Today is May Day. More than in most years, the advent of the Occupy Wall Street movement has brought it back from the maypole to its roots as the real original Labor Day. There will be a nice big rally today in Santa Ana. People will gather at the Necessity Village site (at Civic Center and Ross) at 1:00, then march to Sasscer Park, (4th and Ross) at 2:00. Supposedly there is an action at UCI as well; anyone aware of the details, please fill them in as a comment.
The Occupy Wall Street movement called a “general strike” for today, which struck me as a bad idea from the start. This was not and would not become a “general strike” — such an action takes a lot more muscle than Occupy presently has and raises the stakes high for individuals and the movement as a whole — and it should not be judged by those standards. It’s a “Day of Action,” OK? It the walls of Jericho don’t come a-tumblin’ down, no one will be surprised.
One thing that the General Strike really has going for it, though is some truly fantastic art. For the purpose of publicizing May Day actions, I’m providing some examples that have been distributed to Occupy movements, simply to document the political actions of the day, not because they’re so great or anything (though they are.) These are by a man named Paul Kuczynski, who deserves to be famous and rich if he isn’t already.
Now if these don’t make you want to get up and go to a rally today, nothing will!
There are more, but you might have to be involved in Occupy to see them. Happy May Day, everyone!
ahhhh, I see now, the “no school” is why there was a light turnout this morning at the local schools. Most days it take s me 15 minute to a half hour to get out of my drive way, this morning there was no waiting.
May I recommend, start early this morning and stop by the ROV’s office on Grand and Mcfadden and register to vote, (June 5th is fast approching). Then go and enjoy your protests later in the afternoon, and on election day, let your voice be heard.
Like.
“More than in most years, the advent of the Occupy Wall Street movement has brought it back from the maypole to its roots as the real original Labor Day.”
So what about those gran marchas for immigrant rights on May Day since 2006, eh?
I was speaking about the nation there, GSR, not just Santa Ana. Most of the country doesn’t have those gran marchas. And while immigrant right overlap with workers’ right, they are not the same thing — as both Labor and immigrant groups would agree. When they cooperate, though, it can do great things.
“I was speaking about the nation there, GSR, not just Santa Ana.”
Oh so, there weren’t primero de mayo demonstrations all across the U.S.? C’mon Greg, whether cognizant of it or not, quit erasing the efforts of our people in favor of the homogenizing narrative of Occupy.
No, GSR, not “all over the U.S.”. Where else have you lived? Santa Ana’s, from which I’m just now leaving, was a blast, though. I’ll have an article up within a few days.
Do your homework, and please check your privilege (it’s annoying)
Ok, ok. I’ll do it for you:
May Day 2007: Hundreds of Thousands March for Immigrant Rights – “Marches were held in cities including Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit, Washington, Denver, Milwaukee, Phoenix and New York.”
http://www.democracynow.org/2007/5/2/may_day_2007_hundreds_of_thousands
brought back from the maypole, eh?
I think that we’re defining “all over the U.S.” differently. If you mean “in a dozen or so major cities,” I’ll go along with that for 2007. And yes, May 1 is Labor Day in Mexico, along with most of the rest of the world. But the May 1 rallies within the U.S. — including the one I attended in Santa Ana Monday — have a lot more to do with immigrant rights than with workers’ rights overall. That’s fine — great, even! It just doesn’t rebut my assertion that this May 1 was a lot more “Labor Day”-like in the U.S. thanks in large part to Occupy groups.
You probably still disagree, so take a final swing if you want and we’re done. (At least, I’ll try not to reply.)
“I think that we’re defining “all over the U.S.” differently.”
You’ll notice that those were just major cities “all over the U.S.” listed. Santa Ana had a march in 2007 just the same, but wasn’t listed. The same goes for countless other non-major metropolises “all over the U.S.” Is it so hard to say “Ok, I was wrong.” Where do you think “A Day Without the 99%” came from? Not really original…
“It just doesn’t rebut my assertion that this May 1 was a lot more “Labor Day”-like in the U.S. thanks in large part to Occupy groups.”
It does rebut the notion that May Day has been brought back from the ‘maypole’ which really discounts the efforts held in previous years – ones that were repressed by police and began to rebound recently.
Also, May Day should never be like ‘Labor Day.’ The latter is an explicit effort to neutralize history. Look how most people celebrate it: BBQ’s, baseball and going to the lake, river…
Funny, speaking of history, the Haymarket tragedy had Chicago newspapers crying out for vengeance against immigrant workers in 1886. Back then, they were German, Czech and Scandinavians and propelled the labor movement. Most of the Haymarket Martyrs were German immigrants. This is what formed the origins of May Day.
Immigrant rights are worker rights.
WHY ARE THEY CALLED IMMIGRANT RIGHTS ,, WE ARE ALL IMMIGRANTS LETS NOT PRETEND WHAT THIS IS . ITS A ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT RIGHTS RALLY . NO WAY JOSE .. ALSO I SEE THE NORMAL OCUPOO WAS OUT TODAY IN SEATTLE WASH BREAKING BANK WINDOWS . AND OF COURSE IN OTHER AREAS HOLDING UP SIGNS IN SPANISH GREAT WAY TO GET THE MESSAGE ACROSS . ALSO DONT FORGET THE CHE T SHIRTS ..
Where’d Juan Gonzales go? And check your capslock key, gusano.
vern stay AWAY from gusano rojo i will pop in from time to time