May Day Will Be National 'Day of Action' From 50501

The 50501 movement organized hundreds of rallies across the US to protest President Trump's administration on Sunday—and another "day of action" is planned on May 1 and the surrounding weekends. The website for the May Day National Day of Action urges people to join local events or start their own ones, Newsweek reports. It states that a "core principle" in its actions is a "commitment to nonviolence in all we do," and they expect "all participants to seek to de-escalate any potential confrontation with those who disagree with our values."

• 50501. The movement describes itself as a decentralized network, NPR reports. The name is short for 50 protests, 50 states, one movement—a reference to protests at state capitols in early February.

• A 'clear and urgent message.' "We are sending a clear and urgent message to the country and to those in power: the people are paying attention, we are organizing, and we will not accept authoritarian overreach, fascist policy, or the dismantling of our rights under the Constitution," Sarah Parker, one of the movement's national coordinators, tells CNN. "The administration's continued targeting of marginalized communities, the criminalization of dissent, and the erosion of civil liberties demand a response—and this is ours."
• A wide range of actions. Sunday's actions included food drives as well as traditional rallies. The May 1 actions include events focused on immigrants rights, education, and, as is traditional on May Day, workers' rights. The New York Times notes that during Trump's first term, protests tended to center on a single issue, but protesters Sunday expressed concerns about many issues, including deportations, transgender rights, vaccine policies, and the war in Ukraine.
• Four tenets. Hunter Dunn, 50501's national media coordinator, tells NPR that Tesla Takedown protests and similar protests are part of the same decentralized movement. Dunn says 50501 is "all about actions that support your community against the Trump administration" and the movement includes any action guided by four tenets: "We're pro-democracy, we're in favor of preserving the Constitution, we're against executive overreach, and we're non-violent."

(More Trump protests stories.)