By a Comrade
This article is written by a DSA member and does not formally represent the views of MADSA as a whole or its subgroups.
Welcome to Vol. 9 of the monthly round-up! The content in this publication overlaps with our DSA newsletter and monthly General Membership Meetings. To sign up for the newsletter or check out an upcoming General Membership Meeting, visit: https://madison-dsa.org/events/
Members Work Towards A May Day Success
Throughout the start of 2026, and especially in April, MADSA worked towards supporting a major economic blackout on May Day, with the goal of “No Work, No School, No Shopping!”. MADSA members planned a community pancake breakfast, wrote rally speeches, created signage, liaised with unions, attended coalition events and worker assemblies, and held many conversations with coworkers and loved ones around shutting down their workplaces in support of the historic day.
May Day is International Workers’ Day, and in Wisconsin, it is also A Day Without Immigrants, organized for years by Voces de La Frontera. This year, Voces led the day with key demands around rights for immigrant workers and a just economy for all. MADSA supported by hosting a successful community pancake breakfast in the morning, and collecting over $2,000 in donations towards Voces’ work. Next, at 11am, there was a rally by UW staff and students, which joined up with a 12pm rally at Library Mall. At 1pm, the rally marched to the Capitol, where the crowd heard speeches and music organized by Voces and their allies. In a huge win, Madison Teachers Inc. (MTI) was successfully able to preemptively shut down Madison Metropolitan and Sun Prairie school districts by collecting enough signatures from staff pledging not to work on May 1. Students and teachers from West and East High Schools marched to the capitol during the day to join up with the main rally.
The day saw roughly 3,000 attendees in Madison, with participation from MADSA, UW-Madison’s YDSA, a variety of socialist and communist organizations, and many unions in the area. Milwaukee also had a huge day of action, and gubernatorial candidate Fran Hong made stops to both cities.
May Day 2026 reflected a sense of shared struggle and power among working class people, explicitly connecting with the long history of labor battles in the U.S. and around the world. As MADSA and other organizations continue to grow, workers will hopefully build towards a larger economic shutdown on May Day 2027, and eventually develop the solidarity and power required for a general strike.
For more May Day coverage, Voces de La Frontera’s Facebook page and Instagram have many photos and videos of actions all over Wisconsin.
MADSA Approves a New Office Space
On April 26th, MADSA called a meeting to discuss the chapter’s need for a larger office to accommodate our growth in members and resources. Members held a small potluck, and formally approved a proposal to rent a larger office space, which also grants consistent access to a meeting space for our large monthly general membership meetings. More details will be shared once this is finalized!
Members also reflected on the chapter’s relationship with the Social Justice Center, where MADSA currently rents a small amount of space. Members voted to continue renting the space, as part of our desire to maintain a positive and supportive relationship with the SJC.
Canvassing & Tabling for Endorsed Candidates
Members and other volunteers have begun canvassing for Fran Hong and Juliana Bennett’s campaigns. There are opportunities to canvass in several Madison neighborhoods, as well as tabling at the Farmer’s Market each week. Juliana’s campaign will be having a weekend of canvass action on May 23 and 24. Sign up here!
ICE Out Work Continues
MADSA continues to coordinate information about trainings and events, and neighborhood group chats, via the Strike Out ICE hub, here.
Additional Organizing
Other important efforts this month included the following:
- MADSA had its first AfroSocialists/Socialists of Color Coffee Hangout at Qamaria Yemeni Coffee.
- In the lead-up to May 1st, MADSA members showed up to the May Day Strong Solidarity School focusing on organizing tactics, as well as two Madison Worker Assemblies and a coalition meeting for event planning.
- NoAppetiteForApartheid (NA4A) had a planning meeting for a summer film event.
- The Comms Committee put on its first skills training, with the goal of building comms skills among chapter members. A comrade taught some key principles of graphic design.
- MADSA had a Powerpoint to the People event where members could share socialist education through short presentations.
- MADSA continues to prepare for the Queer Liberation March, scheduled for June 13th.
- Southern Dane County Branch had their monthly meeting on 4/29.
Social Events
We continue hosting recurring social events. Currently, we have DSA 101, MADSA Run Club, and the Rosebuddies program on the calendar. May also features a board game night planned for 5/4, and a new reading club for Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Dispossessed starting Sunday 5/30.
Protest Song of the Month
In honor of the Day Without Immigrants and Voces’ organizing role in our community, I’ll be featuring two songs this month.
First, a lament – ICE, El Hielo by La Santa Cecilia, heard here. The music video features several actors who are living in the US as undocumented workers. The song tells of three workers contributing to the economy while living under the oppressive fear and restrictions that come with being undocumented.
Next, for something higher energy – La Cumbia De La Migra by Los Jornaleros del Norte, a protest band proudly consisting of day-laborers. This song is ICE Out in purest form!
And that concludes our monthly round-up!
Red Madison 