A word packed with meaning and emotion, protest can be synonymous with both free speech and rioting. Chicago’s citizens and city officials have a long and reactive relationship based on the tension between those differences of perspective, from the 1855 Lager Beer Riot to the conversation surrounding Black Lives Matter and the flashpoints of extreme political polarization. But what led to pivotal events like 1886’s Haymarket Affair or 1963’s massive school boycotts? 

I examine the inflection points in Chicago’s history of protest, seeking to understand what provoked an explosion into violence or elicited a heavy-handed response.

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Bread & Circuses is a work of fiction dribbled with realism—making it as unsettling as finding a leather bar in your high school cafeteria. When the notorious journalist Addison Desta enters the world of 18-year-old prostitute Lars Shepperton, and his roommate/sometimes boyfriend, Rio Secco, they can never go back to life as it was.

In a society plastered with corporate sponsorships, power-lusting politicians parade themselves before a populace salivating for the next diversion. A system of underground child prostitution is the political establishment’s lifeblood. Fed by youth, and milked by a twisted, sell-your-soul spirit of entrepreneurialism, the great American Lunocracy is kept in a costume of propriety.

Addy is monitored by the powerful for raking up so much muck on their doings; and these political elites are not a patient lot. As Addy helps Lars and Rio free themselves from their past and present conundrums, all three step right into the unknown. They quickly realize redemption is a heavy crown to wear. 

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In the United States, Chicago provided Socialism with a soapbox for firebrand speechmaking, a home for political exiles and a springboard for activism. When Josephine Conger-Kaneko began printing The Socialist Woman in 1909 and then ran for alderwoman in 1914, she could appeal to an audience and an electorate sympathetic to the Socialist Party in unprecedented numbers.

Because Chicago was also a stronghold of the mercantile and political interests most dramatically opposed to the Socialist Party, the city frequently served as a pressure cooker for the nation's economic and ideological tension. That tension boiled over in incidents like the 1886 Haymarket Riot, the 1894 Pullman Strike and the 1919 Race Riots and continues to dictate the terms of engagement for contemporary protest movements and labor disputes. 

In this first comprehensive history of Socialism in the Windy City, I examine these major events through the largely unchronicled lives of the Chicago citizens who experienced them, from centennial garment workers to millennials with megaphones.

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On May 4, 1886, a bomb exploded during a labor demonstration near Haymarket Square. The ensuing gunfire and chaos brought a grisly end to what began as peaceful support for an eight-hour workday and led to the trial and execution of rally organizers. The incident also drew irrevocable attention to a conversation about workers rights and the role of law enforcement that continues today. In this guide to the key moments and sites of one of Chicago s most confusing and chaotic events, I aim to establish a clearer understanding of its historical significance. 

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