May Day just might have more holidays than any other day of the year. It is a celebration of Spring. It is a day of political protests. It is a pagan festival, a saint's feast day, & a day for organized labor. In many countries, it is a national holiday. In medieval England, people would celebrate the start of spring by going out to the country or woods to "go a-maying, gathering greenery & flowers. Another English tradition is the maypole. Some towns had permanent maypoles that would stay up all year; others put up a new one each May. The pole (a phallus symbol of virility) would be hung with greenery & ribbons, brightly painted, & decorated, & served as the focus for the festivities.
In many countries, May Day is also Labor Day. This originates with the United States labor movement in the late 19th Century. On May 1, 1886, unions across the country went on strike, demanding that the standard workday be shortened to 8 hours. The organizers of these strikes included socialists, anarchists, & others in organized labor movements. Rioting in Chicago's Haymarket Square, including a bomb thrown by an anarchist, led to the deaths of a dozens people & the injury of over 100 more.
The protests were successful, as 8 hour work days eventually did become the norm for most people, if not for me. Labor leaders, socialists, & anarchists around the world took the American strikes as a rallying point, choosing May Day as a day for demonstrations, parades, & speeches. It was a major state holiday in the former Soviet Union & other communist countries.
Portland expects 6000 + people to participate in our annual May Day parade & rally on the South Park Blocks. I am, of course... working.
There are some great covers of this John Lennon song, including Green Day. This version, by Marianne Faithfull, is my favorite.
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