FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Contact: Patrick Wilson – Boston May Day Coalition, Activate Media (617)506-9298 activatemedia01@gmail.com

May Day 2023 – Come to the Boston Common, Parkman Bandstand!

Boston, Massachusetts – Monday, May 1, 2023, at 5:00 PM

May Day 2023 – Boston Common | Facebook

On May 1st people, organizations, and unions around the world will celebrate International Workers’ Day, May Day, a day to commemorate our common struggles and to demand a better future for all.

On May Day in Boston, we will mobilize for a better future! A better future not only for ourselves, but for our children, and our children’s children. We will turn out for our rights as working people to live lives with purpose, free of fear from economic exploitation, and social oppression. We seek to break down the barriers that separate us. We call on all folks to join us. We must stand up for our rights, for our communities, and for a better future.

We live in a country where health care is rationed and denied to millions, where education is rationed and denied to millions, where affordable housing is a joke and homelessness is rampant and in evidence everywhere. Union busting is the norm throughout the country and labor rights are trampled on daily. Equal justice under the law does not exist for those from oppressed nationalities or working people generally. Those who are wealthy get the best justice money can buy, while LGBT folks are being demonized and denied their rights under the Constitution. Millions here seek immediate legal permanent residence to be able to work and live freely without fear of police repression. Reproductive rights are being decimated for millions and the world faces a climate catastrophe! Enough is enough! Time to unite!

In downtown Boston, an International Workers’ Day celebration will be held at Parkman Bandstand on Boston Common on Monday, May 1st, 2023 at 5PM EDT. The event will feature speeches, music, food, a march, and of course fun. All are welcome to attend.We also stand in solidarity with our compañeras and compañeros in East Boston and Chelsea commemorating International Workers’ Day. For more information about that  event, please visit their page: https://fb.me/e/2KdideEBD

Co-Sponsors for May Day 2023 – Boston Common include:

Boston May Day Coalition, Green Rainbow Party of Massachusetts,
Cambridge City Growers, New Democracy Coalition,
United American Indians of New England, Refuse Fascism,
Boston Education Justice Alliance, Jewish Voice for Peace,
Revolutionary Blackout Network, Black Lives Matter Rhode Island,
Massachusetts Nurses Association, Massachusetts Peace Action
Workers World Party – Boston, North American Indian Center of Boston,
Community Church of Boston, Encuentro 5, July 26 Coalition,
FMLN – Massachusetts, Tecschange,
African People’s Socialist Party, Anarchist Black Cross – Boston,
Community Advocates for Justice and Equality, COS New England,
DSA Socialist Feminism Working Group, Little Liberty,
Progressive Labor Party, Natick Black Lives Matter,
Independent Socialist Group, Red Strike Project,
International Marxist Tendency, Inspiring Today’s Youth,
Communities Responding to Extreme Weather, Boston South Asian Coalition,
Julian Assange Defense – Boston, Boston Teachers Union,
MassCOSH, Palestinian Youth Movement,
Extinction Rebellion Boston, ActivateMedia.org,
Battle First Aid Responder Services, Burhan Rebels.

On May Day we have an opportunity to celebrate many examples of resistance to the employers’ offensive, and government attacks on our rights and interests.

Around the world, Labor Day is celebrated on May 1st because internationally people remember the historic general strike which began on May 1, 1886. On that day in the US, 350,000 workers staged a nationwide work stoppage to demand the adoption of a standard eight-hour workday. The strike spread worldwide. Following the strike, four of the anarchist strike leaders were framed up and hanged for their role in the uprising and subsequently became known as Chicago’s Haymarket martyrs.

On May Day, we will gather to recognize and celebrate the true international holiday of the working people, who have struggled, fought, and died in the ongoing class war. Unless we can stop them, the corporate elites are on course to destroy the very earth we stand on. History has demonstrated that we must all work together to build a unified workers’ movement that is intersectional and international in scope.  A movement that actively seeks to empower workers, unite with the oppressed in struggle, and defeat injustice in all forms, for as Dr. King said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

For more information, please visit: May Day 2023 – Boston Common | Facebook

• Time: 12-5 PM, Saturday January 31st
• Place: Copley Square, directly across the street from Community Church of Boston.
• What: Rally, Demonstration, March, Food and Entertainment.
• Everyone Welcome!
• Bring: Free Food, Banners, Literature, Fliers, Stickers, Buttons

The 18th Annual First Night Against the Wars is upon us! An all-day event that boasts multiple music concerts, puppets, an ice skating show, and two fireworks displays one at 7PM and another at 12:30 AM. Activist Groups for the past 18 years have gathered around multiple issues and many times march from Copley to Boston Common at the end of the parade.

Groups are setting up at Copley Plaza at 11:30 AM and things get going at 12 noon. There is an Assange Defense Rally at 2 PM, and activist marching band BaBam will perform as well. Jill Stein and XR Solidarity will be marching from Copley Plaza to Boston Common at the end of the parade at 5 PM.

Groups participating or sponsoring the event include:

• July 26th Coalition of Boston
• Assange Defense
• Workers World Party Boston
• Boston Mayday Coalition
• Food for Activists
• Activate Media
• United Against Wars and Militarism
• Chelsea United Against The War
• Veterans For Peace
• Jill Stein
• BaBam (Boston Area Brigade of Activist Musicians)
• XR Solidarity

Message from the Event Page:Living today in a country perpetually at war, it is only fitting that this December 31 will mark the 18th annual celebration of First Night Against the Wars.Every year folks seeking an end to our permanent war culture gather in Copley Square to bring free food, banners, literature, fliers, stickers, buttons, and the antiwar holiday spirit to many thousands of First Night revelers who may long for peace.Your participation would contribute greatly to that spirit. Bring what you wish and join in the spectacle. So often the holiday festivities fail to celebrate the resistance coming from working people and the oppressed to the wars against women, oppressed nationalities, LGBT folks, the climate, the poor, and other countries.We will be setting up near the corner of Boylston and Dartmouth Streets. Look for our signs and banners. Please join us.Note: We may be in a slightly different location this year. They are moving the performance stage to the Old Library Entrance. We might have to set up directly across the street from the Community Church of Boston at 565 Boylston Street.For info: 857-272-6743

*Note: While ‘First Night Against The Wars’ is not directly affiliated with ‘First Night Boston’, it has participated alongside for many years. First Night Against The Wars does not support Amazon as the corporate sponsor of ‘First Night Boston’. Amazon is involved in poor labor practices and union-busting activities. When Workers Rights Are Under Attack, What Do We Do?