BRATTLEBORO-On May 1, hundreds of people took to the streets of downtown Brattleboro to protect democracy and denounce the Trump administration's effort to roll back workers' rights, cut education funding, carry out mass deportations, and much more.
"Show up and make your voices heard," said Calvin Dame of Brattleboro Area Action, one of the organizers of a May Day march along with Brattleboro Indivisible and 50501 Vermont. "This isn't about right and left. It's about right and wrong."
"This is all I want to be doing right now," said MD Baker, who has helped with organizing all the marches, vigils, and protests around town against the Trump administration since January.
Referring to a massive April 5 march and a rally in Brattleboro, Baker said "we won't have 1,500 people today, but we'll have a lot of people."
She was right in her prediction about the march, which drew approximately 550 people on a workday.
Beginning in front of Centre Congregational Church, protestors marched down Main Street, and then turned and marched back up to the Town Common.
Leading the march was the Peoples' Resistance Marching Band, which provided a New Orleans–style brass band soundtrack.
Costumes were encouraged, with sparkles and Revolutionary War garb. One young boy dressed like a butterfly - the only kind of tolerable monarch.
The signs told it all.
"Will you be next?" asked one, referring to the deportations of U.S. citizens. "Democracy Dies in Apathy," said another. "Trump Is Not Above the Law." "Elect a Criminal and Expect a Crime." "Are We Great Yet? Because I Just Feel Embarrassed." "Republicans in Congress: What Is Wrong With You?"
One sign, referring to the administration's cuts in scientific research, simply said, "No Science, No Beer."
"It makes me happy to be in a community with so many pissed off people," said one woman, who did not want her name used.
Karen Blanchard of Westminster, no fan of Trump's Department of Government Efficiency, held a sign: "DOGE Needs a Poop Bag."
"It makes me laugh," she said, adding that she has also carried signs in Putney during the weekly Main Street noon vigils there.
She was also carrying a United States flag, because, she said, "I refuse to let them have [a monopoly] on the flag."
George and Cindy Meili came up from Delaware to visit Vermont and decided to join the Brattleboro march. George said they belong to their local chapter of Indivisible, and the rallies they've had - in the parking lot of a Walmart - "got so big, they kicked us out."
Statewide participation
Brattleboro was one May Day protest site amid hundreds of towns, as well as big cities like New York, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia.
All across the state, Vermonters turned out for rallies and marches on the day that commemorates a general strike in the United States that began on May 1, 1886, and culminated in the deadly Haymarket affair four days later, when police attempted to shut down the strike.
The action led to annual events that eventually helped establish the eight-hour work day and other demands of the working class.
In Montpelier, more than 1,000 Vermonters joined union leaders from across the state on the State House lawn with music and speeches to celebrate the Vermont House's passage of Proposal 3 earlier in the day to potentially enshrine in the Vermont Constitution the right of employees to organize and collectively bargain.
The proposed amendment will appear on the ballot in the 2026 general election.
In Williston, a crowd of approximately 2,000 gathered to march to the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Data Center to protest recent ICE actions in Vermont.
Drummers banged in unison and volunteers with megaphones led loud chanting as the procession snaked down Williston Road, drivers honking and waving in support.
In Bennington, an estimated 800 gathered at the Four Corners. In Chester, nearly 300 got together on the town green to hear speakers celebrate unions and build mutual support. Pop-up rallies occurred in Rutland, St. Johnsbury, Wolcott, Brandon, Bristol, and Newport.
"Workers' rights are everyone's rights. Immigrants' rights are everyone's rights," Geri Peterson, 50501 Vermont state representative and volunteer/organizer, said in a news release. "May Day was about showing that we as Vermonters stand together to defend everyone's rights, even when we have differences."
With additional reporting by Commons news editor Randolph T. Holhut.
This News item by Joyce Marcel was written for The Commons.