The barista at Open Book’s coffee shop gave me a friendly wave as I walked in for my usual six-ounce Americano. I’d been examining the sign telling ICE goons to stay away. Some are billeted in hotels in our neighborhood, and judging by their low literacy levels, I’d be surprised if any wanted to walk into this temple of books for a cuppa. Similar signs are popping up on businesses all over the city.
Category: Resist
An empty classroom
Went for a quiet walk to process my thoughts. I should have been in the classroom working with recent immigrants. Instead, school is canceled for the rest of the week. This follows yesterday’s ICE actions in Minneapolis, which included the murder of Renee Good and the tear-gassing and shoving of staff and students at their school.
A tool for protected speech
A shiny whistle arrived today for my daypack. Three short blasts: ICE nearby. One long blast: ICE is detaining someone.
The American Dream lives on in the classroom
It was a morning of Certified Nursing Assistant and English Language Learning with mainly Somali immigrants. These word choices by learners demonstrate the classroom as a safe space. Their attitudes were remarkable, especially given the appalling statements made by the POTUS this week. The fear of arbitrary race-based detention and deportation is a disturbing reality in Minneapolis today.
No kings
Joined a huge crowd in downtown Minneapolis to assert government is for the people and must adhere to the law. (Over 100,000 attended the Minneapolis rally. Nationwide there were more than 2,700 rallies with over 7 million attendees.)
Harvest moon setting over Minneapolis
This was my view from bed this morning: sipping coffee, reading the news (the NYT and the Minnesota Star Tribune), and doing a side of doomscrolling where I like to challenge misinformation.
Voting and vaxxing: small acts of defiance against Project 2025
Mailing in our ballots for the November election and getting a COVID booster this morning felt like acts of resistance against the Administration. Its adoption of Project 2025 policies, which restrict access to mail-in voting and vaccinations, intentionally and disproportionately burdens people with limited resources.
Bigfoot presages QAnon on campus
Spotted Bigfoot, a fraternity mascot, shuffling through the university. The barriers had been installed for crowd control for tonight’s Turning Point USA anti-anti-fascist rally at Northrop Auditorium.
Finding anti-fascism in a Minneapolis park
After giving up on finding a local or national Antifa office, I cycled in search of something tangible about the anti-fascist cause. Flags were at full staff at Sheridan Memorial Park when I paused at this sign commemorating American anti-fascist fighters of World War II. I appreciate how this park honors ordinary, working-class people, like Howard Weller (mask, complete with oxygen tubes) from Northeast Minneapolis, without glorifying war.
Conflicting honors
This morning, flags were still at half-staff outside the American Red Cross building near our home, a tribute to the children killed in a recent school shooting. Meanwhile, the president has ordered flags at half-staff at federal buildings for a man who believed that gun deaths are a price we must accept for the Second Amendment. (The light and dark blue flag is the Minnesota state flag.)