Jan. 22-23 Call to Witness, Resistance, and Action
There’s a special thing that happens in cold climates. Some days, when the air is just right, sunlight hits atmospheric ice crystals that act as prisms and wrap the sun in a halo. Red light hugs the closest, but on the clearest, coldest days, the whole spectrum is visible.
Today, with ICE spread throughout the Twin Cities metro and across our state, it is indeed a cold day. But the atmosphere also could not be more clear. MARCH invites you, clergy and faith leaders of all lineages and traditions across the country, to join your light with ours and wrap our community in a halo of love.
Thursday, January 22
MARCH will lead a day of witness, training, and grounding. We suggest a donation of $500 per person to cover the organizer's’ costs of the event, but will not turn away any participant for lack of resources. Register for more information.
Friday, January 23
MARCH will follow Unidos MN and the other leaders of impacted communities in ICE Out of MN” A Day of Truth & Freedom. Learn more here.
Risk Assessment
Because we want to meet you with transparency in this moment, we have to advise you that right now, Minneapolis is not safe - for anyone. Agents are smashing windows, breaking doors, and stealing humans without verifying whether they are undocumented or even whether they are immigrants. As part of this “immigration enforcement” operation, the U.S. has incarcerated members of the Oglala Sioux Tribe for over a week. Federal agents assault and abduct citizens regardless of that status, and then sometimes abandon their targets miles from where agents took them. and they disappear other neighbors entirely. We cannot quantify this risk because it changes daily, and we also recognize that if everyone stays away, more terror will come. We trust you to make the decision that is the best one for you, and if you do come, encourage you to bring a passport card or copy of your passport, birth certificate, or other proof of status.
MARCH
MARCH is a pro-queer group of multiracial, multifaith clergy and faith leaders who cross traditions to organize for freedom and liberation on Dakota land in the Twin Cities.
We have lived into front-line relationships during the Marriage Equality fight, Standing Rock, the Minneapolis Uprising, Line 3, and now, Operation Metro Surge. [what links can we add to establish long-term cred?]
Today you can find us living our faith in online vigil spaces, singing at the scene of Renee Good’s murder even before ICE cleared the scene, rinsing tear gas from our eyes, and lifting up ICE agents in prayer even after they block us from offering pastoral care to detainees.
Follow our work and learn our stories here.