Immigrant rights rallies: report back from May 1

[Severian]

For anyone who doesn't know, a million people or so turned out for immigrants' rights marches across the U.S. (http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1765417,00.html)

It's probably impossible to get a complete total - since so many rallies happened in so many small cities and towns.

Even in places where there was no rally, there was some "boycotting" - some workers taking the day off, and some businesses closing. Whether forced to close because of workers' actions, or some Latino small businesspeople joining the day of action.

I went to one of those rallies in a small city - in Dothan, Alabama. About 300 people, marching from a Catholic church to the county courthouse a long way across town. It was pretty quiet - the church tried to set the official tone as mild as possible. Those who turned out were overwhelmingly workers, calmly determined to assert their rights. The response of passersby was mostly positive.

Elsewhere in Alabama - about a thousand turned out in Huntsville, maybe a couple hundred at the university in Tuscaloosa. There was supposed to be something in Montevallo this evening, and maybe a rally in Albertville.

There was, oddly, no rally in Birmingham, the largest city in the state, but some businesses closed and workers didn't show up on some construction jobs.

All this in a state with an unusually small Latino population.

(On April 10, about 5,000 rallied in Albertville, and 3,000 in Birmingham. Albertville is a small town with a relatively large Latino population.)

[YSR]

The media reports about 1000 showed up for the rally in Minneapolis that I attended today. It rained so it was a little quiet, but this afternoon some students (myself included) walked out and we met others who shared views. That was exciting. An American Indian group had a really inspirational message when they symbolically welcomed the Latino population to the country. It was fascinating.

I don't know about the rest of Wisconsin/Minnesota, but I heard the Milwaukee really got shut down. 300,000 people, according to their indymedia, quoting the cops.

All in all, kickass.

[LoneRed]

about 300-400,000 showed up for the rally in Chicago, lots of immigrants, muslims,mexicans,irish, plus 100 other countries represented, one of the biggest for chicago!

[danny android]

yeah the march i was in was a little of 700 people which is pretty impressive since i live in a town of 12,000. It was pretty great. I heckler standing by called me a race traitor as he threw things into the crowd. Then the cops showed up and took care of him... Really a pretty great event.

[Jimmie Higgins]

half a million peopel in LA - 200,000 in San Jose and another 100,000 in the bay area of California.

It was very spectacular and I was happy to see that despite the attempts by liberal elements (church, Dems, and some of the more conservative unions) to prevent people from walking out (and instead to to rallies in favor of the Democrat's legislation of immigrant reform after work and school days ended) hundreds of thousands walked out. in LA alone, some 70,000 kids walked out of schools!

I was part of the security team in the march, but the security plan didn't last long because the streets quickly overflowed making any sort of march direction impossible. I was supposed to stay near the front of the parade and help guide the march down the correct streets and so on, but after 20 minutes of being at the front of the march I looked areound and saw that I was in the middle of a sea of people.

Frankly that was the best security job ever! It was great to be in a march where people spontaniously took the march organizing roles apon themselves. When the marshals got overwhelmed, suddenly other marchers were helping to direct march traffic too!

People also came up with really creative chants on the spot!

It was a really inspireing protest!

[bed_of_nails]

What was the economic loss in the US? I was disheartened to hear that most people didnt care about or notice the effect.

[Jimmie Higgins]

Originally posted by [email protected] 4 2006, 05:42 AM
What was the economic loss in the US? I was disheartened to hear that most people didnt care about or notice the effect.
General boycotts are ususally not that effective and a strike for one day might hurt certain businesses, but one day won't do much.

It was much more effective in just being a symbolic that workers walked out for a day and marched in the streets!

Think about it... if you had suggested, in an anti-war coalition last year, to have a walkout protest of the war in Iraq, they would have told you that it is impossible and we should just try and build another big protest on a saturday afternoon. Now, maybe we can argue that it is possible to shut down the docks or businesses by walking out to protest the war. Now if you told people about general strikes, they can see how it could be possible and what kind of impact it might have.

[bed_of_nails]

Originally posted by Gravedigger+May 3 2006, 10:54 PM--> (Gravedigger @ May 3 2006, 10:54 PM)
[email protected] 4 2006, 05:42 AM
What was the economic loss in the US? I was disheartened to hear that most people didnt care about or notice the effect.
General boycotts are ususally not that effective and a strike for one day might hurt certain businesses, but one day won't do much.

It was much more effective in just being a symbolic that workers walked out for a day and marched in the streets!

Think about it... if you had suggested, in an anti-war coalition last year, to have a walkout protest of the war in Iraq, they would have told you that it is impossible and we should just try and build another big protest on a saturday afternoon. Now, maybe we can argue that it is possible to shut down the docks or businesses by walking out to protest the war. Now if you told people about general strikes, they can see how it could be possible and what kind of impact it might have. [/b]
No, most people didnt notice. That is why I am concerned. I have had a few people comment that "We (meaning the US) actually prospered."

I need hard statistics to prove them wrong, otherwise I have nothing to argue with.

[Jimmie Higgins]

Shit, they'll never be convince it was important then. The corporate media worried and reported on this all weekend!

70,000 students walked out in LA... 1/2 a million walked out in LA altogether. 100,000 plus marched in San Jose of all places and 300-400,000 marched in Chicago.

If they want to see the US economy shut down for a day then the numbers would have to be at least 10x the more than 1 million who participated in marches and walkouts this past May day.

If the people who you are trying to convince are right-wing or anti-worker in some way, then they'll still be dismissing the power of worker movements after their coworkers have taken over their work place and formed a soviet and fire the boss and create a classless stateless society.


“Obviously, one day of activity won't do anything to the U.S. economy. But it may show people the real impact of immigrant workers,” said Arturo Cherbowski, a political consultant from Mexico who spoke at San Diego's Alliant International University last night. “People usually don't notice immigrants during a typical work day. Now they're noticing.”
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/busines...-1b2impact.html (http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/business/20060502-9999-1b2impact.html)

[Tekun]

There were 2 marches in Los Angeles: one at noon and the other at 4
Both were amazing and large: half a million or so in each, I believe
Saw the pigs staring at us, you could tell they were overwhelmed

Too many American flags for my taste, but I was glad I was marching with so many blue collar workers united for one cause
Saw very few radical groups, I think that had to do with the fact that the march at 4 was led by some priest and the mayor

[Severian]

Originally posted by [email protected] 3 2006, 11:54 PM
Now, maybe we can argue that it is possible to shut down the docks or businesses by walking out to protest the war.
The class composition and dynamic of the anti-war protests and groups is different. I don't think they could come close to organizing anything like this.

Anyway, thanks to everyone who posted....I've since heard of at least one more protest in Alabama, 300 in Russelville. A little town known for garment work - there's also a poultry processing plant there - workers have been trying to organize a union.

The sheer number of different actions is, IMO, one thing that shows the real scope of these days of protest - bigger than anyone could completely add up. There were probably a lot more protests in a lot more places than any one person or organization knows of.

You'd have to go back to the movement against the Vietnam War to find anything comparable - and that was a much more middle-class movement, which never had the aspect of striking workplaces.

The Militant attempted to add up some of the demonstrations and arrived at a total of over 1,817,000 for over 140 cities. It's usually more cautious than far-left publications in estimating demonstrations, and of course that isn't all the places protests occurred.
The list - PDF format (http://www.themilitant.com/2006/7019/immpro19.pdf)

The total for April 9th and 10th was 1,915,000+ in over 100 cities. The movement seems to have spread geographically. While possibly some of the actions in larger cities stayed the same or got smaller - the immediate fear of the Sensenbrenner Act is gone, for one thing.

There was also an article on the scope of people not going in to work that day. (http://www.themilitant.com/2006/7019/701903.html) It was apparently pretty extensive in some industries like agriculture, construction, and landscaping. Some meatpacking plants also shut down May 1, with the bosses realizing they had little choice.

It also seems like the bosses are mostly not even trying to fire people for taking off anymore. That's also a victory.

[Jimmie Higgins]

Originally posted by Severian+May 6 2006, 06:23 AM--> (Severian @ May 6 2006, 06:23 AM)
[email protected] 3 2006, 11:54 PM
Now, maybe we can argue that it is possible to shut down the docks or businesses by walking out to protest the war.
The class composition and dynamic of the anti-war protests and groups is different. I don't think they could come close to organizing anything like this. [/b]
The dynamic of the anti-war movement is that liberal organizations have been winning all the political arguments within the movement and have dragged it towards the democratic party and lobbying-type actions - all of which are futile and lead to demoralization for the movement.

This action of workers walking off the jobs gives people a glimpse of what gaining ground looks like and will hopefully influence the anti-war movement. Most Americans (therfore most US workers) are against the war but anti-war and the AFL-CIO leadership supported an anti-war resolution (doing something about it, they won't) so a working class movement outside the anti-war movement could help influence anti-war workers that walking out against the war or striking against the war is possible. More than just possible, it could also be more effective than a saturday afternoon march that does everything it can to not disrupt the system that feeds (and feeds on) the very war that people are trying to stop!

Since McCarthyism, social and labor protests have been completely seperate. The Civil rights movement was afraid of being labeled communist and so would have shyed away from using labor power of blacks to fight racism. Labor has shyed away from social struggles for fear of the "communist" label. Now we have a real possibility of labor and social struggles discovering eachother again... you know, absence makes the heart grow fonder and when these two meet again, it will be a hot time in US cities!

[Severian]

Originally posted by [email protected] 8 2006, 03:59 AM
The dynamic of the anti-war movement is that liberal organizations have been winning all the political arguments within the movement and have dragged it towards the democratic party and lobbying-type actions - all of which are futile and lead to demoralization for the movement.
Right. It's essentially a liberal, middle class movement. Besides the tactics, there's also the patriotism of its goals: it tends towards tactical criticisms of how the war was conducted and justified (there were no WMDs!) and over which country to invade (Darfur, not Iraq!) Those leftists who participate are a (willing or unwilling) appendage of liberalism, even where they have organizational control of some national "coalitions."

It's not like the Vietnam War era, where the dynamic of the antiwar protests tended to head in an anti-imperialist direction, even when the official demands were inadequate. Class polarization is greater in this time of greater economic stress; middle-class elements are less likely to play a progressive role.


This action of workers walking off the jobs gives people a glimpse of what gaining ground looks like and will hopefully influence the anti-war movement. Most Americans (therfore most US workers) are against the war but anti-war and the AFL-CIO leadership supported an anti-war resolution (doing something about it, they won't) so a working class movement outside the anti-war movement could help influence anti-war workers that walking out against the war or striking against the war is possible.

But that won't come out of the liberal peace protests; it's more likely to develop (though not immediately) out of actions and social movements which are more working-class in composition and dynamic.

[Janus]

Aww crap. I didn't even notice this thread.

Anyways, I and another member here attended an immigration march in the South as well. Close to Severian's state. Roughly over 100 people showed.

[Leo]

Too many American flags for my taste, but I was glad I was marching with so many blue collar workers united for one cause.


Since McCarthyism, social and labor protests have been completely seperate. The Civil rights movement was afraid of being labeled communist and so would have shyed away from using labor power of blacks to fight racism. Labor has shyed away from social struggles for fear of the "communist" label. Now we have a real possibility of labor and social struggles discovering eachother again... you know, absence makes the heart grow fonder and when these two meet again, it will be a hot time in US cities!

Yeah, that was indeed a spectacular event... I was glad I was in LA demonstrations (and I was not so glad to see that many American flags <_< ) it was something to witness.

This whole anti-immigration movement created a spectacle which will probably be enough to stop the anti-immigration laws, then everyone will go back to their homes, and the spectacle will fastly dissapear. Even in that case, this whole immigration protests in the US, and especially the fact that it was done with laborers in Mayday shows us that a great potential is rising in the United States.

What I am more curious about is this: what will happen if the anti-immigration laws pass. Everything would be very interesting in that case. The spectacle can turn into a real opposition movement, flags might be burnt instead of waved. A united revolutionary mass movement can grow from the seeds of those rallies.

[LoneRed]

Those are the thoughts that fill my dreams :)

[Tekun]

Originally posted by Leo [email protected] 24 2006, 05:27 AM


What I am more curious about is this: what will happen if the anti-immigration laws pass. Everything would be very interesting in that case. The spectacle can turn into a real opposition movement, flags might be burnt instead of waved. A united revolutionary mass movement can grow from the seeds of those rallies.
I doubt that an anti-immigration law will be passed
Now, it wont be a loaf of bread, but rather crumbs
They&#39;ll pass a law which will keep and legalize a majority, while still keeping their source of illegal workers alive

However, if severe legislation is passed, the ppl must react out of their own
They shouldn&#39;t seek or be led by these bourgeois orgs like MALDEF and Hispanic Caucus
That will be something see...an entire movement enraged by the decision of few does have revolutionary promise