A brief and somewhat incomplete history:
May 1st is a day for celebration, solidarity, and comradeship in the spirit of resistance. May 1st, being the real international Labor Day, began in the U.S. in 1886 when a nation wide strike was declared by the labor movement to achieve an 8-hour workday. The strikes were met with continuous police violence in which many striking workers were injured and killed. In a gathering of radicals and anarchists in Haymarket Square to protest the attack and murder of striking workers, a bomb exploded killing a police officer. Though no evidence was found, eight members of the labor movement were rounded up and charged for the crime: Albert Parsons, August Spies, Adolph Fischer, Louis Lingg, George Engel, Oscar Neebe, Samuel Fielden and Michael Schwab. Four were put to death by the state, one committed suicide while in custody, and the remaining three were later pardoned. In 1889 May 1st was declared the international workers holiday in commemoration of the Haymarket Martyrs. As the noose was placed around his neck, August Spies shouted: "There will be a time when our silence will be more powerful than the voices you strangle today." Through May Day they live in all of us.


Join us Thursday, May 1st to celebrate May Day and to continue in the spirit of struggle against capitalism and all its exploits worldwide.

WHAT:
A cook out and gathering in celebration of May Day
TIME:
4pm till dark
PLACE:
Glen Woods on the campus of Towson University (Located behind the new parking garage)

· Entertainment by local musicians, poets, and artists
· Games and activities including piñata fun with George Bush and friends
· Vegetarian and Vegan food, please bring a dish to share
· All are welcome so long as you bring your good spirits

Brought to you by Give A Shit! (the group formerly known as the Towson Anti-War Coalition) and members of the Goucher Peace and Justice League.

Directions from Baltimore:
Take 83 North to 695. Take the Charles Street exit, merge right onto Charles Street southbound. Go about 2 1/2 miles and make a left onto TowsonTown Blvd. Come to your first light and make a right onto Osler Drive. Come to your second light and make a left onto Cross Campus Drive.

or

Take Charles Street north from the city. Turn right onto TowsonTown Blvd. Come to your first light and make a right onto Osler Drive. Come to your second light and make a left onto Cross Campus Drive.

The picnic will be in the woods located behind the new parking garage on Cross Campus Drive. The area can be reached from many directions including a path that enters the woods by the towers dorms, a path that enters the woods behind Smith Hall, and a path that enters the woods along the walkway behind the new parking garage.

A parking permit is required to park in the parking garages. Free parking can be found down Aigburth road by parking along the street. To get to Aigburth road from the above directions continue onto Cross Campus Drive and make a left onto York road. At the first light make a right onto Aigburth. A day parking pass can be bought for $4. If anyone contacts us at tawc-AT-towsonantiwar.org we can buy one for you in advance. You can park in the parking garages and risk getting a ticket, it is up to you.

The college town network bus stops at Towson University on a regular basis and offers a free form of transportation. One needs a college ID to ride the bus, but they don't always ask for it nor do I think they are that strict.

Please come, it will be fun!