VivirLatino

I woke up this morning thinking about the history of Labor Day in the United States. How is it that in the U.S. we don’t celebrate May Day and instead have taken this weekend in September and made it about bbq’s and last trips to the beach? Don’t get me wrong, I love some grilled carne and playa, but it seems like this U.S. holiday was rushed into existence in an effort to distract from real issues for the working/laboring class and purposely separated from May Day which reminds workers of the violence often unleashed upon them when they stand up with one voice.

Already the mainstream news media is turning the end of summer, the start of fall into a holiday of fear, recalling the horrors of 9-11-01 while denying other, earlier September horrors that are related thanks to the the politics of imperialism. Maybe that’s why when I woke up this morning I was thinking of Victor Jara and his musical legacy, how his art composed with the labor struggles of workers in Chile led to his murder. I am thinking of Amanda and Manuel in the song Te Recuerdo Amanda recognizing the Amandas and Manuels I see everyday in my family, on my block, in my community.