Labor Day Reflections

This Labor Day, we’re reflecting on the progress made and the work still to be done in the fight for what Black workers deserve. Then, we’re kickin’ it with the National Black Workers Center for their “Don’t Get Angry, Get Organized” Black Labor Day Event, from 12–7:30 PM ET today! (View the schedule, then register here.)

Less than 20 years after enslaved Black people in Galveston, Texas, were notified of the Emancipation Proclamation, the first Labor Day was observed on Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in New York City. Though there was irony in honoring the labor of the 12-hour shifts that white Americans of the time were working while Black people were laboring under even harsher conditions despite the end of slavery, the holiday has come to represent the intersectionality of working-class people across all races. In 1882, the average work day was 12 hours and the week had no weekends; children were obligated to work to support their families instead of focusing on their education or their childhood, and many, especially Black and brown people, faced incredibly unsafe working conditions.

---