Seeds of Fire: A People’s Chronology
Recalling events that happened on this day in history.
Memories of struggle, resistance and persistence.
Compiled by Ulli Diemer
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February 25, 1941
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Dutch Communists call a general strike in response to the first Nazi raid on Amsterdam’s Jewish population. Though the strike is put down within a few days, it marks the first large-scale resistance to Nazi occupation in the Netherlands, a resistance that later goes on to encompass underground armed resistance.
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February 25, 2000
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Four white New York City police officers are acquitted of all charges after shooting and killing Amadou Diallo, an unarmed African immigrant. The plain-clothes police officers, members of the aptly named Street Crimes Unit, fired at Diallo 41 times after he pulled out his wallet when they confronted him. An internal police department investigation rules that the officers did what any reasonable police officer would have done. The acquittal sparks a series of massive protest demonstrations. Ultimately, the city agrees to pay damages to Diallo’s family and disbands the Street Crimes Unit, whose motto was “We Own the Night.”
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February 25, 2011
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In a “Day of Rage” demonstrations take place across the Middle East. Protesters in Iraq, Yemen, Egypt, Tunisia, Jordan, and Bahrain demand democratic change and an end to corruption, dictatorship, and injustice.
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