The Daily Dispatch

The first of May is a moment for us to remember the Chicago Haymarket Martyrs of 127 years ago. These Chicago anarchists helped to lead the major battle of the day, not only for the 8 Hour Day, but also for social liberation.

Chicago’s Four Star Anarchists and several other allied groups have issued a joint statement titled Remembering the Past, Fighting for Tomorrow. It includes a short history of May Day, an examination of present conditions, a positive vision for our world and a call to action.

I commend it to you as appropriate for this May Day, 2013. Click here to read it.

Solidarity!

★★★

Red November, Back November
by Ralph Chaplin

Red November, black November,
Bleak November, black and red.
Hallowed month of labor’s martyrs,
Labor’s heroes, labor’s dead.

Labor’s wrath and hope and sorrow,
Red the promise, black the threat,
Who are we not to remember?
Who are we to dare forget?

Black and red the colors blended,
Black and red the pledge we made,
Red until the fight is ended,
Black until the debt is paid.

In memory of the Haymarket Martyrs, who were executed by the State of Illinois 125 years ago this month.

A Quote from Henry David Thoreau:

“Disobedience is the true foundation of liberty. The obedient must be slaves.”

Happy Independence Day

Get out there and strike a blow for Liberty!

Some of the mainstream journalists in Chicago seem to asking the right questions. Who are these Anarchists and what do they really believe?

A couple of articles hit my news aggregator this morning (both originally from the Sun Times).

What does an anarchist look like — or stand for? [Chicago Sun-Times] - I know what you’re thinking: Unwashed skinny guys wearing dirty black jeans, dirty black shirts and dirty black bandanas covering their dirty white faces.

Tired of wars, anarchist seeks new social order. [Four Star Anarchist Organization] - John Slavin, 30, teaches chemistry at City Colleges, performs post-doctoral research as a visiting scholar at Northwestern University and lives in Logan Square with his partner and their soon-to-be 1-year-old child. He’s also an anarchist.

No single event has influenced the history of labor in Illinois, the United States, and even the world, more than the Chicago Haymarket Affair. Read more about the tragedy in Haymarket Square and about the Haymarket Martyrs at the Illinois Labor History Society Website.