Features

May Day: The General Strike is Finally Coming

International Workers’ Day was originally inspired by US trade unionists, and in memory of those killed as a result of the Haymarket Affair. However, after decades of propaganda, US and Canadian governments instituted a Labor Day largely stripped of May Day’s activist origins.

Now, American workers are currently in a generational wave of labor activism, joining forces in inspiring ways. We are on the heels of a successful general strike campaign in Minnesota, in which workers walked off their jobs, took to the streets, and demanded the end of terroristic ICE operations. Labor unions, community organizations, and faith leaders are coming together for a long-awaited national general strike with the May Day Strong coalition.

The goal on May 1st, 2026: No Work, No School, No Shopping. The demands: tax the rich, abolish ICE, and end the wars.

I know that 2026 comes on short notice. I want us to envision this as one realistic step in a broader vision for a 2028 general strike. May Day 2028 is a general strike day years in the making by UAW and many other unions.

Many of us will be limited in our participation this year. Many union contracts forbid overt solidarity strikes. Many have no sick days to take even one day off. However, I urge everyone who is able to do their part in No Work, No School, No Shopping. If anything prevents you this year, let us know about it to strategize into 2027 and 2028.

Significant social change will require personal discomfort. The important part is that we do it together, listen to our neighbors’ challenges, and help one another. That is mutual aid in action. I see DSA as one strand in a growing community fabric that is going to transform society in a big way.

Sea Anchors –Andy L

In deep water, sailboats use something called a sea anchor. It’s an underwater parachute attached to the bow, creating a massive amount of drag to resist whatever is happening up on the surface. Unlike a conventional anchor that hooks into the sea floor and holds the boat firmly in place, the sea anchor keeps the boat from drifting too far at night, and, more importantly, keeps the boat pointing into the oncoming waves during a storm. A vessel that turns along the waves rather than into them will be overwhelmed, then capsize.

Jason Stanley’s How Fascism Works talks about fascist ideology constantly challenging what we perceive reality to be. Conspiracy theories are inflamed, academia is pilloried, and propaganda from The Leader spins you around until you don’t know what is true and what is not. That’s where they want you: The Truth is Their Truth, in whatever absurd form it takes that day.

To fight this, you need your own sea anchor. Our society was built on a foundation of genocide and slavery, so it should be no surprise that we routinely lose our humanity. Your core worldview should be a sea anchor, allowing you to move with society and weather its storms, but not become stuck in one place (*cough* Bill Maher *cough*).

My anchor is a combination of Marx (capitalism doesn’t self-correct – the process is baked in), Frantz Fanon (revolutionaries must confront the insult to mankind that lives in one’s self), Paulo Freire (if education is not liberatory, then the goal of the oppressed is to become the oppressor), and Paul Sanchez (love is blind and has no color – treat everybody like a sister or brother).

You may get bumped around, but you’ll always be pointed where you should be: into the storm.

Bulletins

Queer Socialist Game Night & Potluck

Join DSA’s Queer Socialist Section for a game night tomorrow, April 25th at 6pm in Suite #258 at the New Orleans Healing Center! We’ll have fun table games, conversation-based games, and a dabbling of crafts. It’ll also be a potluck, so be sure to bring your favorite food, snack, or drink! Avoid FOMO: come hang with homos!

National Nurses United May Day Strike Rally

NNU has announced their sixth strike against their union-busting employer LCMC Health, starting on May Day next Friday! In the spirit of International Workers’ Day, join striking nurses at a rally outside of LCMC Headquarters. Friday, May 1 at 5:00 pm, 1100 Poydras St. This rally will march on to merge with Unión Migrante at City Hall (6:45 pm).

Worker Power: Unión Migrante May Day March!

Join your DSA comrades at Unión Migrante’s Annual May Day March. We’ll march alongside labor, immigration, and faith groups to celebrate the workers’ struggle and agitate against wage theft and other evils. The march is May 1 at 5:30 pm at the Benito Juarez Statue (Basin & Conti St).

Attend the UNO Justice Studies May Day Weekend Symposium

The Economic Justice Research Lab (EJRL) at the University of New Orleans, in partnership with allied unions and worker justice organizations, will host a one-day May Day Weekend symposium on Saturday, May 2, 2026, to present stories from our year-long collaborative oral history project on the history of labor and community organizing in New Orleans over the last fifty years. The symposium is free and open to all, but space is limited and pre-registration required. If you have questions, contact Rafael Delgadillo at rdelgad2@uno.edu.

Fork & Knife

Saturday, May 9th is our next scheduled Fork and Knife Event, and we look forward to having many of you there, either bringing dishes, plating meals, or running boxes of food to the community fridges so we can continue to keep meeting the people where their needs are. If you want to get involved with these programs, join the Direct Service & Health Justice Committee for our next meeting Tuesday April 28th, or come chat with us on the Direct Service and Health Justice Committee Discord Channel. Solidarity! ✊️

Poli-Ed Reading Group: The Message by Ta-Nehisi Coates

Please join us at the Healing Center #258, Sunday, May 17, to discuss The Message by Ta-Nehisi Coates. The Poli-Ed Reading Group meets on the third Sunday of every month to chat about books, films, articles, and more. Come enjoy good times, good people, and good conversation.

Queer Soc: Queer Northshore Pride Parade

Hello to all fellow Queer Socialist Comrades! The New Orleans DSA’s Queer Socialist Section is set to walk in the Queer Northshore Pride Parade on May 30th! We will have ten to twenty people marching with us and we will be carrying a banner to celebrate our DSA chapter under the theme “We Rise Together”. We will be scheduling a banner build day soon and still have some spots open if anyone didn’t see this before and still wanted to join us on our march. Please contact either Artemis or Warren if you want to get involved and/or march!

Save the Date for Local Convention

June 27th, 12-5pm at First Grace UMC (3401 Canal St) will be our annual local convention. With the large growth in our chapter, this convocation of our members is a great way to meet members, hear political arguments, and engage in planning our next year of organizing. We’re hoping for our highest attendance in years, so please save the date and make plans to attend. Childcare will be provided.

Queer Soc: LGBTQ+ Map

New Orleans DSA’s Queer Socialists Section has released its map of pro- and anti- LGBTQ+ businesses in the greater New Orleans Area! This map is an ongoing project which requires community support. If you know of a business that is pro- or anti-LGBTQ+, or if you are the owner of a business, please submit information to Queer Soc’s tip-line!

Marketplace for Cooperatives

DSA members are starting a new tech worker cooperative, and one of our first projects is a marketplace where people can shop online at coops! This is socialism in action, as it supports businesses where workers own the means of production, rather than profiteering shareholders. Read more about the reasons why in our Manifesto.

Sign up for updates on how the marketplace is coming along and share with everyone you know who is interested in supporting worker-owned cooperatives! Visit us at https://solidarityecono.my

Membership: Meet Comrades in Your Neighborhood Circle

We live in a very isolated, alienated society that feels so unnatural. That’s because it is! Neighborhood circles are how we connect with comrades where we live, work, or otherwise spend our time. We’re using them to host gatherings, plan events, and organize around issues in our neighborhoods. Click here to join yours today! Neighborhood circles are for members only and follow the chapter’s code of conduct and guidelines for respectful discussion.

Write Like a Socialist: We Have a World to Win!

Have an update from your committee or working group? That’s a Bulletin! Want to tell us about an upcoming event? Add it to the Community Calendar! Got some opinion or analysis to share for the good of the membership? Write us a Feature! Make your contribution to the next edition of Solidarity Means Action from the link on Discord.

Community Calendar

Friday, April 24

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Saturday, April 25

Queer Socialist Game Night & Potluck
6:00 pm – 8:30 pm
Healing Center, 2372 St Claude Av #258

Sunday, April 26

Comms Meeting
6:00 pm – 7:30 pm
Healing Center, 2372 St Claude Av #258 – Meet

Chapter Orientation
8:00 pm – 9:00 pm (first and last Sunday)
Meet

Monday, April 27

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Tuesday, April 28

Direct Service & Health Justice Meeting
6:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Meet

Wednesday, April 29

Queer Soc Meeting
6:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Meet

Thursday, April 30

Membership Working Group
8:00 pm – 9:30 pm
Discord

Friday, May 1

National Nurses United May Day Rally
5:00 pm (then merge with UM march)
LCMC Headquarters, 1100 Poydras St

Unión Migrante May Day March
5:30 pm
Benito Juarez Statue, Basin & Conti

Saturday, May 2

UNO Justice Studies May Day Weekend Symposium
9:30 am – 4:30 pm
IATSE 478 Union Hall, 511 N Hennessey St

Sunday, May 3

Coffee with Comrades
11:00 am – 12:00 pm
Coffee Science, 410 S Broad St

Poli-Ed Planning Meeting
5:00 pm – 6:30 pm (first Sunday)
Healing Center, 2372 St Claude Av #258 – Meet

Chapter Orientation
8:00 pm – 9:00 pm (first and last Sunday)
Meet

Down the Road

May 5 Northshore Reading Group: Reform or Revolution (Rosa Luxemburg)
May 9 Fork & Knife
May 17 Poli-Ed Reading Group: The Message (Ta-Nehisi Coates)
May 23 New Orleans DSA General Meeting
May 30 Queer Northshore Pride Parade
June 21 Poli-Ed Reading Group: My Traitor’s Heart (Rian Malan)
June 27 New Orleans DSA Local Convention