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My Turnby Toni Tabora-Roberts |
 |
From The Asian Reporter, V19, #17 (April 28, 2009), page 6.
Hatsing!
Hatsing. (That’s the onomatopoeia for a sneeze in Tagalog, pronounced ha CHEENG.) Hatsing! Hatsing! Hatsing! Excuse me.
While I adore the increasing visits by glorious Mama Sun, the waking trees and grasses make me miserably allergic — stuffy nose, itchy eyes, and those incessant sneezes. Hatsing!
The superstition I most associate with sneezes is the one that says we are expelling evil spirits with every sneeze. Hatsing! (I think I just expelled a certain ex-U.S. vice president.) Which is why one often says "God bless you" in response — to make sure those evil spirits stay out.
These sneezes also remind me it is springtime now. Trees and flowers are blooming. Animals (and people) have come out of hibernation. Life seems to be waking up. And what better way to wake up than to rise up and celebrate May Day!
May Day is multifaceted. Many cultures celebrate the flowers and fertility of the season, May 1 marking the halfway point between spring and summer. Others mark May Day as a religious observance.
More recently, May Day has become synonymous with International Workers’ Day, or Labor Day. The origin of International Workers’ Day actually stems from the U.S. labor rights movement in the late 1800s, specifically with an event known as the Haymarket affair. Here’s an extremely brief rundown of the incident.
The U.S.’s biggest labor unions at the time (some officially, some at a grassroots level) banded together on a national level in May 1886 to demand an eight-hour workday. The several days of rallies, strikes, and protests were mostly peaceful. At the largest rally in Chicago, however, there was a violent clash between police and protesters leading to several deaths. Another demonstration was held in Haymarket Square to condemn the violence police used against the protesters. The event ended even more violently with the explosion of a bomb, several fatalities, and many injured. As a result, eight labor activists were brought to trial, leading to convictions, executions, and even suicide. This became a galvanizing moment in the history of labor activism around the globe.
Soon thereafter, labor activists around the world began commemorating the Haymarket affair as a way to mobilize their own efforts. May Day has become a day for workers everywhere to rally, protest, and take action.
Ironically, the U.S. opted to create its own Labor Day on the first Monday in September. I think it’s a typically arrogant and conservative move in which America stands relatively alone. (Think capital punishment, Kyoto Protocol.) U.S. Labor Day was established on a different day so as not to "celebrate" the events at Haymarket Square or associate Labor Day with radical leftist activism. The U.S. has gone even further, re-establishing May 1 as "Loyalty Day," a day for "reaffirmation of loyalty to the United States and for the recognition of the heritage of American freedom." Hatsing! (Out with the haters!)
These days, the September Labor Day (which is a federal holiday) tends to be a day of rest and rah-rah parades. Loyalty Day is a legal holiday, but not a federal one (and most people don’t even know it exists). May Day is generally celebrated by labor activists as a day of protest and action. I won’t get hung up on all the politics of the labor movement as it is far too complex for this itty bitty column. I would, however, like to let folks know about the big May Day event happening this week in Portland.
This year’s May Day celebration — March and Rally for Immigrant and Workers’ Rights! Economic Justice For All — is organized by a broad coalition of groups including Jobs with Justice, VOZ: Workers’ Rights Education Project, the Alliance for Democracy, and ILWU Local 5. With economic justice as the major theme, issues on the table include stopping ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) raids, bailouts, and foreclosures; preventing cuts to education, social services, and TriMet; creation of sustainable jobs; attaining quality healthcare; and more. Folks will gather in Portland’s South Park Blocks starting at 1:00pm with the rally beginning at 4:00pm followed by a march at 5:00pm. Details about the May Day March and Rally can be found at <www.maydaypdx.blogspot.com>.
Hay fever can serve as a reminder of the Haymarket affair. May Day is a time to raise voices in solidarity, demand justice, and expel evil. Hatsing!