Despite the recent news of a drawdown in Minneapolis and an end to Operation Metro Surge, we must continue to keep eyes on Minnesota, even as the 24/7 news cycle moves on.
For one, reports are beginning to come out detailing the full scope and collective impacts of the operation (see this one from Sean Sherman, the Sioux Chef). These reports contain valuable information for the residents of whichever cities may be targeted next.
And, in the past week, Dakota and Lakota activists have also established ceremonial space at a sacred ancestral site, in prayerful response to the ongoing violence and detention of immigrant neighbors. This prayerful occupation is likely to stay, build momentum, and fundamentally challenge the narratives about Minnesota in the coming weeks, as these Indigenous activists call the state to reckon with its own history of genocide and forced displacement of Dakota people.
We continue to ask you to pay attention to what’s happening in Minnesota, and across Turtle Island, as ICE changes tactics and seeks to expand its detention centers.
We continue to ask you to be steadfast in your discipline of lovingkindness and in your belief that another world is not only possible, but is actively being co-created by ordinary people with no extraordinary power other than their connections to each other.
We continue to ask you to pray. For through prayer, we come together with our Creator, Mother Earth, and one another. Through prayer, we transform our reality.
