Community groups from Lynn and Nahant plan to recognize May Day, which celebrates workers and immigrants, in very different ways this weekend.
In honor of International Workers’ Day, more commonly known as May Day, the Lynn May Day Committee is hosting a caravan Saturday afternoon which will extend from Market Basket to the downtown.
The caravan will meet at the Federal Street grocery store at 3:30 p.m. and will then travel through neighborhoods in downtown Lynn, coming to a stop at City Hall where a ceremony will commence, commemorating those who have died from the coronavirus.
The Nahant Cultural Council will sponsor a celebration of May Day this Saturday in the organization’s first major event since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Held in conjunction with Johnson Elementary School, the Nahant Garden Club, Nahant Historical Society, Nahant Preservation Trust, Nahant Public Library, and S.W.I.M, Inc., the weekend festivities will run from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m.
“We’ll be together for the first time as a community since the Great Pandemic washed across our country and the world,” Jim Walsh, chair of the Nahant Cultural Council, said in a press release for the event. “To be together again will bring us joy and relief. Yes, we will wear our masks even in the freshest air, but eyes will shine and laughter will flow.”
In Lynn, the march and ceremony will be live streamed through local advocacy group Lynn United for Change’s website: lynnunited.org, and on WMWM Salem State Radio 91.7 FM. The radio program will kick off the event early, airing at 3 p.m.
May Day is an international holiday celebrated on the first of the month, which honors and celebrates workers and immigrants. In Lynn, it is recognized with an annual event that celebrates the city’s history as a home for immigrants, bringing together a diverse group of organizations and people.
“Workers and immigrants make up the majority of our city, and we demand a future here. Reinvest in our city for good jobs, stable housing, real public safety, and a just recovery,” the Lynn May Day Committee said in a statement.
The International Union of Electronic Workers-Communications Workers of America (IUE-CWA) Local 201 President Adam Kaszynski said he will join the committee this Saturday to demand that General Electric Company stop outsourcing and invest in good union jobs in Lynn.
“Over the years, GE has cut jobs in Lynn by the thousands while draining the historic plant of resources, leaving equipment in disrepair, degrading our productivity and bringing GE Lynn down to within an inch of its life,” Kaszynski said.
The May Day holiday originated in the United States to commemorate the 1886 Haymarket incident, where a bomb went off in the vicinity of Haymarket Square while members of Chicago’s working class held a rally in support of an eight-hour day, which led to an exchange of gunfire between the crowd and police.
That tragedy led to protests around the world, eventually resulting in the establishment of May Day. The holiday was suppressed in the United States, but gained new life in recent decades through association with the immigrant rights movement.
New Lynn Coalition Organizing Director Jonathon Feinberg said he wants to see a city that works for everyone, saying that on May Day, “we stand united and demand a say in our own future.
“While our unions and organizations have their own members and struggles, we recognize that all of them stem from a lack of power for workers and immigrants. We are a city of essential workers who keep us safe and fed, we make Lynn’s unique culture, and we have brought life to our communities,” he said.
New Lynn Coalition President Tish Mukala, a nurse practitioner, highlighted the severe toll COVID-19 has taken on Lynn.
“We are getting sick and dying from the coronavirus at such high rates that Lynn has been in the red almost the entire pandemic, while the pandemic has again shown the disparities in our city, including with (the) vaccine rollout for our most vulnerable communities,” she said, referring to the city’s consistent designation as a “high-risk” community for COVID-19 spread.
“We demand that the city finance community organizations to do the outreach and engagement for mobile vaccination sites in our most vulnerable neighborhoods, like the Highlands.”
Neil Whittredge, a representative of the Lynn Racial Justice Coalition and Diverse People United, said that, on May Day, people stand together with other communities and protest labor struggles in solidarity.
“Our people are targeted for harassment and arrest by immigration enforcement, and we are threatened and beaten by our own police while violent crimes continue to traumatize our communities,” Whittredge said.
Nahant residents will have the opportunity to gather at Memorial Point to connect with community organizations and view paintings, sculptures, crafts, and photographs created by local artists. Starting at 3 p.m., Nahant choreographer and founder of 40 Steps Dance Sallee Slagle will lead a dance for parents and children around the maypole, which will be situated at the highest point of Lodge Park.
Children will recite poetry from local writer Calantha Sears, and the Johnson School marching band will perform in a procession from nearby 40 Steps Beach.
Nahant musicians Roze and Jim Malone of The Merj! are slated to close out the festivities with a performance of their own.
“Young and old will be welcome, and we will all be together at East Point,” Walsh said.
The Nahant Council on Aging will provide bus transportation back and forth from the entrance of East Point to Lodge Park throughout the day.
Residents can find out more information about the town event by emailing [email protected], or by calling 781-367-2007.
The Lynn May Day Committee includes representatives from the New Lynn Coalition, IUE-CWA Local 201, Lynn United for Change, The Highlands Coalition, Latina Center Maria, Lynn Latino Leadership Coalition, Essex County Community Organization, Mass Senior Action Council, Diverse People United, and the North Shore Labor Council.
For more information about the event in Lynn, contact Feinberg at [email protected].
Elyse Carmosino can be reached at [email protected]. Allysha Dunnigan can be reached at [email protected].
