Abstract
Lucy Parsons was a woman who stood up for social justice. She fought against the government for equal rights and urged people to think and be educated. She was a believer in anarchism and thought that it was the means to liberty and freedom. She advocated women’s rights and as long as there is a person who fights for humanity today, Lucy Parsons will always be alive in the spirit.
Thinking
She was dubbed more dangerous than a thousand rioters by the Chicago Police department. She was a truly remarkable woman and full of revolutionary ideas. She believed that education was necessary in every person’s life and only then they could make proper decisions about the world. She was against campaigning for elections because she thought that people should earn their votes through their ideas and their standing and not by begging people. She was against racial discrimination and carried out protests that focused on social justice. Her main idea was that a government oppressed the monitory and that anarchism was the way to fight back. The government back in the day was not as democratic as it is today because it did not include everyone in the right of passage called The Constitution of the United States. If we observe up till now the original documents with words such as “man and his liberty…” and “all men created equal..” are still unchanged in major documents. The Equal Rights Amendment has been to congress several times and never passed. Her basis of anarchism was that people should think for themselves before following a superficial and unjust law. She believed that people should research and prove the wrongs right otherwise there would be no human development.
Anarchism
Lucy Parsons believes that people are “governed best when [they] are governed least.” She believes that anarchism is liberty that allows human progress. She believes that in anarchism a person has complete freedom to think, to progress, and to investigate matters. Unlike democracy or any form of government where the majority rules, anarchism is for everyone and not just the majority. Nothing is set in stone; everything can be investigated and proved false with the right evidence. Her principles of anarchism are a way to guarantee human progression and not be bound by laws that are unfavorable and biased. Her idea of a government was false because it bound people to the majority’s decision – a majority that would often crush the lives of the minority. She criticized laws and legal documents such as the constitution because they were accepted by everyone without any objections. The constitution at the time was not in favor of African Americans or women. The only person that the constitution looked out for was the white male. She thought this kind of business was a threat to human development and that it should be investigated thoroughly to reach a better answer. She said the government caused people to think, act and judge others in a certain way because of the restrictions it creates. People judge if something is good or bad according to the law without ever thinking if the law is even justified, to begin with. Henceforth, anarchy was the best option to freedom, not a government.
Issues
Lucy Parsons fought for women’s rights along with every other type of social justice. At the time women were not allowed to vote, they were paid lower wages if they worked and barely had any rights or rights equal to ones guaranteed to the white male. She said that the only way they could vote and represent their ideas was through a man and that she didn’t trust men enough or have enough confidence in them to even ask of such a thing. She said that all these issues affected women’s lives greatly and needed to be fixed because women are equal to men. If she would have been alive when Alice Paul started the Equal Rights Amendment she would have stood in the front of the rallies. She thought that it was unfair that women were paid lower wages and that every time wages needed to be reduced they took away the money from women and not men.
Today
There is many of Lucy Parson’s type of people today. If we are observing the 20th century Alice Paul is the best example. She wanted the constitution to be amended to say that men and women are equal in all aspects. The amendment went to congress several times but each time it was unapproved because of a few votes. Any woman who stands up for herself, any man who stands up for himself and fights for his ideas and doesn’t blindly accept the law is a Lucy Parson. If we understand that governments all over the world have flaws and shouldn’t be followed blindly we are the followers of Lucy Parson. Any person who feels that every human being should have equal rights and should be just is Lucy Parsons. Back in the day, the issues concerning Lucy Parsons were the government and human rights. Today the same issues are still present except they are a little different. Women in underdeveloped countries still have no rights. Kids are sexually abused and molested all over the world. Racism is present everywhere. The majority still manages to oppress the minority in some parts of the world. People are still deprived of education. As long as there are people out there who fight these causes even in a small way, speak up against them, and are involved in being proactive Lucy Parsons will always be alive amongst us.