Portside

‘The Boss’ Protests

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 30, is the 40th anniversary of Columbia Records' release of the "Born In the U.S.A." single by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. 

It is one of Springsteen's many super-songs, ranked 275th on Rolling Stone's list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time", and 59th (out of 365) on the Recording Industry Association of America's “Songs of the Century.”

The song's lyrics are an unambiguous protest against the War Against Vietnam and the many severe hardships -- social, economic, political -- for the rank-and-file residents of the nation that failed to impose an imperialist regime on an unwilling Vietnamese population.

Nevertheless, “Born In the U.S.A.” has been (mis)interpreted as a patriotic anthem by some right-wingers -- from Ronald Reagan to Donald Trump and their supporters -- who do not hear the lyrics or do not choose to understand them.  

Follow the link for a video (directed by John Sayles) with a sound track taken from the song's studio recording, synced-up to images of a live performance and scenes depicting a less-than-triumphant North American working class, Plus subtitles for anyone not sure of the words. https://youtu.be/EPhWR4d3FJQ?si=kXVrKb_8waxjalY8

A Halloween Parade Is Born 

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31 is the 50th anniversary of the first Greenwich Village Halloween Parade in New York City.

The inaugural parade (in 1974) was organized by – and the brainchild of – master puppeteer, actor and theater artist Ralph Lee, an experienced designer and producer of outdoor theatrical performances, including parades, pageants and celebrations. With modest funding from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, the first parade featured huge puppets built by Lee and a cadre of neighborhood volunteers. Some 200 people marched a mile from the courtyard of the Westbeth studio, to the arch in Washington Square.

From that humble beginning it was not many years before the event mushroomed into the world’s largest Halloween Parade, which has been called New York City’s Carnival. Lee, who continued to direct the parade for 12 years, died in 2023. https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2015/10/greenwich-village-halloween-parade-1974-history

Algeria Fights for Freedom

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 1, is the 70th anniversary of the beginning of the war between Front de Libération Nationale in Algeria and the French army. Seven years and four months later, in 1962, the fighters for independence reached an agreement with France that established an independent Algeria after 132 years of French rule. For an introduction to an important chapter in the fight for self-determination, visit https://www.marxists.org/history/algeria/index.htm

Safety First Isn’t for Everyone

ON NOVEMBER 2, 1974 (50 years ago), the International Federation of Chemical and General Workers Unions met in Geneva, Switzerland, and declared that employers should be required to prove that a substance was safe for workers and consumers before the substance was introduced into industry.  

The Federation's position was one of the first efforts to mandate enforcement of the "precautionary principle”

The idea behind the precautionary principle was an ancient one, but it was not until the 1970s that organizations such unions and governments began to regard it as having the potential to be an enforceable legal or contractual requirement.

In 2006 the precautionary principle was made a general principle of the law of the European Union in matters such as product safety, the use of additives for use in animal nutrition, the incineration of waste, and the regulation of genetically modified organisms. 

In the U.S., the precautionary principle has long been mandated in several specific activities, such as the Food and Drug Administration's requirement that new pharmaceuticals be tested and proven safe before they can be offered for sale.

But many government agencies whose main mission is the promotion of safety -- such as the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board and the Consumer Product Safety Commission -- have largely avoided requiring that employers prove the safety of an innovation before putting it into production, to the considerable detriment of many unlucky workers and consumers. https://digitalcommons.law.umaryland.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1019&context=fac_pubs

Thank You for Your Service

ON NOVEMBER 3, 1874 (150 years ago), Civil War hero Roberts Smalls (who had been an enslaved person when he was born) was first elected to represent South Carolina in the U.S. House of Representatives where he served for 12 years. For details of his wartime heroism and his later service as an elected official, visit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Smalls

Global Warming’s a Hoax. Really?

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4 is the fifth anniversary of the Trump administration’s formal notification to the UN that the U.S. would withdraw from the Paris Agreement on climate change. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_change_denial

If You Can’t Beat ’em, Shoot ’em

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, IS THE 90TH ANNIVERSARY of an episode of election-related violence in Kelayers, a small Pennsylvania coal-mining town on the outskirts of Hazelton, in which members of the town's most powerful family, the Brunos, who were all Republicans, opened fire on a peaceful election-eve parade of Democrats, killing five and wounding a score. 

The 1934 shooting occurred at a moment of high political tension in Kelayers, when a New-Deal-inspired Democratic tide was in the process of dethroning the long-dominant Bruno clan from their ability to run the town as it saw fit. Exactly what the Brunos hoped to accomplish by killing parading Democrats as they marched defiantly in front of the Brunos' mansion no one knows. The bloodletting, if anything, inspired an unusually high vote for Democratic candidates the next day, who swept the Republicans from office.

In the end, the two senior Brunos were convicted of murder and sentenced to life, while four of their sons and nephews were convicted of manslaughter and sent to prison for shorter terms. All of the killers were paroled long before they had served their sentences. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelayres_massacre

For more People's History, visit
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