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Paul Bugbee| Times Writers Group

On Dec.16, 1773, a group of about 60 men encouraged by a large crowd of Bostonians donned blankets and Indian headdresses, marched to Griffins wharf, boarded three cargo ships and dumped 342 chests of tea into Boston Harbor.

These American colonistsand their advocateswere protesting both a tax on tea and the perceived monopoly granted to the British East India Company for the exclusive shipping and sales of tea. The tax was an effort by Parliament to demonstrate its presumed right to raise colonial revenue without colonial approval, i.e. taxation without representation.

The following year, 1774, in retaliation to colonial defiance, Britain enacted four punitive measures known as the Intolerable Acts or the Coercive Acts to assert its authority in America.

These were clearly attempts to reimpose strict British control over the American colonies who had enjoyed relative independence for 10years.By most accounts, however, their implementation had come too late. Now considered oppressive, they became the justification for convening the first Continental Congress later in 1774.

The rest is history.American history, that is!

Are there parallels between the Tea Party uprising on Dec. 16, 1773, and the insurgency at our nations Capitol on Jan.6, 2021?

Over the last several weeks, in light of its first anniversary, historians have been grappling with how the Jan. 6event should be recorded in our history books. Was this an insurrection, riot, breach, protest, an act of intolerance, or simply a frustrated and angry group of American patriots exercising their right of assembly indeed, their Second Amendment right to form a militia?

Without doubt, Britain recorded the events of 1773 with a far different perspective than America.How would history have recorded the events of Dec. 16, 1773, had the Tea Party activists failed? How would history record the events of Jan. 6, 2021, had the insurgentsprevailed?

The second amendment to the United States Constitution clearly states that a well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, …shall not be infringed." The intention of including this in our countrys constitution is obvious, it was the peoples militia that got them there.The right of the people to keep and bear arms seems to be a sub-set not the principal reason for this constitutional amendment.

Most political observers and analysts consider the Jan. 6mob to be nothing short of a militia.Aside from the fact that they didnt appear to be well regulated," does the Second Amendment, in fact, protect their actions?

Our history books not only shed praise but glorify the actions of Tea Party revolutionaries who resorted to violence and vandalism over issues of taxation and government-granted shipping favors.The cumulative cost of their revolt, in todays dollars, was nearly $800,000.The subsequent costs associated with the American Revolution in terms of lives lost, dollars spent, and property destroyed was, of course, much higher.

The Jan.6, 2021, assault on the nations capitol claimed five lives with $30 million in damages for Trumped-up claims of election fraud.When, if ever, should violence be condoned, regardless of truth or fiction?

The parallels between the Boston Tea Party on Dec. 16, 1773, and the Capitol assault on Jan. 6, 2021, are too palpable to ignore. Both involved angry citizens protesting rules, laws or conditions that they believed were unfair or unjust.Both involved violence and destruction.Both were supported by some and abhorred by others.

Both were precursors to revolution.Let the record show, one succeeded and one did not!

This is the opinion of Times Writers Group member Paul Bugbee, a Central Minnesota resort owner. His column is published the third Thursday of the month.

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Precursors to a revolution, 248 years apart? - SC Times

by John A. Ragosta

Patrick Henry at Virginia Assembly, March 23, 1775. Litho Currier and Ives, ca. 1876

On January 6, 2021, and again on its anniversary, rioters and their defenders invoked an almost mythological belief in 1776 and the most famous words of Patrick Henry give me liberty or give me death. Henrys speech is a favorite of the modern Tea Party and those who wish to deny federal authority or to ignore laws with which they disagree.

This, though, is to misunderstand Henry. His liberty or death speech was a response to British efforts to tax Americans unrepresented in Parliament and undermine the power of elected assemblies. His understanding of democracy is much more clearly shown in his opposition to ratification of the U.S. Constitution and then, later, his defense of the Constitution that he had opposed.

In 1788, Henry became the leading antifederalist, contesting ratification of the new Constitution. He warned that the federal government would become too powerful, too distant from the people. The presidency squints to monarchy. Henry almost defeated ratification in Virginia, but he lost. The Constitution was ratified.

When other antifederalists, led by George Mason, met to plan continued opposition to the Constitutions implementation, Henry objected. He had opposed ratification in the proper place and with all the powers he possessed, but having lost, it was time to give it fair play. Henry retired, refusing appointments as a Supreme Court justice, secretary of state, ambassador to France or Spain.

The story, though, does not end there. Within a decade, Henry was declared a prophet as the federal governments power soared. In 1798, the Alien & Sedition Acts were adopted, effectively making it illegal even to criticize Congress or the president.

Many American rose in opposition, including Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. Some advocated violent obstruction of federal authority. Kentucky, at Jeffersons urging, declared the federal laws could not be enforced in Kentucky; they were nullified. Virginia, under Madisons guidance, adopted resolutions only somewhat less revolutionary. The prospect of individual states disagreeing on which federal laws were valid and enforceable in their state raised the specter of interstate conflict, possibly civil war. Reports circulated of states arming for conflict with the federal government.

George Washington begged Henry to set aside his opposition to ratification and come out of retirement. Henry, recognizing that the nation was at risk, agreed: I should be unworthy the character of a republican or an honest man if I withheld my best & most zealous efforts, because I opposed the Constitution.

Patrick Henry the leading antifederalist, the man who warned that the Constitution would create a government too powerful and distant from the people that would interfere with their rights came out of retirement to defend the Constitution that he had opposed.

Henrys final political speech, at Charlotte Courthouse in March 1799, speaks powerfully to the nature of democracy. He reminded the gathered throng that he opposed ratification. He had seen with regret the unlimited power over the purse and sword consigned to the General government, but the people ratified and, even for those who had opposed, it was now necessary to submit to the constitutional exercise of that Power.

The Alien & Sedition Acts were odious & tyrannical, but state interference with federal laws was unjustified and unconstitutional. The solution was the ballot box: it belonged to the people who held the reins over the head of Congress, and to them alone.... The peoples power was in their votes.

Henry recognized that if tyranny cannot be otherwise redressed, people could revolt. But he warned, if forced to that extremity, You can never exchange the present government but for a monarchy. If Americans cannot live within our Constitution and laws, the republic fails. Despotism will result.

Henry won his election Henry always won his election but died before he could take office. But heeding his warning, the nation pulled back from the brink. The idea of nullification was swept aside (unfortunately to be resurrected in the run-up to the Civil War). Jefferson was elected president, but in a distinctly Henryesque manner: His supporters went to the ballot box and insisted upon change. Jefferson learned his lesson, in his first inaugural address stressing the sacred principle that the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail.

The legacy of the election of 1800 is often given as the peaceful transfer of power between opposing parties, but it almost did not happen. Patrick Henry, the leading antifederalist, came out of retirement to remind the people that in a democracy they are called to respect the majority decision, even when they disagree with it. That essential legacy was respected in America as a foundation of our nation for 220 years.

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Patrick Henry and the Defense of Democracy - History News Network (HNN)

GREENVILLE, N.C. (Stacker.com) On Oct. 21, 1967, 100,000 people came together at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. to protest the Vietnam War. Following several speeches, roughly 50% of those gathered walked over to thePentagon where a few hundred people then attempted to levitate the building.

The striking civic protest against the Vietnam War was noteworthy not just for its unusual call to action, but for the new and inventive ways Americans were flexing their right to peaceably assemble. And the Yippies who put on the event inspired countless creative takes on what protest could be, from the Womens Art Movement (WAM) to the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP).

The tradition of protesting in the United States is older than the country itself. Weve seen that historic institution in full force with Black Lives Matter protests and, more generally, protests against the storied, systemic racial injustice in the United States. The May 25, 2020, death of George Floyd, a Black man, held under the knee of a white police officer in Minneapolis, sparked protests across U.S. cities and around the world. The protesters called for justice for Floyd and other Black peoplefrom Breonna Taylor to Elijah McClainwho were killed by police, an end to police brutality, a dismantling of racist systems and symbols (includingmemorials to Confederate soldiers), and a greater investment in communities in need.

Theprotests prompted widespread dialogue about racial injusticeand the political and cultural systems that support it. The four police officers involved in the killing of Floydwere chargedwith crimes related to the incident. The Minneapolis City Council agreed todismantle its police forceand rethink how it approaches public safety. And many politicians promised to adjust police budgets so money gets reallocated to support communities directly through improved housing, education, and mental health programs, especially in communities of color.

To understand where the Black Lives Matter demonstrations fit into this rich history,Stackertook a closer look at some of the most famous American protests. Research came from The New York Times, The Week, Time, and Business Insider; government archives; and information from unions and mission-driven organizations. The demonstrations that have made their mark on history range from the Boston Tea Party and Temperance prayer protests to demonstrations for modern-day issues, like civil rights, climate change, nuclear disarmament, reproductive health concerns, LGBTQ+ equality, and gun control.

Keep reading to learn about the important issues that motivated Americans to protestand the impacts of those actions on our society today.

[Pictured: A portrait taken during The Day Without an Immigrant protest on May 1, 2006.]

A group of Quakers in Germantown, Pennsylvania, in 1688 created the first written protestagainst slavery in the new world, according to the Germantown Mennonite Historic Trust. The group saw the enslavement of others as a contradiction to its religious values and its history of fleeing oppression from the British. Sadly, the petition was not formally accepted by the higher governing bodies of the Quakers, but enslavement was eventually banned within the Quaker community in 1776.

[Pictured: A photograph of the original 1688 Germantown Quaker Petition Against Slavery after restoration in 2007.]

Protesters flooded Griffins Wharf in Boston on a dreary December evening in 1773 to demonstrate against the Tea Act, which gave the British government an effective monopoly on selling tea in the colonies. People dumped hundreds of chests of tea from the British East India Company into the wateran act of defiance against British rule without representation of the colonists who just two years later would fight in the American Revolution.

[Pictured: A Currier and Ives lithograph showing the destruction of tea in the Boston Harbor.]

Enraged by a new duty on whiskey and distilled spirits implemented in 1791, farmers in Pennsylvania and Virginia used violence and acts of intimidation in attempts to stop the collection of the tax. They justified their tactics with the belief that they were fighting against taxation without representation. President George Washington and his troops headed to the area with the protests to demonstrate the governments authority to enforce laws.

[Pictured: A painting attributed to Frederick Kemmelmeyer and titled, The Whisky Rebellion, depicts George Washington and troops near Fort Cumberland, Maryland.]

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A group of feminists on July 19, 1848, hosted thefirst womens rights conventionin the United States: the Seneca Falls Convention in Seneca Falls, New York. Around 300 people assembled to protest the governments unequal treatment of women and to call for women to be granted all the rights and freedoms outlined in the Declaration of Independence. The convention gave the womens rights movement the momentum it needed to pursue suffrage.

[Pictured: An illustration of Elizabeth Cady Stanton speaking at the Seneca Falls Convention.]

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Violent demonstrations erupted in Lower Manhattan from July 1316, 1863, in response to a decision by Congress to draft men into the Civil War. The protests quickly devolved into a race riot as white protestors (comprised largely of Irish immigrants) began attacking Black peoplemany of whom ended up permanently moving from Manhattan to Brooklyn.

[Pictured: An illustration shows the Provost Marshals office burning during the draft riots in New York City on Aug. 8, 1863.]

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The Womens Crusade was a religious, anti-alcohol group. Members of the group protested the sale of alcohol through picketing, marching, and public praying outside of saloons in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Indiana, and Michigan in 1874. The group was the predecessor to the Womens Christian Temperance Union, which helped pave the way for Prohibition a few decades later.

[Pictured: An 1874 illustration depicts women in Logan, Ohio, singing hymns to aid the temperance movement.]

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Labor rights activists mounted parades to draw attention to dangerous workplace conditions and mourn the victims of a fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory that killed 146 garment workers in New York City on April 5, 1911. Legislation was passed a few years later toincrease workplace safetyand allow people to work fewer hours.

[Pictured: Mourners picket after the Triangle fire in 1911.]

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An estimated5,0008,000 protestersgathered to march down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington D.C., ahead of President Woodrow Wilsons inauguration in 1913 to call for womens suffrage. People in opposition to the protest assaulted many of the demonstrators, sparking public outrage that ultimately helped increase support for womens right to vote. It was one of manyprotests for the womens suffrage movement that decade. The 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote, was finally passed in 1920.

[Pictured: Women lead the Manhattan Delegation on a Woman Suffrage Party parade through New York City in 1915.]

9 / 49U.S. Army // Wikimedia Commons

Around20,000 veteransand their families assembled in Washington D.C., in June 1932 in anticipation of the passage of a bill that would allow former military members to cash in certificates for $1,000 bonuses early, in the midst of the Great Depression. The bill failed in the Senate, and shortly after, the U.S. Army used gas, bayonets, and other weapons to destroy the camp and chase out the protesters. The act of violence caused public outrage aimed largely at President Herbert Hoover.

[Pictured: Bonus Army marchers struggle with police.]

10 / 49Associated Press // Wikimedia Commons

After Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her bus seat to a white passenger, the Black community in Montgomery, Alabama, banded together to boycott the city bus system in December 1955. The boycott lasted more than a year, only ending once a court order forced the Montgomery buses to integrate. The protests thrust Martin Luther King Jr. into a major leadership role of the civil rights movement.

[Pictured: Rosa Parks after being arrested on Feb. 22, 1956, during the Montgomery bus boycott.]

11 / 49State Archives of North Carolina // Wikimedia Commons

On Feb. 1, 1960, a group of young African American students protested racial segregation by staging a sit-in at aWoolworths lunch counterin Greensboro, North Carolina. They refused to give up their seats, despite being denied service because they were Black, and even returned the following day with a larger group of protesters. The sit-ins at restaurants popped up in 55 other cities by late March and lasted through July 25 of that year. The protests led to Woolworth Department Stores ending segregation at its southern locations.

[Pictured: Civil rights protesters at a Durham, North Carolina, sit-in dated Feb. 10, 1960.]

12 / 49Marion S. Trikosko // Library of Congress

More than 200,000 protesters gathered for a peaceful demonstration outside the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. to call for racial equality in August 1963. There, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his now-iconic I Have a Dream speech. The protest putpressure on President John F. Kennedyto push forward civil rights policies. It also helped get the Civil Rights Act of 1964 passed.

[Pictured: Looking out on a sea of signs during the March on Washington, Aug. 28, 1963.]

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Thousands of peaceful activists led by Martin Luther King Jr. trekked from Selma, Alabama, to the states capital of Montgomery in March 1965 to call for an end to the suppression of Black voters.Protesters were met with violencefrom white supremacist groups and local authorities throughout the five-day, 54-mile journey. President Lyndon B. Johnson would sign the Voting Rights Act of 1965 just a few months later.

[Pictured: Martin Luther King Jr. and his wife Loretta Scott King lead the march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, on March 30, 1965.]

14 / 49Warren K. Leffler // Library of Congress

A wave of civil unrest swept through the nation after Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968, with the largest riots occurring in Washington D.C., Chicago, and Baltimore. The National Guard and federal troops were called in tostop many of the riots, which left 43 dead and thousands arrested. The riots helped revive a bill for federal fair housing and get the legislation passed in Congress.

[Pictured: A soldier stands in front of the ruins of buildings destroyed during the uprisings in Washington D.C. on April 8, 1968.]

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Around 400 second-wave feminists organized a protest of the Miss America pageant near New Jerseys Atlantic City Convention Center on Sept. 7, 1968. They wanted to speak out against theludicrous beauty standardswomen were supposed to adhere to, according to Megan Gibson of Time. The protesters tossed bras and other symbols of oppression into a trash can, which was never set on fire, but still gave birth to the myth of the bra-burning feminist.

[Pictured: Demonstrators protest the Miss America beauty pageant in Atlantic City, New Jersey.]

16 / 49Peter Keegan/Authenticated News // Getty Images

On June 28, 1969, New York City police conducted a raid on a gay bar called theStonewall Inn. Spontaneous and violent protests and riots occurred immediately after the raid and continued for the next six days. The unrest ignited the gay rights movement around the world.

[Pictured: A group marches up Sixth Avenue during the annual Gay Pride parade in New York City, June 29, 1975.]

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The streets of Washington D.C., were flooded with more than half a million demonstrators calling for the end of the Vietnam War in November 1969. The protest was part of astring of ralliesthat erupted across the world that year. The war wouldnt end for another six years.

[Pictured: View of demonstrators during the Moratorium March On Washington to protest the war in Vietnam on Nov. 15, 1969.]

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A group of around 100 feministsstaged an 11-hour sit-inat the offices of Ladies Home Journal on March 18, 1970. The protesters called for the magazine to hire women to fill editorial staff roles, including editor-in-chief, commission women writers for columns, increase employment of women of color, and raise womens salaries, among other demands. The protest resulted in the company agreeing to let the feminists create part of an issue of the magazine, and eventually hiring only women editors-in-chief starting in 1973.

[Pictured: Three demonstrators during the Womens Strike for Equality in New York City on Aug. 26, 1970.]

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Around3,000 peoplegathered for an anti-war rally on the Commons of Kent State University on May 4, 1970. Ohio National Guardsman, who had been called to the campus after protesters and local police had a violent confrontation the week before, fired at the protesters, killing four and injuring another nine people. The shootings triggered student strikes nationwide and began the slide into Watergate, eventually destroying the Nixon administration, according to Jerry M. Lewis and Thomas R. Hensley of Kent State University.

[Pictured: View of students at an anti-war demonstration at Kent State University in Ohio on May 4, 1970.]

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Anti-abortion protesters gathered in Washington D.C., for the first March for Life rally on Jan. 22, 1974. While it was initially intended as a one-time event aimed at pressuring the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade, the March for Life became an annual event continuing today. In 2020, President Donald Trump spoke at the March for Life, making him the first president to do so.

[Pictured: Anti-abortion demonstrators pass the Washington Monument on their way to the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 22, 1979.]

21 / 49Spencer Grant // Getty Images

Take Back The Night events began in Belgium and England in the 1960s to draw awareness to the issue of women feeling unsafe walking on streets alone at night. The movement hit the United States in 1973 at the University of Southern Florida, whenwomen dressed in black sheetsand paraded through the campus while holding broomsticks, demanding that the school open a womens center. Take Back The Night protests now occur annually in communities around the world as part of an effort to end sexual violence.

[Pictured: Participants hold a banner for Take Back The Night in Boston 1978.]

22 / 49Warren K. Leffler // Library of Congress

The National Organization for Women staged a series of marches and protests in Illinois beginning in May 1976 protesting the states resistance to ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). The first demonstration drew about 16,000 people to Springfield, Illinois, while a record90,000 peopleattended another march in Chicago on Mothers Day 1980. Illinois eventuallyratified the ERAin 2018.

[Pictured: Womens Equal Rights parade in Washington D.C. on Aug. 26, 1977.]

23 / 49Mark Reinstein // Corbis via Getty Images

After attempting to organize a march for LGBT rights since 1973, activists finally made it happen with the National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights on Oct. 14, 1979. The event attracted up to 125,000 members and allies of the LGBT community and urged Congress to pass protective civil rights legislation. It helped make the gay rights movement a national issue.

[Pictured: Attendees gather around the Washington Monument at the first National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights.]

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Around260,000 peopletook to the streets of Washington D.C., on Sept. 19, 1981, for the Solidarity Day march against union-busting. The protest was sparked after President Ronald Reagan fired more than 12,000 air traffic controllers who had been striking for increased workplace safety and higher wages.

[Pictured: Marchers, including Washington Mayor Marion Barry, Lane Kirkland, president of AFL-CIO, Vernon Jordan, and Coretta Scott King, head down Constitution Avenue in Washington D.C. on Sept. 19, 1981.]

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An estimated1 million protestersgathered in New York Citys Central Park on June 12, 1982, to protest nuclear weapons. The event was intended to show widespread support for nuclear disarmament ahead of the United Nations Second Special Session on Disarmament.

[Pictured: A crowd participates in a peace rally in Manhattans Central Park in 1982.]

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The Great Peace March for Global Nuclear Disarmament was a cross-country walk organized to raise awareness for the growing threat of nuclear proliferation. Around400 peoplecompleted the 3,600-mile, eight-month journey from Los Angeles to Washington D.C. It ended with the marchers and thousands of supporters singing This Land Is Your Land in unison across from the White House.

[Pictured: The Great Peace March protesters travel across the George Washington Bridge in New York City on Oct. 23, 1986.]

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The AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power, a grassroots organization aimed at ending the AIDS epidemic, got its first national coverage on Oct. 11, 1987, when hundreds of thousands of protesters rallied in Washington D.C. for the Second National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights. The march was just one of many activities held over a series of six days, which also included the first public viewing of the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt. It is sometimes referred to as The Great March for its historical significance in the gay rights movement.

[Pictured: Marchers participate in the Gay Rights March on Washington D.C. on Oct. 1, 1987.]

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The six days of violent demonstrations of the Los Angeles uprising, also called the Los Angeles riots, occurred from April 29 to May 4, 1992, after four Los Angeles police officersthree of whom were whitewere acquitted of the charges related to their brutal beating of Rodney King, a Black man. The National Guard and the U.S. military were called in to help end the unrest throughout Los Angeles.

[Pictured: A crowd amidst the uprising in West Hollywood, Los Angeles, on April 30, 1992.]

An estimated1 million peopleparticipated in the March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay, and Bi Equal Rights and Liberation at the D.C. Mall on April 25, 1993. The protesters had seven primary demands, including a civil rights bill to end discrimination against members of the LGBT community and increased funding for AIDS research and treatments, among others. The event helped give people of all sexual orientation greater attention from the media and politicians.

[Pictured: A large crowd cheers at the March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Rights on March 25, 1993.]

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In an effort to encourage African American unity and promote family values, between 400,000 and 1.1. million peoplemost of whom were Black mengathered in Washington D.C. for theMillion Man Marchon Oct. 16, 1995. The event featured speeches from Rosa Parks, Maya Angelou, Cornel West, Jesse Jackson, and other prominent attendees. A theme throughout the march and events was for Black people to register to vote as a means to gain more political say-so. Following the events, around 1.7 million African American men became registered voters.

[Pictured: Attendees at the Million Man March raise their hands in fists and peace/victory signs Oct. 16, 1995, in Washington DC.]New From Marvel StudiosAd by Disney+See More

31 / 49TOM MIHALEK/AFP via Getty Images

Modeled after the Million Man March two years earlier, the Million Woman March involved half a million protesters, largely comprised of Black women, parading on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia on Oct. 25, 1997. The daylong event wasintended to unite African American womenand focus attention on issues that affected their families and communities.

[Pictured: Women cheer during a speakers comments at the Million Woman March on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway on Oct. 25, 1997, in Philadelphia.]

32 / 49HECTOR MATA/AFP via Getty Images

At least40,000 protestors rallied against globalizationand widening wealth inequality on Nov. 30, 1999, outside the Washington State Convention & Trade Center, which was hosting a World Trade Organization meeting. During the protest, demonstrators smashed Starbucks and Nike store windows around Seattle and police arrested around 600 people. The demonstrations proved disruptive to the WTO delegates meeting.

[Pictured: Demonstrators in the streets of Seattle protest the World Trade Organization summit on Dec. 2, 1999.]

33 / 49Mark Wilson/Newsmakers // Getty Images

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Famous protests in US history and their impacts - WNCT

CDC studies: Booster shots needed against omicron

Three studies released Friday offered more evidence that COVID-19 vaccines are standing up to the omicron variant, at least among people who received booster shots. (Jan. 21)

AP

WASHINGTON Far-right extremist influencers and leaders have increasingly jumped onto the anti-vaccination bandwagon since COVID-19 took adeadly grip onthe U.S. in the past two years.

From anti-immigration livestreamer Nick Fuentes, to onetime Proud Boy leader Enrique Tarrio, to conspiracy theory champion Alex Jones, they post memes, breathy disinformation videos and false statisticsabout vaccines daily on social media. They call the public health crisis a "scamdemic" and spread lies vilifying prominent scientists such asAnthony Fauci, President Joe Bidens chief medical adviser.

On Sunday, thousands of protestersdescended on the nation's capitalin near-freezing temperatures for a "Defeat the Mandates" rally, listening to right-wing standard-bearers hawktheir philosophies. Afewyoung men wore Proud Boys insignias, andmany in the crowd donnedMAGA shirts and carried flags emblazoned with messagesagainst Biden.

There was "Defeat the Mandates" gear available, too including masks, a nod to the pandemic that has taken the lives of more than 860,000 Americans.

Organizers said the goal of the rally was to "stop the mass firings.Stop segregating by vaccination status.Stop calling Americans 'unpatriotic'for making a personal medical choice."

Sunday's march rolled from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial, where the crowd listened tomusical performances and passionate speeches.

Numerous speakers made broad comparisons between their activism andthe civil rights movement, calling back to Martin Luther King Jr.'s messages of love, unity and freedom. At one point, a speaker asked the crowd to turn to their neighbors and give them a hug.

Interviewed as he walked to his speech, Robert F. KennedyJr., one of the headliners of the event and a leader in the anti-vaccinemovement, pushed back against the idea that extremists are latching on to anti-vaccine messaging and using it to draw in new recruits.

"That's not my experience," Kennedy said. "My experience is that there are labor unions here, there are students here, there are people of every political orientation here."

Del Bigtree, another headliner of the Defeat the Mandates march andCEO of the anti-vaccination group Informed Consent Action Network, said any groups that base their views on hate are unwelcome in his movement.

"This is a movement of unity," Bigtree said. "If you believe in division of any kind, if you have any problems with race, or religion, or sexual preference then I don't think you're truly representing this movement."

That was echoed byBrian Willcutts, a health care worker who attended the rallyfromcentral Virginia.

Im sure this movement will distance itself from any group that tries to co-opt our message in order to communicate a message that goes beyond what were after," Willcutts said."Certainly anything that would be violent, we are opposed to.

PROUD BOYS LEADER FREED:Enrique Tarrio released from jail; role in extremist group is unclear

The move to draw in the anti-vaccine crowd is part of a concerted effort by the extremist right to appeal to an expanding and credible audience that has little faith in the mainstream media, medical science or statistics, experts said.

The far right has certainly seized on anti-vaccine ideology as an important new front in their ideological and cultural struggle, said Brian Hughes, associate director of the Polarization and Extremism Research and Innovation Lab at American University. They see anti-vaccinesentiment and COVID denialism as a market that they can exploit for views, for clicks and for merchandise sales.

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In its modern form, the anti-vaccine movement emerged in the late-1990s and early 2000s, primarily in opposition to the Measles Mumps and Rubella vaccine, which conspiracy theorists claimed had led to an increase in autism. This disproved claim persisted throughout the 2000s, attracting a considerable following but remaining largely apolitical until 2010, said Peter Hotez, co-director of the Texas Childrens Hospital Center for Vaccine Development and an outspoken critic of anti-vaccine protesters.

By 2010, the anti-vaccine movement had begun to get political and had aligned itself with the tea party and other far-right politicians. Opponents of vaccines formed political action committees that pushed for religious exemptions and other legislation to hamper the spread of vaccines.

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Then came the COVID-19 pandemic.

Around the time of COVID, the wheels really came off and it became a full blown political movement, said Hotez, whose activism has made him a target of the anti-vaccine movement. Now, some of the nongovernmental groups that were anti-vaccine, have also fallen in line with political extremists.

Hotez describes this alliance as nothing short of an attack on science itself. While doctors are trained to be apolitical, he said the COVID-19 pandemic and the corresponding anti-vaccine rhetorichavedriven some doctors to make a stand against disinformation that is killing people.

"200,000 Americans since last summer, who are unvaccinated have lost their lives to COVID out of this defiance and far-right wing, anti-science aggression," Hotez said. It's killing far more Americans than global terrorism or nuclear proliferation, or cyber attacks or all the other stuff that we build infrastructure to combat. The refrain I use is: Anti-science kills.

FACT CHECK: Claim on new Merriam-Webster definition of 'anti-vaxxer' is partly false

Researchers say the coalescing of far-right extremists around vaccine conspiracy theories is unsurprising. The extremist movement has always thrived off conspiracy theories, especially ones that point fingers at complex, far-reaching actions by the federal government, said Jared Holt, a fellow at the Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab.

This is an issue that hyper-partisan, far-right groups and movements have certainly sought to capitalize on to advance anti-government sentiment, Holt said.

Holt said the anti-vaccine talking points now being pushed by extremists come after months of support from that camp for other anti-government claims such as the Stop The Steal campaign that wrongly claimsthe election was illegitimate and the fight againstordering businesses to cease in-person trading to stem the spread of COVID-19.

This glomming onto controversial new talking points is what the extremist movement does, Holt said. Its all about recruiting new members by finding soft issues that resonate with mainstream conservatives. The aim: Finding ever-larger pools of recruits for more extremist ideas, he said.

Thats the bread and butter of extremist movements to find developing issues and try to capitalize on them, Holt said. It's the salesman tactic. You find a point of agreement and take it from there.

DON'T DANCE ON GRAVES OF ANTI-VAXXERS WHO DIE:It won't help get shots in arms.

Hotez describes the current threat from anti-vaccine activists as a triple-headed monster, consisting of anti-science disinformation promoters, particularly in conservative media, nongovernmental anti-science nonprofits that provide false statistics and talking points to pundits and state actors such asthe Russian government, which has flooded America with disinformation about vaccines.

Hotez sees the issue as nothing short of a national security crisis. As conspiracy theories about vaccines spread, he said, more people will die as a result.

The Biden administration's response to this threat has been frustratingly tepid, Hotez said. Given the scale of the vaccine disinformation problem, and the number of casualties resulting from it, this should be a major priority for the federal government, he said.

Not least, the increasingly hostile environment for vaccine scientists, who find themselves under attack from political activists and extremists, is detrimental to science as a whole, Hotez said.

"I'm concerned about the fact that this is having a chilling effect on science and scientists," he said. "We're a nation built on our research universities,andand so we're the real patriots, not not these chuckleheads."

Contributing: Ella Lee, Jasper Colt and John Bacon

See original here:
Far-right extremists look to bring vaccination opponents into their fold - USA TODAY

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Several years ago, a dear friend of mine was pregnant with twins and I took on the task of throwing her baby shower. (If I pause to think about how many years ago, I grow faint, because those twins are now teenagers with TikTok accounts, and there is no way I am old enough for that to be possible.) My friend would not have enjoyed a traditional baby shower, so I recruited another friend and asked if she would help me plan a tea party. She immediately came back with, "What about a mad tea party?" and I knew then and there that she was the perfect partner. We set out to plan an Alice in Wonderland tea party for our friends, and we pulled it off!

We were on a shoe-string budget, and made nearly everything ourselves. I have often thought about the party I would have thrown if I could, from the Alice in Wonderland decor to the tea party itself to games and even party favors. Everything below can be found on Etsy, and nearly everything is budget conscious (I couldn't resist including a few high ticket items for anyone looking to splurge). Whether it's a baby shower, a birthday party, or just an anytime tea party, this should get you started.

Download and print or email these customizable un-birthday party invites! $10

Or download these customizable Alice in Wonderland wedding invitations and reply cards! $18 (and they offer an option to print for you for an additional fee)

For a fancier gathering, check out these downloadable invitations for Alice's Masquerade Ball! $12

If you're looking to splurge, order these gorgeous cards (customizable for any occasion) complete with the key to Wonderland to invite your guests. $6 each

Show your guests the way to Wonderland with these vintage arrow signs! $11 for 10

These dictionary pages with Tenniel's illustrations will liven up any room! $21

These Alice in Wonderland characters are 2 feet tall! $25 each or $260 for all 12

These tea pot place cards are perfect for an Alice in Wonderland tea party! $20 for 10

Scent your tea party with this Alice's Tea Party soy candle! $5

These sweet Alice in Wonderland tea tins come pre-packed with delicious tea! $15

It's the Mad Hatter! It's the Cheshire Cat! It's a mug! $14

This Alice in Wonderland adventure mug is perfect for your party. $16

Choose the color and character here's a pink Tweedledee and Tweedledum! $45

I won't lie, I am a little obsessed with this Alice in Wonderland clay mug. $36

These Alice in Wonderland playing cards make a great activity, gift, or party favor! $11

It would be so fun to give every guest their own key to Wonderland! $3 for 20

These hand-stamped teaspoons are perfect for your tea party! $14 each

Keep it safe with these Alice in Wonderland face masks! $10

Give your guests themed manicures with these Alice in Wonderland nail decals! $4

These Alice in Wonderland bookmarks make the perfect party favor! $3 each or $11 for the set.

You don't have to murder time, believe six impossible things before breakfast, or all be mad here to plan the perfect Alice in Wonderland tea party! And should there be a lull in the conversation, you can of course invite your guests to guess the answer to the riddle "Why is a raven like a writing desk?"

Go here to read the rest:
Plan an ALICE IN WONDERLAND Tea Party - Book Riot