Monthly Archives: November 2025
Apparently, when you get members of several hate groups together, you have no guarantee that they will get along, even if their “values” are similar, and they “hate” many of the same groups. The Greensboro massacre occurred on November 3, 1979, in Greensboro, North Carolina, when members of the 
Ku Klux Klan (KKK) and the American Nazi Party (ANP) fatally shot five participants in a “Death to the Klan” march organized by the Communist Workers Party (CWP).
Leading up to the event, tensions were high with inflammatory rhetoric, and the police were aware, through an informant, that the KKK was prepared for violence. As the two groups clashed at the start of the march, gunfire erupted. CWP members and their supporters carried handguns, while KKK and ANP members had various firearms. Among the dead were four CWP members, who had been advocating for workers’ rights among predominantly Black textile workers in the area. Nine demonstrators, two news crew members, and a Klansman were injured during the raging violence.
Following the massacre, there were three trials. The first was a state trial that saw five KKK and ANP members charged with first-degree murder and felony riot. 
Somehow, all five were acquitted. In 1980, surviving protesters filed a civil suit against 87 individuals, alleging civil rights violations and wrongful death. Of those, eight were found liable for one protester’s wrongful death. A federal trial in 1984 also acquitted nine defendants on civil rights charges, with jurors accepting claims of self-defense despite conflicting news footage. Major outlets like The New York Times and The Washington Post have highlighted the controversy surrounding the case. The legal system was pretty corrupt if you ask me.
In what can only be described as a shockingly gruesome act, Norman R Morrison, an American anti-war activist doused himself in kerosene and set himself on fire below the office of Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara at the Pentagon on November 2, 1965, to protest United States involvement in the Vietnam War. This action was said to have been inspired by photographs of Vietnamese children burned by napalm bombings. Morrison wasn’t the only person to set himself on fire, and in fact, he was likely “inspired” by Thich Quang Duc and other Buddhist monks, who burned themselves to death to protest the repression committed by the South Vietnam government of Catholic President Ngo Dinh Diem.
Morrison was born in Erie, Pennsylvania, and was raised Presbyterian. At 13, his family moved to Chautauqua, New York, where he joined the Boy Scouts of America and participated in the God and Country Program, becoming the youngest member in Chautauqua County to earn the award. He graduated from the College of Wooster in 1956, developed an interest in Quaker ideals, but continued attending Presbyterian seminars in Pittsburgh and at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. In 1959, Morrison joined the Religious Society of Friends, and by 1965, he served as Executive Secretary for Stony Run Friends Meeting 
in Baltimore. A strong advocate of pacifism, he openly condemned United States military actions during the Vietnam War.
On March 9th, 1965, then President of the United States Lyndon B Johnson had authorized the use of napalm in the Vietnam War, which, by the end of the war, would end up killing at least 50,000 civilians in airstrikes. Upset over that decision had spurred fellow Quaker and peace activist Alice Herz, in an action that I will never understand, to set herself on fire in an open street in Detroit, Michigan on March 16th of the same year, in similar vein as Thich Quang Duc had done in 1963. At the time of his own fiery death, Morrison was married to Anne Welsh, also a Quaker, with whom he had two daughters and a son. In what I consider a reckless and horrific act, Morrison took his daughter Emily, then one year old, to the Pentagon, and either set her down or handed her off to someone in the crowd before setting himself ablaze. He died within two minutes of leaving 
in an ambulance for Fort Myer. I simply don’t understand placing your one-year-old daughter in harm’s way like that. Even if she didn’t remember seeing her daddy on fire, she will always know she was there. Morrison’s motives for taking Emily remain somewhat unclear, but Morrison’s wife later recalled, “Whether he thought of it that way or not, I think having Emily with him was a final and great comfort to Norman… [S]he was a powerful symbol of the children we were killing with our bombs and napalm – who didn’t have parents to hold them in their arms.”
Before his protest death, Morrison mailed a letter to his wife in which he reassured her of the faith in his act. “Know that I love thee … but I must go to help the children of the priest’s village”. McNamara described Morrison’s death as “a tragedy not only for his family but also for me and the country. It was an outcry against the killing that was destroying the lives of so many Vietnamese and American youth.” Morrison was survived by his wife, Anne and three children, Ben (who died of cancer in 1976), Christina and Emily.
These days, we expect to hear of earthquakes with relative regularity, but we seldom expect that that thousands of people will lose their lives in them, but in 1755, buildings were not built with reinforced steel and other earthquake preparedness materials or protocols. So, when a devastating earthquake hit Lisbon, Portugal, on November 1, 1755, it killed as many as 50,000 people. The city was virtually wiped off the map and had to be rebuilt from scratch following the widespread destruction. Lisbon was Portugal’s capital and largest city during the thriving 18th century. It was flourishing thanks to diamonds and gold from Brazil, a Portuguese colony, which brought wealth to many of the citizens. Around 10% of the country’s 3 million people lived in Lisbon, and as one of the biggest Atlantic ports, the city was pivotal in global trade. By 1755, Lisbon was also a significant hub for Catholicism and housed key religious authorities.
On November 1st…All Saints Day, three tremors struck Lisbon over the course of 10 minutes. The largest of the 
quakes is thought to have had a magnitude of 8.0, but this is just an estimate, because no recording equipment existed at the time. The shaking was felt as far away as Morocco. The earthquake’s devastating impact was felt throughout the city. Near the coast, a massive 20-foot tsunami surged ashore, claiming thousands of lives. Many people attending All Saints Day services in churches perished as buildings collapsed. Fires erupted across the city, and strong winds quickly spread the flames. The royal palace and thousands of homes were destroyed. A significant portion of the nation’s cultural heritage, including books, art, and architecture, was lost in mere moments. Many residents, including hundreds of escaped prisoners, fled Lisbon immediately. The death toll is estimated to be between 10,000 and 50,000, but because there was no exact way to track them, the exact 
number is not known.
The Marquis of Pombal was tasked with rebuilding the city, transforming Lisbon’s narrow, twisting streets into wide, modern avenues. The reconstruction notably included one of the earliest uses of prefabricated buildings. While the effort was largely successful, some took advantage of the tragedy. Many of the religious leaders claimed the earthquake was God’s punishment for the city’s sins. While there are many people who think things work that way, I don’t believe that to be the case. Nevertheless, thousands of people perished in the deadly quake, unfortunately.
