Eugene May Day!

We have an amazing line up of workshops this year! Come join us to learn new skills and connect with the community!

Workshop Area 2

Workshop Descriptions

12:00-1:00pm - Farm Workers' Rights Movement & Eugene Friends of the Farm Workers, 1972-76

Eugene Friends of the Farm Workers (EFFW) was an organization formed to support the United Farm Workers Union boycotts of lettuce, grapes, Safeway and Gallo wines in 1972-76. EFFW members were from unions, churches, and community and campus organizations. We were active in the community and on the UO and LCC campuses. The workshop will cover the history of the UFW and its boycotts in the 1960's-'70's, the support activities of EFFW, the legacy of the Movement in Oregon and Lane County, and issues facing farm workers today.

From Eugene Friends of the Farm Workers (EFFW)

12:00-1:00pm - Symbols of Resistance: Anti-Fascist Sigil Making

This workshop explores how symbols can support resistance, solidarity, and collective care. Participants will learn a simple process for creating sigils by turning their values, commitments, or hopes into visual designs.

The workshop draws on concepts from Western ceremonial magic and Daoist ceremonial structures, while also creating space to unpack and critically engage those traditions in a contemporary, anti-fascist context.

Together, we’ll reflect on how symbols function in movements and create personal or collective sigils rooted in liberation. The workshop may also include an optional introduction to charging sigils through focused intention or simple ritual.

No art or spiritual experience is needed. Participants will leave with a meaningful symbol and tools for integrating creative practice into their work for collective liberation.

1:15-2:15pm - Unreliable Historians: Reclaiming Truth and Agency in Creative Writing

Who writes our shared histories? Who gets deemed "unreliable?" Titled from text they stole from their own high school medical records, Brody will share a poem & activity tied to the making of their book "The Patient is an Unreliable Historian" to generate dialogue around agency and inspire your own new creative writing. We will discuss black out poetry & have dozens of problematic/systemically unjust documents for folks to redact, reclaim, & make into their own new piece. Together (with the option to share out what we write with one another before we leave!), we'll write poems & make art to challenge truth, combat erasure, and reclaim space for lived experience. All experiences welcome, especially centering mad folks & TLGBQ+ psych survivors. Email organizers for any additional requests related to accesibility!

1:15-2:15pm - Know your rights & risks while protesting

We will discuss your risks and rights when protesting in Eugene/Springfield, including the differences between state and federal arrests and charges right now and how to better protect yourself and your communities from authoritarian overreach.

From the Civil Liberties Defense Center (CLDC)

2:30-3:30pm - “Stop the Burn” Chemical Decontamination

This one hour training will cover the basics of how to respond to tear gas & pepper spray in a protest setting with both didactic information, and hands on role plays to equip participants to take care of themselves & each other while responding to the deployment of chemical weapons.

From Medic Action Collective of Eugene (MACE)

2:30-3:30pm - Mending 101

The history of labor and workers' rights is intimately tied to textile manufacturing and repair. Mending and repairing clothes can be a way of materially connecting to this history while developing the skills to extend the life of a garment. In this class, you will practice the basics of hand mending, including how to thread a needle and a running stitch, and learn about the theory of this craft and its connection to craftivism.

From Eugene Free Skool

3:45-4:45pm - Plants for Protesters

Plants for Protesters is a herbal workshop which discusses folk remedies that can be used for various ailments that protesters encounter. Some of the topics we will cover include: Herbal first aid, tear gas aftercare, nervous and respiratory system support. There will also be take home Plants for Protesters cards and a demonstration on how to pack and use a herbal first aid kit in the streets.

From Cosmic Earth Remedies

3:45-4:45pm - Self Defense   CANCELED

Unfortunately the facilitator had a family issue come up and had to cancel. 

Queers Bash Back was launched in Summer 2025 as a direct response to the rising number of violent hate crimes visited upon the queer community. We believe that an educated and trained queer community leads to better outcomes when bigots try to bash us. We got fists and we're not afraid to use em.

Our instructor, Ronin, will use this time to teach a few beginner level techniques that any queer or ally can use to put some pain onto violent bigots attempting to use violence to oppress our community.

All bodies and skill levels welcome!

From Queers Bash Back