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.
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| 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.
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| New York City! |
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| Seattle! |
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| New York City! |
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| Chicago! |
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| Seattle! |
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| Denver! |
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| Vancouver! |
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| Washington, D.C.! |
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| Seattle! |
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| Los Angeles! |
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| San Fransisco! |
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| Miami! |
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| Philly! |
Moar smoak!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4Dd1tCogTc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vb0d_GsyeAQ
Awesome. Wish I could have been there.
ReplyDeleteSomething actually happened in New Orleans?
ReplyDeleteShit, the economy must be getting bad!
the struggle continues past may day:
ReplyDeleteThe Mother's March for Justice for Justin Sipp and Wendell Allen will be on May 12th, at Armstrong Park, at Noon.
no justice no peace!
great article from seattle about what to do post-may day:
http://pugetsoundanarchists.org/node/1670
"Now that May Day has passed, it is more important than ever to KEEP GOING. One easy thing anarchists can do (which is particularly important now with the onslaught of slander against us) is to provide counter-information. There were a lot of really nice posters designed for the big day... why stop now? We can't get overwhelmed by the media's assault or let the fear of repression prevent us from acting. It is important that we exert some control over the May Day narrative by framing and telling the story ourselves. Some things have already been written, and this is great. But there are many, many other means of expression.
Lies are dropping like maggots from the mouths of our enemies. This is a precious moment when people are actually interested in thinking for more than three seconds about what anarchism is. It would be a shame to let this opportunity pass by...
Banner drops, posters, leaflet drops, disruptions, flash mobs, noise demos, paint-bombings, hand-to-hand flyering, tabling, informational events, outdoor film projections, graffiti: keep going! Be creative and experiment with something new."
an occupyNola report from the May Day march:
ReplyDeletehttp://occupynola.net/2012/05/04/may-day-action-rocks-the-french-quarter/