11/11/2026
Today, we remember Chicago's Haymarket Martyrs. On November 11, 1887, four labor organizers were hanged in Chicago. Let's remember why...
Before we had the modern 8 hour workday, finding workers putting in absurd hours in dangerous labor was all too easy. Peaceful May Day strikes had been rocked by Chicago police killing protesters on May 3. The following night, workers reassembled and the police came back. As the police moved in on the workers, a bomb was thrown (and we still don't know who threw it to this day). At once, police and workers exchanged gunfire in what a local paper would describe as "wild carnage."
Chicago police turned the entire city upside down in their pursuit of anyone remotely connected to the Haymarket incident. The public turned on the workers and the bosses regained control of their factories, subjecting workers to 10+ hour workdays once again. The public opinion changed, however, when the verdicts started rolling in. Despite calls for mercy and appeals getting exhausted, four of the accused were led to the gallows and hanged.
Let us all remember that what we have now is what has been built for us and what we want will have to be built by us. Always remember those who have paved the way.
