MAYDAY-MAYDAY
Mobilizing for May
The first of May was traditionally celebrated across many ancient cultures as the transition from Spring to Summer. Revelry and festivities honored emerging from dark to light and the vibrant renewal of fertility, flowers and agriculture.
May Day, also known as International Worker’s Day or Worker’s Day since 1889 is a day commemorating the history and struggles of workers’ rights across the globe.
May Day in the United States was originally the product of the labor movement that fought for the 8-hour workday in 19th-century Chicago. As industrialism progressed, working conditions worsened to lethal extremes - and the 16 hour workday was the norm. The organization currently known as the American Federation of Labor established May 1, 1886, as the date that workers nationwide would strike for the 8-hour workday.
On this date, labor activists in Chicago began their multi-day strike. This is now referred to as the Haymarket affair of 1886. On May 3rd, the police employed brutality against the protestors and violence emerged. A meeting would take place in Haymarket Square, where more blood would be shed due to plot interference. Eventually, a bomb exploded in the conflict.
A trial was held and 8 men were found guilty, although no substantial evidence of their guilt was produced or presented. 4 of them were executed in spite of the international campaign to save them.
August Spies, one of the convicted men, cried out his renowned words prior to his execution: "There will come a time when our silence will be more powerful than the voices you strangle today."
To honor the Chicago workers, the International Socialist Conference in 1889 would transform May Day into a labor holiday, often known as International Workers' Day. The US has attempted to erase the anti-capitalist connotations of this day time and time again. President Dwight D. Eisenhower went as far as to declare May 1 "Law Day", erasing this past, and delegated Labor Day to September instead.
Florida has a dark and shameful history in regards to exploitation of enslaved individuals, forced labor of those incarcerated and child labor. Florida historically and consistently undermined unions and workers in favor of employers, corporations, institutions and the ruling class. To learn more about Florida’s despicable lack of rights and protections for workers and the direction a nonprofit organization called The Florida Timeline aims to head check out this fascinating timeline.
Florida, while notorious for being a suppression state, harbors over 500 local labor unions. You can find them here. Florida in particular utilizes prison labor and the exploitation of migrant workers as the crux of its labor supply. Check out the rest of the newsletter for highlights on this!
As unions work to intercept the genocide in Palestine and shed light on the intersection between the labor supply chain and war, check out Workers for a Free Palestine.
Angela Davis, famous socialist and activist, spoke on the Israeli boycott and how it’s integral to advancing the movement last year.
Check out Haymarket Books’ (named after May Day itself) May Day reading list!
MAY is POPPING with lots of great ways to get in COMMUNITY!
"Make Way for the Sun" the South Florida Palestine Film Festival
On Saturday and Sunday, May 24th and 25th join "Make Way for the Sun" the South Florida Palestine Film Festival honoring the rich and ongoing legacy of Palestinian film and cultural resistance, as part of the broader movement for
a liberated Palestine and a world free from imperial and colonial
violence.
For details, ticket or merch purchases click HERE.
CALL TO ACTION!!
The Internationalist Law Center (an organization that grew out of Break the Bonds-Palm Beach County is seeking donations to fund its litigation against the Comptroller of Palm Beach County for investing 700 million dollars of constituents' property taxes in Israel Bonds, a loan to the Israeli government to purchase weapons used in the Gaza genocide.
The Internationalist Law Center (ILC) is not affiliated with the JVP Break the Bonds campaign, and is an independent, grassroots organization handling this litigation on its own, so every dollar helps. The average donation the ILC is seeking is a monthly donation of $10.00 a month for ten months or a one-time donation of $100.00, but any donation no matter how big or small is welcome. Donations can be made here.
Donating to the ILC allows you to be an ILC member, which gives you access to: 1) The ILC's newsletter, 2) Exclusive trainings on campaign strategy and webinars with our movement partners in Palestine, 3) Support for campaigns you are organizing, and 4) The ILC's political education delegations to our partners in Palestine, Brazil, India, and other areas of the Global South.
Our Local Abolition Movement IS IN NEED!
CHIP is an abolitionist, grassroots organization advocating for people caged in South Florida jails. In between the countless abuses and the exploitative labor and justice system thousands of people are victim to, CHIP is here to stand strong.
The Community Hotline for Incarcerated People (CHIP) is now looking for hotline volunteers! Answer CHIP calls from people incarcerated inside Broward county jails, and help provide support where able! Volunteer from ANYWHERE, training provided.
Watch With the Defenders!
Do YOU know how Dream Defenders came to be? Join Miami Dream Defenders on Monday, May 19th to experience the screening of the HBO docuseries "Eyes on the Prize III, Episode 6: What Comes After Hope?"
This documentary captures how Dream Defenders was started after the tragic murder of Trayvon Martin, how they occupied the Florida State Capitol, and how they joined the movement fighting for the freedom of Black and brown people in our communities. JOIN US to watch our history, hear from our co-founders who were on the ground when we started, and have a discussion on how we got here and what's next in our struggle for liberation!
Understanding Zionism Course
Who is this course for?
Everyone from all contexts, backgrounds, and identities is welcome to register. Whether you’re involved in the Palestine movement or seeking to deepen your knowledge and get involved, this course is for you. If you are involved in an organization, consider sharing the course with other members and taking it together. The instructors include organizers with the Palestinian Youth Movement, the People’s Forum, and other popular educators who have been deeply embedded in the Palestinian struggle.
This course is free and open to organizers and people who stand with the Palestinian struggle across the U.S. and world. We are dedicated to making political education accessible to everyone, with all course materials available for free and to the public. As our people in Gaza continue to face the US-Israeli genocide, we encourage participants to contribute to the International Fundraiser: The People Stand With Gaza in order to strengthen the steadfastness of our people.
PALM BEACH DSA TWICE WEEKLY FOODSHARE IN NEED!
Every Thursday at 5:30 and Sunday at 1:30 (there is higher capacity on Sunday, but volunteers are needed for both)
Bryant Park amphitheater (100 S Golfview Rd) @ Lake Worth Lagoon, Lake Worth, FL 33449, USA
Palm Beach DSA hosts a food share every week at the Bryant Park amphitheater at the times listed above. They are always in need of food, supplies and volunteers.
Feel free to bring food/drinks/snacks to share with the community!
Clothing and hygiene products/kit donations are also gladly accepted and appreciated.
If you have any questions, please email us at info@palmbeachdsa.org.
COMMUNITY CALL TO ACTION!!!! Lake Worth Beach City Commissioner, Mimi May has set her sights on the organizations that come out to the vulnerable populations in Bryant Park. We need your help NOW to prevent criminalization of the organizations providing food and resources to our most marginalized members of our community.
Haitian Healing
Join Fanm Saj for a powerful two-day summit creating ecosystems of care, healing, and ancestral wisdom.
🗓️ MAY 23, 2025 6:00-8:00pm
📍 Little Haiti Cultural Center
212 NE 59th Terrace
Miami, FL 33137
🗓️ MAY 24, 2025 9:00-5:00pm
📍Miami Workers Center
745 NW 54th Street
Miami, FL 33127
This summit will empower youth and adult allies to:
• Stand firm as leaders in their own communities
• Create Safety Plans for our Communities
• Build our skills around Know Your Rights
• Develop and Practice conflict resolution skills
• Share and preserve ancestral wisdom
Rohi’s Readery
Rohi’s Liberation Station is bursting with activities to cultivate mind, body and spirit. Find your community bliss and register for an event!
Vigil For the Voiceless
The Florida Valkyries is hosting a peaceful, sunset candlelight vigil for those who lives have been impacted by the cruelty of mass deportation efforts: Fight the good fight, be a voice for the voiceless. Join uthem in Miami at sunset (and bring a candlestick if you can) They have planned a candlelight vigil at the Krome Detention Center on May 24, 2025. This event is in honor of those who have passed away in ICE custody, as well as those families that have been destroyed as a result of the mass deportation efforts that have upended so many innocent lives.
The vigil will officially begin at sunset, 8:13PM EST, and we will be on site to set up at 7:30PM.
Workers’ Power Forum
Join Miami, Palm Beach and Broward DSA along with the Coalition of Labor and Community Partners for the 2025 South Florida Workers’ Power Forum on Saturday, May 31st and get involved in building solidarity and power! Scan the QR code for details.
Trace Guiteau’s Art Exhibit Highlighting Haitian Culture
Check out the visionary artistic passion of Tracy Guiteau at Arts Warehouse in Delray Beach. To learn more about the artist check out their website.
Anti-Zionist Shabbat Potluck
Join SFJVP on Friday, May 16th for an Anti-Zionist Shabbat Potluck. Want to go?! DM on Instagram or email them at southflorida@jewishvoiceforpeace.org for location.
GLOBAL DAY OF ACTION FOR PALESTINE!
The BDS movement calls for mass mobilizations and civil disobedience on 15 May, the 77th anniversary of the Nakba to end Israel’s genocide against 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza and ongoing Nakba against the entire Indigenous people of Palestine.
Black History Learning Tree
Join 50501miami for an opportunity to learn the truth!
Saturday, May 17 | 3–5PM
FIU Green Library (Main Entrance)
The Black History Learning Tree: The 1980 Miami Riot
Bring a seat. Bring a sign. Bring the truth.
YDSA Gathering!
Interested in getting involved with YDSA? Join YDSA at FIU! Come to our General Body Meeting this Friday! We will discuss our new sanctuary campus campaign, our summer reading program, and more. GBMs are where we make democratic decisions about the direction of our chapter; join us! 🌹
Pride on the Block
Kickoff PRIDE month by joining Pride on the Block at the NEW LOCATION @ The Peach on June 7th, 2025. All details and information HERE!
Helpful Strategies to Keep Us Safe
Check out Palestine Legal if you need support, trainings, advocacy or litigation for standing in support of Palestine. They provide legal advice, Know Your Rights trainings, advocacy and litigation support to college students, grassroots activists and affected communities who stand for justice in Palestine. Palestine Legal also monitors incidents of suppression to expose trends in tactics to silence Palestine activism. Resources HERE.
To learn more about digital security for activists on the go watch this video recording. Resources from this video available here.
An anonymously created interactive map to show exactly who is benefiting from ICE contracts.
Hero’s Spotlight
If you’d like to learn more about Kiandria Damone and how you can get involved or support the movement check out her Instagram page HERE
Beats of the Month
From Community Jail Hotline to an Album of Original Music by Incarcerated Artists
On April 5, 2020, a group of South Florida abolitionists were doing a noise demo in solidarity with prisoners and, as part of the Incarcerated Workers’ Organizing Committee’s nationwide efforts to establish jail hotlines, decided to share a phone number with people inside. From that moment, organizers began to receive calls as the number was shared inside South Florida jails. Over the next week or two, organizers used noise demos to spread the number to other jails and formed the COVID-19 Hotline for Incarcerated People.
Soon renamed the Community Hotline for Incarcerated People (CHIP), the hotline has kept running ever since. During the past 5 years CHIP has:
Supported over 700 incarcerated individuals.
Documented and challenged hundreds of cases of medical neglect.
Provided court support for dozens of people.
Assisted over 1,000 incarcerated people with resource mailings, including COVID stimulus payments.
Built a network of incarcerated organizers who contribute to CHIP's educational materials.
Created media projects amplifying incarcerated voices (podcast, digital exhibit, interactive game, and album of original hip hop music titled Bending the Bars)
Creating an album is no easy feat. Creating one from inside one of the most overcrowded and under-resourced jail systems in the country? Nearly impossible. But that’s exactly what Bending the Bars set out to do. The result is a groundbreaking hip-hop album written and performed by incarcerated artists from Florida’s Broward County Jail that provides a platform for hidden talent and a blueprint for similar projects nationwide. Released on June 11, 2025 by FREER Music, Bending the Bars will also be followed by a documentary detailing its creation.
Prison may confine bodies, but it can't cage creativity. Executive Producer Gary Field, a writer/scholar incarcerated in Broward County Jail, witnessed firsthand the untapped artistry behind bars. He recounts nightly eruptions of impromptu rap battles; artists banging on doors and chests, trading dirty south freestyles in an environment that had produced hip-hop legends like Kodak Black and YNW Melly. This was talent—raw, untapped, and desperately in need of a platform. “Many incarcerated artists possess the same ingenuity as entrepreneurs and musicians on the outside—they just lacked opportunity.” Teaming up with the Community Hotline for Incarcerated People (CHIP), which collected poetry and music from distressed incarcerated individuals, Gary met co-producers Nikki Morse and Noam Brown and started Bending the Bars.
Recording a high-quality album in jail meant overcoming immense obstacles. Without access to recording equipment, artists rapped into a jail phone, listening to beats through an adjacent phone while CHIP covered call costs and producers cleaned up audio. Outside collaborators, like GRAMMY-winning Alphabet Rockers, helped craft beats and build arrangements in coordination with the artists while honoring artists’ creative control.
Through the production experience, Bending the Bars became a unifier. Artists from rival gangs—Bloods, Crips, Zoe Pound, Latin Kings—set aside differences to collaborate. “These were people who wouldn’t normally be in the same room,” says Field. “But through music, they came together.”
At the core of Bending the Bars are universal messages of self-compassion and hope; and an appeal for systemic change. With over 3,000 county jails in the U.S., Bending the Bars serves as a replicable model for using music to empower, rehabilitate, and connect incarcerated individuals with opportunities that extend far beyond prison walls. The upcoming documentary will further provide a roadmap for expanding access to creative platforms nationwide
Bending the Bars is proof that talent, creativity, and resilience can thrive even in the most unlikely places. It’s an invitation for others to follow suit, to create platforms for the incarcerated, and to recognize the abundant artistry that exists behind bars and razor wire.
Recommended Watch of the Month
The Harvest of Shame, available to to view on Youtube in this day and age! The Harvest of Shame is a chilling documentary about labor abuses against migrant workers in the Belle Glades, right in South Florida. What you will see in this film still has its claws dug deep into the economic, social and literal landscape of South Flprida.
In the world of journalism, CBS' Peabody Award-winning documentary Harvest of Shame is considered a milestone for its unflinching examination of the plight of migrant farmworkers in the United States. The CBS investigative report was the first time millions of Americans were given a close look at what it means to live in poverty. The producers — Fred Friendly, Edward R. Murrow and David Lowe — made no secret of their goal: They wanted to shock Americans into action. To maximize its impact, CBS aired the documentary — about the people who pick fruits and vegetables — the day after Thanksgiving. Murrow, perhaps the most recognized journalist of the day, delivered their message with a sense of urgency. "We present this report on Thanksgiving because, were it not for the labor of the people you are going to meet, you might not starve, but your table would not be laden with the luxuries that we have all come to regard as essentials," he said in his narration.
Substack Cameo of the Month
One of our readers (and a beloved friend of mine) linked us to a wonderful piece written on Substack by another author about the protest movement, and how it’s been suppressed in recent movements. An insightful read about the state of organizing, and one we can take lessons from.
A MESSAGE FROM YOUR WRITERS
The purpose of this newsletter was to develop solidarity and unity. From the bottom of our hearts, we ask that you share this newsletter and promote what you see within it, not for any monetary or superficial gain, but because we want to see the South Floridian activist circle flourish and support those doing hard work within it. We need each other more than ever. The world expects us to stand still as it persists in its horror. We cannot - and will not. And that’s why we write this.
Share, spread, and contact us if you have anything to add yourself. On the month of May, let’s remember why we’re still going!
With love and resistance,
M&N