On this day in 1917, Bolsheviks and Soviets took control of Russia in the October Revolution. Also, on this day in 1945, the United Nations was founded. And, two years later, Walt Disney testified to the House Un-American Activities Committee naming employees he believed to be communist. Coincidence???
Earlier, in 1593, a Spanish soldier named Gil Perez suddenly found himself in Mexico. He was questioned by the Inquisition and (surprisingly) allowed to return to his former post. The only possible answer is teleportation!
Today, four people who were very influential in civil rights died; one in politics, one in sports, one in entertainment and one in public transportation. Daniel Webster (who, admittedly, was more concerned with the Union than with slavery) was a Senator and a fiery orator, the nemesis of John C. Calhoun of SC. He lost most of his reputation when, in his bid for the presidency, he accepted a compromise which included the Fugitive Slave Act. John Greenleaf Whittier, appalled at this, wrote the poem Ichabod, which ends:
Earlier, in 1593, a Spanish soldier named Gil Perez suddenly found himself in Mexico. He was questioned by the Inquisition and (surprisingly) allowed to return to his former post. The only possible answer is teleportation!
Today, four people who were very influential in civil rights died; one in politics, one in sports, one in entertainment and one in public transportation. Daniel Webster (who, admittedly, was more concerned with the Union than with slavery) was a Senator and a fiery orator, the nemesis of John C. Calhoun of SC. He lost most of his reputation when, in his bid for the presidency, he accepted a compromise which included the Fugitive Slave Act. John Greenleaf Whittier, appalled at this, wrote the poem Ichabod, which ends:
When faith is lost, when honor dies,
The man is dead!
Then, pay the reverence of old days
To his dead fame;
Walk backward, with averted gaze,
And hide the shame!
It's good to know that presidential candidates have always compromised on their morals for political expediency. Somehow, it makes our current crop of candidates a little more palatable (but not really). There's a fantastic short story, The Devil and Daniel Webster, in which Webster defends a farmer who signed a contract with Mr. Scratch himself. Webster at first attempts to argue that Mr. Scratch is not a citizen of the country, but Scratch replies:
When the first wrong was done to the first Indian, I was there. When the first slaver put out for the Congo, I stood on her deck. Am I not in your books and stories and beliefs, from the first settlements on? Am I not spoken of, still, in every church in New England? 'Tis true the North claims me for a Southerner, and the South for a Northerner, but I am neither. I am merely an honest American like yourself-and of the best descent-for, to tell the truth, Mr. Webster,though I don't like to boast of it, my name is older in this country than yours.
Ouch! The ending is good, though. Definitely worth a read. Jackie Robinson, who died on this day in 1972, broke the color barrier in baseball. His manager encouraged him to "have the guts" not to fight back against the racism hurled against him. But, in a show of humanity which certainly rivals Webster in heart (and possibly even in words), he responded to his other players who had refused to play on the same team with a black man thusly:
I do not care if the guy is yellow or black, or if he has stripes like a @?#!$%&* zebra. I'm the manager of this team, and I say he plays. What's more, I say he can make us all rich. And if any of you cannot use the money, I will see that you are all traded.
On the one hand, this goes to show that, in America, green is more powerful than black or white. It also shows that, sometimes, someone else will fight for you. Gene Roddenberry, creator of Star Trek, died on this day in 1991. What does he have to do with civil rights? Well, he had an interracial (and, laughingly, international) cast for the Enterprise, including the African Uhura (which is Swahili for "freedom"). Further, episode 65, Plato's Stepchildren, featured the first interracial kiss on television (more or less, if you don't count the Orion slave girls). Granted, the telekentic Platonians had forced it, but that's just a technicality.
Finally, Rosa Parks died on this day in 2005. Of her famous bus ride, she said:
Finally, Rosa Parks died on this day in 2005. Of her famous bus ride, she said:
People always say that I didn't give up my seat because I was tired, but that isn't true. I was not tired physically, or no more tired than I usually was at the end of a working day. I was not old, although some people have an image of me as being old then. I was forty-two. No, the only tired I was, was tired of giving in.
This is because that same bus driver had, earlier, made her get off and enter through the back door of the bus. When she did, he sped off leaving her to walk home five miles in the rain. That bus driver, James Blake, died of a heart-attack in 2002, surprising many who didn't know he had a heart. And what more fitting tribute can there be than Outkast's song named for the civil rights heroine:
Ah ha, hush that fuss
Everybody move to the back of the bus
Do you want to bump and slump with us
We the type of people make the club get crunk.
Sigh.
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