KW May Day 2019: Call Out!

KW MAY DAY 2019 : Call Out!

Join us in the park and in the streets!

Wednesday, May 1st, 4:30 pm
Victoria Park clock tower
Potluck, performances, speeches, activities. Family friendly.
March to follow at 7 pm

Join us Wednesday, May 1st for our second annual May Day community gathering, to shake off the icy winds of winter, celebrate the coming of spring, and remember once again what it means to be resilient, radical, and rejuvenated!  Let’s gather to share our stories, our grief and our joy, and to reimagine and remember what we want and need in this world!

In this space we can feast, create, dance, celebrate, and resist, while we continue to build connections with ourselves, one another, and the land.

Our goal is to create an event that is inclusive and free to everyone; grounded in mutual aid, voluntary participation, and personal/collective autonomy, without authority. We’re dreaming up a fierce, fun, family friendly event, with diverse activities and a potluck in the park, followed by a most marvelous march. Let’s put our dreams into action together!

If you’re interested in: introducing or tabling with your community project, hosting a workshop or activity, performing some live music, facilitating kids programming, making a main dish or two for the potluck, creating art for the march, or anything else, please let us know!

You can reach out to kwmayday (at) gmail (dot) com with your awesome ideas.

In love and rage,
KW May Day Collective

We acknowledge that this event will be occurring on stolen lands that are part of an ongoing history of colonization and violence. We are situated on the lands of the Haudenosaunee, Anishinaabe and Neutral Nations. Kitchener-Waterloo is part of Block 2 of the Haldimand Tract, the territory of the Six Nations of the Grand River, which spans six miles deep on each side of the Grand. As non-Indigenous and settler peoples we benefit from accessing and living on this land, and from the ongoing stewardship and resistance of Indigenous peoples. Resisting colonization must be at the forefront of understanding and working within our local context.

2018 Collective statement on KW May Day

You, your friends, family, neighbours, and wider community are invited to join us in celebration of May Day—International Workers’ Day—as we thaw out together after a long winter.

We are a coalition of grassroots organizers that has come together to celebrate May Day. Our purpose is not to lobby politicians or to electioneer; so-called representative decision-makers are incapable of meeting our demands, so we aim to achieve them ourselves. We seek to not just critique systems, but to offer solutions to community needs and wants.

Our early evening program (5-8pm) at Victoria Park by the clock tower includes music, short speeches, workshops and education, and a variety of activities including a kid-friendly obstacle course. Bring your cups and dishes, and any potluck contributions. Bring your friends, bring your family!

After eight pm, we mobilize with music and banners (bring your noisemakers) and make our way to our afterparty at Open Sesame, where we will dance it out until midnight. Our musical performers, in the park and afterwards, demonstrate diverse DIY methods of music-making, from folk songs to spoken word to experimental electro beats. Richard Garvey, Sam Nabi, Mosspossum, Fauna, and Capybara will tickle our ears and move our feet.

We see May Day as a space to continue building stronger and more transformative movements. We come from a range of perspectives, experiences and politics and seek to find strength in our diversity. In the face of continued forms of settler-colonial, white supremacist, state, capitalist, and heteropatriarchal violence it is imperative to integrate our modes of resistance. As systems of domination are connected, so too are our movements. We hope that this event will plant seeds for further engagement, discussion and collaboration between our communities.

We acknowledge that this event will be occurring on stolen lands that are part of an ongoing history of colonization and violence. These lands of the Haudenosaunee, Anishinaabe and Neutral Nations are part of Block 2 of the Haldimand Tract, the territory of the Six Nations of the Grand River, which spans six miles to either side of the Grand River. Colonization, and the ongoing resistance to it, must be at the forefront of understanding and working within our local context, our desire to strengthen our relations with Indigenous peoples and communities, and how we live out our values and desires for better futures. This asks settlers to consider their place as occupiers and residents on lands that have been stolen but are increasingly being taken back. These are also among the struggles putting forth the most damning critiques of capitalism and reconciliation with the colonial state, and putting alternative futures into practice.

There is much work to be done and we look forward to continuing resistance and building power. There is fun to be had as well. End capitalism. End colonialism. End imperialism. End white supremacy. End environmental destruction. And build our communities!

KW May Day Organizing Collective 2018,
Revolutionary Communist Party – KW,
Kitchener-Waterloo Against Fascism,
The Black Umbrella Collective

in solidarity with other organizers and communities, and May Day worldwide.

Food! This event is a potluck! So feel free to bring one of your favourite dishes to share! All foods welcome! (We suggest bringing a list of ingredients!).

Also bring your own eating utensils if you can!