May Day 2013 Reportback

This year May Day Atlanta hosted another successful free festival in Coan Park located adjacent to the Edgewood neighborhood on Hosea Williams Drive. The festival ran from 4pm to 10pm and roughly 200 people made it out to enjoy the festivities on the chilly May afternoon. While the grill team kept folks warm with veggie burgers and hamburgers throughout the event, several people brought yummy homemade dishes to add to the table. Oh how we love a good potluck!

While the turnout was about half of last year’s, the event itself was in many ways more of a success. The project of making the festival a reality was carried out by many more people this year, from those who met to nail down the details of getting the park set up to everyone who showed up the day of and brought their own touch to the festival made this event what it was. It was a joy to watch it unfold as such and it seems we may be getting better at what we do.

Several groups came with tables and literature for attendees to browse and take home. There was a lending library, an On Our Own Authority! Publishing book table, a display from the Open Door Community, and a table packed to its edges with zines. Kelli’s Childcare Collective brought a table for the younger crowd complete with coloring books and bubbles, and SWARM had a freshly painted newspaper box on display.

Early in the evening there was a puppet show on resisting grand juries and how to practice good security culture. Nearly everyone at the park packed the seating in front of the stage (crafted just for the show by a local anarchist) to watch the homemade puppets tell their story. The crowd laughed along with the puppets’ jokes while one of the smallest audience members played a game of hide and seek with the puppeteers behind the curtains.

Following the puppet show a workshop on Eviction Blockades was given by a member of the local group Occupy Our Homes Atlanta. After that the crowd grooved into the night to tunes from We Few, Indigo Violence and Georgia Slim and Danny Red from I Want Whiskey. There was a tiny hiccup in our celebration with a visit from the local police, but in good fashion, they were surrounded, phones and cameras were put into action and Cop Watch did their thing. Needless to say, we finished the night strong with good music and good friends.

While we had a great time at the festival, it is important to remember that this fun, light-hearted event is a small part of May Day. Anti-capitalists across the globe celebrate May Day, in their own and varied ways, and it is crucial that we remember that this wide range of actions build capacity to resist the oppressive evils of capitalism. Luckily, it is getting easier every day to plug into ongoing anarchist projects in the city for anyone who is interested. We hope you are.

Benefit for Political Prisoner Chris French Raises $900

A recent Chris French Pressed Coffee Benefit Party held by local Atlanta organizers raised a total of approximately $900 for Christopher French’s bail fund, increasing the total amount raised to $1,975 out of the $10,000 that is needed. Friends of Chris French–and friends of friends–gathered under one roof to drink copious amounts of fine coffee while donating their hard-earned cash to Chris’s freedom. Many local organizers have experimented with different methods of fundraising, including art shows, live music shows, cookouts, and good old-fashioned drinking. This is the first benefit in recent memory that relied on coffee to raise funds.

Chris French was arrested on Sunday, May 20th, 2012 in Chicago during the anti-NATO protests. Chris has been charged with felony aggravated battery on a police officer for allegedly de-arresting a fellow protester; the alleged damage to the police officer was two scraped knees, a scraped wrist, and a scraped hand. Bail was initially set at $250,000 on May 23; however, on the 31st, bail was lowered to $100,000, so we now need $10,000 to free Chris from Cook County Jail. Chris’s legal team has indicated that it is likely that the authorities are deliberately making an example of him; the lawyers also hope that the charges will be reduced when the mainstream media and the general public aren’t so focused on the protests.

Chris is from Madison, Wisconsin, where he participated in the occupation of the capitol building to protest Governor Walker’s draconian laws against collective bargaining rights for public employees. Chris was also present for more than one Occupy Atlanta eviction from Troy Davis Park, stayed at the Glen Iris home occupation in the Old Fourth Ward of Atlanta for several weeks, participated in actions against Chase Bank, attended prisoner solidarity noise demonstrations, and helped to set up Really, Really Free Markets in Atlanta before heading out to Chicago. Above all, Chris is a very kind person. He is very intelligent, honest, caring, and extremely generous with what little he owns. He is now in need of support as he suffers the brunt of out-of-control state repression.

Please donate here: https://www.wepay.com/donations/free-christopher-french-bail-fund.

For more information–and Chris’s address, where you can write him–visit the Freedom for Chris blog: http://freedomforchris.wordpress.com/.

Cook County, IL inmate search: http://www2.cookcountysheriff.org/search2/details.asp?jailnumber=2012-0522081

Here are his charges: http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/fulltext.asp?DocName=072000050K12-4

May Day 2012 Reportback

This year’s May Day was memorable. At 11am, a spirited march of about 50 people departed from Troy Davis Park on the corner of Edgewood and Peachtree, terminating at the corner of Jackson and Auburn. We brought along a bass drum, a pair of snare drums, and several bucket drums. Chants included:

One, two, three, four,
Escalate the class war!
Five, six, seven eight,
Organize to smash the state!

The people united will never be defeated!

Whose streets?
Our streets!

We also sang “Solidarity Forever.” After a brief respite, the march returned to downtown, joining the GLAHR rally at the capitol.

Later that day, beginning at 4pm, we kicked off the May Day Festival in Coan Park, which is located on Hosea Williams Drive in Kirkwood. While DJ Slim laid down sweet tunes–with everything from soul to hip hop to bluegrass–workshops continued all the way until 8pm under a lovely group of trees by the tennis courts. A ring of black flags circled the park, paying tribute to the anarchist roots and traditions of May Day. A great kitchen team cooked barbecue chicken and burgers while others brought vegan chili, roasted okra, and limeade. A close game of Red vs. Black soccer unfolded in the field below the pavilion, ending in a close 5-3 victory for the Reds. Meanwhile, Aragorn the Magician made balloon animals for the kids, and I Want Whiskey played a fantastic set for a dexterous crowd of barefoot dancers beneath the pavilion. The night concluded with a screening of Salt of the Earth on the Grassy Knoll, a lovely little hill behind the tennis courts.

In all, about 400 people attended the festival, including neighbors, organizers, and curious passerby who couldn’t resist the delicious smells and sounds coming from the park. This year’s May Day certainly set a precedent for coming years: both a social and a political space, we were able to bring community members and political organizers together for a day in remembrance of the historical struggle for the eight-hour workday, including the Haymarket Massacre. Going forward, we will need to find new and powerful ways to apply social and political work toward achieving real material gains for working people in Atlanta and more broadly in the state of Georgia.

Solidarity forever!

Website Launch

Welcome to maydayatlanta.org, where you will find up-to-date information on what is being planned for May Day in 2012. Stay tuned for news and events. We’re going to make this May Day the biggest and best that Atlanta has ever seen!