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In August 1908, a white mob attacked Springfield, Illinois’s Black community, destroying homes and businesses and lynching two Black men. National outrage over the violence helped spur the movement that created the NAACP the following year.
MORE →Reflects the personal views, recollections, and perspective of the author, Mike Davis.
This is a personal recollection on the Move fire on May 13, 1985
Amir Machmud | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 1985 | |
| 6th Speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly | |
| In office 1 October 1982 – 30 September 1987 | |
| Preceded by | Daryatmo |
| Succeeded by | Kharis Suhud |
| 9th Speaker of the House of Representatives | |
| In office 1 October 1982 – 30 September 1987 | |
| Preceded by | Daryatmo |
| Succeeded by | Kharis Suhud |
| 17th Minister of Home Affairs | |
| In office 9 January 1969 – 19 March 1983 | |
| President | Suharto |
| Preceded by | Basuki Rahmat |
| Succeeded by | Soepardjo Rustam |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 21 February 1923 |
| Died | 21 April 1995 (aged 72) Cimahi, Indonesia |
| Education | Indonesian Military Academy |
| Occupation |
|
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | |
| Branch/service | |
Years of service | 1943–1978 |
| Rank | General |
| Unit | Infantry |
| Battles/wars | Indonesian National Revolution |
| Service no. | 11646 |
General (Ret.) Amir Machmud (21 February 1923 – 21 April 1995[1]) was an Indonesian military general who was an eyewitness to the signing of the Supersemar document transferring power from President Sukarno to General Suharto.
Amir Machmud was born on 21 February 1923 in Cimahi, West Java. He was the second of five siblings and his father worked for a public company under the Dutch Colonial Government. He was educated at the "Ardjoena" Hollandsch-Inlandsche School in Bandung, graduating in 1938. He continued his education at a technical school for a further two years, and then in 1941 he took a topography course.[2][3]
In 1942, the Dutch colonial government was defeated by the Japanese Imperial Army and Indonesia came under the occupation of the Japanese Empire. By 1943, with the tide of the war beginning to turn against them, the Japanese established Defenders of the Homeland (PETA), an auxiliary force made up of Indonesians designed to bolster the number of troops for the Japanese and assist them in fighting a possible Allied invasion of Java. Amir Machmud joined PETA in 1943 and remained a member until 1945.[2][4]
On 17 August 1945, nationalist leaders Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta proclaimed Indonesia's Independence. Days later, the Preparatory Committee for Indonesian Independence (PPKI) announced the establishment of the People's Security Body (BKR). were formed and Amir Machmud headed a unit in Lembang, West Java.[5][6]
In 1946, after the People's Security Army (TKR) had been established, the Lembang BKR was integrated into the Siliwangi Division, a military regional command responsible for the security of West Java.[2]
The Siliwangi Division was then forced to leave West Java in 1948 after the signing of the Renville Agreement. Under this agreement, the Indonesian government was forced to recognize territories that had been taken under Dutch Control including West Java. Under the command of Colonel Abdul Haris Nasution, the division was relocated to Central Java.[7]
After the end of the War of Independence, the military was reorganized into seven "Territories and Armies" (Teritorium dan Tentara).[8] Amir Machmud remained with the Siliwangi T&T until 1960, ending his time in command of troops in Bandung.[2] He studied at the Army Staff College (Seskoad) Here, he learned about politics and economics, important subjects for a soldier in an army increasingly involved in the running of the Government. He also became acquainted with Suharto during his time at Seskoad.[9]
Once he had completed his Seskoad course, Amir Machmud was appointed Caduad Deputy Chief of Staff of the Army General Reserve (Caduad), who would go on to become Kostrad, which was a strategic force that was designed to be on standby at all times so that it could easily be summoned during any national emergency. Caduad was commanded by Suharto.[10]
Amir Machmud would now have his first stint as a Regional Commander. On 5 September 1962, he was appointed Commander of KODAM X/Lambung Mangkurat, which was responsible for the security of South Kalimantan. He held the post until 1965.[11][12]
On 1 October 1965, the 30 September Movement made a coup attempt in Jakarta. The movement announced the formation of a Revolutionary Council which included Amir Machmud as a member. Like many other anti-Communist Generals who were on the list, he was quick to deny membership. The day would finish with Suharto taking back control of the situation in Jakarta and the PKI being accused of being behind the coup attempt.[13][14]
In December 1965, Amir Machmud was appointed Commander of KODAM V/Jaya and he was now responsible for the security of Jakarta and its surrounding areas.[2][15]
There was a duality to Amir Machmud's stance at this point. Politically, he was with Suharto, the Army, and the anti-Sukarno protesters. At the same time, however, he felt a professional responsibility to prevent Jakarta from being reduced to chaos by all the protests and demonstrations. In February, Amir Machmud banned protests in Jakarta.[16]
It was dusk when the decree that would become the Supersemar was finally prepared and awaiting Sukarno's signature. Sukarno had some last-minute doubts but Amir Machmud, the other two generals, and members of Sukarno's inner circle in the cabinet who had also made the trip to Bogor encouraged him to sign. Sukarno finally signed and handed the Supersemar to Basuki to be passed on to Suharto. On the way back to Jakarta, Amir Machmud asked to read the document and seemed shocked to find out that it was a handover of power to Suharto.[17]
As Suharto removed Sukarno from power and replaced him as president in 1967, Amir Machmud continued as Commander of Kodam V/Jaya. In early 1969, Basuki, who became the Minister of Home Affairs died suddenly. Amir Machmud was then transferred from his position as Commander to Kodam V/Jaya to take Basuki's place as Minister of Home Affairs, a position he held until his resignation in October 1982.[1][11][18]
During his tenure as Minister of Home Affairs, Amir Machmud developed a reputation of being tough on government opponents and dissidents. This earned him the nickname of "The Bulldozer".[19]
Amir Machmud also helped strengthen Suharto's control over Indonesia. In 1969, he banned civil servants from being involved in politics but would encourage them to vote to Golkar in Legislative Elections as a sign of loyalty to the government.[20]
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In October 1982, Amir Machmud was elected as the chairman of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) and speaker of the [11] concurrently speaker of the People's Representative Council (DPR).[18]
Amir Machmud served as the Chairman of MPR/Head of DPR until 1987. This was to be his last post before retirement. He died on 21 April 1995 leaving a wife, two children and ten grandchildren.[1]
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Source: Wikipedia. Article content is retrieved live through the MediaWiki API.
General (Ret.) Amir Machmud (21 February 1923 – 21 April 1995) was an Indonesian military general who was an eyewitness to the signing of the Supersemar document transferring power from President Sukarno to General Suharto.
From October 1965 to March 1966, a series of large-scale killings and civil unrest primarily targeting members and supposed sympathizers of the Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI) took place in Indonesia. Other affected groups included alleged communist sympathisers, Gerwani women, trade unionists, ethnic Javanese Abangan, ethnic Chinese, atheists and other non-Muslims, and leftists in general. According to the most widely published estimates, at least 500,000 to 1 million people were killed. Some of the higher estimates reach figures as much as 2 to 3 million people killed. The killings, sometimes described as a politicide and occasionally as a genocide, were instigated by the Indonesian Army under Suharto. Research and declassified documents demonstrate the Indonesian authorities received support from foreign countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom. The killings began as an anti-communist purge following an attempted coup d'état by the 30 September Movement, which they self-proclaimed over media and communication outlets. It was a pivotal event in the transition to the "New Order" and the elimination of the PKI as a political force, with impacts on the global Cold War. The Army, after banning all independent news sources from publishing for a week, almost immediately pinned the abortive coup attempt to the PKI. Concurrently, the intelligence agencies of the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia engaged in black propaganda campaigns against Indonesian communists. During the Cold War, the U.S. government and its Western allies had the goal of halting the spread of communism in addition to bringing countries into the sphere of Western Bloc influence. Separately, Britain had reasons for seeking Sukarno's removal, as his non-communist government was involved in an undeclared war with neighboring Malaysia, a Commonwealth federation of former British colonies. Communists were purged from political, social, and military life in Indonesia, and the PKI itself was disbanded and banned. Mass killings began in October 1965, in the weeks following the coup attempt, and reached their peak over the remainder of the year before subsiding in the early months of 1966. They started in the capital, Jakarta, and spread to Central and East Java, and later Bali. Thousands of local vigilantes and army units killed actual and alleged PKI members, as well as members of other marginalized groups. Killings occurred across the country, with the most intense in the PKI strongholds of Central Java, East Java, Bali, and northern Sumatra. The upheavals led to the fall of Sukarno, who had been granted the title "President for life", and ushering in Suharto's three decades of pro-West authoritarian militaristic presidency. The killings are skipped over in most Indonesian history textbooks and have received little attention by Indonesians due to their suppression under the Suharto regime, as well as lack of international attention. The search for satisfactory explanations for the scale and frenzy of the violence has challenged scholars from all ideological perspectives. The possibility of returning to similar upheavals is cited as a factor in the "New Order" administration's political conservatism and tight control of the political system. Vigilance and stigma against a perceived communist threat remained a hallmark of Suharto's doctrine, and it is still in force even today. Despite a consensus at the highest levels of the U.S. and British governments that it would be necessary "to liquidate Sukarno", as related in a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) memorandum from 1962, and the existence of extensive contacts between anti-communist army officers and the U.S. military establishment – including the training of over 1,200 officers, "including senior military figures", and providing weapons and economic assistance – the CIA denied active involvement in the killings. Declassified U.S. documents in 2017 revealed that the U.S. government had detailed knowledge of the mass killings from the beginning and was supportive of the actions of the Indonesian Army. U.S. complicity in the killings, which included providing extensive lists of PKI officials to Indonesian death squads, has been established by historians and journalists. A top-secret CIA report from 1968 stated that the massacres "rank as one of the worst mass murders of the 20th century, along with the Soviet purges of the 1930s, the Nazi mass murders during the Second World War, and the Maoist bloodbath of the early 1950s."
Suharto (8 June 1921 – 27 January 2008) was an Indonesian general and politician who served as the second and longest-serving president of Indonesia from 1967 to 1998. Suharto was born in Kemusuk, near the city of Yogyakarta, during the Dutch colonial era. He grew up in humble circumstances. His Javanese Muslim parents divorced not long after his birth, and he lived with foster parents for much of his childhood. During the Japanese occupation, Suharto served in the Japanese-organized Indonesian security forces. During Indonesia's independence struggle, he joined the newly formed Indonesian Army and rose to the rank of major general some time after full Indonesian independence was achieved. An attempted coup on 30 September and 1 October 1965 was countered by Suharto-led troops. The army subsequently led a nationwide violent anti-communist purge. In March 1967, the MPRS appointed Suharto as acting president, and he was appointed president the following year. When Suharto came to power, inflation was running at over 650%. He appointed an economic advisory group that implemented free market policies, and by 1969 the country entered a period of price stability. Suharto ordered an invasion of East Timor in 1975, followed by a 23-year occupation of the country and genocide. Under his "New Order" regime, Suharto established a strong, centralised government dominated by the military, evolving from an initial oligarchic military dictatorship into a deeply authoritarian state centred on a cult of personality that elevated him as the nation's undisputed leader. His staunch anti-communist stance and ability to maintain political stability across Indonesia's vast and diverse archipelago secured significant economic and diplomatic backing from Western powers, particularly the United States, during the Cold War. During much of his presidency, Indonesia underwent rapid industrialisation, sustained economic growth (with GDP growing at around 7% per annum) improved education, and a rise in domestic entrepreneurship, developments that led the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) to name him "Father of Development" (Indonesian: Bapak Pembangunan) in 1982. In 1986, he was awarded the Ceres Medal by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) for achieving self-sufficiency in rice production. However, by the 1990s, his regime's increasing authoritarianism and widespread corruption fueled public dissatisfaction, which reached a breaking point during the 1997 Asian financial crisis that plunged the country into economic turmoil and widespread unrest. Under immense pressure, Suharto resigned in May 1998 after more than three decades in power. Suharto died in January 2008 and received a state military funeral with full honors. The Indonesian government declared a week of national mourning. Suharto was widely regarded as a military dictator by international observers. His 32-year presidency and legacy are highly divisive, and he remains a controversial figure among the Indonesian general public. He has been praised for making Indonesia into an economic success story, bringing stability to the region particularly during the Cold War period, and leading Indonesia when it played a significant role in international affairs. Others denounce his authoritarian rule, widespread corruption, and extensive human rights violations. His 31-year dictatorship is considered one of the most brutal and corrupt of the 20th century: he was central to the perpetration of mass killings against alleged communists and subsequent persecution of ethnic Chinese, Islamists, irreligious people, and trade unionists.
Prabowo Subianto Djojohadikusumo (born 17 October 1951) is an Indonesian politician, businessman, and retired military officer who has served as the eighth president of Indonesia since 2024. He previously served as the 26th minister of defence under President Joko Widodo from 2019 to 2024. Prabowo is Indonesia's third president to have a military background after Suharto and Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and is the oldest first-term president in Indonesian history. Prabowo graduated from the Indonesian Military Academy in 1970 and primarily served in the Special Forces (Kopassus) until he was appointed to lead the Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad) in 1998. Later that same year, he was discharged from the military and subsequently banned from entering the United States for allegedly committing human rights abuses. In early 2008, Prabowo's inner circle established the Gerindra Party. In the 2009 presidential election, he ran unsuccessfully for the vice presidency as Megawati Sukarnoputri's running mate. He contested the 2014 presidential election and was defeated by Jakarta governor Joko Widodo, which he initially disputed. He made another unsuccessful run for the presidency in 2019 against Joko Widodo, with Sandiaga Uno as his running mate and with the support of Gerindra, the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), the National Mandate Party (PAN), the Democratic Party (Demokrat), and Berkarya Party. His refusal to accept the result saw his followers stage protests that sparked riots in Jakarta. However, after a heated contest, Prabowo joined Joko Widodo's cabinet as his minister of defence for the 2019 to 2024 period. On 10 October 2021, Gerindra announced Prabowo as their candidate in the 2024 presidential election. On 12 August 2022, Prabowo announced that he accepted Gerindra's nomination. Prabowo declared victory in the election on 14 February 2024, as early unofficial polling showed him with a lead in the first round of voting. On 20 March, the General Election Commission (KPU) certified the results and declared him as the president-elect of Indonesia. The Constitutional Court (MK) confirmed his status on 22 April 2024. Prabowo was sworn in as the 8th president of Indonesia on 20 October 2024.
Before the 1921 destruction of Tulsa’s Greenwood District, Black residents had created a remarkable center of business and community life. The district included stores, professional offices, entertainment venues and homes owned by Black citizens. Understanding Greenwood means learning what was built—not only what was burned.
MORE →Brown v. Board of Education in 1954.
