Overview of We Can Do Hard Things — HOW WE ALL BECOME MINNESOTA: BRITTANY PACKNETT CUNNINGHAM
This episode (recorded Jan 26, released Jan 28) features activist-organizer Brittany Packnett Cunningham in a wide-ranging conversation about Minnesota’s current uprising, the long histories and infrastructures that enabled a rapid, sustained community response, and what people everywhere must do now to prepare and build just, resilient communities. Brittany stresses that this moment is not spontaneous nor new, that the current federal-level violence is unprecedented in scope in recent U.S. history, and that long-term, intersectional organizing and mutual aid are the only paths forward.
Key takeaways
- There is something for everyone to do — activism must be consistent, not performative or one-off. Momentum, education, and community-building are essential.
- What’s happening in Minnesota is rooted in long histories of Indigenous and Black resistance; it wasn’t created in 2020 and isn’t surprising to those who have long organized there.
- The present moment is worse in some ways than prior recent crises because activists are confronting a federal apparatus that is actively authoritarian and violent (e.g., paramilitary ICE operations, unmarked vehicles, license-plate tracking).
- Effective responses depend on pre-existing infrastructure: local organizations, houses of faith, labor unions, mutual-aid networks, lawyers, and longstanding coalitions.
- White-dominant cultural individualism (what Brittany calls “big W” whiteness) undermines solidarity; the work requires people of privilege to join, fund, follow, and protect organizers rooted in the community.
- Historic amnesia (erasing or sanitizing U.S. history) helps repeat oppressive systems. Honest, public teaching of history is necessary to make durable change.
Main topics discussed
- The illusion of spontaneity: protests and mass responses are possible because of years (or centuries) of organizing, coalition-building, and training.
- Scale and brutality of ICE operations: reports of thousands being taken, many shipped out of state (notably to Texas), use of unmarked cars and license-plate tracking, and the difficulty of legal response given limited lawyers.
- Comparison and historical context: parallels to slave patrols, Jim Crow, and the U.S. roots of later fascist laws in Europe; critique of false Nazi-comparison shorthand and call to properly historicize U.S. state violence.
- Why 2014/2020 lessons aren’t sufficient: different federal posture today (more authoritarian) means tactics and urgency must adjust.
- “Drained-pool politics” (Heather McGhee): policies that preserve segregation or exclusion often harm everyone — public goods that help everyone must be reclaimed.
- Practical organizing infrastructure: neighborhood associations, faith communities, worker coalitions, mutual aid networks, and legal capacity.
- Culture change over time: how immigrant groups were folded into whiteness, and how cultural individualism was engineered — reversing that requires intentional collectivism and trust-building.
Notable insights & quotes
- “There’s something for everybody to do.” — A repeated, foundational call to action: find your place in existing structures.
- On history and prevention: “If we had listened to Black people in the first place we wouldn’t be here.” — A warning that failing to heed marginalized communities allows atrocities to repeat.
- On authoritarian testing: officials are “trying to see just how much they can get away with… who exactly can they murder? who exactly can they disappear?” — framing the current crisis as an active test by state power.
- On collective survival: “All you gotta do is join the choir.” — Brittany emphasizes that many resources, leaders, and organizations already exist; people should plug in rather than reinvent.
- On reparative imagination: “My existence is because enslaved Africans in this country envisioned a freedom that did not exist for them.” — urging radical imagination plus strategic planning.
Concrete action items Brittany recommends
- Contact state leadership: push MN Governor Tim Walz to institute a statewide eviction moratorium (urgent for people sheltering from ICE and facing February 1st housing deadlines).
- Call your federal representatives: demand refusal to fund ICE in the DHS appropriations process.
- Push for accountability: call for investigations into the deaths named (Renee Good, Alex Preddy, Keith Porter Jr., and others) and for appropriate impeachment/inquiry where relevant (she names Kristi Noem in context).
- Follow and obey local leaders. Amplify, donate, and act on specific requests from on-the-ground organizers in Minneapolis and surrounding communities instead of broad online virtue signaling.
- Build/strengthen local infrastructure: form or join neighborhood mutual-aid plans (phone trees, rent support, grocery/delivery plans, legal contact lists, childcare contingencies).
- Volunteer time, money, or skills to local organizations and legal aid networks; help connect groups that aren’t yet coordinated.
- Show up in person: regular, in-person community meetings build the trust and muscle needed in crisis — social media alone won’t substitute.
People, organizations, and references mentioned (follow/verify locally)
- On-the-ground organizers and outlets to follow/coordinate with (names as referenced in the conversation): Nakima Armstrong, Chantel (arrested alongside Nakima in a church protest), Nakima & Chantel’s crews, Georgia Fort (independent journalist), Sahan Journal, Indigenous Food Lab Minnesota, Hazen Fairbanks, Robin Wonsley (city councilor), 5051 (likely a local group reference), and many more local leaders.
- National/local leaders/resources Brittany suggests boosting: Nicole Hannah-Jones, Ashley Woodard Henderson, Maurice Mitchell (Working Families Party).
- Legal/locations referenced: Whipple detention facility (local Minneapolis site where people were detained), reports that many detainees were sent to Texas.
- Books and concepts: Heather McGhee — The Sum of Us (drained-pool politics); The People’s History of the United States; Michael Harriot — Black AF History; the role of TikTok and social platforms in spreading people’s history.
- Brittany’s work: Love Empower Works (her agency), Undistracted (her podcast).
(Note: names and group labels come from the episode transcript. Verify local contact details and current asks from the named organizers before acting.)
How to plug in — practical checklist
- Find local groups: neighborhood association, immigrant-rights groups, mutual aid networks, houses of faith, grassroots legal aid clinics, tenant unions, workers’ centers.
- Ask locally: Who would ICE likely target? Exchange phone numbers, emergency plans, and legal contacts. Create a Signal or text chain and a designated emergency go-to person.
- Fund and amplify local leaders’ specific asks (donations, supplies, legal fund, bail fund).
- Show up in person at regular community meetings and trainings instead of relying only on social media.
- Call elected officials (state governor, your senators/representatives) about concrete demands: eviction moratoriums, refusal to fund ICE, independent investigations.
- Educate: Read and share historically rigorous accounts (The Sum of Us; People’s History; Black historians and journalists) to counter misinformation and historical erasure.
Final notes & recommended reading/listening
- Episode context: recorded Jan 26 and released Jan 28 — refer to local, up-to-date developments before taking action.
- Recommended reading/listening:
- Heather McGhee — The Sum of Us (on “drained-pool politics”)
- Howard Zinn — A People’s History of the United States
- Michael Harriot — Black AF History
- Brittany Packnett Cunningham — Undistracted podcast
- Follow local reporting (e.g., Sahan Journal) and trusted organizers for real-time asks and verified updates.
This conversation centers sustained, intersectional organizing, communal care, and the necessity of following and supporting movement-rooted leaders. The practical point: find your local choir and join it — consistently.