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Minnesota

Minneapolis Plans To Return Land To Indigenous Stewardship By 2026

Minneapolis, MN — Minneapolis city officials and community leaders announced at a press conference on Monday that the city would transfer land to Indigenous stewardship. The announcement comes after a decade of organizing by local organizations and is amongst a movement of lands being returned to Indigenous stewardship. “Owámniyomni is not only a place sacred to the Dakota, it is a place of shared importance to all who call this land home," Owámniyomni Okhódayapi President Shelley Buck said to CBS News in Minnesota on Monday. “Our vision for the land at Owámniyomni is to create a place of healing, beauty and belonging that is open to everyone — while reclaiming Dakota stewardship of this land, restoring native plantings and uplifting traditional practices in caring for our natural relatives.”

After Years Of Injustice, A Day Of Empathy

Minneapolis, MN – On Saturday, April 5, organizers, family members and individuals impacted by wrongful incarceration and over-sentencing came together in North Minneapolis for A Day of Empathy – a powerful gathering focused on the stories of those whose lives have been upended by wrongful incarceration, over-sentencing, mass incarceration, police violence and racial injustice. Event organizer Alissa Washington, founder of the Wrongfully Incarcerated & Over-Sentenced Families Council-MN, told the story of her fiancé, Cornelius Jackson, who was stolen from his loved ones 19 years ago and still remains behind bars to this day.

Trump Moves To Rescind Union Rights Of Over One Million Federal Workers

Citing his national security authority, President Trump signed an executive order Thursday rescinding the collective bargaining rights of a massive swath of the federal workforce in a historic attack on public unions. The order strips workers from the right to union representation across the federal enterprise, including at the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Food and Drug Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Department of Agriculture and the Bureau of Land Management.

A St. Paul CDFI Is Now Offering Net Zero Banking

Once an outdoor educator, Laura Wildenborg spent 10 years taking kids on field trips to go rock climbing or cross-country skiing across the region, all to inspire children to love and care for the environment. After receiving her MBA in 2020, she made a drastic career pivot — to banking. But she brought her care for the environment along with her. “That love of the outdoors, that was such an important aspect of what I was doing, and I wanted to carry that through into my next role,” says Wildenborg, vice president of strategic lending for Sunrise Banks, a community development financial institution based in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Climate Justice Committee Holds Community Meeting On Big Polluter

The Climate Justice Committee (CJC) and East Side Environmental Justice hosted a community meeting, March 15, in the Payne-Phalen neighborhood of Saint Paul, raising awareness among community members about the growing campaign against the Northern Iron foundry, a major polluter in the area. Around 50 people were in attendance, including local residents, neighborhood activists, elected officials such as Saint Paul City Council Member Nelsie Yang and state House Representative Peter Fischer, and other concerned community members.

Minnesota Movement For Divestment From Israel Resists Repression

Minneapolis, MN — On Saturday, March 1, more than 60 Twin Cities community members gathered to attend a “State Board of Divestment” speak-out event hosted by the Minnesota Anti-War Committee in a Minneapolis community center. Minnesota’s State Board of Investment (SBI), a large public fund managed by state officials Governor Tim Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison, State Auditor Julie Blaha, and Secretary of State Steve Simon. It currently invests approximately $5.4 billion in apartheid Israel, Israeli companies, weapons manufacturers that sell to Israel’s military, and other companies that prop up Israel’s apartheid system.

Forging Alliances Against Imperialism

The Anti-War Action Network Founding Conference, held February 15–16, 2025, in St. Paul, Minnesota, brought together hundreds of activists from anti-war student groups, Palestine solidarity networks and seasoned campaigners to unite against U.S. imperialism and militarization. Attendees participated in dynamic panels such as “Palestine: Where Does Our Movement Need to Go?” “The Growing Divestment from Genocide Movement” and “Organizing Against War Profiteers,” where diverse organizations shared practical strategies — from local divestment campaigns and grassroots protest tactics to using research and social media for effective community mobilization.

Rise And Repair Alliance Advocates For Wild Rice Protection Act

Saint Paul, MN — Urging Minnesota legislators to adopt bills related to environmental conservation at the start of a new legislative session, the Rise and Repair Alliance gathered at the Minnesota State Capitol on January 14, 2025. For many activists present, the main focus was on saving wild rice, which would be a key measure in safeguarding the natural resource as an Indigenous legal right. At the Capitol, singer, artist and organizer Eoin Small hosted activists, providing snacks and coffee while they signed postcards with messages intended for legislators. Unicorn Riot was there to document the family-friendly art-filled action and hear from environmentalists.

Press Conference Announces National Target Boycott

Minneapolis, MN — Minnesota residents are calling for a nationwide boycott of Target stores in response to the corporation recently cutting its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion policies. An uproar hit social media when the announcement was made and since then, legions of people online have been calling for a Target boycott and to buy from Black businesses. Watch Unicorn Riot’s live stream of the press conference on Thursday, January 30 outside of Target’s downtown Minneapolis offices, where community activists will call for a national Target boycott.

Community Group Provides Education On How To Respond To ICE Raids

Grand Rapids, Michigan – On Saturday, January 18, community members took refuge from the freezing weather outside to attend a discussion and group training on how to take action against the threat of heightened ICE activity. The event took place in the crowded social hall in Fountain Street Church, with nearly 100 participants. The organization putting on the event, Grand Rapids Rapid Response to ICE, provided the audience with plenty of context as to the urgency of the action. Kent County is home to a total of three ICE offices and it has been active in the area since the George W. Bush administration.

Amid Layoffs, Cargill’s Owners Given $2B In Stock Buybacks/Dividends

As Cargill started laying off thousands of employees last month, the company’s owners made $2 billion from stock buybacks and one-time dividends, according to Fitch Ratings. The Minnetonka-based agribusiness announced in December it would lay off 5% of its global workforce, or about 8,000 people, as part of a broader restructuring to counter declining profits. About 475 headquarters jobs were eliminated in Minnesota. At the same time, the private company’s owners — almost entirely members of the billionaire Cargill-MacMillan family — received $500 million from a “special” dividend and a rare $1.5 billion share repurchase completed in December, according to a Fitch Ratings report issued this week.

Essential Health Workers Hold Solidarity Picket On Day 38 Of Strike

Duluth, MN – At 4 p.m. on a blustery January 15 in Duluth, workers from Essentia Health-Deer River pulled up in a bus in front of the Essentia Health-Duluth hospital and began a solidarity picket in front of the main entrance to the hospital. The Deer River Essentia workers are represented by the Service Employees International Union, Healthcare Minnesota and Iowa (SEIU HCMNIA). January 15 marked their 38th day of an open-ended strike at their hospital and nursing home. The healthcare workers are striking over pay, saying that cost of living has gone up and they need real raises to keep paying the bills.

Permit for Pipeline Reconstruction Near Sacred Site Rescinded

St. Paul, MN — Minnesota regulators have rescinded a controversial permit allowing Magellan Pipeline Co. to reconstruct a petroleum pipeline near Pipestone National Monument, following sustained opposition from tribal nations, community groups, and environmental advocates. The decision, made during a recent Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) public hearing, reflects mounting pressure to safeguard the sacred site and its surrounding environment. The PUC unanimously voted to revoke the route permit granted in Oct. 2024 and favored the RA-01 pipeline route (alternative proposed by the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe — 13.1 miles long), citing inadequate tribal consultation and incomplete cultural and archaeological surveys.

Protest Of State Board Of Investment Demands Divestment From Israel

St. Paul, MN – On December 5, 45 people protested outside of the Minnesota Senate Building in 15-degree weather to demand that members of the board vote to divest the state of Minnesota from investments in Israel. The protest, held ahead of the board’s December 10 meeting, was organized by the Free Palestine Coalition. Andrew Josefchak, a member of the MN Anti-War Committee, spoke to the crowd, “Minnesota’s State Board of Investment invests $5.4 billion of our money in genocide and apartheid. That’s $5.4 billion of a pension fund that union workers across Minnesota bargained for, fought hard for, waged strikes for.

1934 And Now: History Lives!

Over the first three decades of the 20th century, Minneapolis was the most notorious “open shop” city in the country. An employers’ organization (the “Citizens’ Alliance”) leveraged the power of banks, manufacturers, and local government to resist workers’ attempts to unionize. In February 1934 the city’s truck drivers and coal yard workers organized and struck their industry, winning union recognition in a week. Their success inspired other truckers and warehouse workers to organize and strike twice, in the spring and summer of 1934, facing down the power of police and private “deputies.”

Urgent End Of Year Fundraising Campaign

Online donations are back! Keep independent media alive. 

Due to the attacks on our fiscal sponsor, we were unable to raise funds online for nearly two years.  As the bills pile up, your help is needed now to cover the monthly costs of operating Popular Resistance.

Urgent End Of Year Fundraising Campaign

Online donations are back! 

Keep independent media alive. 

Due to the attacks on our fiscal sponsor, we were unable to raise funds online for nearly two years.  As the bills pile up, your help is needed now to cover the monthly costs of operating Popular Resistance.