Ukraine Is Quietly Building the Most Important System of This War. It Has Nothing to Do With Weapons.
Ukraine just brought 175 soldiers home from Russian captivity.
What happens next — the system no one talks about. 🧵👇
Bad Bunny’s performance wasn’t just music.
It was layered with coded messages about Puerto Rico... colonialism, resistance, culture, and survival. Every image was intentional. 🧵👉🏽
Put aside for a moment the righteous beauty of the Puerto Rican diaspora unfurling before our eyes and ears underneath a swinging horn arrangement & a rhythm section that would make Tito Puente proud.
The dancing that mesmerized & celebrated life itself weaving in and out of a story line that felt like the Diego Rivera mural ‘Man at the Crossroads’ come to life. Art that rises to the occasion like Bad Bunny’s performance is a rare bird.
It reacted to the complexity and peril of this moment by transcending it and reminding us all of our common humanity and the joy and dignity that resides in every human heart.
The vibrant and beautiful culture this world has gifted us is always cause for celebration. In a time of reactionary retreats, it was expansive & life affirming and made obvious the moral challenge of this moment.
It did so with energy, poetry, light and love. It called on our better angels to rise to the occasion. I believe we will.🙏
🚨THIS IS ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT!
Here’s the Melania movie we should have gotten!!
Trump would hate if you’d share this right now to make it trending during the Super Bowl.
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.
Much love to Alex Pretti and Renee Good—but remember—ICE has killed 9 people in 2026. You know the names of the 2 white people they've killed.
ICE has also killed a Black man named Keith Porter, a Cambodian named Parady La, and five Latinos named Heber Sanchaz Domínguez, Victor Manuel Diaz, Luis Beltran Yanez-Cruz, Luis Gustavo Nunez Caceres, and Geraldo Lunas Campos.
ICE is on pace to kill more than 100 people this year. Abolish ICE. Impeach Noem. Prosecute those who committed these crimes.