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Boosted by soatok@furry.engineer ("Soatok Dreamseeker"):
MissConstrue@mefi.social wrote:
Today is May Day, and lots of us are withholding labor and capital from the system. But do you know why we celebrate #MayDay?
May Day, or International Workers’ Day, commemorates the 1886 Haymarket Affair in Chicago. During a rally in Haymarket Square supporting workers striking for an eight-hour workday, an unknown person threw a bomb at police, killing one. Police opened fire, killing four civilians and injuring dozens.
Eight anarchist labor leaders were arrested despite no evidence linking them to the bomb. Seven were sentenced to death; four were hanged in 1887, one committed suicide in jail, and three were pardoned in 1893 by Governor Altgeld, who called the trial a miscarriage of justice.
The Haymarket Affair fueled anti-labor and anti-immigrant sentiment in the U.S. while galvanizing the international labor movement.
In 1889, the Second International designated May 1 as International Workers’ Day to commemorate the event, linking it to May Day protests worldwide.
