Dear John,

I am sitting with this series of questions from Kelly Hayes, posed in her conversation with Indigenous activists Morning Star Gali and Ashley Crystal Rojas, and included in this week’s Digest: 

“Do we really believe that the world-destroying system that currently governs our lives, that was born of genocide and perpetuates genocide, is the best we can do? Are we satisfied with simply going through the motions of capitalism, white supremacy and settler colonialism as the world burns? Or are we capable of imagining, and perhaps even living, another way?”

The rest of the stories shared in the Digest pose just some of the answers imagined and put into action by neighbors in Minneapolis, across Minnesota, and around the world. Each act is one of resistance, and hope. 

Join us in action next week, as we continue to call our neighbors and organize for a ceasefire, and for action to address the root causes of violence, apartheid, and occupation. 

Here are the stories rooted in imagination, and the belief that we can do better, that have kept me grounded in hope this week: 

1. The international labor movement is mobilizing for a Free Palestine

“As union laborers, we know that solidarity is our word. Solidarity is our life. As one person, we cannot do anything. But through solidarity, there is nothing we cannot do … not one more day, not one more life.… I know it seems like a really hard thing to do as just one person, but I know I will scream until I have no more voice. Ceasefire now!”

2. 'You're failing at your job': residents call on state to shutter Smith Foundry in tense community meeting

“This is environmental racism at its finest guys … we’ve got the most diverse community in the state of Minnesota, and we can’t breathe.” The Smith Foundry in Minneapolis’ East Phillips neighborhood is violating the Clean Air Act, and residents are being forced to live with the health consequences. Now, they’re coming together to demand the facility be shut down. 

3. Calling on Minnesota to divest from Israel

“Hospitals were at the center of Israel’s attacks. My pension, which I get because I took care of sick and injured people in a state-of-the-art hospital just down the street, was used to destroy the hospitals of Gaza.” Minnesota investments benefiting Israel make up $116.3 million dollars, or 0.14 percent of the state’s portfolio, according to the Governor’s office – and activists are calling on the state to divest. 

4. Minnesotans would save big with caps on childcare costs

“My daughter quit her job in the healthcare industry because she struggled to find affordable childcare for her infant and toddler. The middle-class working families still need better solutions.” In Minnesota, the average family spends 20 percent of their income on childcare, almost three times the seven percent recommended by the federal government. Advocates are working to make affordable childcare a reality.

5. A 'pause' isn't a ceasefire - and a ceasefire isn't an end to the siege of Gaza

“It is maddening to think that it took six weeks to arrive at this ‘pause.’ Even during this brief ‘pause,’ Israeli soldiers killed at least eight Palestinians in the West Bank towns of Jenin, Al-Bireh and Yatma, south of Nablus. Moreover, Israel intends to resume its attacks when the pause expires; as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated clearly: ‘We are at war, and we’ll continue the war until we achieve all our goals.’”

6. Native organizers celebrate solidarity, grieve losses and work to reduce harm

“I’ll just say the interconnectedness is undeniable. And just like we’re connected to each other and these liberation fights across the globe, we’re connected to the Earth … We need each other to be well and I can’t be fully well unless all the folks around me are well too, and so to lean in to that interconnectedness, that interdependence, and to just reach out. I think these moments [of loss] are often capitalized on by some of these forces that are working against us to reinforce hyper-individualism or isolation or be afraid of one another. But we need to do the opposite. We need to know that we are each other and we need to move closer together.” 

7. Palestinian student Hisham Awartani issues powerful statement following Vermont shooting

“Had I been shot in the West Bank, where I grew up, the medical services that saved my life here would likely have been withheld by the Israeli army. The soldier who shot me would go home and never be convicted. I understand that the pain is so much more real and immediate because many of you know me, but any attack like this is horrific, be it here or in Palestine. This is why when you say your wishes and light your candles today, your mind should not just be focused on me as an individual, but rather as a proud member of a people being oppressed.”

8. The Lower Sioux in Minnesota need homes - so they are building them from hemp

Hempcrete – insulation made from hemp – is energy efficient and climate resilient. And, it’s “normally the domain of rich people with means to contract a green home, not marginalized communities. That’s because the sustainable material is normally imported from Europe rather than made locally.” Now, the Mdewakanton Band of Dakota are building a facility to grow and process hempcrete, and to build community housing – the first operation of its kind in the United States. 

9. Murmurations: Moving from punishment to accountability

“In this revolutionary moment, then, what to do? Dismantle the existing criminal justice system, certainly, so that the new world being built is not arrested and imprisoned. And then, hands on the plow, we do the work necessary to build… what? With reciprocity, democracy, and collectivism as our new (and old) north star, what are the systems and institutions we want to revive and create?”

10. Mike Lindell's conspiracy-fueled pillow company fights to survive his election obsession

I once had a creative writing professor who said of the Twilight books, “I read them so you don’t have to.” His sentiment was generous and funny, and I’m not paying it forward: I read this fever dream of an article about the election-denying MyPillow guy, and now you have to read it too. 

In care and solidarity,

Jessie Lee-Bauder (she/her)