6 Badass Acts of Resistance Erased From History
This article was originally published by . It had been edited for YES! Magazine.
The United States is no stranger to bigotry, discrimination, and oppression.
That means it’s also no stranger to civil disobedience, willful defiance, and outright badassery done by marginalized people trying to find liberation.
The Boston Tea Party, the raid on Harper’s Ferry, the Stonewall riots—these are all momentous, rebellious occasions in our nation’s history. But even then, these acts of defiance are often removed from their cultural and historical contexts and taught as if they have no relevance today.
Need I of the atrocious Ǵ Stonewall?
Meanwhile, other actions are completely erased from U.S. history textbooks.
Entire generations of freedom fighters, environmental protectors, and anti-imperialist activists are deliberately not discussed.
When we’re not taught about these acts of resistance, we’re deprived of revolutionary moments in history, elders to aid us in today’s struggles, and important lessons about liberation.
This is by no means a comprehensive list.
But below you’ll find six acts of defiance against prejudice and neglect, and why they’re so vital to the work facing us today.
1. The Children’s Crusade
In 1963, , was a hotbed of activity for the civil rights movement.
By spring, the (SCLC) had organized massive actions against anti-Black violence. Many organizers, including , were arrested. The general public scorned these protests. Time magazine described them as “.”
Many these marches because “adults feared losing jobs or mortgages if they joined in the protests.”
An SCLC organizer, James Bevel, came up with an idea to reinvigorate the protests: have the youth march.
Young people were . The SCLC to prepare them in non-violent actions.
On May 2, hundreds of young people at the 16th Street Baptist Church. Together, they marched towards City Hall, kicking off weeklong protests. Altogether, thousands of young people marched.
It wasn’t all.
Led by, the Birmingham policeԻ , holding them in cells overnight. One of the youngest protesters, Audrey Faye Hendricks, was 9 years old.
Once released, many of the young people went back to the streets to do it all over again.
The media broadcasted nationwide coverage of the marches. The increased attention spurred President John F. Kennedy to the Civil Rights Movement.
What Can We Learn From This?
The erasure of the Children’s Crusade is a problem because it dismisses the relentless courage and power of young people.
It creates that only adults can be at the forefront of change. So many are leading school walkouts, , and other forms of disobedience today.
When we don’t teach the youth that they’re part of a long legacy of young movement-builders, we’re depriving them of a rich, defiant history.
2. The SFSU Third World Liberation Front
If you’ve ever taken an, you owe it to the (հ³).
TWLF was a coalition of organizations by students of color at San Francisco State University (SFSU). Known as the in U.S. history, TWLF protested a number of issues.
By 1968, many students were angry at the , lack of faculty of color, low admission of students of color, and the ongoing Vietnam War. And when SFSU suspended George Murray—teaching assistant and the Black Panther’s Minister of Education—the students began to strike.
Led by the Black Student Union and TWLF, organizers released a. It included reinstating, admitting more students of color, and creating ethnic studies departments. They.
The administration called the police—campus was even By December, members of the began a picket line in support. By February, over 300 students had been arrested on campus.
The governor, Ronald Reagan, called TWLF “a and anarchists.”
The , when the SFSU administration agreed to many of the demands. Around the same time, a second TWLF coalition formed at University of California, Berkeley,Ի also fought for ethnic studies classes and diverse faculty members.
What Can We Learn From This?
There’s been a recent trend of calling college students “too PC” and “too sensitive.”
But for marginalized students, often reflect protests of the past.
TWLF’s actions and other student-led protests show that student voices are important. They have the power to sway administration and demand better for themselves and others after them.
3. The Trail of Broken Treaties
In 1972, one of the largest gatherings of Native activists descended on Washington, D.C.
The , put together by a coalition of Native American organizations, was a cross-country protest. The organizations, including the , developed a paper as a list of demands for the federal government.
Altogether, this protest was created to bring nationwide attention to Native issues including treaty rights, standards of living, and state violence. The name mimicked the wording of the Trail of Tears.
This event came after other historical Native acts of resistance in the 1960s and 1970s, such as the and the uprising at Wounded Knee.
Native historian Vine Deloria Jr. outlined the movement in context in Behind the Trail of Broken Treaties.
The coalition met a week before Election Day and drove cross-country to Washington, D.C. President Richard Nixon refused to meet with organizers, and reportedly said, “Get those goddamn Indians out of town.”
The coalition then occupied the Department of the Interior. Some destroyed government records in protest and refused to leave until the administration negotiated with them.
The occupation lasted a week, with the Nixon administration promising to address the Twenty Points. Deloria points out that once they did, however, “it was obvious that little attention had been paid to the document.”
What Can We Learn From This?
Like many Native activists , Native history is often relegated to “Thanksgiving happened, and then they ‘disappeared.’”
When we beyond that, the ongoing struggles and triumph of Native Americans is erased.
Centuries of resistance is erased, leaving out vital parts of U.S. history and the battle for Native and environmental rights. We need to know these histories to , such as the work of the water protectors at .
4. The ‘Landings’ of Kahoʻolawe
In 1893, the U.S. overthrew Hawaiʻi’s constitutional monarchy. By 1900, despite Hawaiian resistance, Hawaiʻi was officially part of the U.S.
As Noenoe Silva outlines in Aloha Betrayed, native Hawaiians have always resisted this colonization, which has included cultural, religious, and environmental violence.
One example of resistance was the “landings” of Kahoʻolawe.
During World War II, the U.S. declared throughout the Hawaiian islands. Kahoʻolawe was used as a for American military. During “Operation Sailor Hat” in the 1960s, the military’s experiments caused massive ecological damage.
In 1976, filed a lawsuit to force the military to comply with environmental protection laws.
This helped to inspire Native Hawaiians to reclaim Kahoʻolawe.
Native leader and others planned actions to . On January 5, 1976, over on Maui in order to “land” on Kahoʻolawe.
Although most of the group was intercepted by the military, a small group known as the Kaho‘olawe Ninemade it to land.
By 1993, the efforts of these protectors were recognized by state law. The was established. Kaho‘olawe and the surrounding water can only be used by and for Native Hawaiians.
What Can We Learn From This?
Today, many mainland Americans have no idea about the violence against Hawaiians. To many of us, Hawaiʻi is simply a ,Ի Hawaiian culture is relegated to .
These acts are also extremely important in the fight against . They show activists today that it’s possible to reclaim the land from militarism and .
5. The San Francisco HEW Sit-In
Though disabled U.S. activists have for civil rights, very few institutional reforms to address went in effect before the mid-1900s.
Even then, many of these laws were written by non-disabled people and didn’t fully support liberatory changes.
One such law was the . Essentially, it “prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in programs” receiving funds from or sponsored by federal agencies.
Section 504of the act was key in prohibiting ableism. It banned any institution that received federal funds – like hospitals, schools, post offices, and so on – from discriminating against disabled people.
However, three stalled implementing these changes.
Furthermore, Joseph Califano, the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) refused to sign the act.
So the ( ACCD) called for a .
On April 4, 1977, disabled activists picketed and occupied HEW regional offices nationwide.
The HEW occupation lasted 25 days—the longest occupation of a US federal building ever.
Disabled activists and were the lead organizers. They worked closely with other organizations to supply medication, hot food, mattresses, and other necessities.
Activists worked together to make the HEW office livable, as well as bringing media attention to issues facing disabled people, both on institutional and personal levels.
On , Secretary Califano signed Section 504 without changing anything.
Many of the activists involved were also instrumental in creating the
What Can We Learn From This?
Because these histories have been erased, there is a Ǵ activists disability rights and organizers. And unfortunately, many intersectional issues—such as the fact that many Black people killed by police—are not even discussed.
Without these histories, there’s also an that disabled people can’t be change-makers. When in fact, many prominent activists are disabled.
As , “We showed…that we the shut-ins or the shut-outs, that we the hidden, supposedly the frail and the weak, that we could wage a struggle…and win!”
6. The ‘Ashes Action’
The first official report of HIV/AIDS occurred in .
Since then, folks living with HIV/AIDS have experienced systemic stigmatization. They’re denied health care, housing, and even going to school, often facing extreme racism and homophobia from society at large.
The federal government did little in the wake of this epidemic.
So in March 1987, , Vito Russo, and Didier Lestrade created the (ACT UP). ACT UP is self-describedas a “a non-partisan group united in anger and committed to non-violent direct action to end the AIDS crisis.”
In their long history, ACT UP has a long-standing history of civil disobedience, protesting the vast number of institutions that have against people living with AIDS.
One of their largest actions happened in October 1992. It was called the “Ashes Action.” ACT UP organized a funeral march in Washington, D.C., which ended in scattering the who had died of HIV/AIDS onto the White House lawn.
For many, this was both a direct condemnation of the government and a healing process. One of the organizers, Shane Butler, said, “I remember when the ashes went over the fence of the White House. I just don’t remember convulsive grief like the grief I felt in that moment.”
There was a second “Ashes Action” in October 1996, when the AIDS Memorial Quiltwas spread out across the National Mall. This occurred after President Bill Clinton “” and other promised health initiatives.
Within the law few years, the U.S. government has been for “fighting” the AIDS epidemic globally—even though people living with HIV/AIDS are still and.
Yet, we rarely hear about the activists who fought our government for decades.
What Can We Learn From This?
When groups like ACT UP are erased, so is the vital fact that the government doesn’t help marginalized people on its own. It’s the power of the people who force the government to legalize our rights.
Because so many activists living with HIV/AIDS also died from lack of treatment options, erasing this history also leaves us without knowing the thousands of people who paved the way.
As Bruce Ward, “History fades if we are not relentless in bearing witness.” Thankfully, and exist to make sure that we .
When we are out organizing, it can sometimes feel daunting.
It can feel like we’re the only ones doing the work, and as if we’re facing endless struggles.
But the truth is we’re not the first ones—nor will we be the last.
There are endless amounts of activists, protectors, and ancestors in the struggle who we can look back to for inspiration, hope, and ideas in how to continue on in our work.
It’s up to us to learn more about them and do the work in their names—hopefully, so future generations will grow up learning all about our diverse and defiant pasts.