Seventeen Days in Minneapolis

Seventeen days ago, Renee Nicole Good was murdered by ICE. I was one of thousands who came to a vigil at the site of her murder that night.

Tonight, I attended a vigil online in the wake of today’s murder of Alex Jeffrey Pretti.

The federal government is telling blatant lies about what happened today, just as they did after Renee’s murder. Just as with Renee, there are multiple videos that clearly reveal the lies.

In the days between these murders, interfaith clergy worked with a larger network of organizations to care for our community and to resist the ongoing occupation and abuse of our neighborhoods. We had vigils, press conferences, training sessions, moral witness events, and more.

We put out a call for faith leaders across the nation and across religious difference to come to Minneapolis, and more than 600 clergy answered that call, and joined us in churches and in the streets and at the airport, despite bitterly cold weather (highs below zero, wind chills 40 below).

We sang, we prayed, we preached, we wept.

We will continue to do these things, because this is how we respond to trauma—in this case, trauma inflicted on our community by our own federal government.

We ate, we rested, we hugged, we laughed.

We will continue to do those things, because this is a marathon, not a sprint, and we have to care for ourselves in order to function as human beings, let alone to care for the communities we serve.

We are exhausted and grieving, and as one colleague said, some of us needed a moment today after Alex’s murder to “lose our shit” before we could dive back into the work of ministry.

(Did I mention that we swore? Yes, some ministers swear. Sometimes there are no other adequate words, and frankly, we are human.)

It is not an easy time to live in Minneapolis. It is not an easy time to be a religious leader in Minneapolis (and it is even harder for those who serve—or are themselves among—those people most vulnerable to the actions of the federal agents occupying our streets).

I am a Unitarian Universalist minister. One of the foundational beliefs of Unitarian Universalism is the inherent worthiness and dignity of every person. Every person. No exceptions based on immigration status or skin color.

When ICE comes after our neighbors, my faith calls me to respond with Love—with a clear message that ALL of our neighbors are beloved members of our community, and that their lives are every bit as important as anyone else’s. So are the lives of observers like Renee and Alex, who were trying to protect others.

It is the love at the core of my faith that calls me to respond to what is happening here.

Love insists that we protect the vulnerable.

Love insists that we seek justice for those who have been harmed.

Love insists that we demand accountability from those committing the harm.

Love insists that we tell the truth about what is happening in our communities.

What is Love asking you to do?