I can't attend my local events because they interfere with my work schedule... Capitalism sucks...
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All out for May Day!
All out for May Day!
Stand up, fight back on International Workers Day 2016
By Freedom Road Socialist Organization
May Day is our day. It is International Workers Day. It is a day that is all about us, working and oppressed people, and our fight for a better life. The wealthy, the powerful billionaire class that rules this country, wallow in luxury 365 days a year. On May Day, we say, “Enough!” We are tired of being held down, pushed around and sold out. We cannot accept things the way they are.
In every region of the globe, from the streets of Europe to the countryside of Latin America, from the Philippines to Palestine and in the U.S., working people will come together on May 1. We urge everyone to help organize and participate in the many events marking May Day across the country.
The origins of May Day are in the class struggle right here in the U.S. In 1886, a powerful fight for the eight-hour day arose. A call was issued for a general strike, and in Chicago many responded. On May 4 a clash took place at Haymarket Square. This was used as a pretext to hang four revolutionary labor leaders. In subsequent years, the tradition of workers standing up on May Day to advance our cause was born.
During the Cold War, the ruling class attacked everything progressive – and they went so far as to rename May Day ‘Law Day.’ But you can’t keep a good thing down. In 2006, a great upsurge, the mega-marches for immigrant rights, revived May Day.
Over the past year there has been a real upsurge in the people’s struggle and in the year ahead everything possible should be done to add fuel to the fire. On April 18, thousands marched on the Supreme Court in Washington D.C. in support of Deferred Action – a measure that provides relief from deportation for millions of undocumented people. In the coming year, the struggle to obtain legalization for all will be one of the key battles.
In cities across the U.S., particularly in African American communities, hundreds of thousands have marched and participated in militant protests against the epidemic of police killings and violence. There is no doubt that this storm of struggle will grow in intensity and that more will follow the example of Chicago in fighting for community control of the police.
This country is one big prison house for the oppressed. The African American, Chicano and Hawaiian nations are held in chains. Racist discrimination, along with national oppression is visited upon all oppressed nationalities, including Latinos, Native Americans, Asians and Pacific Islanders. Oppressed nations need liberation and self-determination and all oppressed peoples need full equality.
Workers are on the move. The fight of the 40,000 Verizon workers on the east coast is a testament to this. Another example for the entire labor movement is the courage and determination displayed by the Chicago Teachers Union. Then there is the heroic Kohler strike in Sheboygan to defeat the two-tier wage system - it shines like a Wisconsin lighthouse, in a state with massive battles against anti-union ‘right to work’ laws. In an unequal fight, the working class of Wisconsin has time and again resisted anti-labor legislation and, in those battles, a militant organization of the trade unionists has been born – the United Workers Organization.
The capitalist system is an evil system. At its core is exploitation of the many for the benefit of the few. The political representatives of the wealthy such as Trump or Clinton have nothing to offer us but more of the same. Trump, a right-wing populist, is an open advocate of racism and reaction. The Chicago students who shut down his campaign event did the right thing. Trump should be confronted and shutdown where ever he goes.
America’s rulers have built an empire of injustice that spans the globe. Those who are fighting back - in the Philippines, the Middle East or anywhere else - deserve our support. In the billionaire class, which includes the rich bankers who are robbing people at home and abroad, we find that we in the U.S. have the same enemy as people around the world. On May Day, international solidarity needs to be front and center. So does the fight against repression.
Over the last five years the FBI and so-called Justice Department have lashed out at anti-war and international solidarity activists. They tried to imprison veteran Chicano leader Carlos Montes on the flimsiest of pretexts. Now they are going after longtime Palestinian leader Rasmea Odeh. We must stand with her and anyone else facing political repression.
The capitalist system, and those who stand at its apex, give working people a million reasons to hate it. We look around this country - at dangerous clowns like Trump, unemployment, crummy jobs and endless wars and know that we can do better than this. Capitalism is a failed system. It can and will be abolished and replaced with socialism – the system where the political and economic power of the country is in the hands of working people.
Long Live May Day! Long Live International Workers Day!
Read more News and Views from the Peoples Struggle at http://www.fightbacknews.org. You can write to us at [email protected]
I can't attend my local events because they interfere with my work schedule... Capitalism sucks...
Is there a way to find rallies or events in your area? I tried just googling it but I didn't see any real results haha; I want to be out there with my comrades, but I don't know how to find them!
Yes, we should all at least do something for May Day, in the name of the workers and the fight against capitalist oppression. I do not support national liberation but I will still stand for May Day nonetheless. We are all workers. We are the future. Viva la revolucion!
"If you consider an outcry against Stalinist mass murder and its justification a "dramatic moralist outcry" then how about an undramatic, unmoral outcry: "Fuck you!""-Red Dave
Militant march on May Day in Boyle Heights
Militant march on May Day in Boyle Heights
Demands Legalization for all, dump Trump, stop police killings of Chicano youth
By staff
Los Angeles, CA - A militant march and rally was held on International Workers Day, May 1 that brought out the Boyle Heights community by the hundreds. Raising the demands of Legalization for all, dump Trump, and stop police killings of Chicanos, the protest was organized by Centro Community Service Organization (Centro CSO).
The march was led by people holding banners reading “Legalization for all.” Two large red flags also led the march. Waving and yelling at the top of their lungs, Garfield High School students carried the two flags, one of Aztlán and the other with the slogan “Liberation not deportation.”
As the militant crowd lined up to march, they were fired up and began chanting, “Chicano power,” “Aqui estamos y no nos vamos, y si nos echán, regresamos!” (We are here! And we’re not leaving! And if they deport us, we’ll be right back!) and “Dump Trump!”
Leading chants on the back of a pickup truck, Sol Márquez kicked off the march by asking the crowd, “Who’s ready to march to the police station and demand justice?” The march started on Soto and Chavez in the heart of Boyle Heights and was greeted by many cheers and waves from the public.
Marchers stopped for a short rally at the LAPD Hollenbeck police station to denounce police killings of Chicano youth.Three families in Boyle Heights and East Los Angeles have fallen victim to police killings in 2016. They all joined the march. The three Chicanos murdered were Edwin Rodriguez killed by LA County sheriffs on Feb. 14; Jose Mendez, killed by LAPD-Hollenbeck Feb. 6; and Arturo Valdez killed by LAPD-Hollenbeck April 10.
In front of LAPD station Jhony Mendez shouted into the microphone, “My little brother Jose Mendez was only 16 years old when LAPD shot and killed him. And to this day LAPD has never shown us their faces, because they know they are in the wrong.”
Estela Rodriguez, shouted and pointed to LAPD, “My 24-year-old son was shot 17 times, all in the back or to the back of his head. It’s time we bring Edwin Rodriguez’s case to justice.”
The spirited march ended with a high energy rally at the historic Mariachi Plaza. Blanca Valdez, long time education activist, talked about her son Arturo being shot in the head by the LAPD.
Isabel Ocampo of Centro CSO talked about the militant spirit of the undocumented youth and the fight for deferred action for all. “It is time undocumented people come out of the shadows and join the fight for legalization,” said Ocampo.
Long time Chicano leader Carlos Montes spoke to the crowd, “Self-determination for all Chicanos, political and economic control for our people. Are you down with me? We can keep fighting years for reforms, but real change will come from revolution!” The crowd overwhelmingly agreed by chanting, “Viva la revolucion!” (Long live revolution)”
MECHA de Roosevelt High School and the undocumented students of SURGE, of California State University, Los Angeles (CSULA) urged support for the fight for public education and immigrant rights. Leonardo Vilchis of Union de Vecinos also talked about the fight against evictions and raising rents!
Participants in the event included students and families of Boyle Heights and ELA, members of Centro CSO, Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO), Union de Vecinos, United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE), CSULA SURGE, East Los Angeles College M.E.Ch.A, Roosevelt High School M.E.Ch.A, Garfield High School M.E.Ch.A, GABRIELA Los Angeles, Anakbayan Los Angeles, The Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) of Los Angeles, Assoc. of Ex Braceros, local rank and file Teamsters from UPS, the MORENA party of Mexico, , Human Rights Alliance for Child Refugees, Serve the People, and two different chapters of the Brown Berets.
Sol Márquez concluded the rally stating, “We thank all of you who were present today demanding justice for all Chicanos killed by LAPD and LA sheriffs. And we thank our Black brothers and sisters who have fought back against their own national oppression at the hands of the state – and their movement is only growing. We must unite since our interests are the same: Liberation now, freedom now! And let us also never forget that women hold up half the sky!”
Centro CSO will be holding a meeting May 18 at the Benjamin Franklin library, for upcoming plans against police crimes and actions for Deferred Action for Parents (DAPA). For more information about Centro CSO https://centrocso.wordpress.com/
Read more News and Views from the Peoples Struggle at http://www.fightbacknews.org. You can write to us at [email protected]
100 rally for May Day on steps of Salt Lake City and County Building
100 rally for May Day on steps of Salt Lake City and County Building
By Theresa Nielson
Salt Lake City, UT - On May 1, 100 people gathered at the Salt Lake City and County Building to celebrate, table and rally for International Workers Day. The Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) hosted the event, joined by Students for a Democratic Society, Utah Against Police Brutality, Utah Anti-war Committee, Workers World Party, and Socialist Alternative.
Speeches by local activists and shop floor union leaders focused on labor and immigration rights. Joey Brandin performed songs such as There is Power in a Union and Solidarity Forever. “
As a Mexican immigrant, I can tell you that it is almost impossible to find a job in the state of Utah if you're undocumented. It means that many of these people will find themselves homeless, exploited under the table, or resorting to unconventional means of survival. In Utah, laws like SB 81 are denying undocumented queer people a chance at an affordable post-secondary education and a better future,” said Adrian Romero from Stand for Queer Lives.
Connor Richards from Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), spoke about student solidarity with workers around the world. Then Richards shifted to immigrant rights at home saying, “We need you to support the SDS campaign Education for All, and the cutting of lines 36 through 42 of Senate Bill 81 that prevents state-funded scholarships from being granted to undocumented people.”
Erica Cole, union steward of the American Postal Workers Union, spoke about racist discrimination in employment, “It is ridiculous that if one of my daughters says she is white on a job application the outcome will be vastly different than if she says she is Black.”
Samantha Stott from Utah Against Police Brutality and Cop Watch explained to the crowd, “Speaking not only of the working class, but also those who are not working, those who are dealing with addiction and mental illness who are on the streets. They don’t have the help that they need.”
Carly Haldeman of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization was the final speaker, “I’m calling out to the working class to stand against the fraudulent system we call capitalism. We have to do the hard work! We have to organize!”
Ian Decker, also a member of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization and emcee for the rally, thanked the people who attended the event, and invited them to a Marxism-Leninism Day School on Saturday, July 9.
Joey Brandin then sang the Internationale in solidarity with the workers and oppressed peoples of the world.
Read more News and Views from the Peoples Struggle at http://www.fightbacknews.org. You can write to us at [email protected]
