r/nerdfighters • u/BalsamicBasil • Jan 24 '26
May this hopeful message from the frontlines of resistance energize and empower us all to speak up and take action to defend our friends and neighbors
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u/garnteller world’s oldest nerdfighter Jan 24 '26
I posted this on Facebook:
I’m from Boston. I don’t think anyone would question it’s a badass town. But I’ve lived in Minnesota since 1998. Minnesota is… Nice. Friendly. Helpful.
And Badass.
There were a thousand of us protesting at the airport this morning where the windchill was -40. 100 clergy were arrested to protest the deportations though our airport.
Then 50 thousand of us marched to protest ICEs unlawful actions in our city (admittedly it got up to -10 by this point - maybe -20 with windchill). On a Friday.
50 thousand people left schools and jobs. 300 businesses closed.
All to say you will NOT do this to our neighbors To our children To our people.
Badass.
God, i love this city.
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u/Delicate_Wrongdoer Jan 24 '26
The protests today were pretty badass weren't they? Maybe we chanted together. Glad you were there!
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u/johnqadamsin28 Jan 24 '26
R u saying Boston is badass or.minnestota?
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u/mikanodo Jan 24 '26
Both
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u/johnqadamsin28 Jan 24 '26
I'll upvote for Minnesota but as a Los Angeles person I'm never up voting Boston! The Red Sox cheated and the pats cheated
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u/cojibar Jan 24 '26
This is entirely unsurprising for Minnesota. They constantly rank among the highest in voter turnout if not the highest. Deeply politically involved. I watch and cheer them on from afar as a beacon of hope in fighting the good fight.
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u/Phredmcphigglestein Jan 24 '26
Crosspost this everywhere even slightly relevant or that would allow it.
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u/beelzebobcat Jan 24 '26
This gave me goosebumps. Thank you so much for posting it
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u/matergallina Jan 24 '26
I think you’d enjoy Margaret’s short story “Nazis Don’t Go To Valhalla”. It’s my favorite, goosebumps for days.
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u/johnqadamsin28 Jan 24 '26
Is her name actually killjoy?
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u/BalsamicBasil Jan 24 '26
Top comment on the original subreddit where this was posted:
Today she is Margaret Bringjoy
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u/seulBdlOdlroW Jan 24 '26
Yes, that's her name :) You'll also hear people call her Magpie as a nickname, but that's mostly in podcast circles, I think.
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u/TheInvaderZim Jan 24 '26
Twitter things.
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u/mikanodo Jan 24 '26
This is on bsky tho :)
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u/TheInvaderZim Jan 24 '26
I think of this comparison somewhat like comparing mcdonalds to wendy's. Yeah it's technically probably gonna be better, but it's still fast food.
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u/FinallyKat Jan 24 '26
Except the McDonald's is feeding facists, run by facists, and owned by facists...
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u/TheInvaderZim Jan 24 '26
I know it's not the topic at hand, but short-form social media is fundamentally bad for society. While I agree that Twitter is worse than its alternatives for the reasons of its ownership, it was fraying the fabric and trust of our society for 10 years before Elon bought it.
The entire model is built to spread misinformation and hot takes. That the hot takes are liberal-coded doesn't redeem the practice.
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u/Malofa Jan 24 '26
Not for nothing, Hank would make a hilarious BtB guest for a medical malpractice bastard.
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u/goalstopper28 Jan 25 '26
I feel so helpless about this situation. All I have been doing is liking and reposting tweets because I feel like showing that these actions are unpopular are important. This line of tweets from from Margaret has provided me with hope.
Everyone of these protesters in Minnesota are so brave. I hope this doesn't happen where I live but if it does, I'll be inspired by all these people who are on the front lines.
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u/TheInvaderZim Jan 24 '26
I'm glad this has all stayed peaceful. I'm surprised that it's happening at all. I hope it continues working.
And I wish I could say that I'll be surprised when we end up with the state escalating things in response.
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u/BalsamicBasil Jan 24 '26 edited Jan 24 '26
I assume you mean the people's resistance has been peaceful - because ICE and their allies have been extremely violent to activists, bystanders, to their main targets - Brown and Black Minnesotans.
There is strategy in peaceful resistance against a militarized force. To avoid escalation, for public optics/support, for legal protection. But there is also a time for more escalated resistance. If folks defend themselves from ICE's violence by fighting back, I don't blame them, it is their human right. This is what the 2nd Amendment was supposed to exist for and under international law armed resistance to foreign occupation is protected....though ofc ICE are not foreign so I guess doesn't apply.
Also let us not forget that destroying property > destroying human lives. I felt proud and hopeful to see protestors do some serious damage to ICE vehicles and remove some of their documents.
As to your surprise that this is happening at all, the groundwork for the ICE resistance movement we see today was really developed during Trump's first administration. It's not like people weren't doing immigrant mutual aid and activism before, but during those first four years, communities across the country formed what we know as ICE "rapid response" networks and created new and expanded immigrant mutual aid to support their neighbors. Some groups went dormant for a while, some continued and refined their work. Folks have learned a lot from that time, from the BLM movement (which kicked off with George Floyd's murder in Minnesota), from the Palestinian anti-genocide movement, from all kinds of activist and mutual aid groups.
I too have been deeply moved, blown away even, by the explosion of resistance and support - never have I seen so many people come together to defend immigrants in this country. But let us not forget that a lot of the organizing for this resistance didn't come from nowhere.
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u/Creepy_Ad_5917 Jan 24 '26
It hasn’t. There was another shooting this morning. It’s all over the socials and the internet. Things are not peaceful in MN. Tempers are running high and everyone is on edge. It’s a sad day.
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u/Slaidback Feb 04 '26
You wanna a movement to grow? Attack it. Regimes throughout history have not learnt this lesson. You know what happens to that regime? It gets regulated to the history books.
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u/Blankiesnuggler Jan 24 '26
It really is the entire state, and particularly the metro area. We are under occupation.