Mar. 2. 1807: US Congress passes act prohibiting importation of slaves. The first American slave ship, named Desire, sailed from Marblehead, MA, in 1637. Nearly 15 million blacks were transported as slaves to the Americas. The African continent, meanwhile, lost 50 million human beings to slavery and related deaths. But the 1807 prohibition goes unenforced due to the huge profits it would curtail. Another 250,000 slaves will be imported illegally before the Civil War.

Mar. 3. 1913: Over 5,000 women march on Washington to demand right to vote. In early guerrilla theatre: women and children stage "Suffrage Tableau" on US Capitol steps.

Mar. 4. 1912: Suffragettes, walking single file in Knightsbridge, London, smash every window they pass to protest government inaction. 1998: Ford sued for compensation for using 10,000 slave laborers supplied by Hitler's regime.

Mar. 5. 1957: British Gold Coast becomes Ghana, first independent nation of sub-Saharan Africa.

Mar. 6. 1836: Mexican troops defend their country's abolitionist constitution, defeat foreign slaveholders. San Antonio, TX. Remember the Alamo.

Mar. 7. 1983: 400,000 people rally against war in Lebanon, in Peace Now action. It is the largest peace demonstration, in percentage of population, in world history. Tel Aviv, Israel.

Mar. 8. 1906: US troops occupying the Philippines attack the stronghold of an "unruly" band of hill Moros, mowing the stubborn tribes people down with a combination of artillery fire and infantry assaults. All the Moros--men, women and children--were wiped out, whereupon Pres. Theodore Roosevelt congratulated the military for "a brilliant feat of arms wherein you...upheld the honor of the American flag."

Mar. 9. 1969: "The Smothers Brothers' Comedy Hour," which featured edgy political satire and such rock bands as the Beatles, the Who, Jefferson Airplane, and the Doors, is canceled by CBS-TV, in the wake of controversy over the on-air censorship of guest star Joan Baez.

Mar. 10. 1968: Cesar Chavez breaks his fast at a mass in Delano's public park with 4,000 supporters at his side, including Sen. Robert Kennedy. 1986: Protesters block unloading of South African ship in San Francisco to protest apartheid.

Mar. 11. 1950: American Airlines maintenance workers win nationwide strike, gaining first severance pay clause in industry and limits on subcontracting.

Mar. 12. 1978: One hundred fifty thousand demonstrate against nuclear reactor. Lemoniz, Spain.

Mar. 13. 1961: Labor organizer Elizabeth Gurley Flynn is elected chair of the National Committee of the Communist Party, USA. In 1953, Flynn declined a federal judge's offer to deport her and 12 others to the Soviet Union on conspiracy charges (quote): "We have no desire to enjoy the fruits of socialism in a land where we did not work for it." Instead, Flynn and the others received 3-year jail sentences and fines of 6,000 dollars apiece.

Mar. 14. 1912: IWW agrees to terms granting over 20% wage increases, successfully ending 32,000-person "Bread and Roses" strike against wool mills precipitated by wage cuts. Lawrence, MA.

Mar. 15. 1877: Birth of Ben Fletcher. Black IWW (Industrial Workers of the World) organizer of longshore locals in Philadelphia.