MAY DAY IN MIAMI 2009 - 300 plus March through the Miami Financial District : Miami IMC

Many thought this day might never come. “To say this was historic would not be an understatement” said one event organizer. “Miami is known for not being tolerant of anything slightly to the left.”

Speakers represented labor unions, immigration groups, political parties, peace originations and more. After the Raging Grannies, who sang an original song on the Employee Free Chose Act, demonstrators heard presentations on this history of May Day. Fred Frost, Executive President of the South Florida AFL-CIO, greeted the rally and spoke on the need to pass the Employee Free Choice Act, reminding the audience that the May Day event takes place against the shadows of the 2003 FTAA protest.

Speakers from immigrant organizations reminded the audience that “No One Is Illegal” and addressed the hard work immigrant workers do for low wages. Some endorsing groups included such diverse organizations as Fanm Ayisyen Nan Miyami, Inc. (FANM)/ Haitian Women of Miami, Centro de Orientación del Inmigrante (CODI), the Lake Worth Catholic Worker, Miami Veterans for Peace, St. Pete for Peace, the South Florida Reds and dozens of others.

The unity of these diverse groups, with their various goals, gelled when the march stepped off. The sea of multi-lingual signs and a lot of crimson t-shirts and flags certainly surprised bankers, investors, and other commuters during the evening rush hour. The echoing of workers’ chants through the cement and glass canyons of the financial district challenged capitalism at its heart in South Florida.

COMPLETE LIST OF ENDORSERS and PARTICIPANT ORGANIZATIONS: Miami May Day Alliance,American Friends Service Committee, BocaPeaceCorner.com., Broward Anti-War Coalition, Centro de Orientación del Inmigrante (CODI), Coalition of Hispanics Integrating Spanish Speakers through Advocacy and Service (CHISPAS), Fanm Ayisyen Nan Miyami, Inc. (FANM)/ Haitian Women of Miami, Florida Immigrant Coalition (FLIC), Florida Peace Congress, Fort Lauderdale Food Not Bombs, Green Party of Florida, Guatemalan Community-Hispanics Without Borders, Haiti Solidarity, Human Services Coalition, Lake Worth Catholic Worker, League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC Florida), Miami For Peace, Miami Veterans for Peace, Pan Afrikan Nationalists of South Florida, Pax Christi Palm Beach, Pax Christi St. Maurice, PowerU, SOA Watch, Socialist Party USA, South Florida Impeachment Coalition, South Florida Interfaith Worker Justice, South Florida Palestine Solidarity Network, South Florida Peace and Justice Network (SFPJN), South Florida Reds, Students Working for Equal Rights (S.W.E.R.), Unity Coalition/Coalicion Unida, Vecinos Unidos, We Count!
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* A number of activists from St. Petersburg joined about 250-300 others in a day of solidarity in Miami, on May Day, 2009. View their photos at http://stpeteforpeace.org/mayday2009.html