Today, May 1, 1973, Police Sergeant Neil Howie finds that he is unable to leave remote Hebridean island Summerisle. The island residents celebrate May Day with pagan rituals (The Wicker Man, 1973)
Timely reminder that historically, #MayDay has been a day of protest and upholding the right to protest. It says a lot that May Day isn't officially recognized in the U.S.
“As a millennia-old holy day honoring the return of spring, #MayDay directs our thoughts to nature—a wild and beautiful chaos that flows through us and nourishes us, which we can enjoy but never control.”
i follow the @DorotheaLange account that posts her work now collected at the Library Of Congress #USLOC; so i decided to do a little #MayDay search to see what history of the United State is hiding in plain site.
there is a whole collection titled: "Anarchist and socialist demonstrations in New York" from 1908-1917.
« Photographs show activities of anarchists, socialists, organized labor, and the unemployed, primarily in New York City... Women activists are depicted in many of the photographs.» https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2002696070/
any Hebrew scholars? this one is rather timely and from a mini-collection, within the same #anarchism batch, titled: "Protest against child labor in a #labor parade"
two children look at the camera from within a crowd. they're both holding American flags and wearing sashes; one in Hebrew, the other in English. the one in English says: ABOLISH CHILD SLAVERY https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/97519062/
i think this is somewhere in the West Village area, close to the Meat Packing District. am going by that rounded corner, the cobblestones and trolley tracks. you could still see those tracks, back in the 1990s, if you walked just a block west from HB Studios.
LAST BUT NOT LEAST: took me a little longer to post this because i hadn't seen anything like it. it's a 1865 cartoon that needs a good #Alt4Me:
titled, "The first of May 1865 or gen[era]l moving day in Richmond, Va." it's supposed to show "Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis, and Stonewall Jackson vacating premises in Richmond as African Americans and poor whites look on"; but look at that division of classes in the Confederacy leadership & the working classes. https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2011645385/
TIL landlords across the country, but particularly in #NYC would post their rent hikes on May Day.
MAY DAY had a lot of meanings but back in the early 1900s, it was definitely a day to protest #MovingDay unfair #housing#rent increases against the working poor.
May I suggest this inexpensive yet very informative overview of the history of the labor movement in the U.S.? I thought it was very good. They've got a sale going on. 🙂
Any Texan, in particular, can cast propaganda aside and simply look around to see that our state is built, maintained, and improved every day by unauthorized workers.
The bike shops I've applied to have offered the same as I was making at #REI or better. Except one yesterday offered me less and no other benefits and then seemed shocked when I asked about healthcare. The owner seemed to care about his employees, but was also confused about not being able to find anyone. I get that bike shops as a business model just don't work in the U.S., but where do places like this expect to find workers with no rent to pay or other bills at all?
Bike shops are really a good place to see through "the free market will set labor prices adequately" lie that right-libertarian types like to spout though. Every single bike shop I've applied to and especially#REI where I used to work is desperate for mechanics, but also unwilling to pay for them. I think that's partially because traditional bike shops are just a bad business model in the U.S. and partially because of the usual problems with the owner/employee divide.
Happy May Day! This is hand-pulled lino block print of the Jack-in-the-Green (or Jack o' the Green) an English folk tradition for May Day. Wearing a conical or pyramidal wicker or wooden frame covered in foliage so as to conceal the wearer, the Jack-in-the-Green leads a May Day procession, dancing often with musicians and other figures. 🧵1/2
🌸🍀💐🌿🌷🌱
Also worth sharing, on why "the U.S. and Canada celebrate their Labor Day in September":
"The ruling class did not want to have a very active labor force connected internationally," said Peter Linebaugh, author of The Incomplete, True, Authentic, and Wonderful History of May Day. "The principle of national patriotism was used against the principle of working-class unity or trade union unity."