Photos by Kristin Fankhauser
More than 200 people gathered at the Margaret T. Hance Park Sunday to celebrate May Day, the holiday recognized as a tribute to workers’ struggle, said a spokeswoman for Sunday’s rally.
The official holiday name is International Workers’ Day, said Deborah Curtis a local advocate and spokeswoman for the rally, noting the origin of the date goes back to the Haymarket riot when a rally for workers’ rights led to “people literally being murdered.”
“Our goal is to educate people on workers’ rights … and to get more of the progressive, liberal organizations together to bring change,” Curtis said.
Curtis said she hopes rallies like this one can help people interested in change become less fragmented and use solidarity to promote their shared ideals.
“We’re all doing stuff, but no one knows about it because we’re all separate,” said Curtis, adding that she also represents the North Phoenix Liberal Ladies and moveon.org.
Another group that needs support are people in the prison systems that are being used as slave labor, Curtis said. “There’s no recourse for those prisoners.”
Peggy Plews, a “prison abolitionist” who runs a blog of the same name, spoke on the problem of the prison industrial complex.
“Violence and despair have really grown (in the prisons) under Brewer,” Plews said. “Suicide and homicide rates have doubled.”
Along with a number of speeches given in both English and Spanish to accommodate the diversity of those in attendance, the rally featured food, music and slam poetry performances.
Teresa Mabry, an ASU justice studies and music major, spoke about embracing identities and her own struggle as a “queer, Black Chicana.”
In an interview, she added that the celebration of May Day should be just as important to students as it is to minority groups.
“We have to understand that students are workers too,” Mabry said, noting that debt will play an increased role on students as they enter the workforce.
“The debt I’ve incurred not only affects my decision on whether I will attend grad school, but also what career I should pursue after college,” Mabry said.
Another ASU student, Cristina Sanidad, attended the event representing the Arizona Worker Rights Center. The graduate student pursuing her Master’s in social justice and human rights said the focus of the rally was “changing policies here in Arizona.”
Although she works largely with Latino immigrants, Sanidad said, “Labor issues are present for all subgroups.”
“We’re here to support all types of workers,” Sanidad said.
The rally did not go without opposition, however, as a small group of Riders USA members congregated at the park for the first half of the rally.
One member, Jim Williams, said he attended the event because he believes in America.
“(The Riders USA) still believe that America is number one and anyone here can be number one with a little hard work,” Williams said.
Contact the reporter at mhwhitem@asu.edu
