Northern Progressives
Updates
2025-08-24
Greetings
Action of the Week
Special Northern Progressives Training
Please join us for the Rapid Response/Constitutional Observer Training this week.
We set up the Wednesday training for our Cook area NP members, but you can go to a training this week in Virginia or Hibbing if you choose. This opportunity will help us be ready if we witness a confrontation with Homeland Security.
We are also gathering Know Your Rights / Rapid Reponse information on our website for your reference & Indivisible has launched a Signs of Solidarity nationwide action to support our immigrant family, friends, co-workers, community. Join the effort!
In this newsletter you will find information about:
- Our Next Member Meeting on September 3 at 6:30pm in Cook
- Immigrant Rapid Response Training (**This Week**)
- Our Weekly Friday Signing Events at Noon in Cook & Tower
- Workers Over Billionaires Labor Day September 1 in Virginia
- Remove the Regime September 2 in Hibbing
- Protect Wild Rice
- Other Training Opportunities
Action Items & Events
Next Meeting!
- When:
- Wednesday, September 3, 6:30pm
- Where:
- Cook Community Center
510 Gopher Dr.
Cook, MN - Topic:
- Mutual Aid
At our third and final NP meeting on addressing the coming budget and program cuts, we will look at a structure in the Cook community to move forward on the ideas we've generated.
All are welcome to attend.
Immigrant Rapid Response Training
from MIRAC
There are 3 choices of trainings coming up on the Iron Range.
Chisholm
- When:
- August 26, 6:00–7:30pm
- Where:
- Jim's Sports Club
108 W Lake St, Chisholm
Cook
- When:
- August 27, 6:00–7:30pm
- Where:
- Cook Community Center
510 Gopher Dr, Cook
Virginia
- When:
- August 28, 6:00–7:30pm
- Where:
- Mesabi Unitarian Universalist
230 7th Street South, Virginia
Signing & Resisting Events
Each Friday at noon at the following locations:
- Cook: Hwy 53 and River Street
- Tower: Mainstreet by the locomotive
Signs should include issues common to everyone like good jobs, enough money for food and healthcare, and a good education.
Workers Over Billionaires Labor Day
#WorkersOverBillionaires
- When:
- Monday, September 1, 4:00–5:00pm
- Where:
- North 9th Avenue West & 9th Street North
Virginia, MN
Labor and community are planning more than a barbecue on Labor Day this year because we have to stop the billionaire takeover. Billionaires are converting the government into their private slush fund and just passed the largest wealth giveaway in the history of the US. The money they take from working families, they put in billionaires’ pockets and set aside to fund a private army of ICE agents.
Remove the Regime — Hibbing
- When:
- Tuesday, September 2, 4:00–5:00pm
- Where:
- Corner of 169 and 25th
(by the college)
Hibbing, MN
Join us in showing Congress that they can't vacation their way out of the Epstein Files.
D.C. is being used as a testing ground for expanding federal abductions beyond perceived immigrants. They have taken federal control of law enforcement and brought in the National Guard under the guise of ridding the city of crime - and unhoused citizens. This is a clear authoritarian move, right out of the fascist playbook. They want to scare and desensitize us into allowing them to abduct anyone they want to off the streets. Why now? It is also a fantastic distraction from the Epstein files.
Congress returns on Tuesday, September 2nd and they're hoping to carry on like nothing is wrong. Not happening. We will make our voices heard.
Stop Keetac Sulfate Pollution and Protect Wild Rice
from Water Legacy
- Public Meeting:
- September 3, 6:00–7:30pm
- Where:
- Iron Trail Motors Event Center
919 6th Street South
Virginia, MN - Deadline for comments:
- September 8, 4:30pm
Your Comments to the MPCA are Needed to Restore Wild Rice and Protect Fish from Keetac Mine and Tailings Basin Pollution!
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) is requesting public comments by September 8, 2025 at 4:30 pm. Please use the guidance below to submit your comments to the MPCA.
Please also join us and speak up at a public meeting on September 3, 2025 from 6-7:30 pm in Virginia, MN
Organize in Solidarity
a 5-week training series on organizing our communities to resist ICE
from SURJ
- When:
- Tuesdays, Starting August 26, 7:00-8:45pm (CDT)
- Where:
- Online
"The 5-week solidarity organizing training program is focused on getting you the information, skills, and support you need to take action in your community right now to do something about the Trump regime’s terror campaign of brutality. Over the course of five weeks of training and coaching you will learn how to connect to, and speak from the heart about, why it matters to act courageously and stand in solidarity, to make a plan to speak to your peers and recruit them to join you, to run a campaign to make institutions in your life places of solidarity, and to stand up for your immigrant neighbors."
Indivisible Red & Rural Caucus August Call
from Indivisible's Red and Rural Caucus
- When:
- August 27, 7:00–8:00pm CDT
- Where:
- Online
"When we come back together at the end of August, we will be doing a deep dive into understanding how disinformation plays a role in your red and rural organizing! This won't be a call to miss!"
Election Policy in the Second Trump Administration
from Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs
- When:
- Thursday, Sept. 4, 10am–2pm
- Where:
- Virtual via Zoom
"Since taking office again, President Donald Trump has aggressively sought to change U.S. election policy. His executive order mandates proof of citizenship for voter registration, changes the rules governing postmarked ballots, and directs the Election Assistance Commission to rescind voting equipment certification. In addition, the administration has abandoned many of the election security improvements that followed the 2016 and 2020 Russian attempts to influence U.S. elections. Other initiatives like The SAVE Act, memorializing elements of President Trump’s executive order in law, have worried election administrators. This one-day conference, sponsored by the University of Minnesota’s Certificate in Election Administration Program, will explore these issues, the likelihood these policies will be adopted, and the effect they could have on U.S. elections."
ICE Resistance Information
We are compiling Know your Rights & Rapid Response materials on our website. Please feel free to contribute your suggestions. We can learn together & be prepared to support our community.
Each Thursday: Calls with Indivisible's Co-Founders
Several of us attend the weekly "What's the plan?" Zoom calls with Indivisible's co-founders Leah and Ezra each Thursday afternoon at 2pm Central Time.
The calls are great for keeping you connected with current resistance efforts and strategy nationwide.
News
'Very sick and very tired': the reality of famine for Gaza’s most vulnerable
from the Guardian
"In the overcrowded, rubble strewn streets of Gaza City, there was little surprise at the announcement that UN-backed experts believed the scenes of desperation could now be formally described as a famine.
"Only four famines have been declared by the IPC since it was established in 2004, most recently in Sudan last year. 'This famine is entirely man-made, it can be halted and reversed,' the report said. It warned of an exponential increase in deaths if 'a ceasefire is not implemented … and essential food supplies and basic … services are not restored immediately'."
Tell Congress: End the Gaza famine. Stop U.S. military aid to Israel now
from the Intercept
"For months, a U.N.-backed international watchdog has been warning that Gaza would reach catastrophic levels of food insecurity causing mass starvation, destitution, and death.
"Already, 1 in 3 Palestinians in Gaza go without food for days at a time, and more than 20,000 children have been treated for acute malnutrition in hospitals since April.
"The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, backed by the U.S. and Israel, is responsible for delivering food and other aid to civilians, yet those who seek aid have been regularly shot and killed by the Israeli military.
"The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza reported 325 people killed by the Israeli military while trying to get food in just one week. The U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights estimates at least 1,373 Palestinians have been killed while seeking food between May 27 and July 31. Doctors Without Borders has described distribution sites as scenes of 'orchestrated killing.'
"This has to stop, yet the U.S. government continues to fund this war with more than $22 billion in military aid."
How you can stop Peter Thiel’s Palantir
from Robert Reich
"As I have written, Palantir is at the nexus of several worrisome realities: artificial intelligence, Trump’s use of the U.S. military on American civilians, his attack on immigrants, his collection of personal information on millions of Americans, and the parts of Silicon Valley dedicated to turning the U.S. from a democracy into a dictatorship led by tech bros.
"Palantir sells an AI-based platform that allows its users — among them, military and law enforcement agencies — to analyze personal data, including social media profiles, personal information, and physical characteristics. These are used to identify and surveil individuals.
"In March, Trump signed an executive order requiring all agencies and departments of the federal government to share data on Americans. To get the job done, Trump chose Palantir Technologies.
"According to New York Times reporting, Palantir’s software may now be used to combine data gleaned from the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Defense, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Social Security Administration, and the Internal Revenue Service. Meanwhile, the administration wants access to citizens’ and others’ bank account numbers and medical claims."
Learning About Scripted Violence
from the Anti-Authoritarian Playbook (Scot Nakagawa)
"Chip Berlet’s work examines how political rhetoric, especially coded language, can incite violence by portraying certain groups as existential threats, thus encouraging individuals to take violent action. His analysis highlights the responsibility of political leaders, media figures, and activists in shaping discourse that either promotes or discourages violence."
Nakaga always provides a clear breakdown of what is at stake, how authoritarianism works, and strategies to fight back.
The Fourth Estate
and Its Role in Democracy
from Scot Nakagawa (the Anti-Authoritarian Playbook)
"The press is supposed to be the Fourth Estate; the watchdog that keeps the three branches of government in check. The executive, legislative, and judicial branches have formal checks and balances, but the media is supposed to function as the unofficial fourth pillar, making sure none of them get away with abusing power in the dark…
"This is why authoritarians, oligarchs, and corrupt elites hate independent journalism. It’s one of the only institutions that can meaningfully challenge their power. And this is also why they’ve spent decades trying to dismantle or co-opt it…
"Fighting back requires two things: protecting independent journalism from state repression and breaking corporate control of the media. Here’s how..."
Take a Minute to Learn About Pocket Rescissions
and Another Minute to Send a Letter to Your Senators Opposing Them
from Chris Bowers (Wolves and Sheep)
"In an attempt to further consolidate power in the Executive Branch, the Trump administration is considering using something called a 'pocket rescission' to cancel congressionally approved funds without any approval from Congress."
This article explains the "basic idea behind pocket rescissions, which the Government Accountability Office (see here) and leading U.S. senators in both parties say are illegal.
"'Pocket rescissions' are a crackpot legal theory cooked up by Trump's closest allies as a means to give him even more power. However, crackpot legal theories have never stopped Trump from trying to consolidate power before, and they likely won't stop him this time, either (especially given how slowly the courts have been moving). Members of Congress—ideally of both parties—need to speak out against pocket rescissions, especially now that we have entered the 45 day window when the Trump administration might try to employ them."
"Sign and send a letter to your U.S. senators, urging them to oppose "pocket rescissions" and protect congressional power over federal spending."
Sadopopulism Is A Disturbing Policy, But We Need To Understand It
from The Big Picture (Jay Kuo)
"Jay Kuo explores this phenomenon of the modern right, what authoritarian expert Timothy Snyder calls 'sadopopulism.' That a strongman like Trump could win democratic elections on a platform of cruelty and pain may seem counterintuitive, but it is in fact part of a time-tested playbook. We need to first identify it for what it is, why it’s working, and how it’s driving the modern fascist MAGA ethos."
Inspirations
Signs of Solidarity
Canvassing Toolkit
from NO Kings
"When businesses and communities stand together, we send a powerful message: immigrants are essential and welcome here. This guide will help you organize locally, engage business owners, and build visible, united resistance.
"Download our printable signs — one designates a private area for employees that ICE cannot enter without a judicial warrant, and others show public solidarity with immigrants. Print them, bring them to businesses, and help send a clear message that our community stands together against fear and intimidation."
Use the following link to download your choice of high-resolution posters.
Will Rural America give up on Trump? These small-town activists think so.
from USA Today
"Dom Holmes, 28, has learned something important in 10 years of organizing progressives in rural Pennsylvania: You can't just show up when you need people to turn out to vote. You have to sit and listen to them.
"In recent weeks, when he's stopped to listen, he's gotten an earful about the tax and spending bill the Republican-led Congress passed in July.
"'Folks are especially worried about how that’s going to impact them at the local level,' he said. They're particularly 'outraged,' he said, about cuts to food stamps and Medicaid and the likely damage to rural hospitals. 'Folks should be aware of what the impact ‒ immediate and not ‒ will be on them and they should know who brought that impact to their community; who brought it home to them.'"
We're Going to Win
from Chop Wood Carry Water (Jess Craven)
"I’m telling you, folks. We’re going to get through this. Trump grows more unpopular by the day (see above chart), we grow stronger, our voices get louder, and the tide continues to shift our way—partially because of your hard work!
"I’m not just blowing smoke. I feel certain that we will win. Our country may be in ruins by the time we do, but we know how to rebuild and if we must, we will, far better than before, too.
"The key thing is that we don’t give up. So let’s not."
Please Share your Sources of Information and Inspiration:
What news sources, reading lists, podcasts, subscriptions and other resources do you rely on for good information? Please respond to hello@northernaction.org with the sources you recommend and a brief reason why they're important to you. We plan to publish a list from sources you submit. We'll keep submissions anonymous.
Northern Progressives Schedule & Structure
NP Group meetings are held:
First & third Wednesdays in Tower or Cook
- 1st & 3rd Wednesdays in Tower or Cook
Breakfast Club:
- Pattenn's Café in Orr at 10 am on 2nd and 4th Wednesdays.
Everyone is welcome to come and discuss current happenings, help shape the direction of NP, and get to know each other.
Northern Progressives Communication Committee
- General email (submit ideas here):
- hello@northernprogressives.org