Fitzgerald Scott stands in the middle of a wet and cloudy Historic Mitchell Street on Milwaukee’s south side Thursday morning. He waves a pole with bright yellow and light beige ribbons in the dark sky.
Scott, who describes himself as a proud union man, says he’s there for the same reasons as everyone else.
“This is where the fight really is — like, this is the community that's getting — like as far as tyranny is concerned, like this is where it's at. A lot of people make that, they make that connection: first they come for this, then they come for that. And this is what they're coming for right now — the immigrant community,” Scott says.
May Day is a day advocates for workers across the globe stand together.
Diego Garcia came to the march to urge workers and immigrants to band together and protect one another.
“And you know, I feel like especially here in the United States right now, we have to stand with all workers — whether they're citizens, you know, or non-citizens, right? You know, it's important that we all show solidarity with each other, you know, especially with the recent attacks against... federal workers, farm workers — everything under the sun. So it's important for us to all stand in solidarity and march, you know, do whatever we need to do in rain or shine,” Garcia says.
As marchers arrived, they were met with the sounds of Latin rhythms blasting from speakers.
Marty Horning held a sign with a crossed-out swastika and the phrase “No Pasarón.” What the sign means is: “They didn’t pass.” He says the phrase was coined during the Spanish Civil War in opposition to fascism.
Horning spoke about the importance of Milwaukee’s immigrant community.
“The wealth of this city was created by immigrants, continues to be created by immigrants, there can be no wealth, there can be no safety, there can be no security without immigrants here, and the attacks against immigrants have to stop starting today,” says Horning.
One marcher decided to use a costume to get her point across instead of a sign or banner.
Raichel West was dressed in a full Handmaid’s Tale costume – a hooded red cloak with a large white bonnet. She was hard to miss as she wove in and out of the crowd.
The Handmaid’s Tale is a TV show based on a novel. It’s about a totalitarian government that takes over the U.S. West says the costume symbolizes the direction she believes America is heading in.
"I hope that this country does turn around and that this is not our future, but until then I will continue to speak. I will continue to march, and I will continue to make my attempts at a change until that change has been implemented,” West says.
Before the march kicked off, Mark Denning, an enrolled member of the Oneida nation, addressed the crowd. He reaffirmed that marchers all gathered to stand for the same goals and to protect the same communities.
“As I look across the sea and recognize all of our Indigenous people, all of the beautiful brown faces that have come from every other place, you are now of this place. You are now of this land and of these waters, and you will not be denied because this is where your children will be born and have a future,” Denning says.
March participants say this May Day was about showing solidarity not only for their community, but for others who have also found themselves in vulnerable positions due to the actions of the Trump administration.
