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Today in Labor History July 31, 1968: Students protested the Olympics in Mexico City. They occupied schools and began a General Strike. Cops violently attacked them. It was part of a broader movement consisting of students, workers, and leftists, protesting state repression against unions and student activists. One of their slogans was: ¡No queremos olimpiadas, queremos revolución! ("We don't want Olympics, we want revolution!" On August 27, over 500,000 people marched in protest. The violence culminated October 2, literally days before the Olympics were to begin, with the Tlatelolco massacre, when the government sent 5,000 soldiers and 200 tankettes, to the Plaza de las Tres Culturas. During that massacre, the cops slaughtered 350-400 people, using snipers. They arrested and tortured over 1,300. Alejandro Jodorowsky dramatized the massacre in his surreal film, “The Holy Mountain” (1973). In it, he showed birds, fruits, vegetables and other things falling and being ripped out of the wounds of the dying students. The late author, Roberto Bolaño, recounted the massacre in his novel “Amulet” (1999). He also retells the story in his novel, “The Savage Detectives.” It was at the end of the 1968 Mexico City Olympics that Tommie Smith (gold) and John Carlos (bronze) held up their black-gloved fists during the medal. Australian Peter Norman (silver) wore an American "human rights" badge as a gesture of solidarity with them. The IOC punished them by banning them for life from the Olympics. Věra Čáslavská, who won 4 gold medals, protested the Soviet invasion of her country, Czechoslovakia, by looking down and away during the Soviet national anthem. She was not punished by the AOC, but her own government forced her into retirement and denied her the right to travel, work and attend sporting events. #workingclass #LaborHistory #students #olympics #mexico #protest #massacre #tlatelolco #generalstrike #police #policebrutality #policemurder #robertobolaño #film #author #books #fiction #novel #writer @bookstadon