A protest song that grows on you.... Sung in memory and celebration of the short lives of Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, Italian-born anarchists who advocated relentless warfare against violent and oppressive governments. They were convicted of murdering two men during the armed robbery of a shoe factory in Braintree, Massachusetts, United States in 1920. After a few hours deliberation, the jury found them guilty of first-degree murder on July 14, 1921. All appeals were denied by the original trial judge and by the Massachusetts State Supreme Court. By 1925, the case had drawn worldwide attention. In 1927, protests were held in every major city in North and South Americas, Europe, Australia and Africa. After weeks of secret deliberation, a commission upheld the verdict. Sacco and Vanzetti were executed via electric chair on August 23, 1927. Since their deaths, some critics have concluded that the two men were unjustly convicted, largely because of anti-Italian prejudice and their anarchist political beliefs. Investigations of the case continued throughout the 1930s and 1940s. In 1977, Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis issued a proclamation that Sacco and Vanzetti had been unfairly tried and convicted and that any disgrace should be forever removed from their names, but did not proclaim them innocent.
Posted on: Sun, 14 Dec 2014 05:24:25 +0000
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