by Laura Too
I’m going to trust that everyone knows the story of what happened to Mr. George Floyd and has seen the disaster porn from my neighborhood. I don’t need to contribute to that. Instead, I would like this to be part travelogue and part historical reference. Plus a few personal notes. Warning, John Cole, it is long. I know you love long! But pretty pictures!
I live 2-1/2 blocks from the third precinct.
It has taken me a few days. I feel so bad about feeling so traumatized. 10 days of whiteness vs a lifetime of blackness? Saying I can’t breathe because of smoke and teargas and not a knee on my neck? Yeah, it really has brought my privilege into sharp relief.
I am still processing all that has happened. During Covid everything was so quiet, not a lot of sirens or noise. I had a routine being newly unemployed that I was just adjusting to, so the flash grenades, teargas, rubber bullets and real bullets were extra jarring. I had many sleepless nights and am lucky that there were lots of Jackals that kept me company. I won’t rehash that here.
It is quieter now, and I got sleep last night.
We went on a bike ride today so I got some pictures of the murals that are going up. I want to show things CNN won’t. The beauty that is happening.
MPR (Minnesota Public Radio) has been devoting hours of programming to black voices. Opening phone lines so people can call in and just talk. Community activists who’ve been on the streets for years. Mental health experts. I have been listening to amazing, resilient voices and learning. It is helping.
And I visited the shrine.
***
This is some of my new neighborhood.
Post office on the corner of Minnehaha and 27th
On Thursday the volunteers moved in to clean, there were many.
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Gandhi Mahal & Migizi being cleaned
Ruhel Islam owns Gandhi; please read his statement about the fire. ‘Let My Building Burn’: Gandhi Mahal Restaurant Owner Calls For Justice For George Floyd.
I am fortunate to be a friend, so many good memories there. Lots of family dinners. Migizi held a drum circle for healing shortly after this was taken.
You can check out Dinners, Drive-Ins and Dives – Gandhi was featured and we were invited to the taping.
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Soldier’s Memorial Cemetery 28th and Lake St.
The smoke and teargas were so thick on my side of Lake Street, but on the north side the wind was blowing it away, so I went in search of Fern. She always makes me feel better, and I was worried that the noise would drive her away. I was delighted to see that not only is Fern still there, she has a daughter now. I spent about an hour with her.
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Mural of Phoenix
This was one of the first murals to go up.
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Mural Hook and Ladder
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Mural BLACKDAZEART
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Mural BLACKDAZEART
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Mural of Solidarity
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George Floyd Memorial Shrine
I spent the time of Mr. Floyd’s memorial, which was held downtown, at the shrine that is set up at 38th and Chicago. It is a truly sacred space. There are a couple food banks that also have every supply you could possibly need, all free. Prepared food from dozens of pop ups, also free. Someone was doing coffee shots and cold brew, free. Water, free.
Laura is here to talk with us and answer any questions we might have. Thank you, Laura! ~WG
debit
Beautiful pictures, Laura, and some lovely words to go with them.
AndoChronic
Thanks for the photos Laura. Still unspooling here on the Northside. Sleeping better too! Glad you made it through and are safe.
spudgun
Aw, you have deer friends? I want deer friends! ?
Thank you for the pictures – they seem hopeful to me. Looks like a wonderful community. I didn’t realize you were that close to the action, so I’m glad you’re safe, things are calming down a little and you are finally able to get some rest.
scav
To no small degree, no small part of the real work starts now. There’s been the wakeup call, the ball has been started rolling, But there’s still the cleanup and reconstruction of all our society and infrastructure (badged or otherwise) to accomplish. Good to see that starting to roll down.
Yutsano
Thank you for this. I hope a lot of these will still be around when I go to Minneapolis in October. I might be risking things but buck it.
And I HAVE to get Asiangrrlmn here for this. I bet she has some input.
EDIT: Just threw out a communication. Hopefully this works!
EDIT II: Oh and if things are still quiet on the Covid front, maybe we can arrange a meet-up.
Emma from FL
Those murals are stunning.
Laura Too
@scav: Yes, we will rebuild. We have a deep bench of activists, this is their time.
Laura Too
@Yutsano: Let me know! I would love to give a personal tour. It is an amazing place and we have a lot of work to do. I believe that St. Thomas University will take the murals that are done on the boards and archive them.
Laura Too
@AndoChronic: Yeah, and you guys were more a magnet for the worst of the worst. We had our share, but there were also so many others that they didn’t get as much cover.
Laura Too
A link to another amazing business:
A Black-Owned Distillery Was Set On Fire In Minneapolis. Here’s How The Owner Responded.
Yutsano
@Laura Too: I also have a couple of friends who have told me in assertive tones that I must see the Prince exhibit if it’s open by then.
Current plans are to arrive in the late morning of the 27th of October then a friend is picking me up and we’ll see if I can check in to the hotel early. I’m pretty open as far as time except we leave for Milwaukee on Thursday morning.
Mary G
You really were right in the thick of it. Glad you are physically safe, but the mental and emotional trauma must be massive. Fern and her baby are good medicine!
The murals are wonderful and it’s so nice to see so many helpers. I went to downtown LA after the 1992 riots to help clean up and met Mayor Bradley. So sad to see how little progress we’ve made since then. I hope this time is different.
Laura Too
@Yutsano: I haven’t been yet, but it’s pretty spendy if it’s the one at Paisley. We could see about a meet up then if you are interested. Covid willing.
WaterGirl
@Laura Too: Sorry, Laura! I screwed up the timezone again. argh.
Sloane Ranger
Some lovely murals and deer!
Glad you are finally getting some sleep because all of us, American, British whatever have to accept that this will not be sorted out overnight and every change for the better will be fought every step of the way by those who benefit from the current social setup. Even when they lose, they’ll only pay lip service to the changes while they look for ways to undermine it.
What worries me are the schisms that are developing among the protesters between those who want to abolish or defund the police and those who want to reform them. This will weaken the long term impact of the movement.
TaMara (HFG)
Just a lovely post, Laura Too.
Yutsano
@WaterGirl: Aren’t you two in the same time zone? :P
@Laura Too: I’m adjustable on my plans, but if budget allows I might make the stop there. I also hope the restaurant is rebuilt by then so we could meet up there. That would be a nice way of both showing support and getting some great food. But like I said plans are open.
Laura Too
@WaterGirl: No worries! I so appreciate all you do. And you’re editing skills are amazing!
WaterGirl
We are! Laura said “after one” would be great, but when I edited the scheduled time (always military time) I was thinking 1:30 and not blog time. So sad!
Dorothy A. Winsor
The street art is dazzling. People find many ways to make themselves heard.
Yutsano
@Sloane Ranger: I don’t trust Boris any further than I can throw him. And I trust the Conservatives even less. I can see tiny lip service changes until either Labour gets back in charge or there’s some kind of major crisis in the party that causes the Government to collapse. I wish the Dominic Cummings scandal was enough to do it, but it probably isn’t dammit.
Libby’s Person
Thank you so much for sharing this. It’s important for us to see and hear what it’s like to live through an experience like this. I’m lucky enough to live in a place that has avoided violence and property damage so far and where the police have stayed unobtrusive and not provocatively. I am in a high-risk group for COVID-19 so I haven’t been able to do more than briefly visit the edge of the first protest this week in Durham. I see pictures and videos from other places; some are heartbreaking and others are heartwarming, but it all feels surreal as we watch on our TVs just like an episode of Homeland. Accounts like yours are important to remind us that these events are happening in real communities, with rich histories and full of people who have to pick up the pieces and figure out how to get on with their lives. Thank you for motivating me to do more.
Laura Too
@Sloane Ranger: We are lucky to have Governor & LT Governor who have been doing the work for a really long time. Both are from the Wellstone wing of the party, came up under him. Not flashy, not grandstanding. Put your head down & do the work. They navigated this better than anyone could hope. They already said we don’t need committees and position papers, those have been done for years. We can get reform now and they know the levers to push to accomplish it. It won’t happen overnight, but it was no accident that Keith Ellison got to take over the case and the others were charged. I don’t think the public will go back to sleep after this. We have a real opportunity to live our values now.
feebog
Beautiful post and amazing pictures. This is why BJ is my first stop in the morning and my last stop at night. Thanks Laura Too.
Redshift
Another friend of mine is also in the neighborhood. Love the great art, and I hope for everyone there that real change comes out of this.
Tehanu
The murals are great, thanks for the pix.
greenergood
From 3500 miles away and in lockdown, I’m crying looking at these beautiful photos, and so much of the beauty I see online. I am also horrified by other vids I see of people being senselessly beaten by humans who’ve lost their sense of balance and decency, and think they can wreak violence because they wear a ridiculous uniform – you know, the discards from the Army, that their stupid police forces bought on auction even they don’t really know how they work but that make them feel like being Robocop is cool, not an insult to humanity. There were really good turnouts in Glasgow and Edinburgh, but I’m way off the beaten track, i.e. would need to use public transport, and am compromised. So will send ££ to folks who need it – homeless, etc. – but the bravery and vibe is incredible – and I pray this detemination will continue and vanquish the bad guys, who actually know damn fine who they are, which is why they are behaving so badly.
Baud
Thanks for sharing, LT. Amazing artistry.
Laura Too
@Libby’s Person: We all have to do what we can, the nice thing is you can do GOTV postcards or calls that don’t expose you to anything. I had to step back after the first few days of protests though that is kind of my thing. Sadly been to too damn many of them here. But letting folks from the suburbs step up with brooms and shovels or food and diapers give them a stake in the outcome. Seeing exactly what income inequality and racism causes was a shock to a lot of them. It is pretty easy in liberal Minnesota to paper over what happens to “those” people even if you do care. I will still be here when they are gone, and I will go back to fighting for change and getting out the vote for the most progressive candidates. We have a lot of talented POC who are getting ready to run. It is their time.
AndoChronic
@Laura Too: The worst of the worst is something that may have saved us. Hells Angles were on patrol along with other clubs and armed citizens of all affiliations were working with neighborhood organizations to keep everyone protected. It was all organic, organized, and amazing, still is. The damn Jimmy John’s safe from Uptown that was dumped in our alley, which we subsequently used as a roadblock, is still here though. An undisclosed neighbor took the two “Top Secret” recipe books which the thieves failed to appreciate.
WaterGirl
Laura Too just sent this by email and asked me to post this in the comments:
Belfast, Ireland Sends Its Love
If there’s any community that understands sectarian violence and living under siege, it’s the Northern Irish. See this mural they made in Belfast to commemorate George and the struggle for Black liberation.
JPL
Thank you for sharing the pictures and some of your experience. Every few months it would be great for updates on the rebuilding, if you have the time. I just hope that Derek Chauvin spends the rest of his days in jail.
Laura Too
@greenergood: We all can work towards a better world, either through money or words. I have got to get better at speaking up and not worrying I will piss someone off.
Laura Too
Just got word that there will be a major announcement on police reform at a local park in about an hour. I will hang out here for another 20 minutes but then I will be gone for a while. I want to be there in person so if it isn’t good enough I can add my voice to the chorus. I will check back in when I get back if not asking for bail money.
O. Felix Culpa
@Laura Too: Please let us know what they announce. I hope that it leads to meaningful change. And thank you for the photos. I’m glad you’re ok and that folks are pitching in to clean up and make beauty.
scribbler
Thank you for the beautiful words and pictures. It means so much to have someone “on scene” to show, tell and explain what is happening. Please do keep updating us in the future if you can.
Laura Too
@WaterGirl: I particularly appreciated the see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil on the 3 standing witness.
hitchhiker
Thanks so much for bringing us all into your neighborhood!
Can I ask what you hear/think/feel about your mayor? From out here on the left coast, it’s hard to know what to make of how he was treated yesterday, getting booed off the stage when he wouldn’t support “defunding the police.” He seems like he’s trying to do right … is that impression wrong?
I’m anxious about that phrase bubbling up, btw, because it’s got the sound of anarchy, which helps nobody right now.
Laura Too
@O. Felix Culpa: I plan to make sure we hold the council’s feet to the fire. There are a couple, including the mayor, that are way to comfortable with platitudes and inaction. Not this time.
Kev In France
ooh! Dorothy, I see you’re here. I never seem to catch up on these threads to get in touch with you.
I just wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed The Wind Reader. You did a nice job of world building and produced a fast-paced and exciting story. I have your The Wysman on order and I’m thrilled that it will arrive on my birthday.
Laura Too
@hitchhiker: I will write a detailed comment about Jacob Frey here when I get back. Let’s say for now that he wasn’t on my ranked choice ballot as 1,2, or 3. He is way out of his depth on this and if it wasn’t for the guiding hand of Tim Walz we would have been completely fucked. (can you tell I have no more f’s to give on couching how I really feel?)
Baud
@hitchhiker:
Me too. I hope we don’t Overton Window ourselves into failure again.
db11
Just to echo the thanks your account and accompanying photos.
Ruckus
I was not allowed to go to work during the Watts riots, I worked about a mile from the riot zone. I was 16.
I owned that same business during the Rodney King riots, and his beating was just a few miles from my home and I drove by it every day on the way to work. It wasn’t pretty.
Every country has an original sin. Ours of course is the racism. Several of our founding fathers owned slaves. They formed a country that fought a civil war over slavery. That war was won and should have changed that original sin to the past tense. It of course did not. We will always have racism, as long as there are humans. Why, I don’t understand, but that doesn’t change anything. We still have systematic racism today. We’ve worked on this, we’ve made some baby steps, although to many I’d bet it doesn’t feel like it at all. We have a long way to go and yet every time we’ve had a major turning point in my lifetime, like we are at now, we’ve made progress. Very, very slowly, so as not to upset the status quo too much. This feels different. This feels like the racists and haters have over played their hand and the vast majority have had enough. Far more than enough. And one of the remaining bastions of racism is the police. Not every cop for sure, not every department for sure, but far too damned many of them.
This disaster gives that turning point a voice, many voices in fact.
@Laura Too:
The distillery owner’s words are very good.
I’m glad you are OK, I’m glad to see that the citizens starting repairs and murals that are amazing. And I hope that as a country, we can make systematic change, that helps and brings this country to a much better position, that we can take advantage of that turning point and become a better nation.
Matt McIrvin
@Sloane Ranger:
This is what happens at every radical moment in history–there’s a broad, even a majority consensus in favor of change but the movement fractures over remedies, with moderates only willing to countenance reforms that the activist core find unacceptable. What does help is that the other side is so loathsome
But if all the authorities are willing to do is add a sensitivity training class or something, it’s not going to do any good.
Barbara
@Laura Too: Calm and pragmatic! I have become very shy about chiming in on issues about how to improve the life of a community — I used to work with a church that funded schools in Haiti, and that was definitely a good thing, but when it expanded its reach and I saw how much of what passed for community development consisted of NGO employees driving around in Land Rovers, I realized how easily it can devolve into people who have telling people who don’t have how things should be done — or just paying each other to do it. It was demoralizing and eye opening.
WaterGirl
@Laura Too: Yes! That really gets to the heart of matter. A few bad apples can be thrown out. A culture of see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil, aka the thin blue line is the root of all the problems.
TomatoQueen
Joining in, in admiration and relief that you’re well and safe.Merlin sends brrrp? brrrp? and I’ve reassured him and also pointed out Fern and her daughter. Higher and higher.
Madeleine
Thanks, Laura Too, for your view, both words and photos. The murals are beautiful and meaningful. Thanks, too, for the link to the article about Mr. Montana and his distillery. I was glad to read his ideas about what needs to be done and to have a way to donate to his fund for that neighborhood.
Barbara
@WaterGirl: On the issue of police culture, I think one fairly obvious thing to do is to prohibit the union from negotiating or enforcing standards of conduct. The community decides what level of force is reasonable, and the community decides when its norms have been violated. Even if police are not prosecuted, a city should be able to fire them for violating community standards.
Joy in FL
Thank you for this. I look forward to reading what you have to say about the mayor and whatever the announcement is.
Thank you for this first-hand knowledge.
db11
@Barbara: Not sure if it’s been covered here before, but have you seen Campaign Zero’s ‘8 Can’t Wait’ campaign targeting Use-of-Force policies?
8cantwait.org/
…which draws on data from the Police Use of Force Project:
useofforceproject.org/#review
…both of which are referenced and supported by the My Brother’s Keeper Alliance (Obama Foundation) Mayor’s Pledge:
obama.org/mayor-pledge/#pledge
Fair Economist
@Laura Too:
That is brilliant.
Kent
So my “woke” 17 year old daughter just showed me what she and her friends are doing. They are setting up their computers to run BLM videos non-stop on multiple screens to play all the youtube ads and make money from advertisers for their favorite BLM youtubers. They are doing this 24/7. Apparently it is what teens today are doing when they don’t actually have money themselves to send it.
I don’t know if they are actually accomplishing anything. But I do like the idea of hacking google to direct ad revenues to places they want it to go.
I think the kids are all right.
Geminid
I just saw that James Bennet has resigned as NYT editorial page editor. He won’t be missed.
cmorenc
Let’s hope the murder of George Floyd successfully catalyzes a lot of the change for racial justice that has been too-long left unfinished from the murder of Emmett Till 65 years ago, Till at the hand of a lawless mob, Floyd at the hand of a law-enforcement mob.
Eljai
@Laura Too: That was an inspiring article. And thank you for posting your thoughts and photos!
Sloane Ranger
@Matt McIrvin: I know. This is what happened to the British Womens Movement some years ago, where they spent more time fighting each other than moving things forward. Result was things stalled.
I’ve been wondering if professionalising the police might be an option. Set up a national professional organisation like the British Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), which sets standards of professional behaviour and requires evidence of competence through exams and Continuous Professional Development and has the power to expel members who fail to meet those standards. I’m sure you have similar in the States.
Police Departments could then require all police officers be a member of such an organisation or lose their job.
Barbara
@db11: Thanks!
Barbara
@Geminid: Farming out your job to two of your most extreme colleagues is probably a bad career move for anyone.
WaterGirl
@Barbara:
Totally agree. Both are important. Sorry, but they’ve lost the right to enforce their own standards of conduct.
Geminid
Also, thanks Laura too for the reporting, and sharing the murals. Your fellow citizens and political leadership have a tough task ahead dealing with your police force. They seem to be just asking to be disbanded and reconstructed as was done in Camden NJ. Of course they know they have nothing to fear from the current U.S. Justice department. Another reason why it’s so important to run trump & company out of Washington.
Baud
@Geminid:
Wow. Can’t believe anyone at the NYT has been held accountable for something. It’s a strange new world.
Matt McIrvin
@db11: I’ve seen a lot of derision/dismissal of those plans from the protesters, on the grounds that many of the cities where the police have been wildly abusive over the past several days have several of those reforms already in place, so they can’t be doing that much to change the culture.
Baud
@Matt McIrvin:
My hunch is the biggest thing that hasn’t been done is accountability for individual bad acts.
WaterGirl
Laura Too sent me this link: MPD150
She’ll be back from the live announcement at 6:30 blog time, about an hour from now.
x
WaterGirl
@Baud: I cannot come up with a hypothetical number of subscription cancellations that would be large enough for the NYT (they are garbage, you know) to actually fire people.
db11
@Matt McIrvin: The evidence doesn’t agree with them: Police Use Of Force data shows a 5-25% reduction in deaths (per policy) with implementation.
Geminid
@WaterGirl: The NYT seems to have carved out an economically secure spot in an era of failing print journalism. That may have added to their arrogance. Elites writing for elites; I hate that crap. And management did not fire Bennet because the Cotton op-ed was bad, but because it made them look bad.
db11
Attempted to edit my previous post, and got ate by the countdown timer… arghh!
Was trying to say that: no one is claiming that these are all that should be done — or that they directly change police culture / solve systemic racism / eliminate brutality. But you start with immediate harm reduction — fewer deaths is an unalloyed good in that regard. And they have the virtue of only requiring a mayor’s decision to change the implemented policy, so no excuses.
This is a great starting point, not the whole program. But successful, fast-tracked reforms that produce tangible results can go a long way towards building public support and political courage for deeper, more systemic change.
I would encourage anyone really interested to click through the links and read what’s there. It’s pretty compelling.
WaterGirl
@Geminid:
I had that same thought the moment I heard.
WaterGirl
@db11:
That’s no fun.
Pro tip, if you have a long edit, or not much time left. click on Edit Comment, type an x or any character you want, then press Update Comment. Then when you click edit again you have a full 5-minute edit window.
WaterGirl
@db11:
I assume you mean these from your comment above?
<a href=”#comment-7732186″ rel=”nofollow ugc”>@Barbara</a>: Not sure if it’s been covered here before, but have you seen Campaign Zero’s ‘8 Can’t Wait’ campaign targeting Use-of-Force policies?
8cantwait.org/
…which draws on data from the Police Use of Force Project:
useofforceproject.org/#review
…both of which are referenced and supported by the My Brother’s Keeper Alliance (Obama Foundation) Mayor’s Pledge:
obama.org/mayor-pledge/#pledge
db11
@Baud: That’s true. Eliminating Qualified Immunity — which is necessary for individual cops to be able to be held responsible (for all but the most egregious criminal acts, which they can be charged with now) — is on the list of medium-term objectives. But it requires political consensus and a change in law to enact, so it can’t provide benefit immediately, like Use of Force policy changes can.
The other thing that ties into accountability is the ‘Require Comprehensive Reporting’ policy change, which is critical for transparency: by both revealing / quantifying the current extent of the problem, and for measuring the effectiveness of implemented remedies.
db11
@WaterGirl: Yes, sorry! I should have repeated the links in that last comment.
hitchhiker
@db11:
That data comes from studies done after Ferguson by DeRay McKesson et al … he’s amazing.
npr.org/2018/09/08/645895088/activist-deray-mckesson-on-why-hes-making-the-case-for-hope
db11
@WaterGirl: Good tip, thanks :)
WaterGirl
@db11: That was my attempt to be helpful, not complaining. :-)
db11
@hitchhiker: Thanks for the link. Just skimmed the article and will give the interview a listen later on.
He is very impressive and has done a stellar job of making progress against a seemingly intractable problem.
Plus, he just seems like a really good person and one I’d love to know.
db11
@WaterGirl: Got it, thanks. (and I didn’t take it as complaint, just necessary clarification!)
db11
@Kent:
This is really cool, and I concur about the kids.
Laura Too
First off, thank you all for the kind words, I do appreciate it. First and foremost on MPD policing-the murderer of Mr. Floyd (I won’t say his name) was a training officer. A training officer with 17-21 complaints against him. Please sit with that for a moment. Two of the officers with him hadn’t been on the force for a week. That is who MPD thinks is competent to train other officers. This is a culture that allows torture and revels in depravity, They dehumanize the community they are sworn to protect. When people are afraid of disbanding the police here they are usually white. The police haven’t worked for POC for many years. For the last 2 weeks we haven’t had police protection in any of our neighborhoods. They have been too busy arresting journalists and slashing tires of journos and protesters. (MoJo story with film, I couldn’t bring myself to watch it yet) We have banded together to take care of each other. I have 10 people I can call, they have 10 people and so on. This isn’t going to be an overnight fix, it didn’t get broke overnight.
Laura Too
@db11: @Kent Yes! To this. They are worlds ahead of where I was at that age of activism. And they have a serious technological advantage. It is thrilling to hear this.
Laura Too
I will do my best on my opinion of Jacob Frey. Minneapolis has rank choice voting so candidates are a whole lot more responsive to us. I went to dozens of forums, speed dates and debates with all mayoral candidates. (there were many) Jacob is slick. He says all the right things. He was the candidate that the business council backed. Under normal times he would be fine, but he is out of his depth. I think he thinks that this will all go away in a week or two like usual. We can go back to the before time, giving lip service to reform. Not going to happen this time. The council drew a line in the sand. They are saying we will defund the PD, not overnight, but reform didn’t work. Clearly if you allow a murderer to train your results will be predictable. I think taxpayers are tired of paying for the results.
Laura Too
Al Letson Reveal has an interview with Keith Ellison (MN Attn General) regarding Bob Kroll (head of MPD Union and evil troll personified) . I urge anyone interested in MPD and how we got here to listen to this. Also anything else by him. He does amazing work.
WaterGirl
@Laura Too: A training officer. Un-fucking-believable.
WaterGirl
@Laura Too: So is this what I would call our “city council” that is making this decision, and can they do that without the agreement of the mayor?
WaterGirl
@Laura Too: Is this the interview you are referring to? (YES)
revealnews.org/article/keith-ellison-talks-about-police-power-protest-and-george-floyd-murder-prosec…
Laura Too
@WaterGirl: I believe they can. We have a “weak mayor” system here, and even if he veto’d it they have more than enough people to override. That is the program. Thanks!
rikyrah
Thanks for the pictures??
evodevo
@WaterGirl: I did not know that. It explains a lot. He was basically showing off for the two newbies by taking it to the limit. Hope that all four of them are gone for good – they do not belong in police work…
Laura Too
@rikyrah: You are most welcome. I think it is so important right now to show some good. We need to hold each other up. I appreciate everyone here so much! For taking care of me when my Uncle died and for staying up nights with me during the riot so I didn’t feel so alone. This is a very special place and I wanted to contribute something positive.
Laura Too
@evodevo: During the riot we figured out pretty quickly that we were on our own. Day 2 word went out that we needed to organize our blocks and get to know our neighbors. We had massive meetings on every block. Got phone trees for texts, got blocks connected to each other. There was an influx of KKK, 3 % and all kinds of others here. They were not welcome.
Geminid
@AndoChronic: “Hell’s Angles”!? Do you live in Flatland?
Laura Too
@WaterGirl: bringmethenews.com/minnesota-news/city-council-announces-intention-to-disband-minneapolis-police-dep…
Miss Bianca
@Sloane Ranger:
I think I’m a little more hopeful than you that these are pretty much just two sides of the same coin.
Laura Too
@AndoChronic: I somehow missed this comment. I read about the using the safe as a roadblock. That is some serious badassery right there. One of many from the Northside. You guys rocked it. And the pics of your militia, swoon. They don’t realize some on the left might have better firepower than they do.
Miss Bianca
@Laura Too: That’s great to hear. And thank you for the lovely photos and essays. Some of those murals are making me cry. Like wow, right away with Number #1.
Miss Bianca
@WaterGirl: I bet I know where that wall is, too.
My friend Sean McKernan, who’s an amazing photographer, lives in Belfast and has been posting photos of the Belfast demonstrations.
WaterGirl
@Miss Bianca: I find the demonstrations around the world to be very encouraging. Not just for Black Lives Matter, but also because it gives me hope that maybe, just maybe, there will be some forgiveness for us as a country for all the terrible things Trump is doing
P.S. Forgot to day how cool that is that he is posting photos.
Laura Too
@Miss Bianca: The first one was one of the very first to go up. Things were still burning. It was a beautiful sight,
Miki
Hi, Laura. East Side of St. Paul, here. My heart breaks for you and your neighborhood. We’re pretty good here, which kind of surprised me. My favorite shops and restaurants are mostly boarded up but they weren’t trashed. Payne Avenue took care of itself for the most part.
I feel like a big old nasty bandaid has been ripped off the Cities. Maybe now we can breathe and heal.
xoxoxo
Laura Too
@Miki: I grew up on the East side! Dating myself when I say I have many happy memories at the Woolworth’s soda fountain on Payne. I was over there a couple days ago to check on the place. My Grandma’s place was off Arcade and Maryland and the other off Earl St. Polish American Club? Good times! It looked like they might have torched the old Hamm’s brewery? Would love to connect!
Miki
@Laura Too: East Side Pride!
I’m a fairly recent transplant to the East Side (2006), but love the place. I grew up on the other side of the river, and crossed over when I moved back to Minnesota in 1981/2. Lived in Cathedral Hill and the Como area for years before moving here.
Hamm’s Brewery complex is still okay – houses a fabulous distillery (11 Wells) and a brewery now. Minnehaha is blocked off at Payne to “protect” the cop shop – that’s probably what you saw. AFAIK only one business on Payne was damaged – but Sun Ray got hit pretty hard.
Not personally familiar with The Polish American Club, but Teh Google tells me it was an important neighborhood institution. (I live down the street from St. Casimir’s.)
Yes – let’s figure something out!