Michael Dunn
LightNews LightNews
michaeldunnauthor.bsky.social
Michael Dunn
@michaeldunnauthor.bsky.social
2.1K followers 1.4K following 2.5K posts
Working Class Historical Fiction from the not so gilded age. Labor History. Social justice. An injury to one is an injury to all!

https://michaeldunnauthor.com
https://www.historiumpress.com/michael-dunn
Posts Replies Media Videos
michaeldunnauthor.bsky.social
HOWARD ZINN BOOK FAIR
SF Bay Area next weekend

I’ll be reading from my novel & leading a panel discussion with

•Tongo Eisen-Martin: San Francisco Poet Laureate
•Ananda Esteva
•Jenny Worley

Sun 12/7/2025
10:30am-12:00pm
City College of San Francisco
1125 Valencia St., Room 213
Fighting Supremacy Within Our Movements, As Portrayed in Working-Class Memoir, Poetry and Fiction Featuring Tongo Eisen-Martin, Ananda Esteva, Jenny Worley and Michael Dunn at the Howard Zinn Book Fair Sunday, December 7, 2025 10:30am-12:00pm City College of San Francisco, Mission Campus 1125 Valencia St., Room 213
November 28, 2025 at 8:21 PM
michaeldunnauthor.bsky.social
Let's call today "Fuck Margaret Thatcher Day."

Got any good anti-Thatcher memes or jokes? Please add them to the comments.
Person in a hood, standing at a sidewalk plaque labeled: Margaret Thatcher 1923-2013, with the caption: I am at a Gender Neutral Bathroom. Originally posted by Trans Fury
November 28, 2025 at 7:19 PM
michaeldunnauthor.bsky.social
Today in #LaborHistory 11/28/1990: #MargaretThatcher resigned in tears after mass non-payment of #polltax forced her out. Nearly half of all British adults refused to pay. Led to thousands of #demonstrations. Many became #riots after #police attacked #protests.
Poll Tax Riot 31st Mar 1990 - Horse Charge. By James Bourne - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=40395295
November 28, 2025 at 7:03 PM
michaeldunnauthor.bsky.social
Today in #LaborHistory 11/28/1944: 400 people in Rotterdam attacked a coal warehouse during #Nazi occupation. By 1944, >300,000 Dutch resisters lived underground. Tens of thousands more resisted militarily.

#workingclass #worldwartwo #resistance #occupation #solidarity #fascism #antifascism
Resistance group operating near Dalfsen, Ommen and Lemelerveld. By Een onbekend persoon van de verzetsgroep. Degenen is onbekend omdat iedereen zo min mogelijk wist wat er in de verzetsgroep gaande was om verraad na eventuele arrestatie te voorkomen. - Werkgroep Doc. '39-'45 historische kring Dalfsen, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15182742
November 28, 2025 at 6:40 PM
michaeldunnauthor.bsky.social
Today in #LaborHistory 11/28/1843: Kingdom of #Hawaii recognized by #UK & #France. The date is now known Hawaiian #Independence Day. In 1891, the Committee of Safety, led by US businessmen overthrew Queen Liliʻuokalani. 1898 US annexed Hawaii.
Queen Liliʻuokalani, seated on a throne, wearing a long black gown. By James J. Williams – This image is available from the United States Library of Congress's Prints and Photographs divisionunder the digital ID ppmsca.53150.This tag does not indicate the copyright status of the attached work. A normal copyright tag is still required. See Commons:Licensing., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=68080836
November 28, 2025 at 6:36 PM
michaeldunnauthor.bsky.social
Standup comedian Brandy Bryant says: If trans people wanted to groom your kids we wouldn't have spent years taking hormones, blowing all of our money on surgery, or losing our friends and family. We'd have joined your churches and become pastors.
November 27, 2025 at 5:48 PM
michaeldunnauthor.bsky.social
Or, maybe this is precisely why you put xmas lights on palm trees.
Palm trees, covered with Christmas lights, at night, looking like giant, erect phalli. Reads: This is why you don't put Christmas lights on palm trees.
November 27, 2025 at 5:43 PM
michaeldunnauthor.bsky.social
Today in #LaborHistory 11/27/1898: Maria Vetulani was born. Woman soldier in Poland’s independence, #WWII & #antifascism. Hid #jews in her Warsaw apartment. Murdered by #Nazis during #Warsaw #uprising 1944. Husband murdered by #Stalin in #USSR.

#communism #socialism #antisemitism #holocaust
Maria Vetulani, Polish woman soldier, who fought in Battle of Lwów (1918) and Warsaw Uprising (1944). By Unknown author - Archiwa rodzinne, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=23046626
November 27, 2025 at 5:41 PM
michaeldunnauthor.bsky.social
Today in #LaborHistory 11/27/1835: James Pratt & John Smith were the last 2 people executed for sodomy in England. Convicted on testimony of landlord, who had been spying on them through the keyhole.
#workingclass #homophobia #lgbtq #prison #deathpenalty
An execution outside Newgate Prison, early 19th century. By Unknown author - http://www.history.org/foundation/journal/summer11/prison.cfm, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=20493402
November 27, 2025 at 5:23 PM
michaeldunnauthor.bsky.social
Well, I hate banks, I just can't stand 'em
Gimme a shovel and, man, I'll plant 'em
Six feet under, that's where they belong
"I Hate Banks" is the name of this song
I think I'll rob myself one or two
I hate banks, yeah, how 'bout you?
-Mojo Nixon
Hello. We see your account is $2.13 overdrawn and we know you live paycheck to paycheck. So, we went ahead and charged you a $35 eat shit and die" fee because fuck you, we're the bank.
November 27, 2025 at 5:21 PM
michaeldunnauthor.bsky.social
Today in #LaborHistory 11/27/1978: Former cop & supervisor Dan White assassinated #SanFrancisco
mayor George Moscone & its 1st #LGBTQ supervisor #HarveyMilk. Acquitted of 1st-degree murder, leading to #riots. #workingclass #police #assassination #castrodistrict #policebrutality
In this May 22, 1979 file photo, demonstrators smash glass out of the front doors of the San Francisco City Hall. Thousands marched to city hall, protesting the voluntary manslaughter conviction of Dan White in the fatal shootings of Mayor George Moscone and city supervisor and gay rights activist Harvey Milk.
November 27, 2025 at 5:17 PM
michaeldunnauthor.bsky.social
Top Panel shows a Couple looking considering buying a house. Reads: My parents in their 30s. Bottom panel shows a skeletal looking man with crazy hair and beard, sunken eyes, toothless saying, "I guess I can't afford to have teeth." Reads: Me in my 30s Posted by Guillotines For A Better America, who add: Live that American Dream, baby! If you work hard enough and long enough, you can help your boss buy a vacation home! Oh, you want a home? Nah, that's not a good...
November 26, 2025 at 5:27 PM
michaeldunnauthor.bsky.social
Fire your boss!
Join a union. Organize.
Direct Action gets the Goods!

#classwar #solidarity #union #organize #strike #generalstrike
Poster showing a graph of declining union membership from 1940 to 2020, with wage growth frozen and flat since 1970, versus skyrocketing productivity. It reads, in red lettering: Missing: Employee Wages. Have you seen a real raise? Last seen in 1970. Believe to have gone to executives and shareholders. How can you find lost wages? Talk to management about cost of living. Organize your workplace. find a new job. Accept nothing less than what you deserve. contact a local union rep TODAY!
November 26, 2025 at 5:23 PM
michaeldunnauthor.bsky.social
Today in #LaborHistory 11/26/1970: #Indigenous activists from #AIM occupied Plymouth Rock in a National Day of Mourning after officials censored speech by Frank James (Wamsutta) on 350th anniversary of Pilgrims' landing. National Day of Mourning commemorated in Plymouth every year since 1970.
Frank "Wamsutta" James (Aquinnah Wampanoag, 1923–2001). By AqWampanog - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=116995095
November 26, 2025 at 5:18 PM
michaeldunnauthor.bsky.social
Today in #LaborHistory 11/26/1911: Paul Lafargue, Cuban-French #revolutionary & son-in-law of Karl #Marx, died. Wrote “The Right to Be Lazy” in 1893 while in #prison. Was a member of the 1st International & #ParisCommune.

#workingclass #paullafargue #communism#books #writer #author
Portrait of Lafargue, seated, with bushy mustache. By German Fehrenbach - Originally: RGASPI. F.389. Op.1. D.99. L.15.Online: КАРЛ МАРКС: К 200-летию со дня рождения Архивные документы и музейные коллекции из фондов РГАСПИ | Возникновение рабочих партий, в том числе социал-демократических (only image), Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1650920
November 26, 2025 at 5:08 PM
michaeldunnauthor.bsky.social
Today in #LaborHistory 11/26/1883: Abolitionist, women’s rights activist #SojournerTruth died. 1851, gave her “Ain’t I a Woman” speech. During #CivilWar, she recruited black soldiers.
#workingclass #slavery #abolition #feminism #sojournertruth #civilwar #womensrights
Truth sold cartes-de-visite and cabinet cards, such as this one, to raise money for her work. The text above her name reads "I Sell the Shadow to Support the Substance." In this image, she is seated, knitting, wearing a shawl and bonnet, and wire-rimmed glasses. By Adam Cuerden - Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Object Number 2013.207.1, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=115455214
November 26, 2025 at 5:07 PM
michaeldunnauthor.bsky.social
Today in #LaborHistory 11/25/1941: 3 Schlurfs arrested in Austria for resistance to #Fascism. Wore their hair long, listened to jazz. Rebelled against work ethic & conservative sexuality. Battled #Hitler Youth in the streets.
Photo of 3 Schlurfs in their double-breasted suits.
November 25, 2025 at 3:23 PM
michaeldunnauthor.bsky.social
NSFW?
A Nice Piece of Tail!
#cats #nsfw
November 25, 2025 at 2:59 PM
michaeldunnauthor.bsky.social
Today in #LaborHistory 11/25/1947: Hollywood 10 blacklisted for refusing to testify before #HUAC. Disney blamed Communists for 1945 animators' #strike. #Reagan was an instigator.
#workingclass #communism #union #anticommunism #huac #FreeSpeech #redscare #hollywood #sagaftra #antisemitism #wga
Protestors carrying picket signs in support of Dalton Trumbo and the Hollywood 10, and opposing the anti-communist witch hunt.
November 25, 2025 at 2:59 PM
michaeldunnauthor.bsky.social
Right to Work?

How ‘bout the right to the necessities of life? Material security, healthcare, food, housing, and free time?

How about the right to not have your existence constantly challenged?

(U.S. Right-to-Work laws don't provide job security; they guarantee the right to not be in a union)
Man at a computer. Reads: The ultimate goal of Right to Work" is to break unions so businesses can lower pay and benefits to workers. It has nothing to do with your right to work.
November 25, 2025 at 2:54 PM
michaeldunnauthor.bsky.social
November 24, 2025 at 9:54 PM
michaeldunnauthor.bsky.social
Today in #LaborHistory 11/24/1984: #ILWU in #SanFrancisco began 11-day #boycott, refusing to unload cargo from #SouthAfrican to protest #Apartheid. Also initiated 1 of the 1st US #union protests against Apartheid in 1962 (see image). .
As early as December 28, 1962, San Francisco members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) staged a boycott of South African apartheid cargo. Photo: from the DISPATCHER, accessed at ILWU Archives
November 24, 2025 at 3:29 PM
michaeldunnauthor.bsky.social
An older post by Radical Graffiti, from Mexico City, showing a colorful mural of a child, much larger than a police car, smashing it with their fist.
November 24, 2025 at 3:02 PM
michaeldunnauthor.bsky.social
Yellow poster with a happy face icon, but the smile is replaced by a retail bar code. Reads: Happy buy Nothing Day.
November 24, 2025 at 3:01 PM
michaeldunnauthor.bsky.social
Today in #LaborHistory 11/24/1914: #Mexico executed anarchist Margarita Ortega. Fought in #RicardoFloresMagon led conquest of Baja California during Mexican #revolution. Smuggled arms & dynamite from US into #Mexicali.
Grainy black and white portrait of Margarita Ortega. By Regeneración - Regeneración Tomo IV, No. 192. Los Angeles, California. 13 de junio de 1914, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5538598
November 24, 2025 at 2:58 PM