Radical History Blog

The composer Dmitri Shostakovich died today in 1975. Decades earlier, during WW2, his Seventh Symphony became a global beacon of resistance to the Nazi empire when it was performed by a half-starved orchestra during the siege of Leningrad.

Nearly 200 years ago, outside the bustle of Britain’s industrial cities, the seemingly quiet Welsh countryside became a battleground in the fight against economic injustice.

Born today in 1924, James Baldwin was driven from the US by its entrenched racism but he never gave up the dream of an American society in which all could be at peace and thrive.

Today in 1903, Mother Jones gave the most stunning speech in her long life of working-class struggle. "Mourn for the dead, fight like hell for the living.” This is the immortal battle cry of Mary G.

Today marks the birthday of Ida B. Wells, one of the greatest radicals in the history of the United States. There’s plenty Ida B. Wells (1862-1931) would have found confusing about 2020.

Today in 1793, John Clare was born in rural Northamptonshire. He emerged from a peasant world to become a national poet, and his poetry was marked by the worsening inequalities and injustices in Britain at the beginning of the industrial age.

Today marks the birthday of Viola Desmond. In 1946, she took a stand against segregation in Nova Scotia which sent shockwaves across the whole of Canada. Halifax Harbour Ferry Viola Desmond.

Frederick Douglass said that Independence Day in 1852 wasn't for him. Many still feel left out - dare we hope, as he did, that "'Let there be light' has not yet spent its force"? Image: U.S.

Medgar Evers was born today in 1925. Thirty-eight years later, he gave his life for the cause of racial equality in the United States.

Today, in 1984, Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners was founded. It was the start of a wonderful chapter in the radical history of modern Britain. Rainbow flag flapping in the wind with blue skies and the sun.