tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63778238131215210952024-03-12T23:19:03.401-07:00The Las Vegas Industrial Workers of the WorldNews and Information About the Las Vegas IWW General Membership Branch. Announcements of upcoming events/meetings and membership information. Join the One Big Union.Kelly W. Pattersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02833478610016521091noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6377823813121521095.post-85238140574405388192014-09-12T04:11:00.001-07:002014-09-12T04:11:43.155-07:00Sept. 12th - Radical Movie Nights Debuts with the Free Screening of "If a Tree Falls."<dl class="wp-caption alignleft" data-mce-style="width: 241px;" id="attachment_2244" style="width: 241px;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a data-mce-href="http://nvcopblock.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/RadicalMovieNightITF.jpg" href="http://nvcopblock.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/RadicalMovieNightITF.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="September's Radical Movie Night Features a Free Screening of "If a Tree Falls"" class="size-medium wp-image-2244" data-mce-src="http://nvcopblock.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/RadicalMovieNightITF-231x300.jpg" src="http://nvcopblock.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/RadicalMovieNightITF-231x300.jpg" height="300" width="231" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">September's Radical Movie Night Features a Free Screening of "If a Tree Falls"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<dt class="wp-caption-dt"></dt>
<dd class="wp-caption-dd"></dd></dl>
<h2 data-mce-style="text-align: center;" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="fsl">Sept. "Radical Movie Night"</span></h2>
<span class="fsl">September 12th marks the debut of Las Vegas' own <a data-mce-href="https://www.facebook.com/events/576969249095470" href="https://www.facebook.com/events/576969249095470" title="Facebook Event page for September Radical Movie Night screening of "If a Tree Falls"">Radical Movie Night</a>, hosted by the <a data-mce-href="http://sunsetactivistcollective.org" href="http://sunsetactivistcollective.org/">Sunset Activist Collective,</a> co- Sponsored by <a data-mce-href="http://nvcopblock.org/presspass/" href="http://nvcopblock.org/presspass/" title="Official Cop Block Press Passes">Nevada Cop Block</a> and <a data-mce-href="http://foodnotbombslasvegas.org/" href="http://foodnotbombslasvegas.org/" title="Food Not Bombs Las Vegas">Food Not Bombs Las Vegas</a>, and officially endorsed by the <a data-mce-href="http://vegas.anarchistcafe.org" href="http://vegas.anarchistcafe.org/" title="The Las Vegas Anarchist-Cafe">Las Vegas A-Cafe</a>.
This will be a monthly free showing of either a documentary or a movie
with significant social value. </span><br />
<br />
<span class="fsl">The main purpose of Radical Movie Nights
will be to connect local community members and encourage active
participation within the local community by those within it to promote
and empower those wishing to make positive grassroots-based improvements
where they live and within their personal workplaces.</span><br />
<span class="fsl"><br /> </span><br />
The location where Radical Movie Nights will take place is <a data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/page.php?id=126363397405319" data-mce-href="https://www.facebook.com/thescificentervegas" href="https://www.facebook.com/thescificentervegas">The Sci Fi Center</a>, which many locals already k<span class="text_exposed_show">now
from its longstanding tradition for showing independent movies and cult
classics that are often not available in a large screen setting.
(Disclaimer: the Sci Fi Center is not actually involved in the Radical
Movie Nights, outside of permitting us to use it as a venue for showing
movies.)</span><br />
<br />
In order to coincide with actions against the
Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (for more info about the AETA and local
actions in response to it, see:<a data-mce-href="http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.huffingtonpost.com%2F2014%2F08%2F07%2Fanimal-enterprise-terrorism-act_n_5659893.html&h=lAQEeyyfW&enc=AZM42H_00_JzEAM7IWd8e86SIcxKCTUYdrTCVASEKdneocr5TqRKnF4uzy1HGXI4hs0&s=1" href="http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.huffingtonpost.com%2F2014%2F08%2F07%2Fanimal-enterprise-terrorism-act_n_5659893.html&h=lAQEeyyfW&enc=AZM42H_00_JzEAM7IWd8e86SIcxKCTUYdrTCVASEKdneocr5TqRKnF4uzy1HGXI4hs0&s=1" rel="nofollow nofollow" target="_blank">http://<wbr></wbr>www.huffingtonpost.com/<wbr></wbr>2014/08/07/<wbr></wbr>animal-enterprise-terrorism<wbr></wbr>-act_n_5659893.html</a><span class="fsl"><span class="text_exposed_show">) beginning in September, the first movie that will be shown is " If A Tree Falls: A Story of the <a data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/page.php?id=143896388958690" data-mce-href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Earth-Liberation-Front/143896388958690" href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Earth-Liberation-Front/143896388958690">Earth Liberation Front</a>," a documentary about the Earth Liberation Front, in general, and one of its members, <a data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/page.php?id=139935836025306" data-mce-href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Daniel-G-McGowan/139935836025306" href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Daniel-G-McGowan/139935836025306">Daniel G. McGowan</a>, who was characterized as a terrorist by the US government after his arrest for environmental activism actions, in particular.</span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="mceTemp">
<dl class="wp-caption alignright" data-mce-style="width: 241px;" id="attachment_2246" style="width: 241px;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a data-mce-href="http://nvcopblock.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/RadicalMovieNightFlyerP.jpg" href="http://nvcopblock.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/RadicalMovieNightFlyerP.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Radical Movie Nights in Las Vegas will take place every second Friday at the Sci Fi Center" class="size-medium wp-image-2246" data-mce-src="http://nvcopblock.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/RadicalMovieNightFlyerP-231x300.jpg" src="http://nvcopblock.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/RadicalMovieNightFlyerP-231x300.jpg" height="300" width="231" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Radical Movie Nights in Las Vegas will take place every second Friday at the Sci Fi Center</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<dd class="wp-caption-dd"></dd></dl>
</div>
<br />
The
movie, which was nominated for an Academy Award and won numerous other
awards, shows the history and personal reasons why those involved in
the ELF actions did what they did and how they became "radicalized,"
during previous less militant actions. In addition it addresses issues
involving the declaring activists, who never actually harmed or ever
tried to harm people, terrorists, based solely on property damage.<br />
However,
it also interviews and discusses the perspective of the targets of
those actions and the effects they had on them. As a result, it is a
fairly even handed presentation of the facts involved, which allows
viewers to decide for themselves who was right or wrong and why.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h2>
About the Movie (via <a data-mce-href="http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ifatreefallsfilm.com%2F&h=zAQFlgooe&enc=AZPxb3fSbboHJvrY84NNxtiHILUfKR1Z_TrMAZ4_r4C7uSBz1BZzelE66di6h4OnH1g&s=1" href="http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ifatreefallsfilm.com%2F&h=zAQFlgooe&enc=AZPxb3fSbboHJvrY84NNxtiHILUfKR1Z_TrMAZ4_r4C7uSBz1BZzelE66di6h4OnH1g&s=1" rel="nofollow nofollow" target="_blank">http://<wbr></wbr>www.ifatreefallsfilm.com/</a><span class="fsl"><span class="text_exposed_show">):</span></span></h2>
<blockquote>
"In
December 2005, Daniel McGowan was arrested by Federal agents in a
nationwide sweep of radical environmentalists involved with the Earth
Liberation Front-- a group the FBI has called America's "number one
domestic terrorism threat."<br />
For years, the ELF—operating in
separate anonymous cells without any central leadership—had launched
spectacular arsons against dozens of businesses they accused of
destroying the environment: timber companies, SUV dealerships, wild
horse slaughterhouses, and a $12 million ski lodge at Vail, Colorado.<br />
With
the arrest of Daniel and thirteen others, the government had cracked
what was probably the largest ELF cell in America and brought down the
group responsible for the very first ELF arsons in this country.<br />
IF
A TREE FALLS: A STORY OF THE EARTH LIBERATION FRONT tells the
remarkable story of the rise and fall of this ELF cell, by focusing on
the transformation and radicalization of one of its members.<br />
Part
coming-of-age tale, part cops-and-robbers thrilller, the film
interweaves a verite chronicle of Daniel on house arrest as he faces
life in prison, with a dramatic recounting of the events that led to his
involvement with the group. And along the way it asks hard questions
about environmentalism, activism, and the way we define terrorism.<br />
Drawing
from striking archival footage -- much of it never before seen -- and
intimate interviews with ELF members, and with the prosecutor and
detective who were chasing them, IF A TREE FALLS explores the tumultuous
period from 1995 until early 2001 when environmentalists were clashing
with timber companies and law enforcement, and the word "terrorism" had
not yet been altered by 9/11."</blockquote>
<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/QAGxy85R380" width="560"></iframe>Kelly W. Pattersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02833478610016521091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6377823813121521095.post-25261126550884044152013-06-04T02:25:00.000-07:002013-06-04T02:25:34.947-07:00Las Vegas A-Cafe to Host Talk by Organizer/Author Scott Crow Co-Founder of the Common Ground Collective at UNLV<img border="0" height="293" src="http://photos2.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/4/6/5/2/event_234558002.jpeg" style="float: left; margin: 5px; max-height: 700px; max-width: 700px;" width="195" />The Las Vegas Anarchist Cafe will be hosting a presentation by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Crow">Scott Crow</a>, in Las Vegas at UNLV's Frank and Estella Beam Hall (room 105) on
June 5th. The <a href="http://www.commongroundrelief.org/">Common Ground Collective</a> is an anarchist inspired
grassroots organization founded in New Orleans to <a href="http://reason.com/archives/2006/12/11/a-healthy-dose-of-anarchy">provide disaster relief</a> after Hurricane Katrina. Crow uses <a href="http://vimeo.com/27543529">his book</a>, “<a href="https://secure.pmpress.org/index.php?l=product_detail&p=221">Black Flags and Windmills</a>,” as a foundation for a visual, fast moving, and engaging
presentation of stories to show what ordinary people can do to change
their own worlds and create power from below without governments.<br />
<br />
The talk seeks through a collection of stories to show how the philosophy of anarchism has shaped and changed modern political movements. Anarchism’s influence on organization and actions has allowed spaces for projects like the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Ground_Collective">Common Ground Collective</a>, the largest anarchist organization in modern US history to come into existence after Hurricane Katrina, the Occupy uprisings, and the environmental climate change movements across the US.<br />
<br />
The presentation which is equal parts personal story, radical history and organizing philosophies asks questions about how we engage in social change, the real and perceived challenges presented by the state and dares us to rethink our grassroots movements in how we engage for the future. This talk will be of interest for anyone that has been involved in grassroots organizing and community related planning from a decentralized, member based perspective.<br />
<br />
<b>Scott Crow bio:</b><br />
<b> </b><img border="0" src="http://photos3.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/8/e/d/2/event_239256562.jpeg" style="float: right; margin: 5px; max-height: 700px; max-width: 700px;" /><br />
<a href="http://scottcrow.org/">Scott Crow</a> has spent his varied life as an underground musician, coop business owner, political organizer, trainer, strategist, consultant, 'green collar' worker, writer and speaker advocating the philosophy and practices of anarchism for social, cultural, environmental, and economic aims. <br />
<br />
Over the last two decades scott has worked for a number of national organizations like Greenpeace, A.C.O.R.N. and Ruckus Society and co-founded a number of varied projects, businesses and organizations including Lesson Seven (political industrial band), Red Square (coop art gallery), Century Modern (antique cooperative), Treasure City Thrift (volunteer/worker cooperative) and the Common Ground Collective in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina (the largest anarchist inspired organization in modern US history).<br />
<br />
He is the author of the book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Black-Flags-Windmills-Anarchy-Collective/dp/1604860774">Black Flags and Windmills</a> (PM Press 2011), appeared in <a href="http://www.southendpress.org/2006/items/87670">What Lies Beneath: Katrina, Race and the State of the Nation</a> (South end Press) and co-produced the film <a href="https://secure.pmpress.org/index.php?l=product_detail&p=46">Angola 3: Black Panthers and the Last Slave Plantation</a> (PM Press). He has appeared in international media as both a writer and subject including the NY Times, Democracy Now, CNN and NPR as well as the documentaries Welcome to New Orleans, Better this World, and Informant. <br />
<br />
NPR’s This American Life called him “a living legend among anarchists” and the New York Times characterized him as “anarchist and veteran organizer… that comes across as more amiable than combative…”. Currently Scott splits his time speaking and consulting nationally and organizing locally.<br />
<br />
The <a href="http://vegas.anarchistcafe.org/">Las Vegas A-Cafe</a> is a weekly meeting of local Anarchists that has
served as a social and political discussion group and organizing space
for over four years. Some of the various groups affiliated with it
include the <a href="http://sunsetactivistcollective.org/">Sunset Activist Collective</a>, <a href="http://nvcopblock.org/">Nevada Cop Block</a>, <a href="http://foodnotbombslasvegas.org/">Food Not Bombs Las Vegas</a>, <a href="http://occupylv.org/">OccupyLV.org</a>, and the <a href="http://www.lasvegasiww.org/">Las Vegas Industrial Workers of the World</a>.<br />
<div>
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<!-- AddThis Button END -->Kelly W. Pattersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02833478610016521091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6377823813121521095.post-67603356426615586022013-05-22T15:48:00.000-07:002013-05-22T15:49:56.589-07:00Opportunity for IWW Organizer Training in Albuquerque<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA6AUPSqjbNsy7k9nMzJsm8rGRMVywPdZ0KE89ExosDP-1ntBKkA_dDVtgNiLPHfAyRHcj7JfX3FDOzeWpb4hN2LvKT-Fn4c2wqUxq9myxsBufAjrRM5udV6blf-EWh-6uRqDuL7GKKjrL/s1600/IWWOrganizerTraining.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA6AUPSqjbNsy7k9nMzJsm8rGRMVywPdZ0KE89ExosDP-1ntBKkA_dDVtgNiLPHfAyRHcj7JfX3FDOzeWpb4hN2LvKT-Fn4c2wqUxq9myxsBufAjrRM5udV6blf-EWh-6uRqDuL7GKKjrL/s320/IWWOrganizerTraining.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span itemprop="description"><span class="fsl">The Albuquerque Industrial Workers of the World GMB will be hosting Organizing 101 Training on
June 1st and 2nd at La Plaza del Encuentro (714
4th St SW). The training is open to any worker, employed or unemployed.
There is a $5 registration fee and $30 suggested donation. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span itemprop="description"><span class="fsl"><b>About the Training</b></span></span><br />
<span itemprop="description"><span class="fsl"><b> </b><br />
IWW's Organizer Training provides workers with the training needed to
organize at their jobs. The training provides a foundation in U.S. labor
law, and gives workers direct action tactics necessary to assert their
rights on the job, with or without union represent<span class="text_exposed_show">ation.</span></span></span><br />
<span itemprop="description"><span class="fsl"><span class="text_exposed_show"><br />
The training also covers the basics of building an organizing committee,
reaching out to coworkers through one-on-one meetings, and building
strength up to the point of going public with a union. Learn to organize
in your workplace through discussion with experienced organizers,
workshops, role-playing, and other exercises.<br /> <br /> Breakfast and lunch will be provided on both days. A vegan option will be available. Training materials will also be provided.<br /> </span></span></span><br />
<span itemprop="description"><span class="fsl"><span class="text_exposed_show">To register: email abq@iww.org or call 505-255-4684 <br /> <br /> <b>About the IWW</b> </span></span></span><br />
<span itemprop="description"><span class="fsl"><span class="text_exposed_show"><br />
The IWW is a radical rank and file union, founded in 1905, that is open
to all workers, regardless of occupation. The Albuquerque IWW is active
and organizing in the education and food service sectors.</span></span></span>Kelly W. Pattersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02833478610016521091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6377823813121521095.post-5194924299269396902013-05-04T01:35:00.002-07:002013-05-04T01:42:45.507-07:00Las Vegas IWW's Monthly Meeting and May Day After Party (5-4-13)<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="248" src="http://photos3.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/7/c/b/2/event_231871922.jpeg" style="margin: 5px auto; max-height: 700px; max-width: 700px;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Las Vegas IWW at May Day 2013</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The <a href="https://www.facebook.com/VegasWobblies">Las Vegas Industrial Workers of the World</a> will be holding our official monthly meeting on Saturday, May 4th at 4pm at the Sunrise Coffee shop on Sunset between Eastern and Pecos (see below for<a href="http://goo.gl/maps/zATPv"> map</a>). Among other things we will be celebrating and reminiscing about the recently concluded May Day march.<br />
<br />
Despite some initial misgivings about some outside organizations attempting to exploit the International Day of the Worker for their own misguided purposes, this years May Day turned out great and there was an impressive visible turnout by Las Vegas' IWW crew. Everyone that was there and helped to hold the ground for the true spirit of May Day deserves an enormous pat on the back.<br />
<br />
We also will be discussing and finalizing <a href="https://www.facebook.com/notes/las-vegas-iww/rough-outline-of-bylaws-for-las-vegas-iww-dont-mind-the-numbering-its-right-on-t/461381700595617">our official bylaws</a>, and potentially electing a treasurer, delegates, and other necessary positions for our branch to be certified as an official GMB along with other formalities such as when we will officially meet, on what days, how long meeting should last and other related issues.<br />
<br />
This meeting is an open meeting and can be attended by the general public. Prospective members and those wishing to find out more about the IWW are welcome to attend, but will not be able to participate directly in any decisions or votes that might take place.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: red; text-decoration: underline;"><b>What is the IWW?:</b></span><br />
<br />
The IWW is a member-run union for all workers, a union dedicated to organizing on the job, in our industries and in our communities. IWW members are organizing to win better conditions today and build a world with economic democracy tomorrow. We want our workplaces run for the benefit of workers and communities rather than for a handful of bosses and executives.<br />
<br />
We are the Industrial Workers of the World because we organize industrially. This means we organize all workers producing the same goods or providing the same services into one union, rather than dividing workers by skill or trade, so we can pool our strength to win our demands together. Since the IWW was founded in 1905, we have made significant contributions to the labor struggles around the world and have a proud tradition of organizing across gender, ethnic and racial lines long before such organizing was popular.<br />
<br />
For more info visit: <a href="http://iww.org/">IWW.org</a><br />
<br />
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<small><a href="https://maps.google.com/maps?q=3130+East+Sunset+Road,+Las+Vegas,+NV&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=3130+E+Sunset+Rd,+Las+Vegas,+Clark,+Nevada+89120&t=m&z=14&ll=36.071898,-115.106895&source=embed" style="color: blue; text-align: left;">View Larger Map</a></small>Kelly W. Pattersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02833478610016521091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6377823813121521095.post-37312886805752453462013-04-30T17:54:00.000-07:002013-04-30T18:19:49.923-07:00Join the Las Vegas IWW at a May Day Solidarity Rally for Salvador Zamora <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrWi0hSKg7J3WI6-_DUvTmCPtWfMyXhf7vhCIOFYJ9_F2BVhH1aDmrkLGIAgQ4ml9EU3NiXcGl4BD_PRRdkPofzhR9yhy62-Js3O1yZ6WwA0hYegAizMd0qLq8CfuKHHA01MBrrMD2fhd0/s1600/May+Day+Solidarity.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrWi0hSKg7J3WI6-_DUvTmCPtWfMyXhf7vhCIOFYJ9_F2BVhH1aDmrkLGIAgQ4ml9EU3NiXcGl4BD_PRRdkPofzhR9yhy62-Js3O1yZ6WwA0hYegAizMd0qLq8CfuKHHA01MBrrMD2fhd0/s400/May+Day+Solidarity.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
Salvador Zamora has been conducting a hunger strike across the street from the federal courthouse in Las Vegas for 21 days (as of 4-30) demanding genuine immigration reform. To honor what he is doing and because it is the spirit of May Day, the true worker's holiday, I will be joining him in solidarity to support and help bring attention to his cause and would like to invite others to join me.<br />
<br />
Find out more info either on FaceBook here: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/139256792927946/">May Day Solidarity Rally event</a> or on our Meetup group here: <a href="http://www.meetup.com/The-Las-Vegas-Anarchy-Meetup-Group/events/117052882/">Las Vegas Anarchy Meetup May Day Solidarity Rally</a>.<br />
<br />
Unfortunately, this is very short notice due to the fact that I didn't even know he was doing this until I happened to walk past and see him. While he has received some coverage from the local Spanish language media, none of the other local media has even mentioned it at all. Personally, I'm pretty hard pressed to understand how a guy going without food for over three weeks (and counting) isn't newsworthy, regardless of the reasons.<br />
<br />
Although it isn't actually required to participate in the rally, I will be fasting for 24 hours beginning at midnight once May Day officially starts to show my support for his own sacrifice.<br />
<br />
There is no "official" start time, although I'll be going down there in the morning and spending the day with Salvador. You are welcome to come at whatever time is convenient for you.<br />
<br />
There will also be an official, albeit really sanitized and docile, May Day parade hosted by local unions and politicians beginning around 4 o'clock at the federal courthouse that you may or may not want to take part in. If so, you could just show up a bit early to show Salvador some support.<br />
<br />
<br />
I hope to see you there.Kelly W. Pattersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02833478610016521091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6377823813121521095.post-57100213264590940902013-02-05T17:34:00.002-08:002013-02-05T17:34:25.006-08:00LasVegasIWW.org is now live!EnjoyKelly W. Pattersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02833478610016521091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6377823813121521095.post-72231336319224044112013-01-30T23:05:00.000-08:002013-01-30T23:05:00.902-08:00Join the Las Vegas IWW for the February Monthly Meeting<img border="0" src="http://photos4.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/d/c/d/4/event_180536532.jpeg" style="float: left; margin: 5px; max-height: 700px; max-width: 700px;" />The <a href="https://www.facebook.com/VegasWobblies">Las Vegas Industrial Workers of the World</a> will be holding our first official monthly meeting on Saturday, February 2nd at 4pm. We will be discussing and finalizing <a href="https://www.facebook.com/notes/las-vegas-iww/rough-outline-of-bylaws-for-las-vegas-iww-dont-mind-the-numbering-its-right-on-t/461381700595617">our official bylaws</a> (view <a href="http://files.meetup.com/1357739/LVIWW%20Bylaws.doc">text file</a> here), and will also be electing a treasurer, delegates, and other necessary positions for our branch to be certified as an official GMB. In addition, we will decide how often to formally meet, on what days, how long meeting should last and other related issues.<br />
This meeting is an open meeting and can be attended by the general public. Prospective members and those wishing to find out more about the IWW are welcome to attend, but will not be able to participate directly in any decisions or votes that might take place.<br />
<span style="color: red; text-decoration: underline;"><b>What is the IWW?:</b></span><br />
The IWW is a member-run union for all workers, a union dedicated to organizing on the job, in our industries and in our communities. IWW members are organizing to win better conditions today and build a world with economic democracy tomorrow. We want our workplaces run for the benefit of workers and communities rather than for a handful of bosses and executives.<br />
We are the Industrial Workers of the World because we organize industrially.<br />
This means we organize all workers producing the same goods or providing the same services into one union, rather than dividing workers by skill or trade, so we can pool our strength to win our demands together. Since the IWW was founded in 1905, we have made significant contributions to the labor struggles around the world and have a proud tradition of organizing across gender, ethnic and racial lines long before such organizing was popular.<br />
For more info visit: <a href="http://iww.org/">IWW.org</a>Kelly W. Pattersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02833478610016521091noreply@blogger.com0Las Vegas, NV, USA36.104595560769013 -115.1751708984375636.002017060769013 -115.33653239843756 36.207174060769013 -115.01380939843756tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6377823813121521095.post-48091708628287568572012-05-03T12:00:00.000-07:002012-08-30T02:01:07.405-07:00May Day 2012 Afterthoughts<div class="mbl notesBlogText clearfix">
<span><div>
<span class="photo_right" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" class="photo_img img" height="320" src="https://fbcdn-photos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/154536_3079715919728_379877453_a.jpg" width="232" /></span>Personally, I'm rather glad that I and several other members of the local Occupy movement were given the opportunity to become involved with the planning of the May Day
march this year. While I've been involved tangentially in the past,
this is the first time that I've taken part in the actual planning and
execution of the march from beginning to end. It was a lot of work and
at times stressful, but the end result was well worth it.<br />
<br />
As
an Anarchist and someone who has been intimately involved in the fight
for labor rights, May Day is a very important holiday for me in its own
right. However, anyone that is genuinely interested in the professed
ideals of the Occupy movements is or should become aware of the ways in
which racism, homophobia, sexism, and nationalism are used to divide and
set us against each other and to keep us fighting our fellow workers,
with whom we actually have the most in common with, instead of uniting
as the singular people that we truly are to eliminate abuses throughout
the workplace and beyond.<br />
<br />
Immigration laws and the police
powers that the scare tactics associated with them bring, absolutely are
an injury to all, even if the initial and most visible injury is
perpetrated against a small minority. The undocumented worker that is
blackmailed into accepting inferior pay and working conditions is also
used as a threat against non-immigrant workers who dare to ask for
better working conditions and pay for themselves. It's a vicious cycle
that ultimately benefits no-one excepts the bosses.<br />
<br />
Similarly,
the cops in riot gear that we all witnessed tearing down Occupation
tents, arresting, and abusing peaceful protesters were funded by budgets
inflated through border controls and drug war justifications that
primarily target minority communities with devastating effect. The
creeping militarization of police starts at the borders, but it doesn't
end there. Anyone that believes in the right to protest for basic human
rights and common dignity needs to be in the fight, even if they haven't
personally been affected by it yet.<br />
<br />
May Day 2012 was a
great success and I feel like Occupy Las Vegas brought several new and
fun wrinkles to the march without distracting from the larger issues and
goals of previous years. I hope that the other participants agree with
that assessment and look forward to any other opportunities that might
come along in which it would be appropriate for Occupiers to collaborate
with UCIR, MEChA de UNLV, and the other groups/individuals who
organized this important event.</div>
</span></div>
Kelly W. Pattersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02833478610016521091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6377823813121521095.post-64460938096686858162012-04-27T18:32:00.000-07:002012-04-27T18:32:55.242-07:00Official Las Vegas May Day Press Release<h2 style="text-align: left;">
General Strike & March in Support of Immigrant & Workers’ Rights on May 1st</h2>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc2-HAJPR7B5rScgY3dNSY4_UAD8CnL6DA3qVSEqUdUTAHs4wLEfwtmpXJtPbpTTkKpL8iFdVBtm8DzPWRGip32P2751eAF-gH4DyA6QSIChgL_u4rNDRrvZYmJhJGsIhDDcKcEIyDs_Ed/s1600/mayfirstfinalenglish%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc2-HAJPR7B5rScgY3dNSY4_UAD8CnL6DA3qVSEqUdUTAHs4wLEfwtmpXJtPbpTTkKpL8iFdVBtm8DzPWRGip32P2751eAF-gH4DyA6QSIChgL_u4rNDRrvZYmJhJGsIhDDcKcEIyDs_Ed/s320/mayfirstfinalenglish%5B1%5D.jpg" width="232" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
On May 1st, 2012 the people of Las Vegas will participate in a day of action in solidarity with immigrants and workers of the world. We will join national efforts to support comprehensive immigration reform and denounce the passage of unjust laws that target the working poor, people of color, women, queer people, transgender people, im/migrants and other marginalized communities.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Economically disenfranchised communities continue to be oppressed as a result of the greed of corporations and governments; therefore, we are calling on our communities to take part in a general strike. We ask the community to not participate in the system for one day by abstaining from spending money, buying gas, going to school or work. Instead, come out into the street and march alongside us!</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The March will begin at <a href="http://www.commercialcenterdistrict.com/map.html">Commercial Center District</a> and end at the <a href="http://www.lasvegassun.com/places/lloyd-george-federal-building/">Lloyd George Federal Building</a> in downtown Las Vegas. The March will be followed by a rally and vigil at the Federal Building.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="color: red;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>WHAT: May 1st Annual Immigrant & Workers’ Rights March, Rally and Vigil</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>WHEN: Saturday, May 1st 2012 at 4:30 p.m.</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>WHERE: At the Commercial Center District, 953 East Sahara Avenue, LV 89104</b></div>
</blockquote>
<b>Points of Unity:</b> <br />
<ul>
<li>Denounce and end the unprecedented number of deportations by the Obama administration </li>
<li>Support Family Reunification. </li>
<li>Close the immigrant detention centers. </li>
<li>End anti-immigrant segregation in education: </li>
<li>Support the Dream Act. </li>
<li>No to the wall; no to the militarization of the border. </li>
<li>Support same Sex bi-national couples: Support the Uniting American Families Act. </li>
<li>Stop femicide along the US-Mexico Border. </li>
<li>Stop the abusive, inhumane and genocidal treatment of immigrants. </li>
<li>Support workers’ rights to organize. </li>
<li>End Secure Communities, E-Verify, Arizona’s SB 1070, and Alabama’s HB 56. </li>
<li>Stop using the term “illegal”. </li>
<li>End the criminalization of and provide protection for Queer, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender immigrants.</li>
</ul>
For more information, please contact Jasmine Rubalcava by Phone: (702) 900-4918 or email us at: <a href="mailto:ucirlv@gmail.com">ucirlv@gmail.com</a>Kelly W. Pattersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02833478610016521091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6377823813121521095.post-25879961024650562542012-03-31T14:24:00.001-07:002012-04-09T13:18:34.787-07:00May Day 2012 – A Declaration of Solidarity from Occupy Oklahoma<span style="font-size: x-small;">(courtesy of <a href="http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=10150719418444241">Zakk Flash</a> and the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/344092455618826/">General Assembly of Occupy Oklahoma</a>)</span> <br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAIT7X2-h1ha9TGG-vJpBeF-o_3LEZ7uIsM29THNGnhb1WmeCMOgB717mS6uewZglqRTpMkdjknjnj2ARd8hj62lKOZubCCTKAWy3TLueIsXJnFwJLHUgUhN6rCW5lraeaEbDPW8_8VYaD/s1600/whats-wrong-with-this-picture-11809-1306247617-49.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAIT7X2-h1ha9TGG-vJpBeF-o_3LEZ7uIsM29THNGnhb1WmeCMOgB717mS6uewZglqRTpMkdjknjnj2ARd8hj62lKOZubCCTKAWy3TLueIsXJnFwJLHUgUhN6rCW5lraeaEbDPW8_8VYaD/s320/whats-wrong-with-this-picture-11809-1306247617-49.jpg" width="305" /></a>WHEREAS,
May 1st is officially recognized worldwide as International Workers'
Day, a holiday originating in response to the Haymarket Massacre of 1886
in Chicago, where workers were fighting for the eight hour workday;<br />
<br />
WHEREAS,
the people of the world have risen against economic inequality, social
domination, financial exploitation, government corruption, and
iron-fisted authoritarianism in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Bahrain, Greece,
and elsewhere;<br />
<br />
WHEREAS,
this working class movement has observed unchecked corporate power
redefining the natural world as a body of resources to be exploited to
serve their purposes and interests;<br />
<br />
WHEREAS,
the physical and economic assault of governments worldwide upon their
peoples constitutes an attack on the principles of self-determination
and democracy; <br />
<br />
WHEREAS,
corporate interests and the politicians they control continue to spread
aggression in Washington DC, Greece, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Lebanon, and
multitudinous countries of the world;<br />
<br />
WHEREAS, our solidarity with the workers of the world constitutes our inalienable right to freedom of association;<br />
<br />
WHEREAS,
a call is growing for an international mass action to honor the
struggles and sacrifices of working peoples around the world;<br />
<br />
<br />
WHEREAS,
isolated efforts at reform have failed to stem the growing tide of
corporate power and the harm it causes to the working class;<br />
<br />
WHEREAS,
we recognize in the General Strike a powerful tool in the battle for
democracy, a furtherance of social and economic conditions, and the
provisions of education and healthcare;<br />
<br />
<br />
THEREFORE
BE IT RESOLVED that the General Assembly of Occupy Oklahoma endorses
the General Strike of May Day 2012, including work stoppages, street
demonstrations, sick-outs, and other solidarity actions;<br />
<br />
BE
IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the General Assembly of Occupy Oklahoma urges
its constituent members to stand in solidarity in a “Day without
Workers,” supporting a boycott of shopping, work, and school-related
activities as part of May Day observances.<br />
<br />
<br />
This resolution has been endorsed by:<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/344092455618826/">The General Assembly of Occupy Oklahoma</a><br />
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/OccupyNorman">Occupy Norman (University of Oklahoma)</a><br />
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/OKShawnee">Occupy Shawnee (Oklahoma)</a><br />
<a href="http://www.facebook.com/COBRACollective">The Central Oklahoma Black/Red Alliance (COBRA)</a><br />
<a href="http://www.crimethinc.com/" rel="" target="">CrimethInc. Ex-Workers' Collective: Stillwater Cell</a><br />
<a href="http://earthrebirthnow.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Earth Rebirth</a><br />
<a href="http://vegas.anarchistcafe.org/">The Las Vegas Anarchist Cafe (A-Cafe)</a><br />
<br />
N©!2012<br />
<br />
The author, Zakk Flash, humbly puts this
missive and all its contents at the disposal of those who, in good
faith, might read, circulate, plagiarize, revise, and otherwise make
use of them in the course of making the world a better place.<br />
<br />
Possession,
reproduction, transmission, excerpting, introduction as evidence in
court and all other applications by any corporation, government body,
security organization, or similar party of evil intent are strictly
prohibited and punishable under natural law.Kelly W. Pattersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02833478610016521091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6377823813121521095.post-5256103780131281182012-03-30T15:52:00.000-07:002012-04-16T18:09:16.045-07:00Official Flyer for MayDay<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtDP8uPtXk1o_19Mwqh6Op-xtS4JdS-kOvIbYKL3rZrXDKG_c98VONn9-DQ91MYOsr1z-Or3lsuIxxnsunfVuYaCCZM3QxVaMAQKIh96LcEyvwSujYRueWS43MfLD0H8pYUTEZqqIH3qew/s1600/mayfirstfinalenglish%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtDP8uPtXk1o_19Mwqh6Op-xtS4JdS-kOvIbYKL3rZrXDKG_c98VONn9-DQ91MYOsr1z-Or3lsuIxxnsunfVuYaCCZM3QxVaMAQKIh96LcEyvwSujYRueWS43MfLD0H8pYUTEZqqIH3qew/s1600/mayfirstfinalenglish%5B1%5D.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">MayDay in Las Vegas</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />Kelly W. Pattersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02833478610016521091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6377823813121521095.post-76290936075974041122012-03-30T15:48:00.000-07:002012-04-16T18:12:19.540-07:00Primero de Mayo Flyer Anuncio Oficial<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq54G_V4flqH255_YPMxWInNy3eq3eZq0CFqyoEx6M03VNDSqQj_Og5BCKPFHY7H9XfVzLTVgByeW-xWuYG-r-Y0TP-fnxKcFQGm9eoFMSL0N2cXgNxfOVGaAXaaLW1f9jzpvlsfCYbBVQ/s1600/mayfirstfinalspanish1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq54G_V4flqH255_YPMxWInNy3eq3eZq0CFqyoEx6M03VNDSqQj_Og5BCKPFHY7H9XfVzLTVgByeW-xWuYG-r-Y0TP-fnxKcFQGm9eoFMSL0N2cXgNxfOVGaAXaaLW1f9jzpvlsfCYbBVQ/s1600/mayfirstfinalspanish1.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Primero De Mayo</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />Kelly W. Pattersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02833478610016521091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6377823813121521095.post-2834753261223261752012-03-30T15:39:00.001-07:002012-04-01T19:56:56.050-07:00Por qué Celebramos Primero de Mayo<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.holtlaborlibrary.org/images/MayDayCartoon%20lg.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.holtlaborlibrary.org/images/MayDayCartoon%20lg.JPG" width="286" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Primero de Mayo</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="color: #333333;"><span lang="es-ES">La
mayoría de las personas que viven en los Estados Unidos saben muy
poco sobre el Día Internacional de los Trabajadores del </span></span><span style="color: #333333;"><span lang="es-ES">Primero
de Mayo. Para muchos otros existe la suposición de que es un día de
fiesta celebrado en países comunistas como Cuba o la antigua Unión
Soviética. La mayoría de los estadounidenses no se dan cuenta de
que el Primero de Mayo tiene sus orígenes en este país y es tan
"americano" como el béisbol y el </span></span><span style="color: #333333;"><span lang="es-ES"><i>apple
pie</i></span></span><span style="color: #333333;"><span lang="es-ES">. El
Primero de Mayo se originó en la fiesta pre-cristiana de Beltane,
una celebración del renacimiento y la fertilidad.<br /><br />En el siglo
XIX, la clase obrera estaba en constante lucha para ganar la jornada
laboral de 8 horas. Las condiciones de trabajo eran graves y era
bastante común trabajar de 10 a 16 horas diarias en condiciones
peligrosas. Muertes y lesiones eran comunes en muchos lugares de
trabajo e inspiraron libros, tales como Upton Sinclair’s </span></span><span style="color: #333333;"><span lang="es-ES"><u>The
Jungle</u></span></span><span style="color: #333333;"><span lang="es-ES"> y
Jack London’s </span></span><span style="color: #333333;"><span lang="es-ES"><u>The
Iron Heel</u></span></span><span style="color: #333333;"><span lang="es-ES">.
Tan temprano como en los años 1860’s, la clase obrera organizo
acortar la jornada laboral sin reducción de salario, pero no fue
hasta finales de la década de 1880 que lograron reunir la fuerza
suficiente para declarar la jornada de 8 horas. Esta proclamación
fue sin el consentimiento de los empleadores, sin embargo, exigido
por muchos de la clase obrera.</span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" lang="es-ES" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span lang="es-ES">En
</span></span><span style="color: #333333;"><span lang="es-ES">ese tiempo, el
socialismo era una idea nueva y atrayente para las personas que
trabajan, muchos de los cuales se sintieron atraídos por la
ideología de la clase obrera, del control sobre la producción y
distribución de todos los bienes y servicios. Los trabajadores
habían visto de primera mano que el capitalismo solamente
beneficiaba a los jefes, intercambiando las vidas de los obreros por
ganancias. Miles de hombres, mujeres y niños estaban muriendo
innecesariamente cada año en el lugar de trabajo, con expectativa de
vida de veinte años en algunas industrias, y la poca esperanza de
salir adelante. El socialismo ofrecía otra opción.<br /><br />Una
variedad de organizaciones socialistas surgieron a lo largo de la
segunda mitad del siglo XIX, desde los partidos políticos a los
grupos de coro. De hecho, muchos socialistas fueron elegidos a la
oficina gubernamental por su distrito. Pero, de nuevo, muchos de
ellos eran socialistas abandonados por el proceso político que era
tan evidentemente controlado por las grandes empresas y la maquinaria
política bipartidista. Decenas de miles de socialistas rompieron
filas de sus partidos, rechazaron todo el proceso político, que fue
visto como nada más que la protección para los ricos, y ha creado
grupos anarquistas en todo el país. Literalmente miles de personas
de la clase obrera adoptaron los ideales del anarquismo, que buscaban
poner fin a todas las estructuras jerárquicas (incluyendo el
gobierno), enfatizaron industrias contraladas por los trabajadores y
valoraban la acción directa sobre el proceso político burocrático.
Es incorrecto decir que los sindicatos fueron despojados por los
anarquistas y los socialistas, sino más bien anarquistas y
socialistas formaron los sindicatos.<br /><br />En su convención
nacional en Chicago, que tuvo lugar en 1884, la Federación de
Oficios Organizados y Sindicatos (FOTLU, por sus siglas en ingles,
que más tarde se convirtió en la Federación Americana de Labor),
proclamó que "Ocho horas constituirán un día de trabajo legal
de partir y después del 1 de mayo 1886." Al año siguiente, el
FOTLU, respaldado por muchos </span></span><span style="color: #333333;"><span lang="es-ES"><i>Knights
of Labor</i></span></span><span style="color: #333333;"><span lang="es-ES">
locales, reiteraron su anuncio indicando que sería apoyada por las
huelgas y manifestaciones. Al principio, la mayoría de los radicales
y los anarquistas consideraron esta demanda como demasiado reformista
porque no tocaba la raíz del problema. Un año antes de la masacre
de Haymarket, Samuel Fielden, señaló en el periódico anarquista,
</span></span><span style="color: #333333;"><span lang="es-ES"><i>The Alarm</i></span></span><span style="color: #333333;"><span lang="es-ES">,
que "si un hombre trabaja ocho horas al día, o diez horas al
día, sigue siendo un esclavo."<br /><br />A pesar de las dudas de
muchos de los anarquistas, un cuarto de millones de trabajadores en
el área de Chicago se involucraron directamente en la lucha para
poner en práctica el día laboral de ocho horas, incluyendo Asamblea
de Intercambio y Labor, el Partido Laborista Socialista y los </span></span><span style="color: #333333;"><span lang="es-ES"><i>Knights
of Labor</i></span></span><span style="color: #333333;"><span lang="es-ES">
locales. A medida que la movilización juntaba mas y mas fuerza en
contra los empleadores, estos radicales entregados a lucha por la
jornada de 8 horas se dieron cuenta de que "las opiniones y
determinación de la mayoría de los trabajadores estaban en esta
dirección." Con la participación de los anarquistas parecía
haber una introducción a mayores problemas que la jornada de 8
horas. Se desarrolló un sentido de una revolución social más allá
de los beneficios inmediatos de los días laborales más cortos y un
cambio drástico en la estructura económica del capitalismo.</span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" lang="es-ES" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span lang="es-ES">En
una proclamación emprimada </span></span><span style="color: #333333;"><span lang="es-ES">justo
antes del 1ro de mayo de 1886, una editorial hizo un llamado a los
trabajadores con esta súplica:</span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" lang="es-ES" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<ul>
<li><div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span lang="es-ES">¡</span></span><span style="color: #333333;"><span lang="es-ES">Trabajadores
a las armas!</span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span lang="es-ES">Guerra</span></span><span style="color: #333333;"><span lang="es-ES">
al Palacio, Paz para el pueblo, y muerte a la ociosidad lujosa.</span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span lang="es-ES">El
sistema de salarios es la única causa de la miseria del mundo. Es</span></span><span style="color: #333333;"><span lang="es-ES">te
sistema está apoyado por las clases ricas y para destruirlo estos
deben ser puestos a trabajar o MORIR.</span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span lang="es-ES">¡</span></span><span style="color: #333333;"><span lang="es-ES">Un
kilo de dinamita es mejor que un montón de BOLETAS!</span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div align="LEFT" lang="es-ES" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #333333;">HAGA
SU DEMANDA DE OCHO HORAS con las armas en sus manos para cumplir con
los capitalistas, la policía y las milicias de la manera adecuada.</span></div>
</li>
</ul>
<div align="LEFT" lang="es-ES" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span lang="es-ES">No
es sorprendente que l</span></span><span style="color: #333333;"><span lang="es-ES">a
ciudad entera estaba preparada para el derramamiento de sangre
masivo, una evocación de la huelga de ferrocarriles en la década
anterior, cuando la policía y los soldados mataron a tiros a cientos
de trabajadores en huelga. El 1 de mayo de 1886 más de 300,000
trabajadores en 13,000 empresas en todo Estados Unidos abandonaron
sus puestos de trabajo en celebración del Primero de Mayo en la
historia. En Chicago, el centro de los activistas de la jornada de 8
horas, 40,000 fueron a la huelga con los anarquistas con atención
del público. Con sus discursos motivadores y ideología
revolucionaria de la acción directa, los anarquistas y el anarquismo
se convirtió en algo respetado y aceptado por la clase obrera y
despreciados por los capitalistas.<br /><br />Los nombres de muchos,
Albert Parsons, Johann Most, August Spies y Lingg Louis-se
convirtieron en nombres conocidos del hogar en Chicago y en todo el
país. Desfiles, bandas y decenas de miles de manifestantes en las
calles ejemplificaron la fuerza de los trabajadores y la unidad, sin
embargo, no llegó a ser violenta, como los periódicos y las
autoridades predijeron.<br /><br />Más y más trabajadores continuaron
abandonando sus puestos de trabajo hasta que el número aumentó a
casi 100,000 y prevaleció la paz. No fue sino hasta dos días más
tarde, 3 de mayo de 1886, que la violencia estalló en el McCormick
Reaper Works entre la policía y los huelguistas.<br /><br />Durante seis
meses, los agentes de Pinkerton armados y la policía acosaron y
golpearon a los trabajadores que estaban en huelga. La mayoría de
estos trabajadores pertenecían a la Unión Obrera del Metal
"dominado por los anarquistas". Durante un discurso cerca
de la planta McCormick, unos doscientos manifestantes se unieron a
los trabajadores que estaban en huelga. Golpes con palos de la
policía desembocaron el lanzamiento de piedras por los huelguistas,
que la policía respondió con disparos. Por lo menos dos delanteros
murieron y un número indeterminado resultaron heridos.<br /><br />Llenos
de rabia una reunión pública fue convocada por algunos de los
anarquistas para el día siguiente en la plaza de Haymarket para
discutir la brutalidad de la policía. Debido al mal tiempo y corto
tiempo de plazo sólo alrededor de 3,000 de las decenas de miles de
personas se presentaron desde el día anterior. Esta junta incluía a
familias con hijos y el alcalde de Chicago. Más tarde el alcalde
declararía que la multitud se mantuvo en calma y ordenada y que el
hablante August Spies hizo "ninguna sugerencia ... para uso
inmediato de fuerza o violencia hacia cualquier persona ..."</span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" lang="es-ES" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span lang="es-ES">A
medida que el discurso </span></span><span style="color: #333333;"><span lang="es-ES">acababa,
dos detectives se apresuraron para hablar con la policía
informándoles que un orador estaba utilizando un lenguaje violento,
incitando a la policía que se subieran al vagón de los habladores.
A medida que la policía comenzó a dispersar a la multitud que ya se
estaba yendo, una bomba fue arrojada a las filas de la policía.
Nadie sabe quién lanzó la bomba, pero las especulaciones vareaban a
culpar a cualquiera de los anarquistas, a un agente espía para la
policía.<br /><br />Enfurecidos la policía disparó contra la multitud.
El número exacto de civiles muertos o heridos nunca fue determinado,
pero murieron unos siete u ocho civiles, y hasta cuarenta heridos. Un
oficial murió en el acto y otros siete murieron en las semanas
siguientes. Más tarde las pruebas indicaron que sólo una de las
muertes de policías podría atribuirse a la bomba y que todos los
otros policías muertos pudieron haber muerto debido a u incidente
con su propio fuego de arma. Aparte del lanzamiento de bomba, que
nunca fue identificado, fueron la policía, no los anarquistas, que
perpetraron la violencia.<br /><br />Ocho anarquistas - Albert Parsons,
August Spies, Samuel Fielden, Neebe Oscar, Michael Schwab, George
Engel, Adolph Fischer y Lingg Luis, fueron detenidos y condenados por
asesinato, aunque sólo tres estaban presentes en Haymarket, y los
tres estaban a la vista de todos cuando el bombardeo se produjo. El
jurado en los juicios estaba compuesto de líderes de negocios como
una burla de la justicia, algo similar al caso de Sacco y Vanzetti
treinta años más tarde, o los juicios de AIM y los miembros de la
pantera negra en los años setenta. El mundo entero vio como los ocho
organizadores fueron condenados, no por sus acciones, de los cuales
todos eran inocentes, sino por sus creencias políticas y sociales.
El 11 de noviembre de 1887, después de muchas apelaciones
fracasadas, Parsons, Spies, Engel y Fischer fueron ahorcados hasta la
muerte. Louis Lingg, en su protesta final de la demanda del estado de
la autoridad y el castigo, se quitó la vida la noche anterior con un
artefacto explosivo en la boca.</span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" lang="es-ES" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span lang="es-ES">Los
organizadores restantes, Fielden, Neebe y Schwab, fueron indultados
seis años más tarde por el gobernador Altgeld, quien públicamente
criticó al juez en una parodia de la justicia. Inmediatamente
después de la masacre de Haymarket, las grandes empresas y el
gobierno llevó a cabo lo que algunos dicen fue el primer </span></span><span style="color: #333333;"><span lang="es-ES"><i>"Red
Scare"</i></span></span><span style="color: #333333;"><span lang="es-ES">
en este país. Tejido por medios de comunicación, el anarquismo se
convirtió en sinónimo de lanzamiento de la bomba y el socialismo se
convirtió en anti-estadounidense. La imagen común de un anarquista
se convirtió en un inmigrante con barba, de Europa del Este con una
bomba en una mano y una daga en la otra.<br /><br />Hoy vemos decenas de
miles de activistas que adoptan los ideales de los Mártires de
Haymarket y aquellos que establecieron el Primero de Mayo como el Día
Internacional de los Trabajadores. Irónicamente, el Primero de Mayo
es un día feriado oficial en 66 países y oficialmente se celebra en
muchos más, pero rara vez es reconocido en este país donde
comenzó.<br /><br />Más de cien años han pasado desde aquel Primero de
Mayo. En la primera parte del siglo 20, el gobierno de los Estados
Unidos trató de poner freno a la celebración y aun más borrar de
la memoria del público estableciendo el "Día de Ley y el
Orden", el 1 de mayo. Podemos trazar muchos paralelos entre los
acontecimientos de 1886 y hoy en día. Todavía tenemos trabajadores
de metal en huelga luchando por la justicia. Todavía tenemos las
voces de la libertad tras las rejas como en el caso de Mumia Abu
Jamal y Leonard Peltier. Todavía tenemos la capacidad de movilizar a
decenas de miles de personas en las calles de una gran ciudad para
proclamar "¡ASI ES LA DEMOCRACIA!" en las manifestaciones
contra el WTO y FTAA.<br /><br />Las palabras más fuertes que cualquier
otro podría escribir están grabadas en el Monumento Haymarket:</span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="es-ES" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #333333;">LLEGARÁ
EL DÍA EN QUE NUESTRO SILENCIO SERÁ MÁS PODEROSO QUE LAS VOCES QUE
ESTÁNTRATANDO DE SOFOCAR.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" lang="es-ES" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span lang="es-ES">En
verdad, la historia tiene mucho que enseñarnos acerca de las raíces
de nuestro radicalismo. Cuando recordamos </span></span><span style="color: #333333;"><span lang="es-ES">que
personas fueron fusilados para que pudiéramos tener la jornada de 8
horas, cuando reconocemos que hogares con familias adentro de ellos
fueron completamente quemados para que pudiéramos tener el sábado
como parte del fin de semana, cuando recordamos a las víctimas de 8
años de edad de los accidentes laborales que se manifestaron en las
calles protestando por las condiciones de trabajo y la lucha infantil
sólo para que la policía y agentes los encontraran a golpes,
entendemos que hay que valorar nuestra condición actual - la gente
luchó por los derechos y la dignidad que hoy disfrutamos, y todavía
hay mucho más por luchar. Los sacrificios de tantas personas no
pueden ser olvidados o vamos a terminar peleando por esos mismos
beneficios de nuevo. Es por eso que celebramos el Primero de Mayo.</span></span></div>Kelly W. Pattersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02833478610016521091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6377823813121521095.post-1535434524308743412012-03-04T20:30:00.000-08:002012-04-16T18:20:41.888-07:00Occupy Las Vegas May Day Planning<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCRH73sol_aW9zxVevLrJIbMVUW3DURWMu3Ulsjx6a3dR6jb09dm3hZO5x4GZW1cooe7XewvhYucb_UPkEf7XuChjXCIXlsE3fn21guRm5pibvND7QDTIDAm7_uWFbMvSHOU8Bs82dy8_V/s1600/occupylv.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCRH73sol_aW9zxVevLrJIbMVUW3DURWMu3Ulsjx6a3dR6jb09dm3hZO5x4GZW1cooe7XewvhYucb_UPkEf7XuChjXCIXlsE3fn21guRm5pibvND7QDTIDAm7_uWFbMvSHOU8Bs82dy8_V/s200/occupylv.jpg" width="154" /></a></div>
This video was taken during a recent <a href="http://www.occupylv.org/">Occupy Las Vegas</a> General Assembly, featuring Joanna of UCIR/Mecha de UNLV discussing May Day and inviting <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/OccupyLVorg/243808532346456?sk=wall&filter=1">Occupy Las Vegas</a> members to join the <a href="http://www.facebook.com/groups/maydaylasvegas/">Las Vegas May Day Planning Committee</a>. (Unfortunately, the audio isn't great.)<br />
<br />
Occupy Las Vegas GA's are held Wednesday and Sunday evenings at 7pm on the back patio of the UNLV Student Union center (on campus). Planning meetings for the May Day events are held on Fridays from 6pm to 8:30pm the Center for Social Justice/Houssels, which is also located on the UNLV campus. Both meetings are open to anyone interested in attending.<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/NQxS2tH1Oww" width="750"></iframe>Kelly W. Pattersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02833478610016521091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6377823813121521095.post-21772299374330314802012-02-18T21:24:00.000-08:002012-04-01T19:56:56.039-07:00Video: The Haymarket Martyrs--Origin of International Workers DayA documentary about the Haymarket protests and the resulting trial and execution of eight Anarchist labor activists, which inspired the May Day holiday.<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="400" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/_OQxncb2ihQ" width="750"></iframe>Kelly W. Pattersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02833478610016521091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6377823813121521095.post-18575411999319724872012-02-18T21:06:00.000-08:002012-04-16T18:21:31.247-07:00The Brief Origins of May Day - By Eric Chase - 1993<h1 class="title">
</h1>
<div class="meta">
<span class="submitted"><a href="http://www.iww.org/en/history/library/misc/origins_of_mayday">Originally Posted on IWW.org</a> - the official website of the <a href="http://eyeam4anarchy.hubpages.com/hub/We-Need-the-Wobblies-Now-More-Than-Ever">Industrial Workers of the World</a></span>
</div>
<b><br /></b><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3QwRwi4ioIEssdIuWTVCLowiu5-ClnMz15REaFUbrtKcqw-52XTgu_sYoqaNwsVmm7v1FU144TN26mzADpGwKo1NhqVxn3h8WhfEXmz0oMmdvL0s6ovN4qwJStcMokmbYJAw-z9GC87s4/s1600/food_not_bombs_logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3QwRwi4ioIEssdIuWTVCLowiu5-ClnMz15REaFUbrtKcqw-52XTgu_sYoqaNwsVmm7v1FU144TN26mzADpGwKo1NhqVxn3h8WhfEXmz0oMmdvL0s6ovN4qwJStcMokmbYJAw-z9GC87s4/s400/food_not_bombs_logo.jpg" width="306" /></a>Most people living in the United States know little about the
International Workers' Day of May Day. For many others there is an
assumption that it is a holiday celebrated in state communist countries
like Cuba or the former Soviet Union. Most Americans don't realize that
May Day has its origins here in this country and is as "American" as
baseball and apple pie, and stemmed from the pre-Christian holiday of
Beltane, a celebration of rebirth and fertility.<br />
<br />
In the late nineteenth century, the working class was in constant
struggle to gain the 8-hour work day. Working conditions were severe and
it was quite common to work 10 to 16 hour days in unsafe conditions.
Death and injury were commonplace at many work places and inspired such
books as Upton Sinclair's <u>The Jungle</u> and Jack London's <u>The Iron Heel</u>.
As early as the 1860's, working people agitated to shorten the workday
without a cut in pay, but it wasn't until the late 1880's that organized
labor was able to garner enough strength to declare the 8-hour workday. This proclamation was without consent of employers, yet demanded by
many of the working class.<br />
<br />
At this time, socialism was a new and attractive idea to working
people, many of whom were drawn to its ideology of working class control
over the production and distribution of all goods and services. Workers
had seen first-hand that Capitalism benefited only their bosses,
trading workers' lives for profit. Thousands of men, women and children
were dying needlessly every year in the workplace, with life expectancy
as low as their early twenties in some industries, and little hope but
death of rising out of their destitution. Socialism offered another
option.<br />
<br />
A variety of socialist organizations sprung up throughout the later
half of the 19th century, ranging from political parties to choir
groups. In fact, many socialists were elected into governmental office
by their constituency. But again, many of these socialists were
ham-strung by the political process which was so evidently controlled by
big business and the bi-partisan political machine. Tens of thousands
of socialists broke ranks from their parties, rebuffed the entire
political process, which was seen as nothing more than protection for
the wealthy, and created anarchist groups throughout the country.
Literally thousands of working people embraced the ideals of anarchism,
which sought to put an end to all hierarchical structures (including
government), emphasized worker controlled industry, and valued direct
action over the bureaucratic political process. It is inaccurate to say
that labor unions were "taken over" by anarchists and socialists, but
rather anarchists and socialist made up the labor unions.<br />
<br />
At its national convention in Chicago, held in 1884, the Federation
of Organized Trades and Labor Unions (which later became the American
Federation of Labor), proclaimed that "eight hours shall constitute a
legal day's labor from and after May 1, 1886." The following year, the
FOTLU, backed by many Knights of Labor locals, reiterated their
proclamation stating that it would be supported by strikes and
demonstrations. At first, most radicals and anarchists regarded this
demand as too reformist, failing to strike "at the root of the evil." A
year before the Haymarket Massacre, Samuel Fielden pointed out in the
anarchist newspaper, <i>The Alarm</i>, that "whether a man works eight hours a day or ten hours a day, he is still a slave."<br />
<br />
Despite the misgivings of many of the anarchists, an estimated
quarter million workers in the Chicago area became directly involved in
the crusade to implement the eight hour work day, including the Trades
and Labor Assembly, the Socialistic Labor Party and local Knights of
Labor. As more and more of the workforce mobilized against the
employers, these radicals conceded to fight for the 8-hour day,
realizing that "the tide of opinion and determination of most
wage-workers was set in this direction." With the involvement of the
anarchists, there seemed to be an infusion of greater issues than the
8-hour day. There grew a sense of a greater social revolution beyond the
more immediate gains of shortened hours, but a drastic change in the
economic structure of capitalism.<br />
<br />
In a proclamation printed just before May 1, 1886, one publisher appealed to working people with this plea:<br />
<ul>
<li>Workingmen to Arms!</li>
<li>War to the Palace, Peace to the Cottage, and Death to LUXURIOUS IDLENESS.</li>
<li>The wage system is the only cause of the World's misery. It is
supported by the rich classes, and to destroy it, they must be either
made to work or DIE.</li>
<li>One pound of DYNAMITE is better than a bushel of BALLOTS!</li>
<li>MAKE YOUR DEMAND FOR EIGHT HOURS with weapons in your hands to
meet the capitalistic bloodhounds, police, and militia in proper manner.</li>
</ul>
Not surprisingly the entire city was prepared for mass bloodshed,
reminiscent of the railroad strike a decade earlier when police and
soldiers gunned down hundreds of striking workers. On May 1, 1886, more
than 300,000 workers in 13,000 businesses across the United States
walked off their jobs in the first May Day celebration in history. In
Chicago, the epicenter for the 8-hour day agitators, 40,000 went out on
strike with the anarchists in the forefront of the public's eye. With
their fiery speeches and revolutionary ideology of direct action,
anarchists and anarchism became respected and embraced by the working
people and despised by the capitalists.<br />
<br />
The names of many - Albert Parsons, Johann Most, August Spies and
Louis Lingg - became household words in Chicago and throughout the
country. Parades, bands and tens of thousands of demonstrators in the
streets exemplified the workers' strength and unity, yet didn't become
violent as the newspapers and authorities predicted.<br />
<br />
More and more workers continued to walk off their jobs until the
numbers swelled to nearly 100,000, yet peace prevailed. It was not until
two days later, May 3, 1886, that violence broke out at the McCormick
Reaper Works between police and strikers.<br />
<br />
For six months, armed Pinkerton agents and the police harassed and
beat locked-out steelworkers as they picketed. Most of these workers
belonged to the "anarchist-dominated" Metal Workers' Union. During a
speech near the McCormick plant, some two hundred demonstrators joined
the steelworkers on the picket line. Beatings with police clubs
escalated into rock throwing by the strikers which the police responded
to with gunfire. At least two strikers were killed and an unknown number
were wounded.<br />
<br />
Full of rage, a public meeting was called by some of the anarchists
for the following day in Haymarket Square to discuss the police
brutality. Due to bad weather and short notice, only about 3000 of the
tens of thousands of people showed up from the day before. This affair
included families with children and the mayor of Chicago himself. Later,
the mayor would testify that the crowd remained calm and orderly and
that speaker August Spies made "no suggestion... for immediate use of
force or violence toward any person..."<br />
<br />
As the speech wound down, two detectives rushed to the main body of
police, reporting that a speaker was using inflammatory language,
inciting the police to march on the speakers' wagon. As the police began
to disperse the already thinning crowd, a bomb was thrown into the
police ranks. No one knows who threw the bomb, but speculations varied
from blaming any one of the anarchists, to an agent provocateur working
for the police.<br />
<br />
Enraged, the police fired into the crowd. The exact number of
civilians killed or wounded was never determined, but an estimated seven
or eight civilians died, and up to forty were wounded. One officer died
immediately and another seven died in the following weeks. Later
evidence indicated that only one of the police deaths could be
attributed to the bomb and that all the other police fatalities had or
could have had been due to their own indiscriminate gun fire. Aside from
the bomb thrower, who was never identified, it was the police, not the
anarchists, who perpetrated the violence.<br />
<br />
Eight anarchists - Albert Parsons, August Spies, Samuel Fielden,
Oscar Neebe, Michael Schwab, George Engel, Adolph Fischer and Louis
Lingg - were arrested and convicted of murder, though only three were
even present at Haymarket and those three were in full view of all when
the bombing occurred. The jury in their trial was comprised of business
leaders in a gross mockery of justice similar to the Sacco-Vanzetti case
thirty years later, or the trials of AIM and Black Panther members in
the seventies. The entire world watched as these eight organizers were
convicted, not for their actions, of which all of were innocent, but for
their political and social beliefs. On November 11, 1887, after many
failed appeals, Parsons, Spies, Engel and Fisher were hung to death.
Louis Lingg, in his final protest of the state's claim of authority and
punishment, took his own life the night before with an explosive device
in his mouth.<br />
<br />
The remaining organizers, Fielden, Neebe and Schwab, were pardoned
six years later by Governor Altgeld, who publicly lambasted the judge on
a travesty of justice. Immediately after the Haymarket Massacre, big
business and government conducted what some say was the very first "Red
Scare" in this country. Spun by mainstream media, anarchism became
synonymous with bomb throwing and socialism became un-American. The
common image of an anarchist became a bearded, eastern European
immigrant with a bomb in one hand and a dagger in the other.<br />
<br />
Today we see tens of thousands of activists embracing the ideals of
the Haymarket Martyrs and those who established May Day as an
International Workers' Day. Ironically, May Day is an official holiday
in 66 countries and unofficially celebrated in many more, but rarely is
it recognized in this country where it began.<br />
<br />
Over one hundred years have passed since that first May Day. In the
earlier part of the 20th century, the US government tried to curb the
celebration and further wipe it from the public's memory by establishing
"Law and Order Day" on May 1. We can draw many parallels between the
events of 1886 and today. We still have locked out steelworkers
struggling for justice. We still have voices of freedom behind bars as
in the cases of Mumia Abu Jamal and Leonard Peltier. We still had the
ability to mobilize tens of thousands of people in the streets of a
major city to proclaim "THIS IS WHAT DEMOCRACY LOOKS LIKE!" at the WTO
and FTAA demonstrations.<br />
<br />
Words stronger than any I could write are engraved on the Haymarket Monument:<br />
<blockquote>
THE DAY WILL COME WHEN OUR SILENCE WILL BE MORE POWERFUL THAN THE VOICES YOU ARE THROTTLING TODAY.</blockquote>
Truly, history has a lot to teach us about the roots of our
radicalism. When we remember that people were shot so we could have the
8-hour day; if we acknowledge that homes with families in them were
burned to the ground so we could have Saturday as part of the weekend;
when we recall 8-year old victims of industrial accidents who marched in
the streets protesting working conditions and child labor only to be
beat down by the police and company thugs, we understand that our
current condition cannot be taken for granted - people fought for the
rights and dignities we enjoy today, and there is still a lot more to
fight for. The sacrifices of so many people can not be forgotten or
we'll end up fighting for those same gains all over again. This is why
we celebrate May Day.Kelly W. Pattersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02833478610016521091noreply@blogger.com0