On reading the earlier post "WHOSE SIDE ARE THEY ON" you should not be fooled into thinking this is a new phenomenon, that it is only today that the state and it apparatus tries to repress the struggle of ordinary people as they attempt to better their conditions. The bosses and the establishment have always come down hard on any individuals who find themselves at the forefront of the constant struggle of trying to defend the conditions of the ordinary people. This constant opposition to the aspirations of the people, is the most glaring proof of the diametrically opposed positions of the capitalist system and the state on the one side, and the living standards and ideals of the ordinary people on the other. Our history is a rich heritage of struggle and suffering at the hands of the bosses and their minders, the state. We would do well to remember and honour that struggle and to repeat the stories of the determination in the face of that brutal repression that goes hand in hand with the state. Only by realising that it it is not a new struggle but the next chapter in the continuing struggle of the people, will we bring an end to that struggle and victory for the people.
In 1916 in Everett, Washington, a passenger ferry loaded with Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) free speech activists attempted to dock. On the dock, the local sheriff, along with armed deputies and armed guards hired by local businesses, attempted to block the ship from docking. According to lore, when the sheriff asked, “Who are your leaders?” the response from the ferry was a shout from everyone aboard, declaring, “We are all leaders here.” As folk musician Utah Phillips explains, “that scared the tar out of the ol’ law you know”[1] and as a result, a gunfight ensued. The gunfight left at least five IWW members dead and became known as the “Everett Massacre.” In the documentary film The Wobblies (Bird and Shaffer 1979), which tells the story of the early years of the IWW, two IWW members recount their experience in the “Everett Massacre.” Years later, Utah Phillips recounted this story on a collaboration album with popular musician Ani DiFranco, spreading the story and message to a new generation.
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