Chico Mendes was a Brazilian rubber tapper who became a trade union leader and environmentalist. He fought to preserve the Amazon Rainforest as well as for human rights. As part of the Rubber Tappers Union, Mendes asked the Brazilian government to set up reserves to make sure that the forest … Continue reading
The El Mozote Massacre took place in El Mozote, El Salvador, on December 11, 1981. The Salvadorian Army killed more than 800 civilians. Only one person, Rufina Amaya, survived the massacre. In this video, she recalls the day the massacre took place, saying: “They took me at about five in … Continue reading
Noam Chomsky is an American linguist, philosopher, political commentator and author of over 100 books. In this video, Chomsky responds to a question about the situation in Ferguson, Missouri, where 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot and killed by police officer Darren Wilson. Chomsky says: “What’s happening in Ferguson is a … Continue reading
On August 9, 2014, Michael Brown, was shot and killed by police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri. On November 24, 2014, a grand jury reached a decision not to indict Wilson for the shooting. The video above shows reactions to the grand jury’s decision, both in Ferguson and in … Continue reading
The 2008 Mumbai Attacks consisted of twelve coordinated shooting and bombing attacks across Mumbai that took place from November 26 to November 29, 2008. The attacks, carried out by Lashkar-e-Taiba, a terrorist group operating out of Pakistan, left 164 people dead and over 300 others wounded. One of the attacks … Continue reading
Pablo Escobar was a Colombian drug lord and cocaine trafficker who terrorized Colombia for decades. He is considered to be the wealthiest criminal in history. On December 2, 1993, Escobar was located and killed after over a year on the run. In this video, US and Colombian officials involved in … Continue reading
Jonestown, the informal name for the Peoples Temple Agricultural Project, was the home of an American religious organization lead by Jim Jones. On November 18, 1978, 918 people died in the settlement, at the nearby airstrip, and in Georgetown, the capital of Guyana. Of the 909 who died in the … Continue reading
The My Lai Massacre took place on March 16, 1968, when members of the U.S. Army killed between 347 and 504 unarmed civilians in the South Vietnam hamlets of My Lai and My Khe. Hugh Thompson Jr. was a helicopter pilot for the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War. On … Continue reading
Mildred Mohammad took her three children and left her ex-husband, John Allan Mohammad, in the Fall of 2001. She moved from Washington State to Maryland. In October 2002, she answered her door to find an ATF agent who wanted to bring her in for questioning. Her ex-husband, John Allan Mohammad, … Continue reading
The Beltway snipers terrorized Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. over a three-week period in October of 2002. By the time they were captured, they had killed ten people and critically injured three more. John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo, who was only 17 at the time, were convicted in … Continue reading
