May 1st "illegal" Boycott

by @ Mon May 01, 2006 21:35

no woman is a slave!
no person is an alien!
we are not great apes.

120 years ago, without posters or declarations or appeals to Bloody God Almighty, 5 anarchists whose names are forgotten died whilst demanding an 8 hour day at the hands of the state authorities in Chicago USA . Let us wait and see how many protesters for May Day 2006 in the USA are reported on RTE and the Irish commercial media.
will it be 300?
will it be 120,000?

by Our Los Angeles Correspondent - IMC Ireland Internationale Tue May 02, 2006 06:37 imc-ireland-editorial at lists dot indymedia dot org

Daily trash.
All images are (c) Our Los Angeles Correspondent but may be used providing permission is obtained from the IMC Ireland Editorial collective. They may/may not wish for a small recompense, I leave the decision in their hands.

On Immigrations Frontlines: Perspective Shaped by Daily Experience

by Our Los Angeles Correspondent - IMC Ireland Internationale Tue May 02, 2006 07:01 imc-ireland-internationale at lists dot indymedia dot org

Sensenbrenners bill would make it a crime to aid illegal immigrants, treating them in many ways similar to terrorists under the law. Again, anyone wanting to use any of the images I publish in this thread must negotiate with Indymedia.ie editorial collective. This (c) notice applies to all photos published by me. I'd expect that the collective will make them free to other non-mainstream media and charge a reasonable fee to those that can afford it. (c)Our Los Angeles Correspondent - IMC Ireland Internationale

Trabajadores, No Terroristas! :: Workers, Not Terrorists!

by Our Los Angeles Correspondent - IMC Ireland Internationale Tue May 02, 2006 09:08

Click on any photo to see a larger version.

Future voters

Episcopal Church

Latin@s (the 2 guys didn't want their faces seen)

Stop Slavery

Dia de Acción

by Our Los Angeles Correspondent - IMC Internationale Tue May 02, 2006 09:36

Filled with some of the most wonderful people. The march was always going to be big, but I can't judge just how massive it was. Watching down Wilshire from Vermont back to MacArthur Park (the start point) for over 2 and a half hours there was no sign of the end of the march. The march started at 3pm officially but there were hundreds of early protests and demonstrations. Over 27% of the kids in LA Unified school district ditched class despite the presence of "lockdowns" in their schools.

But most of the people on the march were older.

Latinos and Latinas have a lot to be proud of and deserve better than being criminalised for their hard work, hospitability and massive contributions to culture in the USA. If I were latino I'd have felt very proud today at seeing this march.

Lower gas prices

Voice of youth

Being human is not a crime

We want immigration reform

La Raza

by Our Los Angeles Correspondent - IMC Ireland Internationale Tue May 02, 2006 09:46

Filled with amazing people. There were easily 1 million people on the streets in two separate marches. My photos are all from the later march on Wilshire.

Proud Mexicans

Human Rights have no borders

If you think she's "illegal"....

OK for him to fight your wars but not stay? And she's NOT your slave!

Whole families and lives would be ripped apart by HR4437

by Our Los Angeles Correspondent - IMC Ireland Internationale Tue May 02, 2006 10:03

in the sad "Minutemen" and "Save Our State" organisations. Looking at the marchers there's no question who'd make the better citizen.

Front of the march

All we want

March stretches back past Hancock Bldg., back to McArthur park

I wonder who picked the fruit I'm eating

March just keeps coming

by Our Los Angeles Correspondent - IMC Ireland Internationale Tue May 02, 2006 10:12

Are the guys who hang out in front of building supply / hardware megastores and hope for a chance at some work. People come by and pick them up in trucks. Sometimes it's a suburbanite from the valley that needs some help, sometimes its a labor contractor that delivers them to a site. Sometimes they get paid ok. Sometimes they're ripped off and can do nothing about it. They're desparate for work and when a gaucho like me walks past a hardware store they get excited until they realise that nothing's doing. I have friends whose relatives do this work, day-in, day-out with no worker's rights, no health-insurance. It's great to see a public show of strength, dignity and beauty like this. Si se puede!

Let Day Laborers Live the American Dream

Proud marchers

Legalisation NOW!

Zapata's revolutionary spirit lives on

Whose homeland?

by Our Los Angeles Correspondent - IMC Ireland Internationale Tue May 02, 2006 10:24

I got sore standing up on top of various things to get pictures and moved around. People were generally very happy to be photographed although some people were upset by it. I made sure to go after them and let them know I wouldn't use their picture. Their thanks was almost painful to receive. I've been on a lot of demonstrations and this was one of the nicest and friendliest and funnest ever. It's sickening to think of the 12 million people caught in a legal limbo, exploited and deprived of the right to go to college, to vote and now if HR3347/Sensenbrenner is passed, the right to basic aid from churches and charities. Anyone helping them would face severe penalties.

Gay Latin@s, Immigrant and non-Immigrant WORKERS UNITE!

We pay taxes too!

We are workers, not criminals

Multi-ethnic, united

Amnistia General

by Our Los Angeles Correspondent - IMC Ireland Internationale Tue May 02, 2006 10:35

The power of this block in Los Angeles, California and the Southwest shouldn't be underestimated. The streets were quiet, quieter even than on a Sunday.... except for down around the march where they reverberated to drumming, percussion, chanting and whistling. There was an in credible Brazilian samba band, there were innumberable groups chanting "Si se puede!" (yes, we can!) and jumping in the air. The republicans, in searching for another distraction, have made a big mistake in antagonizing this power group. Yes, there's lots of "illegals", but there are plenty more "legal" immigrants who see a callous, reactionary attack on their fellow humans when it happens.

Luckily the Democrats and Catholic leader's calls to have the march but not the Boycott were ignored despite the agonized worrying over "a possible backlash" by the democrat spinmeisters on National Public Radio.

My Cousin was SHOT defending this country. We are ALL immigrants

Yoooo-sti---seee---yaaaa!!!

WARNING: Another educated Latino!

Don't criminalize seekers of the American dream

FMLN -- Political party that fought against US dictatorship in El Salvador

by Our Los Angeles Correspondent - IMC Ireland Internationale Tue May 02, 2006 11:03

I'll probably put the remainder up on LA Indymedia, but although they're good people they don't use Oscailt so it's harder to use than Indymedia Ireland.

Immigrants are the backbone of the economy

Stop racist HR4437

Filipino Worker's Center

Governor of California: You are an immigrant too! When did working become a crime?

Hard working people

by pat c Tue May 02, 2006 11:47

thanks for the report and pics. really good. i read in the irish times yesterday that the irish coalition wasnt supporting the actions, stay away from work school etc. what happened in LA? did a lot of irish participate?

by Our Los Angeles Correspondent - IMC Ireland Internationale Tue May 02, 2006 11:52

There was no official Irish contingent but I saw two people with shamrocks. However I don't keep in touch with many other Irish people here, so I don't know if there was a larger contingent that I missed. I do have a photo of people with a french sign too.

There's been near complete silence on the radio about Irish "illegals".

by Our Los Angeles Correspondent - IMC Ireland Internationale Tue May 02, 2006 18:31

Great piece in the NY Daily News about the success of the boycott despite the calls for "prudence" from the leadership of churches, unions, politics.

by pat c Tue May 02, 2006 18:39

the "official" representatives of the irish "illegals" scabbed on the strike. todays IT : "the irish lobby for Immigration Reform opposed yeterdays boycott as counter-productive and provocative".

maybe they are looking for a special deal? they wont get it. right wing republican WASPs hate irish catholics just as much as they do mexicans. even the supposed irish american politicians like peter king have supported the anti immigrant legislation.

by Our Los Angeles Correspondent Wed May 03, 2006 04:08

An article from the LA Times by Anna Gorman, Marjorie Miller and Mitchell Landsberg, Times Staff Writers on May 2nd. A pretty good rundown of major events of the day including the "troqueros" boycott of the port facilities (over 90% stayed away). It misses out the absolutely major story though, which is that people decided to boycott against the advice of any of the leaders, whther clerical or political. That includes Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa who turned up supporting the march but not the boycott.

by chicano na aztlan Thu May 04, 2006 22:54

hey hey hÉireann, great photos, thanks for participating & being here in Aztlan.

one comment on this comment:
>>right wing republican WASPs hate irish catholics just as much as they do mexicans

not quite. not really at all, actually. I mean, right wing republican wasps hate EVERYone and EVERY thing human, including themselves, this is true yes. but while the Irish may be the "n-----s" of Europe, here in the US, white skin and European ties--even to oppressed, colonized histories within Europe--still translate to a vast amount of privilege compared to the peoples of color here. it's really a shame that there wasn't more support from Irish immigrants; I think it is probably a reflection of this eurocentric privilege.

by Our Los Angeles Correspondent - IMC Internationale Mon May 15, 2006 21:14

A nice essay detailing the subsumption of Irish words and phrases into common US usage as a result of the early criminal activities of Irish emigrants to the USA: