Episode Transcript
Speaker 0 00:00:00 Zone. You can burn a whole thing down. Y'all don't really care about a brother till we burn whole thing down.
Speaker 0 00:00:10 Yeah, we about to go to work. Yeah, we about to let it burn. Like send it quill. Yah. I bet you will try to skip a They been lynching us and till and that's really freaking generous cuz honestly they have been killing us since we were property. No stopping me from saying how it is. Say the whizz ain't no easing down the road where we live, that the biz, we can't go out for a jog or swim or a dog fall asleep in the car, fall asleep where we live. So we about to let it burn just like gusher. Say baby, try and, but do not care what gusher say. Putting back screens up. Make a few bucks. My life isn't marketing who you think you trying to play. Um, I liked it better when like, nerdy was all fun and stuff. This is really angry. Like don't you think you said enough? Well that's freaking tough cause I'm being loud and the people are not playing with you now. Yeah, you can burn our whole thing down. Y I don't care if y'all uncomfortable, we can burn our whole thing down. You can burn our whole thing down. Couldn't care about another zone. You can burn a whole thing down. Burn it down, down. Y'all don't really care about until we burn. Whole thing down. Burn down. Yeah. We to go to work. Yeah, we to
Speaker 2 00:01:23 Come on the youngins. What I'm focused on. I'm so old then go then. I ain't know you was talking about Pokemon <laugh>, but I'm more like me and nerdy next to a burndown system with a candle of gas and a handful of matches and know we ain't miss some famous. Now my mission ladies be so complicity watching all the leaders leading bacon. No name minions, but we torture enough to take us and we give into survivors city liars making black people compliant. Coon Rapids. Who are you asking? I'm proof. Survive the boomba trick bro. Ethics got me laughing at your message and Black Lives Matter. You would not get so defensive. We got cops and ths and robberies and gas light us. We are not the same. We on the scene we pass typing cuz y'all don't care about us and we ain't come ask. We just mind our business and them people be so sucking mad. So pass the gun and mask and pass the athe. Nu Y'all can really kill us for anything. Y'all just bend the laws the same performance art, the same performative saving the racist header, rodeo normative. You
Speaker 0 00:02:21 Can burn the whole
Speaker 2 00:02:22 Thing
Speaker 0 00:02:23 Down. Yeah, you can burn it all. I don't care if y'all uncomfortable, we can burn our whole thing down. You can burn it, burn it, burn it down. Couldn't care about it. Zone. You can burn a whole thing down, down. Y'all don't really care about brother until we burn whole thing down. Burn it down. Yeah, we about to go to work. Yeah, we about to let it
Speaker 3 00:03:10 Views from the ground, views from views from the ground, views from the ground views from the grand ground, ground views from the ground views from the damn ground. And that's on that, on that, on that. Well, um, this is DJ your favorite agender host. I use they dumb pronouns.
Speaker 4 00:03:27 This is Brandon. I use he him pronouns.
Speaker 5 00:03:31 Uh, this is Francisco. I use he him pronouns as well. What's up?
Speaker 3 00:03:34 All right, so we're gonna jump straight into the, uh, weekly news segment. So go ahead and take it away. Francisco.
Speaker 5 00:03:41 Yo, what's up? Uh, great to be back. This is my second time doing the weekly, weekly news. I got the second, second spot of the month. So keep tuning in. Y'all. Hope y'all liked it last time. <laugh>. Um, it seems like each week is gonna be really different, but just based on, you know, what I'm up to and you know, this week is just
Speaker 4 00:04:01 What you been up to.
Speaker 5 00:04:02 I just got back from Mexico. Mm-hmm. Uh, I was in Mexico City, um, for two weeks and then I, I was in Michan for, for just a couple days. Just the first and the second to, uh, to really ground myself, to ground myself during the those mor And what was my, my lovely partner Alejandra Bon. I don't know if she's tuning in, but <laugh>, but there you go. Um, yeah. And, and, and this story just kind of, kind of fell in my lap just, just through trying to, you know, being nosy, basically being nosy and then kind of turn into some organizing. And that's just kind of how these things go sometimes. Yep. Um, so I was just out and about in Kojak. Um, it's a neighborhood in Mexico City, actually. The neighborhood where, uh, Fria Carlo's houses. Um, I didn't pop in, but yeah, just, just just going around Kojak and, um, I stumbled upon a building called the I N ip, which is the, in English, it translates to the indigenous, um, indigenous People's Institute, Nat, the National Indigenous People's Institute.
Speaker 5 00:05:15 Um, so it's basically like the department of, um, indigenous, indigenous affairs here in what, what would be Washington, dc Um, so I kind of stumbled upon it and, you know, people sell stuff outside on the streets in Mexico. So, um, I was just like talking to the people who were selling stuff and I was like, okay, I'm a okay cool. Like, I didn't buy nothing. And I was like, okay, I'm gonna go check out the, the building. And they're like, oh no, it's closed. And I was like, oh, okay, okay. Like, oh, maybe I'll come back later or whatever. They're like, nah, it's been closed for two years, <laugh>. Wow. And I was like, oh, okay. Like, okay, what's going on? So I kind of started talking to them and then someone overheard and actually invited, invited us in. Um, and yeah, it turns out that this building had actually been, um, occupied for, for two years that I, this is going on, going on over two years now where it's been occupied. Um, and so I just asked the guy if I could, um, record them as we had our conversation. So there's gonna be just like, it's gonna go back and forth between like him speaking in Spanish and then I'll, I'll translate and kind of give some more context as we go. So yeah, dj, you can go ahead and play that first clip.
Speaker 6 00:06:56 <affirmative>. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>.
Speaker 5 00:07:02 Yeah. So as you, um, if you heard sense Spanish, you heard there, um, that the house that this building was called Inpe, like I said, the National Indigenous People's Institute, and then the people renamed it as, um, house of Samir, who was a Nawa journalist. Um, and he started out fighting for fighting for his own land and territory when a mining company started coming in and, and trying to steal their land and steal their resources. Um, the resources, mainly water. They use a lot of water when they come into, um, native communities and, and basically tap all their other wells and they can't get access to water. So, so Samir started fighting back through journalism and then started traveling around the country, um, meeting up with other indigenous communities as he, as they fought for their land sovereignty too. And then the government sent for him to be murdered and he was murdered 40 years ago, and there was a huge uprising in Mexico City and across the nation. And then when this, um, government building was, was occupied, they, they named it in his honor as, um, s um, yeah. So, so we, we continued to talk and then they, they gave us a few reasons on why they they began the occupation.
Speaker 5 00:08:39 Yeah. So, um, what the comrade here was saying, he, he, he's me. Um, and he was just giving us a couple of examples and, and, um, he was giving us the, this, this building was occupied by multiple indigenous nations people who identify and, and are part of different indigenous nations. And he was giving his own, um, reason for being there. And he's from Santiago Squi and they're literally a mining company came in and did steal their water. Um, they have no waters in their, in their wells. And, and they had, it was really cool to see because they had a, a map up of all the communities that they were representing, um, through the occupation. And there was over 20 local land sovereignty struggles, um, including Oto peoples, now, peoples Mayan peoples, Troy peoples, uh, tine peoples. There was even, it was interesting to see there was even, uh, a section that, that was the government was the government was selling mestizo land, which was super interesting.
Speaker 5 00:09:41 Um, because like you think of Mexico and you think of like, the mestizos are the one, are the ones who are kind of running the show. So for even their land to be being taken, um, was, was really interesting. Um, and for them to even come up and show, show up in solidarity was, um, it's kind of a big deal in, in Mexico for, for misos to stand up alongside indigenous people for their land. Um, and then he, he went out to talk about one, a really contentious, um, land rights issue in Mexico, which is the Mayan train.
Speaker 5 00:10:26 Yeah. So, um, he's saying that they don't want the, the Mayan train, and at the end you can ki you can hear him say that the Mayan train is destroying a lot of their trees and that their trees are their oxygen. And at the, at the end of the last, the last part I forgot to translate for you guys, um, it's just a really, a really beautiful, uh, just like calling and, and truth, um, that that is used all across Latin America and it's, um, we don't sell water. We love and defend water. Um, and that's just used over and over again because it's, it's just so true. And, and to give some more context on the Mayan train, it's a, it's a train that's being put in, in the most like, touristy area of Mexico, which is the Yuca Peninsula, and it's gonna run all the way from Cancun to que and um, que is all the way in Chiapas.
Speaker 5 00:11:25 So it's pretty big. This, this, this train is going to, it, it kind of goes in a circle and it's gonna be almost a thousand miles long. So you can imagine how how many trees are actually being cut down. Um, and they started building it in 2020. So it's already starting. It's on its way. Um, a lot of habitats have already been deeply affected. Um, so it's not just people, but it's like, you know, native species and, and habitats and, and it's all really just to boost the, the, um, the tourist industry in, in Mexico. And, and they, they keep throwing that in the face of the indigenous people saying, oh, we're gonna get people to come to the, to your communities. We're gonna get you guys paid. Um, but in reality, all of these, um, like major tourist in infrastructures like hotels and resorts are either owned by mestizos or owned by white, um, foreigners.
Speaker 5 00:12:23 Um, so it's gonna stop at places like, like I said, Cancun, east Moje. Um, it's gonna stop at, at in mek, which is the capital of Yucatan. It's gonna stop Za, which is one, one of the most recognized pyramids in, in Mexico and actually all of Latin America. And it's gonna end in Bara, which is really interesting because Barque is actually, uh, a city that was founded by slaves who freed themselves. And Bara, there's actually Bara all across Latin America. Um, and this, this Paque chias has actually become a really big tourist, um, destination. And, and there was a, so that was like the really, the, a really big contentious issue. And, and a lot of it had it, a lot of people are fighting against the, the mind train. And then there's a, there's a, there's another issue that he brought up that people are standing in solidarity with and, um, that's with the 43 students from <unk>.
Speaker 5 00:13:32 Yeah. So if y if, if y'all aren't familiar with the 43 students who, who were disappeared, um, it was in 2014, uh, there were 43 students who were traveling by bus from their, their school, which was called, it translates in interestingly to English, but it's the normal rural school of, oh, see <unk>. And, uh, they were traveling and they were, they had been protesting, um, just for students' rights and, and for land sovereignty. And they were abducted by the police and then handed over to, uh, basically a paramilitary, paramilitary, um, group who, um, murdered them and burned their bodies and, and their bodies were discovered a few years later. And even though there's evidence that this goes really, really, the orders to have them arrested go really, really high in the, in the military, no arrests have been made. Nobody's been held accountable. Um, the government basically passed it off on, on like the cartels, which is what they do. Um, and yeah, look into the 43 students from <unk> because, um, trials have actually, they're, people have been pushing for trials and it seems like we actually might start getting somewhere after six, after, well, eight years now. So, so keep an eye on that. Um, and yeah, so, so then he kind of started talking about, which was interesting now cuz because we're in the middle of elections, but how they have no political alignment.
Speaker 5 00:15:45 Yeah. So here he's talking about how they have no political alignment because politics, politicians come in every, every election year into communities, you know, paint walls and make all these promises. But then year after year, we have the same amount of Femi femicides where we have the same amount of robbery, we have the same amount of rape. Um, and he was just, he went out, he went on to just make a really beautiful point about how it's community that defends ourselves and, and, um, it, and the only way that we're gonna be able to become safe is if, is if we really keep ourselves safe. Um, and it just reminds me of, you know, the election going on right now is, you know, everyone's out here saying, get out to vote, get out to vote, it's gonna solve all our problems. But as we've seen, you know, these past, um, forever that, uh, you know, stuff, it doesn't, you know, we keep us, we keep us safe, we keep us safe. And I think people are finally starting to realize that. Um, so yeah, he went on to talk about another issue that I think a lot of organizers have dealt with, which is the haters.
Speaker 5 00:17:15 Yeah. So he is saying that they're even re receiving, you know, um, well it comes mostly from, from Meti, but even from other indigenous peoples are critiquing, critiquing protestors for, for blocking streets, for even occupying the building. Um, and he's basically saying that they don't think that it's gonna happen in their communities. They don't think that the feminist sides are gonna increase in their communities. They don't think that they're gonna have missing peoples in their communities. Um, and it's, it's, it's happening all over, especially indigenous communities, that these things are happening and that they're even coming in and stealing and stealing their land. And it's just, this was a, it's just a really, really important lesson on empathy to organize. We have to have, we have to have empathy because we all go through things, but we'll never know what someone else is going through. So we have to trust that it's worth organizing for. Um, and, and yeah, that's just what the next part is about. It's, it's a, he was talking about how they, how they organize as a collective.
Speaker 5 00:18:47 Yeah. So he, he's talking about how he, they organize and collective and, and a lot of the collectives have already existed, like the National Indigenous Congress, um, like the, like the <unk> movement, you know, all these, all these collectives have, have come together in this one space. And it's, it's become really, really powerful. Um, he's even, he even mentioned that they have been able to overcome things like the patriarchy, um, where maybe back home in their communities, women's voices weren't valued as much, but when, when we're here in this space together, you know, women and men's voice are, are valued equally. And you could even hear in the back, like, there's, there's kids here, there's whole families here. And, um, and this is a space where you could really feel that, that everyone was respected equally. Um, so yeah, he just, he just finishes out by, by talking about how they've been there for, for over two years now.
Speaker 5 00:20:01 Yeah. He's saying that, that even though it's a humongous building, it's a whole government building that they haven't let down their guard, that they haven't let down security. They've been holding it down for two years. Um, the government really doesn't want to deal with them, the government. He, he's saying the government would rather just let them hold the building than have any sort of press conference with them than send any sort of delegate to speak with them, to hear their demands. Um, they have all their demands laid out very, very clearly. Um, and yeah, they're just holding it down as, as he, he said, familiar famili, famili, ero. So it's just like people who would generally work the field. Um, and, and this kind of ties into like when we were in Mor and in Mic Cantu, like indigenous people all across the country are, are striking people who, who, who generally work the fields, who generally provide food, um, for the whole country are striking. And, and it seems to be something that's happening all across Latin America. So that's my segment for the week,
Speaker 4 00:20:59 <laugh>.
Speaker 3 00:21:00 All right, let's go. And that, that's a, that's a international phenomenon too, because, um, at the start of Covid, we had that huge, um, former stripe in India too.
Speaker 4 00:21:12 Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Exactly.
Speaker 3 00:21:13 Um, so yeah, you know, and, and we might have one in America soon, you know, the way the inflation's going up and stuff. But you know, they, they, they try to pretend like it's impossible to, to go on strike. They're like, well, these, these are the people, there's a list of people who can't go on strike cuz your initial workers or whatever, you know, it's whatever. It takes power away from the workers to try to get them to not paid on what they're worth. So,
Speaker 5 00:21:38 Yeah, for sure. And and I, we even saw it in California, uh, about a month ago. Um, a bunch of farm workers from California marched all the way from San Diego to Sacramento, which is basically the whole state, you know, um, the grandson of Dolores Huerta was there a bunch of, um, a bunch of farm workers are are lifting up, you know, all across the country. And yeah, I appreciate you mentioning India too, cuz uh, that's a whole struggle too. And and when we really think about it, it comes down to the issue of racism again. Cuz you know, there's a whole caste system in India and there's arguably a whole caste system in the United States, and then in Mexico it's all these indigenous people who, who are striking from working in the fields.
Speaker 3 00:22:20 Yeah. But you know, once you take your caste system and you put a lottery system to the top, then that's like capitalism and it's fine. Then, you know, <laugh>, even though statistically you're going to die in the same class you were probably born in, you know, there's a, there's a lottery chance that you could move up, you know, like cool, cool <laugh> fun stuff, right. <laugh>. Um, with that, we, uh, will move on to our next segment, words of freedom.
Speaker 4 00:22:44 So yeah, welcome to Words of Freedom, a segment here on views from the ground,
Speaker 3 00:22:48 Views from the damn ground
Speaker 4 00:22:50 Where we give local poets a chance to free their minds, free their hearts, and liberate their souls with their words of freedom. So again, this month we have Farra Habad, um, we will be listening to him all month. He's a good friend of mine. He is an amazing poet. He's an amazing organizer. He really shows the true value of community. And not only is he an artist, but he, he uses his art and his gifts to bring people together. And, uh, so yeah. Big shout out to Farrah Habad. Today we're going to, uh, listen to his peace. Um, and it is titled Till the Spirit
Speaker 7 00:23:31 Mya treated all of her grandchildren and like we were her garden. My grandma, a farmer in Nega spent her best years nurturing life as it grew. My granny put so much more into this earth than she took, which is a lot more than I can say for myself. My grandma always tells me to be present. Tells me that if I give something all of my time and all of my attention, I might find a bit of nourishment in it. At least I think that's what she's saying. My Somali's been a admittedly a bit rusty these days. I still struggle with patience. I still can't sit still for long periods of time. I still stare off into space for even longer periods of time as if I'm looking for something. When people ask me, I tell them, I tell 'em I'm looking for a garden and I'm looking for a place to find some nourishment, a way to ask the plants how they grow, how it feels to get enough sunlight. I still always look for answers in places that don't God. 'em, I still till so many other fields and I still wonder why my field won't grow. And I guess this is the part of the palm where I, uh, where I talk about redemption
Speaker 7 00:25:10 And where I offer porous platitudes intertwined with some immaculate farming metaphors. But I've never really made anything grow before. Now all I know is that the smell of my HOAs Sambos acts as a beacon carrying me home to a place where an individual always comes second to the village where each member of the village stands as a pillar holding the whole structure together. She's trying to be more like her. My mama came to a strange land at a young age and maybe that's where I get this from, this wandering spirit, the spine of iron, this tongue of roses and happy thoughts.
Speaker 7 00:25:59 But most days this tongue is just thorns. I did not get them from her. Well I picked them up in various places along the way in, in the sweltering heat of Mississippi summers in the bite of Minnesota cold and all of my unfulfilled potential, she left me these words. So I learned to stop holding onto things that are not of my hands. This is a refugee poem with a happy ending or smiles acts as acts of civil disobedience. We come for mamas who make miracles and teac cups and fill holes made by a scorched earth. And they sing us songs of hope to the melodies of the waves crashing against the rocks in bed better. And it's beautiful. So beautiful cuz today no one had to praise your naza. No one had to make any tear for phone calls. No. Today we spoke to each other in the poetry tongue.
Speaker 7 00:27:02 Today I wrote this poem the same way I used my stories so that they may fill my belly and talk loud. So the universe never forgets that we hear. And we know that as long as we hold fast to the rope of God, the whole world going to open up here. But in those low times, I can still almost smell the sense of cbe singing to me, wasting through the windows. Calling me home to a place where a village of pillars might pluck the thorns might remind me of where I come from. Might remind me that my name is not a word, but a responsibility to make good on a life. Cut short and it'll remind me of uncertainties, calm and how that calm brought a young lady to a strange land once and how she made it and how I will too.
Speaker 4 00:28:06 Can we get some snacks please? Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. That's my boy Farrah. That was, that piece is titled Till the Soul. Till the Soul. Um, again, if you want to catch up with him, we're gonna be listening to his poetry all month and we'll have him in at the end of the month for in-person interview. But if you wanna keep up with him, his Instagram is at left. That's f a r a h l e f t f a r a h l e f T. Um, if you want to hear even more of his work, look up Farra Habad. He does a lot of stuff on YouTube with button poetry. Um, he's done quite a few, uh, uh, performances with them. Um, so if you go to button poetry, YouTube pays, they got plenty of followers and my boy is on there cuz he's just that good button button <laugh>. Yeah. So, uh, big shout out to, uh, Farra and uh, yeah, stay tuned so you can hear more of his stuff. Thank you.
Speaker 3 00:29:00 All right, thank you so much. With that, uh, we're gonna move straight over to the nerdy spotlight. So take it away. Nerdy.
Speaker 0 00:29:08 Yo, what's up everybody? It's your boy nerdy. And once again, we're here with the Artist's Spotlight. You already know what it is. Every month we pick a particular artist from our community and highlight them, spotlight them, give them their flowers, however you want to say it. And this month it's Minneapolis Drew, n p l s underscore drew on all social media if you want to go find him. And you're gonna want to find him because his music is dope people. He really has got it like that. And you know me, I love when someone with talent takes the time to speak on issues that matter. This next song featuring Timmy t is called City Wear. Another brand new exclusive to Views from the Ground. Let's take a listen.
Speaker 9 00:29:51 Throw your hood up. Throw your hood up.
Speaker 10 00:29:59 They asked me my greatest feature. I probably tell them my skin gaining all of the knowledge and pass around my, somebody get in the way, then I'm probably bodying him. Say something about it. Then you get partnered with him. Nobody body the beat the way ya body in it. Ah, invest the profit. So my pockets cops own the blocks and bodies dropping, nigga they overfill with choice. Nobody calling it from a city where guilt, light and sentences. People who hold their powers minds filled with prejudice is causing the city's message end doubting all of their messages, taking all of their prayer, and hoping nobody blessing us, doing just what they can the pile up on the stress on this power go to their head and the ego when they arrested us. Only way it'll change us when they feeling like the rest of us see us. Treat us as regular, as equal to the dec.
Speaker 11 00:30:56 Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:30:59 Okay girl. Huh?
Speaker 11 00:31:04 I'm from a city where those baby kids turn into AK kids, run up with them, dick them in your face with it. Run you for your funds. Hit you where the basement is. That's below the bell. The city where the shameless li his favorite feature, you know, he said it's his skin. And I'm out here steady chilling. You know, I'm white at this sand, but the sun is coming out in that melon and creeping in. You hear a pop, know them. Piggys at it again. So sick of it. Make me one to drop a a bomb. I'm gonna throw up a fist for Brianna Georgia. Trayvon, how we burned up this drop about a pound of napalm. How you shoot up some kids and expect us all to stay calm. Violence in the streets, violence on the rise. Violence at the funeral was when the mama's cry. Silence is violence. So what you going to do? Cause eventually that violence gonna be coming back to you. What you gonna do? Cause eventually that violence won. Be coming back to
Speaker 1 00:32:09 You
Speaker 9 00:32:14 The way that go. Don't lead us to No, don't lead us to No, don't lead us to no good the way that go. Don't lead us to No, don't lead us to No, don't lead us to the don't lead us to. Don't lead us to, no, don't lead us to the way that go. Don't the way that going. Don't lead us to my don't lead us to my don't lead us to my
Speaker 13 00:33:11 Programming is supported by North Point Health and Wellness Center. Located at Penn and Plymouth in North Minneapolis this summer, NorthPoint reminds you that if you feel sick, check for Covid symptoms. Start wearing your mask. Get tested and stay home if you test positive. And remember to get your covid vaccine. NorthPoint Health and Wellness Center is now vaccinating Children's six months and older against Covid 19. For more information, please visit NorthPoint health.org.
Speaker 14 00:33:46 Thursday, November 10th, Hennepin County Library presents a final revival virtual event featuring Jazz Wagner from War Bonnet here cuts from war on it's new album. Plus, Wagner will talk about his handpicked final selections that can be spun at the Minneapolis Central Library listening Room. Jazz Wagner's Final Revival virtual event is Thursday, November 10th at 7:00 PM You can register at h cib.org/events.
Speaker 16 00:34:15 Programming on K F E I is sponsored by Community Action Partnership of Ramsey and Washington County's Energy Assistance program. The Energy Assistance Program helps low-income households pay a portion of their heating bills. We assist Ramsey and Washington County residents with home energy payments, energy crises, and emergency furnace repairs. We also offer referrals to the Home Weatherization Program. Call 6 5 1 6 4 5 6 4 7 0 or visit the website at C A P R w.org for more information on how to apply.
Speaker 3 00:34:49 All right, well welcome back. The views from the ground. Views from the damn ground. So we are here with our special guest this week, uh, community Kitchen. So go ahead and introduce yourselves.
Speaker 17 00:35:02 Hi, my name is Mary, she her pronouns.
Speaker 15 00:35:05 Uh, my name is Mar Ahi. They pronouns.
Speaker 3 00:35:08 Sounds good. And so tell us what Community Kitchen is.
Speaker 15 00:35:13 Yeah, so Community Kitchen is a mutual or, uh, mutual aid organization that distributes food, um, throughout the Twin Cities, mostly Minneapolis area, um, to all sorts of, um, mostly to folks that are living outside. Um, but we also supply food for, um, community events, protests, those types of things.
Speaker 17 00:35:35 It started off during the uprising and we had, um, it started off with just one woman who was cooking out of her kitchen. And then we expanded a little bit and are now out of, uh, church basement. Um, and so we got a lot bigger <laugh>.
Speaker 3 00:35:51 Yeah. Um, so tell us more about the, um, origin stories. You know, so you said it came out of the uprising. Um, what, why did it come up? Like did the community feel like this was a valuable service, or,
Speaker 17 00:36:08 I'm sure you all remember that there were some supply chain issues during the uprising mm-hmm. <affirmative> and people didn't have access to some of the things that they relied on. Um, and there were also a lot of evictions and people were being, um, pushed out to places that they didn't have resources. So, um, one woman decided to help feed people, uh, from her kitchen. And it ended up getting a lot bigger than she was able to handle. So First Congregational Church was kind enough to offer their kitchen, which is a large kitchen. It actually is where Open Arms, the organization was started mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Um, so they're familiar with that sort of work, and it's just been getting bigger and bigger. Um, I remember when I first started, there were days when it was just myself and one other person cooking, and then there'd be another person who'd come in to pack. And now we have crews of like 10, 15 people. We've got two people doing distribution for every route that we send out, which is fantastic. It's safer, it's nicer. Um, it helps if you get lost <laugh>, which happens more often than I'd like to admit. Um, and yeah, there's, there's sometimes we would turn people away because the, we've got enough st enough hands in the kitchen.
Speaker 15 00:37:13 Yeah. So right now we're serving about 200 meals a day every Monday and Tuesday this year, uh, we've served 16,000 meals, um, just this year alone. And, um, that's at a cost about a dollar per meal. So it's really cost effective. Um, it's very sustainable and, um, yeah, like Mary said, we're just growing and growing and hoping to serve and feed more people.
Speaker 17 00:37:38 We're hoping to serve as many people as there are. In an ideal world, there wouldn't be anyone that needs us, but we don't live in an ideal world yet, so we're trying to take care of the people and where they are.
Speaker 3 00:37:51 So how did y'all get involved in the community kitchen?
Speaker 17 00:37:57 My friend posted something and said, this is, I saw this on Instagram, let's go do this. And I was like, why not? It was the middle of the uprising. It was the middle of Covid. Um, I didn't have any work and I had nothing to do during the day <laugh>. Um, and I figured I might as well, um, take a break from the protest and go help in the kitchen. Uh, so we did that and, um, it would actually kind of selfishly it was very good for my mental health to have some structure, um, because there was not a lot going on. Um, the world was kind of uncertain and it was nice to be able to have something that I could count on every week that I could go, I could do tangible good, I could see actual change happening. And, um, I needed that. And I've stuck with it because it's wonderful. It helps people and that's what I wanna do.
Speaker 15 00:38:46 Yeah. Um, I was doing some food distribution mostly in St. Paul, um, during the, the mist of 2020. Um, and um, yeah, it was a lot of people that were just, um, making food out of their own kitchens and distributing it. And, um, so when I heard about Community Kitchen, I saw it on Instagram, decided to check it out. I had a couple friends who had, um, done some distribution shifts and, um, it was really good to see that there was a lot of people out there that were doing the same type of work. Um, and so we were able to mobilize and, um, you know, work together to, uh, distribute more food. Um, and so, yeah. And so here we are. <laugh>.
Speaker 3 00:39:32 Yeah. Um, and, and I just think this is so important, right? Because, you know, during these, um, uprisings we see a lot of people who come out and, you know, and we see all these protests that happen, but I think it's important to show that like, you know, there is work that is happening in between these big uprisings and people are actually out here doing the work because, you know, um, the community cares for itself, you know, and who keeps us safe? We, us us safe keep, you know, so I think that this is really, um, important. So, so let's talk about the food. Y'all, y'all served, uh, the meals. Where does the food come from?
Speaker 15 00:40:09 That's such a good question. Um, so a lot of our food comes from what is called, um, food rescue. So we work with a really cool group called TC Food Justice, and they go around. Um, so when like small, um, grocers co-ops, those types of, um, food organizations have surpluses or they have food that is, you know, still high quality but is getting to that, you know, FDA requirement of expiration, um, we're able to, to rescue that food through TC Food Justice and prep it basically the next day and distribute it before it gets to that expiration date. Um, so that's how, you know, we, um, yeah, we keep our, our food costs to be affordable. Um, and then we also do some swapping of food with groups like, um, kmn and Sister Camelot. Um, and so yeah, we all kind of work together if, if this person has too much of this, you know, we'll, we'll swap it around and get the food where it needs to go. Um, we're
Speaker 17 00:41:16 Also very fortunate to have a large group of volunteers who bake at home and they, um, they bring us treats and so we, they, they provide the desserts that we bring, we send out with our meals. Um, and so they doesn't cost us anything cuz it's all volunteer and donation for that part.
Speaker 3 00:41:34 Um, so who are some of the, um, other organizations and people that y'all work with a lot?
Speaker 15 00:41:39 Yeah. So, um, like I said, TC Food Justice is a great one. Um, and in terms of, uh, pe other organizations doing distribution, um, Southside FoodShare is another great organization, um, doing food, um, not food related, but the sup the Supply Depot helps us meet, um, helps the community access resources that aren't food related. Um, and they're a great organization to check out.
Speaker 3 00:42:07 Yep. Shout out to the supply. I was gonna say they was here last week.
Speaker 15 00:42:11 Shout out Supply Depot Depot, definitely throw 'em some cash, throw 'em some support, throw 'em some follows. They're really, really cool. Um, so yeah, anything that we don't, um, that we can't source through food rescue, like, um, utensils, those types of things. Um, we are fully community funded. So we have some, um, monthly donors that give around five to $10 a month. Um, and we're able to completely cover all of our food costs. If we do have any specific cost needs, um, we'll do some crowdfunding. So like yesterday for example, um, we were unable to use our kitchen because it was election day and they were holding, um, voting there. And so, um, as request of one of the residents who was really craving lasagna, like his, I cuz I asked, you know, like, what do you want to eat? Um, cuz we really, really wanna focus on, you know, serving food that people want to eat. You know, we're not just dropping off a bunch of sandwiches, it's, it's a, it's a full cook, you know, whether it's banana pancakes or lasagna. Um, we always provide that. And then a fruit and a vegetable, um, a baked dessert and then water and utensils. Um, and so yeah, we were able to crowdfund and prep a bunch of lasagna and, um, distribute that yesterday, um, in people's personal kitchens. Um, so yeah,
Speaker 17 00:43:38 I do wanna hit that. Um, we do talk to the residents there and a lot of the stuff that we do is buy their request, um, which I, one of the reasons that I chose this organization as opposed to other ones to donate my time to, um, we, we actually used to do lunch instead of dinner. And after talking to the residents, they decided that they wanted dinner instead. And so we changed the schedule around a little bit and was able to accommodate that. Um, I mean, we're here to serve them, um, and we don't wanna bring 'em something they don't want to eat or at a time they can't use it.
Speaker 3 00:44:13 Yeah. Um, I think that's amazing. And is, um, a community kitchen a nonprofit or
Speaker 15 00:44:21 No? Um, so we are a mutual aid organization, so we are completely community funded. We make food by the community for the community. Um, we're powered by community members. Um, there's no paid staff. All of our food is donated, um, volunteer hours, crowdfunding to cover food packaging and items like that. Um, and that's, it's really important that we don't take, um, you know, corporate donations because that often furthers the problem by providing tax write offs to these big organizations. Um, that's a whole whole nother conversation that we probably shouldn't get into today. Um, but yeah, they, they often try to be the problem and the solution and, you know, as a rule of thumb, you can't be <laugh>. Um, large monopoly cannot be the problem and the solution. Um, and so yeah, we're, we're, um, completely by the community for the community who
Speaker 3 00:45:17 Keeps us fed. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, <laugh>, we keep us fed, <laugh>. Um, so can you, um, tell us the days, um, in times and where you do provide, uh, dinner app?
Speaker 15 00:45:31 Yeah, for sure. Um, so it's Monday and Tuesday evenings and, um, if you are local to the Marcy Homes area, you can just stop by the church around six,
Speaker 17 00:45:44 I think. We usually have food ready around five o'clock. Five o'clock. Um, and if you, if you need a meal, you can pick one up there. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Um, and then we distribute those to the, the, um, camps around town. And of course those are always changing because they keep evicting them, um, oh yeah. Which absolutely does not help the problem in any way, shape or form. And you tell me, I couldn't swear on air, so I'm not gonna talk too much more about that <laugh> <laugh> because I'll break your first rule.
Speaker 15 00:46:14 <laugh>.
Speaker 3 00:46:16 Yes. Um, agree. Yeah. So it, um, where's the church located at?
Speaker 15 00:46:21 It's, oh, it's in Marcy Holmes. It's on eighth Street.
Speaker 17 00:46:26 Oh, you know what? I, I I looked it up before we
Speaker 15 00:46:28 Did. It's, we, I swear we planned for this question.
Speaker 17 00:46:31 South eighth. Southeast eighth Avenue.
Speaker 3 00:46:34 Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Okay.
Speaker 17 00:46:36 All right. The information is also on the op on the link tree. If you go to our Instagram, there's um, there's all that information on there and there will be detailed instructions about where to go within the church once you get there.
Speaker 3 00:46:47 And then y'all, and then y'all take it to all the encampments.
Speaker 15 00:46:51 Yeah, yeah. So we have, um, there's three kind of shifts you can sign up for. Um, there's like a prep shift and that's from, I, I'm gonna get the times around one to four, maybe
Speaker 17 00:47:03 1 30, 1 30 to three 30 to four 30, I think. Oh,
Speaker 15 00:47:06 There you go. Um, and then there's a packing shift that is then four 30 to five 30
Speaker 17 00:47:11 Ish ish.
Speaker 15 00:47:13 Um, and yeah, if you want the, if you want the receipts, you want the Carfax go on the,
Speaker 17 00:47:18 On the website. I mean, all, all these are loving suggestions and we try to take, we try to stick to them, but sometimes the beans don't take that long to cook, and sometimes the oven doesn't heat as quickly as you, you want it to. So food, um, this is what we shoot for, but we don't always hit it. Yeah.
Speaker 15 00:47:33 Yeah. And then we have a distribution shift where, um, people come in and pick up all the packaged foods and distribute it to encampments. Um, and like Mary said, um, with the recent evictions that happened, um, near north and three other camps that were evicted that day, you know, over 200 people were displaced. And, um, I mean, that was horribly inhumane and dis like devastating and, um, you know, it, it dis it disrupts so many things. Um, and so we've been trying to find people basically so that they, they can get food, um, you know, through, through our distribution and, um, get resources.
Speaker 17 00:48:15 Like a month ago I went, I was doing a, um, delivery shift, which I don't normally do, but someone had to back out last minute. And so I was picking that up and I rolled up to one of the camps and it was completely gone. They had just been evicted, like while we were cooking for them. And so we didn't have a chance to get word. So I was being a total creep and chased down this one guy and was like, do you know where everybody is? And he was like, yeah, you know, a couple things and da da da da. And, but it's just heartbreaking cuz like, I mean, we do this work, we know what's going on, but to actually see it right in front of you knowing that you're absolutely helpless, you can't do anything. Seeing the devastation of the temp tents being bulldozed of everything, just being crushed, everything being thrown away knowing that all these things were donated to support people and then they have, it's just destroyed. It's infuriating and heartbreaking and,
Speaker 3 00:49:07 Hmm. <affirmative>
Speaker 17 00:49:07 Awful.
Speaker 3 00:49:10 So, um, so, so you do, uh, do a lot of dis distributing, uh, to the encampments, but you also do it to community events and local protests. And so tell us about some of the protests that you've done, um, before.
Speaker 15 00:49:25 Yeah, so most recently, um, in, um, in response to the evictions, um, there was a lot of community organizing at City Hall. Um, a lot of people ended up living there cuz their, I mean, their camp was destroyed. And this was a permanent camp that people had been living at for, you know, two plus years with permanent structures. Um, and so we distributed food there, um, and provided resources, um, food resources, um, but we've also, like the teacher strike, we provided some food for, um,
Speaker 17 00:50:02 We had a presence at Brooklyn Center when that was all gone down. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, um, I know we, we got a, a lot of chips, bags of chips and water that we brought up there. Um, and speaking of the teacher strike, we donated some, um, snacks to that. Uh, and the kids were amazing. I pulled up to, with a trunk full of, of <laugh>, sorry, <laugh>, I pulled up with a trunk full of snacks and like, cases of water. And I opened up the trunk and I was like, oh, it's gonna be so hard. We have to park so far away and drag it all over there. And like, these kids just descend and they're like, what do you need help with
Speaker 3 00:50:38 <laugh>? And I was like,
Speaker 17 00:50:38 Oh, okay. <laugh>, this is amazing. Y'all are fantastic. I love you. Yes. And, and anyway, I just, the youth is gonna be all right.
Speaker 3 00:50:47 Yes. I, I, I remember that day, um, cuz you're talking about at the Davis Center, right?
Speaker 17 00:50:52 Uh, no, this is one at the Governor's mansion. Oh,
Speaker 3 00:50:54 At the Governor's mansion.
Speaker 17 00:50:55 Yeah. Which there was one, uh, where they all walked out and walked from our school as closest there. I don't know St. Paul or, well
Speaker 3 00:51:01 I don't know St. Paul at all,
Speaker 17 00:51:03 But they
Speaker 4 00:51:05 St Paul Central.
Speaker 17 00:51:06 Thank you so much. Thank you. Um, they walked over there and so we were waiting with snacks and water.
Speaker 3 00:51:11 Oh, that's cool. That's cool. Um, yeah. So did you have any questions?
Speaker 4 00:51:19 What, um, I know you said that in a perfect world, you know, like there wouldn't be a need for you guys cuz everyone would be fed. Since we don't live in a perfect world, what do you um, what, what things has community Kitchen like not done that you would hope to do or, or hope to have the capacity for, like in the future? Um, I know that it's a collective of people who all have their own ideas. Maybe it's your own or something that you've heard from others, but like what would you like Community Kitchen to be in the future?
Speaker 17 00:51:50 Um, well we, to be honest, I just think there would be more community organizations, um, more partnerships. Like we have a little group, we have collected, um, some clothing and stuff, pardon me, um, that we give to other groups that are collecting and have more, uh, distribution supply chain set up, up for that. Um, so I don't think the community Kitchen itself needs to do that because there are other places that are doing that. So we can be, we can support them in that way. Honestly, there's just so many people doing such great work in town mm-hmm. <affirmative> that it's, um, it's fantastic. And I just think that, uh, I guess more partnerships would be what I would would say and more money give us money. <laugh> <laugh>.
Speaker 4 00:52:31 Um, about how many people would you say are part of Community Kitchen?
Speaker 17 00:52:38 I would say there's probably like a dozen hardcore regulars that come like, regularly. Regularly. And then other people, um, pop in as they can. I, there's some people that show up once and say they wanna contribute in other ways, and then there are other people that show up every week, um, as best they can. Mm-hmm.
Speaker 3 00:52:55 <affirmative> what, um, and what are ways that people can contact you if they wanna be able to, if they have a community event that they want to or if they want to just reach out and have conversation, what's the best way to do that? Yeah,
Speaker 15 00:53:09 Probably through our Instagram and that's Community Kitchen, I think just straight up. Um, and then yeah, you'll find our Open Collective on there, um, and you'll find information about how to sign up for a shift and all of that good stuff. Yeah. Community Kitchen, M P L s Minneapolis. Okay. Um, so that's definitely the best way to get in contact with us. Um, so yeah, sign up for a shift if you have the capacity. Um, or, you know, just, just interacting with us on social media is a great way to, um, you know, get people aware of what we're up to.
Speaker 3 00:53:44 Yep. And so y'all say that y'all um, y'all been doing this work for around two years and so what keeps y'all coming back to, um, you know, come out and help people and provide these, this vital service to the community?
Speaker 17 00:54:00 Folks are still hungry.
Speaker 15 00:54:02 Yeah. There's still, I mean, food is such a, a basic human right that so many people don't have access to. Um, and you know, there's, there's so many programs out there that are just so inaccessible by so many populations. Um, whether it because of location or housing requirements or all of these different kind of loopholes that you have to jump through to access food. Like our focus is feeding people, no strings attached, just people feeding the people. Um, so it, and it's, it's, it makes such a big difference in people like just having access to food. So
Speaker 17 00:54:41 It's also incredibly well organized. And, um, I just wanna thank the people who have been doing that work for us, um, with us. And like it's, it doesn't take a lot of time to go into a kitchen for a couple hours and peel some potatoes or chop some carrots. Like there's so many things that are emotionally taxing then the work that we do and take time and take physical energy and all this stuff that sometimes I just don't have, but I can peel a potato, I'm really good at it. Mm-hmm.
Speaker 15 00:55:10 Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, the shifts are so they're a good time. Like, and there's something really soothing about kind of like the, the repetitiveness of like kitchen tasks, just like, like you said, chopping potatoes or packing up soup. Um, and it's a good group of people. It's such a good way to like, meet people, community members and um,
Speaker 17 00:55:31 Yeah, we learn so much just for talking to each other about like, well, what's going on? What, what else do we need to do? We hear about strikes and protests because we are asked to, to serve them and of course we do. Um, we learn about things that are going on in the community and it's just, it's a great way to stay in touch and it's a great, you know, I feel so bad talking about all the things I get out of it <laugh> when like, it's really, this is to serve other people,
Speaker 3 00:55:53 But Yeah. Um, and once again, um, I just wanna say I appreciate all the work that y'all do and I just think it's, you know, the, I think it's real important cuz you know, when people talk about protests and stuff like that, people are always like, well, you know, like marching or they think about speaking, but there's so many other things. There's the marshals, there's the medics, there's the people who are feeding us, right? There's so many aspects, like all the beautiful, um, posters that people, people bake mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Like, there's so many good things that people can do to help benefit the movement that they feel like, you know, you know, I, I do art that doesn't fit into the movement. Yes,
Speaker 15 00:56:33 It does. Yes it does. Yes
Speaker 3 00:56:34 It does. Come, come do a poem, you know, you know, bring
Speaker 15 00:56:36 It, bake some cookies, like seriously bake some cookies and drop it off. Like,
Speaker 3 00:56:40 Exactly. Well,
Speaker 17 00:56:41 And that's the lust flashy stuff that's kind of more important I think mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And, um, it's the stuff that we, it it makes, makes a structure that we need to have so that there can be leaders and there can be flashy, showy stuff. Um, but this is just as important.
Speaker 3 00:56:56 Exactly. With that being said, I really appreciate y'all, um, and thank you for coming in and doing an interview
Speaker 15 00:57:02 With us. Yeah. Thank you for having us. Thank you so much. This is a treat. Always just trying to get more, um, more people aware of what we're up to and more people involved and expand, expand, uh, hopefully just, you know, serve more people and give people, give people good stuff and good food. We make good food. That's what I will say. We make
Speaker 17 00:57:21 Good food.
Speaker 15 00:57:21 Our, yeah. One of our main, um, uh, chefs is yeah, a culinary professional and has been cooking for years and we make good chef. I mean, we make good stuff. I'm sorry. Yeah. Yeah. I'm sorry. <laugh>.
Speaker 3 00:57:36 Yeah, I've <laugh> I've helped, uh, organize the, uh, last couple of supply drives in front of City Hall and mm-hmm. <affirmative> and also Mayor Fry, so I will vouch. Um, I, I was a little skeptical because like, I don't even eat curry really. And then I was eating, I was like, man, <laugh>. Yeah. I was like, lemme get a couple of balls of these. Yeah. So, um, with that being said, I also want to, um, and some political news. Uh, I was keeping so much up with the national scene, I forgot I, a bunch of people mentioned today that Alma, the Democrats took the house in the Senate mm-hmm. <affirmative> and the governorship and, uh, you know, so, um, I don't trust them, but, we'll,
Speaker 3 00:58:18 <laugh>, uh, they said, they said they would do things if they had all the, the triad. So they got it for the first time since like 2004. So let's see what you do. Let's see what you do. Um, so we'll, we'll hope and, and remember, you know, voting is good and, um, and I'm glad people went out and voted, but holding them accountable is definitely as important as voting. So yeah, that's all. Remember that. And the last thing I wanna mention is, um, justice for Jamo, um, um, his angel anniversary is this Saturday. It's a car caravan. It's gonna, um, be Saturday, November 12th. It's gonna be at 2 45 and they're gonna meet at Morgan Avenue North in 44th Avenue. Um, and so people can feel free to go check that out if they want. I just want to let people know. Uh, with that, I just want to say thank you to Francisco for your amazing segment. Welcome. Um, and uh, thank you to Brandon and nerdy appreciate the knowledge and also the artwork. So with that, we are out of here.
Speaker 18 00:59:21 White law monopoly makes democracy, hypo in a capitalist economy. It's no democracy. I demand to return to my sovereignty. No apology, independence, autonomy, no need me. I could run my own country if you could just stop bombing me, gimme my lamb back, gimme my gold back, my heritage, my birthright. You outright stole that. Organize, organize, organize to away with all the lies. All the lies. All the lies. They come in with the act of the black and the 45. In between the protests, we protest lawyers. Yes, we are. We organize, organize with all the lies. All the lies. All the lies. They come.
