大象传媒

This article was originally published by . It had been edited for 大象传媒 Magazine.

The United States is no stranger to bigotry, discrimination, and oppression.

That means it鈥檚 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鈥檚 Ferry, the Stonewall riots鈥攖hese are all momentous, rebellious occasions in our nation鈥檚 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 听辞蹿 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鈥檙e not taught about these acts of resistance, we鈥檙e deprived of revolutionary moments in history, elders to aid us in today鈥檚 struggles, and important lessons about liberation.

This is by no means a comprehensive list.

But below you鈥檒l find six acts of defiance against prejudice and neglect, and why they鈥檙e so vital to the work facing us today.

1. The Children鈥檚 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 鈥�.鈥�

Many 聽these marches because 鈥渁dults feared losing jobs or mortgages if they joined in the protests.鈥�

An SCLC organizer, James Bevel, came up with an idea to reinvigorate the protests: have the youth march.

Young people were . The SCLC聽to prepare them in non-violent actions.

On May 2, hundreds of young people 聽at the 16th Street Baptist Church. Together, they marched towards City Hall, kicking off weeklong protests. Altogether, thousands of young people marched.

It wasn鈥檛 all.

Led by, the Birmingham police听补苍诲 , holding them in cells overnight. One of the youngest protesters, Audrey Faye Hendricks,聽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鈥檚 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 聽are leading school walkouts, , and other forms of disobedience today.

When we don鈥檛 teach the youth that they鈥檙e part of a long legacy of young movement-builders, we鈥檙e depriving them of a rich, defiant history.

2. The SFSU Third World Liberation Front

If you鈥檝e ever taken an, you owe it to the 听(罢奥尝贵).

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鈥攖eaching assistant and the Black Panther鈥檚 Minister of Education鈥攖he students began to strike.

Led by the Black Student Union and TWLF, organizers released a. It included reinstating,聽admitting more students of color, and creating ethnic studies departments. They.

The administration called the police鈥攃ampus was even By December, members of the 聽began a picket line in support. By February, over 300 students had been arrested on campus.

The governor, Ronald Reagan, called TWLF 鈥渁 and anarchists.鈥�

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,听补苍诲 also fought for ethnic studies classes and diverse faculty members.

What Can We Learn From This?

There鈥檚 been a recent trend of calling college students 鈥渢oo PC鈥� and 鈥渢oo sensitive.鈥�

But for marginalized students, often reflect protests of the past.

TWLF鈥檚 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 ,聽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, 鈥淕et those goddamn Indians out of town.鈥�

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, 鈥渋t was obvious that little attention had been paid to the document.鈥�

What Can We Learn From This?

Like many Native activists , Native history is often relegated to 鈥淭hanksgiving happened, and then they 鈥榙isappeared.鈥欌��

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 鈥楲andings鈥� of Kaho驶olawe

In 1893, the U.S. overthrew Hawai驶i鈥檚 constitutional monarchy. By 1900, despite Hawaiian resistance, Hawai驶i was officially part of the U.S.

As Noenoe Silva outlines in Aloha Betrayed,聽native Hawaiians have always resisted this colonization, which has included cultural, religious, and environmental violence.

One example of resistance was the 鈥渓andings鈥� of Kaho驶olawe.

During World War II, the U.S. declared throughout the Hawaiian islands. Kaho驶olawe was used as a for American military. During 鈥淥peration Sailor Hat鈥� in the 1960s, the military鈥檚 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 Kaho驶olawe.

Native leader and others planned actions to . On January 5, 1976, over on Maui in order to 鈥渓and鈥� on Kaho驶olawe.

Although most of the group was intercepted by the military, a small group known as the Kaho鈥榦lawe Ninemade it to land.

By 1993, the efforts of these protectors were recognized by state law. The聽was established. Kaho鈥榦lawe 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, Hawai驶i is simply a ,听补苍诲 Hawaiian culture is relegated to .

These acts are also extremely important in the fight against .聽They show activists today that it鈥檚 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鈥檛 fully support liberatory changes.

One such law was the .聽Essentially, it 鈥減rohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in programs鈥� 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 鈥� like hospitals, schools, post offices, and so on 鈥� from discriminating against disabled people.

However, three聽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鈥攖he longest occupation of a US federal building ever.

Disabled activists and 聽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 听辞蹿 activists disability rights and organizers. And unfortunately, many intersectional issues鈥攕uch as the fact that many Black people killed by police鈥攁re not even discussed.

Without these histories, there鈥檚 also an that disabled people can鈥檛 be change-makers. When in fact, many prominent activists are disabled.

As , 鈥淲e showed鈥�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鈥�and win!鈥�

6. The 鈥楢shes Action鈥�

The first official report of HIV/AIDS occurred in .

Since then, folks living with HIV/AIDS have experienced systemic stigmatization. They鈥檙e 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 鈥渁 non-partisan group united in anger and committed to non-violent direct action to end the AIDS crisis.鈥�

In their long history, ACT UP has a long-standing history of civil disobedience, protesting the vast number of institutions聽that have against people living with AIDS.

One of their largest actions happened in October 1992. It was called the 鈥淎shes Action.鈥� 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, 鈥淚 remember when the ashes went over the fence of the White House. I just don鈥檛 remember convulsive grief like the grief I felt in that moment.鈥�

There was a second 鈥淎shes Action鈥� in October 1996, when the AIDS Memorial Quiltwas spread out across the National Mall. This occurred after President Bill Clinton 鈥溾�� and other promised health initiatives.

Within the law few years, the U.S. government has been for 鈥渇ighting鈥� the AIDS epidemic globally鈥攅ven 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鈥檛 help marginalized people on its own. It鈥檚 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, 鈥淗istory fades if we are not relentless in bearing witness.鈥� Thankfully, and 聽exist to make sure that we .

When we are out organizing, it can sometimes feel daunting.

It can feel like we鈥檙e the only ones doing the work, and as if we’re facing endless struggles.

But the truth is we鈥檙e not the first ones鈥攏or 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鈥檚 up to us to learn more about them and do the work in their names鈥攈opefully, so future generations will grow up learning all about our diverse and defiant pasts.