100th commemoration of the assassination of Joe Hill

The 19 November we commemorate the execution of Joe Hill, revolutionary activist, poet, songwriter, designer and wobbly frontline and early hours.

Joel Emma12244032_1940690409488398_764441386_nnuel Hägglund, said Joe Hill, born in Sweden on 7 October 1879. Dreaming of a better life, he joined the tens, even hundreds of thousands of immigrant-e-s European-do-s, mainly of Jewish origin, German, italone, Russian and Greek, who decided to leave the old continent to reach North America in the midst of the Industrial Revolution. Just like these, his dreams were faced with the harsh reality of the work day of 13 hours, the week of 6 days, the scam and theft of legal corporate wages and the racism of many Americans. Faced with this wage slavery, he chooses the life of "hobo", either work when necessary and enjoy life's little pleasures as much as possible, without worrying too much about tomorrow.

 

During his travels bringing him from one city or from one small job to another, he meets the IWWs he joins in 1910. The ease he had with the pen quickly made him an important figure in the revolutionary union. However, he did not join Big Bill Haywood and Elizabeth Gurley Flynn in the pantheon of Union Speakers and Organizers., he never went up the ranks and never ran after fame. His place was around the lights along the rails, surrounded by people like him, and his reputation was only the fruit of the success of the songs he sang. Some original, but above all a lot of covers of the tubes of the time he was editing to talk about the life and the struggle of the workers. We owe him in particular Casey Jones the Union Scab, Where the Fraser River Flows, Coffee An’, Should I ever Be a Soldier, Mr. Blok, Scissor Bill or The Rebel Girl to name just a few of the songs that have stood the test of time and that can still be found in union song books today, but also in the classics of folks and American country.

Joe Hill, who participated in several strikes in addition to being among the many wobblies who enlisted in the Mexican revolutionary army of Ricardo Flores Magon, was however arrested in 1914 on charges still denied today by the IWW of the murder of a Salt Lake City grocer. The speed with which the system of injustice in the state of Utah closed the matter, the lack of evidence and the aggression that the American government maintained towards the IWW, are just some of the facts put forward by the Syndicate, who still demands today that the honor of his greatest bard be restored.

In prison Hill exchanged many letters with comrades and friends whom he had met throughout his life. It was in one of them that he wrote his famous testament which gives a fair idea of ​​his love of poetry.:


My will is easy to decide, For there is nothing to divide.
My kin don’t need to fuss and moan, “Moss does not cling to rolling stone.”
My body? Oh, if I could choose, I would to ashes it reduce,
And let the merry breezes blow, My dust to where some flowers grow.
Perhaps some fading flower then, Would come to life and bloom again.
This is my Last and final Will. Good Luck to All of you,
Joe Hill

He is also responsible for the famous phrase " Dont mourn, Organize! » which is a rewrite of one of the last letters he wrote: ‘‘Goodbye, Bill, I die like a true blue rebel. Don’t waste any time mourning. Organize!”. The 19 November 1915, Joe Hill walked past the execution platoon and following his wish, 100 years later, the IWW still continue its fight.

For the occasion, events have taken place in almost all sections of the IWW. While the General Executive Office encouraged people to go out on the streets to do "soapboxing", the Joe Hill RoadShow grouping artists like Tom Morello, Joan Baz, Ziggy Marley, Tim Armstrong, The Last Internationale and many others have been crisscrossing the United States for many months holding concerts. David Rovics and Chris Chandler from Portland Intersector Local made a short video of the famous Alfred Hayes song, better known as I Dreamed I saw Joe Hill Last Night. To Montreal, a karaoke and film screening were organized.

At the IWW, November is meant to be a month of remembrance. A month for Joe Hill, for the hundreds of wobblies who have been assassinated by the state since 1905 and for all the working class heroes and heroines who die in silence at work. It’s in their names, for their children and for ours as we continue the fight. Dont Mourn, Organize!

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YouTube link to one of his songs, click right here.

For more information on Joe Hill and the culture he helped spread to the IWW, Franklin Rosemont wrote an extremely complete book, the penultimate edition of which is available free on the internet: http://poiesique.lautre.net/

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