Today marks 6 months since Alex Pretti was shot. I joined my local community to grieve and reflect. It was good to hold our trauma as a group.
It seems everyone knows of the violence and anger in Minneapolis during the surge. The protests, the flung dildos, all the resistance and fighting. These were good and necessary.
But I don't think as many people heard about the kindness in Minneapolis. In this crisis and deadly cold, Minneapolis made sure to care for her own.
Free food was all over. Local restaurants opened their doors for anyone who needed a meal. The very same local restaurants that were struggling financially due to the ICE surge. Local organizations and churches hosted soup stands outside. Those patrolling, threatened by ICE, and the unhoused came and had hot meals.
Businesses put up signs to explicitly invite anyone in to escape the cold. To have a warm chair to rest in before going back out to watch for ICE.
On Nicollet, a memorial for Alex Pretti was put up. Cones were erected to redirect traffic around it. It's still there. A group has worked together to maintain it all this time. They remove dead flowers, water pots, protect notes from the rain, and everything they need to to honor Pretti and those coming to mourn. During the surge, nearby businesses offered flowers that you could lay at the memorial.
Neighbors organized events. Block parties, coffee meetups, food shelves, group therapy, free markets, grocery deliveries... the list goes on. The city was committed to letting each other know that no one was alone in this. Everyone was trying to hold each other in the ways we could.
I could go on about a hundred different small ways my neighbors connected and supported each other. I could go on about what my friends were doing in the suburbs. But I just want everyone to remember the kindness. You won't get the full picture of Minneapolis this winter without it. Alongside everyone screaming "FUCK ICE" was another saying "Thank you. Would you like some soup? This one is vegan."
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