вЂњSee that, thatвЂ™s the IWW.вЂќДЄlthough that unified position gave the IWW the strength to achieve many of its goals for workers around the world, the workersвЂ™ movement faced violent opposition.

вЂњNow look,вЂќ he said, closing his fingers into a fist. вЂњEvery finger by itself has no force,вЂќ he said, lifting his sizable hand to the crowd. Haywood, a founding member of the union Industrial Workers of the World, preached working-class solidarity across all races and trades. of a protester brandishing a raised fist occurred in 1913, when вЂњBig BillвЂќ Haywood spoke to strikers during the Paterson silk strike in New Jersey. One of the earliest known instances in the U.S. Right: In 1968, American sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their fists in the Black Power salute from the medal podium at the Olympic Games in Mexico City. political movements reveals how the struggles against racism and fascism have long been intertwined. But the gesture is even older than that, and tracing its winding path through European and U.S. In 1968, sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos made the salute famous from an Olympic podium in Mexico City. People have spray painted it on sidewalks and the sides of buildings. Demonstrators use it when confronting federal police in Portland, Oregon. The raised fist has been a staple of protests across the United States as the country continues to grapple with systemic racism. She does it, she says, because the gesture вЂњsignifies resiliency and power through every triumph and struggle.вЂќ

вЂњAs a young Black girl,вЂќ the San Diego activist says, вЂњthat symbolic fist really opened my eyes to the injustices within our country.вЂќ This summer, Ahmed has been raising her own fist during Black Lives Matter protests. Huda Ahmed first saw fists raised in protest after the deaths of Eric Garner and Philando Castile at the hands of police.

Fist of first men