Connecticut: Call for An Anti-Authoritarian May Day

by New Haven Anti-Fascists, Industrial Workers of the World – CT, and Dragonfly Climate Collective

The history of May Day is rooted in anarchist solidarity and action. On May 1, 1886, some 40,000 workers in Chicago joined over 300,000 workers nationwide in a strike demanding an eight hour workday. In the days that followed, as strikers continued their show of solidarity, several people were shot and killed by police including in an incident that became known as the Haymarket Massacre. Four others were later executed by the state. Since then, May Day has been recognized as International Workers’ Day to commemorate the comrades who took part in, and were murdered because of, radical anarchist politics. This was the first step in establishing the modern standard of the 8 hour work day and 40 hour work week, demonstrating the effectiveness of militant direct action tactics, which the state vilifies to this day.

In 2006, millions of immigrants and their supporters around the country marched in the streets, returning May Day to its radical roots. Since then, May Day celebrations have seen a resurgence as an opportunity to mobilize thousands of immigrants and their allies to stand for immigrant rights.

Since its inception, this country has seen multiple waves of migration, first and foremost the enslaved Africans who were stolen from their lands and forced to work in the so-called United States and Caribbean islands, while this country’s founders massacred indigenous peoples in one of the most horrific genocides in the history of humanity. Over a hundred years ago, working people began to flee the Eurasian continent en masse, bound for a chance at a better life. Today, immigrants and refugees from Latin America and the Middle East flee violence and the terror of American foreign policy in search of opportunities for themselves and their children. In all cases, they have always been considered not only a working class but an underclass that the corporate elite relies on in order to exploit their labor and vulnerable position in society.

This extortion is known as capitalism. We know that even with all of the gains made by workers’ struggles to date, there continue to exist those on the margins who fall victim to the exploitative capitalist. Women, people of color, transgender people, immigrants (documented or otherwise), refugees, and others are among the most vulnerable when it comes to workers’ rights. This system has also been systematically tearing apart the Earth and plundering peoples, putting never-ending growth above all hopes for a livable planet.

This exploitation of autonomous labor and ecosystems is wholly contrary to human nature, the natural tendency to establish and maintain true human connections through mutual aid, and to know and care for the land bases surrounding us. Within capitalism, those whose labor is not classified under the normal definition of work, such as caretakers, domestic workers, and sex workers, are excluded. These workers tend to be from the very same marginalized communities that are most exploited in every area of life.

All of this combined with the ascension of white supremacist and neo-Nazi presence since inauguration 2017 necessitates a more radical and creative May Day. As anti-authoritarians we seek nothing short of total liberation. No one is free until all are free.

This May Day, we call for a return to its original anti-authoritarian roots as we participate in a nationwide strike once again. Join us as we create a visible presence and stand side by side in defense and solidarity with communities in struggle. The beast of capital will fall.

Events:

 – Hartford on Saturday April 29th: Rally: CT Immigrants Are Here To Stay!
 – May 1st in New Haven: General Strike, Solidarity and Resistance, Rally and March
 – Danbury May Day Rally! Un Dia Sin Immigrantes
 – Bridgeport May Day: Sanctuary City March!
 – Stamford: Gather at 888 Washington Boulevard at 4:00

---