OUR HOME TOWN

Processing What We Witness

Sitting at Karla’s dining room table, exactly one week after Alex Pretti and 24 days after Renee Good were shot and killed by federal agents, we began composing this post because we felt it was important to acknowledge the unprecedented and disturbing context in which we are building Destination Psych CE.

The Present Has Been a Continuation

Throughout the history of our country, we have witnessed oppression and violence. Although each chapter has wrought trauma toward the less powerful, courageous truth speakers and justice seekers continue to be the harbingers of progress, and triumph of love over hate.

Most recently, the past year has been a shock to our collective nervous systems –with waves of dread, uncertainty, and an ominous sense of fear and foreboding permeating our daily lives. Across our nation, we bore witness to the flagrant, callous, and relentless disregard for human dignity —

–and then, thankfully, we also witnessed people from all walks of life, economic and cultural backgrounds, within both red and blue states, across urban and rural areas, coming together, standing up with strong and unwavering voices to call out those seeking to oppress. The hope bringers.

Look to the Helpers

In the wake of three thousand federal agents flooding into Minneapolis and surrounding communities with what we can only describe as a deliberate effort to invoke terror– we witness our community holding grief and grit simultaneously. Within the strain of this moment, we see an overwhelming response including:

• people gathering publicly in frigid weather to sing their protest–grounding both the singers and the observers–the song and humming a full body expression
• volunteers loading cars with groceries and supplies, delivering to families who were afraid to step outside — supported by donors, organizers, and networks that expanded quickly because need was immediate
• mutual-aid systems taking shape: rides offered, information shared, hotlines and supports assembled — people looking for all possible ways to support those feeling frozen in fear–
• tens of thousands of people turning out peacefully in protest after federal agents’ actions in Minneapolis, marching and demonstrating in communities across the city and beyond, refusing to let the moment pass without witness
• a surge in people training to serve as constitutional or legal observers — learning how to document public enforcement activity carefully and lawfully, and showing up repeatedly to bear witness and preserve accountability in real time
• law enforcement leaders and local officials speaking openly about what the witness across their communities — speaking from within roles that are often expected to stay silent.