Last-Minute May Day Checklist
Posted 11 years ago on April 30, 2012, 9:56 a.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
This May Day, hundreds of thousands of workers, immigrants, students, retirees, and unemployed people across the U.S. and around world will take to the streets, many for the first time. (If you are in NYC, check here for a schedule for the full day!) For folks new to protest (and of course, everyone else) we've thrown together a last-minute May Day Checklist:
What To Bring
(1) An affinity group: An affinity group is a group of people you know and trust. Before going to the demo, bring together a group of 2 or more friends and discuss your plans for the day, the tactics you plan on using, how comfortable you are risking arrest, etc. Everyone should have an affinity group, even if its just casual or informal. Once at the march, stick together and try to leave together. If someone has to leave early, make sure they do it safely. Make sure you have each other's phone numbers. It might be a good idea to pair together more experienced protesters with newers folks. Most importantly, look out for each other.
(2) Footwear: Wear comfortable shoes that are easy to run in and won't give you blisters. If possible, wear water-proof shoes. (There is a chance of showers tomorrow in NYC.) Don't wear open-toe shoes.
(3) Band-aids: Your comfortable shoes may not be so comfortable after a day of marching, so bring band-aids in case of blisters.
(4) Water: Seriously. Lots and lots of water.
(5) Snacks: Especially nonperishable food like dried fruit, energy bars, nuts, and things that are easy to eat on-the-move.
(6) Backpack: Carry your stuff in a backpack. It´s easier to carry than a purse, especially if you need to run to catch up with a march. Also, pack light. Don´t bring unnecessary or heavy things, especially if you plan on being out all day.
(7) Multiple layers of clothes: Anticipate changes in weather. According to Weather Underground, the high in NYC for tomorrow is 72F and the low is 52F with a chance of showers.
(8) Cell phones and cameras: Cell phones are useful for communicating with others on the ground to get information and stay safe. You can also use video and cameras to document police brutality. You have a legal right to document police behavior and it is usually safe. However, be aware that police (especially the NYPD) have a documented history of targeting grassroots journalists with violence or arrest. (See here for more on your rights as a photographer.) If you do try to document police abuse, make sure you write down or photograph the officer's badge number. Also be aware that there may be disruptions of service in heavily-clogged, high-traffic areas like lower Manhattan. (On #N17, the largest OWS action in NYC to date, many cell phones mysteriously stopped working.) Also, bring extra batteries and memory!
(9) Maps: Try to be familiar with the area before you go. Bring a map (on your phone or in print) with you and be aware of your surroundings.
(10) Rain gear: It might be a good idea to bring a poncho. Garbage bags also work. Keep in mind some police may perceive umbrellas as a threat. Bring extras of everything, kept dry in your backpack.
(11) Your own sign or banner: If you have a catchy slogan, bust out a sharper and some cardboard and tell the world! Write what makes you indignant; or, write something about the world you'd rather live in. Write why you´re on strike, or why you support #OWS, labor, students, immigrants, etc. Here are some common slogans: ¨Banks Got Bailed Out, We Got Sold Out,¨ ¨We Are The 99%,¨ ¨Occupy Everywhere,¨ ¨We Are Unstoppable - Another World Is Possible.¨
(12) Know how to identify legal observers: Observers from the National Lawyers Guild will be on the ground throughout the day. You can identify them by their bright green hats. If you have important information for them (for example, one of your friends just got arrested) let them know. Don´t distract them otherwise. To report arrests on May Day in NYC, call the NLG at 212-679-6018. To help, text OWS-JS to 774-254-4697.
(13) Know how to Mic Check: One easy way to convey information to large groups of people is by using the People's Mic. One person (or a few people) first yell ¨Mic Check!¨ Everyone who hears them responds by echoing ¨Mic Check!¨ After that, one person says a few words and pauses to let the crowd repeat those words. If you hear someone mic check, let them know by repeating too; that way, the people around you can also listen. However, if you disagree with what someone is saying, you don't have to repeat it. This is a useful way to make spontaneous, democratic decisions. However, you should also be aware that false or misleading information can sometimes spread quickly this way, so don't assume something is true just because it was said over the People's Mic. (Hint: If you hear people chanting ¨Shame!¨ or ¨The whole world is watching!¨ it often means that police brutality and/or arrests are happening nearby. If you're trying to avoid arrest, go the other way. Or, if you want to help or document, head over!)
(14) Smart phones: If you have one, install free aps like Twitter and Livestream so you can keep up on what´s going on elsewhere. There might be something important happening just a block away, but impossible to see. The best way to get up-to-the-minute information is by following Twitter accounts. Here are a few: #M1NYC | #M1GS | #GeneralStrike | #MayDay | @OWSMayDay | @OccupyGenStrk | @StrikeEverywher | @OccupyGenStrike. However, as with Mic Checks, be aware that information on Twitter might not be 100% accurate. You may also want to check out this Legal Observer ap. May Day Radio NYC also has a free ap here
(15) Know your rights: The ACLU has some good basic info on your legal right to protest here. If you are a transgender or gender non-conforming, check out this helpful document for trans people participating in direct actions. If you are an active duty Service Member, note that your rights are different. (See below for some more helpful information if you are worried about being arrested.)
(16) Drums, whistles, noisemakers, giant puppets: They're fun!
(17) WHAT NOT TO BRING: Illegal drugs, weapons, your address book, anything that could be potentially incriminating (including pictures on your cell phone).
If You Are Risking Arrest
There will be many ways to participate in tomorrow´s activities without risking arrest. Make sure to stay within the permitted areas and avoid police. However, if you are planning on engaging in nonviolent civil disobedience that may put you at a higher risk of encountering police, here are some suggestions to bare in mind. Hopefully, if all goes well and the police behave, much of this will not be necessary!
(1) Everything above.
(2) Appropriate clothes: Wear clothes that are protective and durable, light weight, and allow for great mobility. Look for something that is tight fitting while covering the entire body (to protect against chemical weapons). NO earrings, piercings, necklaces, ties, or anything that can be grabbed.
(3) Emergency numbers: Although having a written-down back-up is also helpful, important numbers like the National Lawyers Guild hotlines or members of your affinity group should be written on your body with permanent ink. If you are arrested, your belongings may be confiscated or lost. You also can't count on your phone, which could get broken or taken away. To report arrests on May Day in NYC, call the NLG at 212-679-6018.
(4) Prepare for pepper-spray: Don't wear contact lenses or eye makeup -- if pepper pray or tear gas gets in your eyes, it can make a bad situation much worse. If you get pepper-sprayed, don´t rub your eyes! Cry for help, thoroughly rinse your eyes with water, and alert a street medic. Try not to panic; the burning will pass.
(5) Peace shields: To protect against batons and other blunt weapons used by police, consider carrying a light-weight shield. However, be aware that some police percieve this as a challenge and may target you. (To re-inforce that a shield is a nonviolent defense strategy, some Occupiers have painted peace signs on their shields. Police officials, however, sometimes don't get the message.) Other useful defenses against blunt weapon attacks include helmets and hard banners. Also, everyone should be aware that militarized police will be patrolling some major cities on May 1st with less-lethal projectile weapons such as ¨beanbag¨ rounds and/or rubber bullets.
(6) Wear unidentifiable, all-black clothing: If everyone is wearing the same thing, it is harder for police to single out people and accuse them of bogus charges. Even if you are arrested for something you did not do, and the police cannot prove it was you because they cannot distinguish between protesters, your charges are much more likely to be dropped. However, it is a good idea to wear casual clothes underneath your all-black clothes so you can change later. After the protest or your affinity group disperses, police sometimes profile people who ¨look like protesters.¨
(7) Pen and paper: You might need to document something, so bring something to write with in case you lose your phone.
(8) First aid kits: Although there will be trained street medics on hand (in many cities, they are identifiable by red arm-bands), it is also a good idea to have at minimum one first-aid kit per affinity group. A basic medical kit should include: water, gauze, some pain/fever/swelling reliever, anti-bacterials, maxi pads, extra cloth, etc.
(9) A solidarity plan: . You may want to identify those at lower risk of arrest or abuse (white, US citizen, non-LGBTQ, etc) to take more visible or high-risk roles, and to surround those who may be at higher risk to form a buffer and prevent them from being arrested or separated from the group during the action.
(10) Some quarters: You might need them to make calls from jail! Stuff them in your socks to decrease the risk of having them lost or confiscated.
(11) Tear-gas defense: Although we do not know whether tear-gas will be used, it doesn't hurt to be prepared. Police, including the NYPD, have a history of using tear-gas in congested downtown areas. (The NYPD, at least, are unlikely to use pepper-spray again due to a recent lawsuit from by-standers who were hit with tear-gas.) However, if this happens, you will want to have sealed goggles or a gas-mask. Rags or handkerchiefs soaked in vinegar can help one breathe if you are surrounded by a tear gas cloud. It is also advisable to have a mask, keffiyeh, or scarf to cover your mouth. Avoid cotton clothes, which soak up tear-gas and pepper spray; polyester, nylon, or wool are better. Unless you are properly trained and wearing welder´s gloves, STAY AWAY from gas canisters, which can be extremely hot. Also, do not attempt to handle flash-bang grenades or other projectiles used by police.
(12) Identification: In New York and many other states, police are allowed to ¨demand¨ identification. If you don't want to get arrested or be held in jail for an extended period of time (especially if you have health needs or other reasons that make longer stays in jail dangerous), it's better to carry an ID with you if you can. However, if you do not bring ID and refuse to give your name, you will usually be taken into custody until the police can identify you. This is a common tactic of jail solidarity (especially during mass arrests) because it clogs up the system, making it harder for them to prosecute protesters who have been arrested.
(13) What to do if you are arrested: You can be charged with resisting arrest if you attempt to escape or stop an officer from detaining yourself or another person. You may even be charged with assaulting an officer just for resisting. If you do not wish to cooperate with your arrest without actively resisting, the best thing to do is remain passive and allow your body to go limp. (At least in NYC, cops will sometimes charge you with resisting arrest for going limp, but it is almost always dropped by the court.) As soon as possible make sure someone from your affinity group and/or the NLG know that you have been arrested. Do not say anything without first speaking to a lawyer, no matter what police may tell you. (Cops are allowed to lie to you.) You will be transported, booked, and placed in a cell until you are either charged or released -- usually within a day. OWS has a bail-fund to help low-income protesters who need bail money. (Donate if you can!)
(14) What to do if your comrade is arrested: Alert the NLG (in NYC: 212-679-6018) and make sure they have the arrested comrade´s legal name, birth date, any medications or health conditions, and an emergency contact. Find out where they are being taken, what they are being charged with, and if possible, the names and badge numbers of the arresting officers. Document as much as possible about the situation leading up to the arrest. If they have special medical needs or are trans/gender-nonconforming, be sure to let the NLG know. Then, wait outside the jail -- it´s nice to see friendly faces with food as soon as you´re released!
More on arrests, Via the Sylvia Rivera Law Project and National Center for Transgender Equality:
If you are an immigrant:
Any arrests may affect your immigration status. If you are undocumented, an arrest could put you on the radar, and cause removal proceedings to be initiated against you. Immigration officials at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), often collaborate with local law enforcement and correctional agencies. If you are currently required to report to immigration officials, you may not be able to do so if you are arrested or detained. If your only identification is from another country and you do not have a visa, you may be reported to ICE even if you are a naturalized U.S. citizen. Weigh the risks of bringing ID with the possibility of being profiled and having ID confiscated. If arrested, you do not have to answer questions about your immigration status or history.If you have past arrests:
You may be more vulnerable to being held by police or denied bail after arrest. Even if you only have violations or nonfelon convictions, the police can access your arrest history and will use it against you if they can.If you are staying in a shelter or supportive housing program:
If you are staying in a shelter and you have a curfew or have to report to your program regularly, make sure you plan ahead so you don’t miss important check-ins or lose your bed. If you live in public housing, an arrest may also affect your eligibility for your housing program or the eligibility of anyone who you live with.If you have critical medical or disability-related needs:
Make sure you have canes and braces and any critical medical supplies, medications or prescriptions with you at all times. If you have people or animals that you use for support and are arrested, make sure the police are aware.
However, the police cannot always be trusted to support your needs and it is important to develop a safety plan in case of arrest.
On Police Tactics
In the NYPD, higher-ranking officials are identifiable by their white shirts. They have a reputation for being some of the most brutal of all cops. They also give the orders. Here is a helpful analysis of common police tactics found on the internet:
Basic Police Choreography
They will try to disperse crowds using baton line charges, horse charges, vehicles, gases and rubber/wooden bullets. The dance steps will include one or more of the following:
1) Cops in lines will surround you.
2) Either from the middle or one side, cop lines will force everyone onto the sidewalk trying to create "spectators" and "actors" out of the crowd.
3) Baton/horse/gas attacks to lower morale.
4) Loud speaker, concussion grenades, or bright lights (if at night) to disorient the crowd.
5) Line charges will slowly push the crowd down the street to where they want you (rush of cops - fall back - strengthen line - repeat).Reponses:
- Don't stand and watch them. Keep moving.
- Don't look like you'll let them anywhere near you.
- Spot gaps in the crowd and fill them. Stick together!
- Figure out where they want to go and get there first.
- Get long tarp banners to the front to stop them from advancing or breaking the crowd.
- Protect your escape routes by standing in front of them.
- Get those people who are pushed into "spectators¨ back into the crowd and moving around.
Snatch Squads:
The police will often want to isolate and arrest individuals out of a crowd. Groups of cops will surround a person, and half of them will arrest while half will stand in front of them and hit anyone who gets in their way. Once they have the person, they will be taken away behind police lines.
1) Keep the crowd moving together.
2) Spot the squad forming and approaching.
3) If their is a target person, get him/her the hell out of there!
4) Link arms in an impenetrable wall in the squad's path.
5) Surround the squad once in the crowd to intimidate them.
6) If you do get grabbed and pressure pointed, keep you head and arms moving. Don't fight them if you can help it or you might be faced with assault charges too. Bear in mind that the de-arrestor may end up with heavier charges than the original arrestee if caught.
I think it is also very important to be ready to film any police abuse or misconduct.
Here is a blog post I wrote for WITNESS.org, who trains activists how to use video for human rights documentation and advocacy.
It features a five part how to film protest video series we have just finished.
http://blog.witness.org/2012/04/how-to-film-protests-video-tip-series-for-activists-at-occupy-wall-street-in-syria-and-beyond/
Please check the videos and take steps to safely and effectively capture May Day actions.
[Removed]
It is truly going to be an amazing Day. Historic in it's turn-out I pray.
[Removed]
have u ever worked 60 hours in a week and still not make rent? have u ever been belittled by your boss to the point of tears but couldnt quit because you have eviction court in 2 weeks? did u ever get less then quality health care because u r uninsured? did u ever have to make the decision between food for your kids or gas to get to work? if not, i suggest u sit back, relax, and let the 99% take care of what needs to be done in order for your silver spoon to stay polished ;-)
[Removed]
Don't feed the troll :)
Well said very well said. Yes those with money do not know what hard times are all about.
What have the Romans ever done for us
http://www.iww.org/en/history/library/misc/origins_of_mayday
The Brief Origins of May Day Posted Tue, 05/10/2005 - 3:14pm by IWW.org Editor
By Eric Chase - 1993.
Most people living in the United States know little about the International Workers' Day of May Day. For many others there is an assumption that it is a holiday celebrated in state communist countries like Cuba or the former Soviet Union. Most Americans don't realize that May Day has its origins here in this country and is as "American" as baseball and apple pie, and stemmed from the pre-Christian holiday of Beltane, a celebration of rebirth and fertility.
In the late nineteenth century, the working class was in constant struggle to gain the 8-hour work day. Working conditions were severe and it was quite common to work 10 to 16 hour days in unsafe conditions. Death and injury were commonplace at many work places and inspired such books as Upton Sinclair's The Jungle and Jack London's The Iron Heel. As early as the 1860's, working people agitated to shorten the workday without a cut in pay, but it wasn't until the late 1880's that organized labor was able to garner enough strength to declare the 8-hour workday. This proclamation was without consent of employers, yet demanded by many of the working class.
At this time, socialism was a new and attractive idea to working people, many of whom were drawn to its ideology of working class control over the production and distribution of all goods and services. Workers had seen first-hand that Capitalism benefited only their bosses, trading workers' lives for profit. Thousands of men, women and children were dying needlessly every year in the workplace, with life expectancy as low as their early twenties in some industries, and little hope but death of rising out of their destitution. Socialism offered another option.
A variety of socialist organizations sprung up throughout the later half of the 19th century, ranging from political parties to choir groups. In fact, many socialists were elected into governmental office by their constituency. But again, many of these socialists were ham-strung by the political process which was so evidently controlled by big business and the bi-partisan political machine. Tens of thousands of socialists broke ranks from their parties, rebuffed the entire political process, which was seen as nothing more than protection for the wealthy, and created anarchist groups throughout the country. Literally thousands of working people embraced the ideals of anarchism, which sought to put an end to all hierarchical structures (including government), emphasized worker controlled industry, and valued direct action over the bureaucratic political process. It is inaccurate to say that labor unions were "taken over" by anarchists and socialists, but rather anarchists and socialist made up the labor unions.
At its national convention in Chicago, held in 1884, the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions (which later became the American Federation of Labor), proclaimed that "eight hours shall constitute a legal day's labor from and after May 1, 1886." The following year, the FOTLU, backed by many Knights of Labor locals, reiterated their proclamation stating that it would be supported by strikes and demonstrations. At first, most radicals and anarchists regarded this demand as too reformist, failing to strike "at the root of the evil." A year before the Haymarket Massacre, Samuel Fielden pointed out in the anarchist newspaper, The Alarm, that "whether a man works eight hours a day or ten hours a day, he is still a slave."
Despite the misgivings of many of the anarchists, an estimated quarter million workers in the Chicago area became directly involved in the crusade to implement the eight hour work day, including the Trades and Labor Assembly, the Socialistic Labor Party and local Knights of Labor. As more and more of the workforce mobilized against the employers, these radicals conceded to fight for the 8-hour day, realizing that "the tide of opinion and determination of most wage-workers was set in this direction." With the involvement of the anarchists, there seemed to be an infusion of greater issues than the 8-hour day. There grew a sense of a greater social revolution beyond the more immediate gains of shortened hours, but a drastic change in the economic structure of capitalism.
In a proclamation printed just before May 1, 1886, one publisher appealed to working people with this plea:
Not surprisingly the entire city was prepared for mass bloodshed, reminiscent of the railroad strike a decade earlier when police and soldiers gunned down hundreds of striking workers. On May 1, 1886, more than 300,000 workers in 13,000 businesses across the United States walked off their jobs in the first May Day celebration in history. In Chicago, the epicenter for the 8-hour day agitators, 40,000 went out on strike with the anarchists in the forefront of the public's eye. With their fiery speeches and revolutionary ideology of direct action, anarchists and anarchism became respected and embraced by the working people and despised by the capitalists.
The names of many - Albert Parsons, Johann Most, August Spies and Louis Lingg - became household words in Chicago and throughout the country. Parades, bands and tens of thousands of demonstrators in the streets exemplified the workers' strength and unity, yet didn't become violent as the newspapers and authorities predicted.
More and more workers continued to walk off their jobs until the numbers swelled to nearly 100,000, yet peace prevailed. It was not until two days later, May 3, 1886, that violence broke out at the McCormick Reaper Works between police and strikers.
For six months, armed Pinkerton agents and the police harassed and beat locked-out steelworkers as they picketed. Most of these workers belonged to the "anarchist-dominated" Metal Workers' Union. During a speech near the McCormick plant, some two hundred demonstrators joined the steelworkers on the picket line. Beatings with police clubs escalated into rock throwing by the strikers which the police responded to with gunfire. At least two strikers were killed and an unknown number were wounded.
Full of rage, a public meeting was called by some of the anarchists for the following day in Haymarket Square to discuss the police brutality. Due to bad weather and short notice, only about 3000 of the tens of thousands of people showed up from the day before. This affair included families with children and the mayor of Chicago himself. Later, the mayor would testify that the crowd remained calm and orderly and that speaker August Spies made "no suggestion... for immediate use of force or violence toward any person..."
As the speech wound down, two detectives rushed to the main body of police, reporting that a speaker was using inflammatory language, inciting the police to march on the speakers' wagon. As the police began to disperse the already thinning crowd, a bomb was thrown into the police ranks. No one knows who threw the bomb, but speculations varied from blaming any one of the anarchists, to an agent provocateur working for the police.
CONTINUED:
Over one hundred years have passed since that first May Day. In the earlier part of the 20th century, the US government tried to curb the celebration and further wipe it from the public's memory by establishing "Law and Order Day" on May 1. We can draw many parallels between the events of 1886 and today. We still have locked out steelworkers struggling for justice. We still have voices of freedom behind bars as in the cases of Mumia Abu Jamal and Leonard Peltier. We still had the ability to mobilize tens of thousands of people in the streets of a major city to proclaim "THIS IS WHAT DEMOCRACY LOOKS LIKE!" at the WTO and FTAA demonstrations.
Words stronger than any I could write are engraved on the Haymarket Monument:
Truly, history has a lot to teach us about the roots of our radicalism. When we remember that people were shot so we could have the 8-hour day; if we acknowledge that homes with families in them were burned to the ground so we could have Saturday as part of the weekend; when we recall 8-year old victims of industrial accidents who marched in the streets protesting working conditions and child labor only to be beat down by the police and company thugs, we understand that our current condition cannot be taken for granted - people fought for the rights and dignities we enjoy today, and there is still a lot more to fight for. The sacrifices of so many people can not be forgotten or we'll end up fighting for those same gains all over again. This is why we celebrate May Day.
http://www.iww.org/en/history/library/misc/origins_of_mayday
You where doing good but then You loose all your credibility when you include mumia Abu Jamal. He is a convicted cop killer and nothing more.
Solidarity to all occupiers on May Day 2012!
Great day a coming.
I hope there is a sign making table
Totoro!
historic day in nyc and the co-operation between immigration, unions anti war, ows is monumental towards successful results. long live may day!
Please someone keep me posted on how this goes! thanks!
I have already made it so that I will not spend a cent tomorrow! Although I have to go to work, unfortunately. My students are giving their final presentations so you can't really call in sick and have them show a movie (though Totoro is a great one!)
Be camera ready and picture perfect, Americans are watching! They want to be with you!
Show Americans that you are for America!! Wave your flags proudly!!
Loud and clear signs and banners!
It is very exciting. Tell everyone! In my neighborhood know one knows at all.
I'm going to voice class
but I still support this
[Removed]
A long-term strategy: (other 2 just below are immediate) Those with excellent credit rating can do a major service in destroying the corporate system. Using your good standing, continue to get higher & higher limits as the bank allows. Then, when you have used up the full amount & withdrawn to the limit, jump ship. You must be ready to face the consequences that you may never be extended credit anywhere again, but if enough people do this, that will not be an issue, as we will have moved on to a more equitable system than the greed-saturated one now destroying countless lives at home & worldwide.
Using the small scattered protests strategy will be an uncontrollable force that will grow as people see its effectiveness. Do not get caught, scatter quickly, & just take it elsewhere. Eventually, the gov will need to address the reality that they are out of control. Then we can take back the government & remove the goons of the corporations.
The movement must not give time for the cops & other fascists to arrive. Stage small sit-downs in the middle of major intersections all over town in small groups so that cops are scattered to hell & don't know where to focus. Do not announce which intersections until you all converge there. Work in small groups of trusted friends to avoid betrayal. Scatter at the 1st sign of a patrol car & move to another intersection. Bring everything to a standstill.
[Removed]
[Removed]
[Removed]
[Removed]
So is this the whole world OWS putting on a show or just NYC ?
Seems kind of tame.
Where's the catbus ?
wall street gets reoccupied. then what? http://littlebiggy.org/4660547
History!!
[Removed]
[Removed]
[Removed]
[Removed]
[Removed]
[Removed]
Occupiers! We need to see many many more American Flags on the TV, for the People!!
[Removed]
[Removed]
[Removed]
I know! I spit in your coffee the last time you went there! You trolls have no idea what is being done to your food! Stick to Subway so they can't spit on it while customers are standing there. I mean if business is slow anything can happen to the mayo, stick to salt and pepper. Service with smile! Piss with every pork-chop! Go ahead, walk right into a restaurant and be the biggest jerk you can be.
If you're laughing so hard, why are you posting on this forum?
[Removed]
[Removed]