Migrant workers held major rallies across the US on May 1st. May 1st is Labor Day for a lot of countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and some European countries. China calls May 1st International Labor’s Day (I suspect a few other countries give it the same name) and people usually get the day off. US has a Labor Day holiday that falls in September every year. It usually marks the end of summer, whereas Memorial Day usually marks the beginning of it.
The rally turnout in Chicago was pretty impressive. Police estimated around 300,000 people participated. I walked to Jackson Boulevard during lunch hour and witnessed part of the demonstration. There were indeed a lot of people. It is amazing that so many people of Mexican origin (majority) and other Latin American countries (minority) live in the Chicago metropolitan area. I see many of them in my daily life.
I am confused and don’t know what to make of those rallies. Immigration is a very complex issue. Here are some of the pictures I took that day.
A few more pictures here if you are interested.
2 responses to “Migrant workers’ rally”
I agree it’s a complicated issue. But I think these guys hurt their cause when they carry around non-US flags. That’s not winning them any sympathy from the people they need to have on their side.
That’s true PR. In fact, I over heard a few by-standers at the rally commenting about the same thing.
Glad to have you back, by the way.