Hey there and welcome to COYOTE Weekly, the newsletter featuring our favorite stories going up on the Bay Area's worker-owned digital publication.
Today, the COYOTE team is taking a breather, but the newslettering proceeds apace. And I (Soleil) want to talk about a blizzard.
More than a decade ago, when I moved to Minneapolis in the summer after I graduated from college, I was warned that the winter was no joke — so much so that I started to think of it as a running joke. These people are so dramatic, I thought.
And then the first blizzard of the season shut everything down. It must have been eight inches of snow, all told.
In lieu of working or shopping or just staying home, my friends and I wandered the streets in snow boots; all we could hear was the rhythmic crisp-crunch of our heels pushing through the otherwise pristine snow. In weather like this, you tend to whisper.
As we walked, we would encounter drivers in cars helplessly stalled in pits of snow, kicking up grit and ice like a toddler having a tantrum at nothing. With barely a word exchanged, my friends started pushing — rocking the car back and forth until it could finally clear the tiny ice valleys it'd dug itself into. It's the kind of thing you don't need to explain or rationalize: It's just what you do.
I don't live in Minneapolis anymore of course. But in the past few weeks, as the community has endured unrelenting collective punishment at the hands of the federal government, my friends in the Twin Cities have reminded me so much of that day. And I figure, on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which we tend to treat as a day of public service, it's worth sharing some opportunities to take care of each other in a similar way.
In the Bay Area, there are a few special events going on today, as detailed in our weekly calendar: community cleanup on the Richmond Greenway Trail and Cesar Chavez Park, and meal distribution and prep at Dorothy Day House. If you're in Sonoma County, you still have time to help clean up MLK Park in Santa Rosa — that's going on 'til noon. Folks are also planting trees in Palo Alto today. The Museum of the African Diaspora in San Francisco is free today, too!
If you'd like to support mutual aid and immigrant support work happening in Minneapolis-St. Paul, here's a vetted list of fundraisers. (Plus more via my colleague, Kirstie Kimball.) Right now, many community members run the real risk of being terrorized, attacked, and abducted by federal agents if they leave their homes, which also means that they can't work, pick up groceries, or go to school. Supporting these funds will enable those folks to survive this moment.
- Support for families in the Phillips neighborhood (Minneapolis)
- Help Stonebridge School families (Minneapolis)
- Free car tows for ICE abductees (St. Paul)
- The Hamline Midway Diaper, Formula, and Hygiene Supply Hub (St. Paul)
- Help for Juan Toapanta's family during his ICE detention (Minneapolis)
- Support for North Minneapolis families (Minneapolis)
- Rent relief for Powderhorn families (Minneapolis)
- Mutual aid fund via Flourish Placemaking Collective (Minneapolis)
- Church of the Ascension relief fund (Minneapolis)
What to Read
Our must-read of the week comes from reporter Ida Mojadad, whose firsthand account of the December blackout in S.F. rightly calls PG&E out for its cascade of fuckups. The California Public Utilities Commission also catches some well-deserved flak, so read on to learn more about why you should be annoyed at them, too!
Overwhelmed by all the Sketchfest events? Check out COYOTE's recommendations, including yelling at movies, elder Millennial sleaze, and much more.
Do you have the right to record ICE? It's complicated, per KQED's Close All Tabs podcast, but basically yes.
Hey, the Tenderloin Voice is up and running! The new publication about the San Francisco neighborhood launched last week with a slate of stories — including this poem about tacos.
The Bay Area Current goes deep into yarrow, a wild plant that's great to have on hand if you ever get stabbed.
How to zhuzh up your Girl Scout cookies.
And don't forget: If you're looking for stuff to do this week, check out our weekly event listings.
If you're excited about having more independent journalism thrive in the Bay Area, you can help fund our work with a paid membership, which starts at just $8/month or $80/year.
Comment of the Week
Want to see more journalism that sees you as a kindred spirit, and not just a potential click? Help us produce it by becoming a member today!
