DECEMBER 29 — SHEIKH ANTA DIOP
Radical African historian, “The Pharoah of Knowledge.”

DECEMBER 29 HOLIDAYS AND FESTIVALS
ISLAMIC MUHARRAM. FESTIVAL OF AUTONOMOUS MEDIA.

ALSO ON DECEMBER 29 IN HISTORY…
1890 — Wounded Knee Massacre of Oglala Sioux, Pine Ridge, South Dakota.
1911 — Sun Yat Sen named first president of Republic of China.
1916 — Russian crackpot monk Rasputin assassinated.
1923 — Radical African historian Sheikh Anta Diop born, Caytou, Senegal.
1943 — Masses political cartoonist Art Young dies, New York City

Excerpted from The 2009 Autonomedia Calendar of Jubilee Saints: Radical Heroes for the New Millennium by James Koehnline and the Autonomedia Collective. The 2010 Autonomedia Calender is now available on the Autonomedia site.

DECEMBER 28 — GUY DEBORD
French Situationist thinker, filmmaker, theorist, streetfighter.

“Boredom is always counter-revolutionary. Always.”

DECEMBER 28 HOLIDAYS AND FESTIVALS
Belgium: HOLY INNOCENTS’ DAY. Children play all sorts of tricks on their
elders, including stealing their keys & locking them up.

ALSO ON DECEMBER 28 IN HISTORY…
1895 — Lumiére brothers give first commercial showing of a movie.
1905 — American jazz master Earl “Fatha” Hines born, Duquesne, Pennsylvania.
1931 — Situationist theorist, “Mai ’68” leader Guy Debord born, Paris, France.
1945 — American social writer Theodore Dreiser dies, Los Angeles, California.

Excerpted from The 2009 Autonomedia Calendar of Jubilee Saints: Radical Heroes for the New Millennium by James Koehnline and the Autonomedia Collective. The 2010 Autonomedia Calender is now available on the Autonomedia site.

DECEMBER 27 — JULIAN BENDA
French theorist of the traitorous nationalist intellectual.

“Peace, if it ever exists, will not be based on the fear of war, but on the love of peace. It will not be the abstaining from an act, but the coming of a state of mind. In this sense the most insignificant writer can serve peace, where the most powerful tribunals can do nothing.”

DECEMBER 27 HOLIDAYS AND FESTIVALS
South Africa: FEAST OF MARIMBA, Goddess of Musical Happiness.

ALSO ON DECEMBER 27 IN HISTORY…
1867 — Treason of the Clerks author Julian Benda born, Paris, France.
1893 — Fourierist, socialist theorist Victor Considerant dies, Salins, Switzerland.
1917 — Dissenting American journalist John Hess born, Salt Lake Ciity, Utah.
1945 — “World Bank” scam concocted in aftermath of WWII.
1947 — First “Howdy Doody” television show broadcast.
1979 — Soviet invasion of Afghanistan commences.

Excerpted from The 2009 Autonomedia Calendar of Jubilee Saints: Radical Heroes for the New Millennium by James Koehnline and the Autonomedia Collective. The 2010 Autonomedia Calender is now available on the Autonomedia site.

DECEMBER 26 — CORNELIUS CASTORIADIS
Turkish-born French theorist of radical political autonomy.

“History does not happen to society: history is the self-deployment of society.”

DECEMBER 26 HOLIDAYS AND FESTIVALS
BOXING DAY. Ireland: DAY OF THE WREN. Masked revelers and musicians
go door-to-door asking for money. All-day feasting.
NATIONAL WHINER’S DAY. KWANZAA BEGINS.

ALSO ON DECEMBER 26 IN HISTORY…
1891 — Sex novelist Henry Miller born, New York, New York.
1893 — Chinese revolutionary Mao Zedong born, Shaoshan, Hunan Province.
1894 — Black American novelist Jean Toomer born, Washington, DC.
1997 — Revolutionary political theorist Cornelius Castoriadis dies, Paris.

Excerpted from The 2009 Autonomedia Calendar of Jubilee Saints: Radical Heroes for the New Millennium by James Koehnline and the Autonomedia Collective. The 2010 Autonomedia Calender is now available on the Autonomedia site.

DECEMBER 25 — JESUS OF NAZARETH
Persecuted leader of an underground liberation movement, jubilator, social radical, martyr, son of God.

DECEMBER 25 HOLIDAYS AND FESTIVALS
CHRISTMAS. BIRTHDAY OF MITHRAS. Congo: CHILDREN’S DAY.

ALSO ON DECEMBER 25 IN HISTORY…
1621 — Massachusetts halts all sinful game-playing, confiscates children’s toys.
1899 — Film tough-guy Humphrey Bogart born, New York City.
1924 — “Twilight Zone” creator Rod Serling born, Binghamton, New York.
1977 —Comedic film great Charlie Chaplin dies, Vaud, Vevey, Switzerland.
1989 — Romanian leader Nicolae Ceausescu executed.

Excerpted from The 2009 Autonomedia Calendar of Jubilee Saints: Radical Heroes for the New Millennium by James Koehnline and the Autonomedia Collective. The 2010 Autonomedia Calender is now available on the Autonomedia site.

DECEMBER 24 — SHUSHA GUPPY
Iranian-born writer, composer, singer, filmmaker, salonière.

Susha Guppy, excerpt from Bakhtiari Migration documentary, following the Iranian tribe’s annual migration across the Zagros Mountains.

DECEMBER 24 HOLIDAYS AND FESTIVALS
Throughout the Western world, December 24 – January 1, “THE HOLIDAYS,” is a period of continuous merrymaking and zerowork.

ALSO ON DECEMBER 24 IN HISTORY…
1865 — White racist organization Ku Klux Klan founded in Tennessee.
1903 — Box collage artist Joseph Cornell born, Nyack, New York.
1907 — Activist journalist I. F. “Izzy” Stone born, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
1914 — Wilderness advocate John Muir dies, Los Angeles, California.
1935 —Writer, composer, singer, filmmaker Shusha Guppy born, Tehran, Iran.

Excerpted from The 2009 Autonomedia Calendar of Jubilee Saints: Radical Heroes for the New Millennium by James Koehnline and the Autonomedia Collective. The 2010 Autonomedia Calender is now available on the Autonomedia site.

DECEMBER 23 — SAMUEL MOCKBEE
Selfless, inspired architect to the “Other America.”

“Butterly House,” Samuel Mockbee, Image by Tim Hursley.

DECEMBER 23 HOLIDAYS AND FESTIVALS
Oaxaca, Mexico: FEAST OF THE RADISHES.

ALSO ON DECEMBER 23 IN HISTORY…
1776 — First American revolutionist Thomas Paine’s Crisis published.
1888 — Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh cuts off his own ear.
1944 — Architect to the poor Samuel Mockbee born, Meridian, Mississippi.
1948 — Japanese military leader Tojo hanged in Tokyo as war criminal.
1953 — 21 American P.O.W.s in Korea refuse to come home.

Excerpted from The 2009 Autonomedia Calendar of Jubilee Saints: Radical Heroes for the New Millennium by James Koehnline and the Autonomedia Collective. The 2010 Autonomedia Calender is now available on the Autonomedia site.

DECEMBER 15 — CHICO MENDES
Martyred defender of the Amazon rain forest, native peoples.

DECEMBER 15 HOLIDAYS AND FESTIVALS
U.S.: BILL OF RIGHTS DAY. First ten constitutional amendments became effective December 15, 1791.

14th-century London: MEN’S SOCIETY OF PIU held annual feast and song
festival to promote mirth, peace, honesty, joyousness and love.

ALSO ON DECEMBER 15 IN HISTORY…
1796 —American revolutionist “Mad Anthony” Wayne dies.
1890 — Sioux chief Sitting Bull killed by soldiers, South Dakota.
1944 — Environmentalist martyr Chico Mendes born, Pote Seco, Brazil.

Excerpted from The 2009 Autonomedia Calendar of Jubilee Saints: Radical Heroes for the New Millennium by James Koehnline and the Autonomedia Collective. The 2010 Autonomedia Calender is now available on the Autonomedia site.

DECEMBER 14 — ELLEN WILLIS
Redstockings feminist activist, music and cultural critic.

DECEMBER 14 HOLIDAYS AND FESTIVALS
HALCYON DAYS begin, a two-week-long celebration when the fabled
bird calms the wind and waves. A time of calm and tranquility.
ALSO ON DECEMBER 14 IN HISTORY…
1503 — Crackpot prognosticator Nostradamus born.
1837 — British forces crush rebellion in Canada.
1852 — Marxist political theorist Daniel DeLeon born, Curaçao, West Indies.
1853 — Anarchist theorist Errico Malatesta born, Caserta, Italy.
1895 — French writer Paul Eluard born, Saint Denis, France.
1911 — Musical dadaist Spike Jones born, Long Beach, California.
1941 — Rock critic, Redstockings feminist Ellen Willis born, New York City1865 — British imperialist apologist writer Rudyard Kipling born.

Excerpted from The 2009 Autonomedia Calendar of Jubilee Saints: Radical Heroes for the New Millennium by James Koehnline and the Autonomedia Collective. The 2010 Autonomedia Calender is now available on the Autonomedia site

DECEMBER 12 — CHINGIZ AITMATOV
Kyrgystani novelist, diplomat, sly Stalinist critic.

DECEMBER 12 HOLIDAYS AND FESTIVALS
JEWISH CHANNUKAH begins. Mexico: FIESTA OF THE VIRGIN OF GUADALUPE, greatest of the great Mexican fiestas. Not only was the Virgin the pa-
troness of the Mexican Revolution, but she has also absorbed the cult of
the Aztec goddess of the earth and of corn. Vestiges of the Aztec cere-
monies persist in this fiesta. Polynesia: FEAST OF REKAREKA, God of Pleas-
ure. Arizona: Hopi Indians begin eight-day-long FAREWELL TO AUTUMN.

ALSO ON DECEMBER 12 IN HISTORY
1531 — Virgin of Guadalupe appears to Indian boy, Tepeyac, Mexico.
1731 — Scientist Erasmus Darwin born, Nottinghamshire, England.
1812 — Death of Sacajawea, native guide for Lewis & Clark Expedition.
1821 — French writer Gustave Flaubert born, Rouen, France.
1863 — Norwegian painter and printmaker Edvard Munch born.
1885 — Russian proto-Constructivist Vladimir Tatlin born, Kharkiv, Russia.
1907 — Zulu King Dinizulu surrenders to British military forces, Natal.
1928 — Kyrgystani novelist, diplomat Ghingiz Aitmatov born, Sheker Tallaskoi.
1964 — “Solidarity” anarchist bookstore opens, Chicago, Illinois.

Excerpted from The 2009 Autonomedia Calendar of Jubilee Saints: Radical Heroes for the New Millennium by James Koehnline and the Autonomedia Collective.

DECEMBER 11 — GRACE PALEY
American short-story writer, poet, political activist.

DECEMBER 11 HOLIDAYS AND FESTIVALS
Geneva, Switzerland: THE ESCALADE. Gala carnival commemorating December 11, 1602, when alarm bells rang in the middle of the night. The Savoyards were scaling the city walls. Men rushed to battle stations, women to the kitchens where they heated great pots of soup and water, which were dumped on the enemy with great success. Masquerades and revels.

ALSO ON DECEMBER 11 IN HISTORY…
1911 — Superb Egyptian novelist Naguib Mahfouz born, Gamaliya, Cairo, Egypt.
1922 — American feminist writer, poet Grace Paley born, Bronx, New York City.
1927 — Soviet Commune in Canton, China is begun.
1928 — Cuban filmmaker Tomás Gutierrez Alea born, Havana.
1936 — Edward VIII abdicates English throne to marry a twice-divorced American.

Excerpted from The 2009 Autonomedia Calendar of Jubilee Saints: Radical Heroes for the New Millennium by James Koehnline and the Autonomedia Collective.

DECEMBER 10 — HENRIETTA YURCHENCO
Ethnomusicologist, radio broadcaster, folk music pioneer.

DECEMBER 10 HOLIDAYS AND FESTIVALS…
Point Hope, Alaska: Merry Inuit FESTIVAL FOR THE SOULS OF DEAD WHALES. HUMAN RIGHTS DAY.

ALSO ON DECEMBER 10 IN HISTORY…
1805 — Journalist William Lloyd Garrison born, Newburyport, Massachusetts.
1830 — Poet, recluse Emily Dickinson born, Amherst, Massachusetts.
1865 — Haymarket martyr, anarchist August Spies born, Landeck, Germany.
1904 — Russian doctor Ivan Pavlov wins Nobel Prize for Physiology.
1924 — Founding of the Society for Human Rights, first Gay Rights organization.
1967 — Composer, singer Otis Redding dies in plane crash.
2007 — Pioneer world music ethnocologist Henrietta Yurchenco dies, New York City.

Excerpted from The 2009 Autonomedia Calendar of Jubilee Saints: Radical Heroes for the New Millennium by James Koehnline and the Autonomedia Collective.