International Workers’ Day inspires march through Poughkeepsie

Brian Farkas News Editor

An unusual structure occupied the Library lawn on Monday–a large wall, with a provocative phrase scrawled in black spray paint: “No Human Being is Illegal.” This wall, symbolizing the barrier along the U.S.-Mexico border, bore the names of immigrants who have died while trying to cross into the United States.

Signing the wall was just one of many events planned by the May Day Working Group, which draws its membership from a variety of organizations, including Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano/a de Aztlán (MEChA), African American/Black, Latino, Asian/Asian American, and Native American (ALANA) Center, Poughkeepsie High School, and Family Partnership Center.

In honor of International Workers’ Day, the May Day Working Group “celebrated the spirit behind the shared struggles of workers and immigrants for dignified living conditions and basic human rights,” according to its promotional material. “In addition to fostering a sense of solidarity, we hope to connect the diverse voices and concerns of the people of Poughkeepsie with the greater civil rights and immigration rights movements,” it read.

International Workers’ Day, also known as May Day, celebrates the achievements of the labor movement. In particular, May 1 is associated with workers’ rights, including fair working days and minimum wages.

On Monday, events began with the construction of the wall on the Library lawn, which members of the community could write on and sign. Later in the evening, University of Maine Professor Lydia Savage lectured on the role of women in unions. Tuesday saw a large march from Vassar to the Family Partnership Center in Poughkeepsie. The rally lasted about two hours, with participants chanting in support of workers’ rights.

May Day Working Group member Anna Volk ’08 considers the issues surrounding organized labor increasingly complex and relevant. “We’ve been doing workshops at Poughkeepsie High School and the Beacon Community Center, and I told the kids to raise their hand if their family came to this country from somewhere else and raise their hand if they have workers in their family or will themselves work one day. Every hand went up. The point is that we are all workers and immigrants, and this struggle is not something that can be marginalized.”

President-elect of MEChA Mikey Velarde ’09 was proud of the prominent role that Poughkeepsie citizens had. “Poughkeepsie’s presence was certainly felt. Like last year, people from both communities participated in the events—for example, we saw a good turnout from the ACDC [All College Dining Center] and Retreat workers. In fact, ACDC Chef’s helper Cathy Bradford will be speaking at the rally.”

Some group members publicized the significance of May Day within the Poughkeepsie community. Lily Huang ’08 and her friends made regular presentations at Beacon Community Center, and have conducted workshops in Poughkeepsie High School Spanish, history and English as a Second Language classes. Members of Vassar’s faculty and staff, including Bradford, Assistant Professor of English Kiese Laymon, and Associate Professor of Sociology Diane Harriford facilitated discussions at Poughkeepsie High School before those students joined the rally.

A number of members of the May Day Working Group were enrolled in Geography 248: The U.S.-Mexico Border, team-taught by Director of Religious and Spiritual Life Samuel Speers and Assistant Professor of Geography Joseph Nevins. This class has involved a six-week study of the region, followed by a trip to the Arizona-Sonora borderlands over spring break. In describing the course, Nevins emphasized the region’s importance in geopolitics. “Born in large part of violence, conquest and dispossession, the United States-Mexico border region has evolved over the last 150 years into a site of intense economic growth and trade, demographic expansion and ethno-cultural interaction,” he said. “It has also become a focus of intense political debate and conflict, especially over the last decade or so.”

Speers described the International Workers’ Day initiatives as being “entirely student-led,” although a number of participants were inspired by their trip. On Thursday, April 26, students from the course shared tales and memories from the trip. Kelly Stout ’10 said that although they had studied immigration and border politics, “I didn’t really understand it until I was there. Once we got there to the desert and saw the immigrants’ possessions lying on the ground, many of us began to cry.”

Volk noted the large turnout at last year’s May Day events. “I believe that the events of May Day last year really shocked the country, because immigrants and their supporters really showed themselves to be a force which cannot be ignored or deported, but must be considered when making legislation,” she said. “It is important to show that that force is still here.”

Tuesday’s events were echoed by protests around the country. However, turnout both at Vassar and across the United States was significantly less than in 2006. While some 250 members of the Vassar community attended last year’s march, only about 80 attended this year. Similar trends were evident in marches in large cities such New York and Los Angeles. Some cited a lack of a driving cause, such as last year’s proposed anti-immigration laws, which would have made it a felony to be in the United States illegally. Additionally, organizers speculated that this year’s lower attendance was due to harsher immigration raids, which have left many immigrants afraid to protest in public.

Huang, a member of the May Day Working Group, noted the diversity of the event’s coordinators. “We are a group of students of various years, from freshmen to seniors, majors, from biology to Latin American and Latino/a Studies, working together.” Huang also described the Group’s structure as very egalitarian, with no executive board leaders. “We just do what we can and do our part. All these plans came together as a result of the different groups and ideas.”

As for the symbolic wall, which stood all day Monday, it was pushed over at midnight following a candlelight vigil on the Library lawn. One participant described the wall’s toppling as “deeply moving.”