Today in history

January 11

1885
Alice Paul, chief strategist for the militant wing of the suffrage movement and author of the Equal Rights Amendment, was born in Moorestown, NJ

1912
Two-month long IWW Bread and Roses Strike begins, Lawrence, MA

1952
Peace Pledge Union organized “Operation Gandhi,” and became the first British protest against nuclear weapons as 10 staged a “sit down” on War Office steps in London.

1957
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) was founded by Dr. Martin Luther King and other Black clergymen who wanted to press for civil rights. Sixty black ministers from ten states came to Atlanta, Georgia, to set up the coordinating group. They elected King its first president, with the Reverend Ralph Abernathy as treasurer.

1998
Twenty-five thousand occupied the Narmada dam site in India, a World-Bank funded mega project slated to submerge 61 villages. Local residents organized as they became concerned about their livelihoods, environmental impact and a host of other issues.

2002
U.S. opens prison at Guantanano