Here in MN, @releasemn8.bsky.social does important work with Southeast Asian communities, deportation defense, and more. They also have some of the best-designed merchandise of any movement org I've seen, and "every purchase goes directly towards the fight against deportation!" Shop:

yeah I think this album is as good as everyone is saying it is. better.

"...video shows a masked, helmeted man pointing a pepper-spray gun through his open window and firing into the car. A wave of a yellow-orange cloudy substance hits Veraza, 25, in the face. Herrera, 24, turned around to the backseat and saw their baby girl, Arianna Sofia, with her eyes screwed shut."

I’m working the @buttonpoetry.bsky.social table and signing books at the Twin Cities Book Festival this morning until 1pm or so. Got some free zine bundles too.

My latest is a love letter to Chicago. "I see you stumbling through the stubborn, awkward rhythm of showing up, again and again. I see you fighting alongside people who sometimes frustrate and confuse you, and defending neighbors you may have never met, because you know they’re all your people."

Submit your art to our Anti-ICE graphic care package! docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

This is the facility that I and many others have been protesting. We’ve been hit, thrown, gassed, and shot with pepper bullets but none of that holds a candle to what is being done to people *in* the actual facility. Read this thread. Don’t look away. Keep your eyes and the pressure on Broadview.

thread

I still get regular email updates from both Take Action and Black Visions and folks are still organizing with both groups. www.instagram.com/blackvisions/ www.instagram.com/takeactionmn/

to be clear - Reclaim the Block sunset in 2023 and redistributed the donations they received after the MPD murder of George Floyd. This information is publicly available, by the way. reclaimtheblock.org

If you haven’t yet, and want to join the thousands of twin citians who have signed up for the defense of our immigrant neighbors, there’s several more trainings this month: 11/11 Chaska 11/20 Plymouth 11/23 Longfellow Mpls 11/25 Kingfield Mpls 12/4 Bancroft Mpls More info here monarcamn.org

A reminder that my online asynchronous class on political writing is full of resources, frameworks, writing prompts, examples, and more—and that while I ask for $20, anyone who wants to get in for free gets in for free, no questions asked.

hahahahaha

my friend Simone—whom TC folks may know as an artist, activist, community-builder, and beyond—had a bad accident and is gathering some funds to get through the recovery process:

Election Day is tomorrow! Please see our MFE voter guide! MFE is proud to have endorsed all of these pro-worker candidates who will champion working families across Minneapolis.

It’s Election Day! Let’s make history, Minneapolis. Polls close at 8pm. Find your polling place: pollfinder.sos.mn.gov

It's publication day for Read This When Things Fall Apart! So grateful to our contributors and to @akpress.org for making this book a reality. This is a strange time to be promoting a book, but I believe it's a text that has the potential to help us right now. Please get yourself a copy. ❤️

Minneapolis: you can still vote early in person tomorrow, Monday, Nov 3rd from 7am-5pm! vote.minneapolismn.gov/voters/vote-... Otherwise, find your polling location for Tuesday here: vote.minneapolismn.gov/voters/where...

Today (Sunday) at 1:30!

@guante.info here is an adapted 1-pager you can share (less folding involved, we are *tired* of folding) drive.proton.me/urls/M349PP5...

In my latest free newsletter: • My 2025 MPLS election thoughts + resources • Links to ICE whistle zines and MONARCA rapid response trainings • @seemore.bsky.social and I rap over the song that plays in Andor when Mon Mothma spins around • Five incredible poems • Food bank fundraiser and more:

Election day is Tuesday, but polls are open all weekend! Cast your vote for mayor for @omarfatehmn.com, @dewayneforminneapolis.com and @jazzformayor.bsky.social at Minneapolis Election & Voter Services (980 E Hennepin Ave) today or tomorrow from 9AM-3PM or Monday from 7AM-5PM!

When I feel cynical about the state of media or discourse, @hammerandhope.bsky.social is a powerful reminder of what is possible - really good writing, about really important things, from really smart people. It's also free to read, but absolutely worth supporting as a paying member.

Kudos to Strib Opinion for publishing a letter from one of their biggest critics. I really do appreciate it., and the copy edit. www.startribune.com/readers-writ...

From basic skill-building stuff like public speaking, social media, and facilitation/program design, to deeper dives into integrating arts and culture into movement work, these are all workshops I've facilitated for other groups and would be down to bring to yours: guante.info/workshops

Between local food shelves, mutual aid networks, plus the ongoing work to dismantle the system that creates hunger in the first place, there's lots to support right now. Just one option: @utranmyhre.bsky.social and I are gathering contributions here: teamfeed.feedingamerica.org/participants...

Saint Paul, come get a whistle, practice, and map community defense and care! 🧵1/2

Another unbelievably on-point poem from @tishjonespoet.bsky.social: "Five Years Since" - an original work reflecting on the five years since the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis Police Officer (Derek Chauvin) and the state of the world.

Published a new poem. Thank you to @chicagomag.com

This whistle zine link got over a thousand likes over on facebook of all places. Having a few zine-folding drop-ins soon. I think one takeaway (especially for organizers, leaders, etc.) is that people are excited about concrete, down-to-earth, actionable to-do items that have clear applications.

Maybe you all know this, but it's worth affirming: DHS posting an ICE recruitment ad with the text "destroy the flood" is (1) yes, a reference to the video game Halo, and (2) yes, despite being a "jokey" meme, STILL a 100% explicitly racist, dehumanizing call to action that will get people killed.

Between local food shelves, mutual aid networks, plus the ongoing work to dismantle the system that creates hunger in the first place, there's lots to support right now. Just one option: @utranmyhre.bsky.social and I are gathering contributions here: teamfeed.feedingamerica.org/participants...

Save the date for the next one! Sunday Nov 2nd at 1:30pm at Powderhorn!

Friendly competition for a good cause - the Swifties are beating the #FoodBankChallenge by just a few hundred dollars! (#FoodBankChallenge is currently #4 top fundraiser for Feeding America, the Swifties team is #2). The top team is $99k+ ahead of all of us. 😆 teamfeed.feedingamerica.org/events/637

Went to whistle distro /mini-training event in Powderhorn Park today. There were 200-300 people, very inspiring to see community come out and be ready to fight. Big love to folx in Chicago for the inspiration. Next whistle distro/training: Sun. Nov. 2, 1:30pm, Powderhorn Park 14th Ave & 33rd St

South Minneapolis! Come get a whistle and get some practice in!

My assumption is that the reference here is unbelievably niche (though not for designer @utranmyhre.bsky.social), but also that the sentiment is true even if you don't get the joke. Let's keep this fundraiser moving: teamfeed.feedingamerica.org/participants... #BluesterClub #FoodBankChallenge

For neighbors here in the Twin Cities planning on adapting the whistles tactic we've seen in Chicago: In the spirit of zines being adaptable, we made some super slight tweaks to the original Pilsen one. SAME INFO, just added a page of Twin Cities-specific resources: cryptpad.fr/file/#/2/fil...

"The Monarca Rapid Response Line is dedicated to responding to Federal enforcement activity in Minnesota [we have responders in western Wisconsin, too]." Monarca "upstander" trainings coming up in prospect park (mpls), seward, u of mn, eau claire and chaska! Details:

#FoodBankChallenge Can we get to $5000 to start? With SNAP running out in Nov if the shutdown continues, more folks will be turning to food banks - which are already struggling since the administration cut $500 MILLION in deliveries back in the spring. teamfeed.feedingamerica.org/participant/...

"Because I don’t believe that art is ever going to be enough to get us to the world that we want to live in. But I also do not see us getting to that world without it—without some kind of cultural strategy, without narrative work, without artists."

Banger! Give it a listen, amigos.

Hey twin cities friends! There’s a new website for the Mn Rapid Response network, now called Monarca. It has the hotline to call if you see 🧊 activity as well as Know Your Rights information and lists upcoming community trainings. A great resource. Please share widely! monarcamn.org

"Grindin’, first in the breadline/ The greatest emcee of all end times/ No warning, no warrant, just a headliner/ dragged offstage with no headlines..." Me and @seemore.bsky.social wrote a song over that beat that plays in Andor when Mon Mothma is spinning around:

That’s why the politicians have to understand that they have to stand up for trans kids rather than pretending that these attacks aren’t real. To discuss the rise of anti-trans politics. Doing so will empower voters with the truth. Ignoring this issue doesn’t exist only helps those weaponizing it.

It's been cool to see the Fateh/Davis/Hampton campaigns focused on positive messaging and lifting each other up, but it's ALSO good to remember and affirm why it's time for change: www.jacobfreyfacts.com via @mplsforthemany.com (also worth a follow for friends here in Minneapolis)

"gracias a dios del chisme, who heard all la migra’s plans / & whispered them into the right ears / to keep our families safe." - from "poem where no one is deported" by @joseolivarez.bsky.social Read: poets.org/poem/poem-wh...

Related to previous post: In this asynchronous class, we do a deep dive into the “anthemic” impulse: the idea of art, media, and communication that has forward momentum, is mobilizing vs. demobilizing, moves beyond critique toward action, etc. Relevant for artists… but definitely not just artists.

I’ve really appreciated those posts. “We are going to win” is not just fun online talk - it is the most fundamental, narrative 101, tone-setting stuff a movement needs, tactically, to win. We want to be on the winning team. We push harder when the goal is in sight. We make the story the reality.

When I spoke at #NoKings in June, I tried to echo the affirmation that big rallies are first steps, not destinations. In that spirit, two related resources: • A printable zine: "For people who want to take action” - guante.info/actionzine • The "things to do after a big march" link below: