Fenway Socialists

Eugene Debs Was an American Hero On June 16, 1918, Eugene Debs gave the anti-war speech that would soon send him to prison. His arrest sparked a nationwide movement to secure his release — and forced the government to finally recognize the free speech rights of wartime dissenters.

"The Democrats will once again offer up a least-worst alternative while, in fact, doing little or nothing to thwart the march toward corporate totalitarianism. What the public wants and deserves will again be ignored for what the corporate lobbyists demand. If we do not respond soon to the social and economic catastrophe that has been visited on most of the population, we will be unable to thwart the rise of corporate tyranny and a Christian fascism.

We need to reintegrate those who have been pushed aside back into the society, to heal the ruptured social bonds, to give workers dignity, empowerment and protection. We need a universal health care system, especially as we barrel toward a global pandemic. We need programs that provide employment with sustainable wages, job protection and pensions. We need quality public education for all Americans. We need to rebuild our infrastructure and end the squandering of our resources on war. We need to halt corporate pillage and regulate Wall Street and corporations. We need to respond with radical and immediate measures to curb carbon emissions and save ourselves from ecocide and extinction. We don’t need a “Punch and Judy” show between Trump and Biden. But that, along with corporate tyranny, is what we seem fated to get, unless we take to the streets and tear the house down."

https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-one-choice-election/

The One-Choice Election With Donald Trump or Joe Biden, the oligarchs win and we lose, which is why the next few weeks will be devoted to destroying Bernie Sanders.

DefundBoscops DefundPolice - Boston Toolkit Table of Contents How much money goes to Boston Police? 1 We must defund prisons at the same time - our BFFs at Families for Justice as Healing have the other toolkit for you at Tinyurl.com/maweekofaction 1 Salaries & Overtime Spending 1 External Grants 2 Boston Regional Intelligence Center (BR...

Fenway Socialists stands in solidarity with those protesting police brutality and white supremacy. If you can, please consider supporting the protestors with donations of money or supplies. The Minnesota Freedom Fund website has a list of organizations that need support:
https://minnesotafreedomfund.org/

Minnesota Freedom Fund

Great post about the life and work of the legendary organizer Big Bill Haywood. Rest in power!!

TODAY IN LABOR HISTORY: On May 18th, 1928 Labor Leader and IWW co-founder Big Bill Haywood died.

Born in Salt Lake City, Bill Haywood (1869-1928) went to work in the mines at the age of nine. He joined the Western Federation of Miners in 1896 and was active as an executive board member and as secretary-treasurer of that organization until 1907. One of the founders and the best known of the I.W.W. leaders, he became its secretary-treasurer for 1916-18.

William D. “Big Bill” Haywood ranks as one of the foremost and perhaps most feared of America’s labor radicals. Physically imposing with a thunderous voice and almost total disrespect for law, Haywood mobilized unionists, intimidated company bosses, and repeatedly found himself facing prosecution.

The 1886 Haymarket riots, trials, and executions made a deep impression on Haywood inspiring, he would later say, his life of radicalism. The Pullman railroad strikes of 1893 further strengthened Haywood’s interest in the labor movement. Then in 1896, while working a silver mine in Idaho, Haywood listened to a speech by Ed Boyce, President of the Western Federation of Miners (WFM). Haywood immediately signed up as a WFM member and by 1900 became a member of the organization’s executive board.

When Boyce retired as WFM president in 1902, he recommended Haywood and Charles Moyer assume leadership of the rapidly growing organization. It was not an easy arrangement. Moyer was cautious by nature, favoring negotiations over strikes and violence. Haywood, on the other hand, was volatile, impulsive and inclined toward radical confrontation. Haywood was a powerful speaker, and was a master at rallying working class audiences. The campaign for an eight-hour work day became one of Haywood’s principal causes. He would shout, “Eight hours of work, eight hours of play, eight hours of sleep– eight hours a day!”

In 1908, Haywood was ousted by Moyer from his executive postion with the WFM. Haywood turned his attention to the Industrial Workers of the World (the “Wobblies”). In 1915, Haywood became the formal head of the I.W.W. He led textile strikes in Massaschusetts and New Jersey and helped recruit the over three million mine, mill, and factory workers that at one time or another were Wobblies.

In 1918, Haywood was convicted of violating a federal espionage and sedition act by calling a strike during wartime. He served a year in Leavenworth, then jumped bond in 1921 while out on appeal.

Haywood fled to Moscow where he became a trusted advisor to the new Bolshevik government. Haywood died in Moscow in 1928. Half of his ashes were buried in the Kremlin near his friend John Reed and not far from Lenin’s tomb, an urn containing the other half of his ashes was sent to Chicago and buried near a monument to the Haymarket anarchists who first inspired his life of radicalism.

Happy International Workers’ Day! Things right now may seem bleak, but we shouldn’t get discouraged. Major victories like the eight hour work day, two day weekend, and higher wages were gained not through the ballot box, but through the hard-fought struggles of organized labor.

Right now, the easing of stay at home guidelines and re-opening of businesses puts millions of American workers and their families at risk of illness and death. Without extended unemployment benefits or UBI, people will be forced to choose whether to risk their safety or to risk their livelihood and go hungry. To the capitalists, short-term profits and a booming stock market is worth more than working class lives. This is morally reprehensible, but it’s no surprise in a country where slaves were killed for trying to be free, workers were massacred by the police for asking for an eight hour day, and popular revolutionary leaders were shot by the FBI.

Today, workers at Trader Joe’s, Amazon, Instacart, Whole Foods, Walmart, and more are going on strike to call for hazard pay, personal protective equipment, and professional cleaning services. Now more than ever, we need to stand in solidarity with workers, and continue to build strong organizations in communities. We must achieve enough power to force the capitalists to listen to our demands, and this can only be realized if we unite and stand together as a class.

Think it goes without saying that we do not endorse Joe Biden 🤣

Love voting? Hate voting? Either way, you can to an incarcerated person who has had their right to vote stripped away. We’re collaborating with Emancipation Initiative to allow people on the outside to donate their vote to someone on the inside, bringing disenfranchised people back into the political process and ensuring their voices are heard. See the below link to learn more and sign up, and feel free to reach out to us with any questions!

#DonateYourVote 2020 Following the success of the 2018 project that saw 140+ pairs of incarcerated and free-world participants, Emancipation Initiative is starting our 2020 effort earlie…