May Day 2011 - Challenges the President to Take Action on Immigration

This year's May Day turnout was difficult to count, but smaller than last years' due to lack of a bill or law to be passed or protested. The LA Times reported a rift between two coalitions, the gist of which was whether to support Obama's re-election, or to criticize him for not passing immigration reform and withhold votes or vote for a third party. Both positions, slience regarding the President, and a demand for immigration reform now or no re-election, were well represented. Who were not present were the large number of immigrants who in the past had been mobilized by morning radio DJs.

Related events from the Calendar: Locked Out - a story about a labor struggle in the Mojave desert, May 6th - The Power of a General Strike, Celebrate May Day

For 2011, the May Day International Workers Day march for immigrant workers rights returns to Broadway in Downtown Los Angeles This annual demonstration of support for immigrant workers, their families, and for all workers, has been happening since 2000. In 2006, after years of growth, an estimated half-million people marched on "A Day Without an Immigrant" - a boycott to demonstrate the impact of immigrants on the local economy. This was the largest political demonstration in Los Angeles (and perhaps American) history.

In 2007, the annual march was fractured, with different marches happening in different areas. The later march, which was supposed to be the moderate march, ended at Macarthur Park, and turned into a police riot where out-of-control LAPD brutalized the marchers.

In 2010, with the odds of legalization for students and youth dwindling, and in response to Arizona's draconian racist law SB 1070, tens of thousands of people mobilized to protest the criminalization of undocumented immigrants. Obama promised a path to citizenship, but delivered on desktop deportations.

In 2011, we've experienced the rightward shift of politics, and a leftward response. Not only are immigrants being scapegoated for the terrible economy, but the attacks have extended to public sector workers and labor unions. California schools are being threatened with severe cuts to funding, and tuition at state colleges are rising. And around the world, millions are marching to protest the ongoing "austerity" of budget cuts, raised fees, privatization, and attacks on immigrants. The rich are getting their tax cuts, but the poor and middle class are just getting cut. We're working so they can avoid paying taxes.

People are suffering and angry. We're going to take to the streets to stand up and fight back -- the economy is not working for us; it's working for the capitalists. We refuse to scapegoat immigrants; we need legalization now. We're sick of these racist wars. We're getting evicted and foreclosed. And we see through the bullshit, flim-flam of divisive bigotry, inequality and poverty that the capitalist class is pulling on us. Enough already. Ya Basta! We march together.

The march starts at Olympic and Broadway at 10:00AM this Sunday. There will be numerous contingents representing all communities: immigrants, progressives, radicals, community groups, LGBT, labor unions, Democrats, unemployed, teachers, students, enviros, and everyone who supports the idea of respect for the people. Take your signs and banners!

Newswire stories about May Day: 2 May Day Marches by the Southern California Immigration Coalition | | May Day 2011 Call to Action! by Immigrant Solidarity Network | | The History of May day, Made in the USA by janus | | RAC-LA May Day 2011-Calling All RAC-LA Supporters by RAC-LA | | This Sunday, May 1: March for Immigrant & Workers' Rights by ANSWER-LA | | May Day 2011 Celebration and Film Showing at Solidarity Hall, Friday, May 6, 7:00 pm by Radical Women LA | | Luchando por Nuestros Derechos - Tres Días de Lucha por Comité Latino de Valle de Coachella | | March on May 1 for Immigration Reform! by LA County Federation of Labor

RELATED: Retenes del fin de semana del Día del Trabajo / May Day Weekend Checkpoints 2011 by/por Checkpoint response

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Most readers here already know about the effects of plastic on birds and sea life--although the footage shown here is even worse than anything I've seen. There is also footage of impoverished people in China sorting through OUR "recyclables" as their children loiter about and pollution from a processing plant poisons the air.

But most revealing of all (to me, anyway) is the effects plastic seems to be having on us humans, including, perhaps, the increase we're seeing in Autism; Attention Deficit Disorder; early onset of puberty; male infants becoming more feminine and females more masculine; and lower sperm count.

Also insightful is the film's revelations about the powerful American Chemistry Council, which is made up of plastic and oil interests, including Chevron BP, Exxon-Mobil, Shell, Dow, DuPont, 3M, Honeywell, and Bayer. ACC spends huge sums of money battling initiatives that would ban plastic bags. Some of their cute pro-plastic bag slogans include “save the plastic bag!”

Review: Important New Film “Bag It!” Playing on PBS This Week by R

Protests against banks are being reported in L.A. Some have been targeting Chase Bank (as discussed here). Also, various organizations, including MoveOn, are organizing protests throughout Southern California this Monday, April 18: Tax Day Protests on April 18th! (announcement by mous). Times vary from location to location.

Also, for almost a year, a weekly demonstration has been taking place in front of Bank of America in Silver Lake (at the corner of Glendale and Silver Lake Boulevards). It is organized by the Silver Lake-Echo Park chapter of The Coffee Party, the only chapter to be engaged in such an action. (It is hoped that other chapters across the country will follow suite.) Not surprisingly, public reaction has been rather positive. Some motorists even pull over and join in. The demonstration takes place on Saturdays from 1:30pm to 3.

Report and photos: Weekly Demonstration Against Sleazy Banks by RP | | Analysis: An Expansion of Terms Used in the Coffee Party Article by RP by mous | | On the legal front: Fraud by Bank of America in the Los Angeles Court by Human Rights Alert, NGO

On March 26th, "Our Communities, Our Jobs" the largest worker solidarity march, probably, in Los Angeles history, brought together all of L.A. labor, ranging from big unions like SEIU, Teamsters, UFCW, CWA, and Carpenters, to the smaller organizations like the numerous construction unions, Hollywood unions, firefighters, the IWW, worker organizations, community organizations, and unaffiliated allies.

The march went from the convention center to Pershing Square, and stopped at a hotel to support UNITE-HERE organizing there, stopped at a T-Mobile shop to support CWA organizing T-Mobile, stopped at Ralphs to tell the supermarkets to negotiate with UFCW, and stopped at Chase to highlight the causes of this lousy economy.

Estimates on size vary from 10,000 (initial LAPD estimate repeated by LA Times) to 30,000. (Current LAPD estimate is 20k to 25k.) (Photo at left by David Sachs)

Photos: Photos by Tim H-M, Photos by Slobodan Dimitrov, Photos by David Sachs, Photos by Chris Valle, Photos by joiseyboyy Videos: Kids Protest Cuts at Labor Rally From the newswire: Downtown March for Workers' Rights by Rockero

For her book, Cunningham spent over 20 years illustrating how California might have looked before the arrival of Europeans. Her artwork often goes back centuries and even millennia (and on a few occasions all the way to the ice age).

Among her illustrations is a striking view of the San Fernando Valley (as seen on the book cover), not too long ago with a grizzly bear in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains overlooking uncorrupted land. Another local scene by Cunningham shows San Bernardino with 15-foot-tall sun flowers. These plants were thought to be extinct since 1937, but recently some were found near LA. In "State of Change," this awe-inspiring painting is juxtaposed with a modern freeway on-ramp.

While researching the book, she studied protected areas but said she also learned from studying abandoned lots and their native grasses. Nineteenth-century art was another source of reference, as was accounts by early Euro-Americans.

Cunningham also consulted indigenous elders and sometimes learned things that were contrary to what anthropologists and other scientists had stated. She seems to agree with M. Kat Anderson, author of Tending the Wild, about the critical role Native Americans could have in restoring ecosystems. One problem, though, is that indigenous people tend to be more long-term in their approaches, whereas the Federal Government tends to think in terms of months rather than centuries. Nevertheless, she is aware of cases where the government was swayed toward the long-term. This gives her hope for the future.

Story and photos: Author/artist/scientist Laura Cunningham on "Forgotten Landscapes of California" by R. Plesset

Hollywood saw in the eighth anniversary of the official start of the Iraq war with a demonstration numbering in the mid-thousands against the the American invasion. The action was organized by the ANSWER Coalition of Los Angeles and joined by groups as diverse as 911 truth advocates, CODEPINK, Iraq and Afghanistan Vets Against the War, Ron Kovich, Military Families Speak Out, Gold Star Families for Peace, California Wellness Centers, Los Angeles Jews for Peace and a wide swath of Los Angeles Social Justice groups.

Report and photos: Los Angeles Stages Hollywood Antiwar Protest for Eighth Year,Photo Set 2, and Photo Set 3 by Robert Stuart Lowden | | More: 03-19 Antiwar March in Hollywood (1 of 3), (2 of 3), and (3 of 3) by scha-la | | Photos and videos from the March 19th Anti War Rally by Give Peace a Chance | | Related: Santa Barbara Says "No!" to War by Isla Vista Chess Clique | | March 19 Anti-War Protesters Target Obama by Mark Gabrish Conlan

Meanwhile: Despite the best efforts of the City of Claremont and the Claremont Consortium of Colleges to obstruct, befuddle, and otherwise thwart a popular demonstration against fascism, the Southern California community succeeded in doing precisely that at two parallel demonstrations in response to a heavily-armed presence of a band of racist paramilitaries and their state-funded protectors. Story and photos: Claremont Authorities Promote Fascism at Hate Rally by Rockero | | VIDEO : Rally Against Hate and Nazi Rally March 19, 2011 - Claremont, Ca by NouvelleMaude

They're kicking the poor and helpless when they're down, and we're all struggling now. It's time to get up and fight back. There are political demonstrations every Saturday for the rest of the month.

March 12th - Mother's March by the Global Womens' Strike - protesting the DCFS policies that take children from poor mothers. MORE...

March 19th - Counter Demo against the NSM in Claremont. Not sure of the details. Issues are obviously racism, immigration, anti-semitism, and fascism. MORE...

March 19th - Anti-War March in Hollywood, by ANSWER. They've opened up their issues to include the economic and labor issuess. MORE...

March 26th - Labor March downtown starting at LA Convention Center. Started out being for grocery workers, but has opened up to be for general labor and community issues. MORE...

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA - February 27, 2011 - Thousands of people rallied in Los Angeles and San Diego this past weekend in solidarity with Wisconsin's unionized public workers. Wisconsin State employees are fighting against Governor Scott Walker and the Republican majority in the Wisconsin state legislature who are attempting to pass a bill that would essentially eliminate the right of the state's public employees to unionize and bargain collectively.

Support rallies were held throughout the country, when a nationwide call went out for people to meet in their own state’s capitals for demonstrations backing Wisconsin’s workers

Reports from the newswire: Over 1,000 Turn Out in San Diego to Support Wisconsin Workers by Mark Gabrish Conlan | | Wisconsin Solidarity by Michael Yanow | | Report from the move on wiunion demo by Person

Reports from other IMCs: Twin Cities, Philly, Portland, Rogue Valley, San Francisco, CA Central Valley, Urbana-Champaign, Boston, Washington DC, Milwaukee.

It's important for everyone to stand up and say no to the exploitation of Native American Spirituality!

This is a grassroots effort. A number of groups and individuals are co-ordinating this action. Please share with your friends and networks of people who oppose racist cultural misappropriation. Stop the “PRETENDIANS”!

Please join us in this COMMUNITY ACTION! in Palm Springs

Saturday February 26, 2011

Palm Springs Convention Center
277 N Avenida Caballeros
Palm Springs CA 92262

Full announcement: No! to Exploitation of Native American Spirituality Palm Springs, CA 2/26 by AIM-Southern Cal | | YouTube video

On February 14, 2011, the Los Angeles Human Right to Housing Collective stopped by L.A. City Councilman Herb Wesson’s Campaign Office to deliver a Valentine and demand that he move forward with the community’s recommendations to reform rent control in L.A.

Tenants have been fighting for rent control reform for two years, since the City released a $1 million study showing that landlords benefit more than tenants under the current Rent Stabilization Ordinance. Councilmember Wesson, as Chair of this committee, has refused to act.

From the newswire: Tenants Deliver Valentine’s Day Message to Councilmember Wesson by Erik