by Lauren Jacobs
When the Trump regime sent thousands of masked agents to terrorize, kidnap, and kill Minnesotans, the people there showed the rest of the country how to defy the authoritarians. Minnesotans also taught us how people can join in solidarity no matter where they live.
I’m really proud and grateful that PowerSwitch was able to join that response and support efforts on the ground. As we face the next round of authoritarian violence and power grabs — continued ICE raids in our cities, waging war abroad, interfering in elections — I want to share some reflections on how national groups and networks can effectively plug in to key moments of powerful local organizing.
Going on offense allowed Minnesotans to make this a national fight
For years, people across Minnesota have been building tremendous organizing infrastructure and power. When Trump began his second term, his administration started advancing an authoritarian playbook by attacking communities he perceived as threats. In response, organizations on the ground in Minnesota began to prepare their folks with political analysis, trainings, deep discussions about risks, organizing tests, and decentralized systems to be activated when the time came. In late December, when the Trump regime set their sights on the Twin Cities, folks learned from ICE invasions in other cities and quickly organized neighborhood ICE watches, legal observer trainings, and mutual aid networks.
On top of these efforts to defend their communities — demonstrating in practice an alternative vision of a community and democracy committed to solidarity and responsibility for each other — Minnesotans layered on offensive tactics. They called out the corporations supporting and enabling ICE, organized economic blackouts in protest, and demanded that those corporations stand with their community.
In particular, Minnesota organizers challenged major corporations that operate in cities all across the country, like Target, Hilton, and Enterprise rental cars. They called on people outside of Minnesota to take action at local stores and offices, and to demand that these corporations side with communities over ICE. National networks took up the call, activating folks in their home regions and spreading the fight all across the country. In Illinois, California, Pennsylvania, Washington D.C., and many more, people rallied, sang, and protested in Target stores. Minnesota organizers created a pathway for everyday people outside of the state to join the fight. They were able to organize with new people, fortify their efforts, and help build the muscle for others to resist invasions into their own cities in the future. As other communities prepare for their own fights, thinking about ways to make the fight national and create opportunities for solidarity from other towns and cities will be an important part of their strategy.
Degrees of trust shape the roles you can step into
As we sent staff to support local organizers, we went in committed to taking direction from folks on the ground. What became immediately apparent was the diversity in leadership, from traditional institutions like nonprofits and unions to decentralized volunteer structures. This meant navigating the ways that different groups operate and being prepared to offer different kinds of support based on where and who we were connecting with. We also had to be mindful of the time and capacity it took for organizers to absorb, educate, and direct new folks. What that looked like varied a lot. In some situations, we were phonebanking and staffing check-in tables at rallies. In others, local partners had identified a need and we built out a system for them. And in yet others, we were co-developing a strategy and driving its implementation.
The main differentiator? The kind of trust and relationship we came into each space with. In situations where we’d built strong relationships and understood the context, we were able to play more strategic roles, asked by local leaders to craft parts of the plan they didn’t have time to work on or to leverage relationships and knowledge to create deeper engagement outside of the state.
In situations where we hadn’t established that level of trust, we were still able to lend support. It just required more flexibility and humility, being ready to jump in to do whatever’s needed. We still leaned into people’s skills, but not strictly those that show up in our typical job descriptions — comfort driving in snow, ability to speak Spanish, a network you can tap to pull in additional capacity.
The lessons: assess trust and relationships when thinking about ways to support and which staff to send. Putting in the work to build trust and relationships is always valuable. For people on the outside, trusting folks on the ground and doing what is asked of you creates trust in return. And finally, bringing in others during flashpoint moments helps to increase capacity not only on the ground, but movement capacity across the country.
Start preparing for considerations you’ve never imagined before
Minnesotans went head-to-head with a violent, authoritarian regime on a highly visible, national stage. If there was still any need for a wake-up call about the political reality we now live in, this was it. As movement groups and organizers, we have to prepare to do our work in ways we’ve never imagined before. This means accepting and preparing for new levels of risk, both on an individual and organizational level. For us at PowerSwitch, when talking with our staff about deploying to Minnesota, we had to have new types and levels of conversations about physical safety, legal considerations, and working in extreme conditions. We created new administrative tools and anticipate that more work may still be needed in this area.
Despite our best planning, these moments will come with questions we’ve never had to consider before. Answering those questions quickly might involve changing internal systems and processes, or working through administrative barriers and challenges. All of us need to start thinking now about what those may be, so that we can be prepared to respond quickly and effectively when the call comes. It’s uncertain and daunting, but these new ways of thinking and working can also be transformative. We’re not just preparing for the fights ahead, but for how we can be brave, effective, and aligned with each other towards a more hopeful, free, and joyful future.