What can we learn from history?

May 1 has always marked the coming of Spring: a time of rebirth and new possibilities. For over a century, May Day has been known as International Workers Day, a day where the 99% — workers throughout the world — have united to fight their common exploitation by the 1%.

Chicago, 1886

The origins of May Day lie in the revolutionary year of 1886: a wave of mass strikes—focused on the fight for an 8-hour day—surged across the heartland of America. The American Federation of Labour had adopted a resolution stating "eight hours shall constitute a legal day's labour from and after May 1st, 1886". In Chicago, over 100,000 workers struck. There, during a demonstration on May 3rd, a crowd confronted strike-breakers leaving the nearby McCormick factory, chasing them back inside. Without warning, police opened fire on the crowd, killing four and seriously wounding many.

The following day a rally was called at Haymarket Square to protest the police violence. The mayor was in attendance, and the crowd debated how to continue their strike. As the meeting was winding down, a group of 180 police stormed in and ordered everyone to disperse. A bomb was thrown towards the police line. Who threw it — whether protestor or provocateur — has never been determined. As the bomb exploded, chaos descended. One police officer was killed, many others were injured. The police opened fire on the crowd, killing dozens. A police dragnet swept the city. Eight revolutionary labor leaders were arrested, seven of whom had not even been present in Haymarket at the time. In the absence of any evidence linking them to the bomb, the "Chicago Eight" were tried solely on the basis of their political beliefs. All eight were sentenced to death.

Several years later, in honor of their slain comrades, a coalition of workers groups declared May 1st International Workers Day. Ever since, people around the world have come together on May Day to remember the sacrifices of those who have struggled before us, to defend the gains they made, and to discuss the way forward to a better world for the 99%.

What can we learn from history?

The progressive inclusion of voices and segments of the 99% in May Day demonstrations indicates a profound shift in the struggle for a better, more equitable world. It serves as an important historical message that the 99% is not just the worker, but also all those displaced, mistreated and exploited by a vicious and cruel economic and political system: students, immigrants, the unemployed, the invisible, the homeless, women, the LGBT community, precarious workers, the incarcerated, etc.

Reading May Day’s history in 2012 makes it clear: the 99% is just that – 99% of us who suffer while 1% prospers. May Day 2012 is a day that the 99% steps onto the stage of history, declaring from New York to Wisconsin to Cairo to Durbin to Madrid:

We are all workersWe are all immigrantsWe are all the 99%

And we demand a better world for all.

from here