Portland will celebrate International Worker’s Day with a protest for economic justice and immigration reform, Friday, May 1st, beginning at 4PM on the South Park Blocks. The rally is being organized by a wide coalition of groups, including grassroots community organizations, labor unions, faith communities and individuals. While working in coalition fashion allows for broad participation, one must also consider the effectiveness of these large demonstrations. For instance, last year’s rally included people carrying signs advocating to end the War in Iraq, protect the environment, legalize gay marriage, impeach President George W. Bush, as well as make trade fair and expand immigrant rights. At a certain point, I forgot what I was protesting.
To clarify any confusion, let us turn to Wikipedia to remind us of the true origins of this tradition:
May Day can refer to various labour celebrations conducted on May 1 that commemorate the fight for the eight hour day. May Day in this regard is called International Workers’ Day, or Labour Day. The idea for a “workers holiday” began in Australia in 1856. With the idea having spread around the world, the choice of May 1st became a commemoration by the Second International for the people involved in the 1886 Haymarket affair.
For an excellent piece on the origin of Mayday and the Haymarket affair, check out Dara Greenwald’s fantastic clip, Hay! Market Research. Also found this marvelous and curious video in which students in a US History class reenact the fateful events of Chicago in 1886.
Si se puede!
