Tomorrow is Earth Day.  We celebrate and advocate for this beautiful, diverse planet that is our shared home, as well as all the water protectors and land defenders and grassroots change-makers that stand together against those who want to ravage it for short-sighted profit.

Nine days after Earth Day is “May Day,” an even more important holiday that is too often ignored in the United States (JTA wrote about the inspiring histories of both of these holidays last year).  May Day is multifaceted.  It is a time to honor our Mother Earth and the ecosystems that give us life; the workers whose labor transforms the raw wealth around us into products and services that we use and enjoy; and the immigrant communities who are a crucial pillar holding up the USAmerican economic system.

May Day, or International Workers’ Day, is observed by spirited marches and rallies for labor and immigrant rights.  This year will see a big upsurge in the “Day Without Immigrants” protests and boycotts, in response to the unjust oppressive tactics of the tyrants currently in power.  An impromptu nationwide strike already made a big splash in February 2025, building momentum for bigger-than-ever actions on May 1st. As usual, Chicago is set to have the largest events, with a full week of action.  Please look into plans for your local area, take a day off work and join us in the streets!

May Day march in Chicago, 2017.  Photo credit: Christine Geovanis [wikimedia commons]

The “Great American Boycott” happened on May 1, 2006, in resistance to draconian anti-immigrant legislation proposed during the George W. Bush administration.  It was a nationwide day of action, with millions of people participating in more than 200 cities.  With immigrants working essential jobs in so many economic sectors, these mobilizations were probably the closest to a “general strike” that the United States has seen in living memory, and the disruption was felt widely.

I was in New Orleans at that time, engaged in disaster relief efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, which had devastated the city 8 months earlier.  I was working with an emergent group called Common Ground Collective, a unique combination of the holistic, transformative vision of Black Panther elders and the volunteer organizing skills of young activists recently inspired by the global justice movement. They joined forces to initiate grassroots programs of survivor-directed mutual aid, meeting people’s immediate needs while also building community power and resiliency for the long haul.

Even a year after the storm waters had receded, the population of New Orleans was less than half the pre-storm total, because so many people’s homes had been destroyed and they did not have the means or the support to return and rebuild.  The government did little to help those most harmed, big charity organizations like the Red Cross were ineffectual, and white supremacists on the streets and in the statehouse were actively discouraging families of color from returning.  In the areas inundated by toxic flood water, environmental injustice was starkly visible at every turn.  In New Orleans, disparities due to race and wealth have been inscribed upon the topography.  The rich white neighborhoods are upstream on the highest ground, and the poorest communities of color are in the low-lying areas, which flood frequently and constantly harm residents’ health and wealth with poisons like sewage, petrochemicals, and lead.  The total devastation caused by broken levees was seen by some as an opportunity to “clean out” these areas by redeveloping and gentrifying them.

Most of the work of the Common Ground Collective was mobilizing volunteers to “muck-and-gut” mold out of flooded homes, thereby allowing residents to begin rebuilding.  The hardest-hit neighborhoods, like the Lower Ninth Ward, would have been completely razed if not for this presence. Photo credit: Peter Lerman [wikimedia commons]

In the months immediately following the storm, thousands of migrant workers were imported on H2B visas, primarily to fill the roles of roof tarping, repairs, and clean-up, as well as low-wage jobs in the huge hospitality industry (line cooks, hotel room service, laundry, etc).  In effect, companies were laying off local Black workers and replacing them with non-citizen Latinos.  Job losses made it even harder for many families to return, and the upshot of this exploitative tactic was not only increased profit margins but also the side effect of racialized “divide and conquer,” colonialism’s go-to strategy to short-circuit rebellion born of anger.  But the offenses went far beyond these everyday injustices.  I personally heard countless stories of workers enduring long hard days while housed in moldy tents, then fleeing the city after weeks of unpaid labor.  Whether life-long residents or recent arrivals, they all were afraid to complain because employers had made vague threats of lynch mobs or very explicit threats of deportation.

By May 1st, the city was filled with a simmering rage, which could be felt even more than the traumatized despair.  A few thousand Latinos marched together down Rampart Street, singing and chanting, their solidarity overcoming their fear and their energetic yet peaceful presence demanding respect and compassion.  In a city half-empty, with all of the usual Mardi Gras parades cancelled, this demonstration of a large unified bloc who would no longer tolerate abuse was striking and powerful.

March and rally in New Orleans on May 1, 2006.  Photo credit: Tyler Norman

I am remembering this time a lot nowadays, because this year will mark the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.  For that reason and so many more, 2025 is a critical moment for all of us to recall our histories of struggle and come together to sing the refrain of solidarity louder than ever.

Every year at this time JTA calls for an “Earth Day to May Day” escalation of our actions disrupting business as usual and amplifying our voices demanding justice.  But this year, when we find ourselves in such a pivotal moment, we want you all to go beyond even that.

We are calling for a “Summer of Struggle” across the USA, solidarity against the storm surge of right-wing cruelty, chaos, and destruction.  There are many holidays, anniversaries, and remembrances that we can make our own.

• April 22 – Earth Day should not be given up to corporate co-optation… Let’s reclaim it for environmental justice, speak the truth and make demands for systemic change!  One novel opportunity is the “Walk-ins” organized by Educators Climate Action Network.
• April 28 – Workers’ Memorial Day is especially important to Appalachian coal miners, whose history of deadly working conditions and violent union repression must be remembered as they are currently threatened by cuts to OSHA/MSHA/NIOSH.
• May 1 – International Workers’ Day commemorates the long and ongoing struggle of labor.  Unions in the USA between 100-150 years ago were forerunners in winning recognition for human rights in general.  But it was a very hard fight against bosses holding tightly to their excess wealth and power, a period of battle against oligarchy… now, after 50 years of back-sliding, we must once again show courage in our solidarity.
• May 5 – Cinco de Mayo has been commercialized and softened as it has been adopted into the mainstream.  But historically it was a very important holiday for the radical Chicano movement, commemorating unbending resistance in spite of setbacks and challenges, and it is still celebrated as such in places like Barrio Logan in San Diego.
• May 11 – Mother’s Day was originally created as an anti-war protest.  See Julia Ward Howe’s 1870 “Mother’s Day Proclamation,” which demanded all women to strike and join a general congress to discuss paths to peace.
• May 26 – Memorial Day honors those who lost their lives in bloody wars.  We have had too many of these, at great cost and no gain to regular working people.  Economic and environmental justice movements should remake this holiday into a call for peace.
• June 19 – Juneteenth celebrates the end of the slavery regime.  And yet, too many of the legacies of this history remain in our society today.  This holiday should be a demand for real democracy and reparations.
• July 4 – Independence Day is sometimes regarded skeptically by lefty activists.  But on this day too, we can make it our own.  Remember the important visionaries of democracy who are omitted from the history books, such as the Haudenosaunee Confederacy and Thomas Paine.
• August 1 – The Baptism Day of famous union rabble-rouser Mary Harris “Mother” Jones.  She claimed May 1st as her birthday, because no one knew the actual date.  The labor movement should regard her as a saint and make this a day to “Pray for the dead and fight like hell for the living!”
• August 29 – This sad day will mark the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.  It will be a very hard moment for folks in New Orleans and the region.  We must send them our love, energy, and solidarity.  We can honor those who have helped their communities to recover by contributing to mutual aid organizations.
• September 1 – Labor Day presents yet another opportunity to push our society in a better direction.  Public approval of unions is at an all-time high, yet overall union membership continues to fall.  The unions of old were led by radicals who wanted to make their workplaces more democratic, and thereby to change the entire social contract.  We must return to this vision of the labor movement as the leading edge of improvements in dignity and prosperity for all.

Additionally, important gatherings of the UN provide opportunities to make our voices heard and change the conversation within the halls of power.  JTA will be in attendance at all of these events, and we encourage you all to engage in solidarity actions around these times.  In June, there is a UN Climate Conference in Bonn, Germany.  In August the next phase of the Global Plastics Treaty process will take place in Geneva, Switzerland.  In September, the UN General Assembly begins meeting in New York City, which also hosts “Climate Week.”

All of these events, and more, will be building momentum toward a climate conference that many see as our best chance to reorient international policies and programs in an effective direction, “COP 30” in Belem, Brazil.  We must escalate our ambitions and boost up our energy throughout this year; we must unify our movements, ready to fight harder than ever.  This moment is pivotal.  Crisis contains opportunity, and whenever old systems crash down under their contradictions, new paradigms arise to take their place.  In the face of fear and violence, become vivacious and creative, rejoicing in our grassroots power and refusing to let antisocial elites steal it from us.

In this “Summer of Struggle,” our celebrations will rumble with a sharper, deeper, yet still joyous cacophony.  Remember Mother Jones and all the other saints of our movements; remember the lives lost in the pursuit of a better world; and, as you honor progressives of the past with these traditions, think also of how we will be remembered… and make our descendants proud.

Mother Jones is buried “with her boys” in the Union Miners Cemetery in Mt. Olive, Illinois.  This beautiful memorial is a pilgrimage site for union organizers, who leave flowers and informational pamphlets.  Photo credit: Tyler Norman