It’s the day Greg Bovino leaves Minneapolis, and there are ICE agents at a house in my neighborhood. Just like yesterday. Just like the day before. Just like last week, when an observer was detained outside of my favorite coffee shop. Just like Saturday, when Alex Pretti was executed, or the day 5-year-old Liam Conejos Ramos was abducted from a local school, or any of the other intolerable days of this occupation.
I know some people want to know what it looks like to live in Minneapolis right now. Here is what it looks like:
Despite the cold, observers in neon vests take laps around a high-risk area in the morning as kids head to school. I watch each passing car like a hawk, looking for tactical gear, masks, anything to help indicate. Is that suspiciously clean truck ICE, or just a neighbor heading to work? I find myself scanning cars like this everywhere - at the bus stop, walking past parking lots, watching out of my window. Yesterday, I saw a white SUV idling on the street next to me, and my heart rate kicked into overdrive before I saw it was just a neighbor warming up their car.
Businesses on my street are closed, or half-empty, staffed by skeleton crews. Whenever this ends, how many storefronts will shutter in my vibrant neighborhood? What will happen to the mercado I stop at for snacks, or the local restaurant that has focused all its efforts on providing food for struggling families? Already, the employees who cannot safely go to work at these places are struggling to afford rent.
I scan the news compulsively. I read every update, from every source I can find, except the Daily Mail. I want to see what they’re saying about us. I want to know if everyone else is seeing what I’m seeing. I want to know everything that is going on.
I struggle to focus on work. It feels absurd to email someone about electric vehicle siting when there is an invasion in our shared backyard. My coworkers adeptly avoid asking “how are you doing” in team meetings, because they already know how we’re all doing, and nobody wants to be the one to say it.
I know people who have been tear gassed. I know someone who was detained despite showing the agents his valid US passport. I know people who are afraid to leave their houses and people who take time off work to stand watch outside their children’s daycare.
That is what it looks like here.
It also looks like neighbors coming together, bringing movable fire pits to protests, passing out hand warmers with the generosity of true Midwesterners. It looks like hundreds of people lining Lake Street with candles in vigil for Alex Pretti. It looks like going with my friends to get hot pot and talking for hours about political organizing. It’s hard, and it’s exhausting, and we’re doing it together.
If you want to support Minnesota, consider donating to one of the places listed here: https://www.standwithminnesota.com. Many families are in desperate need of mutual aid.
Finally, look to your own communities. Are you prepared for ICE to come to you? Do you know your neighbors, and do you have ways to communicate with them? Consider getting involved with local organizations, or doorknocking your block to start a group chat. We succeed when we show up for each other. Minnesota’s not going to stop showing up, and neither should you.