May Day March, thousands of protesters gathered for immigration reform. Photo by Libby Freeman
About 60,000 people attended the United for Immigration Reform also known as the May Day March on May 1 at 10 a.m., according to the Los Angeles Times. The march began at Olympic Blvd and Broadway Ave and headed north to its ultimate stop at Los Angeles City Hall. Those who protested were voicing their rejection of the newly implemented law in Arizona SB 1070 which, according to the New York Times, “would make the failure to carry immigration documents a crime and give police broad power to detain anyone suspect of being in the country legally.”
A yellow flatbed truck served as the starting point of the march on Olympic and Broadway with songs from the band Los Tigres del Norte playing from speakers on the truck depicting songs about Latino immigrants and their struggles to a predominantly Latino crowd.
A coalition of various organizations spoke on this first stage and ending stage in front of First St. and Broadway, such as members from KIWA, the Korean Immigrant Workers Alliance, CHIRLA (Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles) , LIUNA (Laborers International Union of North America), and Reform Immigration for America. Also, Cuban American singer Gloria Estefan with her husband music producer Emilio Estefan provided the first speech which officially initiated the march. Mexican actors Damian Bichir and Kate Del Castillo also attended. Bichir compared the lack of active reform to Japanese samuri suicide. “Harakiri is a Japanese expression when the old samuri used to kill themselves” by sticking a blade in themselves, he said. “So when the government does exactly the opposite that is good for everyone they are practicing harakiri.”
Archbishop of Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony also addressed the large crowd. Though an overwhelming amount of those marching were Latino, seeing as the majority of immigrants who are undocumented in California are Latino, the Asian community was also represented. The Korean Resource Center came in traditional costume along with instruments and banners, providing music. Also, a large and vibrant colored lion from with the Chinatown Cultural Kung Fu and Lion Dance Troupe danced through the streets.
An energetic young man named David Cho, 21, commended the stage as well. A student of UCLA, Cho spoke for those who are struggling without documentation. ““This is my third year at UCLA and I am the first undocumented student to become a drum major. Things are limiting me from doing the things that I want to do that a U.S. citizen can do. I want to serve in the Airforce after graduation and I want to attend Harvard Kennedy School of Government. I ultimately want to become a US senator because I want to make changes in this country. Mr. President, you said that change in this country comes not from the top down but from the bottom up. So I’m here to ask that you give us a chance and that you give us an opportunity to contribute back to this nation. We will continue to mobilize, organize, and we will not give up.”
Cho also spoke about his experience a representative of the undocumented Korean community. “They are scared and shy and they’re afraid. I’m here to speak on behalf of them. This is not only a Latino issue but it’s affecting thousands of Asian Americans as well.”
Brigette Lugo
Staff Writer
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I will tell you what I have seen these last few days I saw our beloved Stars and Stripes flag, the flag from Mexico and some flags from other countries. I saw children, parents and grand parents together in solidarity, my people the working class, they may not be sophisticated but they got the message heard. From publish reports the demonstrations included both US citizens and undocumented workers. This brought me a smile because I always enjoy seeing brothers helping brothers.
This reminds me of a parable from the good book where a Levite and Priest come upon a man who fell among thieves and they both individually passed by and didn’t stop to help him. Finally a man of another race came by, he got down from his beast, decided not to be compassionate by proxy and got down with the injured man, administered first aid, and helped the man in need. Jesus ended up saying, this was the good man, this was the great man, because he had the capacity to project the “I” into the “thou,” and to be concerned about his brother.
You see, the Levite and the Priest were afraid, they asked themselves, “If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?”
But then the Good Samaritan came by. And he reversed the question: “If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?”
As I see it, we should stand-up against a law is passed in anger and is against our Constitution/ Bill of Rights/ Declaration of Independence and is targets a specific group.
God bless all my brothers and sister that stood side by side with our brothers and sisters in need. When our judgment comes I know God will not discriminate by country of origin as men do.