The Real History of May Day
Photo: AFP via Getty Images (Getty Images)
For most Americans, closing their laptop or clocking out at the end of an eight-hour shift at a restaurant or construction site is the norm, give or take a half-hour or so for lunch. And as tiring as a day of work can be, it’s easy to forget that over a century ago, people died to afford us the right to an eight-hour workday.
Advertisement
Much of this country’s radical labor tradition has been erased by our political leaders’ allegiance to big business and a reverence for markets and capitalism. But the modicum of rights still afforded to workers in 2021 stem from the 19th century unionists, anarchists, and socialists who first defied the capitalists who created the abhorrent working conditions of the Industrial Revolution.
How Labor Unions Work
howstuffworks.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from howstuffworks.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Goddess of Anarchy: Author Jacqueline Jones reflects on Lucy Parsons, the subject of her latest book
ithaca.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from ithaca.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Controversial Chicago Landmarks
The point of reviewing public art is to distinguish propaganda from legitimate history.
Towards the end of February, the City of Chicago announced that 41 public monuments were under review. On the Chicago Monuments Project website, city residents are encouraged to give feedback on the listed statues, reliefs, and plaques. Detractors of the program have suggested that this is an extravagant use of resources while the city’s under heavy strain from a stalled economy and a surge in violent crime. There’s no clear-cut plan about what to do about the monuments after collecting the feedback.
As it stands now, the program will likely be a slow-paced slog to enact any changes if it decides to do so. A few of the monuments listed have been sources of controversy for decades, but remain standing. Others have interesting histories, even if items like the Kinzie Mansion plaque, commemorating the birth of the city s first white chil