Fragile fraternity a hundred years on from Black Friday
This week marks the centenary of Black Friday. To Australian eyes it may seem an odd event to commemorate, but perhaps one that resonates with our predicament as we move away from COVID-19. Here Black Friday naturally evokes images of bushfires, terrible events imprinted on our national consciousness. The Black Friday of Great Britain in 1921, however, was notable not for terrible things that happened but for desirable things that did not happen.
It occurred in the aftermath of the 1914 War, during which the government had taken control of coal mines and had paid the miners a bonus. This reflected the sense of national unity and community in sharing the difficulties and sacrifices of the war. In 1921 the Government, faced by massive debt from the war, moved to hand back the mines to their owners with a reduction in salary. Those who did not accept it would be dismissed. The union leaders from the mines called a strike.
DAN TRUTTSCHEL
Lee Newspapers
United States Congressman Bryan Steil and State Representative Samantha Kerkman presented a new American and Wisconsin flag to members of the Danish Brotherhood on Friday morning. Video by Dan Truttschel
KENOSHA â Itâs going to take some time, but plans are in place for the Danish Brotherhood Lodge, destroyed by last summerâs riots, to have a new and improved home.
And the more than 200 members who relocate there wonât be going to the new digs empty-handed â theyâll have both the American and Wisconsin flags to fly high and proud.
U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Wis., and State Rep. Samantha Kerkman, R-Salem Lakes, traveled to Kenosha on Friday morning to present the group with new flags. The new flags will replace those burned when their historic building on 63rd Street was left in ruins by rioters on Aug. 24, one night after the shooting of Jacob Blake by a Kenosha police officer.