Imagine you are in Detroit in the 1920s. The auto industry is booming like never before. Ford, GM and Chrysler are now the top three  automotive giants in the world. It was a glorious time and everyone in America and so Detroit was a part of it. Everyone had a good life. The car was available to everyone and no one was unemployed.

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The big three made huge profits, especially Ford, which was the largest automotive company in North America thanks to the Model T. However, Ford started to have problems with declining sales of the now obsolete T. But these were not Ford's biggest problems. In 1929 the stock market fell and eventually the stock market would crash on October 29. The Great Depression had begun. Because fuel prices rose enormously, almost  nobody a new car. This led to large numbers of layoffs. In 1931 only 1,332,000 cars were produced, just a quarter of two years earlier (5,337,000).

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Living expenses became more and more expensive. Few people were still making money. People drove around handing out food because people were starving in the streets. Detroit's promise of prosperity had been shattered. Two later, the crisis had hardened. People died of hunger every day. There was no unemployment benefit. Henry Ford, then the richest man in the world, said it was his employees' own fault for not working hard enough. Two-thirds of its employees had already been laid off. And this while they worked hard to support their family. Because small banks went bankrupt, many also lost their savings.

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Detroit's unemployed network became one of the largest and strongest in the world. They helped each other where they could. It was decided to  demonstrate at the Ford factory for benefits and rights for workers.  

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The Hunger March

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Convened by the communist employment office and the trade unions, people demonstrated in front of many  Business: Jobs for all laid-off Ford employees, immediate payment of 50% of wages, 7-hour workday with no drop in pay, fewer speedups (faster production) two 15-minute breaks, no discrimination against African Americans, benefits, medical assistance in the Ford hospital for employees as well as ex-employees and their families, 5 tons of coal per winter, closure of Ford's Service Department (Ford's hated private army of spies and bad boys led by Harry Bennet), no evictions for Ford employees, direct payment of $50 to get through the winter, full salaries for part-time workers, abolition of the corrupt system of hiring and the right to organize.

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The demonstration started in Detroit, Michigan. Between 3,000 and 5,000 took part. It was the coldest day of that winter. All was going well until Dearborn mayor, Clyde Ford, who was Henry Ford's cousin, deployed the riot and military police. The demonstrators were dispersed with tear gas, but the demonstrators overcame the resistance by throwing sticks and stones. One officer shot a protester. The demonstrators dispersed but reunited at the Ford factory. Firefighters sprayed ice cold water on the protesters to stop them.

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Everything seemed fine until they reached the bridge at Fort Street (the entrance to the factory). While Henry was in the factory, he ordered his Service Men to shoot at the crowd. They were supported by the police and fire brigade deployed by Clyde Ford. There were 3 dead and 22 injured. The leaders decided to stop the demonstration. At that moment Harry Bennet drove into the crowd in a car, opened a window and fired at the crowd. The car was immediately pelted with stones and Bennet was injured. Dearborn Police and Ford's service men shot machine guns at the crowd, killing a fourth.

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The injured were arrested and many were pinned to their hospital beds. Not a single law enforcement officer or service man was arrested although all reports indicated they had started shooting. The next day the papers ran false reports that were rectified some days later.

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At the funeral of one of the dead, a speaker called for organizing and fighting. Some 25,000 to 80,000 people (not sure...) took part in the journey to the cemetery. The tour even had a slogan 'Smash teh Ford-Murphy terror'. Frank Murphy was the mayor of Detroit. Murphy was believed to have been involved in the massacre. Murphy actually disapproved of the violence. He thought it was absolutely impossible to tie up the wounded, he thought Bennet was a brute and Henry Ford a terrible man.  A few months later, an African-American protester died of his injuries. He was allowed because of the  segregation policy (no blacks in a white cemetery) not be buried with his comrades. They hired a plane and his ashes were scattered over the cemetery and allegedly also over the Rouge factory.

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The investigation into the massacre had, according to many, become biased and ignorant.

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On April 11, 1941, 9 years later, Henry Ford signed an agreement with the UAW following a 10-day sit down strike involving 40,000 Ford employees. Decades later, in 1992, UAW members purchased 5 headstones, including one for the strewn man. The text stated 'he gave his life for the union'.

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