Lucy Parsons Passes (1942)
Sat Mar 07, 1942
Image: Lucy E. Parsons, arrested for rioting during an unemployment protest in 1915 at Hull House in Chicago, Ill. Courtesy of the Chicago Historical Society. [zinnedproject.org]
Lucy Parsons was an American labor organizer and anarcho-communist who died on this day in 1942. She co-founded the IWW and was described by the Chicago Police Department as "more dangerous than a thousand rioters".
Parsons entered the radical movement with her husband and fellow anarchist Albert Parsons, contributing to "The Alarm", a radical newspaper Albert edited. Lucy also edited the "Liberator", an anarchist newspaper that supported the IWW, and worked with the International Labor Defense, a communist legal advocacy group that defended the Scottsboro Boys and Angelo Herndon.
Following her husband's 1887 infamous execution in relation to the Haymarket affair, Parsons remained committed to radical labor organizing. One of her last appearances was a speech to striking workers at International Harvester in February 1941, at approximately 90 years old.
Parsons was prescient on the nature of labor conflict, stating "My conception of the strike of the future is not to strike and go out and starve, but to strike and remain in, and take possession of the necessary property of production", anticipating the labor tactics of sit-down strikes and worker occupations.
"Never be deceived that the rich will allow you to vote away their wealth."
- Lucy Parsons
- Date: 1942-03-07
- Learn More: www.blackpast.org, www.zinnedproject.org, en.wikipedia.org, theanarchistlibrary.org.
- Tags: #Communism, #Labor, #IWW, #Anarchism.
- Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org