• HISTORY
The Slave Rebellion of General Nat Turner
by Mike Ely
Slaveowners in the United States always insisted that “their” slaves were content and obedient. But research has documented at least 250 revolts, both large and small, in the U.S. during slavery times. And much was done to hide their existence. James Madison, the main author of the U.S. Constitution, warned in 1774 that it was best that “such attempts should be concealed as well as suppressed.” One of the largest revolts was led by the slave Nat Turner in Southampton County, Virginia during the summer of 1831.
Nat Turner was born on the Virginia farm of Benjamin Turner on October 2, 1800. It is said that his African-born mother so hated slavery that she wanted to kill Nat at birth rather than let him grow up in bondage.
The Origin of May Day: Haymarket 1886 and the “Troublesome Element”
By Mike Ely
During 1885 a circular passed hand to hand through the ranks of the proletariat in the United States. With the following words it called for class-wide action on May 1, 1886:
“One day of revolt – not rest! A day not ordained by the bragging spokesmen of institutions holding the world of labor in bondage. A day on which labor makes its own laws and has the power to execute them! All without the consent or approval of those who oppress and rule. A day on which in tremendous force the unity of the army of toilers is arrayed against the powers that today hold sway over the destinies of the people of all nations. A day of protest against oppression and tyranny, against ignorance and war of any kind. A day on which to begin to enjoy ‘eight hours for work, eight hours for rest, eight hours for what we will.’”
Blacks and Jews: A Revolutionary View
by Mike Ely
Some people argue that Jewish people have played a special role throughout history–oppressing Black people and keeping them from achieving prosperity within the capitalist system.
It is argued that Jewish merchants and slaveowners played a special role in the brutal slave trade that brought kidnapped Africans to the New World.
It is said that Jewish merchants and landlords are a special cause of the poverty of Black communities.
It is said that “Jewish control” of the media and educational institutions has led to a conscious “Jewish conspiracy” to produce “negative images” and “self-hatred” among Black people.
These views are not true…
Native Blood: The Myth of Thanksgiving
by Mike Ely
It is a deep thing that people still celebrate the survival of the early colonists at Plymouth — by giving thanks to the Christian God who supposedly protected and championed the European invasion. The real meaning of all that, then and now, needs to be continually excavated. The myths and lies that surround the past are constantly draped over the horrors and tortures of our present. I originally wrote this article a decade ago, and it has showed up in different places and publications usually around the holiday. Pass it on.
Every schoolchild in the U.S. has been taught that the Pilgrims of the Plymouth Colony invited the local Indians to a major harvest feast after surviving their first bitter year in New England. But the real history of Thanksgiving is a story of the murder of indigenous people and the theft of their land by European colonialists–and of the ruthless ways of capitalism.
The Maoist Revolution in Tibet
by Mike Ely
Tibet is one place where “common knowledge” clashes sharply with facts and reality.
Pre-revolutionary Tibetan society is wildly romanticized, so that many people have very little sense of the brutality of life and the horrific backwardness enforced by the Lamaist theocracy of monks. Based on such a myth, the arrival of revolutionary forces can be portrayed as a foreign invasion. And, thanks to the propaganda of exiled monks, the following decades of socialism are portrayed quite literally as a genocide.
History’s facts are very different…
