On Friday, people across the US marked May Day by taking to the streets to advocate for workers’ rights, peace and democracy.
In thousands of cities and towns across the country, people walked out of their jobs and classrooms to participate in a general strike for International Workers Day. As the annual gatherings grow in number in the US, so do the issues being represented, which now extend far beyond workers’ rights.
At Friday’s gatherings, people held signs urging for funding for healthcare and education, and some carried Palestinian, and Pride flags.
“May Day has long been a day of resistance. This year, the call for action carries particular urgency for Arab American and Muslim American communities across the globe,” Mirvette Judeh, Los Angeles-based chair of the Arab American Caucus of California, told The New Arab.
“At the end of the day, we’re all connected,” she said. “We’re living in a climate of fear here, there’s an unconstitutional war in Iran, and we’re in a recession.”
May Day is traditionally observed around the world as a national holiday to advocate for workers’ rights, though it is not officially observed in the US, where it has its origins in the Chicago labour movement.
It is nevertheless increasingly gaining ground across the country, as Americans grow frustrated over high prices, wars, funding cuts to social services, and what many see as an existential threat to democracy under US President Donald Trump.
Joaquin Ridgell, a teacher in San Francisco, said he felt compelled to demonstrate over multiple issues, the most important being the state of American democracy.
“Honestly, I feel like this is our last shot to stop America from becoming some kind of… you know, the stuff we read about,” he told The New Arab.
“So many people are still down for Trump, even though one of the things he promised was no more wars. And now we’re getting wars. I don’t know what kind of mental gymnastics people are doing to still think he’s their guy,” he said.
Eddie Escoto, a university student originally from Miami, told The New Arab that he remembers his childhood in the 1980s when the US was involved in conflicts in the Middle East, something he didn’t expect to see again in his lifetime.
“I remember being incredibly impacted,” he said. “If someone would have told me at seven years old that I’d be 42 now and still seeing the same war and the same starvation of the same children, I wouldn’t have believed it.”
“It is deplorable and totally unacceptable that this country used to be supposedly the beacon of democracy is now so degenerated. I think the United States is going down for this. They’re losing their soft power,” he continued.
May Day, or International Workers’ Day, was sparked by the 1886 Haymarket riot and subsequent general strike in Chicago. It is credited for employee safety reforms and the eight-hour workday.
The annual commemoration gained major traction in the US in 2006 with the Day Without an Immigrant (also called the Great American Boycott), when millions of immigrant workers, mainly from Latin America, went on strike.
Over the past several years, Arabs and pro-Palestinian activists have become increasingly involved in May Day demonstrations, as major labour unions have become more vocal in their support for Palestinian human rights.
“It’s growing. What this means is that we have collective power,” said Judeh. “It makes you feel like you’re not alone.”
