May is Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month and, as with nearly every fabric of American society, the issue of immigration is tightly woven into the tapestry of the APA community. This is why I feel it quite apt that Downtown L.A. kicked off the month this past Saturday with its annual May Day march and rally, which honors workers everywhere, especially Los Angeles' immigrant workers.
May Day, also known as International Workers' Day, is observed every first of May, and has its roots grounded in the fight for the eight-hour work day. It has evolved to commemorate this and the subsequent achievements of labor movements, as well as the contributions of workers around the world.
This year's march through Los Angeles was substantially more impassioned, as it came on the heels of Arizona's controversial state legislation, Senate Bill 1070. The bill prompted countless numbers of people to pour into the streets to condemn the racial profiling embedded in its provisions and heighten the call for comprehensive immigration reform. Disputing estimates tally Saturday's masses anywhere between 50,000 and 350,000 demonstrators, but whatever the number may be, a zealous contingent of L.A.-based Pilipino American community organizations marched onward in solidarity among this year's May Day ranks.
With picket signs, flags, and banners in hand, envoys from Kabataang maka-Bayan (KmB, Pro-People Youth) USA, Alliance for Just and Lasting Peace in the Philippines (AJLPP), Justice for Filipino American Veterans (JFAV), the Association of Filipinas, Feminists Fighting Imperialism, Re-feudalization, and Marginalization (AF3IRM/GABNet), and the Pilipino Worker's Center (PWC) all converged bright and early Saturday morning, alongside labor unions, activists, immigrants' rights groups and other like-minded assemblies at the designated starting point on the intersection of Broadway and Olympic. In particular, a sizable pack from the Act Now to Stop War and End Racism (ANSWER) Coalition flanked the rear of the Pil-Am collective and chanted tirelessly during the whole duration of the march. There was nothing to be seen but flocks of protesters in either direction, leaving the streets packed to the brim of the horizon.
In accord with the sentiment of this year's May Day, which denounced Arizona's legislative maneuvers with S.B. 1070 and recognized the importance of the international worker, KmB and AJLPP jointly issued a public statement reminding us about the homeland and family that so many from the Philippines leave behind to unconditionally pursue “the bare minimum from the vast amounts of wealth that the United States has accumulated.”
The statement goes on to declare: “It is from these lands you see the hands that cook, clean, repair, build, and maintain. Here we care for your young, heal your sick, and continue to do every other possible employment opportunity we can find no matter how minimal the compensation. While back in our countries there is no one left to look after our bedridden elders, soothe our crying children, or speak out against injustices.”
KmB
You can read KmB and AJLPP's full May Day 2010 statement here.
Likewise, AF3IRM/GABNet also issued a public statement demanding reform for women in the workforce through the halting of “imperialist policies that destroy the self-sufficiency of women, force women into low wage labor, and break up families when one member must leave for work abroad.”
The organization outlined our present day as “a time of global economic crisis, racist immigrant policies, widespread worker lay-offs, imperialist wars, and the proliferation of the trade of women as a result of extreme poverty” and invited all to make their voices heard by joining the march.
You can read AF3IRM/GABNet's full May Day 2010 statement here.
With the messages of these statements taken to heart, I myself marched down Broadway as part of the KmB delegation and witnessed firsthand these words translated into genuine action. We donned our standard issue black tees that were emblazoned in red with the famed image of Andres Bonifacio (a prime example of laborer and revolutionary) and proclaimed on the backs of our shoulders in bold letters "Makibaka! Huwag matakot!" ("Struggle! Do not be afraid!") A few of us, including myself, also took up the sashimono-style KmB banners, which are fashioned after the identifying colors of Japanese samurai in battle.
Although rather pleasing to the visual aesthetic, these flags have an infrequent but unfortunate tendency to splay haphazardly from time to time in the wind. Early on, as the masses stood by waiting for the march to commence, I clumsily tangled myself with the sashimono on my back and AJLPP's sweeping white banner, which read in huge crimson and black letters "Amnestiya ngayon!" ("Amnesty now!") Before I even realized I was caught up in the cloth, an older Mexican gentleman quickly came to my aide. He spoke only in Spanish as he helped me unravel the mess of textile, wooden post, and PVC piping. I gratefully responded with a “Gracias” and the universally understood smile of appreciation.
This meek but selfless gesture given without a second's hesitation took me pleasantly by surprise. Though we both parted ways to be swallowed back up by the crowd after our brief encounter, the act stayed with me throughout the day. It is for the sentiment behind such gracious acts as these?acts that are blind to the language on our tongues, the tint of our skins, or whether our hands toil with pen or push broom to make our wage?it is for such that we fearlessly, uproariously assembled not only in the heart of Southern California's urban epicenter, not only in major cities around the country, but in every metropolis around the globe where the international worker has made and paid his or her dues. This sentiment dictates that we are all brethren, all human, and we all ultimately labor in union for the same single goal?a better, brighter future.
Finally, we took our first steps forward shoulder to shoulder under a burning sun and half a dozen helicopters eyeing us from the crisp blue skies above. It was at that moment that I was happy and proud to be counted among the countless!
