(Credit: Mike Luckovich/Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
‘This Is, at the heart, a Story About Racism.’
With the news today of the arrest of Black journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Forte in connection with the turmoil in Minneapolis, along with two other African American activists who have sought political office, the observation of a veteran Star Tribune reporter assumes more relevance: “This Is, at the heart, a story about racism.”
Asian Americans, Latinos and Indigenous people might say, “Amen.”
It’s also a story about press freedom, journalists’ personal safety, questions about news coverage and so many other factors.
We hope to discuss many of them on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 8, at 1 p.m. Eastern, at our Journal-isms Roundtable by Zoom. The Super Bowl starts at 6:30 p.m. Eastern.
Our panelists so far are:
- Sheree Curry, co-president of the National Association of Black Journalists — Minnesota
- Duchesne Drew, president at Minnesota Public Radio
- Charles Hallman, contributing reporter and sports columnist, Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder, part of the Black press
- Neal Justin, media reporter, Minnesota Star Tribune, author of the “This is, at heart” observation.
- Courtnay Peifer Kim, longtime journalist (see below)
- Jen Nelson, director, Pre-Publication Review & Journalist Support, Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, which issued this legal guide.
Also in the room: Jim Boyd, retired deputy editorial page editor, Star Tribune
Courtnay is a longtime journalist who was formerly the AME of Business at the Star Tribune and now works at a nonprofit that seeks to empower young Asian Americans to engage in the electoral process and is responding to community needs amid the ICE raids. She wrote this for the Boston Globe, which appeared Monday: “ICE brought fear to Minneapolis. Now we are standing up for ourselves.”
(Entire text of piece, which is behind a paywall, at the end of this posting.”)
Who’s in?
Zoom information comes after RSVP’s. (If you’re reading this in an email, just hit “return”; if not, please reply to jroundtable5 (at) gmail.com)
Also:
Feb. 1: Lonnae O’Neal at D.C.’s Martin Luther King Jr. Library
Feb. 1: Cheryl W. Thompson at D.C.’s Politics & Prose
Feb. 3: Joy Reid With Eric Holder
Feb. 3: Webinar on Journalism in Latin America
Feb. 3: Covering Immigration . . . and Imperiled Civil Rights
Feb. 5: Lisa Shepard Left Us With a Gift – a Book
Feb. 9: Media Literacy: Media, Race and the Politics of Storytelling
Feb. 13: Deadline for Poynter Journalism Prizes
Feb. 16: Deadline for Integrity in News Reporting Awards
Feb. 18: Deadline for Allbritton Awards
Feb. 19: Deadline for Edward R. Murrow Award Nominations
March 1: Deadline for Ed Bradley Fellowship at NYU
March 22: Celebration of Life for Marlee Miller
From New York: Media Watch for Jan. 19
JOBS
From these journalist organizations
• National Association of Hispanic Journalists
• National Association of Black Journalists
• Asian American Journalists Association
• Poynter Institute
• Society of Professional Journalists
• Public Media Jobs.
• Online News Association
Rebecca Aguilar’s Journalism Job Openings: The January List”
From the Uproot Project
From Type Investigations, Nieman Foundation, National Museum of African American History and Culture, Barron’s, Kimble Group, LinkedIn
From the Boston Globe: “ICE brought fear to Minneapolis. Now we are standing up for ourselves.”
Friday Night in D.C.: Speak Your Mind About Minneapolis
To P&P’s community:
Activists around the country have called for a nationwide shutdown and protest tomorrow following the fatal shootings in Minneapolis by federal agents and in solidarity with those resisting the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown and ICE’s illegal and violent actions. We join in condemning the lawlessness and violence perpetrated on those exercising their constitutional rights. Given our mission to serve as a community gathering spot and safe haven in times of crisis, we’ll remain open tomorrow to provide space for those seeking refuge, needing comfort, or looking for books and discussion that can help make us better citizens and guardians of our freedoms.
To that end, we also will be offering a “Speak Your Mind” forum [Friday] for people to share thoughts on the recent events in Minneapolis and on the general state of the country. It’ll be in P&P’s coffeehouse, The Den, at 6 pm, with coffee and tea available for free from 5:30 pm to 7 pm. Hope you’ll participate. And for those interested in supporting organizations in Minnesota doing good work, you can find a list of some here: https://www.
— Brad and Lissa
Feb. 1: Lonnae O’Neal at D.C.’s Martin Luther King Jr. Library
Lonnae was part of our Journal-isms Roundtable last June on “Black Journalists Confronting Family Histories That Include Slavery.” Narrative
Feb. 1: Cheryl W. Thompson at D.C.’s Politics & Prose
Cheryl W. Thompson — Forgotten Souls – with Leonard Downie Jr. — at Conn Ave
NPR investigative journalist and the daughter of a Tuskegee Airman, Cheryl W. Thompson explores the stories of the 27 Tuskegee Airmen – the Black pilots who fought for America in WWII – who went missing in combat, the lives they lived, the reasons their planes went down, why the remains of all but two were never found, and the impact their disappearances had on their families and communities. . . .
Feb. 3: Joy Reid With Eric Holder
Next Tuesday, February 3, 2026
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Join us on Tuesday, February 3rd, 2026 at 7:00pm est for a special replay of the Vivian Malone Courage Award, featuring Joy Reid in conversation with Eric Holder. Presented biennially by Dr. Sharon Malone, OB/GYN and Chief Medical Officer of Alloy Women’s Health and sister to Vivian Malone, the Vivian Malone Courage Award honors contemporary women who demonstrate extraordinary courage in the fight for racial justice. Named after Vivian Malone Jones, the first African American to graduate from the University of Alabama, this signature award celebrates those who, like Vivian, boldly confront injustice and inspire progress. This year, we are proud to honor Joy Reid — commentator, author, and host of The Joy Reid Show. She will be joined in conversation with The Honorable Eric H. Holder, Jr., former U.S. Attorney General, known for his groundbreaking leadership on civil rights and voting access. With welcoming remarks from Jalaya Liles Dunn, Director of Learning for Justice at the Southern Poverty Law Center, and a special performance by actor Lisa Arrindell who portrays the groundbreaking icon, journalist and anti-lynching activist, Ida B. Wells Barnett. Partner: We are excited to partner with Metropolitan AME Church on this event, a historic national church at the vanguard of creating space for all human beings to imagine and build a just and beautiful community. |
Feb. 3: Webinar on Journalism in Latin America
| From the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas: |
| You can still register for our free webinar to discuss our new trilingual ebook “The Worlds of Journalism: Safety, Professional Autonomy, and Resilience among Journalism in Latin America,“ published in collaboration with the Department of Journalism and Media Management in the School of Communication at the University of Miami and the Center for Global Change and Media at the University of Texas at Austin.
During this webinar, researchers from the Worlds of Journalism Study who contributed to the ebook will share insights into how professional journalists in the region navigate threats to safety, economic precarity, and political pressures while upholding democratic values. It’s a unique opportunity to hear directly from the experts and engage in a conversation about what it means to be a journalist in Latin America today. |
| This webinar, conducted in English, will feature authors from the chapters about El Salvador, Venezuela, Brazil, Peru, and Bolivia.
|
In the webinar, we’ll discuss:
A video of last week’s Spanish-language webinar, with the authors of the chapters on Mexico, Costa Rica, Colombia, Ecuador, Argentina, and Chile, is now available on our YouTube channel! If you weren’t able to attend the event, no worries! You can access the recording of the webinar here. We hope you’ll join us once again and help us advance the dialogue on press freedom and democracy in the Americas. Thank you for being part of the Knight Center community, Summer Harlow Associate Director Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas |
Date: Feb. 3, 2026
Time: 9:30 a.m. CST USA (Find 
Location: Online (Zoom link provided upon registration)
Feb. 3: Covering Immigration . . . and Imperiled Civil Rights
REGISTER NOW to join us for a digital dialogue on covering the crisis surrounding immigration enforcement policy, the mandate of journalism, and the erosion of constitutional rights and civil liberties.
Moderated by Maynard Institute Co-Executive Director Martin G. Reynolds, this conversation features Andrés Cediel, visiting professor at Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University; Michelle Zenarosa, editor-in-chief at LA Public Press and Maynard 200 alum; and Christopher Mark Juhn, a photojournalist reporting on the ground in Minneapolis and Maynard 200 alum.
Panelists will examine the legal frameworks and constitutional protections that are intended to guide enforcement activity, alongside the realities journalists are witnessing in the field. The discussion will also explore how editors are preparing newsrooms to safely cover ICE activity, and how journalists are preparing for and caring for themselves while reporting on civil unrest and potential abuses of state power.
This program is open to all journalists and members of the public with an interest in press freedom, civil liberties, and responsible coverage of immigration enforcement. The conversation also reflects the ongoing peer learning and collaboration happening through the Maynard Institute’s Communities of Practice — an alumni network that connects journalists across Maynard programs for continued learning, support, and exchange of expertise.
Registration is required to attend this virtual panel. Due to the sensitive nature of this discussion and our commitment to protecting journalists and vulnerable communities, all registrations are subject to security screening. Registration will remain open until 3 p.m. EST / 12 p.m. PST on February 2. Confirmed participants will receive the Zoom link by email.
For questions about the event, please contact Program Director Odette Alcazaren-Keeley at okeeley (at) mije.org.
Alicia ‘Lisa’ Shepard at the 2008 Unity: Journalists of Color” convention in Chicago. (Credit: Facebook)
Feb. 5: Lisa Shepard Left Us With a Gift – a Book
Almost two years after her passing, Alicia “Lisa” Shepard, described in this space as a conscience of the news industry, advocate for diversity and friend of Journal-isms, has a gift for us.
Lisa’s husband, David Marsden, writes:
“Lisa’s book is finally ready and scheduled to be published on February 5th (launch event tentatively scheduled 2/20/26 in DC). I worked it out with the publisher to keep it entirely in her voice and with the title she wanted. We are working on the plan to promote it and celebrate.”
David attached a the book cover and a flyer about the book with a 35 percent pre-order discount from Bloomsbury, the publisher. “Of course, it is available from all the main outlets as follows:
- “Amazon
- “Barnes & Noble
- “Bookshop.org (the site for independent bookstores)
- “Bloomsbury (for the discount, use the code (GLR AT8) and remember to put a space between GLR and AT8.)
“I believe that Lisa would be very proud of the final product and the publisher we found. Her son and step-son oversaw the cover design and I think that they are exactly the people Lisa would have wanted to do it. I am quite sure she would be bragging everywhere about it all and that makes me very happy. Honestly, I can feel her smiling as I write this.
“ Lisa said she was writing it to tell our story and help cancer patients and families. Bloomsbury says more pre-orders help spur the chance of being reviewed. Please help make that happen.
“Finally, we started a Foundation to continue Lisa’s work and values. Cutter made a video showing what we have done so far. You can see it here. If so inclined, anyone can donate to it here.”
Feb. 9: Media Literacy: Media, Race and the Politics of Storytelling
At Howard University , postponed from Jan. 26
Please join us for a public book talk with Dr. Christine McWhorter, in conversation with Nikole Hannah-Jones.
Building Critical Race Media Literacy: Media, Race, and the Politics of Storytelling
Moorland-Spingarn Research Center, Browsing Room
Howard University
Eventbrite Link
Feb. 13: Deadline for Poynter Journalism Prizes
| Entries are now open for The 2026 Poynter Journalism Prizes honoring the best in U.S. journalism from the last calendar year.
Go to our contest site to enter your work today. The deadline for entries is 6 p.m. Eastern time Feb. 13. Enter between now and Jan. 31 for the early bird entry fee of $75. Poynter is proud to steward this distinguished contest that has honored some of the finest journalists and journalism in the United States. There are now 12 prizes – including two new prizes this year for coverage of climate change and poverty – honoring different forms of writing, including overall excellence, short writing, editorial and column writing, as well as local accountability, public service, justice and First Amendment reporting, and diversity and innovation. Poynter is grateful to the sponsors who support the cash prizes and other costs for these awards. Enter Now |
New this year:
- The Poynter Journalism Prize for Excellence in Climate Change Reporting: This new award will honor rigorous and illuminating reporting on climate change and related topics. It is sponsored by Hennecke Family Foundation and will carry a $10,000 cash prize – the contest’s largest.
- The Poynter Journalism Prize for Distinguished Reporting on Poverty: Thanks to an anonymous sponsor, we are creating a new award to recognize distinguished reporting about poverty in the United States and related issues. The prize will carry a $2,500 cash award to the winner.
- A larger cash prize for First Amendment reporting: Because of support from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University, the renamed Cronkite School First Amendment Award now carries a cash prize of $2,500, the same amount as other categories.
Enter between now and Jan. 31 for the early bird entry fee of $75. From Feb. 1 to the deadline on Feb. 13, the entry fee is $85. Winners will be announced in late April.
Journalism from all mediums is eligible. Enter or read our FAQ on our contest website today. For questions or problems, please contact poynterprizes@poynter.org.
Please help us spread the word to other journalists that Poynter is in its third year as home to these important prizes so that judges can showcase the best journalism from 2025.
Thank you for your support.
Sincerely,
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Feb. 16: Deadline for Integrity in News Reporting Awards
“AJI is a one-of-a-kind institution in Washington: a nonprofit educational organization that trains the political journalists of the future — and partners with NOTUS [News of the United States] to accomplish that goal.”
Feb. 18: Deadline for Allbritton Awards
Salary: $60,000 per year
Every September, the Allbritton Journalism Institute — a nonprofit educational organization dedicated to training the political journalists of the future — welcomes a cohort of 10 early-career reporters to D.C. for a two-year fellowship.
Fellows are paid $60,000 per year to take classes with some of the country’s best journalists and to write for AJI’s partner NOTUS, where they work alongside a staff of established reporters and editors to cover politics, policy and government. Faculty include Tim Alberta of The Atlantic, Cheryl W. Thompson and Juana Summers of NPR and Josh Dawsey of The Washington Post.
Applications for the Class of 2026-28 are due February 18. You can apply here, and you can read more about the fellowship here. You can register for our second info session, scheduled for 7 pm ET on Feb. 3, here.
We plan to review applications in February, March and April, selecting a group of finalists to interview. We expect to tell all applicants in April whether they are moving on to the interview round. And we expect to complete interviews and notify finalists of our decisions in May. All applicants must have U.S. work authorization in order to be eligible for this fellowship. AJI fellows are not eligible for employment-based visa sponsorship.
Feb. 19: Deadline for Edward R. Murrow Award Nominations
From Radio Television Digital News Association:
Since 1971, RTDNA has been honoring outstanding achievements in broadcast and digital journalism with the Edward R. Murrow Awards. Among the most prestigious in news, the Murrow Awards recognize local and national news stories that uphold the RTDNA Code of Ethics, demonstrate technical expertise and exemplify the importance and impact of journalism as a service to the community. Murrow Award-winning work demonstrates the excellence that Edward R. Murrow made a standard for the broadcast news profession.
Eligibility
News stations, networks, syndication services, program services, and digital news organizations are all eligible to enter the awards. Edward R. Murrow Awards are presented to news organizations, not individuals. Entries must be submitted as first heard on air or viewed online. All entries must have appeared between January 1 and December 31 of the prior calendar year.
Deadline
The Early Bird Deadline (with discounted pricing) for the 2026 Edward R. Murrow Awards is Tuesday, January 20 at 5 p.m. Eastern. The Final Entry Deadline is Thursday, February 19 at 5 p.m. Eastern. Late entries (additional fee applies) will be accepted through Monday, February 23 at 5 p.m. Eastern.
Continued here
March 1: Deadline for Ed Bradley Fellowship at NYU
From Jason Samuels, professor, New York University Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute:
We are accepting applications for the 2026 New York University Ed Bradley Journalism Fellowship.
Now entering its third year, this free, summer fellowship brings a select group of promising college journalists to NYU for an intensive week of training, networking and mentorship.
Founded at the NYU Arthur L Carter Journalism Institute in partnership with the Dow Jones News Fund, the mission of the Ed Bradley Fellowship is to identify and rectify the under-representation of African-American males in newsrooms across the country. The Ed Bradley Fellowship welcomes all U.S. college students who appreciate this mission to increase the representation of Black males in journalism to apply, regardless of their identity or background. Students must have completed their freshman year by the summer 2026.
🔗 To learn more and apply for Summer 2026: www.bradleyfellowship.org
📣 If you know a talented college journalist, please share this opportunity.
Marlee Miller, standing, at the 2015 Journal-isms Roundtable Holiday Party at the Newseum. Jim Asendoo looks on. (Credit: Sharon Farmer/sfphotoworks)
March 22: Celebration of Life for Marlee Miller
Jim Asendio, longtime newspaper and broadcast journalist, says those of us not in Seattle will be able to watch the Celebration of Life in Seattle for his wife, Marlee Miller.
“We have decided to live stream the Seattle Celebration of Life when we hold it on March 22nd, Marlee’s birthday. We will provide details as that date approaches,” JIm writes .
Jim is a longtime newspaper and broadcast journalist who joined the Journal-isms Roundtable while he was news director at Washington’s WAMU-FM, the NPR affiliate, from 2006 to 2012.
Marlee, our Roundtable colleague in the days before her illness, died in her sleep Sept. 22 in their Washington County, Md., home, after battling gall bladder cancer.
Marlee was 64 and learned of the growth shortly after her April 2022 retirement as chief operating officer of M+R public relations and communications.
Jim’s birthday was Saturday. “I am selling our home on Saint Croix. I will keep a place elsewhere in the Caribbean until I find another personal sanctuary somewhere in Africa,” he wrote under his Facebook .birthday greeting.
From New York: Media Watch for Jan. 19
Hosts: Robert Anthony, Raymond Peterson, Alan Singer, PhD, and Eric V Tait, Jr:
Subject: Of NOTE: Passing of Claudette Colvin, courageous Black teenager who refused to “move to the back of the bus” BEFORE Rosa Parks; and, the 19 January MLK, Jr. Celebration…
Ongoing Trump Admin Chaos: a) Murder of Renee Good by ICE, and the related Fallout (from national street demos, to 6 Federal Prosecutors resigning) b) DOJ and DOD stupidly trying to “investigate” and charge Fed Chair Jerome Powell, Dem Sens Kelly and Slotkin with bogus, tRUMP malicious prosecutions ala those against Comey and Letitia James; and c) Absurd “Gunboat Diplomacy” moves against Venezuela and possibly Greenland, making us, the US now a pariah nation.
JOBS
From these journalist organizations
Rebecca Aguilar’s Journalism Job Openings: The January List” (Jan. 6)
From the Uproot Project (Jan. 20)
Job Opportunities
- WIRED, Senior Editor, Science
- The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Assistant Multimedia Editor
- The Transmitter, Science Reporting Intern
- The Examination, Investigative Editor
- Maine Morning Star, Environment & Energy Reporter
- Quanta Magazine, Senior Staff Editor
- The National Marine Sanctuary Foundation, Media and Communications Specialist
- USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism, Collaborative Editor
Fellowships & Grants
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Ted Scripps Fellowships in Environmental Journalism (deadline March 1)
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The Trace, 2026 Editing Fellowship (deadline Feb 4)
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PSLA, Emerging Writers Scholarship (deadline Feb 27)
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Sloan Foundation, YouTube and TikTok program
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Sierra Club, Editorial Fellow
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Audubon Magazine, Editorial Fellow
From Noy Thrupkaew, director of partnerships and reporting fellow at Type Investigations, focused on human rights and labor reporting.
“We’re seeking a senior editor for our Springboard Project, a program to help strengthen the investigative capacity of newsrooms that serve historically marginalized communities.
“Type Investigations, a project of Type Media Center, is a nonprofit newsroom dedicated to transforming the field of independent investigative journalism. We cover the most urgent issues of our time, including racial and economic justice, climate and environmental health, and civil and human rights. Our stories have sparked resignations of public officials, and triggered FBI investigations, Congressional hearings, and federal legislation. They have changed corporate policies and exposed previously hidden forms of abuse and exploitation. . . . ”
For more information: https://www.typeinvestigations.org/initiatives/springboard-project/
or contact Noy Thrupkaew at noy (at) typeinvestigations.org
Nieman Foundation: Curator of the Nieman Foundation for Journalism
National Museum of African American History and Culture: Public affairs officer
Barron’s seeks a newsletter editor
From Kimble Group (Jan. 15):
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) & Editor in Chief Confidential – Washington, DC
Rapid Response Writer, Freedom Forum – Washington, DC
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From LinkedIn via Todd Steven Burroughs:
Jan. 16:
Multiplatform Editor – NBC and Telemundo Local Digital Central Content Desk
NBCUniversal · New York, NY (Remote)
$60K-$80K / year
Actively recruiting
Editor & Senior Writer, Opinion’s States Newsletter
Dow Jones · New York, NY (Hybrid)
$185K-$230K / year
Technical Writer and AI Reporter
Superhuman · New York, NY (On-site)
Copywriter – Social [206154]
$60K-$70K / year
LLM-Aware Technical Editor, 2591-1
Cypress HCM · New York, NY (Remote)
$75-$90 / hour
AI Creative Team Content Producer
We Are MULTIPLY · New York City Metropolitan Area (Remote)
Dow Jones · New York, NY (On-site)
$75K-$95K / year
E.L.F. BEAUTY · New York, NY (Hybrid)
$80K-$110K / year
Reporter, Fundfire
Financial Times · New York, NY (Hybrid)
$71K-$80K / year
Jan. 17:
Content Writer (LinkedIn/X)
Golden Egg Media · New York, NY (On-site)
The Wall Street Journal · New York, NY (On-site)
$120K-$150K / year
The Wall Street Journal · New York, NY (On-site)
$120K-$150K / year
Scholastic · New York, NY (On-site)
$65K-$68K / year
Morning Brew Inc. · New York City Metropolitan Area (On-site)
$75K-$85K / year
Also from LinkedIn (Jan. 10):
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From the Boston Globe:
ICE brought fear to Minneapolis. Now we are standing up for ourselves.
We know the world is watching, and we are fighting to hold the line on democracy and decency.
Federal agents deployed tear gas and other munitions into a crowd of people near the intersection of 27th Street and Nicollet Avenue in Minneapolis after a federal officer shot and killed Alex Pretti on Jan. 24.Ben Hovland/Associated PressCourtnay Peifer is a journalist who works at the nonprofit organization Future of Us.
I’ve been scared to drive, scared to be seen in public, scared that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents will break down my door in southwest Minneapolis without a warrant and detain me at gunpoint, just as they did last week to ChongLy “Scott” Thao, a Hmong immigrant and naturalized US citizen in St. Paul.
For weeks, I have been hunkered down in my house as the Department of Homeland Security unleashed its largest immigration operation to date, sending 2,000 agents to Minnesota, and then sending in another 1,000 after an ICE agent killed a US citizen in south Minneapolis on Jan. 7. As a US citizen and Asian American, I go to my son’s school, to work, back home, and lock in. Some people haven’t left their homes in weeks.
After ICE agent Jonathan Ross killed Renee Good, 37, a poet and mother of three, my son called me at work. ICE had been at his high school, and he didn’t feel safe walking home. He didn’t feel safe walking in his own neighborhood. And this was before Saturday’s killing by federal agents of Alex Pretti, a US citizen. My son, who was born in Minnesota, checks to see whether ICE agents are in the neighborhood before leaving school. He can go to his friends’ houses but must stay inside. His friends recently asked him to go sledding, but he declined because federal agents can be anywhere.
Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem has said US citizens should carry their papers during ICE operations so they can prove their citizenship. But ICE agents are being allowed to racially profile in so-called Kavanaugh stops, named after Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who wrote a ruling in September that federal agents can stop people based on their physical appearance and use of language. So my son carries papers, and I carry papers. Even Kaohly Her, the first Asian American elected to become mayor of St. Paul, is carrying papers.
And there is the death of Pretti, 37. He was a healer, an ICU nurse at the Minneapolis VA medical center. He was killed about 2 miles from where Good was killed by ICE and fewer than 2 miles from where George Floyd was murdered by police in 2020.
A rosary adorned a framed photo of Alex Pretti that was left at a makeshift memorial in the area where Pretti was shot dead a day earlier by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis on Jan. 25.ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty ImagesOur local leaders have told us: No one is coming to save you. So we are trying to save ourselves.
Minnesotans feel the weight of history. We know that the way Minneapolis goes, so will the rest of the nation. We know the world is watching, and we are fighting to hold the line on democracy and decency.
Everyone I know is doing something: donating food and supplies, delivering groceries to people in hiding, driving co-workers because they are afraid they will be targeted by ICE, escorting students to and from school, organizing rapid alerts and responses to ICE raids, and sending observers to stand as witnesses, whistles blaring.
One of the hubs of community outreach has been Uptown, not far from where Pretti was killed outside Glam Dolls Donuts, a woman-owned restaurant that features donuts and milkshakes under a starlight chandelier.
Uptown is a quirky neighborhood in the best way. Smitten Kitten, an adult shop, is now a site where people can drop off canned goods, diapers, and hygiene products for vulnerable community members. Smitten Kitten is on the same block as a Kung Fu Hot Pot; Caffrey’s Deli & Subs; both Lyn-Lake Barbershop and Akway’s Sports Barbershop, whose clients include professional NFL and NBA athletes; Up-Down Minneapolis, a bar that offers beer and old-school pinball; and Wrecktangle Pizza, whose employees, along with other members of the community, repelled ICE agents earlier this month. The owners have donated food and held a fund-raiser, raising more than $83,000 to help affected families.
Many of the businesses in the area are owned by families, people of color, immigrants and refugees. It was among the hardest hit in the nationwide civil unrest after Floyd’s death, the most expensive civil disturbance in US history. Now, again, the neighborhood is suffering under a different kind of oppression, and yet residents are still taking care of their neighbors.
“Minnesota Nice” will break ICE, we say. Our demands for justice after Floyd’s killing launched protests around the world. On Friday, about 50,000 protesters gathered in downtown Minneapolis in frigid temperatures to protest ICE with songs, chants, and homemade signs. I made a sign that said, “Prince knew the revolution would begin in Minneapolis.” The older people in the crowd knew what it meant.
Thousands of people marched to protest the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in Minneapolis, on Jan. 23. A temperature of around minus 10 degrees on Friday did little to slow protests around the Twin Cities, with businesses closing, workers and students staying home, and demonstrators demanding that federal immigration agents depart. DAVID GUTTENFELDER/NYTSmall-business owners passed out snacks, coffee, tea, and little gifts with hand-written notes. The march concluded at Target Center, home of the Timberwolves and Lynx, and we were welcomed by a brass band. We felt proud to be part of this community, proud that so many of us showed up to stand up for each other.
Then we woke up to videos of federal agents killing Pretti, shooting him multiple times even as he lay motionless. A community group, Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee, organized an afternoon vigil, but then postponed it because the area was thick with smoke from tear gas and chemical irritants. We protesters arrived anyway, by the hundreds. Some made a memorial for Pretti where he was killed, creating a perimeter of flowers, candles, and evergreen branches. People banged on empty orange buckets and chanted, “Whose streets? Our streets!” and “ICE out now.” As some people left the vigil, others arrived and took their place.
Protesters in Minneapolis chanted and banged on trash cans as they stood behind a makeshift barricade during a Jan. 24 protest in response to the death of Alex Pretti earlier in the day.Adam Gray/Associated PressIt was a similar scene at a nighttime vigil hours later. People showed up, defiant, determined, demanding that ICE leave. A speaker called out: “I love Minnesota! Take care of each other!” In neighborhoods throughout Minneapolis, people stood beside their neighbors, holding candles and calling for something better.
The community wants something better than having federal agents throw gas canisters at peaceful protesters and deploying pepper spray directly into people’s eyes, including journalists, as their faces are pushed to the ground. Better than having ICE smash out car windows to grab people who are observing the law. Better than having agents drag a disabled woman out of her car as she was going to a doctor’s appointment at a brain injury center. Better than federal agents ominously suggesting residents should take a lesson from Good’s killing, with one saying, “Have y’all not learned from the past couple of days?”
What Minnesotans want seems so simple: everyone accountable to the law, the Constitution, decency. But as Governor Tim Walz said, “This will end when enough Americans say this will end.”
Federal agents deployed tear gas as they confronted protestors in Minneapolis, near the intersection of 26th Street and Nicollet Avenue in Minneapolis on Jan. 24. DAVID GUTTENFELDER/NYT
