Tuesday, May 1, 2012

May Day

Today, May 1, is May Day. It's being celebrated in many countries around the world. In fact at least two separate holidays are occurring today. In one sense, in certain festivities today, people are consciously ushering in the season of Spring. Others, in recognizing today as a holiday, seek to support workers and their struggles for their rights as laborers.

For centuries people celebrated the beginning of Spring and the end of winter, partly by taking part in banquets. It has been in this sense of celebrating May Day that Swedes have made bonfires on May Day and the Irish have crowned a May Day queen. Throughout Western Europe and the US today, persons celebrate May Day as the start of Spring by dancing around a maypole.

Insofar as May Day is known as International Workers' Day, it has more recent historical origins. International Workers' Day was borne out of events in the late 1800's, when American laborers organized for an eight hour working day.

In recognizing International Workers' Day, many people are recalling the 1886 Haymarket Massacre in Chicago, which occurred after someone--it was never discovered who--threw dynamite at police who were breaking up a gathering of workers striking for an eight hour workday. The police then fired at the workers, killing dozens of people.

Several years later, riots broke out on May Day in 1894. US President Grover Cleveland was concerned that if Labor Day was celebrated on May 1, some would see it as endorsement of the riots which had occurred. Thus the US now celebrates its analogous holiday, Labor Day, in September. However, labor unions in many countries were urged to agitate on May 1 for an eight hour work day, and to refrain from working on May 1, in efforts to work toward that goal.

Today in many countries, working people still honor the labor movement on May 1 in recognition of efforts made on behalf of employees. Accordingly, here in Morocco, today people are celebrating May Day in honor of the struggles of working people. The post office and the city hall here in town are closed today. Kids have the day off from school.

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