Emily Kutsch

Cinephile. Political junkie. Proud @iowademocrats & @HFA alum. UST grad.

[Stephanie "LB" 🟧 @LincolnsBible]

posted on substack by a person named Teri Leigh

I’m writing this from Minnesota.

These are just a few things that may not be making the national or international news.

a beloved local donut shop Glam Doll Donuts across the street from where Alex Pretti died turned into a warming house and medic center for protestors building and maintaining the memorial site.

a 70yo independent bookstore owner DreamHaven Books down the street expressed his pain on camera, walked through a tear gas cloud, and his website crashed less than 24 hours later from too much business and donations.

the day after tear gas bombs destroyed a N-Mpls neighborhood sending a 6mo old baby to the hospital, at daybreak, a small church community cleaned up the mess of pepper balls, tear gas containers and trash so the neighbors didn’t have to wake up to the memories.

a local independent journalist Mercado Media pounding the streets everyday reporting things from the ground had a testicle removed and showed up two days later to walk with 75,000+ community members to walk the streets in -20 degree weather.

a local sex-positive adult-store The Smitten Kitten has completely transformed into a donation and distribution center.

a local pizza place Wrecktangle Pizza raised over $83K in less than a few days to support families that are sheltering in place.

tow-truck companies are donating their services to clean up the accidents and abandoned vehicles left by ICE and the city is waiving impound fees.

local multi-faith spiritual leaders are spearheading sit-ins at corporate headquarters such as Target and USBank to have deeper conversations with CEOs and boards of directors about community relief.

social workers are taking in children who came home from school with both their parents “disappeared.”

animal shelters and pet-fostering agencies are rescuing pets left alone for days or weeks after their humans were detained.

every restaurant, church, karate dojo, dance studio, school, barber shop, and other small business has created their own underground grassroots supportive network to protect their neighbors, get people to and from work, and raise funds to pay everyday bills.

women who are moms and work full-time jobs are donning reflective vests in shifts to stand watch at bus stops, city parks, and grocery store parking lots ini sub-zero temps to bear witness before going home to tuck their babies in at night.

the MN National Guard offered donuts, coffee, and hot cocoa to peaceful protesters the day after Alex Pretti died, reminding community that we are all in this together and they are here to keep the peace.

These are just a few examples. Stories like this are happening in the hundreds here, every single day!

Community is EVERYTHING!

This Substack community and the MN-Strong resistance has saved my mental health these last weeks.

Thank you for reading.

Thank you for giving a shit.

I love you.

[Sean Lim @SeanLimMN]

Minnesotans showed up & showed out today to help our Twin Cities community members in need at our Northeast Minneapolis food drive.

Over 800+ neighbors reached out to help support with purchasing, sorting, organizing, & delivering groceries to ~125 families. My heart is so full.

[Kaitlan Collins @kaitlancollins]

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey to ICE: “Get the fuck out of Minneapolis.”

[David Eickholt @DavidEickholt]

McKenna Woliczko coordinated with Iowa’s video team to capture the moment she told Jan and her staff that will become a Hawkeye.

“Is No. 20 available?”

[Joel Moran @joelvmoran]

Donald Trump’s first 5 months back in office:

– Pardoned January 6th rioters
– Tanked the economy with reckless tariffs
– Dismantled key government programs
– Unleashed ICE to terrorize immigrant communities
– Bombed Iran

And it’s only been five months…

[ESPN @espn]

BACK-TO-BACK CONFERENCE FINALS FOR THE WOLVES 🐺

Minnesota eliminates Golden State in five games to reach the conference finals once again❗

[Acyn @Acyn]

Walz: If you say you love freedom but you don't believe freedom is for everybody, then the thing you love is not freedom, it is privilege.

[Andrea Junker @Strandjunker]

If you hate the Pope because he is too “liberal”, I have some very bad news for you about Jesus.

[Barb McQuade @BarbMcQuade]

Due process requires notice and a hearing. The issue is not whether we should deport undocumented immigrants. The issue is how. If we ignore the law for one, it’s over for all of us.

[Michael McFaul @McFaul]

What’s so hard about “due process”? You can’t claim to be for “law and order” and then ignore laws and courts.

[claire de lune @ClaireMPLS]

we’re losing our human rights and paying $12 for eggs because we’re stuck in a group project with the dumbest people to ever live. sucks

[𝙰𝚂𝙷⚾️ @ashelai_]

april fools is cancelled this year because there���s no bigger joke than the current state of america

[Tommy Vietor @TVietor08]

Brutal result here for @elonmusk who dropped $26+ million in this race and still got his ass handed to him. Money can’t cure being a politically toxic asshole.

[Ben Rhodes @brhodes]

The Republican Party enables this every single day. Just the complete trashing of our country's standing and full capitulation to a playbook that the Kremlin couldn't script better if they were writing the words.

[Iowa Women's Basketball @IowaWBB]

The legend of 22.

#Hawkeyes

[𝑀𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑎 @MeliMels99]

Dear Canada,

Beat his bitch ass down.

Love,

An American

[Jon Favreau @jonfavs]

Yeah, sorry about that.

You see, half of us voted for an absolute moron - again - and handed over our government to a bunch of right-wing freaks and billionaires

[Sarah Longwell @SarahLongwell25]

I often hear voters say they wanted Trump to be President because he’s a businessman and will run our country like a business. What people still don’t realize is he was such a lousy businessman he bankrupted casinos. Casinos! That business acumen currently on full display.

[Pete Buttigieg @PeteButtigieg]

Despicable. As families grieve, Trump should be leading, not lying. We put safety first, drove down close calls, grew Air Traffic Control, and had zero commercial airline crash fatalities out of millions of flights on our watch.
President Trump now oversees the military and the FAA. One of his first acts was to fire and suspend some of the key personnel who helped keep our skies safe. Time for the President to show actual leadership and explain what he will do to prevent this from happening again.