On 2017 International Workers’ Day–Primero de Mayo–, I deployed the Speaker Wheel #1 to join the demonstrators at the Boston Common in resisting racist deportations and in support of immigrant workers.
A group at MIT organized a student walkout and a march across the bridge to arrive collectively to the Boston Common. Along the 3.7 km way, I rolled the Speaker Wheel #1 and I played sounds and pieces especially curated for the event. The Speaker Wheel #1 sometimes succeeded in creating an empowering atmosphere, but sometimes failed to synchronize with the group and felt as an interruption to a fragile sonic ecosystem.
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/4f798fff-38ac-476e-b067-db402d3a7344/acd71239-920c-4567-8059-2c5a8861c185_rw_1920.jpg?h=b4f21445c86709311b03c75992ec11e4)
Photo: Jessica Adams.
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/4f798fff-38ac-476e-b067-db402d3a7344/31f1fcee-9493-4e45-9be1-be04d2d8ae0f_rw_1920.jpg?h=f8b2fc8448dc522259b43e2d82e61671)
Photo: Jessica Adams.
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/4f798fff-38ac-476e-b067-db402d3a7344/34c087e6-d975-4624-8b29-88dd1b1299ed_rw_1920.jpg?h=6e187c2e57e4e8bf566c233c39d4835d)
Photo: Jessica Adams.
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/4f798fff-38ac-476e-b067-db402d3a7344/5e143dcb-24a8-4489-b5ad-78fdb8202d48_rw_1920.jpg?h=c231b328ecaa09edf9087cd61a072a89)
Photo: Jessica Adams.
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/4f798fff-38ac-476e-b067-db402d3a7344/ca9e33ff-faea-4a5d-92d4-5588e6f600c0_rw_1920.jpg?h=3cb331792ed32cf0f3791fcee5c43e5a)
RefuseFascism.org. Photo: NKA.
Acknowledgments: Kimberly Villafuerte Barzola, Jessica Adams, Madeleine Gallagher.