Media 68

M. L. King

1 - 10 april
11 - 20 april
21 - 31 april

1 april

Albert Ayler, the iconoclast tenor saxophonist close to the Black Panther Party, records for the Impulse label the LP "New Grass". Accuses of commercialization abound, but his wild urban rhythm and blues is born from the fury of the ghetto.
[United States]
In Madrid the trial against Marcelino Camacho, leader of the workers' commissions, in prison for 14 months, begins.
[Spain]
Lock-out until 18 April of the State university of Milan, the rector threatens the invalidation of the year; the students respond with a march and a protest sit-in. The students of Sociology in Trent decide to pass from "closed" to "open" occupation.
[Italy]
Very violent clashes between students and police in Japan, around a USA field hospital.
[Japan]
Meeting in Prague of the Central Committee of the Czechoslovakian Communist Party.
[Czechoslovakia]
Performed for the fist time the "Second concert for violin" by Dimitrij Sciostakovic; The same evening "Symphony n. 13": soloist David Oistrach is also presented for the first time.
[Europe]

2 april

In flames the seat of the SID (former Sifar) in Rome: according to some rumours some delicate secret documents would have been destroyed. Immediate denial of the SID and of the ministry for defence.
[Italy]
Dubcek asks in his report to the Central Committee for a "slowing down of the democratization process"; found having hanged himself the Czech High Court Judge Brestansky who had disappeared a few days previously.
[Czechoslovakia]
The trade unions announce another 24 hours of strike in Fiat: among the demands, the daily exhibition of tables with the data regarding production, personnel, absences. Other requests: reform of the incentive system and reduction of hours of work.
[Italy]
The United States Marxist magazine Cinéaste in number 4 publishes an essay by Andrew M. Lugg "On Andy Warhol".
[United States]
New incidents at the Israeli-Jordanian border.
[Middle East]
At the end of the funeral of a high-school student killed by the police, thousands of demonstrators rebel in the streets of Rio de Janeiro; the army, that 4 years before had deposed president Goulart, patrols the streets with armoured cars and tanks.
[Brazil]

3 april

Bombardments of the USA on North Vietnam; the city of Than-hoa is hit
[Vietnam]
In Brazil the students announce new demonstrations for the next day: 50,000 people will be attacked by the police on horseback.
[Brasile]
Mobutu is president of the Central African Union which includes Chad, the Central African republic and Zaire.
[Africa]
The partisans of Dubcek become stronger in the Cental Committee of the Communist Party. The resignation is asked of general Lomskj, minister for defence. Self-criticism of the former president of the republic, Novotny.
[Czechoslovakia]

4 april

Pham Van Dong, North Vietnamese premier tells Le Monde: "In negotiations we will be as serious as on the battle field". The USA army tries to break the siege at the base of Khe Sanh.
[Vietnam]
Martin Luther King, black pacifist leader, is assassinated in Memphis, where he was preparing another demonstration for the civil rights of the blacks; Immediate reaction in all the main US cities.
[United States]
Steve Miller, during a tour in England, writes for "Rolling Stone" an article that describes the English rock scene as lacking in vitality and exclusively industrial. He only saves the Traffic, Marmalade and Procol Harum.
[Great Britain]

5 april

James Brown appears on TV to suggest to the blacks in revolt after the assassination of Luther King to constructively channel their rage. He will receive an encomium from the vicepresident Hubert Humphrey.
[United States]
Purges in the ranks of the Communist party and of the Polish government.
[Poland]
The police evacuate the Faculty of Education in Genoa and arrest 80 persons. In Parma to the occupation of Physics and Science is added that of the central office of the university. At the demonstration for the assassination of Luther King, clashes and 12 arrests in Rome.
[Italy]
Repressed in blood by the Brazilian army the student demonstrations of Rio de Janeiro.
[Brazil]
Fifth day of clashes between students and police in Addis Abeba.
[Ethiopia]
In the USA all the black ghettos are in flames; it is the most widespread revolt of the '60s and is particularly violent in Memphis, Chicago and Washington; the White House is in a state of siege, in the streets there are shootings, fires, lootings.
[United States]
In Frankfurt, production of "Kaspar", a drama by a young Austrian writer, Peter Handke: the work has as its protagonist "language".
[West Germany]

6 april

Jimy Hendrix, B. B. King and Buddy Guy, at the end of a night of blues, collect funds for King's Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Hendrix, who had always refused to take part in social or political initiatives, donates 5,000 dollars.
[United States]
Strike at Fiat: the police charge the pickets at the building of the employees; in the afternoon the clashes resume in the roads adjacent to the Mirafiori factory. On the 5 the 4 arrested for the strike of 30 March had been released.
[Italy]
State of emergency and curfew declared in 10 USA cities; in Washington the curfew lasts from 4pm in the afternoon to 6.30am next morning: the deaths for now number 21, hundreds the injured and the arrested.
[United States]
Radio-Biafra suddenly ceases transmissions; the Nigerian army occupies Umuahia, administrative capital of Biafra.
[Africa]

7 april

The insurrection reaches other cities among which Baltimore, where the clashes are very violent; in Chicago a state of insurrection is declared; in Oakland a leader of the Black Panthers is killed by the police who also arrest Eldridge Cleaver.
[United States]
First student demonstrations in Yugoslavia. A march for Vietnam crosses Belgrade.
[Jugoslavia]

8 april

Postponed the awarding of the Oscar in sign of mourning for the assassination of Luther King.
[United States]
Syd Barrett, founder of the Pink Floyd, retires from the group. The announcement is given by the other members of the band of 6. Barrett, who has drug and nerve problems, will subsequently record only two other albums.
[Great Britain]
Israeli armed forces penetrate Jordanian territory.
[Middle East]
50,000 persons participate in Memphis in the demonstration organized by King; the dead in the clashes of the previous days are over 30 and the arrests are about 5,000.
[United States]
The occupation of Sociology in Trent ends after 67 days: the students obtained recognition of the assembly as their representative body. Occupations in Bari and Bologna.
[Italy]

9 april

In the USSR extraordinary session of the central committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union on the "crisis of the countries of the East".
[Soviet Union]
Hanoi gives its official assent to the opening of negotiations with the United States. Johnson convenes the Security Council in Camp David.
[Vietnam]
Cage, Schonberg, Stockhausen and the Afro-American tradition flow together in "Three compositions of new jazz", one of the first works recorded, for Delmark, by the pluri-instrumentalist Anthony Braxton, with Leo Smith and the violinist Jenkins.
[United States]
Luther King is buried in Atlanta before an immense crowd; strikes of blacks throughout the country and revolts in new cities (Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, New York): the arrested are now 10,000, the injured almost 2,000.
[United States]
Condemned in Spain the two leaders of the Comisiones Obreras, Camacho and Ariza.
[Spain]

10 april

Another "Revolutionary Committee " is born in China, in Hunan, the province where Mao Tze Tung was born.
[China]
New programme of action of the Czechoslovakian Communist Party for information: the first point is respect for freedom of the press.
[Czechoslovakia]
30 cities have been affected by the black revolt in recent days; rapidly approved a law against discrimination that had previously been blocked a number of times.
[United States]
Generale Thieu mobilizes in South Vietnam all able-bodied men between 18 and 45 years of age.
[Vietnam]
Strike in the Marzotto factory of Valdagno: the strategy of restructuring under way in the textile industry, with Marzotto in the front line, involves a wild-cat intensification of rhythms; spontaneous strikes were already numerous in '67.
[Italy]

M. L. King		1 - 10 april 11 - 20 april 21 - 31 april
1 april		Albert Ayler, the iconoclast tenor saxophonist close to the Black Panther Party, records for the Impulse label the LP "New Grass". Accuses of commercialization abound, but his wild urban rhythm and blues is born from the fury of the ghetto. [United States] In Madrid the trial against Marcelino Camacho, leader of the workers' commissions, in prison for 14 months, begins. [Spain] Lock-out until 18 April of the State university of Milan, the rector threatens the invalidation of the year; the students respond with a march and a protest sit-in. The students of Sociology in Trent decide to pass from "closed" to "open" occupation. [Italy] Very violent clashes between students and police in Japan, around a USA field hospital. [Japan] Meeting in Prague of the Central Committee of the Czechoslovakian Communist Party. [Czechoslovakia] Performed for the fist time the "Second concert for violin" by Dimitrij Sciostakovic; The same evening "Symphony n. 13": soloist David Oistrach is also presented for the first time. [Europe]
2 april		In flames the seat of the SID (former Sifar) in Rome: according to some rumours some delicate secret documents would have been destroyed. Immediate denial of the SID and of the ministry for defence. [Italy] Dubcek asks in his report to the Central Committee for a "slowing down of the democratization process"; found having hanged himself the Czech High Court Judge Brestansky who had disappeared a few days previously. [Czechoslovakia] The trade unions announce another 24 hours of strike in Fiat: among the demands, the daily exhibition of tables with the data regarding production, personnel, absences. Other requests: reform of the incentive system and reduction of hours of work. [Italy] The United States Marxist magazine Cinéaste in number 4 publishes an essay by Andrew M. Lugg "On Andy Warhol". [United States] New incidents at the Israeli-Jordanian border. [Middle East] At the end of the funeral of a high-school student killed by the police, thousands of demonstrators rebel in the streets of Rio de Janeiro; the army, that 4 years before had deposed president Goulart, patrols the streets with armoured cars and tanks. [Brazil]
3 april		Bombardments of the USA on North Vietnam; the city of Than-hoa is hit [Vietnam] In Brazil the students announce new demonstrations for the next day: 50,000 people will be attacked by the police on horseback. [Brasile] Mobutu is president of the Central African Union which includes Chad, the Central African republic and Zaire. [Africa] The partisans of Dubcek become stronger in the Cental Committee of the Communist Party. The resignation is asked of general Lomskj, minister for defence. Self-criticism of the former president of the republic, Novotny. [Czechoslovakia]
4 april		Pham Van Dong, North Vietnamese premier tells Le Monde: "In negotiations we will be as serious as on the battle field". The USA army tries to break the siege at the base of Khe Sanh. [Vietnam] Martin Luther King, black pacifist leader, is assassinated in Memphis, where he was preparing another demonstration for the civil rights of the blacks; Immediate reaction in all the main US cities. [United States] Steve Miller, during a tour in England, writes for "Rolling Stone" an article that describes the English rock scene as lacking in vitality and exclusively industrial. He only saves the Traffic, Marmalade and Procol Harum. [Great Britain]
5 april		James Brown appears on TV to suggest to the blacks in revolt after the assassination of Luther King to constructively channel their rage. He will receive an encomium from the vicepresident Hubert Humphrey. [United States] Purges in the ranks of the Communist party and of the Polish government. [Poland] The police evacuate the Faculty of Education in Genoa and arrest 80 persons. In Parma to the occupation of Physics and Science is added that of the central office of the university. At the demonstration for the assassination of Luther King, clashes and 12 arrests in Rome. [Italy] Repressed in blood by the Brazilian army the student demonstrations of Rio de Janeiro. [Brazil] Fifth day of clashes between students and police in Addis Abeba. [Ethiopia] In the USA all the black ghettos are in flames; it is the most widespread revolt of the '60s and is particularly violent in Memphis, Chicago and Washington; the White House is in a state of siege, in the streets there are shootings, fires, lootings. [United States] In Frankfurt, production of "Kaspar", a drama by a young Austrian writer, Peter Handke: the work has as its protagonist "language". [West Germany]
6 april		Jimy Hendrix, B. B. King and Buddy Guy, at the end of a night of blues, collect funds for King's Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Hendrix, who had always refused to take part in social or political initiatives, donates 5,000 dollars. [United States] Strike at Fiat: the police charge the pickets at the building of the employees; in the afternoon the clashes resume in the roads adjacent to the Mirafiori factory. On the 5 the 4 arrested for the strike of 30 March had been released. [Italy] State of emergency and curfew declared in 10 USA cities; in Washington the curfew lasts from 4pm in the afternoon to 6.30am next morning: the deaths for now number 21, hundreds the injured and the arrested. [United States] Radio-Biafra suddenly ceases transmissions; the Nigerian army occupies Umuahia, administrative capital of Biafra. [Africa]
7 april		The insurrection reaches other cities among which Baltimore, where the clashes are very violent; in Chicago a state of insurrection is declared; in Oakland a leader of the Black Panthers is killed by the police who also arrest Eldridge Cleaver. [United States] First student demonstrations in Yugoslavia. A march for Vietnam crosses Belgrade. [Jugoslavia]
8 april		Postponed the awarding of the Oscar in sign of mourning for the assassination of Luther King. [United States] Syd Barrett, founder of the Pink Floyd, retires from the group. The announcement is given by the other members of the band of 6. Barrett, who has drug and nerve problems, will subsequently record only two other albums. [Great Britain] Israeli armed forces penetrate Jordanian territory. [Middle East] 50,000 persons participate in Memphis in the demonstration organized by King; the dead in the clashes of the previous days are over 30 and the arrests are about 5,000. [United States] The occupation of Sociology in Trent ends after 67 days: the students obtained recognition of the assembly as their representative body. Occupations in Bari and Bologna. [Italy]
9 april		In the USSR extraordinary session of the central committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union on the "crisis of the countries of the East". [Soviet Union] Hanoi gives its official assent to the opening of negotiations with the United States. Johnson convenes the Security Council in Camp David. [Vietnam] Cage, Schonberg, Stockhausen and the Afro-American tradition flow together in "Three compositions of new jazz", one of the first works recorded, for Delmark, by the pluri-instrumentalist Anthony Braxton, with Leo Smith and the violinist Jenkins. [United States] Luther King is buried in Atlanta before an immense crowd; strikes of blacks throughout the country and revolts in new cities (Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, New York): the arrested are now 10,000, the injured almost 2,000. [United States] Condemned in Spain the two leaders of the Comisiones Obreras, Camacho and Ariza. [Spain]
10 april		Another "Revolutionary Committee " is born in China, in Hunan, the province where Mao Tze Tung was born. [China] New programme of action of the Czechoslovakian Communist Party for information: the first point is respect for freedom of the press. [Czechoslovakia] 30 cities have been affected by the black revolt in recent days; rapidly approved a law against discrimination that had previously been blocked a number of times. [United States] Generale Thieu mobilizes in South Vietnam all able-bodied men between 18 and 45 years of age. [Vietnam] Strike in the Marzotto factory of Valdagno: the strategy of restructuring under way in the textile industry, with Marzotto in the front line, involves a wild-cat intensification of rhythms; spontaneous strikes were already numerous in '67. [Italy]