As the fascism of our current government becomes more and more evident with a flood of reports and images of the atrocities committed by ICE and border agents, people are taking to the streets to protest. Last Saturday, MIRAC and CAIRMN staged the largest of such marches since last summer in the Twin Cities. Over a thousand people assembled in the K-mart parking lot on Lake St. in south Minneapolis, and marched their way through the heart of the city. Banners and signs proclaimed the contempt and resolve of the community in the face of dehumanization. Amid the crowd TCDSA was in attendance sporting Abolish ICE shirts and carrying an ICE is American Gestapo banner that spanned the entire road.
While the march started out onto Lake, I could see the diversity of those who had come out to protest. Every race, belief and focus of the left was in attendance, and we melded together seamlessly in our combined statement of dissent. Protest chants started up of “¡El pueblo unido, jamás será vencido!”, “Abolish ICE” and our contingent modified “no kids in cages” to “no humans in cages” as we broke out in the streets. All activity in the streets and the surrounding shops stopped as the protest passed, people either recorded the event or joined in the chants and cheered us on. The helpless feeling that was building up within me around this issue dissolved away as everyone I saw looked back at me with resolve and belief that we are changing this country right now. This mass action affirmed the power of people to wrest the levers of power from the few who would use them to inflict suffering to the poor and downtrodden.
The march ended at First Universalist Church of Minneapolis and as the mass of people pooled within on block the number of people that had been hard to perceive as we marched became evident. An activist yelled into a megaphone a message of protest that was inaudible over the noise of the crowd. The mass of comrades is indicative of the solidarity that we need in order to create the world that we want, and that we need to participate more. It is imperative that we all join in to struggle against those who would subjugate others. Momentum is gathering in this effort and we need to be there to strengthen the ranks. Keep an eye on MIRAC and CAIR as the year goes on, as this will not be the last time that we need to stand up for equal rights for immigrants.
– Lucas H.
image courtesy of Henry P. & MIRAC