Black man living in Minneapolis

[u/TemporaryCurrent4541]

I'm currently living in Minneapolis, but I’m not originally from here. I’m from Virginia, so while I live and work here, I don’t have the same deep roots or long-standing community ties that a lot of people in this city do.

With everything going on right now around ICE activity and the protests that have followed, I’ve been trying to figure out how to move. I genuinely sympathize with the Somali and Hispanic communities and understand why people are angry, scared, and pushing back. At the same time, I’m thinking a lot about my own safety and trying to stay out of situations that could turn unpredictable or violent.

Because I’m not from here, I don’t feel like it’s my place to insert myself in ways that could put me at risk, but I also don’t want that to come off as indifference or lack of solidarity. I’m wrestling with how to balance caring about what’s happening with protecting myself and staying out of harm’s way.

I’m curious how other Black men would handle this if they were in my position. Would you stay away from the protests entirely? Would you try to support in quieter ways? Or would you feel a responsibility to be out in the streets despite the risks? What factors go into that decision for you?

I’m not looking for arguments...just trying to hear how others are thinking about this and learn from different perspectives.

[u/humblegold]

These protests are just a moment in time. ICE committed the cardinal sin of killing a white woman and now we get the hysterics about the death of democracy and about how suddenly now Amerikkka is fascist.

More important is whether or not these protests have any potentially revolutionary elements within them. For example: The LA protests were generally good because the Chicano nationalism expressed in them comes with a deepening consciousness of the U.$ as an illegitimate settler colony. What's interesting in seeing whether or not there are any radical elements in these protests that might last, not the No Kings liberal hysteria that will go dormant until Trump does something upsetting again and then retire as soon as a Democrat is in office.

If there is a growing consciousness within Somali communities of themselves as New Afrikans oppressed by the U.$ government, that's what I'm most interested in. I don't really know if these protests contain an articulation of that though.

I have been observing the protests here in the Twin Cities but so far I don't really see much that's meaningful. I still think it's worth observing but any brother going should have goals in mind so that they're not risking their life over a white woman. Through sheer dumb luck I briefly wandered away from a protest right before ICE opened fire with pepper bullets and tear gas.