Apopka, FL – On Wednesday, May 1, more than 150 immigrant workers, community members and youth rallied at Kit Land Nelson Park in Apopka for International Workers Day, commonly known as May Day. The central demands of the protest included immigration reform, heat protection for workers, and drivers licenses for all. The event was organized by the Farmworker Association of Florida (FWAF).

Chants of “¡Aquí, allá, el pueblo vencerá!” and “¡Si se puede!” echoed through the evening streets of Apopka.

Chicago, IL – On May 3, the Coalition to March on the Democratic National Convention held a rally and march to celebrate International Workers Day. The 400 attendees heeded the call from the coalition to come stand with Palestine for May Day and vowed to show up again to protest against the Democratic National Convention (DNC) when the convention comes to Chicago August 19 through 22.

New Orleans, LA – On May 1, immigrants and workers celebrated International Workers Day with a fiery march on New Orleans City Hall. They were led by the banners of Unión Migrante, an immigrant rights organization that hosts the annual May Day march to uplift the struggle of undocumented workers. They waved signs and beat drums while marching during busy downtown rush-hour traffic, loudly chanting in support of worker power.

Milwaukee, WI – May 2 marks the fourth day since students, faculty and community supporters flocked to Mitchell Lawn at UW-Milwaukee on April 29 after a massive rally and march. The end of the march saw the rapid assembly of tents and the official launch of an encampment for Palestine, bringing Milwaukee into the national movement sparked by the actions of heroic students at Columbia University and Cal Poly Humboldt.

Grand Rapids, MI – Spirits were high on Tuesday, April 30, as attendees celebrated International Workers Day with food, music and discussion. The Freedom Road Socialist Organization held a potluck to commemorate the Haymarket Affair, support Palestine and talk about the conditions and political situation around the country.

Dallas, TX – About 70 people came together in Lake Cliff Park, April 28, for the annual May Day celebration. Rank-and-file members of several unions participated in the event.

Irvine, CA – On Monday, April 29, a gathering of about 70 students and faculty swelled to over 200 people to demand that the University of California, Irvine (UCI) divest completely from Israel.

Something big is happening. From Columbia University to UCLA and points in between, the student movement that stands with Palestine has been erecting encampments on campuses. The results have been powerful. The demand for universities and colleges to divest from, and break all ties with, Israeli apartheid serves to weaken the apartheid regime.

In a radical act of solidarity with the Palestinian people, university students across the country have escalated the struggles on their campuses with the campus encampment movement. At Emory University in Atlanta, students, faculty and community members created one such encampment demanding for the immediate and total divestment from the Israeli apartheid state. The Atlanta Police Department and Georgia State Patrol were called to the encampment by the Emory administration where they brutalized, beat and arrested dozens of protesters.

Baton Rouge, LA – On April 22, over 50 students and community organizers rallied on the steps of the Louisiana State Capitol demanding an end to the GOP’s reactionary agenda. The protesters then took to the streets and marched to Governor Jeff Landry’s mansion for a rally. This action served to unite the people against the Republicans and bring the people to the march on the Republican National Convention this summer in Milwaukee.

Minneapolis, MN – On Sunday, April 21, a march of approximately 300 people from the Twin Cities metro area marched, blocking traffic for Earth Day.

The Climate Justice Committee (CJC) and Anti-War Committee (AWC) led the march. It drew attendees from the nearby Little Earth indigenous-preference housing complex, the surrounding East Phillips neighborhood, and Camp Nenookaasi, an encampment of the unhoused which has been forced by the city of Minneapolis to move many times.

On March 27, 2024, in a blatant violation of free speech, Meta removed the Freedom Road Socialist Organization’s national Facebook page and restricted the national FRSO Instagram account. Meta’s actions are a direct attempt to silence FRSO’s vocal support of the Palestinian cause in general and of Palestinian women in particular.

Milwaukee, WI – On Sunday, April 14, the Milwaukee Anti-war Committee (MAC) marched from Walker Square to Ivy House in the Walker’s Point neighborhood of Milwaukee, where local congressional Representative Gwen Moore was holding her birthday party.

The spirited crowd of about 100 supporters joined the emergency action and marched toward the Ivy House, chanting “Hands off Iran!” and “Free free Palestine!” the whole way over. Meanwhile, two MAC members mingled inside Moore’s birthday dinner. Despite the birthday party costing a pricey $100 per person to attend, serving as a fundraiser for Representative Moore, the two MAC members had secured complimentary tickets and sat patiently.

Los Angeles, CA – In response to the U.S. threatening war with Iran and other Arab countries that launched retaliatory air attacks against Israel, hundreds of protesters took to the streets of Los Angeles on April 15. Organized by local Palestinian groups including U.S. Palestinian Community Network (USPCN), the protest’s goal was to demonstrate solidarity with Palestine and Iran as well as demand the end of genocide in Gaza by shutting down LA’s Financial District.

Tallahassee FL – On Wednesday, April 10 people held a press conference outside City Hall and rallied the community in defense of Calvin Riley – a Black man jailed for DUI despite body camera footage showing Tallahassee Police Department officer Kiersten Oliver planting evidence in his vehicle.

New Orleans, LA – On Tuesday, April 9, around 100 community members filed into the gymnasium of the Treme Recreational Center for a People’s Town Hall on Policing. The town hall meeting, hosted by New Orleans for Community Oversight of the Police (NOCOP), interviewed New Orleans Police Department Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick. The superintendent is the local equivalent of a chief of police. Community members spent the town hall voicing their anger with police crimes, abuses of power, civil rights violations, and lack of transparency.

Chicago, IL – More than 450 people representing 75 organizations gathered in Chicago, April 13, to plan a massive march at the Democratic National Convention, which will stand with Palestine and promote a people’s agenda.

Kobi Guillory of the National Alliance Against Racist and Pollical Repression told conference participants, “We will counterprotest the DNC starting on August 19 to demand an immediate end to the U.S.-backed Israeli genocide, and that no more of our tax dollars are used to fund the massacres of Palestinians.” Guillory also talked about the fight to get permits for a large-family friendly protest, but said that organizers were going to march to within sight and sound of the convention, permits or not.

The U.S. and its proxy Israel are provoking a wider war in the Middle East. For the past 6 months, the U.S. has been assisting Israel in the Gaza genocide. Israel and the U.S. have launched repeated attacks on Lebanon, Yemen, Syria, and Iraq. Iran is now responding to the deadly Israeli airstrikes on its diplomatic mission in Syria. The possibility of a wider war is here. A response by our movement is needed. All of us who stand with Palestine and oppose the genocide, who insist on peace with justice, need to be ready to hit the streets. We need to add “Hands off Iran!” to our list of demands.

Los Angeles, CA – On April 11, the family of Christian Escobedo continued their fight for justice as they pursue accountability for his tragic murder on January 14, 2018 by LAPD Officer Edward Artiaga from the Hollenbeck Division.

Six years after Escobedo’s murder, there are court hearings for his family’s civil lawsuit against Officer Artiaga, a display of the unwavering determination of his loved ones.

In 2018, Escobedo, a 22-year-old Chicano, was walking home at 6:30 a.m. with a friend when they stopped to rest on the sidewalk for a moment. LAPD arrived and shot him four times without provocation. With the support of Centro CSO, a community organization that fights against police crimes in East LA and Boyle Heights, Escobedo's family began organizing to demand accountability.

The Freedom Road Socialist Organization calls on working and oppressed peoples to celebrate May 1st, International Workers Day.

On this May Day, we will show that the revolutionary spirit of the working class is alive and well in 2024. Unions are waging fierce battles and reviving the strike. Chicanos and Latinos are mobilizing and steeling themselves against escalated militarization at the U.S.-Mexico border. The people of Palestine are shaking off the chains of U.S. imperialism and leading a heroic resistance that will set their people free. Revolution is in the air, and the masses of workers and oppressed peoples are on the move.