Lucy Parsons, one of the most prominent figures in black Americans’ history, an anarchist, socialist and journalist is remembered for her great legacy, fighting for the disenfranchised and the poor in society.
“She is dangerous than a thousand rioters.”
The above was the common description Chicago authorities would use in reference to her. Back then and now, no woman is comparable to Lucy; she worked 70 years, endorsing racial equality through her literature and movements. She believed that violence was the only way the oppressed would acquire a fair share in the capitalist system.
Her writings and thoughts on oppression and disenfranchisement spread to different parts of the globe, influencing many. Occasionally she became a target for the police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. They would ban her from speaking in public or sometimes jail her. Sources reveal that on the day of Parsons’s death, her writings were destroyed and concealed. Not even historians could access them
Lucy’s Early Life
Though Mrs. Parsons was an influential, courageous and outspoken lady, her personal life never hit the limelight, and she kept things about her background hidden. Often during interviews, when asked about her background, all she would say was, “I am not a candidate for office, and the public has no right to my past. I amount nothing to the world, and the people care nothing for me. I am battling for a principle.”
As such, little is known about her early life. Mrs. Parsons, daughter to Lucia Carter and the alleged white man, Tolliver, was born in 1851 in Virginia. Her mother worked as a slave for Mr. Tolliver cooking and doing the house chores. It happens that at the time of Parsons’s birth, Texas was in chaos, as political crises had erupted.
While growing up as a young lady, Parsons used different surnames, as she aimed to disguise her identity living in a prejudiced society. On many occasions, she went by the surname Gonzales, denying her African American roots. When asked about her dark skin tone, she would link it to her Mexican heritage.
Parsons got married at a young age. She was only a teenager when she tied knots with a man older than him. The lad had initially served as a slave in the Americas. It was not long before she and Oliver Gathings sired a child. Unfortunately, the child did not live long, for it succumbed at a tender age. Later in life, Lucy met Albert Parsons, a printer and ex-Confederate soldier from Alabama. They got married around the 1870s.
However, due to Texas’s surging violence and segregation, the Parsons’ decided to relocate to Chicago. The couple both had a liking for activism, thus contributed to their migration; they felt threatened. While in Chicago, they joined labor and anarchist movements and continued to protest the blacks’ oppression. Alternatively, Albert worked as a printer at the Chicago times. Historians state that amid Albert working as a registrar for black voters, he was shot on the leg and threatened with lynching.
After spending some time in Chicago, the economy started deteriorating. All was not well; many had lost their jobs, while those in employment were receiving meager wages. In response to the situation, civilians in Chicago took to the streets. History predates the 1877 strike as one of the most significant mass strikes the US has ever experienced.
During the protest, the officers were struggling to disperse the crowds who were resisting and revolting. Lucy’s husband happened to be the leading figure in the strikes. It was alleged that he had helped plot the protest by organizing thousands of railroad workers. Albert was sued and, as a punishment, fired from his job at the Chicago Times. Therefore, to make ends meet, Lucy opened a dress shop while working with the International Ladies’ Garment Workers Union.
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Lucy and Activism
In pursuit of her desire for equity, Mrs. Parson dedicated her life to supporting black Americans both in Texas and Chicago. She would write for many radical publications, such as the Socialist and the Alarm, and ensure they are published by the International Working People’s Association every week. Both she and Albert had founded the IWPA around 1883 when the desire to share her insights took the better of her.
Besides writing and printing literature, Lucy and her husband participated in labor protests at Haymarket Square in Chicago on 1886, May 3rd. The strikes were in support of eight-hour workdays at the McCormick Harvest Works. Nonetheless, the demonstrations did not go well as they turned violet, leaving officers and some protestors dead. On that day, several rioters were arrested, and Lucy’s husband happened to be among them. Though innocent, Albert was falsely accused and convicted of conspiracy and murder. Lucy attempted fighting for her husband’s release, she filed for an appeal, but her efforts were futile.
In 1887, Albert died after he was executed. His death broke Lucy’s heart and pained her to the veins. The death rekindled a tremendous urge to continue activism and salvage the African American workers, women, men, and even children. She would write pieces of literature for a robust working-class movement and at the same time work for the Industrial Workers of the World.
She graduated from writing to editing to publishing at the IWW. It was not long before she published her paper, “Freedom.” Soon she started traveling to diverse places, delivering speeches on the financial necessity and political passion. And because of her widespread popularity and controversial writing, she became a prime target for the FBI.
The FBI would often take her in and harass her. But regardless, that did not kill her love for activism. Her unending zeal to advocate for human rights and unjust authorities kept her going. She was this unstoppable force. The more she became famous, the more she would inspire, condemn and incite.
The Complicated Relationship Between Mrs. Parsons and Goldman
Though both Parsons and Goldman were activists, they represented different generations of anarchism. As such, that prompted ideological and personal conflict. Parsons solely dedicated her works to working-class liberation while Goldman focused on gender and sexual struggles. She criticized Goldman for addressing middle-class audiences. While differentiating about Mrs. Parsons and Goldman, this is what Carolyn Ashbaugh says:
“Lucy Parsons feminism, which analyzed women’s oppression as a function of capitalism, was founded on working-class values. Emma Goldman’s feminism took on another abstract character of freedom for women in all things, in all times, places. Goldman’s feminism became separate from its working-class origins. Her kind of feminism is similar to the one being advocated in the anarchist movement of the 1890s and after. “
In Goldman’s autobiography, she credits Lucy’s husband, Albert, for his socialism and anarchist and praises him for marrying a young mulatto. For Mrs. Parsons, she mentions nothing except that despite being the widow of martyred Albert Parsons, she actively participates in a labor convention in Chicago.
The Death of Lucy
Mrs. Parsons’s death meant a significant loss to society. She succumbed on March 7th, 1942, in a burning house in the Avondale Community Area of Chicago. At the time of her death, she was about 91 years old. Sources report that her lover, George Markstall sustained severe injuries while trying to rescue Lucy. However, he died the following day.
Though Lucy’s death was unprecedented, she remains an inspiration for many black communities facing racial discrimination and hostility. Nowadays, movements like Black Lives Matter are up in the running. They can freely endorse their concerns without undergoing police brutality. Though not said, Lucy is among the people who initiated the culture to oppose oppression.
And the Black Lives Matter movement has become a platform for the Africans in the United States to condemn any form of police violence or racial discrimination in the state. Meanwhile, after Parsons died, the FBI confiscated all her books and publications. They wanted to bury her image and make people forget about her completely.
Nevertheless, a Chicago anti-fascist group, the Black Rose, uses Parsons’ picture as their logo. Also, Boston has named one of its centers, meeting place, and a radical bookstore after Parsons. The Lucy Parsons center was established in 1970. Then there is a park in Chicago, which was named after Mrs. Parsons in 2004. Moreover, a local Chicago artist installed a memorial to Parsons in Wicker Park.
On July 15th, 2007, one of Lucy Parsons’s books was featured on a PBS television series segment, History Detectives. The segment aired information about Lucy’s life and the Haymarket incident. In the piece, we also learn that Mrs. Parsons sold a copy of the book in an attempt to free Albert.
Also, in 2016, the Nation Magazine released an online short film by animator Kelly Gallagher. The film was about Lucy Parsons’s works as an activist. Therefore, it is evident that Mrs. Parsons’s work has significantly contributed to a fair environment for most blacks today. At least some blacks can nowadays access white-collar jobs.
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