May Day 2025: Nonviolent Protests Sweep Across the U.S.
Siby K. Joseph
May Day Nonviolent Protests in US . On May 1 2025 America witnessed large scale protests in its various States. This was one of the largest mobilisations after the hands-off movement which happened across all 50 states, U.S. territories, and a dozen locations globally. The May Day protests across the US, with thousands of people attending in cities like Los Angeles, New York City, Denver, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. was organised by the 50501 movement. The strength of the movement is that it is a highly decentralized one and built upon voluntarism without any budget, centralized structure, or official backing.
The home webpage of the movement https://www.fiftyfifty.one/ (50 protests,50 states, 1 movement) calls upon people to join them in their fight to uphold the Constitution and end executive overreach. It underscores that it is a peaceful movement and violence of any kind will not be tolerated. It says that “We are a volunteer team of non-professional organizers working since day one to empower and amplify this grassroots movement.” On February 5th, 50501 raised their voices against the anti-democratic and illegal actions of the Trump administration and its plutocratic allies over 80 peaceful protests in all 50 states. Since then, the protests have organically grown over successive days of action which took place on February 17th, March 4th, April 5th and April 19th. The May 1st protest was the continuation of earlier ones. The movement has been successful in mobilizing millions of people and brought together a growing network of organizers and organizations, both new and established ones. Their three key commitments are inclusivity, non-violence and peaceful conflict resolution within states and organizations through dialogue, collaboration, and mutual understanding. What is heartening to note that in some places it is supported by academics and activists who believe in Gandhian tradition of satyagraha for nonviolent social change. It was shared by them in various peace groups and social media platforms. It is pertinent to note that the protest is continuing.
The Mayday strong network continues the protest. The website https://maydaystrong.org/ says that protests continue on May 2 and 3 with 250+ events across America and they have big plans on May 8. “The billionaires are waging a war on working people—and on May Day, international workers’ day, hundreds of thousands of us stood together and stood strong, fighting for public schools over private profits, healthcare over hedge funds, shared prosperity over free market politics. Working people built this nation and we know how to take care of each other. We won’t back down—we will never stop fighting for our families and the rights and freedoms that ensure access to opportunity and a better life for all Americans. Their time is up.”
Their two assertions are :1. We need a united, pro-immigrant, anti-racist working-class politics in this country. Not only can workers and our communities stop Trump and the billionaire agenda, but we have the power to make a fair, just society. 2. We believe in democratic, grassroots, bottom up organizing led by labor and community organizations on the ground.
This May Day Protest across US and other parts of the are significant because of the broad range of issues they raise affecting the marginalised sections of the society, spontaneous nature and widespread participation across multiple locations. It indicates that a growing nonviolent movement is gathering momentum in the US and other parts of the globe. These nonviolent uprising are hope for humanity in the creation of a just and equitable world.
About the Author
Dr. Siby K. Joseph is a Gandhian Scholar promoting peace and nonviolence through various academic programmes with participation of people on a global scale.
