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Tag Archive for: solidarity

How a Biker Club Evolved Into Protest Marshals and Fundraisers

We recently talked to a few riders in a Twin Cities motorcycle club — including people named Barbie, Kassie, Bridget, Rachel, Amie, Marni, and Megan. The group is known as Bikers Riding Against Policy Brutality, and was formed to protect protestors after George Floyd was murdered by police in 2020. Today they are still engaged in marshaling at various marches, but also in fundraising and mutual aid efforts.

Protecting Democracy #2: How Community and Media Are Working to Support Election Integrity

For months, teams of community leaders, unions, faith networks, neighborhood groups, and journalism organizations have been preparing for whatever this midterm election season might bring.

What Dolly Parton Taught Me About Mutual Aid 

When I read of Dolly Parton’s recent death, the first thing I thought about was when I celebrated her birthday with hundreds of fellow Minnesotans in the heart of Operation Metro Surge.

Truth #2: Learning From Rapid Response Lessons for the Next Crisis

A missed opportunity was protecting the right to seek health care, go to school, go to worship, go to work. “We had the ability to basically bring a lawsuit against the government, saying that because of their operation, they were freezing people who should be unaffected by your operation. ... We didn't really have the ability to gather their stories so we could put them in a petition against the government.”

Truth #3: Protecting Small Businesses and Elderly Neighbors

“In moments of crisis, people appreciate you just asking them how you are doing. As someone who has suffered from PTSD [post-traumatic stress disorder], it is important to have moments of humor, cracking a joke, simply talking to somebody that you knew for years. Just doing those things can really change a person's outlook.”

Somali Panelists Answer: What Does Home Mean to You?

"I've had so many opportunities to move — to go to school somewhere else. Every time I've traveled, I've always missed Minnesota. There's no other community that has given me a sense of belonging like here."

Convergence: National Conversations About Defending Democracy Held in Minnesota

National leaders for defending democracy gathered at the Minneapolis convention center August 21 to 23, partly to talk about how Minnesotans organized to protect neighbors from federal agents, and partly to prepare for the next onslaught of federal occupation, likely related to the upcoming November elections. A central message: True power comes from cross-sector collaboration between labor, faith communities, nonprofits, and other community leaders.

The Surveillance of a Teacher

In early June, Thoreson’s work to help her community during Operation Metro Surge led to seven federal officers showing up on her front lawn. 

In Chile, a Group of Women Embroider to Keep Memory Alive 

The Bordadoras have influenced my thoughts on the politics of memory, the power of textile art, and the significance of the space that a group of people gathered together creates.

Protesting Details at the Appleton Prison

Core Civic will earn a billion dollars from the sale and subsequent contract, while we pay the bill. Not a bad scam if you can get it, likely the biggest fraud this state has ever seen.

The Lineage of a Minnesota 15 Activist

In the late 1930s, after hearing Dorothy Day speak in…

Minnesota Coalition Calls on Corporations to Take a Stand Against Federal Surveillance

A coalition of Minnesota labor leaders, faith leaders, educators, and community supporters gathered outside Target’s downtown Minneapolis headquarters to call on Minnesota-based corporations to publicly oppose federal surveillance, intimidation, and retaliation against people and organizations that resisted immigration enforcement efforts in Minnesota this winter.