Walking
Driving
Going to the club
“Stupid bitch”
House not clean
Dinner not done
You’re not demure enough
“Stupid bitch”
Don’t talk back
Don’t disagree
Don’t forget to smile
POW! POW! POW!
“Stupid bitch”
Don’t forget to die
A few thoughts:
Men have been oppressive and attacking women for as long as government agencies have been oppressive and attacking Black folks, Indigenous folks, people of color, and the LGBTQ+ community. Add in “non-desirable” religions. (And don’t come at me with “not all men” comments. I know it’s not all men.)
Renee Good stood in solidarity with her immigrant neighbors. Others were killed by ICE before her, and others have been killed since. The only answer to stopping this flow of fascism is solidarity. We must care about our female, Black, Indigenous, LGBTQ+, immigrant (and on) neighbors as much as we can for people who look like us. We must stand with them. We must not look away. And we must be ready to defend what we love in all of the ways we can, which includes a whole lot of things. (E.g. creating community infrastructure, meeting and getting to know your neighbors, participating in or starting mutual aid efforts in communities, holding community teach-ins for knowledge and skills)
Below are some ways to support folks in Minneapolis that I received from the Working Families Party. I’m wondering if Minneapolis is our Lexington & Concord (i.e. where we’re taught the start of the Revolutionary War started). The battle may be there today, but it may be in your community soon. Let’s support where we can.
- Keep Minnesotans fed. As many Minnesotans, particularly immigrants, are unable or afraid to leave their homes to go to work, local food banks need more resources to keep communities fed. Donate to Second Harvest Heartland, which has helped to provide more than 145 million meals across Minnesota and western Wisconsin.
- Support organizations working on the ground to stop ICE. Pitch in to the Minnesota Immigrants Rights Action Committee (MIRAC) and the National Lawyers Guild MN. MIRAC has been organizing for years to protect and empower immigrants in the state, and the local chapter of the National Lawyers Guild provides significant legal aid to anti-ICE organizations in Minnesota.