Many people remember the historic demonstrations that shut down the summit of the World Trade Organization in Seattle in 1999 as a breakthrough for anarchist direct action. The mobilization against the summit of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund in Washington, DC the following April confirmed the movement's strength, popularizing tactics that are widely used today.

This oral history explores the A16 mobilization in depth:

https://crimethinc.com/A16

The photo shows the black bloc driving back police by charging them with two sections of fencing. 🏴

Media
On this day, 17 April 1975, the Communist Party of Kampuchea (aka the Khmer Rouge) seized power in Cambodia after overthrowing the corrupt military dictatorship of Lon Nol, which was backed by Western powers. Support for the Party had increased dramatically amid a massive campaign of bombing by the US, during which around 500,000 tons of bombs were dropped on the country, killing 150,000 people.The Khmer Rouge then forcibly evacuated the cities, attempting to create an agrarian society to produce rice to sell on the world market to fund industrialisation. They turned the country into what resembled a labour camp, with uniform clothing for everyone, widespread malnutrition, and an atmosphere of paranoia and coercion. They also launched a brutal genocide, in which up to 500,000 Cham Muslim people were exterminated. Ethnic Chinese, Thai and Vietnamese people were persecuted, as were Christians and Buddhists. Others designated as intellectuals were murdered, along with their families – this included doctors, teachers, lawyers, scientists, engineers, professionals, people speaking a second language, or even people who wore glasses. Having exterminated experts, the government was unable to irrigate crops or manage agriculture effectively, and the healthcare system collapsed. Hundreds of thousands of people were killed by famines and disease. In total, the Khmer Rouge were responsible for the deaths of approximately 2 million people, around a quarter of the total population, until they were eventually toppled following an invasion by Vietnam. The US, UK and China then began to funnel military aid to the Khmer Rouge, enabling them to continue their reign of terror in areas they still controlled. The US sent them $85 million in arms and aid, while Margaret Thatcher's government in the UK sent SAS special forces troops to help train their fighters. In 1992, the United Nations handed control of around one quarter of Cambodia back to the Khmer Rouge.More information, sources and map: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/8854/khmer-rouge-seize-powerTo access this hyperlink, click our link in bio then click this photo

TIL People who post their fitness routine on social media are more likely to have psychological problems. [source, comments]

Song of the Day 🍹🌇: https://open.spotify.com/track/5lcqXXSHHdEsugnaAYWOtC

"Down with Rent"
Spotted in Sydney

-Kwame Ture

Media
On this day, 19 April 1943, the Warsaw ghetto uprising broke out in earnest when Jewish people fought back against Nazi attempts to deport them to the Treblinka extermination camp. 2,000 German troops and police backed up with tanks entered the ghetto with the intention of removing the surviving residents, and were met by around 750 resistance fighters with a small number of smuggled small arms and some home-made Molotov cocktails. They forced the Germans to retreat and come back with reinforcements. After several days of failure to overcome the rebels, the Germans began burning down the entire ghetto one building at a time.Despite this, the resistance managed to hold out against the onslaught for 27 days, killing around 300 Germans. While some fighters managed to escape through the sewers, 7,000 Jewish people were killed and another 7,000 eventually deported to Treblinka.More information, sources and map: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/9062/Warsaw-Ghetto-Uprising To access this hyperlink, click our link in bio then click this photoPictured: Warsaw ghetto resistance fighters including Malka Zdrojewicz, right, who survived the death camps.

TIL that George Orwell was spied on by a Soviet secret agent named Hugh O'Donnell, code-name O'Brien. In a coincidence, (book spoiler) Orwell wrote Nineteen Eighty-Four to have a spy named O'Brien betray the main character, without knowing about the Soviet spy codenamed "O'Brien." [source, comments]

TIL during a rap beef, Jay-Z wrote a diss song against Nas, describing him having an affair with Nas girlfriend. Jay-Z's mom was disgusted with her son's behaviour and made him apologize to Nas and his family [source, comments]