Top Signs and Artistic Displays from This Year’s Major May Day Protests
Title: May Day 2024: Art, Protest, and the Power of Mass Mobilization in the Face of Injustice
Every year on May 1, millions of people around the world commemorate International Workers Day — also known as May Day — to celebrate labor rights, advocate for equitable working conditions, and protest against systemic injustices. In the United States, May Day 2024 unfolded with powerful rallies in over a dozen major cities. But this year’s demonstrations were marked not only by impassioned chants and vibrant signs but by their laser-focus on the intersection of social justice, democracy, and art in resistance.
From coast to coast, demonstrators gathered to spotlight workers’ rights, protest ongoing immigration injustices, push back against the erosion of healthcare and education protections, and call for an end to U.S. support for the Israeli bombardment of Gaza. Against the backdrop of the Trump administration’s return to power, the events emphatically embodied the collision of creativity and activism in the age of political urgency.
A Return to Radical Roots
The origins of International Workers Day lie in the late 19th century labor movement, notably with the 1886 Haymarket affair in Chicago — a violent confrontation during a labor demonstration advocating for the eight-hour workday. More than a century later, May Day continues to be a rallying cry for current injustices. In 2024, against the unfolding consequences of mass layoffs, rising authoritarianism, and economic precarity, protestors invoked this historical lineage to deliver demands for justice and accountability.
The convergence of a wide variety of causes — from trans rights to federal austerity measures — illustrated the interconnectedness of modern struggles across sectors and communities. In many ways, the labor movement has widened its scope to incorporate broader demands for human rights and democratic protections.
Protest as Performance: Resistance Through Visuals
One of the most striking elements of 2024’s May Day demonstrations was their use of visual art to enhance messaging and unity. New York City’s Union Square and Foley Square became stages of expressive resistance. At The People’s Forum’s Union Square assembly, an installation dubbed the “Gates of Hell” sat dramatically at the rally’s entrance, symbolizing the dangers of fascism and systemic oppression. Not far off, protesters in red cloaks and white bonnets — an allusion to The Handmaid’s Tale — embodied fears about the curtailment of reproductive rights and bodily autonomy.
Placards ranged from symbolically rich to satirically biting. Protesters depicted effigies of Donald Trump and Elon Musk, marched with banners reading “Remove, Reverse, Reclaim,” and waved cartoons accusing the administration of pro-billionaire, anti-immigrant policy agendas. These colorful and cathartic creations gave protesters a mode of expression that fused art with activism, marrying craft with conviction.
Focus on Workers and Cultural Institutions
The demonstrations prominently centered on workers’ rights, with protestors calling attention to the sharp spike in union busting and layoffs in cultural institutions. Museums like the Guggenheim and others across the country have seen sudden and sweeping job losses — a sobering reality amidst the growth of executive pay and philanthropic endowments.
The image of cultural workers and artists rallying on May Day is not new. However, today’s labor organizers are increasingly navigating the blurred lines between gig work, artistic labor, and traditional employment. The modern worker in the arts — whether a teacher, curator, adjunct lecturer, or freelance artist — often sits at the intersection of economic and expressive vulnerability.
Anti-Immigration Policy and Grassroots Solidarity
Under the banner of immigrant justice, the May Day rallies condemned the Trump administration’s escalating deportation policies, family separations at the border, and attacks on sanctuary protections. The story of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia’s mistaken deportation was central to one demonstration, serving as a visceral reminder of the human toll of punitive immigration enforcement.
Many protesters also criticized how immigration crackdowns and billionaire influence in policy-making are disproportionately targeting marginalized communities while shielding elites from accountability. One chant that echoed through the crowds was: “We’re here to stay!” — a bold assertion of permanence in the face of legislative and rhetorical dehumanization.
Student and Tenant Organizing
Student groups such as Students for a Democratic Society were also highly visible, focusing on academic speech rights, Palestinian solidarity, and campus governance. Their signs prominently displayed solidarity with Gaza and opposition to the federal crackdown on pro-Palestine student protests.
Meanwhile, tenant advocacy groups made their voices heard, spotlighting eviction rates and the stark rise in rental costs — especially in communities of color. They reminded onlookers that housing insecurity and wage injustice are not isolated concerns, but structurally bound phenomena.
A Counterbalance to the Political Landscape
Throughout the rallies, the looming return of Donald Trump to the White House cast a long shadow. Protesters raised constitutional concerns, citing executive overreach, erosion of civil liberties, and increased restrictions on protest