65th Anniversary of the Port Chicago Explosion

Every July day has Laborfest events, some of which are missing from the red letter listings. This "al fresco" textbook for all of us will teach the importance of a general strike which we need to put an end to the profit motive that is the cause of the budget "crisis" and war. On July 18, we commemorate the 65th anniversary of a major event that especially affected the African-American community: The Port Chicago Explosion.

July 18, 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM (Free) (Reservation required, see below)
Port Chicago, CA (near Concord)
On July 17, 1944, a massive explosion shook the naval weapons station at Port Chicago, near Concord, California. Three hundred and twenty (320) mostly Black sailors and civilian workers were killed and 390 were injured. As a result of the lack of proper health and safety rules, and overt racism against the Black sailors who were used as labor to move the weapons on the ships, a mutiny strike took place to demand health and safety regulations on the job. Fifty of these Black sailors were convicted of mutiny and sentenced to long terms in prison. They became known as the Port Chicago 50 and this case of mutiny exposed the racism and lack of training and health and safety protection for sailors and workers at Port Chicago. Professor Robert Allen, Ph.D, who has written about this incident and produced a film will also attend this memorial meeting.
See:
The Port Chicago Mutiny: The Story of the Largest Mass Mutiny Trial in U.S. Naval History, (1989, republished 2006 by Heyday Books).

To attend this free event, please RSVP with your name, phone number, the number of people in your party, and any special needs to: (925) 228-8860 x26. Please go to the following web sites for more info:
http://www.nps.gov/poch/
http://www.usmm.org/portchicago.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_L._Allen
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Port_Chicago_50
http://www.laborfest.net/2009schedule.htm