By Damenica Ellis
Minnesota
Spokesman-Recorder
Black-owned businesses across Minnesota participated in a general strike to protest ICE operations. Owners say closing their doors is an act of economic resistance and community solidarity.
Hundreds of businesses across Minnesota participated in a statewide general strike Friday, urging residents not to shop, work or attend school in protest of Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in the state. Several Black-owned and Black-led businesses choose to stand in solidarity by closing their doors.
“We cannot continue to act like any of this is normal,” said Nicole Nfonoyim-Hara, owner and founder of Griot Arts in downtown Rochester. “We cannot do business as usual. Being able to have a collective call and show our collective power in the face of state-sanctioned violence is one of the most powerful things we can do right now.”
The bookstore, art gallery and community space remained closed Friday. Nfonoyim-Hara said participating in the shutdown is a way to use economic power as a form of protest.
“Every business has some power,” she said. “And everyone has the ability to not contribute to the economy.”
As a Black business owner, Nfonoyim-Hara said she sees herself as part of a lineage of spaces rooted in solidarity and community, making participation in the strike an easy decision. The shutdown, she said, also offers a moment for reflection and truth-telling.
“This is a moment of reckoning,” Nfonoyim-Hara said. “Systems want us participating and not thinking about the violence that’s happening or the ways our communities are living in fear.”
Rise & Remember, an organization formed after the killing of George Floyd to preserve stories of resistance to racial injustice and create spaces for grief and healing, also participated in the shutdown.
The organization helps steward George Floyd Square and offers guided visits and pilgrimages to the site. On Friday, those services were paused.
Executive Director Jeanelle Austin said the decision was made to stand in solidarity with immigrant communities and U.S. citizens affected by ICE operations.
“This is a civil rights issue. It’s a humanitarian issue,” Austin said. “Our organization was birthed out of a justice movement, so justice is at the core of what we do.”
Austin said the organization’s pilgrimages, which have taken place for nearly four years, provide visitors with space to reflect on their role in advancing justice. Pausing that work, she said, was intentional.
“Some would say this is the time to open your doors,” Austin said. “But more importantly, this is the time to stand up and march side by side with our brothers and sisters.”
Rather than hosting official programming, Austin said she plans to protest alongside clergy members, mentors, youth and community members from across the state and country.
Despite frigid temperatures, Austin said showing up physically matters.
“We have to demonstrate. We have to peacefully protest and enact our right to be heard,” she said. “Otherwise, we’re not going to see change.”
Nfonoyim-Hara said she plans to support the strike by connecting people to resources, contacting members of Congress and attending rallies in the Rochester area. Later in the evening, Griot Arts will open its space for a poetry gathering.
“After a day of rallying and striking, people needed a place to land,” she said. “To have that space through the art felt really powerful.”
Organizations including ICE Out of MN are calling for ICE to leave the state, legal accountability for the ICE agent who killed Renee Good, an investigation into alleged constitutional violations, an end to federal funding increases for the agency and for companies to sever economic partnerships with ICE.
A peaceful march was scheduled for 2 p.m. Friday in downtown Minneapolis.
