Emily Austin

Trump-administration officials and MAGA influencers have repeatedly called these activists “violent” and said they are involved in “riots.” But the resistance in Minnesota is largely characterized by a conscious, strategic absence of physical confrontation. Activists have made the decision to emphasize protection, aid, and observation. When matters escalate, it is usually the choice of the federal agents. Of the three homicides in Minneapolis this year, two were committed by federal agents. “There’s been an incredible, incredible response from the community. I’ve seen our neighbors go straight from allies to family—more than family—checking in on each other, offering food and rides for kids and all kinds of support, alerting each other if there’s ICE or any kind of danger,” Malika Dahir, a local activist of Somali descent, told me. If the Minnesota resistance has an overarching ideology, you could call it “neighborism”—a commitment to protecting the people around you, no matter who they are or where they came from. The contrast with the philosophy guiding the Trump administration couldn’t be more extreme. Vice President Vance has said that “it is totally reasonable and acceptable for American citizens to look at their next-door neighbors and say, ‘I want to live next to people who I have something in common with. I don’t want to live next to four families of strangers.’” Minnesotans are insisting that their neighbors are their neighbors whether they were born in Minneapolis or Mogadishu. That is, arguably, a deeply Christian philosophy, one apparently loathed by some of the most powerful Christians in America.

One thing I found deeply moving about resistance in the Twin Cities was the universalism of loving your neighbor, the philosophy driving the opposition to the ICE/BP invasion. I couldn't help but notice the contrast with the blood and soil-ism of Miller and Vance. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

Don't know what to do? Read the link.

HOTTE LOCAL SINGLES NEARE THEE are ynterested yn chess, falconrye, vernacular adaptaciouns of the Troy myth, gentle talke of the mysteryes and paynes of love, elaborate gardens.

“It’s not God’s peace without justice! Free Gaza Now!”

These Christian leaders joined our Jewish kin today in beautifully living into the call of Psalm 101:1 and singing of God’s love and justice for Gazans and Palestinians.

So encouraging! Congratulations ☺️

@tacol0rd.bsky.social to our baby this morning: “if you like these high contrast cards you’re going to LOVE Caravaggio”
#art #parenting

Federal employees union grows to record size amid DOGE attacks — and other labor news • Minnesota Reformer Take a seat in the Break Room, our weekly round-up of labor news in Minnesota and beyond. This week: Membership swells as federal employee unions confront DOGE attacks; dairy farmer faces rare crimina...

The American Federation of Government Employees, the largest federal employee union, has now grown to a record size of 319,233 active members.

14,000 new members joined in the past five weeks.

That’s nearly as many as the previous 12 months.

minnesotareformer.com/2025/02/07/f...

“What is built on the basis of force, and not on the truth about the equal dignity of every human being, begins badly and will end badly.” - Pope Francis

Me when ICE shows up during worship i.redd.it/16guw8ts4fi7...

A group of 19th century poets walk into a bar. ‘Why the Longfellow?’ asks the judgmental bartender.

I concede that on one level the ‘Gulf of America’ idiocy is just a toddler screaming in his sandbox. On another, I wrote a novel 35 years ago, TIGANA, about how tyrants erase (or try to) names, history, art to consolidate their control of people.

So, it matters. Symbols do. So does acquiescence.

a view of an auditorium stage from a balcony during the event Q&A time. The event was held at St Mary’s College in South Bend, IN. On the stage in two armchairs are the moderator and featured speaker Emily Wilson. The other featured speaker, Madeline Miller, attended the event virtually, and appears behind them on a screen.

A delight to hear @emilyrcwilson.bsky.social and @madelinemiller.bsky.social speak last night about translation, interaction w/ ancient texts in the contemporary world, and about resistance to tyranny in every age.
We’re excited to read both women’s writings with our baby Sylvia… never too early!

Marah & Motaz lost their home and work & were displaced with their baby Miela by the genocide in Gaza. They're still starving, freezing, and sick after a year of Israel's famine & siege. Please share & give to help, Marah's ill in the cold--they urgently need shelter, essentials & healthcare:

Very much enjoying this episode, as I knew I would! Such a great walk through of the history of feminist crit in Tolkien studies (delivered by my MA supervisor 🩷)

It’s true

A facebook post from Lisa Murkowski: I want to thank Alaskans who have been reaching out to my offices in D.C. and across Alaska. The U.S. Senate phone system has been receiving around 1,600 calls each minute, compared to the 40 calls per minute we usually receive, which has disrupted our call systems. Thank you for your patience as my staff works to review your messages and share them with me. We’re all working to get this issue resolved as quickly as possible.

Murkowski says call volume to the Senate is now 40x higher than normal:

As I have been telling my family since January 20, there's always tomorrow. And there will be a tomorrow where they don't win.

That is wisdom that I learned from my parents and grandparents, aunts and uncles. They learned it from their elders, and so on.

And now I teach it to the next generations.

Tell Congress: Christians Oppose a Christian Nationalist Ambassador to Israel. Vote “No” on Huckabee Mike Huckabee, the former governor and current conservative TV personality is unfit to be the US Ambassador to Israel. His clear embrace of Christian Zionism and Christian Nationalism should disqualif...

Email your reps!

Senator Andy Kim just went to the USAID building, talked to the security guard there to confirm employees are being barred entry, and then did a press gaggle right there in front to call it out.

This is doing something. This is making an effort on messaging. Other Democratic lawmakers: take notes.

Also, when you’re writing to your electeds, mention that Musk has access to the payment system that handles Medicare and Social Security, as many electeds live in abject fear of something happening to either of those programs. Especially red state electeds.

Must read. Musk has taken control of all of our money!

The writer and Tolkien scholar Melanie Rawls, an African American woman in a blue button-up shirt, glasses with thick black rims, and a dapper fedora.

The article "The Feminine Principle in Tolkien" by Melanie Rawls, published in Mythlore 38 (Spring 1984). Above the title and author, a pen-and-ink drawing depicts three powerful women from Tolkien's mythology.

For Black History Month, did you know that one of our foundational Tolkien scholars is a Black woman? Melanie Rawls wrote "The Feminine Principle in Tolkien" (1984), among THE seminal works on women and Tolkien. She's written on JRRT and Ursula Le Guin among others and is a fantasist herself.

My book "Illustrating The Lord of the Rings in the Soviet Bloc" has a cover! Featuring artwork by the most excellent Yassen Panov, illustrator of the 1990-1991 Bulgarian #LOTR translation Vlastelinat Na Prastenite. The book is currently scheduled for release on September 18th #Tolkien

Sea stacks at cannon beach, Oregon at sunset

Another day of trying to replace the terrible news on your feed with beautiful landscape photography 📸

Cannon Beach, Oregon

#photography #longexposure #ocean #oceanscape #oregon #oregoncoast

🥹🥹🥹

Oooh, I’ll pull an oldie out of my archives. This tiny sketch of Tintern Abbey is from 2018. We visited again this year while it was under repairs (which was actually cool to see as well!).

Tagging:
@miriamellis.bsky.social
@mgcoco.bsky.social

#artshare

Ooh love those dragons 😁

“In 150 characters or less” by @nikitagill.bsky.social