Letter From Minnesota:
We’ve Been Here Before

It’s no secret that Minneapolis has historically forced national reckonings on racial injustice and policing. The murder of Fong Lee in 2006, the killing of Jamar Clark in 2015 and Philando Castile the following year in 2016 and, of course, the 2020 lynching of George Floyd all sparked widespread unrest here in Minneapolis and across the country, and even in other parts of the world.

And now, five years later, here we are again but on a much larger scale. Homeland Security, the US Border Patrol and the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) invaded our city and our state in December, sending upward of 3,000 agents, a force that is some five times the size of the Minneapolis Police Department.

The initial claim was that they came to clean up fraud. But it has become abundantly clear that their intent is far more heinous. Since their arrival in December, they have injured many adults both young and older, detained children—going so low as to detain pre-school children. I’m so glad the photo of five-year-old Liam Adrian Conejo Ramos who was used to bait his immigrant parents has gone viral because, no matter the story federal authorities are trying to paint, a picture is indeed worth a thousand words.

“Sometimes writing about a thing makes it easier to stand.”

These killings are no longer limited to people of color. They have now killed two white people: a poet, Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse who was loved by patients and colleagues at the VA hospital. Both were legal observers whose intention was to document interactions between the federal agents and protesters to ensure accountability and protect First Amendment rights. It’s ironic that Mr. Pretti was murdered the day after a protest in which some 50,000 people held a peaceful march on the coldest day of the year that culminated in a powerful indoor rally at Target Center.

All of this has once again caused the nation and the world to take notice and look beyond the false narratives being spun by officials.

We must remain prayerful, hopeful and vigilant; take actions large or small. I recently dreamed that an elder and her husband reminded me that we have been here before. Indeed we have experienced numerous instances of violence whose lasting effects continue to the present day: the land was violently taken from Native people; chattel slavery and lynchings visited upon African Americans; the “yellow peril” and other anti-Asian policies against Asians;  violence against Jewish citizens; and numerous acts of xenophobia against Somali, Arab, and Latinx immigrants who came to America in search of a better life. Through it all, we have remained resilient. We are still here, and I believe we will get through this moment.

I want to share a quote by author Octavia E. Butler, one of our powerful African American literary ancestors who is seen by many, including myself, as an oracle and a genius. She said much that predicted the times we are now living in. (I highly recommend Parable of the Sower, Parable of the Talents and any of her other novels.)

One of many things she said that I believe is pertinent for our healing is “Sometimes writing about a thing makes it easier to stand.” 

I encourage everyone who reads this to take that statement to heart. Write poems that meet this moment. Write stories. Write a song. Write an op-ed. Keep a journal. Make your grocery list a work of art. Remember that writing is healing and we need to keep hope and healing alive now more than ever before.