There Will Be No Photos Until ICE is Out of Minnesota

If you are anything like me, you have been waking up to news from Minnesota for over two weeks now. On January 7th, Renee Good was killed by an ICE agent while in her car. Today, another man was killed. Shot to death while on the ground, bleeding from another shot. This cannot go on.

I started a Bluesky account to share my photos. I have had moderate success, and I really enjoy doing so. However, the Trump administration has pushed my headspace dedicated to art into the corner of my brain. This quote by Marwan Makhoul keeps rattling around in my head:

In order for me to write poetry that isn’t political
I must listen to the birds
and in order to hear the birds
the warplanes must be silent.

I have been thinking about how I can be an effective activist. The thought has crossed my mind about taking my camera to protests. I don't do that (most of the time) for many reasons, but they mostly boil down to others' privacy concerns and lack of skill.

Instead, I will be taking private time to continue to be involved in local organizations, donating funds to those in need, and advocating, wherever I can, to kick these fascists' asses until they're gone.

This is not to say that I will not be practicing mindfulness, and finding joy wherever I can. This is an important thing to do, and it replenishes my energy, but there are many ways to get motivated to take action. Today, I am motivated by sadness and anger.

If you can, join me in donating to an org on the Stand With Minnesota website. I will match donations if you screenshot them and reply to the Bluesky post associated with this blog post within 1 day.