In the end, they succeeded, and now instead of International Workers Day, or May Day, Americans celebrate Labor Day. Instead of parades with banners and red flags, we have cookouts and barbecues. The rich and powerful killed five of the Haymarket Eight, and then for good measure they buried their memory. It’s up to us to rediscover the radicals of the past who gave up their lives to try and create a better world. It’s up to us to carry the torch of Liberty, Equality and Solidarity forward into a brighter and better future.
George Falconer: A Highlander and his Mother
in Grand Junction he ran a progressive bookstore, founded the IWW local #35, and served on the early Grand Junction Chamber of Commerce. Falconer was active with the local socialist, running for office numerous times. Falconer and his bookstore were essential in bringing renown socialist and labor organizer Eugene Debs to Grand Junction in 1908, aboard his “Red Special” train-tour. Falconer was also part of the 1909 Town Charter Convention that instituted ranked-choice voting, and allowing for municipal socialization of essential industries. Reforms that would earn Grand Junction the moniker of “freest city in the world," and paved the way for the election of a socialist mayor.
The Revolutionist 