May Day!

May Day is upon us and this year promises to be more interesting than ever! You already know why, the Gran Boicot in support of Immigrant rights is gathering momentum and it looks like it might be big, and of course, it’s the day we celebrate the introduction of the 8 hour workday. You best be celebrating unless you want the corporations to roll it back to the good ol’ days of 12-14 hours non-stop work! Despite their best attempts, the anti-immigrant forces are finding it hard to keep their hostility couched in terms of lawful migration or appropriate policy: the fangs are out and it’s becoming a straight out anti-latino crusade. How else can you explain the backlash against the new song “Nuestro Himno” a Spanish adaptation of the US national anthem? Granted, it’s a shitty song based on another shitty song, but the ire across the country, and of the president, seems to be solely that it’s in Spanish. Are they fucking serious? Unfortunately, they are. The producers were stupidly trying to suck up to American sentiments, show how much they love this country, and the country turned on them: that’s what you get for trying to appease. Just like the big march downtown, despite all the US flags, “mainstream America” (whatever that is) only saw the few Mexican ones, mostly those of the student walkouts. It’s should be clear by now that nothing this movement creates will be seen in a favorable light, yet the march organizers are busily reminding people to bring plastic bags to pick up their own trash (true!) like it’s going to matter. Even silly liberals are warning that to avoid a backlash, protesters should just pipe down. That sounds like a challenge!

The politics of appeasement are a dead end. There is no point in worrying if the country is going to like the next move, it’s a given they’re not. Instead of worrying of a backlash, I say we lash back! The momentum for May Day has truly been building from the street, from the average worker that wants to make a statement against the constant attacks against them and their families. The Latino “leadership” is trying to scramble their way to the front, to guide this mass of energy into a designated program, yet they are still playing catch up. Piolin saw the writing on the wall and made a U-turn to keep his cred; instead of being opposed to the boycott now he’s joining it. So no matter how hard Villaraigosa and Mahoney try to stop this moving train, it’s full steam ahead towards the station, wherever that may be. Get on board or get out the way!

So that being said, I encourage everyone to put their granito de arena in support of the May Day General Strike. Take the day off. Walk out of classes, or better yet, don’t show up. Call in sick-you know you want to! Tell your boss you were abducted by Aliens (the E.T. kind) and couldn’t make it in. Buy your groceries on Tuesday instead. You don’t have to go to a march or protest (I’m not!) but you can do your part by not showing up to work, school, or shops. Go to the beach, have a BBQ at the park, stockpile some dvd’s to watch, clean your house, replace that faulty alternator, download some music, bake a cake, take a walk, read Armchair: Shirkers of the World Unite!, or just relax. Whatever you do, take the day off and enjoy it! Or you can go to work like usual and be bored out of your mind, just another day to forget: the day you could have remembered had you chosen to plan an adventure!
If you’d like to get in on the action and do some propaganda, check out this link here for some flyers and posters that you can print up.