May Day
Washington DC: Students & Youth for a People's Peace [1971], 1971. Poster. 57.15 c.m. x 43.18 c.m. (or 22.5" by 17"). Lithograph printed in red, black, white, and a purplish hue. The text next to the image of Sitting Bull reads: "If our people fight one tribe at a time, all will be killed. They can cut off our fingers one by one, but if we join together we will make a powerful fist. Come to Washington, D.C. May 1-7." Longreads, L.A. Kauffman, Direct Action: Protest and the Reinvention of American Radicalism (accessed 3/4/22). The May Day protests were planned by a group that called themselves the MayDay Tribe, a part of the Students & Youth for a People's Peace, an important group in the Counterculture Movement of the 1960's. The protests were intended to shut down the government from functioning, by blocking major D.C. roadways and thereby preventing government employees from coming into work. Thanks to the implemention of pseudo-martial law, military and police force members arrested 12,000 of the protestors, the largest mass arrest in American history. According to Kaufmann: "As one protester noted, “Anyone and everyone who looked at all freaky was scooped up off the street"". The tactical handbook that the activists were to use fell into the hands of the government, and the protestors ultimately did not accomplish their goal of shutting down the government for a day. However, they began a tradition of May Day as a day for activism. Historians cite this protest as not only the last major protest against the Vietnam war, but as highly influential in bringing the Vietnam war to a close. Some of the student group's ideas were incorporated into the Paris Peace Accords. This is a visually striking example of mid-century activism and protest, from an event that would shape non-violent organization and cooperation for decades to come. Very near Fine. Item #000012843
Price: $250.00