May Day Dismay

To the Editors of the Crimson:

I was dismayed to open my Crimson this morning and see no editorial mention made of May Day, the international revolutionary holiday. Some years ago, as I recall, The Crimson made a practice of describing the history of May Day and commenting upon the current status of the worldwide movement for revolutionary change.

Paradoxically, May Day is not officially celebrated in the United States, although it originated here. Anarchist workers in Chicago spearheaded a drive in 1886 for the eight-hour working day, an effort met by police violence and official repression. Five of the anarchists were unjustly hanged.

Working class movements and Europe adopted the day as a symbol of international hope and solidarity. The holiday has since spread over much of the world, even though the calculated effort to replace it with "Labor Day" succeeded in the United States.

This year, May Day has particular significance for our brothers and sisters in southern Africa. We should pause for a moment and think of Nelson Mandela, the black South African leader, sitting in his jail cell, in the 15th consecutive year of his imprisonment, and of the all-too-many people who are jailed with him.

We should think of our allies, the guerrilas fighting in Zimbabwe, as they pit their courage against the over-whelming superior armed might of the illegal Ian Smith regime. And the people of now-independent Mozambique, amid their own struggle against poverty and exploitation, who closed their border to Rhodesian goods in solidarity with the guerrillas--an action that hurt their own economy.

Harvard students should be proud of themselves for exhibiting the highest form of brotherhood and sisterhood with southern Africans during the demonstrations and marches in the past week. Black people there will surely find out about the actions here, one way or another, and the knowledge will give them renewed strength to continue their stuggle.

Almost without realizing it, Harvard students celebrated May Day this year with courage and determination. I'm sorry The Crimson did not take notice of this fact. Dan Swanson '74   Former President, The Harvard Crimson