for a better world. Their 1886 struggle for the eight-hour day, which gave us May Day, the international workersâ holiday, reminds workers around the world that ordinary people can organize and struggle for their own liberation. These struggles continue today across the globeâstruggles against oppression, exploitation, hunger, and poverty.
It was August Spies, one of the Martyrs who was targeted for being an immigrant and an anarchist, who predicted the battles being fought to this day. âIf you think that by hanging us you can stamp out the labor movement,â Spies told the judge, âthen hang us. Here you will tread upon a spark, but here, and there, and behind you, and in front of you, and everywhere, the flames will blaze up. It is a subterranean fire. You cannot put it out. The ground is on fire upon which you stand.â
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