Land and Body- the Politics of Safety

Allotment.

Dawes rolls.

Blood Quantum.

Graft.

Squatters’ rights.

Freedmen.

These words should be familiar to anyone who thinks they know American history.

In the podcast “This Land,” Rebecca Nagle tells the story of Native land theft in the US, primarily through the history of her own Cherokee Nation and the more recent uproar around McGirt v. Oklahoma, a case that the US Supreme Court ruled on in 2020. Oklahoma had long held that much of its eastern territory had ceased being Indian reservation land in the early 20th century, and was completely within state jurisdiction. The court ruled otherwise, but what does that mean? You’ll have to listen to find out more. Episode 5: “The Land Grab,” is a good place to start if you’re pressed for time. It touches on all the terms I listed above.

The Allotment Act, and Allotment in general, were initiatives on the part of the federal and state governments to convert reservation lands that were owned collectively by indigenous tribes, into parcels of property owned by individuals. The fine print was that this process created a great deal of “surplus” land after tribal members had been “allotted” theirs. This land could only be sold to the federal government, who in turn opened it up to homesteading or sold it outright. The profits from such sales was supposed to be held in trust accounts for the benefit of the tribes it was bought from, but corruption at all levels usually thwarted this provision.

Mental Illness Happy Hour logo, a blue station wagon with a giant pill bottle strapped to the roof.

Another podcast I highly recommend is “The Mental Illness Happy Hour.” Comedian Paul Gilmartin interviews artists, friends, and the occasional doctor about all things unwell- depression, anxiety, trauma, etc. It’s trauma that I think is worth thinking about with the controversy around Middle East conflicts, and history in general. The word has so saturated public discourse over the past 10 years that it sounds meaningless to many. Of course, it is anything but. Gilmartin delves into the ugly and excruciating reality of trauma and other afflictions with a level of humor and compassion that is truly astonishing. And there is no flinching. His interview with Meyli Chapin, an American survivor of a terrorist attack in Kenya, is a great introduction.

Sources:

This Land- Season 1, Episode 5: The Land Grab

The Mental Illness Happy Hour- w/ Meyli Chapin, author of Terrorist Attack Girl.

Occupants- Photographs

This book of photographs and vignettes will take you around the world, without skipping the sore spots.

The writing that accompanies the photos is more personal than observational.

Check out the Book TV episode linked below where the author presents a slideshow and talks more concretely about the images.

October 6, 1981

Anwar al-Sadat was the successor of Gamal Abdel-Nasser, the man who led the military coup against the Egyptian monarchy and their British allies.

He and Nasser were both leaders in a Pan-Arab movement throughout the Middle East. But al-Sadat made many enemies by rolling back socialist policies and signing a peace accord with Israel. Most have attributed his assassination in 1981 to these 2 factors.

Sources:

Blackpast

Sadat speech- LOC

Guardian Archive

Lexicon Valley- A Podcast about Language

In my university orientation, one of our advisors told us, “Study Languages.”


She elaborated that anything you’re interested in will be made more clear and useful by studying a foreign language. And beyond your specific studies, learning a language (regardless of your age, fluency, etc.) improves your brain and provides insight into countless phenomenon. As a historian, I second this advice emphatically. Languages are invaluable in helping one understand how both societies and individuals grow, decay, and adapt. There are millions of historical leads buried in their grammar and vocabulary.

Linguist John McWhorter hosts a superb half-hour podcast examining various facets of language called Lexicon Valley. While the topic is always language, the conversation invariably swerves into past, present, future- abstract to concrete- politics to culture- and back.


Professor McWhorter has often argued against the grain. As a Black academic, he famously argued against educational initiatives in the 90s that claimed that Black students would be better served learning African-American Vernacular English (AKA Ebonics) instead of traditional English. Proponents cited data showing that Black students performed worse than other demographics in English classes and determined it was because they were learning someone else’s language. McWhorter’s position was and is that this approach denies Black students an equal education and that the data revealing Black “underperformance” is more accurately attributed to socioeconomic status and antiquated testing methods.


These topics crop up on Lexicon Valley occasionally, but only because, as I said, when you study languages, every topic crops up. McWhorter is a highly listenable host respectfully navigating the beautiful, volatile topic of language.

Luego! <(Spanish)

John McWhorter debating (academically) antiracism with Nikhil Singh- Reason TV. https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=mzPKk19t3Kw

Lexicon Valley- Recommended Episodes:

8/21/23- Miami English

9/13/22- Is Negro a Slur or just Antiquated?

11/2/21- Can you play “Jew” in Scrabble?

9/7/21- What do they Speak in Afghanistan?

8/24/21- The Morphing of Critical Race Theory

September 15, 1821

El Acta de La Independencia de Centroamerica was the document that declared the independence of the (then) 5 countries of Central America- Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. Belize and Panama were established later.

It was signed and enacted on September 15, 1821.

Actually, at the time it was called the Independencia de Guatemala, as all of the Central American countries were considered provinces of the the Spanish territory of Guatemala. In the same year the new Central American states chose to join the Mexican Empire, but the alliance fell apart within a few years, leading to an independent Federation of the Centre of America in 1823.

The events surrounding these political movements are complicated and sprawl throughout multiple decades. I’m no expert, rather someone continuing to better understand the histories of Mexico, the Southwest US, Central America, South America, The Caribbean, and the other regions of what is sometimes called Latin America, or América Latina.

1821 Mexican Empire © Giggette. Wikimedia Commons. CC-BY-SA-3.0

Vocab- The Colonial Rainbow

Colonialism is a more complicated phenomenon than it may first appear. Not only has it manifested in multiple ways, but since the 20th century, it has been increasingly challenged, dismantled, and redefined by colonized peoples and states. This has resulted in theories, practices, and movements, such as decolonialism, anti-colonialism, and post-colonialism, that can be difficult to distinguish from each other, as some users apply them more interchangeably than others.

Imperialism- The practice and/or policy of a state or people extending its authority into other territories for political or economic gain.

Colonialism- Appropriation, occupation, and/or control of one territory by another, usually defined by resource or wealth extraction.

Settler Colonialism- Distinguished from traditional colonialism wherein resources and wealth are extracted from the colonized territory to the colonizing territory (often called the metropole). 

Settler colonialism is defined by the settlers creating a new colonizing territory on the territory of the colonized, (ex. USA, Australia, South Africa).

Decolonialism/Decolonization- The process of a colonized territory or people gaining independence, often implemented problematically by colonizers themselves.

Neocolonialism- Control and/or exploitation of one territory by another through indirect means, particularly of formerly conquered or dependent territories.

Anti-colonialism- Resistance to and action against colonizing powers by the colonized. Can be formal organizations or more decentralized movements. Often referred to as decolonialism. 


Post-colonialism- Can refer to a specific historical period of any given place or region after one defined by imperialism or colonialism, or to a more globalized intellectual and political project of rethinking world affairs in the aftermath of “Western colonialism” from the 1950s through to the present (Western meaning Western European).

world map of 3 worlds model of political and economic alignment, 1-green, 2-Yellow, 3-Red

World Map of the 3 Worlds Model. © 1998–2006. nationsonline.org

September 8, 1986

Love her or hate her, Oprah Winfrey redefined American television, book clubs, wealth, and, arguably, Blackness.

Oprah Winfrey on the first national broadcast of the "Oprah Winfrey Show" on Sep. 8, 1986. The premiere was on the topic of "marrying the right person." Rockford Register Star.

In 1984, Oprah co-hosted on a local show on ABC’s network, called AM Chicago. Winfrey soon became a rising star and the Oprah Winfrey Show premiered nationally in 1986.

Oprah is many things to many different people and her show tackled a range of topics. I’ve linked to a video I found from her show’s first season where she visited Forsyth County, Georgia, where Black people had been barred for over 75 years.

I was not a fan of Oprah before, but I was deeply impressed by her poise and her ability to challenge the people she was interviewing while also allowing them to speak their mind.

Hollywood Reporter article

Forsyth County clip

Oprah Winfrey 2023

Vera Anderson/ Getty Images

Labor Days

 

Artist: WA Rogers. Political cartoon from the July 21, 1894 cover of Harper's Weekly. It is labeled "The Vanguard of Anarchy" and depicts Eugene Debs, leader of the American Railway Union, being carried on a throne among a procession which carries a standard that states anarchy.

Peter J. McGuire, a founding member of the Brotherhood of Carpenters, is credited with proposing an American labor holiday in September. He suggested to the New York Central Labor Union in 1882 that the first Monday in September be observed in recognition of workers. That year on September 5th the Knights of Labor sponsored a parade in New York City, regarded as America’s first Labor Day.

But the story is much more complex. European socialists and trade unionists collaborated in Paris in 1889 to create the first Worker’s Day as an international holiday and memorial of the Haymarket Riot in Chicago- the world’s first May Day (the worker’s day, not the ancient spring/summer festivals of various cultures).

They were influenced by a decision made five years earlier by the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions of the United States and Canada, later known as the American Federation of Labor. They passed a resolution to fight for the 8-hour work day on October 7, 1884:

“Resolved by the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions the United States and Canada, that eight hours shall constitute legal day's labor from May First, 1886, and that we recommend to labor organizations throughout their jurisdiction that they so direct their laws as to conform to this resolution by the time named.”

Pullman Strike in 1894. Chicago South Side. Original caption: "National guardsmen firing at the mob at Loomis and 49th Street, July 7th. Drawn by G. W. Peters from a sketch by G. A. Coffin." Harper's Weekly 1894-07-21, p. 689. Public Domain.

A number of American states observed Labor Day officially over the next few years. After the Pullman Strike in 1894, where the National Guard shot and killed several strikers, the Cleveland Administration passed a bill making Labor Day a federal holiday as one way to try and quell unrest. It was also hoped by many that this would distinguish the American labor movement from its rebellious European counterpart.

Sources:

Haymarket Affair LOC

Gilder Lehrman Institute

Britannica May Day

Britannica Labor day

Smithsonian

September 1, 1969

Today in 1969 Muammar Al-Gaddafi led an underground network of fellow army officers in ousting the Libyan monarchy and instituting a socialist government.

Below are links to “The Constitutional Proclamation of Libya” and a transcript of Gaddafi’s testimony about the Libyan Revolution of 69.

There are many books and articles that examine Gaddafi and his government- many highly critical- judge for yourself.

Proclamation

Gaddafi Testimony homepage

Testimony pdf

PS. Check this blog on Fridays for more “today in history” tweets.

The United States' Thanksgiving

Thanksgivings were originally English Puritan religious festivals that would be declared for various reasons. New England pilgrims declared them after their arrival in the Americas, the end of a brutal drought, and other major events. Oddly, it’s not certain if the feast declared by governor William Bradford to celebrate Plymouth Colony’s first successful corn harvest was among these recurring Thanksgiving celebrations. However, this feast in which the colonists invited their Native allies, the Wampanoags, led by “Chief“ Massasoit, provided the basis of the story of the United States’ “first” Thanksgiving.

George Washington made the first proclamation of a national day of Thanksgiving on November 26, 1789 to celebrate the successful revolution, particularly the enacting of the Constitution which gave the nation of disparate states a solid political foundation. Several of the following presidents made similar Thanksgiving proclamations, but the tradition faded out after James Madison. 

Sarah Josepha Hale

The writer Sarah Josepha Hale and others petitioned for a national Thanksgiving holiday repeatedly starting in 1827. The holiday these White Protestant writers had in mind was more national than religious, and it sought to focus the holiday around the “Woman’s sphere” (cooking, homemaking, crafting, etc.) Many have criticized that it was also a scheme to institutionalize Protestant Anglo-Saxons as the cultural hegemons in the face of rising Catholic immigration, Black emancipation, etc. It didn’t happen until 1863. 

During the Civil War Abraham Lincoln declared the last Thursday of November as a national day of Thanksgiving. The year began with the Emancipation Proclamation and that July the Battle of Gettysburg dealt both sides enormous losses. The proclamation was actually penned by Lincoln’s Secretary of State, William Seward.

(Partial quote)

“…Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defense have not arrested the plow, the shuttle, or the ship; the ax has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege, and the battlefield, and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom.

No human counsel hath devised, nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.

Right Hand and Life Mask of Abe Lincoln- Leonard Wells Volk, Augustus Saint-Gaudins

It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American people. I do, therefore, invite my fellow-citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a Day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens.

And I recommend to them that, while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners, or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty hand to heal the wounds of the nation, and to restore it, as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility, and union.” 

Right Hand and Life Mask of Abe Lincoln- Leonard Wells Volk, Augustus Saint-Gaudins

Sources:

Lincoln’s 1863 Thanksgiving Proclamation- Olivia Waxman, Time.com

Lincoln and Thanksgiving- National Park Service 

Thanksgiving 2022- The History Channel

Wills, Anne Blue. Pilgrims and Progress: How Magazines made Thanksgiving. Church History. March 2003 Vol. 72, no. 1. Pp. 138-158. Cambridge University Press on behalf of the American Society of Church History. https://www.jstor.org/stable/4146807

Labor History- Revised.

Map from “Born of Lakes and Plains” Anne F. Hyde, 2022.


Studying history has made me a geography maniac. Whether I’m reading about Central Asia, French/Spanish/American New Orleans, or ancient Egypt, I have found studying the geography of the place I’m reading about to drastically improve my understanding of the people and events. Maps, timelines, atlases, help me focus on the where to get deeper into the when.

Studying American history, I was trained to use a place-based lens as one tactic to avoid the failure of early “Western” historians to struggle with their unconscious biases and resist hero worship, group think, and the exclusion of inconvenient communities, thereby leaving future generations with an empty cartoon masquerading as history. 



Why is this a labor history blog? I believe the idea (and therefore the reality) of labor has been trapped in a ghettoized paradigm where it is only associated with federally recognized labor unions and niche professions. I will argue that labor is usually at the foundation of any nation, war, or major societal change. However, it benefits the minority in power (anywhere) to frame events as the result of their own careful planning or the errors and malice of others (Black people, socialists, the homeless, etc.).

You can’t just hear the story the way it's told; you have to dig deeper. You have to look outside the frame of the narrative. And ask questions, ALWAYS.