May Day is fast approaching and it is sad that so many young people don't know what it is all about. They sometimes see it as a government given holiday, just like the August bank holiday, or Easter Monday, it is not. It is a very special day for the ordinary people from all over the world.
May Day, Labour Day, Workers Day, our
day, a day when we the ordinary people of the world can celebrate the
heroes from our ranks. Paying homage to the men and women who
dedicated their lives to the cause of working class emancipation.
People who sought nothing for themselves, many dying for their
beliefs, individuals that sometimes stood like a colossus astride the
political scene, others that worked tirelessly in the shadows, all
for the greater good of all peoples, not more for themselves. Their
statues, their plaques are no where to be seen, the establishment has
them airbrushed out of history. Instead, the powers that be litter
our public squares and parks with grandiose statues of arrogant
warmongers, empire builders, kings of industry, rich merchants, all
who made a fortune on the back of slave and/or cheap labour or the
bloodshed of ordinary people. The establishment wants us to forget
our heroes, no statues, no plaques, we mustn’t be allowed to think
that fighting for the betterment of ordinary people is a worth while
cause, much better to try to convince us that it is more honourable
to be a self-centred arrogant pursuer of power and wealth at the
expense of others. We mustn’t let this happen, we have to keep
alive the names and deeds of that legion of men and women who
dedicated their lives to our future well being and that of our
kids.
Spirit of Revolt is helping to do this for those in struggle in the Glasgow/Clydeside area.
MAY 1st. Must always be a festive day, a
day of celebration and pride, a day when we can all come together and
wave our banners, party, and remember those names and deeds. A day to
revive that spirit of co-operation in struggle and hopefully push our
cause to a higher plain. Always on May 1st. not some conveniently
arranged employer/union date, the nearest Sunday or Monday holiday,
so as not to upset their production. It is our day, always claim it
as a day of family fun, festivities and remembrance, a day of hope
for the future of all the ordinary peoples of the world. Glasgow,
like most cities, is fortunate in having its own legion of working
class fighters, a legion that stretches back through the industrial
age and beyond. To pick a few at random, names like
Thomas Muir,
George Barrett, Tom Anderson, John MacLean, Helen Crawfurd, GuyAldred, Ethel MacDonald, Jenny Patrick, William McDougal, Mary Barbour --- and the
names go on and on and on, events such as,
The Calton Weavers strike,
The Cotton Spinners strike, the rent strikes, the first world war peace movement, etc, etc, etc. All names and events to be justly proud of
but difficult to find recorded, all the more need to celebrate MAY
DAY and keep alive that part of our history, our culture. Take to the
streets this MAY DAY, bring the family, bring colour, bring music,
bring the spirit of the working class, have fun, remember why we are
there, be proud and strengthen your resolve to do more to push the
cause of co-operation in struggle with all our people. Keep alive the
names and deeds of our past, not those of a corrupt, brutal,
exploitative system. Keep alive the dream of a society of free
association, voluntary co-operation, and mutual aid, a system of
seeing to needs and not to the greed of the few.
Visit ann arky's home at
www.radicalglasgow.me.uk
