Female Revolutionaries That You Probably Didn't Learn About In History class

Blanca Canales

Blanca Canales was a Puerto Rican Nationalist who helped organize the Daughters of Freedom, the women’s branch of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party. She was one of the few women in history to have led a revolt against the United States, known as the Jayuya Uprising. In 1948, a severely restricting bill known as the Gag Bill, or Law 53, was introduced that made it a crime to print, publish, sell, or exhibit any material intended to paralyze or destroy the insular government. In response, the Nationalists starting planning armed revolution. On October 30, 1950, Blanca and others took up arms which she had stored in her home and marched into the town of Jayuya, taking over the police station, burning down the post office, cutting the telephone wires, and raising the Puerto Rican flag in defiance of the Gag Law. As a result, the US President declared martial law and ordered Army and Air Force attacks on the town. The Nationalists held on for awhile, but were arrested and sentenced to life in prison after 3 days. Much of Jayuya was destroyed, and the incident was not fairly covered by US media, with the US President even saying it was “an incident between Puerto Ricans.”

9 more Female Revolutionaries That You Probably Didn't Learn About at Films For Action

[r]Evolution

Tens of thousands march in London against coalition's austerity measures

Tens of thousands of people marched through central London on Saturday afternoon in protest at austerity measures introduced by the coalition government. The demonstrators gathered before the Houses of Parliament, where they were addressed by speakers, including comedians Russell Brand and Mark Steel. An estimated 50,000 people marched from the BBC's New Broadcasting House in central London to Westminster.

"The people of this building [the House of Commons] generally speaking do not represent us, they represent their friends in big business. It's time for us to take back our power," said Brand. "This will be a peaceful, effortless, joyful revolution and I'm very grateful to be involved in the People's Assembly. Power isn't there, it is here, within us," he added. "The revolution that's required isn't a revolution of radical ideas, but the implementation of ideas we already have."

More at The Guardian

180 documented victims of Ché in Cuba

Hollywood has dutifully churned out yet another cinematic agitprop paean to a leftist “martyr,” this time Ernesto Guevara. So let’s recall the real “Che” and try to discern why many supposedly democratic, civil libertarian liberals still swoon over this Stalinist mass-murderer.

The meticulous myth of Senor Guevara is of a handsome Argentine heroically helping Fidel Castro’s guerrillas liberate Cuba from Fulgencio Batista’s military dictatorship in 1959. Then he became a global revolutionary icon inspiring the downtrodden to rise up everywhere, even personally leading rebel warriors in the Congo before being executed doing the same in Bolivia in 1967. The (communist) party line says Che personifies the selfless humanitarian courageously fighting for “social justice.” He’s the Marxists’ martyred Christ figure replete with pictures of his half-naked corpse riddled with bullet holes. And the classic poster of an angry young Guevara has scarred countless college dorm rooms for over 40 years, putting a face on the eternally young rebel for angry adolescents everywhere.

The real Guevara was a reckless bourgeois adrenaline-junkie seeking a place in history as a liberator of the oppressed. But this fanatic’s vehicle of “liberation” was Stalinism, named for Soviet dictator Josef Stalin, murderer of well over 20 million of his own people. As one of Castro’s top lieutenants, Che helped steer Cuba’s revolutionary regime in a radically repressive direction. Soon after overthrowing Batista, Guevara choreographed the executions of hundreds of Batista officials without any fair trials. He thought nothing of summarily executing even fellow guerrillas suspected of disloyalty and shot one himself with no due process.

Che was a purist political fanatic who saw everything in stark black and white. Therefore he vociferously opposed freedoms of religion, speech, press, assembly, protest, or any other rights not completely consistent with his North Korean-style communism. How many rock music-loving teens sporting Guevara t-shirts today know their hero supported Cuba’s 1960s’ repression of the genre? How many homosexual fans know he had gays jailed?

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Revolution Or Unrest: How Venezuela Compares To Ukraine

As the world continues to watch events in Ukraine, a new wave of protests are taking place across the world in Venezuela.

Newsy

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

Hugo Chávez  28 July 1954 – 5 March 2013

State of siege

Scenes from a very hard-to-find movie made in 1972: "State of Siege". It's a fictionalized account of a true story.
Using an "aid" program as a cover, the CIA trained police officers throughout South America to fight "subversives" using of torture, assassination, and police-staged explosives to blame on terrorists.

Brasscheck tv

Killer Fashion Revolution is fashion hacktivism!

It is about transforming war related fashion to promote human rights. A lot of the clothes we wear are related to war without us knowing it. The idea of Killer Fashion Revolution is to track these clothes and transform them to new garments or artifacts that promote human rights. Specially during war time human rights are often neglected. By recycling some of our war related clothes and transforming them to promote human rights we take a stand for a more just world in a creative and fun way. We all know that human rights exists, therefor by exploring them trough fashion we bring them to our awareness in daily life, that helps us to find creative ways to act when we meet unjustness. Read More:About KFR See more: KFR Do-It-Yourself Designs

Participate! On-line can join the Killer Fashion Revolution through 3 phases:
Discover - see an animation that introduces you to war related fashion.
Understand - search on this wiki and learning more how different clothes are related to war.
Create - Transform your old war related clothes to to promote human rights and publish them.

KFRWiki

TIME's Person of the Year 2011

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Egyptian Military rulers have 'crushed' hopes of 25 January protesters

Egypt's military rulers have completely failed to live up to their promises to Egyptians to improve human rights and have instead been responsible for a catalogue of abuses which in some cases exceeds the record of Hosni Mubarak, Amnesty International said today in a new report.

In Broken Promises: Egypt's Military Rulers Erode Human Rights (PDF), the organization documents a woeful performance on human rights by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) which assumed power after the fall of former President Hosni Mubarak in February.
The report's release follows a bloody few days in Egypt that has left many dead and hundreds injured after army and security forces violently attempted to disperse anti-SCAF protesters from Cairo’s Tahrir square.
"By using military courts to try thousands of civilians, cracking down on peaceful protest and expanding the remit of Mubarak's Emergency Law, the SCAF has continued the tradition of repressive rule which the January 25 demonstrators fought so hard to get rid of," said Philip Luther, Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Acting Director.

Amnesty International

Egyptian call to revive revolution

Egyptian activists have called for an international day of action to defend their country's revolution, as global opposition mounts towards the military junta.

In a statement appealing for solidarity from the worldwide Occupy movement that has taken control of public squares in London, New York and hundreds of other cities, campaigners in Egypt claim their revolution is "under attack" from army generals and insist they too are fighting against a "1%" elite intent on stifling democracy and promoting social injustice.

The announcement came as Alaa Abd El Fattah, the jailed Egyptian revolutionary who has become a rallying figure for those opposed to the junta, had his appeal against detention refused by a military court. He and 30 other defendants accused of inciting violence against the military will remain in prison for at least 10 more days. The authorities could then choose to extend their incarceration indefinitely. This week a secret letter written by Abd El Fattah from inside his cell at Bab el-Khalq jail was published by the Guardian and the Egyptian newspaper al-Shorouk, laying bare the growing chasm between the ruling generals and grassroots activists who believe that their revolution has been hijacked. The Guardian

Alaa Abdel Fattah: Portrait of an Egyptian Revolutionary - VT

The “Secret” of Vladimir Lenin's Mausoleum

Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, the man who is directly related to the Russian Revolution still rest in the center of Moscow, at its main square and is protected by the same service that protects most important people in the state. Behind Lenin's mausoleum a mid-size temple is located, where "prominent Soviet leaders are buried – some in the soil (traditionally) and some in the form of dust, immured into the Kremlin's. The idea of a tomb in the middle of the capital city does not surprise anyone. It is generally acceptable to perform concerts there, to ice skate to the music, or to cheer and shout at New Year's Eve. However, the idea of mausoleum itself on the other hand...

No matter what anyone says, soviet Russia was a highly atheist state. So much so that during the World War 2, when there was a need "open" the Orthodox Church to the Soviet people (as well as other important Russian attribute – officer's rank). This church had to be literally re-created "from scratch" simply because there was nothing left of it at 40-s (which is not surprising). This is what comrade Lenin wrote in the early days of Soviet power: “In accordance with the decision of All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars, it is highly recommended to liquidate the religious facilities and priests. The priests are to be arrested as counter-revolutionaries and ruthlessly shot anywhere. And as much as possible. Churches should be closed. The premises of temples should be sealed and turned into warehouses.
By the way, what is this building? Oh yes, Ziggurat. It was built just as Ziggurat should be - a stepped tower in a form of rectangular cross section, shrine on top, and the teraphim - inside. To clarify what teraphim is (quoting Wikipedia): "in modern occultism — a certain «disgraceful thing», a «collector» of magic powers at the base of which mummified remains might lie. Sometimes, Lenin's mausoleum located on Red Square is referred to as teraphim” – well, not bad for confirmed atheists. Apparently, they did worship someone.

Photo: Crowds queuing outside Lenin's tomb by the Kremlin Wall, Red Square, Moscow. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images). 1928
Next, on the websites that deal with the interpretations of Lenin's mausoleum you can find strange discussions about delusional bio-energy, psychic practices, Chaldeans of Babylon and Aztec priests. Further, all of them write in unison about a "strange niche with inner beaked corner, some kind of lateral spine (does not exist in other corners)” where magical energy is collected or radiates – opinions differ here.
The intriguing thing is that such niche really does exist – in the right exterior corner in the mausoleum (if you stand facing it). Moreover, it is the only one looking like this – the rest of the corners are completely conventional. Just look at this picture:

Photo: Lenin's Mausoleum also known as Lenin's Tomb, situated in the Red Square in Moscow.
Why it's there – no one really knows. From an architectural standpoint, this is an asymmetrical. One could refer to "Hanlon's razor" that states the following "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity" – "Soviet geniuses" built God knows what. There is saying that all things built by Soviets" were, to say the least, not safe or even dangerous. However, in this case the above-mentioned explanation does not really cut it. The mausoleum was designed not by a Soviet but by an acclaimed Russian architect Alexey Shchusev. Shchusev was a diligent student of old Russian art, and in 1897 he graduated from Imperial Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg. For his final thesis Shchusev received a gold medal and continued his studies abroad (small note: Alexey Shchusev did not attempt to design any type of Ziggurats, although he designed a lot, and concentrated mainly on a simple, perceivable and relevant neo-Russian style that was a domestic version of Art.
So yes, the purpose of mausoleum is not clear, and there is no explanation as to why – at least in open sources. Nevertheless, some details can definitely be noted, such as: the item is facing a) north (so what?); b) facing strictly the direction from whence the visitors were forced to come during the weekdays and thousands of workers and soldiers during national festivities. It is hard to estimate the exact number of people that passed through the mausoleum – around seventy million to one hundred million people, or more. As long as I remember myself during the rein of the Soviet government, the queues to mausoleum were always extremely long. Like an enormously long snake, the queue reached Alexander Gardens. To be honest, queue that long was observed in Moscow only during the 80's, when Gorbachev, riding the wave of "Perestroika" opened the first McDonald's in Soviet Union at the Pushkin Square (by the way, it was a Canadian branch, not an American one).

More here, exclusive for AvaxNews

Occupy Wall Street Protests Continues

Hundreds of people protesting Wall Street abuses were penned in and arrested by police Saturday, two weeks into an ongoing demonstration that has become known on Twitter as #OccupyWallStreet.

Centered at Zuccotti Park since September 17, the gathering that began as a call to arms from anti-consumerist magazine AdBusters has shown no sign of a slowdown.

The movement aims to "express a feeling of mass injustice," according to the group’s declaration for the occupation of New York City released Friday. The injustices include the foreclosure crisis, work place discrimination and student loan debt, among a list of others.

As HuffPost reported recently, the movement is less about specific policy demands and more about an expression of opposition to ever yawning economic inequality driven by Wall Street and its allies in Washington. - huffingtonpost.com

More than 700 people were arrested on the Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday evening during a march by anti-Wall Street protesters who have been occupying a downtown Manhattan square for two weeks. – The Guardian

Masquerade in Moscow

The Russian Bolshevik revolution was not a spontaneous uprising of the masses.  It was planned, financed, and orchestrated by outsiders.  Some of the financing came from Germany which hoped that internal problems would force Russia out of the war against her.  But most of the money and leadership came from financiers in England and the United States.  It was the perfect example of the Rothschild formula in action.

This group centered mainly around a secret society created by Cecil Rhodes, one of the world's wealthiest men at the time. The purpose of that group was nothing less than world dominion and the establishment of a modern feudalist society controlled by the world's central banks.  Headquartered in England, the Rhodes inner-most directorate was called the Round Table.  In other countries, there were established subordinate structures called Round-Table Groups.  The Round-Table Group in the united States became known as the Council on Foreign Relations.  The CFR, which was initially dominated by J.P. Morgan and later by the Rockefellers, is the most powerful group in America today.  it is even more powerful than the federal government, because almost all of the key positions in government are held by its members.  In other words, it is the United States government.

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Egyptians protest against military rule

Protesters have held a mass rally at Cairo's Tahrir Square calling for reforms, after the ruling military council said it would respond harshly to any violence by activists. By evening, demonstrators had partially destroyed a wall recently built outside the Israeli embassy in Cairo to protect the building.

The protesters also ripped down the Israeli flag during the unrest, and the Egyptian ministry of health has said 88 people were injured in clashes around the embassy. Friday's gathering the Egyptian capital was supposed to branch out into a march to the nearby cabinet offices, to press the military rulers to keep their promises of reform after the February revolution that ended Hosni Mubarak's rule.

All through the morning, protesters gathered under a scorching sun and filled a section of the public square to listen to the weekly Muslim prayer sermon. "It would be shame on the Egyptian people if they forget their revolution," the preacher said

More on Al Jazeera English

Some journalists covering events in Libya are “not real journalists”

Global Research journalist Mahdi Nazemroaya says he fears for his life and is being threatened for “not going by what NATO is presenting” as news out of Libya. He says he believes that some of the journalists covering events are “not real journalists”, but are instead working for security services.

Rebel General Shot By Islamist Militia

An Islamist militia allied to Libya's rebel opposition is behind the death of their military commander Abdel Fattah Younes, a National Transitional Council minister has said.

Ali Tarhouni, who is the finance and oil minister for the NTC, recently recognised by several countries including Britain as the legitimate Libyan authority, said Younes was killed by a group known as the Obaida Ibn Jarrah Brigade. General Younes defected to the rebels in February after the beginning of the Libyan uprising. He had served under Gaddfi since the revolution of 1969. Younes body was found shot and burned with those of two of his aides on Friday.

"His lieutenants did it," said Tarhouni, according to the Reuters news agency. If true, the revelation will cast fresh doubt on the rebels' ability to fight as a group and form a stable government. It will also be troubling for British Foreign Secretary William Hague and others who have publicly put their faith in the rebels. Hague announced on Wednesday that Britain would recognise the NTC as the representative government of Libya after similar announcements by the US and French governments.

The decision was mocked by Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's spokesman Moussa Ibrahim, who said that the slaying of Younes was "a slap in the face" to the British government. "By this act, al-Qaeda wanted to mark out its presence and its influence in this region."

From huffingtonpost.co.uk

World Revolution Not Seen on TV- Rallies Around the World

Worldwide rallies cry for peace and gather in solidarity. Western media ignores these peaceful gatherings and if they report, they focus on a few who act out (negatively). They don't show you the thousands of videos taken by real people around the world chanting for peace and freedom.

Nato strike 'kills Gaddafi's youngest son'

Saif al-Arab Gaddafi, the youngest son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, and three of his grandchildren have been killed in a NATO air strike, a Libyan government spokesman said.

Gaddafi and his wife were in the Tripoli house of his 29-year-old son, Saif al-Arab Gaddafi, when it was hit by at least one missile fired by a NATO warplane late on Saturday, according to Libyan government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim.

"The house of Mr Saif al-Arab Gaddafi was attacked tonight with full power. The leader with his wife was there in the house with other friends and relatives.”

"This was a direct operation to assassinate the leader of this country. This is not permitted by international law. It is not permitted by any moral code or principle. What we have now is the law of the jungle. We think now it is clear to everyone that what is happening in Libya has nothing to do with the protection of civilians."

Al Jazeera

But wait…
Does it has something to do with this:

Saif al-Arab, Gaddafi's youngest son, who was sent by his father to cooperate with Libyan security forces in the massive crackdown on pro-democracy protesters joined forces with the demonstrators in the eastern city of Benghazi on Thursday.

According to the reports, Saif al-Arab, Gaddafi's youngest son, who was sent by his father to cooperate with Libyan security forces in the massive crackdown on pro-democracy protesters joined forces with the demonstrators in the eastern city of Benghazi.

Press TV

Death toll mounts on Syria's 'day of rage'

Dozens of people have been shot dead by Syrian security forces, activists claim, as tens of thousands took part in anti-government rallies dubbed a "day of rage". Activists said at least 50 protesters were killed across the country on Friday, although Al Jazeera cannot independently verify the death toll.

At least 15 people were reported killed near Deraa where security forces fired on thousands of protesters trying to enter the besieged southern city, sources told Al Jazeera's Rula Amin. Deraa has been the scene of regular demonstrations since protests against Syrian president Bashar al-Assad's rule began last month, but the city has also borne the brunt of weeks of government repression.

The government claims its forces are battling "extremist and terrorist groups in the town" and said two soldiers were killed on Friday.

"Deraa has been under siege since Monday morning. Residents from the surrounding villages were trying to break the siege as they tried to get supplies," our correspondent said. "They met with hostile security forces who fired at them and we know that at least 15 people were killed.

Al Jazeera