A market still exists for radical literature in Minneapolis

May Day Books has maintained a steady presence in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood since 1990, offering literature and gathering space for socialists and the far-left-curious. 

Today, more than six months after President Donald Trump took office, and imposed policies and executive actions that have attacked the basic principles of leftist politics — from immigration to climate change to social welfare programs — May Day Books has remained focused on its same mission of educating its community by selling books and free ideas.

“That’s how we serve the community,” said Craig Palmer, 77, who has been a volunteer at May Day Books since 1981. “We’re people that are genuinely concerned about the health of the world, of this country. This is sort of like a candy store.”

Palmer, a Vietnam veteran, said engagement at May Day Books has escalated since Trump took office. “More activity, more demonstrations and stuff,” Palmer said. “People are worried and upset.”

The bookstore regularly hosts meetings with groups like Peace Action Coalition and Women Against Military Madness. Together, they organize protests often taking place at what volunteers dubbed “May Day Plaza” outside the bookstore, said Palmer.

Recent demonstrations at the May Day Plaza protested ICE raids in Minneapolis as well as the genocide on Palestinians in Gaza. Palmer observed an increase in anti-war protests at May Day Plaza after Hamas’ attack on Israeli settlements on Oct. 7, 2023. 

While the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration and its general support for Israel through the Gaza War fueled the fire for socialist groups, volunteers at May Day Books say they do not blame just one side of the political spectrum for conflicts today. 

Don Olson, 82, a volunteer at May Day Books of 40 years, said elected Democrats have been  reluctant to act. “Trump just, he knows how to work a mic, capture the headlines,” Olson said. “So it’s just a big show, and so far, Democrats haven’t been doing anything. Mostly, I vote for Green party.”

Olson, a 1965 University of Minnesota graduate, has been heavily involved in the anti-war movement since college. His interest in May Day Books began while he spent 20 months in prison for burning draft cards in protest of the Vietnam War conscription.

One of May Day Books’ unique selling points is its culturally diverse literature, with distinct sections on Latin, African, Indigenous and Black political and social movements. All donations and profit goes back into the space’s rent and sourcing more books, said Palmer.

“We’re a very unique store because the types of books we sell, we won’t really make a living on,” Palmer said. “That’s why a lot of stores don’t sell these books, because they’re too political.”

Peter Wright, 76, an eco-socialist Harvard graduate and store regular of about 30 years, remains optimistic about the future of May Day Books.

“I think the future might be bright in terms of more and more people coming in who are fed up with what’s going on and understand that we need to have a new perspective on reality," Wright said.