The Transatlantic Impact of civil rights anthem “We Shall Overcome”
“We Shall Overcome” bridges the civil rights movements in the United States and Northern Ireland, says Glen Whitcroft, but does this overlook the diversity in Northern Ireland protest history?
Continue ReadingWar Among All Puerto Ricans: The Nationalist Revolt and the Creation of the Estado Libre Asociado of Puerto Rico (part three)
The battle in Puerto Rico was over. By no means had it been bloodless. Eighteen Nacionalistas had been killed and eleven wounded. Seven policemen and a Guardsman were killed while twenty-one police officers and eleven soldiers were wounded. A fireman and two civilians also died during the gunfights. After his arrest, a still defiant Albizu Campos declared that the “nation was undergoing a glorious transfiguration.” By contrast, Muñoz Marín instead talked of the “tragic and useless death of 31 Puerto Ricans.”
Continue ReadingWar Among All Puerto Ricans: The Nationalist Revolt and the Creation of the Estado Libre Asociado of Puerto Rico (part two)
That the Nacionalistas were planning a coup or insurrection was hardly a secret. Emboldened by the apparent inaction of the insular government, Albizu Campos continued his call to arms against the U.S. and its representatives in the island – Muñoz Marín, the Populares, and anyone who served, worked, or were in any way related to the metropolis.
Continue ReadingWar Among All Puerto Ricans: The Nationalist Revolt and the Creation of the Estado Libre Asociado of Puerto Rico (part one)
In the first of three posts examining the Puerto Rican Uprising of 1950, Dr Harry Franqui-Rivera discusses the political developments that led to the nationalist revolt. In his inaugural address of 20 January 1949, President Harry S. Truman announced that, as leader of the free world, the U.S. was bent on combating the “false philosophy” of Communism, not just by strengthening its military alliances with “peace-loving” countries, but by its determination to “work for a world in which all nations and all peoples are free to govern themselves as they see fit, and to achieve a decent and satisfying life.”[1] He emphasized that the U.S. sought no territory, that “we have imposed our will on none”, and that “the old imperialism – exploitation for foreign profit – has no place in our plans.”[2] Moreover, the U.S. was to embark on a new plan to make available its technology and expertise, as […]
Continue ReadingHaiti’s “horrid civil war”: The 1791 Haitian Revolution and its Legacy in America
Following the success of the American colonies in gaining their independence from Britain, an endeavour in which he had played no small part, Thomas Jefferson hoped that people of other nations would follow his countrymen down the road to political revolution. But the black republic of Haiti and its citizens became a national nightmare at this foundational moment of American history, and in many ways have retained that identity for over two hundred years.
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