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DeKALB – Organizers will again gather in DeKalb Saturday for what they’re calling a May Day rally, the latest in a line of nationwide protests to oppose among other things billionaire influence in the Trump administration, federal cuts to needed services and tumultuous immigration policy.
All are invited to the May Day Rally for Democracy from noon to 1:30 p.m. in Hopkins Park, 1403 Sycamore Road, DeKalb. Speakers will address the crowd from noon to 12:30, with a rally until 1:30 p.m., according to event planners. The crowd is asked to gather at the tennis courts. Participants also are welcome to bring lawn chairs, organizers said.
Similar May Day rallies drew hundreds of thousands across the world and in the U.S. Thursday. The protests united many in anger over President Donald Trump’s agenda from aggressive tariffs that are stoking fears of global economic turmoil to his administration’s immigration crackdowns, The Associated Press reported.
Speakers Saturday will include DeKalb School District 428‘s Mary Lynn Buckner, one of the co-presidents of the DeKalb Classroom Teachers Association; Northern Illinois University‘s Mark van Weiner, president of the United Faculty Alliance at NIU; and laborer Anthony Reusch, the DeKalb Branch Steward of the American Postal Workers Union. Roger Hintzsche and other musicians will perform, event details show.
Event cosponsors include REACT, DeKalb County Democratic Party, Exploring Issues, 350Kishwaukee, and Unitarian Universalist Congregation of DeKalb.
“REACT is involved in organizing this event in order to give people a way to express their opposition to the enormous government overreach that is harming our livelihoods, our schools, our health care and our safety,” REACT coordinator Cynthia de Seife said in a news release. She said they’re planning a peaceful protest.
Also on Saturday, the Welcome Essentials Pantry, a Social Justice Ministry of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of DeKalb, will welcome donations of toiletries, personal hygiene items, paper products and cleaning supplies.
Saturday’s event is the next in a line of similar protests seen across DeKalb County and the nation since President Donald Trump was inaugurated to a second term in January.
Trump’s first 100 days in office have been met with significant public scrutiny. Public pushback has come after controversial executive orders which among other things have targeted immigration, Social Security, veterans, economic stability, higher education, elections and federal funding for social services.
Local impact in second Trump-era
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The impact of some of the Trump administration’s actions have been felt in DeKalb County.
Proponents have said Trump’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) run by billionaire and presidential advisor Elon Musk, is needed to rid the government of unnecessary spending and support Trump-era legislative agendas. Opponents have argued such cuts and policies targeting non-citizens are unconstitutional.
On the economic front, uncertainty surrounding ever-changing tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on goods coming into the country has left local businesses struggling to keep up.
Five NIU students’ visas were pulled, with no public official reason why, an NIU spokesperson confirmed in early April. This week, NIU announced those visas were reinstated. Little else is known about the students or why they’d been targeted. Organizers stood in support of immigrants and visa-holders at the university during a campus protest April 23.
Leaders with Head Start, a nationwide early childhood learning and day care agency with regional offices including in Sycamore, have expressed concerns for ongoing funding required to keep families serviced. Illinois Head Start providers have been on edge since January, when temporary freeze on federal grants shut down their online payment portal, either just for the day but in some cases several days.
In March, dozens of protesters including local veterans gathered in Sycamore to slam proposed staffing cuts to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Some argued such cuts would be “unconscionable” and delay needed services including health care to military personnel.
Changes to federal reimbursement funding programs in Illinois have left some local food pantries scrambling to find ways to continue providing food to those in need.
DeKalb County nonprofit Rooted for Good announced an estimated $750,000 was lost as a result of that policy change. Federal cuts to The Emergency Food Assistance Program, a pandemic-era support, impacted seven food pantries in DeKalb County, according to Rooted for Good. Those include pantries at Feed My Sheep at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in DeKalb, Kirkland Food Pantry, New Hope Missionary Baptist Church in DeKalb, Neighbors in Christ Ecumenical in Lee, Our Sharing Food Pantry in Somonauk, Rooted For Good-Genoa and The Salvation Army.
“Our democracy is in trouble and it is up to the people to save it,” organizer Claire Duvall said ahead of Saturday’s rally. “Protesting in the streets is a visible way to fight for our democracy. The more people who protest in the streets, the more people will join. The more people who join in, the more powerful we become. It’s important to protest while we still have that right.”