Speakers urge class solidarity at May Day protest
Close to 200 people joined the May Day Strong protest Thursday outside the Elkhart County Courthouse. They bore signs speaking out against cuts to Social Security and other government services, in support of worker solidarity and in defense of due process as people are taken off the streets in America and flown to foreign prisons.
'We're here today for what we're for, for as much as we're against. The things that we're for are the equal treatment of immigrants – our Hispanic, our Black, our indigenous neighbors. We're here for them,' said David Knight, one of the organizers. 'We're also here to protect our way of life. We're here for fair wages. We're here for universal healthcare. ... We're here to maintain a government by the people, of the people and for the people. We're here to stand against the attacks on the Constitution and our way of life.'
Corinne Straight, an Elkhart activist, said there's growing anger at the feeling that working harder to obtain the so-called American dream only makes other people richer. She said most people dream of meeting basic needs, while anything more than that falls further out of reach every year.
'We do not dream of becoming tech billionaires. We do not dream of handing over multimillion-dollar companies to our children. We dream of going to the doctor. We dream of putting food on the table. We dream of our kids getting to have a career and an education without starting out their lives tens of thousands of dollars in debt. We dream of retiring,' she said. 'Our dreams are so basic. ... Like David said, we are the wealthiest nation in the world, and we do not provide basic necessities. We allow people to go into debt to eat, to get a cavity filled, to send their kids to child care.'
Straight said upward mobility from one generation to the next has been falling since the baby boomer generation, nine out of 10 of whom could say they made more money than their parents. She said that number has dropped to 50 percent for millennials.
She encouraged protesters to show the same class solidarity as the top 5 percent, who act with the common goal of enriching themselves off the labor of the other 95 percent while keeping them distracted with divisive social issues.
'This is not about hard work. This has never been about hard work. There is no one in this country that works harder than poor people. There is no one in this country that works harder than a single parent. There is no one in this country that works harder than an immigrant,' Straight said. 'This has never been about work ethic. This has always been about privilege and opportunity, and the billionaires understanding that our hard work is going to make them richer. ... They need us to keep working harder.'
Elkhart City Councilman Dwight Fish also encouraged protesters to show solidarity with immigrants, who are seeking the same basic dream.
'What about those folks who come across here with the hope and dream of living in a town like Goshen and expressing their rights? They're not doing anything wrong. They want to come here and work,' he said. 'Why are we not making a pathway to citizenship? Why are we not doing that? Because the power-brokers love to manipulate and distract and take everything they can, and not give you a thing back.'
Straight said the last legislative session in Indianapolis showed what state lawmakers really value. She said it isn't children, parents, public education or health care.
'They value tax cuts for businesses and vouchers so the top 3 percent of wealthiest Hoosiers can send their kids to school on our dime. In a tight budget year, they had an opportunity to actually do the right thing, and once again, they did not,' she said. 'And every single person here recognizes the power that they have in Indianapolis, and we are not going to let these people run unopposed in 2026, are we?'
She said 40 uncontested seats in the state legislature went to Republicans in 2024, representing close to 3 million people. She urged the crowd to spread an alternative to the pro-Trump message those people have been hearing.
'This presence here today shows that we can be united, we can be inspired and we can be focused and hopeful. Because we are committed to doing the work that is going to reverse decades of economic decline for the bottom 95 percent of us,' Straight said. 'And we are committed to not burying our heads in the sand when it gets hard. We can't look away when it hurts. It's going to get worse before it gets better – we have to stay the course.'
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