“I am so grateful to be with all of you, my dear comrades, on this beautiful spring day that we should not take for granted,” said Providence Worker’s Defense member Kyra to the three dozen people gathered in the I-95 Industrial Park in Providence. “I have come here with a heavy heart, but also full of hope, faith, and a deep longing for a better future, one that values the basic concept of humanity. I remember May Day last year, it was the first day that I met my PWD comrades. This has reminded me of what I have valued my whole life. It tires, overwhelms, and hurts me every single day when I hear about just people being endlessly exploited, bombed, and killed for no end. U.S. imperialism is a life-hating machine that breaks people’s spirits and deprives them of hope.
“I don’t know how I can live a life without dreaming,” continued Kyra. “I don’t know how I can live a life without caring for other people. I don’t know how I can live a life that’s not really a life. Self-preservation is not intentional or conscious. It is brutally reactionary. Now is not the time to just be cynical and let your spirit be drained away. I remember reading “Mother” by Maxim Gorky, in which he said that the experience of workers in one place is the same everywhere. The wars currently going on in so many places, including in Iran, are not just violence located in some faraway place. They plan to place men on an automatic draft in December, and this violence comes home. Don’t let the life-hating warmongers break your spirit. This world belongs to us, simple workers who can take no aspect of life for granted. I love you all, my dear friends.”
With symbolic heads on pikes, Providence Worker’s Defense held a rally and march at noon on May Day in a militant celebration of International Workers’ Day. Since May 1, 1886, May Day has been celebrated globally by billions of working-class people. Providence Worker’s Defense, local organizations, and workers continued this tradition of revolutionary militancy with a rally and march in Providence, bringing protest to Textron’s world headquarters, Starbucks, and Providence City Hall before ending in Burnside Park.
“Once again, here I am,” said Cody Frazier, leading the march on his megaphone. “May 1, Mayday started all the way back in 1886, and here we are again. Over the years, the struggles have continued. 1886, 1894, 1918, 1935, 1965, 1981, 1982, all the way up to 2022. The struggles continue, and if you don’t think we have not made ground, we have not made gains, you are wrong. All that is required is to keep moving, keep fighting, keep stepping. The only thing for keeps is for you to keep going. It is international, throughout this entire world, for each worker to step up and do their part as we always do to keep the fight going.
”And here we are again today. Today we set off. Today, each foot in front of the next. Hold your flags high and proud, and remember this phrase and repeat after me:
“I am a revolutionary! I am a revolutionary! Dream by any means necessary. A combination of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr., for I believe that one cannot survive without the other. I believe one is a warning. The other is a consequence. One comes before the other, just as the feet of men and women step one after the other to build this nation.
“My ancestors built this nation, from all these buildings around us to the constructs and infrastructure that keep it moving throughout the entire world. The bombing of children is an insult to all of that. I built this future for them. How dare you take it away from them? The words escape me, but the silence speaks loudly. Silence says everything. It’s as much about what is there as what is not there.
“I remember the comrades who are not with me today. That’s what the red stands for. The blood that is spilled to build the foundations that we keep building. Once again, I say the only thing that’s for keeps is for you to keep going, so on this day, when things get tough, when things get rough, keep that in mind. Keep fighting. Keep going. Now is the time to take ownership.
”These are our streets. These are our cities. This is our land. We want our peace, and we want our breath. I’m ready.”
At Textron, workers nonviolently disrupted the entrance to their corporate headquarters, drumming on their windows, in opposition to Textron creating weapons that have killed millions around the world.
At the Starbucks, across the street from Textron, workers celebrated the only unionized Starbucks shop in Rhode Island but took the corporation to task for failing to settle a contract with its workers.
At Providence City Hall, workers called out Providence Mayor Brett Smiley, whose policies have consistently favored moneyed interests over the well-being of renters, workers, and those experiencing homelessness.
Providence Worker’s Defense calls for Land, Peace, and Bread. The May Day event called for land and housing for all workers, freedom for all class war prisoners, and an end to capitalism, genocide, and occupation.
“Let us all recall Eugene Debs’ words,” said organizer Michael Araujo. “‘…the working class is permeated with the conquering spirit of the class struggle, and as if by magic the entire movement is vitalized, and side by side and shoulder to shoulder in a class-conscious phalanx we move forward to certain and complete victory.’ We are all going to win because we have no choice but to win.”