Migrant contract laborers in Namibia played a role in the wider movement for independence! The 1971 General Strike marked a major turning point in worker organizing across sectors, cities, and ethnic groups in the country and set the foundations for a wider political movement to overturn the South African mandate and the legacy of German colonialism. Let's learn about it!

Find Boot Biters - A Labor History Podcast online:

• Website and Transcripts: https://rss.com/podcasts/boot-biters/
• You can also listen to the pod on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or anywhere you get your podcasts!

• Instagram and TikTok: @bootbiterspod

• BlueSky: @bootbiterspod.bsky.social

Support the podcast, get access to the Water Cooler monthly bonus episodes, and check out resources used in episodes for further reading: patreon.com/BootBiters

Credits: Creator, Host, Social Media, Art, Music, General Chaos Sower: Dakota Saunders

We've talked about the first recorded work stoppage in history in our very first episode, but when did we actually start using the word strike and why? In this episode we bounce back to 1768 in Sunderland and London, where sailors and coal heavers were getting creative in their strikes to demand better pay.

Find Boot Biters - A Labor History Podcast online:

• Website and Transcripts: https://rss.com/podcasts/boot-biters/
• You can also listen to the pod on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or anywhere you get your podcasts!

• Instagram and TikTok: @bootbiterspod

• BlueSky: @bootbiterspod.bsky.social

Support the podcast, get access to the Water Cooler monthly bonus episodes, and check out resources used in episodes for further reading: patreon.com/BootBiters

Credits: Creator, Host, Social Media, Art, Music, General Chaos Sower: Dakota Saunders

TRIGGER WARNING: This episode describes graphic torture and discusses human rights abuses, including child death because of state neglect. I do give a heads up in episode before speaking about these topics, but wanted to caution upfront.

In this episode, we learn about the successes and failures of a sampling of early strikes by migrant farmworkers in the Imperial Valley and the San Joaquin Valley in California, covering the 1928 Cantaloupe Strike, the 1930 Lettuce Strike and our main story: the absolutely insane 1933 San Joaquin Cotton Strike that devolved into open conflict between farmers and striking cotton pickers.

Find Boot Biters - A Labor History Podcast online:

• Website and Transcripts: https://rss.com/podcasts/boot-biters/
• You can also listen to the pod on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or anywhere you get your podcasts!

• Instagram and TikTok: @bootbiterspod

• BlueSky: @bootbiterspod.bsky.social

Support the podcast, get access to the Water Cooler monthly bonus episodes, and check out resources used in episodes for further reading: patreon.com/BootBiters

Credits: Creator, Host, Social Media, Art, Music, General Chaos Sower: Dakota Saunders

-----

Know Your Rights Trainings:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0iF8mWgjrs - Video training led by AOC and The Immigration Defense Project (IDP)

https://www.immigrantdefenseproject.org/know-your-rights-with-ice/

https://www.aclu.org/know-your-rights/immigrants-rights

Reporting Hotlines, and Legal and Advocacy Services for Immigrants:

https://nnirr.org/education-resources/community-resources-legal-assistance-recursos-comunitarios-asistencia-legal/immigration-hotlines-lineas-directas-de-inmigracion/ - Multiple reporting hotlines listed by state

https://www.freedomforimmigrants.org/hotline - If you are detained, dial 9233# from within a facility to reach the National Immigration Detention Hotline (free and unmonitored)

https://www.immigrationadvocates.org/nonprofit/legaldirectory/

In this episode we delve into the real history behind May Day, the Haymarket Riot, and explore why exactly it is that we don't celebrate International Worker's Day in the U.S.

Find Boot Biters - A Labor History Podcast online:

• Website and Transcripts: https://rss.com/podcasts/boot-biters/
• You can also listen to the pod on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or anywhere you get your podcasts!

• Instagram and TikTok: @bootbiterspod

• BlueSky: @bootbiterspod.bsky.social

Support the podcast, get access to the Water Cooler monthly bonus episodes, and check out resources used in episodes for further reading: patreon.com/BootBiters

Credits:

Creator, Host, Social Media, Art, Music, General Chaos Sower: Dakota Saunders

In this episode we talk about the washerwomen in post-civil war Atlanta, Jackson, and Galveston who, in spite of an extremely hostile political environment, weren't afraid to take a risk for better wages and get their hands dirty with laundry strikes!

Find Boot Biters - A Labor History Podcast online:

• Website and Transcripts: https://rss.com/podcasts/boot-biters/
• You can also listen to the pod on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or anywhere you get your podcasts!

• Instagram and TikTok: @bootbiterspod

• BlueSky: @bootbiterspod.bsky.social

Support the podcast, get access to monthly bonus episodes, and check out resources used in episodes for further reading: patreon.com/BootBiters

Credits:

Creator, Host, Social Media, Art, Music, General Chaos Sower: Dakota Saunders

With the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) back in the news, there's never been a better time to learn about the illegal (and successful) wildcat strike that letter carriers undertook in 1970!

Find Boot Biters - A Labor History Podcast online:

• Website and Transcripts: https://rss.com/podcasts/boot-biters/
• You can also listen to the pod on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or anywhere you get your podcasts!

• Instagram and TikTok: @bootbiterspod

• BlueSky: @bootbiterspod.bsky.social

Support the podcast, get access to monthly bonus episodes, and check out resources used in episodes for further reading: patreon.com/BootBiters

Credits:

Creator, Host, Social Media, Art, Music, General Chaos Sower: Dakota Saunders

In part two of the deep dive into W.E.B. Du Bois' book Black Reconstruction, we talk about the relationship between white and Black workers, the challenging conditions facing Black labor in the reconstruction period, and efforts to improve conditions like the Freedman's Bureau.

Find Boot Biters - A Labor History Podcast online:

• Website and Transcripts: https://rss.com/podcasts/boot-biters/
• You can also listen to the pod on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or anywhere you get your podcasts!

• Instagram and TikTok: @bootbiterspod

• BlueSky: @bootbiterspod.bsky.social

Support the podcast, get access to monthly bonus episodes, and check out resources used in episodes for further reading: patreon.com/BootBiters

Credits:

Creator, Host, Social Media, Art, Music, General Chaos Sower: Dakota Saunders

In part one of this two-part series, we deep-dive into W.E.B. Du Bois' book Black Reconstruction and explore his General Strike thesis, looking at how enslaved Black workers in the South engaged in intentional and effective resistance and withdrew their forced labor from the plantation economy, ultimately pushing the outcome of the Civil War and their own emancipation.

Find Boot Biters - A Labor History Podcast online:

• Website and Transcripts: https://rss.com/podcasts/boot-biters/
• You can also listen to the pod on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or anywhere you get your podcasts.

• Instagram: @bootbiterspod

• BlueSky: @bootbiterspod.bsky.social

Support the podcast, get access to monthly bonus episodes, and check out resources used in episodes for further reading: patreon.com/BootBiters

Credits:

Creator, Host, Social Media, Art, Music, General Chaos Sower: Dakota Saunders