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Submitted by Rick on Wed, 04/26/2006 - 2:24pm.
May 1 2006 - 2:00pm |
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Are we going to be treated
Submitted by The Fire Inside on Wed, 04/26/2006 - 9:53pm.Oh Geese,
Submitted by emmettoconnell on Thu, 04/27/2006 - 8:01am.No worries, my friend
Submitted by DrewHendricks on Thu, 04/27/2006 - 12:52pm.The march is not heading toward the bridge or the westside. The march, however, is not permitted - although it will likely only use one lane of traffic. There is no desire to block traffic extensively, but some consensus to block traffic incidentally and temporarily. I would not worry about it if I were commuting - although I might leave work an hour early at 4pm to avoid any potential for entanglements if I worked in the immediate downtown corridor... but then I don't work on MayDay. It's international Labor Day, after all!
I miss the mud wrestling
Submitted by Crenshaw Sepulveda on Thu, 04/27/2006 - 10:51am.I think that was also during
Submitted by The Fire Inside on Thu, 04/27/2006 - 11:45am.After the second year the real "protesting" kind of trailed off.
Maybe there was a change in management?
The first May Day was pretty hot
Submitted by emmettoconnell on Thu, 04/27/2006 - 12:07pm.It got everyone riled up, especially all the folks that tried to reply during Super Saturday. The second one centered mostly on the same intersection of the Westside where the first one started, but it never moved.
I think it was the third one that started in four spots and ended up downtown that was really over the top. A couple of folks almost got into a fight. After that it got pretty tame.
There was also the May Day pre-history take over of 4th Ave. the same day as Super Saturday the year before the first May Day.
That event had a name...
Submitted by DrewHendricks on Thu, 04/27/2006 - 1:06pm.Could you guys come up with dates (years) when these things happened? So we're on the same page about what you're writing - because I remember that the rally in front of the Armory was definitely a "protest," yet it happened in 2003. (I was in Portland for May Day that year)
2002 - Westside Olympia2003
Submitted by The Fire Inside on Thu, 04/27/2006 - 1:10pm.2003 - March toward downtown/downtown
from MayDay History in
Submitted by DrewHendricks on Thu, 04/27/2006 - 1:25pm."In 1996, the IWW started rebuilding its Olympia branch, and by May 1st of 1997 organized some 200 people to march on the capital to turn themselves in as felons under the Anarchy Sabotage Act RCW 9.05.020 enacted after World War I to repress the IWW and all leftist political organizations. Though the Washington State Patrol declined to arrest the IWW members and their supporters, the ball was set in motion for further May Day actions in Olympia.
By 2000, several hundred protestors would occupy the intersection of Black Lake Blvd and Cooper Point Road, erecting barricades and reclaiming the festival that once was part of Olympia's "annual frolic". Labor education and perma-culture workshops, and lectures on neighborhood gentrification abound. Live music, food and dancing are commonly the fair and Olympia is seeing a rebirth of the community holiday as more and more individuals and organizations get involved each and every year. In an environment where entertainment and culture have been usurped by the powerful and become a commodity, isn't it time to take back what is ours? What will you be doing this May Day?"
What year did we take the field next to the Olympian?
Wow, 2000 was the first year
Submitted by The Fire Inside on Thu, 04/27/2006 - 1:29pm.Technically...
Submitted by DrewHendricks on Thu, 04/27/2006 - 1:35pm.I don't know when the celebration first happened in Oly, but I know this was a IWW and Union area so I suspect that the first Oly May Day happened in the 1910's or 1920's at the latest.
I should have clarified. I
Submitted by The Fire Inside on Thu, 04/27/2006 - 1:52pm.2002 events
Submitted by DrewHendricks on Thu, 04/27/2006 - 1:31pm.May Day Protesters Clog Olympia Streets
May 1, 2002
By KOMO Staff & News Services
OLYMPIA - More than 300 May Day demonstrators took to the streets of this capital city Wednesday to protest globalization, corporate greed and homelessness - and to party.
Similar demonstrations were the rule around the Northwest.
The Olympia throng included high school and college students, anti-war organizations and activists from a hodgepodge of groups. They departed from four locations, on foot and bicycle, chanting and dancing and occasionally stopping for brief speeches about war, globalism and other issues.
They converged downtown, blocking Plum Street in front of City Hall and the Police Department for about an hour, then marched toward the state Capitol Building, shutting down traffic on the town's main drag for about 30 minutes before heading back downtown.
Police made three arrests for minor offenses, including obstructing traffic and spray-painting graffiti on a billboard.
Police were relieved that protesters didn't shut down a major city bridge.
"This year, they seemed bent on just wandering around town, buzzing around and stopping and then walking some more, and disrupting traffic," said Police Cmdr. Steve Nelson.
He said many participants seemed to be in a party mood.
In Seattle, about 300 people gathered to press their causes, including amnesty for undocumented workers and understanding for foreigners.
In Portland, a May Day rally and parade drew several hundred people who spoke out for workers' rights and to protest federal immigration policies.
2001 events
Submitted by DrewHendricks on Thu, 04/27/2006 - 1:45pm.2001: Olympia city workers bulldoze the garden planted during May Day celebration
"In the interest of providing the community with a media outlet uncensored by government and corporate interests, a group of independent media activists, dee-jays, and technicians created an unlicensed free radio station in Olympia in the spring of 2001, broadcasting on 91.3 FM."
2003
Submitted by emmettoconnell on Thu, 04/27/2006 - 1:52pm.I disagree...
Submitted by DrewHendricks on Thu, 04/27/2006 - 2:27pm."MayDay 2003 in Olympia author: Juan
(a real I witness account)
I walked up to the convergence around 12:34pm and saw an American flag! My first thoughts were that the fascists took over the Oly May Day. When I walked closer I saw that it was the Adbusters corporate flag—to my somewhat relief.
The crowd, or unruly mob as some will paint it, was unusually small this year. About 300 people made a quick turn towards the 4th Ave. Bridge, which is forbidden to protesters since the anti-capitalist earthquake destroyed it a couple of years ago. The "protest police", actually the die-hard liberals, heeded the pig's advice and moved the parade the other way. The INB drummed us in a "nicer direction". The black bock of two were thoroughly discouraged by this move.
We paraded in a snake march around Oly, stopping traffic and disrupting business as usual. We headed to the National Guard Armory by way of City Hall and Mickey D's. Organizers wanted to point out the militarization of our community, and that if we ever did get out of hand, these assholes would be the first ones to try to f*&k us up. Not on this day though.
Ironically, the Oly Poly guarded the National Guard (read the book Strike! and almost laugh.)
People danced, children played, and we got some sun in Oly. Joey Casio rocked out as well as another band with the former lead singer of Rainbow Sugar out rapping the white boy rappers on hand. (That would be Scream Club frontwoman Cindy Wonderful.)
I regretfully inform you that the people on hand were not up to transforming the Armory into a community center or an ice cream depot. The Armory was not touched this year.
All in all, this day shows us that resistance to the corporate war machine is not dead, and we will keep on fighting until we are Free. But this day also shows us that we might need to update our tactics to change things in the immediate future. "
That was also the year that Ken Carlson (OPD) tried to infiltrate the march in plainclothes. He got his picture taken and published instead. I was in PDX that year or I would have pointed him out by name at the time (people were confused about who he might be).
"Organizers wanted to point
Submitted by NWarty on Thu, 04/27/2006 - 3:00pm.How many have I attended?
Submitted by Sarah on Thu, 04/27/2006 - 4:44pm.