Inside History: Protest. Revolt & Reform
For our next issue we take a closer look at the theme of Protest from the events of Peterloo to the fall of the Berlin. Inside we cover a whole range of historical protests and the individuals who led the charge for change. This issues includes:
John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry, The Suffragettes, Billie Holiday and the role music has played in protests, The Civil Rights Movement, Protest and Sport, We are the People: The Fall of the Berlin Wall, Bloody Sunday at Trafalgar Square, and much much more.
For our next issue we take a closer look at the theme of Protest from the events of Peterloo to the fall of the Berlin. Inside we cover a whole range of historical protests and the individuals who led the charge for change. This issues includes:
John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry, The Suffragettes, Billie Holiday and the role music has played in protests, The Civil Rights Movement, Protest and Sport, We are the People: The Fall of the Berlin Wall, Bloody Sunday at Trafalgar Square, and much much more.
PROTEST & SPORTfrom the 1972 Summer Olympics despite qualifyingnumerous times. Even when the Summer Olympics werehosted in Sydney, Australia in 2000, Norman was notinvited to participate.The 1968 Summer Olympics demonstration served as onlyone of many efforts in the professional sporting arena toilluminate human rights and inequality. Only a year prior tothis iconic event, the world of sports was shaken up by yetanother iconic event.On April 28, 1967, world-renowned boxing championMuhammad Ali refused to join the U.S. Army in America’swar against Vietnam. The eventual three-time worldchampion and former Olympic gold medalist would beconvicted of draft evasion, sentenced to five years inprison, fined $10,000, and banned from boxing for threeyears for his refusal to serve in the military. In the words ofAli, he said:“My conscience won’t let me go shoot my brother, orsome darker people, or some poor hungry people inthe mud for big powerful America. And shoot themfor what?...They never lynched me, they didn’t putno dogs on me, they didn’t rob me of my nationality,rape and kill my mother and father. Shoot them forwhat? How can I shoot them poor people? Just takeme to jail."Ali would return to boxing a few years later and wouldprove that he was still the best heavyweight boxer in theworld. Other athletes that made similar politicalstatements would not achieve similar fates.Muhammad Ali, 1966. Image from the Nationaal Archief, the DutchNational Archives. Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0NetherlandsIn August of 2016, former quarterback for the SanFrancisco 49ers Colin Kaepernick was caught on camerasitting during the National Anthem. In response to thisimage going viral online and on television, Kaepernickstated:“I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag ora country that oppresses Black people and people ofcolor. To me, this is bigger than football and it wouldbe selfish on my part to look the other way.”Later that year and into the next, Kaepernick - along withother teammates - continued to kneel during the NationalAnthem as a peaceful, silent protest against racialinequality. This would systematically lead to Kaepernick’sremoval from the game. In a statement made by the NFL’sformer Vice President of Communications, Joe Lockhart, hesaid Kaepernick was “bad for business”. No team wouldsign Kaerpernick, many of them fearing a significantdecrease in ticket sales by their more conservative fans. Ina continuation of Lockhart’s statements regardingKaepernick, he said, “As bad of an image problem itpresented for the league and the game, no owner waswilling to put the business at risk over this issue.” By MarchFlickr: Colin Kaepernick, (Mike Morbeck)54 INSIDE HISTORY
“Keep the politicalcomments toyourselves. Shut upand dribble.”Fox News hostLaura Ingraham2017, Kaepernick was a free agent and would never againplay on a professional football field.We see the same themes continued in more recent years.Following the May 2020 police killing of George Floyd, anunarmed Black man, the National Basketball Association(NBA) - in particular - took a stand of solidarity againstracial discrimination and inequality. Professional athletesboycotted games and the NBA eventually postponed allthree of its playoff games on August 26, 2020, leadingother professional sports leagues, like Major LeagueBaseball and Major League Soccer, to call off their owngames. Similar to Kaepernick in years prior, many NBAathletes continue to kneel during the National Anthem ona court. that now displays the words “Black Lives Matter”across it.Just as Americans responded in 1967 when Muhammad Alirefused to be drafted into the U.S. Army, just as Americansresponded in 1968 when Tommie Smith and John Carlosraised their fists in the air at the Olympic Games, and justas Americans responded in 2016 when Colin Kaepernickknelt on the football field, many Americans respondednegatively to the 2020 demonstrations of U.S. athletes.One of the most jarring responses came from Fox Newshost Laura Ingraham when she responded to NBAsuperstar Lebron James speaking out against racialdisparity by saying, “Keep the political comments toyourselves. Shut up and dribble.” James responded:“The best thing she did was help me create moreawareness. I get to sit up here and talk about socialinjustice. We will definitely not shut up and dribble. Imean too much to society, too much to the youth,too much to so many kids who feel like they don’thave a way out.”Athletes have used their platform to create awareness forracial and social injustice since the beginning of time. Theevents of 1967 were not the first; and the events of 2020will certainly not be the last.LeBron James with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2018 (All-Pro Reels)Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 GenericRachel Lee Perez is a two-time publishedauthor, paralegal, ballet instructor, contenteditor, and podcaster. As co-host of theHashtag History podcast, she releases weeklyepisodes about History’s greatest stories ofcontroversy, conspiracy, and corruption.Hashtag History can be found on all majorpodcast platforms and on their website here:www.hashtaghistory-pod.com.INSIDE HISTORY 55
- Page 4 and 5: INSIDETHIS ISSUE06Peterloo: How wom
- Page 6 and 7: PETERLOOA coloured print of the Pet
- Page 8 and 9: PETERLOOAt previous meetings, the a
- Page 10 and 11: REBECCA RIOTSPROTEST &PETTICOATSTHE
- Page 12 and 13: To some, John Brown was a revolutio
- Page 14: For Brown, the continued talk of th
- Page 17 and 18: Bringing Shields Green to life is D
- Page 19 and 20: cynical about their motives. Their
- Page 21 and 22: Bloody Sunday, 1887. This engraving
- Page 23 and 24: 20th CenturyIn 1909, Clara Lemlich
- Page 25 and 26: or risk a hard cold winter without
- Page 27 and 28: “Remember thedignity of yourwoman
- Page 29 and 30: (Above) Christabel Pankhurst, Flora
- Page 31 and 32: months previously and been utterly
- Page 33 and 34: WSPU’s newspaper, Suffragette, wa
- Page 35 and 36: The drive behind Rosa’s fight was
- Page 38 and 39: FIGHTING TO VOTEPhoto: Rokeby Venus
- Page 40 and 41: "I know you will sentence me, but i
- Page 42 and 43: sticks and umbrellas - were bannedf
- Page 44 and 45: BILLIE HOLIDAY& THE IMPACT OFSTRANG
- Page 46 and 47: BILLIE HOLIDAYIt wouldn’t take lo
- Page 48 and 49: WORDS: Ben PurdieWHEREWORDSFAIL...4
- Page 50 and 51: When the war in Vietnam began, many
- Page 52 and 53: PROTEST &SPORT52 INSIDE HISTORY
- Page 56 and 57: Demonstrators marching in the stree
- Page 58 and 59: “Let us notseek tosatisfy ourthir
- Page 60 and 61: WIR SINDDASVOLK!WEARETHEPEOPLE!Mond
- Page 62 and 63: internment camps” including Ranis
- Page 64: sticks and umbrellas - were bannedf
PROTEST & SPORT
from the 1972 Summer Olympics despite qualifying
numerous times. Even when the Summer Olympics were
hosted in Sydney, Australia in 2000, Norman was not
invited to participate.
The 1968 Summer Olympics demonstration served as only
one of many efforts in the professional sporting arena to
illuminate human rights and inequality. Only a year prior to
this iconic event, the world of sports was shaken up by yet
another iconic event.
On April 28, 1967, world-renowned boxing champion
Muhammad Ali refused to join the U.S. Army in America’s
war against Vietnam. The eventual three-time world
champion and former Olympic gold medalist would be
convicted of draft evasion, sentenced to five years in
prison, fined $10,000, and banned from boxing for three
years for his refusal to serve in the military. In the words of
Ali, he said:
“My conscience won’t let me go shoot my brother, or
some darker people, or some poor hungry people in
the mud for big powerful America. And shoot them
for what?...They never lynched me, they didn’t put
no dogs on me, they didn’t rob me of my nationality,
rape and kill my mother and father. Shoot them for
what? How can I shoot them poor people? Just take
me to jail."
Ali would return to boxing a few years later and would
prove that he was still the best heavyweight boxer in the
world. Other athletes that made similar political
statements would not achieve similar fates.
Muhammad Ali, 1966. Image from the Nationaal Archief, the Dutch
National Archives. Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0
Netherlands
In August of 2016, former quarterback for the San
Francisco 49ers Colin Kaepernick was caught on camera
sitting during the National Anthem. In response to this
image going viral online and on television, Kaepernick
stated:
“I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag or
a country that oppresses Black people and people of
color. To me, this is bigger than football and it would
be selfish on my part to look the other way.”
Later that year and into the next, Kaepernick - along with
other teammates - continued to kneel during the National
Anthem as a peaceful, silent protest against racial
inequality. This would systematically lead to Kaepernick’s
removal from the game. In a statement made by the NFL’s
former Vice President of Communications, Joe Lockhart, he
said Kaepernick was “bad for business”. No team would
sign Kaerpernick, many of them fearing a significant
decrease in ticket sales by their more conservative fans. In
a continuation of Lockhart’s statements regarding
Kaepernick, he said, “As bad of an image problem it
presented for the league and the game, no owner was
willing to put the business at risk over this issue.” By March
Flickr: Colin Kaepernick, (Mike Morbeck)
54 INSIDE HISTORY
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