Growing up in Chicago, May Day was always something discussed in my history classes but was never taught as a positive event, or something to be repeated.
My understanding of May Day has always been that it marked a tragedy. The 1886 Haymarket Affair was an event in which labor unions in Chicago held a protest to demand an eight-hour workday.
The gathering turned violent when an unknown protestor hurled a bomb at Chicago Police officers, setting off an exchange of gunfire, killing seven police officers and four protestors, wounding as many as 70 others.
When I read the teachers’ unions in my hometown were hosting a protest to commemorate and glorify that dark chapter of Chicago history and even felt the need to go as far as busing Chicago Public Schools students to the event, I had to go see it for myself.
Siena Rose from our media team asked me to tag along and help film some of the event, and I jumped at the opportunity.
We started our morning in Logan Square, where union leaders and community members hosted a protest centered largely on anti-ICE demonstration. Upon arrival, Siena and I walked into a sparsely attended protest of adults conversing with each other.
We spoke with a few attendees who claimed they had come to express their disapproval of a variety of federal policy initiatives related to deportations, foreign affairs and corporate taxation.
The rhetoric became more radical as the protest became more populated. We spoke with attendees advocating for the dismantling of the capitalist system in favor of communism or socialism. What I expected to be a demonstration focused on specific local policy grievances felt, instead, like something broader and more sinister.
A moment that stood out to me involved a parade of exceptionally young students — some as young as 8 or 9 years old — being chaperoned by teachers proudly donning Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) and Illinois Federation of Teachers (IFT) shirts leading chants and songs criticizing President Trump.
The young voices were met with cheering and applause from the other protestors in attendance.
The students were then handed chalk and were encouraged to write out messages in favor of some of the objectives that their teachers brought them out there to protest for. Young students, who I believed to be around second or third grade age, chalked out misspelled statements reading, “How did a rapeist (sic) get elected,” “No taxitation (sic) without representation,” and, of course, “F*** Trump”.
While civic engagement can be an important part of a democracy, the involvement of very young students in highly partisan demonstrations invites debate about where the line should be drawn — particularly when these students do not yet have the tools to critically evaluate the messages they are promoting.
From Logan Square, Siena and I made our way to the main event, a May Day rally at Union Park in the West Loop. Again, we showed up early to speak with a small group of protestors that were setting up various booths to try to engage the crowd.
About half of these information booths were manned by self-identified communist groups. Hammer and sickle emblems were in abundance; copies of the Communist Manifesto and other radical pamphlets were being handed to anyone who would accept.
The park began to fill up as the rally began at a scheduled time. We came across an American Indian dance troop, hordes of LGBT activists and even a small faction gathering under an ANTIFA flag.
But the most notably present group was the unions. CTU and IFT organizers were joined by Service Employees Internation Union (SEIU), United Domestic Workers of America (UDW)and other notable labor organizations.
While some of the more ideologically driven groups were willing to speak openly about their views, several individuals affiliated with unions declined to comment when asked about the purpose of the demonstration.
Chicago has always been a city rooted in corruption. It’s nickname, the “Windy City” has far less to do with local the weather than it does the city’s politicians, who have long cared more about lining their pockets than the welfare of their constituents.
What I witnessed on May Day was a continuation of a political culture that has prioritized radical ideology and power over the well-being and development of its residents, especially its students.
When young children are brought into highly politicized environments without the tools to critically understand them, it raises genuine concerns about the role unions and political institutions play in shaping the next generation.
