May 1st is observed around the world as a workers holiday, a celebration of the labor movement and its traditions. In cities everywhere, people take to the streets and try to make their presence known. There's the speechmaking of union leaders and the bluster of leftist politicians. We go through the motions of being in the streets once again.
May Day has not always been such a safe and predictable affair, and indeed sometimes it still escapes from the set parameters - in 2000, the Portland cops decided to go on a rampage, beating and shooting beanbag rounds at May Day celebrants. In 2001, police in Long Beach, California attacked a May Day "Reclaim the Streets" event. Following a mass arrest, one participant was deported; another is serving a lengthy sentence for his alleged "crimes". Internationally, some cities see barricades and burning cars each year.
For the most part, however, the events remain well-managed. Real life - whether terrifying or joyous - does not interfere with ritual.
We can do better than this. Instead of being recruited to serve this or that cause, and to blindly honor the myths of yesteryear, we can look to each other and find ways to enrich our lives. Instead of listening to the litanies of self-sacrifice and martyrdom so solemnly trotted out by our leaders, we can discover the sparks of revolt and passion in history. We can take strength from the examples of all those who displayed an indomitable will to fight for themselves, their friends and their communities, no matter what the odds.
We can begin to make May Day less boring - something that better serves our needs, something more deeply connected to our everyday lives. We may start by looking to the story of the day itself. If we disregard the sterile "movement history" we are offered, we will discover people who displayed a fierce and uncompromising desire for freedom - our allies of years past. These were not model activists or do-gooders, but rebels who fought tooth and nail against the establishment of the day.
In 1886, one of the most popular struggles of the time was that for the eight-hour workday. Anarchists were at the forefront of this battle. They wanted not only satisfaction of this basic demand, but an end to government and a complete overhaul of society. The broader movement put forward a demand that from May 1st onward, eight hours would constitute a legal workday. Chicago was a focal point of the struggle, and on this day strikes rocked the city. At a rally addressed by the anarchist August Spies two days later, the crowd decided to pay an unannounced visit to strikebreakers leaving work just one block away. The scabs were routed back to the factory, but soon after a force of police arrived and attacked the masses. Several people were killed, and many were seriously wounded, as police shots rang through the air.
The anarchists knew the need for a strong response to the onslaught they had just witnessed. A rally was called for the next day, and the circular they issued that night concluded:
"Which is your choice? Slavery and hunger, or liberty and bread? If you choose the latter, then do not delay a moment; then, people, to arms! Destruction upon the human beasts who call themselves your masters! Reckless destruction - that must be your watchword! Think of the heroes whose blood has enriched the path of progress, of liberty, and of humanity - and strive to prove yourselves worthy of them."
It was a far cry from appeals for moderate reform.
The rally of the 4th took place at Haymarket Square, and was addressed by Spies as well as two others involved in the eight-hour day movement, Albert Parsons and Samuel Fielden. Thousands had showed up to hear the speakers and express their outrage. Near the end of the rally, and with a heavy rain pouring down, only hundreds remained. Police marched in and ordered everyone to disperse. As the final speaker protested this order, someone in the crowd threw a bomb at the police. Firing started, and soon the square was strewn with bodies. Seven cops were killed - some by shots fired by their fellow officers. We do not know the exact number of protesters who died - probably twice to three times the number of cops.
The crackdown begins the next day. There are raids throughout Chicago, and hundreds are arrested. Newspapers cry for rebel blood. The Chicago Knights of Labor, which had previously distinguished itself by backing away from the May 1st general strike at the last moment, does its part, too:
"Let it be understood that the Knights of Labor have no affiliation, association, sympathy, or respect for the band of cowardly murderers, cutthroats and robbers, known as anarchists, who sneak through the country like midnight assassins, stirring up the passions of ignorant foreigners, unfurling the red flag of anarchy, and causing riot and bloodshed... We hope the whole gang of outlaws will be blotted from the face of the earth."
A trial resulting from the Haymarket Massacre opens in June. On trial are the three speakers of May 4th, and five others - Adolph Fischer, George Engel, Michael Schwab, Louis Lingg and Oscar Neebe. They stand trial for being accessories to murder, even though the state offers no evidence linking any of them to the bomb-throwing - many were not even at the rally. It is likely that seven of the eight had never touched explosives; the other, the intransigent Louis Lingg, claims he was at home at the time of the incident, busy constructing bombs! They are all in court for encouraging revolt against a wretched system (even if the speeches of the 4th itself were, by all accounts, quite tame).
The trial of the Haymarket Eight follows a pattern faced by many captured revolutionaries. The jury is rigged. There are inadequate funds for defense, and the three lawyers on the defense team are from civil practice, as no criminal lawyer in the city would go near the defendants. The judge has clear interests to defend, and these have nothing to do with fairness and impartiality. The proceedings are a farce from start to finish. Lingg has the dignity to ignore them throughout.
On August 19th the verdict comes down - guilty. Neebe is sentenced to fifteen years in prison; the rest are sentenced to death. Fiery speeches come from the condemned men. For close to four months, an international campaign is waged for leniency. On November 10th, Fielden and Schwab have their sentences commuted to life imprisonment. The same day, Lingg cheats the hangman when he removes his head with a small explosive charge that was smuggled to his cell.
The next day, amidst cries of "Long live anarchy!" Parsons, Engel, Spies and Fischer are hanged.
We don't need tributes to these men when they come from those who claim to own the struggle. The Haymarket Martyrs died as they lived - bravely. There are so many who will pay tribute to our fallen when it serves them, but spend most of their time pouring water on the fires of revolt. We can do without them and their politics.
We come together to fight for our lives, to break out of a nightmare society. Our May Day is not about the myths of outdated and defeated political movements.
Our May Day celebrates resistance. We will carry it on.
This May Day we remember Horehound. She gave it her all.
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