JW August reports:
No ICE! No War! “Hands Off Our Vote” was one of the themes running through Friday’s ‘May Day Strong’ event at Chicano Park. Billionaires were not welcome, nor were Democrats or Republicans. The park, long a gathering place for protests, was again a staging area for emotional speeches and pleas followed by a march to City College.
The speeches echoed the language and themes on the organizers and their website
It was all about pocketbook issues and the creation of the ‘Real Affordability Agenda’. “A promise of a good life for everyone back in reach” said one speaker, “if workers will unite”. Supporting a goal of “making billionaires and corporations pay what they owe” says the website, repeated by the protest speakers as well as multiple signs and tee shirts with an anti-capitalist theme.
Byron Morton reports:
A diverse coalition of groups came together to protest on May Day in Chicano Park. I counted approximately 250 people, although more individuals were arriving by the time I departed.
It was a broad mix of progressive groups involved with immigration, farm workers, unions, educational rights, anti-war and young activists.
After the speeches from a flatbed pickup truck by some Democratic Socialists, there was a call to march to City College. The sounds of police helicopters could be heard overhead.
