| Editor’s Note From Rivera Sun May Day is the International Labor Day and people across the world took action. In addition to labor justice and immigrant rights, protesters also opposed far right policies (Germany), authoritarian crackdowns (Turkey), power outages (Spain), and fascism and war (Switzerland). People in France, Spain, the Philippines, and Taiwan also opposed the ‘Trumpization‘ of global politics. For once, the United States also made international news on May Day by mobilizing hundreds of thousands of people to honor the Labor Day that commemorates our historic Haymarket Riot. With big marches in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia and Phoenix, and around 1300 other actions happening nationwide in honor of May Day, people showed up for immigrant rights, labor justice, economic justice, and to oppose the Trump administration’s policies. In Los Angeles, 55,000 county workers are also participating in a 2-day strike. This week, Trump ran into some legal reality checks in his attempt to round-up immigrants. Judges are reining in ICE’s use of the Alien Enemies Act and other abusive practices. Pro-Palestinian Columbia University student Mohsen Madawi has been released from detention, as has Judge Hannah Dugan after hundreds of people rallied against her arrest. ICE is backing down and reversing the termination of legal status for international students across the United States, reinstating thousands of student visas. The good news is welcome – and more is needed. A reporter flew an aerial drone over a Texas detention center to catch an image of Venezuelan detainees spelling out SOS with their bodies. A shrine was set up where Rumeysa Ozturk was snatched off the streets by ICE. Resistance to deportations continues to target not only ICE agents, but also services they require – like airplanes and prisons. Protesters are opposing Avelo Airlines with coast-to-coast demonstrations to pressure the company to stop their deportation flights to El Salvador. Protests also cropped up outside a detention center in Portland, Oregon, and against a proposed detention center in Quincy, Florida. At 100 days into his second term, the blowback to Trump’s unpopular policies is showing. Polls revealed that the majority of the country now opposes all of his major policies – and protests are unrelenting. The Courage Not Compliance march in DC unfurled a giant constitution and blocked rush hour traffic, leading to arrests. Rev. Barber and other clergy were arrested while praying in the rotunda of the US Capitol Building. People are reverse-engineering a MAGA-friendly website to use its Trump-supporting business directory to find places to boycott. Coca-Cola and Levi Strauss rejected anti-DEI proposals. Major European institutions have joined in the effort to archive and back up the United States’ scientific data on climate and other research so Trump can’t destroy it. A judge issued a preliminary injunction against Trump’s attempt to end collective bargaining rights for federal workers. A congressman filed 7 articles of impeachment against Trump, including unconstitutional acts. |
Author/Activist Rivera Sun has written many books and novels featuring nonviolence, including the bestselling Dandelion Insurrection Trilogy and the award-winning Ari Ara Series. She is a nationwide trainer in strategy for nonviolent movements and her essays are published in journals across the country and around the world. You can find out more about her at: www.riverasun.com
This article appeared in nonviolencenews on May 2, 2025.