Labor, Latinos, Locals, and Lawyers Stand Up for Liberty on May Day
Next Up: No Kings Day, June 14. A pushback against Trump’s birthday military parade
A union-led march from UCSD’s Hillcrest hospital to Balboa Park drew the largest crowd and was the most covered of MayDay 2025 protests in San Diego. Twenty unions were represented, two of which (AFSCME and UPTE, representing workers at the University of California) had members walk off the job for the day.
Rallies took place in hundreds of cities and towns across the United States in what the May Day Strong coalition, which led the day of action along with the 50501 movement Indivisible, and others, called "a demand for a country that invests in working families—not billionaire profits."
Sen. Bernie Sanders addressed a largely union crowd numbering in the thousands in Philadelphia. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez spoke to a massive crowd in NYC. In Chicago, the May Day event included a celebration of the “transformative” contract negotiated by the Chicago Teachers Union.
A march in downtown Los Angeles had the feel of a celebration with bands playing and flags waving, according to the Associated Press, featuring signs saying “Immigrants make America great,” “Migration is beautiful” and “It’s not the time to be silent.”
In front of the White House, demonstrators heard Jennifer Vasquez Sura, the wife of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, call on the Trump administration to “stop playing political games with my husband’s life.” She said it has been 50 days since Abrego Garcia was “thrown away to die in one of the most dangerous prisons in El Salvador with no due process because of an error.”
An article in the New York Times on Thursday revealed that the people deported to Central America were not even mostly convicted criminals as promised by the US.
There were rallies worldwide, including gatherings in France, Germany, Spain, Taiwan, Manila, Jakarta, and Turkey, all inclusive of elements relating to Trump administration policies.
The San Diego labor events were especially colorful as unions dressed in matching color tees with signs met up on the west side of Balboa Park. Participants were fed pizzas sourced at Costco, and a streetside flavored ice operator had a line of waiting customers.
A late in the day rally and march starting in Chicano Park focused on the plight of undocumented workers, attracting hundreds. The San Diego Union-Tribune featured a photo essay of both the labor march and the Barrio Logan rallies.
Another late day San Diego rally, organized by Amnesty International, drew dozens to Waterfront Park for music and speakers.
There were a half-dozen plus localized MayDay rallies in Carlsbad, San Marcos, El Cajon, and El Centro, all part of a nationwide protest against the actions and policies of the Trump administration.
At City College, students walked out of classes to attend a “SpeakOut,” organized by M.E.Ch.A, Students for Justice in Palestine, and Students for Housing Justice. Flyers for the event highlighted issues of trans rights, affordable housing and deportation.
The National Education Association sponsored pickets at Lincoln High School and Mountain View School themed around the slogan “We Can’t Wait” advocating for Fully Staffed, Stable, and Inclusive Schools.
At the Federal Courthouse jury assembly room, more than 200 lawyers and judges gathered to restate the oath they took upon receiving their law license, pledging support for the national and state constitutions. This local event was part of a National Law Day of Action that included more than 50 events from coast-to-coast in response to recent government actions designed to harass, restrict, or prohibit their ability to represent clients.
Additional May Day protest events are scheduled for Saturday, May 3rd in Temecula, Rancho Bernardo and Oceanside in addition to the Unite for Climate March scheduled to begin at 11am, starting in Waterfront Park.
Information on the June 14, No Kings Event is available at this link, although many of the details have yet to be announced. June 14 is President Trump’s birthday, and in the style of petty autocrats throughout history, he has ordered a military parade to celebrate the event.
Via the Associated Press:
Detailed Army plans for a potential military parade on President Donald Trump’s birthday in June call for more than 6,600 soldiers, at least 150 vehicles, 50 helicopters, seven bands and possibly a couple thousand civilians, The Associated Press has learned.
The planning documents, obtained by the AP, are dated April 29 and 30 and have not been publicly released. They represent the Army’s most recent blueprint for its long-planned 250th anniversary festival on the National Mall and the newly added element — a large military parade that Trump has long wanted but is still being discussed.
The Army anniversary just happens to coincide with Trump’s 79th birthday on June 14.
I can’t think of a more appropriate time for the next big protests.
Americans Really Dislike Trump. But They’re About to Truly Hate Him by Jason Linkins at The New Republic
Ames told the Idaho Statesman that his company was set to have a banner year. “We had just hired more people, and we were forecasting a really good year, even with the initial Trump tariffs,” he said. Now, however, he’s facing a massive hike in the amount of import taxes he’ll have to pay, from $26,000 to $346,000. With no domestic manufacturer capable of supplying the same goods, and knowing that even modest price hikes could crater sales, Ames is suddenly facing a situation where he may have to lay off employees.
Ames has garnered a lot of attention for sharing his experiences on social media, taking his audience behind the curtain to reveal what small-business owners have to expect as the summer of scarcity begins. Over at The New York Times, where they’ve been doing a long-running bit where Frank Luntz interviews the 14 dumbest voters in America, this fissure recently emerged: Meagan, the focus group’s lone small-business owner, told Luntz that the tariffs were a “very, very scary thing” and that she was, as a result, in “crisis mode.” If reality has started to penetrate Luntz’s Delulu Conclave, we’re all in for a world of hurt.
And that’s probably the most dreadful reckoning, as we mark the 100th day of Trump’s second term. Trump’s collapse in public opinion polling—along with the fact that he’s not likely to reverse many of his worst decisions or repair the things he’s broken—has probably set his presidency on the road to ruin. But if Trump has truly sown the seeds of his own undoing, it will be ordinary Americans who reap the proceeds of that dire harvest first, in the form of lost livelihoods and scuppered wealth. It’s going to be a rough summer—and many seasons thereafter, until one day we finally hit the nadir of Trumpian despair.
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May 1, 2025 by Heather Cox Richardson at Letters from an American:
In his recent interview with Trump, Terry Moran of ABC News revealed that Trump has a problem with a disconnect between his actions and the country’s principles. Trump had a copy of the Declaration of Independence installed in the Oval Office, and Moran asked the president what it means to him. Trump’s answer made it clear he has never read the document. “Well, it means exactly what it says,” he answered. “It's a declaration, it’s a declaration of unity, and love and respect and it means a lot. And it's something very special to, to our country.”
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Mark Zuckerberg's Phantom-Friend-Future by Dave Karpf at The Future, Now and Then
It’s like Mark Zuckerberg heard about Zombie Internet Theory and decided it was a feature, not a bug.
“The average American,” Zuckerberg says, “has fewer than three friends, fewer than three people they would consider friends. And the average person has demand for meaningfully more. I think it's something like 15 friends or something.”
Zuck thinks AI should fill this demand. The future isn’t the Metaverse anymore. The future is Meta’s phantom AIs that will pal around with you and slake your thirst for social interactions.
