On May Day, 2005, three group bicycle rides in Chicago commemorated the events that made May Day a holiday in most countries, though not in the one in which they took place. The longest, the 27-mile 'Unstorming Sheridan' ride, connected the events of the Haymarket tragedy to the militarized repression of radical activism represented by Fort Sheridan, which was built in the year after Haymarket to permanently house Federal troops to 'deal with' any labor unrest. In 1894, the troops stormed Chicago to suppress the Pullman strike, following a route roughly similar to that which we reversed on bicycle.
Today, Haymarket is a city-approved tourist destination, and Fort Sheridan is a luxury subdivision. On bikes, around a table, and on a blanket, the five UnStorming riders discussed the ironies of history, strategies of political argument, the political aesthetics of civic statuary, the rhetorical violence of statistics, differentials of public space, and what local activism is good for.
Participants: Peter Jaros, Sarah Kanouse, Silke Scharunge
Fran Tobin