Today, we celebrate the radicals who came before us, and all of the comrades in the international struggle today. We celebrate the workers who filled the streets to demand an 8-hour work day, the demonstrators who have marched against war and for immigrants’ rights, and all of the workers organizing during a global pandemic to demand safe working conditions on this very May Day.
As isolated individuals, we are incapable of overturning a ruthlessly entrenched capitalist system built to dehumanize us, extract value from us, and discard us. Only as organized socialists do we have the power to unite our class across the gendered, racialized, xenophobic lines that divide us and powerfully remake our world. This pamphlet of assorted May Day histories, memories, and songs is shared as both a celebration of our radical tradition and as a call to recommit—today and all days—to our collective struggle for a radically democratic society structured around human need, dignity, and real freedom.
We can't gather in-person to march this year, so tonight we'll be broadcasting workers to Facebook Live. Our digital May Day lineup includes a diverse set of speakers from across the Los Angeles labor movement. We will hear from workers about how they are grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic in their workplaces and the struggle to put the dignity and power of workers over corporate greed. Click here to RSVP.