Oakland police clashed repeatedly with Occupy activists Tuesday, firing tear gas canisters and flash-bang grenades at several hundred protesters near City Hall in brief but volatile skirmishes that escalated as quickly as they dissipated.
Some protesters shoved against police lines with black shields bearing an “A” for anarchy. Some threw objects at officers, surrounded police cars and pounded on them. In one case, a protester dressed in black threatened an officer with a pole.
But many protesters remained peaceful, throwing flowers at the cops’ feet or marching peacefully with children in the Fruitvale District, vowing to avoid the violence downtown.
The daylong series of events on May Day was held throughout parts of Oakland, San Francisco and the rest of the Bay Area by a wide range of protest groups, including Occupy, to honor International Workers’ Day and denounce economic inequities.
In Oakland in particular, the mood was tense from the beginning, despite the range of events that went from peaceful rallies to confrontations and vandalism.
“The tempo of the crowd was a lot more assertive, a lot more aggressive” than in past demonstrations involving Occupy groups, Oakland Police Chief Howard Jordan said in an afternoon press conference. He said the mood was so volatile that by 9 a.m. he had called for mutual aid from about a half-dozen area law enforcement agencies.
Beltane is approaching! If you are like me, you like to do a reading for the upcoming season change. Here’s a simple three-card spread to help you get some insight!
[text top to bottom]: Join us on Sunday May 1st, 3-7p.m. at the Kingsbridge Armory
29 W Kingsbridge Road, Bronx NY 10468
We will be speaking out in front of the Kingsbridge Armory against the injustices facing the working-class here in Kingsbridge and around the world.
Let’s move the people’s struggle away from downtown and into our hoods where we live, where we work, where we go to school, where we buy groceries. This way we can begin to really develop the bases of grassroots worker-led leadership that will help lead into a truly sustainable people’s movement towards Popular COntrol of our communities and Fundamental Social Change!
Join us on Tuesday April 26, 6:30-8:30p.m. 2800 University Avenue & 197th St, Bronx NY 10468
What is International Workers’ Day May Day? What does it meant to working people in the Bronx? New York CIty? the United States?
The political education session will be held in the lobby of 2800 University Avenue, where we have been organizing tenants towards Popular Control and Fundamental Social Change for the last two years. These bi-monthly sessions will aim to continue educating our neighbors in order to win the Kingsbridge struggle against racism, sexism, and capitalism.
The purpose of Political Education is to educate our members and the community about our history and to raise political consciousness through historical and critical analysis. We believe that consciousness grows with the process of struggle. Therefore, by studying our struggles we empower ourselves to organize and liberate our communities from racism/white supremacy, sexism, and capitalism.
We also believe that practice without theory is blind, and that theory without practice is aimless. Thus, our political education sessions serve as a compass for our political actions as we fight to achieve fundamental social change and obtain a humane society.
![[text top to bottom]: Join us on Sunday May 1st, 3-7p.m. at the Kingsbridge Armory29 W Kingsbridge R](https://64.media.tumblr.com/39f8f4c675eef204b70201c7f21479a6/tumblr_o5lhvg5dU01su554uo1_1280.jpg "[text top to bottom]: Join us on Sunday May 1st, 3-7p.m. at the Kingsbridge Armory29 W Kingsbridge R")
![[text top to bottom]: [caption under image]: Solidarity June 30, 1917 The Hand That Will Rule the Wo](https://64.media.tumblr.com/1691ff42d5d73c36a8b2963040e9992d/tumblr_o5lhk1LwMr1su554uo1_640.jpg "[text top to bottom]: [caption under image]: Solidarity June 30, 1917 The Hand That Will Rule the Wo")
