May Day Los Angeles 2025
Archival Recordings 37
Thank you for reading and welcome to Archival Recordings 37! In this entry I'll be sharing some work from the 2025 May Day protest in Downtown Los Angeles.
I'm actually writing this newsletter on the same day I took these photographs, something that my schedule rarely allows. In this case, I took the day off of work a few months back. I wasn't sure at the time, but I figured there might be a little extra energy due to the madness that has consumed our government and country. My preparation paid off, there were easily a couple thousand people marching through DTLA showing their support for unions, workers rights, immigrants, and an end to the war in Gaza.
It's been a while since I have documented a protest. The last ones I covered were at the height of the Black Lives Matter movement, at the height of the Covid shutdowns in 2020. It felt good to get out there and photograph the energetic, diverse crowd. The people of Los Angeles showing out is a sight to see. With the assault on our basic human rights currently underway in this country, it was a reminder that the power lies with the people. It's going to take planning and solidarity to fight and protect everything we hold dear, hopefully today was a step in that direction.
The march started in the South Park area of Downtown and ended in front of the Federal Detention Center on Alameda, an appropriate but sad reminder of the terrible conditions people are enduring right now. I was proud to photograph this outpouring of support for those who really need it.
We all need to continue to speak out and find ways to do more, it's only been 100 days and the worst is clearly yet to come.
Thanks for reading! Until next time...
-Kwasi
