Educate, Organize, Mobilize
April 29, 2018
Posters for the May 1st March in Yakima, Washington. Courtesy of our friends and allies at the May 1st Coalition, Yakima Valley. Come out and support the march if you find yourself East of the Cascade Mountains.
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Additional Information for the March in Yakima may be found in the following Facebook Event Page:
May 1, 2017
MEDIA ADVISORY
For Immediate Release: Monday, May 1, 2017
Contact: El Comité and the May 1st Action Coalition,
ph: 206.465.5511, em: bocajj1@comcast.com, Twitter Tag: #MayDaySea #MayDayWa.
SEATTLE – An estimated ten thousand demonstrators took to the streets of Seattle to participate in the 18th Annual May Day March for Workers and Immigrant Rights. The events began at Judkins Park at 11:00 a.m., with a brief program that included music, speeches, and logistical announcements for the procession. Participants then filed westbound, on Lane Street to start the March at 3:15 p.m. Native Northwestern Hand Drummers joined the Ce Atl Tonalli Aztec Dance group in setting the cadence and leading the march to toward its destination.
Early weather conditions impacted today’s turnout, but rain notwithstanding, the march was the largest May Day Procession in Seattle since 2010, when the introduction of the now infamous SB 1070 law was codified as state-sanctioned discrimination in Arizona. Marchers came out in support of various causes and under different banners, but united as one community seeking dignity, above all. Many participants acknowledged that many of the issues presented aren’t independent of each other, but rather, intersect with each other.
The march swelled as feeder marches and action stations provided additional marchers along the way. The first feeder march arrived by way of the Veteran’s Anti-War Formation, which marched in the morning and arrived at Judkins Park. Organized labor also provided a sizable contingent along 16th Avenue and Jackson Street, and a Women and Families contingent joined the march on route through downtown. Additionally, separate action stations provided additional participants as well. The first action station was based at the King County Juvenile Detention Center, followed by an action station at Seattle University, another outside of Swedish Medical Center, and the final action station, in front of Amazon Corporate Headquarters.
The march route ended at the Fisher Green at Seattle Center with a program initiated by members of the Duwamish Tribe who welcomed the procession onto their ancestral lands. The concluding program was organized with the thought in mind that our communities need to heal in light of increased incidences of racism and xenophobia. Juan Jose Bocanegra, a representative of the May 1st Action Coalition noted, “We need to continue engaging each other and supporting each other’s struggles. Make no mistake, this administration will continue ramping up attacks against labor, against immigrants, against women, and against our Muslim brothers and sisters. Resistance is our way of saying that we will not comply, we will not allow our communities to be oppressed.”
For more information, contact the following: El Comité and the May 1st Action Coalition, ph:206.465.5511, em: bocajj1@comcast.com, Twitter Tag: #MayDaySea #MayDayWa.
April 30, 2017
April 25, 2017
MEDIA ADVISORY
For Immediate Release: Tuesday, April 25, 2017
Contact: El Comité, May 1st Action Coalition, and May First Coalition-Yakima Valley. | ph: (Seattle) 206.465.5511(Yakima) 509.225.9634 | em: (Seattle) bocajj1@comcast.net (Yakima) May1stcoalitionyakimavalley@gmail.comTwitter Tag: #MayDaySea #MayDayWa.
Community Members and Activists will march in both Seattle and Yakima to defend Immigrant Rights at Annual May Day Marches.
SEATTLE – Activists are expecting a large turnout in the Seattle Metropolitan and Yakima Valley areas for Monday May 1st, 2017 (International Workers Day). In Seattle, El Comité and the May 1st Action Coalition are calling for a General Strike in conjunction with the 18th Annual May Day March for Workers and Immigrant Rights. Organizers in Yakima, Washington are also responding to community concerns and are organizing the Annual March for Immigrants, the 11th consecutive march that has been organized in Central Washington. The marches in Seattle and Yakima are among some of the events planned nationally on May 1st 2017 in support of Immigrant Rights. Other cities holding marches include Chicago, New York, Houston, Atlanta, as well as Portland, San Francisco, Oakland, Los Angeles, and San Diego, along the West Coast. Event details are as follows:
SEATTLE
18TH Annual May Day March for Workers & Immigrant Rights.
YAKIMA
Annual March for Immigrants.
Background:
Many members of the immigrant community presently find themselves in a state of emergency with the resulting ascendance of the Trump Administration and the proliferation of “Trumpism” as a renewed anti-immigrant effort to curtail the rights of people on the social and economic margins of our society. This is illustrated in Washington State with threats against Sanctuary Cities like Seattle, and travel bans and extralegal confinement of travelers at SeaTac International Airport and at the border crossing with Canada. Likewise, the administration also poses a threat to immigrant workers and their families in Yakima and other cities in Eastern Washington with attempts to unravel the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, and the wide use of racial profiling with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) actions that terrorize neighborhoods and create a chilling effect on peoples’ constitutional rights. On May 1st, immigrants, our friends, allies, neighbors, co-workers, and fellow students will collectively send a resounding message that we will not be intimidated and that we will fight to defend our rights as a community. May Day will provide us the opportunity to also join efforts with other communities that are negatively impacted by the current administration. In unity there is strength, and in strength we will find a way to strive for a dignified existence for all, regardless of age, race, class, gender, documented status, national origin, and sexual orientation.
EDUCATE, ORGANIZE, MOBILIZE.
For more information, contact the following: El Comité, May 1st Action Coalition, and May First Coalition-Yakima Valley | ph: (Seattle) 206.465.5511 (Yakima) 509.225.9634 | em: (Seattle) bocajj1@comcast.net (Yakima) May1stcoalitionyakimavalley@gmail.com | Twitter Tag: #MayDaySea #MayDayWa.
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April 18, 2017
We would like to acknowledge the following groups for offering logistical and financial support in organizing the 18th Annual May Day March for Workers and Immigrant Rights.
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Aerospace Machinists Lodge #751
Act Now to Stop War and End Racism (ANSWER) Coalition-Seattle
American Civil Liberties Union of Washington
American Federation of Teacher Local 1789
American Federation of Teachers-Washington, AFL-CIO
API Chaya
Asian Counseling and Referral Services
Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance AFL-CIO (APALA-Seattle)
BAYAN PNW
Bayan USA
Central Puget Sound Carpenters Local 30
Casa Latina
Coalition of Anti-Racist Whites
Community Alliance for Global Justice
Councilmember Kshama Sawant’s Office
El Centro de La Raza
EL Comité
Entre Hermanos
Freedom Socialist Party
Front and Centered
GABRIELA
Got Green
Green Party of Washington State
Greenpeace USA
Hod Carriers & General Laborers Local 242
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 46
Indonesian Lutheran Fellowship
Industrial Workers of the World
Latin Americans United for Education
Legacy of Equality, Leadership, and Organizing (LELO-Seattle)
Martin Luther King Jr. County Labor Council
Northwest Detention Center (NWDC) Resistance
Northwest Regional Organizing Coalition for Laborers
Office and Professional Employees International Union
OneAmerica
Organized Workers for Labor Solidarity (O.W.L.S)
Party for Socialism and Liberation-Seattle
People’s Climate Movement
Philippine U.S. Solidarity Organization (PUSO)
Puget Sound Advocates for Retirement Action (PSARA)
Queen Anne Community
Radical Women
Real Change
Refuse Fascism Northwest
Retired Public Employees Council
Restaurant Opportunities Center-Seattle
Sawat Solidarity Fund
SAFE
SeaMar Clinics
Seattle Democratic Socialists of America
Seattle Solidarity Network (SeaSol)
Service Employees International Union Local 6
Service Employees International Union Local 775
Service Employees International Union 1199 NW
Sierra Club
Socialist Alternative
Socialist Students
Socialist Workers Party
Southwest Youth Family Services
Tacoma Migrant Justice Project
Teamsters Local 117
Transit Riders Union
United Auto Workers Local 4121
United Food and Commercial Workers Local 21
UNITE-HERE Local 8
Washington Fair Trade Coalition
Washington Federation of State Employees 304
Washington State Labor Council
Washington Veteran Action Network
Washington Won’t Discriminate Campaign
Workers World Party
Working Washington
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(List updated on April 30th, 2017)
If your organization would like to endorse the march, please send an e-mail to: oscarr@uw.edu.
elcomitewa
