Falcon Heights, MN – On Sunday, September 1, Cuban solidarity activists bannered at the Minnesota State Fair demanding the United States government remove Cuba from the State Sponsor of Terrorism list and to end the 62-year blockade against the country.

Fairgoers heading toward the main gate of the “Great Minnesota Get Together” could see the Cuban flag propped up and waving in the wind. Closer to the main gate, they were greeted by three banners demanding: “U.S.A. people say, Cuba sí, bloqueo no!, No U.S. blockade of Cuba, U.S. out of Guantanamo,” and two banners in English and Spanish, “Take Cuba off the U.S. Terrorist List/Llevar a Cuba de la lista de terroristas.”

The activists got a chance to talk to many people about Cuba. They gave out stickers about ending the blockade as well as Cuba’s recently passed progressive family code which ensures the rights of the LGBT community.

An African American family selling water at the entrance noticed the banners, and two brothers, in their twenties, ran up excitedly saying, “We love your banner!” This resulted in conversations with the activists talking about Cuba and encouraging them to visit the country.

Two Cuban families greeted the solidarity activists with great delight when passing the banners, they said, “Thank you very much.” One family recently moved to Saint Paul and another family lives in Canada. They were both happy and very appreciative seeing people and the banners, knowing that there are people that support their country and also want the blockade to end.

The event was organized by the Women Against Military Madness Solidarity Committee on the Americas and the MN Cuba Committee.

#FalconHeightsMN #MN #International #Cuba #AntiWarMovement #WAMM #SCOTA #MNCC

Falcon Heights, MN – Instead of the regular Cuba car caravan on Sunday, August 27, twelve Cuban Solidarity activists bannered and held signs at the Minnesota State Fair to call for an end to the 60-year U.S. blockade of Cuba – made even more brutal by U.S.’s incomprehensible designation of Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism. Standing at the main gate of the “Great Minnesota get together,” the activists got a chance to talk to many people about Cuba and share information. They gave out stickers about ending the blockade as well as Cuba’s recently passed extremely progressive family code which ensures the rights of the LGBT community.

The event was organized by the Women Against Military Madness Solidarity Committee on the Americas and co-sponsored by the MN Cuba Committee.

#FalconHeightsMN #Cuba #blockadeOfCuba #Americas

Falcon Heights, MN – Roughly 50 University of Minnesota students and community members gathered on Monday, Feb. 26, to protest the presence of far-right provocateur and former Breitbart News editor-at-large, Ben Shapiro, on the Saint Paul campus. The protest, organized by Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), demanded an end to hate speech on campus and an end to hosting such speakers with university student service fees, which are paid by all students.

The counter-protest follows national calls within national SDS to oppose speakers like Shapiro, Betsy DeVos, Milo Yiannopoulos and others, demanding that they be opposed wherever they go. As such, Shapiro is no stranger to SDS – University of Utah SDS mobilized over 400 people to demand an end to hate speech on Sept. 27, 2017 in response to a speaking engagement of Shapiro on the University of Utah campus.

Amidst chants of “Racist, sexist, anti-gay, Ben Shapiro, go away,” protesters and speakers, most prominently from SDS and the Queer Student Cultural Center, called for utilizing university funds for progressive, community-focused efforts instead of lining the pockets of top paid administrators and giving the most reactionary groups on campus tens of thousands of dollars with which to invite in racist, homophobic, and transphobic hate speakers like Ben Shapiro.

These and other demands were made as the crowd seized the only entrance to Shapiro’s event, scaring off many potential attendees and surrounding others with chants and demands as they walked up, all before leading a quick march around the Saint Paul campus of the university to demand “hate speech off campus now!”

#FalconHeightsMN #BreitbartNews #altright #BenShapiro

Falcon Heights, MN – On Sept. 3, as the family was in Saint Louis to lay Philando Castile to rest, community members gathered at the site where Officer Jeronimo Yanez violently ended Castile’s life. More than 50 people marched to the front gates of the State Fair here, to call attention to the police killings that they say target especially, but not solely, Black people and other people of color. For several hours, thousands of fairgoers had to navigate miles of blocked roads, while protesters demanded justice, carrying 14 coffins, distributing informational flyers and chanting about the police murder of Castile and countless others.

Reflecting the epidemic of police killings across the U.S., Minnesota law enforcement officers have killed 238 people since 2000. Not one officer, in the history of the state of Minnesota, has ever been convicted of a work-related homicide.

“That #AintFair,” organizers say. “We want justice for all stolen lives. We want justice for Philando Castile and Jamar Clark, whose names made international news, as well as those who stories were never told. Their lives matter. Their families matter. We will not forget the recent police homicides of Geno Smith, Map Kong, and Jaffort Smith. We continue to demand justice for Marcus Golden and Fong Lee, both unarmed, Guillermo Canas, Philip Quinn, Michael Kirvelay, Terrance Franklin, Quincy Smith as well as other local and out-of-state police homicide victims such as Alton Sterling, Paul Castaway and Oscar Grant, Yes, we will #SayHerName: Korryn Gaines, Aiyana Jones, Sarah Lee Circle Bear, Sandra Bland and Rekia Boyd to name a few. If we didn’t, that would be not be fair.”

The event was organized by the Twin Cities Coalition for Justices 4 Jamar, Justice for Marcus Golden, the Black Coalition and AR-14 for Justice, and more than a dozen other groups endorsed the action.

#FalconHeightsMn #FalconHeightsMN #PoliceBrutality #JamarClark #PhilandoCastile #StateFair #JusticeForMarcusGolden #BlackCoalition #AR14ForJustice