Can You Hear Me Now

Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.

T. S. Eliot

I grew up in a time when there was one telephone per house. People would call our number, Whitney 5-2497, regardless if you wanted to reach Mom, Dad, any of my five siblings, or me. In fact, there were quite a few times when I answered the phone only to have a long conversation before handing it off to the intended recipient. The same would go for the times I called my friend’s houses. I got to know many Moms (Dads were always too hasty) by spending time with them over a leisurely phone call. My friends could always wait.

These days, everyone has their own phone and if your call isn’t answered within a few rings, all you get is a voice mail greeting and a beep. Long gone are the days when a phone call was a way of connecting with a family and not just a specific individual.

Fun fact. For all my early years, we were on a party line. Not only would an incoming call connect to a random family member, there were times when it connected to complete strangers. I clearly remember calls when I was certain that a neighbor was listening in. Those were the occasions when my friends and I made the conversation “interesting.”

The People of the Twin Cities, Minnesota

Yesterday, the Twin Cities was awarded the prestigious John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage award for “risking their lives to protect their neighbors and immigrant community members.” The text of the award reads:

Starting in 2025, a sharp escalation in federal immigration enforcement swept cities across the country, disrupting workplaces and neighborhoods and stoking fear among immigrant families. In the Twin Cities of Minnesota, the surge was especially intense: more than 3,000 federal agents from ICE and Border Patrol were deployed to the metro area, an operation the Department of Homeland Security described as the largest federal immigration enforcement action in U.S. history. The unprecedented scale and use of force pushed the boundaries of federal authority, drawing national attention to concerns about federal overreach.

The people of the Twin Cities responded with extraordinary courage and resolve. Tens of thousands took to the streets to peacefully protest federal overreach and threats to immigrant families and constitutional protections, while others documented enforcement activity and alerted neighbors to federal agents’ presence. Faith leaders organized demonstrations, community groups built rapid-response networks, labor leaders and small business defended workers, and volunteers provided critical support and resources. Across religious, racial, and political lines, a broad coalition of residents of the Twin Cities and surrounding suburbs united in peaceful resistance despite violent confrontation and real personal risk, defending their neighbors’ rights and strengthening the national movement to protect American democracy.

As I pondered the roles that my community and I played in winning the award, I could not help but think about those days of the single phone households. Here in the Twin Cities, we became one family and when the call to action came, we answered it together. This was not the time for individualism.

I didn’t do anything that thousands of my neighbors weren’t doing along with me. None of us marched alone, stood up to ICE agents alone, waved signs from bridges or street corners alone, protected pre-schools and elementary schools alone, made phone calls or sent letters alone, formed rapid response teams alone, sang in singing resistance groups alone, and when two of us were brutally murdered by masked ICE thugs, mourned alone.

We went from strangers to family in a heartbeat. The Trump administration was not expecting this and our solidarity caught them totally off guard. Whatever they thought of Minnesotans, they were wrong. Very, very wrong.

What I try to tell young people is that if you come together with a mission, and its grounded with love and a sense of community, you can make the impossible possible. John Lewis

From a Single Seed

The work we did here in the Twin Cities has become the blueprint for communities across the nation. We laid the groundwork for the most effective defense against the Trump administration’s assault on America. The MAGA forces thought they could just come in here and steamroll Minnesota, but we showed them what real patriotism looks like. We showed them that we are willing to stand together no matter what they throw at us. And threw they did.

In the process, we put the safety and wellbeing of our neighbors above our own. We got in the face of ICE agents, were arrested, reported on ICE activity, gave money to worthy causes, blew our whistles, collected food and made deliveries to at risk families, and in the cases of Renée Good and Alex Pretti, gave our lives in order to protect others. We showed the world that fear is not a reason to stay home. There are needs much bigger than any one of us and those needs are best faced as a family.

This is what courage looks like and it is no surprise to me that we are being recognized for it.

I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for law. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Well done Twin Cities and well done to the many communities around the country who are paying attention to us and building Minnesota-grown resilience into their battle plans against authoritarian and fascists.

Our Road Goes Ever On

I would like to think that this award gives us permission to take a nap, but that is not in the cards. While the so-called surge is less visible than it was over the winter months, ICE is still arresting and deporting people without due process or trials. Their efforts have also picked up in other major metropolitan areas — think Newark, New Jersey.

The Twin Cities were rewarded for our courage, but the bigger reward will come as we reman steadfast and resolute. There is so much to do and we are better prepared than ever. The madness will only stop when we vote this reign of terror out of office and that will take continued effort and sacrifice.

The cost of freedom is always high, but Americans have always paid it. And one path we shall never choose, and that is the path of surrender, or submission. John F. Kennedy

So, when the phone rings for your city or state, answer it as a family. Answer it as a community prepared to show your own courage and love. In other words, answer it like a Minnesotan. We know how to get things done, you betcha.

We all do better when we all do better. Minnesota Senator Paul Wellstone

Thank you for reading.

The difference between
that which is and that which strives to come into being
is the thin line of hope
and the courage to leap blindly across the chasm of uncertainty
from wallflower sitting to the willingness to dance

The differences between today and the promise of tomorrow
are the mistakes we make and the lessons we gather
the fears we overcome and those we refuse to discard

The difference between forgiveness and letting go
is the breathing in and the breathing out
the standing up and forward movement
every blessed day of difference