Tag Archives: labor

Cesar Chavez Day, 2023

Commemoration of Cesar Chavez Day is an annual ritual in California–and in Politics Outdoors. The day is a chance to reflect on Chavez, the movement he led, which continues, and the issues he and that movement addressed. (It also seems to … Continue reading

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Occupy at 10 (3/3)

Occupy educated and politicized a generation of activists who spilled out into scores of loosely allied movements and American life. They represent a massive resource for every progressive effort that’s followed. Here’s the short story: Occupy appeared to trace a … Continue reading

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Cesar Chavez Day, 2021

Commemoration of Cesar Chavez Day is an annual ritual in California–and in Politics Outdoors. It’s interesting to revisit last year’s post in particular, as it came in the early stages of a lock down which still (sort of) continues. It’s … Continue reading

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We were warned about the post office…..

Today, a coalition of groups is staging a national campaign of protests in support of the United States Post Office.  (At right, see a demonstration in Royal Oak, Michigan.) You can find your neighborhood event at this convenient website which, … Continue reading

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Cesar Chavez Day, 2020

In the virtual lockdown we’re living through in California, where one day bleeds into another, I’d almost forgotten about Cesar Chavez Day.  Here’s a piece I wrote about the holiday in 2018, recycled, augmented, and reedited, with a few distressing … Continue reading

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Cesar Chavez Day, 2018

(recycled, augmented, and reedited) Less than a week after Edna Chavez, the charismatic seventeen year old high schooler from South Los Angeles, electrified a national crowd with a demand to end gun violence, Californians celebrate the legacy of another Chavez. … Continue reading

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Greensboro lunch counter sit in anniversary, 2018

It’s the anniversary of the start of the sit-in campaign in Greensboro, North Carolina. I’m always moved and encouraged by the audacity of those young men.    There was once a store called Woolworths.  It sold dry goods, mostly cheap … Continue reading

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A day without…. a note on strikes

Today organizers of the Women’s March are staging a strike….of sorts. The fundamental logic of a strike is coercive. People refuse to do what’s expected of them (e.g., work, take public transit, pay taxes), forcing those dependent on cooperation or … Continue reading

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Lunch counter sit-ins anniversary

It’s the anniversary of the start of the sit-in campaign in Greensboro, North Carolina. I’m always moved and encouraged by the audacity of those young men.    There was once a store called Woolworths.  It sold dry goods, mostly cheap … Continue reading

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Labor Day 2016

For Labor Day Weekend, here’s a reminder about the history of this commemoration in America (reposted from 2011–with a postscript about new labor efforts). Successful politicians exploit, buy off, and sell out the movements that sometimes buoy their campaigns.  This … Continue reading

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