this is not okay: part i
amplifying the terror being inflicted on my former home
pictured: a photo taken nine years ago TOMORROW in my old Minneapolis neighborhood. sentiment continues, STRONGLY
This not okay.
This is the sentiment that is repeated over and over in the sixth Blood & Ash Book, which was one of my go-to escapes earlier this month (along with watching Outlander and the entirety of Heated Rivalry and ingesting a lot of mezcal), and it really struck me.
In the Blood & Ash series, we see a common fantasy narrative—evil, power hungry sociopaths who use violence, religion, lies, scarcity and hierarchy to control the masses while the good folks who actually care about the plight of those in their kingdom try to fight against them in what continually feels like a losing battle.
Art mimicking life, am I right?
Today, I’m not here to get deeper into this concept, nor to share what finally drew me out of the freeze shutdown state that I had been drowning in for two solid weeks following the murder of Renee Nicole Good at the hands of ICE. There’s more time for that later. Because right now, in solidarity with the general strike and protest happening in the Twin Cities, where I lived for thirteen years prior to moving to Humboldt County seven years ago, I’m here to amplify what has been actually been happening in my former home, not what the fascist corporate media channels are trying to tame down or spin into a completely false reality.
Earlier today I restacked this post from my former collaborator and friend Dana Raidt; I HIGHLY recommend reading this for an even deeper look at the brutal, racist, violent and inhumane treatment that is happening in Minnesota at the hands of our government right now.
Some of you reading this are in the Twin Cities and certainly don’t need the view of someone halfway across the country to share the daily terror our government is inflicting on your neighborhoods. But for those who aren’t, these are some of the things I’ve learned, and stories that have been shared, from those I love in MN:
A friend reporting they were stalked down the street by an agent because they aren’t white
Another sharing agents came to their door demanding they share which houses on the block have “hmong or asian families”
Masked agents standing in the streets in broad daylight with automatic weapons, breaking car windows and assaulting people in vehicles
Schools being shut down because ICE attacked students, parents and teachers with chemical warfare
White families of said schools driving the brown and black children of their neighbors home because it isn’t safe for their parents to get them from school
Agents sitting outside of hospitals waiting to detain people as they are released
People unable to leave their homes to go to work, school or to get food, supplies or medical care so that they are reliant on the support of their community to eat and get midwives for births (shout out to my mother-in-law for being one of the many who has been spending her days, including her 70th birthday, delivering food to people <3)
Constant presence of agents in shopping areas and swarming neighborhoods, with helicopters and surveillance being employed to track resistance and community aid
Friends preparing their legal paperwork and getting ready to “run, fight, or be arrested,” for standing outside of schools and attending peaceful protests
As I said, this doesn’t even come close to cataloging the many brutal ways in which the government is attacking my former community (again, plug for reading Dana’s piece here).
Today, I’d also like to share something that was extremely helpful in moving me out of total shutdown, which was the How To Survive the End of the World podcast episode, “An Emergency Dispatch from Occupied Minneapolis: ‘Intense, Frightening, Surreal and Inspiring.’” in which co-host Autumn shares about her experience under the ICE insurgence in Minneapolis. Listening to this not only gave me even further insight into what is happening on the streets of my old home, but also made me really proud of the folks who live there (like I cried at least twice) and gave me a good dose of hope for what we can all do, even if we live halfway across the country.
I’d also like to share a few resources that my buddy Lacey Prpić Hedtke (who you may remember from this episode where I interviewed her for the Radical Creativity podcast) shared in the Future’s newsletter yesterday:
Trusted news sources for following what is happening in the Twin Cities:
Many ways to contribute to those in need in Minnesota are listed at Stand With Minnesota here.
I’m naming this part 1 because there is much more to share here and even if it takes time to do so, I want to commit to doing so because it is important now, more than ever, that we can find ways to move through and beyond this world that is threatening to crush us all.
Wherever you are, take care of yourself, your loved ones, your community and please, do what you can to be ok.
xo,
Holly