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Reclaim MayDay San Francisco
by Mahtin 5:24pm Wed May 3 '00
sfmayday2000@yahoo.com
Autonomous actions in the downtown, a picnic and celebration, and a festive
parade past corporate criminals!
MayDay 2000 in San Francisco, California, USA was the first time in recent
memory in which May 1st was celebrated locally on a weekday. The day included
direct actions, a celebration, and a march, all in the downtown area of San
Francisco. MayDay commemorates the 1886 General Strike, and the Haymarket
Affair in Chicago, which were part of a nationwide workers' movement which
fought for the eight-hour workday. Many countries still celebrate International
Workers' Day on May 1st. Since the Middle Ages, MayDay has been celebrated
as a fertility holiday in cultures all over the world. In recent decades, MayDay has
largely been forgotten in the United States, and Labor Day has been officially
celebrated in September. Reclaim MayDay is a 3 year-old coalition of pagans,
artists, anarchists, union members, and others in the Bay Area who come together
each year to celebrate MayDay in a way that honors all of their traditions.
May 1st, 2000 began with autonomous morning actions in downtown San
Francisco. There were at least two roving dance parties. One group of
approximately 30 people was arrested as it entered a Levi’s store. Several people
were able to get out of the store in time to observe the arrests and told people at
the celebration about the incident. Another group danced at a Gap store. This party
also spread to architectural design firm Kaplan, McLoughlin, and Diaz, a firm that
designs prisons. Four gallons of red paint symbolizing the spilled blood of prisoners
was dumped inside, and one person was beaten as he was arrested. A truck was
spotted downtown with alternating signs reading: “Caution: Income Gap Ahead,"
"The Spectre of Capitialism is Haunting America," and "Capitalism Stops at
Nothing.”
As many as 1500 people attended the 3-hour festival, which took place in the
grassy area just north of downtown San Francisco’s Justin Herman Plaza. Many
festively-dressed people danced around a Maypole in a ceremony initiated by the
Reclaiming Collective. Food Not Bombs San Francisco and East Bay teamed up to
provide a scrumptious free meal. On the main stage, performers included poet Jack
Hirschman, singers Faith Petric and Casey Niell, Harmonic Intervention, Art &
Revolution, and the San Francisco Mime Troupe. Bob Owens from Local 510
spoke about the links being made between labor unions, artists, anarchists,
environmental, and other activists.
About 500 people left the park to march through downtown in what some have
called a street theatre-filled "corporate tour of shame." Although the parade
organizers had not obtained a permit for the march, hundreds of uniformed
members of the San Francisco Police Department accompanied the parade.
Without being asked, the police volunteered their services to keep the sidewalks
clear for shoppers. Commanding police officers several times threatened to arrest
the entire march, but no arrests were made. The Infernal Noise Brigade, also
known as the Anarchist Marching Band that was seen in Seattle’s WTO protests
last year, provided a colorful musical addition to the front of the parade. Stops along
the route included a dance by the Emma Said Dance Project at Victoria's Secret;
punk band Shotwell performing outside of the Citibank offices; dancing and
chalking outside of the Pacific Stock Exchange; Fidelity Investments, where a
banner reading “Fidelity Invests in Occidental Oil’s Repression of the U’Wa” was
hung from the neighboring Wells Fargo Bank; and everyone's favorite, the Gap. A
puppet symbolizing a boss was burned in the street as the parade left the Gap store.
Hundreds of people continued to walk, chanting and drumming, past Banana
Republic, and into Union Square, where the demonstration ended. Organizers feel
very positive as they look ahead to future MayDay celebrations.
Other events which took place in the San Francisco Bay Area on that day included
labor programming on KPFA, the local Pacifica-affiliate radio station; a video
showing by the Labor Video Project; and a rave organized by local activist dj's.
To contact Reclaim MayDay, please email sfmayday2000@yahoo.com or call
(415) 339-7801.
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From: http://www.infoshop.org
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