by Susan | Jan 9, 2016 | this day in peace and justice history
January 9, 1776 Thomas Paine published his pamphlet “Common Sense,” setting forth his arguments in favor of American independence. Pamphlets were an important medium for the spread of ideas in the 16th through 19th centuries. He wrote: “This new world hath been the...
by Susan | Jan 8, 2016 | this day in peace and justice history
January 8, 1790 George Washington delivered the first State of the Union Address, speaking about issues that still concern us today. Regarding guns, he said “A free people ought not only to be armed, but disciplined; to which end a uniform and well-digested plan is...
by Susan | Jan 7, 2016 | this day in peace and justice history
January 7, 1955 Marian Anderson became the first African-American to perform with the Metropolitan Opera in New York. On that occasion, she sang the part of Ulrica in Giuseppe Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera. Anderson said later about the evening, “The...
by Susan | Jan 6, 2016 | this day in peace and justice history
January 6, 2015 More than 70 Navajo people joined a prayer walk across the American Southwest protesting a fracking oil pipeline in New Mexico. The walk aimed to galvanize Native American communities to demand more from oil companies that profit from the reservations’...
by Susan | Jan 5, 2016 | this day in peace and justice history
January 5, 1455 Pope Nicholas V wrote the bull Romanus Pontifex to Alfonso V of Portugal. As a follow-up to the Dum diversas, it extended to the Catholic nations of Europe dominion over discovered lands during the Age of Discovery. Along with sanctifying the seizure...
by Susan | Jan 4, 2016 | this day in peace and justice history
January 4, 1965 In his State of the Union address, President Lyndon Baines Johnson laid out a list of legislation needed to achieve his plan for a Great Society. The 1965 State of the Union address heralded the creation of Medicare/Medicaid, Head Start, the Voting...
