What Does May Day Mean to You?

Dozens of separate protests on issues ranging from workers' rights to immigration policy will converge on Downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday as part of international May Day celebrations.

Observed in nations across the globe, May Day began in the 19th Century as workers engaged in general strikes in effort to achieve a mandated eight-hour work day, among other work place safety provisions.

Recently, May Day has come to be seen as a day of general protest, with issues other than workers rights taking the forefront. Since 2006, when protestors took to the streets to rally against H.R. 4437, which would have imposed stricter penalites on undocumented immigrants and those who provide aid to them, May Day protests in Los Angeles have focused on immigration reform.

Among those planning to take to the streets on Tuesday is 19-year-old Highland Park resident Irving Grey, who plans to take part in rallies both at Pasadena City College and in Downtown Los Angeles.

Grey is the son of undocumented immigrants who came to the country from Mexico before he was born in order to find work. His entire life, he said, he's witnessed the impact of what he considers ineffective immigration policy on his family.

His father was deported six-years-ago after being arrested for a misdemeanor, the same happened to both of his uncles. He's also witnessed the struggle of his 24-year-old sister, who was born in Mexico and remains undocumented, to earn a college degree without access to state or federal funding loans.

"My sister is undocumented. She was born in Mexico and came here with my parents. It's really had for her to go to college, hard to get aid. I see myself in her and we're both the same. We both consider America home. But, just because she wasn't born here, she doesn't get the privileges I do."

An alumnus of Luther Burbank Middle School and Bravo Magnet High School,  Grey now attends classes at East Los Angeles College. He hopes to get a degree in Latino/Latina studies with a minor in math, and eventually become a high school teacher.

He said he first became aware of the significance of May Day this year, while a freshman at ELAC.

"To be honest, it's kind of weird, all through high school I never heard of May Day--they never tried to put it out there," he said. "When I got to college, I started to learn about history from a workers' perspective. To me, it's a significant day."

Do you consider "May Day" a significant day? Will you be participating in any demonstrations or protests today?