THE LEGENDARY WOBBLY AND SONGWRITER, EXECUTED 110 YEARS AGO, WAS CELEBRATED WORLDWIDE FOR HIS RESILIENCE AND HUMOUR ~ Owen Clayton ~ Born Joseph Emanuel Hägglund in Sweden in 1879, Hill was brought up amid hardship after his father died when he was still a child. Without formal training, he imbibed a love of music from both parents, his father having played the organ and his mother being a talented singer. As he grew up, Hill sharpened his musical and lyrical skills by creating parody songs, something for which that he would eventually become famous. His talents also extended to cartoons, a popular working-class medium. Hill emigrated to the USA in 1902. There is patchy evidence of what he did for the next 5 years, but it presumably involved moving around the country as a transient worker, otherwise known as a hobo. These workers moved around by illegally hopping freight trains, working in mines, mills, laying railroad track, and generally building up the American capitalist West. We know that Hill was in San Francisco during the 1906 earthquake because he wrote about it for his boyhood paper back in Sweden. By 1908 he was in Portland, where he joined the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW, or ‘wobblies’), the only union that did not exclude people on the basis of ethnicity and which also tried to organise all workers, instead of just those in more ‘skilled’ positions. The wobblies believed that if all workers were in ‘One Big Union’ then this could lead to a general strike and, from there, seizure of the means of production. They eschewed party politics and the ballot box in favour of a revolutionary stance, which made them public enemy number one in what would later become America’s ‘First Red Scare’. Hill was present during the famous 1909-1910 free speech fight in Spokane, Washington. This was a struggle over a ban on the rights to free assembly and speech. The IWW called on hundreds of activists to descend on Spokane with the deliberate intention of being arrested for public speaking. Spokane’s jails were soon filled with an army of rambunctious wobblies, about whom one governor despaired that he could not get them to stop singing. The cost to the State was astronomical, and so the prisoners were eventually released and the ban lifted—an event that echoes in the ongoing Palestine Action mass arrests. Around this time, Hill and fellow wobblies began using street music to combat the Salvation Army bands that deliberately tried to drown out IWW speakers. It was a pivotal moment for the IWW, which has ever afterwards been known as a ‘singing union’: putting out regular editions of its ‘Little Red Songbook’, also known as ‘music to fan the flames of discontent’. Hill went on a prolific songwriting spree. His most famous song is ‘The Preacher and the Slave’ (also known as ‘Long Haired Preachers’), which criticises the ‘Starvation Army’ for promising ‘pie in the sky’ (a phrase that Hill invented) instead of giving more immediate help. As he had done in Sweden, Hill often adopted religious or popular melodies, partly because his songs were often parodies, but it also because this made his songs easier to learn. Hill said that ‘if a person can put a few cold, common sense facts into a song, and dress them (the facts) up in a cloak of humour…he will succeed in reaching a great number of workers’. And his music was immensely popular: of 12 songs in the 1913 edition of the Little Red Songbook, 10 were by Hill. Valuing his music as a form of propaganda, the IWW sent him to a strike location in Canada so that he could write a new song on the spot. Hill believed in the importance of reaching female workers, who were, he wrote, ‘more exploited than the men’. He wrote one of his most famous songs, ‘The Rebel Girl’, in honour of wobbly organisers like Elizabeth Gurley Flynn (the term Rebel Girl is probably a pun on ‘Gurley’), Katie Farr, and Anges Thecla Fair. He also wrote letters arguing that the wobblies were spending so much time organising male workers that they were neglecting to organise women. It goes without saying that in making these arguments he was well ahead of his time. In 1911, Hill manifested his revolutionary sentiments in a more practical way. With many other wobblies, he joined the Mexican revolution that successfully deposed the US-backed dictator Porfirio Diaz. The revolution was soon betrayed, as so often happens, by its one-time Liberal allies: who, once Diaz was out of power, turned the Mexican army on the rebels. Hill was fortunate not only to escape with his life, but also to successfully return to the US. In 1913, however, his luck ran out. As is well known, he was shot in what he claimed was a dispute over a woman on the same night as a murder took place of a grocer and his son. Though the evidence was extremely flimsy, Hill’s trail judge, Morris L. Ritchie, was so biased that Hill was found guilty of those murders and sentenced to death. The IWW launched a mass public campaign about his unfair trial, though Hill expressed misgivings about becoming a martyr, or a ‘Tin-Jesus’ as he sarcastically put it. When the time finally came, he was stoic and not a little ironic: reportedly gave his firing squad the order to shoot. Just before his execution, he dashed off a poem called ‘The Last Will of Joe Hill’, which proclaims that ‘my will is easy to decide/For I have nothing to divide/My kin don’t need to fuss and moan/Moss does not cling to a rolling stone.’ The poem also expresses a wish to be cremated, which the IWW honoured. His ashes were divided into six hundred envelopes and sent around the world, so that a part of Joe Hill could inspire future generations. In one of his most famous final letters, Hill told IWW leader ‘Big’ Bill Haywood: ‘Don’t waste any time in mourning—organize’. But really it seems more appropriate to do both. Hill’s influence only grew after his death. This was in part because of the popular 1936 song-poem ‘Joe Hill’ by Alfred Hayes and Earl Robinson, in which Joe returns in a dream, claims that he ‘never died’, and says that he is present ‘In Every Mine and Mill/Where workers strike and organize/There you’ll find Joe Hill’. Musicians such as Joan Baez, Tom Morello, Billy Bragg and the Finnish hiphop star Paleface have all cited Hill as an inspiration. His name was even taken in homage by the horror writer Joseph Hillstrom King, the son of Stephen King (who had himself given his son the middle name Hillstrom). And most importantly, his songs are still sung in marches and on pickets lines worldwide, as workers and activists seek to fulfil Joe Hill’s promise of a better world. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Image: Joe Hill, ‘Oh You Hoboing’, sent by letter to Charles Rudberg, 2 September 1911 The post Remembering Joe Hill appeared first on Freedom News.

AS ACTION ERUPTS AGAINST ICE RAIDS, THE MAGA CULT MOVES ON WITH ITS LEGISLATIVE ONSLAUGHT ~ Louis Further ~ What you see in reporting on protests against arbitrary and sadistic raids on non-White families—first in Los Angeles and increasingly in other cities across the US—is by and large what you get on the ground. Just take away the usual “anarchist agitators bent on violence, which is wrong!” and add the appalling conditions: overcrowding and lack of water, food and light with mandatory inspections denied. A fascist administration is following supremacist dogma to scapegoat guest-workers and their families. Many—but by no means all—have come to the US to escape exploitation of their countries by the US. Immigrants contribute to the US economy. They predominantly avoid crime—despite claims by a convicted felon with three other cases against him, someone who actually did incite an insurrection. Yet Trump and the MAGA cartel continue pushing the line that non-whites are inferior and are ‘invading’ the US—as the ghoulish Goebbels clone, Stephen Miller, posted last weekend: “Deport the invaders”—whether or not they are in the country legally, sick, dying, are children, pregnant, tax-payers. Anyone. They want to see more chaos and uncertainty, want to provoke reaction from overwhelmingly peaceful protesters. Trump’s almost unprecedented, unconstitutional and illegal action in moving National Guard (and perhaps soon Marines) forces onto the streets to confront, harm and possibly even kill protesters is aggression in the service of kidnapping and human trafficking—and perhaps an attempt to distract from the noisy exit from the government of Trump’s biggest campaign donor. To have been optimistic since January is to have awaited opposition to the cult. Maybe the solidarity and bravery amongst protesters in Los Angeles now is the first instance of that. As resistance to ICE shows itself in L.A. and elsewhere, the cult is moving to exercise increased censorship of the media and individuals’ views. Stories like this detailing how disgraced, misogynistic and racist members of Trump’s first term are now active again in his second appear less likely in the future. Opponents of the cult are increasingly being ejected from press conferences. TRUMP’S ‘BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL’ The future of the Trump/MAGA cult’s next, huge piece of legislation may be in doubt because of the split between Trump and Musk and rumblings of dissent within the Republican party. But would-be opponents in these situations usually cave in eventually. Even a cursory read-through of the proposals is spine-chilling. However much H.R.1 may be changed before it becomes law, it looks likely to be catastrophic. Sections 42108–42301 repeal minimal environmental safeguards like clean air acts. Sections 41009 and 80301–80309 remove preservation for places such as national parks, which bring in significant revenue from tourism; climate justice is undermined and the quantity and sums allotted to local communities as block grants decreased or eliminated. As per sections 80307 to 80309, after natural disasters funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA, which is to be abolished later this year anyway) are likely to be insufficient to help; and applied to favour Trumpy states. Meanwhile, (now gutted) Environmental Protection Agency is believed to have plans to remove all limits on greenhouse gas emissions from coal- and gas-fired power plants. The Supreme Court is firmly behind accelerating the ruin. Section 20001 increases the likelihood of greater military involvement—especially in the Asia-Pacific region. Section 70302 introduces a provision requiring anyone seeking court intervention against the administration to post a financial bond, much more likely to impact its opponents than beneficiaries. After the passage last month of another bill—which may deprive up to 14 million poorer-off people of healthcare to give the rich yet more tax breaks—Sections 44141, 44122 and 44131 of H.R.1 significantly restrict access to health care through Medicaid, the agency acting as a safety net for those who do not otherwise have health ‘insurance’. Recipients in states (they administer Medicaid) which did not vote for Trump are expected to be deprived of more funds than those which did. Sections 44110 and 44125 end all care for undocumented guest-workers and ban gender-affirming care. As tariffs come into effect, Sections 10008, 10012 would significantly increase the cost of living. Potentially unparalleled austerity could result from the deregulation envisaged in Sections 50002 and 50003. Chaos and loss of services from the purges in the Civil Service (‘DOGE’ has illegally sacked employees with generations of expertise) are envisaged in Sections 90004 to 90006. Schools and colleges will become vehicles for greater indoctrination in dogma as the paltry efforts to recognise inequality and racism under ‘DEI‘ are eliminated under Section 30061. Federal grants to arts organisations and museums are being cut. Section 44001 prevents states from regulating AI, educational technology and amending privacy standards for 10 years. Meanwhile, in order to advance the MAGA white supremacist agenda—including the absurdity that white South Africans are a persecuted race with special status in the US—the Musk-owned AI system Grok has been ‘adjusted‘ the to answer with the issue of ‘Afrikaner refugees’ whatever question was put to it. Sections 50002, 50003, 80121(h) curtail the powers of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), and court oversight of fossil fuel permits. Corporate fraud is likely to rise unchecked. MAKE AMERICA CORRUPT AGAIN The sleazy MAGA cult has taken pure graft to dimensions that beggar belief. Some examples from the many being recorded by opponents—ideally with a view to doing something about it—include the way in which cult members are intimidating (the families of) judges who fail to find in Trump’s favour when ruling on the hundreds of lawsuits filed against him. Trump and his family are using their position to increase their wealth through business deals in the Middle East. Insiders are allegedly taking advantage accordingly to trade shares. Hand in hand with corruption goes incompetence. The cult holds itself above the law, and (so) unchallengeable. In a series of events worthy of ‘Yes Minister‘ last month, the Department of Health and Human Services—under unqualified, anti-vaccination quack, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.—produced a ‘report’ titled ‘Make America Healthy Again’ and sprinkled with errors: missing references and misattributions, non-existent studies, broken links, typos and made up ‘sources’). When they amended it in response to media mockery they managed to compound the errors. Remember, this is the health and potential survival of millions of residents in the United States. Here’s another indicator of the absurdity of the MAGA cult. Perhaps they act like this to enhance their sense of belonging. Its members latch onto and fetishise positions, beliefs, dogma that the rest of us would look askance at. MAGA congressperson Tim Burchett explained to a Fox ‘News’ propagandist why he didn’t drink using straws. Environmental impact? No. It’s because “That’s what the women in my house do”, agreeing with Fox that it makes your lips purse and look effeminate. This time last month a far-right federal judge in the Northern District of Texas, Matthew Kacsmaryk, ruled that it is legal to discriminate against people on the basis of their sexual orientation. This contradicts the US Supreme Court’s unambiguous ruling in 2020 (Bostock v. Clayton County) that Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act offers that protection. Another law, H.R.3518 denies funding to institutions which recognise racism and/or which don’t deny an elevated concern for diversity. We can’t end without touching on the unfolding horror in the Middle East. One cultist, unwilling to respond to—let alone rectify—the United States’ promotion of the mass slaughter in Gaza and its reduction to rubble, now publicly advocates its nuclear annihilation. For others, genocide is a joke. It remains to be seen whether the cult will be able to restrain itself following Israel’s attack on Iran—or, instead, seize on the opportunity to propel the world towards Armageddon. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Photos: Portland IWW on Bluesky The post Notes from the US: Reaction and Resistance appeared first on Freedom News.