It’s Friday, January 30 — aka, national general strike day!
Out of respect to the strike, this week’s Friday Five is focused specifically on ways to plug in, show up, and support this moment and the movement against ICE, CBP, DHS, and this entire shitshow of an administration.
Remember: Creativity is action, and action is creative. Every moment matters. Let’s make this one.
your friday five…ways to make a difference.
Join today’s national strike…however you can.
If you’re going to spend money, spend locally.
Big corporations? Fuck ‘em. But your local bookstore? Your local immigrant-run restaurant? Your locally-owned grocery store? Those are the folks who can absolutely use your dollars right now, or over this weekend if they’ve decided to close in solidarity.
In addition, many small businesses (I can think of three in my fairly small city alone!) are closed for commerce, but have set themselves up as warming centers, gathering spaces, checkpoints for local organizers, and just general community hubs. Check around in your area, and if you can, offer them some support!
Support the organizations doing the rapid response work we desperately need, and the journalists putting themselves at risk to make sure you know about it.
A few to check out:
Unidos MN → a grassroots, immigrant-run network providing immediate support for urgent needs.
Immigrant Rapid Response Fund → supported through multiple Twin Cities foundations, providing support for basic needs (food, housing, transportation, health care), legal services (rights support, legal protections, due process), and mobilization/organizing/education work.
Stand With Minnesota → a hub collecting mutual aid funds, organizations to support, GoFundMes, and other ways to directly help the folks in MN right now.
Georgia Fort → an independent journalist based in St. Paul who was arrested today under orders from the Justice Department, which is uhhhhhh hugely fucked! this link directly supports her journalism.
Call your reps, and then call them again.
Apps like 5calls make it easy, but you can also just save your local office’s numbers, and make yourself a problem. Nervous about calling rather than emailing?
Make a connection — any connection.
Minnesota has one of the highest levels of social trust in the country, and right now, we’re seeing in real time why that matters. When people know one another, when they trust one another, they’re more likely to show up for one another — in small ways, like being willing to stop in to water a neighbor’s plants, and in really, really large ways, like putting yourself in front of an SUV to get between your neighbor and ICE.
About a quarter of Americans know most or all of their neighbors – down from three-in-ten in 2018. Time-use studies show that Americans now spend more time alone and less time socializing than in the past. They are also spending more time at home. They even walk more quickly and socialize less in public than a few decades ago.
How many of your neighbors do you know? Do you have their phone number in case of an emergency? Make some kind of outreach this week. If you don’t already know your neighbors, stop by to introduce yourself. If you do already know your neighbors, stop by to see if they need anything right now.
We’re only going to get through this together.
Until next week: Stay strong, stay creative, stay loving, and fuck ICE.
💜Shelly
