Podcast appearances and mentions of Palmer Raids

This 2016 continuation of our coverage of the Palmer Raids covers a series of raids on perceived threats to national security by Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer. Thousands of people were rounded up, many without cause or warrant, and kept in horrifying conditions.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Part one of this 2016 classic covers the social unrest in the U.S. after WWI. There was a fear that Communist revolutionaries would try to take over the country. Adding fuel to the fear were two bomb plots in 1919.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A year ago, the great American historian Adam Hochschild came on KEEN ON AMERICA to discuss American Midnight, his best selling account of the crisis of American democracy after World War One. A year later, is history really repeating itself in today's crisis of American democracy? For Hochschild, there are certainly parallels between the current political situation in the US and post WW1 America. Describing how wartime hysteria and fear of communism led to unprecedented government repression, including mass imprisonment for political speech, vigilante violence, and press censorship. Hochschild notes eery similarities to today's Trump's administration. He expresses concern about today's threats to democratic institutions while suggesting the importance of understanding Trump supporters' grievances and finding ways to bridge political divides. Five Key Takeaways* The period of 1917-1921 in America saw extreme government repression, including imprisoning people for speech, vigilante violence, and widespread censorship—what Hochschild calls America's "Trumpiest" era before Trump.* American history shows recurring patterns of nativism, anti-immigrant sentiment, and scapegoating that politicians exploit during times of economic or social stress.* The current political climate shows concerning parallels to this earlier period, including intimidation of opposition, attacks on institutions, and the widespread acceptance of authoritarian tendencies.* Hochschild emphasizes the importance of understanding the grievances and suffering that lead people to support authoritarian figures rather than dismissing their concerns.* Despite current divisions, Hochschild believes reconciliation is possible and necessary, pointing to historical examples like President Harding pardoning Eugene Debs after Wilson imprisoned him. Full Transcript Andrew Keen: Hello, everybody. We recently celebrated our 2500th edition of Keen On. Some people suggest I'm mad. I think I probably am to do so many shows. Just over a little more than a year ago, we celebrated our 2000th show featuring one of America's most distinguished historians, Adam Hochschild. I'm thrilled that Adam is joining us again a year later. He's the author of "American Midnight, The Great War, A Violent Peace, and Democracy's Forgotten Crisis." This was his last book. He's the author of many other books. He is now working on a book on the Great Depression. He's joining us from his home in Berkeley, California. Adam, to borrow a famous phrase or remix a famous phrase, a year is a long time in American history.Adam Hochschild: That's true, Andrew. I think this past year, or actually this past 100 days or so has been a very long and very difficult time in American history that we all saw coming to some degree, but I don't think we realized it would be as extreme and as rapid as it has been.Andrew Keen: Your book, Adam, "American Midnight, A Great War of Violent Peace and Democracy's Forgotten Crisis," is perhaps the most prescient warning. When you researched that you were saying before we went live that your books usually take you between four and five years, so you couldn't really have planned for this, although I guess you began writing and researching American Midnight during the Trump 1.0 regime. Did you write it as a warning to something like is happening today in America?Adam Hochschild: Well, I did start writing it and did most of the work on it during Trump's first term in office. So I was very struck by the parallels. And they're in plain sight for everybody to see. There are various dark currents that run through this country of ours. Nativism, threats to deport troublemakers. Politicians stirring up violent feelings against immigrants, vigilante violence, all those things have been with us for a long time. I've always been fascinated by that period, 1917 to 21, when they surged to the surface in a very nasty way. That was the subject of the book. Naturally, I hoped we wouldn't have to go through anything like that again, but here we are definitely going through it again.Andrew Keen: You wrote a lovely piece earlier this month for the Washington Post. "America was at its Trumpiest a hundred years ago. Here's how to prevent the worst." What did you mean by Trumpiest, Adam? I'm not sure if you came up with that title, but I know you like the term. You begin the essay. What was the Trumpiest period in American life before Donald Trump?Adam Hochschild: Well, I didn't invent the word, but I certainly did use it in the piece. What I meant by that is that when you look at this period just over 100 years ago, 1917 to 1921, Woodrow Wilson's second term in office, two things happened in 1917 that kicked off a kind of hysteria in this country. One was that Wilson asked the American Congress to declare war on Germany, which it promptly did, and when a country enters a major war, especially a world war, it sets off a kind of hysteria. And then that was redoubled some months later when the country received news of the Russian Revolution, and many people in the establishment in America were afraid the Russian Revolution might come to the United States.So, a number of things happened. One was that there was a total hysteria against all things German. There were bonfires of German books all around the country. People would take German books out of libraries, schools, college and university libraries and burn them in the street. 19 such bonfires in Ohio alone. You can see pictures of it on the internet. There was hysteria about the German language. I heard about this from my father as I was growing up because his father was a Jewish immigrant from Germany. They lived in New York City. They spoke German around the family dinner table, but they were terrified of doing so on the street because you could get beaten up for that. Several states passed laws against speaking German in public or speaking German on the telephone. Eminent professors declared that German was a barbaric language. So there was that kind of hysteria.Then as soon as the United States declared war, Wilson pushed the Espionage Act through Congress, this draconian law, which essentially gave the government the right to lock up anybody who said something that was taken to be against the war. And they used this law in a devastating way. During those four years, roughly a thousand Americans spent a year or more in jail and a much larger number, shorter periods in jail solely for things that they wrote or said. These were people who were political prisoners sent to jail simply for something they wrote or said, the most famous of them was Eugene Debs, many times the socialist candidate for president. He'd gotten 6% of the popular vote in 1912 and in 1918. For giving an anti-war speech from a park bandstand in Ohio, he was sent to prison for 10 years. And he was still in prison two years after the war ended in November, 1920, when he pulled more than 900,000 votes for president from his jail cell in the federal penitentiary in Atlanta.So that was one phase of the repression, political prisoners. Another was vigilante violence. The government itself, the Department of Justice, chartered a vigilante group, something called the American Protective League, which went around roughing up people that it thought were evading the draft, beating up people at anti-war rallies, arresting people with citizens arrest whom they didn't have their proper draft papers on them, holding them for hours or sometimes for days until they could produce the right paperwork.Andrew Keen: I remember, Adam, you have a very graphic description of some of this violence in American Midnight. There was a story, was it a union leader?Adam Hochschild: Well, there is so much violence that happened during that time. I begin the book with a graphic description of vigilantes raiding an office of the Wobblies, the Industrial Workers of the World, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, taking a bunch of wobblies out into the prairie at night, stripping them, whipping them, flogging them fiercely, and then tarring and feathering them, and firing shotguns over their heads so they would run off into the Prairie at Night. And they did. Those guys were lucky because they survive. Other people were killed by this vigilante violence.And the final thing about that period which I would mention is the press censorship. The Espionage Act gave the Postmaster General the power to declare any publication in the United States unmailable. And for a newspaper or a magazine that was trying to reach a national audience, the only way you could do so was through the US mail because there was no internet then. No radio, no TV, no other way of getting your publication to somebody. And this put some 75 newspapers and magazines that the government didn't like out of business. It in addition censored three or four hundred specific issues of other publications as well.So that's why I feel this is all a very dark period of American life. Ironically, that press censorship operation, because it was run by the postmaster general, who by the way loved being chief censor, it was ran out of the building that was then the post office headquarters in Washington, which a hundred years later became the Trump International Hotel. And for $4,000 a night, you could stay in the Postmaster General's suite.Andrew Keen: You, Adam, the First World War is a subject you're very familiar with. In addition to American Midnight, you wrote "To End All Wars, a story of loyalty and rebellion, 1914 to 18," which was another very successful of your historical recreations. Many countries around the world experience this turbulence, the violence. Of course, we had fascism in the 20s in Europe. And later in the 30s as well. America has a long history of violence. You talk about the violence after the First World War or after the declaration. But I was just in Montgomery, Alabama, went to the lynching museum there, which is considerably troubling. I'm sure you've been there. You're not necessarily a comparative political scientist, Adam. How does America, in its paranoia during the war and its clampdown on press freedom, on its violence, on its attempt to create an authoritarian political system, how does it compare to other democracies? Is some of this stuff uniquely American or is it a similar development around the world?Adam Hochschild: You see similar pressures almost any time that a major country is involved in a major war. Wars are never good for civil liberties. The First World War, to stick with that period of comparison, was a time that saw strong anti-war movements in all of the warring countries, in Germany and Britain and Russia. There were people who understood at the time that this war was going to remake the world for the worse in every way, which indeed it did, and who refused to fight. There were 800 conscientious objectors jailed in Russia, and Russia did not have much freedom of expression to begin with. In Germany, many distinguished people on the left, like Rosa Luxemburg, were sent to jail for most of the war.Britain was an interesting case because I think they had a much longer established tradition of free speech than did the countries on the continent. It goes way back and it's a distinguished and wonderful tradition. They were also worried for the first two and a half, three years of the war before the United States entered, that if they crack down too hard on their anti-war movement, it would upset people in the United States, which they were desperate to draw into the war on their side. Nonetheless, there were 6,000 conscientious objectors who were sent to jail in England. There was intermittent censorship of anti-war publications, although some were able to publish some of the time. There were many distinguished Britons, such as Bertrand Russell, the philosopher who later won a Nobel Prize, sent to jails for six months for his opposition to the war. So some of this happened all over.But I think in the United States, especially with these vigilante groups, it took a more violent form because remember the country at that time was only a few decades away from these frontier wars with the Indians. And the westward expansion of the United States during the 19th century, the western expansion of white settlement was an enormously bloody business that was almost genocidal for the Native Americans. Many people had participated in that. Many people saw that violence as integral to what the country was. So there was a pretty well-established tradition of settling differences violently.Andrew Keen: I'm sure you're familiar with Stephen Hahn's book, "A Liberal America." He teaches at NYU, a book which in some ways is very similar to yours, but covers all of American history. Hahn was recently on the Ezra Klein show, talking like you, like we're talking today, Adam, about the very American roots of Trumpism. Hahn, it's an interesting book, traces much of this back to Jackson and the wars of the frontier against Indians. Do you share his thesis on that front? Are there strong similarities between Jackson, Wilson, and perhaps even Trump?Adam Hochschild: Well, I regret to say I'm not familiar with Hahn's book, but I certainly do feel that that legacy of constant war for most of the 19th century against the Native Americans ran very deep in this country. And we must never forget how appealing it is to young men to take part in war. Unfortunately, all through history, there have been people very tempted by this. And I think when you have wars of conquest, such as happen in the American West, against people who are more poorly armed, or colonial wars such as Europe fought in Africa and Asia against much more poorly-armed opponents, these are especially appealing to young people. And in both the United States and in the European colonization of Africa, which I know something about. For young men joining in these colonizing or conquering adventures, there was a chance not just to get martial glory, but to also get rich in the process.Andrew Keen: You're all too familiar with colonial history, Adam. Another of your books was about King Leopold's Congo and the brutality there. Where was the most coherent opposition morally and politically to what was happening? My sense in Trump's America is perhaps the most persuasive and moral critique comes from the old Republican Center from people like David Brooks, Peter Wayno has been on the show many times, Jonathan Rausch. Where were people like Teddy Roosevelt in this narrative? Were there critics from the right as well as from the left?Adam Hochschild: Good question. I first of all would give a shout out to those Republican centrists who've spoken out against Trump, the McCain Republicans. There are some good people there - Romney, of course as well. They've been very forceful. There wasn't really an equivalent to that, a direct equivalent to that in the Wilson era. Teddy Roosevelt whom you mentioned was a far more ferocious drum beater than Wilson himself and was pushing Wilson to declare war long before Wilson did. Roosevelt really believed that war was good for the soul. He desperately tried to get Wilson to appoint him to lead a volunteer force, came up with an elaborate plan for this would be a volunteer army staffed by descendants of both Union and Confederate generals and by French officers as well and homage to the Marquis de Lafayette. Wilson refused to allow Roosevelt to do this, and plus Roosevelt was, I think, 58 years old at the time. But all four of Roosevelt's sons enlisted and joined in the war, and one of them was killed. And his father was absolutely devastated by this.So there was not really that equivalent to the McCain Republicans who are resisting Trump, so to speak. In fact, what resistance there was in the U.S. came mostly from the left, and it was mostly ruthlessly silenced, all these people who went to jail. It was silenced also because this is another important part of what happened, which is different from today. When the federal government passed the Espionage Act that gave it these draconian powers, state governments, many of them passed copycat laws. In fact, a federal justice department agent actually helped draft the law in New Hampshire. Montana locked up people serving more than 60 years cumulatively of hard labor for opposing the war. California had 70 people in prison. Even my hometown of Berkeley, California passed a copycat law. So, this martial spirit really spread throughout the country at that time.Andrew Keen: So you've mentioned that Debs was the great critic and was imprisoned and got a considerable number of votes in the election. You're writing a book now about the Great Depression and FDR's involvement in it. FDR, of course, was a distant cousin of Teddy Roosevelt. At this point, he was an aspiring Democratic politician. Where was the critique within the mainstream Democratic party? Were people like FDR, who had a position in the Wilson administration, wasn't he naval secretary?Adam Hochschild: He was assistant secretary of the Navy. And he went to Europe during the war. For an aspiring politician, it's always very important to say I've been at the front. And so he went to Europe and certainly made no sign of resistance. And then in 1920, he was the democratic candidate for vice president. That ticket lost of course.Andrew Keen: And just to remind ourselves, this was before he became disabled through polio, is that correct?Adam Hochschild: That's right. That happened in the early 20s and it completely changed his life and I think quite deepened him as a person. He was a very ambitious social climbing young politician before then but I think he became something deeper. Also the political parties at the time were divided each party between right and left wings or war mongering and pacifist wings. And when the Congress voted on the war, there were six senators who voted against going to war and 50 members of the House of Representatives. And those senators and representatives came from both parties. We think of the Republican Party as being more conservative, but it had some staunch liberals in it. The most outspoken voice against the war in the Senate was Robert LaFollette of Wisconsin, who was a Republican.Andrew Keen: I know you write about La Follette in American Midnight, but couldn't one, Adam, couldn't won before the war and against domestic repression. You wrote an interesting piece recently for the New York Review of Books about the Scopes trial. William Jennings Bryan, of course, was involved in that. He was the defeated Democratic candidate, what in about three or four presidential elections in the past. In the early 20th century. What was Bryan's position on this? He had been against the war, is that correct? But I'm guessing he would have been quite critical of some of the domestic repression.Adam Hochschild: You know, I should know the answer to that, Andrew, but I don't. He certainly was against going to war. He had started out in Wilson's first term as Wilson's secretary of state and then resigned in protest against the military buildup and what he saw as a drift to war, and I give him great credit for that. I don't recall his speaking out against the repression after it began, once the US entered the war, but I could be wrong on that. It was not something that I researched. There were just so few voices speaking out. I think I would remember if he had been one of them.Andrew Keen: Adam, again, I'm thinking out loud here, so please correct me if this is a dumb question. What would it be fair to say that one of the things that distinguished the United States from the European powers during the First World War in this period it remained an incredibly insular provincial place barely involved in international politics with a population many of them were migrants themselves would come from Europe but nonetheless cut off from the world. And much of that accounted for the anti-immigrant, anti-foreign hysteria. That exists in many countries, but perhaps it was a little bit more pronounced in the America of the early 20th century, and perhaps in some ways in the early 21st century.Adam Hochschild: Well, we remain a pretty insular place in many ways. A few years ago, I remember seeing the statistic in the New York Times, I have not checked to see whether it's still the case, but I suspect it is that half the members of the United States Congress do not have passports. And we are more cut off from the world than people living in most of the countries of Europe, for example. And I think that does account for some of the tremendous feeling against immigrants and refugees. Although, of course, this is something that is common, not just in Europe, but in many countries all over the world. And I fear it's going to get all the stronger as climate change generates more and more refugees from the center of the earth going to places farther north or farther south where they can get away from parts of the world that have become almost unlivable because of climate change.Andrew Keen: I wonder Democratic Congress people perhaps aren't leaving the country because they fear they won't be let back in. What were the concrete consequences of all this? You write in your book about a young lawyer, J. Edgar Hoover, of course, who made his name in this period. He was very much involved in the Palmer Raids. He worked, I think his first job was for Palmer. How do you see this structurally? Of course, many historians, biographers of Hoover have seen this as the beginning of some sort of American security state. Is that over-reading it, exaggerating what happened in this period?Adam Hochschild: Well, security state may be too dignified a word for the hysteria that reigned in the country at that time. One of the things we've long had in the United States is a hysteria, paranoia directed at immigrants who are coming from what seems to be a new and threatening part of the world. In the mid-19th century, for example, we had the Know-Nothing Party, as it was called, who were violently opposed to Catholic immigrants coming from Ireland. Now, they were people of Anglo-Saxon descent, pretty much, who felt that these Irish Catholics were a tremendous threat to the America that they knew. There was much violence. There were people killed in riots against Catholic immigrants. There were Catholic merchants who had their stores burned and so on.Then it began to shift. The Irish sort of became acceptable, but by the end of the 19th century, beginning of the 20th century the immigrants coming from Europe were now coming primarily from southern and eastern Europe. In other words, Italians, Sicilians, Poles, and Jews. And they became the target of the anti-immigrant crusaders with much hysteria directed against them. It was further inflamed at that time by the Eugenics movement, which was something very strong, where people believed that there was a Nordic race that was somehow superior to everybody else, that the Mediterraneans were inferior people, and that the Africans were so far down the scale, barely worth talking about. And this culminated in 1924 with the passage of the Johnson-Reed Immigration Act that year, which basically slammed the door completely on immigrants coming from Asia and slowed to an absolute trickle those coming from Europe for the next 40 years or so.Andrew Keen: It wasn't until the mid-60s that immigration changed, which is often overlooked. Some people, even on the left, suggest that it was a mistake to radically reform the Immigration Act because we would have inevitably found ourselves back in this situation. What do you think about that, Adam?Adam Hochschild: Well, I think a country has the right to regulate to some degree its immigration, but there always will be immigration in this world. I mean, my ancestors all came from other countries. The Jewish side of my family, I'm half Jewish, were lucky to get out of Europe in plenty of time. Some relatives who stayed there were not lucky and perished in the Holocaust. So who am I to say that somebody fleeing a repressive regime in El Salvador or somewhere else doesn't have the right to come here? I think we should be pretty tolerant, especially if people fleeing countries where they really risk death for one reason or another. But there is always gonna be this strong anti-immigrant feeling because unscrupulous politicians like Donald Trump, and he has many predecessors in this country, can point to immigrants and blame them for the economic misfortunes that many Americans are experiencing for reasons that don't have anything to do with immigration.Andrew Keen: Fast forward Adam to today. You were involved in an interesting conversation on the Nation about the role of universities in the resistance. What do you make of this first hundred days, I was going to say hundred years that would be a Freudian error, a hundred days of the Trump regime, the role, of big law, big universities, newspapers, media outlets? In this emerging opposition, are you chilled or encouraged?Adam Hochschild: Well, I hope it's a hundred days and not a hundred years. I am moderately encouraged. I was certainly deeply disappointed at the outset to see all of those tech titans go to Washington, kiss the ring, contribute to Trump's inauguration festivities, be there in the front row. Very depressing spectacle, which kind of reminds one of how all the big German industrialists fell into line so quickly behind Hitler. And I'm particularly depressed to see the changes in the media, both the Los Angeles Times and the Washington Post becoming much more tame when it came to endorsing.Andrew Keen: One of the reasons for that, Adam, of course, is that you're a long-time professor at the journalism school at UC Berkeley, so you've been on the front lines.Adam Hochschild: So I really care about a lively press that has free expression. And we also have a huge part of the media like Fox News and One American Network and other outlets that are just pouring forth a constant fire hose of lies and falsehood.Andrew Keen: And you're being kind of calling it a fire hose. I think we could come up with other terms for it. Anyway, a sewage pipe, but that's another issue.Adam Hochschild: But I'm encouraged when I see media organizations that take a stand. There are places like the New York Times, like CNN, like MSNBC, like the major TV networks, which you can read or watch and really find an honest picture of what's going on. And I think that's a tremendously important thing for a country to have. And that you look at the countries that Donald Trump admires, like Putin's Russia, for example, they don't have this. So I value that. I want to keep it. I think that's tremendously important.I was sorry, of course, that so many of those big law firms immediately cave to these ridiculous and unprecedented demands that he made, contributing pro bono work to his causes in return for not getting banned from government buildings. Nothing like that has happened in American history before, and the people in those firms that made those decisions should really be ashamed of themselves. I was glad to see Harvard University, which happens to be my alma mater, be defiant after caving in a little bit on a couple of issues. They finally put their foot down and said no. And I must say, feeling Harvard patriotism is a very rare emotion for me. But this is the first time in 50 years that I've felt some of it.Andrew Keen: You may even give a donation, Adam.Adam Hochschild: And I hope other universities are going to follow its lead, and it looks like they will. But this is pretty unprecedented, a president coming after universities with this determined of ferocity. And he's going after nonprofit organizations as well. There will be many fights there as well, I'm sure we're just waiting to hear about the next wave of attacks which will be on places like the Ford Foundation and the Carnegie Corporation and other big nonprofits. So hold on and wait for that and I hope they are as defiant as possible too.Andrew Keen: It's a little bit jarring to hear a wise historian like yourself use the word unprecedented. Is there much else of this given that we're talking historically and the similarities with the period after the first world war, is there anything else unprecedented about Trumpism?Adam Hochschild: I think in a way, we have often had, or not often, but certainly sometimes had presidents in this country who wanted to assume almost dictatorial powers. Richard Nixon certainly is the most recent case before Trump. And he was eventually stopped and forced to leave office. Had that not happened, I think he would have very happily turned himself into a dictator. So we know that there are temptations that come with the desire for absolute power everywhere. But Trump has gotten farther along on this process and has shown less willingness to do things like abide by court orders. The way that he puts pressure on Republican members of Congress.To me, one of the most startling, disappointing, remarkable, and shocking things about these first hundred days is how very few Republican members to the House or Senate have dared to defy Trump on anything. At most, these ridiculous set of appointees that he muscled through the Senate. At most, they got three Republican votes against them. They couldn't muster the fourth necessary vote. And in the House, only one or two Republicans have voted against Trump on anything. And of course, he has threatened to have Elon Musk fund primaries against any member of Congress who does defy him. And I can't help but think that these folks must also be afraid of physical violence because Trump has let all the January 6th people out of jail and the way vigilantes like that operate is they first go after the traitors on their own side then they come for the rest of us just as in the first real burst of violence in Hitler's Germany was the night of the long knives against another faction of the Nazi Party. Then they started coming for the Jews.Andrew Keen: Finally, Adam, your wife, Arlie, is another very distinguished writer.Adam Hochschild: I've got a better picture of her than that one though.Andrew Keen: Well, I got some very nice photos. This one is perhaps a little, well she's thinking Adam. Everyone knows Arlie from her hugely successful work, "Strangers in their Own Land." She has a new book out, "Stolen Pride, Lost Shame and the Rise of the Right." I don't want to put words into Arlie's mouth and she certainly wouldn't let me do that, Adam, but would it be fair to say that her reading, certainly of recent American history, is trying to bring people back together. She talks about the lessons she learned from her therapist brother. And in some ways, I see her as a kind of marriage counselor in America. Given what's happening today in America with Trump, is this still an opportunity? This thing is going to end and it will end in some ways rather badly and perhaps bloodily one way or the other. But is this still a way to bring people, to bring Americans back together? Can America be reunited? What can we learn from American Midnight? I mean, one of the more encouraging stories I remember, and please correct me if I'm wrong. Wasn't it Coolidge or Harding who invited Debs when he left prison to the White House? So American history might be in some ways violent, but it's also made up of chapters of forgiveness.Adam Hochschild: That's true. I mean, that Debs-Harding example is a wonderful one. Here is Debs sent to prison by Woodrow Wilson for a 10-year term. And Debs, by the way, had been in jail before for his leadership of a railway strike when he was a railway workers union organizer. Labor organizing was a very dangerous profession in those days. But Debs was a fairly gentle man, deeply committed to nonviolence. About a year into, a little less than a year into his term, Warren Harding, Woodrow Wilson's successor, pardoned Debs, let him out of prison, invited him to visit the White House on his way home. And they had a half hour's chat. And when he left the building, Debs told reporters, "I've run for the White house five times, but this is the first time I've actually gotten here." Harding privately told a friend. This was revealed only after his death, that he said, "Debs was right about that war. We never should have gotten involved in it."So yeah, there can be reconciliation. There can be talk across these great differences that we have, and I think there are a number of organizations that are working on that specific project, getting people—Andrew Keen: We've done many of those shows. I'm sure you're familiar with the organization Braver Angels, which seems to be a very good group.Adam Hochschild: So I think it can be done. I really think it could be done and it has to be done and it's important for those of us who are deeply worried about Trump, as you and I are, to understand the grievances and the losses and the suffering that has made Trump's backers feel that here is somebody who can get them out of the pickle that they're in. We have to understand that, and the Democratic Party has to come up with promising alternatives for them, which it really has not done. It didn't really offer one in this last election. And the party itself is in complete disarray right now, I fear.Andrew Keen: I think perhaps Arlie should run for president. She would certainly do a better job than Kamala Harris in explaining it. And of course they're both from Berkeley. Finally, Adam, you're very familiar with the history of Africa, Southern Africa, your family I think was originally from there. Might we need after all this, when hopefully the smoke clears, might we need a Mandela style truth and reconciliation committee to make sense of what's happening?Adam Hochschild: My family's actually not from there, but they were in business there.Andrew Keen: Right, they were in the mining business, weren't they?Adam Hochschild: That's right. Truth and Reconciliation Committee. Well, I don't think it would be on quite the same model as South Africa's. But I certainly think we need to find some way of talking across the differences that we have. Coming from the left side of that divide I just feel all too often when I'm talking to people who feel as I do about the world that there is a kind of contempt or disinterest in Trump's backers. These are people that I want to understand, that we need to understand. We need to understand them in order to hear what their real grievances are and to develop alternative policies that are going to give them a real alternative to vote for. Unless we can do that, we're going to have Trump and his like for a long time, I fear.Andrew Keen: Wise words, Adam. I hope in the next 500 episodes of this show, things will improve. We'll get you back on the show, keep doing your important work, and I'm very excited to learn more about your new project, which we'll come to in the next few months or certainly years. Thank you so much.Adam Hochschild: OK, thank you, Andrew. Good being with you. This is a public episode. 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Liberals won't like it, but according to the Seattle based historian and podcaster Daniel Bessner, Trump's wannabe imperial presidency is a “natural outgrowth” of the centralized power of the FDR presidency. In a provocative Jacobin piece, Bessner contends that executive power has been expanding since FDR, with the U.S. President increasingly becoming an "elected monarch." The leftist Bessner criticizes American liberals for both obsessing over the fictional specter of fascism and for failing to address the economic inequality that enabled the rise of Trump. And he expresses pessimism about meaningful reform, arguing that 21st century capitalism has become too entrenched for significant changes without some dramatic external shock. 5 Takeaways from the Bessner Interview* Trump's presidency represents a continuation of American traditions rather than fascism, with his immigration policies echoing historical patterns like the Palmer Raids and McCarthyism.* The significant shift under Trump is his aggressive tariff policy against China, which represents a departure from decades of neoliberal economic approaches.* Presidential power has been expanding dramatically since FDR (who issued over 3,700 executive orders), creating what Bessner calls an "elected monarch" with increasingly unchecked authority.* The failure of liberal leadership, particularly Obama's inadequate response to the 2008 financial crisis and insufficient economic redistribution, created the conditions for Trump's rise.* Bessner expresses deep pessimism about the possibility of meaningful reform, suggesting that capitalism has become too entrenched globally for significant democratic changes without some external shock like climate disaster or war.Daniel Bessner is an historian and journalist. He is currently the Anne H.H. and Kenneth B. Pyle Associate Professor in American Foreign Policy in the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington. He previously held the Joff Hanauer Honors Professorship in Western Civilization and is also a Non-Resident Fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, an Associate of the Alameda Institute, and a Contributing Editor at Jacobin. In 2019-2020, he served as a foreign policy advisor to Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign; in 2024, for unclear reasons, the Russian government sanctioned him. Daniel is an intellectual historian, and his work has focused on three areas of inquiry: the history and contemporary practice of U.S. foreign relations; the history and theory of liberalism; and, most recently, the history and practice of the entertainment industry. He is the author of Democracy in Exile: Hans Speier and the Rise of the Defense Intellectual (Cornell, 2018), which you may order here. He is also the co-editor, with Nicolas Guilhot, of The Decisionist Imagination: Sovereignty, Social Science, and Democracy in the Twentieth Century (Berghahn, 2019), which you may order here; and the co-editor, with Michael Brenes, of Rethinking U.S. World Power: Domestic Histories of U.S. Foreign Relations (Palgrave, 2024), which you may order here. In addition to his scholarship, he has published pieces in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, The New Republic, The Nation, n+1, and other venues. In July 2022, he published a cover story in Harper's Magazine titled “Empire Burlesque: What Comes After the American Century?”; in May 2024, he published a cover story, also in Harper's, titled “The Life and Death of Hollywood: Film and Television Writers Face an Existential Threat,” which was also republished as the cover of the Italian magazine Internazionale.Named as one of the "100 most connected men" by GQ magazine, Andrew Keen is amongst the world's best known broadcasters and commentators. In addition to presenting the daily KEEN ON show, he is the host of the long-running How To Fix Democracy interview series. He is also the author of four prescient books about digital technology: CULT OF THE AMATEUR, DIGITAL VERTIGO, THE INTERNET IS NOT THE ANSWER and HOW TO FIX THE FUTURE. Andrew lives in San Francisco, is married to Cassandra Knight, Google's VP of Litigation & Discovery, and has two grown children.Keen On America is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit keenon.substack.com/subscribe

Part 1. Deportations In The First Red Scare Guest: Chris Finan is an author and historian.  He worked as a free speech activist for over 40 years and led several groups, including the National Coalition Against Censorship. He is the author of several books, including the award-winning history, From the Palmer Raids to the Patriot Act: A History of the Fight for Free Speech in America.   Part 2. On the History of the First Amendment Guest: Geoffrey R. Stone is the Edward H. Levi Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago. He is the author or co-author of many books on constitutional law, including Perilous Times: Free Speech in Wartime; and The Free Speech Century.     The post Deportations In The First Red Scare appeared first on KPFA.

This Day in Legal History: Palmer RaidsOn January 2, 1920, Attorney General Mitchell Palmer orchestrated a sweeping crackdown on suspected radicals in what came to be known as the "Palmer Raids." Over 500 federal agents, joined by local law enforcement, conducted coordinated raids across 33 U.S. cities, arresting between 6,000 and 10,000 individuals. The targets were primarily immigrants accused of being communists, anarchists, or other political radicals. Many of those detained were held without warrants or evidence, and legal proceedings against them often lacked due process.These raids were the culmination of the first Red Scare, a period marked by paranoia about leftist ideologies following the Russian Revolution and a wave of domestic labor unrest. Palmer justified the operation as a necessary defense against a supposed revolutionary threat, publishing his infamous article, The Case Against the 'Reds,' which fanned public fears. However, the raids quickly drew criticism for their unconstitutional practices. Detainees were denied legal counsel, held in overcrowded and unsanitary conditions, and subjected to deportation without fair hearings.Prominent legal figures and organizations denounced the Palmer Raids, seeing them as a gross abuse of government power. Critics argued that Palmer's actions not only violated individual rights but also reflected an opportunistic attempt to bolster his political ambitions. The backlash led to the founding of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which emerged as a leading advocate against such government overreach.In hindsight, the Palmer Raids are a stark reminder of how fear and political expediency can undermine constitutional protections. They stand as a cautionary tale about the dangers of sacrificing civil liberties in the name of national security, a pattern that has echoed through subsequent decades.Law schools are navigating significant changes as they head into 2025, with notable trends shaping the legal education landscape. Enrollment is surging, with applications for fall 2025 up 25% compared to last year. This follows a 6% increase in applicants and a 5% rise in first-year students in 2024. Interest in legal careers appears driven by the prominent role of law in current events, including the recent presidential election. The competition for spots, particularly at elite schools, is intensifying, with a sharp increase in applicants holding top LSAT scores.Diversity in law school classes remains a critical issue. While the overall diversity of the 2024 entering class held steady, Black and Hispanic enrollment at top-ranked "T-14" law schools dropped by 8% and 9%, respectively, following the U.S. Supreme Court's 2023 affirmative action ban. Experts anticipate further impacts on diversity as fewer undergraduates of color enter the pipeline, with effects becoming clearer by 2028. For now, Black and Hispanic applicants are up significantly, reflecting continued interest in legal education.Generative artificial intelligence (AI) is beginning to influence law school curricula, though adoption varies widely. While only a small percentage of faculty actively teach AI-focused courses, some schools, like UC Berkeley and Arizona State, now offer AI-specific degrees or certificates. Legal writing courses and law clinics are increasingly integrating AI tools, responding to the legal profession's rapid adoption of generative AI technologies. Advocates argue that law schools must accelerate these efforts to meet employer and industry demands.Law school trends to watch in 2025 | ReutersA U.S. military appeals court has upheld the validity of plea deals for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the September 11 attacks, and two accomplices. This decision follows an earlier ruling by a military judge stating that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's attempt to invalidate the agreements in August was untimely. Under these plea deals, the three men could plead guilty to their roles in the 9/11 attacks in exchange for avoiding the death penalty. The Pentagon has not commented on the ruling but previously indicated that Austin was surprised by the plea deals, which were made independently of his office. The 9/11 attacks killed nearly 3,000 people and led to the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan. Mohammed remains one of the most notable detainees at Guantanamo Bay, a detention center established in 2002 to hold foreign militant suspects.The case has renewed criticism of Guantanamo Bay, with human rights advocates condemning the use of torture and calling for accountability. Separately, on the same day as the court ruling, the Pentagon announced the repatriation of Ridah Bin Saleh Al-Yazidi, one of Guantanamo's longest-held detainees, to Tunisia after being detained for over 20 years without charge. The facility currently houses 26 detainees, 14 of whom are eligible for transfer.US military appeals court says plea deals related to 9/11 attacks may proceed | ReutersCorporate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs faced mounting pressure in 2024, a trend likely to continue into 2025. Conservative activists, such as Robby Starbuck, successfully pushed major corporations like Walmart and Ford to modify or scale back their DEI initiatives. Starbuck's efforts have caught the attention of investors, with some threatening shareholder proposals in response to unwanted changes. Companies are also adjusting their language and communication around DEI to avoid political backlash, with organizations like Citigroup and Uber removing terms like "anti-racist" from corporate filings.The legal and political landscape is shifting as well. Trump's incoming administration, supported by a Republican-led Congress, plans to restrict corporate DEI through measures like prohibiting SEC workforce disclosures and barring government contracts for companies with DEI programs. Simultaneously, legal challenges from groups like America First Legal are targeting DEI policies as discriminatory under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, with lawsuits filed against companies like IBM's Red Hat.Some corporations now list DEI as a potential risk factor in their filings, signaling concerns about legal or reputational fallout from their diversity efforts. Despite the scrutiny, many businesses quietly continue pursuing diversity goals, while some executives maintain that inclusivity is essential for long-term success. This balancing act reflects the growing complexity of navigating DEI in a polarized environment.Corporate DEI Programs Recoil and Rebrand as Pressure MountsIn my column this week, I contend that if the Department of Government Efficiency, which will not be a real executive agency, wants to make the IRS more efficient it should do so by ordering more audits of wealthy taxpayers. Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy's push for government efficiency could start by significantly improving federal revenue by addressing the $696 billion annual tax gap—the difference between taxes owed and collected. Research suggests that better auditing of high-income taxpayers, without requiring new legislation, could recover substantial unpaid taxes, aligning with the duo's mission of improving efficiency. Studies show that audits of wealthier individuals yield a high return on investment, deterring future tax evasion while reinforcing compliance.The IRS, weakened by years of budget cuts, requires more personnel to handle labor-intensive audits of complex high-income returns effectively. Targeted funding has already proven successful, as the Inflation Reduction Act enabled the IRS to recover over $1 billion from high-net-worth taxpayers. For every $1 spent auditing a taxpayer in the 90th percentile, the IRS recouped $12 in taxes owed – a truly staggering return on investment. However, the agency still struggles to match its 1995 staffing levels, highlighting a critical need for further investment.Closing the tax gap would not only generate significant revenue but also restore fairness by ensuring progressive tax rates function as intended. This effort is essential for creating an accurate picture of government resources and addressing fiscal responsibility. Whether Musk and Ramaswamy's commission will embrace this nuanced approach to tax administration remains to be seen, but don't hold your breath. A successful efficiency audit of the IRS hinges on informed decision-making and precision – something neither Musk nor Ramaswamy has evinced having in matters of politics.Musk, Ramaswamy Can Target Inefficiency by Closing the Tax Gap This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.minimumcomp.com/subscribe

“It's a free country.” Many of us recall saying that as children as we learned that we were American citizens who were endowed with certain rights—such as free speech. We would use those words when we wanted to assert our own rights when we were being bullied or chastised. We would use them to let others know that even if we did not agree with what they were saying or doing, they were within their rights to express certain opinions or to do certain things. How many American adults feel as confident now about expressing our views in public settings as we did when we were children or young adults? In his authoritative but general-reader-friendly new book, The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage legal scholar and public intellectual Jonathan Turley argues that many Americans nowadays are “speech phobic” and employ terms such as “hate speech” to shut down legitimate discussion of such topics as immigration, government policies during the height of the Covid pandemic and transgenderism. He maintains that free expression is imperative for human flourishing and that stifling it can lead to a spiral of frustration boiling up to rage, which is then repressed by expressions of state rage such as the Palmer Raids and the excesses of McCarthyism. Turley walks us through the history of free speech in America and across today's minefields of topics that can get even average people cancelled—and what forms “canceling” can take. In approachable, fairly short chapters Professor Turley reminds us of how quickly some of the heroes of the American Revolution and champions of liberty devolved into semi-tyrants. His treatment of John Adams and the Alien and Sedition Acts (the latter of which rendered it a crime to, “print, utter, or publish...any false, scandalous, and malicious writing” about the government) is particularly eye-opening and provides crucial background as the reader proceeds through the book. The concept of sedition is a major focus of the book and alerts us as citizens that it is not a matter confined to centuries ago, but a matter very much in the forefront of the American legal and political landscape in the wake what happened in Washington DC in January 2021. Indeed, what we should call what those events is another fascinating focus of the book. Turley argues forcefully and persuasively that January 6 was not an insurrection but a protest that became a riot. This was a brave stance to take given that, as he points out in the book, anyone who argued that January 6 was anything but an insurrection was in danger of being labeled a sympathizer or an apologist for the rioters. Turley's book has become even more of a crucial read in the wake of the anti-Israel protests on college campuses in the spring of 2024. Ditto some shockingly anti-free-speech comments recently by supposedly mainstream Democrats such as John Kerry and Hillary Clinton. We will touch on the status of free speech as an issue in the 2024 presidential election and how free speech has been impacted by the Biden-Harris administration. The topic of censorship came up, for example, in the 2024 vice-presidential debate and we will get Professor Turley's take on that. Hope J. Leman is a grants researcher. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

“It's a free country.” Many of us recall saying that as children as we learned that we were American citizens who were endowed with certain rights—such as free speech. We would use those words when we wanted to assert our own rights when we were being bullied or chastised. We would use them to let others know that even if we did not agree with what they were saying or doing, they were within their rights to express certain opinions or to do certain things. How many American adults feel as confident now about expressing our views in public settings as we did when we were children or young adults? In his authoritative but general-reader-friendly new book, The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage legal scholar and public intellectual Jonathan Turley argues that many Americans nowadays are “speech phobic” and employ terms such as “hate speech” to shut down legitimate discussion of such topics as immigration, government policies during the height of the Covid pandemic and transgenderism. He maintains that free expression is imperative for human flourishing and that stifling it can lead to a spiral of frustration boiling up to rage, which is then repressed by expressions of state rage such as the Palmer Raids and the excesses of McCarthyism. Turley walks us through the history of free speech in America and across today's minefields of topics that can get even average people cancelled—and what forms “canceling” can take. In approachable, fairly short chapters Professor Turley reminds us of how quickly some of the heroes of the American Revolution and champions of liberty devolved into semi-tyrants. His treatment of John Adams and the Alien and Sedition Acts (the latter of which rendered it a crime to, “print, utter, or publish...any false, scandalous, and malicious writing” about the government) is particularly eye-opening and provides crucial background as the reader proceeds through the book. The concept of sedition is a major focus of the book and alerts us as citizens that it is not a matter confined to centuries ago, but a matter very much in the forefront of the American legal and political landscape in the wake what happened in Washington DC in January 2021. Indeed, what we should call what those events is another fascinating focus of the book. Turley argues forcefully and persuasively that January 6 was not an insurrection but a protest that became a riot. This was a brave stance to take given that, as he points out in the book, anyone who argued that January 6 was anything but an insurrection was in danger of being labeled a sympathizer or an apologist for the rioters. Turley's book has become even more of a crucial read in the wake of the anti-Israel protests on college campuses in the spring of 2024. Ditto some shockingly anti-free-speech comments recently by supposedly mainstream Democrats such as John Kerry and Hillary Clinton. We will touch on the status of free speech as an issue in the 2024 presidential election and how free speech has been impacted by the Biden-Harris administration. The topic of censorship came up, for example, in the 2024 vice-presidential debate and we will get Professor Turley's take on that. Hope J. Leman is a grants researcher. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/political-science

“It's a free country.” Many of us recall saying that as children as we learned that we were American citizens who were endowed with certain rights—such as free speech. We would use those words when we wanted to assert our own rights when we were being bullied or chastised. We would use them to let others know that even if we did not agree with what they were saying or doing, they were within their rights to express certain opinions or to do certain things. How many American adults feel as confident now about expressing our views in public settings as we did when we were children or young adults? In his authoritative but general-reader-friendly new book, The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage legal scholar and public intellectual Jonathan Turley argues that many Americans nowadays are “speech phobic” and employ terms such as “hate speech” to shut down legitimate discussion of such topics as immigration, government policies during the height of the Covid pandemic and transgenderism. He maintains that free expression is imperative for human flourishing and that stifling it can lead to a spiral of frustration boiling up to rage, which is then repressed by expressions of state rage such as the Palmer Raids and the excesses of McCarthyism. Turley walks us through the history of free speech in America and across today's minefields of topics that can get even average people cancelled—and what forms “canceling” can take. In approachable, fairly short chapters Professor Turley reminds us of how quickly some of the heroes of the American Revolution and champions of liberty devolved into semi-tyrants. His treatment of John Adams and the Alien and Sedition Acts (the latter of which rendered it a crime to, “print, utter, or publish...any false, scandalous, and malicious writing” about the government) is particularly eye-opening and provides crucial background as the reader proceeds through the book. The concept of sedition is a major focus of the book and alerts us as citizens that it is not a matter confined to centuries ago, but a matter very much in the forefront of the American legal and political landscape in the wake what happened in Washington DC in January 2021. Indeed, what we should call what those events is another fascinating focus of the book. Turley argues forcefully and persuasively that January 6 was not an insurrection but a protest that became a riot. This was a brave stance to take given that, as he points out in the book, anyone who argued that January 6 was anything but an insurrection was in danger of being labeled a sympathizer or an apologist for the rioters. Turley's book has become even more of a crucial read in the wake of the anti-Israel protests on college campuses in the spring of 2024. Ditto some shockingly anti-free-speech comments recently by supposedly mainstream Democrats such as John Kerry and Hillary Clinton. We will touch on the status of free speech as an issue in the 2024 presidential election and how free speech has been impacted by the Biden-Harris administration. The topic of censorship came up, for example, in the 2024 vice-presidential debate and we will get Professor Turley's take on that. Hope J. Leman is a grants researcher. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/american-studies

“It's a free country.” Many of us recall saying that as children as we learned that we were American citizens who were endowed with certain rights—such as free speech. We would use those words when we wanted to assert our own rights when we were being bullied or chastised. We would use them to let others know that even if we did not agree with what they were saying or doing, they were within their rights to express certain opinions or to do certain things. How many American adults feel as confident now about expressing our views in public settings as we did when we were children or young adults? In his authoritative but general-reader-friendly new book, The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage legal scholar and public intellectual Jonathan Turley argues that many Americans nowadays are “speech phobic” and employ terms such as “hate speech” to shut down legitimate discussion of such topics as immigration, government policies during the height of the Covid pandemic and transgenderism. He maintains that free expression is imperative for human flourishing and that stifling it can lead to a spiral of frustration boiling up to rage, which is then repressed by expressions of state rage such as the Palmer Raids and the excesses of McCarthyism. Turley walks us through the history of free speech in America and across today's minefields of topics that can get even average people cancelled—and what forms “canceling” can take. In approachable, fairly short chapters Professor Turley reminds us of how quickly some of the heroes of the American Revolution and champions of liberty devolved into semi-tyrants. His treatment of John Adams and the Alien and Sedition Acts (the latter of which rendered it a crime to, “print, utter, or publish...any false, scandalous, and malicious writing” about the government) is particularly eye-opening and provides crucial background as the reader proceeds through the book. The concept of sedition is a major focus of the book and alerts us as citizens that it is not a matter confined to centuries ago, but a matter very much in the forefront of the American legal and political landscape in the wake what happened in Washington DC in January 2021. Indeed, what we should call what those events is another fascinating focus of the book. Turley argues forcefully and persuasively that January 6 was not an insurrection but a protest that became a riot. This was a brave stance to take given that, as he points out in the book, anyone who argued that January 6 was anything but an insurrection was in danger of being labeled a sympathizer or an apologist for the rioters. Turley's book has become even more of a crucial read in the wake of the anti-Israel protests on college campuses in the spring of 2024. Ditto some shockingly anti-free-speech comments recently by supposedly mainstream Democrats such as John Kerry and Hillary Clinton. We will touch on the status of free speech as an issue in the 2024 presidential election and how free speech has been impacted by the Biden-Harris administration. The topic of censorship came up, for example, in the 2024 vice-presidential debate and we will get Professor Turley's take on that. Hope J. Leman is a grants researcher. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/politics-and-polemics

“It's a free country.” Many of us recall saying that as children as we learned that we were American citizens who were endowed with certain rights—such as free speech. We would use those words when we wanted to assert our own rights when we were being bullied or chastised. We would use them to let others know that even if we did not agree with what they were saying or doing, they were within their rights to express certain opinions or to do certain things. How many American adults feel as confident now about expressing our views in public settings as we did when we were children or young adults? In his authoritative but general-reader-friendly new book, The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage legal scholar and public intellectual Jonathan Turley argues that many Americans nowadays are “speech phobic” and employ terms such as “hate speech” to shut down legitimate discussion of such topics as immigration, government policies during the height of the Covid pandemic and transgenderism. He maintains that free expression is imperative for human flourishing and that stifling it can lead to a spiral of frustration boiling up to rage, which is then repressed by expressions of state rage such as the Palmer Raids and the excesses of McCarthyism. Turley walks us through the history of free speech in America and across today's minefields of topics that can get even average people cancelled—and what forms “canceling” can take. In approachable, fairly short chapters Professor Turley reminds us of how quickly some of the heroes of the American Revolution and champions of liberty devolved into semi-tyrants. His treatment of John Adams and the Alien and Sedition Acts (the latter of which rendered it a crime to, “print, utter, or publish...any false, scandalous, and malicious writing” about the government) is particularly eye-opening and provides crucial background as the reader proceeds through the book. The concept of sedition is a major focus of the book and alerts us as citizens that it is not a matter confined to centuries ago, but a matter very much in the forefront of the American legal and political landscape in the wake what happened in Washington DC in January 2021. Indeed, what we should call what those events is another fascinating focus of the book. Turley argues forcefully and persuasively that January 6 was not an insurrection but a protest that became a riot. This was a brave stance to take given that, as he points out in the book, anyone who argued that January 6 was anything but an insurrection was in danger of being labeled a sympathizer or an apologist for the rioters. Turley's book has become even more of a crucial read in the wake of the anti-Israel protests on college campuses in the spring of 2024. Ditto some shockingly anti-free-speech comments recently by supposedly mainstream Democrats such as John Kerry and Hillary Clinton. We will touch on the status of free speech as an issue in the 2024 presidential election and how free speech has been impacted by the Biden-Harris administration. The topic of censorship came up, for example, in the 2024 vice-presidential debate and we will get Professor Turley's take on that. Hope J. Leman is a grants researcher. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/law

“It's a free country.” Many of us recall saying that as children as we learned that we were American citizens who were endowed with certain rights—such as free speech. We would use those words when we wanted to assert our own rights when we were being bullied or chastised. We would use them to let others know that even if we did not agree with what they were saying or doing, they were within their rights to express certain opinions or to do certain things. How many American adults feel as confident now about expressing our views in public settings as we did when we were children or young adults? In his authoritative but general-reader-friendly new book, The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage legal scholar and public intellectual Jonathan Turley argues that many Americans nowadays are “speech phobic” and employ terms such as “hate speech” to shut down legitimate discussion of such topics as immigration, government policies during the height of the Covid pandemic and transgenderism. He maintains that free expression is imperative for human flourishing and that stifling it can lead to a spiral of frustration boiling up to rage, which is then repressed by expressions of state rage such as the Palmer Raids and the excesses of McCarthyism. Turley walks us through the history of free speech in America and across today's minefields of topics that can get even average people cancelled—and what forms “canceling” can take. In approachable, fairly short chapters Professor Turley reminds us of how quickly some of the heroes of the American Revolution and champions of liberty devolved into semi-tyrants. His treatment of John Adams and the Alien and Sedition Acts (the latter of which rendered it a crime to, “print, utter, or publish...any false, scandalous, and malicious writing” about the government) is particularly eye-opening and provides crucial background as the reader proceeds through the book. The concept of sedition is a major focus of the book and alerts us as citizens that it is not a matter confined to centuries ago, but a matter very much in the forefront of the American legal and political landscape in the wake what happened in Washington DC in January 2021. Indeed, what we should call what those events is another fascinating focus of the book. Turley argues forcefully and persuasively that January 6 was not an insurrection but a protest that became a riot. This was a brave stance to take given that, as he points out in the book, anyone who argued that January 6 was anything but an insurrection was in danger of being labeled a sympathizer or an apologist for the rioters. Turley's book has become even more of a crucial read in the wake of the anti-Israel protests on college campuses in the spring of 2024. Ditto some shockingly anti-free-speech comments recently by supposedly mainstream Democrats such as John Kerry and Hillary Clinton. We will touch on the status of free speech as an issue in the 2024 presidential election and how free speech has been impacted by the Biden-Harris administration. The topic of censorship came up, for example, in the 2024 vice-presidential debate and we will get Professor Turley's take on that. Hope J. Leman is a grants researcher. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

While looking for recordings of Elizabeth G. Flynn I found this in the Walter P. Ruther Online Library at Wayne State University. The audio player was broken on the website, but I figured out a way to downloaded the source audio anyway. It was also very low quality so I put a little effort into remastering it so everyone can enjoy it. Solidarity. -Lina Source: https://reuther.wayne.edu/node/12892 Original Description: A conversation with Elizabeth Gurley Flynn in which she discusses her upbringing and entry into the political scene as the “girl orator,” her organizing efforts and labor defense work on behalf of the Industrial Workers of the World (I.W.W.), and the evolution of her political beliefs. Of particular interest is a description of her arrest under the Smith Act and her years spent in prison at the Women's Reformatory in Alderson, West Virginia. Keywords: Industrial Workers of the World, Communism, Socialism, Lawrence Strike, Joe Hill, Herbert Hoover, Bill Haywood, Joe Hill, McCarren Internal Security Act, Smith Act, Palmer Raids, Tom Mooney, Sacco and Vanzetti Trial

If you're not a patron you can get the full episode by visiting patreon.com/workstoppage and support us with $5 a month. The first Red Scare following the US entry into World War 1 threw the US left into intense turmoil. Though Elizabeth Gurley Flynn had left the IWW over organizational and strategic differences, she was swept up in the Palmer Raids alongside many of her comrades. She would devote much of the rest of her life to the legal defense of workers imprisoned for opposing war or fighting for their rights on the job. She fought for years to release thousands of political prisoners locked up for opposing the draft and criticizing US entry into the war. Through this work, Flynn also came into contact with one of the most historic cases of political persecution of this period, the legal lynching of Sacco and Vanzetti. Throughout the 1920s, though no longer a part of the IWW, Flynn remained a fixture of the US labor struggle, continuing to criss cross the country in defense of workers rights. Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX  Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter,  John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee

Hey, y'all! We are finally at the end of our Debs-a-thon and oooh lordy does it kind of sad. Join us as Eugene makes one last valiant attempt to bring Socialism to America only to be met with the most insurmountable odds possible.

“Palmer, do not let this country see red.” This is the story of America's First Red Scare. On June 2, 1919, Attorney General Mitchell Palmer is just going to bed when the first floor of his home is blown apart. It was a bomb, and part of a larger plot to attack several national leaders. It's the work of anarchists. Shaken to the core, Mitch is determined to use his position as AG to rid the nation of such extremist, violent leftists–anarchists, Bolsheviks, and the like. Mitch turns to the Bureau of Investigation (the predecessor of the FBI) to help round up foreign Reds. He'll find a bright young lawyer named J. Edgar Hoover particularly useful in his “Palmer Raids.” But as famed socialist Eugen Debs goes to prison for speaking against the war and union workers get treated like they're a part of the far left, some start to wonder: is the AG still protecting the nation from violent radicals, or is he conducting a witch hunt? With bombings scaring the nation and Wall Street, the nation must debate where to draw the line between security and liberty. ___ Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations join discussions in our Facebook community get news and discounts from The HTDS Gazette  come see a live show get HTDS merch or become an HTDS premium member for bonus episodes and other perks. HTDS is part of the Airwave Media Network.  Interested in advertising on the History That Doesn't Suck? Email us at advertising@airwavemedia.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The raids were ruthless in their execution and consisted of numerous warrantless searches and arrests across 12 cities, often targeting immigrants and prominent leftist ...

Join us this week's PreserveCast episode as we talk with Dr. Christopher Finan about his book Drunks: The Story of Alcoholism and the Birth of Recovery. We'll talk to Chris about the history of alcoholism in America, the story of recovery, and how the preservation and museum community can approach telling the full story of alcohol at sites and places across the nation. All that and more on this week's PreserveCast.  BIO: Chris Finan is executive director of the National Coalition Against Censorship, an alliance of 56 national non-profits that defends free speech.  Mr. Finan has been involved in the fight against censorship for over 40 years.  He is former president of American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression. A native of Cleveland, Chris is a graduate of Antioch College. After working as a newspaper reporter, he studied American history at Columbia University, where he received his Ph.D. in 1992. He is the author of How Free Speech Saved Democracy: The Untold History of How the First Amendment Became an Effective Tool for Securing Liberty and Social Justice (Steerforth Press), Drunks: An American History (in paperback, Drunks: The Story of Alcoholism and the Birth of Recovery) (Beacon Press) and  Alfred E. Smith: The Happy Warrior" (Hill and Wang), a biography of the New York governor who was the first Catholic to run for President. His book, From the Palmer Raids to the PATRIOT Act: A History of the Fight for Free Speech in America (Beacon Press), won the American Library Association's Eli M. Oboler Award for the best work on intellectual freedom published in 2006 and 2007. Chris is married to Pat Willard, a writer whose most recent book is "America Eats! On the Road with the WPA - the Fish Fries, Box Supper Socials and Chitlin Feasts that Define Real American Food" (Bloomsbury). They have two sons and live in Brooklyn, New York.   Learn More: https://www.chrisfinan.com/ Find the Book: https://bookshop.org/p/books/drunks-the-story-of-alcoholism-and-the-birth-of-recovery-christopher-m-finan/7213639?ean=9780807019931&ref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.chrisfinan.com%2F&source=IndieBound&title=Drunks%3A+The+Story+of+Alcoholism+and+the+Birth+of+Recovery    

In the 1950s, U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy led a hunt for Communists in the American government. His brand of persecution based on lies, rumors, and innuendos ruined many lives but did not send a single subversive to jail. He set the standard for politicians who wish to be bullies and demagogues. 

In their new book, Ali Winston & Darwin BondGraham trace the history of Oakland since its inception through the lens of the city's police department, through the Palmer Raids, McCarthyism, and the Civil Rights struggle, the Black Panthers and crack eras, to Oakland's present-day revival. The book is the culmination of over twenty-one years of fearless reporting. They shine a light on the jackbooted police culture, lack of political will, and misguided leadership that have conspired to stymie meaningful reform. 

Adam Hochschild, author of American Midnight: The Great War, a Violent Peace, and Democracy's Forgotten Crisis, once again joins David M. Rubenstein to discuss the culture of violence, vigilantism, and censorship that permeated US government and society in the years during and immediately following World War I. In this conversation, they explore the grim economic conditions that followed the war, the wave of major municipal and labor union strikes, inflamed white violence toward Black workers, anti-immigrant sentiment, and the attempts at mass deportations following the Palmer Raids. Recorded on February 17, 2023  

No municipality has been under court oversight to reform its police department as long as the city of Oakland. In "The Riders Come Out at Night", Ali Winston and Darwin BondGraham shine a light on the jackbooted police culture, lack of political will, and misguided leadership that have conspired to stymie meaningful reform. The authors trace the history of Oakland since its inception through the lens of the city's police department, through the Palmer Raids, McCarthyism, and the Civil Rights struggle, the Black Panthers and crack eras, to Oakland's present-day revival.

The Riders Come Out at Night: Brutality, Corruption, and Cover-up in Oakland by Ali Winston, Darwin BondGraham NEW YORK TIMES EDITORS' CHOICE From the Polk Award–winning investigative duo comes a critical look at the systematic corruption and brutality within the Oakland Police Department, and the more than two-decades-long saga of attempted reforms and explosive scandals. No municipality has been under court oversight to reform its police department as long as the city of Oakland. It is, quite simply, the edge case in American law enforcement. The Riders Come Out at Night is the culmination of over twenty-one years of fearless reporting. Ali Winston and Darwin BondGraham shine a light on the jackbooted police culture, lack of political will, and misguided leadership that have conspired to stymie meaningful reform. The authors trace the history of Oakland since its inception through the lens of the city's police department, through the Palmer Raids, McCarthyism, and the Civil Rights struggle, the Black Panthers and crack eras, to Oakland's present-day revival. Readers will be introduced to a group of sadistic cops known as “The Riders,” whose disregard for the oath they took to protect and serve is on full, tragic, infuriating display. They will also meet Keith Batt, a wide-eyed rookie cop turned whistleblower, who was unwittingly partnered with the leader of the Riders. Other compelling characters include Jim Chanin and John Burris, two civil rights attorneys determined to see reform through, in spite of all obstacles. And Oakland's deep history of law enforcement corruption, reactionary politics, and social movement organizing is retold through historical figures like Black Panther Huey Newton, drug kingpin Felix Mitchell, district attorney and future Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren, and Mayor Jerry Brown. The Riders Come Out at Night is the story of one city and its police department, but it's also the story of American policing—and where it's headed.

Dr. King on a human blueprint based on dignity, worth, and “somebodyness”.   Today's labor quote: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Today's labor history: Palmer Raids detainees win rights.    @wpfwdc #1u #unions #LaborRadioPod @AFLCIO Proud founding member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network.

Hundreds of thousands of young immigrants brought here by their undocumented parents since 2007 are not eligible for DACA. But now they are eligible for jobs–at the University of California. UCLA law professor Ahilan Arulanantham explains.Also: The left has hated J. Edgar Hoover for a hundred years ever since the Palmer Raids of 1919, the attacks on radicals that began his career. Now there's a terrific new biography of Hoover, called “G-Man” - the author is Beverly Gage.Also: the fight against air pollution in the port communities of Los Angeles, where 300,000 people, mostly Latino, live next door to oil refineries, chemical facilities, and one of the largest oilfields in the nation. For decades they've been fighting for basic rights and a cleaner environment. Eliza Moreno has that story.

On today's episode of The Literary Life, Mitchell Kaplan is joined by Christopher M. Finan to discuss his new book, How Free Speech Saved Democracy: The Untold History of How the First Amendment Became an Essential Tool for Securing Liberty and Social Justice, out now from Steerforth Press. ________________________________ Subscribe now to The Literary Life with Mitchell Kaplan on iTunes, Spotify, or wherever else you find your podcasts! Christopher M. Finan has been involved in the fight against censorship for 35 years. He is executive director of the National Coalition Against Censorship and the former president of the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression. After working as a newspaper reporter, he studied American history at Columbia University, where he received his Ph.D. in 1992. He is the author of Alfred E. Smith: The Happy Warrior, Drunks: An American History, and From the Palmer Raids to the Patriot Act: A History of the Fight for Free Speech in America, winner of the American Library Association's Eli M. Oboler Award. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of DarkTyme: Stories from the Future, Claire continues writing into the future Book of Good and Evil.  The focus of this episode is the passage (or not) of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote in The United States. Two Zoocenians arrive: Charlotte, a Korean fish woman with distinctively colored teeth and Violet, a poison frog woman. Timelines involving Harry T Burn, John F Kennedy, and Richard Nixon are destroyed. 

STEPHANIE and TUX reintroduce a special bonus scandal in honor of our podfather, Tim Cluff but rereleasing the episode where Tim shared a scandal—Episode 27: the story of “Red Emma” Goldman. In this episode TIM steps out from behind the scenes to swap a scandal with us telling the tale of “Red Emma” and the Palmer Raids. We toast to the brilliant immigrants who built this nation and the government that deports them! ALSO DISCUSSED: Drinking every liquor mixed together with orange drink, Stephanie's friend the sea witch, the Wizard of Oz, Bushwick Variety Show, Breonna Taylor, sturdy white men, SVU, The Third Wheel Podcast, Quad City DJs, Very Presidential podcast, Red Pepper, magic beans, #notallanarchists, PIV, J Edgar Hoover, and da club. For source information on each scandal and to peruse our online shop: SITE

Political Analyst Dr. Frank Sorrentino is with us today to discuss the FBI raid of Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate, from a historical perspective, and its potential political impact going forward.On the podcast, Dr. Sorrentino questions the seriousness of the FBI's investigation of classified documents taken to Mar-a-Lago by former President Donald Trump, saying that the Justice Department appeared to be in no hurry to recover the documents.However, he agrees that the important question is what those documents contain and what Trump planned to do with them.However, he agrees that the important question is what those documents contain and what Trump planned to do with them -- and that an investigation into the episode is needed. During the episode, Sorrentino criticizes the Justice Department for becoming embroiled in a political dispute, even though Attorney General Merrick Garland has pledged that will not happen during the Biden Administration. The FBI, he says, has a long history of being used for political purposes.In his latest book, “Presidential Power and The American Political System,” Dr. Sorrentino analyzes the history of the FBI, from the Palmer Raids in the Woodrow Wilson administration up to Watergate and the Richard Nixon Administration. He's a nationally recognized constitutional scholar, widely quoted and relied upon for his insight regarding the major political developments of our time. He received both his PhD and Master's Degree in Politics from New York University and has spent time on the faculty of NYU, Long Island University and Kean College, and has been honored several times by The National Political Science Honor Society. Once again, his book is "Presidential Power and The American Political System," published by the Archway, Division of Simon & Schuster.Dr. Sorrentino, thanks for joining us on the Lean to the Left podcast.Q. How serious is it that Trump apparently took highly classified and sensitive documents home to Mar a Lago after he left the White House?Q. According to the warrant for the raid, the search was related to potential violations of the Espionage Act, which has been used to prosecute both foreign spies and domestic leakers, including Daniel Ellsberg. This is pretty serious, right?Q. You've been quoted as saying that "The FBI has been political since its inception.” Why is that? I thought the FBI was supposed to be above reproach.Q. You also said that "This incident may be a most significant event." That seems to be somewhat of an understatement, but why do you say that?Q. News reports indicate that classified documents Trump took to Mar a Lago involved nuclear weapons among other highly sensitive and top secret documents. Of course, Trump says the “nuclear weapons issue is a hoax.” But, if that is true, what should happen to Trump?Q. How are potential violations of classified materials normally handled? Q. What is the political impact of this event? Q. One thing we know is Trump is raking in big money in contributions, over $1 million a day last week, according to published reports. Is this right?Q. What do you think of Trump's many false and misleading claims about the raid, such as that Biden played a role and that the FBI may have planted evidence during the raid? Q. What do you make of so many top Republicans making excuses for Trump and accusing the FBI of “gastapo” tactics, etc. Do you think this might come back to bite them?Q. Have raids like this happened to other former Presidents? Q. Tell us about your book and where people can find it.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-lean-to-the-left-podcast--4719048/support.

Political Analyst Dr. Frank Sorrentino is with us today to discuss the FBI raid of Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate, from a historical perspective, and its potential political impact going forward.On the podcast, Dr. Sorrentino questions the seriousness of the FBI's investigation of classified documents taken to Mar-a-Lago by former President Donald Trump, saying that the Justice Department appeared to be in no hurry to recover the documents.However, he agrees that the important question is what those documents contain and what Trump planned to do with them.However, he agrees that the important question is what those documents contain and what Trump planned to do with them -- and that an investigation into the episode is needed. During the episode, Sorrentino criticizes the Justice Department for becoming embroiled in a political dispute, even though Attorney General Merrick Garland has pledged that will not happen during the Biden Administration. The FBI, he says, has a long history of being used for political purposes.In his latest book, “Presidential Power and The American Political System,” Dr. Sorrentino analyzes the history of the FBI, from the Palmer Raids in the Woodrow Wilson administration up to Watergate and the Richard Nixon Administration. He's a nationally recognized constitutional scholar, widely quoted and relied upon for his insight regarding the major political developments of our time. He received both his PhD and Master's Degree in Politics from New York University and has spent time on the faculty of NYU, Long Island University and Kean College, and has been honored several times by The National Political Science Honor Society. Once again, his book is "Presidential Power and The American Political System," published by the Archway, Division of Simon & Schuster.Dr. Sorrentino, thanks for joining us on the Lean to the Left podcast.Q. How serious is it that Trump apparently took highly classified and sensitive documents home to Mar a Lago after he left the White House?Q. According to the warrant for the raid, the search was related to potential violations of the Espionage Act, which has been used to prosecute both foreign spies and domestic leakers, including Daniel Ellsberg. This is pretty serious, right?Q. You've been quoted as saying that "The FBI has been political since its inception.” Why is that? I thought the FBI was supposed to be above reproach.Q. You also said that "This incident may be a most significant event." That seems to be somewhat of an understatement, but why do you say that?Q. News reports indicate that classified documents Trump took to Mar a Lago involved nuclear weapons among other highly sensitive and top secret documents. Of course, Trump says the “nuclear weapons issue is a hoax.” But, if that is true, what should happen to Trump?Q. How are potential violations of classified materials normally handled? Q. What is the political impact of this event? Q. One thing we know is Trump is raking in big money in contributions, over $1 million a day last week, according to published reports. Is this right?Q. What do you think of Trump's many false and misleading claims about the raid, such as that Biden played a role and that the FBI may have planted evidence during the raid? Q. What do you make of so many top Republicans making excuses for Trump and accusing the FBI of “gastapo” tactics, etc. Do you think this might come back to bite them?Q. Have raids like this happened to other former Presidents? Q. Tell us about your book and where people can find it.

Before the final two episodes, let's go back to where it began. In this episode of DarkTyme: Stories from the Future, Bram meets Claire. The focus of this episode is the imminent arrival in the 1920s of two beings from the future: a medieval Man of Swan knight and a Man of Lamprey.  Timelines involving the Palmer Raids, The Red Scare, J. Edgar Hoover, A. Mitchell Palmer, and communism, are destroyed.

How has the federal government limited and protected free speech rights over the course of American history? How have citizens responded when Washington has limited their speech rights? And what can Elon Musk's commentary on online free speech tell us about the difficult lines between free speech, disinformation, and political power?  In this first installment of a three-episode series on free speech, censorship, and so-called cancel culture, Heather Cox Richardson and Joanne Freeman explore the Alien & Sedition Acts, the Palmer Raids and the post-WWI rise of the ACLU, and the 1980s debate over burning the American flag.  Join CAFE Insider to listen to “Backstage,” where Heather and Joanne chat each week about the anecdotes and ideas that formed the episode. Head to: cafe.com/history For more historical analysis of current events, sign up for the free weekly CAFE Brief newsletter, featuring Time Machine, a weekly article that dives into an historical event inspired by each episode of Now & Then: cafe.com/brief For references & supplemental materials, head to: cafe.com/now-and-then/free-speech-the-government-and-us Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this episode of Our American Stories, the story of how President Abraham Lincoln used a telegraph to secure the win of the Civil War. Larry Reed, President Emeritus of FEE, tells the harrowing story of a dark time in American history for our "Rule of Law" series. Our regular contributor from Delaware, Brent Timmons, shares the story of spending time with his Uncle Bud in his last days. Regular contributor Bill Bryk tells about the exciting (and frightening) experience of figuring out equestrian basics after 6 decades. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)   Time Codes:  00:00 - Abraham Lincoln: Our First "Wired" President 12:30 - The Palmer Raids, A Dark Time in America's History 25:00 - Cherishing Uncle Bud's Last Days 37:00 - It's Never Too Late to Learn to Ride a Horse See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Christopher Finan is NCAC's executive director. He previously served as president of the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFE), the bookseller's voice in the fight against censorship. He has been an advocate for free expression since 1982. Prior to joining ABFE, he was executive director of Media Coalition, a trade association that defends the First Amendment rights of producers and distributors of media. He is a former chair of NCAC and Media Coalition. He was a trustee of the Freedom to Read Foundation and received its Roll of Honor Award in 2011.A native of Cleveland, Chris is a graduate of Antioch College. After working as a newspaper reporter, he studied American history at Columbia University where he received his Ph.D.He is the author of From the Palmer Raids to the Patriot Act: A History of the Fight for Free Speech in America (Beacon Press), which won the 2008 Eli Oboler Award of the American Library Association. He also wrote Alfred E. Smith: The Happy Warrior (Hill and Wang) and edited National Security and Free Speech: The Debate Since 9/11 (IDEBATE Press), a reader for high school students. The Hugh M. Hefner Foundation honored the latter with its First Amendment Award. His latest book is Drunks: The Story of Alcoholism and the Birth of Recovery (Beacon Press).Chris is married to Pat Willard, author of several food histories, including America Eats! On the Road with the W.P.A.–The First Fries, Box Supper Socials, and Chitlin' Feasts that Define Real American Food (Bloomsbury).  They have two sons and live in Brooklyn.Christopher M. FinanNational Coalition Against CensorshipHow Free Speech Saved Democracy, Christopher M. FinanSupport the show (https://paypal.me/TheBookshopPodcast?locale.x=en_US)

In this episode, Alex Zambito tells the twisted story of the FBI's efforts to infiltrate and dismantle leftist movements in America. COINTELPRO campaigns began in the 50s, targeting communists, anti-war activists, and black leaders of the civil rights movement. Alex Zambito is on the editorial board for Midwestern Marx – a website and journal offering Marxist analysis of politics and history. He is currently pursuing his masters in history. His work focuses on anti-communist repression campaigns in western “democracies” and the history of proletarian struggles around the globe. Check out his article about COINTELPRO here:  The FBI's War on the Left: A Short History of COINTELPROCOCKTAIL PAIRING:Agent Provocateur45 ml Rum-Bar Gold Jamaican Rum20mlStrawberry Syrup22mlLime Juice 2dashes Aromatic BittersSmall pinch of salt Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker and shake well with ice cubes. Fine strain into a coupe and garnish with a strawberry slice. Follow Alex on Twitter! @SouthernMarxist Check out the Midwestern Marx website and journal at midwesternmarx.comFollow them on TikTok @midwesternmarx1917IG: @midwesternmarxSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/cocktailsandcapitalism)

In this episode Michelle and David investigate the origins of the FBI. They discuss how, when, and why it was established, focuses of the organization, and ideas on why they operate as they do.  As alway, references are listed below and if you have any questions, comments, or disagreements, email them at experiationdatethepodcast@gmail.com Thanks! https://www.fbi.gov/history/brief-history https://www.britannica.com/topic/Palmer-Raids  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Director_of_the_Federal_Bureau_of_Investigation  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Bureau_of_Investigation#Creation_of_FBI  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COINTELPRO  https://vault.fbi.gov/cointel-pro/new-left/cointel-pro-new-left-richmond-part-01-of-01/view  https://www.justice.gov/archive/ll/subs/testimony/040505-fbi-mueller.pdf  https://innocenceproject.org/julius-jones-death-row-oklahoma-what-to-know/  https://abc7chicago.com/mi-governor-kidnap-plot-michigan-gov-gretchen-whitmer/10948197/  http://www.milwaukeeindependent.com/syndicated/from-dragnet-to-cops-the-media-industry-reckons-with-a-long-history-of-glorifying-law-enforcement/  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_FBI_controversies  https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-fbi-cointelpro-progra_b_4375527  https://digpodcast.org/2020/07/19/black-panther-party/  https://www.ajc.com/news/victim-of-attempted-lynching-charged-with-assaulting-his-attackers/46G3GV2UTFGV5G3PNM3K26E65M/    

after a week spent fighting back pain because we old Mattie and Austin are back to blow your mind with some facts and stuff   Austin starts off by telling us about the Palmer raids. the time when Federal law enforcement overstepped their bounds so much the American people actually took action. he also talks about what an asshole J Edgar Hoover was. (Seriously. Austin thinks he might've done more harm than Ronald Reagan.) Then Mattie goes into a debate that has been dividing households for years. What is better print books, eBooks, or audio books? We all have our opinions, but what are the facts? prepare to be amazed as Mattie dives in and gives us the actual facts on how the medium we use affects how we learn.   Twitter: @onthetestpod Facebook: Facebook.com/onthetestpod Insta: @onthetestpod onthetestpod.com theme song by https://www.fiverr.com/nilgunozer

On this episode of Our American Stories, Jeremy Swick of the College Football Hall of Fame recounts the remarkable story of, Stg. Stubby, the street dog turned soldier turned mascot; Larry Reed, President Emeritus of FEE, tells the harrowing story of a dark time in American history; Chloe Howard, Author of Stand Beautiful: A Story Of Brokenness, Beauty and Embracing It All, shares her story of what it was like growing up with a club foot. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate) Time Codes: 00:00 The Most Decorated War Dog of WWI 08:50 The Palmer Raids 18:00 Standing Proudly On Deformed Feet Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Author Chris Finan discusses his book, From the Palmer Raids to the Patriot Act. Interviewer, Jack Keith.The Chuckanut Radio Players perform a new episode of The Bellingham Bean...  Musical guest: Paul Klein & Steve Robinson...Poet's Corner: poetry from detainees at Guantanamo...Essayists: Alan Rhodes ...Announcer, Rich Donnelly and hosts, Chuck and Dee Robinson

Lee Camp interviews Briahna Joy Gray on this episode of VIP. She is the host of the Bad Faith podcast and the former press secretary for Bernie Sanders’ 2020 presidential run. They discuss the fight for universal healthcare, the corporate media’s hatred for anyone working toward progress in the US, her time working with Sanders, Joe Biden’s history of standing against the interests of the public, and more. Naomi Karavani directs her ‘Weekly Offensive’ at the vaccine rollout in Britain. While the US is trusting the market to deliver vaccines for profit, the UK allowed their National Health Service to take charge of the public health issue. Shockingly, the UK’s vaccine distribution is going a lot better than the US’. Anders Lee looks back at that time in the 1920s when a radical bombed Wall Street. An Italian anarchist undertook the bombing as an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate the banker JP Morgan. The attack was retribution for a series of anti-communist crackdowns known as the Palmer Raids, but the only casualties were bystanders.

On this very special episode of Beyond Reproach we are joined by Tim Cluff (@timatim_picpic), our podfather, sound engineer and personal savior. Tim steps out from behind the scenes to swap a scandal with us. We learn about the history of the brandy-based concoction known as the Sidecar and how it links to the era of Stephanie’s scandal.This cocktail is a spirited, elegant way to wrap up the year! Cheers to 2020 almost being over y’all!

The Russian government was overthrown in the Bolshevik revolution on this day in 1917. This date is also noted as October 25, since Russia was using the Julian calendar at the time. / On this day in 1919, the Palmer Raids - which targeted radicals, communists, and anarchists in the U.S. - began. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

An exploration into the history of the FBI looking into certain political activities and political actors that conspicuously all seemed to have a common denominator.Also, a one-on-one conversation with Mike German, a retired FBI agent and a fellow in the Brennan Center for Justice's Liberty and National Security program. He's also the author of "Disrupt, Discredit, and Divide: How the New FBI Damages Democracy."

Americans felt under attack in 1919 as a series of riots, strikes, disasters, and bombings hit the country. After radicals attempted to blow up the house of Attorney General Mitchell Palmer, he decided enough was enough. It was time to stop the Red Menace using any means possible. But would Americans tolerate the loss of their civil liberties in the pursuit of Bolsheviks? A. Mitchell Palmer's home was devastated when a bomb exploded at his front door on the night of June 2, 1919. If Palmer had been at his usual spot in the library, he likely would have been killed. This is another view of the blast damage. Notice that all of the windows and the door were blown out. Eugene V. Debs serves as a case study of pre-war opinions about socialism. As leader of the Socialist Party in America, he was considered leftist, but not radical--until the Russian Revolution changed attitudes about anyone or anything related to communism. For saying basically the same things he had been saying for years, Debs was tried under the Sedition Act in 1919 and sentenced to ten years in prison. Many Americans believed in the progression laid out literally step by step in this political cartoon. Disturbances such as strikes would lead inevitably to Bolshevism and chaos. The majority of people believed that immigrants were mostly or wholly responsible for radicalism in the United States. It seemed the easiest solution was that proposed by the 1918 Immigration Act: deport them all. To be fair, not everyone believed the Reds were an imminent threat. While many political cartoons fed the fear, others mocked it, like this example, which pointed to the hysterical tone of the Overman Report. When A. Mitchell Palmer took the job of Attorney General in March, he was among the moderates. Everything changed when his house was blown up--and really, you can hardly blame him. Palmer placed the young but well-liked and hard-working J. Edgar Hoover in charge of intelligence for his Red hunt. Hoover quickly gained the trust of his boss and ultimately managed all of the planning and operations details of the November and January raids. After the November 7th raids, 249 people were deported to Russia. The sailed on the Buford, a ship that Hoover arranged to borrow from the war department. It became known as the Soviet Ark. Up to ten thousand people were rounded up in the January 2nd, 1920 raids. Individuals were arrested, searched, and held without warrants, often in deplorable conditions. Deportation hearings began almost immediately. This is a photo of men waiting to be called for hearings at Ellis Island. It was an incredibly fraught situation. Many of the suspected radicals had lived in the United States for decades. They had families and children--and their children had often been born in the U.S. and were therefore citizens. Assistant Secretary of Labor Louis F. Post insisted on full constitutional protection for those rounded up in the Palmer Raids and ended up dismissing the majority of cases. He infuriated Palmer, who arranged for him to be impeached by the House of Representatives. Post's testimony was a major factor in Palmer's downfall. After all was said and done and the panic subsided, the anarchists struck again. The 1920 Wall Street Bombing left 38 dead and hundreds wounded. It was likely the work of the anarchists, who still had not been captured. Historic Newspapers If you are not familiar with the fantastic resource that is the Library of Congress Chronicling America site, let me introduce it to you. It contains scanned newspapers from across the country and the decades. Click here (https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/search/pages/results/?dateFilterType=range&date1=06%2F03%2F1919&date2=06%2F03%2F1919&sequence=1&language=&ortext=&andtext=&phrasetext=&proxtext=&proxdistance=5&rows=20&searchType=advanced) to find the results of a search of headlines nationwide on June 3rd, 1919, the morning after the bomb attacks. It's fascinating to compare the headlines and see what else was considered important that day. Then have fun looking up more dates and more newspapers. You'll probably be there some time. Please note that the links below to Amazon are affiliate links. That means that, at no extra cost to you, I can earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. (Here's what, legally, I'm supposed to tell you: I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.) However, I only recommend books that I have used and genuinely highly recommend.

Bernie Sanders says it will take a movement to change America: “It can’t all be Bernie.”  John Nichols comments on his interview with the candidate, who is now back in second place in the polls.  And we play clips from the interview, originally broadcast on the Next Left podcast.  Also: deporting the immigrants called “undesirable”--now, under Trump, and a hundred years ago.  Historian Adam Hochschild notes that  it’s the 100th anniversary of the Palmer Raids, where J Edgar Hoover got his start rounding up and trying to deport immigrant radicals—and when one heroic Labor Department official blocked thousands of deportations. Plus: Martin Scorcese’s new film “The Irishman” opens on Netflix this week; it claims to tell the true story of the murder of Jimmy Hoffa, the head of the Teamsters Union, who disappeared in 1974.  But nobody who’s studied that history thinks the movie is right about what happened to Hoffa.  Does that fact change our judgement about the film?  John Powers comments; he’s critic at large for Fresh Air with Terry Gross. Subscribe to The Nation to support all of our podcasts: http://thenation.com/podcastsubscribe

Show Notes Moe Factz with Adam Curry for November 18th 2019, Episode number 15 N.B.A. Shownotes 'We're Self-Interested': The Growing Identity Debate in Black America - The New York Times Mon, 18 Nov 2019 12:50 In Hollywood, Harriet Tubman is played in a new movie by a black British woman, much to the annoyance of some black Americans. On the United States census, an ultrawealthy Nigerian immigrant and a struggling African-American woman from the South are expected to check the same box. When many American universities tout their diversity numbers, black students who were born in the Bronx and the Bahamas are counted as the same. A spirited debate is playing out in black communities across America over the degree to which identity ought to be defined by African heritage '-- or whether ancestral links to slavery are what should count most of all. Tensions between black Americans who descended from slavery and black immigrants from Africa and the Caribbean are not new, but a group of online agitators is trying to turn those disagreements into a political movement. They want colleges, employers and the federal government to prioritize black Americans whose ancestors toiled in bondage, and they argue that affirmative action policies originally designed to help the descendants of slavery in America have largely been used to benefit other groups, including immigrants from Africa and the Caribbean. The American descendants of slavery, they say, should have their own racial category on census forms and college applications, and not be lumped in with others with similar skin color but vastly different lived experiences. The group, which calls itself ADOS, for the American Descendants of Slavery, is small in number, with active supporters estimated to be in the thousands. But the discussion they are provoking is coursing through conversations far and wide. Those who embrace its philosophy point to disparities between black people who immigrated to the United States voluntarily, and others whose ancestors were brought in chains. Roughly 10 percent of the 40 million black people living in the United States were born abroad, according to the Pew Research Center, up from 3 percent in 1980. African immigrants are more likely to have college degrees than blacks and whites who were born in the United States. A 2007 study published in the American Journal of Education found that 41 percent of black freshmen at Ivy League colleges were immigrants or the children of immigrants, even though those groups represent 13 percent of the black population in the United States. In 2017, black students at Cornell University protested for the admission of more ''underrepresented black students,'' who they defined as black Americans with several generations in the United States. ''There is a lack of investment in black students whose families were affected directly by the African Holocaust in America,'' the students wrote to the president of the university. University administrators say that black students from other countries contribute to increased diversity on campus, even if their admittance does not mitigate the injustices of American slavery. Many black immigrant groups are also descended from slavery in other countries. The film producer Tariq Nasheed is among the outspoken defenders of the idea that the American descendants of slavery should have their own ethnic identity. ''Every other group when they get here goes out of their way to say, 'I'm Jamaican. I'm Nigerian. I'm from Somalia,''' he said. ''But when we decide to say, 'O.K. We are a distinct ethnic group,' people look at that as negative.'' This year, responding to requests for ''more detailed, disaggregated data for our diverse American experience,'' the Census Bureau announced that African-Americans will be able to list their origins on census forms for the first time, instead of simply checking ''Black.'' The goal of ADOS's two founders '-- Antonio Moore, a Los Angeles defense attorney, and Yvette Carnell, a former aide to Democratic lawmakers in Washington '-- is to harness frustrations among black Americans by seizing on the nation's shifting demographics. Embracing their role as insurgents, Mr. Moore and Ms. Carnell held their first national conference in October, and have made reparations for the brutal system of slavery upon which the United States was built a key tenet of their platform. Their movement has also become a lightning rod for criticism on the left. Its skepticism of immigration sometimes strikes a tone similar to that of President Trump. And the group has fiercely attacked the Democratic Party, urging black voters to abstain from voting for the next Democratic presidential nominee unless he or she produces a specific economic plan for the nation's ADOS population. Such tactics have led some to accuse the group of sowing division among African-Americans and engaging in a form of voter suppression not unlike the voter purges and gerrymandering efforts pushed by some Republicans. ''Not voting will result in another term of Donald Trump,'' said Brandon Gassaway, national press secretary of the Democratic National Committee. Shireen Mitchell, the founder of Stop Online Violence Against Women, has been embroiled in an online battle with ADOS activists for months. Ms. Mitchell contends that the group's leaders are ''using reparations as a weapon'' to make Mr. Trump more palatable to black voters. Others have pointed out that Ms. Carnell once appeared on her YouTube channel in a ''Make America Great Again'' hat. Image Attendees take selfies with ADOS founder Yvette Carnell at the group's inaugural conference in Louisville, Ky. in October. Credit... Danielle Scruggs for The New York Times Image The goal of the group's two founders is to harness frustrations among black Americans by seizing on the nation's shifting demographics. Credit... Danielle Scruggs for The New York Times Image The founders of ADOS have described the group as nonpartisan, but the hashtag has been used by conservatives who support Mr. Trump. Credit... Danielle Scruggs for The New York Times Image Marianne Williamson, who has made reparations a key plank of her platform as a presidential candidate, attended the conference. Credit... Danielle Scruggs for The New York Times Over a thousand people attended the group's first national conference, hosted by Simmons College of Kentucky. Guest speakers included Marianne Williamson, a white self-help author who has made reparations a key plank of her platform as a minor Democratic presidential candidate, as well as Cornel West, a black Harvard professor who said ADOS is giving a voice to working-class black people. [Read more about how Farah Stockman reported on the American Descendants of Slavery.] Tara Perry, a 35-year-old paralegal, was among the attendees. A former employee of the Los Angeles Black Worker Center, which used to count the number of black laborers at construction sites, Ms. Perry said she believed that the influx of Mexican immigrants had made it more difficult for black men to find construction jobs in the city. ''People call us divisive. We're not divisive. We're self-interested,'' said Ms. Perry, adding that she was prepared to see Mr. Trump re-elected. Critics consider the movement a Trojan horse meant to infiltrate the black community with a right-wing agenda, and question why the group would target Democrats, who have been far more open to discussions of reparations. ''You are willing to let Donald Trump win, who clearly says he doesn't see reparations happening?'' asked Talib Kweli Greene, a rapper and activist who has become a vocal opponent of the group. ''Get out of here!'' Recently, Hollywood has become the source of much of the frustration around the dividing line between United States-born African-Americans and black immigrants. When the black British actress Cynthia Erivo was hired to play the abolitionist Harriet Tubman, the casting received immediate backlash. Similarly, the filmmaker Jordan Peele has been criticized for hiring Lupita Nyong'o, who is Kenyan, and Daniel Kaluuya, who is British, to play African-American characters in his movies. But Mr. Moore, 39, and Ms. Carnell, 44, say they are not scapegoating black immigrants or trying to lead black voters astray. They say they are merely demanding something tangible from Democrats in exchange for votes and trying to raise awareness around the economic struggles of many black Americans. Ms. Carnell said she learned of the huge disparities in inherited wealth that left black Americans with a tiny share of the economic pie by reading reports, including an Institute for Policy Studies report that predicted the median wealth of black families would drop to zero by 2053. Mr. Moore had been talking about some of the same studies on his own YouTube channel. The two joined forces in 2016 and coined the term ADOS, which spread as a hashtag on social media. Image From front left to back left, Ms. Carnell, Cornel West and Antonio Moore before the conference. Credit... Danielle Scruggs for The New York Times ''What they have done is taken the racial wealth divide field out of academia and packaged it under a populist hashtag,'' said Dedrick Asante-Muhammad, of the Institute for Policy Studies. Mr. Asante-Muhammad lamented that the rhetoric of the movement comes off as anti-immigrant and said that Mr. Moore and Ms. Carnell ''over-dramatize'' the impact of African immigrants on the wealth and opportunities available to black Americans. William Darity Jr., a professor at Duke University, has written a series of reports about wealth inequality cited by Mr. Moore and Ms. Carnell. In one report, Dr. Darity found that the median net worth of white households in Los Angeles was $355,000, compared with $4,000 for black Americans. African immigrants in the city had a median net worth of $72,000. Dr. Darity's research also shows that not all immigrant groups are wealthy. Dr. Darity did not attend the recent conference in Kentucky, but he said he saw ADOS as a social justice movement on behalf of a segment of the black population that is being left behind. But not everyone agrees with Dr. Darity's view that empowering disadvantaged African-Americans is the extent of the group's message. Some who have used the hashtag have used racist, violent language when going after their detractors. Ms. Carnell once defended the term ''blood and soil,'' a Nazi slogan, on Twitter. Ms. Mitchell, the founder of Stop Online Violence Against Women, said she was harassed online by the group's supporters after she mentioned ADOS on Joy Reid's MSNBC show in a segment about Russian disinformation campaigns. During the segment, Ms. Mitchell implied that ADOS was made up of Russian bots impersonating real black people online. After the segment aired, the group's supporters harassed Ms. Mitchell as well as Ms. Reid, who they noted was born to immigrants. ''If you do not agree with them, or acknowledge their existence, they go after you,'' Ms. Mitchell said. Ms. Carnell has also been criticized for her past service on the board of Progressives for Immigration Reform, an anti-immigration group that has received funding from a foundation linked to John Tanton, who was referred to as ''the puppeteer'' of the nation's nativist movement by the Southern Poverty Law Center. A September newsletter from Progressives for Immigration Reform touted the growing political clout of ADOS and praised it as ''a movement that understands the impact unbridled immigration has had on our country's most vulnerable workers.'' This summer, ADOS ignited a flurry of criticism after Ms. Carnell complained that Senator Kamala Harris, Democrat of California, was running for president as an African-American candidate but had failed to put forth an agenda for black people. She noted that Ms. Harris is the daughter of an Indian mother and a Jamaican father. Critics quickly accused Ms. Carnell of ''birtherism'' and xenophobia. And although Ms. Carnell and Mr. Moore say ADOS is a nonpartisan movement, the hashtag has been used by conservatives who support Mr. Trump. ''I like #ADOS,'' Ann Coulter, a white conservative commentator, wrote on Twitter. ''But I think it should be #DOAS '-- Descendants of American slaves. Not Haitian slaves, not Moroccan slaves.'' At the conference in Kentucky, supporters pushed back against the idea that they were anti-immigrant or surrogates of the president's agenda. ''We're not xenophobes,'' said Mark Stevenson, a director of talent acquisition in the Navy who said he founded an ADOS chapter in Columbus, Ohio, this summer. ''If you ask somebody who is Latino what is their heritage, they'll tell you they are Puerto Rican or Dominican or Cuban.'' ''This is our heritage,'' he added. ''I don't see the issue.'' Farah Stockman Mon, 18 Nov 2019 14:06 Latest Search Search Latest Articles Times Insider Deciphering ADOS: A New Social Movement or Online Trolls? I spent weeks trying to figure out what was true '-- and not true '-- about American Descendants of Slavery, a group aiming to create a new racial designation. By Farah Stockman 'We're Self-Interested': The Growing Identity Debate in Black America Why a movement that claims to support the American descendants of slavery is being promoted by conservatives and attacked on the left. By Farah Stockman Three Leaders of Women's March Group Step Down After Controversies The departures come after years of discord and charges of anti-Semitism and at a time the group is gearing up for political engagement in the 2020 elections. By Farah Stockman El negocio de vender ensayos universitarios Estudiantes en Estados Unidos, el Reino Unido y Australia estn contratando para que les redacten sus trabajos a personas de otros pa­ses que lo hacen por necesidad financiera. By Farah Stockman and Carlos Mureithi Here Are the Nine People Killed in Seconds in Dayton The gunman's victims ranged from a graduate student to a grandfather, a young mother to longtime friends. By Farah Stockman and Adeel Hassan Gunman's Own Sister Was Among Dayton Shooting Victims The nine people who were killed outside a popular Dayton bar also included the mother of a newborn and a fitness and nutrition trainer. By Farah Stockman and Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs Back-to-Back Outbreaks of Gun Violence in El Paso and Dayton Stun Country In a country that has become nearly numb to men with guns opening fire in schools, at concerts and in churches, shooting in Texas and Ohio left the public shaken. Gunman Kills 9 in Dayton Entertainment District Nine people were killed and 27 others were wounded, the police said. It was the second American mass shooting in 24 hours, and the third in a week. By Timothy Williams and Farah Stockman Heat Wave to Hit Two-Thirds of the U.S. Here's What to Expect. Dangerously hot temperatures are predicted from Oklahoma to New England. Here's the forecast, with some tips on staying safe. By Farah Stockman Child Neglect Reports Sat Unread for 4 Years Because of an Email Mix-up A small change to an email address led to reports to a Colorado hotline for child abuse and neglect cases sitting unread for years, officials said. By Dave Philipps and Farah Stockman 7 Died in a Motorcycle Crash. How Their Club of Former Marines Is Mourning Them. A motorcycle club of ex-Marines struggles to pick up the pieces after a horrific crash killed its leader and six other members and supporters. By Farah Stockman A Man Licked a Carton of Ice Cream for a Viral Internet Challenge. Now He's in Jail. Law officials and store owners across the country are wrestling with how to stop a flurry of copycat videos made by people committing the same crime. By Farah Stockman Manslaughter Charge Dropped Against Alabama Woman Who Was Shot While Pregnant The case of Marshae Jones, who was indicted over the death of the fetus she was carrying when she was shot, had stirred outrage across the country. By Farah Stockman Alabamians Defend Arrest of Woman Whose Fetus Died in Shooting The indictment of a woman in the shooting death of her fetus has sparked outrage across the country. But in Alabama, many people consider it just. By Farah Stockman People Are Taking Emotional Support Animals Everywhere. States Are Cracking Down. More Americans are saying they need a variety of animals '-- dogs, ducks, even insects '-- for their mental health. But critics say many are really just pets that do not merit special status. By Farah Stockman Birthright Trips, a Rite of Passage for Many Jews, Are Now a Target of Protests For nearly 20 years, Birthright has bolstered Jewish identity with free trips to Israel. But now some young Jewish activists are protesting the trips. By Farah Stockman 'The Time Is Now': States Are Rushing to Restrict Abortion, or to Protect It States across the country are passing some of the most restrictive abortion laws in decades, including in Alabama, where Gov. Kay Ivey signed a bill effectively banning the procedure. By Sabrina Tavernise Harvard Harassment Case Brings Calls for External Review and Cultural Change A Harvard government department committee issued a report criticizing a culture that let a professor stay employed despite a history of complaints. By Farah Stockman Baltimore's Mayor, Catherine Pugh, Resigns Amid Children's Book Scandal The resignation came days after the City Council proposed amending the charter to make it possible to remove Ms. Pugh and amid a widening scandal involving a book deal worth $500,000. By Farah Stockman U.N.C. Charlotte Student Couldn't Run, So He Tackled the Gunman Riley Howell was one of two students killed and four injured when a gunman opened fire in a classroom. The police charged a 22-year-old student with murder. By David Perlmutt and Julie Turkewitz Skip to Navigation Search Articles 114 results for sorted by Times Insider Deciphering ADOS: A New Social Movement or Online Trolls? I spent weeks trying to figure out what was true '-- and not true '-- about American Descendants of Slavery, a group aiming to create a new racial designation. By Farah Stockman 'We're Self-Interested': The Growing Identity Debate in Black America Why a movement that claims to support the American descendants of slavery is being promoted by conservatives and attacked on the left. By Farah Stockman Three Leaders of Women's March Group Step Down After Controversies The departures come after years of discord and charges of anti-Semitism and at a time the group is gearing up for political engagement in the 2020 elections. By Farah Stockman El negocio de vender ensayos universitarios Estudiantes en Estados Unidos, el Reino Unido y Australia estn contratando para que les redacten sus trabajos a personas de otros pa­ses que lo hacen por necesidad financiera. By Farah Stockman and Carlos Mureithi Here Are the Nine People Killed in Seconds in Dayton The gunman's victims ranged from a graduate student to a grandfather, a young mother to longtime friends. By Farah Stockman and Adeel Hassan Gunman's Own Sister Was Among Dayton Shooting Victims The nine people who were killed outside a popular Dayton bar also included the mother of a newborn and a fitness and nutrition trainer. By Farah Stockman and Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs Back-to-Back Outbreaks of Gun Violence in El Paso and Dayton Stun Country In a country that has become nearly numb to men with guns opening fire in schools, at concerts and in churches, shooting in Texas and Ohio left the public shaken. Gunman Kills 9 in Dayton Entertainment District Nine people were killed and 27 others were wounded, the police said. It was the second American mass shooting in 24 hours, and the third in a week. By Timothy Williams and Farah Stockman Heat Wave to Hit Two-Thirds of the U.S. Here's What to Expect. Dangerously hot temperatures are predicted from Oklahoma to New England. Here's the forecast, with some tips on staying safe. By Farah Stockman Child Neglect Reports Sat Unread for 4 Years Because of an Email Mix-up A small change to an email address led to reports to a Colorado hotline for child abuse and neglect cases sitting unread for years, officials said. By Dave Philipps and Farah Stockman 7 Died in a Motorcycle Crash. How Their Club of Former Marines Is Mourning Them. A motorcycle club of ex-Marines struggles to pick up the pieces after a horrific crash killed its leader and six other members and supporters. By Farah Stockman A Man Licked a Carton of Ice Cream for a Viral Internet Challenge. Now He's in Jail. Law officials and store owners across the country are wrestling with how to stop a flurry of copycat videos made by people committing the same crime. By Farah Stockman Manslaughter Charge Dropped Against Alabama Woman Who Was Shot While Pregnant The case of Marshae Jones, who was indicted over the death of the fetus she was carrying when she was shot, had stirred outrage across the country. By Farah Stockman Alabamians Defend Arrest of Woman Whose Fetus Died in Shooting The indictment of a woman in the shooting death of her fetus has sparked outrage across the country. But in Alabama, many people consider it just. By Farah Stockman People Are Taking Emotional Support Animals Everywhere. States Are Cracking Down. More Americans are saying they need a variety of animals '-- dogs, ducks, even insects '-- for their mental health. But critics say many are really just pets that do not merit special status. By Farah Stockman Birthright Trips, a Rite of Passage for Many Jews, Are Now a Target of Protests For nearly 20 years, Birthright has bolstered Jewish identity with free trips to Israel. But now some young Jewish activists are protesting the trips. By Farah Stockman 'The Time Is Now': States Are Rushing to Restrict Abortion, or to Protect It States across the country are passing some of the most restrictive abortion laws in decades, including in Alabama, where Gov. Kay Ivey signed a bill effectively banning the procedure. By Sabrina Tavernise Harvard Harassment Case Brings Calls for External Review and Cultural Change A Harvard government department committee issued a report criticizing a culture that let a professor stay employed despite a history of complaints. By Farah Stockman Baltimore's Mayor, Catherine Pugh, Resigns Amid Children's Book Scandal The resignation came days after the City Council proposed amending the charter to make it possible to remove Ms. Pugh and amid a widening scandal involving a book deal worth $500,000. By Farah Stockman U.N.C. Charlotte Student Couldn't Run, So He Tackled the Gunman Riley Howell was one of two students killed and four injured when a gunman opened fire in a classroom. The police charged a 22-year-old student with murder. By David Perlmutt and Julie Turkewitz Skip to Navigation Shireen Mitchell - Wikipedia Mon, 18 Nov 2019 14:05 Shireen Mitchell is an American entrepreneur, author, technology analyst and diversity strategist. She founded Digital Sisters/Sistas, Inc.,[1] the first organization dedicated to bringing women and girls of color online and Stop Online Violence Against Women (SOVAW),[2] a project that addresses laws and policies to provide protections for women while online. Career [ edit ] Shireen Mitchell began designing bulletin board systems and gopher (protocol) sites prior to the advent of websites. She was the webmaster for PoliticallyBlack.com, a site that was sold to Netivation (NTVN)[3] a large media company as one of the web transactions in the late 1990s that later went public.[4] Mitchell formed the first woman of color web management firm in 1997, the Mitchell Holden Group (MHG). She then founded Digital Sisters/Sistas in 1999, first as a website and then an advocacy and training organization that focuses on technology, new media and diversity. Digital Sisters was the first organization created specifically to help women and girls of color get into the STEM field and use technology in their daily lives. In 2010, she formed Tech Media Swirl LLC, a digital social strategy company focused integrated media strategies for outreach to diverse communities. In 2013, she founded Stop Online Violence Against Women (SOVAW). The project highlights diverse voices of women, and in particular, women of color. Honors and awards [ edit ] Eelan Media, Top 100 Most Influential Black People on digital/social media,[5] 2014DC Inno, Top Ten Influencers in Social Media,[6] 2012Fast Company Most Influential Women in Tech,[7] 2010Washingtonian's Tech Titans,[8] 2009The Root, 100 African-American Leaders of Excellence,[9] 2009Published works [ edit ] Gaining Daily Access to Science and Technology, 50 Ways to Improve Women's Lives . Inner Ocean Publishing. 21 June 2007. ISBN 978-1-930722-45-3. References [ edit ] External links [ edit ] Digital SistersStop Online Violence Against Women (SOVAW) Comcast Shouldn't Challenge the Civil Rights Act of 1866 | Fortune Mon, 18 Nov 2019 14:05 Sign Up for Our Newsletters Sign up now to receive FORTUNE's best content, special offers, and much more. Subscribe Marcus Garvey - Wikipedia Mon, 18 Nov 2019 14:04 Jamaica-born British political activist, Pan-Africanist, orator, and entrepreneur Marcus Mosiah Garvey Jr. ONH (17 August 1887 '' 10 June 1940) was a Jamaican political activist, publisher, journalist, entrepreneur, and orator. He was the founder and first President-General of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA-ACL, commonly known as UNIA), through which he declared himself Provisional President of Africa. Ideologically a black nationalist and Pan-Africanist, his ideas came to be known as Garveyism. Garvey was born to a moderately prosperous Afro-Jamaican family in Saint Ann's Bay, Colony of Jamaica and apprenticed into the print trade as a teenager. Working in Kingston, he became involved in trade unionism before living briefly in Costa Rica, Panama, and England. Returning to Jamaica, he founded UNIA in 1914. In 1916, he moved to the United States and established a UNIA branch in New York City's Harlem district. Emphasising unity between Africans and the African diaspora, he campaigned for an end to European colonial rule across Africa and the political unification of the continent. He envisioned a unified Africa as a one-party state, governed by himself, that would enact laws to ensure black racial purity. Although he never visited the continent, he was committed to the Back-to-Africa movement, arguing that many African-Americans should migrate there. Garveyist ideas became increasingly popular and UNIA grew in membership. However, his black separatist views'--and his collaboration with white racist groups like the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) to advance their shared interest in racial separatism'--divided Garvey from other prominent African-American civil rights activists such as W. E. B. Du Bois who promoted racial integration. Committed to the belief that African-Americans needed to secure financial independence from white-dominant society, Garvey launched various businesses in the U.S., including the Negro Factories Corporation and Negro World newspaper. In 1919, he became President of the Black Star Line shipping and passenger company, designed to forge a link between North America and Africa and facilitate African-American migration to Liberia. In 1923 Garvey was convicted of mail fraud for selling its stock and imprisoned in the Atlanta State Penitentiary. Many commentators have argued that the trial was politically motivated; Garvey blamed Jewish people, claiming that they were prejudiced against him because of his links to the KKK. Deported to Jamaica in 1927, where he settled in Kingston with his wife Amy Jacques, Garvey continued his activism and established the People's Political Party in 1929, briefly serving as a city councillor. With UNIA in increasing financial difficulty, in 1935 he relocated to London, where his anti-socialist stance distanced him from many of the city's black activists. He died there in 1940, although in 1964 his body was returned to Jamaica for reburial in Kingston's National Heroes Park. Garvey was a controversial figure. Many in the African diasporic community regarded him as a pretentious demagogue and were highly critical of his collaboration with white supremacists, his violent rhetoric, and his prejudice against mixed-race people and Jews. He nevertheless received praise for encouraging a sense of pride and self-worth among Africans and the African diaspora amid widespread poverty, discrimination, and colonialism. He is seen as a national hero in Jamaica, and his ideas exerted a considerable influence on movements like Rastafari, the Nation of Islam, and the Black Power Movement. Early life [ edit ] Childhood: 1887''1904 [ edit ] A statue of Garvey now stands in Saint Ann's Bay, the town where he was born Marcus Mosiah Garvey was born on 17 August 1887 in Saint Ann's Bay, a town in the Colony of Jamaica. In the context of colonial Jamaican society, which had a colourist social hierarchy, Garvey was considered at the lowest end, being a black child who believed he was of full African ancestry; later genetic research nevertheless revealed that he had some Iberian ancestors.[3] Garvey's paternal great-grandfather had been born into slavery prior to its abolition in the British Empire. His surname, which was of Irish origin, had been inherited from his family's former owners. His father, Malchus Garvey, was a stonemason; his mother, Sarah Richards, was a domestic servant and the daughter of peasant farmers. Malchus had had two previous partners before Sarah, siring six children between them. Sarah bore him four additional children, of whom Marcus was the youngest, although two died in infancy. Because of his profession, Malchus' family were wealthier than many of their peasant neighbours; they were petty bourgeoise. Malchus was however reckless with his money and over the course of his life lost most of the land he owned to meet payments. Malchus had a book collection and was self-educated; he also served as an occasional layman at a local Wesleyan church. Malchus was an intolerant and punitive father and husband; he never had a close relationship with his son. Up to the age of 14, Garvey attended a local church school; further education was unaffordable for the family. When not in school, Garvey worked on his maternal uncle's tenant farm. He had friends, with whom he once broke the windows of a church, resulting in his arrest. Some of his friends were white, although he found that as they grew older they distanced themselves from him; he later recalled that a close childhood friend was a white girl: "We were two innocent fools who never dreamed of a race feeling and problem." In 1901, Marcus was apprenticed to his godfather, a local printer. In 1904, the printer opened another branch at Port Maria, where Garvey began to work, traveling from Saint Ann's Bay each morning. Early career in Kingston: 1905''1909 [ edit ] In 1905 he moved to Kingston, where he boarded in Smith Village, a working class neighbourhood. In the city, he secured work with the printing division of the P.A. Benjamin Manufacturing Company. He rose quickly through the company ranks, becoming their first Afro-Jamaican foreman. His sister and mother, by this point estranged from his father, moved to join him in the city. In January 1907, Kingston was hit by an earthquake that reduced much of the city to rubble. He, his mother, and his sister were left to sleep in the open for several months. In March 1908, his mother died. While in Kingston, Garvey converted to Roman Catholicism. Garvey became a trade unionist and took a leading role in the November 1908 print workers' strike. The strike was broken several weeks later and Garvey was sacked. Henceforth branded a troublemaker, Garvey was unable to find work in the private sector. He then found temporary employment with a government printer. As a result of these experiences, Garvey became increasingly angry at the inequalities present in Jamaican society. Garvey involved himself with the National Club, Jamaica's first nationalist organisation, becoming its first assistant secretary in April 1910. The group campaigned to remove the British Governor of Jamaica, Sydney Olivier, from office, and to end the migration of Indian "coolies", or indentured workers, to Jamaica, as they were seen as a source of economic competition by the established population. With fellow Club member Wilfred Domingo he published a pamphlet expressing the group's ideas, The Struggling Mass. In early 1910, Garvey began publishing a magazine, Garvey's Watchman'--its name a reference to George William Gordon's The Watchman'--although it only lasted three issues. He claimed it had a circulation of 3000, although this was likely an exaggeration. Garvey also enrolled in elocution lessons with the radical journalist Robert J. Love, whom Garvey came to regard as a mentor. With his enhanced skill at speaking in a Standard English manner, he entered several public speaking competitions. Travels abroad: 1910''1914 [ edit ] Economic hardship in Jamaica led to growing emigration from the island. In mid-1910, Garvey travelled to Costa Rica, where an uncle had secured him employment as a timekeeper on a large banana plantation in the Lim"n Province owned by the United Fruit Company (UFC). Shortly after his arrival, the area experienced strikes and unrest in opposition to the UFC's attempts to cut its workers' wages. Although as a timekeeper he was responsible for overseeing the manual workers, he became increasingly angered at how they were treated. In the spring of 1911 be launched a bilingual newspaper, Nation/La Naci"n, which criticised the actions of the UFC and upset many of the dominant strata of Costa Rican society in Lim"n. His coverage of a local fire, in which he questioned the motives of the fire brigade, resulted in him being brought in for police questioning. After his printing press broke, he was unable to replace the faulty part and terminated the newspaper. In London, Garvey spent time in the Reading Room of the British Museum Garvey then travelled through Central America, undertaking casual work as he made his way through Honduras, Ecuador, Colombia, and Venezuela. While in the port of Col"n in Panama, he set up a new newspaper, La Prensa ("The Press"). In 1911, he became seriously ill with a bacterial infection and decided to return to Kingston. He then decided to travel to London, the administrative centre of the British Empire, in the hope of advancing his informal education. In the spring of 1912 he sailed to England. Renting a room along Borough High Street in South London, he visited the House of Commons, where he was impressed by the politician David Lloyd George. He also visited Speakers' Corner in Hyde Park and began speaking there. There were only a few thousand black people in London at the time, and they were often viewed as exotic; most worked as labourers. Garvey initially gained piecemeal work labouring in the city's dockyards. In August 1912, his sister Indiana joined him in London, where she worked as a domestic servant. In early 1913 he was employed as a messenger and handyman for the African Times and Orient Review, a magazine based in Fleet Street that was edited by Dus(C) Mohamed Ali. The magazine advocated Ethiopianism and home rule for British-occupied Egypt. In 1914, Mohamed Ali began employing Garvey's services as a writer for the magazine. He also took several evening classes in law at Birkbeck College in Bloomsbury. Garvey planned a tour of Europe, spending time in Glasgow, Paris, Monte Carlo, Boulogne, and Madrid. During the trip, he was briefly engaged to a Spanish-Irish heiress. Back in London, he wrote an article on Jamaica for the Tourist magazine, and spent time reading in the library of the British Museum. There he discovered Up from Slavery, a book by the African-American entrepreneur and activist Booker T. Washington. Washington's book heavily influenced him. Now almost financially destitute and deciding to return to Jamaica, he unsuccessfully asked both the Colonial Office and the Anti-Slavery and Aborigines' Protection Society to pay for his journey. After managing to save the funds for a fare, he boarded the SS Trent in June 1914 for a three-week journey across the Atlantic. En route home, Garvey talked with an Afro-Caribbean missionary who had spent time in Basutoland and taken a Basuto wife. Discovering more about colonial Africa from this man, Garvey began to envision a movement that would politically unify black people of African descent across the world. Organization of UNIA [ edit ] Forming UNIA: 1914''1916 [ edit ] To the cultured mind the bulk of our [i.e. black] people are contemptible['...] Go into the country parts of Jamaica and you will see there villainy and vice of the worst kind, immorality, obeah and all kinds of dirty things['...] Kingston and its environs are so infested with the uncouth and vulgar of our people that we of the cultured class feel positively ashamed to move about. Well, this society [UNIA] has set itself the task to go among the people['...] and raise them to the standard of civilised approval. '-- Garvey, from a 1915 Collegiate Hall speech published in the Daily Chronicle Garvey arrived back in Jamaica in July 1914. There, he saw his article for Tourist republished in The Gleaner. He began earning money selling greeting and condolence cards which he had imported from Britain, before later switching to selling tombstones. Also in July 1914, Garvey launched the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League, commonly abbreviated as UNIA. Adopting the motto of "One Aim. One God. One Destiny", it declared its commitment to "establish a brotherhood among the black race, to promote a spirit of race pride, to reclaim the fallen and to assist in civilising the backward tribes of Africa." Initially, it had only few members. Many Jamaicans were critical of the group's prominent use of the term "Negro", a term which was often employed as an insult: Garvey, however, embraced the term in reference to black people of African descent. Garvey became UNIA's president and travelling commissioner; it was initially based out of his hotel room in Orange Street, Kingston. It portrayed itself not as a political organisation but as a charitable club, focused on work to help the poor and to ultimately establish a vocational training college modelled on Washington's Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. Garvey wrote to Washington and received a brief, if encouraging reply; Washington died shortly after. UNIA officially expressed its loyalty to the British Empire, King George V, and the British effort in the ongoing First World War. In April 1915 Brigadier General L. S. Blackden lectured to the group on the war effort; Garvey endorsed Blackden's calls for more Jamaicans to sign up to fight for the Empire on the Western Front. The group also sponsored musical and literary evenings as well as a February 1915 elocution contest, at which Garvey took first prize. In August 1914, Garvey attended a meeting of the Queen Street Baptist Literary and Debating Society, where he met Amy Ashwood, recently graduated from the Westwood Training College for Women. She joined UNIA and rented a better premises for them to use as their headquarters, secured using her father's credit. She and Garvey embarked on a relationship, which was opposed by her parents. In 1915 they secretly became engaged. When she suspended the engagement, he threatened to commit suicide, at which she resumed it. I was openly hated and persecuted by some of these colored men of the island who did not want to be classified as Negroes but as white. '-- Garvey, on how he was received in Jamaica Garvey attracted financial contributions from many prominent patrons, including the Mayor of Kingston and the Governor of Jamaica, William Manning. By appealing directly to Jamaica's white elite, Garvey had skipped the brown middle-classes, comprising those who were classified as mulattos, quadroons, and octoroons. They were generally hostile to Garvey, regarding him as a pretentious social climber and being annoyed at his claim to be part of the "cultured class" of Jamaican society. Many also felt that he was unnecessarily derogatory when describing black Jamaicans, with letters of complaint being sent into the Daily Chronicle after it published one of Garvey's speeches in which he referred to many of his people as "uncouth and vulgar". One complainant, a Dr Leo Pink, related that "the Jamaican Negro can not be reformed by abuse". After unsubstantiated allegations began circling that Garvey was diverting UNIA funds to pay for his own personal expenses, the group's support began to decline. He became increasingly aware of how UNIA had failed to thrive in Jamaica and decided to migrate to the United States, sailing there aboard the SS Tallac in March 1916. To the United States: 1916''1918 [ edit ] The UNIA flag, a tricolour of red, black, and green. According to Garvey, the red symbolises the blood of martyrs, the black symbolises the skin of Africans, and the green represents the vegetation of the land. Arriving in the United States, Garvey began lodging with a Jamaican expatriate family living in Harlem, a largely black area of New York City. He began lecturing in the city, hoping to make a career as a public speaker, although at his first public speech was heckled and fell off the stage. From New York City, he embarked on a U.S. speaking tour, crossing 38 states. At stopovers on his journey he listened to preachers from the African Methodist Episcopal Church and the Black Baptist churches. While in Alabama, he visited the Tuskegee Institute and met with its new leader, Robert Russa Moton. After six months traveling across the U.S. lecturing, he returned to New York City. In May 1917, Garvey launched a New York branch of UNIA. He declared membership open to anyone "of Negro blood and African ancestry" who could pay the 25 cents a month membership fee. He joined many other speakers who spoke on the street, standing on step-ladders; he often did so on Speakers' Corner in 135th Street. In his speeches, he sought to reach across to both black West Indian migrants like himself and native African-Americans. Through this, he began to associate with Hubert Harrison, who was promoting ideas of black self-reliance and racial separatism. In June, Garvey shared a stage with Harrison at the inaugural meeting of the latter's Liberty League of Negro-Americans. Through his appearance here and at other events organised by Harrison, Garvey attracted growing public attention. After the U.S. entered the First World War in April 1917, Garvey initially signed up to fight but was ruled physically unfit to do so. He later became an opponent of African-American involvement in the conflict, following Harrison in accusing it of being a "white man's war". In the wake of the East St. Louis Race Riots in May to July 1917, in which white mobs targeted black people, Garvey began calling for armed self-defense. He produced a pamphlet, "The Conspiracy of the East St Louis Riots", which was widely distributed; proceeds from its sale went to victims of the riots. The Bureau of Investigation began monitoring him, noting that in speeches he employed more militant language than that used in print; it for instance reported him expressing the view that "for every Negro lynched by whites in the South, Negroes should lynch a white in the North." By the end of 1917, Garvey had attracted many of Harrison's key associates in his Liberty League to UNIA. He also secured the support of the journalist John Edward Bruce, agreeing to step down from the group's presidency in favor of Bruce. Bruce then wrote to Dus(C) Mohamed Ali to learn more about Garvey's past. Mohamed Ali responded with a negative assessment of Garvey, suggesting that he simply used UNIA as a money-making scheme. Bruce read this letter to a UNIA meeting and put pressure on Garvey's position. Garvey then resigned from UNIA, establishing a rival group that met at Old Fellows Temple. He also launched legal proceedings against Bruce and other senior UNIA members, with the court ruling that the group's name and membership'--now estimated at around 600'--belonged to Garvey, who resumed control over it. The growth of UNIA: 1918''1921 [ edit ] In 1918, UNIA membership grew rapidly. In June that year it was incorporated, and in July a commercial arm, the African Communities' League, filed for incorporation. Garvey envisioned UNIA establishing an import-and-export business, a restaurant, and a launderette. He also proposed raising the funds to secure a permanent building as a base for the group. In April 1918, Garvey launched a weekly newspaper, the Negro World, which Cronon later noted remained "the personal propaganda organ of its founder". Financially, it was backed by philanthropists like Madam C. J. Walker, but six months after its launch was pursuing a special appeal for donations to keep it afloat. Various journalists took Garvey to court for his failure to pay them for their contributions, a fact much publicised by rival publications; at the time, there were over 400 black-run newspapers and magazines in the U.S. Unlike may of these, Garvey refused to feature adverts for skin-lightening and hair-straightening products, urging black people to "take the kinks out of your mind, instead of out of your hair". By the end of its first year, the circulation of Negro World was nearing 10,000; copies circulated not only in the US, but also in the Caribbean, Central, and South America. In April 1918, Garvey's UNIA began publishing the Negro World newspaper Garvey appointed his old friend Domingo, who had also arrived in New York City, as the newspaper's editor. However, Domingo's socialist views alarmed Garvey who feared that they would imperil UNIA. Garvey had Domingo brought before UNIA's nine-person executive committee, where he was accused of writing editorials professing ideas at odds with UNIA's message. Domingo resigned several months later; he and Garvey henceforth became enemies. In September 1918, Ashwood sailed from Panama to be with Garvey, arriving in New York City in October. In November, she became General Secretary of UNIA. At UNIA gatherings, she was responsible for reciting black-authored poetry, as was the actor Henrietta Vinton Davis, who had also joined the movement. After the First World War ended, President Woodrow Wilson declared his intention to present a 14-point plan for world peace at the forthcoming Paris Peace Conference. Garvey was among the African-Americans who formed the International League of Darker Peoples which sought to lobby Wilson and the conference to give greater respect to the wishes of people of colour; their delegates nevertheless were unable to secure the travel documentation. At Garvey's prompting, UNIA sent a young Haitian, Elizier Cadet, as its delegate to the conference. The world leaders who met at the conference nevertheless largely ignored such perspectives, instead reaffirming their support for European colonialism. In the U.S., many African-Americans who had served in the military refused to return to their more subservient role in society and throughout 1919 there were various racial clashes throughout the country. The government feared that black people would be encouraged to revolutionary behavior following the October Revolution in Russia, and in this context, military intelligence ordered Major Walter Loving to investigate Garvey. Loving's report concluded that Garvey was a "very able young man" who was disseminating "clever propaganda". The BOI's J. Edgar Hoover decided that Garvey was worthy of deportation and decided to include him in their Palmer Raids launched to deport subversive non-citizens. The BOI presented Garvey's name to the Labor Department under Louis F. Post to ratify the deportation but Post's department refused to do so, stating that the case against Garvey was not proven. Success and obstacles [ edit ] Garvey speaking at Liberty Hall in 1920 UNIA grew rapidly and in just over 18 months it had branches in 25 U.S. states, as well as divisions in the West Indies, Central America, and West Africa. The exact membership is not known, although Garvey'--who often exaggerated numbers'--claimed that by June 1919 it had two million members. It remained smaller than the better established National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), although there was some crossover in membership of the two groups. The NAACP and UNIA differed in their approach; while the NAACP was a multi-racial organisation which promoted racial integration, UNIA was a black-only group. The NAACP focused its attention on what it termed the "talented tenth" of the African-American population, such as doctors, lawyers, and teachers, whereas UNIA emphasized the image of a mass organisation and included many poorer people and West Indian migrants in its ranks. NAACP supporters accused Garvey of stymieing their efforts at bringing about racial integration in the U.S. Garvey was dismissive of the NAACP leader W. E. B. Du Bois, and in one issue of the Negro World called him a "reactionary under [the] pay of white men". Du Bois generally tried to ignore Garvey, regarding him as a demagogue, but at the same time wanted to learn all he could about Garvey's movement. In 1921, Garvey twice reached out to DuBois, asking him to contribute to UNIA publications, but the offer was rebuffed. Their relationship became acrimonious; in 1923, DuBois described Garvey as "a little fat black man, ugly but with intelligent eyes and big head". By 1924, Grant suggested, the two hated each other. To promote his views to a wide audience, Garvey took to shouting slogans from a megaphone as he was driven through Harlem in a Cadillac. UNIA established a restaurant and ice cream parlour at 56 West 135th Street, and also launched a millinery store selling hats. With an increased income coming in through UNIA, Garvey moved to a new residence at 238 West 131st Street; in 1919, a young middle-class Jamaican migrant, Amy Jacques, became his personal secretary. UNIA also obtained a partially-constructed church building in Harlem, which Garvey named "Liberty Hall" after its namesake in Dublin, Ireland, which had been established during the Easter Rising of 1916. The adoption of this name reflected Garvey's fascination for the Irish independence movement. Liberty Hall's dedication ceremony was held in July 1919. Garvey also organised the African Legion, a group of uniformed men who would attend UNIA parades; a secret service was formed from Legion members, providing Garvey with intelligence about group members. The formation of the Legion further concerned the BOI, who sent their first full-time black agent, James Wormley Jones, to infiltrate UNIA.In January 1920, Garvey incorporated the Negro Factories League.According to Grant, a personality cult had grown up around Garvey within the UNIA movement; life-size portraits of him hung in the UNIA HQ and phonographs of his speeches were sold to the membership. In August, UNIA organized the First International Conference of the Negro Peoples in Harlem. This parade was attended by Gabriel Johnson, the Mayor of Monrovia in Liberia. As part of it, an estimated 25,000 people assembled in Madison Square Gardens. At the conference, UNIA delegates declared him the Provisional President of Africa, charged with heading a government-in-exile. Some of the West Africans attending the event were angered by this, believing it wrong that an Afro-Jamaican, rather than an African, was taking on this role. Many outside the movement ridiculed Garvey for giving himself this title. The conference then elected other members of the African government-in-exile, and resulted in the production of a Bill of Rights which condemned colonial rule across Africa. In August 1921, UNIA held a banquet in Liberty Hall, at which Garvey gave out honors to various supporters, including such titles as Order of the Nile and the Order of Ethiopia. UNIA established growing links with the Liberian government, hoping to secure land in the West African nation where various African-Americans could move to. Liberia was in heavy debt, with UNIA launching a fundraising campaign to raise $2 million towards a Liberian Construction Loan. In 1921, Garvey sent a UNIA team to assess the prospects in Liberia.Internally, UNIA experienced various feuds. Garvey pushed out Cyril Briggs and other members of the African Blood Brotherhood from UNIA, wanting to place growing distance between himself and black socialist groups. In the Negro World, Garvey then accused Briggs'--who was of mixed heritage'--of being a white man posing as a black man. Briggs then successfully sued Garvey for criminal libel. Assassination attempts, marriage, and divorce [ edit ] In July 1919, Garvey was arrested and charged with criminal libel for claims made about Edwin Kilroe in the Negro World. When this eventually came to court, he was ordered to provide a printed retraction. In October 1919, George Tyler, a part-time vendor of the Negro World, entered the UNIA office and tried to assassinate Garvey. The latter received two bullets in his legs but survived. Tyler was soon apprehended but died in an escape attempt from jail; it was thus never revealed why he tried to kill Garvey. Garvey soon recovered from the incident; five days later he gave a public speech in Philadelphia. After the assassination attempt, Garvey hired a bodyguard, Marcellus Strong. Shortly after the incident, Garvey proposed marriage to Amy Ashwood and she accepted. On Christmas Day, they had a private Roman Catholic church wedding, followed by a major ceremonial celebration in Liberty Hall, attended by 3000 UNIA members. Jacques was her maid of honour. After the marriage, he moved into Ashwood's apartment. The newlyweds embarked on a two-week honeymoon in Canada, accompanied by a small UNIA retinue, including Jacques. There, Garvey spoke at two mass meetings in Montreal and three in Toronto. Returning to Harlem, the couple's marriage was soon strained. Ashwood complained of Garvey's growing closeness with Jacques. Garvey was upset by his inability to control his wife, particularly her drinking and her socialising with other men. She was pregnant, although the child was possibly not his; she did not inform him of this, and the pregnancy ended in miscarriage. Three months into the marriage, Garvey sought an annulment, on the basis of Ashwood's alleged adultery and the claim that she had used "fraud and concealment" to induce the marriage. She launched a counter-claim for desertion, requesting $75 a week alimony. The court rejected this sum, but ordered Garvey to pay her $12 a week, but also refused to grant him the divorce. The court proceedings continued for two years. Now separated, Garvey moved into a 129th Street apartment with Jacques and Henrietta Vinton Davis, an arrangement that at the time could have caused some social controversy. He was later joined there by his sister Indiana and her husband, Alfred Peart. Ashwood, meanwhile, went on to become a lyricist and musical director for musicals amid the Harlem Renaissance. The Black Star Line [ edit ] From 56 West 135th, UNIA also began selling shares for a new business, the Black Star Line.The Black Star Line based its name on the White Star Line. Garvey envisioned a shipping and passenger line travelling between Africa and the Americas, which would be black-owned, black-staffed, and utilised by black patrons. He thought that the project could be launched by raising $2 million from African-American donors, publicly declaring that any black person who did not buy stock in the company "will be worse than a traitor to the cause of struggling Ethiopia". He incorporated the company and then sought about trying to purchase a ship. Many African-Americans took great pride in buying company stock, seeing it as an investment in their community's future; Garvey also promised that when the company began turning a profit they would receive significant financial returns on their investment. To advertise this stock, he travelled to Virginia, and then in September 1919 to Chicago, where he was accompanied by seven other UNIA members. In Chicago, he was arrested and fined for violating the Blue Sky Laws which banned the sale of stock in the city without a license. A certificate for stock of the Black Star Line With growing quantities of money coming in, a three-man auditing committee was established, with found that UNIA's funds were poorly recorded and that the company's books were not balanced. This was followed by a breakdown in trust between the directors of the Black Star Line, with Garvey discharging two of them, Richard E. Warner and Edgar M. Grey, and publicly humiliating them as the next UNIA meeting. People continued buying stock regardless and by September 1919, the Black Star Line company had accumulated $50,000 by selling stock. It could thus afford a thirty-year old tramp ship, the SS Yarmouth. The ship was formally launched in a ceremony on the Hudson River on 31 October. The company had been unable to find enough trained black seamen to staff the ship, so its initial chief engineer and chief officer were white. The ship's first assignment was to sale to Cuba and then to Jamaica, before returning to New York. After that first voyage, the Yarmouth was found to contain many problems and the Black Star Line had to pay $11,000 for repairs. On its second voyage, again to the Caribbean, it hit bad weather shortly after departure and had to be towed back to New York by the coastguard for further repairs.Garvey planned to obtain and launch a second ship by February 1920, with the Black Star Line putting down a $10,000 down payment on a paddle ship called the SS Shadyside. In July 1920, Garvey sacked both the Black Star Line's secretary, Edward D. Smith-Green, and its captain, Cockburn; the latter was accused of corruption. In early 1922, the Yarmouth was sold for scrap metal. In 1921, Garvey travelled to the Caribbean aboard a new BSL ship, the Antonio Maceo, which they had renamed the Kanawha. While in Jamaica, he criticised its inhabitants as being backward and claimed that "Negroes are the most lazy, the most careless and indifferent people in the world". His comments in Jamaica earned many enemies who criticised him on multiple fronts, including the fact he had left his destitute father to die in an almshouse. Attacks back-and-forth between Garvey and his critics appeared in the letters published by The Gleaner. From Jamaica, Garvey travelled to Costa Rica, where the United Fruit Company assisted his transportation around the country, hoping to gain his favour. There, he met with President Julio Acosta. Arriving in Panama, at one of his first speeches, in Almirante, he was booed after doubling the advertised entry price; his response was to call the crowd "a bunch of ignorant and impertinent Negroes. No wonder you are where you are and for my part you can stay where you are." He received a far warmer reception at Panama City, after which he sailed to Kingston. From there he sought a return to the U.S., but was repeatedly denied an entry visa. This was only granted after he wrote directly to the State Department. Criminal charges: 1922''1923 [ edit ] In January 1922, Garvey was arrested and charged with mail fraud for having advertised the sale of stocks in a ship, the Orion, which the Black Star Line did not yet own. He was bailed for $2,500. Hoover and the BOI were committed to securing a conviction; they had also received complaints from a small number of the Black Star Line's stock owners, who wanted them to pursue the matter further. Garvey spoke out against the charges he faced, but focused on blaming not the state, but rival African-American groups, for them. As well as accusing disgruntled former members of UNIA, in a Liberty Hall speech, he implied that the NAACP were behind the conspiracy to imprison him. The mainstream press picked up on the charge, largely presenting Garvey as a con artist who had swindled African-American people. After the arrest, he made plans for a tour of the western and southern states. This included a parade in Los Angeles, partly to woo back member

Impeachment proceedings began yesterday--John Nichols comments; he has some doubts about "bribery" as a charge. Also: it's an unhappy annversary: 100 years since the Palmer Raids. Adam Hochshild talks about deportations of people the government considered "undesirable" – in 1919--and also today. Also, Howard Rodman on his novel "The Great Eastern." Ricky Jay called it "A splendid and notable achievement."

Impeachment proceedings began yesterday--John Nichols comments; he has some doubts about "bribery" as a charge. Also: it’s an unhappy annversary: 100 years since the Palmer Raids. Adam Hochshild talks about deportations of people the government considered "undesirable" – in 1919--and also today. Also, Howard Rodman on his novel "The Great Eastern." Ricky Jay called it "A splendid and notable achievement."

On this day in 1919, the Palmer Raids - which targeted radicals, communists, and anarchists in the U.S. - began. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

On November 7th, 1919, the FBI began raiding union halls across the US, many of which were burned to the ground by patriotic World War 1 veterans, organized under the banner of the American Legion.  In this first nationwide raid conducted by the country's new national police force (which is what the FBI is) and their volunteer thugs, most of the leadership of the Industrial Workers of the World were arrested and imprisoned, thousands of members of this immigrant-led union were deported, and untold numbers were beaten, lynched or shot in the ensuing days of anti-union carnage.

In April 1919, US authorities discovered a plot for mailing 36 bombs to prominent members of the U.S. political and economic establishment. One of those was Attorney General Alexander Mitchell Palmer. He decided it was the work of Russian Communists, so he ordered the U.S. Justice Department to launch The Palmer Raids. And do you know […]

By the turn of the century, radical anarchists were becoming a growing -- and volatile -- political movement. As shifting workplace conditions exploited and endangered American workers, anarchists increasingly turned to violence to spur everyday citizens to upend the capitalist system. The growth of these politically motivated shootings and bombings stoked fear among American citizens — fear of immigrants, outsiders, and anyone else whose ideas might be considered a threat. Soon President Woodrow Wilson was calling on his attorney general A. Mitchell Palmer to investigate, arrest and imprison any noncitizen suspected of spouting “disloyal” or “radical” ideologies.The so-called Palmer Raids would move the little-known, poorly funded and notoriously corrupt Bureau of Investigation into the national spotlight. And it would eventually launch the career of an ambitious young civil servant named Edgar Hoover.Support us by supporting our sponsors!

A profile of Italian anarchist Luigi Galleani and his followers, the Galleanists, who after his deportation engaged in a campaign of bombing and destruction across the country.  Also the "Palmer Raids" of 1919-1920 and a few appearances of people who became of importance later.   Sources “Anarchists held Paterson,” Leadville (CO) Herald Democrat, June 19, 1902. “Anarchists in bombing case under arrest,” Port Huron (MI) Times Herald, June 5, 1919. “Arrest Boston Bolshevist in Roxbury bomb outrage,” Boston Globe, June 4, 1919. “Arrest of bomb plot heads to be made soon,” Muncie (IN) Evening Press, June 4, 1919. “Believe Paterson bomb meant for Fitzgerald,” Boston Globe, June 4, 1919. “Bomb for Mr. Smoot returned to Gimbel's,” Washington Evening Star, May 1, 1919. “Bomb is sent to Senator Overman,” Washington Evening Star, May 1, 1919. “Central Union and the Paterson riots,” New York Times, November 3, 1902. “Congress aroused to stamp out Red activities in U.S.,” Buffalo Enquirer, June 4, 1919. “Cronaca Sovversiva plant is raided,” Barre (VT) Daily Times, September 5, 1918. “Luigi Galleani on trial in N.J.,” Montpelier (VT) Journal, April 26, 1907. “May have M'Queen,” Elmira (NY) Star-Gazette, June 27, 1902. “Mistaken identity Galleani's defense,” Barre (VT) Daily Times, April 27, 1907. “M'Queen here to surrender for sentence,” The Star Press (Muncie, IN), April 11, 1904. “New York bomb trail leads to Philadelphia,” Boston Globe, June 4, 1919. “Once helped publish Cronaca Sovversiva,” Barre (VT) Daily Times, May 5, 1920. “Ordered deported,” Barre (VT) Daily Times, February 20, 1919. “Palmer asks for appropriation to hunt down Reds,” El Paso Times, June 13, 1919. “Plot to assassinate King Humbert and other monarchs was hatched in this city,” New York World, August 3, 1900. “Police seek boy explosion spared,” Binghamton (NY) Press and Sun-Bulletin, July 6, 1904. “Red at Niagara,” Buffalo Enquirer, September 17, 1920. “Soldiers are sent to quell Paterson riots,” Buffalo Evening News, June 20, 1902. “Sued for $5,000,” Montpelier (VT) Journal, December 29, 1910. “Terrorists attack in Philadelphia, wrecking houses of judge, police head and prominent businessman by bombs,” Barre (VT) Daily Times, December 31, 1918. “Trials of Tarrytown rioters are postponed,” Binghamton (NY) Press and Sun-Bulletin, July 6, 1904. “U.S. hunts anarchists as May Day mail plot fails to gain victims,” Washington Evening Star, May 1, 1919. “Work of anarchists of some other city,” Boston Globe, June 3, 1919. Flynn, William J. “On the trail of the anarchist band,” Nashville Tennessean, March 5, 1922. Gage, Beverly. The Day Wall Street Exploded: A Story of America in its First Age of Terror. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009.  

On this episode of The Sofa King Podcast, we break out the Tommy Guns, polish our badges, and talk about the life, power, corruption, and secrets of the ultimate G-Man, J Edgar Hoover. J Edgar Hoover was the first director of the FBI (he even predated the FBI when it was simply the Bureau of Investigation), and he ran the joint for almost 50 years. All the roaring twenties gangster arrests were on his watch, as was prohibition, World War II, the Red Scare, the Cold War, and civil rights. His vision of the FBI defined politics in Washington and criminal prosecution throughout the land, for better or worse. At his height, J Edgar Hoover was so powerful that every president and D.C. power broker feared him and information he’d inevitably gathered on them (and everyone). Hoover started COINTELPRO, which was often illegal and always immoral. He spied on Martin Luther King and tried to convince him to commit suicide (like you do…). He hated commies and persecuted them even before he was the director during a crazy episode in American history called the Palmer Raids. He also persecuted homosexuals as security risks for spying communists, though many experts are convinced he was a closet homosexual himself. So, why did he hate MLK so much? What was wrong with his COINTELPRO program? Who was Clyde Tolson, and why do people think he was his gay lover for decades? Did he really dress in drag? Listen, laugh, learn. Anthony Summers Article on Hoover’s Secret Life: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2012/jan/01/j-edgar-hoover-secret-fbi MLK Letter: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2017/12/13/an-old-letter-sheds-light-on-fbis-malice-toward-martin-luther-king-jr/?utm_term=.3891f7ba8069

Patrick O'Hara is an instructor at Southern New Hampshire University and a middle-school teacher in history and social studies for the Wilkes-Barre Area School District. Here he discusses his educational background, his research into the Palmer Raids and other historical topics, and the process and the requirements of becoming a K-12 teacher. Prof. O'Hara can be reached at p.ohara@snhu.edu. Rob Denning can be reached at snhuhistory@gmail.com or r.denning@snhu.edu. Follow us on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/FilibusterHist.

This week, In The Past Lane is in Chicago to check out a cool history exhibition and speak with John Russick of the Chicago History Museum. The exhibition, "Spies, Traitors, and Saboteurs: Fear and Freedom in America," was originally created by the International Spy Museum in Washington, DC in the wake of September 11. The idea behind it was to explore the way the United States has handled the challenges posed by internal threats -- terrorists, spies, saboteurs, hate groups, etc -- while at the same time protecting civil liberties. Some of the many incidents it explores includes: the Oklahoma City bombing, the Palmer Raids, the Weather Underground, the Haymarket bombing, Japanese Internment, the KKK, German sabotage efforts during World War I, Soviet spying and McCarthyism, and the militia movement. It's an exhibition well worth seeing. Here's a link with more info. I also took a lot of photographs, so if you'd like to see what the exhibition looks like, just scroll down a bit. After I toured the exhibition, I sat down with John Russick, Vice President of Interpretation and Education at the Chicago History Museum, to talk about why the museum decided to host "Spies, Traitors, and Saboteurs" and why the issues it raises are so very important to our democracy. It's a really interesting conversation about history and how it should inform the present. Among the many things we discuss:  Why Americans are really good at forgetting the past (and why it's the job of public history institutions to help them remember).  How so many issues that we wrestle with in contemporary American society -- immigration, terrorism, radical movements, violations of civil liberties, debates over security vs. liberty -- are not new.  How the desire for security in America during tumultuous times has always been in tension with our civil liberties, especially free speech and free thought.  How America has always struggled to define itself and its citizens -- What rights are essential? Which ones are the most important? Who should enjoy them? "The work of being a free and fair society," says Russick, "is never done." Why "Spies, Traitors, and Saboteurs," which was created 13 years ago, is still very relevant in 2017. Show page and credits: http://inthepastlane.com/episode-029/ Photos of the exhibition:  scroll down Information on the exhibition: here Further Reading: "Exhibit on U.S. spies and traitors hopes to speak to present day," Chicago Tribune, April 19, 2017.     Description of the exhibition from the International Spy Museum - link Credits:  Music for This Episode Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com) Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive) Lee Rosevere, “Going Home” (Free Music Archive) Ketsa, “Escape the Profane” (Free Music Archive) Jon Luc Hefferman, "Discovery" (Free Music Archive) The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive) Production Credits Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer Associate Producer: Devyn McHugh Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson Podcasting Consultant: Darrell Darnell of Pro Podcast Solutions Photographer: John Buckingham Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci Website by: ERI Design Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too Social Media management: The Pony Express Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight © Snoring Beagle International, 2017    

After a bombing attack on his home, Attorney General Palmer launched a series of raids on perceived threats to national security. Thousands of people were rounded up, many without cause or warrant, and kept in horrifying conditions. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

After WWI, there was a great deal of social unrest in the United States. Additionally, there was a fear that Communist revolutionaries would try to take over the country. Adding fuel to the fear were two bomb plots in 1919. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

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