibility for an attempted bombing at San Francisco’s Portuguese consulate, carried out in solidarity with the liberation struggles in Angola and Mozambique 4 members of the AALA were soon arrested by the …

May 25, 1969: 55 years ago, May 25 1969, activists who had been forced out of People's [...]

55 years ago, May 25 1969, activists who had been forced out of People’s Park founded a second “liberated zone” in Berkeley. Despite numerous city attempts to demolish the space, Insurrection City (also known as “People’s Park Mobile Annex”) is now the site of Ohlone Dog Park Insurrection City was …

May 24, 1990: 34 years ago, May 24 1990, a pipe bomb exploded in Earth First! and IWW [...]

34 years ago, May 24 1990, a pipe bomb exploded in Earth First! and IWW organizer Judi Bari’s station wagon as she drove through Oakland with her comrade Darryl Cherney, injuring both passengers. Authorities unsuccessfully attempted to pin the bombing on the activists themselves When they were bombed, Bari and …

May 23, 1936: 88 years ago, May 23 1936, left-wing avant-garde composer Henry Cowell was [...]

88 years ago, May 23 1936, left-wing avant-garde composer Henry Cowell was arrested in Menlo Park on a “morals” charge stemming from a gay sexual encounter. Cowell, who was raised in San Francisco’s Chinatown by bohemian anarchist parents, spent four years in San Quentin One of the most influential composers …

May 22, 1939: 85 years ago, May 22 1939, the last fluent speaker of the Rumsen Ohlone [...]

85 years ago, May 22 1939, the last fluent speaker of the Rumsen Ohlone language, Isabel Meadows, died at the age of 92. One of eight prominent Ohlone languages, the Rumsen language had been spoken, likely for thousands of years, between what’s now the Pajaro River and Big Sur Isabel …