Betsy Raasch-Gilman is absolutely clear on this: She and other Friends in Minneapolis were not “protesting” against the activities of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in their community last winter. “Protest is not what we were doing,” she says. “We were doing civilian-based defense. We were defending ourselves from an occupying army, and in this case the army that was occupying us was our own federal government.”
“The more bad things that happened, the closer to my world, the more I felt I had no choice but to respond,” adds Annika Fjelstad, who used to live near where ICE agents killed Renée Good, and currently works at a school two blocks from where they killed Alex Pretti. “You don’t know that your response makes a difference, but to stay inside when your world is threatened is not an option.”
“My own safety wasn’t a big worry. You saw… what was happening to our neighbors and there just wasn’t any comparison,” Julie Doherty says. “I mean, it was frightening. I think everybody has been scared for a really long time. [But] it didn’t stop so many of us from moving forward to try to help our neighbors.”
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Discussion Question:
- What are you and your meeting prepared to do to protect your neighbors from oppression and state violence?
The views expressed in this video are of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views of Friends Journal or its collaborators.
As a veteran, I reflect on the words of men awarded medals for valor. They tend to speak words similar in tone to what these fine women say. “Scared”; “called to action”, “helping others”.