It is not murder, however, of which you have convicted me… but for
anarchy, so the condemnation is—that I am an anarchist! … I say to you: I
despise you. I despise your order, your laws, your force-propped
authority. Hang me for it!
- Louis Lingg, Haymarket Martyr, 1886
Yesterday over 100 demonstrators attended an anti-capitalist
May Day
march that wound it's way through the Central Business District and the
French Quarter. Bank windows and an ATM were damaged during the march,
which had no visible police presence for most of it's route. The word
"REVOLT!" was also scrawled across the walls of several corporate
businesses and banks. Graffiti reading "This Robs the 99%" was written
on a red light camera, as well. No one was arrested and no one was hurt.
|
New Orleans May Day Anti-Capitalist march parades down Canal St. on May 1, 2012. (h/t n.krebill) |
After eating some delicious free food prepared by wonderful folks of the
Community Kitchen,
smoke flares clouded the air with colorful plumes as the march took the
streets. Winding through the CBD, flag corps and a stilt walker danced
to a second-line beat among black clad anarchists, children, and
Occupy New Orleans
activists. The march descended on the French Quarter chanting
anti-capitalist slogans and attacking symbols of exploitation. As the
march passed the police's French Quarter district HQ on Royal St., angry
chants were screamed demanding justice for Wendell Allen and Justin
Sipp, two recent
murder victims of the NOPD who will not be forgotten.
The anti-capitalist march followed another May Day march by the stalwart
Congress of Day Laborers,
an organization that self-organizes and fights for the immigrant worker
community. Routinely robbed of their paychecks and paid below minimum
wage, these workers' labor is regularly stolen from them, despite that
they've been performing much of the post-Katrina reconstruction of New
Orleans for the past seven years.
Yesterday saw inspiring new dynamics emerge within New Orleans' class
struggle. Not only was an increased level of solidarity shown among the
different groups celebrating May Day, but an unusual occurrence took
place between the police and the Anti-Capitalist March as NOPD lost
control of the march.
Normally NOPD tries to make crowds police themselves. Training for Mardi
Gras teaches police to hang back and remain friendly during marches and
parades, the idea being that they will only intervene when situations
become too unruly. As people in the crowd get away with minor
infractions such as smoking weed, dancing on rooftops or taking the
streets unpermitted, they perceive the cops as being okay with certain
behaviors, and will check themselves so as to not jeopardize the
dynamic.
The Anti-Capitalist March acted outside the framework of NOPD's
crowd-control psychology by acting collectively to experiment with ways
of expressing its frustrations against the
ruling class. In doing so the march caught the police off-guard.
Furthermore it seems to have left the media dumb-founded. A full
24-hours later the Times Picayune has said nothing about the
Anti-Capitalist March, only making mention of the permitted march that
happened earlier in the day.
The marches in New Orleans yesterday coincided with actions and
marches all across the world to mark the traditional
workers' holiday that began when
anarchists were targeted by the U.S. government
for bombings that occurred in 1886 in Chicago against police during the
movement to demand an 8-hour working day after police killed protesting
workers.
http://nolaanarcha.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/over-100-attend-new-orleans-may-day.html
|
New York City! |
|
Seattle! |
|
New York City! |
|
Chicago! |
|
Seattle! |
|
Denver! |
|
Vancouver! |
|
Washington, D.C.! |
|
Seattle! |
|
Los Angeles! |
|
San Fransisco! |
|
Miami! |
Nessun commento:
Posta un commento