Tag: sidewithlove

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Political Assassinations in Minnesota

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1000s of people rallying with St. Paul Cathedral and Minnesota Historical Center in the background

With the distressing early morning news, my blue bubble burst. This had not been the bubble of childhood afternoons or wedding party favors for showering the departing couple, but one of those iridescent spheres created by a gigantic backyard wand. With political chaos swirling like Pigpen’s cloud of dirt, I took consolation in my location – my blue bubble. While not a native Minnesotan, I have called this state home for over 40 years. This liberal state of Paul Wellstone, Hubert Humphrey, and Walter Mondale. This progressive state of Amy Klobuchar, Tina Smith, and Peggy Flanagan.

While preferring a blue haze, I am not so delusional as to ignore the reality that Minnesota is really purple. It is red where my Congressional representative refuses to meet with constituents who would object to inhumane GOP policies. It is violet when we must rally to protest early morning ICE raids in Rochester and proclaim No Kings. But politically motivated assassinations and attempted assassinations should only happen in some dystopian universe not in the quiet residential neighborhoods of Brooklyn Center and Champlin.

Since the first appearance of those red ball caps, I have wondered to which greatness we want our country to return to:

  • Before 1974 when women could not get a credit card without a male co-signature?
  • Before 1960 when U.S. Marshalls were needed to protect a small six-year girl going to kindergarten?
  • Before 1920 when women could not vote?
  • Before 1865 when human beings were bought and sold as property?

While my late advocacy work at the State Capitol tended to focus on those legislators from our southeastern corner, I knew Representative Melissa Hortman and Senator John Hoffman to be library supporters, people of integrity, honoring the diversity in our communities, seeking equity for all of this State’s residents, and working for the inclusion of all. The murder of Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband, John, and the wounding of Senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, make a shameful statement of American life. And yet, even with an active shooter at large and police warnings to stay home, Minnesotans from Bemidgi to Rochester from International Falls to St. Paul gathered by the 100s and expressed their constitutional right to assemble and proclaim No Kings.

Photo credit: © Stephen Maturen/Getty. Demonstrators rally outside the Minnesota State Capitol building during a “No Kings” protest on June 14, 2025, in St. Paul.

Other items of interest

Hands Øff Rally

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winter weather clothing with bright gold scarves
January 29, 2017
five peopl holding protest signs and wearing bright gold scarves
February 13, 2025

Practicing our right to assemble has morphed from an occasional occurrence triggered by an extraordinary event into a regular activity.

My first rally of 2025 was on a frigid, below zero, February day protesting the administration’s rough handling of local immigrants. It was Rochester’s reaction to an early morning ICE raid which removed two restaurant workers without any communication with their families or access to legal assistance. We eventually learned they were removed to a maximum security, for-profit prison in Louisianna despite being in the midst of asylum-seeking legal procedures.

Today’s demonstration was one of over 1,200 of Hands Øff rallies held around the country. Hundreds gathered in Rochester, tens-of-thousands at the Capitol in St. Paul with nearby events from Austin to Wabasha, as well as in every state capitol. This was about showing up, being seen, being heard, and not backing down. Some participants carried signs listing a range of worries, others held hand drawn poster boards focused on specific uncertainties ranging from Social Security to cancer research, from free speech to reproductive rights, from education to national parks; and, of course, hands off libraries. The list goes on and on as it seems nothing about American life is sacred or safe.

I find being aware of the administration’s latest shenanigans, whether I do a quick check or a deep dive, puts a bruise on my spirit and I must remind myself to look to beauty. Poet Lynn Ungar wrote this verse yesterday as we readied ourselves for today’s Hands Øff rally and the work yet to come.

April 5th

I don’t know how this all turns out, 
and neither do you,
but I have to confess it doesn’t look good.
I wish we were headed
for a picnic, for a waltz in the park.  I wish 
we were not ruled by broken men
who want to damage everything
that they cannot possess.  I wish
I could tell you what we do now.
The street is littered with the petals
of cherries that bloomed before
the big wind came.  Tonight
there will be frost, and tender buds
will burn.  But still, the woods 
are unfolding into green, 
and just outside my door some frog
is bellowing for all he’s worth.
Who knows what happens next?
All I can tell you is that the fields 
are ablaze with dandelions
who have never known 
the meaning of defeat.

     Lynn Ungar 4-4-25


Spirituality

Study War No More

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When hearing the unfathomable and sadly knowing Uvalde, like Sandy Hook and Red Lake and so many more lost futures, will be just another “notch” on America’s gun stock.  Let us not just pray but act.

For the sacred souls lost,
and the hearts shattered beyond repair;
for the ways we perpetuate violence
with gun access
with toxic masculinity
with refusing to adequately fund and provide
resources for mental health
for all of us in systems of violence,
may we remember we each have 
some way, however small, to respond:
our votes, our prayers, 
our broken hearts strengthening our resolve
until we all do the work
of laying down anything 
that supports swords and shields
and we study war no more.

     Rev. Luke Stevens-Royer, May 24, 2022
Spirituality

On the day of a verdict

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Poetry, offered as prayer, that captures what my soul feels…

A verdict means to say the truth.
A judge and jury, in this case, convicted an executioner.
May the truth we say always be
that black lives matter
that justice is more important than order
that militarization of police hurts us all,
and we have a lot more work to do.

Some days, the world seems to wake up,
even just a little bit - 
still groggy, still bleary-souled,
asking us to notice the glimmers of hope
shining through this weary world.
We need to keep waking up, again and again.

Sometimes,
guilty is the glimmer we need
to keep doing the work
and saying the names
of George Floyd, of Sandra Bland, of Emmett Till,
and countless other sacred names,
speaking them with reverence as speaking the name of the holy,
until we can all breathe.

    Rev. Luke Stevens-Royer, April 20, 2021